What’s this? A Saturday morning Dark recap?! In advance of the All Out PPV airing this evening, AEW bumped episode 50 to Friday night. Read on for all the pops & botches from this September 4 go-home episode of AEW Dark.
Last time on Dark…
Peter Avalon bopped Brandon Cutler on the head with a D20. Faboo Andre and Ryzin spent altogether too little time in the ring. Anna Jay chalked up another win for Dark Order. It was a good episode! For more, check out our September 1 recap.
Dark talent seem ready to rumble
Not much has changed in the Dark world in the last 3 days.
Serpentico was ringside at Dynamite and was panned to for a fraction of a second as he belted out Jericho’s theme tune. He and a bunch of other Dark folks jumped the fence to join the fray that erupted after Taz started a promo parade. Keep your eyes peeled during the Casino Battle Royale for more Dark cameos!
Sonny Kiss also appeared on Dynamite, coming to the aid of Orange Cassidy following a Jericho and Jake Hager beatdown. Perhaps he and Joey Janela will mix it up with Inner Circle? Stay tuned.
For now, let’s check out what happened in episode 50.
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
POP: Local jobbers job flamboyantly
Kicking off this extra special episode is Faboo “The Monarch of Manliness” Andre and D3, the Italian superstar most famous on Dark for getting utterly clobbered every time he steps up to the main eventers. They’re here to get finely diced by The Butcher and The Blade.
The match is over very quickly, but it’s good fun.
I wish some of these familiar faces on Dark would get the opportunity to cut a promo so we could learn to care a little more about more than just their looks. I guess AEW is saving promo time for their permanent employees, but they’ve been filming in Jacksonville for so long, a lot of the local jobbers have become mini-stars in their own right.
POP: Life’s all cakes and bunnies
Red Velvet is back this week to face Allie, who is accompanied to the ring by QT Marshall and Brandi Rhodes. Rhodes joins us on heel commentary.
Red Velvet is at home in the ring, showing off some nice footwork and flexibility. Her small size helps Allie to look like a bully, which works well for her sadistic offense. A fun moment occurs when Allie gets distracted doing her hair – Red Velvet jumps through to kick QT in the head and sock Allie in the face. It’s a short comeback, though, as Allie puts her down the rabbit hole and gets the pin, with authority.
Red Velvet keeps losing, but she’s a solid worker. It makes these matches far more entertaining when they’re not a full-ass squash.
BOTCH: Cabana keeps on cultin’
Next up is Zack Clayton versus Colt Cabana. Cabana still has Dark Order in his entourage, although he’s not officially a member. This storyline is burning slow as oak.
The Dark Order play an important role in this match, as various members step down from the line to coach Cabana and distract Clayton. Cabana hobbles Clayton with his own Chicago Skyline finisher, then follows up with Mr Brodie Lee’s discus clothesline for the pin.
I’m gonna need someone to toss a bit of kindling on this to reignite my interest.
POP: The Initiative is donezo!
Peter Avalon cuts a totally badass promo against Brandon Cutler, proclaiming The Initiative “donezo” and refuting the idea that he is just enhancement talent. He also drops an insider-y reference to making the career of “some Texas billionaire’s nephew”, which I challenge our readers to figure out who it is. Meanwhile, Avalon challenges his partner to a singles match to find out once and for all who the losingest loser is on Dark.
MEH: Fénix gets some target practice
Occult Pro Wrestling Star RYZIN is partnered with Angel Pérez to fight the Lucha Bros.
I think this is the first time the booth made a point of calling Pentagón Jr by his AEW name “Penta, el Zero M”. It’s a mouthful that distracted me from the match. Penta’s partner Rey Fénix is still star of the lucha show, doing some fun rope-assisted work and acrobatic aerials to kill Ryzin, repeatedly. Pérez eats the finisher.
Blink and you’ll miss this whole match. As your eyes flutter open, Eddie Kingston is there to cut a promo. He once again sets himself up as peacekeeper when The Butcher and The Blade spontaneously get stroppy with the Luchas. The whole quintet is headed for the Casino Battle Royale at All Out, conveniently grouped to enter as a pack. Who will draw the joker and surprise us all?
I do hope the battle royale is a bit more engaging than these matches setting it up have been.
POP: Building a division
KiLynn King shared a decent promo on Twitter just prior to Dark going on the air.
KiLynn King “The King” vs. Ivelisse “La Sicaria”
Tonight on the Friday night edition of #AEWDark ..
Don’t miss it..🖤🤎@AEWrestling @RealIvelisse pic.twitter.com/y6AgiiBfK4
— KiLynn King (@KiLynnKing) September 4, 2020
She’s facing Ivelisse, who is accompanied to the ring by fellow Women’s Tag Team Cup winner Diamante.
King towers over Ivelisse, but la Sicaria has a brutal array of moves to punish the bigger woman with. She smashes King with DDTs, stretches her body like a bow, strikes her with a running knee, but King just keeps kicking out!
King has moments where it looks like she might eke out a win, but the Latina heels have other plans – Diamante sets up a distraction to allow Ivelisse to execute the Code Red and it’s 1, 2, 3. Good match.
POP: Minions out on top
“The Captain” Shawn Dean is back tonight with new tag partner Brandon Bullock. They’re facing Dark Order minions 3 and 4 – better known to BTE fans as “Hair Guy” Alex Reynolds and “Papers In The Face” John Silver.
Silver and Dean get it started, and Silver is straight in there with some amateur wrestling holds and rolls. Brandon Bullock is training with QT Marshall at Nightmare Factory and he’s definitely not yet at the level of alumnus Dean. It’s good to see him get some ring time in, though, and Dark Order give him plenty of opportunites to practice getting dumped to the mat.
The Captain salutes and gives the Dark Order duo a double DDT. Is this going to be an upset?
No. Silver and Reynolds finish it with a DDT of their own and Bullock gets to eat canvas again. The Dark Order duo come out of this looking strong and prove they’re more than just comic relief.
BOTCH: Two hardcore wrestlers walk into a bar
This episode of Dark features a big go-home surprise: Darby Allin is here! He is going up against spooky uncle and deathmatch veteran Luther.
Luther splatters Allin against the mat, the cables, the posts, but the diminutive skater just keeps popping up! The attacks largely focus on Allin’s knee, which might become Chekhov’s knee at All Out.
Allin takes it with a coffin drop outside the ring and another inside the ring, and left the fans with blue balls. This match had the potential to be far more vicious, given their characters. I get they didn’t want any injuries before the big show, but it feels like a wasted opportunity to book these two together and not give us Dario Cueto level VIOLENCE.
POP: Minions release the tension
Dark Order returns with number 10 (fka Preston Vance) and Alan “5” Angels vs the Natural Nightmares. This is a grudge match after the Dark Order beat the living daylights out of the whole Nightmare Family a couple weeks ago.
The Nightmares don’t even wait for the bell and just start clobbering. I don’t really buy QT Marshall as a mean dude, but he puts in a good effort here with Dustin Rhodes at his side. The Order boys get some good offense too, with 10 throwing QT to the ground in a fierce spinebuster and later on setting up a monster DDT for the near fall.
Rhodes comes back to win it for the Nightmares, but this is clearly just a warm-up for the 8-man match at All Out. The passion everyone brought to the ring here bodes well for that melee.
This was a nice, tight 60 minute episode of Dark. All of the matches felt important – either because they were building to All Out, or because they were showcasing strong wrestling that felt like more than just a stats grind. I’m especially glad to see women’s wrestling turning into actually a thing now in AEW. The other dangling storyline they’ve left us with is Cutler vs Avalon! How will they end that? A draw? A disqualification? I’m looking forward to it.
But first I’m looking forward to All Out tonight. Join us on the Discord for live chats, and with a bit of luck someone will come forward to write up a recap by Monday. I’ll be back with your Dark recaps when episode 51 hits the ‘tube. Hasta la próxima!
