Jeremy’s AEW Rampage Review 5.5.23

Hey, AEW fans! It’s Friday evening/afternoon, and that means it’s time for this week’s AEW Rampage! Yes, we’re still with an earlier time because of those ice sporty things having their playoffs, so you get me once again. Lee Sanders will be back once the show returns to its regular time, don’t worry.

Tonight’s Rampage will see action return to the Hardy Compound as The Firm Deletion takes place. Plus, El Hijo Del Vikingo & The Lucha Brothers take on Powerhouse Hobbs, QT Marshall, and Aaron Solo in six-man tag action. Jade Cargill will compete and Mark Briscoe battles Preston Vance. It should be a fun show, 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)

* We’re starting with six-man tag action.

El Hijo Del Vikingo & The Lucha vs. Powerhouse Hobbs, QT Marshall, and Aaron Solo

Vikingo09 starts off with Marshall, who mocks Vikingo’s size and gets shoved. Into the ropes, Vikingo handsprings off the ropes and over Marshall. Marshall does the same and gets a spin kick to the gut. Viking dodges a splash in the corner and dropkicks Marshall, then hits a spin kick and a leaping kick to the head. Vikingo up top over Marshall, Implosion Hurricanrana! Dropkick and Vikingo out onto the middle rope for a Phoenix Splash for two.

Solo tags in, as does Fenix and they trade chops in the ring. Solo with forearms, he sends Fenix into the ropes but Fenix flips out of it and hits an arm drag off the top. Solo cuts him off with a shot to the jaw, Fenix into the ropes and flips through for a kick and then flips into a kneebar but Solo gets over to tag in Hobbs.

Penta tags in for a crossbody and then goes for the Fear Factor, but Hobbs escapes. Hobbs off the ropes into a superkick, Penta off the ropes and gets run over. Fenix dives into the ring and gets decked, Vikingo leaps in and is caught for a powerbomb!

Hobbs grabs Penta and picks him up for a delayed suplex. Penta sent to the outside, Marshall tags in and hits a shot to the gut of Penta on the outside. QT sends Penta into the ringpost and gets a table as we go to PIP.

We’re back in the ring and Solo is in control of Penta. Hobbs tags in and Solo throws Penta into a clothesline. Marshall tags in and Solo tags in as well, whip into the ropes but Penta kicks one and then the other. Sling Blade to solo and QT, Penta ducks a charge by Hobbs and kicks him in the head. Fenix tags in and takes out Hobbs, Viking takes out Marshall and hold court in the ring — triple dive onto Team QTV!

Fenix rolls Solo into the ring, Vikingo up top as Penta is in the corner — SSP followed by a sunset flip into a powerbomb of Fenix onto Solo. Cover but Hobbs and QT break it up.

Solo escapes a waistlock and picks Fenix up to plant him face-first, Vikingo catches Solo off the ropes and slams him but Marshall plants Vikingo. Canadian Destroyer by Penta, spinebuster by Hobbs and Fenix with a kick to the head of Hobbs. Rolling Cutter by Fenix on Hobbs!

Fenix is up in the ring and nails Solo on the apron, he grabs him and tries to back suplex him in but Solo blocks it and Hobbs sandwiches Fenix. Marshall with a big shot, Solo off the tope and splashes Fenix for a cover. Broken up by Vikingo, who is battered by Hobbs.

Back in the ring and Solo picks Fenix up for a suplex but is kneeed in the head. Vikingo with the blind tag but Marshall nails him immediately. QT nails Fenix but Vikingo with the Destroyer on the apron. he goes to splash QT through a table but Harley saves him. Vikingo catches Solo and hits a German suplex.

Hobbs is manhandling Alex on the outside, Fenix with a Coupe de Grace to spike Solo in piledriver position from Penta and that finishes it.

Winner: Lucha Bros. & El Hijo del Vikingo (12:23)
Rating: *** 3/4
Thoughts: Wild and chaotic as we would expect, and top notch work all around. This met some pretty lofty expectations and started the show off strongly.

* After Dynamite, MJF lost his shit backstage about the new AEW Double or Nothing main event.

* Lexy is outside Chris Jericho’s locker room because he wants to speak. She knocks and he makes sure it’s Lexy before coming out. He apologizes for not being able to commentate tonight due to an attack by Adam Cole on Dynamite. He needs assurances that Cole will not be in the same building as him going forward and is making assurances of that. He’ll have more information Wednesday.

Taya has been suspended for her actions attacking Aubrey Edwards on Dynamite.

Jade Cargill vs. Gia Scott

Jade kicks Gia to start and sends her into the ropes, she catches a crossbody and tosses her down. Pump kick, Jaded, that’s it.

Winner: Jade Cargill (0:35)
Rating: N/A
Thoughts: RIP Gia Scott.

* Lexy asks Mark Briscoe Jeff Jarrett and Jay Briscoe issuing their challenge on Dynamite and Jarrett and company walk in, talking about ther time at the farm. Sanjay asks how FTR will respond to their challenge, and Mark says he’s never seen them back down. Lethal asks Briscoe to reach out and Briscoe says they’re bugging and he has a match, walking out.

Mark Briscoe vs. Preston Vance

Lock up to start, they break and Briscoe chops Vance before sending him to the outside. Vance is pissed and grabs signs from Mark’s kids to rip them up. Briscoe kicks Vance from the apron and leaps onto him. Chop to Vance followed by a roll into the ring, Vance escapes the other side but Mark catches him for chops and punches on the outside. Vance sent into the ringpost, Mark under the ring for a chair!

Mark sets the chair up and puts Vance on it, he lays into Vance and rolls in to break the count before going up to the second rope. He sentons off but Vance moves and Mark hits the chair! Vance sends Mark into the barricade four times around the ring and then talks trash as we go to PIP break.

We’re back as Mark is battling his way back with strikes, but Vance catches him in a full nelson. Briscoe is fading, but he pushes off the corner into a cover for two. Mark with a German suplex, Vance fires back with one of his own. Rolling elbow by Vance, dropkick by Briscoe.

Both men slow to get up, but they get there. They trade shots in the center of the ring, Mark fires off with elbows but gets doubled over with a knee.. Vance off the ropes into a leaping elbow strike, Mark off into an elbow and they both go into the ropes, Vance lariated. Mark with a big clothesline in the shoulder, he grabs Vance who battles free. Discus lariat but Mark catches him and drops him for two.

Mark powers up, he grabs Vance for a J-Driller, but Vance pushes him in the corner and BIG lariat by Vance! Mark rolls out of the ring to recover. Vance is following him and rolls him back in, Vance goes under the ring for a chair. The ref tells him to put it down so he does and gets on the apron and eats a big boot. Mark charges in but Vance with a spear through the ropes for two!

Jose throws Vance the chair but the ref sees it. Vance low blows Mark behind the ref’s back and covers for two-plus. Vance goes for a J-Driller but Mark sends him to the outside, he sets up the chair and leaps over for a somersault senton onto Vanne! Mark rolls Vance in, nails Jose and goes inside for the charging boot. J-Driller countered, Discus Lariat blocked, J-Driller finishes.

Winner: Mark Briscoe (11:53)
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Well put together effort here that told a decent story. They kept it fun without getting it too high into third gear, and the post-match moment was great.

Mark celebrates with his family in the ring after the match.

* Lexy Nair is with Dustin Rhodes and asks him about AEW coming to Austin. Dustin says that’s his backyard and is every excited to go there. He says in AEW, anything can happen and usually does. Brian Cage comes in and knocks Dustin down as Nana mocks him. Swerve walks in and says he hasn’t forgotten about him. Anything can happen, but the Mobile Embassy is anything. They leave just as Keith Lee arrives.

* Julia Hart vignette where she talks about how she doesn’t know what happened. Anna Jay says Julia has become brainwashed and they’re going to end it in a No Holds Barred match.

* Excalibur runs down the rest of Dynamite’s card. We get a vignette from Daniel Garcia where he says it’s stupid for Orange Cassidy to face him with an injury, and Cassidy says he’s injured but has been so for every match of his title reign and always finds a way.

The Firm Deletion

The Firm drives up to the compound, wanting to know where the Hardys are. Page destroys their mailbox with a bat and Vanguard-1 says “Y’all Rude as Fuck.” He delivers a message from Hardy saying space and time are different. Things flash and it’s suddenly nighttime.

Team Hardy has firework cannons and fire them off at The Firm. They go on the hunt and Stokely says “Oh hell no” before running off. It turns into a brawl as Matt pounds on Page and Big Bill takes over on Jeff and Kassidy, Jeff fires back but gets thrown into a tree. Isiah jumps on Bill’s back but gets thrown off and Bill boots Jeff down. He grabs Isiah and picks him up to slam him back-first into the tree, then choke slams him.

Matt grabs Ethan and suplexes him onto the grass, cover for two. Matt calls for the Twist of Fate and “Delete!” He goes for it but Page counters and beats Matt down. He grabs a branch and snaps it over Matt’s back, cover for two.

Jeff smashes a branch over Bill’s back and grabs another to choke Bill with. Bill is going out, he eventually passes out and Jeff moves on.

Stokely is walking in the woods, things get trippy and he sees a giant monster It’s actually Maxel and Wolfie on their little motorize car who nearly hit him. We go to PIP break with Matt and Page in the ring on the compound.

Back from PIP break and things have continued in the ring, Page put Matt threw a table with a bodyslam. We come back with Page covering Matt for two, Page accuses the ref of being biased and then goes to get on the turnbuckles. He yells that Matt embaassed him and lied to him, he leaps off but Matt catches him with a kick to the gut and a neckbreaker, cover but Bill with a chairshot to the back to break it up. He helps Page up.

Stokely finds the screening room on the compound and sits down, but Gothic Baby shows up. Reby shows up and asks what he’s doing here, SenorBenjamin tases him and then the kids rush in to beat him up. Stokely says Tony Khan will pay for his crimes.

Matt, HOOK and Jeff are grabbed and slammed on the grass, they pour gas on them but Isiah leaps off the top onto them!

Stokely is tased into the ring, Reby hits the Twist of Fate onto him and Maxel goes up to the second rope for a Swanton. Maxel says “DELETE!” but Reby says it’s time for bed.

Isiah flies off a chair to nail Big Bill as HOOK grabs Lee Moriarty elsewhere and suplexes him through a table. Isiah puts Bill through a table, and Matt beats on Page at the ring. He tells everyone to get in the ring and give Page what he deserves. Page finds himself surrounded and Matt says it’s all Ethan’s fault. Enzuigiri from Kassidy, suplex from HOOK, splash off Matt’s back from Kassidy. Matt grabs Ethan and says they could have been friends under different circumstances. Twist of Fate and then Jeff up for a Swanton. Matt covers for three.

Winner: Team Harty
Rating: N/A
Thoughts: I don’t give these star ratings, but look — you either like this kind of thing or you don’t. I do enjoy the Deletions and while this was more low key than most of the past ones it had some fun moments. I enjoyed the hell out of it but I know it’s not for everyone.

Matt says it’s over and Jeff turns to leave. he walks outside and lights a big sign in the dirt. Matt asks if he’s okay and he says he’s blessed and glad to be back. Matt says they deleted The Firm and Jeff says “Thank You God!”

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

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

I know that this won't be a Rampage that everyone likes. It was full of flippy stuff, Deletion matches and such, but it was all very well executed and I enjoyed myself. The opening match was fantastic and Mark Briscoe vs. Preston Vance was very solid, while the main event was entertaining as Deletions tend to be. I get why some won't dig this but it did what it did quite nicely.