Wednesdays are for catching up on all the week’s wrestlefun so we can head into our show of choice fully up-to-date. If following AEW is your jam, keep scrolling for the pops & botches of August 11’s episode of AEW Dark.
Last Week on Dark…
Jack Evans returned to the ring. Hobbs got knocked on his ass again. Lots of exciting tag team action went down. Oh, and FTR was there too. Check out our August 4 recap.
Front-loaded
It’s been another busy week for AEW on YouTube with both Being the Elite and day 2 of the Women’s Tag Team Cup dropping on Monday.
BTE is worth a look as we see Kenny Omega slowly losing his cool and Dark Order continue their metamorphosis from evil cult to corporate pyramid scheme to dastardly Saturday morning cartoon villains. The women’s action was pretty good too – read more in our review.
All caught up? Follow along with Episode 46 on YouTube.
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
POP: Lucha singles
The show kicks off with acrobatic lucha bro Rey Fénix taking on Lee Johnson who is still looking for his first win in AEW. Fénix starts off playing it pretty straight, but he’s a rudo in this promotion, so it doesn’t take long for him to get in some nasty stomps and punches.
Johnson puts up a good fight, but Fénix is the true star here. It’s great to see Fénix in singles action again, and he shows just as much charisma in this heel role as he did as a top face in Lucha Underground. The Lucha Bros haven’t seen much success in AEW as a team, so I’d be well pleased if this is a trial for splitting Pentagón Jr and Fénix to pad out the lighter weight end of the singles division. At least until their trios partner PAC is back from the UK, maybe?
BOTCH: Glove gimmick goes nowhere
Alex Chamberlain makes his AEW debut as a (relatively) big guy opponent for handwear fetishist Shawn Spears. Since The Glove appeared, Spears matches have been more about what happens post-match, and this one’s no different. They wrestle. Chamberlain is pinned. Spears loads his glove and clubs Chamberlain in the head.
I don’t get this gimmick. The physics of putting a tiny chip of metal into the glove don’t add up. They’re putting a lot of effort into the earnestness of the storyline, but they’re missing the fantasy. Call it the Glove of the Gods, the Osmium Death Mitten, I don’t care. There’s something wrong when the jobber of the week having a Thor hammer round his neck is the most mystical part of this match.
POP: Peeking into developmental
Also debuting for AEW this week is M’Badu, billed from Nigeria and entering with a sign so you won’t forget it. He’s teamed with “The Captain” Shawn Dean against Billy and Austin Gunn.
Austin and Dean get things started with some nice, intelligent wrestling. Billy tags in to slow it down. The Cap switches out for M’Badu who struts in to stare down big Gunn. He still looks like a little guy next to Billy, although Billy sells his offense as solid.
The Gunn Club take this match and that’s just fine. This felt like an opportunity to present M’Badu and get him some developmental ring-time. It’s cool to see some of these matches and follow the growth of new talent.
POP: Marvellous debut
A third jobber debut is Michael “Marvellous” Stevens, whose outfit is as marvellous as you would hope. He faces Kip Sabian, accompanied to the ring by Penelope Ford, super bad as ever. Stevens has a whole host of camp struts and taunts that work well across from Sabian’s equally camp but meaner demeanor.
Sabian takes it, then addresses the camera saying he deserves more. I don’t know about that. This was the bright, colorful wrestling we all deserve, and my match of the night.
BOTCH: Hand-cranked mediocrity
Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr have been partnered up for a couple weeks now, and they make a cheerful oldskool heel team. They’re facing Private Party, who have a lot more tag experience under their belts and come straight out of the gate with an energetic aerial offense on punching bag Pillman.
Garrison and Pillman experiment with an oldtimey hand-cranked camera taunt, which comes across as a bit contrived, but at least it’s memorable. Private Party get the win in a match that feels like it should’ve been better. Everyone involved has the talent, but the action itself didn’t feel engaging. Next time, eh.
POP: Marko’s time to shine
Next up is some trios action, with Jurassic Express versus the jobber grab-bag of Pineapple Pete, Corey Hollis and Aaron Solow.
Jurassic Express get pyro for their entrance, but the smoke hangs in the air, giving the whole match a fuzzy, dream-like quality. It annoyed Taz and Tony Schiavone, but as a viewer it sure added to the jungle fantasy.
One fun triple-team spot was Jungle Boy holding Solow in a vertical suplex position, Luchasaurus heaving Marko Stunt up on his shoulders to do a crossbody to the mat. Pineapple Pete does the most to sell Jungle Boy’s offense, but the star this week is Marko Stunt who hits some explosive kicks and just about nails a crucifix powerbomb! He finishes with a 450 splash and pin.
BOTCH: The nightmare continues
Last week they teased the return of TH2 with Jack Evans in singles action against QT Marshall. This week Angélico joins Evans in the ring against The Natural Nightmares – QT and Dustin Rhodes.
Brandi and Allie accompany the Nightmares to the ring, as do two of Brandi’s action figures, which she can’t get enough of. Her heel turn is pretty much confirmed at this point, although we may have to wait for the Women’s Tag Team Cup semi-finals to see the story play out in full.
Jack Evans cut a hilarious promo on episode 216 of Being the Elite on Monday, which sadly is not reproduced here. (Go check it out on YouTube.) The summary is that TH2 are arrogant bastards and the rest of the roster better watch out.
Unfortunately this match doesn’t really let the arrogant bastards shine. The work is all clean and sharp, but TH2 don’t get much offense in and the whole thing feels like a squash where the wrong team won. I suppose this is in service of the Nightmare Family storyline, but that’s not a storyline I’m particularly invested in so it doesn’t work for me.
POP: Super bad gardening
AEW Dark is another bloated episode this week – 1.5 hours – but we still only get the one women’s match. This one features Rachael Ellering versus Penelope Ford. Ellering has a decent array of heavy-hitting moves, but she doesn’t have much character so it’s hard to get excited.
The match is unremarkable, but one spot made me pop: Kip Sabian managed to fish out Joey Janela’s leafblower from a few weeks ago and used it to interfere “without touching”. Dude is a fun wrestler but he’s an even better valet.
Ford gets a clean win.
POP: Slow and scrappy
Our main event of the evening is SCU versus The Butcher and The Blade. The Blade and Frankie Kazarian get it going with some old-fashioned headlocks and clotheslines. The pacing stays deliberate with only a few big spots to break things up. Normally I find this kind of plodding style tedious, but it works for B&B.
The Butcher “accidentally” hits The Blade a few times during this match, which adds to the narrative of The Butcher being a bit rough around the edges. The messy finisher where The Butcher throws Christopher Daniels onto The Blade’s hastily set up knees is salt in the wound. They take the win, and it looks painful. Poor CD.
I remain Not A Fan of these long episodes of Dark, it feels like too much wrestling to keep my attention. There were some high points, though, and fortunately the YouTube chapter markers are back this week so it’s easy to jump to the match you want. What do you think? 1 hour episodes or 1.5 hour episodes? Does it matter when it’s all available for free on YouTube anyway? Let us know in the comments.
Here’s an extra special request for folks getting ready for Dynamite this eve. Do you love wrestling? Do you want to spend a couple hours a week writing your thoughts down? We’re looking for a volunteer to work the Dynamite beat. Contact us if you’re keen. If you prefer just to read, that’s fine too! Check out our AEW Dynamite pops & botches to stay up-to-date, and I’ll see you next week on the Dark recap.
