4 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Rampage (Jan 7)
Hook rules Rampage; Andrade becomes Ted DiBiase; AEW's newcomer gets injured.
AEW topped off 2021 with a blood-filled episode of Rampage at 'New Year's Smash'. There, the company's women took centre stage and showed exactly what they're capable of. The result was a fun edition that paved the way for more giggles in 2022. Did the first Rampage of the new year deliver?
Yes and no.
Obviously, as you can tell from the 'Ups' and 'Downs' counts, there was more good than bad - the bad is annoying though, largely because it's rather unnecessary. All Elite might've just turned one character into an unwanted 1980s rip off, and they're leaning a little too much on ECW-style elsewhere. That's not sustainable, and it won't do much for any future feud-enders either.
Tony Khan and pals must be careful here.
What about those juicy positives though? They're abundant. Rampage is becoming the ideal place to build up fresh stars who don't get bags of house room on Dynamite, and that's a fine use of the 60 minutes. This week, much of the hype surrounded Saturday's Battle Of The Belts too.
Here's everything you need to know...