There have been a lot of matches given away on "free TV" in WWE history, most notably the likes of the Kurt Angle/Brock Lesnar hour long Iron Man match in 2003, TLC 3 and 4 in 2001 and 2002, John Cena versus Shawn Michaels on Raw in London, and many more. It's a great way to offer loyal viewers extra content without having them make the commitment that comes with purchasing a single event. However, as Vince's company shifted towards the streaming landscape with the launch of the WWE Network, the biggest matches were almost exclusively reserved for events, since the price was no longer as steep. AEW is looking to reverse course on that, making more of their big matches available on Dynamite in the hopes of creating a steady viewership. That policy also carries over to Dark, apparently, as AEW decided to book an absolute barnburner for the second episode of their new YouTube show, a "Lights Out" match between Kenny Omega and Joey Janela. I'm guessing the thought here is to get fans ready for the craziness to come between Omega and Jon Moxley, allowing an audience to get a look at Omega in a more hardcore setting. In kayfabe, Omega began slowly losing his sanity after his shocking loss to PAC at All Out, growing distant from the other members of The Elite, and taking that Paradigm Shift through a glass table on the first episode of Dynamite sure isn't helping. Kenny seems to need to prove that he can be the same type of monster as Moxley, but a war with the psychotic "Bad Boy" spells nothing but trouble.
- The October 15th, 2019 episode of AEW Dark comes to you from the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. This week, Dark actually has it's own distinct arena set-up, with some moodier lighting and the mini-tron bearing it's name in place of Dynamite. Excalibur and Jim Ross are on the call.
- Our opening contest, which was taped before last week's Dynamite, is a triple threat match between Peter Avalon, Kip Sabian, and Sonny Kiss. Avalon garners some cheap heat in a pre-match promo, saying he's competing in October, unlike the Red Sox, insulting the Bostonians for preferring to see Tom Brady on a magazine as opposed to actually reading (yeah, that might not get much of a reaction now), and declaring that if he wanted a cup of water, he would have to go to St. Louis (the Blues won the Stanley Cup back in June). Sabian is the definite star of this match, providing a couple of the biggest highlights with his springboard cannonball senton off the apron onto Avalon, and a slick double pinning move where he rolls-up Kiss, then catches a running Avalon with a bridging Northern Lights Suplex, getting a two count on both competitors. Kiss was also entertaining in parts, using his flexibility well to avoid a few moves, although his actual offensive repertoire isn't especially diverse. Avalon attempts an O'Connor Roll on Kiss, positing Sonny's head through the ropes so Leva Bates can whack Sonny with a book. That cheating isn't enough to end it though, and Avalon is propelled face-first into the turnbuckles by Sabian, who hits the Deathly Hallows for the win.
- We now move to the matches that took place after Dynamite, and first up, it's an eight man tag, with CIMA teaming up with SCU to take on the oddball quartet of the Dark Order and TheHybrid2 (Angelico and Jack Evans). I will say, CIMA did fit in surprisingly well with Daniels, Kazarian, and Sky, and all four look good in their brief periods of offense. The majority of the match is spent with Daniels taking a beating, with the heels in complete control after Evans stuck his thumbs in Daniels' eyes. Stu Grayson puts in a good shift in this one, delivering a springboard senton splash with Daniels laid across the apron, and flying high to combine with Evil Uno on a double team sidewalk slam. Grayson is just so athletic, and with the kind of animalistic intensity that makes him a very believable ass kicker. After Daniels finally gets free, Kazarian takes the match up a level with a great hot tag, nailing Grayson with a Shotgun dropkick and then Spearing Uno. Uno is then Speared again on the outside, this time accidentally by Grayson, who was propelled into his partner courtesy of a Kazarian hurricanrana, I love that spot. Scorpio Sky and CIMA each hit double splashes to the outside, then Sky nails a perfect moonsault, springing off the second rope to bring Grayson and Uno crashing down. The action is a million miles an hour now, as everyone takes turn getting offense in. Grayson and Kazarian again steal the show, with Stu hitting a torture rack backbreaker and Kazarian then lifting Grayson into the air by using the top rope for leverage and nailing a mid-air cutter. Sky and Evans end up as the last two men standing, and Scorpio appears to be in control after performing vertical leap to hit a double stomp onto a crouched Evans. But Uno, the cheating bastard, manages to distract the referee for long enough to allow Evans and Angelico to annihilate Sky's crown jewels with a double low blow, and Evans scores the three count with a prawn hold cover. This was a slight downgrade from the eight man tag on last week's Dark, but it was still extremely entertaining, with standout performances by Grayson, Kazarian, and Sky.
- AEW referee Aubrey Edwards sits down for an interview with Cody Rhodes, mentioning some of her communication with the WWE and her career path to this point. It does feel like a bit of a waste to send a few minutes of a wrestling show on an interview with a referee, but she is extremely good at her job, so I'll let this one slide.
- Main event time, as Joey Janela and Kenny Omega do battle in a "Lights Out" match, where anything goes, and the result will not officially count towards either man's record due to it being non-sanctioned. This match included a lot more wrestling than I was expecting, certainly a lot more than in Janela's previous hardcore bouts with the likes of Jon Moxley, Darby Allin, and Jimmy Havoc, and to his credit, Janela can definitely go. Certainly, it helped for him to be working with Omega, one of the most talented performers in the history of the business, but Janela shows what he can do early, trading shots with Omega before performing a slick hurricanrana and nailing a suicide dive. That's enough wrestling, then, time for some weapons. Omega cycles through some brutal spots, including hitting a Kotaro Krusher (basically an inverted Rough Ryder) onto a pile of chairs, then whips Janela into the ring steps and wallops the "Bad Boy" with a stiff missile dropkick to the back. Janela trades back with a chair shot to the ribs and one to the back, but Omega continues to dish out serious punishment, dropping Janela with two snap dragon suplexes, then hits a third across the apron, getting a big pop from the crowd. Omega attempts a One-Winged Angel off the ring steps and onto the floor, but Janela trades back by suplexing Omega on the thin ringside mats. It's Janela's turn to try and cripple Omega, and he does his damndest. Janela hits a gorgeous superplex, then backdrops Omega onto a table, which is upside down to provide even more pain, since Omega's back lands on the metal legs instead of the wood. Janela then drives Omega into a ladder with a Death Valley Driver, and brings those in attendance to their feet, diving off the ladder with a Frog Splash that misses, and Joey munches on table. Omega nails a V-Trigger, and then both men make the purpose of this match more clear by bringing the specter of Moxley into the mix. Omega pulls out the pendulum clothesline and a Dirty Deeds, and I'm stunned we didn't get chants for Dean Ambrose after that. Omega mimics Moxley's motions during the latter's debut at Double or Nothing, where he mimicked inhaling the turbo-charged atmosphere. In one last burst of offense, Janela launches Omega through a table bridged between the apron and the upturned ring steps, before driving down his weight onto Omega, hitting a double foot stomp, made much worse as Omega had a chair over his midsection. Janela sits Omega down on a chair, taunting him about Moxley, but Kenny is far from beaten. Janela sets up a contraption of chairs, and Omega then slams him onto them, before finally ending this war with a One-Winged Angel into yet another chair, Janela's body getting obliterated as the effing thing refused to break.
- What a match that was, easily pay-per-view quality, possible even worthy of going on last for a major event, and given away for absolutely no cost on YouTube. This significantly raised Joey Janela's stock in my eyes, as he proved he can hang with the absolute best, both in and out of kayfabe. Meanwhile, Omega showed that he can be just as extreme as Moxley, and I'm so ready to see what kind of madness those two men have cooked up for their clash. I love this company.
8/10
Even though the triple threat and eight man tag weren't anything truly spectacular, any show that features such a tremendous match as that main event will earn a high score in my book. Go out of your way to see that Omega and Janela match, and marvel at just how crazy these wrestlers are, to go through something like for a f***ing YouTube video.
Next time on Henry's TV Reviews: AEW Dynamite #3, where Darby Allin challenged Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship. See you soon.
- Henry
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