I guess the only other explicit tribute match I can remember watching is that Bret vs. Benoit match on Nitro that was a tribute match to Owen after he died. A lot of people slobbered all over that match, and despite being a huge Owen fan and also very much of a fan of Bret's and Benoit's work, I found it dull.

Even setting aside any comparison between the wrestling of today and the wrestling of yesteryear, I'm not sure tribute matches are my thing; it's difficult to sink my teeth into a match with no stakes. Granted that this could be a bit more engaging than that Bret/Benoit match, because part of the issue for me there was that of course Bret is going over 100% of the time and they were just doing an exhibition of wrestling moves until it was time to go home.

Dynamite was good, but a couple of things kept it from being an all-timer.

First the good:

FTR was great
Deeb/Shida was great. It seems like they're moving towards Deeb vs. Rosa, which is a match I greatly want to see, but I'd also like to see Deeb with the belt, but I don't think it's happening this soon.
Kingston promo was elite, like usual. Although the later antics with fireballs were kinda weird.

The stuff that held back the show imo:

I actually liked the spots in the ladder match and thought it could've been very good, but was an overworked mess. They should've just kept the women out of it, whenever they entered the ring, it just got super awkward. PVZ throws the worst worked punches ever. I'm not looking forward to her matches.

Rey Fenix return was a massive botch. Obviously it's incredible that he's big, but his return should've been a massive moment and they wasted it on whatever the hell that was.

If they had given us a cool Rey Fenix return and a normal ladder match without the theatrics, I would've given the show an excellent rating.

I was looking forward to the FTR match but something I thought dragged it down is that the crowd was dead throughout most of it. I don't think old school matches are for AEW crowds. Of course they chanted "FTR" and "fight forever" but other than that, dead.

Completely agree with LKJ regarding Benoit/Bret. I saw lots of people on another forum give it 5* and back then I didn't even know it happened because my Nitro watching days were over by that match and I was just bored.

This was my favorite Rampage in a number of weeks.

Swerve Darby was entertaining, Starks as well.

Jericho winning sports entertainer of the week.

Jade Smash

Danhausen + Hook

Very sports entertained.

Love that Hookhausen.

Pretty meh on that dynamite. Rampage looks can’t miss.

Worst in a long while.

Can't wait to see Rosa-Deeb in the ring, but that promo was just awkward.

Elite rampage start time.

Nese is in over his Skis next week!

This show has been ****ing great

Put the strap on Riho Noir!

Joshis are simply on another level.

With one little face turn, Scorp is now cool as hell.

They really are, hope we see more of them as travel restrictions fall.

Riho gets the best out of every opponent, plenty of room for more Joshis.

I’ve been watching Takeshita on the Dark shows. This guy is ****ing unreal. He’s the ace of DDT.

Packed tonight, Starks, Storm, Dax, and Danhausen gunna shine.

That's a great card.

How long has Jericho been terrible? I've only been watching regularly since Punk's debut, but Jericho's angles have all been my least favorites.

The whole feud with MJF was about stealing Jericho's mojo. It looks like he succeeded.

I was in the camp of “ MJF should have retired Jericho” up until this most recent evolution. I love this sports entertainer gimmick. Fat rocker dad wasn’t doing it for me, but the switch up shows that Jericho’s still got it.

My only fear is that Santana & Ortiz won’t get much of a shine out of this (AGAIN). Those two deserve the tag belts.

Look what they did to my Danhausen!

HOOKHAUSEN IS COMING!!!

What a ****ing show!

This seems like it would be painful.