1 Up & 6 Downs From AEW Rampage (Aug 26)

CM Punk speaks; Tony Khan doesn't fix All Out; Rampage feels lifeless.

by Jamie Kennedy
Claudio Castagnoli Wheeler Yuta Dustin Rhodes Arn Brock Anderson
AEW

Honestly, this fan didn't expect to boot up another week of AEW Rampage and find more 'Downs' than last week's pitiful effort. Some readers may look at the counts and wonder how anyone can find six negatives from a one hour wrestling program, but the little things matter.

AEW isn't doing them very well at the moment, at least not on Fridays.

Tony Khan's latest episode dumped on a faction before then trying to paint them as a big deal for a throwaway pay-per-view match. The boss also penned yet another random title shot for somebody who doesn't deserve it, and put two bouts back-to-back that were practically identical in their presentation.

Elsewhere, a pointless tag situation summed up the messy, directionless vibe that Rampage has these days. Then, in the main event, fans looked around quizzically as the ROH World Title bout fizzled out rather than racing towards a hot conclusion.

It shouldn't fill anyone with pleasure that one really had to scrape to find any positives at all. AEW has a major pay-per-view next weekend, but the product doesn't reflect that. Not even one tiny bit.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.