Hey folks! Happy Fantastic Friday as another weekend is upon us! I am Lee Sanders, and after a baffling segment that backfired on Tony Khan and AEW this week on DYNAMITE involving CM PUNK, AEW is looking to rebound. That is where tonight’s AEW RAMPAGE comes into play. I hope you have all been well, as warmer weather is finally hitting us on the East Coast. Enough of that; let’s talk Rampage!

Location: West Virginia
Venue: Charlestown Colosseum
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Chris Jericho

MATCH 1: ORANGE CASSIDY VS ALEX REYNOLDS

Cassidy connects with a ddt as he looks to deliver the orange crush. Reynolds rolls out of the ring as Cassidy gives chase by hitting a dice from between the ropes to crash into Silver and Reynolds. Fighting goes outside the ring as Cassidy slugs Silver, sending him to the ground. Reynolds plants Cassidy with a big elbow strike. Silver follows up with a brain buster while the referee is distracted. Reynolds tries looking for the cover, but it’s a no-go. Cassidy was sent crashing outside the ring and onto the floor. Cassidy struggles to fight back into the match and the ring. Sunset flips for a near fall for Cassidy as we head into our first set of commercials. We are back as Silcee is stomping out Cassidy. Cassidy, with a shotgun dropkick di,ves to the outside to send Silver to the barricades. Reynolds with a boot to Cassidy in the corner, followed by a stunner as Cassidy kicks out. Cassidy is outside as he pulls a stunner on Silver while the ref is distracted. Cassidy hits Silver in the jaw with an Orange punch, followed by one inside the ring to Silver for the victory.

Winner:Orange Cassidy (10 minutes)
Rating:**
Decent opener.

Trent Beretta interrupts Cassidy’s interview with Rene Paquette post-match as he walks down to the ring. Chuck Taylor stops him, and he soon finds himself walking away from Cassidy as well. What the heck is going on here?! Elsewhere, Alex Marvez interviews Anna Jay when Koizumi interrupts to talk about how stupid Toni Storm is. It’s an unnecessary segment…

MATCH 2: OPEN HOUSE MATCH FOR TBS CHAMPIONSHIP-JULIA HART(C) VS LEYLA HIRSCH

Lockup to open this match, as the referee has to step in. Julia slugs Leyla to the mat as Leyla rebounds with a reach-around takedown. Julia heads out of the ring and clocks her in the face after Hirsch’s failed charging attempt. Julia follows up with shots to the back and a leg scissor wrap with help from the ropes. Julia’s onslaught continues with strikes to the chest and body. Julia sends Hirsch into the corner pretty hard into the middle ropes. Hirsch gets in a little offense as Julia hits an upkick. Julia leads Hirsch into an inside cradle pin from out of nowhere for the win.

Winner:Julia Hart (4 minutes)
Rating:**
Okay but felt it ended suddenly.

Don Callis Family video package shown hyping up their Collision match as Hobbs and Fletcher take on Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castanogli.

MATCH 3: ZAK KNIGHT VS ANGELO PARKER

Parker doesn’t even wait for the bell as he tries jumping on Knight. Zak is able to rebound quickly to pull off a jumping, spinning punch from off the barricades. Knight follows it up with forearm punches to the head before driving him into the announcer’s table. Parker is busted open as he heads into the ring, where the match officially is underway. Knight with a stinging shot to the midsection. Knight is squeezing Parker’s forehead area. Knight is squeezing the area where Parker is busted open like it’s a pimple! We are back from another set of commercials as Parker hits a flipping neckbreaker, followed by an elevated ddt. Harley Cameron and Saraya get on the apron as the referee ejects both of them promptly! Zak with a kick to the groin followed by a powerbomb for a near fall! Knight follows up with a head butt and a big boot. Zak gets beaten up like Ralphie in A Christmas Story after saying he’ll take good care of Ruby SoHo! Zak with a running elbow strike for the knockout blow. This one is over!

Winner:Zak Knight (8 minutes)
Rating:N/R
What a DUD.

Rocky Romero and Kyle O’Reilly are spreading pleasantries as Romero is looking to defeat Roderick Strong in an Eliminator match. Rocky is confident he’ll defeat him to go forward and take the AEW International Championship away as well. Roderick Strong overhears this and approaches Reilly to tell him he can go after any championship he wants, just not Roderick’s championship.

MATCH 4: SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE VS MATT SYDAL

White with a nice chop to Sydal as he avoids a suplex onto the canvas. White hits a disastrous suplex as Sydal lands face-first onto the ring apron as we head into our final set of commercials. We are back as Sydal hits a headlock takedown. Sydal gets back to a vertical base as Jay White chops him. Sydal counters with a kick, followed by a spinning wheel kick. Sydal follows up with a series of kicks, followed by one to the head. A cover follows up as Sydal receives a two count. Sydal takes to the top rope and misses an air assault. Sydal rebounds with with a ddt as White kicks out. Sydal misses a chop as we see a series of reversals. A few traded near falls occur as Jay gets Sydal in a sleeper suplex attempt. Sydal manages to maneuver out of the hold as White hits it again. Somehow, Sydal wiggles out of it as White tries for the blade runner. Sydal counters reversed huricarana! Sydal climbs to the top and misses the meteora as White hits him with the bladerunner for the victory.

Winner:Jay White (10 minutes)
Rating:***
Solid main event. Worth sticking around for to watch. It seems Jay White is back on his winning streak but let’s see how far it goes.

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 you all!

THE FINAL SCORE:  REVIEW

AVERAGE

A decent episode this week but I’m wondering what the story was behind Julia vs Hirsch. That match seemed as though it was starting to build up momentum when it suddenly ended. I’m probably over analyzing but it seemed as though Julia informed the referee that she maybe suffered a stinger. The Angelo Parker vs Zak Knight match did nothing for me. I’m hoping that after this week, we are done with the both of them fighting each other. That is wishful thinking though as this will likely continue. Cassidy vs Reynolds and the main event is honestly the two matches worth checking out for this week. Programming note, it appears Rampage will be on live next weekend after Collision which is a great move. The change in day and time should help out Rampage. Well that’ll so it for me folks! What did you think of RAMAPGE this week? Sound off! 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 you all!