‘AEW Rampage: Fight For the Fallen’ Review (July 29th 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 DCU Center in Worcester, MA and marks the return of AEW’s special Fight For the Fallen programming, Let’s get into the review!
Match #1: Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta def. Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh & Sonjay Dutt
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Lethal and Trent began the match for their respective teams. Trent tried for a rollup right away. Lethal went for a rollup but Trent countered for a near fall. Orange Cassidy tagged in and called out Satnam Singh. Instead, Sonjay Dutt tagged in for his team. Sonjay handed his suit jacket to the referee. Orange Cassidy placed his sunglasses on the ref’s face. Orange kicked Sonjay with his trademark “King of Sloth Style” kicks, and Sonjay, having enough of the mind games, tagged out to Satnam Singh. Cassidy tried for a dropkick on Satnam and Satnam didn’t budge. The Best Friends ran in and chopped at Satnam, but again, Satnam didn’t move. Satnam ran off the ropes and hit a flying press on the Best Friends. Lethal and Cassidy chain wrestled. Cassidy tagged to Chuck Taylor after a leapfrog over Lethal. Taylor sent Lethal over the top with a belly-to-belly suplex. Trent tagged in and the Best Friends used their tandem offense to great effect. Lethal fired back with a double Lethal Injection! Orange Cassidy nailed Jay Lethal with a DDT! Sonjay tagged in and removed his shirt, clearly meaning business at this point. Sonjay was about to use his pencil to attack Orange, but ref Rick Knox saw it and Sonjay stopped in his tracks. Orange grabbed the pencil and snapped it in half. Orange blasted Sonjay with the Orange Punch and pinned him!
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #2: Ethan Page def. Leon Ruffin
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Ruffin charged at Page but Page caught him and rammed him into the turnbuckles. Page ran over Leon Ruffin with a shoulder tackle. Page rag dolled Ruffin. Stokely Hathaway and Leila Grey were watching the match on a monitor backstage. Ethan Page hoisted up Ruffin and finished him off with the Ego’s Edge!
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #3: Lee Moriarty def. Matt Sydal
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Moriarty mocked Sydal before the match. Moriarty headbutted Sydal as Sydal tried to shake Lee’s hand. Moriarty suplexed Matt Sydal and then worked over his arm. Sydal rocked Lee with a jumping knee strike for a near fall. Lee dodged a standing moonsault from Sydal, but Sydal managed to land on his feet. They brawled outside the ring. Lee whipped Sydal into the steel ring barricade and followed up with a running foot to Sydal’s face! The fans chanted for Lee but Lee waved them off. Back in the ring, Sydal clocked Lee with a roundhouse kick. Lee rattled Sydal with a well-placed lariat. Sydal connected with the question mark kick and then the lightning spiral for a near fall on Moriarty. Stokely Hathaway walked out to the ring. Matt knocked Lee off the top rope. Stokely tried to interfere, grabbing Matt’s leg. The distraction was enough time for Lee to jump up and shove Matt Sydal, crotching him on the top turnbuckle. Moriarty planted Sydal but Sydal kicked out! Moriarty locked in the Border City Stretch in the center of the ring and Sydal tapped out!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: Anna Jay def. Ruby Soho
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
They locked up and Anna slammed Ruby’s head into the mat. Ruby was looking for No Future but Anna caught it and dropped an elbow. Ruby chopped away at Anna and then caught Anna right between the eyes with a knee! Anna fired back with a kick to Ruby’s injured hand. Anna applied an arm bar and pulled at the cast, removing it from Ruby’s fractured right arm. Ruby attempted a suplex but had to let go because of her injury. She tried again and was able to plant Anna on her back, buying herself some time. Ruby headbutted Anna repeatedly. Ruby used a knee strike and then a thrust kick. Ruby got a near fall on Anna after a back heel kick. Ruby was looking for Destination Unknown but Anna countered. Anna Jay locked on the Queen Slayer but Ruby rolled out. Ruby landed the No Future kick but Anna kicked out. Ruby climbed to the top rope and went to sit out with the senton but Anna moved out of the way. Anna grabbed the cast and used it on Ruby, locking in the Queen Slayer. Ruby had no choice but to tap out!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
An interesting week for Rampage… We got the expectation of at least three great matches but only got two. What happened with that Ethan page/Leon Ruffin match? The duo had a banger of a match on AEW YouTube show(s) and I, like many people, was expecting a replay of that in front of a larger crowd and a TV audience. But instead we got a squash! WTF?! I can forgive the first match of the night for being a comedy match as the comedy actually worked well – Sonjay Dutt being the highlight of course! Matt Sydal versus Lee Moriarty wasn’t an instant classic but a fantastic match nonetheless, but what do you expect from such good wrestlers? As for the main event… Well, well. It didn’t take long for Anna Jay’s membership of the JAS to pay off did it? Some nice heel work from Jay to pick up the win over Ruby Soho. Hopefully Jay being a part of the JAS does more for her than being part of Dark Order.
