Arena: Wolstein Center
City: Cleveland, OH
Last Weeks Rating: 461,000 overall; 0.12 in 18-49 demo
Its Saturday morning, and you know what that means its
time for our Rampage Review!
House of Black vs Dark Order (Silver, Reynolds, 10), R1:
Trios Tourn.
Backstory: Hangman was supposed to be in the Orders corner,
having turned down the Bucks to do so, though he wasnt out
there
Jericho, Excalibur, Schiavone, JR on comms, Brody and
Preston Vance in the ring. Testing their strength, the big
guys grappled then threw themselves at each other, neither
shifted.
Though Vance hurt his knee and tagged in Silver.
He and Matthews hit the mats to grapple, the Aussie then
catching Silver coming off the top but Silver escaping and
sort-of kipping up before flinging Murphy to the outside,
leaving Reynolds and Malakai to square off. After a brief
sequence, Malakai did his sit-down pose, staring at
Reynolds, leading to all six throwing fists, the illegal
four spilling to the outside as the ads arrived.
Best Friends were in the crowd again, Murphy landing a
diving stomp to the arm of Reynolds, then taking a cheap
shot at Vances knee, sending him off the apron. Ten then
came back in, running through the Order with clotheslines, a
blue thunder bomb and a spinebuster, then locking in the
full nelson on Malakai until Matthews interrupted with a
meteora.
A Silver thrust kick and double team from he and Reynolds
laid Matthews out but Brody was having none of it, running
through the pair until Vance clotheslined him over the top,
going to work against Malakai until his knee buckled and
Black locked-in a knee bar.
Then Miros music hit as he sent Murphy flying via back body
drop onto the ramp (somehow not a DQ) allowing Reynolds to
roll-up Malakai. Distraction or not, would not have had
Black take the pin.
Annoyed at his interference, the House attacked Miro until
Darby & Sting ran them off.
Presumably, the Order are headed to the finals where Page
will have to sub for Vance.
WINNER: Dark Order
Lexi was with Hook, who really d(idnt) care about 2.0.
Amen brother. Shouty and Switchblade turned up 2 seconds
after Hook left, blathered about Hook not having to be a
scared young man anymore.
Wardlow vs Ryan Nemeth, Open Challenge TNT Title
Backstory: None
There arent enough swear words in the world to adequately
convey how stupid this is. Just because you call it a title
match doesnt make it mean anything. Not one single extra
person is going to watch this thinking the belts on the
line. In fact, it actually hurts the title. Because its
Ryan f****** Nemeth.
Who even got his entrance and some mic time for heat so
cheap it was free.
You know who won.
Lethals crew, along with Chris Sabin, came out to observe.
WINNER: Wardlow
Andrade et al w/ Lexi. He and Rush criticized Private Party
for losing last week. When they complained that La Faccion
did the same, the Mexicans blamed it on Dragon Lee.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs Ashton Day
Backstory: None
Big guy vs No-name, in a squash. Tell me, whereve I seen
that before? Oh yes, last match.
Spinebuster. 1,2,3. Crowd almost silent, riled briefly as
Hobbs mimicked Starks pose.
The Factory appeared on the big-screen, beating down Starks.
If he cant deal with them, no chance vs Hobbs.
WINNER: Will Hobbs
Jade, Leyla, Kiera were interviewed. Leyla started to
interrupt and Jade sent everyone away, asking Athena to come
and get these hands. She instantly attacked, almost as if
she were waiting just off-screen. AEW have been told to
cut-down on the swearing, so half of Jades acts been taken
away. This lasted all of 30 seconds, despite advertising a
Jade segment.
Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo vs Ortiz & Ruby Soho
Backstory: The JAS broke Rubys hand; been feuding with
Eddie, Ortiz & co. for months
So apparently Eddie Kingstons just returned from a legit
suspension due to a squabble with Sammy. Regardless of
whos to blame, the Spanish God stays among controversy.
The ladies kicked things off, Melo immediately working
Sohos injured arm. She and Sammy did get light boos but
the crowd were much quieter than during Dynamite.
After missing a kick in the corner, Tay smashed Soho with a
rising knee, Ruby striking back with an elbow, the guys
tagging in, the pace quickening, Ortiz dropping Sammy with a
pair of short-arm clotheslines and a double team with Ruby
for nearly 2.
Jericho threatened to report Schiavone for bullying. He and
Tony are great on comms. Unlike JR, Schiavone actually puts
Jericho over as a heel instead of giggling with him.
Both guys were down as we returned, the ladies tagging in:
Ruby striking in ground and pound, belly-to-back, running
kick that looked weak, count of 2. Sammy knocked Ortiz off
the apron, but was poisonranad by Ruby; Tay came off the
top with a cross body for another 2. Guevara then
interrupted Soho but was ddtd by Ortiz, all four mixing and
matching, culminating in No Future on Melo for another 2
slaps of the mat.
Sammy then got in Sohos face but fled as Ortiz got the tag.
Angelo Parker got up on the apron, distracting the ref.
Soho was dropped by Anna Jay, allowing Guevara to strike
Ortiz with a top-rope cutter for the pin. The lightest of
boos from a crowd that mustve reconsidered hanging around.
Four matches down: two nondescript; two finishing via
interference.
WINNER: Sammy & Tay
Exclusive footage of Punk backstage after Wednesday. With
the doctor, he said he didnt feel anything in particular
wrong with his foot, but the same could be said when he
first broke it. This too lasted all of thirty seconds.
Dustin Rhodes vs Claudio Castagnoli, ROH World Title
Backstory: Claudio made an open challenge last week, Dustin
accepted
Fun fact, last week was actually AEWs millionth open
challenge, meaning Dustin wins a prize! Cant tell you what
it is, but I know damn well what it isnt: the ROH title.
Dustin came out with the Andersons; Claudio with Regal &
Yuta. Bobby Cruise and Caprice Coleman joined the crew.
Jericho threw a fit and left as Regal approached, joining on
comms.
Castagnoli looks like hes really leaned-up.
Rhodes ran through him to start, then dropped him with an
arm-drag, Claudio responding by taking things to the mat.
This one nearly ended early as Rhodes head whiplashed off
the bottom rope, the vet taking a second on the outside.
Back in the ring, a nasty uppercut begat an arm-wringer,
Rhodes responding with a Manhattan Drop and boot to the face
for a 1 count. Taking a chance, Rhodes flew with a running
cross-body but ended up on the outside as Castagnoli got out
the way.
Ads time.
There were just a few minutes left upon our return, Rhodes
clutched in a crossface, fighting his way up into a side
slam, the pair teeing off in the middle until a kick to the
gut from Claudio. Dustin sent him to the outside with a
clothesline, attacking off the apron with a cannonball, then
a leaping clothesline back inside. Two slaps of the mat.
The vet defied the years with a top-rope hurracanrana,
following up with a Code Red for a close two-count. You
still got it broke out, as if Rhodes hasnt been really
good his whole AEW run.
Responding with a Big Swing but getting only a count of two,
the champ locked the vet back into the crossface, Rhodes
fighting out: snap powerslam, powerbomb, another 2. Crowd
louder than theyd been all night but that wasnt saying
much.
What looked like a painful botch came next during a
dropdown/leapfrog spot, Claudio taking Rhodes head right in
the knackers, then hauling him up for the Uppercut to retain
his title. Clunky finish, though you have to give CC credit
for being able to do anything so soon after that.
Youd have needed an Omega/Okada or Shawn/Taker to save this
show, and this couldnt reach those heights. The action was
good, though the break didnt help. Nor did the fact that
the result was never in doubt.
WINNER: Claudio Castagnoli
Next Dynamite:
Elite vs United Empire, Trios Semi-Final
Bryan Danielson vs Jake Hager
Storm & Shida vs Britt & Hayter
Moxley promo
Next Rampage:
Dark Order vs Best Friends, Trios Semi-Final (boy the other
semi is the real final huh?)
Added to All Out:
Jade vs Athena, TBS Title
Overall impressions
A week in which title belts were undermined continued here:
storyline or not, a weaker trio advanced in the tournament
via interference, while two title defenses were made against
contenders weve barely seen all year. This is becoming a
show that recappers watch so you dont have to.
Check Out
Absolutely anything else
Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!