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AEW DARK TV REPORT
AUGUST 18, 2020
RECORDED AT DAILY’S PLACE, JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
AIRED ON YOUTUBE.COM
REPORT BY NICK MORGAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Veda Scott
Ring announcer: Justin Roberts
– After welcoming Veda Scott to the announce team and some banter between Taz and Scott, Shiavone sent it right to the ring for the first match.
(1) MICHAEL NAKAZAWA vs. KIP SABIAN (w/Penelope Ford)
Penelope Ford lovingly removed Kip Sabian’s toothpick using her own mouth, as Veda Scott said, “very intimate”. Using his baby oil gimmick, Michael Nakazawa evaded several moves and strikes from Sabian. Sabian hit a kick to the face, which knocked Nakazawa out of the ring and followed up with a dive over the top rope, wiping out Nakazawa.
Back in the ring, Sabian kicked a seated Nakazawa in the chest. After exchanging several moves, Nakazawa hit a backdrop and proceeded to remove his pink bikini underwear from beneath his trunks and attempted to shove them in Sabian’s face. Sabian reversed the move and then hit a spinning DDT, followed up by top rope spinning neck breaker for the three-count.
WINNER: Kip Sabian in 4:00.
– After the match Sabian and Ford postured in the ring while the announce team noted that this was Sabian’s 13th win.
(Morgan’s Take: A quick match, filled with Nakazawa’s gimmicks and a convincing win by Sabian. About what one would expect, and the match continues the obvious plan to build Sabian up on Dark so he can move up the card on Dynamite.)
(2) SHAWN DEAN & FRANK STONE vs. SONNY KISS & JOEY JANELLA
Taz, Veda, and Shiavone noted that this was the first pairing of Shawn Dean & Frank Stone as a tag team and made a big point of letting us know that Sonny Kiss & Joey Janella were six and one as a tag team.
Janella and Dean started things off with Janella hit several strong kicks and other moves. After Stone tagged in Janella placed him in position for a Russian Leg Sweep, but first Sonny hit a drop kick. Rather than following up, Sonny played to the crowd allowing Stone to reach his corner and tag in Dean. Sonny tagged Janella, who hit a drop kick and got a soft two-count before Dean broke it up. With the ref distracted, Dean and Stone attacked Janella and took over the match. Dean put Janella in an extended vertical hold and then brought him down in a stiff looking suplex for a one=count.
Dean and Stone tagged frequently and continued to beat down Janella, hitting an elbow/side slam combination for a two-count. After being tossed into the ropes Janella hit a double DDT and was able to tag to Sonny who came in with several acrobatic moves culminating in a split face plant to Dean for a two-count. Sonny went for a top rope split but Dean moved and tagged in Stone. Stone and Dean hit a double team Samoan Drop neck breaker, but when Dean moved Sonny into the middle of the ring, Sonny was able to hit a forearm which put Dean on the mat. As Stone rushed in, Janella laid him out. With Dean prone in the middle of the ring, both Sonny and Janella went to the top rope, where Janella landed a senton followed by a split leg slam by Sonny for the win.
WINNERS: Sonny Kiss & Joey Janella in 6:00.
(Morgan’s Take: Stone and Dean made a good showing, but it was clear from the beginning that they were there to take the loss. Sonny Kiss is getting better, but his moves concentrate way too much on the gymnastic, and lack any real punch, ultimately taking me out of the action. I have never been a huge fan of Joey Janella, and he was very much very “vanilla” here, without any real character. Against a couple of jobbers like Dean and Stone, this match did not have much going for it, and it was just kind of there.)
– After a quick AEW All Out promo featuring the Moxley vs. MJF match, we moved on to the next match.
(3) WILL HOBS vs. SHAWN SPEARS (w/Tully Blanchard)
Will Hobbs is big at 250+ lbs. and Shawn Spears tried some power moves but was unable to take Hobbs off his feet. For the beginning of the match, Taz and Veda went on and on about Spears’ glove to the point of overkill. Spears backed Hobbs into the corner and laid into him, finally attacking the knee. Spears kept up the pressure, with a stomp to the head and a splash to the knee, totally focused on the knee.
As Spears came off the ropes, Hobbs hit a spine buster, but selling the knee was unable to immediately get the cover and after a few seconds was only able to get a two-count before Spears kicked out. As both wrestlers were down, Spears recovered first and went after Hobbs, picked him up and hit a nasty-looking Death Valley driver for the three-count.
WINNER: Shawn Spears in 5:00.
– After the match, and after brief consultation with Tully Blanchard, Spears grabbed Hobbs and slammed his knee into the ring post and followed up with loading up the glove and knocked Hobbs out with a palm shot. The announcers sold all this as this was all done at the direction of Tully putting a bunch of heat on him as well as Spears.
– We then went to a backstage promo by Ricky Starks, heeling all over Darby Allen for the brutal thumb tack skateboard move of a couple of weeks ago on Dynamite. Starks vowed to get Allen and had a great line: “…I don’t have to be John, Joseph, or Judas to know that this is going to be your last supper messing with the absolute Ricky Starks…” A great promo delivered with just the right amount of anger and vengeance.
(4) PETER AVALON (w/Leva Bates) & BRANDON CUTLER vs. ANGELICO & JACK EVANS
Peter Avalon and Angelico started things off with several mid-ring moves. Avalon did a “shhhhhh” and tagged in Brandon Cutler. Jack Evans also tagged in and the two exchanged several mat based moves and pinning combinations. Cutler ended the mat work with a vicious face plant followed by a tag to Avalon and a double team on Evans. Avalon hit a drop kick to Evans which knocked him out of the right. Avalon threated hitting Evans with a book but decided not to do so. Angelico ended up with the book and smashed Avalon in the back as Evans through him into the ropes.
Angelico placed Avalon in several pretzel-like shapes until Cutler entered the ring and broke things up with a forearm to the back. It did little however as Angelico and Evans continued to double team Avalon. Leva Bates distracted Evans allowing Avalon to roll up Evans for a two-count and then tagged in Cutler. Cutler took out both Angelico and Evans with some high-flying moves ending up with a top rope forearm and a swinging side slam for a two-count. Avalon tagged in and hit a double knee back stomp, which was followed up by Cutler with a springboard elbow for a two-count, broken up by Angelico.
Evans and Angelico were then able to double team Cutler leading to a near fall. With Cutler and Avalon on the floor, Evans, hit a dive over the top rope taking them both out. With Angelico and Cutler back in the ring, Evans tried to brain Avalon with the infamous book, but missed as Leva Bates jumped on the apron and delivered a huricanranna to Evans. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Cutler hit double knees to Angelico’s stomach followed by a moon Sault by Avalon. After some back and forth action, Angelico hit a buckle bomb to Avalon and Evans hit a 450 splash and that was all she wrote as the ref counted to three.
WINNERS: Angelico & Jack Evans in 12:00.
(Morgan’s Take: Not only was this match too long, it was not good. The moves were not crisp at all, and things were sloppy. It just was not very good. Totally missible.)
(5) RED VELVET vs. ABADON
Abadon did her crawl in with the full effect face paint. Red Velvet looked completely freaked out. Red Velvet did come out with some kicks and moves, but Abadon quickly took back control and flattened Red Velvet with a headbutt. They fought onto the apron and Abadon face planted Red Velvet right onto the apron while screaming like a banshee. Abadon continued the abuse with kicks, tosses into the corner, and pounding Red Velvet’s face into the mat. After deadlifting Red Velvet up onto her back, Abadon hit her finisher (the cemetery drive) for the win.
WINNE: Abadon in 4:00.
(Morgan’s Take: This match was mostly a showcase for Abadon and an effort to continue to build her up. Obviously, the biggest thing about Abadon is her make up gimmick. She does have some moves, but there is not much there beyond her crawling around and being menacing. Personally, I think her make up is a bit too much over the top, but then really doesn’t go anywhere. If she is going to make it, we need to hear (or see) her backstory. What created this beast? Until then she is mostly a side show act, but I do give her credit for working pretty well in the ring.)
(6) FABOO ANDRE & RYZIN & D3 vs. COLT CABANA & JOHN SILVER & ALEX REYNOLDS (w/The Dark Order)
The match started slow with Faboo Andre & Colt Cabana, Ryzin tagged in and got in some offense before John Silver came in and laid all three of his opponents out. When the dust cleared, Alex Reynolds and D3 squared off with Reynolds getting the upper hand. While Silver and Reynolds were looking to cheat, Cabana wouldn’t let them until he was blind sided by D3. Then all bets were off, as Cabana laid out Faboo and Ryzin with elbows and appeared to be enjoying himself dishing out the punishment.
After Cabana tagged out, Silver, Reynolds and Cabana ended up triple teaming D3, ending with a double backflip brain buster by Reynolds and Silver on D3. Reynolds applied the pin and got the three count.
Winners: Colt Cabana, John Silver, & Alex Reynolds in 4:00.4
(Morgan’s Take: A total squash match. The main purpose is to show that Colt Cabana is not quite completely Dark Order, but he does like to win, and although there was some tension regarding the “cheating”, for Colt the ends justify the means. The other team was just there to take the beating.)
(7) LEE JOHNSON vs. RICKY STARKS
Taz went all “TEAM TAZ” when Ricky Starks came out and Taz was more cheerleader than commentator throughout the match.
Out of the blocks, Lee Johnson got in some offense, and then the pace slowed down until Starks nailed Johnson with a strong drop kick and then posed in the middle of the ring. Totally heeling it up. Johnson hit a back body drop and Starks took to the floor for a break. Johnson followed him to the floor and as he came back into the ring Starks hit some kicks and a body slam. With Johnson prone on the mat, Starks took a shot at Darby Allen by doing a very unconvincing standing coffin drop.
After some back and forth, Johnson blasted out of the corner with a series of strong forearms, fists, and kicks, finishing off with a nice cutter in the middle of the ring. Johnson got a near fall with a top rope missile drop kick and followed up with a roll up for another two-count. Johnson attempted to go to the top turn buckle while Starks was prone on the mat. Starks was playing possum and jumped up and knocked Johnson off the top turnbuckle and nailed Johnson with his Rosh ambo finisher for the win.
WINNER: Ricky Starks in 6:00.
(Morgan’s Take: With Taz on commentary acting as a cheerleader and almost coach and Shiavone and Veda Scott making obvious references to Darby Allen, and Starks even doing a mocking coffin drop, this match was all about the inevitable match between Darby and Starks after the thumb tack skateboard incident. And I am fine with that. Lee Johnson performed well as the opponent here, but this was all about Starks and it worked. I am sold.)
– After the match, with Johnson still laying on the mat, Wardlow came out to give Johnson an MJF campaign button. As Wardlow was shirtless, I thought there was going to be some violence as Johnson has been part of the MJF backstage campaign angle. But nothing happened. Ok…onto the next match.
(8) SANTANA & ORTIZ vs. TONY DONATI & BARON BLACK
First time teammates, Tony Donati and Baron Black entered first, followed by Santana & Ortiz, who came out very seriously without a lot of the silliness that marks their appearances with the Inner Circle. Santana and Black started out, and after a flurry of shots by Santana, Black was able to hit a back stabber, but he was unable to follow up and tagged in Donati as Ortiz also tagged in. Keeping Donati in their corner, Santana and Ortiz abused Donati, with Ortiz hitting a sit out power bomb followed brutal knee to the face by Santana. Ortiz knocked brown off the apron while Santana got the three-count on Donati.
WINNERS: Santana & Ortiz in 3:00.
(Morgan’s Take: Where Santana and Ortiz to a certain extent play it for laughs on Dynamite, on Dark, they od anything but that. They are brutal, efficient and without remorse. Hopefully, Dynamite will use this and other footage from Dark to promote these two towards a credible shot at the tag team titles. When they let them go like this, it is a blast to watch.)
(9) LANCE ARCHER (w/Jake Roberts) vs JON CRUZ & JESSE SORENSEN
A two on one match, the angle was that Jon Cruz did not show up when introduced. When Lance Archer came out, he was carrying Cruz over his shoulder and dumped him into his corner. As the match started, Archer just dominated except for a moment when Sorensen hit a low drop kick to Archer’s knee. The advantage did not last long as Archer hit a double flying body slam and followed up with putting Sorensen in a reverse headlock and then choke-slamming Cruz down onto Sorensen. The ref freaked out, looking on with disbelief.
Archer placed his foot on Sorensen for the count, but for some reason Cruz knocked it off for only a near fall. Archer put Cruz up in the rack and planted him down into the mat. He then took the heads of both me, one in each hand and lifted their heads up and pounded them back to the mat several times before holding them both down for the three-count.
WINNE: Lance Archer in 4:00.
– Stalking the ring, Jake Roberts, grabbed Sorensen and made like he would deliver a DDT, but he was just faking and just dropped Sorensen back to the mat and walked off with Archer.
(10) BILLY GUNN (w/Austin Gunn) vs. ALAN “5” ANGELS (w/The Dark Order)
After entering, Billy & Austin Gunn went over to the announce table and made to shake hands. Shiavone was happy to do so, but Taz would have nothing to do with it. After this Austin left the area and Billy entered the ring and hugged the ref (Aubrey Edwards). He also made to hug Justin Roberts but thought better of it.
A very obvious size mismatch, Billy Gunn was in control from the start. Gunn applied a series of kicks and punches, taking the fight to the floor before dragging Angels back into the ring. Gunn applied a delayed vertical suplex but could only manage a two-count. Angels tried to fight back with a series of dropkicks, but Gunn caught Angels in the air and hit a swinging body slam. Angels got in a couple more shots, before Gunn delivered a cross-face body slam for the win.
WINNER: Billy Gunn in 4:00.
– As he was leaving the ring, Gunn had his leg grabbed by Angels, while Silver and Reynolds of the Dark Order came out and started beating down Gunn. Austin Gunn ran out with a chair and cleared the ring, protecting his dad.
(Morgan’s Take: There is no way this match should have taken even the short four minutes it did. Billy Gunn is easily twice the size of Angels and should have just taken him out immediately, but then, there would be any build up of a match between the Gunn Club and the Dark Order. I can see it coming from here. Aside from that, I really am not a fan of Billy Gunn’s shtick, so this match was totally useless as far as I am concerned. If you like Gunn and his antics, the match would be entertaining.)
(11) REY FENIX & PENTAGON, JR & THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN & MARQ QUEN & ISIAH KASSIDY
Okay, a great big eight-man tag, with a ton of talent in the ring. The match started out with The Butcher and Christopher Daniels. After some back and forth, Daniels tagged out to Frankie Kazarian and while they were able to double team The Butcher and take him down, Kazarian ended up in the wrong corner and took a beating.
Kazarian was able to get an advantage over The Blade and Tagged in Isiah Kassidy who entered the ring with an over the top rope senton. Blade tagged in Ray Fenix and he and Kassidy exchanged moves leading to a two-count for Kassidy. Next it was Pentagon in with Marq Quen who teamed up with Kassidy to do some damage to Pentagon. With frequent tags, the SCU, Private Party foursome ke3pt the pressure up on Pentagon, until he was able to land a sling blade to Kassidy and tagged in The Blade, who mounted Kassidy and rained down blows.
The Butcher tagged in next and continued to abuse Kassidy, followed by Pentagon who hit several chops to the chest before tagging with Fenix to continue the punishment. They continued with frequent tags, keeping Kassidy away from his corner. A miscommunication led to Fenix hitting a kick to The Blade instead of Kassidy, allowing Kassidy to tag in Quen who went to town.
After a bunch of action all eight men were laid out. Eventually, Pentagon and Daniels were the last men standing. Pentagon hit a package piledriver but could only get a two-count as Kazarian came in for the save. Quick note here: When you can, watch Kazarian. When he makes the save, he doesn’t just touch someone and the ref stops the count, he really plows into them actually knocking them off the pin attempt. That is the way it should be done.
Okay, back to the action. After the save, Blade tagged himself in, sent Kazarian flying over the top rope and tagged in The Butcher. Together they hit a combination suplex-back stabber to Daniels who was still the legal man and The Butcher got the three-count for the win.
WINNERS: Ray Fenix & Pentagon,Jr. & The Butcher & The Blade in 11:00.
(Morgan’s Take: Just what you would expect from this group of wrestlers, a ton of high-flying moves and some brutal hits, strikes and moves. Lots of action and very entertaining. Not really much more to say. A very good match for fans of this style.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: As with any AEW DARK telecast many of the matches are just glorified squash matches meant to build up the “records” of the winning wrestlers, and really not much more than that. There were several of those types of matches tonight.
In addition to these, tonight there were actually a few matches that moved some stories forward and added some shade to some possible Dynamite feuds down the road. Most notable of these was the Ricky Starks match. This match forwarded his relationship with Taz and with the obvious references to Darby Allen, was clearly foreshadowing a coming feud, especially after the thumb tack skateboard event.
I also saw the Santana & Ortiz match as building up their cred as serious tag team wrestlers, who can do a ton of damage when they want to do so. As their current run with the Inner Circle has been more comedy than pain and suffering, I am glad we are seeing this side of them and hope it translates over the Dynamite very soon.
Finally, the Dark Order match with Colt Cabana continued to allow Colt to build his character and his relationship with the Dark Order. It might not be a top of the card situation, but it is good to see that they are paying attention to this.
I will also add that I am seeing much more effort in AEW Dark to promote the main show (Dynamite) and to use AEW Dark to build up and on feuds and use this hour and a half of programming to do more than put on four to six minute matches that have little meaning.
Thanks for reading and take care.
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