Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! The penultimate Rampage of 2021 might have concluded with coal in the stocking of fans everywhere but the show itself was a nice present from Santa Khan and company so let’s jump right to this week’s Power Rankings!
Honorable Mention: Miro: He was in the all white void-like area again tonight once again challenging God. He said God didn’t cast him from heaven but he kept him from his home and his hot, flexibile wife. Miro will return with no flaws to prove God has no power over him. Redemption doesn’t come with a smile. It comes with a price. Unlike God Miro will look them in the eye and ask what have they done? And unburden them all. They will either feel the joy of Miro’s cruelty or the shame of God’s. God rules by fear but he is not afraid. This is the word of the Redeemer. It is odd that Miro has had so few matches but I love the idea of him feuding with God. Ever since the McMahon run-in God has deserved to show he can get 5 stars out of Meltzer.
5: Jungle Boy: He and Isiah Kassidy had a high flying hoot of a match. Commentary brought up that there’s only a month difference in the ages of these 2 which I found important because Private Party never gets mentioned when people talk about the future of AEW and I think they’re a criminally unerrated duo who should be getting much more than they have. Kassidy was on tonight. He opened with a springboard butter to Jungle Boy on the apron wrenching his neck over the top rope and sending him outside and followed it up with what felt like a 100 rotation torneo to the outside. Kassidy also sold a dropkick like a cartoon laying on his neck for nearly 10 seconds in a spot that made me chuckle. Later on he’s hit a poison rana to Jungle Boy that looked beautiful. While Kassidy showed a lot here Jungle Boy overcame the HFO’s shenanigans thanks to Christian and Luchasaurus evening the odds and got the win with the Snare Trap forcing Kassidy to quit.
4: Kris Statlander: She had a fun, albeit short (no pun intended) match with Leyle Hirsch. It seemed clear that the size discrepancy was going to pose some challenges here as Hirsch nearly came up short on an outside in middle rope moonsault attempt but they still had a fun showing despite that. Hirsch’s highlight was a spear-like takedown that she held the leg through and an armbar attempt. Statlander came out on top after a Blue Thunder Bomb only got 2 by locking in the spider crab and forcing Hirsch to tap. Hirsch may have turned here as she slapped away the outstretched hand of Statlander after the loss despite them shaking hands before the match.
3: Hook: The man dubbed by his father “The Handsome Devil” was back at it in his second ever match tonight. And just like fellow hearththrob Justin Timberlake after “Cry Me A River” Hook took Bear Bronson and “Rock(ed) (his) Body” beating the much bigger opponent with a series of various suplexes followed by his version of the Tazmission he calls the “Redrum” This wasn’t very long but did it’s job. It didn’t help Bronson at all when Hook immediately no sold a sit-up piledriver but it did make Hook look like an absolute badass which is all anyone really wants right now. If handled properly Hook could transition from fun meme wrestler to genuine star and I’m hoping we get him and Dante Martin 1 on 1 sooner than later.
2: Sammy Guevara: After successful defenses against Bobby Fish, Ethan Page, Jay Lethal and Tony Nese “The Spanish God’s” reign as Champion finally came to an end tonight, just shy of the 3 month marker. Guevara had another stellar showing despite the loss. He opened up like a house of fire immediately running for a drop kick and going for a GTH attempt. He dodged a top rope moonsault from Cody and hit a Cross Rhodes of his own but Cody rolled out of the ring. Sammy followed up with a phenomenal looking double jump 450 going from the apron on to one set of ropes to the perpendicular set before hitting Cody outside. Sammy also hit an Orton/Cody like powerslam at one point. But his frantic pace got the better of him when Cody caught him jumping off the steps into a powerbomb into the crowd and turned the tide of the match for good. Sammy fought valiantly overcoming a Disaster Kick and managing to avoid a top rope avalanche reverse suplex attempt to nail a GTH but that would only get him a 2 count. He managed to kick out of 1 Cross Rhodes from Cody but his reign came to an end when Cody got the knees up during Guevara’s 630 attempt and followed it with 2 more Cross Rhodes and a Tiger Driver 98 for the 3. Sammy did a great job of being the underdog trying to topple the proven star but ultimately fell like he did in their first meeting and the first match in Dynamite history. I’m curious to see where he goes from here.
1: Cody Rhodes: Somebody recently said “AEW is giving us the WWE that WWE should have” and Cody Rhodes is a prime example of that. His character is essentially AEW’s version of early 2010s John Cena. He’s great. He knows he’s great. We know he’s great. But he’s beating up and comers we don’t want to see lose and he’s doing it for titles while closing the show. So fans are left resenting all the shine he’s getting and turn on him in the process. Despite some great offense from Sammy Guevara Cody got the win and regained the TNT Title. The bigger story though was the continued development of Cody as a heel. First Arn helped Cody get out of the way of a shooting stat press attempt off the apron. Then Cody powerbombed Sammy into the crowd which was a nice artsy visual, essentially telling the fans “You don’t want me? You want him? Here! Have him!” without ever saying a word. Later after kicking out of 1 Cross Rhodes Cody smirked as he pulled a lifeless Sammy to tue top. Another instance of him doing more than he needed to like a bad guy would. Then after another Cross Rhodes Cody hit a third and followed it up with a very Triple H-like double underhook set-up before hitting the Tiger Driver 98 for the win. Taz even acknowledged Cody getting booed. After the match David Crockett presented Cody with the belt and The Nightmare Family celebrated with him. It’s becoming clearer by the match that AEW knows exactly what they’re doing with Cody. I’m hoping this leads to Cody getting a string of wins over up and comers and upping the brutality each time. But I think his full, acknowledged heel transition will come when he finally breaks his word and challenges for the AEW World Championship which is feeling like a matter of when, not if.
Leave a Reply