3 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Rampage (Feb 23 - Results & Review)
2. Main Event Wasn’t Worthy
Sorry, but Roderick Strong vs. Jake Hager wasn't it.
Orange Cassidy's involvement (as a thank you to Hager) was supposed to elevate the segment, but even that didn't work. Cassidy was only really there to toss Jake's purple hat towards him in-ring, then the announcers acted like the bucket lid gives Hager special powers. Fair enough.
This is really sad to say, but Strong was infinitely more entertaining when he was yelling people's names from a wheelchair during promos. His in-ring work is obviously robust, but matches like this absolutely will not draw people in. It was a puzzling choice of main event; even for a 'C' level show like Rampage.
Everything meandered along until Cassidy's music hit and the aforementioned purple hat gimmick came into play. Honestly, could AEW do a worse job with this new Undisputed Kingdom faction? They're so listless it's unreal. You've got to be worried if you're an Adam Cole fan, put it that way.