Gangrel looks back on his AEW Rampage experience.
On the lead up to The Hardys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) versus The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) at Double or Nothing, The Young Bucks had a match on the 5/27 AEW Rampage and they sported Hardys-like attire. They then brought out Gangrel who accompanied them to the ring.
At the conclusion of the match, Gangrel was ambushed by The Young Bucks but Matt and Jeff Hardy made the save. Gangrel reflected on his AEW experience on his ‘Fangin N Bangin’ podcast. He recapped getting the call from AEW and arriving to the arena. When it came time for his on-screen appearance, he was worried that the crowd would not remember him.
It was a really good experience. So, came out, it was AEW and Rampage, it was AEW Rampage, it was a live show in Las Vegas so, at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, right there at Mandalay Bay. Very cool. Very cool hotel, very cool arena, everybody was very cool. Pleasant experience, you know? Locker rooms, they can be intense and intimidating places, even after being in wrestling 35 years, you know? You can still feel a little off balance but I could tell you that AEW locker room was a very pleasant locker room, very chill, relaxed atmosphere, everybody made you feel welcomed. It was cool, it was a good vibe. It was a very, very good experience and you know, I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do when I got there and then so, just running through my day so, Las Vegas is three hours time difference from here on the east coast so, I get in the night before. I get into my room about 6 o’clock and what happened is 6 is 9 for me and I’ve been running, running, running, I get in a nice room and I fall asleep and wake up at 6 the next morning. I didn’t get to the gym, I didn’t do anything. So I didn’t see much of Vegas so, which I wouldn’t have anyways but I would have went and ate or something but, I get up, so I head to venue early, I go have breakfast and I’m thinking this venue can’t be open at like 9 AM. Call time’s 11 but I ate and I was heading over about 9 AM and I walk in, first thing I see when I walk in is Paige VanZant, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page and Sonjay Dutt and they were all walking through her stuff so I went out there and I sat for a couple hours.
They tell me, ‘Hey, these guys are gonna be dressed in black, you’re gonna have a curtain, The Young Bucks are gonna come out like The Hardys’ and they’ve been called cosplay Hardys and stuff like that. So, they’re gonna come out and I think they were actually wearing — I’m pretty sure they were wearing Matt and Jeff’s actual gear, from like the 90s or early 2000s. I’m definitely positive it was their gear, and so they said, ‘Yeah, they’re gonna come out, drop the curtain, you come out.’ I’m like, ‘What!?’ They go, ‘Drop the curtain, come out.’ So, in my old head, I’m thinking, damn, so I’m behind this curtain so they’re gonna drop it. I just gotta walk out after they’ve come out and they’re already doing the Hardy thing and they’re like, ‘Yeah’ so I didn’t say nothing but in my head I’m thinking, oh crap man. This is a different type of crowd here. They even gonna know who the hell I am? Or they’re gonna think I’m like Meat Loaf in his white puffy shirt going, ‘Stop right there. Before you go any further, do you love me?’
Gangrel went on to reiterate that he was happy to hear the crowd receive him in a positive manner. It was a big fear of his, but when he heard the fans, he said he could not help but smile.
I’m going, so are these people gonna remember anything or not? So it’s kind of in the back of my head and it’s always a big fear when you show back up and you do one of these one-off type of things and stuff like that but, when the curtain dropped and the people came, ‘Oh!!’ I was like, oh thank goodness, you know? That’s your biggest fear so I was super happy. So again, they started that vampire smile that WWF tried to stop, that smiling vampire when I come down the ramp because just to hear all those people excited to see you, it just really makes you happy and even if you’re trying to be mean and menacing, you still can’t fight that feel good, chill vibe, vampire inside smile.
The Hardys would end up defeating The Young Bucks at Double or Nothing. Both teams are scheduled for AEW Road Rager where they’ll be involved in a Ladder match alongside Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus for the AEW World Tag Team Titles.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit ‘Fangin N Bangin with Gangrel’ with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
