The Corruption of Lee Johnson?
The opening match between Malakai Black and Lee Johnson was a lot more competitive than I thought it would be. Lee was able to get his offensive in and being in the ring with a talent like Black made him come off as a great fiery babyface trying to get the underdog win.
The ending of the match saw Malakai bring a steel chair in the ring. He gives the chair to Lee and dares Johnson to hit him with it. There’s a moment of hesitation where it seems like Johnson is thinking about, with the story about whether Black has corrupted his opponent to do something evil.
Before we can get a decision, Black hits Johnson with a devastating kick and picks up the win. It was a good opener and with it being the longest match of Malakai’s AEW run thus far, by default it becomes his best match in AEW. But again, he came into the match looking like a major star from the entrance and comes out of it looking like a badass.
Post-match, Dustin Rhodes makes his way down to save his fellow Nightmare Family stablemate. After the commercial break, we get a backstage interview with Dustin who announces that at the next episode of Dynamite it will be the Natural going one on one with Malakai Black and promises Black that he will take him to a place of darkness.
The King is Mad
The TNT Champion Miro comes out to address the match at All Out. Miro sounded great and tells Eddie Kingston that God told him to destroy him, and that Kingston is Jon Moxley’s bagboy. Eddie Kingston comes out to the stage and receives a big ovation.
Eddie runs down Miro and his ‘God’ and calls Miro a sinner. He brings up how Miro has a bad neck and mentions a bunch of different moves that he will use that targets the neck. Eddie hits the ring and goes after Miro, but Miro retreats to the outside.
Kingston goes after him only to get hit in the head with the TNT Title. They go back inside but Kingston is able to counter Miro and hit with a spinning backfist and then a DDT that drops The Redeemer. Kingston stands tall as they head into their match at All Out.
It was a nice segment with both men cutting good promos to hype up their match and give it more substance. The physical element worked well and got over the story of Miro’s neck and the danger of Eddie Kingston’s move set and how is only one move away from taking the gold away from him.
Pinfall or Submission
The two on one match featured Jamie Hayter and Rebel taking on Kris Statlander. Britt Baker was ringside. The match was short but served its purpose by showcasing the strength and power of Kris Statlander, also with Kris winning the match with some new submission. It got over the point that there’s another way that she can win the AEW Women’s Title.
The end of the match saw Jamie Hayter stay on the outside with Britt Baker and leave Rebel in the ring which could lead to something down the line, but after the match they were all back on the same page as the ambushed Kris Statlander. Red Velvet runs down for the save as the heels escape.
The feud hasn’t set the world on fire, but they have a great job with Kris Statlander since her return from injury and having her run through the women’s division. The match itself is something I am really looking forward to and it has the potential to be one of the best women’s matches in AEW to date.
The Pepsi Twist
The main event was between Darby Allin and Daniel Garcia with CM Punk on commentary. I thought it was another good match involving these two, although there was a lot going at times with a focus on Punk at the broadcast desk, Sting getting physical.
A key spot in the match was Darby using the Pepsi Twist on Garcia, which is a moved that Punk once used. The other big spot in the match was Darby running towards Garcia on the outside but crashing hard into the ringside table. They put over that Darby’s recklessness could come back to hurt him.
Darby would get the win. 2.0 and Garcia would attack Darby and Sting, until Punk made his way down for the save. Punk and Darby then come face to face on the outside but decide to leave the physicality until their match at All Out as Rampage goes off the air.
Overall Thoughts: Another good edition of Rampage. While none of the matches reached a level of greatness, they were all good and served their purposes. We got to see Malakai Black wrestle his longest match and he came out of it again looking like a beast. Lee Johnson and Daniel Garcia were both given time to shine against their opponents, and both have the potential to be breakout stars in the future for AEW.