If you love puns or various "insider" references, you will absolutely love the way All Elite Wrestling names their events. Both Double or Nothing and All Out are references to All In, the first show put on by Cody, Kenny, and the Young Bucks, and Dynamite is about as subtle as a brick to the head, given it was being broadcast on the TNT network. Just like everything else AEW puts out, Dark, the company's secondary show airing on their YouTube channel, is a reference, that to the "dark matches" that many promotions host before and after TV tapings and major events. These matches are typically never broadcast, and so are much more experimental than what ends up being televised, as wrestlers don't have to worry about continuity and are free to play with their characters, try out new moves, or just have some fun with the crowd. But AEW exists to buck the trend, and so these matches have been compiled together for Dark, which not only gives fans an opportunity to see matches that they normally wouldn't, but the company has elected to take it one step further and count the wins and losses these typically unimportant encounters towards their brand new rankings system. I'll get more into the AEW rankings as we go further along, since they didn't release any updated rankings for the first month of programming, but I like the concept in theory. Everything that takes place on an aired show should have some meaning, and the idea that every win matters adds so much importance to even the most throwaway of matches. Whether I continue to review each episode of Dark when the show heads into it's "pandemic era" is something I'm not certain of right now, as I now it eventually expands into being around 3 hours long and filled with squash matches, which might not be terribly fun to write about, but we'll wait and see. For right now, the first card seems exciting on paper, so I'm eager to see what AEW has in store for it's lesser weekly broadcast.
- As will be the case with every episode of Dark, we're back in the same location as the previous installment of Dynamite, the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone are on the call, with the latter also operating out of AEW's "Control Room".
- Our opening contest is the only one of the four on offer that was taped before last week's Dynamite, as CIMA takes on Darby Allin. I really loved the energetic start to this match, with CIMA immediately pouncing on Darby, who was still seated in the corner finishing his entrance, CIMA quickly nailing his first meteora. Darby responds with elegant ferocity, hitting his gorgeous top rope armdrag before blasting CIMA with three consecutive impactful suicide dives. CIMA avoids the Coffin Drop, with the announcers smartly noting that it hasn't been hit yet in AEW, playing up the importance of that move for Darby, who is also yet to win a match in the new company. CIMA rams Darby's shoulder into the corner and takes his opponent down to the mat, where CIMA then applies some sort of combination of a Stretch Muffler, Fujiwara Armbar, and headscissors choke, that I've never seen before, and it drew a gasp of appreciation from the crowd. Darby fights back by trapping CIMA in the corner and going to work on the leg, hitting some chops and headbutts, as well as just ramming his spine into CIMA's leg, just the exact type of unsophisticated limb work you'd expect out of Darby. CIMA tries to turn it into a strike fest, taking down Darby with a couple weak chest slaps, that strong style stuff isn't quite his forte anymore. Darby is still giving this match socks, though, with a terrific sell of a backstabber by CIMA, leaping high in the air and contorting his body in a sickening fashion. Darby takes the meteora to the back of the head and just about kicks out, before avoiding the second and strikes in an instant, quickly connecting with a sunset flip bomb. Finally, the Coffin Drop connects, and Darby Allin is victorious in AEW for the first time, moving on to a showdown with Jimmy Havoc on the second episode of Dynamite, with the winner there earning an AEW World Championship match. Another spectacular effort from Darby, who started off well and is already showing some massive signs of growth, which can only spell good things for his future.
- We now move on to matches that took place after October 2nd's Dynamite, with a much quieter crowd from this point onward, understandable given they had already sat through over 2 hours of frenetic action. In a bit of a preview of the upcoming tag title tournament, Best Friends and Private Party team up to take on The Hybrid2 (Angelico and Jack Evans) and the Lucha Brothers. Evans sets the tone for the match by botching his entrance, tripping while attempting a spingboard into the ring and falling flat on his face, which was hilarious. Rey Fenix and Marq Quen kick things off with dives to the outside, Quen pulling off the more impressive of the two, being backdropped to the floor by Penta and flipping in mid-air to take out TH2. If this match was just centered around Private Party and the Lucha Brothers, it could've been an absolute classic, but instead, a majority of ring time is just spent on TH2 working over the Best Friends. Angelico and Evans just aren't particularly impressive in control, with Angelico's kicks looking super weak and Evans possessing an extremely limited move-set. The action does pick up when Chuck and Trent make a comeback, and then we get some fun character moments, with Angelico and Evans attacking Orange Cassidy (who is cornering Chuck and Trent) to draw some decent heat, and Quen losing his shades after being kicked by Penta and Fenix. Chuck recovers the sunglasses, he and Trent share a hug, then hit dual suicide dives before Chuck returns the glasses to Quen, because he's a true gentleman. Cassidy gets his revenge, diving onto Angelico and Evans with his hands in his pockets, but Penta and Fenix strike the fatal blow. In a really cool spot, Fenix interrupts Strong Zero, and turns Trent in mid-air, resulting in Penta connecting with a Canadian Destroyer, effing awesome move. Fenix then walks the top rope to kick Chuck in the head, and the luchadores finish it off with the Package Piledriver/Double Stomp combo. AEW has produced some better spotfests in it's short time, but this was still really fun when it got going.
- Off to some women's action, as the feud between Britt Baker and Bea Priestley continues to simmer, as Baker teams with Allie to combat Priestley and Penelope Ford. There are definitely parts of this match that worked for me, I was really impressed with Ford's athleticism, as she hit a few handspring moves and also avoided a clothesline with a Matrix-style dodge, one of the few times the crowd actually reacted to anything in this one. Allie also brought some of her best babyface fire, with a few sliding forearms to Ford, and I liked Priestley's old school heel work, cutting off Allie with a cheap shot from the apron and stopping a hot tag later on. Baker, while still technically proficient, just isn't a natural fit in the white meat, hard-working face role they've given her, which was on full display during her awkward stint on guest commentary for the women's title match on the first Dynamite. There are also quite a few botches in this match, including an ugly one between Ford and Baker when the latter tries to hit a fisherman's neckbreaker to set up the finish. They both just fall clumsily to the mat, where Baker does somewhat make up for the ugliness with an excellent winning submission, a combination of PAC's Brutalizer (or the Rings of Saturn) and the Mandible Claw, a perfect way for the practicing dentist to put this match away. All four of these women do clearly all posses some potential, but a lot of work will need to be done before any of them get close to actually reaching it.
- Main event time, as the Jurassic Express take on SoCal Uncensored in an All Out return match. I enjoyed the early trade between Marko Stunt and Christopher Daniels, each taking it in turn to step on the other before Flossing, and then the match can get serious. Frankie Kazarian hits a perfectly executed spingboard leg drop, and after Luchasaurus puts SCU on the back foot, Jungle Boy and Stunt combine for an intricate double team move, Jungle Boy holding Stunt's hands and flipping the smaller man over to hit a splash. Scorpio Sky is as crisp as ever, nailing a couple stiff clotheslines on the two fan favorites, with Stunt's attempted comeback failing immediately when he just bounces off of Sky. It's now time for Luchasaurus to shine, as the big man goes down briefly to a DDT by Kazarian, only to set up and avoid a kick with a tactical roll. This was a far cry from the absolute belter of a performance Luchasaurus had in the first match between these two trios, but he does get in the chokeslam/standing moonsault combo that manages to pop the weary crowd. The pace starts to quicken as everyone gets in moves, Stunt hitting a running shooting star press before being knocked for a loop by Christopher Daniels, who then takes a headbutt from Luchasaurus. Sky low bridges Luchasaurus to the outside, where Daniels takes the big man out of it with a dive off the apron into a flatliner. Sky and Kazarian hold court in the ring, picking Jungle Boy apart, before Stunt is put away with an elevated backstabber. This wasn't on the level of the All Out match, although that was to be expected, as this was on a much smaller stage, in front of a crowd who were running out of energy, so it's not exactly the type of spot where too many competitors could pull off an all-timer. I do like these two trios working against each other, they're polar opposites in a lot of ways and are very creative in coming up with new spots, so I'm always going to be interested to see them face off.
7/10
This was a really solid offering from AEW, an action-packed hour of wrestling that flew by, although outside of the opener, there wasn't much in the way of stakes for any of the action. The women's tag match did have some really awkward moments, and the two multi-man tags weren't quite to the level of what had been on offer on the AEW pay-per-views, although they weren't far behind. The clear highlight was the CIMA/Darby Allin match, which fit a lot into under 7 minutes of ring time, and gave us another glimpse at one of the most exciting prospects in the entire company.
Next time on AEW Dark: Kenny Omega battles Joey Janela in a "Lights Out" match, where anything and everything is legal. It's gonna be wild. See you soon.
- Henry
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