AEW Rampage Review - April 22, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jon Moxley def. Christopher Daniels

Excalibur played up Daniels' ties to The Elite on commentary, including how The Young Bucks ended SCU two years ago. Moxley's goal was to send a message to The Elite and he accomplished that by beating him and attacking him in the locker room later in the episode. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the match, but I appreciate any opportunity we get to see Daniels in action on one of the main shows at this stage of his career. This served its purpose.

The Firm Attacked The Hardys, Isiah Kassidy and FTW Champion Hook

I really want to believe that this run for Jeff Hardy will be different, but we won't really know until he stays clean for a consistent stretch of time. I'm talking years, by the way. It's unfortunate, but he's messed up so many times that it's hard to take what he says seriously. The rest of this was standard stuff to set up the Firm Deletion match on The Hardy Compound, which we still don't have an airdate for or what it will entail exactly.

Julia Hart def. Kiera Hogan

Hart was pulling Dark duty for so long where it was impossible to care about her matches after a certain point, but they were helpful in giving her the in-ring experience she needed. She's still not great, but she has improved. This was fine for what it was. I'm glad she's facing actual competition between Anna Jay A.S. and now Hogan, but what's the endgame here? I'd rather see the other House of Black members in action more often, personally.

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR, Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal def. The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari and Slim J) and Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese and Josh Woods)

Daivari has been classified as a member of both Trustbusters and Varsity Athletes in recent months, so I don't know which group to include him in. They're both enhancement groups/teams, so I guess it doesn't matter, anyway. This was essentially an extended showcase for FTR, Jarrett and Lethal. With the outcome never being in doubt, I don't think this needed to last as long as it did. I know Lethal and Jarrett caring about Mark Briscoe's well-being was a front and intended to get them closer to an opportunity at the tag titles, but it's not a feud I care about. This would be the fourth tag title shot they've gotten in four months. Does AEW really not have any other teams FTR can defend against?

AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo def. Dralistico

Dralistico hasn't enough matches on AEW programming for fans to care about him or to see him as a legitimate threat to a title that doesn't belong to AEW (or any title, for that matter), but thankfully, Vikingo has had enough exposure with the AEW audience at this point that they were behind him from the moment the bell rang. As expected, this was a really fun match with some excellent action, even though it didn't seem to accomplish anything other than possibly plant the seeds for a future Vikingo vs. Rush match. That's cool and all, but why should fans invest in an AAA Mega Championship feud when AEW already has enough titles?

Overall Show

If you enjoy entertaining wrestling, check out the main event because it was certainly a spectacle. Anything involving Vikingo is guaranteed to be. I can't say much else stood out about the rest of the show, though. Even with Moxley being in a match, this episode had the business-as-usual approach. Rampage continues to be bumped from it's already-awful Friday night time slot and that isn't a positive for the program, either. Rampage remains in a rut that I don't see it getting out of with all the focus likely being on the rumored Saturday show when it launches soon.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews