ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PREVIEW 3/18: Darby vs. Butcher, Velvet vs. Hirsch, House of Black Trios Match, Lee vs. Caster

ALL ELITE WRESTLING RAMPAGE PRIMER
MARCH 18, 2022
SAN ANTONIO, TX. AT THE FREEMAN COLISEUM
AIRS ON TNT NETWORK, 11:30 p.m. EDT, 10:30 p.m. CDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Taz, Ricky Starks (various combinations)

Match Results and Key Segments from Last Week

• Darby Allin defeated Marq Quen of Private Party.
• Jamie Hayter defeated Mercedes Martinez.
• Keith Lee defeated QT Marshall.
• Shane “Swerve” Strickland defeated Tony Nese.

Arena

Tonight’s episode of Rampage was recorded this past Wednesday following Dynamite in the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, TX. There will be a special start time of 11:30 p.m. eastern, 10:30 p.m. central due to the NCAA Tournament.

Four matches were announced during Dynamite.

TOMORROW! #AEWRampage starts at 11.30pm ET/10.30pm CT or immediately following NCAA tournament on @tntdrama!
–#BearCountry & @FuegoDelSol v #HouseOfBlack
–@DarbyAllin v #AFO's @andycomplains
–@LegitLeyla v @Thee_Red_Velvet
–#TheAcclaimed's @PlatinumMax v @RealKeithLee pic.twitter.com/wRy7uiiH5P

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 17, 2022

Darby Allin vs. Butcher

Darby Allin goes one-on-one with the Butcher.

Last week on Dynamite, Butcher and the Blade were involved in the attack on Matt Hardy after he was voted out of the AHFO until his brother Jeff bailed him out. Prior to that, Sting and Darby Allin came out to assist Matt.

This past week on Dynamite, the Hardys made their AEW debut as a team and defeated Private Party. Andrade “El Idolo,” Jose the Assistant, and Butcher & Blade came out seemingly to attack the Hardys until Sting and Darby came out to even up the odds. No physicality took place. The match between Darby and Butcher was announced later in the show.

Menace vs caveman of the future. Time 2 shine. @AEW @AEWonTV #AEWRampage pic.twitter.com/MYkA4XtIsJ

— Bunkhouse Butch (@andycomplains) March 17, 2022

Frank’s Analysis: This is straight forward, and I expect nothing but a Darby win. By the way, shouldn’t they change the AHFO to the AFO now?

Red Velvet vs. “Legit” Leyla Hirsch

Number five ranked Red Velvet goes one-on-one with number three ranked “Legit” Leyla Hirsch. Several weeks ago, they were on the same team in a Trios match involving Kris Statlander before Hirsch betrayed her friends. Hirsch defeated Statlander on the Buy-In show at Revolution.

We last saw Velvet on AEW television back on the January 26 Beach Break edition of Dynamite, ironically losing to Hirsch.

Frank’s Analysis: I almost wish they got rid of the rankings. I would have no idea that Hirsch is the number three nor Velvet is the number five ranked woman. Winning a bunch of matches on Dark and Dark Elevation, shows that a fraction of the audience watches, does nothing for me. I know it’s not all about me, but I can’t imagine being alone in my assessment.

Trios Match: House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews) vs. Bear Country (Bears Boulder and Bronson) & Fuego Del Sol

The House of Black checks back in to AEW television when they have a Trios match against Bear Country and Fuego Del Sol.

Fuego had the honor of being the first television opponent of Hook back on the December 8 taping of Dynamite and Rampage at the UBS Arena on Long Island (your’s truly was in the house). He has been mostly on Dark and Dark Elevation since that match. Speaking of Long Island, Bear Country was part of the Casino Tag Team Battle Royale recently on Dynamite, a match won by the Young Bucks. They have never won a match on AEW television proper.

The House of Black have been preoccupied mostly with Pac and Penta Oscuro (Penta El Zero Miedo’s alternative persona). They recently added the debuting Buddy Matthews to their stable. Matthews is the former Murphy from WWE.

Frank’s Analysis: There’s not much to pick apart here. I expect a win for the House of Black. Bear Country and Fuego are just there to do a job, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s not going to draw viewers, but that’s another conversation.

Keith Lee vs. Max Caster of The Acclaimed

All bask in his glory, for he is on Rampage again. Keith Lee checks back in on our Friday night screens to take on Max Caster of the Acclaimed. Last week he defeated QT Marshall after rejecting his services.

Keith will still have Team Taz looking over his shoulders. During an interview with Tony Schiavone, Ricky Starks told Keith he because he showed up on “his show,” meaning Rampage, he got his ass kicked. Aaron Solow and Nick Comorato from the Factory, as well as Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks attacked Keith after his win over Marshall last week. Hobbs treated Keith to a spinebuster to finish the attack.

There's so much work to be done. But I have patience. I have time. And I have determination.

Offer these to your goals, no matter what is said by others. #ForwardMarch pic.twitter.com/9gts1JFdb0

— Shameless Lee (@RealKeithLee) March 14, 2022

https://twitter.com/bowens_official/status/1504494226549182464?s=21

Frank’s Analysis: There’s zero chance Caster wins this. This is more about Caster being a foil to serve the real story which is going on between Keith and Team Taz. I don’t know if they drag this out to Double or Nothing. It’s more likely they set up matches with Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs on TV soon.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!