‘AEW: Rampage’ Review (March 18th 2022)
It’s Monday morning, so you know what that means… it’s time for our review of Friday night’s episode of AEW: Rampage, which emanated from the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas. We’ve got another 4-match show, set’s get right into it!
Match #1: Darby Allin def. The Butcher
My Thoughts: This one was essentially The Butcher kicking Darby Allin’s arse for the entire time with Darby getting the least amount of offence I’ve seen from him in a long time. So much so that anyone would have sworn The Butcher was going to get the win. He didn’t. Instead, he got counted out – which actually made a lot of sense given how much he’d been in control of this match, a pin would have felt out of place I think – I’m hoping this is a sign of things to come for The Buther and The Blade, those guys deserve to get their badass wrestling into a winning streak methinks.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: Red Velvet def. Leyla Hirsch
My Thoughts: Booooooo! Red Velvet picks up the win here thanks to interference from Kris Statlander. Hell, at least her interference means that their feud is continuing and Leyla Hirsch is staying in the spotlight in the women’s division. Which is the only plus that came out of this match. OK, so the wrestling was good too… But still, the wrong woman won :)
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: House Of Black def. Bear Country & Fuego del Sol
My Thoughts: This was an example of AEW’s quasi-squash matches, where one opponent – in this case Bear Country & Fuego del Sol – is getting squashed but is given just enough room to make a few moves, get in some offence and don’t look like they’re just lying down and taking a beating. No-one expected Bear Country & Fuego del Sol to get a win and they didn’t but the team, and Feugo in particular looked good in defeat. Oh, and shout-out to Buddy Matthews for THAT finishing move. Badass!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Keith Lee def. Max Caster
My Thoughts: This was interesting. Going into this you might expect Keith Lee to squash Max Caster, establishing his dominance. But no, Caster instead put in some solid offence, all the while selling for Lee at the same time. Which resulted in a fantastic match that looked like it pushed Lee to the limit, making Caster somewhat (even though he’s already over with the AEW audience).
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
A solid, if unremarkable episode of AEW: Rampage; but that’s still a better episode than your typical WWE show. I’m digging the idea of Swerve and Lee teaming up to take on the likes of Team Taz and The Acclaimed as teased at the end of this episode and of course I need more Hirsch/Statlander feud in my life – though I think either Hirsch needs to establish dominance in the feud OR get some back up. Statlander feels like she’s got too many in her corner right now, we need some heel heat behind Hirch ASAP.
