wrestling / TV Reports
Cazer’s AEW Dark Review 12.14.21
Loading...It’s Tuesday night and you know what that means! It’s time for AEW Dark with New Guy Jones who is pretty much now just Regular Guy Jones. We have a lengthy card ahead of ourselves but after a really short week last week that’s not so bad. Some of my favorite names like Daniel Garcia, Tay Conti, Nick Comoroto, Riho, Jade and others are slated for this show so i’m anticipating a good outing. Let’s get to it.
Kris Statlander (27-5) vs. Marina Shafir (0-0)
Shafir a former member of the NXT roster if im not mistaken. Chain wrestling early and Shafir is showing her strength by hanging with Statlander initially. Statlander teases the boop but Shafir reverses out and takes Statlander down with a single leg and does a cartwheel into a sleeperhold. Shafir transitions into a headlock and Statlander rolls into a pin for a one count. Statlander explodes out and drops Shafir with a nice dropkick. Shafir gains control and throws some hip checks followed with a judo throw and cover for two. That was unique and cool to see. Shafir has wrist control but Statlander cartwheels out and boops Shafir. Statlander taunts and runs into a big boot from Shafir. Shafir gets upset and tries to rip Statlanders nose off and 1925 commentator Tazz makes his debut. Shafir with another wristlock but Statlander rolls out and regains control beating Shafir with chops in the corner. Running knee in the opposing corner from Statlander to Shafir before Statlander lifts Shafir up for a gordbuster and pinfall attempt for two. Statlander goes for kick but Shafir catches her and hits her with a pump handle driver and covers for a clsoe two. Nearly an upset there. Shafir with a wristlock but Statlander uses the ropes to get a break. Statlander positions Shafir for Big bang theory but Shafir reverses it into an ankle lock. Statlander shoves Shafir off and rolls her up for two. Statlander to her feet and hits a clothesline backbreaker combo and follows with a kick to the back of the head. Statlander locks in the Spider crab forcing Shafir to tap out in 6:25.
Rating: **3/4
Review: This was a really solid opener. Shafir should be brought on ASAP and be given a decent push, she looks legit and can wrestle well from what I saw here. I wish Stat sold the ankle just a bit leading to the finish but otherwise the only gripe I had here was it was too short.
Nick Comoroto (15-14) vs. Dean Fleming (0-0)
Fleming is dressed in a suit and neck tie, interesting attire. Comoroto takes control early and drops Flemming with a heavy clothesline. Comoroto taunts Flemming and tells him to hit him. Dean hammers away at Comoroto and Nick eats every one of them and hits Dean with a knee lift. Comoroto steals his neck tie and lifts him up for an Alabama slam and crashes him into the corner before hitting him with the slam for the finish in 1:30.
Rating: N/A
Review: Relatively simple squash. Love to see fancy Comoroto.
Emi Sakura & Mei Suruga vs. Riho 16-4 Ryo 18-7
Mei and Emi attack Ryo and Riho before the bell and we get some creative tag team action and the bell finally rings. Ryo assists Riho onto the top rope and she gives to the outside on Emi and Mei. Riho sends Emi back into the ring and goes for the 619 but Emi blocks it and hits a backbreaker on Riho. Emi with the we will chop you into a diving splash on Riho in the corner. Riho looking for a tag but Emi stomps on her wrist before lifting her up for a gut buster. Emi drops Ryo off the apron and Mei jumps in and stomps away at Riho. Red boots jones with some crazy stomps. Emi tags in Mei and she lifts Riho up into a full nelson and rolls it into a back arch bridge. Pretty awesome offense from Mei. Riho gets the ropes and breaks the hold. Mei dropped into the ropes and the tiger feint kick connects. Riho tags in Ryo and she runs through Mei and Emi. Ryo with a double spear before catch Mei in the corner with a lariat and leg sweep combo before a pinfall attempt for two. Ryo locks in a head and arm triangle but Mei gets herseslf to the rope for a break. Mei locks in a sleeper and nearly chokes Ryo out before she gets a rope break. Ryo drops to her knees and Mei springboards into a double stomp. Mei with a tornado code red on Riho for a two count. Emi lifts Mei onto her shoulders and we get a combination double senton. Mei covers Ryo for a two count. Ryo catches Mei and hits her with a nice german. Ryo tags Riho and she drops Emi off the apron. Riho with a running knee strike on Mei in the corner before climbing to the top rope. Riho goes for a top rope double stomp but Mei moves. We get a roll up battle and Mei almost steals it twice! Mei goes fo rthe ccode red but Riho blocks it and hits Mei with a bicycle knee stike. Riho to the top but Emi breaks it up. Mei yanks Riho off the top and climbs to the top herself. Mei with a flying elbow and covers for a two count. Emi was being held out and she drops Mei with a lariat. Riho follows with the running knees into the cover for the victory in 7:15.
Rating: **3/4
Review: This was yet another good womens match and another match I wish they gave more time to. There were a few moments that were a bit odd or felt like missteps but this was a lot of fun. Mei stood out to me a lot because she was just very unique in nearly everything she did. I hope we continue to see more of her in AEW.
* Ryan Nemeth cuts a promo on Chuck Taylor and says he’s a big deal, a star, a hunk meanwhile Chuck is a nobody. Nemeth says Chuck won’t win because while he’s a good wrestler he’s no hunk.
Jade Cargill (20-0) vs. Valentina Rossi (0-5)
Valentina is a favorite for the Orlando crowd always getting a good reaction. Jade with a wristlock into a firemans carry and maintains wrist control the entire time. Jade with a gut wrench into a Canadian backbreaker. Jade with a bicycle kick Jade lifts Valentina up and hits her with Jaded for the victory in 1:00.
Rating; N/A
Review: Someone called the kick That Bitch Kick, if it’s not already called that maybe it should be. Jade is cool but her Bicycle kick seems to be off, and perhaps she’d be better served with an alternative finish. Otherwise it’s clear there’s room for growth but she’s doing better. I wonder how they plan to book the TBS tournament going forward.
Invictus Khash (0-3) vs. Angelico (9-8)
Bucket Hat Jones is back. Khash a student of Buddy Wayne nice. This one starts early with some chain wrestling and grappling and neither man taking control right away. Angelico takes control with a hammerlock and Khash rolls through into a single leg. Continued grappling and chain wrestling early on lots of technical wrestling early nothing too flashy but all good. Khash with a unique roll up for two, backslide for one, and Angelico is up selling his left leg. Angelico kicks Khash in the back of the head but Khash goes for the sunsetflip. Angelico reverses and double stomps on Khash. Angelico stomps right on Khash’ throat ouch. Angelico lifts Khash to his feet and eats an uppercut for his trouble. Angelico with a sweet enziguri and ties Khash up into the Navaro death roll in 5:05.
Rating: ** 1/2
Review: Lots of technical work here with Angelico selling the knee, if you’re big into the technical process of matches then this one might be for you but this was too short for me to love the first 3-4 minutes being grappling.
Tay Conti (40-7) vs. Heather Monroe (0-2)
-1 and Anna Jay are here to support Tay. Tay with a roll up early for one. Monroe lifts her up, Monkey flip from Tay into another roll up. Tay looking for an arm breaker and Monroe rolls her into a pin. Monroe chopping away in the corner and brings Tay to the center for a neck breaker. Monroe lifts Tay up and they exchange nice chops. Monroe with an armbar but Tay quickly gets to her feet and fights out. Tay with a knee to the face and a strong elbow strike. Monroe and Tay exchange strikes before Tay sends Monroe into the corner. Tay with an elbow to the face and heads to the top, Monroe moves. Monroe goes for a big boot but Tay moves and hits her with a suplex. Tay hits three pump kicks on Monroe in the corner before pulling her out and hitting the hammerlock DDTay. Tay covers for the win in 2:55.
Rating: ** 1/2
Review: This wasn’t long but both women really showed a lot. Tay is a wonderful babyface but I think Monroe did well in her position as a heel. She was good at being unlikeable even from the moment Tay made her entrance. Little intricacies that can make the fans dislike you despite being technically sound can go a long way.
*Sonny Kiss cuts a promo and says in two weeks we’re getting Sonny vs. Joey in a no DQ match. Sweet.
Lee Johnson & Brock Anderson (4-2 tag record) vs. Faboo Andre & Tony Donati (0-1)
Tony and Lee kick this one off grappling and Lee takes control with a side headlock takeover. Lee with a rollup for two. Lee with a nice dropkick that elicits a Lee chant and Brock tags in. Faboo tags in and we’re back with some more grappling. Brock sends Faboo into the ropes and drops him with a right hand on his way back. Brock drops an elbow right across Faboo’s jaw and covers for a two. Brock looking for a spinebuster but Faboo slips through the legs and tags Tony in. They look for a double suplex but Lee with the save and superkick to Faboo. Brock with the gord buster for the finish in 2:39.
Rating: **1/4
Review: Nothing technically wrong but I was not expecting that to be the finish. I’m not really sold on Brock or Lee, both are ok and Lee stands out a bit more but both could benefit from getting away from the Nightmare Family and do their own thing. Lee’s promo was not good. The gunn Club on the other hand were pretty entertaining post match.
Post match: Arn says the last time he cut a promo he got himself into a bit of trouble so he lets Lee take it away. Lee says he’s honored to have both of these men in his corner. He says he agrees Arn can be a wild man sometimes. Schiavone goes to ask Brock something and is interrupted by the Ass Boys. I mean the Gunn Club. They say if Schiavone was looking for a good second generation interview they were backstage all day. Austin tells Brock he only has a job thanks to his daddy. Austin challenges Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson to a match and calls them BrockLee. The Gunn Club hate to be called Ass Boys but call Brock Lee lame.
Ryan Nemeth (5-9) vs. Chuck Taylor (21-11)
Nemeth tries to steal Chuck’s old gimmick by yelling at a kid but the child is unphased. Try again Nemeth. Nemeth attacks Chuck before the bell and lays into him with knees to the body. Nemeth with a firemans carry and he’s working over Chuck early. Nemeth tosses Chuck outside and distracts the ref so The Wingmen can get their shots in on Chuck. Chuck back into the ring and Nemeth sends him into the ropes. Chuck with a dive onto the wingmen and climbs back into the ring. Nemeth catches Chuck with a pendulum DDT and covers him for a two count. Chuck Taylor hits Nemeth with Soul Food. Avalon gets involved but Yuta takes him out. Nemeth covers and uses the ropes for assistance but Yuta shoves his feet off. Chuck rolls up Nemeth and covers him for the win in 2:58.
Rating: ** 1/4
Review: I hope this isn’t leading to an extended feud with The Wingmen on Dark. I don’t think that a group that’s feuding with the Elite on regular tv should have a program with these guys but that’s just me. This was short and sweet though and Chuck won but it should’ve been more decisive.
Post match: The Wingmen beat down Chuck and Yuta. Orange Cassidy hits the ring and uses the best friends theme. Must be a rights thing. OC stares down Bononi and the Wingmen cower away to the back. Statlander hits the ring and we get a big best friends hug.
Josh Woods (0-0) vs. Shawn Spears (16-4)
Woods is the current, or former ROH Pure champion, not sure if that title has been retired but either way good to know. Woods asks for the handshake but Spears says not here. Tough guy grappling early as we get a continuation of armbar reversals. Spears with a rollthrough and does the ten taunt. Woods catches Spears off the ropes and sends him to the outside. Woods looking for a tope but Spears catches him with a strike. Spears with a suplex and leaves Woods hanging upside down on the ropes/apron. Spears with a superkick to the chest on Woods. Spears catches Woods in the corner and Knees Woods in the face multiple times. Woods catches Spears off guard and locks in an ankle lock. Spears fights out and Woods catches Spears with a couple splashes in the corner followed by a rising knee strike. Woods with an ankle lock and the crowd is excited. Spears nearly taps but rolls through and sends Woods to the outside. Woods off the top but Spears moves and catches him off guard with the C4 for the victory in 4:45.
Rating: **1/2
Review: Woods was awesome and I wish he would’ve won here. I’m not sure why but i’d love to see Woods somehow paired with Josh Alexander from Impact, I feel like they could be a devastating legit tag team. Either way though Woods should be a consistent guy at the absolute least, and truly should be getting his win back by the next set of tapings.
*Joey Janela cuts a promo and says ever since Sonny pinned Joey in Newark Joey has been dealing with a spiraling depression. He goes to sleep and wakes up when it’s dark. He says everytime he wakes up he looks in the mirror and remembers Sonny. He says he’s left Sonny alone, and in Sonny’s mind it was over but in Joey’s Sonny was living on borrowed time. Joey says in two weeks there will be no rules, and nothing to save Sonny. Joey tells Sonny to enjoy his next two weeks because in two weeks it’s Sonny’s execution. Nice promo. Glad this feud got time to build over time.
Nyla Rose (24-5) vs. Zeda Zhang (0-2)
Zeda uses her quickness to catch Rose off guard momentarily but Rose just launches her across the ring. Nyla slams Zhang into the corner and follows with a german suplex. Nyla with an overhand chop to Zhang and follows with the beastbomb for the victory in 1:30.
Rating: N/A
Review: Pretty typical Nyla squash, nothing too crazy but still relatively decent.
Arjun Singh (0-3) vs. Tony Vincita (0-0)
Arm ringer exchange until Singh with an armdrag to take Vincita down. Singh flips out of a wristlock and drops Singh with a forearm. Vincita talks some trash and locks Singh in a headlock. Singh with a butterfly suplex sends Vincita to the outside apron. Vincita hangs Singh up on the top rope. Vincita stomps away at Singh and drops a knee before covering for a one count. Singh chases Vincita in the corner but nobodies home. Vincita to the top and drops Singh with a top rope drop kick. Red Shirt jones has Tazz distracted seems he’s struggling to care about these two as well. Singh drops Vincita with some running elbow strikes. Singh lifts him up into a firemans carry and drops him down face first onto his knee for the victory in 3:30.
Rating: **
Review: This was technically fine but I struggle to care as I know they’re just setting Singh up to put someone else over in the coming weeks. Neither guy was bad and I was almost hoping we’d get the Tony a victory as he had no entrance. I believe AEW could benefit from doing that in cases like this to keep things fresh. I saw a fan in the Youtube Chat say everyone who gets an entrance wins and that’s always true, but in a case like this with two relative unknowns it wouldn’t have hurt to let Tony get an entrance and Arjun win to throw the fans off.
2.0 (9-7) & Daniel Garcia (9-9) vs. Evil Uno (28-16) Alex Reynolds (22-13) & Colt Cabana (25-11)
Parker and Uno start this one, Chikara vibes. Parker in control early with a headlock and looks for a shoulderblock that sends Uno into the ropes and he drops Parker on the rebound. Uno cant make the tag but Parker does and tags Matt Lee in. Cabana with the blind tag and we get a double shoulder tackle on both members of 2.0. 2.0 and Garcia regroup and Garcia tags in. Garcia takes Cabana down but Cabana reverses and tags in Reynolds. Garcia with an uppercut on Reynolds and taunts the dark order. Reynolds out of the corner and catches Garcia with a forearm. Reynolds rolls up Garcia for a two. Reynolds looks for a tag but 2.0 sweeps Cabana and Uno off the apron. Cabana runs down Jeff but Reynolds catches him off guard. Garcia drops Reynolds off the apron with a shoulder block. Garcia sends him back into the ring and tags Matt Lee in. Lee with the quick tags and tags Jeff in who stomps away at Reynolds before a snapsuplex pinfall attempt for one. Garcia tags in and stomps Reynolds in the stomach. Garcia lays into Reynolds with some stiff knees to the ribs. Matt Lee tags in and slaps Reynolds in the face. Reynolds goes for the sunset flip but Parker tags in and stomps away at Reynolds before tagging Garcia in. Garcia stomps son the knee of Reynolds. Garcia sends Reynolds into the ropes and locks him in an abdominal stretch and starts using his knuckle in the ribs of Reynolds. Garcia gets assistance from Lee and the ref doesn’t see it initially. Mat lee with an abdominal stretch of his own but Reynolds fights out. Parker tags in and stomps Reynolds from making a tag initially but is eventually sent into the corner face first. Reynolds tags in Uno and he runs through 2.0 and drops Garcia with a strong powerbomb. Uno tags Cabana in and Cabana runs wild on everyone before nailing Garcia with the combination strikes and elbow. Colt catches Matt Lee and Garcia with splashes in the corner before pinning parker. Garcia and Lee break it up but Uno comes in to make the save. 2.0 back Uno into the corner and tag Daniel Garcia in. Reynolds jumps onto the backs of 2.0 and hits Garcia with a superplex, Cabana with the superman pinfall attempt for two but Garcia kicks out. Garcia with a boot to Cabana’s jaw and tags Matt Lee in. Lee and Parker lift Cabana up face first into the top turnbuckle and Lee covers Cabana for the three count in 9:42! Wow an upset!
Rating: *** 1/4
Review: At points this match got a bit out of control and we could easily critique the reffing but otherwise no complaints. I was truly surprised to see Garcia and 2.0 win here as The Dark Order have great records and typically are winning on Dark so this was a pleasant surprise. The match itself was really good and almost like a toned down PWG six man, like very toned down but still some elements of it that made this enjoyable despite being a tad short.
Top Three Names to Watch following AEW Dark
1. Daniel Garcia – Any week Garcia shows up and wins he’ll be on the top three. Dude is a workhorse and really a character I am very fond of. I can see others not loving him but I think the more time he gets to evolve the better he’s going to get. He’s getting into a feud with Jericho next it seems which could be a great step in the right direction.
2. Nick Comoroto – Nick is a big dude and really could be a prominent Hoss if given the chance. He’s a loveable dude though and I think would make more sense as a funloving babyface, regardless of his position they should let him rack up a bunch of wins before taking another surprise loss like the one he took vs. Lee Moriarty.
3. Arjun Singh – Singh was not one of my personal favorite’s but we should keep an eye on him. He will in all likelihood be a superstar who gets a win here and there so his losses to big names feel more important similar to Jorah Johl. However there’s a chance he’s someone Tony wants to use a lot and could see some victories going forward.
Jobber(s) of the Night:
Josh Woods / Marina Shafir / Mei Suruga
All Three of these superstars are incredibly talented and would be great additions to the consistent AEW Roster. I mean no disrespect by considering them jobbers but they all shined in their respective spots. If you want a more traditional selection then Heather Monroe was an awesome heel but these three are the top three losers of the night no questions asked.
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