‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (Jan 12th 2024)
It’s Monday so you know what that means, it’s time for our weekly review of AEW: Rampage! This week’s show was broadcast from the home of AEW, Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida and featured Excalibur, Jim Ross, and Tony Schiavone on commentary. Now let’s get to the review…
Match #1: Continental Crown Championship Match – Eddie Kingston def. Wheeler Yuta
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Yuta and Kingston chain wrestled at the start of the match. Yuta applied pressure to Eddie’s wrist and arm. Yuta kicked Eddie in the head, taunting him. Eddie got to his feet and smacked Yuta in the face with an open palm strike. Yuta fired back with a tope, driving Eddie into the barricade. Yuta connected with a big cross body press. Yuta charged at Kingston in the corner, but Kingston moved out of the way. Kingston used his rapid fire chops to Yuta’s chest. They brawled outside the ring. Yuta drove Kingston shoulder first into the barricade. Yuta focused his attack on Kingston’s right arm, stomping on it. Back in the ring, Wheeler Yuta dropkicked Eddie Kingston. Yuta planted Kingston shoulder first onto the mat. Yuta slapped Kingston in the face. Eddie had enough and hit Yuta with a capture suplex. Kingston followed up with an exploder suplex. Both men were hurting, and both men were down. Yuta charged at Kingston, but Kingston countered with a DDT for a near fall. Kingston blistered the chest of Yuta with more chops. They jockeyed for position on the top turnbuckle and Yuta spiked Kingston with a diving DDT. Kingston escaped the pin attempt by touching the bottom rope with his boot! Wheeler Yuta smashed Eddie with hammer and anvil elbows. Yuta applied a cross arm breaker. Yuta wrenched up on the wrist of Kingston. The champ grabbed the bottom rope to force the ref to break the hold. Yuta nailed Eddie with a German Suplex for a close near fall. Yuta climbed to the top and splashed Eddie for a two-count! Wheeler shoved the ref out of the way and booted Eddie in the face. Eddie got to his feet and cracked Yuta with a spinning back fist. Eddie blasted Yuta with a half and half suplex, followed up with a Northern Lights Bomb, and pinned Yuta!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: Swerve Strickland def. Matt Sydal
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Sydal tried to score a pin early on. Swerve answered with a back breaker, showing off his mean streak. Swerve cracked Sydal with a flying European Uppercut. Sydal took down Swerve with a rana and then a rising knee strike. Swerve came back with a back breaker once again. Sydal connected with an Air Raid Crash for a near fall. Swerve rallied back with a rolling flatliner and then a vertical suplex. Sydal dodged the Swerve Stomp. Swerve came back with a JML Driver and pinned Sydal!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #3: Hikaru Shida def. Queen Aminata
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Shida shoved at the Queen and then took her down with a shoulder tackle. Aminata slipped out of the corner and rocked Shida with a hip attack and then a running boot to the side of Shida’s head. Aminata kicked Shida in the small of the back. Shida invited Aminata to kick her and Aminata answered. Aminata tried for a running knee, but Shida intercepted it and countered with a dragon screw leg whip. Aminata headbutted Shida to the sternum and followed up with a German Suplex. Shida dazed her opponent with a short arm lariat. Shida stunned Aminata with a jumping knee. Shida spiked Aminata with a Falcon Arrow with a near fall. Shida finished off Aminata with the katana and pinned the Queen! They hugged after the match.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & John Silver) def. Angelo Parker, Matt Menard & Jake Hager
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Angelo Parker came out with the cake still on his face. Excalibur noted that Parker never kissed Harley, but Ruby didn’t see that part of the footage play out. Hager was fired up and rocked John Silver with a stiff shot. Menard tagged in and rammed Silver into the turnbuckle. Alex Reynolds grabbed a blind tag and connected with a flying uppercut to Menard. The Dark Order triple teamed Menard in the corner with a flurry of offense. Evil Uno planted Parker with a neck breaker. Uno splashed Parker with a senton from the top for a near fall. Silver booted Parker in the back of the head. The Dark Order hit the pendulum bomb on Parker but Menard broke up the pin just in time. Menard swept out the leg of Silver. Menard and Parker nailed Reynolds with a double DDT. Hager splashed Reynolds with the Hager Bomb for a near fall. Negative One pulled out Jake Hager’s hat and distracted Hager. Hager grabbed the hat out of Negative One’s hand. Silver and Reynolds rocked Hager with tandem offense as Hager had been scolding Negative One. After a jackknife, Reynolds pinned Hager!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
A really great episode of Rampage this week, with great wrestling, great storytelling and an overall feeling of cohesion. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of being at home in Daily’s Place that has brought out the best in AEW, across all its shows, this past week? If that’s the case then bring back Daily’s Place as a much more regular stop on the AEW “tour” ASAP. Oh, and make Queen Aminata “All Elite” ASAP too – she was something of a regular in the earlier years of AEW and her recent return has marked her out as an essential talent that should be added to AEW’s women’s roster on a permanent basis.
