AEW RAMPAGE HITS & MISSES 10/7: Strong main event, Eddie Kingston misses with promo, more

Blackpool Combat Club (Moxley, Castagnoli, and Yuta) defeated Los Faccion Ingobernable: HIT

Very good opening contesting featuring the world champion. On a typical episode of Rampage, I would want this to be the main event, but I’m fine with it in the opening slot tonight.

The commentary banter between Jericho and Regal is mostly fun, but sometimes they get a little too cute and undercut their own feud.

Death Triangle – Dark Order Video Package: HIT

Nice way to make your main event feel relevant. Yes, the Mark Henry interviews are good, but they are often limited by the skill (and self-regulation abilities) of the talents.

For what it’s worth, 10 doesn’t come across like a compelling speaker. He’s got a very relaxed tenor, similar to Sting, except it’s not “relaxed and menacing” like Samoa Joe. However, I thought the pizzazz of the video helped cover his weakness. It also probably also makes sense for him to sound humble while reflecting on Brodie Lee.

Tony Nese and Josh Woods defeated the Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr.): IT HAPPENED

Very quick squash. A tag team that mostly loses on TV beat a tag team that barely even appears on television anymore.

Arn Anderson was shown watching backstage and shaking his head. Why? Because shame on us for not watching Dark, that’s why.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Brian Pillman Jr. main-evented a Rampage. He beat Max Caster in a singles match. Feels like a generation ago.

Post-Match: HIT

After the match, Mark Sterling started cutting an annoying promo and was interrupted by the Acclaimed, who rapped, cleared the ring, and scissored.

This was good for what it was, but I wonder how long Acclaimed can get away with feuding against extremely below-par tag teams. I suppose it’s fine as a minor feud while their rivalry with Strickland and Lee simmers in the background.

Eddie Kingston Video Promo: MISS

This was a short segment with Eddie sarcastically apologizing for going too hard on Sammy Guevara at Grand Slam, then complaining about the lack of time he has compared to MJF.

Not Eddie’s best work, to say the least. I don’t like it when a plethora of wrestlers (especially babyfaces) complain about time cues on television. It’s very bush-league. Save those comments for a podcast or social media. That being said, it is a little weird how the guy who got beat up at Grand Slam (Sammy) has been back wrestling without a scratch on him, while Kingston hasn’t appeared since. You can argue that the AEW higher ups are punishing him in storyline, but I’d much rather they formally announce a suspension then film skits of Eddie lurking around menacingly near the arena or buying a ticket to stalk Guevara.

Tay Jay AS defeated Skye Blue and Madison Rayne: NARROW MISS

The only time in Anna Jay’s career where I felt she was believable was as a heel enforcer of Dark Order. Everything else, from her babyface run to her current heel run, has felt really contrived.

Meanwhile, although Tay performs better than Anna as an obnoxious heel, her mannerisms are sometimes needlessly exaggerated.

Anyway, all four wrestlers worked hard here, but the match just didn’t really click for me. I’m not invested in the heel characters, I don’t know who Skye Blue is, and I continue to be unimpressed with Madison Rayne’s television matches. A lengthy commercial break doesn’t help either.

Main Event Promo: MINOR HIT

Dark Order were pretty serious here. John Silver seemed to be struggling to avoid trying to make a wise crack and instead relied on subtle non-verbals to convey “Hey! I’m still the Johnny Hungee you love!” Death Triangle did a lot more of the talking and will probably be playing the role of heel on this Brodie Lee anniversary show. Decent job all round.

Cool, now let’s all hope they get straight to the main event without any unrelated content sandwiched in between…

Swerve Strickland Backstage Promo: HIT

*Sigh* Come on, AEW. Why? Why can’t you air this BEFORE the Main Event Promo? Why must you derail any momentum built from the main event promo with something completely unrelated to the main event?

Anyway, show formatting aside, this was an effective promo from Strickland to build up his match against Billy Gunn on Dynamite next week. I still think Billy Gunn does more harm than good to the people he wrestles in AEW, and I am not looking forward to the match, but it was a good promo nonetheless.

Death Triangle (Pac, Rey Fenix, and Penta El-Zero) defeated Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds, and 10) to retain the AEW Trios Titles: HIT

Excellent, long main event. Sure, the Rush and overt heel action/turn by Pac interference felt unnecessary (and is actually counterproductive going into Battle of the Belts), but I still enjoyed this. Having Dark Order pick up the victory here would have been a nice moment, but you can’t just make that impulse decision and derail Death Triangle’s momentum. Yes, Death Triangle have barely been on TV since they won the belts, but they were brought in to fill the Elite’s shoes and deserve more than to lose the titles just for “a moment.”

Backstage issues notwithstanding, I much prefer having gotten this match than a Mask vs. Career match with poor build.

Commentary: MINOR HIT

Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Chris Jericho tonight. They were okay.

Overall Show: HIT

Best episode of Rampage in a while. The opener and main event were excellent, though the middle of the card was pretty skippable.

Wade Keller had some legitimate criticisms of the layout of AEW’s anniversary show last Wednesday (despite it being a good show on its own). I have similar feelings about the Brodie Lee’s Last Match anniversary show tonight. Yes, Dark Order got to shine in a long main event, but would it have hurt to slip in a Brodie Lee memorial video package in there? Something more than the passing references made in the Death Triangle – Dark Order video package early in the show. How about a large Brodie Lee banner somewhere in the arena?

Truth be told, I’m a bit worried about Battle of the Belts. It doesn’t look like a promising card, and I am not invested in any of the stories going in.

CATCH-UP: 10/7 AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT: BCC vs. Rush & Private Party, Trios title match, more