Sanders’ AEW Rampage Review 8.23.24

Hello, my friends! Lee Sanders is back with you all as AEW ALL IN weekend is upon us! First up is a new edition of AEW Rampage. Tonight’s Rampage card sees the following:

* Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Brian Cage, Johnny TV & The Beast Mortos

* The Von Erichs vs. The Outrunners

* Iron Savages vs. Gates of Agony

* Robyn Renegade vs. Mina Shirakawa

* Roderick Strong vs. Fuego del Sol

Speaking of ALL IN, I offered previews and predictions for the PPV event along with thoughts on this week’s Dynamite. Check out episode 1109 of THE RCWR SHOW, which covers it all, in the video below, and be sure to subscribe to the channel, as I’ll be tackling ALL IN fallout with a special post-show.

Venue: eSports Stadium
City: Arlington, TX.
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

MATCH 1: Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Brian Cage, Johnny TV & The Beast Mortos

Reilly and Johnny to open things up before Ishii is tagged for some double team action. Cage tries entering when he receives a double-shoulder tackle. Mortos enters and meets stalemate multiple times against Ishii in shoulder tackle attempts. Cage and Briscoe are tagged. Cage connects with a short clothesline. Reilly comes in with a blind tag to take down Cage and follows up with a few kicks. Cage hits a spinning back slam before Johnny TV is tagged. Forearm shot by Johnny as Mortos comes in for a cover attempt. The pin attempt comes after Johnny TV hit a moonsault off the ropes onto Reilly. Cage is back in the ring as he strong-whips Reilly into the corner. Back from commercials as Johnny TV tried smacking Ishii, but Ishii no-sells it as he gets the hot tag. Mortos is tagged as Ishii hits a couple of chops and forearm strikes. Vertical suplex follows as Ishii floors Cage. Mortos hits a shoulder tackle for a near fall. Briscoe comes in hot with chops and forearm shots on Cage, Mortos, and Johnny. Cage hits a flatliner as Reilly interrupts him. Everyone hitting signature blows on one another. Briscoe sets up a chair and is about to dive when Taya Valkyrie grabs it away from him. Everyone goes crashing between and over the ropes on one another. Briscoe takes to the top as Johnny TV tries to stop him. Reilly hits a submission move on Johnny for the victory.

Winner: Team Briscoe (11 minutes)
Rating:**
A bit overbooked in many areas but an overall decent match!

MATCH 2: Roderick Strong vs. Fuego del Sol

Strong unleashes with kicks and stomps, followed by a few heavy-handed chops. Roderick follows up with a clothesline and a backbreaker. A back-body suplex follows as Fuego appears outmatched early on here. Cover attempt made as Fuego kicks out. Strong connects with a jumping knee to the face. Fuego with a pin attempt for out of nowhere as Strong kicks out. Fuego hits a couple of thrust kicks as Strong stops him on the top rope. Strong hits a backbreaker and follows it up with double knees to the back to score the victory.

Winner: Roderick Strong (3 minutes)
Rating:NR
Not a good match or a bad match, but a one-person ass-kicking contest. There is nothing really to see here except great offense by Strong!

MATCH 3: Robyn Renegade vs. Mina Shirakawa

Gawd damn, that Mina is attractive! Lockup heads to the ropes as Robyn takes a swing and misses. Mina with a leg sweep and a Russian leg sweep. Mina follows up by slamming Robyn’s knee into the canvas. Mina with a cover attempt after hitting a kick from the ropes. Robyn with a running knee strike as we sadly head into a set of commercials. Boo! We are back as Robyn hits a knee lift and a shot to the head for a near fall. Mina hits a dragon screw and tries for the figure-four as Robyn reaches the bottom rope for a break. Robyn hits a running lariat as Mina comes back with a rollup and a figure-four leg lock for the win.

Winner: Mina (7 minutes)
Rating:**
Decent stuff. Love that Mina!

Shida is interviewed backstage. She’s frustrated at being short-changed out of ALL IN weekend. She promises to remind people why she considers herself the Ace of AEW!

MATCH 4: Iron Savages vs. Gates of Agony

Let me summarize this match: Clothesline, clothesline, clothesline, short clothesline, short clothesline, back body drop, knees to face, and double team finisher.

Winner: Gates of Agony (2 minutes)
Rating:NR
Love that Gates of Agony, but we can do loads better with them. Come on, Tony Khan and crew. Stop sleeping on this tag team already!

MATCH 5: The Von Erichs vs. The Outrunners

Ross and Marshall Von Erichs! Now, this should be a fun tag match. Talk about a nice throwback 1980s vibe. Ross hitting. A pretty dropkick on Magnum before Turbo is tagged. Marshall is tagged as he hits a couple of suplexes. Von Erichs hit a couple of dropkicks on both opponents as we head into our final set of commercials. We are back as the Outrunners isolate Ross. Turbo Flyod tries for a suplex, but Ross reverses it for a near fall. Floyd hits a headbutt as Ross hits a dropkick to his brother Marshall! Marshall with a couple of right hands to Turbo. A couple of clotheslines to both men by Marshall. A cannonball by Marshall soon follows, along with a back moonsault on Turbo. Truth tries coming from behind but Ross stops him as Marshall gets in the iron claw on Turbo for the victory.

Winner: Von Erichs (10 minutes)
Rating:**
Fun throwback style of a tag match. I love those Outrunners. They’ve got the right type of look and gimmick. They just need to string together some victories and be involved in some marquee feuds. These steps would help them move up, as you can see the potential in these guys, much like with Gates of Agony.

To end this episode, the Conglomeration, Gates of Agony, Kingdom, Sammy Guevara, and Brian Cage come out and brawl with one another.

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!

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Overall, a well-rounded episode of Rampage for this week. The question may be asked was this hour of wrestling content really needed considering ALL IN is this weekend? I would say no as this episode could have served better highlighting key matches from ALL IN. This could include some new exclusive sit down interviews between Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone. I will say nothing put a bigger smile on my face than to see the Von Erichs in action as they’ve mainly been behind the Ring of Honor paywall unfortunately. The AEW/ROH tag division has some serious depth. I just wish certain teams I’ve referenced these past couple of weeks were not just featured more, but are given juicer story arcs. Maybe in due time. For this episode I’m going to recommend you stay for Mina, and watch for the Von Erichs. You’ll thank me later. Come on ALL IN! 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!