RAMPAGE
November 30, 2024 (Taped 11/20/24)
Harley(gram) Cameron . . . shows herself to be a perfectly adequate worker, despite what she’d been doing on the main TV shows.
The Beast Mortos . . . slaps around the puny little snake man.
Hechicero . . . tries to cage the high flying Komander and tie him up in knots.
THUNDER ROSA vs. HARLEYGRAM
Truth be told, I think I’d rather watch Harleygram than Hologram. Granted, this isn’t very long, but Harley more than pulls her weight throughout, between her comedy and how smooth the mat exchanges with her and Rosa come off. The little bit of time that she gets to work over Rosa’s knee is also fun, even if it doesn’t go anywhere. Compared to Harley, Rosa almost seems one-dimensional. She shows up and lays into Harley, to remind her exactly why she’s so far below her in the pecking order, and then finishes her off with relative ease. She doesn’t do anything especially bad nor especially great. The most remarkable thing about the match was Harley’s smoothness as a worker, which makes me wonder if working with Rosa brings out the best in her or if her usual clunkiness is something designed for TV.
KATSUYORI SHIBATA/MASCARA DORADA/ATLANTIS Jr. vs. DANTE MARTIN/DARIUS MARTIN/ACTION ANDRETTI
Aside from a couple of nifty sequences, namely the Andretti/Dorada standoff and Shibata’s Indian deathlock to Dante where Darius and Andretti try to break it up with a double superkick and only wrench Dante’s knee even more, this never really feels like it’s going somewhere. Top Flight works over Atlantis with a lot of kicks to the back and then goes for covers after low end moves and the effort to kick out adds extra strain to it, but he’s never in genuine peril and he’s able to make his own comeback and dispatch all three of them before tagging out. It’s a nice contrast to the finish, with Andretti on his own with Dorada and Atlantis and holding his own for a minute before the numbers game is too much, and Atlantis gives him a big slam to set up Dorada’s SSP. Everyone gets a chance to show off whatever stuff they have to do, like Shibata outwrestling Darius and working the arm, the Top Flight members all hitting ranas out of nowhere, and Atlantis and his tricked out crucifix bomb is the craziest spot of the match. This is certainly fun on a first time watch, but anyone even remotely familiar with the workers involved won’t see anything they hadn’t seen before.
THE BEAST MORTOS vs. SERPENTICO
THE BEAST MORTOS~! I worship his Serpent killing proficiency. Actually, he was probably a little bit too giving to his opponent, if anything. The size disparity comes into play with Serpentico using his speed to catch him off guard a few times, and Beast is virtually perfect with his selling for what Serpentico uses. He doesn’t bounce like a pinball, but he makes it clear that Serp’s kicks and dives are capable of wearing him out. The only thing that seems a bit questionable is the early head scissors takeover and the arm drag just afterwards, but they come early enough in the match that it’s plausible to think that Serpentico was strong enough to take him by surprise. But it only takes a couple of good shots from Beast to inflict just as much damage. Beast had a chance to end it quickly but opted to throw Serp into the corner for more punishment, only for Serp to put on the brakes and float over and connect a big superkick to give himself a second chance at the win, including a near fall from La Magistral. Serp runs himself into a backbreaker and Beast doesn’t let the match slip away from him again, following with a powerbomb into a backbreaker and finishing him off with a discus lariat. It’s nice to see him actually get a win on TV, but he really doesn’t dig all that deep into his move set, although I guess he shouldn’t be expected to dig out some of the batshit stuff that he used against the likes of Hologram or Kyle Fletcher against someone ranked as low as Serpentico.
HECHICERO vs. KOMANDER
It’s too bad that the CMLL/AEW collaboration doesn’t allow for more matches like this one, that really lets the outsider show exactly what he’s capable of. Up to this point in 2024, matches like Mistico tagging up with Private Party and the trios match earlier on the show had been much more the norm for CMLL talent inside the AEW ring. It doesn’t take long at all to distinguish the two of them; Komander is the flashy flyer and Hechicero is the technical one who knows how to keep Komander grounded. The size difference isn’t as pronounced as the Mortos/Serpentico match, but they still find ways to make it work on both ends of the spectrum. Hechicero’s size and power is enough to prevent Komander from taking him over with the spinning head scissors, and after he plants Komander on the mat, Hechicero is able to try to wrap up another submission on him. Hechicero looks like he’s got Komander dead to rights with a stretch muffler, but Komander is strong enough to get himself into a seated position and take away Hechicero’s leverage and eventually take him over. It’d be easy to label this as a spotfest, especially the flashy sequences early on, but that wouldn’t be quite accurate. Hechicero tries to tie up Komander and Komander uses his speed and agility and strength to stay free and takes Hechicero by surprise a time or two.
The turning point comes when Hechicero has Komander in the corner and thinks he’s worn him down enough to take a breath, then he charges into a kick and Komander roars to life with some of the big spots that he’d been looking for earlier, including a dropkick from the top and a head scissors takeover after several springs on the middle and top ropes. Hechicero tries to cut him off with a sleeper from the apron, but the ref’s count forces the break and Komander hits a dropkick to the knees to knock him down to the floor and follows up with a huge springboard moonsault. Komander gets him in the ring and hits a DDT and looks for his moonsault, but he doesn’t anticipate every possibility. Komander moonsaults himself right into an armbar, and although he’s able to roll himself out of it, the damage is already done. Komander charges into the El Conjuro and Hechicero does what’s essentially a head scissors takeover into a legdrop to get the pinfall. A submission probably would have been a more appropriate way for Hechicero to win, but Komander had taken him down several times throughout the match, so it’s fitting to throw it back at him for the finish. Although this doesn’t hit the same level as the Danielson match, it’s a great look at exactly how much Hechicero brings to the table, which is a lot more than a month’s worth of three minute squashes on Collision showed. ***1/4
Conclusion: It’s a fun TV show as a whole, but the main event is definitely the main reason to seek this out.