Reviews

The John Report: AEW Rampage 10/21/22 Review

By John Canton • Published 22nd October 2022
aew rampage oct 21

This week’s AEW Rampage featured The Acclaimed defending the Tag Team Titles while Orange Cassidy put the All-Atlantic Title on the line as well.

From now on, I’m going to go summary style for the Rampage reviews like I do my WWE NXT review. The show gets the least response out of anything I write and frankly it gets tiresome writing play-by-play. I’ll probably go play-by-play for the main event.

This is AEW Rampage from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Check out the AEW PPV listing archive only on TJRWrestling as well. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport.

It’s Friday night and you know what that means. Jim Ross was on commentary with Excalibur and Tony Schiavone. This was a live show.

Yo. Listen. Yo. Listen. The Acclaimed made their entrance with Max Caster doing a rap bragging about winning the ratings on Tuesday. Anthony Bowens did his bit to cheers, but “Smart” Mark Sterling did a promo telling his guys to “scissor me” since he owns the trademark, but The Acclaimed knocked the heels out of the ring.

AEW Tag Team Championships: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) (w/Billy Gunn) vs. Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese & Josh Woods) (w/Smart Mark Sterling)

Jim Ross just said that “this match is no joke” about a match where the phrase “scissor me” trademark is on the line. He must be paid well. Nese and Woods did the “scissor” thing to boos. Caster was in control of Woods early on, but then Woods sent Caster into the top rope leading to a bump to the floor. Gunn went into the ring to chase after Woods, so the referee sent Gunn to the back. The announcers had to try to tell us that the champions might lose. Good effort.

(Commercial)

Bowens got a tag and hit some cool moves including a leg drop to the head of Nese for a two count. Woods hit Caster with a slam off the shoulder into his knee, so like a GTS but different. Woods hit a rising knee on Bowens, Nese tagged in and Woods/Nese botched their double team belly to back/neckbreaker badly so it looked lame. Caster broke up the pin knocking Woods onto Nese, but I think that was missed too. All four guys were in the ring doing spots, then Bowens hit Nese with a knee and a superkick on Woods. Bowens with The Arrival slam leading to Caster tagging in with the Mic Drop elbow off the top for the pinfall win.

Winners by pinfall: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens)

Analysis: **1/2 It was just an average match with the heels having no shot to win. There were some obvious mistakes in the match. The trademark storyline was so lame to begin with. All it led to was this average match where The Acclaimed beat a team that only gets a reaction because of their ridiculous manager.

Post match, “Smart” Mark Sterling said that the trademark doesn’t just change hands because of the match. Gunn tossed Sterling into the ring. Bowens and Caster stomped on Sterling’s groin repeatedly. Bowens hit a leg drop onto the groin. Gunn ripped up the trademark.

Analysis: It worked as a post match angle to pop the crowd. I like The Acclaimed too, so I’m glad they get pushed as popular champions.

Jade Cargill was interviewed earlier in the day telling Tony Schiavone to “cut the shit.” Cargill ranted about wanting to get her TBS Title back.

(Commercial)

There was a backstage interview with Eddie Kingston & Ortiz standing opposite the Lucha Brothers. Ortiz said that he got them all together because they care about Eddie. They were all Eddie’s friends telling him not to lose his temper and lose a job. Pac walked in, then Eddie wasn’t happy and Pac left. Ortiz said he didn’t invite Pac.

Analysis: It looks like the start of a story for Eddie, which is nice since he’s popular and should be featured more.

FTW Championship: Hook vs. Ari Daivari

Hook is 14-0 in AEW. He also faces people that have no shot in every match. The “story” is Ari offered Hook $50,000 for the meaningless title. Ari had cash in his hand, so Hook smacked it out of Ari’s hand. The bell rang at that point.

Daivari got some offense early on with a kick while Hook was against the ropes. Hook did some body shots to the ribs followed by an STO trip along with a Fisherman’s Suplex. Daivari got a rollup for two. Daivari got a nearfall after a superkick and Rock Bottom-like move. Hook caught Daivari with Red Rum submission, Daivari tapped out and that was it. They got three minutes.

Winner by submission: Hook

Analysis: *1/4 A typical Hook match winning easily. They had a couple of cool spots, but not that interesting to me.

Post match, Hook gave the Red Rum to Jeeves the butler to knock him out too.

Analysis: Thrilling. The fans like Hook because of how he’s booked and he clearly has talent. I just want to see him do something worthwhile.

Matt Hardy was interviewed along with Ethan Page with Stokely Hathaway because The Firm stable owns Matt’s contract now. Stokely said they have a match for Matt on Dark Elevation on Monday. Matt did some unique “rap” or something at Hathaway, who then left.

Leila Grey (w/Keira Hogan) vs. Willow Nightingale

No reaction for Grey, but the fans liked Willow. The larger Willow hit a shoulder tackle along with some clotheslines. Hogan superkicked Willow on the floor while Grey distracted the referee.

(Commercial)

Grey got some offense with a legsweep and knee strike, but Willow hit a backdrop suplex. They did a poor spot where Willow used Grey to knock Hogan off the apron. That spot looked bad, so JR busted out his “bowling shoe ugly” phrase, which is what he says when a match is bad. Willow hit a Doctor Bomb for the pinfall win after eight minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Willow Nightingale

Analysis: * Bad match. I don’t like being mean, but it was a bad idea to go eight minutes here. Three minutes would have been fine. Willow winning in a dominant squash would have been better than what they did here. JR busting out the “bowling shoe ugly” tells you what he thought about it.

After the match, they announced that Willow is All Elite, so she’s signed a contract. The fans cheered. Good for her because Willow is popular with the fans and she works hard. I just didn’t think this was a good match at all.

Jade Cargill walked out to the ring and sat on a chair in the ring. Cargill said she’ll give Nyla Rose ten seconds to bring back Jade’s belt (the TBS Title). Jade and the crowd counted down from ten to one. Nyla Rose was in a car with the TBS Title along with her friends Vickie Guerrero and Marina Shafir. Nyla apparently got Jade’s car from the valet, so she drove away. Jade remained seated in the ring while “The Baddies” left. Some jobber security guys went to the ring and Jade knocked them down with forearms. They cut away.

Analysis: At least it’s a storyline for Jade, who hasn’t had many stories as the TBS Champion. I don’t think it’s a good storyline, but at least it’s something.

A video aired about how they set up the triple threat main event. Orange Cassidy had the AEW All-Atlantic Title in a bag, so he talked to Rush and Ten about having a triple threat match.

(Commercial)

Mark Henry conducted the main event interview. Orange Cassidy went into Mark’s shot for some comedy bit with Orange saying “I felt like it” about putting his title on the line. The wrestlers did some comments and Orange tried to due Mark’s catchphrase, but Mark stopped that.

All-Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy (w/Danhausen) vs. Rush (w/Jose The Assistant) vs. “Dark Order’s Ten” Preston Vance

Orange did his pockets gimmick while the two larger wrestlers had to stand there like idiots and take it. Rush decked Ten with a forearm. Orange hit a dropkick on Rush. Orange hit a suicide dive on Ten on the floor. Back in the ring, Orange jumped off the top and Rush hit a headbutt. Rush with a kick to the face along with a pose in the ring. Rush sent Ten into the barricade and even threw a drink on him. Rush whipped Cassidy into the barricade at ringside. Rush used ringside cables to hit Ten and also choked Ten with the cable around the neck. Tony correctly said no disqualification (and no countout) in a triple threat match. Rush stomped on Orange on the floor. Jose brought the cable to Rush, so Ruse hit Orange with the cable along with more cable choking on Orange’s throat. Rush chopped Ten, then sent him into the ring and Ten hit three clotheslines. Ten and Rush were fighting on the floor, Orange tried a dive onto them, but they caught Orange. Rush and Ten hit a double spinebuster onto the table, but the table didn’t break. Ouch.

(Commercial – During the break, Rush threw Ten through the table so that they could break it.)

They had about five minutes left as Ten hit a Spear on a charging Rush. Ten went for a Full Nelson, Orange fought out of it, then a lift and Orange hit a Stundog Millionaire aka Stunner-style move. Orange hit an impressive counter DDT on Rush. Orange ran right into a kick by Ten. Orange hit the Beach Break slam, but Jose was there to break up the pin with JR complaining about it with Excalibur saying it’s legal in a triple threat match. Danhausen “cursed” Jose and punched him in the stomach or maybe lower. Rush punched Danhausen out of the ring. Rush with a superkick on Orange, then Orange charged and Rush suplexed Orange into the turnbuckle. Ten hit a suplex along with a spinebuster. Ten caught Orange and turned it into a German Suplex followed by a discus lariat. Orange did a flip bump (like Adam Page on Rampage, but Page landed on his head leading to his concussion) and Rush broke up a pin attempt. Ten worked over Rush with punches, then Rush moved Ten’s mask around and stomped on him a bit. Orange hit an Orange Punch on Rush to knock Rush out of the ring. Orange and Ten did a sloppy exchange of moves, then Orange sat on top of Ten with his hands in his pockets for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Orange Cassidy

Analysis: **1/2 It was just an average match to put over the champion that just won the title last week. There was no threat for Orange to lose this match. Rush got a lot of offense early on, then Ten got a few spots in there and almost got the win until Rush broke it up. They worked in a Danhausen comedy spot as well. Orange winning was the obvious result.

Post match, Ten and Rush had a staredown while Negative One (Brodie Lee’s son) was there and Ten took the kid to the back. Orange was in the ring alone with Danhausen to celebrate the win. That was the end of the show.

A graphic was shown for the late Brian Muster, who tragically passed away this week. Excalibur talked about Brian for a bit. Brian was the AEW Lead Video Engineer. They mentioned it during the broadcast. Very sad to hear. Rest in peace, Brian.

Three Stars of the Show

  1. Orange Cassidy
  2. The Acclaimed
  3. Rush

The Scoreboard

This Week: 4.5 out of 10

Last Week: 6.5

Final Thoughts

It was probably one of the worst and most boring episodes of Rampage I’ve ever seen. This is the worst show of the five shows I write about every week. I’m not in a bad mood or anything like that. I’m just being honest about this show. Even JR had to bust out the “bowling shoe ugly” phrase for one of the matches and the AEW announcers are such cheerleaders that think everything is the best.

They have so much talent in AEW, they could be putting on better matches on Rampage and some weeks they do that. This was not one of those weeks. Anyway, there were some wins for The Acclaimed and Orange Cassidy in some average matches. Other than that, not much to speak about here.

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Thanks for reading. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter: @johnreport