IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Late Night Dynamite
Date: September 23, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Chris Jericho, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Jim Ross

It’s a special edition of Dynamite for those who need a bridge to the next one. Dark was on…well officially yesterday as this is airing after the NBA Playoffs and Inside The NBA, meaning it is going to be starting at about 12:40AM. I’m not sure why we need three AEW shows in less than a day and a half but maybe they can surprise me. Let’s get to it.

Chris Jericho joins commentary.

Ben Carter vs. Scorpio Sky

Carter is a British wrestler who has been rather impressive on Dark. They take each other down to start until Sky is ready for an armdrag attempt. That’s fine with Carter, who hits the second attempt to give us a standoff. Another armdrag into an armbar has Sky in trouble for a bit before Sky fights up to run the ropes. A dropkick puts Sky down on the floor and he has no idea what to do with Carter here (those looks are doing more for Carter than almost anything else he can do).

Back in and Sky catches him with an elbow to the face into a dropkick and there’s a Russian legsweep. Sky hits a backbreaker into an abdominal stretch as the logical offense continues (Chris Jericho: “Homage to Tony Garea there!” Schiavone: “Wow….Tony Garea.”). Carter flips out and chops away in the corner (he might not want to do that again) but gets knocked down as we take a break.

Back with Carter fighting out of a camel clutch but getting knocked down for two more. Carter is back up and hits an AJ Styles moonsault into the reverse DDT, though he switches his into an Eye of the Hurricane for two instead. A running shooting star press gives Carter two more but he misses the moonsault to the floor. Sky kicks him in the face and rams Carter face first into the apron.

Carter shrugs that off and hits a running flip dive to the floor. Back in and Carter hits a frog splash for a very near fall. Sky grabs a neckbreaker but Carter is back with some forearms to the head. A spinning kick to the back connects but Sky is right back with a fisherman’s buster for a very near fall. Carter kicks him in the face and grabs a rollup for two more but misses some kicks to the face. Sky hits a running double stomp to the back and Carter looks mostly done on the mat. A big boot drops Carter again and the TKO finally gives Sky the pin at 15:32.

Rating: B+. Yeah that was outstanding and I don’t know what else you can say about something like this. Carter looked like a young star here and Sky gave him an outstanding rub here with Carter being presented as a major threat. His offense looked good and I could go for a lot more of him in the future. How did NXT UK not pick this guy up?

Video on the six man tag between Will Hobbs/Jon Moxley/probably Darby Allin vs. Team Taz/Lance Archer.

Anna Jay vs. Brandi Rhodes

They slug it out to start and Brandi hits an early spear to send Anna to the apron. Something close to a DDT onto the apron plants Anna again and Brandi whips her hard into the corner. Anna is right back with a sleeper but Brandi reverses into a victory roll for two. Brandi hits some atrocious right hands but gets sent into the corner for some rakes to the back.

A snap suplex drops Brandi again and it’s time for the boot choke in the corner. There’s a running seated Blockbuster for two on Brandi and we hit the seated crossface chickenwing. Brandi fights up again and hits a clothesline into a Sling Blade but here’s the Dark Order. Evil Uno doesn’t let Stu Grayson interfere so there is a very delayed two off a Shot Of Brandi (bicycle kick) which….I think grazed Anna’s arm. The Queenslayer knocks Brandi out at 6:03.

Rating: C-. They started very hot here but then it turned into a regular match and it didn’t work all that well as a result. Brandi botches a lot (that kick was horrible and the right hands were almost as bad) and Anna is far from someone who can do anything great in the ring yet. This wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but dang there were some very bad parts.

Scorpio Sky wants the TNT Title but here’s Matt Sydal to praise him as well. Sydal was happy with his debut in the Casino Battle Royal and Sky wants to see him do it again. Maybe they’ll even go out for drinks after the show. Sydal seems interested.

Video on Brodie Lee and his path of destruction. He gets to defend against Orange Cassidy, who receives quite a bit of praise.

Matt Sydal vs. Shawn Spears

Tully Blanchard is here with Spears, who drives Sydal into the corner to start. Spears grabs a headlock into a wristlock, which is escaped with a little spin in a hurry. Sydal headlocks takeovers him over, which seems to confuse Jericho. They head to the apron with Spears getting dropped back first but being fine enough to hit a baseball slide. Back in and Sydal hits a spinwheel kick and we hit an arm crank on the mat. We take a break and come back with Sydal hitting a standing corkscrew moonsault for two.

Spears grabs a Sky High for two more and a brainbuster onto the knee connects, sending Jericho over the edge when Excalibur uses the Japanese name. Sydal blocks the C4 and goes up top (where he wipes the sweat off in a nice nod to All Out) for a top rope Meteora and another near fall. Spears goes outside and has a seat in a chair so Sydal can hit a running charge to knock him out. Tully uses the distraction to load up Spears’ glove. Back in and the C4 is countered so Spears uses the loaded glove to knock Sydal silly. Now the C4 finishes Sydal at 13:42.

Rating: B-. I’m not surprised that they had a good match, but asking me to get interested in a Shawn Spears match that started at 1:23am is not going to be the easiest sell in the world. They did surprise me with the result though, as Spears does not seem like the kind of guy who was going to pin Sydal in Sydal’s first singles match. Well done with the twist ending, though Spears is still far from thrilling.

Post match Spears goes after Sydal again but Scorpio Sky makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Ok they actually got me here as I was expecting an absolutely nothing show and got two good to VERY good matches, plus Brandi vs. Anna thrown in the middle. The obvious problem here is obvious though: aside from the most hardcore of hardcore fans, who in the world stayed up to watch this? It was a very good show (one of AEW’s best in a while actually), but it’s kind of hard to have that much interest or enthusiasm when it starts so late and comes on after another hour and thirty five minute Dark with several hours in between. Check out Carter vs. Sky though as they tore the house down.

Results

Scorpio Sky b. Ben Carter – TKO

Anna Jay b. Brandi Rhodes – Queenslayer

Shawn Spears b. Matt Sydal – C4

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: September 22, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Veda Scott

It’s the first of two AEW shows on the same night because we’re just lucky enough to have them running a special show after the NBA Playoffs tonight. This is likely to be your usual stuff, but that goes without saying as they rarely shake things up around here. Hopefully it’s a little better than usual though. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The announcers welcome us.

Fuego del Sol/Rembrandt Lewis vs. Dark Order

At least it’s Stu Grayson and Evil Uno here so I don’t have to figure out which is which. Fuego grabs a quick O’Connor roll for two on Grayson so it’s off to Lewis for a dropkick. Uno comes in to run Lewis over though as commentary talks about how much money Team Taz has and how much they spend on clothes. Lewis gets in a superkick but Uno suplexes him down into a legdrop. A side slam/top rope elbow combination gets two but it’s off to Fuego anyway. That earns him a running knee to the face from Grayson, setting up Knightfall. Uno picks him up and flips him into a spinning Downward Spiral for the pin at 4:11.

Rating: D+. You know when you ignore everything about their look, gimmick and characters, this version of the Dark Order isn’t half bad. They work well together and have cool looking moves, though I’m not sure how far they should be going around here. Odds are they’ll get the Tag Team Titles one day though, as AEW really, really likes the Dark Order.

Ricky Starks vs. Christopher Daniels

See now this is something you should be featuring. Why isn’t something like this the main event? Starks knocks him down to start and mocks Daniels’ dancing, only to get armdragged into an armbar. That’s reversed into a headscissors as they hit the mat but Daniels reverses into a front facelock. Daniels takes him down into another armbar before ducking Starks’ crossbody.

The Arabian moonsault gets two on Starks but he’s back with a rake to the eyes. A knee to the back sends Daniels outside and it’s a swinging neckbreaker for two back inside. Daniels is back with a t-bone suplex and an STO into the Blue Thunder Bomb gets two. They go to the pinfall reversal sequence until a double knockdown gives us a breather. Daniels’ Rock Bottom is countered and Starks hits the spear for the pin at 6:44.

Rating: C+. Yeah this worked, though I could have gone for more from them. Daniels is far from the peak of his career but he can still have a good match with almost anyone. Starks is a very talented guy but he needs to build up his resume. Beating Daniels clean like this is going to help him so nicely done here.

Puf/Calvin Stewart vs. Butcher and Blade

Eddie Kingston is here and Ricky Starks has jumped in on commentary. Puf is a large man who thought he was going to be Kip Sabian’s best man. Butcher and Blade jump them to start and Puf is sent outside so Butcher can send Stewart into the corner. Blade gets in a few cheap shots on the floor but Stewart manages a dropkick back inside. Puf comes in and runs Blade over so Butcher comes in as commentary tries to figure out how many sizes Puf is. A middle rope crossbody takes Puf down and it’s back to Stewart, who walks into Full Death for the pin at 4:21.

Rating: D+. They didn’t waste time here and Puf was fun enough while he lasted. There isn’t much you can usually do with someone his size but he can move a little bit and has some charisma so this went as well as could be expected. He’s no one I need to see again but for a one off match, it worked out fine.

Will Hobbs vs. Serpentico

Luther is here with Serpentico. A Luther distraction lets Serpentico get in a cheap shot to start and they head outside. That means Serpentico gets whipped into the barricade and it’s a delayed vertical suplex to drop Serpentico back inside. Hobbs gets slapped in the face and Serpentico hammers away in the corner, setting up a boot to send Hobbs outside. Back in and Serpentico slaps him in the face, earning himself a hard shoulder. Hobbs pulls him out of the air though and finishes with a spinebuster (even Starks is impressed) at 4:40.

Rating: C-. Hobbs is someone who could go a long way and I can see the hope AEW has in him. This was a good match for him as Serpentico is unique enough to feel like a big deal and throwing Luther out there with him makes it look even bigger. They both looked good here, but this was about Hobbs, as it should have been.

Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom vs. Lucha Bros

Eddie Kingston is here again. Fenix takes Stardom down to start and rolls over the ropes to get to the apron while still holding Stardom’s hand. Penta comes in for a double Paradise Lock into a double kick to the head. A spinebuster into a top rope missile dropkick low blow (think What’s Up but with a dropkick) makes it even worse for Stardom.

Back up and Stardom avoids a charge, allowing the hot tag off to Smiley. Everything breaks down and a double wishbone into a double kick to the face has Penta down again. There’s a dive over the top onto Fenix but Penta is back up with the Pentagon Driver on Stardom. Smiley makes a surprising save but Fenix is back in to dropkick Smiley to the floor. The elevated Fear Factor gives Penta the pin at 5:16.

Rating: C. That near fall at the end was an actual surprise and made things that much more entertaining. The Lucha Bros have fallen a long way since AEW started and hopefully they can get back to their previous greatness sooner rather than later. The match was nothing great, but they surprised me a few times.

Dark Order vs. Ryzin/Xander Gold

5 and 10 for the Order here. Gold and 5 trade wristlocks to start with Gold not being able to grab an armdrag. A running clothesline has Gold in trouble and 10 comes in to send Gold into the corner. Ryzin comes in to shove 10 but gets sent into the corner as well, allowing 5 to get in a cheap shot. There’s a cutter to Ryzin and Gold is knocked off the apron. Ryzin gets a boot up in the corner but misses a moonsault. Gold comes in to drive a shoulder into 5 in the corner, followed by a dropkick. Back to back kicks to the head rock Ryzin and it’s a top rope double stomp into a powerslam to finish Gold at 5:53.

Rating: C. This is the weaker version of the Dark Order as not only did they go toe to toe with the jobbers here and don’t look like as much of a team. They’re more a pair of wrestler with the same opponents rather than two people working together. Not a bad match again, but it’s something else that probably could have been trimmed to make the show shorter.

Kevin Blackwood/Daniel Garcia vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Janela and Garcia grapple a bit to start but neither can get anywhere. It’s off to Kiss for some shaking to get on Garcia’s nerves and a running hurricanrana makes it worse. Blackwood comes in and gets dropkicked, meaning it’s right back to Garcia to run him over. Garcia puts on a surfboard but Kiss slips out and kicks Garcia in the face. The hot tag brings in Janela to clean house, including sending Blackwood into Garcia. There’s a dive onto both of them and it’s a DDT to Garcia back inside. The top rope splits splash gives Sonny the pin at 7:17.

Rating: C. This was much more of a formula tag match and that worked out well. Janela and Kiss are in the same place they were in months ago and I don’t know if I can see it going much further than that. That’s not a bad place for them and I’ll certainly take it over Joey vs. Kip Sabian.

M’Badu/Cruz vs. Gunn Club

There’s one of your Bingo spaces on the Dark card. Colten, I’m assuming another of Billy’s sons, is here as well. Billy tangos with Aubrey Edwards before headlocking M’Badu to start. M’Badu charges into an elbow in the corner and gets clotheslined down. The rather hefty Cruz comes in and Austin kicks his leg out. Cruz runs him over and drops an elbow for two before handing it back to M’Badu. The Stinger Splash misses though and it’s back to Billy to clean house. M’Badu is sent outside and it’s the Fameasser to finish Cruz at 4:07.

Rating: D+. M’Badu continues to look like he could be someone so at least it was Cruz taking the pin. Billy and Austin are two guys who are just there and feel like a required piece of most Dark matches. Nothing to this one, but that’s the case with most Gunn Club matches so far.

KiLynn King vs. Serena Deeb

They fight over a lockup to start and then do the same with a wristlock. King gets taken down and Deeb grabs something like a reverse Rings of Saturn. An armbar goes on with a knee in Deeb’s back until Deeb snaps off an armdrag into an armbar. That’s broken up as well and King hits some running knees in the corner. The chinlock goes on but Deeb fights up again and grabs a swinging neckbreaker. Deeb’s neckbreaker over the middle rope gets two and she drives King face first into the mat. The Serenity Lock (Konnan’s Tequila Sunrise) makes King tap at 4:39.

Rating: C. I’ve liked King quite a bit and she looked good again here. It would be nice to see her get a slightly bigger chance but I’m not sure when something like that is going to happen. Deeb has been signed this week so the ending was never in doubt, but at least they had a pretty good match on the way there.

Ben Carter vs. Lee Johnson

Carter was impressive last time. They to the mat to start and the counters are on fast until it’s an early standoff. It’s time to fight over some wristlocks as they’re moving very quickly here. A double nipup gives us another standoff as even Starks says these two are excellent. Back up and Johnson misses a dropkick but the second attempt connects so they can reset again.

Carter flips forward out of the corner and catches a charging Johnson in a Downward Spiral into the middle buckle. A snap suplex sets up the chinlock on Johnson before Carter pulls him into an STF. That’s broken up so Carter puts him up top for a top rope superplex, even as he slips off the ropes a bit. Johnson grabs a small package for two and it’s a double clothesline into a double nipup. They trade kicks to the face and they’re both down again. It’s a slugout from their knees until Carter tries AJ Styles’ moonsault into a reverse DDT.

That’s broken up and Johnson grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb for another near fall. Carter sends him to the apron for an enziguri but misses the middle rope moonsault. Johnson dives back in for the big running flip dive. The posing takes too much time though and Carter is back up with his own running flip dive. Back in and Carter misses the Phoenix splash, allowing Johnson to hit a Death Valley Driver for two more. Johnson goes up top but gets caught in a super Spanish Fly into a low superkick for….two. Dang they got me on that one. Carter jumps back up top and hits the frog splash for the pin at 9:44.

Rating: B. What do you want me to say here? Two young guys got some time and tore the house down with an incredibly entertaining match. If AEW wants to build up their younger guys, have them (try to) do something like this instead of having them lose for months on end. I really liked this and Carter looks like a great prospect who very well may get signed soon.

Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Eddie Kingston

Pillman starts fast with a shoulder to put Kingston on the floor. Kingston doesn’t approve and Pillman’s crossbody into some armdrags make it worse. A dive to the floor is broken up and Pillman is dropped hard onto the barricade. Back in and Kingston strikes away in the corner before whipping Pillman hard into the other corner. A shot to Kingston’s face just annoys him even more but Pillman grabs a top rope sunset flip for two. The crucifix is countered into a Samoan drop to plant Pillman and it’s off to the chinlock.

Pillman fights up again but Kingston just hits him in the back of the head like a smart brawler would. We hit the chinlock again, which just seems to fire Pillman up. The comeback is on with chops and rams into the corners and there’s a superkick to the floor. Pillman’s missile dropkick through the ropes sets up Air Pillman for two back inside. Kingston is back with a jawbreaker into a spinning Rock Bottom for two more but Pillman grabs something like a pumphandle driver for his own near fall. Kingston has had it with Pillman and knees him in the ribs, setting up the spinning backfist for the pin at 9:04.

Rating: C+. This was another good one as the veteran Kingston didn’t take Pillman seriously enough, allowing Pillman to get in a lot of offense. They were playing up the idea of an upset here and that’s what should be done in a match like this. Kingston works well as a brawler and we had a good match with a nice story as a result.

Dynamite preview wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C+. It was indeed better than usual and that was rather necessary. The last two matches felt like they belonged here, but above all else, the show is still too long. They could have had a heck of a show if this was about 45 minutes long instead of more than double that, but at least they had something good in here. If that becomes the norm we might be onto something, but I’ll need to see more of this and less of the usual.

Results

Dark Order b. Fuego del Sol/Rembrandt Lewis – Spinning Downward Spiral to Lewis

Ricky Starks b. Christopher Daniels – Spear

Butcher and Blade b. Puf/Calvin Stewart – Full Death to Stewart

Will Hobbs b. Serpentico – Spinebuster

Lucha Bros b. Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom – Elevated Fear Factor to Stardom

Dark Order b. Xander Gold/Ryzin – Top rope double stomp/powerslam combination to Gold

Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss b. Kevin Blackwood/Daniel Garcia – Splits splash to Garcia

Gunn Club b. M’Badu/Cruz – Fameasser to Cruz

Serena Deeb b. KiLynn King – Serenity Lock

Ben Carter b. Lee Johnson – Frog splash

Eddie Kingston b. Brian Pillman Jr. – Spinning backfist

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 16, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We are still dealing with the fallout from All Out and things are looking up for AEW. Last week’s show was the first time in the better part of a year that they got back to one million viewers, which is a heck of an accomplishment. Now the trick is to do it again and hopefully they can pull it off for a second time. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

The Jurassic Express is here for the opening match against FTR. Hang on though as the Young Bucks come out to superkick the referee. The Bucks walk to the back and throw a stack of money at Tony Khan (I’d assume paying the fine from last week) before walking in front of FTR, who seem…I guess indifferent? I know it’s an upgrade for the Bucks to be heels, but dang they are the least intimidating looking heels that I’ve seen in years.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. FTR

FTR, with Tully Blanchard is defending. Dax Harwood takes Jungle Boy into the corner to start and it’s quickly off to Cash Wheeler for more of the same. It’s already back to Harwood who gets dropkicked down, with Wheeler receiving one of his own. Luchasaurus comes in and gets taken into the corner for the double teaming but some clotheslines get him out of trouble.

Harwood goes up but dives into a powerslam and it’s back to Boy. This doesn’t go well again as Boy is sent into the corner but comes back out with a double hurricanrana to send the champs outside. Back in and Wheeler hits Rick Steiner’s backdrop/powerslam for two and it’s time for an old school surfboard. The abdominal stretch stays on Boy’s ribs and Harwood comes back in for a gordbuster. Boy finally gets in a clothesline and drops Harwood, allowing the hot tag off to Luchasaurus. A double clothesline takes FTR down and it’s a chokeslam for two.

Some kicks to the head connect for two on Wheeler but he’s back up with another powerslam attempt. That’s countered into a small package for two and a crucifix gets the same on Harwood. Boy’s high crossbody connects but Wheeler rolls through for two more, even with a handful of trunks. Everything breaks down and Boy rolls Harwood up for two more. Luchasaurus is sent over the barricade and Boy dives onto Wheeler. Boy tries a sunset flip but Harwood sits down on it and Wheeler grabs his hand for the pin at 12:24.

Rating: B. Those were some hot near falls and I was thinking they were going to have the upset a few times. I can go for these old school stuff from FTR and it makes for such a contrast compared to so much else you see in the division. Jurassic Express is a lot better when they let Jungle Boy do all of the work and they seem to have understood that we don’t need to stop the matches for the Marko Stunt Show. You can do that every now and then but it was every single match for awhile there.

Matt Hardy has been attacked with Private Party not being sure what happened. They were planning for the match against Jake Hager and Chris Jericho tonight and then he was laid out. Cue Jericho and Hager to wonder how bad it is, with Jericho thinking they may need to amputate.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page

Kenny Omega is on commentary, because talking is such a strong point for him. Page, who is no longer in a tag team, drives him into the corner to start and we get a clean break. Kazarian grabs a front facelock for two and drop toeholds him into a cravate. Back up and some shoulders go to Page, followed by a big slam. Some chops have Kazarian in trouble in the corner and Page clotheslines him off the apron. There’s the slingshot dive to the floor and we take a break.

Back with a double knockdown but Page is up with a fall away slam to put both guys down again. Page nips up and hits a running shooting star press for two. Another springboard clothesline misses though and Kazarian hits a slingshot DDT for two more. Kazarian hits an Unprettier for two and Page is right back up with a pumphandle Death Valley Driver for the same.

Page goes to the apron and gets pulled back in for a good looking slingshot cutter for a rather near fall. Kazarian’s springboard is countered into a Spirit Bomb for two and they head back outside. A clothesline drives Page against the barricade but they head back inside with Page nailing the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 13:52.

Rating: B. They’re starting hot tonight and this was another heck of a match with the two of them working very well together. Kazarian can have a pretty awesome match with anyone and this was no exception. I had a really good time with this and Page was pulled up to another level, which is great to see.

Post match Page has a beer.

Video on Best Friends vs. Santana and Ortiz.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Shawn Dean

Poke to the eye and Salt of the Earth finishes Dean at 6 seconds.

Post match MJF says Jon Moxley cheated at All Out and he should be the World Champion. Therefore, he is going to be known as the Undefeated Undisputed. Uncrowned World Champion of All Elite Wrestling. He even makes Justin Roberts call him such, albeit with some gusto. With that out of the way, MJF says you have to be part of a faction around here so maybe it’s time for this lone wolf to join up with someone. Even if he doesn’t though, he is still better than you and you know it.

Taz breaks down Ricky Starks’ offense, even showing the difference between the grips he uses depending on the opponent’s size.

Eddie Kingston is in the ring with the Lucha Bros with the Butcher and Blade on the floor. Kingston talks about how they are a family and that means they are going to hurt people. Butcher and Blade pulls some wrestlers over the barricade and the four of them beat all of them up. Kingston: “That was hilarious.” Kingston says that now that their house is in order, it’s time for Blade to get his house in order.

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager vs. Private Party

The fans sing Judas to continue the cool tradition. Tony: “JR you have to learn the lyrics to that song and we’re going to sing it on our trip back to Atlanta.” Hager takes Quen down to start but Quen jumps over him in the corner and brings Kassidy in for a reverse Sling Blade. Jericho comes in and gets sent to the apron with a dropkick sending him outside. A double dive takes Hager and Jericho down again but Hager takes over on Quen a second time.

Jericho elbows Quen in the face and it’s already back to Hager, who gets dropkicked down. The hot tag brings in Kassidy for a standing Lionsault press. Jericho is frustrated so Hager gets in a bat shot to put Kassidy down and we take a break. Back with Hager grabbing a chinlock and pounding away with some forearms to the chest. Hager even knocks Quen off the apron but he gets back up for the Silly String (Tony: “It was a desperation Silly String!”) and eventually the hot tag.

The pace picks up in a hurry with Quen hitting a springboard crossbody for two on Jericho. Hager launches Quen into the air for a super hurricanrana on Jericho before being sent outside. Kassidy ducks the Judas Effect and hits a springboard Stunner for no cover. Instead, Kassidy goes up top but misses the Swanton, allowing the Judas Effect for the pin at 13:01.

Rating: C+. And somehow that’s the worst match of the night so far. Private Party still feel like people who are just doing things for the sake of doing things, but the good sign is that they have shown the ability to be helped to a good match by people like Jericho and FTR. That shows potential in them and there is nothing wrong with being young and in need of experience and coaching. If they can improve, they’ll be fine in the long run.

Post match, Jericho puts Kassidy in the Walls.

NWA Women’s Title: Thunder Rosa vs. Ivelisse

Rosa is defending, Diamante is in Ivelisse’s corner, and they both try armdrags to start. Ivelisse slaps her in the face so Rosa gives her one right back. A raised boot in the corner gets Ivelisse out of trouble and she snaps off a middle rope hurricanrana. The Gory Special goes on but Ivelisse slips out and sends her to the floor for a kick to the head.

Back from a break with Rosa hitting a delayed running dropkick against the ropes for two. The Crossface goes on but Ivelisse is out in a hurry, earning herself a Death Valley Driver. Ivelisse kicks her in the face for two but Rosa is back with a Tombstone (which it takes some time to secure) to retain at 9:33.

Rating: C. I like Rosa more and more every time I see her and it’s great to see her getting a shot like this. A the same time, it’s nice to see the NWA getting a little spotlight as it isn’t like they’re doing anything important at this point. The women’s division has gotten a lot better as of late with the different wrestlers and styles meshing together, which is a hard trick to accomplish.

Post match Diamante jumps Rosa so Hikaru Shida comes out of the crowd and makes the save. She also picks up the title and hands it to Rosa without any drama.

Miro is working out and Kip Sabian (in an AEW Is For Everyone, featuring someone wearing what look to be the headphones you see on a Twitch stream) and they talk about how Miro will be the best man. The bachelor party is coming.

Here are Jake Roberts and Lance Archer, with Lance destroying someone at ringside. Jake quotes some Pink Floyd and talks about how in wrestling, you can find yourself in bed with someone you wouldn’t expect. Sometimes you need information or money or a way out, but this time they need tag team partners for a six man tag. If Roberts is going to lay in bed with the devil, it might as well be with the Tasmanian Devil.

Cue Taz, who looks rather small by comparison. Team Taz is happy to do business with Archer and Roberts, though remember the deal: when Archer wins the World Title, Brian Cage gets the first shot. Archer agrees, and then he and Cage can go Godzilla. Cue Jon Moxley but Cage and Starks jump him from the crowd. Will Hobbs of all people makes the save with a chair. Moxley introduces Hobbs as his partner. Oh and they’ll need a third so Darby Allin can meet them in Jacksonville next week.

Next week: Orange Cassidy gets a TNT Title shot, plus Shida/Rosa vs. Ivelisse/Diamante.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends

This is in the parking lot in the old circle of cars. Santana and Ortiz have white face paint on, making them look like the Guerrillas of Destiny if you let some air out of them. Chuck is sent into the side of a car but Ortiz is thrown under the hood of a car for some slams down onto his back. Chuck adds a Swanton off the top onto the hood and Trent does the same. Santana is sent into a mirror to bust him open but comes back with the baton to get in a few shots.

The flying sledgehammer goes through the windshield of a car and Chuck is suplexed on top of it. Santana’s splash from the top of a truck gets two but Trent spears Ortiz through a piece of plywood. Santana is sent into the bed of a truck and there is a good bit of blood on the ground. Ortiz hits Trent with a metal dust pan Chuck suplexes Ortiz mostly through a piece of barricade but Ortiz is back with a low blow to Trent. A powerbomb onto the top of the car drops Trent again as the four of them are starting to fade.

The double powerbomb sends Trent hard through a windshield and there is some glass in his back. Chuck makes the save with a baseball bat and breaks a wooden board over Ortiz’s back. Trent pulls himself up but gets knocked down again….and Orange Cassidy pops out of a trunk with an Orange Punch (with a chain around his fist) to take out Santana. Chuck piledrives Santana on the hood of a car and Trent hits Strong Zero through plywood into the bed of a truck for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a lot better than the usual Best Friends match, mainly because they took it seriously when they needed to. There was no big hug or anything else and even though the feud was over a minivan, the payoff was a violent and bloody brawl. This was a lot of fun and I cringed a few times (though not at Orange Cassidy as I didn’t expect it and it made sense to have a nine of spades in the hole).

Post match Cassidy carries them over to Sue’s van to drive them….well about a foot before Sue flips off Santana and Ortiz (ok that was hilarious) to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Now this was a lot more like it as they started off hot and then kept it going for most of the show. Nothing was even close to bad and it was a heck of a way to spend two hours. They’ve built some stuff up for the anniversary show and did so with a heck of a show here. This was the most enjoyable episode they have had in a long time and I had a really good time with the whole thing.

Results

FTR b. Jurassic Express – Rollup to Boy with an assist from Cash Wheeler

Hangman Page b. Frankie Kazarian – Buckshot lariat

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Shawn Dean – Salt of the Earth

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Private Party – Judas Effect to Kassidy

Thunder Rosa b. Ivelisse – Tombstone

Best Friends b. Santana and Ortiz – Strong Zero into the bed of a truck to Ortiz

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

WWE got one thing very right this week on Raw.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-weve/

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

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 9, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re done with All Out and about two months away from Full Gear, which means there is some time before we need to really get started on the build to the show. Tonight is likely to be about fallout, which could make for a rather fun night. There are a lot of ways this show could go so let’s get to it.

Here is All Out if you need a recap.

Chris Jericho talks to Maxwell Jacob Friedman about the loss to loss to Jon Moxley on Saturday. They respect each other and know that the other will be World Champion one day. After an elbow bump they go their separate ways, where they call each other a loser.

Opening sequence.

Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express

Jungle Boy and Fenix start things off with an exchange of armdrags. Penta comes in but can’t hit the Fear Factor. Instead it’s Luchasaurus coming in to throw Boy at him for a swinging Downward Spiral. The Bros are sent outside but Penta is right back in for an exchange of chops with Luchasaurus. When that doesn’t go well, it’s a shot to the knee to bring in Boy, who takes Fenix to the floor for a suicide dive. Back in and Penta shoves Boy off the ropes and into a kick from Fenix to take over.

The beating is on until a double clothesline misses, allowing Boy to roll over for the tag to Luchasaurus. Fenix gets chokeslammed off the top (which looked more like a slam off the top) but Penta takes Luchasaurus down. The Gory Bomb into the legdrop combination gets two on Luchasaurus and it’s the spike Fear Factor to Boy. Fenix dives onto Luchasaurus as Penta gets two for a shocked reaction. Back in and Boy sends them into each other, setting up a rollup to give Boy the pin at 9:21.

Rating: B-. Total action match here and it’s amazing how much more interesting and entertaining Jurassic Express has been since Marko Stunt went onto the shelf. You might even think that he’s a completely unnecessary part of the team and little more than a mascot. It’s nice to see Jurassic Express win here though, even if it came at the Lucha Bros’ expense, though they have lost so many big matches that it doesn’t mean much anymore.

Post match the Bros are about to fight but Eddie Kingston and Butcher and Blade break it up. Eddie talks about how they are brothers and need to get along, eventually getting them to hug.

Clips of Jon Moxley retaining the World Title over MJF at All Out.

Here’s what’s coming on the rest of the show.

While standing in the rain, Jake Roberts talks about how he and Lance Archer were confident going into All Out because that’s what they do. They’re here to trash cars instead of driving them because it’s like getting wet. Archer is ready to take the World Title.

Here’s Matt Hardy for a chat. He can’t believe all of the outpouring of love and concern over the last few days and he is very happy to stand here in front of the people. After a bunch of tests, Hardy is expected to make a full recovery because he is very lucky. He has a wife and family who are here tonight and he is sorry for putting them through that on Saturday. The only thing he is sorry about is the Broken Rules match not going as he wanted. It is time for him to get healthy though, meaning he can start winning matches and going after his first title. Matt praises Private Party and thanks the fans because they are the best.

Orange Cassidy vs. Angelico

Angelico starts with a top wristlock into a wristlock, leaning to them spinning around a lot for the break. With that not working, Angelico traps the leg and pulls on the neck, followed by something like an STF from the side instead of on Cassidy’s back. That’s broken up with a grab of the rope and Angelico misses a running boot in the corner. Cassidy hits a suicide dive into a high crossbody inside, setting up a tornado DDT. The Orange Punch finishes Angelico at 3:11.

Rating: C. That’s a good way to use Cassidy here after the big win on Saturday. If they want to make him a big deal going forward, this is something you need to do. Cassidy wasn’t doing his shtick here either and that is going to need to happen more often if he is going to have some longevity.

Post match Santana and Ortiz run in to jump Cassidy but the Best Friends run in for the save. Chuck, in a shirt featuring Trent’s mom’s van, calls them ding dongs and yells about Santana and Ortiz destroying his best friend’s mom’s van. The challenge is on for a parking lot fight and Trent says they are coming to hurt them instead of making mama proud. The levity of the mom’s van stuff and the intensity of wanting a parking lot brawl isn’t quite working here.

The Young Bucks knock down the interviewer for trying to ask them questions.

Here are Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford for an in-ring chat. Sabian throws Tony Schiavone out because all anyone wants to know is who is the best man for his wedding. Cue a rather large man in a loud shirt to say he’s here to be the best man. Sabian doesn’t think so, because the guy is a subscriber to Sabian’s Twitch channel and was told he was “the best, man”.

Next up is Brian Pillman Jr. for the same issue. Sabian sends Pillman away and says he hopes his birthday was awful. Now it’s time for the real best man: Miro, formerly known as Rusev. Miro talks about spending ten years chasing the brass ring and tells you where you can stick it. He’s shown he’s the best gamer on Twitch and now he’s all elite.

Tony Schiavone had a sitdown interview with Hangman Page earlier today. Page is banged up after All Out but Tony wants the real answer about how he’s feeling. Page talks about how there were a few hundred fans at All Out but they were pretty far away. He couldn’t hear a sound for thirty minutes because it was like everyone was waiting for he and Kenny Omega to fall apart and lose the Tag Team Titles.

It wasn’t inevitable though and it was Page’s fault that FTR became #1 contenders in the first place. It was his fault that he cost the Young Bucks the gauntlet match because they are the best tag team in the world. From head to toe, he is full of poison. Tony talks about Omega walking away from him on Saturday and Page talks about the issues the two of them have had despite their successes. Now it’s time to get back to the top for another title shot and they’ll get through this too. Page continues to be the best talker in the Elite (past or present) by about ten miles.

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Anything goes. Jericho hammers away at Janela in the corner but Janela knocks him down for his own right hands. Kiss comes in for a double hot shot to Jericho and a double dropkick puts him down again. Stereo missile dropkicks connect to send Hager and Jericho to the floor and Janela hits a suicide dive on Jericho. Back in and Janela hits Jericho with a chair a few times but gets suplexed onto said chair for his troubles.

We take a break and come back with Janela throwing Jericho head first into a chair in the corner and making the hot tag to Kiss. Jericho’s trashcan shot is broken up and Hager runs Kiss over from behind. The Vader Bomb onto the trashcan onto Kiss is blocked as Janela and Jericho brawl to the stage. Jericho catapults Janela into a toss off the stage and through a table to leave Janela laying. Kiss dives onto the two of them at once and Cactus Clotheslines Hager from the ramp to the ring. Back in and Jericho sprays Kiss with a fire extinguisher to send him into Hager’s head and arm choke for the win at 9:45.

Rating: C. I didn’t really need to see this getting any kind of time or Janela getting in that much offense (or Janela in general but that’s a different story) but the result worked well enough. Jericho gets back on track and Hager gets to look like a monster again so it accomplished its goals. Now just stop having Janela as a face and things should be better.

Post match Jericho talks about how bad All Out was for the Inner Circle, but the team has a new plan: he and Hager are coming for the Tag Team Titles. I’ve heard worse ideas.

MJF is in his campaign office and freaks out over Jon Moxley cheating to retain the title at All Out. They’re all fired, including Nina, who is FINALLY smiling. After throwing her out, MJF doesn’t like Wardlow calling him sir and yells about Wardlow screwing up. Remember that MJF signs off on Wardlow’s checks instead of Tony Khan, so either get it together or be thrown out on the street. Wardlow is annoyed but agrees that they don’t have a problem. It’s time to plan to get back to the top.

Jon Moxley knows that Lance Archer is coming because this never gets any easier. Would you want to bet against him though?

Here are Tully Blanchard and FTR, with the ring surrounded by the tag division to celebrate their newly won Tag Team Titles….complete with cake. Tully seems to dub the team Fear the Revelation before talking about FTR winning the titles in an 117 degree ring. They came out with the gold to go on top of the deepest tag team division in the world. FTR grew up watching SCU and wished they were still in their prime. Then there’s Private Party. Dax: “Yeah there’s Private Party.”

Billy is one of the most successful tag team wrestlers of all time but being in a second bit Hall of Fame doesn’t get them to the top. Next week they have the Jurassic Express but a cosplay dinosaur isn’t getting a to run the tag team division. The Express comes in and FTR keeps insulting them before bailing from the threat of a double chokeslam. The division surrounds them and the Express pours the cooler of ice onto them. With the champs gone, everyone else has cake.

We look at the Casino Battle Royal.

Taz joins commentary and here is Ricky Starks dressed as Darby Allin instead. Starks, as Allin, talks about finally getting injured and not being able to go skateboarding with his friends. Now as himself, Starks calls out Allin for being reckless and no one wants to be around him. That leaves Allin hurt and alone and the next time he sees Allin, it will be even worse.

Nyla Rose vs. Tay Conti

Vickie Guerrero is in Rose’s corner. Rose drives her into the corner to start and tosses Conti down without much effort. Conti comes back with some kicks to the head but Rose knocks her to the floor for a shot from Vickie. We take a break and come back with Conti pulling her into a reverse cross armbreaker but gets reversed into the Beast Bomb for the fast pin at 5:26. Not enough shown due to the commercial, though I’m not sure why you would have Conti lose like this in her first match under contract.

Post match Vickie says that they are here to make a statement but here’s Hikaru Shida with the kendo stick for the staredown.

The Bucks are being fined $5000 for knocking the interviewer down.

JR had a sitdown interview with Kenny Omega earlier today. Omega’s big takeaway is that he was a champion and now he isn’t, which is part of the game. He and Page had chemistry together so they were a great team, which changed Omega’s perception in the company. Maybe he was supposed to be the breakout star around here but maybe he can be more than a singles guy. JR asks what’s next for him but Omega isn’t sure if they are going to be able to be a team again. He spent a year on the team and now it seems to be time to go back to his singles career.

Moxley vs. Archer for the World Title is taking place on October 14 for the Anniversary Show.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes

Lee is defending and some of the Dark Order is here. Dustin jumps him to start and the brawl is on outside before they head back in for the opening bell. Lee chops away in the corner but Dustin does the same. They slug it out until Lee knees him in the ribs and catapults him throat first into the middle rope. We take a break and come back with Dustin hitting a bulldog and snaps off the powerslam but the Canadian Destroyer is broken up. A hurricanrana out of the corner sets up the Code Red for two and they’re both down.

Back up and Cross Rhodes gives Dustin two but Lee is back with a superkick. Lee powerbombs him for two but misses a running boot in the corner. Dustin hits the running flip dive off the apron so John Silver tries to interfere. That lets Dustin hit the Unnatural Kick to Lee and a snap powerslam to Silver. Dustin piledrives Lee for two and a big clothesline gets the same. Back up and Lee hits the discus lariat for the pin at 10:23.

Rating: B. Coming out of All Out, one of the things that I kept hearing praised was Dustin’s fired up promo and how well he has been doing as of late. I hadn’t really gotten it so I paid extra attention to this and yeah, it worked very well. While I don’t particularly care about Dustin avenging the Rhodes Family name, I can get into the idea of the old cowboy with one shot left at glory and putting in a fired up attempt to get the title. This worked very well and they kept my attention after getting it early on.

Post match here’s the rest of the Dark Order with the unconscious QT Marshall but Lee throws Colt Cabana out. Evil Uno tries to calm Cabana down as Lee returns the low blow to Dustin.

We get some Breaking News from Cody. He has gone to Marietta, Georgia to shoot the Go Big Show, which is a new competition series with all kinds of unique acts. Cody will be a judge on the show, which is the only connection the show has to wrestling.

Overall Rating: B-. The opening match and main event helped this one out but it was kind of a cool down show after last time. They have a lot to build towards in the future and it’s ok to burn off a show like this coming off a rare pay per view. That being said, it was far from bad and they did enough to keep me interested. It wasn’t a great show, but it was good enough and that’s all it needs to be.

Results

Jurassic Express b. Lucha Bros – Rollup to Fenix

Orange Cassidy b. Angelico – Orange Punch

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Head and arm choke to Kiss

Nyla Rose b. Tay Conti – Beast Bomb

Brodie Lee b. Dustin Rhodes – Discus lariat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: September 8, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

For reasons I don’t quite fathom, this is the third episode of Dark in eight days because we needed a special one before All Out and then the regular shows as well. At least tonight’s show along with Friday’s were a little shorter than usual, but we’ve got squashification waiting for us so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Taz and Excalibur give us the rapid fire intro.

Sean Legacy vs. Will Hobbs

This is a big deal as Hobbs has yet to win a match but was in the Casino Battle Royal on Saturday, meaning we’re FINALLY getting someone promoted from the ranks of the jobbers. Hobbs starts fast with a running shoulder before lifting Legacy up by the wrist for some arm cranking. Legacy’s crossbody is knocked out of the air with ease and a release gordbuster knocks him silly again. An Oklahoma Stampede finishes Legacy at 2:59. Now why did it take us so many months to see something like this? Even if Hobbs never goes anywhere, giving him a win or two makes him seem like more of a threat. Better later than never.

Tony Donati vs. Brian Cage

Non-title. Cage hits a release German suplex in the first five seconds and then does the curls into the fall away slam. Donati gets in a few shots to the face but it’s a superplex into a powerbomb. Weapon X finishes Donati at 1:43. Exactly what it should have been.

Griff Garrison vs. Angelico

Taz starts with a story about buying tights and they fight over wrist control. Angelico armdrags him down and poses like a cocky heel should but Garrison grabs a rollup for two. A discus lariat drops Angelico again but he pulls Garrison face first into the middle turnbuckle. Angelico is back with a crazy looking….uh….reverse seated half nelson with the legs? Naturally Excalibur has a name for it and in this case that might be easier. That’s broken up in a hurry and Angelico gets a boot up in the corner to stop a charge. Angelico has had it with this though and pulls him down into a spinning leg crank for the tap at 5:50.

Rating: C. The holds were insane here and that’s one of the reasons I like watching Angelico. He brings a great mixture of international styles and makes them look rather natural while still being able to fly when necessary. Garrison looks unique enough to make things interesting and it was a nice match as a result.

Anna Jay vs. Skyler Moore

Anna sends her into the corner to start but Moore takes her down into a rollup for two. A World’s Strongest Slam plants Anna for two so she drops tot he floor for a breather. Back in and Moore grabs a gutwrench suplex for two more so Jay sends her into the corner for a backrake. We hit the chinlock into a rear naked choke to make Moore tap at 3:25.

Rating: D+. Now this was smarter as Jay isn’t ready to do a long match of any sort. That isn’t a knock on her but rather a reality, because she just doesn’t have the experience. Let her get her feet wet and learn how to do something like this. She probably shouldn’t be doing that on a televised match, but I can get why Jay is out there. The match wasn’t very good, but they both need ring time and there is only one way to get that.

Lee Johnson vs. Eddie Kingston

Commentary talks about cease and desist letters from New York to start as Kingston grabs a suplex. The stomping is on as Excalibur gets to talk about Eddie’s Japanese influence, so you knew he’s all over it. Kingston strikes away but Johnson gets in an elbow in the corner and a springboard missile dropkick. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but Kingston is back with the spinning backfist for the pin at 3:18.

Rating: C-. There is something so gritty and raw about Kingston and it works for him. For lack of a better term he feels real, and that is the kind of thing you can’t script. You get something out of watching him and it’s a feeling that I rather like. He was a good signing for AEW and it shows that they do have a nice eye for what should have been rather obvious.

Serpentico vs. Sonny Kiss

Sonny sends him into the corner to start so Serpentico blasts him in the face for two. A rolling elbow gets Sonny out of trouble until Serpentico kicks him down. We get a Fargo inspired strut and a knee drop gets two on Kiss. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Kiss is back with some kicks to the head. The bottom rope splits splash gives Kiss two and it’s the handspring slap in the corner to keep Serpentico in trouble. Sonny tries the Matrix but gets double stomped down for two more. That doesn’t matter very much though as Sonny gets up top for a Molly Go Round and the pin at 4:46.

Rating: C-. Kiss is crazy athletic and the gymnastics look great, but I’m not sure how high of a ceiling he really has. It is far from the most serious gimmick and that can be a problem in the long run. That being said, the athleticism alone will keep him around for a long time and the charisma helps even more. Serpentico is fine as well so this was a perfectly acceptable match.

Ricky Starks vs. Ben Carter

Starks shares a stare with Vickie Guerrero in the crowd before grabbing a waistlock to start. Carter reverses and picks the wrist, only to get headlocked over. Carter is back up and cranks on the arm before hitting a dropkick. Starks is getting tired of this and sends him into the corner but Carter fights out.

That doesn’t work for Starks who unloads with shots to the head. Starks belly go back suplexes him for two and we hit the chinlock. Carter jawbreaks his way to freedom and a rollup gets two. A superkick into a frog splash gives Carter two as Taz isn’t liking this. Carter misses a Phoenix splash and it’s the spear into Roshambo for the pin on Carter at 7:34.

Rating: C. Starks continues to look great every time he is out there and Carter made the most of his time out there as well. That’s all you can ask for out of a match like this and they did things well enough. I could go for a good deal more of both guys and that isn’t something you get to say very often.

Dynamite preview takes us out.

Overall Rating: C-. Slightly more watchable than usual, though that might have something to do with the show being about fifty minutes long. This is what the show should be more often than not, but I have a feeling they just split up what was going to be another nearly two hour episode into two nights. That doesn’t give me hope for the future but it was nice for a one off change.

Results

Will Hobbs b. Sean Legacy – Oklahoma Stampede

Brian Cage b. Tony Donati – Weapon X

Angelico b. Griff Garrison – Reverse inverted Figure Four

Anna Jay b. Skyler Moore – Rear naked choke

Eddie Kingston b. Lee Johnson – Spinning backfist

Sonny Kiss b. Serpentico – Molly Go Round

Ricky Starks b. Ben Carter – Roshambo

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

All Out 2020
Date: September 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

They’re back on pay per view and for once that’s a rather nice thing to see. AEW has a great history with the big shows and hopefully we continue the streak here. The main events are Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy where you can win by throwing the other one in a vat of mimosa and Jon Moxley defending the World Title against MJF. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Joey Janela vs. Serpentico

This was announced earlier today and Sonny Kiss and Luther are here. Joey jumps him before the bell and they fight to the floor where Janela glares at Luther. Back in and Serpentico charges into a boot to the face but he sends Joey hard into the corner. Serpentico’s running thigh slap disguised as a shot to the face gets two and Joey is sent outside for some abuse from Luther.

Back in and a snap suplex gives Serpentico two but a Swanton hits raised knees. Janela’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but he misses a moonsault. Janela is back up with a super fisherman’s buster for two. Luther grabs the foot so Janela dropkicks him through the ropes. The top rope elbow gives Joey the pin at 7:55.

Rating: D+. So that happened and it could have been on any given edition of Dark. Janela still does nothing for me though I do kind of like Serpentico. For what feels like a really basic gimmick, he does well enough with what he has and that’s all you can ask for from something like this.

Buy In: Dark Order vs. Private Party

John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order. Silver starts with Isaiah Kassidy and they fight over wrist control. With that going nowhere, Marq Quen comes in for an atomic drop to send Silver into a clothesline. A top rope ax handle to Reynolds’ arm gets a delayed two but Silver comes in to powerbomb Kassidy onto Reynolds’ knees. There’s a backbreaker for two more and it’s time to kick at Kassidy’s chest for the same. The chinlock with a knee in the back goes on but Kassidy fights out.

A roll over into the corner brings in Quen to clean house, including a top rope moonsault press for two. Silly String is broken up and a heck of a torture rack spinning slam gets two more on Quen. Everything breaks down and Private Party knocks them off the top. A 450 and Swanton miss and it’s a Stunner into a German suplex for two. Private Party is back up and sends Reynolds to the floor, setting up Gin and Juice to finish Silver at 10:14.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be as Private Party isn’t ready to do a match this long on their own and the Dark Order isn’t going to be able to walk them through it. They certainly didn’t have a disaster out there and the match could have been a lot worse, but it came and went with one spot after another. They were good spots, but they were just spots.

Jim Ross gets his full entrance and really doesn’t seem thrilled to be here.

The announcers run down the card. Thank goodness they’re thinking of those people who buy pay per views and forget what they ordered.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is Tooth vs. Nail and is taking place in Baker’s dental office. Reba checks Swole in and shouts to Baker that she is here, earning herself a clipboard to the head. Swole goes hunting for Baker but finds a bunch of blood on a chair instead. Baker, in a face mask, stalks Swole, who finds a cabinet full of chattering teeth. Baker gets behind her and eventually breaks a framed diploma over her head. The doctor isn’t sure if they can save Swole’s teeth so it’s time to extract them but Swole fights out.

They go outside and into Baker’s motorized wheelchair with Reba helping Baker to little avail. Baker gets in a crutch shot to take Swole down though and they fight back inside. Swole manages to throw a chair at her and Baker is in trouble. They go into an exam room where Baker his a superkick and loads up a syringe full of Novocaine. Swole manages to knock into Baker’s leg to send Reba into hysterics and knocking Baker out for the stoppage at 6:29.

Rating: D+. This was quite the disappointment as they could have done a lot more than what we got here. There is only so much that you can get out of a match that has less than seven minutes and a good chunk of that was spent walking around. I’m not wild on Baker losing, but at least it wasn’t via pinfall so it could have been a lot worse.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

No story here as they won an eight man tag on Wednesday and get to fight as a result. Nick and Jungle Boy start things off for some flipping before it’s quickly off to Matt, who goes outside to yell at Marko Stunt. Back in and Jungle Boy Tail Whips Nick into a Flatliner but Nick slips over for the tag to Matt. A dropkick staggers Luchasaurus but he sends the Bucks into each other and brings Boy back in.

Nick is sent over the top and hard onto the ramp but Matt is back with Locomotion. He suplexes Boy to the floor and hits some more Locomotion, plus another suplex over the barricade to drop Boy. Back in and Matt grabs a front facelock and Nick comes in for a running knee to the face. Boy sends him to the ropes though and Stunt gets in a cheap shot, allowing the hot tag to Luchasaurus. House is cleaned in a hurry, including the standing moonsault for two.

Everything breaks down but Boy’s hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb on the apron. A Canadian Destroyer hits Luchasaurus and there’s a superkick to Boy. Back in and the Swanton gets two more on Boy but he avoids the BTE Trigger. Luchasaurus breaks up the Meltzer Driver and chokeslams Nick. The Extinction Level Event hits Matt for two but the Bucks send Luchasaurus outside. The Superkick Party gets two on Boy and now the BTE Trigger is enough for the pin on Boy at 14:53.

Rating: B-. Good action here, even if there wasn’t a ton of drama over who was going to win. There was no reason to believe that the Bucks were going to lose when they have been teasing a heel turn in recent weeks. This worked well enough as a way to get the Bucks on the show, but it wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before.

The announcers preview the Casino Battle Royal.

Casino Battle Royal

There are four groups of five wrestlers each and a group comes in every three minutes. One wrestler comes in as the Joker at the end and it’s a regular battle royal, with the winner getting a World Title shot in the future. Taz joins commentary for a bonus. First up we have the Spades, meaning Trent, Christopher Daniels, Jake Hager, the Blade and Rey Fenix to start things off. It’s a brawl to start with Daniels having to fight out of Hager and Blade’s double teaming. Fenix armdrags Trent down but walks into a tornado DDT.

Hager suplexes Daniels and everyone keeps fighting until it’s the Diamonds, consisting of Frankie Kazarian, Will Hobbs, Chuck Taylor, and Santana and Ortiz. The last two hit Chuck from behind with the baton before he can get in the ring and stay on him outside. Hobbs pulls Blade in the way of a charge and Blade is out, followed by Hager getting rid of Daniels. Everyone gets in and it’s time for the Hearts, including Billy, Penta El Zero M, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage and Darby Allin.

Cage gets rid of Billy in a hurry so here’s Allin with the skateboard to wreck people. Allin tosses Fenix and the Best Friends get to clean a little house, setting up the Big Hug. Santana and Ortiz get rid of Chuck because they’re not stupid enough to stop for a hug in a match like this. Now it’s time for the Clubs, with Shawn Spears (who goes over to commentary instead of getting in), Eddie Kingston, the Butcher, Sonny Kiss and Lance Archer.

Spears takes his time heading to the ring as Archer gets to clean house in a hurry. Kiss eliminates Hager but Cage gets rid of him as well. Tully Blanchard hands Spears the piece of metal for the glove as Hager decks Kiss on the floor. Trent gets rid of Santana but can only send Ortiz to the apron. Archer tosses Trent and then eliminates Ortiz as the Joker is….Matt Sydal. Well that’s a disappointment. He comes in and goes to the top to try the shooting star press….and slips off, crashing hard onto his back so Hobbs immediately goes to check on him.

Penta is out and Kazarian follows him and we hear a bunch of noise, which Taz blames on catering. Cage gets up to clean house and hits Starks by mistake, allowing Allin to throw Starks out. Starks is annoyed and pulls out a body bag, which Cage fills with thumbtacks. Cage puts Allin in the bag and zips it up as JR is DONE with this. A powerbomb over the top rope gets rid of the bag and Allin for the scary bump. Sydal kicks Spears to the apron but Spears pulls him out as well.

With Spears tied in the ropes, Spears adds a middle rope double stomp for the elimination. Back in and Hobbs hits a big spinebuster on Sydal but gets Pounced by Archer. Cage and Archer give us the big showdown and they strike it out until Cage hits a jumping knee. Hobbs cuts Cage off and pulls him to the apron though and Archer knocks both of them out.

That leaves us with Archer, Kingston, Sydal and Blade, with Archer not wanting to hear from Kingston. Archer dumps Butcher and throws Sydal through the air and right into a DDT onto Kingston. There’s the Blackout to Sydal but he lands on the apron. Kingston gets rid of Sydal and winds up on the apron with Archer. Jake Roberts busts out the snake bag but here is Blade to go after Archer. Kingston bites Archer’s ear but another snake distraction lets Archer throw Kingston out for the win at 21:50. JR: “Lance Hoyt wins it!”

Rating: C-. These things are always hard to rate and Sydal wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise. The botch didn’t make things any better but I did get to laugh as soon as he got up. Archer winning makes good sense as he needs a big win to get him back to the top level after the loss to Cody. It was fine enough for a battle royal, which means it has a pretty hard ceiling above everything.

We recap Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy. Guevara busted him open with a chair by throwing it rather hard at Hardy’s head so Hardy busted him open in a tables match. Tonight it’s Broken Rules, meaning Last Man Standing, but if Matt loses, he leaves AEW.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Broken Rules so Last Man Standing. They start near the football field, with Sammy showing up behind him in the golf cart. Since Matt is a wrestler, he runs straight ahead instead of going over a barricade or something. Sammy crashes and the fight is on, with Matt heading over to a scissor lift. They go into the air and Matt tries the Side Effect. That winds up with a huge crash instead and Matt’s head hits the concrete, meaning we get the X sign. Hokey smoke that was terrifying and Matt is DONE. As in not moving and looks completely stiff.

Sammy goes after Matt again and gets a nine but here’s the doctor to say the match is over at 3:47. Sammy staggers towards the ring so Matt gets up and jumps him again. The bell rings and the match continues as they head towards ringside. They climb the set structure and Sammy gets knocked off for a huge crash through the stage. That’s enough for a ten count at 8:07, counting the break between the breaks.

Rating: D+. I’m really not sure what to say here as I can’t imagine this was the plan for the whole thing. It feels like Matt got hurt but they had to keep going until the finish because of the Matt Leaves stipulation, though that’s just a guess. It didn’t have the time to do much, which seems to be a continuing problem with this feud. They don’t need to do this again, and hopefully Matt isn’t too banged up.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Hikaru Shida for Shida’s AEW World Title. We hear a bunch of great things about Rosa, the NWA Women’s Champion, including comments from NWA owner Billy Corgan. Everyone knew Rosa was going to be a top star from the moment they saw her and she challenged Shida for a champion vs. champion match. Shida was certainly down.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa

Only Shida’s title is on the line. They go nose to nose to start before heading to the mat. With no one being able to get the advantage, it’s Shida hitting a running hurricanrana and it’s time to go nose to nose again. Rosa hits a hard elbow to the face and snapmares Shida down as Excalibur mentions that Rosa is also a champion in Tokyo Joshi Pro. JR: “BUT ONLY YOU KNOW THAT!” Shida gets in a shot of her own and hits a running knee to Rosa as she hangs over the apron. Rosa is back up to hit Shida in the face and bend her back around the post.

Back in and the Thunder Driver is escaped and Shida pulls her into a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors. Rosa slips out of that and grabs a rocking horse to drive Shida’s head into the bottom buckle over and over. Back up and Shida counters a kick to the head into the Stretch Muffler but that’s reversed into a headscissors. Shida hits a jumping knee to the head but her back is banged up from earlier. Rosa hits some running knees in the corner and they head to the ramp.

A Death Valley Driver is escaped so Rosa goes to the top, only to get shoved to the apron. That’s fine with Rosa, who hits the Death Valley Driver on the apron instead. An armbar goes on but Shida gets her foot on the rope for the fast save. Shida sends her to the ramp and hits the Meteora to drop Rosa hard on the back of her head. Back in and Shida gets one off the Falcon Arrow but can’t get the Full Metal Muffler. A rollup doesn’t work either so it’s a hard backbreaker for two on Rosa. The running knee finishes Rosa at 16:43.

Rating: B. Match of the night so far and I’m not at all surprised. You had two very talented wrestlers getting to showcase themselves in a long match. They weren’t going to have Shida lose to someone not signed to the promotion so the winner wasn’t in doubt, but they had a heck of a match on the way there. Good, hard hitting match match here which lived up to my expectations.

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford announce that they are getting married on Dynamite, but first, Sabian needs a handsome best man. This week, we’ll find out who his best man is.

We recap the Dark Order vs. the Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona. Brodie Lee destroyed Cody to win the TNT Title and now it’s time for friends and family to fight for revenge.

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona

It’s Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana/Evil Uno/Stu Grayson for the Order and the Nightmare Sisters are at ringside too. It’s a brawl to start before the bell until Lee knocks Dustin down to officially get things going. Uno comes in and gets taken into the corner by Dustin. It’s Uno getting caught in the corner for the big beatdown, including Cardona hitting a neckbreaker for two. Uno gets Marshall to chase him on the floor and the stomping is on back inside. Lee backdrops Marshall but Dustin comes in to stop Uno from using the wrist tape.

That just lets Uno choke anyway but Marshall manages a Lethal Combination. Marshall ducks a clothesline and that’s enough to bring in Cardona for the house cleaning. The middle rope dropkick hits Cabana and there’s a faceplant. Grayson and Uno low bridge Cardona to the floor as Cabana might have a broken nose. Now it’s Lee beating on Cardona in the corner, which again draws Dustin in for a failed save.

Lee chokes in the corner and shouts WHERE’S CODY over and over. Chasing the Dragon drops Cardona, allowing commentary to talk about Batman and Robin. Cardona slips out of the suplex and grabs the neckbreaker, allowing the hot tag to Dustin to clean house. There’s a Canadian Destroyer to Cabana and Sky comes in for the showdown with Lee. Cue Anna Jay to go after Sky but Brandi kicks her in the face.

As JR wishes Anna had a wardrobe malfunction (seriously), Sky hits a TKO for two on Uno. Radio Silence (the Rough Ryder) hits Grayson and Cardona nails a flip dive to the floor. Cardona charges into a powerbomb from Lee so Marshall hits his own flip dive. Back in and Grayson throws Marshall into a sitout powerbomb and Cabana adds a splash for two. The hot tag brings in Dustin though and it’s time for the slugout with Lee. That means a quick discus lariat to Dustin but Lee tags in Cabana for the pin. Cabana would rather go up top to miss a moonsault though, allowing Dustin to grab a rollup for the pin at 15:03.

Rating: C. This was long and that’s not the best thing for this kind of a match. I’m really not sure why we need the Order to lose here, unless they’re setting up Dustin as Lee’s first challenge. I know Dustin is old and related to Cody, but I’m not exactly interested in seeing Dustin vs. Lee in a big showdown. This felt more like something you would see on Dynamite and while it was fine enough, I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

Post match Lee freaks out and yells at Cabana before leaving in a huff. Uno shakes Cabana’s hand.

Dustin Rhodes is very excited over the win because he’s still doing this after five decades. As a bonus, he gets the TNT Title shot against Lee on Dynamite and is rather fired up as a result.

We recap FTR vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page. FTR doesn’t like a thrown together team having the Tag Team Titles and Page seems more serious about drinking than wrestling. The Young Bucks have thrown him out of the Elite and say he’s going to get what he deserves.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Hangman Page/Kenny Omega

Omega/Page are defending and Tully Blanchard is here with FTR. Omega and Wheeler start but Page (whose graphic says “I don’t care what the graphic says anymore”) wants in instead. Page slugs away to start but nearly hits Omega. The champs hit stereo big boots and Wheeler gets caught between some chops. Omega is finally willing to high five Page and it’s a snap suplex to drop Wheeler. It’s back to Omega for a springboard ax handle to the back and the Kitaro Crusher takes Wheeler down again.

Page hits a running shooting star to the back and it’s off to Harwood. That means a missed elbow but Page misses a boot in the corner. Harwood starts working on the leg as we hear that Matt Hardy is going to be ok. We hit the abdominal stretch until Omega is sent outside. Back in and Page gets to Omega for the tag so house can be cleaned. A jumping knee hits Harwood but Wheeler blocks the Snapdragon. Wheeler is dropkicked out of the air and Omega hits the big running flip dive to the floor.

Back in and Harwood powerbombs Omega into a German suplex from Wheeler for two more. Omega strikes both of them down though and everything breaks down again. A shot to the face takes Wheeler down for two and Omega goes up, where he gets to shove Wheeler down again. Harwood crotches him on top though the PowerPlex gets two. The Goodnight Express is broken up so Harwood brainbusters Omega instead. Omega is right back up with the poisonrana to Harwood and the Tiger Driver 98 gets two on Wheeler.

The V Trigger hits Wheeler but Harwood breaks up the One Winged Angel. Back to back dragon screw legwhips take Omega down and it’s off to the reverse Figure Four. The hold is broken up and Harwood stays on the leg with a Cannonball. Page finally comes over to try and break things up but is sent back to the corner as Omega’s leg is wrapped around the post. Omega manages to get up and hits back to back snapdragons but kicks Harwood into Page for the double knockdown.

Page gets back up for the hot tag a few seconds later though and house is cleaned. Wheeler is knocked down and Page dives onto Harwood at ringside. The big flip dive from the top takes FTR down again for a breather at ringside. Back in and Page is sent into Harwood’s knee for two and it’s the double Swan Dive for two, with Omega making the save. Page is sent to the apron again and gets caught with a reverse powerbomb/running bulldog combination for the big knockdown.

Back in and Omega breaks up a double team something, with Harwood falling off the top and landing hard on the apron. The super fall away slam hits Wheeler for two but the Buckshot Lariat misses. Omega V Triggers Page by mistake and Harwood takes out Omega’s knee. The Mindbreaker gives Harwood a cocky two so they do it again for the pin and the titles at 28:38.

Rating: B+. This was quite the match and they did the big mistake spot between Omega and Page to keep the issues going. FTR had to win here as there was no reason to keep them away from the titles at this point. The big deal is going to be the Omega/Page issues though as the Elite story continues. Heck of a match, but this started to feel long at the end.

Post match FTR leaves and Omega grabs one of the ringside tables. He throws it down though and Page collapses. Omega looks disgusted but walks away anyway. We follow Omega to the back where he finds the Young Bucks but storms off anyway. Omega says he’s done and let’s go so they head to the parking lot. Matt can’t talk him out of it as Omega says we need a good cleaning around here. Omega tells them to get in the car now or never but they stay out and Omega leaves.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy. They have split the first two matches and now it is time for Mimosa Mayhem, where you can win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into a big vat of mimosa.

Chris Jericho talks about how he has been dealing with Cassidy for fourteen weeks and has finally made Cassidy into a real main event draw. They have been through a lot and now it is time to beat him for good, by making him tap out and throwing him into the vat of champagne and orange juice.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

You win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into one of the vats of mimosa (on platforms of equal height to the ring). There are also no rope breaks. During the entrances, we hear more about Hardy, with Tony making it clear that Matt was cleared to continue by the doctor and everything was safe. Cassidy charges straight into the Codebreaker for two to start and Jericho sends him hard into the corner. They go over to one of the platforms with the vat and Jericho hits him in the head with a table.

Jericho gets knocked off to the floor though and Cassidy adds the big dive. They get back on the platform and tease knocking each other in before getting back to safer ground. Cassidy tries a hurricanrana but gets powerbombed onto the platform and then through the table. A kick to the face rocks Jericho and a champagne bucket to the head puts him back inside.

The triangle dropkick almost puts Cassidy in but he’s back with a sunset flip for two. Cassidy grabs a Michinoku Driver for two more and a Stundog Millionaire gets the same. Jericho is back with a counter into the Walls so it’s time to crawl towards the vat. Cassidy uses a pitcher to throw some mimosa into Jericho’s eyes for the break and the Orange Punch connects.

Jericho is thrown over the top and his foot goes in the vat (doesn’t count) so Cassidy hits a running penalty kick (Excalibur: “THE RUNNING PK!” Tony: “THE RUNNING PK!” JR: “THE RUNNING PK!”) and the tornado DDT for two. Cassidy gets planted again for two more but Jericho can’t lawn dart him into the vat. Splash Mountain into the vat is blocked so Cassidy Superman Punches him into the vat for the win at 15:01.

Rating: C+. It was as good of a match as you were going to get based around the idea of throwing someone into a pool of champagne and orange juice. Cassidy already got the big rub off of pinning Jericho on Dynamite so this was more the goofy win than anything else. If this helps turn Cassidy into a main event star then so be it, but I’m not sure how much more of an impact this is going to have. It wasn’t bad, but it felt more silly rather than some big, serious match.

Full Gear is on November 7.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF is the whiny kid who gets whatever he wants but now he has to find a way to beat Moxley to become the World Champion. This has seen a big campaign by MJF to get the title shot, which was pretty quickly dropped to set up MJF being injured by the Paradigm Shift. Then a lawyer got involved and now the Paradigm Shift is banned. Moxley wants to shut MJF up for good and MJF wants the title.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley s. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Friedman is challenging and has Wardlow in his corner plus a big red robe to complete the look. The Paradigm Shift is banned as well and if Moxley uses it, he loses the title. Friedman headlocks him down to start but Moxley is up with a right hand. Moxley sends him outside and gives chase but MJF gets back inside. They do it again and this time Moxley tries a dive, only to have to land on his feet as MJF slides back in.

Moxley sends him to the floor again and this time fakes the dive to get in a stomp. There’s a suicide dive but Moxley has to stop and glare at Wardlow. MJF is sent through the barricade and now it’s time to bend the fingers back, sending MJF into a scream for the ref. Back in and Moxley grabs a sleeper but MJF flips back onto him for two. There’s a ribs first drop onto the top rope but Moxley gets thrown over the top so he can crash down onto his arm.

Wardlow throws him back in and MJF starts in on said arm, as he should. MJF whips him by the arm into the corner for two but Moxley sends him into the post, drawing a big old gash on MJF’s head. MJF is staggered so Moxley teases the Paradigm Shift before realizing that won’t work. The Gotch Style piledriver doesn’t work either because the arm gives out, meaning it’s a swinging Boss Man Slam on the floor instead. Back in and the Gotch Styles piledriver gets two as Moxley’s arm means he can’t hook the leg.

Moxley bites him in the corner as a receipt from Dynamite but MJF gets in a top rope stomp to the arm. They slug it out with Moxley’s arm giving out so he hits a big running clothesline for two instead. Moxley yells at him so MJF spits in Moxley’s face. That almost makes Moxley use the Paradigm Shift so he puts on the brakes, only to get pulled into the Salt of the Earth (Fujiwara armbar). That’s broken up as well so MJF grabs the Heatseeker for two.

Moxley is back with the Air Raid Crash for his own two and they slug it out from their knees. MJF goes to the eye and tries a backslide for two so Moxley is back with the sleeper. The referee gets pulled in so MJF kicks him low for two more. MJF is bleeding even more as he grabs Cross Rhodes for another near fall. Wardlow has had it and gets on the apron to throw in the ring, but Moxley sees MJF pick it up. As the ref is with Wardlow, it’s the Paradigm Shift to give Moxley the pin and the title at 23:45.

Rating: C+. It was good enough and the blood helped but this was a long main event at the end of a show that felt very long and it hurt things a lot. The ending wasn’t exactly the most creative either, but they did find a way to keep the title on Moxley and give MJF something else to complain about. I liked it well enough, but I would have liked MJF winning the title more.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s their weakest pay per view to date and, just like Dynamite, that makes it one of the more entertaining shows I can remember in a good while. There was nothing close to really bad on here and the big matches delivered. That being said, I was done with this with about an hour to go and it just kept going.

They needed to trim some time off of some stuff here (5-10 minutes off the Tag Team Title match and the Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in its entirety would be good places to start) as it took away some of the impact that the bigger matches could have had. It was by no means bad or close to it, but it was a case where less would have equaled more.

Now as for the good stuff, the Tag Team Title match and Women’s Title match were both very good to great and the main event was good enough. The Hardy vs. Guevara match was more scary than anything else and I can’t imagine how much they had to cut out of that to make things work out. Cassidy got another rub here so they seem to have a plan in mind for him. There were a lot of positives here and more of them than negatives, but there was a bit too much of the whole show and it became an issue by the end. Still though, another good AEW pay per view as they remain perfect in that regard.

Results

Big Swole b. Britt Baker via knockout

Young Bucks b. Jurassic Express – BTE Trigger to Jungle Boy

Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Eddie Kingston

Matt Hardy b. Sammy Guevara when Guevara could not answer the ten count

Hikaru Shida b. Thunder Rosa – Running knee

Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rollup to Cabana

FTR b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page – Mindbreaker to Page

Orange Cassidy b. Chris Jericho – Orange Punch into the mimosa

Jon Moxley b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

We haven’t done one of these in awhile. AEW does not run very many pay per view events but they will be having one this weekend. That means the expectations are high, as AEW’s pay per views have been rather successful so far. There is always a first time for everything, but AEW has given me a lot of reason to believe that they can make this work again. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Private Party vs. Dark Order

This was a change made on Friday with a new match being added and the original Buy In match being added to the main card. Private Party has been in a weird place since they debuted as they seemed to be the chosen ones but then fell WAY back and haven’t come close to their original status since. They have at least been on television more as of late so maybe things are turning around.

The thing that is going to help them turn around the most is a win here, which they will get. The Dark Order has been getting a push but I can’t imagine they actually beat a team like Private Party. This is a good choice for an opening match as Private Party can bring some energy to the show and give the fans a nice reaction when they beat the cult. It won’t be a great match or anything, but it will help the show get going in the right direction.

Dark Order vs. Matt Cardona/Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky

I can always go with a ragtag bunch of people against the monster cult (you hear about it all the time). This is fallout from Brodie Lee mauling Cody to take the TNT Title and I think I like this more than a regular title defense. We’ve already seen what Lee can do on his own so it’s ok to go with something designed to follow up on that rather than going in the more traditional route.

I’ll take the Dark Order here as there is no reason to have Lee lose in his first match after winning the title. Even if he didn’t take the fall, you don’t want to slow the momentum of the main core of the Dark Order. QT Marshall can take a fall as well as anyone here and if it happens to be after Lee blasts him with a clothesline, so be it. This is the Order’s to win, as it should be.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

Here we have a match that is just kind of happening for the sake of happening, which is rarely a good sign. These four won a match on Dynamite to earn their spot in this one and that’s about it. In other words, they had to come up with something for the Bucks to do on the show and this was as good as anything else they could come up with. At least Marko Stunt is injured and can’t interfere so we have at least one positive.

Of course the Bucks win here because it’s their company and you have to give the people what they want (or something). Much like Private Party, Jurassic Express has fallen a long way (I assure you that the addition of Stunt had NOTHING to do with it though) and they are just kind of the designated victims for the Bucks. The match will have some good spots, but the Bucks win in the end, as they should.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

This is a Broken Rules match, meaning Last Man Standing. These two have had a big feud going in recent weeks (Guevara has even had signs) and then they had a tables match which was completely ripped off by having its time hacked off. I’m hoping they can do something great here, or at least really good, which might be about as good as you can expect from them here.

Given the “Hardy leaves AEW if he loses”, I think I’ll go with Guevara, mainly because that seems like a way to have Hardy get out of the company and come back as another character. Guevara also needs the win a lot more, but I’m almost scared to see what we are going to be seeing from Hardy in the near future, because he might go for epic again and that….egads it does not work a lot of the time.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Thunder Rosa

This is actually the only singles match on the show with no special rules or stipulation. Rosa debuted on Dynamite and made me care about Serena Deeb well enough, though I don’t know if that was the point. They have built this up fairly well for Rosa through her promos, but at the same time, Shida has barely been around in the last few weeks. She still feels like the ace of the division though and that’s all you need in something like this.

I’ll go with Shida retaining here, as I’m not sure I can imagine Rosa just showing up and winning the title. Now that being said, if they want to put a rocket to someone in the short term, Rosa would make a ton of sense. Rosa could be a heck of a star as she has seemed like one every time and hopefully they give her a chance later on, because she could be a big star in a hurry around…anywhere really.

Tag Team Titles: Kenny Omega/Hangman Page(c) vs. FTR

Man alive this could have been something more interesting at another time but it is still entertaining enough here. The main crux of the story here is the continuing deterioration of the Elite, with Page now having been tossed out, despite Omega not having any say of it. We could be seeing something great in the ring here, but the real interesting parts are going to be around the drama, which tends to be the case in most big matches.

This absolutely has to be the title change, as Omega and Page being the champs mean that the story can’t really move forward in any significant way. FTR can be a great team and upgrade anyone they face, so hopefully they are given the chance to do that here. Omega and Page need to drop the titles already and there is no reason not to do that here. It will be very good to great match, and the title change should be on the same level. FTR wins, as they have to.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is the cinematic match and that means we are going to be seeing something interesting. The match is going to be taking place in Baker’s dental office, which should be a heck of an idea. AEW seems like it should be able to have the right kind of humor to make something work in the first place. These two have been wanting to fight for a few months now and if they go with the right path, we should be fine.

I’ll with with Baker here, as there is little reason to have her lose. Baker’s greatest strength is when she gets to talk and there is little reason for her to keep talking if she gets beaten here. Swole is good enough at what she does, but Baker could be the best talker in the entire division and should not lose for a good while. It’s Baker all day here and that should be the case for a long time.

Casino Battle Royal

One day someone is going to have to explain to me why they keep going with the gambling theme, especially when they aren’t in Las Vegas. Anyway, this is the big #1 contenders battle royal with the groups of wrestlers coming in at timed intervals and then one guy coming in last as the Joker. I’m not sure what to expect here as the field has not been completely announced, but this should be hard to screw up.

Based on the field that we have at the moment, I’ll be taking Darby Allin to win, if nothing else for the sake of hearing Taz freak out about it on commentary. I don’t know if that is the kind of title shot that can be defended, but some matches against Team Taz could work out rather well. You can almost guarantee that another former WWE star will debut here, but Allin winning makes the most sense out of everyone announced so far.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

If you have been watching Dynamite and Dark, you very well could believe that this is the main event (and I’m not 100% convinced it won’t be). This is the Mimosa Mayhem match, because AEW loves it some uniquely named gimmick matches. It’s basically a casket match, but with a vat of orange juice and champagne instead of a casket. Plus you can win via pinfall or submission to really mix it up.

There is no real reason for Jericho to win here (aside from it’s Jericho vs. Cassidy on pay per view) and I can’t imagine Cassidy actually losing so I’ll go with what makes sense. Cassidy has already proven that he can pin Jericho so throwing him into the mimosas would make the most sense. Actually it would have made the most sense to have Cassidy beat him in this in the second match and then win via pinfall later in the big moment, but the way they did it works well enough.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

And then there’s this, which is going to be one of the more interesting matches on the show. I’m not sure which way this is going to go and that’s what makes it more fun. Friedman has been pretty clearly the next breakout star for a long time as he can talk as well as anyone in the world right now, but it’s almost hard to picture them taking the title off of Moxley. The Paradigm Shift is banned here, but that has taken a backseat to the lawyer stuff which just did not end. So that leaves us with the match and I’m not entirely sure.

I’ll go with Friedman winning though, as I really can’t imagine who else can take the title from Moxley at the moment. They have something with Moxley beating all of the giants in a row and then having trouble with the smaller guy so hopefully they pull the trigger. I’m not sure how good the match is going to be, but Friedman’s celebration could be outstanding and my hope for seeing it carries me through.

Overall Thoughts

I’m excited for this one and it’s nice to be able to say that about a pay per view for once. They have done something different with the shows and given how infrequently we see them, that could make for a rather nice show indeed. This is kind of the anniversary show, or at least the anniversary of the show before the show, so they are going to be going harder than usual. All out you might even say.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: September 4, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

Yes it’s a double shot of this show as they continue their tradition of running a special show the night before a pay per view. In theory this means that we won’t be having a show next Tuesday, though I do wonder what that means for the Gunn Club and Kip Sabian. How can we get by without seeing them every single week? Let us get to it.

Here are this week’s results if you need a recap.

Faboo Andre/D3 vs. Butcher and Blade

Eddie Kingston is here with Butcher and Blade. The beatdown is on before the bell with Butcher running D3 over and taking him into the corner for the beating. D3 gets in a shot and hands it off to Andre, who walks into a side slam as the beating is on in a hurry. Blade doesn’t seem worried about Andre and slowly kicks him in the back but charges into a knee in the corner.

A hurricanrana allows the hot tag to D3 but he gets caught in a chokeslam/belly to back suplex combination. Andre makes the save and gets powerbombed/neckbreakered for his efforts. The suplex onto Blade’s knees is good for the pin on Andre at 3:34. They have those two big combinations and use the suplex onto the knee for the finisher?

Rating: D+. Again, you can only go so wrong with someone named Faboo Andre and it was nice to see Butcher and Blade destroying people like this. It isn’t a match that you need to see or course but as a brief showcase for Butcher and Blade, who seem to be on their way up, it worked out well enough. Now do something with them.

Allie vs. Red Velvet

QT Marshall is here with Velvet and Brandi Rhodes is on commentary. Feeling out process to start with Velvet grabbing a headlock and then running her over with a shoulder. A rollup gives Velvet two and Allie isn’t into the handshake. Instead Allie sends her into the corner but gets choked down with a boot. Velvet gets caught on top though and Allie hits a superkick. The running knee sets up a bulldog as Brandi wants Allie to stay on it. Down The Rabbit Hole finishes Velvet at 4:19.

Rating: D+. Another not too bad match with Allie and Brandi’s issues being front and center. What those issues are still isn’t clear, as Allie hasn’t exactly been trying to do anything bad to Marshall. I’m not sure what they’re going for long term, but it seems that the short term goal is to get Brandi on TV, which is working well enough.

Colt Cabana vs. Zack Clayton

Cabana drives him into the corner to start and we get some clean breaks but Stu Grayson of the Dark Order doesn’t seem thrilled with Cabana’s tactics. Evil Uno comes out to yell at him as well so Cabana shoulders Clayton down to take over. Clayton gets two off a rollup and Cabana is ticked off enough to start the aggression. Clayton fires off some uppercuts but the Dark Order offers a distraction. The Chicago Skyline puts Clayton down and, after an order from Uno, Cabana uses Brodie Lee’s discus lariat for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: C-. It was nice to see some storyline advancement during a match on this show because it has been lacking for nearly a year now. This is the kind of thing that can make Dark worth watching (or at least a little more worth watching) but for some reason this stuff is rather rare. That being said, if Cabana needed help beating this guy, maybe the Dark Order is a little beyond him.

Peter Avalon says the Initiative is done because it’s all about him. He isn’t an enhancement talent and it’s time to light a fire under Brandon Cutler. The two of them can go one on one and it’s time for the loser to win. Leva Bates does not seem pleased.

Lucha Bros vs. Ryzin/Angel Perez

Fenix and Ryzin start things off with Ryzin being knocked down in a hurry. Penta comes in and holds Fenix’s hand for a crazy springboard flipping armdrag but Ryzin gets a boot up in the corner. Perez comes in to elbow Fenix in the face and a running knee to the face drops him again. Penta’s distraction lets Fenix grab a spinning sunset flip out of the corner for two. Penta hits a running Canadian Destroyer on Ryzin and a spike Fear Factor (though with Fenix standing up for the spike instead of coming off the top) finishes Perez at 2:53.

Post match here are Eddie Kingston and Butcher and Blade with Eddie promising that one of them is going to win the Casino Battle Royal. Butcher isn’t happy but Kingston gets them together for a group hug.

Ivelisse vs. KiLynn King

Diamante is here with Ivelisse. They trade some strikes to start until King takes way too long trying a slam, allowing Ivelisse to slip away. A springboard tornado DDT gives Ivelisse two and a kick to the head gets the same. The full nelson with the legs keep King down and a running knee gives Ivelisse two more. Another big kick misses though and King hits a hard forearm. King kicks her in the head and sends Ivelisse flying with a German suplex for two. As Taz criticizes the covering, Diamante offers a distraction so Ivelisse can hit a Downward Spiral. Code Red finishes King at 4:48.

Rating: C-. They might have something here with King, who gets noticed every time she is on the show. I know she probably isn’t going anywhere, but it could be worth giving her a little something. Like say, a win, over another of the Dark jobbers. That could help a few other people here and there but for some reason it never happens. I really don’t get it, but that’s not what the show seems to be about.

Shawn Dean/Brandon Bullock vs. Dark Order

It’s John Silver and Alex Reynolds for the Order here. Silver takes Dean straight down for an attempted choke and then fires a knee to the face. It’s off to Reynolds, who gets caught with a quick enziguri so Bullock can come in off the tag. Silver kicks Bullock in the chest though as commentary talks about Tom and Jerry.

The Order starts hammering away on Bullock in the corner and back to back splashes give Reynolds two. Bullock flips out of a belly to back suplex though and it’s back to Dean. That earns him some quick strikes to the face from Dean and a spinning torture rack powerbomb plants Dean again. The double flipping DDT gives Silver the pin at 5:42.

Rating: D+. Kind of a long match by comparison to the rest of the show and that’s not the best thing. Dean is one of the better jobbers but there is a reason that Silver and Reynolds were put under masks and are often just identified by numbers. The match wasn’t anything of note, but the Dark Order has been getting a lot more TV time as of late so I can’t say I’m surprised to see them here.

Brandon Cutler, also with Leva Bates, says he’ll take Peter Avalon’s challenge. If Avalon wants to light that fire, be ready to be burned.

Luther vs. Darby Allin

Taz is suddenly a huge Luther fan. Luther kicks the knee out to start and sends Darby’s knee into the post. Back in and Luther stomps at the knee some more with Allin not even being able to run the ropes. Allin comes back with a Fujiwara armbar but Luther makes it over to the rope. Luther is right back to the knee and a backdrop driver gives him two. There’s a reverse suplex for two more as Taz wants Darby to headbutt a fire hydrant. The Cannonball only hits corner though and Luther rolls outside for a Coffin Drop from Allin. Back in and the Coffin Drop finishes Luther at 4:29.

Rating: C. Luther was wrestling a much more logical match here and that made it a lot easier to watch. He hasn’t been the disaster that I was expecting when he seemingly was hired because he and Jericho worked together a long time ago, but this worked out well enough. Allin survived until the end here, and that’s perfectly fine.

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares

Marshall gets in a faceplant on Angels but Vance pulls Dustin off the apron. A DDT gives Angels two and the hot tag brings in Dustin to clean house. The snap powerslams plant the Order but a cheap shot from the apron lets Vance get a rollup for two. Back in and Marshall hits a Diamond Cutter on Angels, leaving Vance to take the Final Reckoning for the pin at 8:00.

Rating: C. Again, believe it or not, the talented wrestlers getting a little time led to a better match. It also helps that there is an actual story here instead of just people doing moves to each other for the sake of filling in time. This wasn’t bad either, as the Nightmares continue to be a nice little pairing.

Quick All Out preview wraps it up.

Overall Rating: C-. I know I’m beating a heavily damaged horse here but the time was the key to making this one a lot more watchable. There was nothing wroth going out of your way to see here but then again there almost never is on Dark. It was more of the same, but there wasn’t a point where I was wondering how much longer I would have to sit through the thing. This was as proof positive as you could get that there is no need to make the show so long most of the time and it was easier to watch as a result. I’m sure that won’t matter next time, but it was a nice break for one week.

Results

Butcher and Blade b. Faboo Andre/D3 – Suplex onto Blade’s knees to Andre

Allie b. Red Velvet – Down The Rabbit Hole

Colt Cabana b. Zack Clayton – Discus lariat

Lucha Bros b. Ryzin/Angel Perez – Spike Fear Factor to Perez

Ivelisse b. KiLynn King – Code Red

Dark Order b. Brandon Bullock/Shawn Dean – Double flipping DDT to Bullock

Darby Allin b. Luther – Coffin Drop

Natural Nightmares b. Dark Order – Final Reckoning to Vance

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6