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ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PREVIEW 2/11: Roppongi Vice vs. Bucks, Danielson Speaks, Hook vs. Blake Li, Baker vs. Renegade, Jurassic Express vs. Gunn Club for Championship

BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

February 10, 2022

Hook wins FTW Championship on Dynamite.
Hook
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PRIMER
FEBRUARY 11, 2022
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. AT THE JIM WHELAN BOARDWALK HALL
AIRS ON TNT NETWORK, 10:00 p.m. EDT, 9:00 p.m. CDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Taz, Ricky Starks (various combinations)

Match Results and Key Segments from Last Week

  • Adam Cole defeated Evil Uno of the Dark Order. After the match he clearly defined his mission of becoming AEW World Champion.
  • Sammy Guevara defeated Isiah Kassidy to retain the TNT Championship. After the match Andrade came out to seemingly attack Sammy until Darby Allin made the save. They had a stare down over the championship. They wrestled each other at the 2020 Revolution PPV.
  • Thunder Rosa defeated Mercedes Martinez via DQ.
  • Ricky Starks (w/Powerhouse Hobbs) defeated Jay Lethal to retain the FTW Championship.

Arena

Tonight’s episode of Rampage was recorded following this week’s episode of Dynamite. See the Dynamite preview for more information about the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

Four matches and a talking segment were announced on Dynamite for tonight’s show:

Roppongi Vice (Trent Barretta & Rocky Romero vs. Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

This tag match was supposed to take place back on the January 21 edition of Rampage in Washington, D.C., but Rocky Romero contracted COVID and was unable to work the match. Trent Barretta and Nick Jackson went one-on-one with Barretta coming out on top.

As I mentioned in the primer for that show, these teams have a history going back to their days in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Here are my notes from that report:

Roppongi and the Bucks have quite the history. In April of 2015, Roppongi defeated the Bucks for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship at Invasion Attack. The dropped the titles back to the Bucks at that year’s Wrestling Dontaku, and ironically challenged for the titles in a three-way match at Dominion that involved Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly (reDRagon) but came up short. They would eventually beat the Bucks for the titles at the 2017 Wrestle Kingdom. After losing the titles to Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun), the Bucks would eventually regain them and successfully defend against Roppongi at the 2017 G1 Special in USA. On the December 8 edition of Dynamite in N.Y., Rocky would team with Chuck Taylor (Trent’s Best Friends partner) and lose to the Bucks.

Another iron got tossed into the fire this past Wednesday during a backstage segment where Tony Schiavone was interviewing Rocky and Barretta. The Bucks came in to “say hello” and then Adam Cole attacked them from the other side. In walked “Switchblade” Jay White from New Japan Pro Wrestling who threw Barretta onto an AEW truck. White is a member of The Bullet Club, a faction of which the Bucks and Cole were previously associated. Later in the show, the Bucks took issue with Cole bringing in White, saying he and Kenny Omega have been enemies going back to their days in New Japan

https://twitter.com/azucarroc/status/1491874845130256384?s=21

Frank’s Analysis: I know kayfabe for all intents and purposes is dead, but I don’t care. It annoys me that the Young Bucks would retweet Rocky saying “Let’s finish this.” Opponents should not be retweeting or quote tweeting (whatever you want to call it) anything the opposition is saying on social media. It’s not a big deal and I won’t lose sleep over it, but it annoys me and I’m going to say something. That being said, I look forward to this match. It’s good to see the Bucks talk about being champions again as they did Wednesday, and Jay White inserted into the picture is a big piece of business to watch especially when Kenny Omega comes back. We’ll see how much involvement he has with AEW.

Bryan Danielson Speaks

On Wednesday we were told that we would hear from Bryan Danielson. Danielson recently challenged “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW World Championship but came up short. They went to a 60-minute time limit draw before having their rematch on the TBS launch episode, a match won by Page.

Danielson laid low until confronting a returning Jon Moxley. Last week on Dynamite, after Moxley defeated Wheeler Yuta, he went to the ring and said he the best AEW Champion. If he had a little support, he’d still be champion. He wanted to join forces with Moxley and potentially be tag team champions with Moxley being world champion as well. They could bring along some of the younger talent in AEW such as Wheeler Yuta, Lee Moriarty, and Daniel Garcia.

Frank’s Analysis: I wouldn’t have had Danielson and Moxley joining forces but, why not? AEW has a lot of talent now and grouping people into factions is a good way to get more people on TV. I don’t see Danielson becoming a manager per say, but he likely doesn’t want to wrestle as much so if he’s more in the mentor/special occasion type of wrestler that works for me. He and Moxley are an interesting combination. I think they eventually feud, but I’d hold off on that to see if this potential partnership has any equity.

Hook vs. Blake Li

It’s Friday night, so time to send Hook as they say. Last week on Rampage, QT Marshall said he was sending a new trainee from The Factory. We found out that would be Blake Li.

This will be Blake’s first match on any AEW telecast. Hook defeated Serpentico on the January 21 edition of Rampage. His record stands at 4-0.

Frank’s Analysis: There’s not much to say here other than another chance to see Hook. There’s zero chance he loses this match. I’m curious when they try to go to the “next level” with him and how he handles it. They have time.

Non-Title Match: AEW Women’s Champion Dr. Britt Baker vs. Robyn Renegade

In another match announced for tonight, Dr. Britt Baker goes one-on-one with Robyn Renegade. Robyn arrived in AEW back in May of last year and made her debut on a Dark Elevation taping, losing to Thunder Rosa. She has performed exclusively on Dark & Dark Elevation but has yet to win a match. She last wrestled and lost to Sky Blue on a Dark Taping, who herself recently lost to Serena Deeb.

Baker is concerned about Thunder Rosa coming after her and her AEW World Championship and has admitted to bringing in Mercedes Martinez to take her out. Rosa and Martinez have their rematch next week. Here’s Baker admitting to bringing in Martinez:

Frank’s Analysis: There’s obviously nothing to this match. This is all about heading towards the next match between Baker and Rosa. They wrestled a Lights Out match on the St. Patrick’s Day Slam edition of Dynamite last year won by Baker before she became AEW Women’s Champion.

AEW Tag Team Championship: Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy) (champs) vs. Gunn Club (Austin & Colten Gunn)

The Gunn Club get their shot at the AEW Tag Team Championship tonight when they challenge Jurassic Express. This situation started on the January 19 edition of Dynamite when the Gunn Club attacked Christian, who has been affiliated with the current champs. Things escalated on the January 28 edition of Rampage when the Gunn Club attacked Jurassic Express following their successful title defense over Private Party.

The Gunn Club, managed by their father Billy Gunn, are the number one ranked team according to the AEW website with a 2022 record of 3-0. They have wrestled mostly on Dark and Dark Elevation. They were last on AEW broadcast TV on the August 25 edition of Dynamite when they paired with their father to defeat Aaron Solo & Nick Comorato & QT Marshall of The Factory. Soon thereafter they turned heel by attacking Paul Wight.

Frank’s Analysis: This is another match where there’s not much to say. That doesn’t mean I’m negative on it. When you’re trying to keep a reign going, you need to give your champion wins. The Gunn Club can do as such. They also get some exposure on TV, where management may want to “see what they have.” I get the sense with the Bucks mentioning they want the titles back that Jurassic Express is not long for the top of the tag team scene.

Summary

A lot was announced, but this seems to be a pedestrian episode of Rampage, which is fine. Sometimes it’s about planting seeds, moving stories along, and getting stars wins amongst other things. My guess is they main event with Roppongi Vice vs. Young Bucks to do whatever they’re doing with Adam Cole and Switchblade Jay White.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!

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