Rampage recap and reactions: Roderick Strong is the jewel of the Undisputed Kingdom

AEW Rampage (Mar. 15, 2024) emanated from TD Garden in Boston, MA. The show featured Roderick Strong proving why he is the jewel of the Undisputed Kingdom, Deonna Purrazzo revealing her mystery partner, the tag team title tournament bracket reveal, and more.

Let’s jump right in with a recap followed by reactions.

Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Chris Jericho were on commentary. Bobby Cruise handled ring announcer duties.

Dark Order vs. Best Friends

The sides were Evil Uno & John Silver against Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta. Chuck Taylor was ringside. The first half was full of hijinks with Silver putting his hands in Cassidy’s pockets and a group hug trapping referee Bryce Remsburg in the embrace.

Intensity picked up in the second half with more urgency and heftier moves. Cassidy was the game-changer with a superman punch to Johnny Hungiee. As Trent executed the Strong Zero finisher on Silver, Cassidy punched Uno off the apron.

Best Friends defeated Dark Order.

The Righteous regaled tales of planting seeds to bloom. They will not be buried.

Zak Knight was in the mood for a fight, so he beat up some innocent dudes backstage. Boom! Cool Hand Ang popped in to punch Knight. Security broke up the skirmish.

Toni Storm & Mariah May vs. Kayla Sparks & Little Mean Kathleen

Storm fluffed the crowd with an intro for her protege and a message for Deonna Purrazzo to observe closely. Storm and May had no trouble dominating the match. Quick tags aplenty for the close. Hip attack by Storm. Tag to May for a hip attack. Tag to Storm for a piledriver. Tag to May for the pin.

Toni Storm & Mariah May defeated Kayla Sparks & Little Mean Kathleen.

Afterward, Purrazzo revealed her partner to be Thunder Rosa. The Virtuosa and La Mera Mera will wrestle Timeless and The Glamour next week.

Hype package for Queen Aminata in the ROH Women’s World Television Championship tournament semifinals.

The bracket was revealed for the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament. The final will be at the Dynasty PPV on April 21. Matchups include:

• Young Bucks vs. Private Party
• Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. Wild Card 1 (winner of Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta vs. Will Hobbs & Kyle Fletcher)
• Ricky Starks & Big Bill Morrissey vs. Top Flight
• FTR vs. Wild Card 2 (winner of Infantry vs. Brody King & Buddy Matthews)

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Komander

Don Callis and Alex Abrahantes were ringside. Takeshita was too big and too strong for the luchador, however, Komander had a few tricks up his sleeve. Komander almost shocked the upset on a springboard Mexican Destroyer. When he followed for a rope-walking shooting star press, Takeshita put his boots up to block. The Alpha capitalized on the luchador’s mistake with a blitz of offense for a powerbomb, a knee strike, and a spinning Falcon Arrow to win.

Konosuke Takeshita defeated Komander.

Serena Deeb wore a forest ranger hat to alert the public about missing picnic baskets. She also spoke with confidence about becoming champion in AEW.

Mark Henry hyped the final bout. Enough talk. It’s time for the main event.

Undisputed Kingdom vs. Top Flight & Action Andretti

Competitive contest throughout. Roderick Strong was the ace in the hole. He saved his partners with a series of jumping knee strikes to his opponents. The Kingdom executed a spike piledriver on Andretti, then Strong finished with a backbreaker.

Undisputed Kingdom defeated Top Flight & Action Andretti.

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Grade: B

There was some cheekiness in the matches, however, when the going got tough, the tough got going. Intensity roared at the right times.

Roderick Strong continues to impress. At this point, he is the jewel of the Undisputed Kingdom. Strong is the glue that holds the group together. His offensive arsenal works for his size as a way to chop down any opponent. When teaming with Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, the ROH tag champs shined brighter with his help. Whenever momentum was swinging away, Strong right the ship. If I had to pick one Undisputed Kingdom member to become world champ, a hard nod goes to Strong over the rest, including Adam Cole. RODDY!

The Best Friends opener was a little too goofy in the first half for my liking, but the action rocked in the second half. Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, Evil Uno, and John Silver put the pedal to the medal for several energetic sequences. Konosuke Takeshita and Komander added to their highlight reel in their bout. The finish was pretty crafty to flash a touch of hope to believe Komander could win, then Takeshita extinguished those dreams showing why he is the Alpha. The spinning Falcon Arrow was a delight. Speaking of spins, Mariah May’s spinning side slam is marvelous fun.

It’s interesting that Toni Storm gave up the glory of the pinfall to her understudy. I guess friendship is actually blossoming. Or maybe Timeless was confused with May’s classic Toni outfit to think she tagged herself in to earn the win.

Chris Jericho was amusing on commentary with outbursts about other wrestlers ‘stealing’ his Lionsault maneuver. And how about Cool Hand Ang sticking up for himself. That was a nice pop in the next chapter of his love story. Zak Knight is doing a great job so far in his minor role. He plays a violent lunatic very convincingly. Those angry screams add to the package of stimulating the senses. The Zodiac is a perfect villain to push Cool Hand as a hero.

Share your thoughts about Rampage. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the show?