4 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Rampage (April 5 - Results & Review)

3. An Enjoyable Underdog Challenge

Roderick Strong London Lightning
AEW

London Lightning can be proud of his performance this week.

He entered the best kind of spirited underdog showing, and Roddy (like Malakai against the admittedly higher-profile Daniels) was incredibly giving whilst playing the cocky heel. Yes, the problem with AEW is that this strong showing probably won't lead to anything for Lightning, but he can cherish the match regardless.

There's a cool contrast between Roderick as International Champ and ex-titleholder Orange Cassidy too. Tony Schiavone did a great job of putting that across on commentary during Strong vs. London, and even pointed out that Roddy needs his Undisputed Kingdom buddies to bail him out against opponents you'd expect him to defeat handily.

Credit to the live crowd for hanging with what could've been a lowkey effort as well. They bought into the cheap heat of Lightning's home town story, and the fans played along with Strong mocking them. Fingers crossed Roderick's story leads to something long-term.

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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.