‘AEW: Dark’ Review (Oct 19th 2021)
Welcome to this weeks review of AEW: Dark, which comes from Miami this week and NOT the All Elite Zone in Orlando. Which means we get that same super-hot crowd that graced Elevation; the same crowd that made that show feel so huge… lets hope they’re jusst as hot for the Dark matches. Check it out:
Match #1: Jamie Hayter def. Tiffany Nieves
My Thoughts: Hayter’s first singles match since returning to AEW was a definitive win and a huge squash on her opponent. In fact Hayter hit two moves (vertical suplex and clothesline) to get the win!
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #2: The Gunn Club def. Alex Chamberlain, Dean Mercer, and Diamond Sheik
My Thoughts: The Gunn Club’s heel run continues and they’re still not doing it for me. Don’t know what it is… OK, I do, there’s ZERO charisma… but I really can’t get behind the face or heel Gunn Club. The crowd were behind Billy Gunn when he hit the ring but deadly silent for his sons. Maybe they felt the same way? Nice to seen Dean Alexander in a match though, he’s been appearing of Sammy’s vlog more than AEW programming in recent weeks.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Thunder Rosa, Kris Statlander, & Red Velvet def. Nyla Rose, Emi Sakura, & Diamante
My Thoughts: Nyla Rose, Emi Sakura, & Diamante, who teamed up on Elevation to defeat Red Velvet, Ryo Mizunami and Kilynn King are back together again. This time however Red Velvet has brought the big guns (in terms of AEW’s womens division) and that pays off with a win for Velvet and co., with Velvet actually getting the pin on Emi Sakura after hitting the Final Slice finisher. The crowd really popped for Thunder Rosa, as to be expected.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Lance Archer def. OT Fernandez
My Thoughts: Lance Archer is back to throwing his opponent IN and around the ring again. Eddie Kingston was on commentary for this one to sell his Men’s Eliminator match against Archer. He didn’t have much time though as Archer demolished Fernandez in quick time!
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #5: Frankie Kazarian def. Aaron Solo
My Thoughts: This was a great technical match between Kazarian (who I still think needs a better programme in AEW than he has currently) and Solo with BOTH men getting near falls throughout this one. Comoroto tried to interefere in the match too, ultimately costing Solo the win after Kazarian pushed Solo into Comoroto who was on the apron.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #6: Stu Grayson, Colt Cabana, Alan Angels, & 10 def. Daniel Garcia, Serpentico, & 2.0
My Thoughts: A huge 8-man tag match ended this show and what a great finish. No Luther in this match but that didn’t stop Serpentico getting thrown around! Alan Angels looked awesome as always, as did Stu Grayson. I was surprised that Dark Order got the victory to be honest but pleased that they did at the same time. Of course Serpentico ate the pin – well Full Nelson from 10 – for his team to lose; though it did look like 2point0 and Garcia abandoned him in the final seconds of the match.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
The crow didn’t seem as into the matches here as they did on Elevation and the card had a number of squash matches which means overall this felt like a very average episode of Dark. Though to be fair, the womens match was decent and the last two matches were great too. It just felt too little too late.
