wrestling / TV Reports
Lovell’s AEW Dark Review 6.8.21
Image Credit: AEW/Twitter
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Let’s jump into this week’s episode of AEW Dark.
Lance Archer vs. Zicky Dice
Archer brings Dice out from the back and just destroys him. What an OUTLANDISH start to the match. Jake Roberts back on commentary, and he’s great. Dice makes the mistake of punching Archer, so Archer hits him with some brutal forearm shots. Archer hit the Blackout after that for the easy win at 2:01.
Blake’s Rating: SQUASH
– Matt Hardy with TH2. Matt offers them a flat rate of $4,200 and will more than double it if they take out Christian Cage. He also offers them a spot in his faction. Angelico and his abs agree to the proposal. Matt is pretty hilarious with this character.
Abadon (7-1) vs. Willow Nightingale (0-2)
Ricky Starks is scared by Abadon, and I can’t blame the guy. Willow is also terrified, so I don’t like her chances in this one. They show Starks’ facial expression early in the match, and like everything with him, it’s tremendous. Willow thinks she’s in control, but can ever really be in control of Abadon? I think not. Abadon bites Willow’s wrist and finishes her off with the leg DDT for the victory at 3:35.
Blake’s Rating: **
Cezar Bononi (6-10) vs. Cyrus (AEW debut)
Taz has introduced COVID Jones to his repertoire to highlight Pretty Peter Avalon’s mask. Also, we officially have ourselves a HOSS FIGHT in this match. Cyrus is an absolute unit, and that gave us a laugh-out-loud moment with Ryan Nemeth running to hit a cross body on him and simply bouncing off Cyrus and face planting on the outside. I’m still laughing. Quite a back and forth affair here, with both men getting in a decent amount of offense. Cyrus went up top and missed a moonsault, allowing Bononi to pick him up and plant him for the win at 4:54.
Blake’s Rating: **1/2
Angelico (3-2) vs. Matthew Justice (AEW debut)
Justice came off the top to try to take out Angelico on the outside, and my goodness did Justice have a BRUTAL introduction to the guardrail. That looked like it hurt. Once again, Angelico has a unique approach, and that was on full display in this one. Justice did a great job selling, but it was Angelico using the Navarro Death Lock to get the victory at 3:48.
Blake’s Rating: **
– Darius Martin hypes his match with Matt Sydal.
Tay Conti vs. Natalia Markova (0-1)
The GOAT -1 has arrived. Pretty sure he still has one of the greatest records in the history of wrestling managers. He’s already a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I’ve mentioned it before, but Conti is just a star. She’s another unique talent that has the personality to be a future champion. There’s no doubt about it. The feud between her and Britt Baker should be great. Markova didn’t mind exchanging some stiff shots with her, but Conti eventually used the awesome strikes to gain the advantage and hit the DDTay for the victory at 4:28.
Blake’s Rating: **1/2
Chaos Project (9-13) vs. JP & Tommy Daily (AEW debut)
Regular readers know I love me some Chaos Project matches, mainly due to Luther using Serpentico as a weapon. I also love when Taz gets on a roll on commentary, and he did that with a deep dive into the middle names of JP and Tommy. Speaking of those two, they certainly have nice athleticism and skill in the ring. But that wasn’t enough in this match, as Luther and Serpentico hit the Creeping Death for the win at around five minutes.
Blake’s Rating: **
– Joey Janela with Alex Marvez. Janela is pissed about Marvez bringing up injuries. Janela reminds us it’s bad boy summer time and he talks about him and Marvez going to BIG MOMMY MILKERS. Then he says they’re going to the NIP FACTORY. Sonny Kiss comes running in and wants Janela’s help, and Janela says he’ll help. Not gonna lie, I love these Janela heel promos.
Marko Stunt (16-24) vs. Ariel Dominguez
Taz with some sarcasm about vertically challenged people not being able to make it in wrestling. Taz is the best. Dominguez is back on AEW Dark after losing to Griff Garrison last November, so let’s see if he can get a win. Narrator: He couldn’t. Marko was aggressive from start to finish, and he earned the victory at 3:25.
Blake’s Rating: **
Aaron Solow (6-13) vs. Sonny Kiss (8-7)
They play up Kiss looking for Janela during the entrance, and that’s a nice touch. Nick Comoroto didn’t give QT Marshall the throne in the aisle, so I’m a little disappointed about that. Excalibur equates QT to a soccer dad, then Taz suggests QT looks like he’s constipated. Only on AEW Dark, folks! Lots of back and forth with Kiss and Solow, with Kiss showing off the flexibility. But Kiss got distracted by QT, and Solow hit the Pedigree to get the win at 3:57.
Blake’s Rating: **
– After the bell, Solow and Comoroto attack Kiss while everyone looks for Janela. QT laughs while looking at entrance. Where could Janela be? I’ll tell you where. THE NIP FACTORY.
Nyla Rose (10-2) vs. Missa Kate (AEW debut)
Taz channeling his inner Beavis and Butthead while reciting Nyla’s entrance music is yet another gem in a long line of them. This was all about Nyla’s domination, but I enjoyed Missa Kate’s work. She’s very good with her selling and mannerisms. However, she wasn’t good at stopping Nyla, who hit the Beast Bomb to earn the victory at around three minutes.
Blake’s Rating: SQUASH
QT Marshall (16-1) vs. Bear Bronson (8-8)
QT has a hell of a record, doesn’t he? Seems like he should be next in line for an AEW World title shot at this point. Another opportunity for Bronson to add some experience as a singles wrestler, and he’s made the most of it thus far. We even had a flying bear at one point when Bronson hit a tope suicida. They worked to Bronson hulking up, and he got a good run of offense in after that, including several awesome power moves and near falls. But it’s QT’s world and we’re all just living in it. QT nailed Bronson with a thrust kick and hit the diamond cutter for the win at 7:41. Good stuff from both men.
Blake’s Rating: ***
Thunder Rosa (14-2) vs. Megan Bayne (0-1)
As I said in her previous AEW Dark appearance a month ago, I can appreciate Bayne’s character as someone who enjoys history. Do you know what Thunder Rosa enjoys? She enjoys kicking ass. She did just that, and Bayne sold it well. Thunder Rosa went into her bag of tricks to unleash her submission offense, and she forced Bayne to tap out at 4:03.
Blake’s Rating: **1/2
10, Stu Grayson & Colt Cabana (AEW trios debut) vs. Justin Law, Dan Barry & Kit Sackett (AEW trios debut)
Barry, Sackett, and Law most definitely sounds like a law firm. I know I’ve said it previously, but Grayson is so fun to watch. This was all about Dark Order proving themselves as an excellent unit, and Grayson was once again a standout. He hit the Nightfall for the win at 3:55. After the match, -1 nearly obliterated referee Rick Knox with a hard shove.
Blake’s Rating: **
Big Swole & KiLynn King vs. Sea Stars (1-0)
I would love for AEW to add Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo to the roster. They’d be valuable additions to the women’s division. However, despite their fine AEW record, it was Swole and King emerging victorious, with King hitting her finisher to get the victory at 3:45.
Blake’s Rating: **
– Tony Schiavone with QT, Solow, and Comoroto. QT reminds everyone he pinned Cody Rhodes and forces Tony to repeat it. And that’s apparently all QT wanted. Nice gentleman.
Matt Sydal (7-3) vs. Dante Martin (8-2)
These two can go in the ring, so this should be fun. Lots of fun. Just like with Bear Bronson, Dante has excelled in his singles matches while his partner is sidelined. I also like pairing him with Sydal, who has a similar style and does a great job with the little things. The chemistry was something else between these two, and it made for a competitive match with plenty of incredible athletic feats. Both made their way up to the turnbuckle, and Sydal knocked Dante off before hitting the Meteora for a HUGE near fall. Sydal then took it to an extra gear, hitting the Lightning Spiral for the win at 13:40. Probably my favorite AEW Dark match since Lee Johnson vs. Ben Carter. Just a stellar technical showcase, with the veteran and the rookie exchanging the best that they had, only for the veteran to have that extra something to pick up the victory. The crowd would have gone BANANAS for this match had they held it during the Double or Nothing weekend tapings.
Blake’s Rating: ****
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