AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from December 9

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of AEW Rampage on December 9.

This week's show featured two title matches, with one of those bouts being the first time that belt has been defended on All Elite Wrestling television.

Orange Cassidy put his All-Atlantic Championship on the line, but we also saw Hikaru Shida defend her Regina di Wave title against The Bunny.

Jon Moxley was set to to battle Konosuke Takeshita, Lee Moriarty and W. Morrissey were in action, and we heard from Athena, Ruby Soho and Tay Melo.

Let's take a look at what went down during Friday's show.

Rampage opened with Takeshita and Moxley already in the ring and ready to fight. They circled each other a bit before locking up for the first time in this rematch.

Moxley won their previous encounter, so Takeshita was taking a slower approach at first to feel him out and see if he could find a weakness in his armor.

After a few minutes, Mox put out his hand as a show of respect, but he slapped Takeshita before he could shake it. This act of disrespect immediately changed the feel of this match.

The subsequent physicality was a nice follow-up from their first encounter in July at Fyter Fest. Takeshita came close to winning a few times and even kicked out of the Death Rider, but he was unable to survive the Bulldog Choke.

Hangman Adam Page ran down and brawled with the former world champion after the match until the Blackpool Combat Club broke things up.

Winner: Jon Moxley

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• It's surprising AEW gave up the chance to have Moxley do his entrance, but maybe the company only has the licensing rights to play his music so many times every year. Not showing his entrance may have been intentional. 
• Takeshita moves really well for someone who is as big as he is. He might not look like he is huge because he is well-proportioned, but he is a big dude. His hurricanrana out of nowhere was a fun spot. 
• Moxley was busted open when we returned from a commercial break due to a big boot Takeshita hit at ringside. 
• Mox and Takeshita trading stomps was a fun sequence. 

The Regina Di Wave Championship was on the line when Hikaru Shida defended the belt against The Bunny on this week's show.

The Bunny tried to use some dirty tactics to take control, but the opening she was looking for came when Shida missed a flying move from the middle rope.

Shida found herself on defense during the commercial break, but she was beginning to make a comeback when we returned. Penelope Ford threw Shida's kendo stick into the ring to distract Aubrey Edwards from making a three-count, but Shida managed to maintain the upper hand and get the pin to retain her title.

This was a decent match, but there were a few spots that could have looked better. At least they had a decent amount of time to work this week.

Winner: Hikaru Shida

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• Excalibur gave a quick rundown of Pro Wrestling Wave before the match so fans at home knew where the title came from. He didn't have enough time to give much info, but he did the best he could with only a few seconds. 
• Jamie Hayter showing up for a staredown with Shida to end the segment was a nice way to tease their future encounter. It was simple and effective. We don't always need a brawl. 
• Edwards stopping her count simply because the kendo stick was thrown into the ring was kind of weird. Had she just counted the pin, nothing would have happened anyway. It felt like unnecessary interference. 

Two jobbers named Izzy James and Clayton Bloodstone were paired up to face the duo of Moriarty and the newly christened Big Bill Morrissey.

This was the definition of a squash match and obviously ended with the two signed names beating the local talents. It had one or two fun moments, but this was ultimately just to make The Firm seem relevant.

The grade is reflective of the fact that this match felt somewhat pointless and could have been aired on Dark, but everybody did a decent job with what they had to work with. It just didn't offer enough opportunities for anything interesting.

Winners: Lee Moriarty and Big Bill

Grade: D+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Moriarty putting both opponents in different submissions at the same time was a cool moment. 
• Morrissey is in the best shape of his career. It wouldn't be surprising to see him get some kind of singles push next year. 

Orange Cassidy was tasked with defending the All-Atlantic Championship against a mystery opponent this week. That mystery man ended up being Trent Seven, formerly of NXT UK and Moustache Mountain.

They had a reasonably respectful start as both men posed, but Seven began to unload with stiff chops that almost took Cassidy down.

Penelope Ford, who had accompanied Cassidy's rival Kip Sabian to the ring, ran away to get The Butcher, The Blade and The Bunny so they could fight Best Friends to the back and leave Cassidy all alone with Seven and Sabian at ringside.

Cassidy ended up using Sabian to his advantage when he pulled him in the way of a suicide dive from Seven. After kicking out of all of Seven's best moves, Cassidy was able to get the pin with his finisher. Sabian immediately attacked him after the bell. Dustin Rhodes came to help Cassidy and end the show on a positive note.

This was a fun and frenetic match with a few standout spots. It will be interesting to see if Seven pops up in AEW or ROH anytime soon.

Winner: Orange Cassidy

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Having Sabian choose another UK talent was a nice touch. 
• The impact of Seven's hand hitting the ring post was so loud. He might have legitimately hurt himself a little. 
• Seven faking a chop before hitting a DDT was a good spot. 
• The superplex Seven hit late in the match looked like a nasty landing for Cassidy, but he recovered quickly. 
• Cassidy's chest was quite red after taking those chops from Seven.