AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From Feb. 2
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of AEW Rampage on February 2.
This week's show had the usual four-match setup. Here is a look at the card from Friday's show:
- Willow Nightingale vs. Queen Aminata
- The Dark Order vs. Big Bill and Ricky Starks
- Top Flight vs. Private Party
- Mistico, Mascara Dorada, Hechicero and Volador Jr. vs. Christopher Daniels, Matt Sydal, Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Friday's show.
Private Party vs. Top Flight
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Marq Quen and Dante Martin started for their teams in this opening match. As usual, the entrances were skipped so we could get right to the action.
Top Flight had the upper hand at first and used some double-team moves to keep Quen isolated until he was able to tag in Isiah Kassidy.
These are two teams who are known for their high-flying antics and breakneck speed, so seeing them pace themselves and favor making every spot count over packing as many spots into the match as possible was a nice surprise.
This bout still had a quick flow and plenty of fun moments, but it never felt like they were rushing. They took time to sell and made sure to set up each spot so it worked as well as possible.
This was a better performance than their previous encounter on a technical level. Top Flight was able to even the score by getting the clean victory. Private Party refused to shake hands after the bell, so a rubber match may be in store.
Result: Top Flight defeated Private Party
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- There has to be some level of inconvenience to wearing an open shirt while wrestling, but Quen didn't appear to have an issue.
- Kassidy took a foam crown from a fan and wore it while he hit a springboard stunner for a two-count. It managed to stay on his head longer than expected.
- The shooting star press from the top turnbuckle was awesome.
The Dark Order vs. Big Bill and Ricky Starks
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John Silver and Alex Reynolds had a chance to face Big Bill and Starks in a Tag Team Eliminator match, so the belts weren't on the line but a potential title shot was if Dark Order won.
Darby Allin saw with the commentary team and discussed his history with the four men in te ring.
The Dark Order tried to get an early advantage by rushing the champions as soon as the ref called for the bell, but Bill's size made it difficult to keep the upper hand.
Mr. Absolute got the pin for his team to end a decent but ultimately forgettable tag team match.
Result: Big Bill and Ricky Starks defeated The Dark Order
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Allin brought up a few things from the pandemic-era shows while he was on commentary. He has been a lot more talkative than usual lately.
- Bill taking all the damage so Starks could get the hot tag was the exact opposite of what you would expect to see from most teams.
- Reynolds is one of the most underrated workers in all of AEW.
Willow Nightingale vs. Queen Aminata
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Queen Aminata has been all over AEW TV lately, but she hasn't had much luck getting any wins. Unfortunately for her, she faced one of her toughest opponents to date in Willow.
Aminata got some love from the crowd at one point, but Willow still had the majority of the fans on her side.
They battled through the break and Aminata began to build some momentum, but a few power moves from Willow turned the tide back in her favor so she could hit the Doctor Bomb for the win.
This is another instance when having a significant portion of the match take place during the commercial break hurt the overall quality. Most of what we saw was good, but there wasn't enough of it.
Result: Willow Nightingale defeated Queen Aminata
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Stokely Hathaway was doing a great job selling his annoyance.
- There have to be other women who can take a loss here and there. Aminata is too good to just be a jobber.
- Willow's cannonball in the corner looked rough. She didn't seem to have as much energy as usual.
8-man Tag Team Match and the Final Word
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This week's main event saw four luchadors from CMLL take on a pair of AEW tag teams in a huge eight-man tag match.
Sydal, Daniels, Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang are not a very experienced foursome, so this was an interesting combination of stars to put in the ring with the Lucadors.
On paper, this looked like it was going to be a high-speed exhibition of aerial moves, and at times it was, but it was also paced in a way that made the action easy to follow. This is something AEW has struggled with in the past, so it was great to see a couple of examples of better pacing on this show.
The second half was more frenetic and saw several men hit different kinds of dives, but it was ultimately a pinning combination from Hechicero that kept Daniels down for the pin.
Result: The CMLL luchadors defeated Team AEW
Grade: B
Friday's episode of Rampage is not going to stand out in the history books, but it was a decent way to spend an hour.
Every match was entertaining in its own way, but none of them stood out at all. Top Flight vs. Private Party was the best of the night, but it didn't have much competition.
The ongoing story with Willow, Statlander and Hathaway has been fun, so hopefully, management keeps them together for a bit.
All in all, this is the kind of Rampage that will end up being overshadowed by everything else we saw this week.
Rampage Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- There was a funny backstage segment with Willow, Stokely, Kris Statlander, Saraya, Ruby Soho and Harley Cameron before this match.
- Mistico still looks like he moves as well as a man half his age.
- Hechicero is bigger than he looks at first glance. He might have been the biggest competitor in the match.
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