IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: September 1, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

Great, Excalibur is back. I didn’t know what I would do without the weird emphasis on combiNATIONS or hearing the exact and undisputed proper Japanese and Spanish names for moves while he also gets in his jokes from PWG. Would it be too much to ask Taz to choke him out? Let’s get to it.

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

Taz and Excalibur welcome us to the show so I have to look at Excalibur’s stupid…well chin in this case.

Eddie Torres vs. Shawn Spears

They go with the grappling to start with Spears taking him down and then putting a knee into Torres’ arm. Back up and they lock up against the ropes until Spears takes him outside for rams into various objects. They get back in with Torres hitting a running dropkick, only to get hit in the face. The Death Valley Driver finishes Torres at 3:49.

Rating: D+. Another nothing match here for Spears who gets to win match after match and never goes anywhere but that’s the case for a lot of Dark regulars. It isn’t a terrible match, but Spears has been around this show for a long time and wasn’t all that great when he was a regular on Dynamite. That’s a weird place to be, but it might be time to try him out on Dynamite again. It’s not like this is anything interesting and it would make sense to give someone else a shot.

Post match Spears gets in a shot with the loaded glove.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Rysin/Faboo Andre

Santana headlocks Rysin to start as Taz suggests that Trent’s mom’s van was almost going to a chop shop. Rysin elbows Santana in the face but gets kicked down into Three Amigos. Andre comes in to dropkick Ortiz and a middle rope spinning crossbody gets two. Everything breaks down though and a pop up sitout powerbomb plants Andre. Ortiz kicks Andre in the face for the pin at 3:29.

Rating: C-. This was slightly more entertaining than the opener as it was more of a squash and had a guy named Faboo Andre, which makes everything a little bit better. Santana and Ortiz are another team who could be a big deal around here but haven’t had a chance near the top of the division. It doesn’t help that they’re feuding with the Best Friends over a mom’s van but I’m sure that’ll go somewhere good in the end.

Post match Santana and Ortiz are impressed by the Best Friends finally showing some fortitude. One thing though: Trent’s mom needs to stop calling Ortiz’s phone because it’s not going to happen.

Cassandra Golden vs. Allie

QT Marshall is here with Allie. They lock up to start for a standoff, which Excalibur says is Golden giving Allie fits, because Excalibur doesn’t know what fits mean. Allie elbows her in the face and grabs a swinging neckbreaker, followed by the sliding elbow. That’s enough to send Golden outside so Allie throws her back in, with Marshall putting Allie back on the apron. Back in and a running hip attack gives Golden one in the corner and we hit the chinlock. Allie fights up with some knees to the ribs and the running bulldog, followed by the Eye of the Hurricane (Down the Rabbit Hole) for the pin on Golden at 4:14.

Rating: D+. Allie continues to turn into a wrestler around here, which has taken some time but she is already a few steps ahead of a lot of the people in the division. It wasn’t much of a match but Golden got in a little offense, which is better than some people get around here. Allie was the point here though and that worked out well enough.

The Best Friends brawl with Santana and Ortiz in the back.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Angelico

This could be good. They fight over a wristlock to start with Kazarian taking him down but Angelico flips out. A front facelock has Kazarian in trouble but they get up for a standoff. An exchange of legsweeps set up one each until Angelico takes him down by the leg into a leglock. Kazarian gets two off an Oklahoma roll but Angelico gets in a right hand to the face.

Something like an Octopus hold on the mat is switched into a leglock to keep Kazarian in trouble. Back up and Kazarian walks into an elbow to the face and it’s right back to the leg cranking. Angelico pulls him out of the corner and hammers away with right hands, setting up the springboard spinning legdrop for two. Angelico is back up but the Fall of the Angels is broken up, allowing Kazarian to hit a reverse DDT for the pin at 7:50.

Rating: C+. Believe it or not, two of the better people on the show have the best match on the show in a good while. I can’t say I’m surprised whatsoever and I’m also not complaining whatsoever. This was a rather nice match between two people who were able to have a little time and get something going, which is what I want to see out of Dark a lot more often.

Brandi Rhodes comes to the stage for a chat with Tony Schiavone. Tony brings up the Nightmare Sisters losing in the Women’s Tag Team Tournament so Brandi calls him Anthony. She knows what it means to be pretty and Anna Jay only got the win because she’s part of Daddy Brody’s special team. You can be pretty but you need to be smart too, so come to her face to face. Brandi trying to sound tough is one of the funniest things this show has ever done.

Donnie Primetime/Ryan Rembrandt vs. Gunn Club

Billy headlocks Rembrandt over to start and it’s off to Austin as commentary laughs about the Gunn Club. It’s back to Billy, who catapults Rembrandt into Austin’s middle rope clothesline. Primetime comes in and commentary talks about how similar he is to Joey Janela. With that horrible thought out of the way, Billy comes in and cleans house before handing it back to Austin for the Quick Draw (which Excalibur doesn’t know, because he isn’t that great of a commentator) and the pin at 3:47.

Rating: D+. Of all the matches that Gunn Club has had around here, this was the most recent. They beat up more jobbers because that’s all they do around here, but since their entire deal deal is Billy Gunn and Son, there isn’t exactly much room for them to grow. Much like Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss, just throw them up onto Dynamite so a big team can beat them and then they can come back down here.

Abadon vs. Dani Jordyn

Jordyn is a little freaked out by Abadon, as she should be. Abadon yells a lot so Dani slugs away and slaps her in the face, which goes as well as you would expect. That earns Jordyn a running clothesline and Abadon starts going after the leg. The knee is crushed into the mat and Abadon does it again for a bonus. A DDT to the leg keeps Jordyn down and Abadon sends her to the apron to sweep the leg again. Back in and Abadon leg laces her with some right hands to the leg making Jordyn tap at 5:00.

Rating: C. This is the kind of match that can do someone some good on this show. Abadon is someone who is climbing the ladder around here and it is a good idea to have her get wins like this. Granted it might not mean as much without having her win a few matches on the other show, but for now, this was an effective way to push Abadon, which is one of the points of something like this.

Tony Donati vs. Ricky Starks

Taz is in a much better mood. After playing some air guitar during his entrance, Starks drives him into the corner to start but Donati grabs a rollup for two. Starks sends him outside with ease and takes it right back inside for a belly to back suplex. There’s a dropkick to Donati and Starks gets in a little dancing. Donati gets in another rollup for another two so Starks gets serious and Roshambos him for the pin at 3:28.

Rating: D+. Not too bad here as Starks continues to look good. The better point for him though is the fact that Starks gets to do something on Dynamite and probably All Out. You’re only going to get so much out of exclusively squashing jobbers so having Starks down here for some target practice is a nice change of pace over what a lot of the Dark regulars get to do.

Jurassic Express vs. Jon Cruz/David Ali

Marko Stunt is here on crutches with the two who don’t look ridiculous in the ring (and yes, one of those is a walking dinosaur who says he is 65 million years old). This is Cruz and Ali’s debut as a team so they don’t have the fist bump timing down just yet. Cruz tries a sleeper on Luchasaurus to start and is quickly thrown off. Ali comes in and gets chopped in the corner as the squash is on early.

It’s off to Boy for some hurricanranas before he holds Ali up for the Tail Whip from Luchasaurus. Ali slips out of the chokeslam attempt and hands it back to Cruz for a jumping enziguri. Luchasaurus kicks Ali in the head anyway and does the same to Cruz for a bonus. Boy adds a sliding elbow to the back of Ali’s head and the Extinction Level Event finishes Cruz at 4:58.

Rating: D+. I’ve given up on the hope of having Jurassic Express being a serious team but this involved Stunt having to stand around instead of interfering or doing that horrible dance so this could have been a lot worse. Cruz and Ali were just target practice for the Express which is hardly a surprise, but it wasn’t exactly thrilling.

Red Velvet vs. Anna Jay

Jay hammers away in the corner to start but gets taken down with a leg lariat. Velvet kicks her down in the corner and hits a bottom rope elbow for two. Some bad right hands and choking have Velvet down and a snap suplex sets up some forearms to the ribs. Back up and Velvet drops into the splits, seemingly for the sole purpose of Jay hitting a Natural Selection.

Back up and Velvet gets the better of a slugout, setting up some clotheslines. Running knees to the back give Velvet two but Jay kicks her in the face. Jay makes sure to look at the camera a few times before knocking Velvet down on the floor. Back in and some curb stomps set up a rear naked choke to finish Velvet at 5:00.

Rating: D-. What in the name of some random reference or term was that? Jay was inducted into the Dark Order last week and seems ready for a feud with the biggest women’s name in the company. Velvet went toe to toe with Jay here and it was rather ridiculous, especially given that Jay is hardly ready for a five minute match based on her past performances. They missed here, and it made Jay look really bad.

Shawn Dean vs. Kip Sabian

Penelope Ford is here too. Sabian uses some signs (ala Sammy Guevara) to promote his Twitch streams and his crop tops. Dean is so intimidating that Sabian doesn’t bother taking off his sunglasses while Taz and Excalibur talk about the gym. Sabian knocks him into the corner and asks why we’re doing this again. A knee to the face and a kick to the chest connects….and the referee says it was wide right. Ok then. Dean uses the distraction to hit a hard German suplex into a floatover DDT for two. A pop up knee stops Dean again though and it’s the Deathly Hallows for the pin at 4:17.

Rating: C-. Sabian is one of those guys I could see working rather well on Dynamite and it isn’t like it’s difficult to boo someone always on Ford’s arm. He feels like a mainstay around Dark though and that’s not exactly a great usage for him. It’s clear that he has some ability and he has been getting better, so let him go and see what he can do. How much more can you really get out of him around here?

Initiative vs. Private Party

Leva Bates is here with the Initiative. The Initiative starts fast and takes Quen down for a double chop into a double splash for two. Avalon knocks Kassidy off the apron but Quen fights out of trouble like he’s beating up a pair of jobbers who happened to get a gimmick. Kassidy comes in with a top rope double stomp to the back into a belly to back suplex for two on Cutler, though only after some staring at the camera. Avalon comes in for a high crossbody on Quen as everything breaks down in a hurry.

A suicide dive drops Quen on the floor, followed by a split legged moonsault for two on Kassidy. The hot tag brings in Quen for a big moonsault onto both of them but Quen has to flip out of an apron hurricanrana from Bates. Back in and Cutler avoids a charge from Quen, with Kassidy tagging himself in. Cutler hits a 450 for no count because Quen isn’t legal, meaning it’s Kassidy with an Oklahoma roll for the pin at 4:21.

Rating: C+. This worked too as they were flying in and out of there as fast as they could. That’s more to Private Party’s tastes, which might be better for them every now and then. They have been doing their thing for a good while now and while I liked them being reined in by FTR on Dynamite, it can be smart to let them go out and do their thing like they did here.

Post match Avalon snaps and beats up Cutler, including a shot to the head with the 20 sided die. They really spent all those weeks and months getting them closer to winning and then finally have them lose here? Really?

Dynamite preview takes us out.

Overall Rating: C-. I kept having to correct myself from calling Dynamite the main roster but in reality, that’s pretty much what it is. In WWE, there are people you know are never making it up to the main roster and that is how it feels with this show compared to Dynamite. A lot of these people are just interchangeable jobbers, which is fine enough, but when you have so many people with nothing to do, maybe it would make sense to drop some of them.

I get the idea of giving indy wrestlers work, but there comes a point where you’re just wasting your contracted talent for the sake of having this show continuing. It was a lot easier with just an hour and thirty four minutes (yeah just), but this could be so much tighter and more effective of a show. They seem to like what they’re doing here, but we are long past the point where you can see the divide between the two levels of the talent. There are some who float back and forth, but if they’re good enough to be on Dynamite full time, they probably shouldn’t be here, in what is effectively a training ground.

Results

Shawn Spears b. Eddie Torres – Death Valley Driver

Santana and Ortiz b. Rysin/Faboo Andre – Kick to Andre’s face

Allie b. Cassandra Golden – Down The Rabbit Hole

Frankie Kazarian b. Angelico – Reverse DDT

Gunn Club b. Donnie Primetime/Ryan Rembrandt – Quick Draw to Primetime

Abadon b. Dani Jordyn – Leg lace

Ricky Starks b. Tony Donati – Roshambo

Jurassic Express b. Jon Cruz/David Ali – Extinction Level Event to Cruz

Anna Jay b. Red Velvet – Rear naked choke

Kip Sabian b. Shawn Dean – Deathly Hallows

Private Party b. Initiative – Oklahoma roll to Cutler

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: August 25, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Tony Schiavone, Veda Scott

I’m not sure what to expect from this show as it might be the last show without fans, but at the same time it is a thirteen match card that lasts an hour and fifty eight minutes. Yes I mention the time and the amount of matches every week, but given how this show goes, what else am I supposed to talk about on a show made of squash matches? Let’s get to it.

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

Announcers’ welcome.

Storm Thomas/Demitri Jackson vs. Best Friends

Orange Cassidy is here too. Chuck headlocks Thomas to start and drops him with a sunset flip. It’s off to Jackson, who is chopped in the corner by Trent. A Meteora drops Jackson again and a hanging northern lights suplex makes it worse. Chuck comes back in but gets kicked in the back so Jackson can take him into the corner. A knee out of the corner allows Chuck to get over for the tag to Trent and a tornado DDT drops Jackson. The spear on the floor keeps Jackson in trouble and it’s time for the Big Hug. Back to back piledrivers give Chuck the pin on Jackson at 5:57.

Rating: C-. Not too bad here and that’s as high of a bit of praise as I am usually going to give a Best Friends match. They have a thing that they do and they do it well enough, but at the same time they have done that thing over and over for months now. At least they kept it short enough here and that’s how something like this should be.

Shawn Spears vs. Jessy Sorensen

Tully Blanchard is here with Spears. A headlock takes Sorensen down to start but Jessy fights up with a drive into the corner. There’s a dropkick to put Spears on the floor, meaning it’s time for a meeting with Blanchard. Back in and they trade chops in the corner until Spears hits a dropkick in the back of the head. Spears drops him hard onto the apron but a piledriver is blocked and Sorensen grabs a cutter. The tornado DDT is blocked though and Spears hits the Death Valley Driver for the pin at 5:37.

Rating: C-. Another watchable match and another week with Spears staying on the same show despite commentary telling us how great he is. I haven’t seen him do that on a bigger stage and while that isn’t the worst thing, there are probably better places for him. Like putting people over on the main roster. Maybe that’s coming, but for now it isn’t exactly doing all that much.

Red Velvet vs. Mel

The bigger Mel backs her into the corner but Velvet ducks and slugs away with forearms. Some kicks to the leg stagger Mel but a side slam takes her down in a hurry. Velvet gets in a kick to the head and goes up, where she dives straight into a choke spinebuster to give Mel the pin at 2:35.

D3 vs. Lance Archer

Jake Roberts is here with Archer, who brings out a rather large man and kicks him in the face before the bell. D3 gets kicked in the face at the bell and there are some hard whips into the corner. Archer tells him to throw some punches and then punches D3 much harder. One heck of a chokeslam gets two so Archer rips at his face. D3’s forearm out of the corner doesn’t do much good as the Black Out into the EBD Claw is good for the pin at 2:46. They have Archer and Brodie Lee on the same show and they pick Lee to destroy Cody?

Luther/Serpentico vs. Initiative

Leva Bates is here with the Initiative. The villains (the non-librarians in this case) take Avalon into the corner to start to work on his arm but it’s quickly off to Cutler. The pace picks up with Cutler taking Serpentico down so Avalon can get two. They keep up the fast tags as Cutler comes back in, only to have Luther slam Serpentico onto him a few times for some near falls.

As Taz talks about Luther having breath that smells like a dead possum, Avalon comes in off the hot tag and gets to clean house for what must have been a good fifteen seconds before Serpentico suplexes him down. Leva isn’t happy but the distraction means that Avalon’s quick rollup only gets two on Luther. Everything breaks down and Cutler’s elbow sets up Avalon’s top rope splash for two. Leva slips Avalon the book but he hits Cutler by mistake. Luther powerbombs Avalon onto the barricade and it’s a Doomsday Meteora to finish Cutler at 8:47.

Rating: C. They’re doing a nice job with building up the Initiative to win a match, though I still wonder why they have jobs if wins and losses matter around here (which is the case for a lot of people). The match itself wasn’t half bad and they made you think that the win could finally come, even if the win wasn’t going to mean much over Luther and Serpentico. Not too bad here actually.

Nyla Rose vs. KiLynn King

Vickie Guerrero is here with Rose. King slugs away to start but gets grabbed by the throat for a toss to the floor. A forearm to the face lets Rose bend her around the post but King pulls Rose face first into the post. Back in and Rose’s spinebuster gets two and King’s something close to a Samoan drop is good for the same. Vickie shoves King off the top though and the Beast Bomb finishes at 4:01.

Rating: D+. King is someone who has shown some potential though there is only so much to be gained out of jobbing on Dark. That being said, I’m not sure how much Rose is getting out of needing Vickie to help her beat someone who has never won a match. This wasn’t quite a squash but it also wasn’t all that good either, making it perfect for this show.

Post match Vickie names their pairing the Vicious Vixens. The two of them needed a name?

Gunn Club vs. Baron Black/Frank Stone

Black and Austin start things off with the Gunn being taken down with a headlock. That’s broken up for some shots to Black’s face and Billy comes in for a double Russian legsweep into a legdrop. Stone comes in to block Austin’s armdrag and get two off a tilt-a-whirl slam. A suplex gets the same and a belly to back version gets the third two in a row. Austin kicks him away and makes the hot tag to Billy to clean house but Black is ready for the Fameasser. Everything breaks down and Austin’s hiptoss neckbreaker (the Quick Draw) finishes Black at 6:10.

Rating: D+. Is Billy Gunn really enough of a draw to warrant keeping him around for these matches? I like the Quick Draw a bit but it’s not like Austin has anything that makes him stand out whatsoever. They have been doing the same matches for weeks now and it isn’t like they’re great in the first place. This is the first thing I would cut from each Dark and that’s not a good place to be.

Heather Monroe vs. Penelope Ford

Kip Sabian is here too. They armdrag each other down a bit until Monroe walks the corner to take her down. Sabian busts out a pair of leaf blowers for a distraction though and it’s time to choke on the ropes. That lets Ford get in a quick kiss and the fisherman’s suplex is countered as a result (Maybe?). A second attempt is countered into a small package for two on Ford and Monroe grabs a Backstabber for two. Ford sends her hard into the corner for the handspring elbow and more elbows to the face have Monroe in trouble. Now the fisherman’s suplex can finish Monroe at 4:40.

Rating: D+. Another case where there is no backstory, no action that is overly memorable and nothing that they haven’t done in almost all of their previous matches. Ford is someone who has gotten better in the ring but it isn’t like she is doing anything that is changing anything around here. More of the same, as always.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Metro Brothers

The Brothers have been on NXT before and they’re greasers. Thankfully the Brothers are named (Chris and JC), though we aren’t told which is which so it doesn’t mean much. Ortiz headlocks and knees let’s say JC to start but gets headlocked down for the escape. The slugout annoys Ortiz and it’s a powerslam to take JC down.

Santana comes in for a standing senton into a backsplash. Three Amigos connect as Taz makes sure that Tony is still here. Ortiz’s DDT plants JC and he allows the tag off to Chris, who is suplexed down in a hurry. A middle rope hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb and there’s a Liger Bomb for a bonus. Santana kicks Chris in the face and Ortiz gets the pin at 5:35.

Rating: C-. Some of that was due to it being an actual squash and some if it is due to liking Santana and Ortiz. Or for making me think of Deuce N Domino, who weren’t good but they looked like Fonzie which is an improvement. Again it was nice to see a more proper squash, which doesn’t happen enough around here.

Post match the Best Friends run in to beat down Santana and Ortiz. They brawl out of the arena and into the parking lot with Chuck being suplexed onto a trashcan to get rid of him.

Ricky Starks vs. Shawn Dean

This could be good and Taz is rather excited. A shoulder drops Starks to start and Dean grabs a headlock. Back up and Dean misses a shoulder from the apron and gets kneed in the face. The standing Coffin Drop gives Starks one but a slap to the face just annoys Dean. The slugout goes to Dean and he hits a running knee in the corner. A running boot misses though and Starks hits Roshambo for the pin at 4:07.

Rating: D+. I’m getting tired of saying this but it was just a match and not a memorable one at that. Dean continues to be one of the better jobbers to the stars around here, which isn’t exactly the highest praise. Starks is probably going to face Darby Allin at All Out while Dean is 0-14. Such is life around here.

Jake Hager vs. Marko Stunt

Oh sure this needed to air. Hager lets him grab a headlock and Stunt is stupid enough to do it, earning himself a big toss to the ropes. Stunt avoids a shot and dances before ducking a big boot. Hager drives him into the corner and hits a heck of a toss before driving a knee into Stunt’s chest. Now the big boot connects and the Rock Bottom into the head and arm choke finishes Stunt at 3:35.

Rating: D. So remember all those other times when Stunt has gotten squashed by a monster? This is the latest one as it added nothing to either of them, didn’t showcase anything new, and made me watch Stunt do his stupid dance, which thankfully has finally started to die off in pop culture. This was even higher than the Gunn Club on stuff that didn’t need to be here and just extended an already long show.

Post match Hager goes after him again but the rest of the Jurassic Express makes the save.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Kip Sabian

Penelope Ford is here again. Sabian takes him down by the arm and gets to pose a bit. That’s broken up so we hit the chain wrestling with Kazarian winding up on top with a headlock. Kazarian’s hammerlock is broken up as commentary talks about how obvious it is that Ford is going to interfere later on. A knee down onto the arm has Sabian in more trouble so he comes up with a poke to the eye.

We hit the headlock on Kazarian as Tony thinks Taz is extra aggressive because of how much he has been yelled at on commentary before. A trip from Ford causes Kazarian to be sent outside and it’s a series of stomps in the corner back inside. Sabian rolls him into a reverse Koji Clutch but Kazarian makes it over to the ropes. As Taz and Veda agree about hanging onto the ropes for 4.9, Kazarian fights up and gets two off a rollup.

They fight to the apron for a slugout until Kazarian head back inside. Sabian is pulled into a slingshot cutter for two with Ford pulling his feet onto the ropes like a good manager should. Kip gets in a knee to the face and a discus punch but something like a fisherman’s suplex doesn’t work. Instead Kazarian grabs a reverse DDT for the pin at 9:39.

Rating: C+. That’s the match of the night by a mile so far and that isn’t surprising. Sabian might not be the highest profile name on the show but he does his thing and looks good doing it, which is all you can ask. Kazarian is beyond a good hand as he can have a solid match with anyone but more importantly he can elevate anyone, which is a heck of a trick.

Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss vs. Hybrid 2

Kiss headscissors Evans down to start and Janela comes in with an ax handle to the arm. A knee to the ribs and a forearm to the back of Janela’s head cuts him off though as we hit the preview for Dynamite instead of talking about the match. Angelico comes in and gets forearmed in the corner as Janela screams a lot.

Janela’s clothesline gives Sonny two but Angelico pulls him face first into the middle buckle. It’s back to Evans for a quick suplex and the stomping is on in the corner. Angelico grabs the inverted Figure Four and Janela’s attempted save lets Evans stomp away. A lot of ranting from Angelico almost allows the tag to Janela but Evans makes the save and chokes a bit.

Kiss flips away from Evans and makes the hot tag to Janela for a suplex. Janela makes Angelico DDT Evans (erg) and a blind tag brings Kiss back in. A front flip double stomp hits Evans on the apron and Janela adds a Death Valley Driver. Sonny moonsaults onto Angelico on the floor but a 450 only gets two. Angelico gets in a cheap shot on Kiss though and it’s the flipping backslide to give Evans the pin at 8:47.

Rating: D+. This was what you would come to expect as the Hybrid 2 continue their build back to mediocrity. Janela and Kiss continue to be fine as a middle of the road team at best, which is about all you can expect from them. The match wasn’t the worst, but it’s exactly what you would expect from these four.

The Dynamite preview wraps us up.

Overall Rating: D+. And that’s Dark for the week with nothing out of the ordinary. There was some watchable stuff in here but when you’re practically at two hours, everything is going to be lost in the shuffle. There was probably a month’s worth of shows in here and maybe two or three of the matches had some drama.

Why not mix us some of the matches so that the jobbers face each other and you can build one of them up? They keep hyping up Dean and he’s 0-14. If he had beaten some of the jobbers and was say 5-9 instead, how much more interest would there be against a lower level guy? It might do some good, but this show seems much more interested in pumping out content, which isn’t the best way to go about things. That’s what we’re getting though, and we’re getting a lot of it.

Results

Best Friends b. Storm Thomas/Demitri Jackson – Piledriver to Jackson

Shawn Spears b. Jessy Sorensen – Death Valley Driver

Mel b. Red Velvet – Choke spinebuster

Lance Archer b. D3 – EBD Claw

Serpentico/Luther b. Initiative – Doomsday Meteora to Cutler

Nyla Rose b. KiLynn King – Beast Bomb

Gunn Club b. Frank Stone/Baron Black – Quick Draw to Black

Penelope Ford b. Heather Monroe – Fisherman’s suplex

Santana and Ortiz b. Metro Brothers – Kick to Chris’ head

Ricky Starks b. Shawn Dean – Roshambo

Jake Hager b. Marko Stunt – Head and arm choke

Frankie Kazarian b. Kip Sabian – Reverse DDT

Hybrid 2 b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Flipping backslide to Kiss

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: AEW

Dark
Date: August 18, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Veda Scott

We’re coming up on a weird week here as Dynamite will be going up against half of Takeover on Saturday as the NBA Playoffs are moving this week’s show. I’m not sure what to expect from this show, but I’d bet on a bunch of not so competitive matches with names who aren’t often on Dynamite. Let’s get to it.

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

Commentary gives us a quick preview, with Taz not being pleased with Veda being taller than him.

Michael Nakazawa vs. Kip Sabian

Penelope Ford is here too. Sabian takes him down by the arm to start but stops to kiss Ford. Nakazawa gets in a takedown of his own, uses the oil, and spins around on Sabian’s back. Sabian isn’t pleased and sends him to the apron for a springboard kick to the face. That means a running flip dive to take Nakazawa down again as Taz talks about Turkish baby oil. A belly to back suplex connects and Nakazawa loads up the underwear claw, which, OF FREAKING COURSE, goes onto his own face. Sabian DDTs him and hits a hanging swinging neckbreaker (apparently the new Deathly Hallows) for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: D-. I’m not a big Sabian fan but he was one of the best things I’ve ever seen by comparison. I know Nakazawa is Kenny Omega’s friend and people have been hired for worse but….come on already man. It’s not even occasionally funny like Orange Cassidy or anything close to it, which makes him one of the worst things I’ve seen in a very long time.

Shawn Dean/Frank Stone vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

The strong looking Stone shoves Joey down to start and it’s off to Dean, who gets caught in a quick headlock. A Russian legsweep into a Meteora from Kiss has Dean in trouble of his own, meaning Stone comes back in. As Taz talks about almost getting in a fight with Steve McMichael in Joe Gomez’s bar (that raises more questions than we have time for), Stone splashes Joey in the corner and plants him with a belly to belly.

Something close to a Demolition Decapitator gets two and Stone adds a backbreaker to keep Joey in trouble. A double DDT allows Joey to make the tag though and it’s Sonny coming in to pick the pace way up. That includes the handspring slap in the corner to Dean but the middle rope splits splash misses. Cryme Tyme’s old G9 gets two on Sonny and everything breaks down. Joey’s top rope elbow into the splits splash gives Kiss the pin on Dean at 5:43.

Rating: C-. Janela and Kiss might not be the best team in the world but they have gone from absolutely nothing to something completely watchable most of the time. There is no shame in being the best team on Dark and it isn’t likely that they are ever moving beyond what they are here, at least not permanently. They’re fine enough for a show like this and the match was fine enough.

Shawn Spears vs. Will Hobbs

Tully Blanchard is here too. Spears grabs a headlock to start but Hobbs shoulders him into the corner. That’s enough to send Spears outside for a breather but he comes back in to start on Hobbs’ leg. A dropkick to the knee sets up a slingshot splash to the leg, plus some trash talking. Hobbs is back with a spinebuster for no cover as the knee is gone at the moment. Back up and another shot to the knee sets up the Death Valley Driver to finish Hobbs at 4:44.

Rating: D+. Another match and another instance where I have no reason to believe that Spears is anything more than meh. He’s fine at what he does but I don’t ever remember being interested in something he did or said. There’s a reason he never got that high up the ladder anywhere else and it is on display again here. Spears can have a passable match with anyone, but don’t expect more than that.

Post match, Spears hits him with the glove.

Ricky Starks talks about being too handsome to be hardcore and he’s coming for Darby Allin, who looks like he was raised on dog food and dope. This is going to be Allin’s last supper for messing with Ricky Starks. Old school “I don’t like you because of X” promo here.

Initiative vs. Hybrid 2

Leva Bates is here with the Initiative. Avalon and Angelico don’t do much to start so Evans springboards in, where Cutler kicks him in the head. A very bridging rollup gives Evans two and sets off a pinfall reversal sequence for two each. Avalon comes back in for a double chop into a double splash for another near fall. There’s a dropkick to put Evans on the floor but Evans takes the book from Avalon for a cheap shot.

Angelico’s belly to back suplex stays on Avalon’s back and Evans starts in with the trash talk. The choking ensues in the corner as Tony talks about having a big mustache back in the 80s. Evans misses a jumping backsplash though and the hot tag brings in Cutler to clean house. Angelico is sent hard onto the ramp and Cutler hits a Phenomenal Forearm to drop Evans.

Avalon comes in for a knee to Evans’ chest and Angelico has to make a last second save. An assisted 450 gives Evans two on Cutler and he adds a springboard corkscrew moonsault onto both of them. Back in and Cutler escapes Angelico’s Splash Mountain and Avalon hits a split legged moonsault for two more. Now Splash Mountain sends Avalon into the corner and the 630 gives Evans the pin at 10:41.

Rating: C-. Another match that wasn’t too bad with the near falls working well enough. At the same time though, there wasn’t exactly the greatest amount of drama as the Initiative isn’t about to win in a spot like this. Throw in that the Hybrid 2 isn’t all that interesting in the first place and there wasn’t much that could work out here.

Red Velvet vs. Abadon

Velvet is “straight out of your mama’s kitchen.” Abadon on the other hand crawls to the ring, as is her custom. Velvet goes straight for the arm but gets shoved out of the corner for a running kick to the face. A headbutt cuts Velvet off again and Abadon sends her out to the apron. Velvet manages a kick to the head though and brings her to the apron as well, only to get pulled down hard by the arm. Back in and Velvet flips out of a belly to back suplex so Abadon blasts her with a clothesline. The Cemetery Drive (Widow’s Peak) finishes Velvet at 3:55.

Rating: C. Velvet showed some fire here and made me want cake so this one gets some extra points. Abadon has a great look and seems like someone who could be a solid midcard villain. Other than that though, there wasn’t much to see here again, but that is the case with most of the matches on this show.

D3/Ryzin/Faboo Andre vs. Dark Order/Colt Cabana

It’s John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order here. Cabana and Andre (I’m assuming it’s Andre because I can’t imagine anyone else on this team being named Faboo) with Colt armdragging him down for a staredown. It’s off to Ryzin but Silver makes a blind tag and gets rolled up for two.

Silver fires off some kicks to send Ryzin into the corner and Reynolds comes in for a snapmare. D3 comes in and Reynolds takes him down in a hurry, meaning a pose can be struck. Cabana gets tagged in but wants nothing to do with a cheap shot in the corner. Instead the Order hits back to back German suplexes to send D3 into the corner for the Flying Apple. The double front flip DDT finishes D3 at 4:09.

Rating: D+. This was a nearly complete squash and that’s what it should be, though Cabana having issues with the Dark Order has been going on for a good while now. I’m not sure where the story is going but it has been going on long enough now that the limited interest that was there in the first place is going away. Cabana vs. Lee down the road doesn’t exactly interest me, but maybe they have something else in mind.

Lee Johnson vs. Ricky Starks

Starks goes with a standing switch but gets pulled down into a quickly broken chinlock. Lee grabs a rollup for two and Starks isn’t sure what’s going on here. Back up and Starks hits a heck of a dropkick but Johnson runs the ropes and hits one of his own. The trip to the floor lets Starks get in a shot on the way back in to take over.

Starks runs the ropes and then falls backwards onto Johnson (with his arms crossed to make it a standing Coffin Drop). Back up and Johnson wins a slugout and grabs a cutter. A springboard missile dropkick gets two on Starks and Taz is sounding a little nervous (Taz: “That was Veda. That was Veda.”). Starks crotches him on top though and grabs the running Dominator (Roshambo) for the pin at 5:20.

Rating: C. Probably the best match of the night so far and I can’t say I’m surprised. Johnson is one of the better of the jobber crew and Starks has been consistent from the day he debuted. I can also go for Taz as his big supporter on commentary, though it would be nice to see that translate to Starks being in a big match on Dynamite. The back injury probably kept that from taking place already, but hopefully it is coming up soon (or at All Out).

Post match, Wardlow comes out and gives Johnson an MJF campaign button, which Johnson wears to avoid more pain.

Tony Donati/Baron Black vs. Santana and Ortiz

Santana throws Black down to start as we talk about the destroyed minivan. An atomic drop into a Backstabber gets Black out of trouble but Santana pulls him into the corner. Donati comes in and gets DDTed in a hurry, followed by a quick suplex. A running elbow in the corner sets up a sitout powerbomb, followed by a kick to the face for the pin at 2:41. That worked.

Lance Archer vs. Jon Cruz/Jesse Sorensen

Jake Roberts is here with Archer. Hold on though as there’s no Cruz, because Archer is carrying him to the ring and then drops him to the floor. The bell rings twice for some reason and Archer blasts Sorensen with a shoulder. Cruz tries to interfere and gets thrown into the corner, setting up some alternating running shoulders. The two manage to kick him down and are promptly planted in a hurry. Cruz is chokeslammed onto Sorensen and for some reason makes the save. The double EBD Claw finishes at 2:39.

Post match Jake teases the DDT but drops Cruz instead.

Alan Angels vs. Billy

That’s Billy….with Austin Gunn of course. Well Austin leaves, but good thing he was there or you might not know who Billy is. Oh and that’s Alan 5 Angels because the Dark Order is still doing the numbers thing. Billy shoves him down a few times to start and a right hand does it again. Angels gets sent hard into the corner a few times and they walk around on the floor for a bit. Back in and Billy hits a Jackhammer for two but Angels is back up with a shotgun dropkick. A release tilt-a-whirl slam plants Angels but he avoids the Fameasser and kicks at the legs. Billy doesn’t mind and hits the cobra clutch slam for the pin at 4:01.

Rating: D+. Of all the Billy matches he has had in AEW where he didn’t do much other than play the hits and not exactly make me want to see his son, this was the latest. Billy still looks good but it isn’t like I’m going to go out of my way to see what he does these days. Good for him for sticking around and staying on Dark, but it isn’t like it’s anything more than nostalgia.

Post match the Dark Order run in for the beatdown until Austin makes the save with a chair. Billy: “I’M AN OLD MAN!”

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros vs. SCU/Private Party

Butcher shoves Daniels down to start and hits a running corner clothesline for a bonus. It’s off to Kazarian for some High/Low but Kazarian gets taken into the corner for the choke from Blade. Kazarian takes Blade down into a rollup for two and it’s off to Kassidy. A slingshot hilo gets two on Blade but Fenix comes in to take Kassidy down. Kassidy is back up with a hurricanrana so it’s Pentagon and Quen coming in.

Quen cranks on the arm and brings Daniels back in as the fast tags begin. A top rope stomp to the arm gets two on Pentagon and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up and Pentagon hits a Sling Blade so Blade can come back in to hammer on Kassidy. Butcher whips Kassidy hard into the corner and Pentagon adds the loud chop against the ropes. Fenix’s near Muta Lock doesn’t last long and the good guys are drawn in so Butcher can choke on the ropes.

Fenix superkicks Blade by mistake though and the hot tag brings in Quen to clean house. Everything breaks down in a hurry and Fenix trades kicks to the head with Quen until they’re both down. Daniels Rock Bottoms Pentagon and looks to set up the BME but Fenix breaks it up in a hurry. Private Party hit stereo dives onto Pentagon and Butcher. The Fear Factor plants Daniels with Kazarian making a save and it’s the suplex onto Blade’s knees to pin Daniels at 10:54.

Rating: C. The star power and time helped this one a bit though there isn’t much going on here other than a fast paced ending. That’s the case with most of these bigger Dark matches, but at the same time it’s nice to have something a little more serious after an hour and twenty minutes of squashes. Daniels taking the pin makes sense too, as it’s not like SCU needs any wins to be a big deal around here.

Post match the Bros aren’t happy Butcher and Blade got the pin.

Quick preview for Saturday’s Dynamite wraps us up.

Overall Rating: D+. It isn’t a bad show but at the same time there is only so much that can be said about a show that comes and goes like this with nothing of note. The wrestling was ok at best and I’m not going to remember anything that happened on it next week. The longer times seem to be the new norm and as annoying as that is, it’s what AEW loves to do and that’s the kind of thing you have to like if you’re going to be around here.

Results

Kip Sabian b. Michael Nakazawa – Deathly Hallows

Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela b. Frank Stone/Shawn Dean – Splits splash to Dean

Shawn Spears b. Will Hobbs – Death Valley Driver

Hybrid 2 b. Initiative – 630 to Avalon

Abadon b. Red Velvet – Cemetery Walk

Colt Cabana/Dark Order b. Ryzin/D3/Faboo Andre – Double front flip DDT to D3

Ricky Starks b. Lee Johnson – Roshambo

Santana and Ortiz b. Tony Donati/Baron Black – Kick to Donati’s face

Lance Archer b. Jon Cruz/Jesse Sorensen – Double EBD Claw

Billy b. Alan Angels – Cobra clutch

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros b. SCU/Private Party – Suplex onto Blade’s knees to Daniels

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: August 11, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz

Yeah we’re back and I’m still not sure what to say about this show. They are getting into a little bit better of a format here as they are at least now doing a bigger main event between some midcarders, which offers a nice boost. Hopefully the rest of the show can be good enough to make that match work. Let’s get to it.

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

Quick announcers preview.

Lee Johnson vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix takes him straight down into an armbar and then a quickly broken chinlock to start as the announcers talk about how amazing Fenix is when he starts flying. Back up and Johnson ducks a bunch of kicks and we get a quick handshake. Fenix takes him down and goes for the face, sending Johnson to the ropes for the break. They go outside with Fenix sending him into various things and kicking Johnson in the head.

Back in and Fenix hits the AJ Styles drop down into a (running) dropkick before sending him to the apron for a spinning kick to the face. Johnson is right back up with a series of strikes to the head into a springboard missile dropkick for one. A Blue Thunder Bomb gives Johnson two more but Fenix ducks a superkick and kicks him in the head. The running spin kick to the face in the corner sets up the Black Fire Driver to finish Johnson at 6:29.

Rating: C. Fenix is one of those guys who we don’t see very often and in a way, that’s a good thing. He doesn’t lose a lot of the impact that he could have from being around too often and it’s a case of absence makes the heart go fonder. Fenix can fly very well and I could go for more of him on his own, but don’t overuse him.

Video on Scorpio Sky wanting a TNT Title shot.

Shawn Spears vs. Alex Chamberlain

Tully Blanchard is here with Spears. Chamberlain gets headlocked to the mat to start but reverses into one of his own. They run the ropes until Spears catches him with a shot to the ribs. That’s fine with Chamberlain who runs him over with a shoulder, meaning it’s time for a breather on the floor. Chamberlain follows like a schnook and gets pulled into the post. Spears drops the arm onto the apron and it’s time to work on said arm back inside. The good arm is fine enough to knock Spears outside but he’s back in with a slingshot stomp to the arm. The Death Valley Driver ends Chamberlain at 4:09.

Rating: C. I’m still not big on Spears but it is nice to see him do something like this where he works on the arm and takes someone apart. Spears still doesn’t exactly show me enough to make me think that he is going to be some big star but they need to build him up somehow. Chamberlain has a good look but that’s about all you could see with him here.

Post match, Spears lays him out with the glove.

M’Badu/Shawn Dean vs. Gunn Club

Austin and Dean start things off with Dean spinning out of a wristlock and snapping off a dropkick. Billy comes in for a big boot and two and it’s off to the rather large (and muscular) M’Badu. A shove is enough to get Billy to take his shirt off (Taz: “Such a vet move.”) and a running shoulder (from Billy) puts Billy down. M’Badu elbows him into the corner and hits a Stinger Splash before it’s back to Dean.

Some shots in the corner have Billy doing a Flair Flop and we hit the quickly broken chinlock. Billy DDTs his way to freedom and Austin tells his daddy to come on. The double tag brings in Dean and Austin with the latter sending M’Badu to the floor. Everything breaks down and the hiptoss neckbreaker finishes Dean at 6:42.

Rating: D+. Forgive me if I’m not incredibly interested in seeing Billy Gunn trying to make his son relevant in 2020. Austin seems like a fine enough guy but there is only so much that you are going to be able to do when you’re in there with your far more famous father. The match wasn’t too bad and M’Badu looked good in a short stretch, but the Gunn Club isn’t exactly thrilling.

Michael Stevens vs. Kip Sabian

Penelope Ford is here too. Stevens’ gear looks like he wore it to a rather messy Nickelodeon game show and let the weird goo dry. Sabian kicks him down and rubs Stevens’ bald head so Stevens takes him over without much trouble. That means time for some dancing/mime work, allowing Sabian to take over again. After a shot of water, Sabian stomps away and hits a pop up knee into a discus punch.

There’s a penalty kick as Tony talks about how much he learns from Taz every week. Stevens gets thrown into the corner where he shakes his hips a bit before jumping over Sabian. An X Factor gets two but Sabian catapults him into the corner. The springboard tornado DDT sets up the hanging twisting neckbreaker to finish Stevens at 5:12.

Rating: C-. Stevens is going to get more attention here but I’m not sure what I think about him yet. He made a quick impression, but how far that can take him remains to be seen. There is only so much you can get out of a five minute match that was mainly a squash and the bright gear isn’t enough. He got more of my attention than most AEW jobbers though so that’s a first step at least.

Private Party vs. Griff Garrison/Brian Pillman Jr.

Kassidy and Pillman start as Tony talks about Urban Dictionary. A leg lariat staggers Pillman and it’s off to Quen to strike away at the head. Pillman gets taken into the corner for a running shot to the face but Kassidy has to stop to pose instead of dive. Back in and Pillman manages a knee to the face so Garrison can come in instead.

Garrison’s kick to the face gives him his own two as Tony wants to know why wrestlers with long hair don’t tie it back. Kassidy gets sent into the corner but rolls away and brings in Quen to clean house. Everything breaks down and a top rope splash/top rope legdrop combination (an old Hardy Boyz move in a nice nod to their work with Matt) finishes Garrison at 5:59.

Rating: C-. One of the common criticisms of Private Party is that they’re great athletes but don’t really know how to put together a match. That was on display here as they just kind of did some spots and then had the finish. They were strung together better than normal for a Private Party match, but it still feels like they don’t really know what they’re doing. It’s far from terrible or even bad, but they need more polish than what they have now.

Pineapple Pete/Aaron Solow/Corey Hollis vs. Jurassic Express

Stunt starts for the Express and, after the required unfunny dancing, gets to face Solow, who starts on his knees. That means it’s off to Luchasaurus to wreck everyone in sight. Solow manages a spinning kick to the head but Luchasaurus kicks him even harder, allowing Jungle Boy to come in for a suplex. Stunt adds a high crossbody for two but Solow takes Boy into the corner for some stomping.

Pete comes in and hits a northern lights suplex, only to get clotheslined by Boy. A double clothesline allows the hot tag to Stunt (who everyone would pick next over Luchasaurus) and it’s time to do his thing, including a Razor’s Edge to Pete out of the corner. Everything breaks down and the Express stomps on Pete, setting up Stunt’s 450 for the pin at 5:20.

Rating: D+. And of course it was the same Jurassic Express formula: Boy and Luchasaurus look good and we stop for all of Stunt’s antics, including the mini version of the big man offense as he becomes more and more like Hornswoggle every day. I’m sure that’s an idea that was funny once, but it was in another company with someone more talented and versatile than Stunt.

Hybrid 2 vs. Natural Nightmares

Brandi, with her action figure, and Allie are here with the Nightmares. Marshall starts with Angelico and it’s an early battle over wrist control. A headlock takeover has Angelico down as the announcers talk about ring gear. Evans flips in to face Dustin, meaning it’s the drop down uppercut to put Jack down. Marshall hits a standing moonsault for two and adds a slingshot shoulder for the same. A rake to Marshall’s eyes draws Dustin in though, allowing Angelico to add a cheap shot as the villains take over.

Dustin breaks up a figure four with the legs and Angelico misses a Stinger Splash. Evans keeps running his mouth so much that Marshall slips over for the tag to Dustin so house can be cleaned. There’s the bulldog to Evans and the scoop powerslam hits the 2. Dustin’s top rope flip dive takes both of them down again and Marshall’s pop up right hand hits Evans. Whatever Dustin is calling the Final Cut these days finishes Evans at 6:22.

Rating: C-. I believe the term ho-hum is the right way to go here as it was a great miniature version of this entire show: not terrible, but completely forgettable with two teams fighting and one of them winning. That’s not exactly something that I want to watch and it’s all this show has, which doesn’t exactly give me the highest enthusiasm.

Rachael Ellering vs. Penelope Ford

Kip Sabian is here too. Ford slips out of a headscissors to start so Ellering switches over to an armbar instead. Ellering hits a running elbow to the face for two but Penelope knees her way out of a brainbuster. Sabian whips out a leaf blower as Ford starts choking on the rope. Sabian: “She’s hot as h*** and clever.”

A clothesline to the back of the head drops Ellering again and Ford kicks her in the face a few times. The fisherman’s suplex is broken up and Ellering starts hitting her in the head. A spinebuster gives Ellering two but a springboard spinning legdrop only hits mat. The Lethal Injection drops Ellering and now the fisherman’s suplex is enough to finish 5:40.

Rating: C-. How in the world was that almost six minutes? Anyway, Ford has grown a lot in recent months and it is great to see her develop into something more than the good looking manager. Ellering is someone who seems to have potential but she only looked ok here. Then again she has been out of action for a LONG time after her torn ACL so it is far from fair to really critique her at the moment.

Butcher and Blade vs. SCU

Blade and Kazarian start things off and have a rather long lockup (as in over a minute) until Kazarian switches into a headlock. That lets Taz go head first into the analysis of the technique and what Kazarian should be going for with various parts of his body. I love that kind of thing. Blade fights up and charges into the corner, only to get rolled up for two. Daniels comes in with a neckbreaker for two on Blade as Tony talks about meeting Daniels in 2000 and how bad of a year that was.

Butcher comes in for a hard slam and drops a knee on Daniels before grabbing the bearhug. Blade tags himself back in to chop away against the ropes but Kazarian makes his own blind tag to come in for the save. A belly to back suplex drops Kazarian onto Blade and Daniels adds a Lionsault for two. Blade’s distraction lets Butcher hit a backbreaker though and Daniels is in trouble again.

A side slam/running legdrop combination gets two on Daniels and we hit the bearhug for the second time. Daniels bites his way to freedom and brings Kazarian back in to clean house. That means the springboard spinning legdrop to Blade with Butcher’s saving elbow only hitting his partner. Butcher is sent outside and it’s the double powerbomb for two on Blade. The Best Moonsault Ever is broken up by Butcher though and the suplex onto Blade’s knees finishes Daniels at 11:38.

Rating: C. As usual, the main event is the best match on the show because of the time it gets and the people involved. I’m also a little surprised at the ending as Butcher and Blade are starting to rise a bit but having them beat SCU feels like an upset. I’m not sure how good the match really was, but after everything we saw earlier in the show, this was quite the hit.

The Dynamite preview ends the show.

Overall Rating: D+. My nearly complete apathy to this show continues to grow every week. It’s just most average(ish) wrestling that goes on for a long, long time every week. I need a little more to it than just watching a decent main event and it’s getting harder and harder to watch every week. I’m needing to take breaks to get through this show just so I can do something more interesting. It is far from a terrible show and the wrestling is rarely anything even bad, but I beg of you, find SOMETHING interesting to use on here.

Results

Rey Fenix b. Lee Johnson – Black Fire Driver

Shawn Spears b. Alex Chamberlain – Death Valley Driver

Gunn Club b. M’Badu/Shawn Dean – Hiptoss neckbreaker to Dean

Kip Sabian b. Michael Stevens – Hanging swinging neckbreaker

Private Party b. Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison – Top rope legdrop/top rope splash combination to Garrison

Jurassic Express b. Corey Hollis/Pineapple Pete/Aaron Solow – 450 to Pete

Natural Nightmares b. Hybrid 2 – Spinning suplex neckbreaker to Evans

Penelope Ford b. Rachael Ellering – Fisherman’s suplex

Butcher and Blade b. SCU – Suplex to Daniels onto Blade’s knees

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: AEW

Dark
Date: July 21, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur

We’re past Fight For The Fallen and now we’re moving on to….I have no idea really, but All Out is scheduled for September so we might be ready to start setting the foundation for that. Odds are we won’t be seeing anything like that on this show though, which isn’t the most important in the grand scheme of things. Let’s get to it.

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

Rache Chanel vs. Hikaru Shida

Non-title. Chanel chills in the corner to start before getting headlocked down. After a quick check of her hair, Chanel is back up, with Shida messing with the hair to turn this serious. Chanel gets in a swinging neckbreaker and ties Shida in the ropes for….some hair brushing? You don’t do that to Shida (I guess?) and she hits a running boot in the corner. A delayed vertical suplex gets two more and the Fujiwara armbar goes on. Shida hits a sliding elbow and we get an edit to Shida kicking her in the head. The Falcon Arrow finishes Chanel at 5:35.

Rating: D+. This was more like what you would have expected here as Chanel got in a little offense, but at the same time, you can only get so far when it is all about the gimmick. The hair brushing was rather strange, even if it fit what Chanel is all about. Shida needs some new competition though, and having her out there in matches like this only does so much for her.

Corey Hollis vs. Kip Sabian

Penelope Ford is here with Sabian. Hollis gets taken down and doesn’t seem happy, probably because Sabian doesn’t bother taking off his sunglasses. Sabian gets shoved into the corner though and Ford gives him a quick drink of water. Back up and they run the ropes until Sabian hits him with a leg lariat.

Sabian likes the lariat so much that he goes with the arm version, followed by a kick to the chest. A springboard tornado DDT is countered though and Hollis hits an enziguri. Hollis hits a weird looking springboard spinning kick to the face (looked more like a spinning crossbody with Hollis slipping) but Sabian pops back up with the Deathly Hallows for the pin at 4:26.

Rating: D+. Sabian continues to be decent in the ring but there is only so much that you can get out of him when Ford steals so much of his spotlight. She wasn’t doing that here, but long term, which of the two are you expecting to get more attention? The match was a usual Dark match, meaning that it wasn’t exactly a thrilling watch and had a rather obvious conclusion.

Dustin Rhodes is training Brandi Rhodes and Allie, with the two of them arguing a bit over the goal of the team. Allie wants to win and Brandi wants to make a women’s tag division. Arguing ensues and Dustin walks away.

Best Friends vs. Brady Pierce/Sabby

Yes that’s Tino Sabbatelli from NXT. Sabby (egads) shoves Trent down with the raw power to start and wins a forearm off. Trent gets smart by going after the knee and forearms away at the chest. Chuck and Pierce come in with Chuck hitting a dropkick as Excalibur turns it into a merchandise plug. The Friends start the tagging and Chuck’s top rope ax handle connects.

Sabby gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and it’s Chuck getting whipped hard into the corner. Chuck knees Brady in the face and brings in Trent, who snaps off a belly to back suplex. Sabby comes back in and gets elbowed in the face, followed by a swinging DDT. A running knee to the back of Sabby’s head connects for two but he catches Trent in a powerslam. Everything breaks down and it’s Soul Food to Pierce to set up a spear. Back to back dives take out Pierce and Sabby and, after the hug, it’s Strong Zero to finish Pierce at 7:58.

Rating: C-. Somehow, the Best Friends are having the best match of the night. What gets the most attention here though is how bad that name is, as it sounds like a nickname from when the guy was about eleven years old. They really couldn’t call him ANYTHING else and not turn it into a joke? I know he isn’t likely to be the next big thing, but come on already with the horrible name.

Ricky Starks vs. Will Hobbs

The bigger Hobbs shoves Starks down to start so Starks runs the ropes and hits a jumping shoulder. That means a big toss into the corner and a delayed vertical suplex puts Starks outside. Starks poses on the floor but it’s a ruse to get in a cheap shot on the distracted Hobbs. They head back inside with Starks hammering away but Hobbs snaps off a big powerslam. An Oklahoma Stampede is broken up and Starks hits a swinging neckbreaker. The double underhook Dominator finishes Hobbs at 3:47.

Rating: C. Hobbs looked good here, as is always the case with Starks. They had a nice match for the time and situation given so well done on pulling off something that isn’t very easy. Starks is someone to keep an eye on and Hobbs put in one of the better jobber performances here. Give them a little more time whenever they do this again.

Scorpio Sky vs. Aaron Solow

Sky spins out of a wristlock to start and then does it again, this time pulling Solow down into an armbar. Solow gets tripped down into another armbar and this time Sky adds a quick Russian legsweep for two. Sky is sent throat first into the middle rope though and Solow stomps away in the corner. A spinning enziguri gives Solow two and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Sky nails a dropkick to start the comeback, including a series of strikes to the face. A facebuster gives Sky two more but Solow rolls him down into a double stomp to the ribs for his own two. Solow’s sunset bomb into the corner gets two more but a middle rope elbow is countered into a crucifix. That’s broken up so Sky grabs the TKO for the pin at 6:36.

Rating: C. Sky continues to be one of the smoothest performers in all of AEW and you really don’t see him having a bad match. He can do almost anything in the ring and I’m not sure why he’s stuck on here instead of doing this kind of thing on Dynamite. Solow has been around various promotions before and was as acceptable as ever here.

Diamante vs. KiLynn King

They trade spinouts to escape wristlocks early on until the much shorter Diamante grabs a headlock. A shoulder puts King down but she grabs an armbar. The delayed vertical suplex is countered with a knee to King’s head but the second attempt works out a lot better. Diamante doesn’t seem to mind though and sends King into the corner for a running dropkick. They trade chops until King grabs some rollups for two each, followed by the running clotheslines. Not that it matters as Diamante is back with a Code Red for the pin at 4:26.

Rating: C-. This was decent enough as Diamante looked more like a star than King, who looked rather nice as usual. The division needs some fresh, if not short term, stars given all of the current absences so this is as good as we are going to get at the moment. Diamante could be someone who steps up to take some pressure off of the division and that works as well as anything else is going to.

Robert Anthony vs. Darby Allin

Allin keeps staring at Taz so Anthony yells at him to fight. Apparently that involves a lot of sliding and a Code Red for two on Anthony. Allin takes him outside for a hard whip into the barricade but Anthony drapes him over the barricade. A suplex back off sends Allin onto the floor and Anthony takes him back in for a surfboard into a faceplant. Allin grabs a Fujiwara armbar to send Anthony over to the rope, with Taz explaining why the physics on the hold weren’t right.

Anthony is sent to the apron but manages to clothesline Allin outside in an impressive counter. That takes a little too long though and Anthony’s arm is pulled into the buckle. The Coffin Drop to a standing Anthony knocks him off the apron and he has to beat the count. Back in and the flipping Stunner sets up the Coffin Drop to give Allin the pin at 6:50.

Rating: C. As usual, Allin can get out there and do some exciting stuff, though he is a great case of what is lacking without fans. His style is very enhanced by a strong reaction and that isn’t the case with no fans. This worked out well enough though and Anthony continues to be one of the better local jobbers.

Post match here’s Brian Cage to go after Allin, with Anthony trying to make a save. Ricky Starks comes out to help take care of Anthony as well as Allin, as we have a new member of Taz’s team.

Butcher and Blade vs. Peter Avalon/Brandon Cutler

Blade stomps Cutler down in the corner to start but Cutler gets to the apron for a springboard forearm. Butcher comes in and shoulders Avalon down with ease. An atomic drop into a running clothesline gives Blade two and it’s back to Butcher for a double suplex. Avalon gets sent hard into the corner and a lot of choking ensues. They head outside with Leva Bates trying to interfere with a dive off the apron.

Butcher catches that in midair though, leaving Avalon to dive onto both of them. Cutler comes back in to start cleaning house, including a flip dive onto Butcher while tagging Avalon at the same time. Avalon hits Blade with a book, much to Butcher’s annoyance. The distraction lets Butcher and Blade hit Full Death to finish Cutler at 6:48.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match here with Butcher and Blade not exactly being close to danger throughout. Avalon and Cutler have a little something, but it isn’t enough of a something that I need to see them out there every single week. They’re becoming the featured attraction of this show and that’s not exactly enough to keep up my interest.

Post match Butcher and Blade yell at the Bucks while hurting Cutler even more.

The Dynamite preview ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was every Dark that you’ve seen over the last few weeks, though having the Starks angle was a nice addition. As usual, it’s mostly the same people having matches against a revolving crew of jobbers with zero drama as to who is winning anything. I don’t need an hour and fifteen minute long show to get the point across, but that’s what we get week after week around here.

Results

Hikaru Shida b. Rache Chanel – Falcon Arrow

Kip Sabian b. Corey Hollis – Deathly Hallows

Best Friends b. Brady Pierce/Sabby – Strong Zero to Pierce

Ricky Starks b. Will Hobbs – Double underhook Dominator

Scorpio Sky b. Aaron Solow – TKO

Diamante b. KiLynn King – Code Red

Darby Allin b. Robert Anthony – Coffin Drop

Butcher and Blade b. Peter Avalon/Brandon Cutler – Full Death to Cutler

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: AEW

Dynamite
Date: June 3, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s time for the title show as both the TNT Title and the Tag Team Titles are on the line. That is quite the stacked card for any show and hopefully the execution lives up to the hype. You never can tell for sure with something like this but AEW has a history of being able to pull off a big show. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a Black Lives Matter graphic.

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

The announcers run down the card.

Tag Team Titles: Kenny Omega/Hangman Page vs. Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc

Havoc and Sabian, with Penelope Ford, are challenging. Ford grabs Omega’s leg to start and Havoc takes him down. It’s off to Sabian to keep Omega in the corner and it’s back to Havoc to work on the hand. With FTR watching from an empty part of the crowd, Omega fights his way to freedom and brings in Page to run over Havoc. The champs throw Sabian down and Page easily blocks Ford’s top rope hurricanrana. Since the referee say the whole thing and she didn’t turn him over, Ford is ejected.

In the distraction, Havoc hits both champs in the back with a wrench for two. Sabian dropkicks Page to the floor and Havoc pokes at the eyes but Page fights over to Omega for the tag. Omega starts cleaning house and plants Sabian for two before quickly bringing Page back in. The Kitaro Crusher from Omega gives Page two and Page takes out Sabian and Havoc back to back.

A big running clothesline gets two on Sabian with Havoc making the save. Havoc Death Valley Drivers Omega into Page in the corner and Sing the Sorrow gets two on Omega with Page making the save this time. The reverse hurricanrana drops Sabian on his head and there’s the snapdragon to Havoc. Omega hits a V Trigger on Sabian and it’s back to Page for the Last Call to finish Havoc at 13:38.

Rating: B-. It’s kind of amazing how much more entertaining Page is than Omega. He comes off like a more complete character and feels more explosive in the ring as well. I know Omega is going to get the praise and will likely be the top star in the company one day, but I like watching Page a good bit more. The match wasn’t exactly dramatic but it was nice to see the titles defended for a change.

Tully Blanchard yelled at Shawn Spears earlier today and asked what Spears wants his legacy to be. Later, Blanchard thought he had the missing piece for Spears: a single black glove.

We look at Mike Tyson vs. Chris Jericho from last week.

We look back at Brian Cage squashing a human last week.

Brian Cage vs. Shawn Dean

A bunch of suplexes set up the Drill Claw to end whatever is left of Dean at 1:38.

Post match Taz warns Jon Moxley to get serious before Cage kills him at Fyter Fest. Cue Moxley, who is still smiling to annoy Taz. Moxley is in this business for something like this and knows that Cage is impressive. Maybe Cage is a machine but Moxley is a human who can be beaten. It’s going to take Cage all night long though because taking the title from him is a different prospect entirely. The next time you want to bring his name up, remember who you’re talking about.

Lance Archer is beating up someone at what looks like a construction site as Jake Roberts looks on. Archer talks about how one loss isn’t changing him after twenty years in the business and he’ll take everything in AEW. Roberts looks impressed.

We look back at Matt Hardy helping Marc Quen out after an injury last week.

Hardy comes in to see Private Party, where Quen’s knee is fine. They remind him of the bond he and his brother had, which is quite the thrill for the team. If they ever need anything, let him know. Hardy leaves and runs into Sammy Guevara, who he respects, before leaving. Sammy is confused.

We recap Cody winning the TNT Title, the open challenge, and Jungle Boy becoming the #1 contender last week.

Colt Cabana vs. Chris Jericho

Fallout from Cabana arguing with Jericho after last week’s brawl with Tyson. Jake Hager and Sammy Guevara are here with Jericho and Sammy sings Judas for a bonus. Cabana starts fast and knocks Jericho to the floor, setting up an Asai moonsault to take out both Jericho and Hager. Jericho knocks Cabana out of the air back inside though and we take a break.

Back with Jericho elbowing him in the face for two but Cabana slugs away. The Bionic Elbow sets up the Flying Apple into the middle rope splash for two. Cabana rolls up the Superman Pin but Jericho reverses into the Walls of Jericho. The rope is grabbed for the save and Cabana hits a corner clotheslines. A super hurricanrana gives Cabana two but he slips coming out of the corner and walks into the Judas Effect to give Jericho the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C+. I know Cabana is mainly a comedy wrestler but this is the kind of match where he can turn it off and wrestle straight when he has to. That makes Cabana a lot easier to watch and it was the case here. Jericho getting a clean win is good for him at this point, even if it’s over a midcarder. Not too bad here and Cabana was trying.

Videos on the matches announced for Fyter Fest.

Video on Britt Baker’s Road to Recovery with Tony Schiavone and the doctor looking on. She’s a little uh, over the top with things, though calling her wheelchair Role’s Royce is a great touch.

Nyla Rose vs. Big Swole

Swole headlocks her down to start but Rose fights up without much trouble. A shoulder doesn’t work on Rose so Swole sends her outside. That just lets Rose trip her up, sending Swole face first into the apron. Back from a break with Swole hitting a kick to the head and a headbutt, followed by a springboard cutter for two. Swole starts going after the knee but Rose spears her down. The Beast Bomb is countered into a sunset flip for two but Dirty Dancing is countered into a spinebuster/powerbomb to finish Swole at 9:48.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here as Swole isn’t all that interesting and Rose was getting back on the winning path. Part of the problem with any monster like Rose is that once she loses, the luster is gone in a hurry. I’m not sure where she can go next, but one off squashes could be best for her for the time being.

Post match Swole talks about having the fans behind her but Britt Baker rolls over, only to have Swole chase her off with a chair.

Darby Allin is injured but promises revenge on Brian Cage and Taz.

We get a sitdown interview with FTR, who say their name stands for anything they want it to. They’re ready for a bunch of teams, including the Young Bucks, who Dave Meltzer has praised as the next Midnight Express. They know they’re better than the Young Bucks and they don’t want any excuses for when they beat the Bucks in their first match. Tony thanks them for the interview but here are Butcher and Blade to interrupt. Other wrestlers and security break it up and a match is set for next week.

We run down next week’s show, including Marc Quen challenging for the TNT Title.

Colt Cabana is annoyed at his losses so here’s Brodie Lee to say it’s about how you respond to the losing. Lee can help him, so think about it.

TNT Title: Cody vs. Jungle Boy

Cody, with Arn Anderson, is defending and Jungle Boy is on his own here. They start with the rollups early on before Cody wins a slugout in the corner. The Figure Four goes on in a hurry but Boy is out in a hurry. A slingshot DDT gets two on Cody and he bails outside. Cody sends Boy over the barricade and we take a break. Back with Cody headbutting a wall by mistake but Boy stops to yell at MJF.

Cody is busted open so Boy hammers on the cut, only to get knocked down in a hurry. Boy heads up top and gets caught with a dropkick, setting up a delayed superplex. The Figure Four is broken up so Cody goes up top, right above a well placed table. Boy follows him up and they both fall through the table in a big crash. Back in and Boy counters a sunset flip into a rollup for two but Cody snaps off Cross Rhodes to retain at 12:48.

Rating: B. They had my attention here and Boy looked good in a losing effort. It’s a case where he’s a star of the future and that’s a good sign for where this company could be going. I’m curious to see how things are going to go for him and Cody could help a lot of people in matches like this. Good stuff, even if it started to feel like one of those patented forced Cody epics.

Post match all of Cody’s friends come in for the celebration as he shows respect to Boy to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I had a good time with this one and it was a rather good show, without reaching the next level. What mattered here was having nothing bad and almost everything looking good up and down the card. They’re on the way to Fyter Fest and you can see a lot of the matches from here. Nice stuff here, with a solid show to keep up some momentum.

Results

Kenny Omega/Hangman Page b. Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc – Last Call to Havoc

Brian Cage b. Shawn Dean – Drill Claw

Chris Jericho b. Colt Cabana – Judas Effect

Nyla Rose b. Big Swole – Powerbomb

Cody b. Jungle Boy – Cross Rhodes

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: AEW

Dynamite
Date: May 27, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re done with Double Or Nothing and that means it’s time to start getting ready for the summer. I’m not sure what that is going to mean as AEW takes its time to get to their next pay per views. We do have Fyter Fest though, and that should give us a goal for the next few weeks. Let’s get to it.

Here is Double Or Nothing if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Double Or Nothing.

The Inner Circle is upset over their loss and have to get rid of this box of Stadium Stampede winner shirts. Hang on though as it’s a little more than that. Santana got a deal from his buddy Carlos and opens the back of a truck, showing crate after crate of shirts. Jericho is distraught in a funny bit.

Opening sequence.

Here’s a preview of what is going down tonight.

Matt Hardy and the Elite are ready for their match but Hangman Page wants to go get a drink. Kenny Omega joins him, so Matt is ready to team with the Bucks on his own. They wouldn’t mind an older version of him, so Matt turns into the Team Extreme version. Actually can he go a little older than that? Matt becomes….I guess late 90s version and asks if they’re ready to be spot monkeys.

Matt Hardy/Young Bucks vs. Joey Janela/Private Party

The Bucks waste no time in starting with the flips and dives on Marc Quen early on. Janela comes in and gets caught with a splash/double enziguri in the corner but Nick is sent hard to the floor. Back in and Nick is sent hard to the floor. That means we get the abdominal stretch back inside, meaning the Wilbur Snyder references are on. Nick manages to send Janela to the floor but superkicks Butcher by mistake.

The fight is on and JR takes a completely necessary shot at WWE for mentioning the Plexiglas in front of their wrestler fans. Back in and the hot tag brings in Hardy for the Side Effect on Kassidy. A double DDT plants Private Party and there’s another Side Effect to Janela. Everything breaks down and Private Party hits the big double flip dive. Quen comes up holding his knee but Kassidy slingshots in with a Downward Spiral (which didn’t land right and looked like Matt gave him a Side Effect) for two. The Bucks come back in and More Bang For Your Buck finishes Kassidy at 9:53.

Rating: C. Yeah it was another all over the place tag match, but it would be nice to have things slow down for once. AEW has some amazing tag teams but they rely so much on these insane tag matches. Maybe slow things down a bit and have a standard match instead of going all out like this. You can do these matches on a regular basis, but not an all time basis.

Post match, Hardy helps the injured Quen to the back in a nice moment. Butcher and Blade run in to beat down the Young Bucks but FTR (the Revival) drive in with their truck for the save. A spike piledriver plants Blade and FTR shows respect to the Bucks. It’s cool that they’re there, but they better tear the house down.

Brian Cage vs. Lee Johnson

Jon Moxley is on commentary and Taz is here with Cage. Splash in the corner, powerbomb, Drill Claw in 1:13.

Post match Taz promises that Cage is going to take Moxley’s heart at Fyter Fest. Moxley better bring his grit, because he’s only surviving if Cage lets him.

It’s time for Britt Baker’s Rules Of Being A Role Model, with Tony Schiavone having to operate the pointer. The third rule is all about Britt: Don’t Hurt The Role Model. She claims a conspiracy has led her to having a broken tibia, and we look at the various conspirators. They would be the wrestlers involved in the match last week (Britt: “Kris Stadtlander, you being an alien is a crock of s***!”), and now we need a chart.

Everything leads back to Aubrey Edwards, who is here for every bad thing that happens to her. Baker: “When my nose was broken, Aubrey Edwards was somewhere!” Baker will be back at All Out. Hopefully she gets to stay on TV, because this was great stuff, as usual. Just give us more Baker either way.

The Inner Circle is ready for their pep rally tonight when Orange Cassidy walks in and out. Jericho: “Did he really just do that?”

Christi Jaymes vs. Hikaru Shida

Non-title. Shida takes Jaymes up against the ropes but Jaymes shoves her back a bit and dances. Shida is invited to dance as well but Jaymes kicks her leg out as a result. That’s too far for Shida, who grabs her by the hair, only to have Jaymes do the same. A backbreaker finally slows Jaymes down and we hit the one armed camel clutch. Jaymes gets out and hits Shida in the face for two, only to miss a Lionsault. The running knee to the face sets up a running knee to the back of the head to give Shida two. The Falcon Arrow finishes Jaymes at 5:20.

Rating: C-. What the heck was that? Shida slayed the beast on Saturday and then takes five minutes to go 50/50 with someone with one match experience around here? This was a great way to make Jaymes look important, but it made Shida sweat when she should have been taking a victory lap. It’s ok to have more than one squash in a row and AEW would be well served to learn that. This made Jaymes look like a star and Shida like someone who had to survive against someone beneath her. That’s not exactly a great way to present the new champion.

We look at Cody winning the first TNT Title. Cody talks about Tom Brady being his favorite quarterback and it’s not because he was from the northeast. Cody: “I don’t think I’ll ever be welcome back in Connecticut.” It’s because Brady wasn’t the first pick and neither was Cody. When Tony Khan wanted to start the best bell to bell company in the world and he was the fourth or fifth pick.

Cody talks about how Dustin got all the Dusty genes (we cut to Brandi and Dustin watching at ringside and Brandi having to get QT Marshall’s attention away from Allie) but he will outwork anyone. That’s why every week, it’s an open challenge for the title. Wrestling is without its greatest asset at the moment but the fans have never dropped them. So follow him.

Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc vs. SCU

The winners get a title shot next week, Penelope Ford is here with Sabian/Havoc, it’s Scorpio Sky/Kazarian for SCU and it’s a brawl before the bell. We settle down to Sky working over Havoc’s arm and Kazarian dropping a knee onto it for a bonus. Kazarian gets two off an O’Connor roll but Havoc kicks him into a boot from Sabian to take over. A catapult sends Kazarian into an eye poke as the villains take over. Havoc goes after the eyes as we take a break.

Back with Kazarian still in trouble until he can slingshot into a roll over to Sky. A rolling cutter sets up a dragon sleeper on Sabian with Havoc making a fast save. Sabian’s top rope double stomp gets two on Sky but Kazarian comes back in for an assisted swinging DDT for two of his own. Ford breaks up SCULater though and it’s the dropkick/Michinoku Driver combination to Sky for the pin at 12:02.

Rating: C. Just a match here but I can go with them trying someone new in the title scene. Given that the titles haven’t been defended in three months, it would be nice to see the titles actually on the line for once. I can’t imagine Havoc and Sabian actually win, but throw in the right amount of interference and we might be getting somewhere.

MJF is ready to win the battle royal because he’s awesome. Wardlow will be in there with him as his insurance policy. Wardlow: “But…”. MJF: “BUT NOTHING!!!!” Just ribbing of course.

Battle Royal

Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Wardlow, Colt Cabana, Luther, Marko Stunt, Luchasaurus, Christopher Daniels, Orange Cassidy, Sonny Kiss, Jungle Boy, Peter Avalon

The winner gets a shot at Cody next week (despite the open challenge making this match a little unnecessary). Cassidy isn’t in the ring when the bell rings so here are Santana and Ortiz to jump him from behind. It’s the usual brawl to start as MJF sits on the top to hide behind Wardlow. Luther throws Stunt to start and gets kicked in the face by Luchasaurus.

Stunt tries to go after Luchasaurus as Kiss kicks MJF in the face. Wardlow dumps Kiss (who JR seemed to refer to as “she” twice) and MJF goes outside to beat Kiss up some more. Cabana hits the Flying Apple on Billy, who dumps Cabana out without much effort. That’s enough for Cabana to take a flier from the Dark Order at ringside as we take a break.

Back with Stunt hurricanranaing Daniels out and promptly being tossed out by Wardlow. We’re down to Wardlow, Luchasaurus, Gunn, Jungle Boy and MJF. The monsters slug it out but MJF goes after Luchasaurus’ leg. Gunn breaks that up and slugs it out with Luchasaurus, until MJF and Wardlow dump both of them.

Cassidy rolls in because he was never eliminated so MJF busts out the ring. It hits Wardlow by mistake and Jungle Boy eliminates MJF. Cassidy and Jungle Boy get rid of Wardlow and we’re down to two. Boy sends him over the top but Cassidy skins the cat and comes back in for some Superman punches. A rebound clothesline takes Cassidy down and a running hurricanrana gives Boy the win at 11:15.

Rating: C-. Battle royals are always a little rough but I like the pick for the win here. As usual, if you do a battle royal properly, you can set up more matches at the same time other than just for the winner, so hopefully they make that happen here. The action wasn’t all that great here, but it could have been a lot worse.

Video on Stadium Stampede.

It’s time for the pep rally, with cheerleaders and a drum band. Vickie Guerrero (“Get your earplugs ready”) comes out as an extra cheerleader to introduce the Inner Circle. Chris Jericho promises that the Inner Circle will rise like five sexy phoenixes. This is all for the fans so everyone gets a Stadium Stampede shirt! The fans start throwing the shirts back and Sammy, on a crutch, has to calm things down. They may not have won, but they participated, so everyone gets a trophy! Jericho: “Mine says king of dad jokes.” Sammy: “Well there’s a pandemic going on so it’s hard to find trophies.”

Santana has some chopped cheese for Ortiz, some Vick’s vapor rub for Sammy (Santana: “My abuela says that heals anything.” Jericho: “My abuela says that too.”), some discount boots for Jake Hager, and a picture of Mark Anthony for Jericho. That works for Chris, because that’s his hero. Sammy gets the Hit Me Up mobile scooter, and Ortiz gets some headphones to stop the ringing in his ears. Hager….has written a poem, about how great the Inner Circle is. He’ll choke anyone who doesn’t like them and he wants to run the Elite over with his Tesla.

This goes into a crazed rant about how he wants to murder the Elite, with Jericho having to cut him off. Hager: “The end.” Jericho: “….good stuff.” Sammy asks Jericho what he wants, which would be Mike Tyson’s head on a platter. Jericho remembers what Tyson did to him in January 2010 on a Monday night so it’s time for revenge. Sammy couldn’t get Tyson’s head on a platter, but he’s got a CHEESE PLATTER, plus a little bit of the bubbly. Actually the cheese has been eaten and the bubbly has been consumed.

Cue Tyson with his vast entourage (including some MMA fighters), carrying the bubbly bottles. Jericho yells at Tyson for turning on him but Tyson says he deserved it for being a sucker. An apology is demanded but Tyson takes off his shirt. There’s the shove and the pull apart brawl is on. The locker room comes in for the save and everyone has to pull them apart to end the show. Jericho vs. Tyson is a headliner match, though it’s going to be an absolute freak show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was a little shaky, though they advanced some stuff that they needed to cover. What matters here is setting things up for the future while also dealing with the fallout. You can see the top half of Fyter Fest (whenever that is taking place) from here and the card isn’t looking bad. I’m not wild on some of the wrestling here, but that’s not as important as the future booking and storytelling, both of which were good enough to carry the night. Couple that with the very pep rally and it was a pretty good show.

Results

Matt Hardy/Young Bucks b. Joey Janela/Private Party – More Bang For Your Buck to Kassidy

Brian Cage b. Lee Johnson – Drill Claw

Hikaru Shida b. Christi Jaymes – Falcon Arrow

Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc b. SCU – Dropkick/Michinoku Driver combination to Sky

Jungle Boy won a battle royal last eliminating Orange Cassidy

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: AEW

Dark
Date: May 26, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

It’s the first show after the very good Double Or Nothing and you know what that calls for: nearly an hour and a half of overly competitive jobber matches! I’m not sure if this is the new permanent norm or if they’re just burning off a bunch of material they taped on the off chance that they wouldn’t be able to tape for a good while. Either way, it’s hardly must see material. Let’s get to it.

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

Tazz makes it clear that he will not be getting into any details about his relationship with Brian Cage. That’s wrestling code for “this was taped before that happened.”

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares

Jon Silver/Alex Reynolds here. The Nightmares snap off an early double Russian legsweep on Reynolds to start and Dustin adds the running knee lift. Cue Allie of all people, with Marshal’’s apple. Marshall certainly seems interested and Silver uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot and take over. Reynolds’ uppercut gives Silver two but Marshall tells him to go with the chest kicks. The big one is countered in a hurry so the hot tag brings in Dustin for the house cleaning. The snap powerslam plants Silver and Marshall adds a cutter for the pin at 5:02.

Rating: C-. It’s not the biggest story but Allie eating an apple now counts as the top story on this show in about a month, if not more. I can always go for more of Allie as she is a great manager, but I’m worried about how long it might be before the angle gets any followup. If this show was taped that long ago, it could be a good while indeed.

Michael Nakazawa vs. Brandon Cutler

Cutler starts fast with a running forearm for an early two as Taz talks about Cutler’s losing streak. Nakazawa comes back with a spear but Cutler comes in from the apron with a kick to the head for his own near fall. Hold on though as Nakamura is out of oil, likely sending him into a downward spiral. Cutler keeps kicking away, despite having been busted open somewhere in there. The torture rack goes on and Nakazawa gets sent over the top. They fight on the floor and it’s Nakazawa sending him into the barricade for the first countout in AEW history at 6:20.

Rating: D. So yes, we needed to see these two have a match that actually got a little bit of time on this show. The wrestling was just there for the sake of filling in time and it’s not like either of these two mean anything. It’s why they’re here, having a glorified comedy match without ever being mentioned anywhere else.

Post match here are the Librarians, with Peter Avalon saying this is proof Cutler is the worst wrestler in the world. Therefore, Cutler can go sit on commentary and watch Avalon pick up a win.

Peter Avalon vs. Jungle Boy

Boy grabs an early headlock takeover and we’re already in the technical material. An armdrag puts Avalon on the floor but the rest of Jurassic Express won’t let him leave. The distraction lets Avalon post him and it’s a suplex for two back inside. A leg lariat gives Avalon two more and we hit the headscissors. The moonsault misses though and Boy hits a hard clothesline.

Boy’s springboard tornado DDT gets two but Avalon is back with a Meteora to the back of the head for his own near fall. Leva Bates gets on the apron for the assistance but winds up on Luchasaurus’ shoulders. Cue Marko Stunt to kiss her, meaning Boy can grab a modified STF for the tap at 7:30.

Rating: D+. The match was only somewhat better than the previous one and that’s not much of a compliment. Avalon has never been interesting and having him in a feud with Cutler over who the worst wrestler in the company is doesn’t sound too promising. As usual, there are people in wrestling companies who don’t need a story. Avalon, Cutler and Nakazawa fit the descriptions.

Serpentico vs. Christopher Daniels

Serpentico goes for the arm to start but Serpentico grabs a headlock. Some armdrags into the armbar put Serpentico down so he slugs away, only to walk into a leg lariat for two. Daniels hits a high collar suplex (Taz: “Thanks to him for stealing my gimmick.”) but Serpentico takes him down as well. A slingshot elbow gives Serpentico two but Daniels STOs him down. The release Rock Bottom into the BME gives Daniels the pin at 4:27.

Rating: C-. A little better here, but that might be due to having Daniels in there. He’s always good for a quick win and can make anyone look decent. Serpentico has been around a few times now and showed me a little more this time around. I don’t think he goes anywhere significant, but a not terrible performance is better than an awful one.

John Skyler/Brady Pearce vs. Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela

Pearce knocks Kiss down to start but Kiss kicks him into the corner for the early tag to Janela. That means Pearce gets laid over the middle rope and gets caught with a front flip ax kick to the ribs from Kiss. Skyler offers a quick distraction though and Pearce gets in a kick to the face. Janela avoids a charge though and the hot tag brings in Kiss for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Kiss kicks Pearce through the ropes, setting up the suicide dive. Back in and Janela drops a top rope elbow to finish Skyler at 4:37.

Rating: C-. This was your random partners with nothing else to do getting a win. There wasn’t much to talk about in this one but Kiss had his usual charisma turned up high. Janela continues to be someone who is just there, despite his ability to make his eyes bug out more than should be humanly possible.

Tony Donati/Faboo Andre vs. Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc

Penelope Ford is here with Sabian and Havoc. Andre gets jumped before the bell but manages to dropkick Sabian into the corner for what is likely the highest level of success he should expect here. Havoc comes back in and walks into a spinning middle rope crossbody from Andre. Sabian is back in to stomp Andre down in the corner, leaving Havoc to bite the face. Ford gets in a cheap shot from the floor so Havoc’s running big boot can get two.

A PK to the chest connects, though the referee said it was wide right. The lack of Stadium Stampede references as a result would tell me that there is a time gap between the tapings. The Acid Rainmaker misses though and (the bloody, from Havoc’s bite) Andre dives over for the hot tag to Donati. A hammerlock suplex gives Donati two on Sabian but he’s right back up with the hanging spinning neckbreaker. Sabian’s top rope double stomp sets up a dropkick/Michinoku Driver combination to finish Donati at 6:58.

Rating: D+. Another match that came and went as Sabian and Havoc are a fine midcard team, but there isn’t much of a reason to have them take this much time to beat a pair of jobbers with next to no experience around here. What am I supposed to get out of this? Or out of anything on this show actually?

Mr. Grimm vs. Wardlow

MJF is here with Wardlow, who slams Grimm down and stomps away in the corner to start. A missed charge sends Wardlow into the post, but he easily counters a springboard into a German suplex. The F5 is broken up but this time the running shoulder connects in the corner. A knee to the face knocks Grim out at 2:59.

Post match Wardlow hits the F10 for a bonus.

Lee Johnson vs. Colt Cabana

They shake hands to start and fight over a wristlock with Johnson bailing into the corner. As the announcers debate if Tony Schiavone or Tony’s wife is the bigger heel, Cabana gets two off a quick rollup. Cabana cranks on the arms into some crucifixes for two each until Johnson makes the mistake of firing off a chop. Johnson dropkicks him in the back to knock Cabana into the corner, which just annoys him. The Flying Apple into the Bionic elbow into the Billy Goat’s Curse finishes Johnson at 3:43.

Rating: C-. Cabana isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but at least his comedy seems to be more about chuckles than some big laugh that rarely connects. There isn’t much else to say about him, but that’s the case with most comedy wrestlers. Johnson continues to be someone they seem interested in, though that 0-8 record isn’t helping him.

KiLynn King vs. Penelope Ford

Sabian is here with Ford. King is a giant compared to Ford and grabs a headlock to start. Some standing switches don’t go anywhere so King runs her over with a shoulder. That lets King yell at Sabian, meaning Ford can get in a shot from behind. Stomping in the corner keeps King down and a suplex gives Ford two. Some choking doesn’t do much on King, who snaps off a dropkick. King misses a charge in the corner though and Ford hits a cutter for the pin at 4:53.

Rating: D+. The back and forth between eh and erg matches continues with Ford not exactly looking like a star here. Ford is talented in the ring but she needs someone better to make this work. King looked like someone who could go a little further with some more time, which is the kind of thing that you can get in this situation.

Shawn Dean/Alan Angels vs. Best Friends

Orange Cassidy is here too. Taylor works on Dean’s arm to start and adds a dropkick for a bonus. Trent comes in for the double elbow and it’s off to Angels, who is taken to the mat in a hurry. A hard clothesline cuts off Angels’ comeback but a springboard dropkick sends Trent into the corner. Dean suplexes Angels into Trent in the corner for two but Trent gets in his own suplex. The hot tag brings in Chuck to pick up the pace, including sending Dean into a spear from Chuck. Angels gets powerbombed and the big hug sets up Strong Zero for the pin on Angels at 4:24.

Rating: C. This was better just because of the shorter run time, but the #1 contenders shouldn’t be in any trouble against two guys who literally have never won a match between them around here. That’s the case with almost everyone on this show though and that hasn’t stopped them yet. Not a terrible match, but maybe I’m just numb to the Best Friends by now.

Overall Rating: D+. They did the same thing they have done for the last two weeks but this time around the matches were even weaker than usual. They weren’t terrible or anything really close to it for the most part, but it continues to be a show that you don’t need to watch in any situation. I’m assuming this was just a bunch of material they needed to burn off, but it makes me wonder how much they taped when they had the chance. This is about thirty jobber matches in three weeks. They can’t have many more, right?

Results

Natural Nightmares b. Dark Order – Cutter to Silver

Michael Nakazawa b. Brandon Cutler via countout

Jungle Boy b. Peter Avalon – STF

Christopher Daniels b. Serpentico – Best Moonsault Ever

Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela b. John Skyler/Brady Pearce – Top rope elbow to Pearce

Kip Sabian/Jimmy Havoc b. Faboo Andre/Tony Donati – Dropkick/Michinoku Driver combination to Donati

Wardlow b. Mr. Grimm via knockout

Colt Cabana b. Lee Johnson – Billy Goat’s Curse

Penelope Ford b. KiLynn King – Cutter

Best Friends b. Shawn Dean/Alan Angels – Strong Zero to Angels

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: WWE

Dark
Date: May 12, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

We’re back to the full length of this show, meaning it’s over an hour long this week. That’s quite the jump from a few weeks back when it wasn’t even breaking twenty, but things have opened up a bit since then. Hopefully they can make the show work well enough as that kind of length can be a problem given what they are going for with this show. Let’s get to it.

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

Excalibur and Taz give us a pretty vague preview of the show.

Shawn Dean vs. Colt Cabana

Chicago explodes and thankfully the referee is wearing a mask. Colt takes his time folding up his jacket and headlocks Dean down. Dean bails into the corner but gets taken down with a wristlock. Back up and a dropkick sends Cabana outside and things slow down a little bit. Cabana comes back in to work on the arm but gets caught in a waistlock. That just earns Dean some snap jabs and the Flying Apple sets up the Superman pin at 4:54.

Rating: C. Dean is someone they’ve been using a lot and that’s a good sign for his future. He has done well enough in spots like this though he is far from being ready to win anything. If nothing else though, this will get him all the indy cred he wants once the independents start back up. Cabana was his usual self here and that’s not a bad thing.

Jurassic Express vs. Mike Reed/Ryan Rembrandt

It’s Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus for the team here and they start wrecking things early. The Tail Whip puts Reed and Rembrandt on the floor, earning them a dive from Boy. Back in and Reed plants Boy down to take over for the first time. Rembrandt runs him over for two and a belly to belly is good for the same. Boy rolls over Reed’s back though and the hot tag brings in Luchasaurus. Reed slips out of a fireman’s carry but gets chokeslammed into a standing moonsault. Some superkicks send Reed outside and the reverse powerbomb into a cutter finishes Rembrandt at 5:39.

Rating: D+. AEW really needs to understand that it’s ok to squash people more often. Luchasaurus is a monster and shouldn’t be needing the better part of six minutes to finish these two off. It wasn’t terrible (mainly because Marko Stunt wasn’t in there), but the jobbers got in too much offense and it got a bit annoying at the end.

Lee Johnson/Musa vs. Private Party

This is the third straight match with someone from Chicago. Kassidy and Johnson trade waistlocks to start and it’s quickly off to Quen for an enziguri to take over. Musa low bridges Quen to the floor though and it’s a big dive from Johnson to drop him again. Back in and Musa snaps off a suplex for two but it’s back to Kassidy without much trouble. It’s Johnson getting caught in the corner for a splash from Quen, who tags out at the same time. Musa gets sent outside again and it’s a running Downward Spiral from the apron over the top. The shooting star press finishes Johnson at 5:36.

Rating: C-. Another match that just existed here as Private Party continues to be a team who knows how to look flashy but don’t know a ton about structuring a match. Or in this case about squashing a team of jobbers, though we’ve covered that well enough. The shooting star always looks great though and I had missed it over the last few months.

10 vs. Jon Cruz

10 shoves him down to start and takes Cruz’s head off with a clothesline. They head outside with Cruz being sent into the steps, only to have 10 miss a charge into the steps as well. Back in and 10 hits the spinebuster for the pin at 2:33 to finish in a hurry.

Post match, Brodie Lee comes out to applaud.

Fenix vs. Alan Angels

Fenix headlocks his way out of a waistlock to start but gets reversed into a small package for two. Back up and Fenix moonsaults over him and hits a hard superkick for two more. Some slaps to the head set up a leglock that lasts all of half a second. The announcers make Toru Tanaka references as Angels comes back with shots to the face.

That earns Angels a dropkick to the face and a kick to the chest. Angels is back with a springboard dropkick of his own and a clothesline on the apron drops Fenix again. Back in and a top rope double stomp to Fenix’s back sets up a moonsault for another near fall. Fenix pops back up and hits a high crossbody into the Black Fire Driver for the pin at 6:36.

Rating: C+. Match of the night so far by a mile as Fenix continues to be one of the most entertaining people in any company. He can make anyone look good and that’s what he did here. That being said, Angels didn’t quite reach the point that he did with Chris Jericho on commentary. Anyway, nice match here as they continue to make Angels look like a thing.

Dani Jordan vs. Kris Stadtlander

Dani brings out a binder. They trade headlocks to start with Stadtlander taking her down a few times in a row. Jordan is back with a crucifix for two so Stadtlander does the nose touch. A short armscissors doesn’t work for Stadtlander so she elbows Jordan to the floor. Jordan rams her back first into the apron for two back inside and a basement dropkick gets the same. Stadtlander moonsaults over her in the corner and a running knee sends Jordan into the barricade. Back in and Stadtlander hits a Pele into Big Bang Theory for the pin at 4:33.

Rating: D+. Jordan didn’t seem interested in slowing down for most of Stadtlander’s offense here and that’s where things start to go south in these matches. The point should be to promote Stadtlander, as in the person who regularly works here. Jordan sticking in there took the focus off of Stadtlander and that’s not a good idea.

Orange Cassidy vs. Jason Cade

The Best Friends are here with Cassidy beach towels. Cade won’t let him put his hands in the pockets so it’s a headlock to slow things down. Cassidy grabs a single handed wristlock and puts a hand in the pocket, so Cade tears off the sunglasses. That annoys Cassidy, so he sweeps the leg and hits a dropkick into a nipup, all with the hands still in his pockets. Trent throws in some extra sunglasses and Cassidy armdrags him down before….posing with the thumb up. That annoys Cade so much that he hits a jumping knee to the face, only to get crucifixed for the pin at 2:41. That’s another match that happened.

Post match, Cassidy gets dressed again.

Britt Baker vs. Skyler Moore

Baker immediately claims a shot to the nose AND a broken nail on the first lockup attempt! Moore grabs a rollup for two so Baker kicks her in the face. Angry stomping ensues and Baker sends her throat first into the middle rope. Baker puts her foot against Moore’s jaw and pulls a bit, allowing her to explain dental issues. Moose grabs a small package for two so Baker knees her in the face. A fisherman’s neckbreaker sets up Lockjaw (with a glove of course) to make Moore tap at 5:07.

Rating: C-. Now this was more like a squash, which makes sense as Baker is on the way to a big match this week on Dynamite. I can’t get over how much better Baker has gotten in the last month and a half or so and it shows that they can figure things out. That means a lot for their future and Baker has been a great bright spot.

Dr. Luther vs. Jimmy Havoc

No DQ and Havoc has Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford with him. This is such a big match that the sun has come back out to check it out. Luther throws him into the corner to start so Havoc bites the finger. Havoc snaps the arm across the top but Luther is back with a toss. Sabian slips Havoc a chair so he can unload, only to have Luther throw the chair at his head to break it up. A big flip dive to the floor drops Sabian and Havoc and Luther backbreakers him onto an open chair.

Back in and Havoc is hiptossed through the open chair for a nasty landing, causing Luther to scream a lot. Sabian offers a distraction though and Havoc catches Luther on top. The super hurricanrana sends Luther over the chairs so Havoc lays him on them instead. A top rope double stomp gets two so they head onto the ramp. Luther grabs a butterfly suplex and something close to a top rope bulldog sends Havoc hard into the mat. Ford throws water at Luther’s face though and Sabian pelts a chair at his head. That’s enough for Havoc to hit a fisherman’s DDT for the pin at 7:15.

Rating: C-. What exactly does it say that Havoc needed help from two people to beat Luther? I know he’s one of Jericho’s buddies and Luther certainly hasn’t embarrassed himself in any of his appearances, but Havoc probably shouldn’t be having trouble with someone who has been around that long and who doesn’t have the biggest reputation.

A quick Dynamite preview ends the show.

Overall Rating: C. Well that happened. This was almost an hour and fifteen minutes of nothing but average (above average once) matches with a lot of mid to lower midcard wrestlers. This could have and probably should have been split into three different shows, just for the sake of length. Watching three or four of these matches at once would be one thing but nine in a row is a good bit too much in a single sitting/show.

Results

Colt Cabana b. Shawn Dean – Superman pin

Jurassic Express b. Mike Reed/Ryan Rembrandt – Reverse powerbomb/cutter combination to Rembrandt

Private Party b. Lee Johnson/Musa – Shooting star press to Johnson

10 b. Jon Cruz – Spinebuster

Fenix b. Alan Angels – Black Fire Driver

Kris Stadtlander b. Dani Jordan – Big Bang Theory

Orange Cassidy b. Jason Cade – Crucifix

Britt Baker b. Skyler Moore – Lockjaw

Jimmy Havoc b. Dr. Luther – Fisherman’s DDT

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: AEW

Dark
Date: May 5, 2020
Location: Undisclosed Location
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Cody

The show continues and I’m not sure what that is going to mean. AEW has made an interesting choice with this show as it means nothing but can often give you a few good moments of wrestling a week. Maybe that’s what they’re trying for and if so, well done. Let’s get to it.

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

Quick card rundown.

10 vs. Ryan Pyles

That would be 10 from the Dark Order, meaning Brodie Lee is with him. 10 runs him over with a clothesline and sends Pyles flying out of the corner. Pyles gets sent outside so 10 follows him outside, looks at Lee, and hits a hard chop. Back in and Pyles hurts his own hand on a chop as I try to figure out why the video screen says Dynamite instead of Dark. Lee is livid that Pyles got in that much so it’s a spinebuster to give 10 the win at 2:22.

Shawn Dean vs. Sammy Guevara

Cody calls Sammy the Starscream to Chris Jericho’s Megatron. I never watched Transformers so I’ll assume that’s a good comparison. Sammy pulls out his phone before the match and spends so much time talking to it that he gets rolled up for two. That means the beating is on so Sammy grabs the fireman’s carry and does some squats. Dean muscles him up for a suplex though and a rolling knee gets one. The count earns him some kicks to the head for two and we hit the chinlock. Shawn fights up with some shots to the face and a DDT but he walks into the Burning GTS for the pin at 6:20.

Rating: C-. Dean is someone who could be turned into something with some more time and experience and that’s not a bad thing. I’m not sure if AEW is going to bring him in full time or anything but for someone who is there to make others look good for the time being, he has done well enough. Sammy on the other hand comes off as a star every time he’s out there and AEW knows what they have.

Kip Sabian vs. Colt Cabana

Sabian has Penelope Ford with him and this is fallout from about six weeks ago on Dynamite. Sabian slaps him in the face to start and grabs a quickly broken headlock. They run the ropes for a bit until Cabana hits a bigger slap to send Sabian outside. Back in and Sabian misses a springboard kick to the face so Cabana starts in on the arm. It’s off to the leg next, followed by the arm and the leg at the same time.

With that broken up, Colt runs the ropes so Sabian holds up his hand and says stop. Cabana runs him over anyway, suggesting that he isn’t great at following orders. A Ford distraction lets Sabian take him off the apron…but Ford won’t kiss Sabian for some reason. Sabian kicks Cabana in the chest for two and a springboard missile dropkick connects for the same.

A stomp to the face blinds Cabana a bit but he can get the boots up to block a springboard splash. Cabana strikes away and hits the Bionic elbow for two. The Flying Apple drops Sabian but Ford gets in to block something off the middle rope. That’s enough for Sabian to get in a low blow for the pin at 10:27.

Rating: C. This felt like the biggest Dark main event in a long time and you could have seen it taking place on a slow episode of Dynamite. That’s all you can ask for in a show like this as it’s not like there is anything to be expected around here. It was nice to see a story tied together from Dynamite though and for what it was, this worked out perfectly fine.

A quick Dynamite preview ends the show.

Overall Rating: C. Of course this isn’t a show worth going out of your way to see but the thirty minute run time made for a pretty sweet spot compared to the very short or very long shows. You don’t need a show built around dark matches to go very long but you also don’t want it to have no value at the same time. This worked well enough and it’s not like you can get overly annoyed at a show this short.

Results

10 b. Ryan Pyles – Spinebuster

Sammy Guevara b. Shawn Dean – Burning GTS

Kip Sabian b. Colt Cabana – Low blow

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