{"id":143048,"date":"2022-07-17T19:36:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T00:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=143048"},"modified":"2022-07-17T19:36:24","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T00:36:24","slug":"aew-rampage-hits-and-misses-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/07\/17\/aew-rampage-hits-and-misses-12\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW RAMPAGE HITS &#038; MISSES 7\/15: Women&#8217;s division booking a mess, opener a hit, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3301091011\" 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>Brodie King and Malakai Black defeated John Silver and Alex Reynolds: HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pretty good opening match. Brodie King has some momentum from his battle royal win and it\u2019s good to see AEW riding that momentum instead of cycling him into the background again.<\/p>\n<p>The win also meant something. They beat the no. 4-ranked tag team (how Dark Order got to number 4 is a question only shoulder programming answer, of course).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Post-Match Angle: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After the match, Darby Allin and Sting came out to interrupt House of Black\u2019s victory. This would have meant a lot more if Brodie King\u2019s beatdown of Darby Allin was aired in full on television instead of as a minor highlight in a sandwiched promo.<\/p>\n<p>Having Allin and King brawl and Sting and Black just stare at each other made the former two look like irrelevant children. Coming out of this, Black and Sting came across as bigger stars. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what AEW intended.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Miro Video Promo: HIT<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1864930825\" 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>The art of this promo was strong, as is always the case from Miro. However, the fact that he\u2019s even considering joining House of Black makes me less confident that Tony Khan sees him as a top-tier star the way many in the Torch community do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jonathan Gresham defeated Lee Moriarty to retain the ROH World Championship: 50-50<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, it was a good match. However, both talents deserve better. The first ROH World title story in front of a wider audience needs to be more memorable than this.<\/p>\n<p>The build to the match was awful, the ROH world title was already very diminished, and it is further hurt by having a defense in a second-from-the-top match (with a long commercial interruption). I am not a long-time ROH fan either, but the treatment of its world title picture is concerning.<\/p>\n<p>Shout out to Caprice Coleman on commentary though. I like him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Post-Match Promo by Gresham and Blanchard + Claudio Confrontation: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This was fine. A win over Claudio would really elevate Gresham, I think, but how many eyeballs will actually see it? How much is it going to matter to AEW\u2019s wider audience?<\/p>\n<p>Some would argue that Claudio is currently at a higher level than Gresham, and the ROH World title would be better off with Claudio. I\u2019m hard-pressed to disagree, but if Claudio does win the match, what does that say about Gresham\u2019s credibility as a world champion? Someone who Tony Khan was happy to let sit out for months while other ROH champions paraded around AEW with their belts?<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-4197124195\" 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><strong>Christopher Daniels Backstage Promo: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Daniels addressed Lethal, Dutt, and Singh and defended his \u201cfriend\u201d Samoa Joe.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m just tired of being asked to emotionally invest in stories that were established long before AEW was a thing (and before a much smaller audience). This entire feud is based on strange history.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Athena and Kris Statlander defeated Charlotte and Robyn Renegade: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I understand that the Renegade Twins are not an established act on television, but they have a twin-switch gimmick that needs to be protected. Don\u2019t bring them to Dynamite and Rampage just to get squashed like that. Keep them on Dark until you feel they are ready to get television victories and build heat for their gimmick.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Post-Match Brawl: MAJOR MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After the match, the Baddies beat down Athena and Statlander clean. No sneak attack or numbers advantage. Just easily handled them in seconds. You would think Athena and Statlander were the heels here. This was horrible booking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stokely Hathaway-Lee Moriarty-Matt Sydal Backstage Promo: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Moriarty came out of this looking like a bit of a gullible babyface. Going along with Hathaway\u2019s questions then letting Sydal stand up for him\u2026ugh. And his excitement at the prospect of facing Dante Martin made it seem like he\u2019s more interested in putting on good shows instead of winning titles and becoming a top draw.<\/p>\n<p>On a positive note, at least they\u2019re not sitting him out for another few months after heating him up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gunn Club \u2013 Acclaimed Confrontation: MINOR HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Billy Gunn was awful, but the Acclaimed carried themselves like babyfaces with integrity.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not really a fan of \u201coh my bad friends turned on me so now I will pander for cheers,\u201d so I won\u2019t give it a full \u201cHIT,\u201d but it was still good. I\u2019m glad to be done with \u201cscissor me daddio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Main Event Promo: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Meh. Andrade and Penta seem to be the real focus here, and I\u2019m just tired of people messing with Penta\u2019s mask now. Virtually every feud he\u2019s in, someone has to try de-mask him, and it never really adds to the story. I also just can\u2019t wrap my head around who is and isn\u2019t in Andrade\u2019s faction.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Private Party seemed more focussed on having a conversation with Andrade (who they were standing next to) than their opponents. Can we not assume that they congratulated him on his wedding privately? I don\u2019t get why that stuff has to take up TV time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lucha Brothers defeated Private Party: NARROW MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not bad, but the match wasn\u2019t quite stellar enough to out-shadow some messy spots and played-out mask-related storytelling. Throw in a commercial break + Rush (who only a slice of the audience knows), who seemed to be on for unsuccessful interference, and you have a pretty forgettable main event.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Commentary: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chris Jericho on commentary killed all mystique of his \u201cPainmaker\u201d character; at least what was left of it after turning the fireball stuff into comedy fodder.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall Show: MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This show started well but fell off the rails pretty quick. Even the \u201cHITs\u201d on this show have caveats. The booking, storytelling, and introduction of talent that only a faction of the audience knows has glaring holes. Good wrestling is not going to be able to hold these shows together for long.<\/p>\n<p>One generally positive thing about this show is that certain stars who had built up at least some heat will continue to be featured instead of suddenly cycled into the background again.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH-UP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/07\/16\/7-15-aew-rampage-report-dark-order-vs-house-of-black-gresham-vs-moriarty-for-roh-title-private-party-vs-lucha-bros-statlander-athena-vs-renegade-twins\/\">7\/15 AEW RAMPAGE REPORT: Dark Order vs. House of Black, Gresham vs. Moriarty for ROH Title, Private Party vs. Lucha Bros., Statlander &amp; Athena vs. Renegade Twins<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-4051167844\"><div id=\"pwtor-400997437\"><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 Brodie King and Malakai Black defeated John Silver and Alex Reynolds: HIT Pretty good opening match. Brodie King has some momentum from his battle royal win and it\u2019s good to <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/07\/17\/aew-rampage-hits-and-misses-12\/\" title=\"AEW RAMPAGE HITS &#038; MISSES 7\/15: Women&#8217;s division booking a mess, opener a hit, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":134532,"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":[6121,6558,6120,6562],"class_list":["post-143048","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","tag-rampage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2022\/03\/Jade-Cargill.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143048","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=143048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143049,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143048\/revisions\/143049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}