AEW Rampage Review - April 15, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta) def. Gunn Club (Austin, Colten and Billy Gunn)

Gunn Club have certainly improved as heels in recent months and they held their own, but they were no threat to Blackpool Combat Club. The crowd was hot whenever Blackpool Combat Club were on offense and they showed exhibited terrific chemistry. Yuta will be a fantastic fit alongside Danielson and Moxley and I liked how he was the one to pick up the win for their team. They're off to a strong start. I don't know which two members it would be, but I'd like to see Blackpool Combat Club capture the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Double or Nothing.

The Butcher def. Barrett Brown

It was announced this past Wednesday on Dynamite that Butcher will Wardlow's opponent next week on Dynamite. I guess that's supposed to be some sort of a challenge even though Butcher has never been a threat to anyone and is fresh off a loss to The Hardys. I applaud their effort to make him look dominant by having him kill some random dude here, but there's simply no uncertainty surrounding the outcome of his upcoming clash with Wardlow. At least this was kept short and sweet.

Ruby Soho def. Robyn Renegade to Qualify for the Women's Owen Hart Cup

I don't know what Robyn did to deserve an opportunity to qualify for the women's Owen Hart Cup, but here we are. More importantly, Soho is alive! Okay, so I was well aware she was still with AEW because I'm a fool and I watch all of the Dark shows (which she's been relegated to for most of this year), but I'm glad she finally resurfaced. They had a decent match and built some suspense when the Renegade twins pulled "twin magic," but Soho went over in the end as expected.

AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page def. Adam Cole in a Texas Death Match

This marked the first time the AEW World Championship has been defended on Rampage. It's about time the show started to feature matches of actual importance with star power. I'm not a fan of AEW doing a second Texas Death match so soon after the last one, but at least they made the most of the stipulation and went all on. If you don't like this sort of stuff, you probably hated it. I thought it was entertaining, but I've grown numb to all of the hardcore spots that AEW has done to death recently.

Overall Show

I'm sure I've said this before, but Rampage is way more bearable three hours earlier from when it usually airs. I'd love for this to be a permanent move, but I don't know if it would help or hurt the ratings at all. At any rate, the Texas Death match was the obvious attraction coming into this episode, but everything was solid and served a purpose. The Blackpool Combat Club showcase was especially enjoyable, and the main event was the hardcore war everyone expected. Those two things alone made this a thumbs-up show.

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