411MANIA | Hall’s AEW Rampage Review 8.5.22

Rampage
Date: August 5, 2022
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

We’re a day away from Battle Of The Belts and that probably won’t mean much. That being said, this week we have a street fight between Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland and Josh Woods/Tony Nese after Woods attacked Lee last week. Also, Madison Rayne will be making her AEW debut, which could be interesting. Let us begin.

opening sequence.

Jon Moxley vs Mance Warner

Non-title and William Regal annotated. Before the game we get a video of Warner, who is quite a Tennessee-style speaker. He promises to fight Moxley (rather than dance with him) because he overheard Moxley talk about how much he loves to bleed. Now Ole Mancer is here to become the man. A brawl is underway, beginning with Warner sending him onto the steps before biting Moxley in the head.

You go in to ring the bell and literally two seconds later you’re back on the floor. Moxley is sent to the barricade and there is a step on the barricade to make it worse. A clothesline knocks Moxley to the ground again and they go in, but he ties Warner’s leg in the ropes. There’s a running dropkick to the ropes to set up a figure four, but Warner is out with little trouble.

Walk back and they’ll trade right hands in the corner before heading back outside. Moxley is whipped hard against the steps but he comes back up with a suplex. They go in but are right back out (again) to fight on the steps. Warner hits a DDT on said steps and we take a break. Back with Warner stomping on the ankle and hitting a not great spinebuster for two. A boot against Moxley’s bloodied face scores two and Warner grabs a chair which is jammed into Warner’s head.

Now Warner has also left, providing a good target for Moxley’s suicidal jump into the barricade. Back in and a superplex sets up the hammer and elbows, though Moxley’s arm is injured from arming the chair. Warner clotheslines him and they are both down. Warner’s cover is countered into a Kimura before Moxley stomps in the head. A pile driver prepares more stomps and Moxley chokes him at 11:37.

valuation: C+. Yes, it’s another Moxley brawl with blood and again it’s not noticeable after we’ve seen it so many times. Warner is a good speaker, but his stuff doesn’t exactly stand out between the bells. It’s a bunch of whipping people into things and hitting them with guns, which quickly becomes repetitive. Having both of them in the same match wasn’t exactly high level, although it was a decent brawl.

At Dynamite, Ricky Starks was interrupted by the Factory. QT Marshall provides Stark’s protection from the team (which now includes Kole Carter), but he is not interested in any help, either from Marshall or Aaron Solo.

Ryan Nemeth vs Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita avoids an attack at the start and smashes a trainer into the corner as the fans seem pretty invested here. However, Peter Avalon, in Nemeth’s corner, grabs Takeshita’s leg and Nemeth kneels away. Takeshita returns with a Blue Thunder Bomb and the running knee finishes Nemeth at 1:40. Well, that’s how you build someone up for tomorrow’s title match.

After the match, Avalon goes after Takeshita and is kneeled for his efforts.

At Dynamite, Orange Cassidy and the best friends aren’t exactly thrilled with how they’ve been doing lately, but believe they’re doing their best as a trio. They enter the Trios Title tournament, but Dr. Danhausen makes it to four. Because he is also a doctor.

Madison Rayne versus Leila Gray

Stokely Hathaway is here with Grey. They start to lock up as Gray corners them for a forearm to their chest. Rayne’s frustration sets in and they head to a series of standing counters. Some rollups get Rayne some near falls and we hit the armbar to keep Gray in trouble.

Backtrack and Gray misses an attack into the corner, but Hathaway jumps up and down the steps for a fairly obvious distraction. Gray pushes her off her apron and we pause. Back with Rayne punching away and getting two from a Northern Lights suplex. Rayne hits a sliding lasso at Cross Raynes (yes, Cross Raynes) to finish off Gray at 8:29.

valuation: C. Rayne is an interesting veteran as fans will know who she is and she can put in a good match. However, there are several women above her and she will only garner so much interest. That was about what I expected and now Rayne can get on with everything else, although she may be better suited as a coach than as a regular competitor.

After the match, Jade Cargill comes out and presents Rayne with the challenge for next week’s Dynamite. Rayne joins in and even takes out the invading Kiera Hogan.

Video of Lucha Bros vs. La Faccion Ingobernable in a tornado day.

Mark Sterling doesn’t think much of Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland ready to take on Tony Nese/Josh Woods in a street fight.

Here’s what’s coming on different shows.

Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland vs. Tony Nese/Josh Woods

Non-title falls count everywhere and Mark Sterling is here with Nese and Woods. It’s a brawl on the ground, with Woods barricading Strickland. They trade with a drop toehold which sends Nese into the barricade and forearms Woods in the face. Nese is back in Lee’s face with some protein powder, but that’s about it for the offense as Strickland grabs a toolbox and launches it just to hit the steps.

As Lee gets some water to his eyes, Wood’s forearms swing in his face and grab a twisting suplex to send him up the stairs. We take a break and come back with Lee saving Strickland from being bombed off the apron and through a table. Lee can’t stop Nese from kicking Strickland in the face, but he can break a stealth by two. Everyone gets back in while Lee cleans the house, but Nese dropkicks him in the face with a chair. A double DDT on a chair gets two as Strickland 450s to the save.

Now we get a table set up, but Sterling comes in with a wrench (from the toolbox) to make Strickland goofy. Lee headbutts Nese again, throwing Sterling off the top and through the table. Woods still can’t suplex Lee off the apron and through more tables, but Nese adds a suplex and the superplex actually knocks Lee down hard. Nese brings in some chairs but is put on them with a backdrop instead. The Swerve Stomp on the chairs is enough to miss Strickland the pin at 1:56 p.m.

valuation: B-. I’m not sure what to think of something like this as it’s another weapon-based brawl that we seem to have almost every week or so. Lee and Strickland are a pretty good team and they did well here, but I could go a while without seeing Nese who never seems to win anything. There are so many good teams here, but Lee and Strickland face a makeshift team with Mark Sterling. I’m not sure if I can get this.

Results
Jon Moxley née Mance Warner – Bulldog Thrush
Konosuke Takeshita born Ryan Nemeth – Running knee
Madison Rayne née Leila Gray—CrossRaynes
Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland née Tony Nese/Josh Woods – Swerve stomp on chairs to Nese

Go over there my site below kbwrestlingreviews.com with thousands of reviews from around the world and throughout wrestling history.