3 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Rampage (Dec 2)

1. A Tidy Opener

Y'know what, young Cole Karter is getting the top 'Up' in this week's article.

This bout vs. Darby Allin was The Factory member's first singles match on Rampage. In fact, it was only his fourth AEW match on either Dynamite or Rampage - the others have all come on Dark, Dark: Elevation or as part of pre-PPV 'Buy Ins'. You wouldn't have known he was so inexperienced watching on Friday night.

Karter handled his heel heat section with aplomb. Sure, they used a ring apron powerbomb as a nothing transitional spot, but that's modern wrasslin'. At least it led to the aforementioned protracted heel beatdown, and Darby did sell the after-effects of the bump mid and post-match.

This was another solid showing from Allin too. He followed up on some sparkling work vs. Anthony Henry on last week's show, and went out of his way to try establish Cole as a real threat. The match was fun, they got some decent time, Darby got the win and Karter got some shine.

What did you think of this week's AEW Rampage? For more wrestling, check out 3 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Rampage: Black Friday (Nov 25) and 10 New Directions After WWE Survivor Series 2022: WarGames!