Listen if you’re up and reading this PBP you’re a good person because it’s almost midnight here on the east coast. We are here on TBS following some March Madness, without an actual start time… so we’re flying by the seat of our pants. Let’s see what’s on tap tonight!
- Keith Lee vs. Max Caster
- Darby Allin vs. The Butcher
- Bear Country & Fuego Del Soul vs. The House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews, & Brody King)
- Leyla Hirsch vs. Red Velvet
Make sure to keep refreshing the page as the most recent results are below!
AEW Rampage 3/18/22
We are still emanating from the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas, hot on the heels of St. Patrick’s Day Slam! It’s 11:48pm, by the way. So let’s hope there are limited commercials!
Match #1. Darby Allin vs. The Butcher
I know they’ve been talking about it like crazy, but the Butcher is in some great shape. Darby with some coffin splashes but the Butcher throws him into the corner and beats on him some. Darby rolls to the outside and Butcher follows, but Darby with a lawn dart suicide dive! Darby with some palm strikes inside the ring but Butcher gets the best of him and hits a back suplex into a back breaker for a two count… and I’ve lost wifi due to some storms we’re getting. Joining back in progress after a few moments and Darby Allin is getting his hand raised. Not that the outcome was ever in question, but I was enjoying what I saw up until the outage here.
Winner: Darby Allin
Rating: NR
The Blade and Private Party attack from behind as Andrade stands in the entrance way. Sting and Darby are down but… here comes Team Extreme! Matt and Jeff Hardy hit the ring as the bad guys scramble. Matt Hardy challenges the entire AFO to get back into the ring now that the numbers are even, but AFO thinks better of it and heads to the back. Matt wants to see AFO in the ring in an eight man tag this Wednesday on Dynamite.
Scorpio Sky says losers make excuses. Jump on board the Paige VanZant train, or get run over. It’s super late… I’m going to leave that one right there.
Match #2. Leyla Hirsch vs. Red Velvet
Leyla Hirsch needs to be part of Team Taz. It’s a layup! Hirsh attacks Velvet on the ramp way and looks for the German suplex! Velvet counters and delivers a suplex of her own. NOW the match starts. Velvet bringing the intensity here with a ten-punch count in the corner. Hirsch ducks under and Velvet falls hard on her back. Hirsch in control and stomping Velvet in the corner. Hirsch taunting Velvet as she delivers a textbook vertical suplex. Hirsch looks to set up another suplex but… we’re going to commercial. Back from break and Velvet delivers some strikes to the body and a short bulldog, followed by a wheelbarrow bulldog. Hirsch ducks a spinning back kick and catches Velvet in a leg trapped exploder that was DANGEROUS. Velvet was barely able to tuck her head. Straight arm bar by Hirsch but Velvet gets to the ropes. Velvet dumps Hirsch to the outside, and while she’s out there, Hirsch grabs the turnbuckle connector from underneath the ring. Hirsch goes to clobber Velvet but Kris Statlander is here and grabs the weapon, allowing Velvet to get the upper hand from behind and land the twisting 720 kick, a la Will Ospreay. Lots of kicking and punching here, and the giant commercial break in the middle of the match didn’t help. That being said, I feel like Hirsch was getting some momentum until the last few weeks.
Winner: Red Velvet
Rating: **
Kris Statlander doesn’t look like the Galaxy’s Greatest Alien anymore, as she’s dressed in all black and looks a lot more serious. Statlander did still celebrate with Red Velvet, however.
Match #3. House of Black vs. Bear Country & Fuego Del Sol
Malakai starts hot and he’s taking on all three opponents at the same time… and without issue. Matthew’s is in with some combination strikes to Bronson and a quick tag back to King. King is in and levels Bronson, but Fuego made the tag. Fuego off the top and he… EATS A FOREARM FROM BRODY TO THE FACE. Brutal. Fuego rolls out and Bear Boulder is in, and he’s a big fella. The entire House of Black stands across from Bronson as they team up with strikes to remove him. Fuego is back in and he’s a house of fire! Dropkick off the top rope to Black and a springboard cross body to Matthews and he is MET WITH A FLYING KNEE IN THE FACE. Man, poor Fuego. Matthews with what used to be called Murphy’s Law and that’s all she wrote. An elongated squash match here, but making the House of Black stronger is not a bad idea. There is so much potential with everyone in this group it’s crazy.
Winners: House of Black
Rating: **1/4
Match #4. Keith Lee vs. Max Caster
Caster managed to include Razor Ramon, The Alamo, and Pete Davidson in his raps. Tremendous. Both Caster and Lee are wearing pink and black, that can’t be good. Lee, being from Texas, is getting the hero’s welcome here and it’s well deserved. Caster uses his speed early, but Lee catches up to him and tosses Caster using a Greco Roman knuckle lock. Caster with a dropkick to Lee but Lee maintains wrist control and delivers some shoulder blocks. Caster with a cheap shot to the eye followed by some boots to the face. Lee sees him coming and hits a leapfrog, but Lee finally got his hands on Caster and dumps him with an overhead belly to belly. Team Taz’ Powerhouse Hobbs is here to get a closer look. On the outside now and Lee delivers a two-handed chop to Caster followed up by some headbutts. Lee rolls Caster in but Bowes is there to get in Lee’s face and cause a distraction, and it works! Caster with a coast-to-coast dropkick to Lee on the apron and the battle rapper is in control. Lee is down and Caster is showboating which never works out for him. Caster with some terribly weak looking cross faces here and this shouldn’t last long. Caster on Lee’s back but Lee can carry him no problem. POUNCE by Lee on the crisscross and this has to be the beginning of the end here. HUGE toss by Lee to Caster from corner to corner. Caster goes low with a kick to the knee and a super kick to the face, but Caster can’t get Lee up in the fireman’s carry like he wanted. Lee responds by picking Caster up like a child and it’s almost over. Lee has Caster on his shoulders… BIG. BANG. CATASTROPHE. Another strong win for Keith Lee, but again, the outcome was never in doubt.
Winner: Keith Lee
Rating: **1/2
Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks swarm the ring and jump Keith Lee. The Acclaimed are still here and they join the beat down with the boombox. Here comes Swerve! Swerve and Lee help run off Team Taz. like this, Swerve feels like a big deal and he’s right into the mix in a feud that should give him a great place to start. Swerve and Lee embrace as we go off the air.
Final Thoughts: Tonight’s show was filled. AEW knew it was going to be airing at darn near midnight and the booking showed that. None of the matches had any drama and the outcomes were obvious from the beginning. That being said, we do have some early direction for Swerve and both Lee and the House of Black continue their roll. 5.5/10.