Arena: El Paso County Coliseum

City: El Paso, Tx

Last Week’s Rating: 406,000 overall; 0.11 in 18-49 demo

That’s the lowest audience since early December and ties the second-lowest demo in the history of the show.

It’s Friday Night, and you know what that means…  it’s time for our Rampage Review!

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BCC (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs Kip Sabian, Butcher & Blade

Backstory: The ratings went down

The guys in the ring, Yuta & Sabian got us started, chain wrestling, standing switches, Kip grabbed a headlock as Wheeler blind-tagged Claudio.  Sabian clumsily vaulted back into the ring after faking a dive, unaware the Swiss was behind him.

Right into a press slam, leading to Kip scrambling for a tag to the now-bald Butcher.  Who kinda looks like he might threaten to ‘break your back, humble you…’.

The two bulls banged chests without either budging, tag to Mox, big cheer as the former champ went to work with stiff kicks before tagging Yuta back in.  Sabian back in too, his fisherman buster blocked, a second resulted in a sloppy stunner before the heels triple-teamed Yuta.

Quick tags maintained their advantage, along with ref distractions as the crowd chanted for the youngster.  Until he caught Kip with a boot and a shotgun dropkick.  Mox back in, ‘fists of fire’, chops in the corner, a pair of suplexes until Sabian slipped behind on a third.  Mox transitioned into a kimura and H&A.

But then ended up in the wrong corner.

Kip took the ref, B&B dragged Moxley into the ringpost yambags first, leaving him outside where Kip fired a punt off the apron then a springboard moonsault to bring the break.

Sabian had Mox up top as we returned, where the vet turned a hurracanrana into a powerbomb from the top.  Then walloped the Butcher with a lariat to bag the tag.

Claudio went to work on the Blade, launching splash after splash in the corner until Penelope Ford got in the way.  Momentarily putting Blade on top.  Claudio quickly picked up where he left off though, launching a flurry of uppercuts until Sabian interrupted the Swing.  But ended up taking it himself.

Blade used this to bag two out of a roll-up.

Mox took out Butcher with a cutter, Kip=Mox via springboard dropkick, Claudio big-booted the Brit, B&B hit him with a press slam into a knee strike then a lariat for two.

Yuta dropped Butcher via German leaving Claudio & Blade.  Castagnoli got another two with a DVD.  Then propelled Yuta onto Butcher on the outside.  Sabian had the Swiss in his sights until Mox shoved his teammate out the way to deliver a cutter, leaving Claudio to polish off Blade via pop-up uppercut.

Very nice ending sequence.  Good match if a little long given the different levels these teams are on.

WINNER: BCC

Darby Allin package.  Promised Ortiz he had his back after Ortiz helped him a few weeks back.  Sting then talked about wanting to go out in a blaze of glory then screamed that both he and Allin were going to do exactly that.

Guess that means those two & Ortiz vs HOB?

…

They previewed Adam Cole’s interview with Renee which’ll air Weds.  Cole said he already has a couple ideas who he’d like to face.

…

The Impractical Jokers came out and made a bunch of penis jokes about Jericho’s ‘small bat’.  The JAS beat them up and put them through a table.  If this had gone much longer, they’d have turned Jericho face.

…

Dustin Rhodes with Lexi.  Gist was that Rhodes is pretty ticked off about Strickland disrespecting his family’s name.

Despite being in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, Swerve’s goons just happened to be there.  They left Rhodes laying.  Then Swerve stood over him and challenged Rhodes for next week.

Ruby Soho vs Marina Shafir

Backstory: None

They wrestled on the mat for about a minute, Shafir on top, until Soho kicked her way free as the ads arrived.

Soho bagged two with a shoulder-capture suplex, missed a foot stomp off the top, No Future was blocked, Soho launched headbutts then Destination Unknown for three.

After her win, Storm & Saraya were making their way down for a ‘chat’ with Soho (it was deliberately vague whether they were going to attack her or recruit her) until Jamie Hayter & Britt Baker flew in to attack.

Soho looked like she didn’t know which side to choose.

WINNER: Ruby Soho

Mark Briscoe was just starting to cut a promo when Mark Sterling interrupted to offer his representation.  Briscoe immediately turned him down.  Josh Woods got in his face.

Jack Perry vs Ryan Nemeth

Backstory: None

Fast-paced squash which Perry won with a running elbow strike to the back of the head (kinda like the Hidden Blade).

Brian Cage appeared on the ramp afterward.

WINNER: Jack Perry

Ortiz promo package.  He realizes now he made a mistake and always has Kingston’s back, even if he has to beat sense into him.  This storyline is stupid.

…..

Hangman with Renee to talk him and Mox.

She put across that they’ve both won, both pushed each other but noted that Page has lost two of the three matches.  An irritated Page interrupted to wonder why it was always Renee doing these interviews, does it make her happy?  Because the way their last match ended didn’t make him happy & he doubted it left Mox happy since ‘I ate his ass alive for the last two minutes… he got the sneakiest pin I’ve ever seen in my life’.

(Renee’s facials at this point were so fantastic, doing everything she could not to get annoyed.)

Page insisted it couldn’t and wouldn’t end like that.  When Kip Sabian interrupted to say that he’d just lost to Moxley and wasn’t here crying about it.  He’s taking it ‘like a man.’  Page lunged at him, Penelope – who now has a rotary-phone purse – menacingly aimed the receiver at him (cracked me up).

Page said he didn’t want to do this interview anyway and decided to leave ‘before I beat your ass’.  Kip giggled.

Orange Cassidy vs Lee Moriarty, All-Atlantic Title

Backstory: None

Cassidy received the first, and only, televised entrance all night as Excalibur called this a ‘big-time main event’.

Loud ‘freshly squeezed’ chant as we got started.  Moriarty used a hammerlock to pinch Cassidy’s sunglasses; Cassidy returned the favor as JR & Jericho wished the best to Jerry Lawler.

Moriarty slipped back behind, maintaining his grip around the waist until Cassidy put his hands in his pockets to break it.  An aggravated Moriarty kept going after him and missing, Orange threw the kicks from his back then ducked a bunch of clotheslines before launching a shotgun dropkick and planting Moriarty into the buckle for ten.

But missed off the top, landing awkwardly on his wrist which Moriarty immediately targeted, including an STO on the apron with the arm hammerlocked.

Break time.

Cassidy hit a Michinoku driver for two as we returned.  Then bagged a sleeper until Lee used the injured wrist to free himself, looking for the Border City Stretch.  Cassidy escaped outside.  Where Danhausen Cursed Stokely.

Allowing Cassidy to take advantage via diving DDT, Moriarty blocked the Orange Punch but ate Beach Break to kick out at two.  Cassidy then hit the Punch but was slow to cover due to his wrist.  Moriarty countered the pin into Border City Stretch, Cassidy used the ropes to sneak a cradle pin for the win.

Moriarty’s a very good athlete but doesn’t yet connect with the crowd.

Post-match, the crowd groaned as Lethal & Jarrett attacked Cassidy because you have to get them on tv EVERY F****** WEEK.  The heels were taking care of Cassidy & the Best Friends until the Acclaimed ran them off.  Quite the tag title picture we have in AEW.

WINNER: Orange Cassidy

…..

Next Dynamite:

• Renee sit-down with Adam Cole
• Britt Baker vs Toni Storm vs Ruby Soho (think this was the three-way they were doing a few weeks back until Britt got injured)
• Mox & Claudio vs Rush & Preston Vance, Tornado tag
• MJF is contractually obligated to appear
• Hangman Page vs Kip Sabian
• Wardlow sit-down with JR
• Jack Perry vs Brian Cage
• Mark Briscoe vs Josh Woods
• More TBA

Next Rampage (starts 7pm Eastern, 4pm Pacific):

• Swerve Strickland vs Dustin Rhodes
• Daniel Garcia vs Ricky Starks

…..

 Overall impressions

 ‘This the show that y’all been waitin on,’ claims the intro.  Certainly not this edition.

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Thanks for reading.  Have a great weekend!