‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (Jun 16th 2023)
It’s Monday so you know what that means, it’s time for our weekly review of AEW: Rampage! This week’s show features Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho and Jim Ross on commentary once again. Now let’s get to the review…
Match #1: United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Will Ospreay) def. CHAOS (Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Fletcher knocked down Trent with a shoulder tackle. Trent retaliated with double knees to Fletcher. Ospreay and Rocky tagged in for their respective teams. Will rocked Romero with European Uppercuts and chops. Jeff Cobb tagged in and Trent and Chuck double teamed Cobb with shoulder blocks. Trent wiped out Cobb and Fletcher on the outside with a moonsault. Will and Rocky exchanged uppercuts in the ring. Chuck tagged in and stomped a mudhole in Will Ospreay. Will fired back with a corkscrew dropkick. Trent tossed Fletcher around with multiple suplexes. Fletcher put on the brakes and blasted Trent with a brainbuster! Rocky and Trent used tandem offense, hitting Kyle with running knees. Cobb came in and clobbered CHAOS with his strength and stature. Jeff Cobb threw Rocky with an overhead suplex. Ospreay nailed Rocky with a diving elbow strike. Will was looking for the Hidden Blade but Rocky countered with a backslide for a near fall. Fletcher spiked Rocky with the Tombstone Piledriver. Ospreay followed up with the Hidden Blade, striking Rocky in the back of the head, and then pinned him!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #2: Taya Valkyrie def. Trish Adora
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Taya cracked Trish with overhand chops. Taya charged at Trish and smashed her with double knees in the corner. Taya ran in with a sliding German Suplex. Trish rallied back and battered Taya with clubbing blows. Taya speared Trish. Taya curb stomped Trish and pinned her.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #3: Aubrey Edwards, Mark Briscoe & Papa Briscoe def. Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett & Karen Jarrett
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Mark took down Lethal with a side headlock. Mark followed up with a shoulder tackle. Jeff Jarrett tagged in, and Mark chopped at Double J. Karen Jarrett tagged in, and Aubrey Edwards jumped in. Karen retreated and tagged out to Lethal. Papa Briscoe and Mark Briscoe used shoulder tackles on Lethal. Sonjay distracted Mark and Jay Lethal took advantage, knocking Mark off the apron and onto the arena floor. The opposition took turns working over Mark. Papa Briscoe tagged in and ran over Jay Lethal like a truck. Papa Briscoe speared Jeff Jarrett. Aubrey tagged in and she grounded and pounded Karen Jarrett. Karen gouged Aubrey’s eyes. Karen grabbed the guitar, but she dropped it in the struggle. Aubrey picked up the guitar. Jay Lethal begged Aubrey to hit him, knowing full well that Aubrey would be disqualified if she did. Satnam Singh jumped on the apron. Ref Paul Turner turned around to stop Satnam’s interference, and as Turner had his back turned, Aubrey smashed the guitar over Lethal’s head! Karen Jarrett jumped back into the fray and tried to put the Stroke on Aubrey. Aubrey countered with the figure four leglock. Karen Jarrett quickly tapped out!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Konosuke Takeshita def. Bandido
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Takeshita tossed Bandido with a fireman’s carry. Bandido avoided the PowerDrive Knee. Takeshita punished Bandido outside the ring. Back in the ring, Bandido escaped a suplex and countered with a delayed vertical suplex of his own. Bandido used a diving hurracanrana off the apron, turning the tide on Takeshita. Don Callis left the broadcast booth and inched toward the ring. Bandido attempted a springboard, but Takeshita countered by driving Bandido into his knee. Bandido rallied back with a DDT! Bandido connected with a moonsault to Takeshita on the floor, risking it all! Takeshita fired back with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall on Bandido. Bandido press slammed Takeshita. Bandido followed up with a frog splash for a near fall on Takeshita. Takeshita bit Bandido and then leveled Bandido with a lariat off the top rope! Bandido countered the PowerDrive knee with a GTH! Bandido went off the ropes for the 21-Plex, but Takeshita landed on his feet! Takeshita hurled Bandido with a German Suplex, but this time Bandido landed on his feet. Bandido spiked Takeshita with a hurracanrana for a near fall. Takeshita fought back with a jumping knee. Takeshita rocked Bandido with a brutal blindside strike. He finished Bandido off with the PowerDrive knee, and then he pinned Bandido.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
What a great episode of Rampage this week! OK, so the Briscoe/Jarrett mixed tag match wasn’t for everyone and it was clearly choreographed LOT but it was, honestly, fun to see Aubrey kick some ass, even though she’s not a wrestler. As if to make up for that we got a cracking trios match to open the show, with Chuck Taylor and Trent Baretta taking things a lot more seriously than they have in a lot of their AEW matches recently. Will Ospreay was a badass throughout this match and it was clearly with purpose – to sell his match with Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door 2. But, truth be told, that great match was put to shame by the tremendous main event. I’ve always been hot for Takeshita but dear god, in the space of a couple of weeks, since joining up with Don Callis, Takeshita has taken things to the next level. And having the ever-awesome Bandido as his opponent was an inspired choice. If having a THIRD television show from AEW results in the rest of the product being elevated like this then I’m all for it!
