6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Rampage (March 20 - Results & Review)

5. No Problems With Shibata’s Squash

The ongoing love/hate relationship this writer has with squash matches on Rampage continues.

Katsuyori Shibata isn't the sort of worker one would expect to see work squashes, but he hammered Kevin Matthews on Wednesday. It was a short sprint that only existed to give Shibata a win before he wrestles Will Ospreay next week. The whole exercise was short, sweet and hyped up a cool match to come.

That's fine. Squashes with that kind of context are acceptable, although anyone who knows Katsuyori's work would suggest he's wasted doing this sort of thing too often. Shibata is a workhorse, and excels in lengthier matches that showcase his grit and determination. However, this short squisher worked.

The way Katsuyori marched in, dominated Matthews, then marched out as the commentary team barked about his match vs. Ospreay was neatly handled. There were certainly no frills to any of this. It was a beatdown that happened to set up something else.

Fair enough.