SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW DARK TV REPORT
AUGUST 4, 2020
AIRED LIVE ON YOUTUBE.COM
REPORT BY ZACH GRAHAM, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz
Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts
– Tony Schiavone welcomed fans to AEW Dark and introduced Taz. Taz complained and said Schiavone is in his usual spot, but Taz allowed him to stay in that chair instead. Schiavone then promoted Butcher & Blade vs. Private Party later. Schiavone then threw it to Justin Roberts to introduce the first match of the night.
(1) SCORPIO SKY vs. WILL HOBBS
Before the match began, Will Hobbs ran and splashed Sky in the corner. Inexplicably the official yelled at Hobbs then rang the bell to start the match. (Graham’s Thoughts: They’re just trolling me at this point. This may be my biggest pet peeve in AEW, yet it happens every single week.) Hobbs threw Sky across the ring and splashed him again before hitting a huge spine buster for an early two count. Hobbs picked Sky up on his shoulder, but Sky escaped and shoved Hobbs into the turnbuckle. Sky quickly picked Hobbs up and hit the TKO for the win.
WINNER: Scorpio Sky in 1:30
– After the match Scorpio Sky grabbed a chair and a microphone. Sky pointed to the chair and said it’s symbolic and it may as well be a throne. He sat down and said lately he’s been called the king of AEW Dark, like that’s supposed to make him happy. Sky said he didn’t come out to bury AEW Dark, but this is not his ceiling. He asked how many people have pinned Jericho in AEW. The answer is two: Jon Moxley and himself. Sky said he has more wins than he can count and he’s tired of sitting on the outside waiting for his spot at the table. He’s tired of watching everyone else eat and maybe it’s time he kick in the door and bring his own seat. Sky said everyone must have forgotten who he is. He said his name is Scorpio Sky, get used to it.
(2) THE GUNN CLUB vs. SERPENTICO & AARON SOLOW
As the match started, Schiavone talked up Solow’s background including noting he was trained by Lance Storm and tagged with Jushin Thunder Liger in his last ever U.S. match. Billy and Serpentico started the match as Serpentico dove for Billy’s leg, but missed. Serpentico ran the ropes and was met with a boot to the face by Billy who tagged Austin in. Serpentico threw Austin into his corner and Solow tagged in. Taz and Schiavone talked about Austin Gunn and praised his energy and effort. Schiavone and Taz also discussed the difficulty of tagging with your father, but Taz dismissed this due to the similarities between them both. Austin grounded Solow and put him in a headlock in the middle of the ring. Serpentico and Solow isolated Austin momentarily. Austin eventually tagged in Billy after throwing Solow into Serpentico and ducking a double clothesline attempt. Billy entered and cleaned house with a series of right handed shots. Billy took a second to show off before going for a running knee, but Serpentico avoided it. Austin tagged in and hit Solow with a famouser then hit Serpentico with a hip toss for the win.
WINNERS: Gunn Club in 6:00
(3) JOEY JANELA & SONNY KISS vs. THE INITIATIVE (w/Leva Bates)
Cutler and Janela started the match with Janela quickly taking Cutler down with a shoulder block and suplex to Cutler in the corner. Cutler fought back and tagged in Avalon as he dove over the top rope onto Janela on the floor. Avalon entered against Kiss and Kiss quickly took him down before diving out onto Cutler. Kiss scored a two count off a standing moonsault onto Avalon. Janela and Kiss isolated Avalon and utilized a series of tag team moves, but were unable to put Avalon away.
Avalon rolled out onto the stage to get away from Janela, but Janela followed him up there. Janela went to splash Avalon who was leaning against the entrance tunnel, but Avalon moved in time and Janela crashed into the tunnel face first. Avalon threw Janela back into the ring and focused on the shoulder Janela ran into the tunnel with. Cutler and Avalon isolated Janela and focused the attack on the left shoulder. Cutler and Avalon both tried to hit splashes to Janela in the corner, but Janela kicked them both in the stomach. They both bent over in pain and Janela tried to walk across their backs to reach Kiss. Janela fell off of Cutler before he made it to the corner, but still managed to reach Kiss for the tag. Kiss came in and took down Avalon and scored a two count with a split leg drop. A moment later, Cutler went up to the top rope to stop Kiss from doing a top rope move, but Kiss shoved Cutler down. Avalon caught Cutler across his back and held him as Kiss jumped off the top rope with a swinging neck breaker. Avalon threw Janela out to ringside and acted as if something was in his eye to distract the official, which allowed Leva Bates to take out Janela with the sliced bread. Avalon and Cutler then focused on Kiss, but Kiss took them both down with forearm shots. Kiss tagged Janela back in and they hit Avalone with an electric chair legdrop combo before they both pinned Avalon for the win.
(Graham’s Thoughts: So two person covers are legal? Aubrey Edwards is said to be working on an official rulebook for AEW, but counts this pinfall, really? I guess all the other tag teams are idiots for not just doing this the entire time!)
WINNERS: Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss in 10:00
(4) ABADON vs. KILYNN KING
King shoved Abadon at the start of the match, but Abadon powered her back into the corner. The two exchanged shots in the corner with King getting the better of Abadon and stomping her to the mat followed by a running knee shot that Abadon no sold before pouncing on King in the middle of the ring. King threw Abadon out of the ring and threw her into the ring post. King showed off and talked to the camera for a moment, but Abadon got up and threw King into the ringside barricade. Back in the ring, Abadon grabbed King by the hair and slammed her face first into the mat a couple of times. Schiavone and Taz spent the entirety of this match just marveling at Abadon’s look and how strange she is. King came off the top rope and hit a drop kick which grounded Abadon for a moment. Abadon sat up and snapped her neck. King kept fighting and hit Abadon with a release German suplex for a two count. Abadon scored the pin fall a moment later after slamming King to the mat face first.
WINNER: Abadon in 5:00
(5) QT MARSHALL (w/Allie) vs JACK EVANS (w/Angelico)
Evans and Marshall locked up and Marshall powered him back to the corner. Marshall shoulder tackled Evans, but Evans fought back kicking Marshall in the head as he ran the ropes. Evans was a little too cocky as he talked some trash while handstanding, so Marshall kicked him in the stomach. Marshall back dropped Evans for a near fall, but Evans fought back with a jaw breaker. Evans went for a cross body on Marshall, but Marshall caught him out of the air and hit a delayed vertical suplex. Evans rolled to the floor, but Marshall followed him out there. Marshall threw Evans back into the ring, but Angelico approached Marshall, which caused a distraction as Evans hit a back handspring over the top rope and took Marshall down on the floor. Angelico climbed up on the apron and distracted the official as Evans stuck his thumbs in the eyes of Marshall. Evans tried to jump off the top rope with a corkscrew style cross body, but his foot got caught on the rope and he crashed to the mat. Marshall immediately jumped on him and hit a falcon arrow for a two count. Evans fought back and scored a two count of his own after a corkscrew standing moonsault. Evans went for a 450 splash, but Marshall avoided it. Marshall went for a cover, but Evans grabbed the rope. Allie jumped up on the apron upset as if Angelico had helped Evans grab the rope, which he did not. Angelico then got on the apron as well and argued with Allie across the ring. Allie got in the ring and argued with the official while Evans shoved Marshall into Angelico who kicked him across the head. Evans then rolled up Marshall and bridged into a cover for the win.
WINNER: Jack Evans in 8:00
– After the match Evans and Angelico stomped on Marshall, but Dustin came out to make the save and run them off.
– As FTR made their way to the ring, Tully Blanchard could be seen talking to FTR in the tunnel. Schiavone and Taz pointed that out and also noted that Arn Anderson was there during their contract signing too. FTR also pulled the tag team rope out from the top turnbuckle and celebrated that it was there. As the bell rang the official walked over and pulled out the other tag rope for Griff Garrison to hold on to.
(6) FTR vs. BRIAN PILLMAN JR. & GRIFF GARRISON
Harwood and Pillman started the match and locked up as Schiavone talked about the rules FTR demanded be enforced during their tag match including the tag rope and a strict ten count. Harwood took control of Pillman’s left arm and grabbed a handful of hair for extra grip. Pillman rolled out of it and, as he was in the ropes, Harwood just slapped him across the face. Pillman was too busy chasing Harwood around and didn’t notice Wheeler tag himself in and take Pillman down from behind. Pillman fought back and hit a cross body on both members of FTR before tagging Garrison in. Garrison took Wheeler and Harwood down as they tried to cheat and attack him from behind. Pillman tagged in and tackled Wheeler in the corner. Pillman tried to jump over Wheeler as he ran the ropes, but Wheeler caught him and hit a scoop slam. Harwood tagged in and they hit Pillman with a Boston Crab/Leg Drop combination. Pillman got a backslide on Harwood for a two count, but as he went to tag in Garrison, Wheeler cut him off. Pillman then managed to avoid them both and tag in Garrison, but Garrison was immediately hit with the Goodnight Express for the win.
WINNERS: FTR in 6:00
– After the match, Shawn Spears was shown at ringside and looked impressed with FTR. FTR stopped in front of Spears for a moment, they exchanged looks, and they walked off.
(7) PRIVATE PARTY vs. THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE
Blade and Quen started the match with Blade quickly powering Quen to their corner and tagging in Butcher. Quen escaped and tagged Kassidy in. Kassidy tried to escape Butcher, but got caught. Blade tagged back in and Kassidy used his speed to take Blade down and score a one count after a heel kick to the jaw. Blade hung Kassidy across the top rope and tagged Butcher back in. Quen and Kassidy teamed up to kick Butcher in the face simultaneously. Blade tried to interfere, but was thrown out of the ring quickly. Qeun and Kassidy tried to hit the silly string on Butcher, but Butcher caught Quen out of the air and hit him with a gut buster.
Butcher and Blade isolated Quen in their corner with some chops and clotheslines across the chest. Blade clotheslined Quen for another two count before tagging Butcher back in. Quen landed on his feet on a suplex attempt by Blade. Butcher entered and tried to clothesline Quen, but he rolled through and tagged in Kassidy. Kassidy ran and hit Blade with a stunner through the ropes then jumped over Butcher and hit a stunner to him as well. Quen and Kassidy went to opposite corners to dive onto Butcher, but Blade shoved Quen off of one side. Kassidy dove and missed Butcher. Blade tagged in and they hit a vertical suplex/back breaker combination. They both covered Kassidy for the win.
WINNERS: The Butcher & The Blade in 9:00
– Graphics were shown previewing the announced segments for Dynamite including John Silver & Alex Reynolds vs. Cody & Matt Cardona, an update from MJF, FTR, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, & Kenny Omega vs. Dark Order, Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy debate with a special guest moderator, and Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin for the AEW World Championship.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Some quick thoughts on AEW Dark this week:
– The Scorpio Sky promo was good. Regardless of what he says, it did kind of bury AEW Dark, but it’s not like there’s a lot of stock in the AEW Dark name. People know what this show is, a stat booster. Sky deserves to be on Dynamite and I hope this is the launching point to him winning matches against more than independent enhancement talent on Dark.
– Schiavone and Taz were extremely enjoyable on the show. The commentary was very relaxed and they spent a lot of time joking around and laughing with each other, while occasionally calling the action. Excalibur and Taz are also a good pairing, and Excalibur does a better job of calling the moves, but this was a really good substitute.
– I’m really glad Jack Evans beat QT Marshall, even if it wasn’t the cleanest of wins. I think there’s more you can do with Angelico and Jack Evans than you can with QT Marshall. The way Evans won also advances the Allie/Marshall story as well. Now she’s costing him wins. It’ll be interesting to see how that develops now that QT is back in the ring. I’d assume we see a TH2 vs. Marshall and Dustin Rhodes soon too given the post-match angle.
– I’ve complained before, but I’m doing it again. Two matches tonight ended with both people double covering the opponent. In what world is that a legal cover? AEW wants to publish a rulebook, while still allowing pre-match cheap shots and illegal pin fall covers. Clean this crap up. It is not hard to do. These are basic and logical rules that they’re just spitting on week after week and it’s ridiculous. Don’t ring the bell as an opponent is actively attacking someone before the match begins and don’t count pin falls when there is an illegal man in the ring. This isn’t hard!
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