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It’s Saturday morning, and you know what that means – top 3 Takeaways from last night’s Rampage, coming at you from Washington, DC!
#1 Only a Minor Crash
I hate making this my number one moment of the week, but it definitely is the most news worthy. Plus I have to eat some of my words as it wasn’t a total wreck, but that’s only because Mark Briscoe carried this match like a pro.
No complaints from me whenever Mark, Lethal or Jeff was in the ring, but naturally whenever Papa Briscoe or Aubrey got in the ring, the match got a little clunky. I think Jericho put it best when he described Papa Briscoe as “moves like a glacier”, which I guess is to be expected from a 60+ year old. Aubrey on the other hand didn’t get much physical action in the match, whenever she was tagged in Karen Jarrett avoided her like the plague, until the finish anyway.
Aubrey finally got her hands dirty, and she and Karen had the classic “rolling-on-the-floor cat fight”. Karen then tries to hit Aubrey with the Stroke, which she just no-sold. Ironic considering she dramatically oversells whilst refereeing. In the end it was Edwards who claimed the win, locking Jarrett in a figure-4.
#2 Forbidden Door Hype
The opener for this week’s Rampage was United Empire (Ospreay, Cobb & Fletcher) vs Chaos (Best Friends & Romero). It’s not like we didn’t already know this, but United Empire are an incredible unit and they really showed us what they are made off. Kyle Fletcher shows us his tag team prowess, Jeff Cobb is just a total powerhouse, and Ospreay is just one of the best in the world.
I do feel some sympathy for the Best Friends, who are of course AEW Originals, as they just seem to be sinking to the levels of jobbers now, being fed to the likes of BCC, and now United Empire. It was by no means a squash match as they did get plenty of offense in, but ultimately it was the NJPW stars who were victorious, after Ospreay hit the Hidden Blade.
#3 Strong Promo
Not a match, but I did think the backstage interview with the Hardy Brothers was a strong one. Lexy hosted in the interview, asking the Hardy’s what they thought about The Gunns comments from this week’s Dynamite. Matt took the floor first, talking about how he & his brother have been the top tag team for three decades, and that they are in contention for the best ever. He closed his part by once again stating that they are going to end on a high, by claiming the World Tag Team titles.
Jeff than took centre stage blasting The Gunns & their Dad, Billy. Jeff called out that “your Dad scissors, but you just suck” and that “he beat him 20 years ago, and now we’re going to do what he’s failed to do – make you famous”. Thus setting up a match for next week’s Dynamite, Gunns v Hardys, in what will be Jeff’s first live match since his return.