AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from April 14

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of AEW Rampage on April 14.

Jeff Hardy made his return to AEW during this week's Dynamite, and he and Matt made their first joint statement on Friday's show.

Here is a look at the card from Rampage:

• Emi Sakura vs. Taya Valkyrie
• Aussie Open vs. Best Friends
• Jack Perry vs. Shawn Spears
• Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and Satnam Singh in action

Let's take a look at what went down during Friday's show.

Aussie Open vs. Best Friends (IWGP Tag Titles)

AEW

Aussie Open and Best Friends.

This week's Rampage got off to an early start because of the Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat game ending before 10 p.m. EST, so we got to see Aussie Open defend the IWGP tag titles against Best Friends a little earlier than expected.

Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis won the belts just days ago and already had to face a pair of challengers in Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor.

This match started off competitively and never slowed down. The challengers were able to get in a little offense, but the first half belonged to Aussie Open for the most part. The newly crowned champions looked confident as they controlled the pace with a lot of double-team offense.

Best Friends began to put things together as the match continued. They hit a handful of high-impact moves but kept failing to get the three-count. Once they regained the upper hand, Aussie Open hit The Coriolis for the win.

This was a good match with a lot of energy, but like many Rampage bouts, it had an outcome that seemed all but certain before it even started.

Winners: Aussie Open

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Has Chuck Taylor ever wrestled in Converse shoes? Seems like a no-brainer. 
• Fletcher is one of those guys who doesn't have the look of a powerhouse but has a lot of strength. He can pick up and carry full-grown men around like it's as easy as picking up his groceries. 
• The Tower of Doom superplex spot was cool.  

Eight-man Tag Match

AEW

Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and Satnam Singh.

FTR gave a promo about regaining the AEW tag titles that was followed by a backstage interview with The Hardys, Hook and Isiah Kassidy, in which Matt Hardy revealed an Ultimate Deletion match against The Firm would take place at his compound.

The second match of the night saw Briscoe reluctantly team up with Lethal, Jarrett and Singh for an eight-man tag match against The Spanish Announce Project and Jake Manning.

The match started with the jobber team getting taken out, and they never found a way to regroup. Briscoe scored the win for his team, but he did not seem happy about any of this.

This was a squash match that did more to serve the story with Lethal and Briscoe than anything else. The little bit of action we saw was fine, but it was barely more than a few moves.

Winners: Briscoe, Jarrett, Lethal and Singh

Grade: Incomplete

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Manning's Man Scout gimmick feels like it's right out of 1993 WWE. 
• Briscoe yelling at Singh to leave him alone was funny.   

Emi Sakura vs. Taya Valkyrie

AEW

Emi Sakura and Taya Valkyrie.

Sakura has been getting a lot of screen time between ROH and AEW recently, and she stepped back into the ring this week for a match against AEW newcomer Valkyrie.

Both women were looking to establish dominance right away, but it was Valkyrie who proved to be too strong for her opponent.

Jade Cargill and Leila Grey came out to watch the match and distracted Valkyrie long enough for Sakura to hit a reverse DDT as the show cut to a break.

There was definitely more intensity during the second half. Both women hit some big moves in an attempt to put the other away, but it was Valkyrie who won with The Road to Valhalla.

This bout had some hiccups, but it was a good display of ability for both women, too. This is one of those times when the commercial break definitely impacted the flow of the match.

Cargill and Grey attacked Valkyrie after the match and left her laid out after being hit with Jaded.

Winner: Taya Valkyrie

Grade: C+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Sakura's sequence of submissions was well done. 
• AEW has done a much better job with the women's division in recent months. There are multiple stories going on at once, and not just for the titles. 
• Valkyrie's sliding German suplex is a fun spot. She and her husband, John Morrison, both do it well. 
• Sakura was slapping the hell out of Valkyrie at one point.  

Jack Perry vs. Shawn Spears

AEW

Jack Perry and Shawn Spears.

Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang and Jake Hager came out to rap for the crowd, but they ended up getting attacked by The Acclaimed.

The main event saw Spears return to competition for the first time in several months to take on Perry. Both men expressed a desire to challenge MJF for the world title in the future.

They shook hands before locking up and kept it clean as they traded holds and counters. The match got more aggressive as it went, but it never felt like Spears was trying to use the heel tactics he has for most of his AEW career.

This was easily the match of the night and gave both men a stage to showcase their abilities. They had good chemistry and made sure to do things that highlighted their strengths.

Perry ended up countering a crucifix into his own pin to score the win out of nowhere. It was a clean finish that left Perfect 10 looking a little dejected. He still shook Perry's hand and raised his arm to close the show.

Winner: Jack Perry

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Spears said he has been gone because his wife, Peyton Royce/Cassie Lee, gave birth, and he also said he is no longer friends with MJF. It's possible we get a babyface run from him soon. He got a decent reaction when he came out and some "Welcome back" chants.
• If he is not going to use the Jungle Boy name as his primary monicker anymore, Perry needs to get some new gear. 
• Showing Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara watching the match from backstage felt totally unnecessary. It made sense for the story being told, but the placement felt random.