AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from January 7

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of AEW Rampage on January 7. 

The internet's favorite new star returned to action this week when AEW sent Hook to take on The Nightmare Factory's Aaron Solo.

After she came up short against Jade Cargill on Wednesday, Ruby Soho was back at it with Riho in a tag team match against Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter.

Two former NXT Superstars did battle when Adam Cole took on Jake Atlas, and Eddie Kingston teamed up with Santana and Ortiz to take on Daniel Garcia and 2.0.

Let's look at everything that happened on Friday's show. 

AEW kicked off the action with the Rampage debut of Atlas against someone with which he once shared a locker room, Cole. 

They locked up and traded wristlocks and takedowns to start. They kept things technical and tried to use holds and counters before resorting to strikes.

Atlas taunted Cole a bit after escaping a headscissor submission, but Cole made him regret it with a few stiff punches. They went back and forth with several blocked kicks before coming to a stalemate. 

After a short burst of offense from Atlas, Cole took control and beat him down in the middle of the ring. After a break, we returned to see Cole hit a fireman's carry neckbreaker for a two-count. 

We saw a few more moves before Cole finished Atlas off with a kneebar submission. Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly joined him and were about to attack Atlas before Best Friends showed up to make the save. 

Grade: B+

Analysis

Since this was taped Wednesday, we found out Atlas suffered an injury during this match a couple of days ago, so it's hard to say when we might see him again.

It's unfortunate that this happened in only his second match in AEW, but at least he put on an impressive performance to make sure we remember him while he is out of action.

Both men displayed their full range of abilities and great chemistry in this one. We saw some technical wrestling, some strikes, some high-flying moves and a few power moves. This was an all-around solid match. You can't ask for much more than that. 

Hook and Solo locked fingers for a test of strength to start the match. Hook got the upper hand and sent Solo to the ropes. 

QT Marshall watched as his student used the ropes to escape a submission before Hook delivered several body shots in the corner. Marshall grabbed Hook's foot so Solo could get the advantage.

Solo had control for a moment, but Hook took him down into a seated octopus stretch. Hook followed up with a crotch-lift suplex and played to the crowd.

Solo hit a jawbreaker before Hook threw him with a capture suplex. He delivered some crossfaces before locking the Redrum for the win. 

Grade: B

Analysis

AEW continues to use Hook in the exact right way to get the most out of him. This was his longest match to date, but it still only lasted a few minutes.

Solo getting in a little offense before Hook scored the win made this a little more competitive than his previous bouts, but this was still a squash for the most part.

Was this a five-star classic? Not even close, but it didn't need to be that in order to be good. When you are building up a brand-new talent from scratch, allowing him to grow while displaying his strengths is the best way to go. 

Marshall tried to attack Hook after the match, but he ended up on his back after the son of Taz took him down with a suplex. 

Baker received the full entrance with pyro for this tag match with Hayter against Riho and Soho. Before the ref could call for the bell, Rebel pulled Soho out of the ring so the other two could beat down Riho.

Soho came back in and helped even the odds. Once the bell rang, Soho and Riho cornered Hayter for some double-team attacks. 

Hayter was able to make the tag, but Soho took DMD down with a suplex and a kick to the chest before she tagged in the former AEW women's champ. 

Baker hit Soho with a nice double underhook suplex before Hayter nailed a knee to the face for a two-count. We returned from a break to see Soho and Baker both crawling to make the tag.

Riho hit a dropkick and a headscissor takedown followed by a 619. DMD ran in to make the save, but Riho ended up taking down both of them and scoring a two-count. 

Soho had to save her partner after she suffered a two-on-one beatdown. Hayter accidentally hit Baker in the face, and Riho rolled her up for the win. 

Grade: C+

Analysis

This match had some good spots and great energy, but it also had a few sloppy moments that stood out more than they should have.

Soho and Baker couldn't seem to find their groove, but Riho and Hayter worked well with both of them, so the majority of the action worked fine. It just never got to the level it should have reached. 

The tease of Hayter and Baker having issues is going to lead to an eventual breakup and feud, but AEW sometimes does these storylines slowly. Either way, Hayter is more likely to turn face at the end than Baker. 

During the usual pre-match interview with Mark Henry, Kingston, Santana and Ortiz decided they had heard enough talk. As Garcia was talking trash, he and 2.0 were blindsided by their opponents backstage to kick off the fight.

This was a street fight, so the match was always going to break down into a huge fight. All six men paired off in different combinations to fight each other in and out of the ring.

Kingston focused on Garcia early on and used a trash can to dish out some extra punishment. There was too much going on to highlight everything, so we will skip to the finish and keep it short.

Santana and Ortiz hit a nice combo of kicks and clothesline to win the match for their team, but Garcia kept attacking his rivals after the match was over. They tied Kingston to the top rope with tape and beat on him until Chris Jericho made the save. 

Grade: B+

Analysis

Even though the fight started early, Henry still got in his signature "It's time for the main event" line because he is a pro and nobody is taking that spot from him.

Having the fight start backstage added an extra layer of realism and aggression to what was already a personal feud that is growing more contentious by the day. 

This match was all over the place, but in a good way. They used every weapon and piece of equipment they could get their hands on to beat each other senseless. Elton John always said Saturday night was all right for fighting, but these six men proved Friday was just as good. 

This was a decent episode of Rampage. Nothing monumental happened, but each match delivered some enjoyable action.