Sanders’ AEW Rampage Review 11.1.24

Happy fantastic Friday everybody! Lee Sanders is back with you all as we are heading into a very busy weekend! A lot of good stuff going down wrestling-wise as it’s all part of Halloween weekend! I hope you all have been well and a special shout out to those living in North America. Hopefully, you have done your civic duty and voted early. For those who still have not voted, hopefully, you get out there on election day and let your voices be heard. We have ourselves a solid card for tonight’s AEW Rampage as it goes as follows:

-LFI (RUSH, Dralistico, & The Beast Mortos) vs. The Butcher, JD Drake, & Beef
-Taya Valkyrie in action
-Queen Aminata vs. Leila Grey
-Top Flight (Darius Martin & Dante Martin) & Action Andretti vs. Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, & Alex Reynolds)
-Komander vs. Lio Rush

Venue: Wolstein Center
City: Cleveland, OH
Commentators: Excalibur, Matt Menard, Tony Schiavone

On with the action!

MATCH 1: LFI (RUSH, Dralistico & The Beast Mortos) vs. The Butcher, JD Drake & Beef

Butcher and Rush are pounding away at one another as Rush connects with an elbow strike before tagging in Mortos. Mortos hit a quick combination before Butcher makes the tag to JD Drake. Drake with a swing and a miss but catches Mortos with an elbow strike. Drake follows up with a high-risk, high-reward maneuver from the middle rope. Drake sends Mortoa into the ropes as Mortos counters with a Samoan drop for a near fall. The action spills to the outside where Rush becomes the legal man somehow. Rush comes in with the right hands on Beef and Drake! Back from commercials, Rush hits the bull’s horn on Butcher to pick up the win.

Winner: LFI (8 minutes)
Rating:**
Decent action as only a small portion of it was eaten up by a commercial break. Solid match though!

MATCH 2: Taya Valkyrie vs Zoey Lynn

We begin with a lockup as Taya hits a quick lariat. Taya keeps Zoey grounded with strikes as she tries picking her up. Zoey counters and hits a few strikes before Taya hits a spinning body slam. Taya follows it up with a knife-like curb stomp for the win.

Winner: Taya Valkyrie (1 minute)
Rating:NR
SQUASH…SQUASH…SQUASH!!!

Rene Paquette tries to get a word with Taya and Deonna when Stokley Hathaway tries to stir the pot. Hathaway eggs them on by saying Zoey was telling everyone how all Deonna and Taya do is talk and eat meatballs! Stokley thinks they should go beat her butt for talking all that trash. Taya rushes back out to catch Zoey from behind for another beatdown. Taya hits her with more of those curb stomps before Deonna steps in to say their work is done.

Video package of the upcoming match between Harley Cameron and Thunder Rosa on this weekend’s AEW Collision.

MATCH 3: Queen Aminata vs Taya Valkyrie vs Leila Grey

Lawd ham mercy the thickness in this match! Me happy! Nice lockup as we see a few reversals. Aminata with a side headlock and takedown. Leila with an inside cradle for a near fall. Side headlock by Grey connects. Aminata reverses as we see Leila apply head scissors before both women come back to a vertical base. Aminata hits a snap suplex and a lariat for a quick cover as Grey kicks out. Leila hits a sunset flip for a near fall as she tries for a crucifix pin. That is a near fall as well as Leila hits a dropkick for a one count. Aminata hits a running airway crash after countering an attempted piledriver. Aminata wraps her legs around the neck of Leila before going into a dragon sleeper. Leila escapes as Aminata hits a snap suplex! Leila hits a rising knee strike and a bulldog for a two-count. Leila with a back elbow and kick to the side of the head. Leila follows it up with a neckbreaker as Aminata kicks out! Leila with repeated forearm strikes as Aminata hits a double chop followed by a figure four. Aminata transitions into a leg submission maneuver for the victory!

Winner: Queen Aminata (10 minutes)
Rating:***
Best match of the night. I need more from these two! I’m thirsty man!

MATCH 4: Top Flight (Darius Martin & Dante Martin) & Action Andretti vs. Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, Alex Reynolds)

I have not seen Evil Uno on an episode of AEW Rampage in a good minute. Darius hits a guillotine from over the top rope that takes out Uno. Andretti hits a cover on Silver after a combo assist. Silver tags Reynolds as Silver and Reynolds hit a combo on Andretti and Darius. That great kick-out by Darius as he shows his toughness. Darius with a dropkick on Uno as Andretti hits a crossbody. Dante gets in the ring to tell Andretti to pick up the victory the right way, which is by doing it cleanly. Andretti is not hearing any of it. He rips the bandages off of Reynolds and slams him into the corner. High-risk maneuver from the top rope to secure the win.

Winner: Top Flight (11 minutes)
Rating:**
Not too shabby. Loving the killer instinct coming from Andretti. I can’t help but wonder if Moxley and crew are watching him closely for possible recruitment. I could see them homing in on him just like they did with Wheeler Yuta!

MATCH 5: Lio Rush vs Komander

This should be a high-flying, fast-paced, extremely counter-for-counter match. Komander looking for a rollup but no mas after a series of counter holds to open this main event. Some bad blood here as there is a bunch of shoving from both men. Lio with a dropkick as Lio stands pretty pissed. Komander sent over the top rope as he hits a tope suicida! Back from our final set of commercials as our main event continues! Lio snaps off a stunner on Komander but he is slow to capitalize. Lio hits another stunner as Komander is powerbombed! Lio follows up with a nasty clothesline and falcon arrow as Komander barely kicks out. Lio heads to the top as Komander tries to take himself out of range. Komander with a kick to the face followed by the backstabber! Komander sends Lio into the ropes as Lio bounces from it and hits a stunner from out of nowhere! Komander with a thrust kick as Lio is down. Komander walks the ropes and hits his trademark flipping senton that connects and secures him the victory!

Winner: Komander (12 minutes)
Rating:***
Boys did good!!

Post-match, Lio walks up to the ramp where the rest of Top Flight stand. They look at Lio disappointed and their facial expressions almost suggest it’s time to turn a new corner. Makes you wonder…

End of Show

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!

8.3

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

So if you all are keeping tabs, this would be the third consecutive edition of AEW Rampage that I found myself enjoying. I have yet to rank a match in recent weeks at four stars or above, but the consistency in the matches that we’ve been getting for these shows is good. It makes me wonder if Jimmy Jacobs might’ve had something to do with the structure of the shows before his departure. I would have to rely on those with knowledge of the situation behind the scenes to speak more about that topic. In either case, I love what we’ve been seeing from these shows. Putting the squash match to the side, overall this was a really good show. I personally enjoyed the women’s match between Zoe and Aminata, the tag matches for sure, and what a solid main event match between of Washington D.C.’s own Lio Rush taking on Komander. Tony Khan and crew are continuing to find the right winning formula. I just wish we were getting this all along as we sadly are entering the final days for this series. Unless TNT/TBS or another network keeps it going, this series is done come January 2025, allegedly. I said it once already and it seems I was heard but I need Tony Khan and crew to give us more Aminata and Leila! Those girls can go! Well, that’s gonna do it for me, but I will be doing a special live post show covering WWE Crown Jewel fallout catch that post show as soon as the event ends as I will be streaming all through social media, including YouTube. 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!