2 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Rampage (March 8 - Results & Review)
That 'Big Business' episode of Dynamite really can't come soon enough for AEW.
There were some cracking workers with genuine potential on this week's episode of Rampage, but the product has a flatness to it that's hard to shake right now. That definitely wasn't true at Revolution, but Tony Khan is clearly spreading himself too thin on TV between Dynamite, Rampage and Collision.
Hopefully, the upcoming 'Big Business' edition of the flagship (and the much-anticipated debut of Mercedes Mone) will change that. AEW's weekly product badly needs something to pin its hopes on heading into the spring, because some of these shows are just so...skippable.
Character development counts, which is why several bouts on Friday's hour sagged when they should've soared. The new look was nice, and an opening tag did move towards the upcoming AEW Tag Title tournament, but too much of the content was subpar. It also played in front of a lifeless, sparse crowd.
Look out for that in the 'Downs'. Everyone should want AEW to knock it out of the park, but something is missing from the week-to-week fare. It needs a jolt. Could Mone and fellow recent arrival Kazuchika Okada be the twin sparks that liven things up again? Fingers crossed on that!
Here's a little bit of good and too much bad from Rampage.