AEW Rampage Power Rankings: Soda Pops!

With less than 48 hours until the biggest PPV event since their debut AEW had one last hour to drum up even more interest for All Out this Sunday and they tried their damndest to do just that by adding some fuel to the fires of 2 of the 3 least hyped up matches on this card. Let’s get right to it with this week’s Rampage Rankings.

5: C.M. Punk: He didn’t wrestle but he was on commentary for the main event and he fit in seamlessly with the rest of the team. Aside from the soda line I’ll get to later he also added a potentially interesting element to Sunday’s when he noted Darby struggling with his rear naked choke defense as he tried fighting off Daniel Garcia’s grasp. The staredown with Darby as the show went off the air was a nice visual despite not being all that different from this week’s Dynamite. 

4: Miro: “The Redeemer” set a trap nicely for Eddie Kingston. Miro reminded everyone that Eddie, like Fuego Del Sol, got an AEW contract despite losing his initial bid for the TNT title and he offered Eddie his chance at redemption. Kingston, unsurprisingly, is not a believer in Miro’s “God” and went to throw hands but fell right into Miro’s trap. Miro left the ring and when Eddie rolled out to cut off his exit Miro was one step ahead and nailed Eddie with the TNT title. For a match that has virtually no build this was a nice segment and fun character building for both guys. 

3: Malaki Black: Black continued climbing the Mortal Kombat tower of the Nightmare Family on a path destined for Cody. After taking out Brock Anderson last week Black took out “Big Shotty” Lee Johnson. In a true badass move Black presented Johnson with a chair to use while he was down but before Johnson got to use it Black ended him with a spinning wheel kick. Next week Black gets both a metaphorical and literal step up as he takes on who we can only assume is the penultimate boss in Dustin Rhodes. 

2: Darby Allin: The three way love child of Sting, Jeff Hardy and Marko Stunt continued to show why he’s one of the hottest young acts in all of wrestling! He nailed Punk’s Pepsi Twist on Garcia and hit a Code Red to prompt a gem of a line from Punk on commentary where he asked if all moves are named after sodas. He finally put Garcia away with his Last Supper pinning combination which was one of those subtle things AEW does so well. Garcia not being beaten with a Coffin Drop keeps the idea alive for down the line that this was more of a fluke and gives Garcia some credibility. Fluke or not I genuinely don’t know who is coming out on top of Darby v. Punk and that’s a great feeling. 

1: Kris Statlander: Until this point the AEW Women’s Title has felt like it’s playing second fiddle women’s match to the mystery of the Casino Battle Royal. Having Statlander just power through both Hayter and Rebel (not Reba) in dominant fashion made her look like a star in a way I’d not seen since the first time I saw her in a war with Joey Janela on Beyond Wrestling Unchartered Territory. The finishing submission looked a bit odd but her simultaneous powerslam/electric chair drop earlier in the match more than made up for it. Taz mentioned Statlander only being rivaled for power by Jade Cargill and once Cargill shows a little bit more in the ring that collision could be massive! The smart money is still on Britt Baker Sunday but at least now I buy Statlander having a chance.