By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Rampage (Episode 32)
Taped March 16, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas at Freeman Coliseum
Aired March 18, 2022 on TNT
The Rampage opening aired and then the broadcast team of Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Taz, and Ricky Starks checked in. The wrestlers were in the ring for the opening match…
1. Darby Allin (w/Sting) vs. The Butcher (w/The Blade, The Bunny). Allin was dumped to ringside early in the match. Once he got back on the apron, Allin slapped Butcher, who then tried to go after him. Allin returned to the ring and performed a suicide dive. Allin mostly flew past Butcher and hit the barricade.
Back inside the ring, Butcher rebounded and slammed Allin to the mat and covered him for a two count. Allin bit Butcher’s left hand. Butcher knocked Allin down with some punches. When Butcher reached down, Allin bit his right hand. Butcher slammed Allin’s head on the turnbuckle pad and then blasted him with a great clothesline and covered him for a two count.
Butcher grabbed Allin by the head and spun him around before releasing him to crash to the mat. Butcher kicked Allin to the floor and joined him there. Butcher threw a clothesline that Allin appeared to sell just a hair early. Butcher glared at Sting as the show cut to a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Butcher caught Allin leaping off the ropes and put him in a Texas Cloverleaf. Allin reached for the ropes, but Butcher powered him up and powerbombed him, then reapplied the hold. Allin eventually reached the bottom rope to break the hold.
A short time later, Allin ended up on the back of Butcher at ringside and threw punches at him, but Butcher backed into the ring post. Butcher hoisted up Allin and flung him into the barricade and the ring steps. Allin came back with a Code Red off the ring steps. Allin went to the top rope and performed a Coffin Drop onto Butcher on the floor. Allin returned to the ring. Butcher was unable to beat the referee’s count.
Darby Allin beat The Butcher via count-out in 10:15.
Andrade El Idolo and Jose made their entrance. They distracted Allin and Sting, which allowed “Private Party” Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy to attacked the babyface duo from behind. The Butcher and The Blade joined in on the attack. Allin was held in place while Andrade slapped him.
Matt and Jeff Hardy ran out and chased the heels away. They helped Allin to his feet. Allin picked up a water bottle and threw it at the heels. Matt Hardy took the mic and told the Andrade Family Office to join them in the ring now that the numbers were a little more even. The heel faction teased entering the ring, but they dropped off the apron instead.
Matt challenged the heels to an eight-man tag Texas Tornado match on AEW Dynamite. He specified that it would be Private Party, The Butcher, and The Blade as the opponents for him, Jeff, Sting, and Allin. The heels left without accepting the challenge. Allin shook hands with the Hardys…
The broadcast team hyped the three previously advertised matches… [C]
Powell’s POV: A strong opener. Allin is always fun, but The Butcher really shined in this match. His power moves looked fantastic against a smaller opponent. No complaints about the count-out finish. I’m happy Butcher didn’t have to take a clean pinfall loss after looking so damn good. By the way, I’m filling in tonight for Colin McGuire, who is on vacation this weekend.
An ad aired for AEW’s YouTube Awards special that streams Wednesday at 6CT/7ET…
TNT Champion Scorpio Sky, Dan Lambert, and Paige VanZant delivered a backstage promo…
Ring announcer Justin Roberts introduced the participants for the next match. Leyla Hirsch came out first. Red Velvet made her entrance. Hirsch met Velvet on the ramp and fought with her. Velvet suplexed Hirsch on the ramp. They made their way to the ring and the referee started the match…
2. Leyla Hirsch vs. Red Velvet. Hirsch dominated the bulk of the offense heading into a split-screen break less than two minutes into the match. [C] Hirsch performed a big overhead suplex, then followed up with a German suplex. Hirsch went for the cross arm breaker, which Velvet blocked and then reached the ropes with her foot to break.
Hirsch went for a running stomp, but Velvet avoided it and sent Hirsch to ringside. Hirsch grabbed Velvet’s arm and slammed it on the mat. While the referee tended to Velvet, Hirsch pulled the turnbuckle out form underneath the ring. Kris Statlander showed up wearing new makeup and took the turnbuckle away. Velvet threw a corkscrew kick at Hirsch and pinned her…
Red Velvet defeated Leyla Hirsch in 8:10.
Powell’s POV: The makeup change wasn’t a big deal, but I like that Statlander stared down Hirsch afterward. She’s clearly taking a more serious approach as she moves on from the silly alien gimmick. The match was fine. I really hope this was the end of Hirsch using the turnbuckle as a weapon.
QT Marshall delivered a backstage promo while Aaron Solo stood by. Marshall said his mother called him after he lost to Hook at the pay-per-view and asked if he was upset. Marshall said he was proud and compared it to when he graduated from high school. He mentioned that he went to the same school as The Boss, but Solo didn’t get the Bruce Springsteen reference. Marshall invited Hook to join him in the ring next week on Rampage so that he can present him with the first ever QT Marshall Certificate of Accomplishment…
Excalibur hyped Keith Lee vs. Max Caster as the main event… [C]
3. “The House of Black” Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews vs. Fuego Del Sol and “Bear Country” Bear Bronson and Bear Boulder. The House of Black entrance was televised, while their opponents were already in the ring coming out of the break. Black got the better of all three opponents before Matthews tagged in briefly. King checked in and performed a senton on Bronson.
Del Sol made a blind tag before King clotheslined Bronson over the top rope. Del Sol leapt off the ropes into a punch from King. Boulder checked in and was worked over by all three opponents. King put him down with a clothesline and then he rolled to the floor. The House of Black members posed for the hard camera.
Del Sol returned with a missile dropkick and got a little offense. He went for a springboard move and was blasted by a knee strike from Murphy. Black and King performed dives to ringside on Bear Country while Murphy finished off Del Sol…
“The House of Black” Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews defeated Fuego Del Sol and “Bear Country” Bear Bronson and Bear Boulder in 3:15.
Powell’s POV: A good showcase match for The House of Black.
Afterward, Jericho said he would have an announcement regarding something his faction would do on Dynamite…
A Penta Oscuro and Alex Abrahantes promo aired. Penta spoke in Spanish and then Abrahantes translated…
Mark Henry’s segment aired with the main event players Keith Lee and “The Acclaimed” duo of Max Caster and Anthony Bowens. Caster and Bowens delivered a cocky promo. Lee said he doesn’t dislike The Acclaimed, he’s actually a fan and appreciates what they bring to the company. He said it would be painful to step in the ring with him and told them to prepare themselves. He said they were just a stepping stone for him. Henry declared that it was time for the main event…
Excalibur hyped the eight-man tornado match for Dynamite and also announced that MJF would speak. Jericho announced that he will team with Daniel Garcia to face the No. 1 ranked tag team of John Silver and Alex Reynolds…
Keith Lee made his entrance for the main event. Max Caster rapped and included a line about Ted Cruz in a snow storm, Pete Davidson, and The Alamo…
4. Keith Lee vs. Max Caster (w/Anthony Bowens). The crowd chanted “Bask in his glory” in support of Lee to start the match. Lee was in offensive control when Powerhouse Hobbs walked onto the stage heading into a PIP break. [C] Caster took advantage of the distraction by hitting Lee from behind during the break.
Caster remained in offensive control coming out of the break. Hobbs stood behind the broadcast team. Lee came back with a big shoulder block. Lee tossed Caster across the ring. Caster back back with a nice series of kicks. Caster tried and failed to power up Lee on his back. Lee hit him with a series of strikes and then hit finisher and scored the clean pin.
Keith Lee defeated Max Caster in 9:45.
After the match, Lee celebrated and then shot at look at Hobbs, who headed to ringside. Lee and Hobbs fought on the floor. Ricky Starks ran down and helped Hobbs. Caster hit Lee with the boom box that he and Bowens bring to the ring. Lee was rolled into the ring.
Shane “Swerve” Strickland came out with a chair and chased off the heels. Strickland and Starks stared each other down. The heels backed up the entrance ramp. Strickland offered Lee a handshake. Lee accepted and hugged Strickland, then raised his arm…
Excalibur said Rampage would be back in its usual time slot next week and then plugged Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite to close the show…
Powell’s POV: The main event was fun even if the outcome was never in question. I’m high on The Acclaimed as a team, and they do a nice job of putting over babyfaces in singles matches. The fans seem to dig Caster and Bowens, so it will be interesting to see if they get a babyface run one of these days. Overall, this was a solid hour of television. AEW wisely didn’t give too much away in the later time slot. I will have more to say about Rampage in my audio review coming up later tonight. Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below. Have a great weekend.
AEW literally has multiple matches every week where ONE wrestler rolling under the ropes breaks the count, but now we suddenly use pro wrestling rules and Darby wins by beating the count? Also, 10 minutes to beat a jobber by countout?
That gets followed by yet another instance of a bunch of people running into the ring after a match and now we’re getting another trainwreck with an 8 man tornado tag?
AEW will never grow, no matter how many WWE stars they sign, until a booker with a clue is running things.