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AEW Rampage Thread 2023


Merzbow

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This Kingston/HOB story is very bad and confusing. I'm not quite sure what's going on. Is it about Ortiz secretly being a member of HOB? Black trying to turn Eddie evil? Kingston losing his mind? Ortiz losing faith in Eddie? Why is any of this happening and what's the end goal? The bit with the chair basically requires Ortiz to be an idiot for it to make any sense. 

HOB look like killers. Just have them kill people and drop the rest of the nonsense. 

The Acclaimed and Jarrett angles were both fun. Both deserved to be on Dynamite over that Jericho shit.

The street fight was fine. Pretty tame except for Ruby's blade job. Probably would have been better as a Tay/Soho singles as Ana Jay is still green and useless. The only mistake Willow made with that powerbomb was bad table placement, she actually landed Ana perfectly flat and there was clearly a pad down there so I don't think it was anywhere near as horrendous as people are saying. Likewise there was a well hidden pad on that apron piledriver too thankfully. Tay throws great forearms.

Edited by LaGoosh
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Weakest episode of Rampage in a while. Nothing terrible but definitely a step down from recent weeks.

What an awful look for Juice Robinson that he's now given both Jon Moxley and Darby Allin - two guys who always have bangers - their most boring matches in years. Get in the bin.

Fun, daft segment with The Acclaimed. Their CV for making these crappy prop angles work is getting bigger and bigger. They're the best.

Jeff Jarrett and company feuding with Best Friends is dream mid-card fodder. Looking forward to it. I wonder how true it is about Danhausen being their biggest merch seller? It wouldn't shock me. I never wear wrestling T-shirts but even I've had a look at what's available for Danhausen. Hopefully this results in a bigger, nicer, more evil push.

House of Black vs. Kingston and Ortiz is my least favourite thing in pro-wrestling right now because it's got one of my favourite guys in Kingston doing my most hated trope; the bickering, idiotic, everyone-ends-up-looking-a-dickhead, "can they co-exist?" shit. What makes it even worse is that the match itself was pretty decent and all involved proved to have great chemistry together, but it's all for nought when it's undermined by spooky ANIMOSITY bollocks. My hope is that it all leads to Santana returning and we can quickly fast forward to them just having killer matches. This stuff isn't helping anyone. Remember how great House of Black were when they originally returned and just wrecked everyone? Can't believe we're already back to bRainWaShInG. Fuck off.

What's the deal with Malakai, anyway? Is he too fucked physically to do singles matches anymore? Watching him wrestle Kingston here, with some great exchanges, it first made me want to see them go one-on-one, then just left me wondering why Malakai isn't a top singles guy already. He seems the type who could have amazing singles matches. Who the hell has he actually wrestled one-on-one in AEW? Just Cody?! What a waste.

KUSHIDA coming in? Hopefully the Motor City Machine Guns aren't far behind. Trios match with The Elite, please.

Enjoyed the main event. Don't understand all the online outrage. It was a pretty standard death match, but far more enjoyable and memorable than almost anything these women have done recently. I'd go as far as to say this is the best thing Ruby's ever done in this company. Anything that shines a spotlight on Willow must be encouraged, too. She's the next big star if they play their cards right.

Edited by Supremo
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10 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

It's 100% true.

100% deserved. Love that Danhausen.

This is infuriating to see. Why is Eddie Kingston feuding with top guys and cutting great promos on New Japan Strong, whilst in his “home,” promotion he’s done fuck all for months, and is now in the middle of a dog shit brainwashing angle that makes no sense and makes everyone look like a twat.

 

Edited by Supremo
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Eddie Kingston, perhaps less than any wrestler today, is probably the easiest wrestler to book for around. He doesn't need convoluted stories with twists and turns, you just pick a top wrestler as an opponent and throw him out there. Job done. Eddie's character is so dynamic and exciting that he basically fills in all the gaps for you and he'll get you invested in about 20 seconds. 

You definitely don't need a bunch of SPOOKY MIND GAMES.

Edited by LaGoosh
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Spot on. Kingston is that nutter in the pub who doesn’t need a reason to fight. He’ll kick off first and then come up with justification later.

My biggest worry, given the history of House of Black, is that this is going to go on for months. If this company was in peak form they’d realise it wasn’t working and immediately pivot. Just skip the bullshit.

This week’s Dynamite should feature Santana turning up in the Dead Presidents face paint, handing baseball bats to Ortiz and Kingston, telling them to get a fucking grip, before a wild brawl with House of Black commences.

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1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

You definitely don't need a bunch of SPOOKY MIND GAMES.

Never mind Eddie Kingston, if we could just apply this rule across all pro wrestling booking for at least a few years, that would be great. It's so played out and it's always shit. The second House Of Black appear on my TV screen I'm tuning out and staring at my phone for the next five minutes. They've done nothing interesting as a group with this gimmick.

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4 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

Eddie Kingston, perhaps less than any wrestler today, is probably the easiest wrestler to book for around. He doesn't need convoluted stories with twists and turns, you just pick a top wrestler as an opponent and throw him out there. Job done. Eddie's character is so dynamic and exciting that he basically fills in all the gaps for you and he'll get you invested in about 20 seconds. 

You definitely don't need a bunch of SPOOKY MIND GAMES.

When Kevin Owens started in NXT, one of the things that set him apart is a similar quality to Eddie Kingston - he was just a one-man feud factory, able to walk in and establish an argument with anyone in seconds. He managed to make Alex Riley relevant for a few minutes at one point, based on arguing with him on commentary.

Kingston is the same, but instead of bullying and aggressiveness, it's through sheer over-sensitivity and a sense of justice. He's capable of perceiving a slight from anyone, and treating it as a grievance that needs to be addressed. And because he's consistent with it and will throw himself in front of a bullet to protect a friend due to the same qualities, it keeps him on the side of the angels as well, even when feuding with other faces.

Spooky mind games definitely not needed - and it works even worse for Kingston to sell it. 

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5 hours ago, Supremo said:

Why is Eddie Kingston feuding with top guys and cutting great promos on New Japan Strong, whilst in his “home,” promotion he’s done fuck all for months,

Could it be a consequence of that incident with Guevara? Did he lose his spot and is continuing to suffer the consequences of his actions? It does send quite the message to the locker room if so. 

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3 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

Could it be a consequence of that incident with Guevara? Did he lose his spot and is continuing to suffer the consequences of his actions? It does send quite the message to the locker room if so. 

He was given a match with Akiyama not long after, pretty much his personal goal in wrestling. So it's sending mixed messages if so.

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