{"id":134584,"date":"2022-03-05T21:15:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T03:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=134584"},"modified":"2022-03-05T21:15:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T03:15:54","slug":"aew-rampage-hits-misses-3-4-guevara-andrade-and-darby-steal-the-show-in-opener-c-m-punk-promo-shines-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/03\/05\/aew-rampage-hits-misses-3-4-guevara-andrade-and-darby-steal-the-show-in-opener-c-m-punk-promo-shines-more\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW RAMPAGE HITS &#038; MISSES 3\/4: Guevara, Andrade, and Darby steal the show in opener, C.M. Punk promo shines, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-441703924\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><strong>Sammy Guevara defeated Andrade El Idolo and Darby Allin to retain the TNT Championship: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Very good television match, made even better by the crowd. However, entrances and an actual main event spot would have made this feel much more special.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the fact that AEW thinks Sting wrestling is more worthy of being on a PPV instead of a TNT title defense further defines down the championship. I understand they want to give Sting the pay day, and at this moment, he is a bigger draw than that belt, but you\u2019re not going to build your championship\u2019s prestige with short-term thinking.<\/p>\n<p>After the match, Guevara offered Darby Allin a handshake, but Allin refused. Stereotypical tension between makeshift tag partners going into a PPV.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Death Triangle in-ring promo: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Alex Abrahantes, in a new, dark persona, challenged the House of Black to a three-on-three match at the PPV. House of Black \u201cteleported\u201d in to assault them, but Erick Redbeard came out to even the odds. Security tried to break things up, but Redbeard laid them all out.<\/p>\n<p>Well, who expected Erick Redbeard to show up and be featured this strong? And what\u2019s his connection to Death Triangle? I\u2019m not holding my breath for an explanation. At best, they will probably reference some obscure connection from another promotion. At worst, they did just for the pop.<\/p>\n<p>Peta is good in this evolved character, but Alex looks like a little kid living out his Halloween fantasy. Maybe he\u2019ll grow on me with time.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3457318362\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Scorpio Sky and Dan Lambert Backstage Promo: IT HAPPENED<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lambert made an announcement that Sky would face Guevara for the TNT championship next week on Dynamite, and Page VanZant would sign her AEW contract at the Revolution PPV.<\/p>\n<p>If you remember last week\u2019s promo, Lambert mentioned he could only get Sky a chance to qualify for a Face of the Revolution ladder match. Tonight, they tried explaining that Lambert re-negotiated the deal, and honestly, it\u2019s probably for the best. It makes sense for Sky to receive a title shot, given his record. They built it up for far too long on Rampage before suddenly forgetting about it, and it would have been stupid to not deliver a match.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keith Lee defeated JD Drake: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Extended squash for Lee. Crowd was hot for him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Post-Match Brawl: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After the match, Lee was attached by Drake\u2019s entourage but he laid them out. Team Taz slowly made their way to the ring to attack, but Orange Cassidy stopped them. This made Team Taz look like losers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>C.M. Punk Backstage Promo after the attack last week: MAJOR HIT<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-716155160\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>We got a go-home promo from Punk and it was brilliant and compelling. Go out of your way to watch this.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jade Cargill and Mark Stirling Backstage Interview: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stirling talked about the clause I the TBS title match contract that Conti couldn\u2019t touch her. Apparently, that expired today because Anna Jay came to remind them of that and then Conti kicked Cargill from behind. The lesson here is Mark Stirling is a bad lawyer, ad he didn\u2019t read the fie print twice ow: once for MJF, ow for Cargill. That, I tur, makes Cargill look bad.<\/p>\n<p>This was needlessly convoluted just to give Conti a modicum of momentum going into the PPV. Another \u201cmiss\u201d for a Cargill segment, ad the common denominator is Mark Stirling. He\u2019s not a top-tier performer, ad they don\u2019t give him the type of content that makes for a credibly devious heel meager.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Serena Deeb defeated Leila Grey in \u201cThe Professor\u2019s 5-Minute Challenge\u201d: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Very good performance from Deeb, as always.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Post-Match Angle with Hikaru Shida: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hikaru Shida ran out and beat up Deeb with a Kendo stick. This was really cool, and felt very satisfying because we\u2019ve seen this rivalry build up on television over many weeks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eddie Kingston Backstage Interview: 50-50<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kingston playing into Jericho\u2019s \u201cinsider\u201d stuff at the beginning of the promo was pathetic. The rest of the promo was fine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Main Event Promo: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ethan Page and Christian were both good, apart from the \u201ctransitional champion\u201d lie, but this match really didn\u2019t need to be the main event.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall Show: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This episode was more fast-paced than last week, believe it or not. I have to give it a \u201cHIT\u201d for the Punk promo, Shida return, and hot crowd, but I seriously doubt much of this is going to stick. In comparison to WWE, AEW has a much stronger undercard, but by its own merits, the pace of the shows can stifle the strong stuff. Be careful.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH-UP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/03\/05\/3-4-aew-rampage-tv-report-guevara-vs-andrade-vs-darby-for-tnt-title-ethan-vs-christian-for-ladder-match-slot-keith-lee-in-action\/\">3\/4 AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT: Guevara vs. Andrade vs. Darby for TNT Title, Ethan vs. Christian for Ladder Match slot, Keith Lee in action<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1162972138\"><div id=\"pwtor-3950397823\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Sammy Guevara defeated Andrade El Idolo and Darby Allin to retain the TNT Championship: HIT Very good television match, made even better by the crowd. However, entrances and an actual main event spot would have <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/03\/05\/aew-rampage-hits-misses-3-4-guevara-andrade-and-darby-steal-the-show-in-opener-c-m-punk-promo-shines-more\/\" title=\"AEW RAMPAGE HITS &#038; MISSES 3\/4: Guevara, Andrade, and Darby steal the show in opener, C.M. Punk promo shines, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":94283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[6121,6558,6120],"class_list":["post-134584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists","tag-aew","tag-aew-rampage","tag-all-elite-wrestling"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-03-06-at-2.41.03-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134585,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134584\/revisions\/134585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}