‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (Sep 2nd 2022)
It’s Monday morning, so you know what that means… Er, it’s not Monday..?! Yes, thanks to a STACKED weekend of wrestling we’re going live with this week’s review of AEW: Rampage early! Like all of this week’s shows, this episode was live from the NOW Arena in Chicago, Illinois and we’ve got Excalibur, Don Callis, Chris Jericho and Jim Ross on commentary. Let’s get to it!
Match #1: Trios Championship Tournament Rampage Final – Dark Order def. Best Friends
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Page blocked a swinging DDT from Orange Cassidy and muscled him down to the mat. Cassidy avoided a lariat from Hangman and then Hangman dodged a dropkick. Best Friends and Dark Order brawled in the ring. Best Friends set up Silver for a superplex but Page bailed him out. Orange kicked Page but Silver pushed Hangman out of the way and ate a kick from Cassidy. Trent DDT’ed Reynolds! Best Friends choke slammed Page through the time keeper’s table! Inside the ring, Reynolds blasted Cassidy with a haymaker elbow. Silver had a swarm of kicks for Cassidy and then nearly took Cassidy’s head off with a lariat. Orange rallied back with the Beach Break for a near fall! Hangman was attempting a moonsault but Trent met him up there for a suplex. Hangman landed on his feet and then gave Cassidy the Dead Eye for a near fall! Chuck Taylor impaled Silver with the awful waffle but Hangman broke up Taylor’s pin attempt on Silver. Cassidy connected with the Orange Punch on Hangman. John Silver rolled up Taylor and pinned him out of nowhere!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Rey Fenix def. Blake Christian
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Blake dropkicked Fenix but Fenix quickly got to his feet. Rey Fenix chopped at Blake. Christian went over the top rope, smashed into Rey Fenix on the arena floor, and landed on his feet! Rey Fenix fired back with a thrust kick. Rey Fenix spiked Black Christian on his head and then pinned him!
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Ortiz & Ruby Soho def. Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Ortiz clubbed Sammy in the corner with forearms. Ortiz raked Sammy’s back. Ruby got involved and cracked Tay with a kick. Ruby tagged in and speared Tay! Ruby followed up with two back heel trips and then headbutts. Sammy tagged in so Ortiz entered the ring. Ortiz splashed Sammy for a near fall after some assistance from Ruby. Tay got back in the ring and planted Ruby with a DDT. Ortiz suplexed Sammy! Ruby rolled up Tay and pinned her!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: Ricky Starks def. QT Marshall
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Before the match began, Starks showed he had The Factory—Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto, and Cole Karter, locked in their dressing room. QT charged at Starks and they began to brawl backstage. Starks backdropped QT over the steel ring barricade. Starks superplexed QT. QT charged at Starks but Starks countered with a belly-to-belly suplex. Starks hit a DDT on QT Marshall for a near fall! Somehow the Factory got free and charged to the ring. Comoroto gave QT a watch and QT tried to deck Starks with it but Starks avoided it! Starks clocked Cole Karter with a lariat. QT rocked Starks with a Diamond Cutter for a two-count! Starks speared QT and then planted him with the roshambo, grabbing the victory in the process!
My Score: 2 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
A slightly better go-home show than this week’s Smackdown, Rampage opened strong with the final of the Rampage half of the Trios Championship – even if the outcome was never in doubt. Thought thankfully everyone involved didn’t play it that way – there were spots where you really thought Best Friends might score the win. But the right team won to match this weekend’s Trios final as epic as it could be. The mixed-gender tag match went the right way this week too and it was good to see Ortiz and Soho go over (for yes, I too am in the “sick and tired of Tay and Sammy” camp – I’ve even stopped watching his vlog). It was a shame the Fenix/Christian match didn’t go longer – it felt weird seeing Blake Christian in such a short match after his recent work on AEW’s YouTube shows. As for the main event, it was great seeing Starks beat not only QT Marshall but the entire Factory – though given what happened after the match I’m not sure Starks is in for such a winning time at All Out.
