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AEW Rampage - August 27 2021


Timbo Slice

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So Bucks/Lucha Bros is gonna be balls out, Punk/Darby will be great just for the atmosphere alone, and Kenny/Christian will be a great match (even if it wasn't the one we wanted for this show).  All Out looks to be pretty solid no matter what else happens. 

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He was actually okay last night compared to the really really bad stuff he has done with Callis, including last Wednesday with that dumb You Think You Know Me line - that all the wrestling journalists thought was hilarious cuz they're all dorks too. He is not going to do his promos completely serious as long as Callis is with him, but at least it felt acceptable and not egregious and complete cringe like he has been in the past.

I am really hoping that being around Punk will teach this young roster how to carry yourself like a star. Punk was always great at projecting aura and star power, to the extent he felt believable going toe to toe against Brock Lesnar. Having that aura and projecting that even while saying funny shit on the mic is a skill that most AEW talent have to learn, because apart from Mox and Jericho, the main eventers (i.e. the Elite) seem to go out of their way to diminish their own aura and star power, something that really pisses me off. 

This hour was a much better watch than Dynamite even though it was by no means a stacked card. Seemed to be formatted better and thus had an easier flow. The Darby-Punk promo was great, and the Miro-King program had a fantastic first tease. I really liked that they had King come down with a mic but then said fuck it and decided to just brawl. Puts over Kingston as someone who, while he can talk better than anyone else in wrestling right now, is also someone who prefers fists to words. This also makes his promos a big deal. It created some anticipation for what he was going to say to Miro; now, the verbal battle between these two will have more hype and will make the program feel like a much bigger deal. Basic classic wrestling booking.

They really need to cut down that booth though. Jericho in particular is terrible. He was great as the constantly shouting commentator during empty arena shows, because his energy and enthusiasm lifted the dark, quiet, pandemic product. Now, with fans back and making so much noise? It seems excessive, contrived, and cacophonous. It really detracts from the experience. 

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37 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Mark Henry seems miscast as an announcer, he's great as the guy in the middle during those side by side promos egging both guys on. 

Henry (and even Jericho, but especially Henry) seems to be a great example of someone who is a fantastic promo but a bad commentator. He feels like he honestly doesn't care. I did like his line about how there's no point knowing karate when the other person knows ka-razy. The thing is though, when three commentators are fighting over each other just to keep cracking similar quips, these lines lose their effect due to sheer redundancy. 

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I guess they are doing this to have Jericho on every show to add star power, but all you need is Excalibur and Taz. I suppose if you really want a 3 man booth you can put Henry out there as the World's Largest Beth Phoenix and just have him read off random factoids. 

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On 8/27/2021 at 9:17 PM, KawadaSmile said:

Also, thoughts on this:

 

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Brandi was really tone deaf as usual. There is a good point about AEW's lack of black TV talent. I don't think they use the ones they do have too badly; I like Scorpio, but right now he is a midcard wrestler and his team with Page is actually the best use of him. Nyla and Jade and Velvet have been booked like their level warrants, if not more so. Their issue is hiring young good black talent. I am not an expert on the indy scene, but I am sure there are a lot of young black wrestlers with a lot of upside to them, and I absolutely think AEW should be making a push to scout and sign more of them. I know a really good friend of mine keeps remonstrating about how they are not getting Willie Mack to come from Impact and wrestle for them, instead of subjecting us to the fucking Good Brothers every single week. He isn't young, but he has never been on the national stage before.

I am hoping the signing of Mark Henry changes this to some extent; IIRC, he scouted Bianca for WWE amongst others, so he does have a good track record. It is foolish of Brandi to handwave this away by blaming the fans. I absolutely think they should be making a bigger push to address it. It's not empty symbolism; representation matters for both ethical and sound business reasons. 

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They have Lee Johnson and Dante Martin cooking for the future but they’re clearly not ready to be pushed just yet. Same with Jade Cargill. They used Lee Moriarty on Dark recently so hopefully he comes in. I get the point that the cards should be more diverse but you also can’t and shouldn’t push people above their level just to tick boxes. Like, they tried to push Scorpio Sky at the start and the reality is that he’s a midcard act and doesn’t warrant going higher than that.

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