Rampage - HOLIDAY BASH - 12/25/21

[The Natural]

 

[Curt McGirt]

My complaint isn't with the Hook no-sell (or Sammy falling to pretty much the same move later) but Sammy doing a 450 to the floor and walking it off. Fuck that. Anyway, Cody as heel champ won't be Miro as heel champ but it'll work in its own way. Hook match and Hirsch vs. Kris were fine, look forward to their program. 

[Zakk_Sabbath]

I didn't mind the Hook no-sell in and of itself, but I don't think Bronson was the guy for it, he's too big and I think BC could go somewhere, they don't have many monster teams. Hell, in all honesty, I'd have rather he done it to Tony Nese. I can't remember which of you guys compared him to Paul Roma but that shit was so spot on.

[MoeCristyV.1.6]

Nah, leave my boy Tony Nese alone, dude! 

[John E. Dynamite]

I think Nese has been miles better than Bobby Fish (who is a liability on the mic) and I expected to feel the opposite. I could see myself turning on Nese if he has a bad match, but he hasn't come close.

[Ultimo Necro]

4 hours ago, The Natural said:

 

Taz is a proud father seeing this. “That’s my boy”.

 

[Dirty J.]

Hook is a meme, but damn it I loved the roars he got from the crowd. 

Cody is going to be a more interesting champ than Sammy. After his victory over Rusev, he didn’t really do anything worth mentioning.

I hope this leads to a new interesting Inner Circle storyline. PnP is great, but lost in the shuffle. Jericho is always amazing. So hopefully we’re going to see more of them in the new year.

[J.T.]

I also hated the no-sell in Hook's match.  Wasn't really necessary.   Started off with a decent story of Hook using Judo to counter his larger opponent and then went straight into absurdity.   That Falcon Arrow was two-count territory easy.  Other than that, it was another solid outing for Hook.

I think I would've enjoyed a second Cody run with the TNT title if there were the threat of him losing it to Malakai Black or maybe Andrade.  Now that he is doing this tortured tweener stuff, I have no idea how to feel about this title reign.  I also have no idea why Sammy's run stalled.  You'd think that with their current roster, they could've found more opponents for Guevara and have him defend more often.

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by J.T.

[LoneWolf&Subs]

Not a fan of the no-sell… But I did dig the Bigelow Vs. Taz structure of the match. But yeah that was too much. AEW would be best to ignore that, or have Bronson come back for revenge to get his heat back. 

So Hook has the weird Samoan savage hard head powers like his dad too? 

Edited December 26, 2021 by LoneWolf&Subs

[Ultimo Necro]

I love how Hook does everything by technique.  He looked tiny next to Bronson but used his technique to rag doll him on those suplexes.  I didn’t mind the no sell at all. 

[MrKothoga]

Cody is somehow simultaneously the best and the worst.

[MoeCristyV.1.6]

HOOK's hair clearly saves him from head drops. You guys are out of the loop. 

[Shartnado]

8 hours ago, The Natural said:

 

I'm sold!

[Shartnado]

3 minutes ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said:

HOOK's hair clearly saves him from head drops. You guys are out of the loop. 

Is it magical or does he use so much different hair products on it that it's like a cushion or a crash helmet?

[MoeCristyV.1.6]

Yes

[Shartnado]

5 minutes ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said:

Yes

Thought as much.

[Brandon Bones]

I really underestimated this episode prior to seeing it.  I didn’t feel very motivated to watch it.

Sammy’s run as champ had petered out.  Even The Inner Circle wasn’t backing him up.  Ironically, I really appreciated this being the match that he go out in.  A last match of the night main event against one of the big guys in the company.  Sammy will be fine overall, but there will need to be gear shift.  
 

I’m back on the train with Cody and his narrative.  It stands out compared to the going’s on of the rest of the roster.  Cody is going to learn that when he goes against his nature with baby face moonsaults that have a habit of missing.  Instead, overwhelm and over compensate with killer moves that keep your feet on the ground.  He is listening to Arn.

Can definitely see Leyla Hirsh getting some character elevation out of some beef with how Statlander treated her during the match.  The nose boops could very much be interpreted as condescending making the handshake come across as phony.  Good match.

Hook is a killer.  Do not question his No sells.   Big Bear guy got up there for him.  Kudos.  

 

[Jrag]

Didn’t need the no sell. HOOK didn’t need it either. 

Loved the title change. Sammy wasn’t going anywhere with the belt. At least this will be interesting.

Another very fun Rampage overall. I continue to love the 1-hour format. They fit so much in an hour.
 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Jrag

[Jiji]

The no sell tells me they are fast tracking him. I love the reaction it is getting and that may be a way of keeping him heel, at least on DVDVR.  I do wonder where HOOK will be at this time next year. Hopefully vacating the tv title to get the world title like Goldberg. 

[DEAN]

Just watches this.  Maan, that Cody/Sammy match was great.  I assume the rematch will be in 2024 at some point, though they should rerun it as soon as possible.  Sammy Guevara is sooo good.  Evil Cody will be so much fun.  So Bear Bronson is the best wrestler in AEW?  That's how you carry a green guy.  Even better than Fuego del Sol.  I love Bronson reading the crowd and going full on heel.  The no-sell was more of a Sting No-Selling A Flair Suplex no-sell than a Road Warrior Hawk no-sell.  I am down for a Leyla/Kris Statlander feud.  Jungle Boy and Casidy was good.  YAY! AEW!

[LoneWolf&Subs]

3 minutes ago, DEAN said:

The no-sell was more of a Sting No-Selling A Flair Suplex no-sell than a Road Warrior Hawk no-sell.

That’s fine, but they need to forget about it for a long while before they re-run that spot again in a bigger match. 

[Craig H]

I loved the no-sell.

Look, every now and then when someone does some DragonBall Z type shit and no sells a power move from a big hoss and its someone like Hook doing it, then it's fucking cool. 

I like forward to the day Hook eventually ethers Cody.

And again, I just hope he can work the mic well. 

[The Natural]

 

[Infinit]

That head and arm suplex was a beauty.

[J.T.]

1 hour ago, DEAN said:

So Bear Bronson is the best wrestler in AEW?  That's how you carry a green guy.  Even better than Fuego del Sol.  I love Bronson reading the crowd and going full on heel.

This.  It is really funny to note how Bear just embraces the jeers and goes whole ham into asshole mode.  If Bear gets this why couldn't Cena?  At least Roman and now Cody understand that sometimes it's best to accept the crowd meta and go where the heel heat takes you.