Kevin’s AEW Dark Review 8.4.20

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Scorpio Sky (6-1 in 2020) vs. Will Hobbs (0-4)

Hobbs splashed Sky in the corner before the bell. I like that as it shows these guys are trying their hardest to get that first win. It led him to a near fall. Sky quickly recovered and won with the TKO in 1:12. That was fun but barely a match. Thumbs up. [NR]

Sky cut a post-match promo saying he’s being called the King of AEW Dark. Who is calling him that? Anyway, he says he’s not burying the show but it’s not his ceiling. He notes that he’s one of only two guys to pin Chris Jericho in AEW. He said he was tired of waiting and watching others eat. Taz notes that the dude is somehow not ranked in the top 5 despite a killer record.

Aaron Solow (0-2) & Serpentico (1-5) vs. The Gunn Club (2-0)

Billy towers over Seprentico. He used his size to get the upper hand but Austin found himself in trouble once he became the legal man. Solow and Serpentico showed off decent chemistry for a team that isn’t common as they isolated Austin. Billy got the hot tag and set up for a Fameasser but it was avoided. Solow took one from Austin and then Serpentico fell to a hip toss/suplex from Austin in 5:25. It was solid. [**]

The Initiative (0-8) vs. Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss (5-1)

Both teams have been impressive over the weeks. Kiss and Janela did some really smooth tandem work early on, putting Avalon on the defensive. He took an atomic drop and got twerked on, so there’s that. Surprisingly, the fight went to the stage where Janela missed a charge and hit the steel part of the stage. That put him int eh role of the face in peril. The Initiative did a good job of cutting off the hot tag. Once Sonny got it though, he was hitting split leg drops and all of his key offense. Their finish was cut off but Kiss knocked Cutler onto Avalon and still hit the Blockbuster, making Avalon hit Cutler with a Samoan drop. Janela hit a tope suicida and Avalon got two on a middle rope Russian leg sweep. Janela took a Sliced Bread outside from Leva but Kiss wouldn’t stay down inside. Janela recovered and Avalon fell to the Doomsday split attack? I don’t know what to call it. It went 9:34 and was very good. [***]

Abadon (2-1) vs. KiLynn King (0-6)

This felt similar to Abadon’s previous match on Dark, complete with a similar guardrail spot. King got in a bit of offense but then Abadon just snapped her neck into place and was back up. King got a near fall on a pretty nice release German suplex. Abadon came back and won with a head plant rana that didn’t look good in 4:08. I was more impressed by King here. [*]

Jack Evans (0-0 in 2020) vs. QT Marshall.

Two returns! Apologies but I missed QT’s record. Evans was awesome early on, being a jerk and doing things like handstands for no reason. QT held serve but Evans was willing to do things like poke him in the eye if he had to. QT got two on a powerbomb and kept using his strength advantage with a tilt-a-whirl slam. Evans nearly won with a corkscrew moonsault. Surprisingly, a right hand from Angelico led to Evans winning with a sweet bridging rollup in 8:23. It had a few cool moments but was kind of dull at points. [**1/4]

Dustin saved QT from a post-match beating.

Brian Pillman Jr. (0-2) and Griff Garrison (0-4) vs. FTR (4-0)

FTR was talking with Tully Blanchard in the tunnel. Apparently, they also demanded tag ropes for their matches. Pillman got worked out by FTR to start but fired up with dropkicks and offense that reminded me of his dad. He and Garrison did a few tandem moves. They held their own for a bit in terms of trading stuff with their more established opponents. As FTR got in control, Shawn Spears was shown watching. The Gorbuster was cut off but then they hit the Goodnight Express (Shatter Machine) to win in 6:18. Quality little tag match here. [**1/2]

The Butcher and The Blade (9-5 in 2020) vs. Private Party (5-4 in 2020)

No Matt Hardy with Private Party. This was a match built around two teams with different styles. For example, Private Party did their Silly String move only for Butcher to just wreck them with a backbreaker. Marq Quen got isolated and then got the hot tag to Cassidy who hit everything moving with kicks and such. He stopped to showboat but still hit a springboard Diamond Dust. His hot streak didn’t last long as he was put down soon after at the 8:48 mark. This was a solid main event but lacked any real drama and felt kind of hollow. [**3/4]

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

This is the AEW Dark that I like. This is never going to be a show getting 8.0 or higher in the ratings. All I want is a show that doesn't drag on, gives people a good place to showcase their stuff, and moves along nicely. This mostly did that with some solid matches and enjoyable squashes.