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ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE & BATTLE OF THE BELTS II PREVIEW 4/15-4/16: Page Defends Against Cole Texas Death Style, Blackpools vs. Gunns, Soho vs. Renegade in Owen Qualifier … BOTB II: Rosa vs. Rose, Sky vs. Guevara, Gresham vs. Castle

BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

April 14, 2022

Adam Cole talks concussion recovery
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE & BATTLE OF THE BELTS II PREVIEW
APRIL 15, 2022
GARLAND, TX. AT THE CURTIS CULWELL CENTER
AIRS ON TNT NETWORK, 7:00 p.m. EDT, 6:00 p.m. CDT (SPECIAL START TIME)
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

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

Last Week

  • Bryan Danielson defeated Trent Beretta.
  • Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti … well you know the drill these days.
  • Swerve Strickland defeated QT Marshall.
  • Red Velvet defeated Willow Nightingale to qualify for the Owen Hart Cup Tournament.
  • Jon Moxley defeated Wheeler Yuta.

Arena

Rampage will be live this week with a special start time of 7:00 p.m. EDT, 6:00 p.m. CDT. It will emanate from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX. The 17-year-old arena is a frequent host to AEW with the most recent event being the December 2021 edition of Dynamite: Winter is Coming.

Three matches were announced on Dynamite. They will also record Battle of the Belts II to air on Saturday night on TNT at 8:00 p.m. EDT, 7:00 p.m. CDT. Three matches are announced for that show as well.

Rampage

AEW World Championship Texas Death Match: “Hangman” Adam Page (champ) vs. Adam Cole

It wouldn’t be an event in the Curtis Culwell Center without a “Hangman” Adam Page title defense. The last time AEW was in this arena he went to a time limit draw against Bryan Danielson. The stakes are higher this time when Page defends against Adam Cole in a Texas Death Match.

Page retained over Cole at Revolution, but issues have not stopped between the two men and Page’s cronies ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly). The latest chapter unfolded on last week’s episode of Dynamite after Cole defeated Christian Cage. Fish & O’Reilly helped Cole attack Christian until AEW Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasurus) made the save. Page came out and having had enough of what had been taking place recently, got in Cole’s face and challenged him to the match with the Texas Death stipulation. He told Cole to “get his affairs” in order.

Page retained the AEW Championship over Lance Archer in a Texas Death match on the February 9 edition of Dynamite.

Frank’s Analysis: This is a weird match for me to call. I don’t feel like the Page run has been great, but does that mean put the title on Cole who hasn’t necessarily taken as a top heel? I guess I feel like a title change is coming.

Trios Match: Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta) (w/William Regal) vs. Gunn Club (Billy & Colten & Austin Gunn)

The Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley) has a new member in Wheeler Yuta, and they will have their first action as a trio as they take on The Gunn Club (Billy, Austin, and Colten). This past Wednesday on Dynamite, the Combat Club was interviewed by Tony Schiavone in which Danielson said they were fired up. Moxley called the Gunn Club a bunch of goofs, and Yuta said that on Friday the “real work begins.”

The Gunn Club recently challenged Jurassic Express unsuccessfully for the AEW Tag Team Championship. Moxley defeated Yuta in last week’s main event of Rampage, but Yuta earned the respect of the Blackpool Combat Club, and it was shown they all shook hands after the match in which Yuta bled heavily.

Frank’s Analysis: This is straight-forward and there’s not much to expect other than a win for the Blackpool Combat Club. The Gunn Club are perfectly fine foils. I’m looking for the body language between Yuta and his partners.

Owen Hart Cup Qualifier: Ruby Soho vs. Robyn Renegade

The qualifying matches continue for the Owen Hart Cup on the women’s side. Ruby Soho goes one-on-one with Robyn Renegade. Thus far Toni Storm faces Jamie Hayter and Hikaru Shida faces Red Velvet in the quarterfinals. Shida is a former AEW Women’s Champion.

Ruby arrived on the scene in AEW as the joker in the women’s Casino Battle Royal at All Out. She won the match and earned a championship match against then-champion Dr. Britt Baker, which took place at the Grand Slam Dynamite show from Arthur Ashe stadium in Flushing, N.Y. She’s competed mostly on Dark and Dark Elevation after going to the finals of the TBS Championship tournament, which was won by Jade Cargill. She lost her last match on Dynamite to Nyla Rose on February 2. Renegade herself has mostly been on Dark and Dark Elevation and lost her last match on Rampage to Baker in a non-title affair.

Frank’s Analysis: You must expect that Ruby is the one to advance here. Much was made about bringing her in after being released from WWE, but she hasn’t been featured that much on TV since losing in the finals of the TBS Championship tournament.

BATTLE OF THE BELTS II

AEW Women’s Championship: Thunder Rosa (champ) vs. Nyla Rose

Thunder Rosa has her first title defense as AEW Women’s Champion against Nyla Rose. Rosa defeated Dr. Britt Baker on the St. Patrick’s Slam episode of Dynamite in a steel cage to win the title. During the following week’s episode, Rosa was interrupted by Vickie Guerrero and then attacked by Rose when she was being interviewed by Tony Schiavone. She called out Rose in an interview the following week, again with Schiavone, where she talked about wanting to be the face of all women’s wrestling.

Nyla Rose is a former AEW Women’s Champion. She defeated inaugural champion Riho back in February of 2020 and lost to Hikaru Shida at Double of Nothing three months later.

Frank’s Analysis: Rosa retains here. Rose is a perfectly fine first opponent. I would be shocked if they do a title change here.

ROH Championship: Jonathan Gresham (champ) vs. Dalton Castle

Jonathan Gresham defends the Ring of Honor Championship against former champion Dalton Castle. Gresham has been the champion since defeating Jay Lethal at the December Final Battle PPV. This happened prior to Tony Khan purchasing ROH. The title was vacated when Bandido testing positive for COVID-19 a day before the show.

Castle last held the ROH Championship from December 2017 when he defeated Cody at Final Battle. He lost to Jay Lethal in June of 2018 on ROH TV.

Frank’s Analysis: I can’t see Gresham dropping the title this soon unless there’s an injury or something. From what I know of Castle, he’s a perfectly fine opponent to feature the ROH Championship on national TV.

TNT Championship: Scorpio Sky (champ) (w/Dan Lambert and “All Ego” Ethan Page) vs. Sammy Guevara (w/Tay Conti)

Sammy Guevara will have a chance to regain the TNT Championship when he challenges Scorpio Sky. Last week, Sammy & his girlfriend Tay Conti interrupted Scorpio after he spoke of getting rid of the open challenge. They called Dan Lambert a sexist piece of sh*t. Ethan Page looked towards the camera and told his daughter he hopes she doesn’t grow up to be anything like Tay. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Scorpio granted Sammy his rematch. Dan Lambert reiterated how Sammy and Tay were the most obnoxious couple. He also questioned the mixed tag match than Tay wanted so badly.

Scorpio defeated Sammy for the TNT Championship on the Dynamite after Revolution. He hasn’t been pinned on television in over a year.

Frank’s Analysis: I’m not a bot when I say this feud does nothing for me. Sammy and Tay do nothing for me. Dan Lambert has gotten to the point where he does nothing for me. I hate that Scorpio and Page are involved in this situation. Yeah, here’s hoping Scorpio retains.

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

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