AEW Rampage Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from September 23

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage of AEW Rampage's special two-hour Grand Slam episode on September 23.

This show had an appropriately big lineup for an extended episode, especially when it came to some of the celebrities involved.

A couple of big feuds were featured on this card when Eddie Kingston fought Sammy Guevara and Ricky Starks battled Powerhouse Hobbs.

We also saw Action Bronson team up with Hook for a tag team match and Trina was in Diamante's corner for her TBS title shot against Jade Cargill.

Let's take a look at what happened on Friday's supersized episode of Rampage.

Rampage opened with Buddy Matthews and Brody King making their entrance, but Sting and Darby Allin attacked them on the stage to get the match going before they even got to the ring.

This was a No Disqualification bout, so there were no tags and weapons came into play almost immediately. Even Julia Hart was getting in on the action.

This was less of a wrestling match and more of a stunt show. We didn't see any headlocks, mat wrestling or technical sequences. This was mayhem from start to finish. They fought all over the stage and ringside area, using everything they could to hurt each other.

When it looked like House of Black was about to win, The Great Muta made a surprise appearance. He spit green mist into the eyes of Matthews that sent him into Hart, which sent her crashing through a table at ringside. Sting broke free from some handcuffs and hit his finisher to get the win.

This was fun and had a nice cameo at the end from a certified legend, but it's always hard to judge matches like this because they are so far outside the realm of normalcy. This is something you will either love or hate.

Winners: Sting and Darby Allin

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Matthews had a very delayed reaction to seeing Allin attacking King. 
• King accidentally turned Matthews inside out with a huge clothesline. The spot looked great. 
• The Code Red Allin hit from the top turnbuckle onto King looked awesome. King sold it well. 
• The way Sting fell through the two tables at ringside did not look good. His head hit the table that didn't break on the way down. Let's hope he doesn't have any lasting effects. 
• The look on Sting's face when he saw Muta was priceless. 

Action Bronson gave a live performance of Hook's entrance music as they made their way to the ring for a battle against Matt Menard and Angelo Parker.

As expected, Hook did the majority of the in-ring work while Bronson would occasionally help out to get a pop from the crowd.

After a fun little tag match, Hook and Bronson scored the win when both men locked their opponents in Red Rum submissions at the same time. This wasn't a Match of the Year candidate, but it was a surprisingly impressive performance from a guy who is not an active athlete.

Winners: Hook and Action Bronson

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Nobody expected Bronson to be able to move that fast. 
• This is the most selling we have seen from Hook in any one match. In fact, he may have sold more in this bout than all of his previous matches combined. 
• Menard and Parker deserve a lot of credit for making Bronson look as good as he did. Those guys are MVPs when it comes to making their opponents look good. 

Wardlow and Samoa Joe took on Tony Nese and Josh Woods in the next matchup. Mark Sterling gave a quick promo before the match saying he would not be taking any powerbomb, which pretty much guaranteed he would in fact take at least one.

The match was physical and competitive, but it was also short and predictable. Joe and Wardlow scored the win, but Nese and Woods attacked them after the bell.

The Ward Daddy made the save for Joe and began to conduct his powerbomb symphony. The segment ended with Joe and Wardlow giving a cheers with their respective title belts.

Winners: Samoa Joe and Wardlow

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The disappointment on Sterling's face when hitting Wardlow with the title did nothing to him was perfect. 
• Joe and Wardlow coordinating their gear was a nice touch. 

Jungle Boy Jack Perry and Rey Fenix wasted no time getting right to work in this singles match. They were hitting high-flying moves within seconds of the bell.

Trying to recap all of the action from this bout would be almost impossible because they were going 100 MPH the entire time. They only slowed down for a moment to sell moves here and there before ramping the speed up again.

The one thing this match displayed is how much Perry has improved since he joined AEW. He is much more confident in his movements and looks a lot smoother with everything he does.

While this match was a great display of their physical skills, the one thing they could have done was slowed down more to sell big spots. They did it sometimes, but not quite enough to please some fans. It was a fun performance and the crowd was hot, so that is what matters in the end.

The 25-year-old scored the win with an inside cradle. He and Fenix showed each other a lot of respect after the match was over. While this bout was not perfect, it was definitely memorable. Luchasaurus attacked Jungle Boy once Fenix was gone while Christian watched from the stage.

Winner: Jungle Boy

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Fenix is not real. He has to be a CGI creation that is just too realistic to notice it's fake. That is the only logical explanation for the things he can do. 
• Whoever made Fenix's gear did an awesome job. It was nice to see some color after he spent most of 2022 wearing white gear. 
• Jungle Boy's dropkick is outstanding. 
• It is sometimes surprising how strong Perry is for a guy his size. He does certain things that require strength and makes them look easy. 

Kingston and Guevara were up next for their grudge match. The Spanish God delivered a promo before the match that played into some of the backstage drama.

The Mad King immediately attacked him and started destroying his young rival. While we saw the occasional suplex or some other kind of standard maneuver, the vast majority of the offense from both men was comprised of strikes and eye gouges.

After three spinning backfists and a submission, Kingston was declared the winner. However, he refused to release the hold, so a referee reversed the decision and declared Guevara as the victor.

The Mad King destroyed the entire security team to end the segment. This was not a traditional encounter, but it was a great way to advance this feud.

Winner: Sammy Guevara by reverse decision

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The bleeped Guevara swearing, so AEW is clearly trying to cut back on the adult content in some ways. 
• This might be the most physical fight Guevara has been in since joining AEW. There was very little actual wrestling. This was just them beating each other senselessly. 
• Guevara picking Kingston up and making it look easy was an impressive show of power. 

Diamante challenged Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship, but she also had rap legend, Trina, by her side for support.

After an initial flurry from the challenger, Cargill caught her flying off the turnbuckle at ringside and dropped her on the apron hard. She hit her finisher to extend her streak to 38-0.

Even though all of Jade's matches tend to be on the short side, it was still disappointing to see this end so fast. Trina ended up turning on Diamante with a punch to the face. She raised Cargill's hand to celebrate with the Baddies.

Winner: Jade Cargill

Grade: C-

Adam Page was attacked on his way to the ring to get this Battle Royal off to a chaotic start. After the break, the bout officially got going as everyone hit the ring at once.

A few Ring of Honor stars were also included like Brian Cage, Dalton Castle and his boys. Several tag teams tried to work together during the match, but none of them seemed to gain any kind of advantage as a result.

Battle Royals are always tricky. There is no way to make them into traditional matches, so it's always harder to judge them. This one had some fun eliminations and a few storylines were addressed with quick interactions, so it had more positives than negatives.

The final four competitors in the ring were Page, Jay Lethal, Rush and Penta. Hangman and Rush were the last two standing and had a bit of a staredown before engaging in a brawl.

Page threw him out to claim victory and a future shot at the AEW World Heavyweight Championship.

Winner: "Hangman" Adam Page

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Jericho selling Danhausen's curses was pretty funny. 
• The way Dante Martin was eliminated looked awkward. 
• It was nice to see Brian Cage back in an AEW ring. He had a good performance in this bout. He eliminated a handful of competitors. 
• The group hug with Private Party and Matt Hardy was a fun moment. 

The final fight of the night was a grudge match between Starks and Hobbs. The former Team Taz members have been in a highly personal feud for several weeks that included a contest at All Out, so there was no love lost.

Hobbs won their previous encounter decisively, so Mr. Absolute was looking to not only get some revenge on a personal level but also wanted to regain some momentum with a win.

The powerhouse took control early and immediately began bringing weapons into the ring. He grabbed several chairs and tables from under the ring as Starks tried to recover.

This was the best match of the night from a storytelling standpoint. It had plenty of mayhem and chaos like everything else we saw on the show, but they really made sure every sequence and spot mattered.

After a hard-fought battle, Starks scored the victory with his finisher to finally overcome his former teammate.

Winner: Ricky Starks

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Hobbs was good in the pre-match interview. AEW should give him a mic more often. 
• The quick video that played with Starks' entrance was a nice touch. 
• White gear almost always looks cool, but it has to be nearly impossible to keep clean for more than one match. That is likely why a lot of people avoid it. 
• The low blow Starks hit looked brutal. He wound up and went for it.