Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV | Tagged: aew, Rampage, recaps, wrestling

Billy Gunn v Darby Allin Shows AEW Doesn't Know How to Treat Legends

Howdy, folks. The Chadster here. A lot of people are pretty upset this weekend after the travesty of justice we just witnessed. By which, of course, The Chadster means the match between Billy Gunn and Darby Allin that aired on AEW Rampage on Friday.

In a pre-taped match in front of a packed crowd at the Chartway Arena in Norfolk, VA, Billy Gunn faced Darby Allin in a match that had no business eliciting the atmosphere of excitement that it did. The Chadster partially blames the AEW fans, who obviously know nothing about the wrestling business, for acting so impressed with Gunn's size and mobility and for cheering on their hero, Allin, with such enthusiasm. But mostly, The Chadster blames Tony Khan, because Khan doesn't understand how to book a legend.

The Chadster has been watching WWE for a long time, so The Chadster understands that there are two ways to book a legend. Either the legend is totally washed up and loses to your midcarders, no matter how storied their prior career, like, for example, Jeff Hardy. Or, the legend is dominant even over your current top stars, sending the clear message that the past was greater than the present, like, for example, Goldberg. What you definitely don't want to do is book your legends like they still deserve respect, but still use them to put over your current talent, so, naturally, that's what happened on Rampage this week.

Allin defeated Gunn in the match, but Gunn looked like a very credible threat, even shrugging of the first coffin drop. Gunn and his two large adult sons also beat down Allin and Sting after the match, further exciting the crowd who will probably want to see some kind of tag team match now.

Billy Gunn had a storied career in WWE and even in TNA, and it's so unfair of AEW to exploit that to please its current audience. But that's just more of the disrespect for WWE and for the wrestling business that The Chadster has come to expect from Tony Khan.

And that wasn't the only thing to really cheese The Chadster off on AEW Rampage this week. Jade Cargill defeated Red Velvet to advance in the TBS Title Tournament, which is totally unfair. Why does AEW need two women's belts? WWE has two women's singles belts, so AEW is just copying them. And let's not even talk about The Elite vs. Jurassic Express, where two homegrown AEW wrestlers defeated members of the former NXT stable Undisputed Era. This is just callous behavior by Tony Khan, rubbing it in The Chadster's face that AEW defeated NXT in the Wednesday Night Wars and sent The Chadster's beloved WWE fleeing to Tuesday nights. Auugh man! So unfair!

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