AEW Rampage? Were You Not Entertained? Sort Of…

Let Me Explain…

There were matches that I should have been delighted to see here on Rampage. After a lukewarm Fyter Fest night 1 on Wednesday, Rampage should surely have warmed the grappling cockles. After all, Gresham versus Moriarty; eh? Eh?

Yeah…about that…

G & M Don’t Really Gel

Maybe I expected too much. After all, I was after a catch-as-catch-can,high-flying bonanza.

There was one great move:
Gresham took his wrist tape off and threw it on the canvas
The ref went to throw it over the top rope
Whilst his back was turned, both wrestlers got ready to chop
And Gresham chopped straight to the twig and berries.

That was the move of the match? How dare I think that? OK, OK, Moriarty’s Wristlock Suplex was good and the ending was almost great – Gresham synched in the Octopus, fell back with Moriarty and captured the arm too for the tap.

Except that we didn’t really get to see it, so I’m not sure how stupendous it was. I can guess ‘really stupendous’, but it’s a guess.

Well, Claudio Castagnoli came down to look at Gresham, which seems to be the wrestling shorthand for ‘Me Next’. So that should be good.

Hopes, stop getting up, dammit!

Brian Cage Looks Lost In AEW

He is a great wrestler. When he’s allowed to. Like in Coastal Championship Wrestling, check out the CCW Alive YouTube channel for a reminder of how good he can be.

And how AEW is wasting him.

A big man who can do wonderfully agile things and knows how to work a crowd.

What happened on Rampage? He hung at the back of Tully Blanchard Enterprises, looking lost, not really looking like he knew why he was there. You know what?

Me neither.

Silver & Reynolds v House Of Black? Yeah, Whatever.

Not commenting on individual performances here, Silver, Reynolds, Black, and King are great.

It’s just I can’t muster up much excitement for a Dark Order/House Of Black battle. They have previous, I presume? Whatever.

There were some interesting moments. Silver and King; Silver got him down, but King popped straight up to level him. But the power-packed Silver hit the big man with a twisting Suplex.

When will Silver break out?

Some of the combos were rather good too, a Black kick to King Clothesline and Malakai throw into a Gonzo Bomb from King for the pin. On Reynolds, naturally.

It’s Sting!……..Yep, I Saw

Sting and Allin attacked after that opener. Why? Did Allin feel King cheated to win the Royal Rampage?

He didn’t.

They battled to the ring and….no idea, the camera didn’t cut to them at all.

Why? Sting locked eyes on Black, after the tattooed gent went to leave in a ‘you’re not worth it’ way, then came back.

So what happened here? We were led to believe there was a reason for them to come out and attack the House Of Black. Darby and Brody were forgotten. Sting was given something to do.

I came up with Sting. I’m old. I followed him in NWA and WCW from his early days. I think he has done extraordinary things in Wrestling. I don’t necessarily think that now. But AEW seems to, so I must be wrong.

The Last Thing Athena Needs Is A Tag Team

She worked well with Kris Statlander on Rampage this week. They had a sort of squash against the Renegade twins.

Athena got the pin after a Suplex, scream, and Twisting Dive off the top – less twisting than usual actually – which followed a tasty Death Valley Driver into a kick.

And it looked good. But after Athena has had multiple run-ins against Jade Cargill but always ended up coming up short.

AEW needs to give her a good win against one of the Baddies. On her own. Fun though it was, Rampage wasn’t it.

What Was All That About?

The Acclaimed. They were getting over. Then they were put in a friendship angle with the Gunn Club and Billy. It was fun but had nothing about it.

Now they have split from the Gunn Club and Billy.

What have we learned? The Gunn Club boys don’t have the charisma of their dad.

The Acclaimed are getting over.

As you were. Why not just have left the Acclaimed as they were? Because…reasons…

Private Party Still Work At AEW

Glory Be! One of the most talented tag teams in wrestling at the moment has reached for the light.

And the doors opened.

There it was, gleaming in the spotlight – one of the top 2 AEW shows! Rampage! Against a tag team who can really challenge them – the Lucha Bros.

And superb it was. 10 mins only, but they packed in; a Fenix Roll Through Cutter, a PP Cutter over the top rope, Penta with Marc Quen on his back leg dropping Cassidy and reverse Powerbombing Quen at the same time, a Penta Made In Japan, and Death Valley Driver into the corner and finally Fenix, on one leg, hitting the Tiger Driver for the pin.

Sure, Private Party lost, but it was so good to see them.

And That Lot Wasn’t Good?

There was good stuff in it, but Rampage was strangely uninvolving this week. Maybe it was me, but I struggled to find a throughline.

Does there have to be? Oh, I dunno…