Now a lot of these matches boil down to “Big Name squashes Smaller Talent” but a few of them at least allow people to see some of what they’re made of. I intend to go the extra mile and find footage of these Indy guys so you have the chance to see what they’re really made of. (Note: Some of these wrestlers have been on AEW before this episode, but I’m still going to post a non-AEW match of theirs so you can see what they do outside of a Big Fed)
Match 1: The Butcher and The Blade vs. Hunter Knott and Rosario Grillo
Squash match, through and through. A Big team taking on Smaller Talent. I do wish that Hunter and Rosario had been able to show more of what they can actually do, but they served their purpose.
Butcher and Blade finish them with the powerbomb/neckbreaker combo… ow. Not as dangerous looking as The Full Death, but it’s bad enough.
Jeebus crow, Butcher and Blade are a devastating looking team. Love to watch them destroy.
Hunter Knott and Rosario Grillo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNAnCtuEr5s
Match 2: Anna Jay vs. Ashley D’amboise
No disrespect meant to Anna Jay, but D’amboise really kinda showed her up here in this match. I’m wondering how stiff that rear choke at the end was, because that was a QUICK tap out. At the beginning it really was all in D’amboise’s favor, the crowd was reacting to her heelish antics and she played it up very well. Of course, it turned around for Jay’s comeback and quick finish.
The Bunny hitting her from behind after the match and Tay Conti’s rescue kinda made my eyes cross. I’ll admit that I haven’t kept up with AEW all that much before the return of CM Punk, but seeing Conti acting face just kinda throws me since she always had a “Ruthless heel” vibe about her during her time in “The E”. Interested to see where this will go, and if they’ll keep it to the Dark shows or if it will be on the main shows.
Ashley D’amboise:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUeMhOLb8oY
Match 3: 2point0 (Matt Lee/Jeff Parker) vs. Erik and Andrew Lockhart
Hey a Brother’s tag team, how nice. I hope this match doesn’t end too… op, never mind.
In all seriousness, the Lockharts had a good look to them, and what little we got to see of their offense showed them to be decent high flyers. Glad to know they’re constants over at Houston’s own Reality of Wrestling. Booker’s peeps getting up there
Also really like the look of 2point0, cocky heels who can actually back it up are always fun to watch. The viciousness at the end seemed a bit petty for them, but I guess they need to get “we’re the badguys” across to the crowd. We all know how fans can decide that a heel is their hero regardless of whether he wants them to or not.
Erik Lockhart:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcXOP2m6WNQ
Andrew Lockhart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTgKJEL2hIo
Match 4: Jade Cargill w/ Smart Mark Sterling vs Angelica Risk
Sterling…. My nemesis…. There will come a reckoning. Oh yes, there will come a reckoning.
As for the match, Jade Cargill is a beast! That woman looks like she could make short work of most of the women’s roster, and most of the men’s roster as well (I know that AEW won’t do it for the same reason “The E” doesn’t, but seriously an intergender division in AEW would really set them apart and if done right could really elevate everyone).
Her opponent, Angelica Risk was rather small, even and especially when standing next to the amazon that is Jade Cargill, and with a later match this seems to be intentional.
Looks like Jade smashed poor Angelica too hard towards the beginning (which I’ve heard is not the first time this has happened with Cargill… stiff worker, ouch), but she took it well in stride and kept going.
The sell for the finish was pretty good, a pump kick as a finisher is definitely unique for the women’s division.
And Sterling does seem a tad underwhelming after dealing with the likes of Isaac Maser, Jamie Oller, and Nastico, though the reference to Cargill as “Everest” was humorous.
Angelica Risk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK6-nSBTYpI
Match 5: Mysterious Movado vs Fuego Del Sol
FUEGO!!!! After getting to watch him light Texas Wrestling on fire for the last few years, seeing him get the recognition he so rightly deserves is awesome. I hope that more of Texas great competitors get that same recognition in the future.
As to the match itself. This one actually felt like a real match. The previous four were obvious squash matches, meant only to showcase the strength of the contract stars and bolser their win-loss records, but this one felt like a genuine wrestling match even as short as it was. It was back and forth, the heel Movado had time to mug to the crowd (such as you can with that kind of mask) and it made Fuego’s comeback look that much more authentic and impressive.
His Tornado DDT finish was as good as it usually was, and it’s nice that he’s starting to get a better win-loss ratio.
Mysterious Movado: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDgGqbxKrI4
Match 6: Shawn Spears vs Khash
Ever notice how guys who get cupped always look like they had a rough night with an octopus? Sorry, hard not to notice that.
Khash impressed me. Pure and simple, this kid has something that I hope I get to see more of in the big leagues. His chemistry with the Spears was so great that these two men got to tell a story with their own match. Getting an actual offense in at the beginning, giving a reason for Spears to lose his cool and get brutal, and even get malicious with his finish (pulling him up before the three count just so he could make a statement to Darby Allen). All in all, this match was… well not a PERFECT 10, but it was up there.
Khash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KS0o_AgPTU
Match 7: Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, and Wheeler Yuta vs. Jora Johl and TH2
Wheeler Yuta! I got to see him once at MPX as he took on our own MPX Champion Jaxon Stone (Everybody!) and I have got to say I love watching him with The Best Friends. He is quick and strong, and fantastic technically.
Chuck Taylor… looks like the poor dumb kid from Heels (which I will be reviewing at the end of the season) the more I look at him. Maybe a little more matured, but still looks like him. Just IMO
This match was pretty good, all in all. Told the ongoing story of The Hardy Family Office vs. Orange Cassidy, and all the competitors involved were fantastic, but this match also very much illustrated one of the glaring issues with AEW. When it comes to that tag team gap, that few moments where the members of a team have a few second to pull out a tag team maneuver, is so much wider than in your typical wrestling match. It leads to the smashing of immersion for me as I find myself growling “Where’s the count, ref” at my television.
Best Friends took the win as Cassidy hit The Orange Punch on Jora Johl.
Match 8: Leyla Hirsch vs Kilynn King
Just like the Jade Cargill match, this one was hilarious in its set up. The Mighty-Mini of Leyla Hirsch and the rather tall Kilynn King going one on one as a precursor to her matchup with Jade on Wednesday. I find it interesting that Jade got Unsigned Talent while Leyla got someone with a record on the show. I wonder if they were just unable to find someone local that fit their criteria, or if there was another purpose? Either way, the two of them seemed to have some pretty decent chemistry. I like that Kylinn used her height advantage as much as she could, meaning that Leyla had to actively overcome it with her strength and technical prowess (which King matched pretty well).
King using a pump kick to no avail against Leyla, especially after Jade used it as a finisher against Angelica Risk, was kind of a poor choice of moves in my opinion. But then I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m one of the few who actually noticed the issue of it.
Leyla takes the win with a running knee strike that had little to no setup, which given the false finish that had just happened makes me wonder if that whether that was the intention or not.
Jade Cargill came out to trash talk, but Leyla was in more of a fighting move, taking Cargill to ground and having her struggle for any kind of advantage. The more I watch Cargill, the more I can see the problem others have with her. She looks kind of self-centered, not really wanting to tell the story that was booked, but instead wanting to do what she has to to come out on top.
We’ll see how things go tomorrow.
A decent episode of Dark. It sucks that the first half of it boiled down to “squash the Indy Guys to pad our guys’ numbers.” But it obviously set things up for Dynamite tonight.
