On paper this Rampage looked less than stellar. That’s partially why it took me so long to actually watch it this week. Well, that along with attending a live Warriors Of Wrestling event. I had my daughter running around like a lunatic so there won’t be a full write-up on that but credit to Genc Club for rolling so deep at the event. It was a really fun show. But to my surprise this Rampage was a really fun show too. So let’s get to ranking!
Honorable Mention: Everybody at Warriors of Wrestling’s Brooklyn Beatdown. TJ Marconi for being the 3 way love child of Dominik Dijakovic, Tony D’Angelo & Rickey Shane Page and just casually drinking a Modelo against the barricade during his match. Osito for being a masked luchador who enters the ring with a bucket hat and chain like a late 80s/early 90s rapper. Frat Boy Farva for weighing probably as much as I do but flying over the top rope to the floor in the “Holy sh*t!” spot of the night. Lince Dorado for being hilarious in his interactions with a duo of fans in the front row and great in the ring. Steve Savage for looking and sounding like he belongs on TV. And everybody I missed for just generally being awesome!
5. “Smart” Mark Sterling. After his run-in with Hookhausen Sterling showed up to an interview with Tony Nese in the back and then accompanying Jade and The Baddies both while wearing a neck brace and using a single crutch. Him having 2 clients that don’t interact and going so over the top with the injury stuff just feels so old school heel manager and I eat it up!
4. Death Triangle. Penta, Fenix & Pac defeated The Butcher, The Blade & Marq Quen when Quen ate a Fear Factor followed by a Black Arrow for the 3. Penta & Fenix landed stereo dives on to Butcher & Blade outside to stop them from breaking up the pin. This was filled with all the fast paced, high flying action you’d expect from a match with Death Triangle & Quen and was a good way to start the show. After the match the lights went out and House of Black hit the ring. But as Death Triangle squared up the lights went out again and they were gone. I assume a trios clash between the 2 factions will happen at Double or Nothing and I think that can steal the show! Kyle O’Reilly was in the crowd taking notes on Fenix which was also a nice little touch with them meeting this Wednesday.
3. Shawn Spears. I wasn’t a fan of Spears before this match. I’m still not after the match. But he did have an impressive feat of strength when after Spears stopped mid-fan count on corner punches he countered Bear Boulder trying corner punches of his own with an eye rake followed by a C4 for the win. After the match Spears hit Boulder’s back with a chair a few times and shouted at the camera and Wardlow that the “Giant Killer” is coming. I appreciate that AEW puts effort into making what you know are just sort of mid-tier/filler matches in a feud feel a little more meaningful and potentially competitive by doing things like this where they have somebody who may not otherwise seem very credible beat an opponent of a similar ilk to their more built up foe.
2. Ruby Soho. It turns out Ruby Soho both still wrestles for AEW and is capable of winning a match as she toppled Riho to advance to the second round of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. There was a funny bit where Riho plugged her ears during Soho’s entrance. There was a nice reversal where Riho turned a Blade Runner attempt by Soho into a crucifix bomb but just got a 2 from it. Soho got the win by eventually landing the Blade Runner but she tweaked her knee during the match which commentary was careful to mention and I can only assume will play a role in the tournament going forward. Personally, I’d like to see Soho advance to the finals and lose again. Give her a Marv Levy Buffalo Bills type of story where she keeps getting to the big one but just can’t win it.
1. Scorpio Sky. If this match had a soundtrack it’d be “Mona Lisa” by Lil Wayne. The song isn’t PG enough to quote but the premise is a girl tricks a guy into thinking she loves him so the guys she’s actually working with can come through and rob him blind. During the pre-match interview with Mark Henry tensions seemed to keep rising between Page, Lambert & Sky. Page & Lambert were their typical heel selves but Sky really sold the idea of him wanting to be a stand up guy in his match with former SCU partner Frankie Kazarian. When Page questioned why Kaz was even getting this match Sky said he was a man of his word and his word means something. He told them to take the night off. This match had me sold on Scorpio being the guy he claimed to be. The first ever AEW tag champs went back and forth and had some really nice moves. Sky caught Kaz on the 2nd rope in an electric chair position as he went for his springboard leg drop. He tried to land a TKO out of it but Kaz rolled through for 2. Sky then avoided a leg lariat through the ropes on the apron but Kaz vaulted him in and hit a sweet looking neckbreaker for just 2 again leading to “Fight forever!” chants. Kaz managed to lock in a chickenwing and Sky tried to kick off the ropes to break it but to no avail. This led to Dan Lambert heading down to distract the ref as Page nailed Kaz with the TNT title. This caused a passed out Sky to fall on Kaz for just 2. Sky then woke up and hit a TKO for 3. Commentary pushed the idea that Sky didn’t know about the interference because he was blacked out as Scorpio urged the crowd to cheer for Kaz and he tried to lift Kaz to his feet. But Kaz said “What’s up?! Did you do it or not?!” and Sky shoved Page and said “I’m talking to you!” which elicited “SCU!” chants from the crowd. But Sky then blasted Kaz with the belt as Lambert grabbed a mic and doing his best Hannibal said “I love it when a plan comes together!” as Page stomped Kaz some more. Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti, who had been sitting at ringside, then started walking off when Lambert yelled “Hey Sammy, where are you and Whorehausen going?!” as they grabbed chairs and hit the ring sending the dastardly trio to the back. This was such an enjoyable arc that extended beyond the show but could be easily followed just from the pre-match promo through the end. As much as I’d have enjoyed continued friction with the Men of the Year it was nice to see them pivot from what seemed like it was going to be a very similar story to Moustache Mountain on NXT UK.
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