AEW Rampage Review - January 13, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin def. Juice Robinson

This marked Robinson's first televised match since he unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the ROH World Television Championship last month at ROH Final Battle. I've said before that I assume AEW hasn't done much with him because he's earmarked for the Ring of Honor roster, but I don't really care either way since he doesn't overly interest me. That said, he's talented and this was a good opener. Allin's latest TNT title run is already off to a great start.

AEW World Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn Embarrassed The Gunns

It's a bummer this show wasn't live because Max Caster messing up his rap and having to start over (which actually did happen at the taping) would have been hilarious. Anyway, this was pretty standard stuff from The Acclaimed. I realize The Gunns beat FTR last month and that may have earned them an opportunity at the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but we've seen these teams feud before (as recently as the summer) and I don't have any desire to see this stretched out into a full-fledged program again.

Kings of the Black Throne def. Eddie Kingston and Ortiz

In case you can't recall, Kings of the Black Thorne is the tag team name for Malakai Black and Brody King. As a group, they are still House of Black. The story in this match was that there might be dissension between Kingston and Ortiz, but I can't bring myself to care. The match was well worked and I'm glad Kings of the Black Throne went over, but Kingston has felt grossly underutilized since his feud with Sammy Guevara ended in September.

AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy and Best Friends Saved Danhausen and Paul Walter Hauser From Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh

If it wasn't already obvious, Houser is a massive wrestling fan, so I was fine with the way he was used here. It looked like it would be a quick comedy bit with him and Danhausen, but the segment actually served to set up Cassidy vs. Lethal for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship next Wednesday on Dynamite. They worked well the last time they went one-on-one over the summer, so I'm looking forward to that. Also, major props to Hauser for taking that guitar head shot from Jarrett. It looked brutal.

Ruby Soho and Willow Nightingale def. Jericho Appreciation Society (Tay Melo and Anna Jay A.S.) in a Tag Team Street Fight

This was along the same lines as the last women's tag team Street Fight Rampage hosted about a year ago, which also involved Melo and Jay. All four women put forth a fantastic effort, and although I thought the vast amount of blood was a bit excessive, it didn't hinder the overall match for me. It wasn't entirely perfect, but I enjoyed this main event on the whole. It was definitely one of the more memorable main events we've gotten on Rampage in recent memory.

Overall Show

It's nice to see the quality of Rampage improve right alongside Dynamite in the new year. We'll see if it sticks, but it's been less of a chore to watch so far in 2022. The main event won't be for everyone, but it wasn't boring or uneventful, I'll say that much. The rest of the show was solid and held my interest. The louder crowds have helped a lot even though this wasn't a live episode like last week.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews