AEW Rampage Review - February 23, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Penta El Zero Miedo, AAA Cruiserweight Champion Komander & "Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith def. Matt Sydal & Private Party and Action Andretti & Top Flight in a Three-Way Trios Match

I know Top Flight and Private Party have exchanged wins in the last month, but everyone else's involvement in this felt random. Why do a three-way trios match? Don't get me wrong, it was a fun affair and the action was chaotic, but I don't know what purpose this was supposed to serve, especially with Penta's crew going over. Could they potentially be next in line for an opportunity at the AEW World Trios Champioship?

The Young Bucks def. Cappuccino Jones and Jonny Lyons

Sting and Darby Allin are completely carrying this AEW World Tag Team Championship feud heading into Revolution with their mic work. I appreciate the attempt by the Bucks to freshen up their act, but these new characters are not compelling and Matt Jackson's mic work in particular feels so forced (as evidenced by their post-match promo). This was a quick, straightforward squash for them.

Powerhouse Hobbs Attacked Sammy Guevara

I currently don't care for Guevara, so although his promo was fine, I can't say it did anything to get me to root for him. I'd much rather see Hobbs spotlighted, but I'm skeptical that Hobbs will come out of this feud on the winning end (as well as whether he'll ultimately benefit from this alliance with Don Callis because so far he's been spinning his wheels). This was a solid segment to set up their match for Saturday's Collision.

Mariah May def. Anna Jay

Considering Jay lost to Queen Aminata on last week's Rampage (in what was Aminata's first win on AEW TV), there was zero doubt in my mind May was winning here, and she should have because she's aligned with Toni Storm while Jay is directionless. There was a fairly average outing, but if nothing else, I'm glad they got some time. I wouldn't be surprised to see May face Deonna Purrazzo's on Wednesday's Dynamite (unless it's already been announced).

Roderick Strong def. Jake Hager

Hager should be nowhere near a televised main event in 2024, even on Rampage, but to his credit, he had a good showing here and was received well by the crowd in his home state of Oklahoma. It was a well worked match, but I could've done without the stupid shenanigans with Hager's bucket hat. Strong picked up another win ahead of his AEW International Championship opportunity against Orange Cassidy at Revolution.

Overall Show

Rampage and Collision have had their own storylines lately and it's made the show more significant than it was a few months ago, though one can argue some of these storylines aren't exactly lighting the world on fire. Nonetheless, this was a perfectly passable edition of Rampage. The added star power helped and it was a worthwhile hour, but I also can't point to anything that specifically stood out as special.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews