AEW Rampage Thread 2023

[JLM]

Rampage 13/09 

Conglomeration/Dark Order was a fun six man tag as you'd imagine. Best bit was the assisted kip up from Briscoe and Kylie on OC. 

Kingdom and Sammy/Dustin promo... eehhh.. Dustin tried his best here but good lord I do not care to see these two teams in a rematch for the ROH tag titles. 

Kamille squash was fine, the sit out dominator finish she used was pretty cool. 

Chris Daniels challenging Jack Perry for his title was unexpected. "You'd better pack a lunch 'cos I'm gonna kick your ass" doesn't work. You say "you'd better pack a lunch" if someone says they're going to kick YOUR ass. It implies it's going to be difficult for them/they could be trying all day etc.  Instead his promo was: "I'm going to beat you up, bring sandwiches". 

Roderick Strong vs BEEF. This was made a lot better by the crowd and, more importantly, Daddy Magic being massively into BEEF. BEEF's top rope splash is called the Kentucky Meat Shower and Daddy Magic was beyond delighted about that. I haven't been watching ROH but I saw the introduction of BEEF as Anthony Henry's cousin or something. Seemed more annoying than funny in that debut appearance but the people were behind him here. Might just be because they enjoyed chanting the word BEEF though. 

Saraya/Harley squash notably had Saraya tag herself in to take the win when Harley already had it *AND* she once again left Harley as a human shield against Jamie Hayter. Will Harley realise she's being mugged off? I kinda don't want the Queens of Rampage to split up, but it would be funny if Harley realises she's been conned before Wardlow or Luchasaurus do. 

The MVP of the 2024 G1 Climax vs Shitarse Andretti. Do better Tony Khan. My favourite bit was when Takeshita whipped Andretti into the steps on the outside, stood over him all mockingly and then looked at the crowd to try and draw boos. Instead they chanted "one more time". Correct. Takeshita knocking him out with a massive elbow, THEN the big knee, THEN the Raging Fire just because he felt like it was also correct.

Andretti can do lots of impressive and flashy moves and he does them very well and he rarely botches them but there is just nothing behind the eyes with that man. He has anti-charisma. It's not that he can't do anything that would get a reaction, it's that he does things which normally absolutely WOULD get a reaction, but because it's him they don't. Terrible name, terrible haircut, terrible promos, not funny, no likability, generic look, generic in-ring style, no underdog babyface fire, no sympathetic babyface selling. It's such a shame because a random enhancement talent guy pinning Chris Jericho outta nowhere was such a cool way to get a new guy's run started, but boy was it wasted on him. 

I really, really do not care for Action Andretti. Also that episode of Rampage happened. 

Edited September 16, 2024 by JLM

[Hannibal Scorch]

56 minutes ago, JLM said:

 

I really, really do not care for Action Andretti. Also that episode of Rampage happened. 

I got very few people agreeing with me that LA Knight is not a great name, but I think Action Andretti is also a poor choice.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

I'm on board with Hook, The Outrunners, Hangman, and BEEF.

 

Your call from there 

Edited September 16, 2024 by ReturnOfTheMack
Drunk spelling

[LaGoosh]

Action Andretti's double forward roll attack was one of the worst new moves I've seen. Even Daddy Magic seemed baffled by it.

[Lorne Malvo]

Pretty good episode of Rampage this week, I thought. Briscoe/Keith was a decent hard-hitting affair, Shida vs Cameron was decent (Hayter looks fantastic in her 1970s get-up) and the four-way main event was good fun.

Wheeler Yuta was the MVP of the show though, I'm loving this new direction with him. Can't wait to see the Trios title match at Grand Slam just to see how this develops. 

[JLM]

Rampage 20/09

Briscoe/Keith was a really fun TV match. Wouldn't usually be interested in a 10+ minute Bryan Keith singles match but he had great chemistry with Briscoe, plus Briscoe's charisma and babyface fire automatically adds heat to any match, even on Rampage. A cut above the average Rampage undercard match. Post-match confirmation that the Conglomeration remain deep in the vortex was disheartening.

Another tremendous performance from Yuta. Poor guy, his trios title is just a horrible reminder of what happened at All Out. Butcher a perfect choice of opponent here, Yuta's ferocity after sufficient provocation allowing him to pummel a much larger opponent into submission. The way he lunged at the ref and the look on his face as he gradually came to his senses were particularly great. Love the very poignant use of the cattle mutilation in these matches too. I think my fantasy booked Continental Classic is going to need four blocks at this rate. BCC-free Yuta with Danielson as his Yoda is now on my ever-growing list of people I want in there. 

 

Mansoor's Anticipation face got me good here. :

Good match from Shida and Cameron, with Harley once again proving she can hang at this level very well and getting a number of surprisingly big near falls. Shida losing faith in the Katana after it didn't do the job against Mone is an interesting one. I think the Falcon Arrow looks better than it most of the time anyway so I'm all for it. Hayter looked great, though will be glad to see her move onto something more substantial once this is done. Very wise to make Hayter/Saraya some kind of gimmick/plunder match. Plenty of Harley shenanigans and Hayter having to overcome a handicap match will make it way more fun. 

Roddy and Frank Mortos, attorney at law vs Jobbers was a pretty spectacular squash I must say. Gloriously violent. 

Deonna and Taya setting up a women's division mafia is something I can get behind, they've teased this pairing before and I like it a lot. They should add The Mafiosa Valentina Rossi to the stable, for those of us who still miss AEW Dark. 

Main event was the sort of bonkers sprint scramble type match I look for on a Rampage. Thoroughly entertaining stuff, top performances from all four with Lio Rush probably the highlight. Finish made perfect sense and I loved the cut aways to Christian looking like the proudest dad in the world. 

Much, much better than the past few episodes there. Special mention to the commentary trio too. Daddy Magic always a delight of course, but appreciated getting more bonus Riccaboni outside of ROH purgatory. Him and Excalibur both being play-by-play guys could make it awkward but they handled it well and all three of them were in fine form. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JLM]

Rampage 27/09/24

Rush/Andretti vs HOB was a solid enough tag match. Action Andretti has realised he's shit and loses all the time and he's REALLY MAD ABOUT IT, which makes him even more shit and he is now making sure his team loses through his stupidity. His gimmick is that he's realised he's Action Andretti but somehow thinks that's Lio Rush's fault. Schiavone and Daddy Magic gradually turning on him as the match went on was really funny. It started off "I get that he's frustrated but he needs to keep his head in the game" and ended with "what's this idiot doing now?" Him lobbing his water bottle at Brody King and getting flattened for it also made me laugh, as did the graphic confirming a singles match between them for Collision. He's going to get destroyed surely. This is some Action Andretti booking I can get behind. Top Flight and Rush still being nice to him after his embarrassing display was disappointing though. Lio, get yourself one of those MVP business cards and don't say anything in the group chat.

Not a bad return promo from Anna Jay. Carrying on from the Stardom tour doing the promos in something closer to her own voice. She also has a very Stardom-esque new theme song remix. Was hoping for some more tweaks to her presentation, but still, glad they made a thing of the tour and changed things up a little bit for the return. Very short squash but she was definitely hitting harder, including a really nice looking forearm smash in the corner and the overhand chop she got from Xena. Also, like every Japanese women's wrestler and every foreigner who has done tours or Stardom, she now has a crisp looking basement dropkick with a lot of mustard behind it. I assume that's the first thing they teach you in the Stardom dojo. She was a lot more vocal throughout the match too, as she was in all of the Stardom GP matches.  Let's see if she manages more than 1-2 matches per month going forward. 

Takeshita/Angelico was fine I guess. Takeshita spending way too much time on Rampage lately though. I do hope the teasing of him vs Okada leads to not only the match but a sustained push for him. Stuff like this feels like such a waste. 

Max Caster's promo was very embarrassing. Calling people "pansies" in 2024, honestly. Thankfully MXM saved the day with their retort. 

Fine main event from Willow and Taya Valkyrie. Taya did solid traditional heeling, Willow is the best babyface. Solid stuff. I think this was filmed before Taya became a wiseguy, so sadly no movement on the Purazzo story. 

One of the Rampagest Rampages of the year.

[Supremo]

Is it just me, or is this card shit? Not feeling almost any of this. Hardly dreamy. Bryan Danielson deserves so much more for his wake.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Is it just me, or is this card shit? Not feeling almost any of this. Hardly dreamy. Bryan Danielson deserves so much more for his wake.

I didn't realise they'd made the three way, that should be lots of fun. 

It's AEW so I expect quite a few more matches to be added, including bucks v private party and something for the custody of the trios belts, as well as Jay white and Hangman, all of which should be really fun, and it's a bit dependent on who answers Derbys open challenge. I assume it'll be Swerve or Lashley, but I hope that it'll be a P45. 

[LaGoosh]

10 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Is it just me, or is this card shit?

It's a funny one because most the matches booked so far are all likely to be excellent but AEW's PPV standard is so high that this looks pretty unexciting despite that. All Out feels like it only happened two weeks ago - they definitely needed more time to give this one some more buzz.

[Supremo]

If you really want to do a dream match, Orange Cassidy answers Darby’s open challenge.

[LaGoosh]

I reckon it's probably Bobby Lashley, which, while not an obvious dream match, would probably be fucking mental.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

I just feel sorry for Mark Briscoe

[Supremo]

2 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I reckon it's probably Bobby Lashley, which, while not an obvious dream match, would probably be fucking mental.

Sounds mint! Considering the way Darby gives everyone their best match by letting them chuck him around like a wet tracksuit, I reckon Big Bob could get Darby to hit the lighting rig.

I always come back to how huge Billy Gunn sometimes looks in AEW. I bet Lashley’s going to look the Great Khali out there. Could end up having the run of his career acting as a base and throwing these flippy lads around.

What was the Tag Team AEW had doing Road Warrior power matches a few months back on Rampage and Collision? Lashley and Powerhouse Hobbs could be great doing something similar.

 

[JLM]

Rampage 04/10/24

Shibata/Private Party vs Bucks/Perry was good stuff, a much more substantial match than you typically see on Rampage. They're committing to the Private Parry refresh and I'm all for it. Hope they pull the trigger on the Stokeley thing soon, they'll be fun together. Even though I still expect them to lose at Wrestledream, I still wouldn't have dreamt of them getting a clean pinfall win over The Young Bucks a month ago. 

Statlander Promo... As I said in the Collision thread, an unacceptably lame way to do the babyface turn. Having her realise the error of her ways and send Stokeley packing in front of a crowd would have been a great moment. One of the most wholesome babyfaces turning on THE most wholesome babyface in the company was a significant happening, there should have been some kind of story told to bring Statlander back towards the light. Kamille/Statlander sounds good to me but man what a lazy and poorly handled follow up to Stat's incredible performance at All Out. 

Harley Cameron promo a delight as always. Almost felt like a parody of the Statlander promo with how half arsed it was. 

Kamille with one of the quickest squashes I've seen in AEW. Didn't like the Ruthless Aggression midcard neckbreaker finisher though. The sit out dominator she used last time is a way better finish.

Anna Jay promo. "Just try me" seems to be the new catchphrase. She still has this problem where she looks like she's trying not to laugh whenever she's cutting a promo. She managed to avoid it during all of her Stardom promos but it's back again now. I like to think John Silver and the boys are just off camera trying to make her corpse like the good old days. 

Purazzo and Taya promo. Dropped "this thing of ours" as many times as possible into one minute there. Maybe don't hit us over the head with it QUITE this hard. The room was dark but I'm sure there was a baked ziti in there somewhere. Still into this generally though, they just need more goons. 

Harley Cameron vs Queen Aminata was a pretty textbook TV match. Harley had the heat and talked shit until Aminata fired up and beat her with her excellent looking offense. Simple and effective. Post-match also very standard stuff. Again, just happy seeing Aminata being featured on the AEW shows and getting involved in feuds. 

Six women's promos and/or matches back to back there, though it did all happen in the space of about 20 minutes. 

Acclaimed promo... I just don't get it with Max Caster at the moment. Like I'm not sure if he's playing tweener, or if he's just trying to add a bit of an edge to the character, or if he is genuinely just not enjoying being there. On top of the schtick feeling stale, he seems to be going out of his way to be actively unlikeable. I say again, how the hell are The Acclaimed the babyfaces in this feud with MXM?

Main event was fun, OC seemed to be in a particularly good mood for it and was more vocal and goofy than he has been lately. Him and Kyle two bros being bros. Particularly liked the sequence where they worked together to land OC's head scissors DDT on Bill, with O'Reilly first taking out Bill's leg and then giving OC a momentum boost to land the move. Conglomerators conglomerating if ever I saw it. Also funny that Big Bill got a pure babyface hot tag despite being on the heel team. They have a big time babyface on their hands whenever they want it with Bill. 

Definitely a cut above most Rampages these days. Bigger names, bookended by two good matches and the quickfire flurry of all the women's segments moved at a great pace and showcased a varied cast of characters. 

 

Edited October 7, 2024 by JLM