AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from May 5
Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of AEW Rampage on May 5.
This week's show aired a few hours early because of the playoffs involving some sport with a ball or a puck or something. Does it really matter? We got to see wrestling earlier than usual, so we win anyway.
Friday's episode included four matches, but the main attraction was The Firm Deletion, another evolution of Matt Hardy's special match stipulation that takes place at The Hardy Family Compound.
Let's take a look at what happened during Friday's show and whether Stokely Hathaway made it out of the Carolinas alive.
The Lucha Bros and Vikingo vs. Hobbs, Marshall and Solo
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The first match of the night was a trios bout with The Lucha Bros and Vikingo taking on Powerhouse Hobbs, QT Marshall and Aaron Solo.
Marshall and Vikingo started for their teams with a quick exchange. Rey Fenix and Solo tagged in at the same time and traded some strikes and takedowns.
Hobbs and Penta were last, but their exchange might have been the most fun. This was mostly what you would expect. The babyfaces had short bursts of high-flying offense while the heels had sequences where they would ground the luchadors with double-team moves and illegal tactics.
Everyone meshed together pretty well to make this a fun opening match. They were given two segments, so they had plenty of time to give all six men their own moments to stand out. Hobbs was definitely the star of his team, but all three men on the other side of the ring shined, too.
Nobody will call this the match of the year, but it's one of those bouts that would fit well on any show in any place, whether that is the opening, right in the middle, or the main event.
While Hobbs was busy trying to rip the head off of Alex Abrahantes, Fenix and Penta scored the win by pinning Solo.
Winners: The Lucha Bros and Vikingo
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Marshall trying to match Vikingo's speed and agility was pretty funny.
- Vikingo's hurricanrana from the corner was nuts, and so was his phoenix splash. Everything he does is almost unbelievable. It's like someone created an entire moveset in a video game that is nothing but custom moves.
- The way Hobbs sold Penta's superkick was great. He looked like he was knocked for a loop.
- Vikingo showed some power when he caught Solo in midair during a crossbody attempt.
Jade Cargill vs. Gia Scott
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A local talent from Baltimore named Gia Scott got a chance to perform on TV this week, but unfortunately for her, she had to face the undefeated Jade Cargill.
The TBS champion squashed her in less than a minute. There's really nothing to say about this because you've seen the same thing several times in previous matches.
Winner: Jade Cargill
Grade: Incomplete
Notable Moments and Observations
- Scott has a great look. She clearly made sure to get good gear made, too.
- Cargill needs some real opponents. Facing jobbers this far into her title reign should not be happening.
Mark Briscoe vs. Preston Vance
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Mark Briscoe pounced on Preston Vance as soon as the bell rang and drove him out of the ring.
The chicken farmer followed him out of the ring, and while the powerhouse didn't make it easy on him, Briscoe continued to control the pace.
The former 10 of The Dark Order avoided a senton while he was on a chair, so Briscoe crashed to the floor.
Vance had the upper hand for quite a while after that, but Briscoe made a comeback after a commercial break. They traded German suplexes and boots to the face as he kept gaining momentum.
For two guys who have almost no experience working together, they put on a decent match here. Mark scored the win with the Jay Driller and celebrated with his kids after the match.
Winner: Mark Briscoe
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Briscoe had a backstage segment with Jay Lethal and company. Sonjay Dutt was so weird at the end.
- Briscoe's senton on to an empty chair was nuts. That is the kind of spot that can go so wrong in so many ways.
- Briscoe does so many little things that might be easy to miss but add to his performance. Just the way he reacts to pain adds to his matches.
- That was a very sweet way to end the match with his family.
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The Firm Deletion
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The Firm Deletion started with Ethan Page, Stokely Hathaway, Big Bill and Lee Moriarty arriving at the compound and destroying Matt's mailbox.
Vanguard1 arrived and played a quick video to welcome them to the match. A bright light blinded them, and it suddenly turned into night. The Hardys, Isiah Kassidy and Hook started off by firing some Roman candles at them.
Big Bill was the only one on his team doing any damage for the first couple of minutes. He chokeslammed Kassidy into the side of a tree a few times.
Both teams got in a fair amount of offense as it went on, but since Matt and Jeff had the home-field advantage, so to speak, they definitely controlled the pace a bit more.
Stokely found himself in the Hardy's house and tried to use their entertainment system, but Reby confronted him while her dad hit him with a stun gun and the kids jumped on him.
A lot happened beyond what is recapped here, so you should probably just go seek this out to see it for yourself. No text-based description can do it justice.
This wasn't the strongest Deletion match we have seen, but it wasn't bad, either. It fell right in the middle of the pack. Matt got the pin for his team, but Jeff immediately took off.
We saw him outside lighting up a giant symbol carved into the ground. He looked at peace and celebrated with his friends to end the show.
Winners: The Hardys, Kassidy and Hook
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Hook just chilling against a tree as the match started was hilarious.
- Taking a suplex on grass probably doesn't feel great.
- There is something pretty badass about Jeff snapping a branch off a tree so he could choke Big Bill out with it.
- Having a commercial break in the middle of this really hurt the flow. Hopefully, AEW puts a full version up on YouTube.
- We won't go into detail, but jokes were made about orgasms.
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