AEW Rampage Review - March 11, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Darby Allin def. Marq Quen

This stemmed from the brawl that transpired on Wednesday's Dynamite between The A.F.O. (is that what we're calling it now?) and Allin, Sting and The Hardys. There was practically zero chance of Quen winning, but he had a standout performance and was made to look credible in defeat. Andrade El Idolo and his legion of losers attempted to attack Allin and Sting afterward, but The Hardys prevented that from happening. On a side note, I hope The Hardys quickly ditch their gear from the late '90s. It works for Jeff to an extent, but not so much for Matt. I wish they'd be their modern-day selves and not rely so much on nostalgia like WWE did (though I'm fine with them using their iconic entrance music).

Jamie Hayter def. Mercedes Martinez

Rampage is always so rushed, so I appreciated that this wasn't a five-minute affair and they instead got twice that time. It was a quality contest with both women having solid showings. I was surprised to see Hayter win here, but I guess she has to win once in a while as well. Plus, it was the outside interference from Britt Baker and Rebel that cost Martinez the victory, so at least she was protected in that respect. It was a bit weird that Thunder Rosa made the save for Martinez afterward yet Martinez was nowhere to be found when Rosa was getting screwed over at Revolution.

Keith Lee def. QT Marshall

For anyone who was worried about Lee entering a rivalry with Marshall and the rest of The Factory, fear not, this was only a one-off. Marshall just put over Hook at Revolution and this was much of the same. It was a standard showcase for Lee and didn't last longer than it needed to. Lee also easily disposed of Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto afterward only to be attacked by Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs, so at least his first feud has been firmly established.

Swerve Strickland def. Tony Nese

I guess Swerve will be going as simply Swerve Strickland going forward as opposed to Shane "Swerve" Strickland, which he was introduced as at Revolution. He also went as Swerve the Realest before signing with AEW, so hopefully he's actually sticking with this one. During their pre-match interviews, I liked how Swerve mentioned his history with Nese on Friday nights as the two have done battle before on WWE 205 Live in this same slot on Fridays. I also got a good laugh out of Nese mentioning that he hasn't been beaten yet in 2022 considering none of those wins were televised. They had a well-wrestled match, but I don't know if it was main event worthy, even for Rampage. Swerve won as he should have, but Nese is hardly a threat to anyone at this point.

Overall Show

This edition of Rampage wasn't nearly as eventful as last week's, but we did get Swerve's debut match in AEW (I'm glad they wasted no time in getting to it) and another dominant performance from Lee. Allin vs. Quen was probably the best bout on the show. They moved that storyline along and we also got a quick cameo from The Hardys. Hayter vs. Martinez received some time as well, so this was a enjoyable episode for what it was even though there's nothing I'd say you need to go out of your way to see.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews