It was good.
It was quite a bit different from their first Atlanta show, which was in the Hawks arena. This was in a minor league hockey arena in the suburbs. I was a little suprised that it wasn't sold out. Capacity is 13k, I'd guess maybe 7k? I've been a little surprised/critical of AEW for not working Atlanta as a main market, considering the Turner legacy they lean into so much, but maybe there's a reason.
The first show I went to before the pandemic was absolutely lit, but that was fairly early on, and they stacked the card to almost a PPV level. That arena was absolutely lit the whole time.
This was much more of a treading water episode, and the crowd intensity reflected it. Not sure how it came across on TV, but I didn't think the energy was super sustained the way it looks at a lot of these shows. A lot of quiet time, even during big matches...crowd was NOT involved at all during Punk's match for example. The whole night seemed like pops for appearances, and then sit through the matches.
I can't blame them too much...there were only like two matches on the entire night (Soho vs Statlander, Cody vs Andrade) where the winner winner wasn't 100% obvious going in. It's a lot to ask the crowd to get super engaged even for good wrestling when there is zero chance of being swept up in the story of the match because one guy has zero chance to win.
Positives-
1) Pretty awesome that we got four hours plus of wrestling. They started a 7 with Dark Elevation tapings, then Dynamite, and then Rampage.
2) We got an appearance at least from everyone on the roster...so you got to pop for Hangman, do Adam Cole Bay Bay, etc. I wasn't sure how many of the stars we wouldn't see wrestle (which was a lot) would show up, and it was most of them. And we got to see Jungle Express on the Dark tapings, which was unexpected and fun.
3) There was some really good quality wrestling on the card. If you enjoy the wrestling itself, and not just the hype, Danielson vs Angels was really quite good. The Cody vs Andrade match was really good. Overall, there weren't many duds from a pure wrestling standpoint (Obviously the Dark matches were squashes).
4) Very cool flaming table spot, that actually probably looked better from the seats than on TV
Negatives-
1) Almost all the matches were glorified squashes with no mystery about who would win. That's just what it was with this stage in the booking, the bad luck of the draw.
2) Phoenix being out robbed some excitement around the Rampage 2 out of 3 falls match...was expecting that to be a classic. The replacement match was EXCELLENT from a wrestling perspective, but was taking place 4 hours into the night, and the crowd was pretty dead, it deserved way more heat than it got.
3) Missed seeing the few stars that didn't even appear. Can't complain because most made an appearance, but was sorry not to see Britt Baker or Chris Jericho (and sing Judas).
4) The CM Punk thing of wrestling mid carders and jobbers has run it's course. He had a hell of a match with Daniel Garcia weeks ago, but as they continue that track it's losing all its juice. Crowd was totally dead during his match, and shouldn't be given he's one of the biggest stars. He's a great wrestler, but he's not exactly a series of high spots and signature moves that are super over no matter who he faces.
Overall, it was an awesome time because I enjoy wrestling, and it's super fun to share with my son. But if you were taking some non-wrestling friend who wasn't super into it, it wouldn't have been a show that would win them over.
One other funny observation. Whenever wrestling goes through it's peaks of mainstream popularity, you get a lot of the "wrestling fans aren't the nerds and losers that you think" thing going on. And WWE fans have a lot of time really tried to highlight their college age and 20s fans, fans that look the same as those that go football games and pop concerts.
Well this crowd was EXACTLY what you'd picture professional wrestling nerds to be. So much obesity, neck beards, tattoos, greasy hair, ugly girlfriends. And I loved it. A lot more fun than a bunch of regular folks slumming, the crowd was hardcore fans and fulfilled every stereotype you would have about pro wrestling fans.
mlw.com
