This week was the big centenary edition of AEW Dark. It’s the little show that could! 100 episodes of dark matches and developmental bouts and feuds that the television viewers missed altogether. Here is your August 3 recap for our happy little YouTube-y corner of the AEW scene.
Last time on Dark…
Diamante stole a win over Big Swole. Local talent Alejandra Lion and Killa Kate showed us the Texas scene is great outside of hill country too. The Acclaimed and Varsity Blonds brought their feud to the trios division. Check out the July 27 recap for more.
Elsewhere in the AEW Arcadia…
As mentioned last week, I thought this year’s Fight for the Fallen episode of Dynamite mostly sucked, but Robert disagreed, so have a read of his recap and let us know who’s right.
Being The Elite episode 267 opened with The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega directly addressing some internet wrestling community “drama” over Adam Page and Dark Order’s loss to them last week. Watching heel The Elite dunk on fans who spend their time fretting over storylines that haven’t even unfolded yet will never not be funny to me. Nick Jackson bullied Brandon Cutler into becoming a better heel. Matt Jackson brushed his hair. Peter Avalon and Leva Bates got trapped in a Japanese thriller. No Dark Order this week, which earns this episode a pop from me.
Sammy Guevara celebrated his birthday on episode 331 of his vlog. By smacking Aaron Solo in the face with a cake. Ah, cakes in wrestling – you always know what’ll happen, but it’s great every time. We also got a little indie action flick filmed on the streets of New York and a glimpse of Anna Jay at a signing. Cody Rhodes declared everyone a winner in his Friendlympics. Fuego del Sol got into a limo and it exploded! Tune in next week for the resolution?
Ethan Page also did a fun vlog last week – an Independent Wrestling Tour, which took him backstage through some smaller promotions in the US. Nice way to remember where most of the top tier talents came from and where some of them still work.
Let’s see them in action in episode 100.
Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.
POP: One for the fans
Opening up our very special centenary episode is fan faves The Wingmen versus other fan faves Best Friends! Standing in for Trent? while he recovers from injury is Wheeler Yuta! Pretty Peter Avalon and Kris Statlander are the respective valets.
JD Drake and Chuck Taylor to open. We get a bunch of surprisingly high-flying arm drags, then it’s “Hollywood Hunk” Ryan Nemeth versus Yuta. Nemeth gets Yuta into the corner and then inadvertently smacks tag partners Cezar Bononi and JD Drake in the face as Yuta dodges one chop after another. After a bit of a kerfuffle amongst the Wingmen, they all make up and then Bononi and Drake take it to Yuta, who foolishly did not take the opportunity to tag out.
The crowd is cold, but I’m fairly entertained. Yuta tosses Drake into Bononi, hits Nemeth with an enziguri, then brings in Chuck Taylor to clean house! Orange Cassidy finally tags in to do his hands-in-pockets routine and makes a lazy pin attempt. The Wingmen are the perfect foils for OC, acting like total botchmachines. (The sad part is: maybe they’re not acting?)
Drake misses a top rope moonsault, then Yuta rolls him up and gets the win. This match was messy but exciting, which is Dark in a nutshell.
FINE: Just, kinda, fine
Coming in at the surprise second slot is Dark-sized headliner Jack Evans versus “The Bastard” PAC!
Evans has operated in more of a supporting role in AEW, not really hitting any high heights, but he puts together a few swizzly, twisty, turny spots in this match. PAC just PACs around the place, looking angry, loosing strikes that are stiff as a board.
.@JackEvans711 from the heavens!
Watch #AEWDark100 NOW: https://t.co/MFc0knJjw1 pic.twitter.com/II1XrVkoNX
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 3, 2021
In the biggest spot of the match, PAC takes a nasty bump tumbling awkwardly off the apron, then Evans does a stupidly epic sky twister press off the steel ring post right down to the floor outside. Woo! It is a cool spot, but the urgency isn’t there as the guys crawl back in the ring and circle each other like they both forgot to do cardio during the pandemic.
Not sure if the crowd isn’t hyped because it’s a dark match or if it’s because the match is a bit slow between the high spots. PAC does a killer neckbreaker off the top ropes then locks in the Brutalizer submission and it’s done.
It was a bit of a disappointing outing for me because my hopes were sky-high, but things perked up at the end when Andrade el Idolo and Chavo Guerrero arrived to keep the heat going with Death Triangle.
POP: Conti slaps
In action next is Tay Conti versus youngster Kenzie Paige, last seen back in October versus Brandi Rhodes.
Paige seems a bit more solid on offense than I remember. She and Conti have a brutal back-and-forth where every strike legit slaps, echoing around the arena. Eat your heart out, Penta el Zero M!
I brought a different approach to @AEW this time.
Kenzie Paige won’t be denied much longer. ✨🤞🏻 pic.twitter.com/Kcywbc6NIk— Kenzie Paige (@KenziePaige_1) August 4, 2021
After a strong opening, Conti strings together a bunch of corner-to-corner kicks, a gutbuster and the DDTai for the win. Short and sweet. This deserved a better reaction from the crowd.
POP: Fuego gets squashed
Alright, it’s another one for the vlog marks! “The Captain” Shawn Dean and Fuego del Sol are teaming up! Their opponents are “The Chairman” Shawn Spears and WARDLOW, but never mind those Pinnacle dudes – the YouTube chat is going wild with 🔥🌪 emojis for the internet’s favorite jobber.
Spears gets it started with a half-assed Ric Flair strut, and the whole damn stadium erupts with sarcastic “woos”. Ah, wrestling fans, you don’t totally suck. Back in the match, both Wardlow and Spears are outside and we get stereo topes from the vlog stars! Well, the Cap gets deflected into the barricades, and del Sol gets bopped in the head. Dude gets back up only to eat Spears’ C4 and Wardlow’s F-10. 1, 2, 3. Fuego’s out.
I guess it wouldn’t be a proper episode of Dark without Fuego del Sol getting humiliated. Not a crowd-pleasing ending, but the right one.
POP: Holy Shida
Our former women’s champ is finally back in action: Hikaru Shida is facing local jobber Madi Maxx.
Shida gets “holy Shida” chants from the bell. It’s too bad she never got much air time as champ. She starts out with some strong, technical moves, then Maxx collapses in the corner feigning injury. Maxx gets the cheapshot, but Shida comes right back and tosses the local outside. The former champ sets up a chair for a step-up flying knee, but Maxx counters and gets the action back inside.
Maxx does a pretty good job acting like a cowardly heel here, constantly trying to stop Shida’s momentum with pleas to the ref, but Shida is ready for everything. She finishes it with The Katana.
POP: Fénix looks better than ever
Next up, it’s one of our top Dark tag teams versus one of the top Dynamite tag teams. Chaos Project versus Lucha Brothers: hardly a fair fight! Rey Fénix is returning from an injury, though, so perhaps there is some kayfabe suspense here.
Fénix and Serpentico opening. The crowd immediately starts a “cero miedo” chant, which they were doing for PAC earlier too, and it feels like it cheapens Penta el Zero M’s pop by letting that go too early. I mean, Fénix is right there jumping up onto the top ropes, doing a dance, then flipping over Serpentico’s head while everyone chants for his partner. Dude is a wrestling virtuoso, you guys!
But fans do dig their meaty beatdowns, so Luther and Penta oblige on the outside. Luther pops back in to punish poor Fénix, and Serpentico too, but Fénix is just too good. He hits a couple more rope-assisted attacks then tags Penta who cleans up with a flying crossbody and some slingblades. Serpentico eats stereo kicks to the face, then a footstomp/package powerdriver combo and… yeah, he’s out.
POP: The Acclaimed and Varsity Blonds keep heating
It’s an 8-man! On the face side, we have Varsity Blonds and the Sydal brothers, Matt and Mike. On the heel side we have Matt Hardy and The Blade representing Hardy Family Office and The Acclaimed representing assholes everywhere.
Max Caster’s rap makes a whole bunch of controversial sports references that to this non-sports fan come across as swipes at the tag team whose gimmick is that they are sports bros. While the sports stuff goes over my head, I definitely get his cheeky line about Julia Hart’s nether regions. It’s completely tasteless, but also a clever rhyme with “North Carolina”, and basically solidifies him as a big ol’ heel. So both Varsity Blonds immediately take him out.
The Sydals come in next to continue the job. Caster is getting absolutely and deservedly merc’d. Eventually The Blade tags himself in and quick tags with Hardy and Anthony Bowens to beat Brian Pillman Jr down. Pillman escapes to partner Griff Garrison who runs wild all over everyone. The faces all get to hit their trademark moves, but this turns out to be a victory for the baddies as Blade sneaks in to hit Mike Sydal with the brass knuckles and net Hardy the win.
THE ELBOW OF DELETION is the most powerful elbow in pro wrestling.. Even more devastating than the people’s elbow. @AEW #AEWDark pic.twitter.com/0xiS02hmcX
— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) August 4, 2021
After the match, Jurassic Express arrive to quickly chase off the HFO, which leaves Varsity Blonds to kick the shit out of The Acclaimed. Their feud is hot as hell. I trust Julia Hart is okay with being the punching bag for Caster’s raps and the lynchpin of this old-fashioned “we must defend the honor of the damsel” storyline.
POP: Building storylines
Here’s a nice match-up that feels like a nod to stars formed in the pandemic era. “Legit” Leyla Hirsch versus Diamante! Hirsch will be facing The Bunny on Dynamite tomorrow, so she’ll probably pick up the win here, but let’s see…
From the 3-0-5, @DiamanteLAX heads to the ring to face @LegitLeyla.
Watch #AEWDark100 NOW: https://t.co/MFc0knrI7r pic.twitter.com/74RRUgxKCH
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 4, 2021
Hirsch quickly gets Diamante into an arm bar, but she escapes outside. Hirsch is not having any of that cowardly shit, and pulls her back in. Diamante unloads with a flurry of kicks and her patented plank splash. Hirsch comes back with some picture perfect amateur slams.
The match is interrupted by The Bunny coming down the ramp to toss a chair into the ring, then Big Swole arrives to rip it out of Diamante’s hands. Coming out of the commotion, Hirsch gets the quick win, then Diamante and Swole brawl all the way into the back. Nice build.
BOTCH: It’s Mox, what did you expect?
Next up Jon Moxley versus Brick Aldridge. Look how excited I am. I am so excited.
Mox kicks Aldridge. Aldridge dropkicks nothing. Some other stuff happens. Aldridge attacks the shoulder. Mox’s shoulder is fine. Mox wins by submission. Meh.
One day I will enjoy a Mox match, and then I will write 3500 words about it. Till then: BOTCH.
BOTCH: Ford is out of the groove
Our women’s headliner is “Superbad Girl” Penelope Ford versus Reka Tehaka.
Tehaka hits some arm drags then Ford uses the ropes to connect with some heelish offense. It all looks a bit clumsy, and the crowd isn’t really here for it. Neither am I.
Ford wins with her Indian Death Lock submission, which takes rather too long to set up. Not great, Bob.
BOTCH: This has been a paid promotion
Normally I wouldn’t give a promo segment its own section, but this one deserved calling out for how hard of a BOTCH it was. Jade Cargill shows up with “Smart” Mark Sterling as her manager. He starts talking some random shit about a winery (!?!) and Cargill weighs in with her usual bland mic work. I don’t understand why they’re investing so much into building up Cargill when there are far more talented wrestlers on Dark who rarely get a nod.
RELATIVE POP: Future of the etc etc
Save us Angel Dorado, you’re our only hope! Dante Martin is facing main roster brawler Eddie Kingston.
We all know Martin is going to go flying. There aren’t any surprises in this match, but the kid’s acrobatics are still cool to see. He connects here and there, but Kingston is a grizzled enough veteran to spot the flipping stunner – he ducks out of the way then hits the high flyer with an elbow to the face and it’s 1, 2, 3.
It feels a bit inverted to have an unremarkable squash match to close the episode, but it definitely helped to lift my spirits after several mediocre segments, so on balance, this earns a relieved POP from me.
The 100th episode of Dark ended with a whimper, but overall it was fairly entertaining. It perhaps would have been more fitting to have the centenary in Jacksonville, but North Carolina still showed a bit of spunk in reacting to this fan-friendly card. My one major disappointment is that we didn’t get the Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela return that was teased last week. I’m sure there must be some reasoning for that, but it’s behind the scenes and this ain’t a dirt sheet so meh. I hope to see them back soon.
Coming up on this week’s Dynamite: Malakai (formerly known as Aleister) Black! He will be fighting Cody Rhodes. Meanwhile Lee Johnson will be getting a title shot versus Miro. I’ll be checking for those two matches, plus Leyla Hirsch meets The Bunny! Also, look who all is showing up.
2.0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker) have arrived in #AEW, & aren’t wasting any time! They’ve aligned with Daniel Garcia & challenged 3 of the top names in AEW @JonMoxley, @MadKing1981 & @DarbyAllin! GM @TonyKhan has just sanctioned this match for #AEWDynamite TOMORROW night Live on TNT! pic.twitter.com/Xcvd9vyPSQ
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 4, 2021
As mentioned last week, I am heading out on the road next week, so I might not be around to watch or write about wrestling for y’all. If you miss my opinionated ramblings, say hello on the Discord!
