Summer solstice came and went, but AEW is still digging through the sofa cushions to find the last few scraps of spring wrestling to serve us before they get back to doing live shows. Here’s a recap of the last of it – the June 22 episode of AEW Dark!
Last time on Dark…
Wardlow put a cowboy to sleep. Pretty Peter Avalon interfered in a match to zhuzh up Dillon McQueen with a spray bottle and comb. IRONBEAST debuted in an awesome – but losing – effort against Dark Order. Check out all the action in our June 15 recap.
Elsewhere in the AEW Arcadia…
Last week’s Dynamite opened with a worked MMA match of Jake Hager versus Wardlow. Speaking as someone who finds legit MMA incredibly boring, I enjoyed the match. If you can’t drop a hurricanrana in a worked MMA match, what are we even doing? The real highlight of the show, though, was Cezar Bononi versus Orange Cassidy, which featured every comedy spot we hoped for and so much more. Click on through to the recap and watch the highlights. It’s worth it.
PPA also showed up on Being The Elite episode 261, picking up the thread from a few weeks ago where the gift he was going to give Leva Bates was stolen. Sure enough, Alex Reynolds popped up with PPA’s apology gift making as if it was his own, then Cezar Bononi walked in with a copy of the Kama Sutra from a different bit, causing Leva to storm off in a huff. Long term storytelling! Also this week: Dark Order go on a trip.
Sammy Guevara tosses MJF out the door in episode 325 of his vlog. Well, an MJF action figure, anyway. Fuego del Sol gets stuck in a dryer. This week the Friendlympics takes place in the Nightmare Factory, which means 10 (who apparently doesn’t live in the southeast) can’t show. Obviously, that also means Cody Rhodes disqualifies him completely. KiLynn King hits a great Cross Rhodes, but Fuego’s time beats both hers and Baron Black’s. Fuego finally becomes Cody’s best friend! Oh no, just kidding, Cody disqualifies everyone but KiLynn for celebrating too much. It’s a massive screw job and it’s excellent.
Let’s check out episode 94.
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
BOTCH: Murderhawk open
In Dark tradition, we’re opening with a squash. Lance Archer storms out like he’s got a record to break, but this time Justin Roberts speaks doubletime to ensure he can get the full ring announcement out before Archer starts (and finishes) the match.
Archer does face a rare challenge here. He has indie big man Rex Lawless. Lawless withstands several hits and comes back with a few of his own, but it’s rapidly over. Archer for the win. Viewers for the snooze.
FINE: Cromulent filler
Next up we have Brian Pillman Jr versus Bear Bronson. Ahead of the opener Pillman cut a promo that basically said Bronson was just the guy he has to go through to get to Miro, so the outcome here isn’t in doubt.
Nevertheless, Pillman and Bronson have pretty good ring chemistry. Bronson hits his big man moves, and Pillman is showing a bit of fire in this TNT title angle, which is nice to see. Julia Hart aside, the Varsity Blonds will haven’t quite figured out how to make their gimmick unique or memorable, but the elements are there in Pillman so who knows what the future will bring?
Pillman wins.
POP: Join the Hopkins party
Chandler Hopkins is one of the slickest, most self-confident jobbers we’ve seen on Dark. This time he’s going to get steamrolled by “The Machine” Brian Cage, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he struts around outside the ring, making the most of his jobber entrance.
Hopkins hits some quick kicks and springboard offense to open, and Cage gregariously sells for him. Cage is still semi-feuding with his stablemate Ricky Starks. Starks is on commentary, which is distracting Cage a bit, allowing Hopkins to dart in and connect with a few more kicks.
Cage eventually takes it with his Weapon X, then makes a bee-line for a quickly retreating Starks. Short and sweet, this advanced a storyline, and gave one of the newer jobber talents room to shine. Excellent Dark fodder.
EH: Diamante squash
Ashley d’Amboise has returned, and finally all the commentators have figured out how to say her name. She is facing Diamante who is on fire.
The bell barely rings and we already got shotgun dropkick into the corner and pin attempt. Blink or you’ll miss it, Diamante puts d’Amboise into a submission and it’s done.
BOTCH: Colt squash
Kit Sacket is back’et! And he’s getting his first singles match! He’s taking on Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana.
Cabana is in full indie mode, wrestling with a big smile on his face. It’s another spectacularly short match, as Cabana hits his superman pin thingy for the win.
POP: Moonsault party
Chuck Taylor (the Kentucky Gentleman) is lined up for a fight with Dan Barry! The good news is that Dan Barry is still wearing his snazzy sleeveless Hawaiian shirt.
If that was my last @AEW/ #aewdark match, I want you to know it was fun, and I am proud to be the new face of @StateFarm pic.twitter.com/4h6ZtW14Y4
— Dan Barry (@thedanbarry) June 23, 2021
Barry attempts a moonsault to the outside and – even though Taylor takes a dive – barely connects. Back in the ring Taylor also goes for a moonsault, but he bellyflops on the mat. Barry goes up for comeback moonsault, then he misses too. Not gonna lie, that whole sequence cracked me up. The only thing that could’ve made it better is another missed moonsault, but perhaps they’re saving that for the PPV.
Taylor gets the win with a piledriver. Another disappointingly short match, but the timing was good, so consider me sports entertained.
POP: The shortest pop
Next up in this blitzschnell episode we have Abadon versus Ashlex Vox.
Vox immediately gets her finger bitten by the zombie after foolishly attempting a fishhook. Abadon sets up her leghook DDT and it’s 1, 2, 3.
Dear lord, 30 minutes in and we’re already 7 matches down. I’m almost out-of-breath just taking my notes!
POP: Just a bit of fun
The Varsity Blonds are back with their second appearance of the night, this time with Griff Garrison taking on his vlog buddy Marko Stunt.
Garrison immediately pulls an asshole big brother move by grabbing Stunt’s hat and holding it just out of reach. So Stunt stomps his foot and uses his speed to connect with a couple of quick hits, a hurricanrana and not one, not two, but three tope suicidas! Woo!
Well, Garrison catches the third. But still. Woo!
After taking a few more hits, Garrison eventually gets bored of the nonsense and hits a brutal spinning elbow to wipe Stunt out. Don’t worry, they’re still friends! Wholesome.
POP: The Bunny out in force
Allie has been going hard on the vlogs lately – her “Work Week In My Life” series was filmed during this current loop (see part one and part two). But she’s also in action tonight versus Reka Tehaka.
Bunny is dominant as hell, assaulting Tehaka with her usual moves and yowling at the camera like she’s possessed. She has a very WWE main event style, and for once that’s not a criticism. The moves themselves aren’t that exciting, but the way she chains them together makes them all seem meaningful and important. She has a knack for making the viewer care about the action, no matter what is going on.
Tehaka hits one solid headbutt, but Allie bounces back and sends her opponent Down The Rabbithole, and we’re done.
POP: World’s best jobber
Our headliner tonight is Dark Order’s Stu Grayson versus Chaos Project’s Serpentico.
Serpentico runs away like a coward, then hops out of the ring, frustrating Grayson. When Grayson gets turned around, Luther trips him. When he gets back up, Serpentico DDTs him back to the canvas. The sequence is perfectly timed, a true work of art.
Excalibur teaches Taz how to pronounce “gif” after watching Luther amusingly scream at the camera. Our whole commentary team start to lose it, as they often do during Chaos Project matches, and it’s infectious.
This is a very funny match. Serpentico packs everything he does with premium jobber energy, and Grayson is experienced enough to sell all the gimmicks and come back with hard-hitting offense of his own.
Knightfall backbreaker wins it for Grayson, and this match gets my prized match of the night award, although it’s almost by default due to it being the only match that lasted longer than 30 seconds.
Well, that was over quick, huh? I wasn’t expecting much tonight given they must’ve been cutting together the last of the matches they had available, but this was truly bite-sized. I actually don’t hate the concept of doing Tiktok-length matches, especially for the YouTube shows. The experience of tonight shows some more and less successful ways to do it.
Still, I am looking forward to newer, longer content. This Saturday the gang is all back in Jacksonville for another filming and perhaps the last show at Daily’s Place before they head on the road. What’s on the card? Jungle Boy versus Kenny Omega is on the card. That should be a barnburner. Powerhouse Hobbs will also be in action versus Adam Page. Nothing else has been announced yet, but given they have the crowds I expect fan faves Dark Order and the Wingmen will get some ring time. Stay tuned.
In the mean time, here is Taz vibing in his car.
just waiting. pic.twitter.com/GodmQZoY8s
— taz (@OfficialTAZ) June 22, 2021
