3 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Rampage (April 22)
Ups...
3. Excalibur Comes Through
Excalibur might've looked like a t*t coming out of the Hook and Danhausen segment later, but he opened the show with some fine work. Rampage's lead announcer did a wonderful job of explaining who Tomohiro Ishii is and why fans watching should care that he's in All Elite Wrestling.
The commentator put over Ishii's title history, his importance to New Japan, the fact that he's part of the Chaos group alongside ringsiders like Rocky Romero and Orange Cassidy, and more. AEW didn't give Tomohiro's latest appearance much notice, so Excalibur's context was appreciated.
He's really good during moments like this.
Excalibur even managed to put over the upcoming AEW/NJPW joint effort later this year. He burned through a ton of work during this one match, and that's why he's in the position he's in. What's more, the announcer did everything so effortlessly.