"It's really hard to make an excuse" - Vince Russo predicts one of AEW's major shows could get permanently canceled [Exclusive]
Former WWE head writer Vince Russo doesn't think AEW's Rampage show has a bright future.
Tony Khan launched the company's second weekly show (after Dynamite) on August 13, 2021. Rampage is an hour-long episode that airs during the Friday night timeslot on the TNT network.
While the show had a promising start in its early days, its ratings declined considerably with each passing show. So far, Rampage has cracked the coveted one million viewership ratings only once during the The First Dance television special, which saw the highly anticipated debut of CM Punk.
Speaking with Dr. Chris Featherstone on Writing With Russo, Vince Russo asserted that the TNT network would permanently cancel the Friday night program due to its poor viewership:
Here's what the former WWE head writer had to say about AEW Rampage's progress thus far:
"I can't see Rampage staying on TNT on Friday nights with 500,000 people watching. I can't see it. So if they decide to do away with Rampage, bro, it's really hard to make an excuse when a show gets canceled because the bottom line is, bro, you could say whatever you want. The show's getting canceled because of low numbers, and not enough people are watching it. And I just can't believe, bro, TNT is going to continue that show at half a million people with no growth whatsoever. And like I said bro canceling a show is cancelling a show. So I really believe I can't see that show going on, bro. I just can't." [7:27-8:22]
You can check out the entire clip from the podcast below:
What went down on AEW Rampage last week?
Last week's episode of AEW Rampage aired live from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. As many as four high-stakes matches went down that night.
The show opened with a trios match between The Blackpool Combat Club and The Gunn Club. In their first outing as a group, Moxley, Bryan, and Yuta defeated the WWE legend and his sons.
#Hangman @theadampage with a mid-match refreshment here in this Texas Deathmatch for the #AEW World Championship! #AEWRampage is LIVE on TNT! https://t.co/QzuzGhyvqK
Ahead of his match against Wardlow, The Butcher squashed a local competitor. Meanwhile, Ruby Soho defeated Robyn Renegade to qualify for the Owen Hart Foundation Women's tournament.
The main event saw Hangman Page successfully retain his AEW World Championship against Adam Cole in a Texas deathmatch. While the entire show was captivating, it drew only 482,000 viewers on TNT.
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