Ah, Tuesday 29th, when people across Turtle Island did their civic duty by staying up to watch public figures earnestly address the issues of our time. I’m speaking of AEW Dark, of course. What were you watching? Here’s our September 29 recap.
Last week on Dark…
Puf arrived to sweeten our evening. Eddie Kingston and Brian Pillman Jr threw down. Ben Carter and Lee Johnson stole the whole damn show. Seriously, go back and watch it again. Then have a flick through the September 22 recap.
Elsewhere in the AEW Arcadia…
Last week’s Dynamite was uneventful for the Dark gang, following the unfortunate cancellation of Hobbs’ big trios match. Let’s hope everyone gets well soon and he can get back out there with the headliners.
Being the Elite episode 223 was packed with the usual wacky antics, including Evil Uno starting to suspect Griff Garrison might be immortal. Christopher Daniels cut an amazing promo, apropos of nothing. Peter Avalon is still sadly AWOL, but Brandon Cutler is making up for the absence by inserting himself into all the ongoing storylines like some kind of gonzo Kevin Smith. Will any of them join us tonight?
Let’s tune in to episode 54.
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
BOTCH: California snoozing
Shawn Spears is the first to enter tonight, joining Taz and Excalibur in the booth. He tells us he’s entirely focused on… Peter Avalon’s former tag partner from the indies – Ray Rosas!? Rosas is here to work with Occult Pro Wrestling Star RYZIN in a fight with SCU.
Ah yes, Spears clarifies, his beef is with Scorpio Sky. Apparently.
Frankie Kazarian and Rosas kick things off with some cool, measured matt work. Kazarian comes across as the consummate professional in this match with Ryzin who still seems fairly green. Rosas clearly knows what he’s doing too, and this is exactly the kind of support Ryzin needs to skill up as a technical wrestler.
Kaz pins Rosas, but really this match is more about Scorpio Sky and the brewing feud with Shawn Spears. It’s not clear why they’re in a bad mood with each other, but I’m here for Spears getting something more interesting to do than squash jobbers.
In the end it was an okay developmental bout, but i’ma BOTCH this one anyway, because i think Dark works better when there is a stronger or quirkier open.
POP: Pink squash and crop tops
For our second match, Spears is switched out on commentary with “Absolute” Ricky Starks. He’s calling the debut of “The Pink Dream” Alex Gracia versus “Superbad” Penelope Ford.
Gracia looks a bit unsure of herself in the ring, but her cotton candy gimmick puts a smile on my face. Ford isn’t smiling and pretty much kicks the shit out of Gracia in this developmental squash.
Taz putting over everyone’s abs and Starks talking about crop tops kinda makes this one for me.
POP: Random tag team of the week
Next up we have a staple “throw two jobbers together to make a tag team” match. This week it’s Nigerian badass M’Badu with debuting vowel hater Bshp King. King is decked out in a Liefeldian array of pouches. No giant guns, though. They’re jobbing for Best Friends.
King shows he’s adept at getting beaten up, and M’Badu gets to show a bit more toughness than he has over the past few weeks. It’s a good showcase for the local jobbers and a chance for Ricky Starks to polish his commentary skills. Good match. Best Friends wins, obviously.
BOTCH: The Forgotten Minions
Dark Order stooges #5 and #10 are back this week, facing Jurassic Express.
#5 and #10 are the C team of Dark Order. Their work in AEW has been largely forgettable, but Jungle Boy and #5 have a decent exchange here that reminds us Alan “5” Angels is a pretty good wrestler. Preston “10” Vance ain’t bad either. They still lose.
This was a less exciting match than we know Jurassic Express can bring, but I suppose it served its purpose of giving them another win and showing that the least popular minions still got a bit of pep. It feels like it could’ve been more, though.
POP: Slapping meat
Lucky us, we get two random tag teams this week! “The Captain” Shawn Dean has been tossed in with Tom of Finland print come to life, Cezar Bononi. The Gunn Club are in the other corner.
The Captain gets it started and thankfully survives longer than he did against MJF on Dynamite the other day. He’s a solid talent.
Dean tags out to Bononi, who towers over Austin and throws him into the corner. That makes it time for Daddy Gunn to get in with the big Brazilian. The testosterone is off the charts with these two. The big boys remind me why my gay male roommates always found wrestling entertaining. (It wasn’t for the storylines.)
Billy does a good job putting Bononi’s work over, then the big boys switch out to give Austin and Dean a go. This is a well-paced match that gives everyone some time in the spotlight and an opportunity to learn and improve. For me, this is the kind of match that makes Dark special.
The Gunn Club take the win this time, but I’d be happy to see Bononi and Billy get down again.
POP: Judo makes wrestling better
Our second women’s match tonight is Tay Conti versus Red Velvet.
Permit me a second to talk about arm drags. Every wrestling fan who’s done even just a spot of martial arts knows it to be a fairly silly move, but in kayfabe we accept it because guys like Rey Fénix and Jungle Boy turn the wind-up into poetry. But sometimes – especially with women’s matches – we just get arm drag after arm drag, and it looks like synchronized tumbling. I mean, I know the Olympics was cancelled this year so we’re missing our quadrennial tens across the board, but this is still wrestling and I want to at least have some illusion that the move actually fucking hurts.
Enter Tay Conti, who clatters noisily to the mat after every single one of Red Velvet’s arm drags. It’s like she just got hurled across the ring by Wardlow. Falling over loudly seems like a small thing, but it makes a difference.
There are a lot of good throws and grapples going on here, and it really makes you wonder why WWE let Conti go. Which isn’t to overlook Red Velvet, who has been a truly excellent jobber the past little while. She deserves to go in the big time, but this match is Conti’s.
Also… match of the week!
After the bell, Anna Jay comes in to beat Red Velvet down a little more, then Brandi Rhodes arrives to help her fellow cooking fan. It’s an interesting dynamic to see face Tay and heel Jay across from face Velvet and heel Brandi. Surely someone gonna turn?
POP: Streamers all up in yo face
Brian Pillman Jr and Griff Garrison are tagging together again this week, versus Chaos Project – the new team of Luther and Serpentico.
The Chaos Project music is suitably spooky, and Serpentico has switched out to all-black gear. He immediately launches his streamers straight into the eyes of the Best Hair Guys. Awesome.
It’s rough and tumble out of the gate, made even more exciting by the streamers getting tangled up with everyone. Hard-hitting. Festive. This is AEW tag team wrestling at its best.
Chaos Project take the win swiftly and with authority, but this was entertaining all the way through.
POP: Leg warmers no more
Raché Chanel has returned with a costume upgrade and the same delightfully trashy fashionista gimmick. She’s getting sacrificed to Nyla Rose who enters with Vickie Guerrero and several plumes of fire.
Chanel does get a chance to kick both Rose and a camera operator in the face, but this is pretty much squash central. It was a fun squash, though, and it was nice to see Chanel advanced a bit from her earlier appearances.
POP: The battle rages on
The main event of the evening features the reluctant duo of John Silver and Colt Cabana versus the Natural Nightmares.
They’ve been milking the Dark Order/Nightmare Family feud for much longer than I expected, and I kinda like that. There are enough talents on both sides that they can keep mixing up matches and keep the heat on till (presumably) the next PPV.
I mean, this is worth it just to watch tiny John Silver face off against titan Dustin Rhodes. QT Marshall and Colt Cabana get in a shouting match, continuing the rivalry from a couple weeks ago. Silver and QT have some stiff exchanges too. The Nightmares take it, but this feud undoubtedly will continue.
Something I didn’t mention through the match recaps is that we got promos this week! They weren’t very long, but lordy it is nice to get to see the talent talk on Dark. I really hope this stays a fixture of the show. The most important (although least entertaining) promo of the night goes to Brandon Cutler announcing there will be a rematch with Peter Avalon, to finally complete their Loser Quest.
DARK EXCLUSIVE@BranCutler is demanding a rematch against @PAvalon!
Watch @TheAEWDark NOW via our Official YouTube Channel ➡️ https://t.co/gDrR4KS2PW pic.twitter.com/cWFUKPdtDx
— AEW Dark (@TheAEWDark) September 29, 2020
It was another strong episode this week for me. Not as comedic and weird as last week, but there was a good balance of developmental matches, undercard battles and obligatory squashes. Did you enjoy it? Comment below! I’ll see you next week for more YouTube wrestling recappery.
