4 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Rampage (Aug 5)

1. Athena?

Madison Rayne showed up out of nowhere, won a match and is now wrestling Jade Cargill for the TBS Title on Dynamite. OK? Athena, who was previously cast as the next big threat to Jade, hasn't even had her shot at the belt yet, but AEW wants to bring in even more challengers before it?

That perfectly illustrates the previous point.

If the company are waiting to pull the trigger on Athena vs. Cargill at All Out, then fair enough, but at least make that clear to the viewer and/or have Athena react to Rayne's arrival. She wasn't even mentioned on commentary during Friday's show, and that's irritating when one just knows she'll suddenly be a big deal again soon.

Anyone tuning into Rampage would be forgiven for thinking that AEW's creative nucleus has given up on Athena (her pal Kris Statlander too) and started batting their eyelids at Rayne instead. Is she the shiny new toy of a women's division that's quite frankly messy and unfocused? Probably.