‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (Aug 19th 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 emanates from the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, West Virginia. We’ve got Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Jim Ross AND Chris Jericho on commentary this week, so let’s get to the review!
Match #1: AEW World Tag Team Title Match – Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland) def. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Keith Lee hurled Isiah half way across the ring but Isiah countered by landing on his feet! Isiah fired back with strikes but Keith hit him with chops. Swerve tagged in but ate an elbow from Isiah. And then Isiah went over the top rope with a tornillo to Swerve! Private Party began to employ tandem offense on Swerve, working him over in the corner. Keith Lee came in and steamrolled Isiah with a lariat! Marq Quen tagged in but Keith Lee quickly pounced on Quen for a near fall! Swerve tagged in and blasted Quen with a kick to Quen’s head. Swerve finished of Quen with the JML Driver and then pinned him!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: FTW Title Match – HOOK def. “The Reality” Zack Clayton
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
HOOK put Clayton in the RedRum and forced Clayton to submit right away!
My Score: 5 out of 5
Match #3: Buddy Matthews (with Julia Hart) def. Serpentico
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Buddy blasted Serpentico with a shotgun dropkick, wasting no time. Buddy followed up with a running kick and then whipped Serpentico into the steel guardrail. Serpentico went for the hurracanrana but Buddy countered with a powerbomb into the turnbuckles. Buddy Matthews used a pump handle slam and then planted Serpentico for the victory!
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #4: Athena def. Penelope Ford
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Penelope charged at Athena, but then Athena tackled Ford to the mat. Penelope came back with a splash in the corner. She tried for a cartwheel elbow but Athena had it scouted and blocked it. Penelope rallied back, spring boarding off the turnbuckles onto Athena on the ring apron. Athena launched Penelope Ford into the barricade! Athena came off the top rope with his finisher and then pinned Penelope Ford!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: AEW Trios Title Tournament Quarter-Final Match – The Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy, & Trent Beretta) def. The TrustBusters (Ari Daivari, Parker Boudreaux, & Slim J)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Ari hit Chuck from behind and then tagged in Slim J. Taylor countered with sole food on Daivari. Trent tagged in but Chuck and Trent used tandem offense for a near fall on Slim J. Parker ran in and wiped out the Best Friends. Slim J. tagged in and mocked Orange Cassidy. “Freshly Squeezed” entered the ring and used his dynamic offense on Slim J. and Ari. Cassidy nailed Ari with a DDT and then called out Parker. Parker dropped Orange Cassidy with clubbing blows! He used a double clothesline on Trent and Chuck! All three Best Friends used a triple dropkick on Parker. Ari used a frog splash on Orange Cassidy! Parker pulled Trent out of the ring but Chuck made the save. Then Trent speared Parker and Orange connected with the Orange Punch on Parker, sending Parker over the barricade. Sonny Kiss shoved Orange off the top turnbuckle! Slim J. hit a diving reverse DDT on Orange for a near fall! Danhausen popped up from behind the guardrail and put the curse on Slim J.! Orange jumped off the shoulders of Trent and Chuck and then splashed Slim J., pinning him!
My Score: 3 out of 5
News of the Night:
- Dustin Rhodes answered Claudio Castagnioli’s open challenge for the ROH Championship.
Final Verdict: 3/5
The main event was literally THE main event on a card that was filled with various types of squash match – only one of which was really worth talking about… Hook’s “match” against Zack Clayton, which was a PERFECT example of how you book Hook to squash his opponents! As for the aforementioned main event, it really did look like the Best Freinds had returned to the level of tag team wrestling we haven’t seen properly since Trent’s injury. Shame they’re not going to be in the final of the Trios tournament (because I’m still betting on a Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs Dark Order with Hangman in their corner final).
