AEW Rampage Review - September 16, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Darby Allin def. Matt Hardy

As Hardy mentioned in a video package on Wednesday's Dynamite, these two have history dating back to last year and work well together. I liked that Hardy actually gave a reason for why this match happened. It was good stuff, but nothing spectacular. Post-match, Brody King and Julia Hart went after Hardy, baiting Darby Allin and Sting to agree to face King and Buddy Matthews in a No Disqualification tag team match next week on Rampage. I don't have much desire to see the feud continue if it means House of Black is going to lose again.

ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli Accepted Chris Jericho's Grand Slam Challenge

Castagnoli started out the segment talking about the finals of the AEW World Championship tournament next week being the battle of Blackpool Combat Club members before being interrupted by Jericho. Jericho made it a point last week on commentary to mention that he's never held the ROH World Championship before (no shit), so he'll be going for the gold on next week's Grand Slam edition of Dynamite. I think someone like Castagnoli can really bring the best out of Jericho as seen with Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley recently, so I'm looking forward to that one.

Penelope Ford def. Willow Nightingale

I love Nightingale and I'm happy whenever she appears on AEW TV, but this was a rather random match that didn't have any backstory or serve much of a purpose other than to give Ford a much-needed win following her loss to Toni Storm last week on Dynamite. I'm glad she's getting reps again after a long layoff due to injury and it's about time AEW started to focus on other women beyond those already in the title pictures, but it remains to be seen where this is headed.

"All Ego" Ethan Page def. Danhausen

If you've ever seen Danhausen's YouTube vlog, then you'd know these two are legitimately best friends in real life, so I'm sure they enjoyed the opportunity to work with each other on a big stage finally. With Page in the midst of a renewed singles push (or so it seems), there wasn't much doubt surrounding the outcome, so it was probably best to keep this on the shorter side (as much as I would've liked to see Danhausen score some offense). Page needs some serious rehabbing in order to be viewed as a threat to any title.

ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe def. Josh Woods

This was the third AEW show in two weeks to be headlined by a Ring of Honor title match. While I think it's cool exposure for the brand, I can understand why some viewers may lose interest because ROH isn't AEW and ROH desperately needs its own show/platform at this point. Nonetheless, I was excited for this encounter knowing what Woods is capable of, but as I've said before, Woods has bene poorly introduced to the AEW audience and the audience has been given zero incentive to give a crap about him. On the bright said, it was a very physical and enjoyable affair while it lasted. Wardlow making the save for Joe afterward sets them up to face Woods and Tony Nese in tag team action next Friday night.

Overall Show

A few weeks ago, Tony Khan mentioned that Rampage would see an increase in quality, but I personally have yet to see it. This was an adequate albeit inconsequential show with nothing really worth seeking out. Joe vs. Woods was a treat but not as must-see as Castagnoli vs. Dax Harwood from last week in my opinion. Thankfully, next week's two-hour Grand Slam edition of Rampage has a strong card on paper and is bound to be more worthwhile.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews