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ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PREVIEW 6/3: Athena vs. Hogan, Bucks vs. Luchas, Scorpio vs. Martin for TNT Championship

BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

June 2, 2022

Analysis of hits and misses from this week's AEW Rampage
Scorpio Sky (photo courtesy AllEliteWrestling.com)
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PREVIEW
JUNE 3, 2022
ONTARIO, CA. AT THE TOYOTA ARENA
AIRS ON TNT NETWORK, 10:00 p.m. EDT, 9:00 p.m. CDT (Special Start Time)
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

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

Last Week

  • Bryan Danielson defeated Matt Sydal.
  • The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) defeated Taylor Rust & Jon Cruz
  • Dante Martin defeated Max Caster of The Acclaimed.
  • TNT Champion Scorpio Sky was given his new belt, which has the colors of his beloved Los Angeles Lakers.
  • Ruby Soho defeated Kris Statlander to advance to the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament.

Arena

AEW makes its debut in the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA, just west of Los Angeles. The venue was previously known as the Ontario Community Events Center and later the Citizens Business Bank Arena and opened in 2008. WWE has been the most frequent guest in terms of wrestling, with the most recent show being an October 2021 edition of Smackdown.

Three matches were announced on Dynamite for this live edition of Rampage:

Athena vs. Kiera Hogan

Athena, former Ember Moon of WWE, makes her in-ring AEW debut this week on Rampage when she takes on Kiera Hogan of the Baddies.

Hogan got in the face of Athena this past Wednesday on Dynamite when Athena was being interviewed by Tony Schiavone on the heels of her first appearance on television at Double or Nothing. She came out to even up the odds when Hogan, Red Velvet, and TBS Champion Jade Cargill (w/new manager Stokely Hathaway) had a standoff with Anna Jay of the Dark Order and Kris Statlander. On Wednesday she declared her intentions of going after Jade for the title, but Stokely and her told her no dice in so many words.

Athena was released from WWE in November of 2021 after performing mostly on the NXT brand.

Frank’s Analysis: I always enjoy a good Twitter back and forth. Athena is never without a little something to say, and that’s cool by me! I don’t expect anything other than an Athena win. We’re headed towards Athena vs. Jade at some point. The question is if she’s earmarked as the one to hand Jade her first defeat.

Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. Lucha Brothers (Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix)

It’s a hometown affair for the Young Bucks when they take on frequent rivals The Lucha Brothers. According to Wikipedia the Bucks were born in Montebello, CA, about 45 minutes from Ontario.

The feud with the Bucks and the Luchas goes back to the first Double or Nothing in 2019 when the Bucks defeated the Luchas to retain the AAA Tag Team Championship. The Luchas got even at the 2021 All Out when they defeated the Bucks to win the AEW Tag Team Championship. This past Sunday at Double or Nothing, the Bucks lost to the Hardys, but got back on the winning side on Wednesday in a 10-man tag match where current tag team champion Jungle Boy took the pin. The Luchas were on the losing end of a Trios match to the House of Black at Double or Nothing.

Frank’s Analysis: I appreciate the Bucks don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know that they should be losing to the Hardys. Are the Hardys really going to have a title run? I guess you can do that but, with the way Jeff looked and Matt with all they’ve been through over the years, I don’t know. I know the Bucks want to put people over, but they should have been “the standard” when it comes to tag teams in AEW. To me, they are merged in with traffic.

TNT Championship: Scorpio Sky (champ) vs. Dante Martin

Scorpio Sky puts his TNT Championship on the line against Dante Martin of Top Flight. After being on the winning side of a Trios match this past Sunday at Double or Nothing, his former SCU cohort Frankie Kazarian and Sammy Guevara can no longer challenge for the TNT Championship. Later in the show, Martin made it known that he can issue a challenge and did as much.

This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Martin stopped Scorpio from doing his finger snap following a backstage promo and said he would prove that he’s better than him on Rampage.

Frank’s Analysis: This should be a fun match but, there’s no other result to expect than a Scorpio retention of the title. I’d keep my eye on Dante Martin to see if at some point he gets some representation. The way Scorpio and Dan Lambert have discussed Dante’s potential, you wonder if he joins Lambert’s crew at some point.

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

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