AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from March 25
Next weekend may be the busiest of the year for pro wrestling fans, but AEW still made sure this weekend had some fun due to Friday's Rampage being preempted until Saturday.
After having already defeated Rey Fenix, Powerhouse Hobbs looked to pick up another win over a Lucha Bro when he took on Penta El Zero Miedo for the TNT title.
Taya Valkyrie took on Leila Grey, The Acclaimed battled The Kingdom, and Brody King took on Jake Hager in a battle of the powerhouses.
Let's take a look at everything that went down during this week's special Saturday episode of Rampage.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (TNT Championship)
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Penta and Hobbs were already in the ring when the show began. The QTV crew was at ringside to watch as they started the match by immediately throwing big right hands at each other.
After an initial onslaught from Penta, Hobbs began to control the pace. He slowed things down and began to take his opponent apart. He focused on power moves and using the environment to inflict damage.
QT Marshall tied Penta's mask strings to the bottom rope, but it came untied relatively quickly because he didn't do a very good job.
This match was mostly Hobbs dominating the action while Penta would occasionally try to make a comeback. The high-flyer was having just as much trouble as Fenix did when it came to combatting his strength.
Penta hit Aaron Solow with a package piledriver when he tried to interfere, but that allowed Hobbs to hit him with the title belt while the ref was trying to get Solow out of the ring. Hobbs easily scored the win after that.
This match did not need to have a dirty finish, but other than that, everything we saw was solid.
Winner: Powerhouse Hobbs
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Seeing Marshall in anything but a bowling shirt feels weird.
- Hobbs almost dropped Penta when he picked him up for a backbreaker, but he recovered and hit the move nicely.
- If you track his progress from his AEW debut until now, Hobbs might be the person in the company who has progressed the most in every category. He is more charismatic, has a better physique and seems way more confident in the ring. He is a future world champion.
- A headbutt from Hobbs looks like it might kill a man.
- The double stomp on the apron from Penta looked brutal.
Jake Hager vs. Brody King
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Ricky Starks came to the ring and called out Juice Robinson. He showed up, but ran away when Starks tried to start a fight. We also got a promo from Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh before King made his way out for the next match.
Hager took his hat off for this match, so you could tell he was taking this seriously. The two powerhouses started with an exchange of shoulder tackles, but neither man would go down.
King scored the first takedown with a double-handed chop to the chest. While King may have had a slight size advantage, the undefeated MMA fighter was able to turn things around during the break.
This match was just two big dudes hitting each other as hard as possible. That's always going to be a welcome sight in a pro wrestling ring. This wasn't a technical showcase or a five-star classic, but it looked like a stiff fight and that's just as good.
Anna Jay came out and threw Julia Hart into the ring post, but the distraction didn't stop King from winning the match. This was a fun and physical encounter. The appearance from Jay felt unnecessary but it's probably setting up something for the future. Perhaps Julia is ready to return to the ring.
Winner: Brody King
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Robinson and Dalton Castle would have amazing promos as rivals. Make that feud happen, Tony Khan.
- King is one of the most legitimately intimidating pro wrestlers in the business right now.
- More and more of those purple hats are showing up in crowds. It seems like Hager is not the only one who likes that hat.
Leila Grey vs. Taya Valkyrie
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Grey was out with Mark Sterling and Jade Cargill by her side to take on the newest AEW signing, Valkyrie.
Both women talked some trash before Valkyrie destroyed Grey with a lariat. A distraction from Sterling allowed the Baddie to get in some offense, but the dog love was quick to recover and hit The Road to Valhalla for the win.
This was little more than a squash match, which is somewhat disappointing. It makes sense for AEW to push Valkyrie by giving her some easy wins, but it feels like the women's division is saddled with short matches far too often. It's a trend that needs to change.
Winner: Taya Valkyrie
Grade: Incomplete
Notable Moments and Observations
- Grey is someone who has only had a few TV matches, so a lot of people probably had no idea what her entrance music sounded like until this show.
- Valkyrie's boots look like they would be so hard to keep clean. A lot of wrestlers avoid white gear for that exact reason.
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The Acclaimed vs. The Kingdom
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The main event of the night was a tag team match between The Kingdom and the former AEW tag champs, The Acclaimed.
Matt Menard and Angelo Parker were out to watch the match from the commentary table because they have been trying to recruit Anthony Bowens and Max Caster into the Jericho Appreciation Society.
Caster and Mike Bennett started for their teams. Maria Kanellis distracted Caster with the promise of a scissor, but Bennett took him out. Matt Taven helped him corner the rapper for some double-team offense before Bowens made a blind tag to take over for his partner.
This was a relatively tame tag team bout by AEW standards. Both teams got in some good spots and the pace was steady, but they were slightly hampered by the amount of time they were given.
The Kingdom did a great job playing the heels and using dirty tricks to maintain the upper hand, but Billy Gunn and Top Flight chased Maria away to even the odds again. Once she was gone, The Acclaimed was able to hit The Mic Drop for the win.
Winners: The Acclaimed
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- AEW seems to have stopped doing the split-screen interviews before the main event. At least Mark Henry still gets to say his line every week.
- AEW needs to do a better job mixing the entrance music into the rest of the audio. It's hard to hear the music sometimes.
- Caster's rap this week was good, but all of his insults were predictable. His stuff is best when he comes up with something original.
- Jim Ross being upset that Maria left was kind of funny.
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