AEW Rampage Power Rankings: Pray to The Spanish God

What was initially announced as an absolute classic Rampage with two title matches got downgraded to a one title match show. Yet it still wound up being really, really fun. So let’s get to the rankings for it! 

Honorable Mention: Bryan Danielson: Danielson and Silver cut pre-recorded promos hyping up their meeting on Dynamite next week. Danielson said Silver is the strongest member of Dark Order without a doubt but that you are a reflection of the 5 people you surround yourself with and he doesn’t surround himself with elite people in The Dark Order. When Danielson was 30 he wasn’t joking around like Silver, he was winning Championships. This wasn’t long but an added a level of story and excitement to their match as I look forward to Silver being forced to get more serious as their match goes on and I’m sure the crowd will be red hot behind Long Island’s own. 

5: Pac & Penta El Zero M: FTR may have won but these two had all the highlights. Early on Pac tried to springboard but lost his balance because of only having the use of one eye. Penta did most of the heavy lifting here landing 2 slingblades and a cazadora into a DDT. He also dodged an attack and hit a backstabber in the corner. A corckscrew code red from Penta nearly got Death Triangle the win. Pac even came back and decided not to springboard after the earlier failure but instesd climb the corner and land a monnsault to both members of FTR on the floor but in the end it all wasn’t enough to overcome the numbers game. Still a stellar showing for Pac and Penta in the loss. Between FTR ripping Penta’s mask clean off and Black attacking Pac after the match gouging the eye and getting Pac’s blood on his hand I’m looking forward to both Pac v. Black and a Lucha Bros. v. FTR rematch.:

4: FTR: The dastardly duo was up to their old shenanigans in a non-title match with Pac and Penta tonight. Like most FTR matches this started slow but then became really fun. The story here was pretty straight-forward with FTR using ref distractions and Tully to try to get the win. There was a fun call-back here where the ref caught the illegal member of FTR going for a pin and stopped counting. While Pac & Pents did all they could FTR finally came away with the win after Malakai Black showed up and misted Pac’s lone good eye allowing Dax to cover him for the 3. My only issue is the blending of The House of Black and Pinnacle stuff. The Pinnacle has largely felt absent as FTR aligns more with Black & Andrade so the whole thing is a bit strange. 

3: Jade Cargill: She had one of my favorite matches to both watch and re-cap since I’ve been doing these rankings; Pump kick, Jaded, 3. Goodbye Janai Kai. The kick wasn’t the cleanest which is bad in a match with 2 moves but this is how you build a monster. She and Thunder Rosa brawled after the match when Jade tried to attack Rosa’s student Kai but were pulled apart. I’d love to get this match next week since I have tickets and right now, on paper, the Long Island show leaves a lot to be desired. 

2: Tony Nese: One of my favorite spots ever came in a 205 Live match in August of 2017 where Gran Metalik hit a moonsault on Tony Nese outside the ring the second he hit a baseball slide. The timing was so amazing that I knew then and there that both of those guys were special in the ring. I knew Nese was great even before that when I first saw him in a tag team 4 way TLC match with his partner Jigsaw against The Young Bucks, The Addiction and Adrenaline Express at FWE in 2014. So I shouldn’t be surprised at what he showed tonight yet I am. I guess “out of sight out of mind” was at play because I had some hesitation when A.E.W. brought him in, not because he wasn’t good, just becauase I didn’t think he brought anything that different than anyone else. And while A.E.W. does have guys who can fly like Nese it’s really just he and Pac that have that combination of the badass, problem build and the ability to fly like birds. This was a hell of an A.E.W. TV premiere for “The Premier Athlete” with him holding his own and going move for move with Guevara. Despite a fantastic showing that included kicking a draped Sammy off the turnbuckle and catching him in a gutbuster, a springboard moonsault from the outside in, a Fosbury flop, 450, buckle bomb and multiple single leg crab attempts with a knee in the back none of it was enough for Nese to get the win. But at least now the A.E.W. audience knows Nese is legit. 

1: Sammy Guevara: The Spanish God took the TNT Title from Miro but maybe he’s earned the right to take his nickname too. Sammy could easily go by “The Redeemer” as he’s now reminded me of why I liked both Jay Lethal and Tony Nese in the first place despite having some trepidation with each going to A.E.W. Aside from the spots from Nese previously mentioned Guevara battled through bad ribs and a bum leg to hit a double jump cutter, a springboard top rope moonsault to the outside, a corkscrew tope and a GTH all to finally put Nese away. Sammy is doing a bang up job just giving guys elite level matches to help establish them to a new audience while keeping his grasp on the title. I hope his run continues for a long, long time with matches like this and the Lethal bout.