4 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Rampage (Sep 3)
CM Punk returns to commentary; AEW push some of All Out's midcard matches.
AEW are settling into a nice groove with Rampage.
Tony Khan did say that the show's format would take a few weeks to establish, and he wasn't lying. The debut edition was fun, but it was totally overshadowed immediately by CM Punk's emotional arrival seven nights later. Then, last week, All Elite built the upcoming World Title match at All Out by featuring Kenny Omega and Christian Cage.
Friday night was about two things: CM Punk putting Darby Allin over, and the chance to push pay-per-view midcarders like Miro vs. Eddie Kingston and Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander. There's just no way AEW can squeeze every major star or feud into the hour-long show, but that's fine - they did enough here, and it's hardly like star power was lacking.
This was a robust 60 minute sprint. It was so solid, in fact, that there's only one 'Down' to report from the entire program. It's a bit of an odd one, because it doesn't really sh*t all over the story Malakai Black is trying to tell. Even so, it made no sense and definitely stood out amongst other, more logical plot points.
Here's all the good and the bad from Rampage...