Why AEW Rampage Hasn't Quite Worked (Yet)
AEW is obsessed with logical and long-to-semi-long term booking, but the negative offshoot of that philosophy is currently manifesting in the form any old HFO vs The Midcard programme getting so many precious minutes dedicated to it.
Suddenly everything from a Butcher & Blade banger to a Tay Conti singles match becomes as much about "what the f*ck is Matt Hardy up to?" as something to service the immediate progression of fresher and more interesting talent. The women's spinoff matches in particular are suffering the most - the combinations feel woefully repetitive due to needing to feature the same four on a rotation, but there's the distinct whiff of AEW believing their female division box-ticking is done by virtue of throwing them out there cold every week. Cold, when they were once hot too - Anna Jay's return to television generated a thunderous response but "lost in the shuffle" feels like an overstatement when the deck of cards isn't even being mixed up.
All of that might seem like a little too much to draw from the over-reliance on one performer, but there's a perception building (and building quickly) about the show as a result, and the concern isn't exclusive to Matt Hardy.
CONT'D...