wrestling / TV Reports
Cazer’s AEW Dark Review 10.18.22
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...Howdy Ho folks it’s Tuesday night and i’m about six hours behind as AEW just randomly decided to drop Dark at Noon est without much heads up. If they mentioned it last week it went over my head but I do wish they’d put more effort into letting fans of this show know when stuff like this is coming up. I am excited for this card as we have Eddie Kingston, Ortiz, Shida, Orange Cassidy and more lined up for an episode of Dark, easily one of the more star studded episodes of Dark in a while smart move considering the time swap. Also worth noting that we only have seven matches lined up for this hour of wrestling so a few of these matches should actually get some time. Let’s get to it!
Hikaru Shida vs. Vanessa Kraven
Kraven has some size on Shida but it doesn’t take Shida to take control with a rana that sends Kraven to the outside. Shida looks for a chair and sets it up as a launch pad, Shida with the running Knee into Kraven but she’s caught and dropped back first onto the apron. Kraven back into the ring and hits Shida with a cannonball in the corner. Shida ducks a strike and lays into Kraven, Kraven ducks one of her own but Shida connects again and maintains control. Shida with ten punches in the corner and shoves Kraven into the corner immediately following with a missile dropkick. Shida attempts the falcon arrow, but Kraven blocks it, finally it connects Shida covers for two, Kraven sits up into the Katana and Shida covers for the victory.
Rating: **3/4
Review: It was a decent little showcase match for Shida as she looks to gain some momentum ahead of her title match tonight.
Evil Uno, John Silver, Alex Reynolds, & 10 vs. Tyler Tirva, Shayne Hawke, Zak Patterson, & Jordano
Alex the assistant is on commentary to tell us why he and his group have been recruiting Ten. Reynolds starts off with Hawke, Silver tags in and they nail him with some tag team action. Silver tags in Ten and he nails Hawke with the ten second suplex. Uno tags in, Tirva tries to get involved but Uno drops him. Everyone in the ring as this one breaks down, big collision in the center of the ring as the Dark Order toss all four opponents into eachother then slam them all. Silver tags in and nails Hawke with a series of kicks, Silver drops all four opponents off the apron. Tags from all of the jobbers and it’s hard for me to keep track of who is who honestly and commentary not calling anyone by a name has me thinking they’re in the same. Silver with a double team to regain control, Uno with a series of strikes, and lays out all of his opponents hitting his opponent with the referee assisted neck breaker. Uno up top with a HUGE swanton onto his opponent. Ten into the ring and nails a discus lariat. The Dark order nail Hawke with the combination strikes, Uno with something evil and covers for the victory.
Rating: **1/2
Review: This was not bad at all but really just a big squash match to put over the Dark Order, it’s weird that Ten wasn’t the guy to pick up the win here as he’s being positioned as this big deal but otherwise no critique. Shocked that Excalibur didn’t call a single jobber by name, he’s usually on top of it.
Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Mo Jabari & Jake O’Reilly
Ortiz and Jabari kick this one off, Ortiz in control for a moment, Mo fights back after being back into the corner but Ortiz quickly regains control laying into Jabari, hitting him with the scratch across the back and his cat taunt. Eddie tags in and the crowd loves him, LOUD chops from Eddie to Mo SHEESH. O’Reilly tags in and drops Eddie with a lariat then tries to go chop for chop with him only to get dropped with one shot from Eddie. Ortiz with the legdrop after tagging in. Mo tries to get involved but Eddie sends him into the barricade. Ortiz in the ring with O’Reilly and he has control for a second until Ortiz hits him with a backbody drop. Ortiz with the fisherman buster and covers for the victory. Post match Eddie randomly locks in a submission and refuses to let go until Ortiz talks him down.
Rating: **1/2
Review: Another decent match here the post match stuff was a little odd as Eddie randomly wanted to kill O’Reilly for no reason, I get it with Sammy but a tad odd here unless Eddie is trying to prove a point of some sort.
Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta vs. Kobe Durst, Steven Mainz, & Jessie V
Orange hates carrying things so he has his championship in his backpack. Trent and Kobe Durst kick this off, I wonder if he is Kobe son of Fred. Trent in control early, he tags in Chuck and they drop Kobe with the double shoulder block. Mainz tags in and fights back for a moment until Chuck drops him. Chuck tags in Trent and they hit an assisted spear. Trent and Chuck with the half and half soul food combination to Jessie V. Orange with the orange punch to everyone, hitting Mainz last and covering for the easy victory.
Rating: **3/4
Review: It was another squash, but we got some Orange Cassidy magic in there that kicked it up just a tad for me even though it was relatively short and forgettable like the previous squash matches.
Ari Daivari vs. Brandon Cutler
Daivari in control early working over Cutler but Cutler with a few comedic reversals and then a goofy splash onto Ari for a two count. Cutler attempts an airplane spin but Ari counters and rakes his eyes/mask. Cutler outside the ring and Sonny hits Cutler with a roundhouse kick while the referee is distracted. Back in the ring and Ari covers for a two count, then locks in a chinlock. Ari attempts a suplex but Cutler counters, Ari drops Cutler and makes fun of the Young Bucks. Cutler regains control dropping Ari, Cutler with a series of goofy taunts and elbow drops onto Ari, covering for two. Cutler calls for an airplane spin again, they are both dizzy, Ari falls and magically Cutler falls into the pin for two. Sonny tries to pull Cutler down off the ropes but Cutler with the coldspray to the eyes. Ari capitalizes off the distraction and nails cutler with a hammerlock clothesline and covers for the victory.
Rating: **3/4
Review: This was pretty good for what it was, I really am not a fan of Cutler but that goofy cute stuff will get over with kids and I know some young bucks fans dig him but for me it’s just over the top and dumb, I wasn’t sure if the crowd was booing Cutler or Kiss during their interaction, maybe both.
Post match: Ari talks trash about Hook and says he’s going to take his FTW championship. Hook’s theme hits and he comes out to the ring circling the ring for a moment. Hook hops onto the apron but Ari sends Sonny in the way, Hook shakes his head and walks away signaling that Ari was never a threat. I actually like this segment but I wish they’d save it for a bigger Hook feud down the line.
Willow Nightingale vs. Seleziya Sparx
Willow with a headlock early, then a cartwheel and Seleziya is not impressed. Willow lays into her with a series of lariats, Sparx ducks one and hits eat defeat to Nightingale. Willow recovers and they exchange lariats both women take each other out. Willow to her feet and hits a hip attack to Spark in the corner then a big boot. Nightingale has Sparx on her shoulders but she counters, Sparx off the ropes and right into a spinebuster, Willow covers for two. Sparx backs Willow into the corner and hits a northernlights suplex and covers for two. Sparx in controls and hits Willow with a running boot in the corner. Sparx up top and hits an iffy missile dropkick. Sparx lifts Willow up but she counters with a roll up, Sparx kicks out. Sparx off the ropes and runs right into a pounce. Willow with the doctor bomb to Sparx and covers for the victory.
Rating: **3/4
Review: A very solid fun match between these two. Sparx was fun to watch and i’d like to see her pop back up more. She looked a bit hurt at the end like the missile dropkick did a number on her but she finished off strong.
Dante Martin vs. QT Marshall
We just saw a variation of this match with a lot of excitement last week with QT i’m sure we’ll get a match that’s just as exciting. QT is good in the ring but I wish he’d do a bit more than just beat jobbers and put over mid level upcoming talent. QT toys with the fans early before jumping into the ring with Dante, Dante in control early utilizing his speed against QT. Dante with a shoulder to the midsection of QT then a rana. QT drops Dante neck first onto the top rope stopping his momentum. QT with a back elbow to Dante then a mock of his taunt. Dante fights back but QT hits a dropkick to regain control. Dante to the apron and hits QT with a kick then heads up top and hits QT with a dropkick off the top. Dante flips over a QT spear and hits him with a modified full nelson slam and covers for two. Dante runs into an elbow from QT. QT sets Dante up top and calls for an avalanche diamond cutter. Dante counters and takes him off the top sending him outside the ring. Dante with a dive onto QT outside. Dante with a springboard, QT attempts to catch him with a cutter but Dante waited and avoided it before hitting QT with a dive. Dante tries to roll up QT but grabs the referee the referee shoves his hands off him and Dante rolls him up. QT gets in the race of the ref and the ref threatens to fire him. QT dodges Dante’s finish but Dante hits the roll up for the victory.
Rating: ***
Review: This was a good main event but it honestly should’ve been better given how good QT and Dante are. I liked the teased diamond cutter spot but it was off by a bit for me. Nothing too bad but could’ve been slightly better. The finish was fine but I would’ve rather Dante just hit his finish and got a solidified victory. Just let QT beat real talent and gain victories so you don’t have to ‘protect’ him with a roll up loss.
