Good Friday ya’ll! Lee Sanders here and it’s that time once again for an all-new AEW RAMPAGE! AEW ALL OUT is right around the corner as tonight’s show has some promising matchups. On a side note, I want to thank my 411MANIA family and you the readers, followers, and fans as last week I celebrated my 1-Year anniversary working for 411MANIA and covering RAMPAGE. It’s amazing how time flies as in-between there’s been loads of fun action and interactions. Here’s to another year as on that note, let’s talk RAMPAGE!

Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Chris Jericho

MATCH 1: TRIOS TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS-HOUSE OF BLACK VS JOHN SILVER, 10, ALEX REYNOLDS

No entrances happen for the opening as our participants are already in the ring. Brody King and 10 lock up for a bit that’s mostly a stalemate as John Silver and Buddy Matthews get tagged in and go at it briefly before Malikai Black and John Silver are tagged in respectfully. We see a bit of shoving from both men as all participants enter the ring and it’s an all-out brawl as we go into our first set of ad breaks. Action has only been on for five minutes though! Come on man!

Editor’s Note: Due to laptop freezing, a reboot was needed and as result original commentary was lost but the match was watched in its entirety.

Winners:Dark Order (12:00)
Rating: ***
Thanks to an assist from Miro who caused somewhat a distraction, House of Black is handed its first lost as Alex Reynolds got a rollup on Black for the victory. Miro made quick work of Matthews and King as he locks eyes with Black. Brody and Matthews jump him from behind and toss him in the ring where it’s a 3-on-1 beatdown. But wait! Help is here as Darby Allin and Sting walk down urgently to the ring as House of Black quickly makes their exit.

HOOK is interviewed backstage to give his thoughts about what Daddy Magic has to say about him and his FTW Championship. HOOK says he doesn’t care as he walks off. He walks off as Daddy Magic and Cool Hand appear demanding to get a piece of the title.

MATCH 2: TNT CHAMPIONSHIP-RYAN NEMETH VS WARDLOW(C)

Wardlow delivers a headbutt to the head of Ryan after he proclaimed over and over how Wardlow isn’t worthy or deserving of being a champion. Wardlow follows it up with a delayed overhead strike before finally delivering four powerbombs to the man to end this one as Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Sighn, and Jay Lethal look on from the ramp.

Winner:Wardlow (1:00)
Rating: NR
Squash, Squash, Squash but at least Wardlow is looking great going into ALL OUT. Hey AEW! We need more Wardlow on TV please!

Backstage now as Andrade tells Private Party that everything has consequences as he’s not pleased the the duo and lack of weight they haven’t been carrying as of late. Seems this alliance is about to disband.

MATCH 3: ASHTON DAY VS POWERHOUSE HOBBS)

Hobbs clotheslines the living Hell out of Ashton! The move is followed up by choking the man in the corner, and a shoulder tackle. One nasty spinebuster follows to end this one as man was this even 30 seconds?

Winner:Powerhouse Hobbs (25 Seconds)
Rating: NR
Another squash but hey you’ve got to make Hobbs look good going into the PPV and create that narrative of the babyface in Ricky Starks coming for him to cash that receipt!

QT Marshall appears on the titantron as he and his Factory stable have Ricky Starks, who’s been beaten up badly. QT tells Hobbs his word is his bound as he knocks out Starks with his fist that’s wrapped around a watch.

We go to Lexi who’s trying to interview Jade Cargill. Leila Gray tries to speak as Jade cuts her off and wants to know what has Lexi done for her lately? Jade tells Kiera to take out the trash and waves off Lexi to leave. Jade tells Athena she’ll see her ass at ALL OUT and that if she wants some, come get some. Athena appears from out of nowhere as the two are brawling as we sadly cut away to our next match.

MATCH 4: RUBY SOHO & ORTIZ VS TAY CONTI & SAMMY GUVERRA

The women kick things off to a nice start before Ortiz and Sammy become the legal men. Sammy pushes Ortiz into the ropes as Tay grabs on him. Ortiz tries to shake her off as Sammy delivers a high knee to the back / face of Ortiz to lay him out as we head into another commercial break. We’re back as Ruby gets a hot tag and goes for a double leg takedown on Tay. It’s followed by a kick to the face and a back overhead suplex. Ruby delivers a running boot to the face to get a near fall. Ruby tosses her in the corner and sets Tay up on the top rope. Sammy comes from behind Ruby, trying to shake her legs off the ropes. Ruby jumps on his shoulders and delivers a posionrana as Tay delivers a crossbody on her for a near fall. Ruby now with a jawbreaker to Tay as Sammy comes in stopping her next attack. Great sequence goes down as Ruby swings, and misses Sammy as Ortiz comes in at the same time spearing Sammy. Meanwhile at the same time Tay delivers a punch to Ruby that lays her out, and follows up with a pump kick to Ortiz. Ruby comes back with a knee strike and No Future to setup a cover. Sammy denies Ruby the pinfall as she tags in Ortiz. Like a pitbull, Ortiz is on top of Sammy as Anna Jay attacks Ruby from behind and throws her into the steel steps while the referee wasn’t looking. By the time Ortiz realizes what’s happened, somehow he doesn’t see Sammy coming from mid-air from the top turnbuckle as Sammy delivers a cutter to end this one.

Winners:Tay & Sammy (11:00)
Rating: **
Gotta say if and I mean “IF” AEW were to create a tag intergender championship (oh and you know it’s coming), Sammy and Tay would do just fine as the inaugural champions. For an intergender match this was fairly decent and it puts a smile on my face to see Ruby on my TV again. Ortiz feels so different without Santana. It’s like Daryl Hall without John Oates, just not the same. I still can’t get behind a singles run for Ortiz. Here’s to hoping he and Santana can squash whatever is happening behind the scenes because I miss the hell out of them as a tag team.

Exclusive footage from after CM Punk lost to Jon Moxley is shown. It’s worth checking out as if it becomes available I’ll post it below. Punk talks about how his leg feels like he couldn’t put any weight on it and that it just gave out. When he originally broke it he didn’t feel a thing. Far as CM Punk is concerned he’s not sure what it all means.

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MATCH 5: ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP-DUSTIN RHODES VS CLAUDIO CASTANOGLI(C)

We begin with a lockup as William Regal calls Caprice Coleman a lovely pudding treat he wants to smoother in custard–OH MY that’s funny! Meanwhile in the ring, Claudio goes into the ropes as Dustin gets a rollup for a near fall, followed up with an arm drag as we’re at a stalemate. Great offense from both men so far as Claudio gets a wrap-around lock on Dustin, followed by a sidelock-takedown. Dustin pushes Claudio into the ropes as Claudio tackles him. Dustin’s head hits the canvas on his way down as he rolls out the ring to regroup. Dustin tries leaping off the ropes to get Claudio in a rollup pin but it backfires as Claudio delivers an uppercut, followed by a toss into the ring post. We’re back from a commercial break as Claudio is wrenching onto the neck of Dustin. Dustin manages to pick up Claudio and deliver a body slam to release the hold. Claudio follows up with a forearm strike as Dustin comes back with a strike of his own. Dustin connects with a series of short arm lariats as he ultimately sends Claudio to the outside. Rhodes delivers a cannonball to the champion outside the ring before tossing him back inside. Dustin now with a boot followed by a hurricanna off the middle rope. Dustin delivers a code red for a near fall. Both men appear to be exhausted as Claudio catches Dustin in-between the ropes and delivers a clothesline for a near fall. Claudio calls for his trademark swing as he connects on about five swings for a two count. Claudio applies pressure to the neck of Dustin by applying a crossface. Dustin reverses it with a pin attempt as Claudio kicks out in time. Dustin manages to apply a powerbomb for a two count. Claudio sends Dustin into the ropes as Claudio tried to leapfrog over him and his groin somehow gets caught up on Dustin’s head as it appeared to be an unintentional low blow. Referee allows the match to continue despite Arn Anderson’s verbal hot takes calling for Dustin to be the winner, as Claudio lands an uppercut to silence Dustin Rhodes to retain the championship.

Winners:Claudio (12:00)
Rating: ***
Weird setup to the finish I have to say as you wonder if that was truly unintentional or if we’re maybe setting up a rematch between the two at the upcoming PPV. I’m not going to read too much into it for now but that was such a weird go-home to the finish. Let’s be honest, you never felt Claudio’s reign as champion was in jeopardy. The real story was how believable was it going to come off that Claudio could possibly lose it here. It was okay but I was more impressed with how well Dustin was able to hang. Old Goldust can still deliver a classic match here and there and he gelled well with Claudio tonight. To the point, I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch.

End of Show

THE FINAL SCORE:  REVIEW

GOOD

An improvement from last week as I felt all things considered, last weeks’ RAMPAGE was a letdown. Especially being that it was officially the anniversary show. It was very uneventful. This episode was not over the moon and back a hands down can’t miss episode but had more quality compared to last week. This episode was okay but not by much in all honesty. I’m not a fan of seeing another RAMPAGE where we have not one but two matches that’s back-to-back squashes. We need to break that up as if I can notice that then there’s no telling who else is noticing it as well. I was at a 7.5 out of 10 but they lost a whole half of a point because of having House of Black lose. Myself and many of you had them winning the Trios tournament or at least be the team that could go all the way. Also, a commercial break or PIP break during a World Title match…Yeah not a fan of that at all. This episode did good from the aspect of what DYNAMITE did in setting up AEW ALL OUT as this RAMPAGE continued adding on. The CM Punk exclusive footage intrigues me and has me asking myself if what Punk experienced was a mental hiccup and that his ankle is fine. If so then that could this be how we get a rematch between him and Moxley at the PPV. What do you all think? 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 y’all!