AEW Friday Night Rampage

[Hannibal Scorch]

37 minutes ago, Louch said:

Can’t see that with dynamite inbetween. Someone could get hurt and blow the taped show apart 

I don't think there will be much cross over with wrestlers wrestling on both shows the same week. I guess time will tell.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I don't think there will be much cross over with wrestlers wrestling on both shows the same week. I guess time will tell.

Haven’t seen anything that says wrestlers will be exclusive to one show. Would be a massive continuity risk regardless 

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, Louch said:

Haven’t seen anything that says wrestlers will be exclusive to one show. Would be a massive continuity risk regardless 

I don't think there will be. But I am guessing if Darby is booked for Rampage he may not be booked for the next Dynamite, as an example. 

[CavemanLynn]

I hope they try to keep some kind of separation. Purely selfishly, a two-hour Dynamite over dinner on Thursday or Saturday morning while doing the laundry is perfect for me. It's a fantastic, fast-paced show, varied with big angles easy to follow without needing to keep abreast of all the side material. Dark and Elevation both kind of blur into one, are on YT anyway, and are basically training matches. OK, it might only be one hour, but I'm not sure I can be arsed with another hour of the same crew, the same basic setup and the same presentation. If there's a conscious effort to make it a distinct entity with its own style and content, then great. Even Nitro and Thunder had the distinct feel of arena show vs studio show for a lot of their runs. If Rampage (edgy noun generator alert) is just 101 commentators talking over bodies banging into each other in another hard-cammed arena, it'll be a real missed opportunity and a bad sign for their development, if not as a business then definitely as a creative product.

[HarmonicGenerator]

As someone who was aware of, but wasn't really watching, WWF in 1999, did SmackDown feel distinct / separate from Raw when it started?

[Hannibal Scorch]

2 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

As someone who was aware of, but wasn't really watching, WWF in 1999, did SmackDown feel distinct / separate from Raw when it started?

It had a different set and music. It was also lighter in tone then Raw which felt a bit edgier still at the time.

Edited August 6, 2021 by Hannibal Scorch

[Vamp]

I'm sure they'll be entertaining but 4 commentators for an hour long show seems a bit much. Especially when 2 of them are characters actually engaged with storylines. I do think they could have at least added a woman to the desk for a bit of variety but I guess they don't think there's anyone suitable. Even if they were inexperienced though they wouldn't have needed yo carry the broadcast and it feels like a good opportunity to try someone new.

I know they must surely have Punk on board but imagine if they don't and they were planning on a heel sleeve instead. 

I'm curious how this goes. I think one hour is the perfect length for a wrestling television show. I hope they go for shorter time limits and wrestlers having to wrestle at a faster pace to win within the time limit.

 

If the rumoured divide between the EPs is true than I wonder whether they could just make this the Cody and Friends show.

[wordsfromlee]

So if Jericho is commentating, does that mean his storylines will only be on Dynamite? I can't see him having matches on Rampage if he's supposed to be behind the desk.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, wordsfromlee said:

So if Jericho is commentating, does that mean his storylines will only be on Dynamite? I can't see him having matches on Rampage if he's supposed to be behind the desk.

I don’t think Jericho is wrestling past all out, certainly not full time. Him and Henry have outside interests so probably see the 3 more than not 

[The Gaffer]

13 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

It had a different set and music. It was also lighter in tone then Raw which felt a bit edgier still at the time.

Yeah Smackdown was always more 'fun' when it started. Not sure would it stand up to critical scrutiny now but I distinctly remember it having all the greatness of 2000 but with more Crash Holly. It's funny us lot moaning about Raw nowadays but to me as soon as Smackdown started and you saw that intro, Raw felt ancient already. The big, beefy Stone Cold Steve Austin show. That feeling doubled down during the early years of the brand split when it became this hard boiled reign of terror/WCW dumping ground whilst Smackdown went after this more athletic, urban vibe. 

Hopefully Rampage feels different without doing a full on brand split. A different aesthetic goes without saying, which shouldn't be too much trouble for them to pull off even with the same crew, sets etc. There's more than one way to shoot backstage angles, after all. It should - I think - have a level of continuity whilst still being somewhat missable in order to follow the Dynamites around it. There's plenty of ways a smart company can do that. Someone wrestled on one? Have them on the stick on another. Someone was in person on one? Have them in a pretape on the other. 

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

When it first came out, Smackdown and Raw from my memory was very similar, only different set, music, lighting etc. Shared continuity.

However AEW will be fine. Heck, week to week Dynamite isn't the same. You don't see Miro defend his belt every show for example. Generally speaking guys seems to wrestler week on or week off. General exception are when they are pushing a specific angle. Unlike RAW where, despite it's roster size and all the guy waiting to get on the show, you have a Sheamus match every week, a New Day bit every week, a Alexa Bliss / Eva Marie sketch etc etc.

If they do it right, they'll have super quick recaps on Dynamite and Rampage for the other show. In fact why they don't do a quick 30 second montage of who won matches on AEW dark is beyond me (I know they run a ticker, but it's not the same). 

Edited August 7, 2021 by andrew "the ref" coyne

[WyattSheepMask]

43 minutes ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

When it first came out, Smackdown and Raw from my memory was very similar, only different set, music, lighting etc. Shared continuity.

However AEW will be fine. Heck, week to week Dynamite isn't the same. You don't see Miro defend his belt every show for example. Generally speaking guys seems to wrestler week on or week off. General exception are when they are pushing a specific angle. Unlike RAW where, despite it's roster size and all the guy waiting to get on the show, you have a Sheamus match every week, a New Day bit every week, a Alexa Bliss / Eva Marie sketch etc etc.

If they do it right, they'll have super quick recaps on Dynamite and Rampage for the other show. In fact why they don't do a quick 30 second montage of who won matches on AEW dark is beyond me (I know they run a ticker, but it's not the same). 

Because even Kevin Dunn couldn’t fit 18 finishes into 30 seconds

[wordsfromlee]

Smackdown was always a bit different to Raw as it was PG, right from the start in 1999. 

[Keith Houchen]

18 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I don't think there will be. But I am guessing if Darby is booked for Rampage he may not be booked for the next Dynamite, as an example. 

He also could be booked at a police station for rape. 

[Vamp]

Have they said they're using a different set? I know the pandemic forced them into using the same venue for ages but whenever I've watched AEW the set up has virtually always looked the same regardless of whether its a normal episode, a special or a PPV.