Jump to content

AEW Rampage Thread 2023


Merzbow

Recommended Posts

  • Paid Members

👍 Moxley/Daniels - Solid (if unspectacular) with a simple story told throughout. Not the sort of balls-to-wall opener we’re perhaps used to seeing for Rampage but an easy watch all the same. 

👍 Julia Hart/Keira Hogan - A much improved outing from Hart and a good contrast from the awful match with Anna Jay a couple of weeks ago. Much more intense, much more physical and much better execution. The fact that Hogan brought the physicality element too forced Hart to bring out more of that evil personality they are trying to convey through the selling, the evil looks of disdain, etc. As much as the possibility of a rematch worries me, the post-match brawl with Anna Jay was also well executed here and you got a much better sense of the hatred they had for one another. Good stuff. 

👍 8-Man - Still enjoying the dynamic that this is bringing as a result of winning the affections of Mark Briscoe. Some fun spots here and even a slight sense of jeopardy at the end - I thought the Varsity Athletes might pick up the surprise win as a result of the tensions across the ring. Again, nothing groundbreaking in terms of the action but in terms of the story it was all good stuff. Automatic thumbs up for Double J and the combined Fargo-strutting!

👎 Vikingo/Dralisitico - I’m a massive Vikingo fan and I also like Dralistico, but the execution felt very off and there were some quite unnecessary risks taken here. They tried to slow the pace down and while that might work in the context of a longer match, for a Rampage main event with a limited timeslot I’m not sure they were able to tell the story they wanted to tell here. Some mesmerising spots still, but for a better Vikingo match this week, go back and watch his ROH bout with Gringo Loco. 

👎 Firm Deletion - Stokely was funny with his little cameo, otherwise the Hardys could barely string a sentence together between them. Imagine having Hook as a side character in all of this. Delete indeed. 

Overall - A bang average Rampage this week in all honesty. Though there are still some items with a thumbs up, the whole show was entirely skippable in truth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

👍 White/Robinson vs Spears/Starkz - Solid, physical start to proceedings. Nothing to go out of your way to see, however. It still feels like White is wasted in this role and he should have come in at the top of the card. 

👍 Wheeler/Lethal - Perhaps ran a tad too long and the crowd weren’t particularly invested, but there’s a Jeff Jarrett sighting and it continues the intrigue around the affections of Mark Briscoe, so there’s that. Match itself was perfectly acceptable. 

👎 Rhodes/Lee squash - Match itself was pointless and the staredown with Swerve and co at the end feels a few weeks too late for me to get my testes tingling in anticipation at revisiting that rivalry. 

👎 Anna Jay/Ashely D'Amboise - Too long, too boring. Crap brawl between Anna Jay and Julia Hart post-match too - same problem as their match a couple of weeks back, zero believable intensity. Skip. 

👎 Firm bollocks - Rubbish. Imagine wasting rare words from Hook on this shite, or even his presence in this angle generally. More terrible Hardy acting too. This is going to be such a massive chore next week. 

👎 Acclaimed squash - I love The Acclaimed but this was a total waste of time for all involved. 

👎 Tay Conti scolds Sammy - Speaking of terrible acting, deary me. I get the sentiment of what they were going for, but this didn't land. 

👎 Fat Andrew Tate (same lad from Dynamite) in the front row. Pipe down and piss off. 

Overall - A lacklustre episode this week. The opening and closing matches were fine, but nothing worth going out of your way to see. There were meaningless squashes, some awful promos and hardly anything g else to pique one’s interest. The show is already lurking into meaningless b-show territory. Soon, it'll be time to bin it off and go full steam ahead with Collision. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
22 hours ago, Fatty Facesitter said:

The show is already lurking into meaningless b-show territory. Soon, it'll be time to bin it off and go full steam ahead with Collision. 

It'll be basically Dark once Collision starts.

They could save it though. I would use it to just book weird, intriguing and bonkers matches you'd never see on the main storyline driven shows, completely ignore babyface/heel divides, bring in old stars for one shots, random dream matches, intentional style clashes, international talent. Film a bunch of mad skits inbetween matches with Danhausen, RJ City, Renee, John Silver etc. Just go nuts with it, have fun. 

Samoe Joe vs Rush? Sounds sick, put in on Rampage. Bandido vs Eddie Kingston, Jeff Jarrett vs Dustin Rhodes, bring in Rob Van Dam for a one shot against Sammy Guevara, Danhuasen vs Shibata, FTR vs MCMG, LA Park vs Jon Moxley, Luchasaurus vs HOOK, triple threat of Rey Fenix/Vikingo/Kommander? Why the fuck not this is Rampage!

Edited by LaGoosh
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

It'll be basically Dark once Collision starts.

They could save it though. I would use it to just book weird, intriguing and bonkers matches you'd never see on the main storyline driven shows, completely ignore babyface/heel divides, bring in old stars for one shots, random dream matches, intentional style clashes, international talent. Film a bunch of mad skits inbetween matches with Danhausen, RJ City, Renee, John Silver etc. Just go nuts with it, have fun. 

Samoe Joe vs Rush? Sounds sick, put in on Rampage. Bandido vs Eddie Kingston, Jeff Jarrett vs Dustin Rhodes, bring in Rob Van Dam for a one shot against Sammy Guevara, Danhuasen vs Shibata, FTR vs MCMG, LA Park vs Jon Moxley, Luchasaurus vs HOOK, triple threat of Rey Fenix/Vikingo/Kommander? Why the fuck not this is Rampage!

Rampage being the time it is (usually) on should be aiming for the post pub crowd. Have comedy and flippy shit that either make you laugh or you watch outta amazement. The bow legged hardys ain’t it 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

That Hardys/Firm skit was indeed utterly dreadful, but it did have one nugget of gold buried in the pile of shite - Stokely threatening to turn all the lights on at the Hardy Compound and run their electricity bill up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...