2/8 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Moriarty vs. Henry, Yuta vs. Solo, Hart vs. Heather, more

AEW DARK TV REPORT
FEBRUARY 9, 2022
RECORDED AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, ORLANDO FL
AIRED ON YOUTUBE.COM
REPORT BY RYAN HOWARD, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Paul Wight, Mark Henry, Eddie Kingston

Ring Announcer: Dasha Gonzalez

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

(1) JULIA HART (w/Varsity Blonds) vs. KELSEY HEATHER

Heather got an early hip toss, but trash talked too long, which allowed Julia to choke her in the ropes. Julia slammed Heather down by the hair, which insulted Heather, who got in the face of Julia. Hart fired off strikes in the corner, flapjack and standing moonsault to the back. Julia did a handspring clothesline and running corner uppercut, which led to the split out bulldog. Instead of going for the pin, Julia locked on a head scissors to get the submission.

WINNER: Julia Hart in 2:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Much more aggressive streak from Julia Hart recently, which has confused the Varsity Blonds. She bounces back from anger to happy and waving to the crowd pretty quickly. I have no idea what the ultimate pay off is here, as I thought Julia would become part of House of Black, but The Blonds feud with them seem to be over. Maybe Julia dumps The Blonds and joins up with a different team?)

(2) POWERHOUSE HOBBS vs. GUS DE LA VEGA

Poor Gus got steamrolled by a clothesline during his intro as referee Aubrey just rang the bell to start the match. Hobbs hit a big corner splash and uppercuts before bealing Gus across the ring. Huge clubbing blows to the chest of a set up De La Vega and Hobbs just chucked Gus to the floor where he was barreled over. Back inside, a massive spinebuster led to the Torture Rack for the submission. Post match, Tony Schiavone tried to interview Hobbs, who stood on De La Vega, saying it’d be Dante Martin. We then saw Dante show up, knock Hobbs to the floor and hit a huge dive that took Hobbs out. Referees had to separate the two and I’m looking forward to Round 3 between these two.

WINNER: Powerhouse Hobbs in 2:00

(Howard Analysis: I can’t get enough Powerhouse Hobbs squashes, they are terrific. Maybe not for Gus De La Vega, but they’re terrific nonetheless. If it were up to me, I’d have Hobbs win the next match with Dante.)

(3) THE GUNN CLUB (Austin & Colten) vs. ADRIAN ALANIS & LIAM GRAY

Loud “Ass Boys” chants ring out as Austin & Colten attack before the bell. The match begins and Taz immediately calls them The Assy Boys. Gray was isolated and picked apart until Colten missed a corner splash. Alanis made the hot tag, ran wild briefly, but was cut off soon after and put away with the hip toss neckbreaker combo to give the Gunn’s the victory.

WINNERS: The Gunn Club in 2:00

(Howard’s Analysis: Plain and simple, The Ass Boys are ready for their first AEW Tag Team Title match this Friday on Rampage. They want to make their father, Bill Ass, proud I’m sure.)

(4) MERCEDES MARTINEZ vs. QUEEN AMINATA

Aminata tried a float over in the corner, but Mercedes had it scouted with a half and half German suplex. A running boot led to clubbing blows in the chest by Mercedes, who trash talked Aminata in the process. Mercedes drove Aminata in the mat with a spinebuster and poured down right hands. Aminata fought back with a huge headbutt that staggered herself in the process. This proved to be the downfall of Aminata, who couldn’t get her bearings in time, as Mercedes recovered first and hit a Fisherman’s Buster for the win.

WINNER: Mercedes Martinez in 3:00

(Howard’s Analysis: I’m happy we found out Britt Baker was the one who hired Mercedes as her hired gun to take out Thunder Rosa. This is a huge obstacle for Rosa to leap before presumably getting a huge rematch with Britt, I like it.)

-Backstage Tony Schiavone interviews Wheeler Yuta and congratulates him on his impressive showing against Jon Moxley last week on Dynamite. Yuta said he’s leaving his friends in the back tonight against Aaron Solo and will show him what he’s capable of.

(5) ANTHONY OGOGO (w/The Factory) vs. TONY VINCITA

Vincita tied up Ogogo early and mocked him, which only angered Ogogo. Unorthodox backbreaker led to a huge back body drop from Ogogo. Vincita did the Shawn Michaels flip off the corner buckle and was slammed down as he stumbled back into Ogogo. Vincita dodged a corner splash, but missed a missile dropkick off the top. Ogogo hit a spinning fireman’s carry slam, took off the tape on his fist and knocked Vincita out.

WINNER: Anthony Ogogo in 3:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Ogogo is continuing to get ring time on Dark and I like that. The crowd was very quiet for this match though and really only reacted to the Vincita corner flip and the ending KO punch. Even with QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto out there, the crowd wasn’t giving much of a reaction.)

(6) LEE MORIARTY vs. ANTHONY HENRY

Moriarty controlled the opening moments, worked the arm, but Henry turned it into a strike exchange. Both men traded shots before Henry dodged a punt kick to the arm and swept Moriarty on the apron. Henry trapped the neck of Moriarty and spun into a crank. Moriarty tried to get up a boot in the corner, but Henry blocked into a dragon screw. Henry applied a leg lock and did a neck bridge, but Moriarty got a rope break. Moriarty responded with a snap back suplex and big standing double stomp for two. Moriarty tried La Magistral, but Henry countered into a near fall of his own. Moriarty tried a suplex, but Henry countered again, this time with a gnarly brainbuster for two. Stretch Muffler was attempted by Henry, but Moriarty countered into a roll up for two. Both men traded a series of counters until Moriarty hit a Pepsi Twist and Flatliner for the victory. Moriarty offered a handshake post match and Henry obliged as Tony Schiavone interviewed Lee post match. Lee said everyone is watching the metamorphosis of Lee Moriarty and everyone should protect their neck.

WINNER: Lee Moriarty in 6:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was a very fun back and forth battle of counters and the second week in a row where Moriarty looked excellent. I loved that Bryan Danielson name dropping Lee as a potential name he & Moxley could take under their wing if they joined forces. The potential of a Danielson, Moxley, Moriarty, Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta faction would be amazing. Even if Moxley declines the invitation, Danielson with a bunch of young lions is something I definitely want to see.)

(7) ANNA JAY (w/-1) vs. KACI LENNOX

Anna worked the arm early, hit a superkick, but it ultimately led to Lennox hit repeated forearms. Lennox took too long to follow up and Anna knocked her off the second rope. Anna hit a running corner spin kick, the Dangerous Jay kick and locked on the Queen Slayer for the submission.

WINNER: Anna Jay in 1:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Another quick Anna Jay victory that no doubt made the boss -1 proud.)

(8) FUEGO DEL SOL vs. SERPENTICO (w/Luther)

Excalibur told us in the intro graphic for this match this was happening at Universal Studios, questioning why he even said that, which I got a kick out of. Luther’s one arm singlet ensemble, or blouse as Taz called it, needs to be seen to be believed. Both Fuego & Serpentico showed off their speed in the early going, with Fuego able to get a hurricanrana and moonsault off the second rope. Fuego faked a dive, as Serpentico leapt into the awaiting arms of Luther. Serpentico took over inside after a Luther distraction, as he hit a superkick and DDT for two. Fuego created distance off a neckbreaker, spear in the corner and standing hook kick. Luther again ran distraction, as Serpentico hit a piledriver on the apron and senton atomico for two. Luther held Fuego on the floor, but Serpentico wiped out his own partner, as did Fuego with a dive of his own. Fuego hit the elusive Tornado DDT using the stage as a springboard, then back inside hit a double stomp to the neck to win it.

WINNER: Fuego Del Sol in 5:30

(Howard’s Analysis: Usually I’d say the interference was too much, but it at least led to the finish. The miscommunication spelled the demise of Serpentico as Fuego picked up a rare singles victory. This match was actually taped at the last set of Dark tapings back in mid January.)

-Tonight, Powerhouse Hobbs, Anthony Ogogo & Lee Moriarty all had new entrance music from the Who We Are album AEW released. We got a video package from Lee Moriarty on his background and why this entrance music is so important to him. I really enjoyed this as it gave us a quick little look into why Moriarty chose the TAIGASTYLE moniker.

(9) WHEELER YUTA vs. AARON SOLO (w/QT Marshall)

Yuta used his speed to do a misdirection dropkick, but QT ran distraction to let Solo take control. Solo ran down Yuta and the fans before he connected with a nice back suplex. Solo hit a snap suplex, Yuta tried to mount a comeback, but Solo ran him over with a back elbow for two. Yuta was able to get a tilt a whirl into the Manji-gatame, but Solo was helped out by QT distraction again. With referee Bryce’s attention turned, QT wiped out Yuta and Solo again regained control. Yuta showed fighting spirit, no selling a forearm and laid out Solo with a lariat. A Manhattan Drop, corner lariat and top rope diving forearm took Solo to the floor. Yuta hit a perfect Tope Suicida, but back inside, hit a spinning suplex for two. Both men started a forearm battle and Yuta won it, but Solo hit a corkscrew kick. Yuta skinned the cat on the bottom rope, hit a German suplex, but QT again tried a distraction. This time it didn’t work, as Yuta avoided the charging Solo and wrapped Solo up in a seatbelt pinning combo for the victory. Post match, Nick Comoroto hit the ring and The Factory laid out Yuta. Orange Cassidy slowly walked to the ring to make the save as The Factory bailed.

WINNER: Wheeler Yuta in 7:00

(Howard’s Analysis: This was a solid main event, but I wouldn’t have had back to back matches with multiple heel interferences. Yuta looked strong again, especially coming off of his match with Moxley. I expect a tag match next week between Orange & Yuta and The Factory.)

FINAL THOUGHTS: This was my kind of episode of Dark, wrapped up with a bow in 60 minutes. We had a few entertaining competitive matches with squashes as well, it was the perfect balance this week. Match of the Night goes to Lee Moriarty vs. Anthony Henry with Yuta & Solo being second. I’m interested in seeing where the Danielson & Moxley story is going and also want to throw out there I think Keith Lee is the mystery man tomorrow night. I’d honestly love it to be Switchblade Jay White, but I don’t think he’s signing full time with AEW while he’s still involved in New Japan. They’ve once again peaked my interest though, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.

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NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S DARK REPORT: 2/2 AEW DARK TV REPORT: Lee Moriarty vs. Joey Janela, Ogogo vs. Kross, Lance Archer in action, more