AEW Rampage: Why The Third Hour of Television Is Vital To AEW

Tony Khan recently announced that All Elite Wrestling would soon debut a new, one-hour-long show titled AEW Rampage.  The show will make its debut on August 13th at 10 pm EST  on the TNT network before shifting over to TBS at a later date.

The long-rumored, second AEW show, which we now know will be called AEW Rampage is finally coming to fruition later this summer. This is exciting news for fans of AEW for the obvious reason that there will be another hour of AEW programming on national television. And while it is always a good thing to keep your fans happy, this third hour of AEW television will be crucial to the brand as well, as long as it is used correctly.

The biggest mistake that AEW could make would be to use Rampage in the same way it uses Dark and Elevation.  These shows are mostly squash matches featuring some little-known, but very skilled talent from the independent wrestling scene losing to signed AEW talent.

This cannot be what Rampage is about.  Rampage needs to mirror the level of content that we see on Dynamite weekly.  The biggest stars in AEW need to frequent Rampage at the same rate they do Dynamite.

If Rampage is used in this way it will help AEW immensely.  Let’s take a look at the ways Rampage can help out the AEW brand as a whole if utilized properly.

AEW Rampage will help the promotion improve its already stellar storytelling.

AEW Dynamite has been a huge success since it has come onto the scene.  The Wednesday night flagship show is consistently good and packs a lot into two hours.

In fact, it probably packs too much into two hours.

The thing that can get frustrating about the show is that AEW is trying to get so much into their limited television time that some important conclusions to matches or storylines seemed rushed or just left unseen.

Case in point, on a recent episode of Dynamite, Serena Deeb and Red Velvet had a very good NWA Women’s Championship match.  When the bell rang to start the match Deeb moved toward Velvet and threw her shirt in Velvet’s face before attacking her.  Deeb seemed to have a mean streak that she hadn’t previously had before.

Deeb ended up submitting Red Velvet. I was interested in seeing if Deeb would shake Velvet’s hand and congratulate her on a good match after or if Deeb had indeed turned an aggressive corner and was now going to be performing with an edge as she tries to hang onto her NWA women’s title.

I never got an answer.  It seemed as though the second Deeb’s hand was raised in victory that I was suddenly then watching Pac cutting a promo about being robbed of opportunities in AEW.

And while the triple threat match at Double or Nothing between Pac, Kenny Omega, and Orange Cassidy was great, at that moment, I was more invested in the ring psychology of Serena Deeb and finding out where her head was since coming back from injury.

A week earlier we all watched the cameras break away from the ring after SCU’s final match to watch Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston destroy a dressing room before we had any closure as to how SCU would handle the loss.

The implementation of this third hour of programming gives the promotion the option of slowing things down a bit and being able to layer stories even more while not rushing the conclusions of things we have become invested in, whether over months of great storytelling or 15 minutes of great storytelling within an individual match.

AEW Rampage will allow AEW to continue to build stars with their current roster but also provide the flexibility to add more free agents.

While AEW has already developed a reputation of being a great place to work for several reasons, one potential drawback that may have kept future free-agent talents from signing with the promotion was the potential lack of exposure on the big stage.

Since its inception, AEW has consistently run with two hours of national television weekly and four pay-per-view shows a year.  That is it.

The addition of Rampage and the newly announced four specials that will be airing on TNT each year do wonders for being able to showcase AEW’s extensive talent roster and also gives the promotion the ability to go after wrestling free agents without the headache of trying to find a place to fit them in each Dynamite broadcast.

AEW will very soon have three nationally televised hours of programming as well as eight pay-per-view type quality shows (their four actual pay-per-views, as well as their four TNT specials), adding a significant increase in television time for their ever-expanding roster.

And when the young stars of AEW get the opportunity to shine on television, they will be ready. Tony Khan continues to make sure of this by adding veterans of pro wrestling with a wealth of television experience to serve as commentators and coaches to their young stable of talent.

The expansion of AEW on television is very exciting.  It shows that the promotion is growing and that the Turner family of networks is more invested than ever in All Elite Wrestling.  Competition in any business is a good thing for the consumer as it can, and should, lead to an improved quality among all wrestling brands.

And with the momentum that AEW has built, it seems it will be around to provide that competition for a long time to come.