‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (July 1st 2022)
It’s Monday morning, so you know what that means… it’s time for our review of Friday night’s episode of AEW: Rampage, which this week emanated from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. In a shake-up from the usual set-up, we’ve got Tony Schiavone, Excalibur AND Jim Ross on commentary!
Match #1: Royal Rampage Match – Winner earns an AEW Interim Title Match
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
There was a red ring on the left and a blue ring on the right. “Absolute” Ricky Starks entered the red ring and Team Taz outnumbered Hangman Page as Powerhouse Hobbs and Starks double teamed Page. Darby Allin backdropped Tony Nese over the top rope. The Butcher was out next, accompanied by the Bunny. Darby hit a tope suicida on Tony Nese through the ropes (not over the top). The Butcher then grabbed Darby and began swinging him against the steel guardrail over and over again! John Silver entered and he and Hangman Page helped each other. Then came #4 for the blue ring, “Platinum” Max Caster. Billy Gunn accompanied Caster out, along with Anthony Bowens. Out next to the red ring—Rush! Rush quickly went after Starks and Hobbs, and then suplexed John Silver. The Blade was entrant #5 for the blue ring. The Butcher and the Blade used tandem offense on Darby Allin in the blue ring. Penta Oscuro came out but Rush tried to ambush him on the ramp. Instead Penta rocked Rush with the sling blade! Starks speared John Silver and eliminated him. Swerve Strickland was entrant #6 in the blue ring. Swerve hit Max Caster with a thrust kick and knocked him to the arena floor. Coincidentally, Keith Lee was entrant #7 in the red ring, while Swerve was in the blue ring. Matt Hardy was entrant #7 into the blue ring. Hardy hit the Blade with forearms right out of the gate. Entrant #8 in the red ring—Dustin Rhodes, who scoop slammed Starks, but quickly ate a shoulder tackle from Hobbs for his efforts. Penta Oscuro and Rush traded chops on the apron. Rush connected with a low blow, sending Penta backwards. On his way down, Penta pulled Rush out with him! Frankie Kazarian entered the blue ring and tried to hoist Darby Allin over the top rope. The Butcher backdropped Matt Hardy over the top rope. Dante Martin was #9 in the red ring. Konosuke Takeshita came out to the ring next! He hit a blue thunder bomb on Darby Allin! Brody King was entrant #10 in the ring! Dustin Rhodes and Brody King slugged it out, but Brody waffled Rhodes and knocked him down. “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy casually strolled out to the ring. Brody King eliminated Dante Martin. Orange used a hurracanrana to take down the Butcher and the Blade. Takeshita blasted Orange with a brainbuster. The Butcher and the Blade eliminated Takeshita. Swerve tossed out Orange as Orange had his back turned. Butcher and the Blade dragged the lake on Swerve and then dumped him to the floor. Hangman was thinking Buckshot Lariat but Brody Lee charged him and sent him flying to the floor! Darby eliminated the Butcher and the Blade. Brody King rushed at Darby Allin in the other ring, as they were the last two remaining contestants! Brody hit a cannonball senton on Darby Allin! Brody picked up Darby Allin in a sleeper and muscled Darby out of the ring.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) def. Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Goto backed Nick Jackson into the corner, but Nick began kicking Goto. Hashi tagged in and Bishamon hit the Young Bucks with the war drums! Matt Jackson put the brakes on and used his locomotion Northern Lights suplexes on Bishamon. Nick Jackson flew off the top turnbuckle onto Bishamon on the arena floor! Goto used all of his size to take Matt Jackson off his feet with a hip toss and then a big leg lariat. Nick grabbed a blind tag and the Bucks used their infamous tandem offense on Goto. Bishamon used the headhunter maneuver for a near fall on Nick. Matt Jackson dropped them with superkicks! Goto hoisted up Nick and dropped Nick’s neck right across his knee. Yoshi-Hashi used a thrust kick on Nick Jackson. Matt Jackson blindsided Goto with a superkick. The Bucks grabbed Yoshi-Hashi and smashed him with the BTE Trigger! The Bucks finished off Bishamon with the Meltzer Driver for the pin!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #3: Toni Storm def. Nyla Rose
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Nyla nailed Toni with knee strikes. Toni dodged a punt from Nyla but then Nyla planted Toni. Toni peppered Nyla with strikes but then as she ran toward the ropes, Marina lowered the ropes. Toni lost her balance from Marina’s interference and fell outside the ring. Marina was waiting and connected with a front snap kick to Toni! Nyla body slammed Toni on the arena floor! While the ref had his back turned, Marina continued to work over Toni Storm. Back in the ring, Nyla continued to punish Toni’s back. Nyla splashed Toni in the corner. Nyla tried for the cannonball senton but Toni moved out of the way. Toni smashed Nyla with the hip attack in the turnbuckles. Nyla got low bridged and spilled to the outside. Toni jumped off the apron and double DDT’s Nyla and Marina! Nyla attempted the Beast Bomb, but Toni countered. Nyla sat down instead and squashed Toni, but Toni kicked out of the pin attempt. Nyla Rose ripped off the top turnbuckle pad and in the process, hit Toni with a thrust kick. Nyla draped Toni across the top rope. Nyla tried for her diving knee strike but Toni moved out of the way. Toni German Suplexed Nyla Rose for a near fall. Marina jumped on the apron but Toni launched off of her for her troubles. Toni Storm pinned Nyla Rose after nailing her with the pendulum DDT!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Score: 3/5
Another solid episode of Rampage, with the debut of the “Royal Rampage” – a match that made the most of the two-ring set-up from Blood and Guts, which was taped BEFORE this week’s episode of Rampage. It was an interesting concept but one that, I think, was let down by the camera work… There was just too much going on in two rings to keep up with all the action on screen with the camera set-up they had. I dug the use of split-screen at times but that lost focus. And the fact they had to cut away from one set of moves to cover another, mid-move, just felt disappointing. After all that though, I did dig the fact Brody King picked up the win. Here’s hoping we get a long-term BCC / HoB feud off the back of his championship match against Jon Moxley. What wasn’t disappointing was the Young Buck versus Bishamon match – this delivered everything you could want out of a match featuring two teams who’d already put themselves through the ringer at a PPV only days before! Then we got the main event, which turned out a lot better than I expected. Both women put on a great display of their skills, with Rose showing why she’s a former champion and Storm showing why she WILL be a champion! All in all this was a decent end to this huge week of AEW programming!
