AEW Rampage Review - July 1, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brody King Won an AEW Interim World Championship No. 1 Contender's Royal Rampage Match

For those keeping track, this was the third Battle Royal on major wrestling television this week after the ones held on Raw and SmackDown. I don't blame AEW for that since the SmackDown one wasn't advertised, but I'm definitely done with Battle Royals right now. I thought the concept of Royal Rampage with the two rings was cool and it had a logical layout for the most part, but I'm fine with them doing this only once a bit because it was a bit convoluted and hard to follow some of the eliminations at certain points. King winning was a pleasant surprise because he hasn't had much of a chance to showcase his skills in singles competition yet in AEW.

​AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks def. Chaos (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) (Non-Title)

I understand Goto and Hashi weren't referred to as members of Chaos at all (unless I missed it), but since they're a part of that faction, I figured I would throw that in there for the hell of it. At any rate, this was a fun match. The "forbidden door" won't be open for much longer it seems, but if this was the end of NJPW guys in AEW for now, they went out on a high note. The outcome was never in doubt (even with the promise Goto and Hashi would get a title shot in they won), but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

Toni Storm def. Nyla Rose

This was an interesting choice to put in the main event spot considering the other two matches on this show had more stakes than this. Maybe because this was taped right after Blood and Guts and they didn't want the crowd too exhausted for Royal Rampage? I expected the crowd to be quiet for this, but they were behind Storm throughout and the two of them had a well-wrestled outing. Storm winning was obviously the right call as they build toward a rematch with her and Thunder Rosa, which I'm looking forward to because I feel they can do better than their match from Forbidden Door.

Overall Show

This was a thumbs-up show all things considered. None of the three matches were on the same level as Andrade El Idolo vs. Rey Fenix from last week, but a new number one contender to the AEW Interim World Championship being crowned was notable along with the appearances of Goto and Hashi. Throw in a solid main event and you have yourself an entertaining episode to cap off what's been an excellent week for AEW.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews