Sanders’ AEW Rampage Review 10.13.23
Happy Friday the 13th Friends! Lee Sanders back with you all for a new edition of AEW RAMPAGE! Tonight’s card sees Blackpool Combat Club’s (Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs Gates of Agony. Meanwhile, Daniel Garcia, Daddy Magic & Cool Hand Ang vs The Hardys & Brother Zay. Elsewhere, Skye Blue vs Emi Sakura. Finally, Jay Lethal vs Trent Beretta.
Before going any further, appreciate those of you who wished me and the wife a speedy recovery after we were hit hard with COVID. Happy to say we are both fully recovered and in the clear. It’s been a slow grind for me getting back to normal, especially with my vocals for the shows but all in good time. On that note, let’s rock it!
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Paul Wight
Venue: Cable Dahmer Arena
Location: Independence, MO
MATCH 1: DANIEL GARCIA, DADDY MAGIC & COOL HAND ANG VS THE HARDYS & BROTHER ZAY
Garcia and Brother Zay start things off with a lockup. Zay with nice wrist-lock control as Garcia uses the ropes to break free. A couple of waist-lock exchanges as Zay catches Garcia with a dropkick before tagging in Matt Hardy. Matt Hardy with an elbow from the middle ropes as Jeff is tagged and delivers a dividing splash for a two count. Great synchronicity at play from the trio of babyfaces before Parker is tagged. Zay is isolated by Garcia, Menard, and Ang briefly before Matt Hardy is tagged once again. Matt Hardy powerbombs Ang from out of the corner for a near fall as Garcia is tagged. Garcia is about to start dancing when Menard interrupts him. Menard is furious with him for showboating as Jeff and Zay get the jump on all three of them to send them regrouping outside the ring. We are back as Jeff is tagged and delivers a series of clotheslines to Angelo Parker. It’s followed by a dropkick as Menard breaks up the pin attempt. Garcia comes from behind Zay and suplexes him as Jeff plants him with an inverted suplex. Parker connects with a running bulldog on Jeff as Matt Hardy catches Parker with the side effect takedown! Zay tagged in as he Matt connect with some beautiful poetry in motion on Parker. Matt Hardy follows up with the twist of fate as Jeff tries for the Stanton bomb but misses! Looks like Jeff missed as a result of Jake Hager hitting the ropes to force Jeff to land on his groin. Matt Hardy delivers a baseball sliding dropkick to Hager to setup another poetry in motion over the top rope! Zay crashes into Hager and Menard big time! Garcia jumps Matt from behind and sends him out the ring. Garcia clotheslines Zay and follows with a big ddt to pick up the win.
Winner:Team formerly known as JAS (11 minutes)
Rating:**
Decent opener.
Post match Menard is not happy with the victory as he feels Garcia’s showboating is not necessary to get the job done.
Footage is shown of Penta trying to give an update on his brother Fenix. Sadly it’s interrupted as Bullet Club Gold comes to the scene. They poke fun at the fact that Penta and Fenix don’t have any gold as Penta extends a challenge to face any one of them in a match. Meanwhile, Rene is with Garcia, Menard, Hager, and Parker. They are happy with the win as the team tries to tell Menard to calm down and let the anger go with Daniel’s dancing. Menard is furious at the idea as he storms off and tells them to squash it to end this segment as we move on to our next match.
MATCH 2: TRENT BERETTA VS JAY LETHAL
Lethal gets the jump on Beretta as he’s stomping on his face in the corner via his boot. Lethal spends time to talk trash into the hard camera to remind Eddie Kingston how he’s coming for the ROH World title. This gives Trent an opportunity to rebound and hit Lethal with a few chops and grounds Lethal momentarily. Beretta sent face first into the turnbuckle, followed by a scoop slam. Lethal looking for the figure four leg lock as Trent counters it with a roll-in through. Trent follows up with a huricarana to go for a cover as Lethal kicks out. Jeff Jarrett jumps on the ropes to cause a distraction as the referee tells him to get down. Beretta tried running at full speed at Lethal but misses him big time as he crashes into the ropes! Action spills outside where Beretta no-sells a move by Lethal only to come back and spear Lethal. Lethal comes back and grabs onto the leg of Trent and rams it into the steel post as we head into a set of ad breaks. We are back as Lethal is tossed back in the ring. Beretta with a backslide pin attempt that gets a near fall. Trent follows up with a German suplex. It stuns Lethal who tried going for the lethal injection but gets a half & half by Beretta to setup another near fall. Lethal applies the figure four lock! Team Jarrett looks on as Lethal superkicks Trent in the face. Lethal tries for a rolling elbow but it’s interrupted by a running knee to the face by Trent! A swing and miss by Trent as Lethal kicks him in the back ankle. Lethal injection follows to pickup the victory!
Winner:Jay Lethal (8 minutes)
Rating:**
Lethal building momentum for his dance with Eddie Kingston. Pretty decent match. This could be way more entertaining if Jay Lethal is allowed to amplify things with his promos. I’m about ready to see a Jay Lethal flipping his lid at the thought of Kingston being the ROH Champion. Maybe a Royal Jay Lethal. All hail King Lethal! All hail King Lethal! All hail King Lethal!
Mike Santana and Ortiz follow up with one another after all the weeks of back and fourth trash talking. Put these two in the ring already.
MATCH 3: EMI SAKURA VS SKYE BLUE
Skye with a chop to the chest of Emi as the veteran comes back with some heavy handed chops of her own. Sakura dumping Skye onto the outside. Sakura with a running crossbody on Skye who’s sitting in front of some steel steps. Back inside the ring now as Emi tries looking for a stretch & bow submission hold that turns into the surfboard special. Skye is bent silly from the hold! Emi with another series of hard chops as she runs into a big elbow and kick to the face. Skye follows up with a ddt as Sakura kicks out. Skye trying for skyefall as Emi scouted it and counters with a delayed and inverted backbreaker! It’s a near fall for the efforts as Emi gets rocked by a superkick, followed by the code blue for the victory!
Winner:Skye Blue (4 minutes)
Rating:**
Skye looked great against the veteran in Sakura this week. No complaints on this one folks. Just the right amount of time and execution. More Skye Blue please!
Excalibur gives a rundown for Collision and next weeks DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE as it’s time for our main event!
MATCH 4: GATES OF AGONY VS WHEELER YUTA & CLAUDIO CASTANOGLI
Bishop Khan and Yuta open things up as Yuta gets in a deep hammerlock in before Khan reverses it with a headlock. Yuta transitions out of it as both men come to a vertical base for a stalemate. Lockup again as the two exchange slaps. Yuta with a senton after a scoopslam for a quick kickout as Claudio is tagged. Claudio tries going for the big swing when Khan goes for the ropes for the break. Yuta tagged as Toa slaps the heck out of Yuta’s back as Khan capitalizes! Referee tries to have Claudio go back in his corner when Toa comes in with a devastating strike on Yuta to setup our last set of commercial breaks. Our main event continues as Gates of Agony dominated Yuta doing the commercial break. Yuta is able to get in a German suplex on Khan. Claudio is able to get the tag as he comes in with uppercuts and lariats on Toa. Cover attempt made as Toa kicks out at the count of one! Claudio with an uppercut as Khan made the blind tag to setup Claudia for a double knee buster to the stomach! Claudio tags in Yuta as they go for the giant swing/dropkick combo. Toa breaks up the pin as Prince Nana tries getting in the ring. Claudio chases him off as Khan gets in a double hook face buster on Yuta for the near fall. Yuta is delivering chops left and right on Gates of Agony but they set him up for a double chokeslam. Somehow Yuta is still in this one. Claudio comes in as Khan eats an uppercut as Toa is sent to the outside. Claudio sets up Yuta for the fastball special to secure the win.
Winner:Claudio and Yuta (11 minutes)
Rating:***
Balls to the walls gutsy performance by Yuta. This tag match was an outright classic slobberknocker. Great stuff!
End of Show
For more great talk of all things wrestling and beyond, be sure to follow me on Twitter @THERCWRSHOW and check me out on YouTube.com/thercwrshow Enjoy the weekend y’all!
THE FINAL SCORE: REVIEW
VERY GOOD
Now, let’s talk about the overall rating for this week so people can understand it better. If you looked at my score card, this was really a one-match show honestly. Some weeks are like that and that’s okay. Was the matches on this episode awful or bad? No, not by any stretch but it was average, slightly below average for my taste at best. What really helped carry the matches for this week was the built-in storylines already in development for a few weeks now. From JAS trying to pick up the pieces after abandoning Chris Jericho, and Menard picking on Garcia. From the continuation of Santana and Ortiz beefing with one another to Skye Blue continuing to showcase her solid in-ring ability and tie-in with Julia Hart. Hopefully Skye isn’t going the heel route anytime soon as it’s not needed. I’m more interested in a mean streak from coming out of the young girl personally. Claudio and Yuta continue finding their groove and synergy as a tag team while Moxley is out of action for now. There was a lot that was going on from a positive standpoint. Honestly I wish some of the matches would’ve lasted longer as I felt cheated. That’s my biggest gripe this week but it’s all good. Tony Khan! More Gates of Agony please. Love that tag team as we also need more of Prince Nana finding an excuse to dance. I can’t go any higher than an 8 out of 10 and I won’t go any lower. Also, Paul Wight did good on commentary this week as it was a welcomed addition. Sound off 411MANAICS and let me know what you thought about this edition of RAMPAGE! By the way, how about that trailer for the new Iron Claw movie? For more great talk of all things wrestling and beyond, be sure to follow me on Twitter @THERCWRSHOW and check me out on YouTube.com/thercwrshow Enjoy the weekend y’all!