{"id":142725,"date":"2022-07-10T19:00:23","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=142725"},"modified":"2022-07-10T19:00:23","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T00:00:23","slug":"aew-rampage-hits-and-misses-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/07\/10\/aew-rampage-hits-and-misses-11\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW RAMPAGE HITS &#038; MISSES 7\/8: Kingston and Takeshita hit, Gresham and Blanchard miss with promo, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2069053306\" 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>AEW RAMPAGE HITS &amp; MISSES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Eddie Kingston defeated Konosuke Takeshita: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This was a very good opener that blended a technical and hard-hitting style. The crowd was behind Kingston, and Takeshita is slowly making a mark with his performances. I must say though: Kingston\u2019s \u201ccollapse\u201d onto Takeshita for the pinfall at the end looked really contrived. In addition, I don\u2019t think Takeshita is at a level where he needs that much protection.<\/p>\n<p>Next week, I hope we see Takeshita to do a promo explaining his character\u2019s mission statement and constitution. I don\u2019t want things to go down the same way as Daniel Garcia\u2019s early career did, where he just randomly showed up to challenge people on Rampage main events.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Athena and Kris Statlander Backstage Promo: 50-50<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The promo itself was fine, but it\u2019s difficult to keep up with this story. For one, having two babyfaces gunning for the same heel (and actually getting along) feels weird. Secondly, they are usually in the same arena as Cargill. Why not DO something to make her notice you? Film some creative skits where Athena and Statlander make Cargill\u2019s life miserable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hook Video Package: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just highlights. Some of his weaker segments were plastered over with quick shots that made him across better, so I think it worked in that regard.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-827028657\" 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>Gates of Agony (Kaun and Toa) defeated Jonathan Gresham and Lee Moriarty: SHOULDER-SHRUGGING MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The match itself was okay, but I am apathetic toward the finish with Gresham turning on Moriarty. I was just getting to know Gresham through two episodes of promo work, and now they turn him heel. Someone who has only been on AEW TV two-three times turned on someone who rarely appears on TV, and sided with two debutants and a manager who is just returning from a long hiatus (after an underwhelming run with a previous faction).<\/p>\n<p>Even if you\u2019re an ROH fan, don\u2019t you think the World Champion needs to be featured in a better way? And couldn\u2019t this heel turn have worked with better with a different cast of characters?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eddie Kingston Backstage Promo: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The promo was good, but AEW hasn\u2019t done enough to showcase the relationship between Ruby Soho and Eddie Kingston. Two or three months of segments devoted to that would have made this so much more impactful. Right now, it just feels random. That\u2019s why I can\u2019t give this Kingston promo a \u201cHIT.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez defeated Kayla Sparks and Christina Marie: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The one-upsmanship between Deeb and Martinez continues in another quick squash. More of this has been done on shoulder programming than on TV, but the limited amount I have seen is fun. As ROH Women\u2019s Champion, at least Martinez is in a \u201cfeud\u201d with someone relevant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Post-Match Attack: HIT<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-73300396\" 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>Well, the \u201creluctant partners\u201d deal couldn\u2019t go on for too longer. Deeb attacked Martinez and made it clear she wants her championship.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jonathan Gresham and Tully Blanchard Backstage Promo: MINOR MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The explanation for Gresham teaming with Blanchard having to do with TV time makes some sense. However, the fact that the company sees fit to sit the ROH World champion at home and feature their Television and Pure champions on a regular basis suggests they don\u2019t have much faith in his drawing power. Even in kayfabe, it devalues the ROH World Title.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Main Event Promo: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While I thought Danhausen was entertaining on Dynamite, so much tonight. This whole segment was just \u201cmeh\u201d or minor-chuckle at best.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matt Sydal and Lee Moriarty Backstage Interview: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So, Lee Moriarty requires someone to speak for him after he\u2019s been screwed over? And how did these two become friends again?<\/p>\n<p>Not only was the mic work unspectacular, Moriarty\u2019s non verbals weren\u2019t very convincing at all. By the way, per CageMatch, Moriarty has never won a match on AEW television, and his last televised match was five months ago. If AEW did a better job keeping Moriarty at least semi-relevant to their television audience after his good outings against Punk and Danielson months ago, he would be a far more credible challenger right now.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, AEW, please stop putting separate promo segments AFTER the main event promo.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Orange Cassidy defeated Tony Nese: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Decent match with a healthy dose of Cassidy-Danhausen-Stirling comedy. Fifteen minutes is ideal for a Rampage main event, but with someone who is defined at the level that Tony Nese is, I\u2019m not so sure. Yes, he\u2019s a good worker, but his star power just isn\u2019t enough to sustain emotional investment in a long main event. If you halve the length, I think it would have been a really good, better-than-expected match.<\/p>\n<p>I also got a kick out of Jim Ross defending the Cassidy gimmick against \u201cold school fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Commentary: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The trio of Ross, Schiavone, and Excalibur is better than the four-man booth with two active wrestlers. That being said, these three have their own faults which take away from the commentary being able to add to the show. I wrote some expanded thoughts on this in my 07\/01 column last week.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall Show: NARROW MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s difficult to give this show a verdict. Despite some good stuff, can I, in good conscience, ask a general audience to put aside an hour of their time to watch this show? I don\u2019t think so. If you only watch AEW television, this show was quite forgettable.<\/p>\n<p>The state of the ROH World Title on AEW TV right now is precarious. Even if you\u2019re okay with all the belts we\u2019re seeing, you can\u2019t justify how defined down the ROH World champion is compared to every other singles champion.<\/p>\n<p>When you take this show as a whole, there are so many pieces that desperately need more context and character build: Takeshita, the Deeb-Martinez alliance, the Kingston-Ruby relationship, Tony Nese, and basically everyone in the ROH World Title feud. Everywhere you look, you can\u2019t help but feel like a chapter is missing or you would enjoy it a lot more if you put in more hours per week watching wrestling. This show felt like a giant sign that reads: \u201cIf you don\u2019t watch DDT, ROH, and our shoulder programming, it sucks to be you.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH-UP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/07\/09\/7-8-aew-rampage-tv-report-cassidy-vs-nese-kingston-vs-takeshita-plus-gresham-moriarty-martinez-deeb\/\">7\/8 AEW RAMPAGE TV REPORT: Cassidy vs. Nese, Kingston vs. Takeshita, plus Gresham &amp; Moriarty, Martinez &amp; Deeb<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3909328461\"><div id=\"pwtor-3935655128\"><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>AEW RAMPAGE HITS &amp; MISSES Eddie Kingston defeated Konosuke Takeshita: HIT This was a very good opener that blended a technical and hard-hitting style. The crowd was behind Kingston, and Takeshita is slowly making a <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/07\/10\/aew-rampage-hits-and-misses-11\/\" title=\"AEW RAMPAGE HITS &#038; MISSES 7\/8: Kingston and Takeshita hit, Gresham and Blanchard miss with promo, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":101359,"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-142725","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\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-24-at-1.20.38-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142725","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=142725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142728,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142725\/revisions\/142728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}