3 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Rampage (Dec 25)
Cody Rhodes wins gold; AEW presses reset on Miro; Rampage continues sending Hook.
There's always a different energy when Rampage is pre-taped.
Being fair, that's only natural, but the early zip provided by appearances from CM Punk and Bryan Danielson has been very much lost. Is it WWE Heat/Metal/Jakked/Main Event levels of low-key? No, not quite, and yet AEW must be very careful the show doesn't go from red-hot 60 mins to total afterthought.
This week's edition was more Dark than Dynamite, and that's not really meant as a compliment. Only one major happening saved the broadcast from being 100% skippable, but even that's sure to p*ss a few folks off or make them wonder about the importance of the TNT Title and its young lineage.
AEW moved Rampage from its usual Friday slot to Christmas night itself. Perhaps that'll be an annual play by Tony Khan - the NWA traditions run strongly through All Elite at times, so providing Christmas Day fun could become habit for the company. If so, then Khan will need to do more to show his product off to a potentially-new audience tuning in for the first time.
Here's all the good and the bad from the latest Rampage.