AEW Rampage 5/6/2022
This edition of Rampage was on at 5:30PM on a Friday. I didn't see it live and most others didn't either. It's expected that this will be the lowest rated Rampage ever.
Ruby Soho and Toni Storm vs Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker
Toni shoulders Jamie over early then Jamie takes some running strikes in the corner. Britt forearm flurries Ruby then sling blades her for 2. Britt takes a double STO and it gets botched some. Toni then takes a flatliner into the 2nd buckle.
We go to PiP break and return. Toni german suplexes Jamie, Ruby gets the hot tag in and gets some strikes on Britt then hits a stiff knee. Toni does a running hip attack to Britt in the corner and Ruby takes a stiff uranage on the knee. Toni alabama slams Britt on Jamie then Britt comes right back with an air raid crash on her.
Britt and Toni trade forearms and Britt botches a takedown . Toni then german suplexes Britt. Rebel distracts the ref then Britt is double underhook suplexed into a sliding lariat and a curb stomp for 2. Britt superkicks Ruby then Toni rolls up Britt for the win.
Britt wasn't too good here with a couple of sloppy sections. Some of the stiff shots and germans were good though.
We are told there is a phone call for Jericho. It's Eddie Kingston. He said his wife is afraid of him and was crying when he came home. Jericho laughed and Eddie said his wife crying will burn in his soul forever. He said all he cares about is making him feel the fear and pain. Eddie said he's going to hurt him really bad. Jericho asks what that was about.
Tony Nese and Mark Sterling do a promo. Nese asks why he has to force himself on the show. Mark says they formally request a match against Danhausen.
Hook vs JD Drake
JD is taken down early. He pie faces him then chops him. Hook headbutts the chop then takes him down. Hook hits an exploder suplex then Hook does a nice flip out of the dragon sleeper into a tazzmission to win.
It was a short squash and fine, but it's time we start seeing Hook do real matches.
Danhausen comes out. He said Nese challenged him and will have Mark Sterling with him. The crowd chants "Hookhausen" and Dan says it sounds good. Dan asks Hook to be in his corner and offers a handshake. He taps on Hook's chest and gets pushed over. Dan then pulls out a bag of chips with a bow on them. The angle had some charm to it.
FTR is interviewed. Cash says Dax beat him in their match last week in the tournament, and he will keep winning until he wins the tournament. Dax says he doesn't respect Adam Cole. He says he has to beat him and win the Owen Hart Tournament for him and the Hart Family.
Owen Hart Tournament Qualifier - Riho vs Yuka Sakazaki
Riho is wearing black and they trade arm holds. Yuka armdrags Riho then Riho bridges out of a pinfall attempt and dropkicks her. Riho running knees her in the corner then top rope crossbodies her for 2. Yuka dropkicks her and comes off the 2nd rope to flip dive her.
We go to PiP break then full break and return. Yuka misses a springboard splash Riho dragon suplexes her. Riho then meteora's her for 2 after some pin attempts. Yuka does a stupid top rope flatliner that hurt her more than Riho.
They trade forearms to the chest and head. Yuka does a forearm combo then Riho trips her into a pin for the win.
The finish was a little random but man was that top rope flatliner spot really stupid. Aside from that I thought it was okay, but I think it's hard to justify this match when so many AEW girls don't make the show.
Shawn Spears does a promo. He says well done Wardlow and says he gave him a false sense of invicibility. Spears says he does bad things and aligns himself with MJF, not for his money, but for his bad intentions. Spears says Wardlow is the #1 giant and said he is bringing kryptonite. Then he reveals his chair says "Giant Killer" onit.
Dan Lambert, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page are out there. He said he is from Baltimore (where the show is) and coming back with AEW makes him sick. He said the crab cakes he had last night were disgusting and said he'd rather bring home crabs from a Baltimore street walker. Page says he wants to scar Sammy Guevara said his kids having to watch Sammy and Tay Conti kiss makes him sick. He said Sammy doesn't keep his word, so he won't either and the mixed tag is now off.
Frankie Kazarian comes out. He says Sammy and Page are a lot alike as they have stupid vlogs and just needs a stupid blonde by his side - then says he does have Dan Lambert. Kazarian is almost as black as Scorpio Sky is here due to tanning and asks for his TNT title shot as promised. Page says he is glad Kazarian is dressed in black like he was going to a funeral, as SCU is dead. Sky said he is going to be a fighting and dominant TNT champ and says the days of the title getting passed around like Tay Conti are over. He says the belt he gave Dan Lambert needs to go back to the American Top Team title case and says he will face Kaz for the TNT title next week. The Sammy/Sky/Page storyline sucks and this didn't do much to build to Kaz/Sky.
This was poorly done. Unless you watch Dark or Japanese wrestling, there's no way you would know who Takeshita was.
Jay Lethal vs Konosuke Takeshita
No entrance for either guy. Jay is taken down early. He hits chops then hiptosses him into a cartwheel and dropkick, then he struts. Takeshita hits some leg lariats as Excalibur spazzes out dropping Japanese names. Takeshita hits a flying clothesline.
Takeshita does a high plancha on him then Satnam Singh stares him down outside. Lethal then dragon screws him through the ropes and topes him. We go to a long PiP break and Jay gets lariated off the top rope while both stand on it. Jay flips for it but it's only worth a 2 count.
Jay is back up seconds later and tries a figure four variation then Takeshita rolls him into a brainbuster for 2. Jay hits the lethal combination then does a flip for a lariat. Takeshita then does the jumping knee but Dutt is on the apron on the pin and the ref isn't watching.
Jay does a nice sell on a forearm. He tries to roll him up but is bounced off and hits a lethal injection off of it to win.
I didn't like top rope lariat kickout and debuting a guy on TV just to lose is an AEW trademark and it still sucks. There were some encouraging things about this but it could have been better.
Dutt and Singh get in the ring after and Takeshita gets stomped on, mocking Takeshita for not being scared of him. Best Friends then come out and go after Jay and Dutt. Singh does a bad pop-up on Trent then he chokes Chuck and bangs his head off the mat. Orange Cassidy then gets on the apron but gets off when Singh comes at him. Samoa Joe then comes out with a lead pipe but security stops him. Singh really looks like he's going to suck.
Overall thoughts: The wrestling portions were about half and half here with some good and bad. The non-wrestling portions weren't too good. I didn't like Takeshita debuting on TV to a loss, I don't like the prospects of a Lethal/Dutt/Singh vs Best Friends feud and I think the AEW roster would have been served better with a regular in Yuka Sakazaki's spot.
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