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ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PREVIEW
APRIL 1, 2022
COLUMBIA, S.C. AT THE COLONIAL LIFE ARENA
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
- Dustin Rhodes defeated Lance Archer.
- ReDRagon defeated Alan “5” Angels and Preston “10” Vance of the Dark Order.
- Nyla Rose defeated Mdadi Wrenkowski.
- Q.T. Marshall presented Hook with a certificate of accomplishment. He smashed it over Aaron Solo. Danhausen tried to put a curse on Hook, who couldn’t be bothered.
- Ricky Starks defeated Swerve Strickland to retain the FTW Championship thanks to outside interference from fellow Team Taz member Powerhouse Hobbs.
Arena
Tonight’s episode of Rampage was recorded this past Wednesday following Dynamite in the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. Four matches are advertised along with multiple talking segments.
Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. Top Flight (Dante and Darius Martin)
The Young Bucks return to in-ring action to take on Top Flight. They last competed on TV at AEW Revolution when they came up short in a triple threat tag team, challenging Jurassic Express for the AEW Tag Team Championship. That match involved ReDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish), with whom the Bucks have had issues.
Top Flight took part in the Casino Tag Team Battle Royal to try and earn a spot in the tag team title match at Revolution. Dante was given a shot at “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW Championship on the Dynamite after Revolution but came up short. Dante wrestled mostly as a singles act in 2021 while Darius, who made his return at the Casino Battle Royal, was injured.
This past Wednesday on Dynamite, FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) challenged the Bucks to a match after they defeated the Gunn Club. The Bucks defeated FTR at the 2020 edition of Full Gear for the AEW Tag Team Championship. FTR currently holds the AAA Tag Team Championship and are still affiliated with the Pinnacle, led by MJF. They are caught in the middle of the issues between he and Wardlow.
Frank’s Analysis: When they issued the challenge, at first, I was like they’re not doing this on Rampage are they? I didn’t think so, but the thought at least crossed my mind. If this was WWE that would have been the main event of Dynamite! Anyway, I expect nothing but a good match here, but curious if there’s any involvement of FTR. I’m also keeping an eye on Top Flight. I wonder if there’s a plan to split them up, but I don’t know how highly they regard either guy as a singles act. Dante is a great worker but doesn’t have a ton of personality. I don’t know enough about Darius, so it’s hard to say.
House of Black (Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. Fuego Del Sol and Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Stu Grayson
Last week, Fuego Del Sol cut a solo promo. He said he’s often called an undersized underdog, but people believe in him. He called out House of Black and said he’s ready to fight. The lights went out and when they came on, the House of Black was in the ring and attacked Fuego. Following the attack, The Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Stu Grayson & Alex Reynolds & John Silver came out and had a stare down with the House of Black. Uno & Grayson will pair up with Fuego to take on the House of Black, who recently feuded with Death Triangle (Pac & Penta Oscuro)
Frank’s Analysis: It’s hard to imagine anything other than using this as a mechanism to get House of Black a win. I’m fine with Fuego showing a little fire. I don’t know if he’ll move up the card, but it’s nice when people lower show a little personality.
Keith Lee vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
In a match that has been teased for a while, Keith Lee goes one-on-one with Powerhouse Hobbs of Team Taz. After Ricky Starks beat Swerve Strickland to retain the FTW Championship last week, an entourage held up a banner for Ricky. Out came Keith Lee, who brawled alongside Strickland with Ricky and Hobbs.
The issues between Keith and Team Taz have been going on for a while. Two weeks ago, Hobbs and Ricky attacked Keith after he defeated Max Caster of the Acclaimed. Swerve, also having issues with Team Taz, came out for the save.
Frank’s Analysis: We must be headed towards Keith and Swerve taking on Hobbs and Ricky on Dynamite or at some point in the future? I like the alliance between Keith and Swerve. If they don’t have anything on the singles scene for them right away, I don’t mind them working as a tag team. Swerve can do a lot of the bumping for Keith who can make the big save.
Jamie Hayter vs. Skye Blue
Dr. Britt Baker’s sidekick Jamie Hayter goes one-on-one with Skye Blue. We last saw Skye in one of Serena Deeb’s five-minute challenges, coming up short. She’s wrestled mostly on Dark and Dark Elevation as well as various promotions outside of AEW.
Jamie Hayter defeated Mercedes Martinez on the March 9 airing of Rampage. We haven’t heard from Dr. Baker since she lost the AEW Women’s Championship to Thunder Rosa on March 16.
Frank’s Analysis: There’s nothing to discuss with the match. I wonder if we hear from Dr. Baker.
Multiple Promos
On Wednesday we found out that we’d hear from Kris Statlander as well as Dan Lambert, Paige VanZant, and TNT Champion Scorpio Sky.
Statlander has been in the middle of the feud between Red Velvet and “Legit’ Leyla Hirsch, of which Statlander was involved. Hirsch turned on Statlander and beat her on the Buy In show for Revolution. Red Velvet beat Hirsch with Statlander’s help two weeks ago on Rampage. Hirsch, in turn, defeated Velvet on the following episode of Dynamite.
Scorpio, managed by Lambert, defeated Sammy Guevara for the TNT Championship back on the March 9 edition of Dynamite, and retained over Wardlow the following week. Last week, they said the open challenge for the title was closed and anyone would have to earn a shot. On the March 23 edition of Dynamite, Sammy and his girlfriend Tay Conti called out Paige VanZant and a partner of her choosing. Instead, out came Lambert with Scorpio and “All Ego” Ethan Page.
Frank’s Analysis: It’s hard to say what will be said in these promos, but we must think they’re important if AEW advertised them ahead of time. On Dynamite Jade Cargill and “Smart” Mark Sterling talked about who her next challenger could be for the TBS Championship. Perhaps Statlander makes her play even though they said Marina Shafir would be the next challenger? As far as Lambert and company it’s anybody’s guess what’s going to be said. Sammy is ranked #1, so maybe he intervenes and calls for a rematch? Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!
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