‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (Jul 7th 2023)
It’s Monday so you know what that means, it’s time for our weekly review of AEW: Rampage! This week’s show – the 100th(!) episode – was broadcast from the Rogers Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and featured Excalibur, Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone on commentary. Now let’s get to the review…
Match #1: The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & John Silver) def. “Hangman” Adam Page & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Alex Reynolds and Nick Jackson locked up. Nick hit a shoulder tackle and Reynolds reciprocated. Alex took a shot at Hangman on the apron. Page insisted that Nick tag him in. Page did a moonsault of the ring post to Alex Reynolds on the arena floor. Matt Jackson tagged and blasted Alex with the locomotion Northern Lights suplexes. Page buckle bombed Alex Reynolds into the Elite’s corner, with the Bucks perfectly timing kicks to Reynolds’ head! The Young Bucks hit Risky Business on Reynolds for a near fall. Reynolds shoved Matt through the ropes, sending him spilling to the outside. Evil Uno grabbed a tag and stomped a mudhole in Matt in the corner. John Silver cracked Matt with a forearm. Evil Uno served up vicious right hands. Reynolds hoisted Matt up onto the ropes, but Matt fought his way out of jeopardy, diving onto Evil Uno and John Silver on the outside. He neutralized them on the floor and then made a tag to Adam Page. Page backdropped Reynolds over the top rope. Silver hit a diving cross body press, but Page caught him and countered with a fallaway slam. Page jumped off the top rope and rocked Reynolds with a diving lariat. Evil Uno connected with a big boot to Adam Page. Uno tried again but Page blocked it and walloped Evil Uno with a massive cowboy boot of his own. Page followed up with a shooting star press off the ring apron onto Evil Uno. Nick Jackson smashed Reynolds with a facebuster and then followed up with a Canadian Destroyer. Page grabbed a blind tag and wiped-out Reynolds with a lariat. Matt Jackson dropped an elbow, but Reynolds managed to kick out at two. The Young Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver on Reynolds, but Evil Uno broke up the pin attempt. Evil Uno and Adam Page tagged in for their respective teams and slugged it out. The Bucks superkicked Silver and then invited Evil Uno to a superkick party. The Young Bucks held Evil Uno so Hangman could go for the Buckshot Lariat, but Hangman hesitated. Reynolds and Silver grabbed Page’s legs from outside the ring to prevent him from jumping, but the Bucks knocked the Dark Order down with tope suicidas. Page flipped over for the Buckshot Lariat, but Evil Uno pulled the ref in front of him, using the referee as a human shield. Out of nowhere Takeshita jumped onto the ring apron. The ref turned his attention to Takeshita and while doing so, Evil Uno caught Page with a low blow. Claudio Castagnoli ran into the ring and fired off a devastating upper cut to Hangman. Evil Uno seized the opportunity and pinned Hangman Adam Page!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament Quarter-Final Match – Daniel Garcia & Sammy Guevara def. Jeff Jarrett & Matt Hardy
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Daniel Garcia taunted Matt Hardy by dancing. Hardy grabbed a side headlock and hit a shoulder tackle on Garcia. Matt Hardy catapulted Garcia into the middle rope and reluctantly tagged Jeff Jarrett. Sammy tagged in and Jarrett hip tossed him. Sammy backflipped over Jarrett and then connected with a dropkick. Sammy jumped over the top rope with a corkscrew dive and wiped-out Jay Lethal. Hardy dropped Daniel Garcia with clotheslines. Matt Hardy nailed Garcia with Splash Mountain for a near fall. Hardy tried for Twist of Fate, but Garcia escaped and tagged Sammy. The ref was distracted by Sonjay Dutt on the ring apron. Jay Lethal slid the guitar into the ring for Matt Hardy, but Hardy kicked it back out. Lethal and Hardy began to argue, and Sammy shoved Hardy from behind. Hardy inadvertently collided with Lethal. Sammy grabbed Matt and planted him with the GTH! Garcia snuck a tag and stole the pin on Hardy.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #3: Hikaru Shida def. Marina Shafir
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Marina backed Shida into the corner, but Shida fired back with a dropkick. Marina flipped Shafir with a Judo throw. Marina put Shida in a modified torture rack. Shida battered Marina with rapid fire elbow strikes. Marina dodged a missile dropkick. Shida came back with the Falcon Arrow for a near fall on Marina Shafir. Shida connected with the Katana and pinned Marina.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #4: Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament Quarter-Final Match – Big Bill & Brian Cage def. Matt Sydal & Trent Beretta
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Cage hurled Sydal into the turnbuckles. Cage used his power and steamrolled into Sydal. Trent and Big Bill tagged in for their respective teams. Trent chopped Big Bill. Trent tried for a tope suicida, but Big Bill caught him and choke slammed Trent on the ring apron! Big Bill walloped Trent with a fallaway slam on the arena floor. Trent rallied back with a DDT on “The Machine” Brian Cage. Sydal tagged in and punished Cage with a sequence of kicks. Cage tried for the Drill Claw, but Sydal reversed it with a hurracanrana for a near fall. Sydal dropped Big Bill with a double stomp off the turnbuckles. Trent followed up with a running knee strike. Cage caught Sydal and Trent off guard with a double lariat. Outside the ring Trent speared Brian Cage! Matt Sydal jumped off the barricade and crushed Big Bill with a meteora! On opposite sides of the ring, Sydal and Trent jumped off the turnbuckles at their opponents. Cage caught Matt and Big Bill intercepted Trent. Sydal ducked a charge from Cage and Big Bill, causing them to collide. Trent grabbed Big Bill and sent him flying overhead with the half and half suplex. Cage followed up with a discus lariat to Trent. But Sydal ducked the discus from Cage. Sydal clocked Cage with a jumping knee strike. Sydal went for the meteora, but Cage caught him and powerbombed him onto the turnbuckles. Cage positioned Sydal onto the turnbuckles, but Trent jumped up there and German Suplexed Cage! Trent spiked Cage with a piledriver! Matt landed the meteroa, but Cage managed to kick out at two! Trent and Matt hit double thrust kicks on Big Bill, but the monster roared back with double lariats! Big Bill choke slammed Trent! Cage lifted up Sydal for a powerbomb and Big Bill put an exclamation point on the sentence with a lariat, the momentum causing Sydal to hit the mat with even more force! Cage pinned Sydal.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
This was, frankly, a dull episode of Rampage this week. For me, all these tournaments in AEW have left something lacking from their television output. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t care less about a random tag tournament and on top of that the Owen Hart Tournament, as we’ve clearly seen over the last year, means absolutely NOTHING in the entirety of AEW. In fact, until recently I don’t think I’d seen Britt Baker with the tournament belt at all. The only interesting thing about this week’s show was the opening match and the ongoing Hangman Page / Dark Order storyline, which probably means very little to people who haven’t watched BTE for the past few years! Can’t believe how bad this week’s show was compared to last Fridays!
