Fuego celebrates with the vlog crew - AEW (YouTube)

Pops & Botches: AEW Dark – 7.6.2021

 

One year ago today I penned my first AEW Dark recap for Steel Ring Post. Tonight, I’m covering the last AEW Dark filmed in Daily’s Place during the lockdown era of professional wrestling. Read on for more about the July 6 episode, and some reflections.

This time last year…

Normally I start with “last time on Dark”, but allow me a brief diversion. This time last year I was still living in China, although I had already made plans to return to Canada to wait out the pandemic. I foolishly thought it would clear up in time for me to take a lazy trip across Turtle Island then sail into the Caribbean for the winter. Instead I stopped just a few hundred kilometers inland, weathering the lockdown alone in a scenic town I had never visited before. Could’ve been worse!

One of the things that kept me sane was writing about wrestling. I was stuck without a job and figured I might as well entertain myself by recapping the undercard shenanigans in this fledgling promotion. I definitely didn’t expect to last a year, but here I am, 56 episodes on, the resident expert on Fuego del Sol, D3, Dani Jordyn, Diamante and a bevy of other unsigned talents who clocked in every week to keep the official roster’s skills honed and the fans entertained.

It’s looking like I might finally get to complete that trip across the continent. It will be tough to keep up-to-date while I’m on the road, but even if I can’t maintain a weekly column, know that this past year has been special for me. I know I only have a handful of readers, but I value each and every one of you! Thanks for sharing in my love of the jobbers, and for supporting this small contribution to getting their names out there. Please say hi on the Discord, and check out the other great writers here on Steel Ring Post. We all do it for the love of the game. Like, share and subscribe, yadda yadda.

Last time on Dark…

Lee Johnson showed us why he got signed. Powerhouse Hobbs squished Marko Stunt. Kenny Bengal brought a new angle to Lance Archer. Shawn Dean dropped an elbow. Check it all out in the June 29 recap.

Elsewhere in the AEW Arcadia…

Last week on Dynamite: moustaches. Moustaches moustaches moustaches. In non-moustache news, Jungle Boy beat Jack Evans.

Being The Elite episode 263 also featured moustaches. The show’s best moustachioed gent Pretty Peter Avalon got his heart broken again and again. The Young Bucks hit peak heel by kicking Dark Order off the show!

We didn’t get a Sammy Guevara’s vlog this week for some reason. I like to think it’s because Cody Rhodes is preparing to surprise at least one of Fuego del Sol, Baron Black or KiLynn King with a contract, but didn’t want to blow the surprise on YouTube ahead of Dark. Let me get back to you at the bottom of the article 😉

For now, let’s cue up episode 96.

Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.

POP: Archer switches up the pace again

Our opening squash today is curated by The Murderhawk Monster, Lance Archer. For the apéritif, an indie talent out of Texas: Ryan “Moonshine” Mantell.

Clothesline! Chop! Mantell comes back with a couple of dropkicks. Archer no-sells Mantell’s offense, but it’s nice to see him actually have to take a bit of punishment instead of squashing his opponent in no seconds flat.

Archer hits his Hellacoaster finisher to win. He definitely looks stronger winning when the other guy gets the chance to act like a wrestler who can do wrestler things.

POP: The Factory grinds out another win

This feels like a nice greatest hit for the goodbye show. Terrell and Terrence Hughes aka TNT will be taking on Dark’s own faction – The Factory’s QT Marshall and Aaron Solow.

TNT hit some nice tandem offense to bewilder QT out of the gate. The faction leader makes his way back to the corner and tags Solow, who also gets clobbered. QT steals a shot from the side and then The Factory really gets down to business.

Somewhere on the production line, the ref gets distracted by Nick Comoroto, so the Hughes brothers pull a twin switcheroo, swapping places without tagging. Terrell is the fresh one, and he cleans up while Terrence catches his breath. Terrence gets up on the ropes and hits a diving headbutt directly into Solow’s nether regions.

The Factory come back, of course, and QT wins it with the Diamond Cutter.

POP: Sonny and Joey hug it out

HOLY SHIT! It’s Rebel! She got injured in her tag team bout on Dynamite, but she’s back here on Dark to introduce Doctor Britt Baker DMD and a new episode of The Waiting Room.

Baker brings us a heelish monologue, gets the viewers hyped for AEW’s return to her hometown of Pittsburgh, then introduces Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela. This is some kind of Jerry Springer shit, and I am here for it.

Janela puts together a wacky all-over-the-place promo, culminating in an announcement of his “fustration”. Kiss confronts him, then it’s the Janela show again, as he first calls for Alex Marvez, then sulks in the corner, then hams up an epic redemption arc for himself. Kiss forgives him and they hug and it’s beautiful.

If this is the end of the story, it’s one of the best stories told on Dark. It was just pure melodrama, a zany soap opera sideplot unconnected to anything else going on in the promotion. This is the sort thing that they can do so easily on Dark, stuff that really gets the YouTube viewers invested in the characters, without disrupting any of the main storylines. Masterful.

POP: Time for a quick bite

Bringing us back to the ring, it’s Abadon! Her victim this week? Natalia Markova.

Abadon plays it fairly straight in the opening exchange, doing some standard wrestling and playing to the camera. Markova pulls some amusing faces as she stares down the monster. She does a great job here, leaning more into character than flashy moves, which is exactly the sort of opponent that makes Abadon look great.

The zombie wins it. She’s now 11 and 1! Watch out Britt!

DEVELOPMENTAL POP: Saluting Bravo

I was a bit sad we wouldn’t see Carlie Bravo any more with AEW going back on the road (his tag team with Shawn Dean was short-lived), but tonight he’s getting one final oorah against Matt Sydal.

Bravo seems to have dropped his obvious ex-military schtick and is now wearing a blue camo pattern which would probably be very useful if he were infiltrating a Star Trek set. Sydal’s pants are, as usual, straight out of a goa trance party circa 1996. Trippy stuff.

They have a pleasantly technical bout. It’s a little botchy here and there, but we gotta remember Bravo is a new Nightmare Factory grad who is still olive drab as hell. Dude’s got promise, though. Sydal wins.

POP: Buffalo remains the Eriest

The Blade is our next monster to be taking on a debuting talent. He is facing Tre Lamar, a kid out of Ohio who trained under Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. It’s a good, old-fashioned Lake Erie smackdown!

Lamar looks snazzy in his bedazzled vest, but Blade isn’t giving him time to strut – he immediately gets to stomping. And chopping. Lamar makes some leaps over Blade’s head and hits a dropkick, gamengiri and knee to the face… But then Bunny trips him from the outside to slow his roll. Lamar has an upright, gentlemanly posture which I haven’t seen before in wrestling – he looks like an oldtimey boxer, or a paladin!

Lamar’s valor doesn’t pay off, though – Blade takes off his belt to whip him, but is interrupted by ref Mike Posey. As the ref tosses the belt out of the ring, he is distracted by Bunny who slid in a pair of brass knuckles earlier, so Blade takes that opportunity to give Lamar a cheap shot and knock him out for the 1, 2, 3. Dastardly!

POP: Big Bhoss Battle

Bear Country are in a similar space to Dark stars like KiLynn King and Danny Limelight. They’re not listed on the official AEW roster, but they have appeared on Dynamite and scored a few legitimate wins that surely put them somewhere above “local jobbers” in the pecking order. To wit: here is Bear Bronson taking on unsigned talent Big Trouble Bishop. It’s almost certainly not an accident that Bryce “Bremsburg” is officiating, in a nod to Taz and Excalibur’s alliterative banter while trying to commentate matches full of “B”s earlier in the pandemic.

Bishop is massive, you guys. He looks like he’s 7 feet tall, but it could be a trick of the camera given the relative smallness of wrestlers these days. Either way, it’s cool to see a huge guy go toe-to-toe with Bronson. Big Ben Bishop doesn’t have a great suite of moves but his size and charisma go a long way to selling him as a beefy threat.

Y’all know hoss fights aren’t really my thing, but this is a fairly decent one. Lotta meat slapping. Bronson wins by dropping his ass straight onto Bishop’s chest. The Booty Bomb, as Taz christens it.

POP: One for all the YouTube fans

So here’s a nod to all the YouTube fans. Signed talent Marko Stunt of Jurassic Express is teaming up with costar Fuego del Sol from the Sammy Guevara vlog. They are facing “The Empbruh” Baron Black, who has also popped up on the vlog, and Occult Pro Wrestling Star RYZIN, who has been doing a fun recurring bit with Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero on BTE.

Del Sol and Black to open. They have a smooth exchange, then it’s Stunt versus Ryzin. Ryzin plays up a bully angle, which is easy to do when your opponent is tiny. Stunt and del Sol show the underdog spirit that we have grown to know and love over the past year. Black plays it straight, hitting all his Head Technician In Charge maneuvers. This guy is like a young QT Marshall, he can pull anything out of the hat.

Stunt and del Sol hit stereo moonsaults on the baddies to head into the finish. They make a quick tag, bamboozling Ryzin, then… could it be? Yes! It’s the Tornado DDT!!! Del Sol hits it! And he pins the unholy reverend to boot. It’s a tag match, not a singles match, but we get a post match chyron: “first career win”. Fuego del Sol is now listed as 1 and 34. Huzzah!

Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, Adam “5” Angels and Griff Garrison all come out to celebrate after the match. Standing in the ring with their hands raised high, the vlog crew look like a better face faction than any of the respective face factions they’re actually on. Will Fuego del Sol get signed? Keep reading for the Sammy’s vlog recap.

MEH: Stat does stat

It’s alien time! Kris Statlander is here with her sidekick Orange Cassidy. She’s got a mixed tag match versus The Blade and the Bunny coming up on Dynamite, which should be good. Her opponent tonight, though, is the debuting Viva Van.

Van counters the boop attempt, then gets distracted by a cartwheel spot and gets booped anyway. Statlander is still a bit rough around the edges in the ring, but her character is a delight. Van ain’t too shabby herself. She makes some slick escapes and hits a nice leg lariat before getting awkwardly powerslammed and chopped to shit.

Stat hits the Big Bang Theory piledriver for the win.

MEH: Midcard gonna midcard

Opening hour two of Dark, we have Dustin Rhodes’ trainees Chad Lennex and Zachariah versus popular kids at school the Varsity Blonds.

Brian Pillman Jr and Zachariah open it up with some wristlocks. Griff Garrison comes in to escalate the punishment, but he loses control of the ring and Zachariah escapes for the tag. Lennex shows quite a bit of character in fighting back the Blonds, but this is a very midcard schmidcard bout. Everyone here has potential, but they haven’t quite figured out how to harness it yet.

The Blonds win.

POP: Technical battle

Angélico is getting some more singles action tonight. His entrance features the now-familiar dance moves and hi-vis bucket hat. His opponent is Prince Kai, who had a couple of decent showings back in April. No “hear ye, hear ye” announcement for him this week, though.

Kai does well countering Angélico’s technical opening. Now that the bucket hat is removed, we can see that Angélico has also braided his hair on one side. He is truly going for maximum douchebag with these fashion choices. All he needs now is a moustache.

There is a lot of nice back-and-forth, but it’s all over when Angélico hits his Navarro Death Roll. It’s so nice to see all-technical battles like this. Angélico just dances and dances and dances after the bell. He dances so long that his music ends, and he gets in the way of IWTV champ Wheeler Yuta who is making a jobber entrance for the next match. Foreshadowing? Maybe.

POP: Yuta gets one on the board

Wheeler Yuta is facing “The Hollywood Hunk” Ryan Nemeth, together with Wingmen Pretty Peter Avalon, Cezar Bononi and JD Drake. Of these four, only PPA is officially signed! I do hope we get to see more of this faction even if they don’t go on the road with AEW.

Yuta gets the best of Nemeth in the initial exchange, using his quickness to stay out of reach and snap out some precision moves. Nemeth takes a break with the Wingmen to zhuzh up a bit and comes back reinvigorated.

Nemeth spends a bit too much time posing, so Yuta trips him and gets a surprise roll-up victory! This is like something out of WWE, and it’s great!

POP: Brutal squashery

The Pinnacle’s Shawn Spears and Wardlow are in action tonight versus mystery jobbers Hunter Knott and Rosario Grillo. According to Twitter, they’re a couple of young Nightmare Factory alumni who tag as TSF.

Wardlow kills Knott. The kid tags in Grillo to get some help, but then Wardlow kills both of them. By the time Spears comes in, the kids are already donezo. Wardlow goes for a delayed vertical but Grillo doesn’t have the core strength to stay planked, so he gets slammed hard and early. Spears stomps the shit out of him to the degree that Wardlow has to step in to cool him off. Oh Wardlow, you’re truly the big face we all deserve, but apparently will never get.

Spears hits the C4 for the win. Authoritative.

POP: Solid women’s action

Another of our endangered talents is KiLynn King. She’s getting a shot today against Tay Conti and her li’l sidekick Negative One. At least King gets a full entrance.

The bell rings, and it’s King with the mat return! Conti escapes and they exchange locks. This is my kind of pro graps. Conti hits her triple drop seio nages, but King gets the rope break! They are straight into it. The whole match is an ode to two of the most improved women on Dark, with each of them getting a chance to hit their trademark moves and mug a little for the camera.

King almost pulls out a win, but Conti hits her DDTai and we’re done. After the match it looks a bit like she might be injured, so let’s hope it’s not a bad one.

BOTCH: This was not it

It’s been a little while since we had some eight-man action on Dark. Obviously one of the teams has to be Dark Order: Colt Cabana, Preston “10” Vance, Alan “5” Angels and Alex Reynolds will be representing this week. Their opponents are a jobber squad consisting of some of the hardiest and most acrobatic talents we’ve seen over the past year on Dark: Will Allday, Jason Hotch, Chandler Hopkins and Dean Alexander.

So, um. I was all prepared for full-blown multi-man mayhem here, like the kind of match that’s impossible to recap because it’s pure, unadulterated chaos. Instead what we get is a slow-paced bout where each guy has a one-on-one with their designated opponent. It’s basically four singles matches of about 60 seconds each. Then 10 pins Alexander. This was not the love letter to the Dark Order-anchored multi-mans of Darks past that I had hoped for. Boo!

POP: Sometimes all you need is a spotfest

Angélico’s back! He’s wearing a black bucket hat this time, perhaps to indicate he’s not the star of the show. He’s accompanying tag partner Jack Evans to the ring for a match with yoga bro Mike Sydal. Mike is accompanied by brother Matt, who is wearing a spiral tie-dye top. All the neon and hi-vis gear in the ring is taking me back to my raver days, and it is awesome.

Evans kicks Sydal in the gut. Sydal tries some fancy moves, but Evans just keeps kicking the shit out of him. The smarmy dragon-killer taunts the yoga bro with a sarcastic namaste greeting, then a standing skytwister press. He still got it.

Evans wins with a sneaky counter to a backslide that ends up with Sydal’s shoulders pinned instead of his opponent’s. This match played to both their strengths. Short, smart, explosive.

POP, then BOTCH: Losing steam

One of our “as discovered on Dark” stars Red Velvet is also getting a match tonight. Her opponent? Ashley Vox.

Vox and Velvet put together a nice sequence to start. Vox hasn’t really impressed me in her time on Dark, but tonight she’s going for gold. She punishes Velvet hard enough that the “couple o’ slingblades” comeback actually feels like a logical transition. The match gets scrappier as it goes on, unfortunately. Velvet, at least, is capable of much better.

Velvet wins with a spinning heel kick.

APPROPRIATE: Closing the show with Chaos Project

Our main event tonight is Dark legends Chaos Project versus main roster talent Eddie Kingston and Penta el Zero Miedo. Luther immediately sets the tone by attempting a Cero Miedo hand gesture by putting four fingers down (“penta”), then waving them around randomly like they’re covered in goo (“muarrrrrrrr”). It’s weird, it’s creepy, it’s completely out-of-touch. I love it.

Kingston and Serpentico open it. The little luchador pokes Kingston a few times then fights him into the corner to give Luther a chance to match the brawler’s slow pace. Penta speeds it up with Serpentico, who accommodates a whole over-the-top, uninterrupted Penta-takes-his-glove-off epic chop of doom. Nice to finally see that back in the rotation, after a spate of choppus interruptus spots.

Luther does interrupt Penta’s rope bounce, but eats a kick to the head for his efforts. Penta powerbombs a flailing Serpentico over his knee, but doesn’t get the shoulders down for a pin. His package piledriver does the job, though. Not the greatest outing by any of them wrestling-wise, but these stars all have oodles of character, so they can afford a weak fight from time to time.


This was a hella long episode of Dark – 2 hours all up – but I forgive it since it was clearly a goodbye to the Daily’s Place crowdless era. We got some solid matches, and a couple of surprise wins from Fuego del Sol and Wheeler Yuta. Speaking of Fuego del Sol, let’s check in on Sammy Guevara’s vlog…

Episode 327 is titled “Goodbye”, and it continues the farewell to Fuego del Sol and other Daily’s Place jobbers. “The Captain” Shawn Dean teases a Fuego signing. Dustin Rhodes earnestly preserves kayfabe at all costs. Baron Black and Fuego set up their showdown (to which we already know the outcome) for losingest loser of Dark. We also got to see a bit of the post-Dynamite footage featuring Cody Rhodes, Tony Khan, Dark Order and Aubrey Edwards. QT Marshall interrupts Cody’s cake-cutting to get some heat and Aaron Solow eats Fuego’s Tornado DDT. The show closes with a heatwarming montage. What’s next for the jobbers? Stay tuned.

Don’t forget to check out Dynamite tonight, in particular Andrade el Ídolo in his debut match with jobber to the stars Matt Sydal. Show some Steel Ring Post love on Discord. Like, share, subscribe – you know the drill. I’ll see you next week with a hot Miami recap.