2 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Rampage (Jan 20)
2. Give This Guy A Character!
Action Andretti vs. Daniel Garcia had (literal) high spots, but the hype surrounded the former feels a bit misplaced considering AEW has done nothing to give him any sort of character. Look at the evidence: Andretti flies around the ring like Dante Martin, and he receives the customary pops for doing so.
What makes him stand out other than that? A one-off win over Chris Jericho and some other triumphs over Ari Daivari and Garcia isn't character development. It just isn't. AEW fans have yet to really hear from Action on what he hopes to achieve in the company, or why they should invest in him beyond applauding springboards.
Give him some personality, please.
This is part of a broader moan about All Elite generally. The promotion has always done a really shoddy job of explaining why anyone flicking through channels should stop and emotionally invest in even some of the top wrestlers. That's just one writer's opinion, of course, but he's seeing the same pattern with Andretti.