AEW Rampage Review - October 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Orange Cassidy def. Powerhouse Hobbs in an AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

As expected, AEW acknowledged that Hobbs lost to Cassidy in around 10 seconds on Dark in July 2020. If you were reading my reviews of Dark at the time, you'd know how annoyed I was that AEW would book a dude who is as built as Hobbs to lose so quickly and easily, especially if they were going to sign him and they did. They went back to that story here, and although it was a far more competitive match, Hobbs still lost due to being distracted with the referee or whatever. Cassidy's ribs were taped up from the Ladder match two weeks ago and that could have been his out for losing. This was a good match and both guys were going to lose to Jon Moxley in the semifinals, but I would have preferred Hobbs advancing instead.

AAA World Tag Team Champions FTR and Tully Blanchard Attacked AEW World Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers and Alex Abrahantes

This was a pretty straightforward segment designed to further the feud between these two teams. I don't think Lucha Brothers even had a chance to speak before they went to ringside to confront the men wearing the green lucha masks and were subsequently ambushed by FTR. This was quick, simple and painless. Lucha Brothers vs. FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship is all but a lock for Full Gear.

AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker def. Anna Jay (Non-Title)

I feel like we haven't seen too much of Baker in action as of late. She obviously shouldn't be wrestling every week, but she's been stuck in limbo since retaining her title against Ruby Soho a month ago. All signs point to her defending against Tay Conti at Full Gear and I'm in favor of that, but why not kick off the build weeks ago and not right before the pay-per-view? Nonetheless, this was a quality contest. Neither of them are master in-ring technicians, but it was decent enough and accomplished what it needed to.

​Pac def. Andrade El Idolo

The first match these two had last month was very good but not as great or as exciting as I thought it could have been. This rematch, however, was exactly what I was hoping for. The action was excellent, they got an ample amount of time, and the fact that the show was live (and they didn't have to follow a two-hour Dynamite) was a huge help. This was easily one of the best Rampage matches to date. Pac needed the victory, so I had no issue with him winning the way he did. I just wish the lights didn't go out immediately afterward and his win would have had a few moments to breathe. I don't know what Malaki Black and Cody Rhodes have to do with Andrade and Pac, but it made for a hot ending to the show, that's for sure.

Overall Show

Pac vs. Andrade alone made this show worth watching, so definitely make time to seek it out and enjoy. The undercard stuff was solid and nothing was bad, though I could have done without an injured Cassidy beating Hobbs. Feuds were furthered (Lucha Brothers and FTR), seeds were planted (Baker vs. Conti at Full Gear), and awesome wrestling was to be had (Pac vs. Andrade). The bracket for the AEW TBS Championship was also revealed, so that was notable as well.

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