6/22 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Lance Archer vs. Rex Lawless, Brian Pillman Jr vs. Bear Bronson, Serpentico vs. Stu Grayson, more

AEW DARK TV REPORT
JUNE 22, 2021
RECORDED DURING AEW FAN FEST AT DAILY’S PLACE, JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
AIRED ON YOUTUBE.COM
REPORT BY RYAN HOWARD, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur and Taz

Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts

-Alex Marvez is backstage with The Varsity Blonds as Brian Pillman Jr. says Miro thinks everyone will cower in fear, but he found out that wasn’t the case last week. Pillman isn’t afraid to fight for his friends. He says he’s not seeing Bear Bronson tonight in their match, he’s picturing Miro.

-Excalibur and Taz on the call, welcoming us to the show, giving us a rundown.

(1) LANCE ARCHER (w/Jake Roberts) vs. REX LAWLESS

Archer hit a Thesz Press before the bell as Jake Roberts joined commentary saying it’s time to go back to basics. Lawless was able to get off one big boot, but Archer steamrolled him with a running cross body and short arm clothesline, which Jake admired. After hanging Lawless up in the corner, Archer hit a stiff lariat. Full nelson slam connected, followed by the Black Out for the win.

WINNER: Lance Archer in 2:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Three wins in a row for the Murder Hawk Monster, who I assume will keep racking up wins like this for the time being. I’m totally fine with seeing him steamroll his opponents.)

(2) BRIAN PILLMAN JR. (w/Julia Hart) vs. BEAR BRONSON

Ricky Starks joined the booth for this one. Sort of surprised this is on second, considering Pillman has a TNT title shot on Dynamite. Pillman fired off some kicks early, low bridged Bronson to the floor and hit a baseball slide. Julia Hart led a cheer, while Pillman tried a sunset flip, as Bronson just sat on him. Pillman battled back by bodyslamming Bronson, followed up by a cross body off the second for a two count. Pillman was backdropped to the apron, fought back and nailed the Air Pillman flying lariat for the victory.

WINNER: Brian Pillman Jr. in 3:30

(Howard Analysis: Quite a dominating victory for Pillman heading into his showdown with Miro for the TNT Title. I was surprised at how quick this match was, as Bronson usually has far more competitive matches on Dark. This definitely got Pillman over though.)

(3) BRIAN CAGE vs. CHANDLER HOPKINS

Starks was insulted that Cage’s pyro almost burned his jacket. Hopkins lit up Cage at the bell, who Starks commended, saying he has his back, which caught Taz off guard. Once Cage took control, Starks eased back his support of Hopkins, who surprised Cage with a springboard stunner. Hopkins tried a sunset flip, but Cage grabbed him by his neck and launched him to the mat. Hopkins avoided a pump handle slam and dropped Cage with a handspring kick for two. Taz is furious all this offense is happening to Cage as Hopkins got backdropped over the corner and landed side first right on the edge of the ring. Cage tried for his apron superplex, but Hopkins hung him up and hit a sliding German suplex. Hopkins rolled into Cage’s clutches and hit the Deep Sea Diverticulitis, but Hopkins got his foot on the rope. Cage hit a massive powerbomb, then Weapon X for the win. Taz said this victory didn’t have to be this difficult.

WINNER: Brian Cage in 4:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Wow, they crammed about 12 minutes worth of stuff into four and Hopkins looked really good. I did like the story they told on how commentary was getting upset with how long it took Cage to win as it’s playing into the bigger picture of dissension between Team Taz.)

(4) DIAMANTE vs. ASHLEY D’AMBOISE

Diamante wasted no time, as she launched Ashley with an overhead belly to belly and shotgun corner dropkick for two. Diamante got a tilt a whirl side Russian leg sweep followed by a nerve hold body scissors submission for the lightning quick win. Poor Ashley didn’t get out of the gate.

WINNER: Diamante in 1:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was the most dominating victory Diamante has had in AEW. She’s truly been one of the MVPs of Elevation and Dark the past few months and I’m hoping this mean streak leads to more wins for her.)

(5) COLT CABANA vs. KIT SACKETT

Sackett charged at the bell, but Cabana clobbered him with a double handed chop. Sackett tried one of his own, but Cabana answered with a series of bionic elbows. Sackett answered with a dropkick, but ran into a big boot as Colt hit the Superman Pin for the win.

WINNER: Colt Cabana in 46 seconds

(Howard’s Analysis: I mean, not much to say here. I’m all for Colt Cabana becoming the Bill Goldberg of AEW Dark.)

(6) CHUCK TAYLOR (w/All His Best Friends) vs. DAN BARRY

An Officer and a Gentleman collide here as Barry suckered Chuck in with a handshake, sending him outside. Barry hit a nice Asai Moonsault, then a stalling senton back inside for two. Chuck got out of an abdominal stretch, connected with Sole Food and high kick. Chuck clobbered Barry with a step up corner kick, but missed the follow up moonsault. Barry tried one of his own and missed as well, leading to Chuck hitting the short spike piledriver and a stalling piledriver for the victory.

WINNER: Chuck Taylor in 3:00

(Howard’s Analysis: As someone who has watched all of the Officer and a Gentleman shows from Highspots, I was hoping this would’ve been longer. I am happy Excalibur referenced their show, though Taz had no idea what he was talking about. Chuck was a little insulted Trent was rooting for Detective Dan during this one, but we got the group hug post match to give the people what they want.)

(7) ABADON vs. ASHLEY VOX

Vox tried a headbutt early, but it had zero effect. Vox tried to fish hook Abadon, who bit down on her finger, hitting a release German suplex. Abadon hit a nice back breaker, then hit her leg hook DDT for the very fast win.

WINNER: Abadon in 1:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Yet another quick win for Abadon, who is another name that keeps racking up wins on Dark & Elevation.)

(8) GRIFF GARRISON (w/Julia Hart) vs. MARKO STUNT

Griff played keep away with Marko’s hat to start, but Marko stomped the foot to get it back. Marko used his speed to avoid Griff’s offense, as he sent Griff to the floor with a tilt a whirl head scissors. Tope suicida hit twice for Marko, but Griff caught him on the third and hit an F5 onto the apron. Griff looked in the camera saying Marko was tough, which Excalibur said that was the longest promo we’ve heard from Griff. Marko avoided a corner splash and hit a diving elbow to the back followed by a low hurricanrana for two. Griff avoided the Sliced Bread and clobbered Marko with a roaring elbow for three.

WINNER: Griff Garrison in 3:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Marko showed a ton of heart, as usual, but Griff got the victory. Post match, Marko raised Griff’s hand, showing no ill will towards his vlog buddy.)

(9) THE BUNNY (w/The Blade) vs. REKA TEHAKA

Bunny clocked Reka with a punch before the bell, as she lit Tehaka up with chops and a high knee lift. Bunny hit a sliding corner forearm skipping around as Taz said he’s never done much skipping in his time. Excalibur asks if he could turn back time, would he wear fishnets like Cher? That led to Taz actually singing “If I Could Turn Back Time” which made Excalibur lose it. Tehaka battled back with a headbutt, tried a monkey flip, but ate a Bunny superkick. That led to Down the Rabbit Hole to give Bunny the win.

WINNER: The Bunny in 2:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was a strong showing from Bunny, but Taz sang Cher, and that’s all you need to know about this one. It’s just as amazing as you think it is.)

(10) SERPENTICO (w/Luther) vs. STU GRAYSON

Serpentico suckered Grayson to chase him outside, which led to Luther tripping up Stu, giving Serpentico the advantage early. Serpentico ran distraction while Luther grabbed the beard of Stu. Luther screamed “that’s how you win, we’re winners!” as Taz demanded a gif of that. Excalibur explains the origins of the term gif, which led Taz to say “oh, well aren’t you hot sh*t” which popped Excalibur. Serpentico connected with a face buster, went up top, but rolled through a double stomp. Grayson hit a nice pump knee strike, tried for the finish, but Serpentico raked the eyes. Grayson connected with a pop up slam, a leg sweep on the apron and slingshot senton to the floor. Grayson hit a Rock Bottom on Serpentico and a twisting dive outside on Luther. Back inside, Grayson connected with Nightfall for the win.

WINNER: Stu Grayson in 5:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Despite the numbers being on the side of Chaos Project, Stu Grayson was able to get a rare singles win here tonight, fighting them both off to end the show. I was surprised this was the main event and not the Pillman match, since Pillman is the one on this show who has a major match on Dynamite this week.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a lightning quick episode of Dark and one of the rare episodes which had no tag matches. 50 minutes and we got 10 matches in. A couple were competitive like Barry vs Chuck, Stu vs Serpentico, but I’d give match of the night to Cage vs Hopkins as the rest of the matches barely made 3 minutes. Taz sang Cher, which was honestly the highlight of the night.

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NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S AEW DARK REPORT: 6/15 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Dark Order vs. The Acclaimed, Ethan Page vs. Danny Limelight, Tay Conti vs. Willow Nightingale, more