Henry's World

AEW has already established themselves as a hub of tag team wrestling, filled to the brim with dynamic duos that are given a proper spotlight to distinguish each team and attempt to create an entire catalog of incredible matches. Tonight on Dark, that business model is taken to the next level with a card entirely comprised of tag team bouts, which features three of the best AEW has to offer (The Young Bucks, Best Friends, and Private Party) in addition to one of the only established female alliances in the company, as Riho and Britt Baker team up for the second time. If you love tag team wrestling, then this is the hour for you.  - The November 19th, 2019 episode of AEW Dark comes to you from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, with Excalibur joined by "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes on commentary. Dustin is wearing a cast to sell the arm injury he sustained in the Jake Hager limo door attack, and while his personality and distinct voice stood out, I felt ...

The release schedule of Dark gets it's first alteration this week, as with Full Gear upcoming, Dark went out on Friday, instead of Tuesday, so that it could premiere on YouTube before the pay-per-view. In addition to releasing Dark, this Friday also saw the debut of AEW's new rankings system, part of their effort to place more importance on the results of matches and give the company a sports-esque presentation. We'll take a look at the Top 5 for men, women, and tag teams later on, but first, we head to the ring for a show featuring two women's matches and a championship appearance.  - The November 8th, 2019, episode of AEW Dark comes to you from the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the first taped before this week's Dynamite, and the latter two after the final bell. Excalibur and Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez are behind the desk for this one, to be joined by two guest commentators at separate points throughout this hour.  - Our opening cont...

Reviewing wrestling, or an entertainment medium, with the benefit of years of hindsight is often a strange experience, as you enter possessing knowledge that those living in the past could never, and will never, understand. AEW's decision to push Jimmy Havoc made sense in November of 2019; he's a unique entity that had gotten the new promotion mainstream attention at All Out in the insane "Cracker Barrel Clash", and while he likely was never going to be world championship material or anything, you can absolutely find a spot on the card for the skills that he brought to the table. Of course, we know now that Havoc was a mess of a human being, and his wrestling career was destined to go down the tubes, which makes this episode of Dark an odd viewing experience, as Havoc occupies a prominent spot in the main event, in addition to joining Cody Rhodes for his weekly "From Undesirable to Undeniable" interview segment. I can't blame anyone for wanting to bail o...

 Much like yesterday's Dynamite review, this may well be my last review of an episode of AEW Dark, and while that Dynamite show was quite good, my expectations aren't as high for the fourth weekly edition of Dark. The card is underwhelming on paper, especially in comparison to episodes 2 and 3 of Dark, which featured various members of The Elite in the main event, putting on pay-per-view quality outings working with the likes of Joey Janela, Private Party, and Strong Hearts. But even though the name value might not be as high, I am very intrigued at the prospect of the wacky pairing of Dustin Rhodes and Sonny Kiss, plus the trio of Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc, and Jack Evans in the main event will almost certainly create a highlight or two, knowing how crazy those three guys can be.  - The October 29th, 2019 episode of AEW Dark comes to you from the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with Excalibur and Jim Ross on the call. It's unfortunate that Taz was only g...

 Thus far, AEW has been really good at giving the audience a reason to watch Dark every week, starting with an All Out rematch between SoCal Uncensored and the Jurassic Express in Episode 1, then you had the chaotic Lights Out match last week, and now for the third episode, a star-studded eight man tag, as the Young Bucks team up with Cody and Dustin Rhodes to take on Private Party, CIMA, and T-Hawk, the latter two representing Strong Hearts. Cody, Dustin, Matt and Nick are of course four of the founders and biggest names of All Elite Wrestling, so booking them in the main event can make up for an otherwise lackluster card, plus there's the appeal of seeing the Young Bucks and Private Party face off again after their show-stealer in Boston.  - The October 22nd, 2019 episode of Dark comes to you from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and AEW has taken some further steps to differentiate their two shows. Last week, Dark got the addition of a different lighting ...

 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 ...

 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 t...