Dark – November 19, 2019: Some Of Someone’s Best Yet
IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Dark
Date: November 19, 2019
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Dustin Rhodes, Excalibur
Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Dasha Gonzalez
This show is starting to seem a little less important as we almost never see a big match around here anymore. That can pick up at any time though and that makes the show a lot easier to watch. However, I’m not sure how interesting this show is going to be week to week, which is an issue they might want to fix a little bit. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Tony and Dasha welcome us to a tag team edition of the show.
Dustin Rhodes is your special commentator this week. Having a rotating guest commentator is a good idea.
Private Party vs. Best Friends
Orange Cassidy is here with the Best Friends and Quen throws him some jewelry. The fans love that, because Cassidy is a national treasure that you must love or something about boomer. Quen and Trent slug it out and it’s quickly off to Chuck as Dustin sounds like he’s having the time of his life out there (he is totally Dusty Rhodes’ son).
Chuck throws him into the corner with a suplex but it’s off to Isaiah to take over and hook the camel clutch, setting up the double stomp to the back. Orange gets up on the apron to pose with the wrong team and the fans cheer because he did something. The Best Friends come back in and Chuck hits Soul Food on Quen, setting up…..a bite to the boot? A Doomsday superplex gets two on Isaiah, freaking Dustin out because he wants to go to the party tonight (Dustin: “I know I’m 50 but I want to go to the party!”).
The tag brings Quen back in for a dropkick to Trent and a dive to Chuck. Another dive makes it even worse and a springboard crossbody gets two on Trent. A neckbreaker/Swanton combination gets two on Trent but it’s back to Chuck as everyone goes outside.
Chuck powerslams Quen onto the same and the knee gets two on Isaiah back inside. The tornado DDT is broken up and Silly String takes Chuck down. Quen dives onto Chuck on the floor and the shooting star press, say it with me, gets two. Gin and Juice misses with Quen getting stuck in the corner, allowing Chuck to powerbomb Isaiah into him in the corner. That sets up the BIG HUG and Strong Zero finishes Cassidy at 14:54.
Rating: B-. I’ve never been a fan of the Best Friends but this was the best performance I’ve ever seen from them and I had a good time watching it. They didn’t have a classic or anything but we got a rather solid match with everyone looking good and some awesome spots. Now that being said, can we PLEASE have Quen beat someone with that shooting star press? Either that or don’t let him use it every single match.
Big Swole/Kris Stadtlander vs. Riho/Britt Baker
Swole powers Riho into the corner to start so Riho headlocks her to the mat. The double stomp misses so it’s off to Baker vs. Stadtlander. A release gordbuster plants Baker and a dropkick to the knee gives Stadtlander two. Swole can’t get in a suplex so Baker is back with a Sling Blade for one.
We hit a neck crank on Swole but Baker avoids a lot superkick, only to take Swole down again. That’s enough to bring Riho back in but charges right into a superkick. Dustin can’t understand how Excalibur knows all these names as Riho sends Stadtlander down, allowing the tag back to Baker. Everything breaks down and Stadtlander throws Baker onto Riho for two.
A hanging DDT gets two on Swole but a big kick to the head gives Baker two on Stadtlander. Riho’s top rope double stomp gets the same and it’s Baker and Stadtlander rolling around for a good while into a rollup for two on Stadtlander. Riho gets sent outside and Swole hits Stadtlander by mistake. Baker sends Swole outside and it’s Lockjaw to finish Stadtlander at 12:36.
Rating: C. Perfectly watchable here, though it isn’t like that is the highest level of praise. It still seems that a lot of the women are waiting for their break out moment and I’m not sure when that is going to come. The division is still a work in progress, but that doesn’t mean it is something that works a lot of the time. This was more interesting than some of the matches they have but it is nothing memorable or even very good.
We get Cody’s weekly sitdown interview, this time with Justin Roberts. He went from the low of being released from WWE to what he is now and people remembering him is something special to him. I can certainly appreciate his passion if nothing else.
We look back at MJF ranting about Cody trying to keep him underneath his thumb. Cody came out for the fight but Wardlow debuted to save MJF.
We see the brawl between the Young Bucks and Santana/Ortiz. The Orange Cassidy cameo is omitted here, which is a case of addition by subtraction.
The highlights continue with a clip of Scorpio Sky pinning Chris Jericho to retain the World Title. Jericho snapping as a result is appropriate for him.
Young Bucks vs. Strong Hearts
Nick headlocks T-Hawk to start so they take turns with shoulders. A dropkick takes T-Hawk down and Lindaman is kicked to the floor as well. T-Hawn is right back with a suplex though and Lindaman strikes away at Nick. Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s a series of strikes into an assisted suplex to drop Nick.
Lindaman hits a dive onto Nick but an enziguri gets Nick out of trouble. Matt comes in off the tag for the rotating suplexes but another German suplex puts Matt down. It’s back to Nick for the fast paced comeback, including the moonsault to the floor. The Meltzer Driver finishes Lindaman at 7:49.
Overall Rating: B-. Nothing was close to bad and they kept things moving. Couple that with Dustin sounding so much like his dad that it’s unreal and this was an entertaining show. They still could tighten things up a bit and cut out a recap or even a match, but this was a good enough show and one of the better ones since it debuted.
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