This was a match I was there live for, in Sunrise, FL. What the TV audience didn’t get to see was Ashley D’Amboise actually had a full entrance with music and a tron and everything but I guess they cut it from Rampage for time. Still, great sign! D’Amboise, announced from nearby Ft. Lauderdale, FL, had the crowd behind her. Unfortunately a lot of this match was cut out by the commercial break but I’ll review what I can.
D’Amboise’s athleticism just shines through even though she’s in there to do the job. You can tell she’s so strong. Anna Jay is just plain mean and methodical in this match. It’s a good match for her character work. She bow & arrow’s Ashley’s back on the ring post which looked good. The match slows down during the heat building where it goes for commercial and we miss Ashley’s entire fire-up sequence. If I recall correctly, there’s a sequence where Ashley does a pendulum on the ropes and goes to kick Anna Jay in the head but Anna’s head wasn’t low enough so D’Amboise’s foot made couldn’t connect as it was stopped by the top rope but Anna sold it as if she did get kicked. It didn’t look great from opposite the hard cam and it probably wouldn’t look much better on TV. So it’s probably best they cut that. Less than a minute after we come back from break Anna Jay slips in the Queen Slayer for the win. I think given the circumstances, butchering this match with the commercial break made sense but it’s too bad because Ashley had some good babyface stuff in this match. It was a good outing for her otherwise.
Post-match, lights go out, Julia Hart appears in the ring and attacks Anna from behind but, curiously, Anna Jay gets the better of Julia. Interesting decision. This is a feud I’m grading on a curve as both these women are so young and so new, it’s impressive they’re doing this on this big a stage. But I still don’t get why you have Julia jump Anna Jay and then get her ass kicked. Especially when they’re both heels, although fans are starting to get into Julia Hart kind of as a ‘tweener’. In the end though I think it did a good enough job communicating the rivalry.
