4 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Rampage (June 30)
A solid episode of Rampage, but AEW must do better bridging that TV gap.
Last week's episode of Rampage was all about two things: AEW's last-minute build before Forbidden Door, and MJF's first ever appearance on the now-'C' show. It was a decent broadcast, one made better by actually having some Word Title stuff laced throughout the hour.
Did Tony Khan follow up on that? Nah, not really. Somehow, the 'Ups' and 'Downs' counts here are exactly the same as last time, but that speaks more to the hardworking grafters on the All Elite roster who regularly come through in-ring even when overall story is meagre and their segments are largely overlooked.
Shoutout to everyone on Rampage for doing their best and feeding off scraps then. Most of the matches exceeded expectations going in when one scanned the lineup, and there was a genuine banger to kick things off. If only management would meet these lads and lassies halfway more often, or treat Rampage with a bit more respect.
The Friday night show should exist to put a bow on Dynamite and pave the way for Collision, but it's en route to becoming a standalone product with some decent matches and nothing else. Yes, every wrestling show deserves to be reviewed in isolation too, but...some more storytelling would be nice.
Here's all the good and bad!