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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PRIMER
JANUARY 21, 2022
WASHINGTON D.C. AT THE ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS ARENA
AIRS ON TNT NETWORK, 10:00 p.m. EDT, 9:00 p.m. CDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Taz, Ricky Starks (various combinations)

Match Results and Key Segments from Last Week

  • Adam Cole defeated Trent Beretta.
  • Shawn Spears defeated Andrew Everett.
  • Penelope Ford & The Bunny & Nyla Rose defeated Kris Statlander & Red Velvet & Leyla Hirsh.
  • Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy) defeated John Silver & Alex Reynolds of the Dark Order to retain the AEW Tag Team Championship.

Arena

Tonight’s episode of Rampage will emanate from the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. as did this past Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite. Unlike most weeks, it will be live. Se Wednesday’s Dynamite primer for more information on the arena.

Four matches were announced on Wednesday for tonight’s show.

Ethan Page (Men of the Year) vs. Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley returned to AEW television this past Wednesday after an approximate two-month stint in alcohol rehabilitation. He looked amazing and cut a heart-felt promo, talking about being through hell and being ready to grab wrestling “by the balls” and do whatever the hell he wants. He claimed to be free, referring to the demons he had from which he said he doesn’t run but rather “beat the shit out of.” He left the ring with purpose to a crowd chanting his name, ecstatic to see the one-time AEW Champion.

Later, Ethan Page (alongside MOTY partner Scorpio Sky and their manager Dan Lambert) challenged Moxley to a match for tonight. He said while he’s been gone, he’s ben racking up victories and is Tony’s (Khan) “franchise player.” Tonight, Moxley goes one-on-one with Ethan. Moxley’s last televised AEW match was on the October 27 edition of Dynamite where he defeated “10” of the Dark Order. He had been frequently teaming with Eddie Kingston in prior times. Ethan and Scorpio won a match on Dark Elevation this week over Logan Laroux & Mike Fowler. He had previously unsuccessfully challenged Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship on the December 30 edition of Rampage.

Frank’s Analysis: It was amazing to see Moxley back and he appears to be past his demons. It’s up to him now to stay past them and if he does, there’s no stopping him. He’s one of the best AEW has to offer. Ethan is a perfect opponent for him to re-engage. Moxley will obviously win, which is fine, but I’d like to see Ethan get some wins on television as opposed to Dark and Dark Elevation.

Hook vs. Serpentico

It’s Friday night, and you know what that means. It’s time to send Hook! I don’t think the late Jon Huber would mind me using his phrase here. Anyway, Hook is set to go in his fourth televised match on Rampage, going one-on-one with Serpentico of Chaos Project (with Luther). So far Hook has defeated Fuego Del Sol, Bear Bronson of Bear Country, and Aaron Solow of The Factory. Amid those matches, Taz (Hook’s father) explained some of his moves in a Taz’s Technique segment.

It’s been a while since Serpentico has been on the winning side. You must go back to the September 11 edition of Dark when he defeated Marko Stunt. He lost to Fuego Del Sol on the Jan 15 edition of Dark.

Frank’s Analysis: There’s not much to say here, other than it’s another chance to see Hook. I’m excited I got to be in the building for his debut at the UBS Arena in New York. There’s a chance I may be attending tonight’s show. Hook would be a reason for me to buy a ticket.

TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (champ) vs. Anna Jay

Jade Cargill defends her TBS Championship for the first time against Anna Jay. This was set up this past Wednesday in a backstage segment with both women and of course, “Smart” Mark Sterling by Jade’s side. Jade reminded Anna to understand that this is “That Bitch Show.” Anna said she has a dark side and will do whatever it takes to beat Jade.

Anna & Tay Conti defeated The Bunny & Penelope Ford in a street fight a few weeks on Rampage several weeks ago. Jade defeated Ruby Soho on the first TBS edition of Dynamite on January 5 to become the inaugural TBS Champion.

Frank’s Analysis: I liked Anna of the Dark Order saying she has a “dark side” (insert wink emoji). Again, not much to say here other than this should be straightforward. Jade should win this over a credible opponent. Anna gets a title match, and I would imagine at some point she’s a TBS Champion.

Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) vs. Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

If you’re a “New Japan-ie” then tonight is your night. Roppongi Vice and the Young Bucks will party like it’s 2015-2017 when they have a match tonight. This was announced by Rocky and Trent on Wednesday night when they challenged the Bucks and a video was shown, highlighting their matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Roppongi and the Bucks have quite the history. In April of 2015, Roppongi defeated the Bucks for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship at Invasion Attack. The dropped the titles back to the Bucks at that year’s Wrestling Dontaku, and ironically challenged for the titles in a three-way match at Dominion that involved Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly (reDRagon) but came up short. They would eventually beat the Bucks for the titles at the 2017 Wrestle Kingdom. After losing the titles to Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Suzuki-gun), the Bucks would eventually regain them and successfully defend against Roppongi at the 2017 G1 Special in USA. On the December 8 edition of Dynamite in N.Y., Rocky would team with Chuck Taylor (Trent’s Best Friends partner) and lose to the Bucks.

Frank’s Analysis: This is another match that should be straight-forward. My only quibble is I don’t know how many people know about their New Japan history, but at least they showed clips of their matches. There’s a promotion based out of Stamford, CT. that would tell you to kick rocks if you wanted to know history of a feud outside of their little sterile bubble.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!

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