Rampage – April 1, 2022: The Rampage Way

Rampage
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Ricky Starks, Taz, Chris Jericho

Wrestlemania weekend caused me to miss this one so now it’s time to catch up. I’m kind of curious to see how this show works without the timing issues and watching it as a stand alone event. The big draw this week is Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Keith Lee, which certainly sounds good on paper. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks vs. Top Flight

Nick shoulders Dante down to start so Dante nips up. They head to the floor and hit stereo dropkicks, setting up a staredown. Matt comes in and gets sent into the corner, setting up a slingshot hilo. A double dropkick takes the illegal Nick down and Darius pulls Matt into something like the Rings of Saturn.

That’s broken up so Nick comes back in, only to have his springboard countered into an atomic drop. Back to back dives take the Bucks down but a Cutler distraction lets Matt hit a superkick to drop Darius on the floor. A Cannonball/running kick in the corner has Darius in more trouble and we take a break.

We come back with Dante coming in off the hot tag to clean house, including a superkick to Nick. There’s a missile dropkick to Matt and Darius gets to stare at the crowd a bit. A slingshot Flatliner sets up the Broken Arrow (that jumping over your partner to land on someone’s back for two on Nick. Darius gets knocked off the top and down into the barricade though and it’s Nick vs. Darius in a slugout. Matt comes back in for the save though and it’s the BTE Trigger for the pin at 10:48.

Rating: B-. It was the entertaining spectacle style match and that is all it needed to do. You have the Bucks against Top Flight in there to do their big choreographed routine and it did exactly what it needed to do. I’m not probably not going to remember it because I’ve seen the Bucks do this a dozen times, but while it’s still in the short term memory, they were doing it pretty well here.

Video on the OTHER SIDE of Kris Statlander, meaning the paint on her face changes side.

Here are the Men of the Year to complain about Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara. Above all else, they don’t like the photo shoot with the TNT Title, but they also want to know who was behind the camera. After some jokes about Orange Cassidy, Dan Lambert makes it clear that they will never give Guevara the match. Guevara pops up on screen from the parking lot, where he and Conti destroy Lambert’s car with sledgehammers. This company REALLY likes wrecking cars.

Hook is ready for an interview when Danhausen comes in to curse him. Again, Hook just walks away, leaving Danhausen to panic.

House of Black vs. Dark Order/Fuego del Sol

Matthews shoulders Grayson down but he’s back up with a running forearm. The Order is sent outside, leaving Fuego to get lawn darted into the middle buckle. King tosses Fuego onto the Order on the floor and we take a break. Back with Fuego kicking Buddy away and making the hot tag off to Grayson to clean house.

Everything breaks down and a toss powerbomb gives Uno two. The Order is sent outside for a running flip dive from King, leaving Black vs. Fuego inside. The rest of the House gets back in but the Order makes the save. Fuego manages a poisonrana on Black, who Black Masses Fuego out of the air for the pin at 7:14.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be for the House, as they should have smashed people like the Order and Fuego. It wasn’t exactly a competitive match but the House has stalled a bit in recent weeks, as we are seemingly STILL waiting on their showdown with Death Triangle. I’m sure the match will be great when it happens, but has Death Triangle ever been together in the first place?

The Young Bucks brag about themselves and are ready for FTR on Dynamite.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Skye Blue vs. Jamie Hayter

Hayter powers her up against the ropes to start and then hits an elbow in the face. Blue grabs am armdrag into an armbar and Hayter looks more surprised than anything else. A suplex sends Blue into the corner though and Hayter does it again for a bonus. Blue is back up with some rollups for two each, only to walk into a backbreaker to cut her off. A spinning kick to the head drops Hayter for two but she grabs a backdrop driver. Hayter charges into a superkick but is fine enough to hit a superplex. There’s a brainbuster to drop Blue again and a ripcord lariat finishes for Hayter at 5:36.

Rating: C-. This tournament feels like it is going to take a long time to set up as we are still waiting to see all of the qualifying matches. Hayter is someone who could be a nice monster to slay in the field without being a favorite and that’s a good enough idea. They didn’t waste a lot of time here on a match that isn’t going to matter so I’ll take that as a quick match.

Penta Obscuro and Alex Abrahantes warn the House of Black to be worried about Death Triangle.

Powerhouse Hobbs and Keith Lee are ready to wreck each other, albeit while using a reading/book motif. Well, as much wrecking as Lee can do in his odd way of speaking.

Keith Lee vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

The fans are behind Lee as he takes his vest off and they stare each other down a bit. The big lockup doesn’t go anywhere as they shake the other off. Hobbs hits some running shoulders to no avail but Lee’s running shoulder puts Hobbs out on the floor. We take a break and come back with Lee in trouble, allowing Hobbs to hit a running clothesline for two. Back up and a beal is blocked and Hobbs knows he’s in trouble.

A hard clothesline gives Lee two but Hobbs backdrops his way out of a Spirit Bomb attempt. Lee hits a running splash in the corner and there’s the Uncle Phil Beal. Cue Ricky Starks with a chair but Lee punches it away. Swerve Strickland runs in and takes out Starks, leaving Hobbs to hit a spinebuster. There’s no count because of the distracted referee though, allowing Lee to hit the Big Bang Catastrophe for the pin at 10:45.

Rating: C+. There is something fun about a hoss battle, but this hit a certain level and never got past it. They were big men hitting each other with power moves for about ten minutes and then Lee won. It was a fun showdown, but when you have people who wrestle a similar style, there is only so much that you can get out of the thing.

Starks beats down Strickland and puts him through the table at ringside. Hobbs chairs Lee in the back and another table is set up in the corner. Lee goes through said table to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: C+. Rampage continues to be a weird show as you have a bunch of matches but they rarely feel like they matter. You’re not going to get much of anything significant on this show but it is still fun to watch for about an hour a week. That was certainly the case this week, as I had a good time with the show but it didn’t exactly blow the doors off.

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