AEW Rampage - 8/13/2021

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I'm thinking the AAA title is the next domino to fall for Kenny with Andrade winning tomorrow night.

BTW, how many of us didn't recognize Jamie Hayter? I hate to admit I thought it was the former Lana at first.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Nice Guy Eddie

[punkenhead]

To people saying that it is a shame that Christian beat Kenny, he didn't. Kenny and the Young Bucks beat Kenny. Now, when he loses the belt to Andrade tomorrow; he should be nice and unhinged and ready to be goaded into giving Hangman a shot at the title. 

[Kang]

Fun show. Surprised how over Britt Baker is.

Double Crown champ

[tbarrie]

Woohoo! Jamie Hayter!

I mean, after this long I pretty much only remember loving her name. But she was pretty good in the ring too, wasn't she?

 

[Eivion]

2 minutes ago, tbarrie said:

Woohoo! Jamie Hayter!

I mean, after this long I pretty much only remember loving her name. But she was pretty good in the ring too, wasn't she?

 

She is

[AxB]

The thing about Jamie Hayter is, the school she trained at really hates WWE-style over-rehearsed "Hit your spots on time" ring entrances. Her trainer says that every second you're out there, you should be interacting with the crowd, not copying your dance steps. So she's very good at getting herself over as a heel, during her ring entrance.

If there's one lesson we can take away from tonight's show, it's that one hour is too short for a wrestling show.

[John E. Dynamite]

Bear in mind Christian Cage having TV classics as easy as I butter a piece of toast is as much a part of the DVDVR Gospel as anything. Much less with Mark Henry on commentary. This is a funny place to have a problem with it.

Edited August 14, 2021 by John E. Dynamite

[The Natural]

[John from Cincinnati]

9 minutes ago, Raziel said:

So, Kenny squashes the Impact champ, goes over 2 of their top guys, loses the belt to another AEW contracted wrestler, all without putting over ANYONE in Impact.  That's some Hogan/Trips level shit right there.

 

Oh, right, and he's going to get his win back in a couple weeks so we know who the big star really is.

I didn't think Omega was going to pull a Tessa like you did, but this is a lot closer to the type of scenario you were talking about than I expected. If this were someone other than Omega, I really think people would be more open to this framing of things. 

So a genuine thank you from me to Kenny Omega for the potential drama. 

[BobbyWhioux]

8 minutes ago, AxB said:

The thing about Jamie Hayter is, the school she trained at really hates WWE-style over-rehearsed "Hit your spots on time" ring entrances. Her trainer says that every second you're out there, you should be interacting with the crowd, not copying your dance steps. So she's very good at getting herself over as a heel, during her ring entrance.

If there's one lesson we can take away from tonight's show, it's that one hour is too short for a wrestling show.

still remember her sticking out for me specifically because she made a point of jaw-jacking with the crowd the whole way down the ramp like a classic heel and making me realize I'd forgotten how long it had been since I'd seen someone bother to do that.

that and the Wet Willie Camel Clutch, which still cracks me up.

been hoping AEW would pick her back up for a while

[Bryan]

1 minute ago, S.K.o.S. said:

Obviously they're adding juice to the ppv match, but I'm surprised. Omega hadn't lost a singles match in nearly 2 years, and the one to break that streak is Christian?

I guess they’re trying that but personally I didn’t want or care about this as the title match on a ppv, and this did nothing to change that.

I know they won’t but the small percentage of toxic AEW fans that call for JR to be fired for every mistake he makes should apologize since commentary is apparently not that. See e.g. Mark Henry talking about Christian dominating Omega when he’d been on offense for 30 seconds.

I thought the commentary improved when it went to a three man booth and Jericho toned his screechy rock star character and actually provided analysis. 

The Miro squash match was booked smartly. I don’t regularly watch Dark, so I don’t really get why the fans cared about a jobber like El Fuego getting a contract but the fans seemed to like it so I guess it was a good idea.

I actually thought Britt Baker vs Red Velvet was the best match of the night. I really liked how Red Velvet finally went after the wrist before the finish.

I have no idea who Jaime Hayder is and it didn’t really seem like the crowd really did either, so that’s a weird surprise debut. And I absolutely hate it when AEW debuts people who aren’t big names like this.

Ok show, but after seeing the first one, if I didn’t expect the CM Punk debut next week, going forward I think I’d probably just record this.

 

 

[John E. Dynamite]

3 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said:

I didn't think Omega was going to pull a Tessa like you did, but this is a lot closer to the type of scenario you were talking about than I expected. If this were someone other than Omega, I really think people would be more open to this framing of things. 

So a genuine thank you from me to Kenny Omega for the potential drama. 

I think Christian's history and good will with the long-term IMPACT fan base takes some of the edge off all this. 

There are things to complain about here. If this takes audible heat off of Adam Page the next time he shows up, have at it. But if you're aghast at the heartless commodification of the IMPACT Championship, do not come at this if you aren't watching their show on the weekly. They draw one-tenth the viewership of AEW. It's harsh, but they should be so lucky that their belt is being treated as a prop in front of a rabid, sold-out Pittsburgh crowd.

[Bryan]

18 minutes ago, punkenhead said:

To people saying that it is a shame that Christian beat Kenny, he didn't. Kenny and the Young Bucks beat Kenny. Now, when he loses the belt to Andrade tomorrow; he should be nice and unhinged and ready to be goaded into giving Hangman a shot at the title. 

At the ppv in November…and after he beats Christian at All Out?

[AxB]

Daniel Garcia wasn't at this taping, because he's working a match for West Coast Pro (on IWTV) head to head with it.

Against Jacob Fatu. Judging by twitter gifs, it seems pretty good.

[punkenhead]

1 minute ago, Bryan said:

At the ppv in November…and after he beats Christian at All Out?

I still see Christian not being the opponent at All Out. It probably won't be Hangman, and it certainly shouldn't be Punk or Danielson this soon, so I'm not sure who he will face. 

[Bryan]

14 minutes ago, punkenhead said:

I still see Christian not being the opponent at All Out. It probably won't be Hangman, and it certainly shouldn't be Punk or Danielson this soon, so I'm not sure who he will face. 

Ah, I see. I just don’t think they would have had Christian go over Omega if they weren’t wrestling at the ppv.

[elizium]

Good, brisk show. 3 great matches, all quite different from each other, all accomplished exactly what they needed to. Definitely my favourite non-Thunder Rosa Britt match.

Thought Mark Henry came off really well and genuine when he was allowed to speak on commentary but fucking Jericho, you know? Was Mark even at the booth for the main event? X, Taz and Mark could be a really great booth if they let them

[John E. Dynamite]

That's on Mark. If Jericho is talking over you, just whoop his ass, he knows you. He'll be cool about it tomorrow.

Edited August 14, 2021 by John E. Dynamite

[DreamBroken]

What a show, incredible hour of wrestling. Christian/Omega was an excellent match with an awesome moment. Definitely unpredictable as it could've easily gone either way. Christian's one of my all time favorites, so I love to see it, and I'm very excited that this means he will be back in Impact for at least the next couple of months. I'm surprised after it seemed for awhile that Christian was moving down the card from his debut, not winning the Double or Nothing battle royal, etc. Great moment.

Cool moment for Fuego as well. For a match that was never in doubt, they still got some really nice near falls there at the start. Good stuff. 

Britt/Red was solid. Velvet had no chance but during the match I was thinking how hilarious the reaction would've been if she did win. I kinda liked Red Velvet working as psuedo heel here. Nice unexpected post match with Jamie Hayter's return, had no idea that was coming and completely forgot about Britt's mention of bringing backup a couple weeks back.

Thought the 4 man commentary booth was pretty good and better than I expected. Mark Henry did good in his roles for his first night. Super hot crowd made the show even better.

Edited August 14, 2021 by DreamBroken

[Big Z]

Great launch to the show, and a one hour show feels like the needed complement to Dynamite. Christian-Omega was a tremendous TV match, and a perfect way to build both towards their match al All Out (and it now feels like it has the gravitas of a world title match), along with moving the belt back to Impact in due time (likely at their big pay per view Bound for Glory). And yes, while this may seem a bit cruel to Impact to be a pawn in the bigger AEW story, reality is that their connection with AEW as more of a secondary piece of the overall Elite and Don Callis story arc still has been great exposure for the company. Love that the good doctor is both embracing her popularity (though probably not to quite the extent she did in Pittsburgh) while still keeping up with her shenanigans. There's still a story to be told before she eventually becomes a full face, and we have seen way too often from the WWE that taking the edge away from popular characters to fit an archetype babyface kills the character. Going forward, I love the potential of what the extra hour on TV for AEW could bring, from advancing big angles, to getting more stars on TV, to my hope of having long title matches (and occasional title changes) that take up the bulk of the program every so often. Dynamite will still be the flagship show, but Rampage will also be can't miss TV.

 

[Craig H]

PRO WRESTLING MOTHERFUCKERS

[Craig H]

Most disgusting ushigoroshi ever too. Holy shit. 

[The Green Meanie]

Loved the episode, but bummed it was only for one hour.

I STILL demand Jericho on commentary, he makes shows just so much more fun when he's on.

Fugeo with the feel-good moment of the year, there wasn't a dry eye in the house when we saw Sammy going out, I knew what was coming.

Interesting dynamic with Britt and Red. Was Red being booed solely because we were in Britt's hometown, or did all of the audience agree that she's also terrible?

I have no idea who Jamie Hayter is.

 

[DEAN]

I totally forgot it was on and forgot to tape it.  I suck.

[EVA]

Kenny/Christian was, unsurprisingly, really good, while still leaving a lot in the tank for the rematch at All Out. Christian winning only helps juice up this stop-gap program and does nothing to hurt Kenny or the Kenny/Hangman build.

Fuego/Miro was a perfect short match. It’s going to be interesting to see if Fuego can stay as over with the crowd now that they got what they wanted (to will him into being signed), while he’ll still, presumably, be just a job guy.

I liked the finish to Britt/Velvet, but I feel like Britt is still figuring out how to work tweener in these matches. The way she opens the matches with these endless pinning combinations and ugly mat transitions has not been doing much for me.