Rampage Recap from 5/13/2022

It's Saturday morning, and you know what that means...CARTOONS! No, it means we Run Down Rampage (but in a nice way). As a side note, I have realized that tense is an issue in this blog, and I'll do my best to stick to past if possible. I just get so excited! Sorry.

We jumped right into the action with Excalibur, Taz, and Jericho on commentary. 

Opening Contest: Death Triangle vs Butcher, Blade, and Marq Quen of the AFO

All six wrestlers were already in the ring, ready to go. This was a solid opener and a good exhibition of everybody's strengths. Butcher and Blade showcased their power, Marq Quen got a little acrobatic offense in, and Death Triangle re-established themselves as a tough trio to face. During the match, Chris Jericho announced that Butcher and Blade are his Sports Entertainers of the Week. If you disagree, he'll throw a fireball at you, cause HE'S A WIZARD!

Kyle O'Reilly was seated in the crowd, making weird thoughtful faces while taking notes on Rey Fenix for their upcoming tournament match. Penta and Rey hit Fear Factor on Quen before they tagged PAC in for the Black Arrow and the pin.

After the match, the lights went out in the arena. When they came back, Malakai Black was standing in the ring, with Buddy Murphy and Brody King perched on either turnbuckle. Black stared into the camera before the lights went out again, and the House of Black was gone when power was restored. SPOOKY!

Match #2: Shawn Spears vs Bear Boulder

Boulder got a lot of offense in early, mostly off Spears's arrogance. Spears had several "ten" based spots, but won by getting the much larger Boulder into a fireman's carry and hitting the C4 on him after calling out Wardlow. Pinfall, quick win for Spears before his upcoming cage match against Wardlow.

Post match, Spears hit Boulder with a steel chair a few times while he yelled to Wardlow via camera that the Giant Killer is coming.

Lexi Nair was in back with Tony Nese and Mark Sterling for an interview segment nest. Sterling was selling his injuries from the Wardlow powerbomb, wearing a collar and using crutches. Mark told us he's not a wrestler, and cannot take part in the match at Double or Nothing with HOOK and Danhausen. Nese then stepped in to say that it's not a problem. Tony destroyed Danhausen, and would take both HOOK and Danhausen on by himself, since he's a premiere athlete. Nese told Sterling to put 10k on him when they get to Vegas, and walked off. Sterling then said, "I mean, that's a lot of money" to no one in particular. Lexi, with some perfect deadpan timing, replied, "That is a lot of money." Kid is good, I like her!

Match #3: Ruby Soho vs Riho, Owen Hart Foundation Tournament

Riho was back to her pink and white gear after a brief foray into RIHO OSCURA territory in her last match. Ruby's brawling offense worked pretty well with Riho's more floaty, counter based attacks. Soho tweaked her knee early in the match; Riho spent the rest of the contest focusing a lot of her offense there. I like that Ruby sells like a cartoon character; it's a little silly but so is professional wrestling. That's why we love it!

Riho had quite a few counters out of Ruby's finishers, but in the end Riho fell to the Blade Runner after she kicked out of three other pin attempts. Jericho noted that, "Gorilla Monsoon taught us you gotta hook the leg! IT'S REAL!" 

Ruby Soho moved on, but helped Riho up and presented her to the crowd before they bowed to one another.

A backstage segment with Billy Gunn and the new Gunn Club / Acclaimed alliance in the locker room. Billy said he knows a few things about factions, and the first thing they need is a hand gesture. His sons yelling FATHER and DADDY are cringeworthy but I find it funny! They suggested a cross chop over the crotch, but Billy shut them down. Anthony Bowens then suggested the scissors, while making a kinda raspberry with his mouth. Billy approved of this, and then suggested they also needed a catchphrase. His sons offered "We got two words for ya" but Billy cut them off, saying it would never get over. Max Castor went with "Yo, listen!" and Billy was ecstatic. Billy then told the group that he used some of his stroke to get the foursome a match. On Dynamite? Rampage? Double or Nothing? Billy waited for a beat before revealing they have a match Monday on Dark Elevation. A pause...and overwhelming celebration!

That was corny fun and I loved it.

In the ring with Jade, Mark Sterling, the Baddies, and Tony Schiavone for an interview. Tony informed us and Red Velvet that her opponent in the Owen, Hikaru Shida, is injured and won't be competing in the tournament. This, we were told, was due to injuries from Shida's match with Serena Deeb. Mark Sterling then suggested that his client should be allowed to move on in the tournament via forfeit, but Schiavone said there was a replacement. Kris Statlander arrived and stared down the ramp, as we all rejoiced.

So here's a weird thing about this - Shida apparently wasn't informed of any of these developments. She took to Twitter soon after Rampage. 

But then followed up later with this:

Sorry if those are tough to read. Basically it sounds like she wasn't aware she wasn't going to be moving on in the tournament, and then was asked to say something so it didn't look like she wasn't informed. It could all be a work - everything could be a work - but I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Main event interview followed, as Scorpio Sky told us that Kaz gets this shot because a champ's word is his bond. He asked Dan Lambert and Ethan Page to stay in the back as well. Mark Henry, god bless this man, then let us know that there's been enough talk...

IT'S TIME...FOR THE MAIN EVENT!

Main Event: Frankie Kazarian vs Scorpio Sky (C) for the TNT Championship

A good match between longtime friends and veterans of the business, the former SCU stablemates showed that they knew each other's movesets  and how to get out of them. The match was pretty even, until Sky was on the apron and Kaz hit a nasty slingshot cutter to bring Scorpio back in the ring. Kaz applied the crossface chickenwing to great effect here, but Lambert and Page ran down for the interference. Lambert distracted the referee while Page hit Frankie with the TNT belt, but Sky didn't see the attack. Scorpio then hit the TKO and retained the title.

Scorpio Sky tried to help Frankie up after the match, but Kaz wasn't having it, complaining to Sky about the interference. Sky then questioned Page and Lambert, when Page screamed into the mic that he did it and he had to, and asked what team Sky is on? Sky replied by hitting Kaz with the title. Lambert then said unsavory things to Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti, seated ringside, and they ran in to help Frankie and chase off the baddies with a chair.

Man, the booking of that last bit was kinda crazy, right? I know I have a solid wait and see attitude about everything, but why tease Scorpio as a face only to immediately switch gears? Why have the attack at all? You can have a heel with some shades of gray, some loyalty to old comrades, while still letting him be overall a bad dude. Between that whole thing and the Shida stuff (although, to be fair, that was not a part of Rampage) I have...doubts.

Anyways, Rampage might not get a top five good things today. It's such a quick hour of programming that recommending you watch it every week cause it flies by is just simpler. That said, the match of the night was probably the main event for me, despite the screwy finish. Billy Gunn's segment with the Gunn Club and Acclaimed was another highlight!

Thanks for stopping by! Follow me @ElOsoPequeno on Twitter for blog updates and other shenanigans. I'll see you here Tuesday for the Raw Recap, unless I get an epiphany to write something before then.

Have a good one!