Since the All Out PPV, the quality of AEW shows has dropped below the usual high standard that the promotion have set themselves. This episode of Rampage looked to break that pattern as the company head in to their biggest Dynamite ever next week.
GOOD: Rampage opened with the Lucha Brothers defending their tag team championships against the Butcher and The Blade. The heel duo did a fantastic job at performing their roles during the match, and as you would expect the Lucha Bros got a phenomenal reaction off the fans, based on just their unique moves alone. During the encounter The Butcher tied Penta’s mask to the rope, in what was a very unique and original spot. In the end penta removed his mask and covered his face in order to help his brother get the victory.
RESULT: Lucha Bros win via pinfall
Ben Allison WR Star Rating = 3.5 Stars
GOOD: After the match Private Party began attacking the Lucha Bros, before Santana & Ortiz made the save.
GREAT: Ahead of their match next week at Dynamite Grand Slam, AEW aired a promo package hyping up the match between Kenny Omega and Daniel Bryan.
AVERAGE: Anna Jay then took on her long time rival, The Bunny, in a fairly entertaining matchup, however one which was nothing special. The biggest issue with the encounter was the fact that The Bunny was working on the wrong shoulder of Anna Jay for a lot of the match, with the commentary team continuously claiming it was the injured one even though the tape on the other shoulder made it obvious it wasn’t.
SATISFACTORY: After the match The Bunny and Penelope Ford took out Tay Conti and Anna Jay. I don’t understand why every match involving the Hardy Family office has to have shenanigans after it, and with this being the second consecutive match with the same thing happening, the crowd didn’t remotely care.
GOOD: Ahead of Grand Slam next week, a promo package aired highlighting Powerhouse Hobbs attack on CM Punk on this past weeks Dynamite.
GREAT: After the break, Matt Hardy cut a promo on the fact that the Hardy Family Office had lost both matches this week. He announced that next week they will face the Lucha Bros and Santana & Ortiz in an 8 man tag team match, while Penelope Ford will take on Anna Jay. Hardy then looked into the crowd and saw an Orange Cassidy ‘look alike’, who he and Jack Evan’s took into the ring and shaved the head of, before Orange Cassidy made the save….a little too late. This is seemingly building to Orange Cassidy vs Matt Hardy in a hair vs hair match.
MUST WATCH: Britt Baker and Ruby Soho had a face to face ahead of their championship match next Wednesday on Dynamite. There was something refreshing about this segment, possibly the fact that it was just the two women in the ring alone showing shots at each other, and damn each shot hit harder than the last. Before this segment I’m uncertain how many people actually cared about Soho vs Baker outside of the fact that it would be her first match in AEW, however after the segment, you can’t help but feel invested. Did it’s job fantastically.
GOOD: Ahead of their main event clash, Mark Henry interviewed both Fuego and Miro. This created some level of excitement for the main event.
AVERAGE: In the main event Miro defeated Fuego in what was pretty much for a prolonged squash match. Fuego did get some offence in, however Miro stood tall in the end.
RESULT: Miro wins via pinfall
Ben Allison’s WR Star Rating = 3 Stars
GOOD: To end this show Miro continued attacking Fuego before Sammy Guevara made the save.
Show theme & presentation: 7/10
Watchability: 8/10
Storyline progression: 8/10
Crowd reaction: 6/10
Production: 7/10
