AEW Rampage Review - October 6, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Hardys and Best Friends def. Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker

This was your typical multi-man Rampage match in that it featured plenty of action that the crowd was into yet none of it served much of a purpose. The Hardys have gotten a lot of television time lately, but very little of it has been meaningful. I'm glad they finally won something, but how much will this matter? Meanwhile, the heels are essentially still Jericho Appreciation Society, just without Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. You had Hager, Menard and Parker were there, but it was Garcia who took the pinfall loss. Get him the hell away from them pronto.

Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta) def. Wise Guy Ruiz and Levi Shapiro

I'm struggling to see what's next for Castagnoli now that he's lost the ROH World Championship. He's above the Ring of Honor brand at this point, but I also don't want him floundering in AEW's tag team division alongside Yuta like he was late last year. Despite that, I get the feeling that's where this is headed based on what we saw here. Admittedly, them against FTR would be a treat, but after they lose, then what? This was a straightforward squash for them.

Komander def. Lince Dorado, Penta El Zero Miedo and Johnny TV in a ROH World Championship No. 1 Contender's Four-Way Match

Was this Dorado's AEW TV debut? If so, what a lousy introduction, or rather lack thereof. You can't assume everyone will remember him from his WWE run, or care. As it turned out, he was only in there to take the pinfall loss to Komander, who I've said has been AEW's biggest enhancement talent in recent months and I'm glad he finally won something of note. Him against Eddie Kingston on Collision should be interesting. This was a fun four-way, but we see so many of them in AEW that this won't be remembered a week from now.

Hikaru Shida and AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander def. Nyla Rose and Marina Shafir

I like Rose and wish she'd be able to show off her personality more on AEW TV, but she and Shafir do not need to be in the main event. I realize this is Rampage and that it doesn't make a difference, but the four-way had higher stakes, whereas this existed to give Shida a momentum boost before she challenges Saraya for the AEW Women's World Championship on Title Tuesday. This was well wrestled but pretty pedestrian stuff on the whole.

Overall Show

This show was par for the course by Rampage standards. The opening and closing matches had no substance, the Blackpool Combat Club showcase didn't hint at anything obvious, and the four-way was for a shot at a title that is rarely defended on its own brand. This wasn't an awful episode by any means, but we've certainly seen stronger shows from Rampage in recent weeks. This was adequate at best.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews