Arena: Golden 1 Center

City: Sacramento, CA

Last Week’s Rating: 394,000 overall; 0.10 in 18-49 demo

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

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Action Andretti vs Sammy Guevara

Backstory: Andretti & the JAS have been feuding since approximately 30 BCE

We tuned in to Sammy lying in la-z-boy pose in the corner.  No entrances, because who has time for those?

The action quickly spilled to the floor.

Action flung him back inside, Sammy rolled across the ring and out on the other, Andretti pursued him with a tope through the ropes, following up with an uppercut and chop to the chest against the barricades.

A running shotgun dropkick continued the assault back In the ring, a split-leg followed for two.

Crowd incredibly quiet.

Guevara caught him with a chop, flung him overhead onto the apron but ate a lariat when Andretti landed on his feet, then did so again into a catapult out of a springboard.  Guevara skinned the cat, Action belted him back outside with a lariat but saw a dive from the top met by a Guevara dropkick to bring the break.

Much of that last sequence seemed like look how athletic we are, rather than a contest.

Sammy had the dreaded chin lock clamped as we came back, AA landed on his feet out of a belly to back; the two then collided in mid-air thinking cross-body.  Andretti landed a flurry: diving clothesline, discus, hanging neckbreaker.

Guevara again bailed outside but ate a thrust kick from the apron and an Asai moonsault.  Then a springboard 450 next for another two.  Beautifully done.

Picking up a head of steam, Sammy hurtled right into a Spanish Fly for another dos.  Then got his knees up to block the running shooting star, hit a gut-wrench ddt; Andretti rolled to the outside to avoid the pin.

(Don’t know a babyface who isn’t established should be doing that.  Seems like something either a heel or a wily veteran does.  And nothing in between.)

Sammy then positioned him on the table at ringside before heading to the top.  But was quickly cut-off, ate a superkick, landing on the table himself as Action went upstairs, just about landing the splash as Jericho begged the ref to DQ him.

Rolling Sammy back in, he headed up top once more, Daniel Garcia shoved him off the top into the GTH: 1,2,3.  Sure we’ve seen that somewhere before:

Same match, same show, same interference, same interferer, same victor.  Only two weeks apart.  And not as good.  And the crowd didn’t care.

While AEW don’t like doing DQ’s, I’d take some over this constant interference.  Both the JAS & the Elite have had storylines become reality with fans legitimately getting fed-up at all the screwy endings.  Not a good thing.

WINNER: Sammy Guevara

No time to sell the significance of anything, quick, there’s a Darby Allin package!  Allin said he was ‘too real’ and referred again to going out in a blaze of glory, he’ll outline his plans on Dynamite.

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Jack Perry promo package.  He said the feud with Christian took a lot out of him, but he learnt how to pick his shot.  So everyone with a title belt, watch out.

MJF?  Though honestly could be any of the titles, particularly if Jarrett wins.

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Powerhouse Hobbs & QT Marshall promo.  The premiere episode of QTV on Dynamite.

Thanks a lot QT, that’s hundreds of thousands of people who won’t sleep a wink till Wednesday.

The Acclaimed vs Jack Cartwheel & Starboy Charlie

Backstory: None

To channel Steve Austin: ‘What exactly is a ‘Starboy’?  Do you like stars?  Do you like… don’t answer that’.

Guess he’s playing off the Weeknd song?  Still a weird name.  And even weirder look.  Like if Super Mario lost too much weight and got cheaper overalls with no shirt.

The Acclaimed’s entrance woke the crowd as Jericho asked JR if he’d ever been scissored.  Then referenced the offer for the Acclaimed to join the JAS, arguing that they hadn’t really laughed.

The former champs hit Scissor Me Timbers on Cartwheel, bringing in Starboy: Arrival, Mic Drop, squash complete.

Shouty & Switchblade hit the ramp with JAS shirts, nothing else happened.

I know Cartwheel has some buzz so a bit strange throwing him out here like this.

WINNER: The Acclaimed

Jericho, Guevara & Garcia promo’d the trios title match next Dynamite.  The Ocho noting it’s a night of firsts.  First time they’ve been in the ring with the HOB, first time in years Jericho and Omega have been in the ring.  And first time they ‘become the trios championships’.

Almost as if the match is worth more than one week’s build.

Might’ve wanted to re-shoot that last line.

Preston Vance vs Konosuke Takeshita

Backstory: Takeshita thinks he needs to go back to Japan since he never wins, Don Callis offered to help and asked him to stay a while

Takeshita got a nice reaction, not on the level of the Acclaimed but still good.  As Don Callis replaced Schiavone on comms.  He and Jericho were immediately chummy, the latter saying he’d let Wednesday’s remarks go since they’ve been friends so long.

Vance took advantage of a rope break, offered a sarcastic ‘konichiwa’ and bow; Takeshita responded with his killer diving clothesline then vaulted onto him via cross body as the ads arrived.

A lariat and German from the Import upon our return.  A double discus left both down, Vance ran in as Takeshita got his boot up then hit a knee strike off the middle rope and a blue thunder bomb for two.  A wicked knee strike to the face should’ve ended things but Jose put Vance’s foot on the ropes and was laid out by Takeshita.

Who returned to the ring to a big lariat, Vance in disbelief when he kicked out.  But slapped on his full nelson (feels like we’ve seen a colorless, muscular guy with a full nelson somewhere before), Takeshita got a rollup for two then a spinning backslide with a high stack for the win.

Crowd happy their guy won.  Presumably his victories will get more convincing as he goes.

Jericho and Callis continued to be very friendly.  Didn’t like that.

WINNER: Konosuke Takeshita

Swerve Strickland promo.  Maybe he overestimated (I’m sure he said this but meant underestimated) Keith Lee.  Who took out both his guys.  But Swerve hasn’t ‘thrown every bullet yet’, he has something else coming.  He won’t lose the war.  Lastly warning Lee to keep eyes in the back of his head.  ‘Hoodies… stay up’.

Not his best work.

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Mark Briscoe promo.  It’s time to ‘move on’ as regards the ROH tag titles, announcing they’ll be up for grabs in a Reach for the Sky ladder match at Supercard of Honor.  Then introduced the first competitors, his ‘amigos’, the Lucha Bros.

Like this unit; do not want the Bros in ROH.  Hopefully a one-off.

Briscoe’s so natural on the mic.  Just sounds like he’s out there being himself instead of trying to act.

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Recap of the Hook/Hathaway feud.  Matt Hardy offered to personally train Stokely for the match.

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Excalibur voiced over the history behind the main event.  Seeing the number of people in the house for that first Dynamite made this week’s audience even worse.

Riho vs Nyla Rose

Backstory: The first two female champ’s in AEW go at it

Like her fellow countryman, Riho got her usual nice reaction.

JR put over the Sakura/Riho match last week.

Riho kept attacking Nyla and being violently rejected.  Her quickness helped her avoid a senton but a bodyslam attempt backfired badly as she took one from Nyla.  Bridging up out of the subsequent pin, a pair of dropkicks sent Nyla packing to the outside.

Before taking flight; Rose snatched her out the air, Riho slipped behind to shove Rose knees-first into the steps.  The ref saved Riho from an advancing Marina Shafir.

As the smaller woman headed upstairs once more, this time the cross body landed, quick kick out.  After which Riho looked for a suplex, no dice, Rose hauled her up for a delayed one the Bulldog would’ve been proud of.

Before Riho avoided a splash in the corner but was dragged off the apron by Shafir to eat a judo throw on the outside.

Ads.

Riho got her feet up to block an attack in the corner, managed a tejeiras but was run over by Rose.  Then deposited atop the buckle, though shook Nyla off to hit a diving hurracanrana, dropkick, footstomp off the top, very close two.

In a sign of her cardio but mostly the pace of the match, she wasn’t even breathing heavily.

Nyla grabbed a headlock then smashed the smaller woman with a powerslam.  Count of two.  Before landing her diving knee with Riho draped across the ropes.  The crowd cheering at the subsequent kickout as they chanted for Riho.

Rose headed up top, missing everything with a senton, Riho responded with a Northern Lights, the crowd amazed, Nyla kicked out at two.  Riho then lined up a knee strike, missed, was crushed against the buckle, avoided a cannonball, crucifix bomb, pair of kickouts from Nyla.

Marina Shafir grabbed Rihos foot, but she slipped out of the Beast Bomb to snag the win via cradle for the second sneaky pin in a row.  If Nyla hasn’t appeared on TV for months and months, surely it’s okay to pin her more convincingly than this?

You cannot protect everyone at the same time.

After her victory, Riho was attacked by Nyla & Marina Shafir.  The nW-no (now christened the Outcasts because the Externals and the Alfrescos were taken) followed, tagging an ‘L’ on the former champ.

Where the hell were Britt & Jamie this week?  If they’re still injured after the attack at Revolution, AEW should tell us that.  Follow-up on the ppv has not been good.

Related, it seems Riho will side with Britt & Jamie (despite this story starting around Hikaru Shida).

WINNER: Riho

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 Next Dynamite:

• Jeff Jarrett vs Orange Cassidy, International Championship
• MJF’s re-Bar Mitzvah
• HOB vs Elite vs Jericho, Guevara & Garcia, Trios Titles

• Jade Cargill vs A Canadian, TNT Title open-challenge
• The Outcasts (Saraya & etc) will appear
• Debut of QTV with Marshall & Hobbs

• Hangman Page, Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs BCC

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Overall impressions

AEW continue to fail badly in following-up on events and storylines, leading to a loss of momentum for several acts.  For example Jack Perry, who after finally ending his feud with Christian was given about one minute of tv time.

Now I’m guessing he’ll interrupt Max’s Bar Mitzvah on Wednesday.  Which is a step in the right direction.  But surely all the more reason to prominently feature him this week?

In addition, the women’s champion hasn’t been seen since Sunday, we’ve received no mention of her whatsoever, the same goes for perhaps the biggest star in the division.  It should be a big deal when the champion doesn’t appear all week.  If it’s not; she’s not.

And that’s without getting into Strickland, Lee and a bunch of others.

The show itself was nothing special.

Check Out

• There was nothing bad, but nothing great either

Thanks for reading.  Have a great weekend!