The Dynamite Drip?
Yep, I believe that on its own, Rampage is just fabulous. It has great matches, scant angles and exciting atmos, it feels febrile.
But this was a Double Or Nothing go-home show, so we had a Dynamite Drip. And I don’t like it.
Why? I’ll tell you why.
Go Home
Double or Nothing was approaching and Rampage was the last AEW branded show before then, so it wasn’t going to be a usual Rampage.
And it wasn’t. It tried to fly but didn’t quite soar.
That Awful Sky/Guevara Angle
You the phrase ‘when you’re in a hole, stop digging?’ AEW have just bought in an industrial shovel.
Scorpio Sky and Sammy Guevara will now have a Trios match with Ethan Page, Frankie Kazarian, Tay Conti and Paige Van Zandt involved.
Who should I root for? Who’s the heel? Who’s the face? They’ve confused us with their over booking.
This week in Rampage, several issues;
Guevara, Kaz and Conti broke the TNT belt last week, so Dan Lambert just ordered another, which he unveiled this week. Because anyone can just order a belt, the championship committee have nothing to do with it. Yeah, that’s right.
And so, because Lambert’s mate made them a belt, Lambert needed to be taught a lesson, right?
Guevara, Conti and Kaz, visited the American Top Team HQ, I think, there was certainly a person on reception grabbed by the throat by Conti; that doesn’t seem right, does it?
Neither did Sammy and Kaz taking the sledgehammer and breaking a display case then taking a belt. Isn’t that stealing?
Yes, it messed with Sky’s head, but the angle showed that what they really did was mess with someone’s business just because he did some business.
That’s not right, is it? So confused.
The Bucks Dress Up As The Hardys
Funny as this was for a minute, and it was a minute, this was Dynamite stuff dripping into Rampage.
And it jobbed out Taylor Rust, you know, the bloke who main evented NJPW Strong recently. He was described by Excalibur as being longtime on the independent scene. Well, he was with ROH, the company Tony Khan just bought and NJPW, the Forbidden Door, pals…
It was virtually a squash here, Rust got a Scissor kick in but tasted a double Superkick; his partner John Cruz got no offence in to speak of and fell to a Nick Jackson Swanton.
And then Gangrel was attacked by the Bucks. Did I mention Gangrel came out with them for no particular reason? He did. So that brought the Hardys out and Brandon Cutler tasted a rather fine Impaler DDT.
Well done Rampage, unsatisfactory all round, except for that Impaler.
And Now, The Good Stuff
‘I went our for some sea food last night. I ordered octopus. They said it’ll take 4 hours to cook. I said ‘why is that?’ They said ‘well, we cook it from live and it keeps reaching out and turning the gas out.’
That’s paraphrased, but it was more or less William Regal’s joke. He was on commentary for the Blackpool Combat Club match and having such a good time; that delight is infectious.
More Good Stuff : Bryan Danielson v Matt Sydal
With those two in it? Of course it was going to be good!
From early on, after Danielson rolled through after a nasty looking nose pull to a leg capture, it shaped up to be something special.
A Sydal Standing Moonsault, Meteora off the top which Danielson took but came up with Sydal’s leg, then a Single Leg Crab, modified Dragon Screw and Heel Hook all sealed the deal.
And they played up the leg injury angle too, from when Danielson got himself caught between the walkway and ring last week. Here he didn’t go for the kick, preferring Hammer blows, Regal silent when asked about it.
Those blows led to a brutal Choke for a Blackpool Combat Club win and this was an excellent amalgam of wrestling acumen and wrestling entertainment.
Dante Martin v Max Caster : Why?
They’re both talented in the ring and are different enough to have a great match, so it’s clear why from that side.
But they really both need a win to confirm their forward momentum. Only one will get it.
How do get around it? Have Caster with the majority of the offence; Figure 4, modified Stump Puller, Seated Abdominal Stretch with Leg Capture – he went after the leg, you see.
And then give Martin the win with a Springboard Moonsault Nosedive for the pin.
This Rampage match didn’t help either man.
More Good Stuff : Soho v Statlander
When I say good stuff, I mean good stuff for Statlander, who had a very nice Delayed Vertical Suplex, excellent Powerslam and 2 great Powerbombs.
And yet it was Soho who got the win with a Roll Up and then gave Britt Baker litle chance to say anything when she came out especially to say something.
It was a little bit of a mess.
The Drip
Rampage didn’t have enough of its own character this week. It resembled a Dynamite help mate and that’s never going to be ideal.
Hopefully next week it will be back to its fan-pleasing ways at it can avoid that Dynamite Drip. This week? Just too much flagship show fallout.