6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Rampage: New Year's Smash

Rampage closes 2021 with a bang; AEW's women shed buckets of blood; Cody Rhodes = heel.

by Jamie Kennedy
Anna Jay The Bunny
AEW

Holy f*ck.

There's been a lot of criticism hurled at AEW's female ranks since the promotion launched in 2019. Indeed, this writer has been very frosty on the women's division as a whole, and he didn't actually like it at all until Britt Baker seized the championship and started getting over as a swaggering tweener.

Friday's Rampage, the final wrestling show of 2021, reminded everyone what the division is capable of. In the (bloody) hands of Anna Jay, Tay Conti, The Bunny and Penelope Ford, the future looks bright - all four stole the show this weekend, and they sent the year out with a real bang.

This, according to Tony Schiavone, was the first Rampage to emanate from Daily's Place. AEW's go to venue gave the night a lively atmosphere as part of the promotion's 'New Year's Smash' festivities, and the roster on hand didn't disappoint by delivering three fun matches that made this one of the best editions yet.

AEW gave fans a hot opener, a weapons-filled brawl and a TNT Title match to close out 2021. The result was an almost-perfect episode of Rampage that raises the bar heading into 2022.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.