AEW Rampage Review - November 8, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Hikaru Shida def. Viva Van

I thought this marked Shida's first AEW match since losing to Mercedes Mone at All Out, but I guess she had a Rampage match against Harley Cameron later that month that I totally forgot about. Either way, it was nice to see Shida back here. This was essentially a showcase for her, which is exactly what it should have been. Hopefully she can settle into her next feud soon and isn't just being built up to lose to someone else.

The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) def. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) and The Infantry in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

Didn't Undisputed Kingdom win another pointless three-way tag team match recently on Rampage? I have to assume the endgame for Taven and Bennett is to challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, even though it's a little late for fans to start taking them seriously. This was a well-worked match yet fairly forgettable. Based on the post-match angle, Undisputed Kingdom's next real "challenge" will be against Brian Cage and Lance Archer.

Top Flight def. BEEF and JD Drake

BEEF and Drake are not a genuine team and are only together because Anthony Henry, Drake's actual tag partner, is out injured at the moment. Thus, it was logical for Top Flight to beat them, but it was not logical for this to last as long as it did. Top Flight really should have won with ease instead having a competitive contest with an undercard tandem. Nonetheless, they'll face The Outrunners in a Full Gear 4-Way Contenders Series match on Saturday's Collision.

Lio Rush def. Komander

The sole reason why Komander beat Rush on last week's Rampage was because Komander went on to face Kyle Fletcher on the next night's Collision (which was an unexpected banger, by the way), so it made sense for Rush to get his win back here. I'm not sure why it was positioned as the main event, but once again, it was the best thing on the show. I wouldn't be shocked to see a rubber match one of these weeks as well.

Overall Show

Just to clarify, Rampage is indeed being canceled imminently, right? This episode is a prime example of why this show does not need to exist. I enjoyed Rush vs. Komander for what it was like last week, but that could've happened in the middle of any edition of Collision or ROH TV. The other three matches were mundane and paint-by-numbers stuff. Unsurprisingly, this was a completely useless hour of television.

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