4 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Rampage (Mar 18)
Rampage hits the repeat button; Swerve does something stupid; AEW is...sports entertainment?
Darby Allin is at his best when he's fighting from underneath against a larger worker. For proof, check out this week's episode of Dynamite. Then, relive Allin's flashy flyer vs. flyer bout with Marq Quen on last week's show. That was a fun spotfest, but it couldn't compete with the stripped back, simple storytelling of Darbs vs. The Butcher.
AEW's announcers got the narrative of that one bang on.
NCAA basketball has been dominating the TNT scheduling, and that meant Tony Khan resisted the urge to front load Rampage with big stars. On the surface, that hurt the line up, but there was enough here to keep you entertained for an hour or so - besides, the show had Allin, Keith Lee, The Hardy Boyz, Sting and more.
It was hardly a duff 60 minutes.
Y'know what was duff though? Some rinse and repeat formatting, and some flavour of the month decision-making that's already threatening to get out of hand. Rampage wasn't a bad show by any means, but All Elite must be careful they don't go too far down the "smart" rabbit hole...