Rampage is hot, and, much like of all AEW, it feels fresh again! We’re opening with Penta El Cero Miedo facing off against Jay Lethal in the Grand Slam eliminator tourney. The match started up hot, with both men throwing major blows against each other, trying to gain the upper hand.
Lethal is, in my opinion, an under appreciated talent in between the ropes, and he and Penta worked a fun match, up until the point that Lethal’s compatriots took advantage of a distraction, and tied his mask to the bottom rope. The referees have dealt with this crew for awhile, however, and ejected them after the incident.
Lethal went on a tear after this, seemingly angry over his team getting ejected, but Penta repeatedly countered him. This was, until Jay did the lucha cardinal sin, and ripped off his mask. While the ref helped Penta get it back on, Lethal reached for Double J’s guitar, but Alex Abrahantes grabbed on, preventing him from using it. This momentary distraction was enough for Penta to regain control, hit a package piledriver, and get the win, along with advancing in the tourney. Really fun match between the two.
After Jericho talked about the incident that took place between him and Sammy, the man in question came out. Sammy and Jericho still have a lot of animosity towards each other, but they want to become tag champions despite it. To fix things, they agree to have a match, at AEW Grand Slam, to settle it all!
Up next, we have a women’s trios match, between the team of Taya Valkyrie, Anna Jay, and The Bunny, and the team of Skye Blue, Britt Baker, and Hikaru Shida! The match opened with Skye Blue and Anna Jay, the two youngest members of their respective sides. Skye hit a nice roll up, but Anna laid into her with a kick. Skye had the edge on Anna, so she tagged out, getting Taya in the match. The veteran took control of the match quickly, working down Skye Blue.
Eventually, Blue got Shida into the match, and she turned the tides until the heels got Bunny in. Skye landed a superkick on Bunny, and Britt managed to tag herself in. After a scuffle that involved incidental contact between Britt and Shida, The Doctor got the win via lock jaw. The team of Britt and Shida continue to have as many issues as they have wins.
Hook gets a short vignette, showing a bit too little of Jack Perry. He didn’t do anything wrong, it’s silly to punish him, just because you had to fire your fave, Tony.
Up next was “Cool Hand Anj” Angelo Parker & “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard, facing off against the multi time tag champs, The Young Bucks. Nick and Angelo opened the match, and the Bucks quickly took it to him with dual offensive move after dual offensive move. Parker finally got an opening, but his sports entertainment roots (and the roots of his hair) cost him his shot.
Hager gave them their first real opening, tripping up Matt Jackson and opening him up to a lot of offense from Daddy Magic. The team landed some dual offense of their own on Matt, getting repeated two counts for their troubles, before Matt Jackson was able to escape, and tag Nick in. Nick went on a two on one tear, enabling them to hit the BTE trigger and get the win. The Bucks seem to be back to their winning ways: can they make their way back to the tag titles?
Mike Santana is back, and he seems to be on his own. His passion is unmatched, and, for what he must do, he must do it alone. The nastiest is yet to come, or so he says. I know his singles work has been great outside of AEW, so I hope that continues here.
Ending off, we have our main event, Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe. These men have a long and storied history, and another chapter was written tonight. Joe immediately got to dominating, laying in the strikes on Jeff. Jeff repeatedly tried to take control, but, against an opponent like Samoa Joe, that’s a tall task. Jeff avoided getting counted out, but then took Joe’s strikes over and over in the corner. Jeff made one final push to get the win, hitting the whisper in the wind and going on a roll with strikes and a leg drop, but to no avail. Samoa Joe reversed the twist of fate into the Coquina Clutch, and got the win. Really, really good Rampage. The energy is back in AEW, and I’m enjoying all of it.