Dark – September 15, 2020: Keep It Going
IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Dark
Date: September 15, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Veda Scott
We’re back to the usual hour and a half long show on Tuesday after last week’s double shot on Tuesday and Friday. This time around we even have a special featured match with Peter Avalon vs. Brandon Cutler in a match where one of them will have a winner, unless they find a way to have a draw, as they should. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The announcers bicker and make their jokes about each other, as they tend to do.
Red Velvet vs. Brandi Rhodes
Dustin Rhodes is here with Brandi. They fight over the wristlocks to start and Velvet seems to indicate that she is red. A shoulder taker Velvet down but she’s right back up with a leg lariat. Brandi kicks her in the face and hammers away before a low superkick gets two. The Sling Blade gets two but here is Anna Jay to stare at Brandi. The distraction lets Red hit a DDT for two but Brandi is back up with the spear. Brandi grabs Jay’s Queenslayer for the tap at 4:19.
Rating: D+. I can’t say I’m surprised that Brandi is getting a story of some kind because it has been a full two or three weeks since she had something going on. Normally I would complain about someone who isn’t exactly the most talented in-ring performer getting a spot like this but I think that has been covered extensively enough. Brandi is treated like the biggest star around but she loses so much of her aura as soon as she gets in the ring. The solution would be not to have her wrestle….and yeah that isn’t going to happen so here we are.
Daniel Garcia/Kevin Blackwood vs. Butcher and Blade
Eddie Kingston is here too. Butcher and Blade jump them to start and the brawl is on in a hurry with all four heading outside. Back in and Garcia gets beaten down in the corner as Taz goes into his New York geography discussion of the week. Blade comes in and kicks away at Garcia’s head as commentary argues about a pen. Blackwood gets the tag and a crossbody from Butcher to go with it. Everything breaks down and it’s backbreaker into Full Death to finish Garcia at 4:19.
Rating: C-. This was a little bit better than the opener, but I’m still not feeling the suplex onto the knees finisher. Butcher and Blade have come a long way since their debut, which might have something to do with them actually winning some matches for a change. And dropping the whole “we’re butchers” thing.
Dani Jordyn vs. Penelope Ford
Kip Sabian is here too so we get into a Twitch discussion. That’s switched into a battle of the Mean Girl vs. the Super Bad Girl as commentary starts laughing at each other again. Thankfully Scott actually takes her job seriously as Ford chokes on the rope and catapults her throat first into the top rope for two. A gutbuster drops Jordyn and Sabian slides in the burn book so Ford can shoves the pages down Jordyn’s throat. That brings Jordyn back to life (because wrestling is weird) but Ford bulldogs her into the corner. A missile dropkick sets up the fisherman’s suplex to finish Jordyn at 4:32.
Rating: C-. Taz and Excalibur need to be punched in the face while Scott needs a stern lecture as commentary is rapidly going off the rails. It’s more of the same with them doing and saying things to entertain themselves because they know this match means nothing and is just there to fill in time on the show. If AEW insists on the show being this long, at least get commentary to take it seriously for a few matches.
Brian Cage vs. Megabite Ronnie
Ronnie (with his glorious mustache) isn’t a computer guy, but rather a competitive eater. Ricky Starks joins commentary which has to be an upgrade. The running shoulder into a backbreaker set up the shoulders in the corner as commentary makes car references about Cage. Ronnie gets in some kicks to the ribs and a knee to the face but Cage clotheslines his head off. A sitout powerbomb plants Cage and Ronnie….goes to grab a hot dog, which he eats while hitting a People’s Elbow for two. Thankfully Cage kicks him in the face and hits a 619 into the Drill Claw for the pin at 3:09.
Rating: F. You have Cage, who has been a World Title challenger within the last month or so, staying down long enough so that a guy can get a bite of a hot dog and hit a move that takes about ten seconds to set up. All because, at least according to the official reason, AEW wants to let indy wrestlers showcase themselves? But yeah, I’m the one who misses the point.
Santana and Ortiz vs. Griff Garrison/Brian Pillman Jr.
Starks stays on commentary because a four person booth has been a great idea so many times in the past. Santana cranks on Pillman’s arm to start and gets annoyed at Pillman for trying to reverse. Garrison comes in and gets his skin chopped off in the corner, followed by a superkick to put him down. A bulldog drives Garrison down and Ortiz gets two before kicking Garrison in the ribs for good measure.
Ortiz hits another clothesline and brings Santana back in for a running kick to the head. There’s a suplex into the corner but Garrison gets in a shot to the face allowing the tag to Brian for Air Pillman. Commentary doesn’t get the reference, but Excalibur does get to call a tope suicida, which I’m sure is more important to someone other than Excalibur. Ortiz hits a sitout powerbomb into a kick to the head from Santana for the pin at 6:09.
Rating: C. This was an entertaining extended squash as Santana and Ortiz got to do all of their cool stuff. Naturally there was no doubt a tot the winner, but at least Pillman has charisma and Garrison has a little something to him that makes him fun to watch. It was the most entertaining thing on the show to watch so far, which might be more due to commentary doing their jobs for the most part.
Will Hobbs vs. Jessy Sorensen
Hobbs clotheslines him down to start and sends Sorensen to the apron. That means a kick to Hobbs’ head on the way back in but he hits a spinebuster into an Oklahoma Stampede to finish Sorensen at 1:20.
Rache Chanel/Skyler Moore vs. Diamante/Ivelisse
Ivelisse works on Moore’s arm to start but gets hiptossed down in a hurry. Diamante and Chanel come in with the latter hitting some armdrags, only to get pulled into a hard forearm to the face. Ivelisse is back in with a kick to the back to set up a dragon sleeper. That goes nowhere so Diamante comes back with a hard clothesline. A shot to the face allows the hot tag back to Moore though and house is cleaned in a hurry. Everything breaks down and it’s a Backstabber into a rolling kick to the face to finish Moore at 5:28.
Rating: D+. Commentary has thankfully settled down, which may be due to Starks, who can be the cocky guy without going too far out of the way. It wasn’t exactly a competitive match but it wasn’t quite supposed to be here. I like Moore most of the time I see her and she had a fairly fired up comeback so this could have been a lot worse.
Colt Cabana vs. QT Marshall
Allie and the Dark Order are here as well. They go with the grappling to start until Marshall is headscissored out to the floor for a lecture from Allie. Back in and Cabana looks up at the Dark Order for approval and gets dropkicked down in a hurry. Marshall gets sent hard into the corner and an elbow to the head gets two.
The neck crank doesn’t last long as Marshall fights up with a flying shoulder and a top rope elbow to the face. A Lethal Combination gets two on Cabana and he counters the Flying Apple into a belly to back suplex for two. Cue Evil Uno to talk to Cabana for a distraction, allowing Stu Grayson to hit a running knee on Marshall. Cabana’s discus lariat is good for the pin at 7:03.
Rating: C. See, now this was more like it. Not because the wrestling was better or anything, but because there was an actual story here and the slightest bit of doubt over who could win. That’s such a relief and a nice change of pace after all of the noncompetitive matches with people who aren’t all that interesting. Why not do more like this?
Brandon Cutler vs. Peter Avalon
Neither has ever won a match around here and Leva Bates is here with Avalon. They slug it out and head outside for a bit until Cutler sends him back inside for a springboard clothesline. They head outside again with Avalon spinning around the post to avoid going head first into the steel. Avalon is sent inside but comes right back with a suicide dive. Back in and a Rock Bottom gives Avalon two and we hit a quickly broken Boston crab.
Cutler is back with a reverse inverted DDT for two so Avalon comes back with a tiger driver for the same. The split legged moonsault gives Avalon another near fall but Cutler knocks him down and hits a springboard elbow for a closer two. They both head up top and slug it out to send them both to the floor. Neither can get back in thanks to some saves from the other…and it’s a double countout at 6:45.
Rating: C. That’s the only way to go, but most importantly here is that it took place on Dark. This match has a story and the two of them have a history, but it is the kind of match that could only fit on this show. The action was pretty good too, so it was a
Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom vs. Best Friends
Chuck drives Stardom into the corner to start and hits a kick to the face to send him over for a tag. It’s off to Smiley, who gets headlocked takeoverd but a running knee takes him right back down. Trent forearms him in the corner and it’s back to Stardom, who hits a spinning bulldog out of the corner. That earns him a suplex down and everyone heads to the floor. Trent spears Stardom down and it’s Soul Food into the half and half back inside. The stuff piledriver into the piledriver gives Trent the pin at 5:36.
Rating: C-. I for one certainly needed to see the Best Friends again as being on every show is not the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. They played it a little more serious here though and that helped a bit. I’m still not a fan of the Trent’s mom’s van deal, but it’s the closest thing we can get to making it work.
Private Party/Gunn Club vs. Dark Order
Billy headlocks Reynolds to start and stares Reynolds down for daring to try a chop. It’s Reynolds being taken into the corner for some work on the arm. Austin comes in to do the same and there’s a backdrop for two. Reynolds drives him into corner though and it’s time for the villains to beat him down. That doesn’t last long either though as Austin drives him back into the corner for the tag to Marq Quen.
An atomic drop looks to set up the shooting star as everything breaks down. Quen’s leg is grabbed and it’s Grayson pulling him down for two off a crash. We hit the reverse chinlock for a bit until Quen it taken back into the corner to keep up the stomping. Uno’s brainbuster gets two with Kassidy making the save, leaving him to get out of trouble with his own with a double hurricanrana.
A roll over to the corner allows a nice hot tag to bring Billy back in. Everything breaks down but the Fameasser is broken up by Reynolds pulling Billie outside. Everything breaks down and it’s the Fameasser for Grayson but Billy gets pulled to the floor. The Fatality finishes Austin at 10:42.
Rating: C. Another not terrible match here, though I’m surprised by Gunn taking the fall. I get that Billy is the legend (work with me here) here around AEW and they don’t want to have Private Party lose, but it still felt off. The Fatality did look good though, which is usually the case for a nice ending.
The Dynamite preview takes us out.
Overall Rating: C-. There wasn’t much wrestling worth going out of your way to see here and it was another long show on top of that. Some of the matches did feel a little more important here, which helped somewhat, though it was still a show that you don’t need to see with a bunch of wrestlers who are on here almost every week. Just more of the same, which means it wasn’t very good.
Results
Brandi Rhodes b. Red Velvet – Queenslayer
Butcher and Blade b. Daniel Garcia/Kevin Blackwood – Full Death to Garcia
Penelope Ford b. Dani Jordyn – Fisherman’s suplex
Brian Cage b. Megabite Ronnie – Drill Claw
Santana and Ortiz b. Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison – Kick to Pillman’s head
Will Hobbs b. Jessy Sorensen – Oklahoma Stampede
Diamante/Ivelisse b. Rache Chanel/Skyler Moore – Kick to Moore’s face
Colt Cabana b. QT Marshall – Discus lariat
Brandon Cutler vs. Peter Avalon went to a double countout
Best Friends b. Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom – Piledriver to Stardom
Dark Order b. Private Party/Gunn Club – Fatality to Gunn
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