Ha! You thought wrestling would stop for a workers’ holiday? Think again. It was a big weekend for AEW with their action-packed All Out PPV. I’m back for the third time in 7 days with another YouTube recap – this is for the September 8 episode of AEW Dark.
Last time on Dark…
Red Velvet mixed it up with Allie. Peter Avalon challenged Brandon Cutler to a losingest loser loses match. The Captain and his new crewmember couldn’t contain the kooky cult. You can revisit all the go-home matches in our September 4 recap.
Undercard catch-up
During one of about 27 preshows for All Out, Serpentico got into it with Joey Janela. They were both accompanied by their tag partners Luther and Sonny Kiss, respectively. Apparently Serpentico and Luther are an official team now: Chaos Project! Cool name. Joey still won it. Dark Order’s John Silver and Alex Reynolds also took a loss to a fantastically resilient Private Party.
We got both Pops & Botches AND a Reacher Report for the main show – go check them out! – but here’s a quick update for Dark fans…
Will Hobbs was a surprise entrant in the Casino Battle Royale – he put The Blade over the ropes! Sonny Kiss eliminated Jake Hager! Brian Cage put away Kiss and Billy Gunn. Hobbs made it to the very end, finally eliminated alongside Cage by the the eventual winner – Lance “Murderhawk” Archer. Great exposure for ol’ Glass Jaw. He’s in action tonight, too!
Watch along with episode 51 on YouTube.
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
POP: Rise of Hobbs
Well, hello there, we’re starting with Hobbs himself! He’s facing Sean Legacy, a generic-looking dude debuting with Star Wars-inspired kit.
Legacy shows pretty quickly he’s from the dark side, but Hobbs doesn’t give him any room for offense. This is a decisive squash that shows off the strength and power of the Bay Area bruiser. The match is not my favorite, but it is a necessary step to draw a line between the Hobbs who jobs and Hobbs, the ice cold can of whoop-ass.
MEH: Grumpy Machine
“The Machine” Brian Cage is letting off some post-PPV steam by clobbering local jobber Tony Donati. The Machine does not look happy, but he’s not the one getting suplexed all over the place! 1, 2, 3 and squashed.
POP: Slowing things down
Contrary to what we saw on Being the Elite this week, Griff Garrison is alive and well! His opponent is Angélico, getting some more singles time in. (It appears his mouthy tag partner has a broken face.)
Broken Face. https://t.co/D56lEKqXj3
— Jack Evans (@JackEvans711) September 7, 2020
The match starts with a wristlock party, which is always one of my favorite openings. Garrison thwacks Angélico with a rolling elbow and they exchange a couple of deliberate hits before going back to submission wrestling. Garrison breaks free to loose a few stiff attacks before eventually getting tangled up again. He taps out to the South African’s ground-based ankle lock.
It’s strange to see Angélico work this slowly after Lucha Underground where he was most known for outrageous high spots. The slow pace is less gratifying to watch, but it works well as a transition away from the squash parade.
BOTCH: Sorry about that, chief
Skyler Moore is back this week to help pad Anna Jay’s stats. Jay is only 2 and 4 in 2020, which no doubt does not meet Mr Brodie Lee’s high expectations.
Jay takes Moore corner to corner, and Moore is selling the weak offense like she just got catapulted into a steel ring post by Nyla frickin’ Rose. It kinda doesn’t work because Moore is clearly bigger and stronger than Dark Order’s #99. But Jay no-sells Moore’s offense too, so I don’t even know.
This is not a good match. Jay chokes out Moore for the win, but they both seemed to struggle tonight.
MEH: Grumpy New Yorker
Much like Brian Cage, Eddie Kingston has got some pent-up frustrations to let out following his loss to Lance Archer in the battle royale. Lee Johnson is the punching bag.
Well, kicking bag.
Kingston flattens the young jobber with a spinning backfist and stomps off without calling for a mic to spin some new yarn.
POP: Serpentico gets dressed up
Serpentico is dressed in a freaking sleeveless tailcoat. Yes, of course he’s still wearing his loincloth and tights, because what else would you pair that top with? He is facing crop-top enthusiast Sonny “The Concrete Rose” Kiss.
Sonny and Joey are being launched straight into a no disqualifications match with brunchtime daddy Jericho and his rock hard sidekick on Dynamite this week, so it’s likely this is just going to be target practice for The Concrete Rose and not an opportunity for Serpentico to avenge the weekend’s loss to Janela. That storyline moved along almost too quickly for its own good.
Anyway, back to this match, where the two of them are having a decent back-and-forth. They’re both alright workers, but I think Serpentico needs a more experienced opponent to help him truly shine. He’s still working on his gimmick, trying out different poses and struts and taunts. Kiss wins it and gives us a little dance at the end to nudge this match into developmental pop territory.
POP: Absolute indie battle
Our headliner this week features Ricky Starks and indie star Ben Carter! You might have read about him in our coverage of GCW’s Keep In Touch or Sunday’s Bring Em Out. Dude’s keeping busy!
Starks and Carter get it started with some lovely locks and chain wrestling. Carter leapfrogs Starks, slips back between his legs, then gets kicked in the guts for his efforts. Nothing more entertaining than watching an aerial guy wind up to a big trick then just get socked by a heel who ain’t got time for that nonsense.
Carter does come back with a dropkick and that annoys Starks so much he can’t even focus to pull off his trademark bicep curl and facepalm pose. Starks turns the heel offense to eleven with a bunch of punches and chokes, and Carter is flagging.
Somehow the kid comes back! He’s so fast! Superkick, frog splash, 1, 2… and Starks kicks out. Carter heads to the opposite ring post and goes for the phoenix splash but Starks rolls out of the way. When Carter makes it back to his feet, he is hit with a ferocious spear and it’s done.
Great AEW debut, and my match of the night.
Aside from Garrison v Angélico and the headliner, Dark this week didn’t really feel compelling. It’s usually fairly predictable who will win each match, but it’s still worth watching to see the rookies develop or the journeymen put on a solid show. In this case we got too many lazy squashes and too many grumpy wrestlers to put a smile on my face. I’ll chalk it up to everyone being tired after the weekend’s events.
How did you all enjoy the show? Leave a comment below! We have lined up a new writer for Dynamite, so check back soon for those pops & botches. Kip Sabian is revealing his best man, y’all! Hope you enjoyed the long weekend, if you’re in a part of the world that had one, and I’ll meet you back here next week.
