8/24 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Lucha Bros vs. The Factory, Rosa vs. Reckless, Best Friends vs. H.F.O, more

AEW DARK TV REPORT
AUGUST 24, 2021
RECORDED AT UNITED CENTER, CHICAGO IL
AIRED ON YOUTUBE.COM
REPORT BY RYAN HOWARD, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur and Taz

Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts

-The show began with a recap of CM Punk’s amazing AEW debut on Rampage.

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

(1) THUNDER ROSA vs. HEATHER RECKLESS

Ricky Starks joins commentary for our opener. The match begins with chants for Rosa, who dished out a few chops before landing a running senton. Both ladies missed corner splashes, but Rosa hit a running corner forearm and knee strike. Rosa hit the shotgun dropkick and butterfly slam for a two count. Reckless hit a low kick and enziguri, but Rosa fought back into a leg sweep into the Peruvian Necktie for the tap out.

WINNER: Thunder Rosa in 2:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Reckless is a Black & Brave trainee, so I’m always happy when that school gets talent on shows like this. As for Rosa, she continues stacking wins and I obviously hope she’s getting a title shot soon.)

-Taz informs us Nyla Rose is the first entrant in the female Casino Battle Royale at All Out, which takes place on The Buy In. Also on Dynamite we will see The Gunn Club vs. The Factory as well as Darby, Moxley & Kingston taking on The Wingmen.

(2) VARSITY BLONDS (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.)(w/Julia Hart) vs. REN JONES & BRAYDEN LEE

Griff fired off a nice arm drag and back drop on Lee to start the match, but got blindsided by Jones soon after. Both Lee & Jones hit a Manhattan Drop into a Flatliner for a one count. Griff fought off both men and tagged Pillman, who cleaned house. Starks points out how he hasn’t seen Pillman this intense in quite a while. Pillman hit a nice cross body off the top on Lee and superkick on Jones. Griff took Lee’s head off with a big boot, leveled Jones with a roaring elbow and Pillman hit Air Pillman for the victory.

WINNERS: Varsity Blonds in 2:30

(Howard Analysis: Very impressive showing by The Blonds, who look ready to go to battle with the Lucha Bros tomorrow night in the title eliminator tournament.)

(3) POWERHOUSE HOBBS (w/Hook) vs. SHAWN DEAN

Dean got a hot start right at the bell, hitting a nice dropkick, but ran right into a beautiful Hobbs spinebuster. Hobbs picked Dean up at two and opted for Town Bidness for the quick win. Post match, Ricky Starks puts over Team Taz on the stage as Hook is choking Dean out, while Hobbs put the boots to him.

WINNER: Powerhouse Hobbs in 40 seconds

(Howard’s Analysis: This was not the homecoming Shawn Dean was hoping for. I am happy to see Hobbs back to his steamrolling ways as he has been gone for a little over a month.)

-Dr. Britt Baker, Rebel & Jamie Hayter make their way to the ring as Tony Schiavone is waiting for them in the ring. Tony says Jamie will make her debut on Wednesday, even though Jamie has wrestled on Dynamite twice prior. Britt says Chicago made history tonight because Britt is here as the AEW Women’s Champion. She runs down Red Velvet and even gets the word “Britt-ago” in there to get a chant going. Jamie says she’s going to boot Red Velvet all around the ring, which led to Velvet hitting the ring and they had a brawl. This led to Kris Statlander making a save before any beating could happen by the heels.

(4) DANTE MARTIN vs. ALAN “5” ANGELS

Test of strength started us off, but that quickly turned into a series of fast counters and takedowns before we got a stalemate. Martin fired off a couple arm drags and nice dropkick, but Angels hit a low dropkick sending Martin outside. Angels hit a nice moonsault off the second to the floor. Angels spiked Martin with a DDT back inside for a two count. Commentary puts over how Angels only has one singles win in 2021, while Martin has fourteen. Martin showed off his athleticism by hitting his picture perfect double springboard moonsault for two. Both men go to the apron where Angels hit a nice STO, then hit a Flatliner into a Koji Clutch back inside. Martin rolled enough where Angels almost had his shoulders pinned, so he released the submission. Martin blocked the Wing Snapper; hit a crazy straight jacket Death Valley Driver for the win.

WINNER: Dante Martin in 5:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was a very fun back & forth match showing off two of the young guns of AEW. Martin continues to impress every week, while Angels continues putting on really strong matches whenever he’s on Dark.)

(5) LUCHA BROS (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix)(w/PAC & Alex Abrahantes) vs. THE FACTORY (Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solo)(w/QT Marshall)

The Varsity Blonds are shown ringside watching this match as Penta really played to the crowd, throwing his glove to Alex on the floor, who dropped it. The crowd booed this, so they tried again and Alex caught the glove to cheers. Comoroto was having none of this, as he chopped Penta down and The Factory briefly double teamed Penta before he tagged Fenix. Comoroto spilled to the floor as Fenix & Penta got in the face of The Blonds. Back inside, Fenix tried a handspring back elbow on Solo, who countered into a German suplex for two. Fenix battled back with a ripcord high kick, then a rewind kick on Solo. Penta tagged in and hit a series of Sling Blades, as he lit up The Factory with kicks before hitting a Made in Japan on Solo, shout out to the IWGP World Champ Shingo Takagi. The match sort of breaks down, as Comoroto used his size to gorilla press Fenix with one hand, but Penta put a stop to it and the Lucha Bros hit dueling superkicks. The Lucha Bros hit a wheelbarrow cutter, then a double team under hook piledriver on Solo for the win.

WINNERS: Lucha Bros in 6:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was a fun, chaotic tag match that showed off the power of Comoroto even in defeat. The Lucha Bros obviously looked great here. Penta & Fenix have been looking very impressive.)

(6) JOHN SILVER & 10 vs. ISAIAH MOORE & KAL HERRO

Silver & 10 took turns rag dolling both Moore & Herro respectively before Silver hit a nice combo of kicks into a brainbuster. 10 & Moore tagged in as Moore ran right into a spinebuster. Both Silver and 10 hit a nice combo ending in a powerbomb & airplane spin backbreaker for the quick victory.

WINNERS: John Silver & 10 in 2:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Congratulations go out to Alex Reynolds and his wife, who welcomed a child, thus explaining his absence here tonight. This was just a dominant Dark Order tag, as it got the crowd to chant Johnny Hungee, so it accomplished its purpose.)

(7) BEST FRIENDS (Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor & Wheeler Yuta)(w/Kris Statlander) vs. MATT HARDY & THE HYBRID2 (Jack Evans & Angelico)(w/The Blade & The Bunny)

Best Friends took turns isolating Evans early, as Chuck went for a moonsault, Angelico rolled his partner out of the way, allowing Hardy to wipe out Taylor. This led to Chuck being isolated with Matt calling for a Twist of Fate early, but sucker punched Orange Cassidy, mocking his pockets pose. Taylor hit Sole Food on Matt, while Yuta took out TH2 with a few dropkicks. Everyone, including The Blade, was sent outside, as Yuta hit a springboard cross body, wiping out all the H.F.O. Back inside, Chuck hit the uranage on Angelico, then wiped out Evans with a tope. Yuta hit a top rope splash on Angelico, while Orange just sort of fell off the top onto Angelico for two. Hardy & TH2 regained control with Matt hitting Orange with a Side Effect for two. The Blade took the ref, while all three Best Friends hit a triple suplex on Evans & Angelico. Yuta skinned the bottom rope into a German suplex on Angelico, but Evans wiped him out soon after. Hardy took out Taylor with a Twist of Fate, but as Matt turned around, Orange lit him up with his kicks to pop the crowd. Cassidy hit a nice tilt a whirl DDT on Matt, but Angelico jumped in, avoided Beach Break. Cassidy dropped to his knees and pinned Angelico with his hands in his pockets.

WINNERS: Best Friends in 7:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This match was filled with action and they really kept the Hardy & Cassidy stuff to a minimum, so they made you want to see their match tomorrow. The crowd in Chicago loved the Cassidy antics.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a very enjoyable episode of Dark that featured some pretty good matches. I love it when this show has a nice balance between squashes & competitive bouts. I know they had quite a bit more matches that happened at the Rampage taping, so I wonder if there will be a bonus edition of Dark sometime this week like they had a few weeks ago? Regardless, match of the night goes to Angels vs. Martin, with the action packed main event a close second.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S AEW DARK REPORT: 8/17 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Dante Martin vs. Lee Moriarty, Conti vs. Scott, Hardy vs. Yuta, more