11/30 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Adam Cole vs. Anthony Greene, Bear Country vs. Wardlow & Spears, more

AEW DARK TV REPORT
NOVEMBER 30, 2021
RECORDED AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, ORLANDO FL
AIRED ON YOUTUBE.COM
REPORT BY RYAN HOWARD, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur and Taz

Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts

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

(1) WARDLOW & SHAWN SPEARS vs. BEAR COUNTRY (Boulder & Bronson)

Spears did a few cartwheels out of the gate, ate a Bronson shoulder tackle and the big man did one himself. Spears tried to flip him off, but Bronson took a bite out of his finger. Wardlow clashed with Boulder and did a test of strength, which led to Wardlow shooting a double leg. Boulder gave Wardlow a big shoulder block to the floor, as Bronson wiped out both Pinnacle members with a tope. Back inside, Spears hung up Bronson in the corner, which allowed Wardlow to dismantle him in the corner and big spinebuster. Bronson backdropped out of a powerbomb and sat on the chest of Wardlow. Hot tag made to Boulder, who planted Wardlow with a powerslam for one. Boulder missed a moonsault press and Wardlow hit a roundhouse lariat for two. Boulder sent Wardlow outside, caught spears with a powerslam, but as Bear Country went for their finish, Wardlow hit Casualty of War mid move for the victory.

WINNERS: Wardlow & Shawn Spears in 8:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was a very enjoyable start to the show with both teams getting in quite a bit of offense. That finish was super clever too. I know last week I said I wanted Bear Country to start a win streak and since then, they’ve lost two matches in a row, but I like the progress they’re making.)

(2) KILYNN KING vs. RENEE MICHELLE

After some early trash talk, Michelle fired off some corner forearms. Kilynn fought back with a few kicks, but ate a back kick by Michelle for two. King nailed a running elbow in the corner and release German suplex for two. Michelle threw a palm strike, but couldn’t follow up, as King hit Kingdom Falls for the win.

WINNER: KiLynn King in 3:00

(Howard Analysis: Quick win for KiLynn, who needs to be featured more on Elevation & Dark. She continues to be one of the most improved wrestlers on Dark.)

– Fuego del Sol cut a quick promo on Ethan Page with Alex Marvez saying he’ll shut his mouth tonight saying flame on, game on.

(3) SANTANA & ORTIZ vs. GUS DE LA VEGA & BRANDON GORE

Taz told us which one was Santana and which was Ortiz. So fans who might be turning in the first time and Excalibur points out how weird that would be to join three matches into this show. Quick tags made early by Santana & Ortiz, with Gore taking the brunt of the offense. Santana blocked a corner boot, clobbered Gore with an enziguri and hit 3 Amigos. Vega made the tag and immediately ate a lariat. Assisted cutter and double reverse flapjack put away Vega for the quick win.

WINNERS: Santana & Ortiz in 3:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Excalibur said Vega was outlined in chalk, which I don’t know if that’s the name of the finish, but it absolutely should be.)

(4) SKYE BLUE vs. LA ROSA NEGRA

Negra fired out the gate with a quick spinebuster for two. Blue turned the tables with a leaping clothesline, corner boot and nice corner hurricanrana. Blue hit a superkick in the ropes and top rope cross body for a near fall. Blue connected with a nice looking traditional belly to belly and hit almost a spinning full nelson slam for the victory.

WINNER: Skye Blue in 2:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Quick congrats to Skye Blue on winning the AAW Women’s Championship last weekend. This is the second night in a row she’s looked impressive and needs to be officially “All Elite” at this point.)

(5) ALAN “5” ANGELS (w/-1) vs. MIKE REED

Angels connected with five punches in the corner and a standing frog splash. The camera showed -1 applying Angels mask on top of his original mask, which Taz compared to Mil Mascaras and popped Excalibur. Reed hit a flatliner into the ropes, but Angels hit an enziguri on the apron and high cross off the top. An enziguri sent Reed to the floor and Angels hit a low tope. Back inside, Angels quickly put Reed away with the Wing Snapper for three.

WINNER: Alan “5” Angels in 2:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Super quick win for Angels, who should have a heck of a time trying to survive Bryan Danielson Wednesday night. It should be a great match.)

(6) RYO MIZUNAMI vs. DANI JORDYN

Jordyn showed off her Burn Book, showing the first page was dedicated to making fun of Ryo. Jordyn got a cheap shot and quick low dropkick to take control. Ryo laid out Dani with multiple chops, as Jordyn’s seemed to have no effect. Ryo hit her machine gun chops and running leg drop for two. Dani tried fighting back, but Ryo connected with almost a fireman’s carry powerslam for the win.

WINNER: Ryo Mizunami in 3:00

(Howard’s Analysis: It’s good to see Dani Jordyn back on Dark after a few months. I want to see more singles matches with Ryo, as she’s awesome.)

(7) THE BUTCHER (w/H.F.O.) vs. MICHAEL MARTINEZ

Butcher attacked at the bell and lit up poor Martinez with strikes and short arm lariat. Butcher hit a spinning back suplex for the lightning quick win.

WINNER: The Butcher in 1:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was sort of a bummer because since this taping, Butcher got injured with a torn bicep, so get well soon Butcher.)

(8) JULIA HART vs. NIKITA KNIGHT

Both ladies worked the others arm early, before Julia hit a quick hip toss and superkick. Standing moonsault by Julia, but she didn’t follow up, which allowed Nikita to fight back. Nikita shocked commentators by hitting a Michinoku Driver which dropped Julia right on her noggin for two. Both ladies tried a dropkick at the same time for a double down. Julia up with a series of clotheslines and splits leg drop. Julia hit a running back elbow, split out jawbreaker and split out bulldog for the win.

WINNER: Julia Hart in 3:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Holy smokes, commentary lost their minds at that Michinoku Driver out of nowhere. Singles win for Julia in her first appearance in the Dark ring in a few months.)

(9) INFINITO vs. RAY JAZ

Hailing from The Infinite Universe and weighing “more than you could imagine”, we have Infinito’s debut, sort of. Infinito got the crowd going as he escaped a waist lock into an arm bar. Infinito did a nice series of monkey flips, three of them in fact before a flying headbutt took Jaz to the floor. Infinito hit a diving attack off the apron and back inside did an airplane spin that went almost a full minute, which led to a school boy for the pin.

WINNER: Infinito in 4:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Yes, I enjoyed this Infinito fella. Yes, I wouldn’t mind seeing him again on Dark. Yes, I think whoever this gentleman is, seems to be having a lot of fun doing this and this is definitely the show to do it. I wonder if “The Infinite Universe” is located in Aberdeen, Washington?)

(10) LEYLA HIRSCH vs. SAHARA SEVEN

Both ladies wasted no time firing off strikes at each other, with Seven getting the side slam for two. Leyla ducked a clothesline into a shoulder trapped roll up for two and release German to follow. Leyla hit a V-Trigger and cross arm breaker for a super quick victory.

WINNER: Leyla Hirsch in 1:30

(Howard’s Analysis: I was going to type how I’ve missed seeing Leyla on this show in hard hitting matches, but I’m definitely not going to complain about her squashes, they’re great too!)

(11) AARON SOLO & NICK COMOROTO vs. THE VARSITY BLONDS (Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison w/Julia Hart)

Fast sequence from Pillman and Solo to start before The Blonds isolated Solo in the opening minutes. Pillman foolishly just let Solo crawl to tag Comoroto, who took over immediately. Pillman managed to hit a dropkick outside on Solo, but was cut off from doing a springboard as The Factory took control. After being isolated a few minutes, Pillman fought free and made the hot tag to Griff, who ran wild. Tilt a whirl back breaker on Solo led to a big time Griff splash and sit out slam for two. Comoroto made the tag and almost speared Griff in half for two. Comoroto pressed Griff high, but Griff got free and made the tag to Pillman, who fired off a few superkicks. Pillman hit a sunset flip and Griff clocked Comoroto with a roaring elbow for the win.

WINNERS: The Varsity Blonds in 7:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Strong showing from The Blonds, who were interviewed by Tony Schiavone post match, running down their accomplishments. Griff said this match was a stepping stone and they’ll have gold around their waists in the future. Pillman said they’ve been through it all this year and they’re the “now” of pro wrestling. I like them doing promos like this on Dark to hone their promo skills.)

(12) TONY NESE vs. D’MARCEO JAMES

Taz informed us he had abs like Nese in the early 90s, but covered it up to not make the other wrestlers jealous. Nese hit a nice thrust chop to the throat and hung James up over the top rope before hitting a slingshot splash for one. Nese talked trash as he gave James a hard corner buckle. James finally got off a nice dropkick, but missed a scissors kick as Nese hit a German suplex into the corner. That set the stage for the Running Nese to give Nese a quick win.

WINNER: Tony Nese in 2:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Nese showed he’s more than ready for his TNT Championship match with Sammy Guevara this Friday.)

(13) MATT HARDY & JORA JOHL vs. BARON BLACK & PRINCE AGBALLAH

Baron & Johl started things off with Johl getting a roll up for two, but Baron fought back with a Manhattan Drop and exploder suplex combo for one. Prince made the tag, hit one strike and tagged Baron back in, who was planted with a chop and overhead belly to belly. Baron was beat up briefly before Matt took over with an elbow off the second. Johl quickly tagged back in with a snap powerslam for two before Baron fought back with a back stabber. Prince made the tag and leveled Johl with a nice leaping lariat, but Matt ran distraction and Johl hit a sit out F-5 that dropped poor Prince right on his face. Baron was knocked off the apron as Johl hit a pump kick on Prince. Matt demanded a tag so he could hit a Twist of Fate for the win.

WINNERS: Matt Hardy & Jora Johl in 4:30

(Howard’s Analysis: I really hope 2021 brings Baron Black his first win in AEW, he more than deserves it. As for this match, of course Matt had Johl do all the work and Matt stole the win by doing two moves this whole match. I have no idea where this story is headed.)

(14) ETHAN PAGE vs. FUEGO DEL SOL

Page attacked before the bell with a big boot and continued his attack outside. Fuego was thrown up on to the stage and wiped out Page with a somersault dive as he was trash talking a fan. Fuego fired off a dropkick and moonsault off the top rope to the floor. Fuego missed a Tornado DDT and got pancaked as a result. Page hit a nice draping back breaker before finally heading into the ring two and a half minutes into the match, despite Rick Knox never counting to ten. Fuego was able to get off one tilt a whirl roll up for two, but Page quickly took him out with a lariat. Fuego tried mounting a comeback, but was cut off with Page trying for Ego’s Edge. Fuego countered into a hurricanrana, but missed his Tornado DDT again. Fuego hit a quick moonsault and step up double stomp for two. Page missed a corner pump kick; Fuego hit a double stomp off the top for another near fall. Fuego tried for a hurricanrana out of the corner, but Page actually countered into a massive bodyslam out of the corner. Ego’s Edge followed up for the Page win.

WINNER: Ethan Page in 9:00

(Howard’s Analysis: These two I remember had a singles match in the early days of Dark Elevation and this was far more competitive than that one. This was a very good match, with Page jaw jacking with a young fan most of this match, which I got a kick out of.)

(15) ADAM COLE vs. ANTHONY GREENE

Taz said Greene looks like Sonny, but never followed up, so Excalibur was forced to realize it was Sonny Bono and not Sunny, which cracked me up. Cole did the Adam Cole Bay-Bay pose once too many and got dropkicked outside as a result. Cole quickly responded with a pump kick that sent Greene outside. Excalibur said Greene’s gear looks like a thrift store exploded and never has there been a more accurate description. Back inside, Cole gave a hard corner buckle and back elbow. Greene fired back with punches that put Cole on spaghetti legs and hit a nice jawbreaker neckbreaker combo, but ran right into a Cole ushigoroshi. Cole hit Sweet Chin Music, could’ve got the pin, but wanted Panama Sunrise, which Greene countered into a superkick for two. Greene hit a Michinoku Driver for another two, but Cole responded with an enziguri and backstabber for two. Greene blocked a boot, hit a flapjack and crucifix bomb he won last week with, but instead of a pin, opted for a single leg crab instead. Cole got free, both men traded shots, but Greene tried a cross body off the top and got super kicked in mid air. Cole lowered The Boom for the victory.

WINNER: Adam Cole in 9:30

(Howard’s Analysis: An excellent main event, which should surprise no one. Greene looked very good in defeat, while Cole racks up what has been a rare singles win thus far in his AEW run.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: As I’ve said countless times before, if they cut out a couple of the squashes and replace it with another competitive match, then it’d be a perfect length for Dark. Tonight’s show was bookended by some really solid matches in Bear Country vs. Pinnacle, Ethan vs. Fuego and of course the Cole vs. Greene main event. Those are the three matches I’d suggest checking out. Also, I’d definitely check out the Infinito match, especially if you know who that masked man might be. It was good to see ladies like Leyla, KiLynn, Skye & Ryo pick up wins tonight as well.

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NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S AEW DARK REPORT: 11/23 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Lee Moriarty vs. Nick Comoroto, Matt Hardy vs. Brick Aldridge, Riho vs. Karma Dean, more