‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (Sept 29th 2023)
It’s Monday so you know what that means, it’s time for our weekly review of AEW: Rampage! This week’s show was broadcast from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado and featured Excalibur and Taz on commentary. Now let’s get to the review…
Match #1: AEW World Trios Championship Open Challenge Match – The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens, Max Caster & Daddy Ass) def. Brother Zay & The Hardys (Matt & Jeff)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Bowens and Brother Zay locked up and chain wrestled. Bowens hit a shoulder block on Zay. Bowens blocked an arm drag but Zay took down Bowens with a hurracanrana. Bowens spiked Zay on the top of his head with a nasty leg drop. Jeff tagged in and splashed Caster from the middle rope. Billy Gunn tagged in and hit Matt Hardy with a shoulder tackle. Matt sent Billy into the turnbuckles. Jeff jumped off Matt’s back and splashed Billy in the corner. The Acclaimed grabbed the upper hand, with Bowens dropping the Scissor Me Timbers on Brother Zay for a near fall. Billy Gunn stomped a mudhole in Brother Zay in the corner. Billy attempted a splash, but Brother Zay dodged it, and Billy collided with the top of the post. Jeff Hardy smashed Bowens and Caster with the Whisper in the Wind. Matt clocked Billy with the Twist of Fate. Jeff climbed to the top rope and connected with a Swanton Bomb on Billy, but Bowens was there to break up the pin attempt. Brother Zay took down Billy Gunn with a quebrada. The Acclaimed countered a springboard from Zay. Bowens and Caster planted Brother Zay and scored the win!
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #2: NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Match – Eddie Kingston def. Rocky Romero
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Rocky grabbed a wrist lock but Eddie reversed it. Rocky kicked Eddie in the midsection. Rocky rocketed outside with a tope suicida on Eddie Kingston. Rocky followed up with a second suicida. He tried for a third, but Kingston countered, catching Rocky and nailing him with a delayed vertical suplex on the arena floor. Eddie charged at Rocky but Rocky countered with a jumping knee strike. Romero connected with a dropkick double stomp combination for a near fall on Kingston. Eddie hit a lariat and then followed up with machinegun chops. Rocky rocked Eddie with an avalanche sliced bread. Rocky smashed Kingston with the forever clotheslines. Kingston clobbered Rocky with the spinning backfist and then forced Rocky to tap after applying the stretch plumb.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #3: The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) def. Gunnar and Caleb Crush
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Dutch bulldozed Gunnar and Crush with double lariats. Dutch served up Bossman Slams to both members of the opposing team. Vincent finished things quickly, grabbing the pin.
My Score: 0 out of 5
Match #4: Hikaru Shida def. Ruby Soho
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
The winner will get an AEW Women’s World Championship match on Dynamite Title Tuesday on October 10th. Ruby pulled Shida’s hair and then peppered her with stiff shots. Shida answered with a strike of her own. Shida sent Ruby face first into the top turnbuckle pad. Shida hammered Ruby with strikes and then followed up with a missile dropkick off the middle rope. Soho and Shida traded forearms in the center of the ring. Shida rocked Ruby with elbow strikes. Shida struck with a jumping knee and then a brainbuster for a near fall. Shida launched off the ring steps with a missile dropkick onto Soho on the arena floor. Shida hoisted up Soho, carried her up the ramp, but Ruby escaped. They brawled on the ramp and fought back into the ring. Soho took down Shida with a suplex for a two-count. Ruby grabbed the kendo stick. The ref saw it and pulled it away. She wanted to get caught, because as the ref turned his back, Ruby pulled out a can of spray paint. Shida tried to pull it away from Ruby, but in the process, they inadvertently knocked ref Paul Turner down. Ruby headbutted Shida and then wiped her out with Destination Unknown. The ref was outside the ring recovering. Ruby grabbed the kendo stick and swung it, but Shida blocked it and whacked Ruby with it. Shida clobbered Ruby with the katana kick. Shida covered Ruby and ref Aubrey Edwards sprinted to the ring, but Ruby kicked out of the pinfall attempt. Soho avoided the meteora. Shida hit the mat after a back heel kick from Ruby Soho. Soho sat out with a senton, but Shida got her knees up. Shida blasted Ruby with the Falcon Arrow, but Ruby kicked out before the three-count. Shida caught Ruby flush with the katana kick and scored the pin!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
A solid but unremarkable episode of Rampage this week. Always great to see Eddie Kingston in action and REALLY looking forward to his match at Wrestledream (which will have already aired by the time you read this). Hikaru Shida and Ruby Soho had a good match too, even if there were far too many shenanigans going on (those two “no ref” counts did nothing for this match) to make this great. We did get one squash match this week too but that can be forgiven somewhat given that Tony Khan is trying to put The Righteous over in the eyes of the AEW crowd when they’ve spent all their time on ROH. As for the opening match. Meh. A low point in AEW for both The Hardys and The Acclaimed IMHO.
