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AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from March 18 | Bleacher Report

March 19, 2022

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Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s coverage and recap of All Elite Wrestling Rampage on March 18.

Because of the NCAA college basketball tournament games that aired on TNT, Rampage was pushed back from its normal timeslot.

Keith Lee was back in action this week after a confrontation with The Acclaimed led to him facing Max Caster on Friday’s show.

We also saw the recently returned Butcher take on Darby Allin, Leyla Hirsch looked to continue her winning ways against Red Velvet, and Bear Country teamed up with Fuego Del Sol to take on Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews and Brody King.

Let’s look at what went down on Friday’s episode of Rampage.

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Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Rampage may have started almost two hours later than usual, but AEW gave us a boost of energy right out of the gate with Allin taking on The Butcher.

No matter who he is facing, Allin literally throws his entire body into his performance…and his opponent. However, when the guy you’re throwing yourself at is the size of The Butcher, it’s more like running into a brick wall than a person.

This is an AEW match could have ended in five minutes and nobody would have batted an eye, but they were booked all the way through the first commercial break into the next segment, so they had some time to make this interesting.

The Butcher controlling so much of the action made sense given his size advantage. This wasn’t a match full of highlight-reel moments or memorable spots, but it was a solid display of both men’s abilities.

Allin won by countout in the end. AEW rarely uses that as a result, so it still felt like he had to work hard to earn the win.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Skipping entrances and starting with the combatants in the ring for the opening match has become a staple of Rampage. It’s a good way to squeeze an extra couple of minutes of wrestling out of this show.
Allin’s suicide dive looked more dangerous than usual. His head almost went right into the barricade.
The Butcher throwing Allin around by his neck looked both cool and scary. Maybe seeing anything happen to anyone’s neck is just a bit harder to watch after what happened to Big E. Allin seemed fine, but it’s hard not to notice anything related to the neck right now.
The way The Butcher was throwing Allin into the barricade by his legs was brutal.

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Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Before the match could even start, Red Velvet rushed Hirsch on the ramp, and they started to brawl. She suplexed Hirsch and brought her back to the ring so the ref could call for the bell.

As they fought through the break, Hirsch dominated the action. Velvet would occasionally get in a hit or two, but Legit Leyla kept finding ways to put her back on the mat.

After taking a lot of damage, Velvet was able to score the win with a little help from a distraction from Kris Statlander.

This match had its moments, but it felt a little too one-sided at times. It was good, but their next encounter will probably be even better. The real story to follow is Statlander vs. Hirsch. They had the best women’s match at Revolution, so it’s great to see AEW keeping that feud alive.

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Velvet’s suplex to Hirsch on the ramp looked really good. It’s a basic move, but you would be surprised how many people make mistakes hitting basic moves.
There was almost a scary moment when it looked like Velvet was going to land on her head during an overhead throw, but she was able to rotate enough to land properly at the last second.

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Credit: All Elite Wrestling

King, Matthews and Black took on Fuego Del Sol and the two behemoths known collectively as Bear Country in a six-man tag match.

Bear Bronson started for his team against the leader of House of Black. After easily fending off Bronson, Black took out Fuego and Bear Boulder.

At one point, all three members of House of Black took turns hitting Boulder with different moves. Matthews scored the win for his team with a version of his finisher from WWE for the win.

This was fun, but it was a glorified squash that had six guys instead of the usual two. House of Black looked good, so hopefully, they can keep this momentum going after losing at Revolution.

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

The springboard from Feugo right into a forearm smash from King looked awesome.
While the spot was done to make House of Black look dangerous, Boulder taking several big shots before finally going down did a lot to make him look good, too.
The speed Matthews used to hit his finisher on Feugo was nuts.

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Credit: All Elite Wrestling

After the usual backstage interview mediated by Mark Henry, Lee and Caster put in the ring for the main event. Lee told Caster he appreciates what he brings to AEW before warning him about the beating he would receive.

This match had a slow pace because Lee was mostly no-selling Caster’s offense during the first couple of minutes. Once Lee performed a leapfrog, business started to pick up.

Caster got in more offense than you would expect given Lee’s booking up to this point. Thankfully, this wasn’t just another squash match. It never really felt like Caster would win, but at least it was competitive.

Caster tried, but he was unable to pick Lee up on his shoulders. This momentary lapse in judgment allowed Lee to pick him up for his finisher to get the win. Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks came down to attack Lee, so The Acclaimed joined in to help.

Swerve Strickland ran down with a chair to clear the ring and make the save for Lee. While it was fun, this was a relatively uneventful episode of Rampage. If there was any week to be pre-empted by basketball, this was it.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Caster’s rap this week was good, but not one of his best.
Lee throwing Caster over his head without even having to pop his hips and arch his back was an impressive display of power.
Caster’s springboard dropkick looked great.
Keith Lee has the best pounce in pro wrestling. Monty Brown would be proud.