4 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Rampage (31 May - Results & Review)

1. Squashes Miss The Point With Kyle O’Reilly

Kyle O'Reilly AEW
AEW

Anyone who pays attention knows what Kyle O'Reilly's strengths are. He shines as a character babyface with a never-say-die attitude during gruelling matches. That's when Kyle's technical skills and heart come to the fore. Y'know when he doesn't shine? In squash matches like this win over Jordan Cruz on Friday.

O'Reilly squashes Cruz flat in less than 90 seconds.

Kyle is no physical wrecking machine, so this was confusing. Also, it was deployed as a means to build towards AEW's latest quickfire title match on Collision. Having O'Reilly run through somebody like Cruz at this stage in his run won't make anyone say, 'I gotta tune into Saturday's episode'. This match meant nothing.

There was a better squash elsewhere on Rampage, and it'll shock some that it featured someone way less-skilled than O'Reilly. However, having Kyle on programming in this sort of scenario feels like a waste of time. He gained nothing by squashing Cruz.

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