YOUNG BUCKS, ADAM COLE, AND BOBBY FISH VS. BEST FRIENDS
AEW Rampage 12/17 started out and heavy this week, with an eight man tag match between The Young Bucks, Adam Cole, and Bobby Fish vs. The Best Friends (Trent, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero, and Orange Cassidy). The match itself was very good, as you’d expect from this group of super talented individuals, and Orange Cassidy might be the best comedic act in all of wrestling. Everybody got their spots in, with Orange Cassidy/Adam Cole being the focus of the first half of the match, and Trent’s in-ring return being the focus of the latter half of the contest.
However, this match was sort of “just a good match,” and didn’t really do much to further the storyline between The Elite and The Best Friends. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll watch a good match with this group any day of the week, but I’ve always thought of Rampage as the show that adds the seasoning and layers of flavor in the entrees (storylines) that we get on Dynamite. This match didn’t do much to make me more invested in the story, and that’s a shame. It seemed like a Trent heel turn might be on the horizon based on his “I am the one who just came back, this interview should be about me” comment he made the other week. This match made him about as classic of a straight forward babyface as you’re going to see. Again, nothing was wrong with it, it just felt like a match without much purpose.
That being said, It’s great to see The Best Friends “moving up” the card, as they recently came off of a long feud with The Hardy Family Office, and are moving to bigger and better things. The Elite will be a tough rivalry to get over on, but if anybody can do it, I have faith in the Best Friends.
DAN LAMBERT: HEAT MAGNET
If you’re a heel in pro wrestling, you wish you could get heat the way Dan Lambert gets heat. This guy could warm a city block with all the heat he draws. Lambert comes out to a cavalcade of boo’s and rips into Cody Rhodes, comparing his running and involvement in the company with the dark days at the end of WCW’s run in 2000-2001. This is a great attack for a few reasons
- Cody Rhodes might be the most WCW person to never wrestle for WCW. His dad had a very heavy hand in that company, during the good times and the bad, and Cody goes out of his way to express love for that company, even during their hokey years.
- The statement itself is going to get heat from the audience because they love AEW, and while they might not love Cody (more on that later), you’re still attacking their company and they won’t stand for that.
- It furthers the narrative that the “smart mark” fans love to make, which is that Cody is a selfish jerk and just finds ways to bury younger talent and put himself over, acting like a good guy when he’s really not.
Eventually, Cody comes out and tries to take on Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky by himself. He is unsuccessful and after a few moments, Dustin Rhodes comes out to try to help his brother. Unfortunately, he is not able to overcome the 2-on-1 odds either, and he quickly hits the mat. But then, to the unexpected rescue comes Sammy Guevara. Sammy is the TNT Champion and will be fighting Cody for said title at AEW’s Holiday Bash edition of Rampage, which will air on Christmas night. Cody vs. Sammy was the very first match on AEW Dynamite way back in October 2019. If they REALLY wanna get some serious heat on Cody, it might not be a bad idea to end Sammy’s run prematurely, which would really help play into point #3 listed above. This slow-burn heel turn of Cody might be the best of all time. It harkens back to the Randy Savage heel turn of 1988-1989, and that is a great thing to be compared to.
TAY CONTI VS. PENELOPE FORD
Tay and Anna Jay have been feuding with The Bunny and Penelope Ford for quite a while now, and this most recent chapter of their rivalry might have been the most impressive yet. First of all, given that this was a submission match and Tay has a background in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, nobody should be surprised that Tay got the win here. However, Tay getting the win wasn’t the story of this match.
The story of the match was Penelope Ford, undoubtedly not a submission specialist, finding unique ways to get submission moves on Tay Conti. It is this type of logical, consistent storytelling that makes AEW such a great product. Of course Penelope Ford isn’t going to be able to get an arm bar or a figure four leg lock on Conti, Tay is way too experienced for that. So what does Penelope do? She finds innovative ways to turn a top rope spot into some kind of dragon sleeper/octopus stretch.
Of course, Tay is too much in the end and she gets the win. Post match, The Bunny comes down and exacts a little bit of revenge for her fallen partner, and gets a shot on Tay with their patented brass knuckles. The knuckle dusters have been a common tool for the Hardy Family Office, and if Dan Lambert is right and AEW is about to look like 2000’s WCW, one can only hope that this eventually leads to a “brass knuckles on a pole” match. *Fingers crossed*
This match was way better than expected. While Tay is definitely the real deal, and clearly someone AEW has a lot of faith in, moving forward, Penelope is still a bit of a question mark. Her look is great, her time with Kip Sabian was fantastic, but now that she’s having to stand out on her own, it is a very new realm for her. She handled herself very well in this match and exceeded expectations. It is great to see the “undercard” of the women’s division thrive. Even if they are only 5 minute matches, they are solid 5 minute matches, and those are better than 12 minute snooze fests all day long.
IT’S TIME…FOR THE MAIN EVENT (OF AEW RAMPAGE 12/17)
These little 30 second interview spots featuring Mark Henry have really grown on me. It’s sort of like a mediocre theme song to a TV show you really like. At first, it’s just sort of underwhelming, but after a while, it really starts to grow on you. Eventually, you don’t even skip the intro even though Hulu gives you the option, because the show just wouldn’t feel the same without that dopey intro. That’s Mark Henry’s job on Rampage, to be the dopey intro (please don’t tell him I said that) to the main event of Rampage. I’m glad to see that they are using these segments in a light-hearted way and they’re not trying to actually overhype the match, as that would come across as forced and formulaic. Taking a traditional wrestling tool and modifying it just a bit to make it something uniquely AEW is just one of the many little pleasantries this company gives its fans.
In this edition, 2.0 and Anthony Bowens are doing some typical heel work on the microphone before they are interrupted by Eddie Kingston who is having absolutely none of it. He tells Mark to wrap up his spiel (wonderful breaking of the fourth wall) so he can go beat their ass.
The match itself was a sort of beautiful chaos. Kingston, the Lucha Bros, and Santana & Ortiz took on 2.0, The Acclaimed, and Daniel Garcia. This was the first time I can recall Max Castor’s rap being interrupted. That is a shame, because Max’s dis tracks are fantastic, but it was, again, just a nice little way to break up the routine of what the audience expects and deliver a pleasant surprise. The brawl outside the ring before the match was very indicative of what we would see throughout the contest. All of these guys are well versed on the indie scene, and this match had the feel of an indie spot fest. It was high flying and entertaining, and ended with quite the little upset as Daniel Garcia was able to get the roll-up victory on Eddie Kingston. Kingston will certainly get the better of this current rivalry with Garcia and 2.0, but it’s great to see them mix things up and not only let Garcia get the pin, but have him pin Kingston and get that momentum rolling for his side.
Post-match, beatdowns and shenanigans ensue until eventually Jurassic Express and Christian Cage come down to save their future foes, similar to the way Sammy saved Cody earlier in the night. There is a very tense moment as Jungle Boy holds the tag titles and almost dares the Lucha Bros to take them from his hands. Of course, it’s Jungle Boy, so this was all still very polite and respectful, but the tension is there and the AEW audience eats it up. They can’t wait for a Lucha Bros vs. Jungle Express match, and neither can we!
