Dark
Date: November 5, 2019
Location: Charleston Coliseum, Charleston, West Virginia
Commentators: Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Excalibur
Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Dasha Gonzales

I’m still not 100% sure what to expect from this show but that doesn’t make it a bad thing. In other words, we could get an instant classic or we could get a bunch of nothing, but that Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela match is starting to seem like more of a fluke than anything else. Hopefully this show is a little better than Dynamite, which was their weakest show yet but still perfectly watchable. Let’s get to it.

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

Tony welcomes us to the show and brings in Spanish commentator Dasha Gonzales. We run down the card and we’re ready to go.

Michael Nakazawa vs. Shawn Spears

This has some potential, though I don’t think it’s the right kind. Tully Blanchard is here with Spears and Friedman is already all over Spears. MJF can’t get why Nakazawa says Naka Naka Naka etc. during his entrance. Nakazawa gets backed into the corner to start and he complains of an eye poke. That doesn’t get him very far so it’s time to trade wristlocks. A snapmare puts Nakazawa down and it’s a little strutting to show off.

The waistlock goes on and there’s the baby oil to get Nakazawa out. See that’s his gimmick because….I have no idea actually. Spears and Tully slip on the oil because that’s how you use a Horseman. Back in and Spears starts in on the spine with some forearms as the pace slows. The half crab stays on the back as the announcers talk about how painful a chop can be.

Nakazawa fights back up with some forearms and a shoulder gets two. A Samoan drop gets the same….and Nakazawa pulls off his underwear to wrap around his hand. Thankfully Spears kicks him in the face and hits a slingshot Jackhammer for the pin at 8:38. MJF: “He is still ridiculously ugly.”

Rating: D+. Well that certainly happened. I’m not sure what else there is to say about it and that isn’t a good sign. Spears continues to be someone who is passable in the ring and not much more than that. He just isn’t that interesting, though I do like the slingshot Jackhammer. Now just find something for him to do. Nakazawa on the other hand can just leave already as he is just plain annoying and nothing in the ring other than some weird semi-sexual stuff. Why would I be interested in seeing him?

Mercedes Martinez/Big Swole vs. Sadie Gibbs/Allie

Allie comes in for a crossbody into a backsplash for two and it’s already back to Sadie. Mercedes gets clever by rolling into the back of Sadie’s legs to take her down into a curb stomp for two. Swole slugs away at Sadie and a kick to the face gets two. The guillotine choke is countered into a suplex to plant Swole and it’s off to Allie to take over on both of them.

Another camera cut seems to hide what was supposed to be a sliding clothesline in the corner but Martinez drives Allie back into the corner. Allie’s Russian legsweep gets two on Swole so she kicks Allie in the face again. Martinez hits Two Amigos into a delayed vertical suplex on Allie as Swole dances on the apron. A Backstabber gets Allie out of trouble but Martinez knees her in the face.

That’s enough for a double tag (with the heel seemingly getting the hot tag) to Gibbs and Swole as everything breaks down. Allie cleans house but MJF wants her to grow up and stop caring about what the fans think of her. Everyone but Sadie heads outside so there’s the Sasuke Special. Even MJF is impressed as it’s time for the parade of secondary finishers to put everyone down. Martinez powerbombs Sadie into a neckbreaker for two with Allie making a save. Allie superkicks Swole down and Gibbs adds the moonsault for the pin at 14:34.

Rating: C. The amount of camera cuts here should be a little worrying as they should be able to work a match like this without having any major trouble. While the match was mainly a formula based tag, the hot tag to Swole was just weird and it was a little sloppy at times. That being said, it was far from a disaster and it’s nice to see the women getting some attention. Now if only they could get close to the title picture for a change.

Britt Baker isn’t happy with Bea Priestly for injuring her at Fight For The Fallen and not even caring. Priestly is no professional and Baker wants her to feel helpless in the Lockjaw at Full Gear. Baker: “That means I can rip your jaw off your f****** face Bea.”

The match is confirmed for the Full Gear Buy In, which Tony says is tomorrow night. They’re really still doing the gambling stuff?

Video on the contract signing between Chris Jericho and Cody, which led to Dustin Rhodes being taken out by the Inner Circle.

Cody’s sitdown interview this week is with Jimmy Havoc, who has gotten where he is by being himself. Then he got into the hardcore stuff and is still being himself, which has made him successful. These can be interesting, but some of them aren’t as strong, which was the case here.

Jurassic Express vs. Joey Janela/Jimmy Havoc

MJF can’t buy that Stung is 23 and older than Jungle Boy. Fair points on both actually. Havoc takes Boy into the corner to start and we get a shockingly clean break. Boy takes him down by the arm but Havoc takes over with one of his own. MJF says Boy is very good, but he is much better of course. Janela comes in for a wristlock of his own but Boy reverses into a headlock and brings in Stunt. That wristlock doesn’t work at all and it’s back to Boy vs. Havoc to prevent any more embarrassment.

Boy dropkicks Havoc for two and it’s back to Stunt to hammer away. MJF: “It’s like if a squirrel had rabies.” Havoc and Janela are sent outside for a suicide dive from Stunt and an Asai moonsault from Boy. Back in and Stunt hits a top rope stomp onto Janela’s arm, meaning it’s Floss Dance time. Thankfully Havoc breaks it up, becoming a huge crowd favorite. Well to me he is at least.

Janela plants Stunt with a German suplex to take over and we hit a cravate. There’s another suplex and MJF is WAY too pleased with Stunt being beaten up. Eh again, I can get it. Havoc bits Stunt’s head but Stunt rolls forward and gets the hot tag off to Boy. House is cleaned in a hurry and it’s Janela hitting Havoc by mistake. Boy’s standing moonsault double knees gets two on Havoc and there’s an atomic drop to Janela. We get the big sell and Boy even inspects the injury.

Another atomic drop makes it worse and Boy powerbombs Stunt onto him for two. Boy has to chop both opponents at once but gets powerbombed thanks to the numbers game. Havoc’s Tiger Driver 98 connects but Stunt comes in for a shot of his own to put everyone down. Havoc can’t hit the Acid Rainmaker on Boy so it’s a Michinoku Driver for two on Stunt instead. It’s staple gun time with Havoc handing it to Janela….who staples Havoc instead. With Boy down, Janela loads up a super package piledriver on Stunt to knock him silly for the pin at 15:05 as Havoc takes care of Boy.

Rating: C-. I’m completely over Stunt, who isn’t entertaining and whose limited charm has completely worn off. There are ways to use someone his size and this isn’t it. It comes off as completely goofy and ridiculous but for some reason he is beloved (allegedly) by the fans and has to be out there a lot of the time. It takes away from the match, though I do enjoy seeing him get dropped on his head like that.

Post break Tully runs into a smoking Janela, who has disrespected him before. Spears jumps Janela from behind and holds his tongue down with pliers so Tully can burn a cigarette onto his tongue. So there’s Spears’ feud.

The hosts wrap it up.

Overall Rating: D+. This show has lost almost all of the charm that it had for me in the first place, which wasn’t all that much. It hasn’t felt like anything you need to see in a long time, though to be fair it never really needed to be in the first place. This is rapidly becoming the Wrestling Challenge to Dynamite’s Superstars and that isn’t the most glowing recommendation. The wrestling is watchable enough, but there is a reason that some of these people are on this show and not Dynamite. It’s completely harmless, but much like Dynamite it is becoming “here’s AEW for the week” rather than “what are they doing this time?”

Results

Shawn Spears b. Michael Nakazawa – Slingshot Jackhammer

Sadie Gibbs/Allie b. Mercedes Martinez/Big Swole – Moonsault to Swole

Joey Janela/Jimmy Havoc b. Jurassic Express – Super package piledriver to Stunt

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

AEW Dark
Date: October 29, 2019
Location: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross
Host: Tony Schiavone

I’m not sure what to expect from this show, even though I know the card coming in. Sometimes you get a huge match on here and sometimes it’s just a bunch of stuff happening. The good part about it though is this is just the wrestling show and it’s not like it has any standard to meet. That takes a lot of the pressure off of things and makes for a pretty easy sit. Let’s get to it.

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

Tony Schiavone welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.

QT Marshall/Peter Avalon vs. Dustin Rhodes/Sonny Kiss

Well this could be…..I’m thinking a tag team wrestling match. Hold on though as Avalon and Leva Bates need to insult the Pittsburgh sports teams because that’s the kind of cheap heat he goes for. Avalon and Kiss start things off with Kiss stealing his book. He even beats Peter up and sits on him for a good read. The book gets thrown to the floor (again, not a face move to a lot of people) so Marshall comes in and wants Dustin.

That’s just what he gets and Dustin chops away in the corner before hitting Marshall in the face for daring to mock the Goldust pose. Kiss springboards back in with a clothesline and it’s a dancing moonsault for two. Leva offers a distraction though and Peter kicks Kiss in the face to take over. The beating begins on Kiss with the villains taking turns, including a double suplex.

Kiss tries the splits but Avalon is smart enough to stay with him and grab a chinlock to keep him down. An elbow to the face gets two with Dustin having to make a save. Avalon misses a moonsault though and Marshall misses an elbow as well, allowing the hot tag to Dustin. The snap powerslams set up a double spinning high crossbody for two on Avalon. Kiss adds a Meteora to Avalon but Bates’ high crossbody is pulled out of the air with ease. Dustin shushes her and Avalon is sent into her, setting up the Curtain Call to finish Avalon at 9:10.

Rating: C. Completely run of the mill tag match here with two teams that feel like they came out of a Lethal Lottery. Kiss was someone who had me a bit worried as he is a rather over the top gimmick but they have kept him right where he belongs: opening comedy matches, which is perfectly fine place to be. The Librarians….just go away already, even from a spot like this.

Sadie Gibbs vs. Penelope Ford vs. Allie vs. Emi Sakura

It’s a four way lockup to start and that goes to a four way staredown. Therefore it’s a four way test of strength with Gibbs easily getting the best of it. Allie backflips out and Gibbs is held down so we can get a Kaientai pose. This has been your completely staged moment of the match that is not hiding its nature whatsoever. Ford and Sakura are knocked down so Gibbs takes Allie down for two.

Allie’s backslide gets two of her own but Ford is back up for a kick to Gibbs’ head. Sakura comes in and takes Gibbs’ place….before dancing with the referee. JR: “That’s embarrassing.” I’ll go with the hatted one here. The surfboard goes on with Allie diving in to cover Sakura and force the break. That’s fine with Sakura, who tries a double surfboard on Allie and Gibbs, only to have Ford pulls Sakura back at the same time. Gibbs and Ford send the other two into the corner for stereo handspring elbows and it’s time to fight over the covers.

Some double teaming puts Ford and Sakura down and it’s Gibbs diving onto the two of them on the floor. Allie is knocked down as well and it’s a Samoan driver to give Gibbs two on Ford. More fighting over a suplex ensues with Sakura sitting it out and running over everyone. Sakura stops to clap but is fine enough to send Allie into Gibbs in the corner. All three of them are stacked in the corner but come out to triple team Sakura.

The three of them get crushed in the corner again and a Vader Bomb to all three of them gets a triple two. Allie superkicks Sakura but walks into a short DDT from Ford. Gibbs and Ford kick each other down and everyone is on the mat for a bit. The four way slugout is on with Sakura getting the better of it and hitting a butterfly backbreaker for two on Ford. The tiger driver gives Sakura the pin on Ford at 11:53.

Rating: C. This worked well enough as your weekly “joshi is AWESOME and you need to get used to it” as the three other women were spending a good bit of time fighting each other. Sakura was even beating all three of them up at various points and we heard about what a legend she was more than once. I have no idea if this is going to be a recurring problem, but just because you’re from Japan doesn’t instantly make you more interesting. Couple that with the really annoying parts at the beginning where it looked like they were just going through planned spot after planned spot and I could have gone for some changes here.

Cody sits down with MJF for the weekly interview. He grew up playing football and getting bullied for being Jewish so he grew up and is proud to say that the bully is now a homeless drug addict.

We go to the AEW Control Center for a preview of this week’s Dynamite.

We look at how the finals of the Tag Team Title tournament were set up.

Here’s where the upcoming shows are coming.

Kip Sabian has the best record in AEW without appearing on Dynamite so he’s ready to debut this week.

Darby Allin vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Jack Evans

Falls Count Anywhere. Evans starts fast with the flips, the kicks, and the flipping kicks. Havoc cuts him off with a Death Valley Driver out of the corner and a basement dropkick to send Evans outside. Allin gets two off a Code Red but Havoc is back up with a shot to the face as the brawling continues. The flipping Stunner drops Havoc and Allin hits the suicide dive onto Evans.

Another dive is cut off by Havoc raising a chair, which is then pelted at Evans’ head. Allin dives over the barricade to take Evans down again but Havoc flip dives onto both of them at once. They fight into the crowd until Evans suplexes Havoc for two on the ramp. A moonsault off the stage is caught and Havoc hits a reverse suplex for a good crash. Allin gets back up so Havoc hits a big flip dive off the stage onto both of them.

They go back to the ring with Evans throwing in a ton of chairs but spending WAY too much time yelling at the fans, allowing Havoc to move away from a legdrop. Havoc Death Valley Drivers Allin into a chair into Evans, only to have Allin and Evans play Moustache Mountain for two on Havoc instead. Havoc is right back up with a double underhook piledriver onto a chair for two on Allin with Evans making a save.

A chair shot drops Evans so Havoc lays two chairs onto their sides, only to get backbreakered onto them. Evans adds a frog splash onto Havoc onto the chairs for two, so it’s time to put a table over the middle rope. That earns Evans a super piledriver through said table, only to have Allin comes back in with the Coffin Drop, including a chair, to Havoc. That’s enough to steal the pin on Evans at 13:13.

Rating: C. This was another hardcore match which didn’t have anywhere near the charm as the Cracker Barrel match from a few months ago. It wasn’t bad or anything but some of the spots felt like they were there to fill in time and move the match closer to the ending. People popping up after big moves is rather annoying when it’s done this often and it became rather distracting. At least Allin won though.

Tony says goodbye.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as it was a bunch of matches that I didn’t need to see and didn’t particularly care about. I’m sure there were a lot of fans who liked a good bit of this and there is nothing wrong with that. The matches were all completely watchable but nothing jumped off of the page at me. That being said, this show not being a great one is hardly a major problem as it’s nothing more than a supplement to Dynamite. It has a pretty low bar to clear so for what it was, this was completely acceptable.

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