All Elite Wrestling returned to its usual one-hour setup for Friday's episode of Rampage after extending the show by an hour for last week's episode.
This week featured a big rematch between PAC and Andrade El Idolo after they collided on September 10 in a bout won by Andrade.
AEW women's world champion Britt Baker took on Anna Jay of The Dark Order, and Orange Cassidy took on Powerhouse Hobbs in a World Title Eliminator Tournament match.
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Friday's show.
The first match of the night saw Cassidy take on Hobbs in a World Title Eliminator Tournament bout. Their last encounter ended with Cassidy having his hand raised, so Hobbs was looking for revenge in addition to a title shot.
Powerhouse ducked the Orange Punch and hit a spinebuster for a quick two-count. He took Cassidy out of the ring and punished the ribs he had taped up from a previous injury.
Hobbs continued to dominate the action as Matt Hardy laughed at OC from the crowd. He maintained control through the commercial break, but Cassidy began to show signs of life when the show returned.
Hobbs caught him during another attempted Orange Punch and planted him in the corner. The ref got in Hobbs' face and yelled at him to make a clean break. He picked the official up and planted him in another corner. While he was distracted, Cassidy came over and rolled him into a pinning combination for the win.
Grade: C+
Analysis
This was a decent match with some good physicality from Hobbs, but it was by no means the best we have seen from either competitor. At times, it felt a little sluggish.
The first half was much better than what took place after the break. The stuff with the ref was unnecessary and seemed to go against AEW's own trend of allowing referees to be more lenient with the rules.
Hobbs should have won this with some help from Hook. He is the member of Team Taz who should be getting a push, but it looks like we will have to wait a little longer for him to be in the hunt for gold again.
The women's division was up next with a non-title match between No. 99 of The Dark Order and the AEW women's world champion, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. As always, Rebel and Jamie Hayter were there to support Baker.
The champ scored the first hit, but Anna Jay quickly brought her down to the mat and attempted to lock in her signature submission, The Queen Slayer.
They traded holds and counters until 99 hit a spinning kick to the jaw. She hit another kick from the apron and a flatliner before going for another hold.
DMD sent her face into the middle turnbuckle as the show cut to a break. We returned to see Baker take Jay down with a sling blade followed by a twisting neckbreaker for a near-fall.
No. 99 rolled Baker into the Queen Slayer but failed to completely lock it in. Hayter distracted her but it wasn't enough for D.M.D to get the pin. Jay locked in the hold again, but Baker got her foot on the bottom rope.
Baker nailed a superkick before applying the Lockjaw for the submission victory.
Grade: B
Analysis
Other than one sloppy moment when Baker tried to kick off from the turnbuckle to roll into a pin but landed wrong, this was a solid match.
It was easily the best performance Jay has had in AEW to date, and it's no surprise that it happened with Baker. The women's champion has been good for a long time and keeps getting better.
Tay Conti saving Jay at the end helped push her ongoing feud with D.M.D and set her up to look like a threat to the champ's title reign.
After a brief backstage interview with Tony Schiavone, PAC and El Idolo made their way out for this big rematch. They had a tense staredown before PAC hit a spin kick to the gut and a snap German suplex.
El Idolo rolled out of the ring, and PAC followed with a dive over the top rope to take him out. The Brit avoided a double knee in the corner and unleashed a series of quick strikes.
Andrade knocked PAC off the apron and hit a corkscrew dive over the top rope to take him out at ringside as we went to a commercial.
PAC hit a hurricanrana from the apron to the floor that sent El Idolo into a chair that was near the ring. The Newcastle native followed up with a perfect moonsault from the middle turnbuckle.
They traded elbow strikes on the apron until Andrade dropped his opponent with a clubbing blow to the chest. PAC began to make a comeback and hit a super brainbuster from the top rope for a close two-count.
They went back and forth with strikes and near-falls until PAC rolled up El Idolo for the win. The lights went out in the arena, and Malakai Black was in the ring when they came back on. He spat mist at PAC and went after him with El Idolo. Cody Rhodes showed up to make the save and send Black running.
Grade: A
Analysis
If you came into this match expecting anything less than a show-stealing performance, you haven't been paying attention to either man's career.
PAC and El Idolo have incredible chemistry, and they may have even outdone their first performance with this one. There was a wider variety of moves used and a more competitive feel to their exchanges.
This is the kind of wrestling that every fan can enjoy. It was exciting, hard-hitting, creative and tons of fun. You can't ask for much more from a main event.
