IMG Credit: AEW

Dark
Date: December 17, 2019
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Vickie Guerrero, Excalibur
Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Dasha Gonzales

We’re still down in Texas and it’s time to get ready for a pretty big episode of Dynamite this week. That’s where a bunch of recaps could come in handy as there was a lot set up last week. The quality and importance of the matches on this show are almost impossible to guess, but that can make for a fun time of finding out. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the Young Bucks wanting to build the company on the back of a strong tag team division but admitting that they haven’t been as good as they should be. Now though, they’re the #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles. They love SCU and the three of them will be at the Bucks’ house for Christmas dinner. They’re coming for the belts though, no matter how awkward it makes Christmas.

The hosts run down the card.

Vickie Guerrero gets an introduction. To be fair, that’s kind of a cool surprise and not the kind you would have bet on (if that makes sense).

Private Party vs. SCU

Non-title. Kassidy and Kazarian start things off with Kazarian grabbing a headlock takeover. Back up and it’s another headlock takeover in case the first one didn’t stick. An exchange of near falls sets up a standoff and the fans are rather pleased. They even slap hands and it’s a double tag to bring in Quen to face Sky. A dropkick puts Quen down but he’s right back up with one of his own, only to have Kazarian come in for a leg lariat.

The springboard legdrop gets two and it’s back to Sky for some strutting….and it’s Kazarian coming back in for a German suplex. Quen sends Kazarian into Sky though and the hot tag brings in Kassidy. A moonsault takes down both champs and a flapjack/bulldog combination gets two on Sky. There’s a stomp to the back of Sky’s head and the Party stops for some dancing.

Kazarian hits a double clothesline out of the corner and then goes over to get the tag from Sky in a smart move. House is cleaned again and it’s an assisted Unprettier for two on Quen. SCULater is broken up so Quen hits the big flip dive to take out Kazarian and Sky at the same time. Kassidy hits one of his own and it’s Quen getting two on Sky back inside. The shooting star press misses Sky so Kassidy forearms Kazarian a few times. Silly String is broken up and SCULater finishes Quen at 12:23.

Rating: B-. Were you expecting this to be anything but good? Private Party continues to look solid but also continues to lose, which is quite the problem for them. At the same time, SCU wasn’t about to lose in a non-title match, especially not a day before a huge title defense. They did some nice stuff here and it was exactly the kind of match you would have expected.

Here’s your weekly women’s division recap including Big Swole defending Emi Sakura, Brandi Rhodes’ Nightmare Collective promo, and the women’s standings:

5. Emi Sakura

4. Nyla Rose

3. Hikaru Shida

2. Kris Stadtlander

1. Britt Baker

Joey Janela joins commentary.

Britt Baker vs. Machiko

This is Machiko’s debut and she has very colorful hair. Baker kicks her down to start and a crucifix gets one. Machiko’s arm is sent into the corner so we hit the crossface chickenwing. A superkick sets up Lockjaw finishes Machiko at 3:23.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure what there is to say here. Baker is someone who gets pushed and then comes up short in the bigger matches. She is going to be in a #1 contenders match with Kris Stadtlander and hopefully she can get the win that has eluded her so far. The potential is there, but unless she goes somewhere with it, that doesn’t matter.

Kris Stadtlander vs. Bea Priestley

The Cheeky Nandos kick misses though and Stadtlander gets two off a suplex. A discus lariat knocks Priestley outside and there’s the suicide dive. Cue the Nightmare Collective in the crowd to tell Stadtlander to “come home” , allowing Priestley to get in a kick to the head for her own two. An Oklahoma roll gives Stadtlander two but she gets dropped with a Saito suplex. Stadtlander is right back with an ax kick for another near fall and the Big Bang Theory finishes Priestley at 9:27.

Rating: C+. They were having a good match and the Nightmare Collective didn’t cause too much of a problem. That being said, their cameo only reminded me of how lame of an idea the whole thing seems when you have the Dark Order and maybe Butcher/Blade/Bunny at the same time. At least get something that isn’t so dark for a change? Stadtlander continues to look good and I could go for her beating Baker to get the title shot.

We run down the Dynamite card.

Stadtlander says Britt Baker is next and makes a bunch of space references. She’ll be Britt’s leader.

Hybrid Two/Pac vs. Best Friends/Orange Cassidy

Chuck headlocks Angelico down to start but it’s quickly broken for a standoff. The Friends start taking turns on Angelico’s arm as Janela makes some thinly veiled references to Jim Cornette. Taylor grabs a half crab on Angelico but Evans makes a quick save. That’s fine with Chuck, who hits Soul Food, only to allow the tag to Pac. A kick to the head sets up a hiptoss to give Evans two and it’s back to Angelico to continue the rapid fire tags.

Chuck rolls over for the hot tag to Trent to clean house, including a big running flip dive onto the Two. Pac breaks up the hug though and the fans are NOT pleased with that one. The fans want Orange but have to settle for Trent getting choked in the corner. Evans kicks Trent in the head for two more, followed by Pac’s Blue Thunder Bomb for two more.

Trent manages a half and half suplex but Angelico makes the save and knocks Chuck off the apron. He doesn’t bother with Orange (Joey: “Because he fears for his life.”), only to walk into a spinning DDT from Trent. The hot tag brings in Cassidy and the place goes NUTS as he takes off his glasses. The hands go into the pockets for a dropkick into a nip up, plus a dodge to make Pac pump kick Evans by mistake.

Cassidy hits the slow motion kicks on Pac before taking the hands out for a tornado DDT. The glasses go back on and Cassidy hits a suicide dive to take out all three of them at once. That means a three way hug back inside and Cassidy’s top rope splash gets two on Angelico. Chuck’s moonsault misses though and it’s an assisted moonsault to set up Pac’s 450 for two. Pac kicks Cassidy to the floor and snap German suplexes Chuck. The Brutalizer finishes Taylor at 13:22.

Rating: C+. This is a great example of a match where your tastes may vary and I can get that. The energy was high enough to make the match work and the place went coconuts for Cassidy, but at the same time I absolutely would not have had Pac in there with all the goofiness. That kind of stuff can have its place in wrestling (and it certainly will around here) but Pac is a potential main event talent. He did win, but it shouldn’t have been that much of a relief that he did.

Tony and Dasha wrap things up.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this one more than most of the recent episodes and a lot of that came from them shaving the time down a bit. This week’s show was about ten minutes shorter and it didn’t feel like they had to fill in as much time as they did in previous shows. This show doesn’t need to recap everything or show all of the big points from Dynamite. Just get in, have some nice matches, show some recaps, and get out. That’s more what we got here, and while I could go for a bit of a shorter show, it was still a better outing.

Results

SCU b. Private Party – SCULater to Quen

Britt Baker b. Machiko – Lockjaw

Kris Stadtlander b. Bea Priestley – Big Bang Theory

Hybrid Two/Pac b. Best Friends/Orange Cassidy – Brutalizer to Taylor

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: November 8, 2019
Location: Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Goldenboy, Excalibur, Arn Anderson
Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Dasha Gonzales

It’s a special Friday edition of the show as they want to get it out as a preview for Saturday’s Full Gear. That makes a lot of sense and it’s something that they should be doing in cases like this. I’m not expecting it to be much different, though at least it’s a bit shorter this week. Let’s get to

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

Tony and Dasha welcome us to the show

Justin Roberts introduces Arn Anderson for commentary. Well if you insist.

Big Swole vs. Hikaru Shida

Shida takes her up against the rope to start and it’s an early clean break. Swole’s shoulder puts her down and it’s time to run the ropes until Shida kicks her down, setting up the running basement dropkick. A running knee to the face makes it worse and another one, this time off a chair, has Swole down again.

Back in and we hit the half crab on Swole, followed by another running knee for two more. Swole comes back with a headbutt into a Flatliner for her own two. Shida grabs a fireman’s carry backbreaker but another running knee is countered into a rollup. Just to mix it up, a running knee finishes Swole at 7:08.

Rating: C-. Sweet goodness that was a lot of knees. I know it’s more realistic, but that doesn’t make it more interesting. Shida used half a dozen running knees here and they got a little old pretty quickly. Swole hasn’t shown me much but she hasn’t gotten a promo or really anything more than a supporting role so you can’t take much away from that.

Post match Shida is happy to bring Japanese strong style and wants the winner of the Women’s Title match. That alone is more than I’ve heard from most of the women and it was a nice little step forward for her.

Chuck Taylor has replaced Arn on commentary. Lucky us.

Shazza McKenzie/Shalandra Royal vs. Leva Bates/Nyla Rose

Rating: C. Now that is how you make someone look like a star. Commentary mentioned that Rose wanted to do this one by herself and that is exactly what we got here, with her running through both of them like they weren’t even there. Rose needs to be rebuilt after losing to Riho and that is exactly what happened. I loved the booking here and Rose looked like a killer.

Rose says she didn’t tag Bates in because she didn’t have to. She has been disrespected around here so she’s going to disrespect the locker room, one by one. Or two by one as she did tonight.

Full Gear rundown.

We look back at Cody announcing that if he loses, he will never challenge for the World Title again.

Video on Cody vs. Jericho and how serious Cody is taking things. It’s a cross between remarkable and frustrating that they can do this but so many of the other stories get almost nothing.

SCU/Cima vs. Hybrid Two/Kip Sabian

Cima hammerlocks Angelico down to start as we hear about the two of them being trained/inspired by Ultimo Dragon. Angelico reverses into an armbar of his own but Cima is up with a running dropkick. Evans and Sabian are knocked off the apron and it’s Kazarian coming in for an armbar to put Evans down.

It’s off to Sabian, who gets kicked and clotheslined down in a hurry as SCU is on a roll to start. Sky’s slingshot splash gets two and it’s Kazarian slingshotting in with a legdrop. Sabian rakes Sky in the eyes though and it’s a big boot from Evans to really take over. A faceplant sets up some stomping in the corner as the villains take turns on Sky. The front facelock keeps Sky in trouble but he kicks Evans away and makes the hot tag to Cima.

That means a bunch of running knees (a theme tonight), followed by a springboard knee to both of the Two. They don’t stay down long and it’s an elbow/belly to back suplex combination, followed by an assisted 450 for two on Cima. Back up and Cima suplexes Evans for two more with Sabian making the save. Kazarian comes back in with a missile dropkick and Cima’s top rope Meteora finishes Sabian at 12:27.

Rating: C+. This was your run of the mill formula six man and that was just fine given the talent in there. Cima has been an excellent substitute member of the team and I could go for seeing more of him in a prominent role. Daniels isn’t going to be around forever, and while Cima might not be the best full time replacement, he works very well for the time being.

One more Full Gear ad takes us out.

Overall Rating: C. This felt like a middle of the road show that was designed to make me watch Full Gear. That being said, it didn’t really add anything and was more along the lines of an extended advertisement. The show was about fifteen minutes shorter than the usual fare and that feels better. You don’t have to have any certain amount of content here so cut it down a bit and let the show breathe, which can help.

Result

Hikaru Shida b. Big Swole – Running knee

Nyla Rose/Leva Bates b. Shazza McKenzie/Shalandra Royal – Double Swanton Bomb

SCU/Cima b. Kip Sabian/Hybrid Two – Top rope Meteora to Sabian

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

AEW Dark
Date: October 15, 2019
Location: Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross

I’m not sure what to expect here and that’s kind of the point of the whole thing. Last week’s show was completely watchable but at the same time, it isn’t exactly something that you needed to watch. We could be in for a lot of different things around here tonight, but I would bet on wrestling being a focal point. Let’s get to it.

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

Before Dynamite, the Young Bucks were getting ready when Kenny Omega came in. Instead, he’ll face Joey Janela in an unsanctioned match on Dark. Tony Schiavone repeats what we just heard.

Schiavone is in the studio and introduces us to the first match.

Kip Sabian vs. Sonny Kiss vs. Peter Avalon

Yes they’ve managed to get the Librarians on the show and Avalon isn’t happy with the crowd disrespecting him. Therefore, sports jokes ensue, none of which make this any better. The bell rings and Avalon shushes the crowd, earning himself a double dropkick to the floor. That leaves Kip and Kiss to flip around a lot with Kiss getting the better of it and striking a pose. Kiss does his big series of flips into a slap and hits the splits but Avalon is right back in to knock him down. Shushing ensues and we hit a seated full nelson on Kiss.

Sabian dropkicks Avalon to the floor and hits the springboard flip dive, only to hurt his hand in the process. The doctor comes out and checks on him, showing a large section of empty seats, though this is before the show officially started so it’s a lot more forgivable. Avalon suplexes Kiss but Sabian is back up for some running kicks to the head in the corner. Sabian gets thrown at Kiss, who hits a DDT as Avalon adds a neckbreaker for two each. Now it’s Kiss popping up for a double facebuster to both of them. Avalon knocks him outside but walks into the Deathly Hallows to give Sabian the pin at 6:07.

Rating: C. Now this was a different kind of presentation as you had a flamboyant character, a gimmick and a standard wrestler. That’s a good mixture of everything being thrown together at once and getting a good enough match as a result. This made a lot of sense as a dark match to opening the night and Sabian gets some momentum while keeping Kiss strong.

Dark Order/Hybrid Two vs. SCU/Cima

Hold on a second though as Jack Evans needs to hold up an SCU Sucks sign and then throw it into the crowd. Angelico and Cima start things off and that could be interesting. Cima gets hiptossed down but nips up into an armdrag. A crucifix gives Cima two and it’s off to Daniels to stay on Angelico. Actually make that Grayson, who walks into an armbar for his efforts. SCU and Cima get Grayson in the corner and it’s a series of dropkicks in the corner to really knock him silly.

A Stunner/DDT combination takes the Dark Order down and Kazarian follows up with a slingshot hurricanrana to the floor to take Grayson down again. The parade of dives begins until Grayson takes Sky back in for a torture rack into a backbreaker. Kazarian grabs a slingshot Stunner though and it’s now the parade of finishers. Sky starts cleaning house until the Hybrid Two get in a double low blow. Evans backslides Sky and flips over for the pin at 9:51.

Rating: C+. This was the designed showcase match with eight people doing a bunch of stuff, though they made sure to get in a heat segment, which does help things a lot. It was a match we have seen better several times before but it was entertaining and had some good looking dives. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with two boring teams winning, but that’s something they can work on over the next few weeks.

Cody sits down with referee Audrey Edwards to talk about her road to where she is now. WWE tried her out a few times but wasn’t signed for unclear reasons. The undeniable moment (which seems to be the theme here) is when she is holding up the title and everyone knows it is the main event. This was a fine enough interview with someone you don’t usually hear from.

Highlights of Young Bucks vs. Private Party, which works for me.

Quick look at the Tag Team Title tournament brackets.

We look at the end of Dynamite, with the battle lines being drawn between the Inner Circle and everyone else.

Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela

Unsanctioned match and yes they do turn the lights out for a second in some nice symbolism. Joey goes straight to the floor and it’s time to grab a chair. Omega isn’t having that though and hammers away in the corner but a hurricanrana sends him outside. Of course that means the suicide dive and Janela smiles a lot. That means it’s time to throw in more chairs and a ladder as we’re getting close to three minutes in.

Omega tries to fight back but gets a chair pelted at his face. He’s fine enough to hit the running Fameasser onto a pile of chairs, which Janela was kind enough to pose in front of. A running flip dive to the floor connects with Janela’s but Omega’s legs crash into the barricade, meaning it’s time from the sanctioned doctors. The table (of course) is thrown in and Omega nails a top rope missile dropkick to the back of the head.

The Regal Roll into the middle rope moonsault gets two and the snapdragon makes it even worse. They slug it out on the apron until Omega hits another snapdragon out there and Janela is looking a bit dead. The One Winged Angel onto the steps is broken up though and Janela German suplexes him onto the floor for the next OW spot. Janela bridges a table between the steps and apron but stops to whip Omega into the ladder in the corner.

A hard German suplex sends Omega into the ladder for two, only to have Omega pop up with a V Trigger. They’re both down for a bit but Omega gets up top, only to be superplexed right back down. Janela can’t Russian legsweep him through the bridged table (which is face up) so he backdrops him onto another upside down table instead. The Death Valley Driver into the ladder rocks Omega again but Janela misses a frog splash off the ladder through the table.

Omega gets two off a Sky High and there are two more V Triggers, into Jon Moxley’s Paradigm Shift for two. A missed charge lets Janela send him over the top and through the table for the big crash. Janela puts him in a chair and knocks him right back out of it, which seems a little counter productive. Omega is right back up and loads up a pair of chairs back to back. Just because Janela is kind of out there, he gets slammed off the top, back first onto the top of the two open chairs. The One Winged Angel through a chair gives Omega the pin at 26:31.

Rating: B+. Yeah this was a blast, even if you ignore a lot of the problems with the lack of a story, the violence for the sake of violence and Janela still not being able to do much outside of hardcore stuff. I had a good time with it though and that’s all it needed to be. Omega gets the big win, though it isn’t over the highest level of competition.

Tony gives us a quick sendoff to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a very different kind of show with two pretty standard matches to open things up and a match that you could have seen on a top pay per view to wrap it up. I liked the big main event though and it’s the kind of showcase match that the company was looking for. Good show here, and completely different than what I was expecting to see from this series, in a positive way.

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

AEW Dark
Date: October 8, 2019
Location: Capitol One Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross

So this is something new (the second new show of the day) as AEW is releasing its dark matches (as “dark matches” enters a new definition) as a stand alone show on YouTube. Normally this is something that wouldn’t make a lot of sense but in this case, AEW needs to get their talent out there in front of an audience and that is what they’re doing here. There shouldn’t be any storylines here and it’s a pure wrestling show, which is nice for a change. Let’s get to it.

Tony Schiavone welcomes us to the show and explains the concept. He really is great at something like this and the voice is exactly the same as it was back in the 90s.

Darby Allin vs. Cima

Darby takes a bit too long looking into the crowd and gets caught with some double knees in the corner. That’s fine with Darby, who is right back with a springboard armdrag to the floor, followed by three straight suicide dives. Back in and the Coffin Drop completely misses, allowing Darby to dropkick him into the corner. Something like a Brock Lock on the mat keeps Darby down but he’s fine enough to crotch Cima on top.

That means a Tree of Woe with headbutts to the knee for a pretty unique set of offense. More shots to the knee have Cima in trouble but he’s right back with a tornado DDT for two. Back up and Cima offers him a chance for some chops, demanding Darby’s best shots. Instead Darby hits him in the face and flips over his back into a Stunner for two.

The Coffin Drop onto the knee bangs them both up a bit more so Cima is right back with the Perfect Driver for two of his own. A top top rope Meteora to the back of Darby’s head gets two more, only to have him get the same off a Code Red. That’s enough to set up the Coffin Drop, which finally connects as it’s supposed to, for the pin at 6:57.

Rating: C. I’m still not sure what to make of Allin, who is such a different kind of performer that it takes some time to get the idea of him down. The Coffin Drop comes off as rather stupid, though it fits into the kind of person Allin seems to be. Cima is someone who can have a fine match with anyone, though I’m not overly wild on either guy.

Tony explains the Tag Team Title tournament.

Lucha Bros/Hybrid Two vs. Private Party/Best Friends

Hybrid Two is Angelico/Jack Evans. Orange Cassidy is here with Private Party and Best Friends to a ROAR. Hang on though as Evans needs to yell about how he and Angelico are the A half of their team but a bunch of superkicks break that up in a hurry. Fenix dives onto the Best Friends and Quen gets sent over the top onto Evans and Angelico as I have a bad feeling about trying to keep track of all this stuff. Evans is already ranting about having to make saves until we settle down to Isaiah punching Angelico in the face and screaming.

A cheap shot from Evans takes Isaiah down so the Lucha Bros come in and try some double teaming, only to have Isaiah score with some enziguris for a breather. Evans and Angelico come in to beat on Isaiah instead as tagging is more of a suggestion here. Isaiah is fine enough to hurricanrana Angelico into Evans in the corner, which allows the tag off to Taylor as extra audio is bleeding through commentary.

Isaiah hits a heck of a flip dive to the floor but the Bros are back in to kick Quen in the head. With Fenix on the floor, Taylor finds his own sunglasses but stops to hug Barretta. That sets up the stereo suicide dives, leaving Cassidy to go up for the hands in pockets dive to the floor. Isn’t that a bit much energy for him? Back in and Fenix saves Pentagon from Strong Zero and a kick to the head sends Taylor into a Backstabber. Fenix hits a big corkscrew dive, leaving Pentagon to finish Taylor at 8:46.

Rating: B. That’s about as high as any of these matches can get and they did exactly what they were suppose do. This was designed to be complete and utter chaos with everyone involved looking rather good in the process. As a bonus, Excalibur was perfect for commentary here as he can rattle off all of those names. JR on the other hand…..well he tried, but he lost the battle of the generations here.

Post match the winners argue over who gets to pose.

Quick look at the women’s division.

Britt Baker/Allie vs. Penelope Ford/Bea Priestly

Priestly shoves Baker on the apron to start so Allie snaps off an armdrag. Hold on though as Priestly wants Baker, which is exactly what she gets. That sends Priestly over to Ford, as you probably expected. Baker gets two off her own armdrag but Ford sends her into the corner for a Great Muta handspring elbow (that’s more JR’s speed). A northern lights suplex gives Ford two but she gets sent into the corner as well, this time allowing the tag to Allie.

The sliding forearm in the corner gives Allie two and it’s time to strike away at Ford. Priestly gets in a cheap shot on the floor though and the villains take over. A stomp onto Allie’s arm keeps her down but Ford misses a second handspring elbow. Baker comes back in to trade forearms with Priestly, followed by the fisherman’s neckbreaker for two. Priestly’s belly to back suplex gets two but Baker kicks her down and hands it back to Allie for a rollup. Everything breaks down and Priestly kicks Baker in the head.

Allie Death Valley Drives Priestly for two before heading to the floor, leaving Allie to DDT Ford for two more with Priestly diving back inside for the save. They head outside again though, leaving Baker to Paige Turn Ford into the Rings of Saturn. With that still on, Baker grabs something like a Mandible Claw (makes sense) at the same time for the tap at 11:11.

Rating: C-. If they want Riho and Nyla Rose to be the stars of the division, they might not want to showcase these four like this. The match was more interesting, easier to get into and just all around more fun. Riho vs. Rose did tell a good story and was better from a technical standpoint, but they’re hardly head and shoulders above these four and that was very apparent here.

We look at Chris Jericho and company taking over at the end of Dynamite.

Here’s a look at the Tag Team Title tournament with Twitter users picking their winners.

Preview for this week’s Dynamite.

Full Gear ad.

Jurassic Express vs. SCU

Jurassic Express now has a rather awesome entrance, complete with steps making a glass of water shake. Daniels has a mic on a stand with him so he can shout SCU. Daniels and Stunt start things off and Stunt can’t do much outside of spinning around into a small package. A stomp onto the back sets up the Floss Dance (ERG), with Daniels countering with his own. Jungle Boy and Kazarian come in to trade near falls off some rollups and cradles until Kazarian knocks him down for the springboard spinning legdrop.

It’s off to Sky to get in a boot to the head but Boy gets over to Luchasaurus and you can feel the fans getting more into things. That’s a bit too good though and it’s back to Stunt, who gets flipped onto Daniels into a splash for two. Boy comes back in for a chinlock but Daniels is right back up with a tilt-a-whirl side slam for two of his own. Stunt’s crossbody bounces off of Sky so Luchasaurus comes back in. Some strikes have no effect for Sky but a DDT puts Luchasaurus down….and he nips right back up.

Stunt and Boy dive onto Daniels and Sky, leaving Kazarian to get chokeslammed and moonsaulted for another near fall. A headscissors faceplant of all things (because Luchasaurus can just do that) sets up Stunt’s running shooting star press as everything stays broken down. Luchasaurus gets sent outside though and it’s Celebrity Rehab on Boy and a powerbomb/Backstabber combination finishes Stunt at 9:17.

Rating: C. They weren’t going for anything more than a fun match here, though they did get in enough stuff to make it feel different than the eight man tag. Stunt taking the pin was the right call if SCU has to win, though it is beyond ridiculous to see him out there with no muscle definition or anything close to being a realistic threat to any of SCU. Even Jungle Boy, who is small, is more believable than Stunt. Let him be a mascot or something, but having him wrestle is a step too far.

Tony wraps us up in a hurry.

Overall Rating: C+. This is a situation where you need to consider the point of this show. It isn’t meant to be anything more than a supplement to Dynamite in a way to get the wrestlers in an AEW ring. You don’t need to see anything here and as long as they keep it that way, this is the most inoffensive thing you could ask for. It doesn’t need to be around permanently as you don’t need so many people featured every week, but for a few months, this is a fine idea.

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