3 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Rampage (Dec 25)

Cody Rhodes wins gold; AEW presses reset on Miro; Rampage continues sending Hook.

by Jamie Kennedy
AEW Rampage Holiday Bash
AEW

There's always a different energy when Rampage is pre-taped.

Being fair, that's only natural, but the early zip provided by appearances from CM Punk and Bryan Danielson has been very much lost. Is it WWE Heat/Metal/Jakked/Main Event levels of low-key? No, not quite, and yet AEW must be very careful the show doesn't go from red-hot 60 mins to total afterthought.

This week's edition was more Dark than Dynamite, and that's not really meant as a compliment. Only one major happening saved the broadcast from being 100% skippable, but even that's sure to p*ss a few folks off or make them wonder about the importance of the TNT Title and its young lineage.

AEW moved Rampage from its usual Friday slot to Christmas night itself. Perhaps that'll be an annual play by Tony Khan - the NWA traditions run strongly through All Elite at times, so providing Christmas Day fun could become habit for the company. If so, then Khan will need to do more to show his product off to a potentially-new audience tuning in for the first time.

Here's all the good and the bad from the latest Rampage.

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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.