SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW DARK
APRIL 28, 2020
AIRED LIVE ON YOUTUBE.COM
REPORT BY ZACH GRAHAM, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Cody
Ring Announcer: Dasha Gonzalez
– Tony Schiavone welcomed viewers to the show as the AEW Dark graphic showed. He introduced Cody and said there are three matches on the show tonight. Schiavone and Cody previewed the match ups for the night including Shawn Dean vs. Jimmy Havoc, Best Friends vs. Lee Johnson & Muda in the main event. (Graham’s Thoughts: Obviously an error by Schiavone there saying there are three matches then only announcing two. Not sure why this was left in since this entire show is edited after filming and has been since its inception. It’s a simple error, but it’s also a simple fix.)
– Before the match Cody talked about Jimmy Havoc noting that Havoc took him to the limit on Dynamite before. Cody said he can see Havoc being ranked very soon based on his performance thus far in 2020. Schiavone also plugged that Jimmy Havoc will team with Kip Sabian tomorrow on Dynamite to take on the Best Friends.
(1) SHAWN DEAN vs. JIMMY HAVOC
Havoc backed Dean into the corner, with the help of thumbs to the eyes, but stepped away when instructed and put his hands in the air as if what he did wasn’t blatantly obvious. Havoc grabbed the left arm of Dean and twisted it until he grounded him, then stomped on his left hand. Havoc immediately took control of the left arm again and tanked on it. Dean cartwheeled to relieve the pressure and flipped Havoc. Havoc stood up and extended a hand to shake with Dean, who shook his hand. The two went to lock up again, but Havoc hit Dean with a closed fist right on the jaw. Havoc backed Dean into the corner and punched away at him and hit him with a chop. Havoc went to throw Dean into the opposite corner, but Dean countered with a chop of his own followed by an arm drag and a drop kick to Havoc.
Dean waited for Havoc to stand up and charged at him, but Havoc avoided him and arm dragged Dean directly into the turnbuckles. Havoc then suplexed Dean into the turnbuckles. Havoc threw Dean to the ground, then sat on his chest and isolated the left arm again as he manipulated the fingers until Dean reached the ropes with his feet. Havoc got up, hit Dean with a lariat, but kept hold of his arm. He picked him back up and hit a DDT for the win.
WINNER: Jimmy Havoc in 4:00
After the match Cody noted that this win may catapult Havoc into the rankings. Cody said he made short work of his opponent and also noted that he’s put on some good size lately as well. Schiavone mentioned again that Havoc would be in action tomorrow night.
– A commercial for AEW Double or Nothing aired with highlights from Double or Nothing last year.
– As Johnson and Musa made their entrance, a graphic was shown for the Best Friends vs. Havoc & Sabian match tomorrow. The graphic noted that it was a No Disqualification, No Count Out match.
(2) BEST FRIENDS vs. LEE JOHNSON & MUSA
Chuck Taylor and Musa started the match with Taylor quickly shoulder tackling Musa. Taylor threw Musa into the ropes, and then threw him up into the air as he came off the ropes. Musa landed directly on his stomach and as he went to stand up, Taylor hit him with a drop kick. Musa quickly rolled back to his corner and tagged in Johnson. Taylor walked over to Trent and tagged him in as well with a firm handshake instead of a normal tag.
Trent powered Johnson into the corner then patted him on the chest mockingly. Johnson didn’t take to kindly to this and hit Trent with three elbows to the jaw. This didn’t seem to rattle Trent much; it only seemed to anger him as he came back with a big elbow to Johnson and knocked him down. Trent powered Johnson into the corner and hit him with a series of chops. Trent ran the ropes, but Johnson followed behind. Trent came off the ropes, stopped his momentum and clotheslined Johnson who did a backflip on impact. Cody and Schiavone talked about Trent’s power advantage with Cody throwing in that he thinks Trent has one of the best physiques in all of professional wrestling. Trent picked Johnson up and dangled his feet on the top rope then hit a northern lights suplex and bridged into the cover for a two count.
Trent tagged in Taylor and the two hit a double back elbow and double elbow drop on Johnson. Taylor attempted a pin, but got a two count. Johnson stood up and bull rushed Taylor into his corner so Musa could tag back in. Musa hit Taylor with a couple of chops and an elbow, but Taylor reversed it and stomped Musa down to the mat in the corner. Taylor backed off, fired up and then elbowed Johnson off the apron. Taylor charged at Musa who fended him off by getting his knees up. Musa finally got out of the corner, rolled through and popped up into a dropkick on Taylor to the delight and surprise of Cody and Schiavone on commentary who marveled at the athleticism.
Musa tagged Johnson back in and Johnson kicked Taylor in the back of the head for a two count. Musa tagged back in and threw Taylor into the corner. Johnson went to whip Musa into Taylor, but Taylor jumped over Musa as he charged at him. Johnson then ran at Taylor, but Taylor hit him with a snap suplex into Musa.
Taylor crawled over and tagged in Trent who entered and immediately clotheslined Musa out of the ring. Trent then leaped over the top rope and on to Musa as he stood back up. Cody talked about Trent needing to be more careful considering their match tomorrow night. Trent walked over and touched elbows with Austin Gunn before spearing Johnson on the outside of the ring. Chuck Taylor threw Musa back into the ring then he and Trent both entered. Trent threw Musa into Chuck Taylor who hit him with a high knee. Trent then hit him with a snap dragon suplex. The Best Friends then did their signature hug spot before Taylor jumped off the top rope with a double stomp to Johnson. Trent, who was holding Johnson, then dropped down on his chest for the three count.
WINNERS: Best Friends in 7:00
Cody said after the match that he thinks the Best Friends have legitimate claims for a tag team championship match given their recent performances.
Highlights aired from the match and Schiavone plugged their match tomorrow night again. The Best Friends hugged one last time in the middle of the ring.
– Schiavone then plugged the tag match one last time and also noted that both semi-final matches for the TNT Championship Tournament would be happening tomorrow night including Darby Allin vs. Cody and Dustin Rhodes vs. Lance Archer. Cody said that this will be their third match and he’s looking forward to it. Schiavone called Archer a road block for Dustin in the tournament and Cody agreed and said Archer is a hard man to describe and he hopes Dustin can pull out the victory.
FINAL THOUGHTS: The sound was a distraction for me when watching live. The commentary and the in-ring sound was delayed by at least four seconds, maybe more. Interestingly, I read through the comments during the live airing of the show and it appeared to only be a problem for PC viewers. I tested this by playing it live from my phone and the sound was fine. I’m not sure if this is an AEW problem or a YouTube problem, but it’s something I hope they are aware of. After watching it live, I opened it back up for the full video and the sound was fine there as well on a computer. It appears this is just a problem with the initial live streaming of the episodes on PC, a very specific issue.
As for the content of the show, it was rather basic again. Two more squash matches and an excessive amount of hype for a tag team match that was just set up last week. Given the fact that three of the four people in that match were in matches tonight, I understand, but it was mentioned so much it felt like the main selling point of Dynamite instead of the two TNT Championship matches, which got a total of 50 seconds on this show. Cody was on commentary the whole time, I wish they would’ve had him talk more about the match with Darby especially because he didn’t speak at all on Road To last night.
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