3 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Rampage (Dec 9)

Trent Seven debuts in AEW; Jon Moxley brawls with Hangman Page; ROH gets minimal focus.

by Jamie Kennedy
Hikaru Shida Regina Di Wave Title AEW
AEW

Another week, another debut.

Look, the sheer number of wrestlers who come through the doors at All Elite Wrestling has become a running joke as attention turns to a new year. Tony Khan absolutely loves gobbling up talent like he's Vince McMahon circa 2019 (or, before that, the mid-1980s) on steroids, and the AEW boss shows no signs of slowing down as 2023 dawns.

Rampage also featured an independent promotion's belts too. No, not ROH, IMPACT, AAA or any of the other titles AEW has pushed onto telly - this was a genuine indy fed's championship, and it got defended by Hikaru Shida. Was that TV time well spent? Well, no, because this roster is bursting with first-party names who require more focus.

Splitting the spotlight has become an ongoing problem in AEW. TK did still find time to book a world class opener and an angle that's exactly what the 'B' show needs weekly though. Then, there was a tiny bit of promotion for ROH's Final Battle pay-per-view before the end of the hour.

Here's all the good and 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.