Jeremy’s AEW Rampage Review 4.28.23

Hey, AEW fans! It’s Friday evening (or afternoon if you live in my part of the world) and AEW is presenting Rampage earlier than usual thanks to those damned NHL Playoffs. As such, you’re stuck with me — sorry about that! Lee Sanders will be back next week (if Rampage airs at its usual time) so hopefully I can tide you through for the week.

Tonight’s Rampage has several matches set as Ricky Starks & Shawn Spears will battle the Bullet Club Gold in Jay White & Juice Robinson. Plus, Cash Wheeler of FTR battles Jay Lethal and Anna J.A.S. takes on Ashley D’Amboise. Dustin Rhodes and Keith Lee will be in action, and we’ll hear from The Outcasts as well as The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn. Should a decent-enough time, so let’s jump right in.

As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry’s daughters is still active and if you can make a donation, that would be awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who’s done so thus far.

THIS IS RAMPAGE, BABY! (aka Title Sequence)

Jay White & Juice Robinson vs. Ricky Starks & Shawn Spears

Starks and Spears attack before the match and the bell has rung. Starks beats on Juice while Spears stomps on White and takes him to the outside. White chops Spears, Starks sent to the outside and Juice jumps off the apron but gets a shot to the gut. More chops from White while Starks rolls Juice in and lays in looming fists from, he gets Juice in the corner and chops the shit out of him. Spears tags in now and Juice sent into the ropes, double back elbow. Spears with a legdrop and a cover for two.

Wristlock by Spears, Starks tags back in and comes off the middle rope with a double axehandle o the arm. Juice bodyslammed and Spears tags in, he mocks White with finger guns and then puts Juice in the corner for elevated punches. White runs over and gets a double axehandle to the head.

Juice reverses a whip and White with a kick to Spears’ back, that allows Juice to take him down. Spears sent to the outside and White picks him up to drop him on the apron as we go to PIP break.

We’re back as Spears whipped hard into the corner and White tags in. Big knife-edge chop to the chest and then another couple. Spears is chopping his way out but takes a dropkick to the knee. Cover for two. Chinlock from White, Spears gets to his feet and tries to elbow out but gets knocked down and White knocks Starks to the apron. He turns around but Spears with a suplex to get a reprieve.

Juice tags in and Starks with the hot tag. He lays into Juice and hits him with a back bodydrop, WHite distracts him but he turns it around with a big suplex. White comes into the ring but Starks lays into him and sends him to the outside. Starks charges in for a Euro uppercut to Juice, he sets Juice on the top and Spears tags in, superplex and then Spears with a diving splash for a nearfall.

Spears gets Juice on his shoulders for the C4 but Juice rakes the eyes. White tagged in, he gets up on the shoulders but escapes, he comes off the ropes into a Sky High for two but Juice breaks it up. Spears sends Juice to the outside, Ricky Starks leaps off the steps into Juice.

Spears with a superkick to White, he goes for his finisher but White turns it into Blade Runner for three.

Winner: Bullet Club Gold (9:50)
Rating: ** 3/4
Thoughts: Very good match to start us off. It was the definition of a TV match as it didn’t kick into a super-high gear, but that’s perfectly fine. Solid work by all four men and it advanced the feud, which is what it needed to do.

Starks attacks White after the bell and Juice pulls him off. They brawl, Starks into the ropes and Starks goes for the spear but Juice escapes and runs. White talks some shit before they back off.

* Lexy Nair is with HOOK and the Hardys. Isiah Kassidy is still missing, and Matt says the knows the Firm is behind Isiah’s disappearance. We get The Firm on the tron. They talk some trash and Bill and Ethan have Isiah on an elevated platform. Ethan says this is how it’s gonna happen and if Matt says yes, Isiah goes off the top. Matt agrees and says it’ll happen next week on Rampage, but Ethan has Bill toss him off the top anyway.

Stokely says he can’t wait to be at the Hardy House and run up his electric bill. Matt says they need to find Isiah and runs off with Jeff; HOOK says next week the Firm gets deleted.

Naturally Limitless vs. Brady Pierce & Charlie James

Rhodees and Pierce start off, Rhodes with a headlock and gets shot into the ropes, where he runs Brady over. Uppercut by Rhodes, who armdrags Brady down and then tags in Lee. Pierce off the ropes for a double back body drop.

Charlie James tags in and he runs at Lee but gets knocked down. He tries it again to the same lack of success. Lee with a splash in the corner and he chucks James across the ring. Pierce in the ring and gets James up, Lee runs them both over with a clothesline. Dustin in now and Lee throws him into the encancement talent.

Pierce tossed out of the ring, pop-up spirit bomb and that’s it.

Winner: Naturally Limitless (2:06)
Rating: N/A
Thoughts: RIP Brady Pierce & Charlie James.

After the match, Mogul Embassy come out to the stage and stare off with Lee and Dustin. Swerve grins like a madman, though it slowly fades.

* Sammy Guevara is backstage and asked about MJF leaving him on Dynamite. Tay Conti walks in and says she loves Sammy but MJF isn’t his friend. She wants the best for him and the kid on his shirt wouldn’t look up to him now. She asks why he’s going to lay down in the main event of Double or Nothing when he doesn’t need the money or even like MJF. Sammy starts to speak and Tay says he needs to listen, then walks off.

Anna Jay.A.S vs. Ashley D’Amboise

Anna and Ashley circle each other and go to lock up. Ashley backed into the corner, Anna with a spin kick to Ashley and a knee lift. Whip across the ring, Ashley goes up and over Anna and hits a couple of arm drags. Back up, Anna put in the corner and Ashley hits shoulders to the gut.

Whip across the ring, Ashley charges in but Anna escapes and hangs Ashley on the ropes. Anna grabs Ashley and bends her backward around the ringpost from the outside for four as we go to PIP break.

We’re back and Ashley throws Anna off of her. Anna reverses and Irish whip and hits a neckbreaker on Ashley, then pulls her into the Queen Sleeper for the submission.

Winner: Anna Jay (5:43)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: Perfectly fine match, but the match ending so close after the ad break was an odd choice.

The lights go out after the match and when they come back up Julia is behind Anna! She knocks Anna out of the ring and slams her head repeatedly into the ringside mats. Anna fights back and throws Julia into the ringpost, then wraps her around the ringpost to try and break her back. Officials pull Anna off and make her go.

* The Outcasts are backstage and they say they heard what Britt said but between her and Jamie, they don’t care. They’re in shirts with Britt having a black eye. Saraya says that Willow gets to face her on Dynamite, and she’s going to walk Willow like a dog and show then why AEW is their house.

The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn vs. Ryzin, Cameron Stewart and Dante Casanova

Ryzin gets pissed at Max’s rap and charges out before the match, only to get knocked down. Bowens with a superkick to Casanova, and then Stewart tries to appeal to the group but gets double superkicked.

The bell rings, Billy Gun sets Cameron up and hits the Famouser. Bowens with The Arrival, Caster with the Mic Drop, that’s it.

Winner: Daddy Ass & The Acclaimed (0:50)
Rating: N/A
Thoughts: RIP Those Three Guys.

* We’re back on Rampage and Jay Lethal says Mark Henry is a moron and that FTR can’t hold a candle to them. Cash says of course Lethal and company will cheat, they can’t be trusted and that’s how they won Wednesday and how they’ll win tonight. Mark Briscoe will be at ringside to make sure they don’t.

* Excalibur runs down the card for Dynamite. And next Friday on Rampage is The Firm Deletion.

Cash Wheeler vs. Jay Lethal

Cash tries to lock up to start off but Lethal rolls to the outside and sucks up to Briscoe. Back in and they lockup, Lethal goes for a right but Cash dodges. Lock back up, Lethal backed into the corner but turns it around and lays in a knee and fists. Cash fights out of the corner but eats a knee, Lethal puts him in another corner for strikes but Cash fishes his way out again.

Lethal off the ropes and runs Cash over, he scoop slams Cash and showboats, then hits another scoop slam. Third try and Cash goes up and over but gets sent into the ropes, hip toss reversed and then an arm drag by Cash into an elbowlock. Cash gets sent into the ropes and Lethal nails him in the gut.

Irish whip by Lethal reversed, Lethal goes for Lethal Injection but Cash dodges and hits a kneelift. Short-arm shoulder in the ropes and a back bodydrop, Lethal gets clotheslined over the ropes as we go to PIP break.

We’re back as Lethal puts Cash in an abdominal stretch. Cash is trying to escape and eventually fights free but gets sent hard into the corner, and Lethal catches him in the stretch again. Lethal tries to get Sonjay Dutt to help him but Briscoe puts a stop to it as Wheeler hiptosses Lethal on the inside.

Wheeler escapes another stretch attempt and rolls Lethal up for two. Lethal picks Cash up and hangs him on the top rope, Lethal pulls him to the center of the ring and showboats before going up top. He points and leaps for the elbowdrop, but Cash gets the knees up!

Cash is up now and leapfrogs Lethal, then launches him across the ring. Cash with jabs and body shots, uppercut rocks Lethal. Cash sent into the ropes and catches Lethal for a powerslam. Tornado DDT and a cover for two. Cash up now, he grabs Lethan for a piledriver, but Lethal fights out — Cash tries a couple more times, Lethal with a jacknife pin but Cash escapes.

Lethal Combination, Lethal is up now and goes for Lethal Injection — but Cash catches him in a Gory Lock for a slam! Cover for two, but Dutt is in the ring. Briscoe pulls him out, Lethal pushes Cash into Briscoe and hits Lethal Injection for the pin.

Winner: Jay Lethal (12:18)
Rating: ** 3/4
Thoughts: Perfectly acceptable Rampage main event match. I expect a little more out of these guys and they suffered from that high bar, but it was very crisp and the match played out how it needed to so I don’t have many complaints beyond it could have been more.

And with that, we’re done for the night!

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

This week's episode of AEW Rampage was far from consequential and, frankly, was forgettable for the most part. But it wasn't bad at any point, and that's more than you can say for a lot of wrestling shows. We had a couple of decent matches, a couple of squashes and a couple of promos, and that's about par for the course. I wouldn't recommend anyone go out of their way to seek this week's show out, but there are worse ways to spend an hour.