First Tuesday in November is a stressful night for many. If you feel yourself coming a little undone, it’s good to have a hobby to turn to, a way to refocus your mind and relax for a spell. The good folks at AEW gave us wrestlefans 2 hours. Here’s the recap for the November 3 episode of Dark.
Last week on Dark…
Top Flight (feat. Air Wolf) lost, but left us an earworm. Brandon Cutler proved he was a less worse wrestler than Peter Avalon. Fuego del Sol hit the tornado DDT! Read our October 27 recap for more.
Elsewhere in the AEW Arcadia…
Last week’s Dynamite didn’t have much for the undercard fans, although Peter Avalon did make a cameo asking to join the Inner Circle.
Being the Elite episode 228 on the other hand put our beloved Dark talent front and center. It opened heavy on the Brandon Cutler melodrama with an epic 8 minute cinematic recap that is a must-see for fans of the feud with Peter Avalon.
Fuego del Sol got a sketch that called back last week’s Brian Cage squash and continued the rehabilitation of Sammy Guevara, mischievous rascal. In tenuously related news, Super Panda also returned to do a silly sketch with Luchasaurus; it remains to be seen if he’ll ever show up in an AEW ring.
Didn’t watch any wrestling last night? Make yourself a hot beverage of choice and cue up episode 59 now!
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
POP: Darby training for Full Gear
Bshp King is our first jobber into the arena tonight, ready to take the L to Darby Allin.
AEW’s resident skate punk hasn’t seen much TV time in the corona era, so this is a good chance to pump his stats. Not being around much hasn’t harmed his popularity, though – Twitter was flooded with Darby Allin costumes over Halloween.
I’ve gone cooler on Allin as time has gone on, since he doesn’t have much personality outside the ring and inside the ring he just gets thrown around like a ragdoll for 10 minutes before hitting a surprise coffin drop for the win. This match is an improvement – King works well with Allin and gives him a bit more space to breath, stalk around and pose.
Allin gets the win.
POP: Random indie duo
Next up is random indie duo Leyla Hirsch and “Sorceress of Sin” Elayna Black versus the slightly less random duo of Dark regular Red Velvet and AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes.
Black and Velvet faced off a few weeks back, a match won by Velvet with Brandi on commentary, so there is some history here.
Black and Brandi kick it off with some locks and holds. The sorceress comes out on top, unleashing a brutal knee to Brandi’s face, before somehow getting caught up on the wrong end of a sequence of quick pin attempts.
Velvet and Hirsch are next up, and they put on a clinic. Velvet is lithe and acrobatic, whereas Hirsch is a mean mat wrestler to the core and I love her. They steal the show with their segment and I hope we get more Hirsch.
Black is still a bit rough on TV, and ultimately she eats the pin.
POP: The real top guys in the division
Jurassic Express are getting a light workout today versus the team of Danny Limelight and debuting youngster KC Navarro.
Jungle Boy starts it off with Limelight and he is quickly becoming my favorite singles talent on the roster. Not only is his own wrestling excellent, but he makes everyone opposite him look good too. (Side bar: he also had an amusing exchange with Griff Garrison on Sammy Guevara’s vlog, episode 293.)
As Sammy Guevara teases turning face, KC Navarro walks in with Sammy’s old douchey kid gimmick. He’s busy mouthing off at Luchasaurus when he cops a slap that he sells like he just got hit with a cannonball. This guy looks as good – if not better – than D3 getting clobbered!
Luchasaurus unleashes another nifty attack a bit later on, grabbing Limelight for what we all think will be a chokeslam, but dude hits a back flip and lands right on the dino’s knee. I don’t even know what that move is called but it was awesome.
Is it… we’re only 23 minutes in… yes, it’s my match of the night! JE take the win in a thoroughly entertaining tag bout that will be hard to top.
POP: Ryzin rises again
Local jobber and Occult Pro Wrestling Star RYZIN is back this week facing one of the best in-ring talents on the roster: Frankie Kazarian.
Ryzin hasn’t really performed in the ring at a level befitting of his gimmick, so perhaps Kaz is the one to help coax a stronger performance out of him?
Yes, the answer is yes! Ryzin has switched his character up to more of a heel, and that gives him a storyline cover for some of his clumsier offense. Kaz does a great job eating hard strikes and looking like a peeved veteran every time he gets back up.
Kaz takes it. Ryzin still comes across pretty green, but this was a good developmental bout that redeemed him a bit in my eyes.
POP: Promo parade in fast-forward
After the match Dasha comes out to interview our winner, who doesn’t get a chance to say much of anything before he gets jumped by TH2. Jack Evans grabs the mic and starts winding up one of his epic promos, but unfortunately Christopher Daniels does another run-in to interrupt him. CD cuts a tiny promo, and then we get a cut to the next match. It’s like someone compressed a 15 minute WWE segment down to 30 seconds, which… actually is not a bad way to do it.
SCU and TH2 faced off last week on Dark, but they’re both excellent tag teams and I’m definitely here for them developing the feud and giving us a rematch.
POP: “Shreddin'” Ricky Starks
Dave Dutra is a metal lookin’ jobber from the California indies here to lose to Ricky Starks.
Dutra really does look cool, but Starks is the one going over. Highlight of this match was Starks playing air guitar on the side of the ring. Dutra probably would’ve played a more badass riff, but I dig air guitar of any sort and Starks sure looks pretty doing it.
BOTCH: Hair guys murdered
Random jobber duo Sean Maluta and Alex Chamberlain are the opponents for “Flowing Manes” Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr this week.
The hair guys have worked hard to get themselves over in these corona era shows, even though neither of them appear to be officially signed. This match is fine, but doesn’t feel like it’s moving them forward. They win, but I’m not sure anyone cares.
Oh, wait. Lance Archer cares. He runs in to kill both Garrison and the random jobber duo. Jake the Snake cuts a promo that doesn’t work for me. Meh.
The one upside of this segment is Archer calling out Eddie Kingston and his whole faction. That’s a feud with potential.
POP: The Acclaimed arrive
When I saw this match advertized ahead of the show, I was surprised AEW were giving up time to show four indie guys duke it out. But – surprise – Anthony Bowens and Max Caster are All Elite, baby! They’re facing still-indie duo Aaron Solow and Angel Fashion.
Max Caster is a great get for comedy and hip-hop wrestling fans, and Anthony Bowens – aside from being solid in the ring – is notable for being one of the few out gay wrestlers, so three cheers for representation! Caster walks into the ring spitting a rap funny enough that even his opponents can’t help themselves from laughing when they get ribbed. Awesome.
Fashion and Solow are no slouches in the squared circle, mind you. Fashion plays an effective crash test dummy to allow the new signees to show off their stuff, then hot tags out to Solow who hits some good offense before (foolishly) tagging Fashion back in to eat the pin.
POP: Angels back in form
Bearded chap VSK returns after getting spanked by Shawn Spears on Dynamite last week. He’s facing Alan “5” Angels, one of the least effective Dark Order members, so he might have a chance here?
No, he does not have a chance. He does look pretty good, though! Dude has some tight, snappy offense and sells the loss well.
POP: Peter Avalon, sleazebag
DARK EXCLUSIVE@PAvalon is going to prove that it's #PPAAllDay!
Watch #AEWDark NOW via our Official YouTube Channel ➡️ https://t.co/j76WlSjzs8 pic.twitter.com/toqukcFY4J
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 4, 2020
It’s perhaps a little edgy for a wrestler to do a casting couch promo after #SpeakingOut, but for me this one stayed just absurd enough that it didn’t come across as problematic. Peter Avalon appears to be reviving his “Pretty” Peter Avalon gimmick from the indies! We’re talking dressing gown, smooth jazz and a little bit of the bubbly. This kind of dopey stuff is very much up my alley, so I hope he gets the chance to grow that character.
BOTCH: BB&B going backwards
In what might be the manliest-sounding match-up on Dark yet, The Butcher and The Blade take on Jersey Muscle.
Taz on commentary frames this as the big, bad New Yorkers (well, Buffalonians) versus a couple of Jersey Shore posers. They might be tough, but for some reason they still need The Bunny to run interference for them.
BB&B win this mediocre outing. After the bell, Natural Nightmares do a run-in. The Bunny – aka Allie – faces off with QT Marshall in a nod to their aborted storyline, but there’s no dialog so it’s more like rubbing the poor storytelling in our faces than trying to patch up the mess they made of it.
POP: Best turnaround of 2020
Will Hobbs. D3. ‘Nuff said.
The Roman gets squashed. It’s brilliant.
It’s awesome to have accompanied Hobbs on his journey from the guy who got one-hit KOed by Orange Cassidy on his debut to the best damn monster on the show, next to Brian Cage.
Speaking of The Machine, he and Ricky Starks run in to beat down Hobbs after the bell. Then Darby Allin runs in to chase them off. It didn’t add much to the story, but perhaps serves to remind me that Allin isn’t a full out Nigel No Friends.
POP: Chock full of character
Here’s a wacky team-up: “The Empbruh” Baron Black and crazed NXT refugee Nick Comoroto. Baron Black is back to wearing his crown this week! YAS! They’re up against Dark Order’s Evil Uno and Stu Grayson.
Grayson and Comoroto kick it off, battling it out for the title of most unhinged guy in the ring right now. Uno gets some time versus the wild man too, emoting beautifully despite the mask.
Black eventually comes in, mostly to get beaten, but he manages a few good counters.
AEW’s Oney and Twoey win this solid outing with a Fatality.
POP: Dark Order bring the joy
It’s a trios party! Dark Order are represented by the unique team of John “4” Silver, Colt Cabana and Preston “10” Vance. On the jobber side we have “The Captain” Shawn Dean, Fuego del Sol and Cezar Bononi.
Bononi, I think, appeared in the crowd on Dynamite last week in a banana suit. I’m not 100% certain it was him, but I choose to believe. He gets things started against Silver, who is about half his height but twice his width.
Silver gets to do a lot of comedy bits this time around, which makes the match feel more like an offshoot of the BTE Dark Order than the TV canon version, which is more traditionally heelish. Cabana, Bononi and del Sol keep things fun, while 10 and Dean bring the necessary serious spots to give it all contrast.
Silver wins it for Dark Order, pinning del Sol after a release airplane spin. Good fun.
POP: King gets her dues
KiLynn King might finally be getting her chance for a W here, in a face-off with Lei’D Tapa, who hasn’t wrestled much in the past 5 years.
She takes it! Her first win puts her at 1 and 12 in AEW. The match wasn’t the best, but the outcome gets a pop from me.
POP: Better in small doses
Chaos Project have been out of the picture since clashing with Inner Circle on Jericho’s anniversary show. They’re back this week to dance with Private Party, who are only 8 and 8 in 2020.
Luther might have been giving Serpentico some lessons in offense, since he doles out a headbutt like it ain’t no thing in the opening moments of the match. Later on, though, the original death dealer just tosses our plucky luchador out of the ring. For what reason? We don’t know! It’s a wise move for Luther to play up his nutty character, since his ring work isn’t really up to speed with the younger guys.
Happy birthday! Turns out Serpentico loaded up with streamers while outside the ring, and gives Isiah Kassidy a spooge of festive colors in the face. The distraction doesn’t help much – once Kassidy tags out to Marq Quen it’s all over.
Interesting side note on this match was Frankie Kazarian conspicuously sitting in the cheap seats to observe. It’s not clear whether this is leading to a storyline. Stay tuned.
POP: Sammy’s still a meanie
Headliner this week is Sammy Guevara versus Lee Johnson!
Lee Johnson (along with The Gunn Club) recently got adopted into the Nightmare Family, which seems doomed to be a nothing angle (see: Mel, Awesome Kong, Allie, Scorpio Sky, Matt Cardona). Fortunately being part of Cody’s entourage isn’t a factor in this match.
These two are both future stars who could easily have had this match on Dynamite. Johnson shows a bit of character this week, mocking Guevara’s spinaroonie taunt. Guevara, in turn, acts entirely heelish, kicking the theory of an upcoming face turn square in the nuts.
The match is slower than I expected from these two aerial specialists, but it’s a strong celebration of traditional American wrestling and well worth a watch.
Guevara takes it with a Twist of Fate, sending a message to his opponent for this weekend’s PPV: Matt Hardy.
Yo. That was a lot of fucking run-ins this episode. The last few Darks it’s almost as if we’re watching a wrestling school – October 20 we had Match Interruptions 101, September 29 was Introduction To Promos, last week we had a revolving door of commentators… I like the idea of giving everyone a chance to try work on a new technique of getting over, but it might make for better viewing to mix up a few different plays on each episode rather than repeating the same one over and over.
That said, this was an episode packed with pops for me, and a fun diversion from real world happenings. It’ll be interesting to see how it fares in the “ratings”. Did you watch live? Are you saving it for later in the week? Drop us a line in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord. Till next time, wrestlebuds.
