SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW RAMPAGE HITS & MISSES
Brodie King and Malakai Black defeated John Silver and Alex Reynolds: HIT
Pretty good opening match. Brodie King has some momentum from his battle royal win and it’s good to see AEW riding that momentum instead of cycling him into the background again.
The win also meant something. They beat the no. 4-ranked tag team (how Dark Order got to number 4 is a question only shoulder programming answer, of course).
Post-Match Angle: MINOR HIT
After the match, Darby Allin and Sting came out to interrupt House of Black’s victory. This would have meant a lot more if Brodie King’s beatdown of Darby Allin was aired in full on television instead of as a minor highlight in a sandwiched promo.
Having Allin and King brawl and Sting and Black just stare at each other made the former two look like irrelevant children. Coming out of this, Black and Sting came across as bigger stars. I don’t think that’s what AEW intended.
Miro Video Promo: HIT
The art of this promo was strong, as is always the case from Miro. However, the fact that he’s even considering joining House of Black makes me less confident that Tony Khan sees him as a top-tier star the way many in the Torch community do.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Lee Moriarty to retain the ROH World Championship: 50-50
Yes, it was a good match. However, both talents deserve better. The first ROH World title story in front of a wider audience needs to be more memorable than this.
The build to the match was awful, the ROH world title was already very diminished, and it is further hurt by having a defense in a second-from-the-top match (with a long commercial interruption). I am not a long-time ROH fan either, but the treatment of its world title picture is concerning.
Shout out to Caprice Coleman on commentary though. I like him.
Post-Match Promo by Gresham and Blanchard + Claudio Confrontation: MINOR HIT
This was fine. A win over Claudio would really elevate Gresham, I think, but how many eyeballs will actually see it? How much is it going to matter to AEW’s wider audience?
Some would argue that Claudio is currently at a higher level than Gresham, and the ROH World title would be better off with Claudio. I’m hard-pressed to disagree, but if Claudio does win the match, what does that say about Gresham’s credibility as a world champion? Someone who Tony Khan was happy to let sit out for months while other ROH champions paraded around AEW with their belts?
Christopher Daniels Backstage Promo: MISS
Daniels addressed Lethal, Dutt, and Singh and defended his “friend” Samoa Joe.
I’m just tired of being asked to emotionally invest in stories that were established long before AEW was a thing (and before a much smaller audience). This entire feud is based on strange history.
Athena and Kris Statlander defeated Charlotte and Robyn Renegade: MISS
I understand that the Renegade Twins are not an established act on television, but they have a twin-switch gimmick that needs to be protected. Don’t bring them to Dynamite and Rampage just to get squashed like that. Keep them on Dark until you feel they are ready to get television victories and build heat for their gimmick.
Post-Match Brawl: MAJOR MISS
After the match, the Baddies beat down Athena and Statlander clean. No sneak attack or numbers advantage. Just easily handled them in seconds. You would think Athena and Statlander were the heels here. This was horrible booking.
Stokely Hathaway-Lee Moriarty-Matt Sydal Backstage Promo: MISS
Moriarty came out of this looking like a bit of a gullible babyface. Going along with Hathaway’s questions then letting Sydal stand up for him…ugh. And his excitement at the prospect of facing Dante Martin made it seem like he’s more interested in putting on good shows instead of winning titles and becoming a top draw.
On a positive note, at least they’re not sitting him out for another few months after heating him up.
Gunn Club – Acclaimed Confrontation: MINOR HIT
Billy Gunn was awful, but the Acclaimed carried themselves like babyfaces with integrity.
I’m not really a fan of “oh my bad friends turned on me so now I will pander for cheers,” so I won’t give it a full “HIT,” but it was still good. I’m glad to be done with “scissor me daddio.”
Main Event Promo: MISS
Meh. Andrade and Penta seem to be the real focus here, and I’m just tired of people messing with Penta’s mask now. Virtually every feud he’s in, someone has to try de-mask him, and it never really adds to the story. I also just can’t wrap my head around who is and isn’t in Andrade’s faction.
In addition, Private Party seemed more focussed on having a conversation with Andrade (who they were standing next to) than their opponents. Can we not assume that they congratulated him on his wedding privately? I don’t get why that stuff has to take up TV time.
Lucha Brothers defeated Private Party: NARROW MISS
Not bad, but the match wasn’t quite stellar enough to out-shadow some messy spots and played-out mask-related storytelling. Throw in a commercial break + Rush (who only a slice of the audience knows), who seemed to be on for unsuccessful interference, and you have a pretty forgettable main event.
Commentary: MISS
Chris Jericho on commentary killed all mystique of his “Painmaker” character; at least what was left of it after turning the fireball stuff into comedy fodder.
Overall Show: MISS
This show started well but fell off the rails pretty quick. Even the “HITs” on this show have caveats. The booking, storytelling, and introduction of talent that only a faction of the audience knows has glaring holes. Good wrestling is not going to be able to hold these shows together for long.
One generally positive thing about this show is that certain stars who had built up at least some heat will continue to be featured instead of suddenly cycled into the background again.
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