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RAMPAGE!- 10/28/2022!


DEAN

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I liked Menard vs Mox. It was a different sort of match up, relying on Parker on the outside and Menard's 1980s offense. It really was Menard fighting the inevitable tide though. I've been thinking a lot about aces lately from watching Inoki so much and one element of being a great ace is highlighting your opponent's strengths and unique in qualities and Mox is able to balance that with still being Hansen-esque always pressing forward and pushing his opponent to the limit and that's really admirable.

Taven looked good against Wardlow. He has a skillset but I think it's not driving the narrative of the match against a guy who can take all of his stuff, if that makes sense?

It wasn't ideal that both matches had a dominant champ fighting a guy whose tag team partner was helping him though.

Let's just avoid talking about the rest of the show. Wednesday will be better.

Dark taping had Athena vs LMK which should be brutal in the best way, right?

Edited by Matt D
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1 hour ago, Matt D said:

Dark taping had Athena vs LMK which should be brutal in the best way, right?

OH NO! NOT LITTLE MEAN KATHLEEN?!?!

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I just can't wrap my head around airing a show like this. You have The AEW Roster at your disposal, you sell tickets for a live TV taping, and you run Tay/Madison and a Matt Taven match. If you're talking about reviving the legitimacy of Rampage, you've got talent begging for more TV time and you're talking about the power of "random good matches with no build", why not just... run a bunch of those?

This Wednesday is gonna be the first AEW taping in Baltimore that I won't attend. A Darby/Lethal rematch for no apparent purpose. A Marina Schafir title shot. Another foregone-conclusion Moxley semisquash. No announcement on the Jericho challenger. And you're running this card for a market who was left badly disappointed the last time out. It feels like an extension of this Rampage card, of willfully not booking a compelling card despite having more than enough pieces to do so.

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This show was a tomato can to me too. Lots of sports ennertainmen, lots of people I don't care for or didn't care to care for. Like Matt Taven, who I've never seen, looks stupid, acts stupid, perfectly acceptable as a heel, has the Kanellis baggage (these people need to go away*). The match with Wardlow was fine but man ship that shit back to Impact. 

Re: the Strickland segment, watch it be Billy's ass that he cut instead of between his fingers. And though that was low-rent it was just as low-rent as Wyatt pacing around in a dark arena boiler room waiting to come out on Smackdown. 

* How is someone's wrestling gimmick "henpecked husband"? Her jacket is maybe the best spiked jacket in wrestling though.

Edited by Curt McGirt
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11 hours ago, DEAN said:

Taven is so underrated.  He took a lot of shit for being ROH champion but he always delivered in the ring.  That was quality pro wrestling versus Wardlow.

While watching I was thinking that there’s really no one like him in AEW. I think that’s what Ethan Page could be if he would loosen up a bit and be more naturally goofy. Swerve is similar, rangy and cocky and can fly and kick but he has that Strange Style whereas Taven had a Japan/US Indy pro wrestling style.

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Mox-Menard was way better than Mox-Penta. I know we’re all fans of Daddy Magic but having him get a surprise win wouldn’t work for me, he’s not at that level. This match elevated him some while also showing that Mox is a force.

Still not sure how I feel about the SIOG-Acclaimed segment. I still hope the long term payoff is Keith Lee saying “fuck it” and going full monster heel.

Womens match was really bad, borderline unwatchable. I liked Rayne as a partner/mentor for Skye Blue, but she’s rough in the ring. Tay peaked in that street fight with Bunny and Ford.

Speaking of, that Jade segment was just her doing some impressive calisthenics while saying her same boring shit. She’s so stale, I guess the idea is to show that Nyla’s mind games aren’t working but I’d rather Jade be pissed and showing some fire.

I liked the main, I liked Taven, and Wardlow is a star. If I’m AEW I worry more about losing him to WWE than I do MJF. The aftermath was a mess and made Kingdom look weak and then overshadowed. I’m excited about more Hobbs but him joining a ROH faction is a downgrade.

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50 minutes ago, JLowe said:

I liked the main, I liked Taven, and Wardlow is a star. If I’m AEW I worry more about losing him to WWE than I do MJF.

Wardlow is wild.  He successfully wrestled a match against Matt Taven as a sympathetic babyface wrestling from underneath.  As WARDLOW.  That portends great things for a big man who can sell.  That's some Vader shit.

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Big character shift for Swerve. Went from "guy who'll cheat to win a wrestling match and might turn on his tag partner too" to "utter psychopath". Although, I'm realizing as I'm writing this, I guess that was the Halloween-themed segment.

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It'll be interesting to see how these cities/venues do after hosting Dark Deluxe/Rampage. Before this week I can't recall AEW featuring two weak Rampages two weeks in a row.

Mox-Daddy Magic was fine. I'm a big Menard booster, but why on earth is Moxley wrestling 2 days after his Firm beating? And why Daddy Magic? This whole booking feels more than a little careless with the details. What is going on with the refs? They really need to tighten the fuck up on the distractions/cheatings. Ugh, I wanna like Stokley Hathaway, but I'm not sure he has the mic game needed here. Huh, nobody thought it might be Extremely goofy and awkward to have Moriarty come out only to introduce a nothing happening weak video - WTF?! I guess in a way it did kind of remind me of the 'Kenny Powers is fucking back' video from Season 1 of Eastbound and Down. Keith Lee would be well advised to go natural and stop dying his beard. That wasn't even remotely a good squash. There's been more than a couple pointless and poorly executed squashes on this show recently. Wow, then this poorly constructed segment Swerves way off the rails! I will say this - Billy was funny there and his timing was very good, but all for one of the worst pieces of business this company has ever broadcasted. Following the break Schiavone explains what Strickland was doing there and it just compounds the utter fucking stupidity! I like Dean's mention recently of the Women's Division getting better under Coach Rain's watch. That said, not at all a fan of her ring work and no exception here against the wonderful Tay MELO! I love Ethan Page, but this was not a particularly strong promo. Did I miss the announcement of an Eliminator Tournament? Announcing the tournament prior to the first person claiming entry might be a nice touch! Maybe they did? Wardlow-Taven was fine. I'm not a fan of Wardlow giving so much up to Taven, but it did make for a better match. I also didn't like seeing Taven capable of doing anything after a Powerbomb Symphony. I'm not blaming Taven there. Also, forget about Taven's ROH title run, he and Bennett comprise a terrific tag team and are worth giving a chance to. Give bathing beauty Maria a chance too. That's right a Jacket and a Bathing suit. Bad ass. Samoa Joe rocking a snug denim for the save! 

Edited by HarryArchieGus
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5 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

It'll be interesting to see how these cities/venues do after hosting Dark Deluxe/Rampage. Before this week I can't recall AEW featuring two weak Rampages two weeks in a row.

Mox-Daddy Magic was fine. I'm a big Menard booster, but why on earth is Moxley wrestling 2 days after his Firm beating? And why Daddy Magic? This whole booking feels more than a little careless with the details. What is going on with the refs? They really need to tighten the fuck up on the distractions/cheatings. Ugh, I wanna like Stokley Hathaway, but I'm not sure he has the mic game needed here. Huh, nobody thought it might be Extremely goofy and awkward to have Moriarty come out only to introduce a nothing happening weak video - WTF?! Kinda reminded me of the 'Kenny Powers is fucking back' video from Season 1 of Eastbound and Down. Keith Lee would be well advised to go natural and stop dying his beard. That wasn't even remotely a good squash. There's been more than a couple pointless and poorly executed squashes on this show recently. Wow, then this poorly constructed segment Swerves way off the rails! I will say this - Billy was funny there and his timing was very good, but all for one of the worst pieces of business this company has ever broadcasted. Following the break Schiavone explains what Strickland was doing there and it just compounds the utter fucking stupidity! I like Dean's mention recently of the Women's Division getting better under Coach Rain's watch. That said, not at all a fan of her ring work and no exception here against the wonderful Tay MELO! I love Ethan Page, but this was not a particularly strong promo. Did I miss the announcement of an Eliminator Tournament? Announcing the tournament prior to the first person claiming entry might be a nice touch! Maybe they did? Wardlow-Taven was fine. I'm not a fan of Wardlow giving so much up to Taven, but it did make for a better match. I didn't like seeing Taven capable of doing anything after a Powerbomb Symphony. I'm not blaming Taven there. Also, forget about Taven's ROH title run, he and Bennett comprise a terrific tag team and are worth giving a chance too. Give bathing beauty Maria a chance too. That's right a Jacket and a Bathing suit. Bad ass. Samoa Joe rocking a snug denim for the save! 

They mentioned the tournament after the Mox match I believe. Dante Martin was announced as the first entry, Excalibur also mentioning that Dante was screwed by The Firm at All Out, so there's a piece to that puzzle.

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13 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Re: the Strickland segment, watch it be Billy's ass that he cut instead of between his fingers.

So, he Scissored Daddy Ass' ass? Well, that would make sense. It had to be less serious than was implied, because there's no coming back from that. You filmed yourself committing a number of crimes and broadcast it on national television. How are you going to go and casually challenge for the tag titles after that? You'll be doing community service for weeks after a thing like that!

No matter what Chris Jericho tells you, this is Pro Wrestling, not Sports Entertainment and here crimes should have consequences, unless Billy is too much of a *ahem* badass to press any charges and want The Acclaimed to settle it in the ring again?

Where's TK in all this? There's an investigation and people fired and suspended over a shitty locker room brawl of one punch and biting all the while you let this go on air on a taped show? You censored one of The Acclaimed's earlier raps once, so don't tell me your hands were tied, or something, because that was Billy, not you!

Edited by Shartnado
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Late to the party - the show was for sure one of those "trying to retrain the audience into attending Superstars tapings" shows, but the real thing from the night was that we met ~7-8 members of this roster by total happenstance (no weird shit, we were just in the same hotel connected to the arena/casino, and there are only so many hallways) and they were the kindest, most gracious people I have ever met in wrestling besides probably Big Bossman. Very, very classy across the board - if the cards are played right on the business side by TK and co, I swear to you, I have never, ever, ever been more confident in things on the talent side, ever.

Edited by Zakk_Sabbath
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You know they did that on purpose. 

11 hours ago, Shartnado said:

You filmed yourself committing a number of crimes and broadcast it on national television.

Reminds me of recently rewatching the beatdown of the Public Enemy by the Gangstas when they first showed up in ECW and the cops came out and arrested them in the ring. I know that breaks some wrestling logic (clearly, it should be all the major faces, right?) but you might... no, you can't do that anymore. Not even Philly would accept it after Black Lives Matter. 

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8 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

You know they did that on purpose. 

Reminds me of recently rewatching the beatdown of the Public Enemy by the Gangstas when they first showed up in ECW and the cops came out and arrested them in the ring. I know that breaks some wrestling logic (clearly, it should be all the major faces, right?) but you might... no, you can't do that anymore. Not even Philly would accept it after Black Lives Matter. 

Yeah, that would not fly. But they do have to get way around this somehow, because they have not ventured to this territory previously, to my knowledge, and it's really stupid. It should only happen in that other place I don't watch at the moment. Of course, every sneak attack that happens backstage outside of an official match, is essentially an assault, but this was still cut from a different cloth, so to speak. Well, they can always say made a small but painful cut in flesh of his buttock, just as you suggested.

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On 10/28/2022 at 8:48 AM, JLowe said:

I also remember a Dark Order vs. Elite tag match where Elite dressed as Ghostbusters with proton packs, Dark Order I think dressed up too but can't remember their outfits. That was one of the last times Kenny was on TV before his injury leave.

Still love this.

 

Speaking of themes, also popped for Matt Taven using the old "Something For You" ROH music on Rampage.

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3 hours ago, Dog said:

Madison Rayne stinks.

I don’t know why they hired her in a coaching capacity because I don’t recall anyone ever talking about her being a great worker, and she’s sure had some stinkers on TV recently.

Didn’t see any of her TNA run, did she have any great matches I’ve never heard of?

Also, full disclosure, I had a match with her 2008ish and she forearmed me in the shoulder so hard and so often I had a giant bruise for weeks.

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2 hours ago, hobo joe said:

Didn’t see any of her TNA run, did she have any great matches I’ve never heard of?

My personal picks of her career best matches were: 
vs. Tessa Blanchard (Impact, 4/12/2019)
vs. Taya Valkyrie (Impact, 5/10/2019)
vs. Mickie James (Against All Odds 2011) 

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