AEW Rampage Review - June 23, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

United Empire (Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb and Kyle Fletcher) and Swerve Strickland def. CHAOS (Best Friends, Rocky Romero and YOH)

What a random match. Hey, I'm not complaining because it was very enjoyable, but I'm not sure why this happened other than to give Ospreay a win before Forbidden Door and to give fans some small inter-promotional fun. Best Friends mean very little at this point while Romero and YOH didn't stand a chance, so this was an easy victory for United Empire and Strickland. Speaking of Strickland, why the hell was he in there? Did I miss something where he was an ally to United Empire?

Team Filthy Attacked Adam Cole

MJF quickly interrupted Cole, marking his first-ever appearance on Rampage. He got Cole a match at Forbidden Door in what he attempted to spin as a nice gesture, when in reality Team Filthy attacked Cole from behind and MJF didn't save him despite the two being partners in the upcoming AEW Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament. Cole's opponent will be Tom Lawlor and this was a fine segment to set that up. I was a fan of Lawlor's work in MLW and I haven't followed his stuff in NJPW, so it will be cool to see him in action again.

The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn def. Three Local Athletes

I didn't catch the names of the local athletes as I don't think their names were announced. This was over so quickly that it hardly mattered. The focus was on the post-match angle with Harley Cameron attempting to rap at The Acclaimed, and needless to say, it was terrible television. Not to be confused with Johnny Television, the new name for the former John Morrison/Hennigan. What was wrong with Johnny Elite? I hate that he'll be a part of this QTV crap going forward, too. The best part of this whole segment was Anthony Bowens telling Cameron he's gay and the crowd chanting that back at her. That has to be a first, right?

Skye Blue def. Anna Jay A.S. in a Women's Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match

Both of these women have improved considerably over the years but still need more work. In other words, I can't say I was surprised that this wasn't a mat classic. They had a passable match, but let's just say I'm glad they got it out of the way in the first round. Blue has built up plenty of momentum lately, so it made sense for her to advance. As for Jay, she desperately needs to ditch Jericho Appreciation Society, hopefully for her boyfriend Jack Perry if he goes heel soon.

"Jungle Boy" Jack Perry def. DOUKI

Although I don't follow New Japan Pro-Wrestling regularly, I feel like I know most of the main factions, though I wasn't familiar with Just 5 Guys when it was mentioned. Apparently it just became a thing earlier this year, and both SANADA and DOUKI are members. DOUKI was a fresh face to me and I thought he had a strong showing here. Perry wasn't going to lose before challenging SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door, but DOUKI looked credible in defeat and it was an entertaining main event. Post-match, Perry and SANADA faced off.

Overall Show

This was a much more eventful edition than usual thanks to MJF making his first appearance on the program, a new match announced for Forbidden Door, Johnny Television (ugh) returning/debuting, a women's Owen Hart Cup quarterfinal match, and great matches in the opener and in the main event. All of that made for a quality show on the whole, though Ramage largely feels like an afterthought compared to Dynamite, Collision and the occasional pay-per-views.

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