And Rampage Is So Much Better For It
‘If it were left to me, everyone in the company would have a cauliflower face’ ..
William Regal
You’ll know if you listen to my podcast or read my Rampage reviews here that I reckon it can be better than Dynamite and is better, frequently better.
Why? It’s a common cry…
Give Us The Wrestling!
Rampage is only an hour, so not as much time to get excited by angles that don’t work or have time to fill.
There are some annoying angles though and more of that anon, but Rampage always has more of what we watch wrestling for.
Wrestling.
And there were some fine matches this week. So, where to start?
Good Match 1 : House Of Black v Evil Uno/10/Fuego Del Sol
Fabulous. Just Fabulous. Established team versus Frankenteam. Stu Grayson was gone. Fuego filling in. Sad to see Mr G go, but it didn’t affect this match.
Not when you have an arm snap from Buddy Murphy with such pep I thought he had torn Fuego’s arm off, a Fuego desperation Spanish Fly for a hit tag, 10 assisted top rope Cutter and Wheelbarrow Suplex, and nasty-looking Murphy draping DDT on the walkway.
Brody King got the pin on Fuego (of course), but the massive Lariat into the Gonzo Bomb was a thing of beauty.
Annoying Angle 1
Immediately after, Death Triangle unveiled a tombstone with House Of Black on it and a Double Or Nothing chip. It looked like painted polystyrene. The close-up camera lingered on it. It still looked like polystyrene. Made Death Triangle look cheap. Made House of Black look silly for caring. Made Rampage look poor. Did I mention it looked like painted polystyrene?
Good Match 2: Red Velvet v Kris Statlander
When Statlander can lift Velvet from the corner in a Military Press, hold her with one arm and flex with the other, things are very good.
Add in a brutal Reverse Dragon Screw from Velvet, Statlander Roll Through Snap Suplex and short, oddly excellent Blue Thunder Bomb too from Kris and things are even better.
Annoying Angle 2
The Baddies. Hogan and Jade C attacking Statlander after her surprise roll-up reversal for the pin.
And then Anna Jay out with a purloined Mark Sterling crutch.
Seen it before and nothing special. And aren’t the Baddies annoying in a Go Home rather than Heel way?
Annoying Angle 3
Dynamite bleeding into Rampage.
Shawn Spears versus Big Damo was good because we got to see Big Damo, poor because we didn’t get to see much as Spears got him up for an impressive C4, annoying because it’s the Wardrobe/MJF angle from the other, flagship, show. And Spears shouted ‘Wardlow’ before he hit the C4 – is ‘Warpig’ not a thing now then?
Good Match 3
The Blackpool Combat Club taking on Dante Martin and Matt Sydal? Should be a cracker. And because it was so good, the angle of Regal on one side of the desk and Jericho with Hager on the other is allowed. Plus, Regal is so blooming good.
Moxley first attacked Martin with a kick, a Suplex with some air, and a leg lock, leading to that great Danielson Surfboard.
In the middle of this was Regal asking Hager who, on his first day with the company they used to work for, went to speak to him? Jericho? No, Regal – masterfully done.
Back in the ring, Sydal showed his skills with a lovely-looking Standing Legdrop and Standing Corkscrew Moonsault – wow!
Don’t forget Martin though, who got a fabulous extension on a dive over the top and Cross Body.
But Danielson trumped all that with a double undertook Superplex into the LeBell Lock, but Martin reached for ropes, so Bryan wrenched on the arm and Martin had to reach the ropes with his foot.
Not to be left out, Mox sorted out Sydal on the outside with a Sleeper.
Frenetic action but never crowded, even after a Sydal Meteora on the outside and Martin Nosedive off the top on Mox which Danielson had to save him from.
The end was reassuringly messy, although the ref just shouldn’t allow Mox smashing away with elbows to the shoulder whilst Danielson has Triangle Sleeper applied.
An odd Paradigm Shift which looked more like a Suplex gave Mox the win and as Regal told us ‘thank you and good night’, it was clear what a great Wrestling and Entertainment team they are.
Annoying Angle 4: The Big One
Fans reacted badly to Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti together, so they had to turn heel.
Which meant Scorpio Sky had to turn face.
He stayed with heels Page and Lambert, but seemed unsure about them.
AEW were getting out of a corner.
Then last week Sky attacked Frankie Kazarian after their TNT title match.
Why? Now you’re back into a corner.
This week? Book yourself further into that corner.
The Men Of The Year (remember when Sky and Page were called that?) and Lambert are jawing.
Cut to Sammy and Conti outside with the TNT belt. And a sledgehammer.
Cue sledgehammer smashes.
Then Kazarian arrived to have a go with the sledgehammer.
What? Is Kazarian a bad guy now? Are Sammy and Conti good guys?
And where does that leave Sky?
It’s a mess. And one of AEW’s own making. Rampage can do without it. But it would sit nicely on Dynamite…
I Thought You Said Rampage Was Good!
It was. Because the wrestling was good. Very good. And although the angles almost overbalanced it, those matches were just good enough to mitigate the damage.
For now, Rampage, for now…
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