4 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Rampage (Jan 27)

1. Tidy Opener

Match of the night goes to Hangman Page vs. Wheeler Yuta though. They produced a super-strong back-and-forth that neatly leads into next week's episode of Dynamite. There, Hangman collides with Jon Moxley, so this clash was all setup for that.

The commentators did well to point out that Wheeler was showing flashes of Claudio Castagnoli (power and poise), Bryan Danielson (technical prowess) and Mox (biting and generally playing dirty) throughout the bout. Then, Jericho linked back to Page's concussion problems after Wheeler hit his release German suplex on the ringside mats.

All good stuff.

Hangman gave Yuta a ton here, and the match was better for it. No, it wasn't quite pay-per-view quality (some Rampage matches are), but the opener was still a really fun ride between two guys who could build some chemistry if they work a few more time soon.

What did you think of this week's AEW Rampage? For more like this, check out 2 Ups & 5 Downs From AEW Rampage (Jan 20) and WWE Royal Rumble 2023: 10 Nightmares That Could Come True!