AEW Rampage Review - March 31, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Sammy Guevara def. Konosuke Takeshita

For as little as I care about Guevara from a character standpoint at the moment, there can be no doubt that the guy can go and this served as a reminder of that. No, he hasn't done anything to earn an opportunity a the AEW World Championship as has been teased lately, but this was a nice step in that direction. Takeshita is obviously tremendous and thus they had a very entertaining opener. I could have done without Takeshita still standing after the Canadian Destroyer, but I should probably expect that sort of stuff at this point and not be as bothered.

AEW World Trios Champions Kings of the Black Throne def. Best Friends by Disqualification

House of Black and Best Friends with Orange Cassidy are clearly headed for an AEW World Trios Championship clash and therefore this was a small preview of what's to come. Best Friends have been non-factors for a long time now, so while I would have preferred Kings of the Black Throne beating them clean, I understand the clean finish was designed to prevent Best Friends from losing ahead of an eventual title shot. This was a well-wrestled match while it lasted.

Taya Valkyrie def. Marina Shafir

Shafir was an interesting opponent to put in there with Valkyrie because she's far from the best AEW has to offer and she isn't typically squashed, but their match exceeded my expectations. It was decent for what it was and it was smart to keep it on the shorter side. If Valkyrie doesn't challenge Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship at Battle of the Belts VI next Friday night, then it will most likely be saved for Double or Nothing (and I have no issue with this storyline being stretched out until then).

Juice Robinson def. Action Andretti

Robinson has done nothing for me since he signed with AEW, mostly because I feel AEW already has plenty of people under contract who are underutilized, but it made sense to give him a somewhat notable win before he faces Ricky Starks on Dynamite this Wednesday. Any momentum Andretti had coming off his upset win over Chris Jericho is all but gone, but I suppose that was inevitable. This was a quality main event with good work from both men.

Overall Show

Rampage has been very skippable for a long time now, and although AEW sometimes sneaks some star power onto the show, you aren't missing much by not tuning in. What's interesting is that this was one of the better editions of Rampage I've seen in recent memory, if only for the above-average in-ring action, and the timing was terrible with this airing on a night with so much other wrestling happening (in addition to the WWE Hall of Fame). This show will get lost in the shuffle, but it was actually an enjoyable watch.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews