AEW Rampage Review - January 19, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Chris Jericho def. Matt Sydal

Last week, Chris Jericho's entrance music played during his entire appearance on Dynamite to mask any boos from the crowd. This week, he wrestled on a taped show, likely for the same reason. You're not fooling me, AEW. At any rate, I remember the matches these two had back in 2010 as well as how Sydal beating Jericho clean ultimately amounted to nothing. This was a quality contest and Konosuke Takeshita attacking Jericho afterward seemingly sets up a future singles match between them.

Penta El Zero Miedo def. Anthony Henry

I've been disappointed with how Penta has been used in the absence of the injured Rey Fenix as he's largely been teaming with Komander in random matches. Sure, they work well together, but Penta should be doing more on his own. Hopefully this was the beginning of that and not just a way to give him a credibility boost before he loses to someone else. Henry is a talented competitor in his own right, so this was a nice little sprint.

Kris Statlander def. Queen Aminata

Aminata has made a number of appearances since being signed earlier this month and she's made the most of every opportunity. I was actually hoping Aminata would pick up the surprise win, but no such luck. They had a really good match in the time they were allotted. Stokley Hathaway has been scouting Statlander for weeks, but I must have missed Statlander agreeing to let him accompany her to ringside because they came out together without explanation.

Darby Allin def. Jeff Hardy

I laughed when Excalibur on commentary acknowledged the referee's "relaxed" rules at one point. This wasn't a No Disqualification match like their original encounter was two years ago, but it definitely felt like one. Hardy's body is so beaten up these days that his matches are hit or miss, but this was fun for what it was. Hardy showing more signs of frustration indicates he and Matt are indeed headed for a heel turn and that has my interest.

Overall Show

By Rampage standards, this was easily an above-average episode. Allin vs. Hardy was a treat of a main event, though I'm not sure why it happened unless Allin and Sting will face The Hardys soon. The rest of the show was solid stuff with Statlander and Aminata having a quality contest, Penta being spotlighted, and Jericho vs. Sydal delivering in the opener. The additional star power always helps the program feel more worthwhile.

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