It’s December, folks! 2019’s most impactful viral event just turned one! Also, happy birthday to Keith Lee pouncing Adam Cole into the NXT crowd. Same week over on AEW Dark, Kenny Omega defeated Jack Evans. What’s changed since then? Read on for our recap of the December 1 episode.
Last time on Dark…
Peter Avalon got his first win, but no one cared. Britt Baker’s second talkshow segment was a great improvement. There were pandas. Catch up on everything that happened in the nigh on three hour show over at our November 24 recap.
Elsewhere in the AEW Arcadia…
On the Thanksgiving Dynamite, we got two Dark-related matches: Top Flight versus TH2 and Will Hobbs versus Lee Johnson. The tag match was great, and won by TH2 who look to be finally getting a championship run. Hobbs has now been officially renamed Powerhouse Hobbs, and he brutalized poor Lee Johnson, who once again served as the sacrificial lamb for the Nightmare Family, who didn’t even bother accompanying him to the ring. Come back to Dark, Lee, we’ll look after you!
Being the Elite episode 232 was a shorter one than usual, essentially just an epilogue for last week’s BTE Championship number one contender challenge. John Silver retained.
Sammy’s Guevera’s vlog (episode 297) was a Darkier watch this week. There was a payoff to the Marko Stunt Acting Weird story of the past few weeks, as he kidnapped both his “best friend” Sammy and nemesis Griff Garrison. Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford came to their rescue, and the vlog briefly turned into a wrestling action film! Marko got tossed in the river! Ricky Starks jumped in a tub of ice water! Fuego del Sol’s storyline continued too. Highly recommended.
Let’s jump into more YouTube goodies with episode 64.
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
POP: Teasing Sky/Spears II
Getting straight into action, we got heavy metal dude KTB and just throw the glove away already Shawn Spears.
Barely 30 seconds out of the gate, Scorpio Sky’s music hits, and he slowly ambles in to take a seat on the stage. KTB, to his credit, doesn’t take advantage of the distraction. What a face!
Unfortunately for KTB outside of kayfabe, he doesn’t get the chance to do anything spectacular here. But this story of Sky not being content to let go of his loss to Spears, and Spears letting Sky get in his head, it’s a good one! These two have good chemistry and it’s a feud that serves them both well.
Spears wins.
POP: Better than a tub of ice
Damian Fenrir is back this week with a solo debut. He’s facing Ricky Starks. Fenrir’s music is some kind of reggaeton beat that made me check a Spanish dictionary to see if his name is something Latinish. The results are in: no, it’s definitely still the Viking thing we all thought it was.
The Reggaeton Viking works nicely with Starks. The match doesn’t last long. It’s all your standard American wrestlestuff, but it’s pleasing to see it done well.
Starks gets the W.
POP: Developing Cutler
Another singles match! This week have Brandon Cutler trying to extend his streak versus Danny Limelight.
Cutler has been pushing a bit of an arrogant winner character in the ring, while keeping things very naïve on BTE, so I’m not sure which one is canon right now… But either way his improvement as an overall wrestler feels real. Or perhaps they’re just booking good opponents for him. Rather than coming across too-lanky in this fight, Limelight helps the stringy DM to look tall and powerful.
Well, except for the bits where Limelight ruthlessly punishes his left arm.
Cutler still wins it! Five time!
POP: Pretty Peter in cruise control
For every Cutler you gotta have an Avalon! Peter Avalon is facing Jon Cruz, who commentators Taz and Excalibur carefully avoid mentioning is actually Serpentico’s unmasked alter ego.
I mean, who cares? This is all about Pretty Peter Avalon – smooth jazz, waxed ‘stache, unwaxed pits and moves so unsexy they’re hopelessly sexy. Avalon gets plenty of time to do character bits here. It’s not a technically exciting match, but it’s thoroughly entertaining.
HE DID IT! HE ACTUALLY DID IT!@PAvalon gets his 2nd win EVER in #AEW.
Watch #AEWDark NOW via our Official YouTube Channel ➡️ https://t.co/zSxIDbSU9y pic.twitter.com/Ml3uj6HAca
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 2, 2020
Avalon takes the win with those fine marti-knees.
POP: Shanna’s back
The big return that had the internet (well, our Discord channel) buzzing this week is Shanna! Yeah! I forgot she even existed too. Quick reminder: she is the Portuguese wrestler, billed from France, who wears Japanese ring gear. Her opponent is Tesha Price.
I love Price’s look, but her moves don’t feel quite convincing yet. She still sells a stunner, though! Shanna performs like she never left. She gets the win and it’ll be awesome to see her back working with women on the main roster.
MEH: King picks up another win
Our sixth singles match features KiLynn King versus Katalina Perez.
This match is just fine. It seems developmental. King wins.
POP: Tag team filler
Our first tag match tonight is Best Friends versus random jobber duo Sean Maluta and Adam Priest.
The highlight of this match is Chuck Taylor doing the Butcher Walk around the ring. That happens in the first few seconds, so even though the rest of the match is fairly entertaining, it never quite lives up to the intro.
The outcome is never in doubt, Best Friends take this one. Looks like they all had fun.
FINE: Ring time for the Librarian
Our next match is “The Librarian” Leva Bates versus “The Pink Dream” Alex Gracia.
Bates is incredibly charming in her librarian gimmick. Gracia works her character pretty well too. The ring work in this match isn’t the best wrestling you ever saw, but it’s hard to hate these two faces.
The librarian wins it.
POP: Family matters
The Gunn Club is back this week in their trios mode, facing a random jobber team of Angel Fashion, VSK and debuting Shawn Donovan.
The Gunn Club enter with towels over their heads, deliberately provoking commentator and notorious “gimmick infringement” grievant Taz. Maybe there’s a feud brewing with his faction?
Back in the ring, the Gunns get to work. Austin is pretty comfortable in the ring these days, so it’s sort of sweet to see him support and develop big brother Colten. They’re such a wholesome family.
Austin’s Quick Draw finisher is basically an arm drag, so the match ends with a whimper.
POP: Hair flips and pro graps
Did i mention a couple weeks ago that Matt Sydal is All Elite? He’s a great signing. I’m not sure he’ll ever be a top guy, but he’s really good at developing the future midcard. Today he faces Aaron Solow.
What can you say? This is exactly the excellent “serious wrestling” match you would expect from these two. Well, minus Solow’s “let me whip my hair in your face” taunt, which was new (to Dark) and entertaining.
Sydal wins it.
POP: Dark Order dominant
Fuego del Sol is back this week, paired with “The Empbruh” Baron Black versus Dark Order’s Stu Grayson and Evil Uno.
Del Sol immediately sets up some wonderful swinging lucha moves, showing he’s more than just a meme on Sammy Guevara’s vlog. Black and Uno get in a bit of serious wrestling ahead of the tag back to del Sol and his inevitable beatdown.
Del Sol misses his Tornado DDT and eats the pin.
POP: Building the midcard
Next up is our “Flowing Manes” Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr versus Occult Pro Wrestling Star RYZIN and moustachioed daddy Cezar Bononi. They are a very odd couple.
Ryzin and Pillman start it off. Pillman pulls a pretty decent performance out of Ryzin, and he’s supported well by Bononi in a spot over the ropes. Once Bononi tags in we’re in serious wrestling land. Bononi takes a bunch of punishment, and unfortunately never really looks to be gaining the upper hand.
Ryzin eventually eats the pin.
EH: Ivelisse is still just okay
Post-apocalypse Viking Lindsay Snow is facing “La Sicaria” Ivelisse!
Ivelisse picks up the win here in a short and sweet exchange of spots. It’s fine. Somehow it feels less exciting than it should be, which has been an ongoing issue with Ivelisse here in AEW. Not sure what’s going on there.
OKAY: Bodyslams and elbow drop
Here are some fun debuts: George South Jr and Bobby Wayward. Wayward seems to be pretty active on the indie scene, but South… Well, South who? Apparently he’s the kid of an infamous 80s jobber. They’re facing The Acclaimed.
South can sure take the arm drags. Wayward comes in with his hammer pants, as noted (and dissed) by Max Caster during the entrance rap. He works alright with Anthony Bowens. South is more fun, when he comes back in, pulling out all these throwback bodyslams.
The Acclaimed win it. It’s okay.
POP: Serpentico gets splattered
Alex Chamberlain and Seth Gargis have been teamed up to face Chaos Project.
Gargis and Chamberlain are so generic it’s hard to say much about them. I suppose it works in Luther and Serpentico’s favor, since their creepy characters seem all the creepier by comparison.
Serpentico continues his role as Luther’s meaty club. It’s actually more hilarious the more often we see it. Taz and Excalibur on commentary sell it very well.
Is it fair to say @KingSerpentico has suffered more pain than his opponent in this tag-team match?
Yes? Maybe? Most probably.Watch #AEWDark NOW via our Official YouTube Channel ➡️ https://t.co/zSxIDbSU9y pic.twitter.com/WEfOJYPfHF
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 2, 2020
Chaos Project win it – my match of the night!
POP: Life is like a dance
Lady Frost is back this week, getting to show off her singles chops with Red Velvet.
This match kicks off really smooth. These two are so fast and slick, it’s like watching wushu wrestling. There are a few flying nothings as the battle rages on, but it’s still loads of fun.
Velvet wins it, in my second match of the night!
POP: Taking out the soft camera
The headliner is Dark Order’s Alan “5” Angels and Preston “10” Vance versus Jurassic Express versus Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela.
I mean. You all know what this is going to be. Straight up and down AEW tag team mayhem. It’s excellent. 10 throws Janela over the ropes and takes out a ring-side camera operator. The drama!
Dark Order and the Jersey boys get most of the action through the first half of the match. Eventually Jungle Boy arrives to kick ass in his 50th match for AEW.
Jurassic Express wins.
Two plus hour episode again this week, but it didn’t drag too much. It was nice to see more singles matches. AEW does tag team wrestling better than anyone, but there are definitely a few local jobbers (and resident undercarders) who are better able to showcase their talents when they’re in a singles bout.
Ahead on Dynamite we have Kenny Omega versus Jon Moxley for the championship. Lots of other stuff is happening too: keep your eyes peeled for undercard and midcard stories in the battle royale. Join us on Discord for the Wednesday night live chat, or just to say hi. Till next week, Dark fans!
