Rampage – January 27, 2023: They Have A Star

Rampage
Date: January 27, 2023
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

We’re still in Kentucky and in this case that means it’s time for Hangman Page to face Wheeler Yuta on his way to next week’s showdown with Jon Moxley. Other than that, Jamie Hayter is in a Women’s Title eliminator match and we should be in for a treat there. The show continues to be up and down, but maybe they can make it work this week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the middle deck with the video screen on the right.

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta knocks him into the corner to start and hammers away. The Octopus has Page in early trouble before Yuta switches to the legs. They trade slaps to the face until Yuta bridges back into a leglock. Page fights up and knocks Yuta down for a change and a fall away slam sends Yuta to the apron. There’s the springboard clothesline to send him outside, setting up a slingshot dive.

Page sends him back inside where Yuta hits a very fast dive of his own. That earns Yuta a pop up powerbomb onto the apron, followed by the Liger Bomb for two back inside. We take a break and come back with Yuta hitting a middle rope dropkick. A top rope forearm drops Page again but he catches Yuta on top. The super Death Valley Driver gets two (Why debut a huge move like that if it’s a two count?) and a release German suplex drops Yuta again.

Yuta grabs his own German suplex and ties Page’s leg in the rope for some elbows to the head. Another German suplex on the apron and another on the floor (with Yuta flipping him backwards because EGADS) drops Page hard. Yuta adds a heck of a dive on the floor but a frog splash only hits knees. The Buckshot Lariat is countered into an Angle Slam, setting up a frog splash to give Yuta two. They strike it out again until Page sends him through the ropes. Yuta hangs on so Page goes to the apron, setting up the Buckshot Lariat. A Jon Moxley Death Rider finishes Yuta at 14:59.

Rating: B-. Good fight here, though that super Death Valley Driver was a good bit annoying. Other than that you have Page trying to get more and more violent for the sake of getting ready for Moxley next week. Yuta tried hard and looked good in defeat, but can we please have another champion stop losing over and over?

Action Andretti and Ricky Starks aren’t done with the Jericho Appreciation Society, who had to cheat to win.

Eddie Kingston is done fighting and understands the House of Black. He’s ready to go home.

Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh vs. Best Friends/Danhausen

Sonjay Dutt and Orange Cassidy are the seconds here. Danhausen even has a ukulele and gets in a contest with Jarrett’s guitar. Not musical of course, but just who the fans like more. Then Singh steals the ukulele and breaks it with ease, allowing Lethal to jump Taylor from behind. The Beat Friends elbow Lethal down and it’s off to Jeff, who gets elbowed in the face as well.

Danhausen comes in for a single kick before handing it back to the Best friends for a double shoulder. We get a quadruple double bicep pose from the good guys and it’s Soul Food into the half and half suplex on Lethal. The Big Hug is broken up though and Trent makes the mistake of going after Singh, earning himself a hard whip out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Trent flipping out of a German suplex so Taylor can come back in to take over.

The Koji Clutch has Lethal in trouble but Jarrett makes the save. Taylor Figure Fours Jarrett and Lethal’s Hail To The King misses. Jarrett inches over for the tag off to Singh though and Danhausen comes in for the, ahem, showdown. Danhausen slugs away and clotheslines the stomach but Singh misses a charge in the corner. All four of the good guys get in a neck snap over the top rope. Danhausen grabs the guitar but the distraction lets Jarrett use the Golden Globe to knock out Danhausen so Singh can get the pin at 10:02.

Rating: C-. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it was a bunch of goofy shenanigans that didn’t exactly make Singh look good. Other than shrugging off offense, he didn’t do anything that made him feel like a monster. I can definitely go with this version of Jarrett/Lethal/Singh rather than them going after the Tag Team Titles, but this match wasn’t exactly great.

Britt Baker tells Ruby Soho to grow a backbone and pick a side. If she’s smart, she knows which one to pick.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Tony Gunn

Gunn is a former OVW Champion. Hobbs powers him around, plants him and hits a reverse Attitude Adjustment for the pin at 1:12.

Top Flight want to team up with AR Fox to go after the Trios Titles.

Dustin Rhodes is back after a rough month (losing his mother) but Mogul Affiliates interrupt. Swerve talks about Dustin’s brother having a slick mouth and Dustin’s daddy….and that’s too far. A fight seems imminent.

Video on Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura.

Mark Henry does his catchphrase.

Jade Cargill is interrupted by Red Velvet and has a 50th opponent.

Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura

Women’s Title eliminator with Britt Baker, Rebel and Sakura’s royal court. They strike away to start with Jamie Hayter as Baker has found a rather nice HAYTERADE sign in the crowd to hold up. The fight heads outside with Sakura whipping her from the apron and into the barricade over and over. Back in and Sakura strikes away in the corner before grabbing the surfboard.

We take a break and come back with Hayter grabbing some exploder suplexes. Hayter pounds her down in the corner and grabs a Haytebreaker for two. Sakura counters a sliding forearm into a crucifix for two of her own but Hayter blasts her with clotheslines. A Tower Of London drops Hayter but Sakura avoids a moonsault. Sakura’s Tiger Driver gets two and a moonsault connects for the same. The ripcord lariat is countered into a suplex from Sakura but Hayter BLASTS her with a clothesline. Hayterade finishes Sakura at 12:33.

Rating: B. Hayter continues to look like an absolute star and Sakura gave her a heck of a match. These two beat each other up and looked solid in the process. It felt like a main event and Hayter got a great boost out of it. She has turned herself face with all of the good things she does and it is kind of amazing to see. Heck of a main event.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event carries a lot of this show and the opener is good, but there is a big half an hour gap in the middle with only a Hobbs squash being noteworthy. It was another enjoyable show, but like Rampage most of the time, it felt like little more than a preview for Dynamite. If that is what Rampage wants to be then cool, but it still feels like a bit of a waste of TV time.

Results
Hangman Page b. Wheeler Yuta – Death Rider
Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh b. Best Friends/Danhausen – Golden Globe to Danhausen
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Tony Gunn – Reverse Attitude Adjustment
Jamie Hayter b. Emi Sakura – Hayterade

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