2 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Rampage (Oct 20 - Results & Review)
This week's episode of Rampage featured a problem AEW don't like discussing.
Putting Rampage into context is a must in 2023. If this writer was explaining to someone why they should check it out, he'd say the show has occasional killer matches and gives house room to 'B', 'C' and even 'D' level characters on AEW's roster. It'd be a lie to call the program essential these days, but that doesn't mean it's always bad.
If only Tony Khan took the time to care about context more often.
Numerous folks are already fawning all over Mistico's debut for AEW on social media. Spoiler alert: You won't really find that here. Were aspects of the ex-Sin Cara's performance excellent? Sure, but how much will it matter come next week? That's a trick All Elite is pretty awful at repeating, and they proved it on Friday.
A fun three-way and the third fall from that opening '2 Out Of 3' bout pulled the nose up on an otherwise-wonky edition of Rampage. Persistent problems with presentation remain, and Tony doesn't get a pass for making the same mistake twice over on the tag side.
Here are all the 'Ups' and 'Downs'.