‘AEW: Dark’ Review (July 20th 2021)
Welcome to this weeks review of AEW: Dark which is keeping things short and sweet with only 7 matches running less than 45 minutes… I’m starting to dig AEW putting how manty matches are on the card in the YouTube title of each episode these days!
Match #1: The Blade def. Ryan Mantell
My Thoughts: Basically a showcase for Blade before his match with Orange Cassidy on Dynamite, this was a squash match with not only The Blade demolishing his opponent but The Bunny got up to some devious tricks too!
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #2: Thunder Rosa def. KiLynn King
My Thoughts: Two of my favourite AEW female wreslters going head to menas that its going to be hard to decide who to root for in this match! King thankfully goit a nice, if smaller than Thunder Rosa’s, pop from the crowd and played up to the crowds boos by playing heel in this one. Though it’s weird seeing King playing heel again in front of audiences after spending a lot of 2021 as a face.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: The Acclaimed & Private Party def. The Varsity Blonds & Dark Order’s 5 & 10
My Thoughts: Gotta love Max Caster continuing the French “Ooo la la” theme of his risque Eiffel Tower comment the other week by giving Varsity Blonds’ Julia Hart a rather phallic French baguette. In terms of the match each and every team got in some fantastic moves – The Acclaimed even managed to play heels against their own partners by letting Private Party taking a lot of the abuse in this match!
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #4: Abadon def. Promise Braxton
My Thoughts: Before this episode of AEW: Dark aired I saw lots of comments online recommending people watch this match to see up and comer Promise Braxton in action. Unfortunately for Braxton, no-one told Abadon that we wanted to see Braxton’s in-ring skills. Instead Abadon demolished her opponent in typical Abadon style.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #5: The Bunny def. Big Swole
My Thoughts: Nice addition of Diamante distracting Swole in this match to further the feud between the two – the war of words seemingly now coming to a head as Diamante’s interference, a swift kick to the side of head in the corner, cost Big Swole her match.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #6: Wardlow def. Chad Lenex
My Thoughts: Lenex, a trainee from Dustin Rhodes’ Wrestling Academy is fed to Wardlow in a match that didn’t even go a minute.
My Score: 0 out of 5
Match #7: Dustin Rhodes def. Aaron Solow
My Thoughts: Imagine bringing out Dustin Rhodes in the main event in his hometown of Austin, Texas. It’s also as if you knew what kind of pop Rhodes would get. And boy did he get it! To his credit however, Solow played the heel in this match brilliantly, getting on the mic to antagon ise the crowd then hitting Rhodes with everything he had – including a Bronco Buster. Rhodes got a near-fall with the Code Red before hit a simple bulldog for the win to a huge pop from the hometown crowd.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2/5
A real mixed bag on this episode. With three matches out of the seven on this card hitting the high spots and the rest floundering in squash city. At least this one was short.
