Cook’s AEW Dark Review 9.8.20

Hello friends! It’s the third episode of AEW Dark in two weeks, and many of our favorites are along for the ride tonight. I’ll be honest: any show with Anna Jay & Ricky Starks is something I’ll watch and review. Let’s get it started!

Cook’s AEW Dark Review 9.8.20

Excalibur & Taz are here with us, as are members of Team Taz, who will be in action!

Will Hobbs (0-5) vs. Sean Legacy (Making AEW Debut): Liberal ripoff of more recent Star Wars logos with Legacy’s graphic. Hobbs turned some heads with his performance in the Casino Battle Royale, can he turn that momentum into victories here on Dark? 1:59 Legacy opts to kick his way out of the test of strength attempt and gets run over with a shoulderblock. Hobbs with the ol’ Greco-Roman knucklelock, hoists him up, blocks him back down. Legacy fires back with a chop, that doesn’t work, nor does the cross-body attempt. Hobbs just shoves the man while he’s in mid-air. Delayed vertical suplex brings Legacy down. Less delayed vertical suplex the second time. Front suplex this time around. Legacy with a back elbow, but gets lifted up for the old Oklahoma Stampede! Shades of Dr. Death, and it’s enough to get Will his first AEW victory!

Winner: Will Hobbs (3:01)
Match Rating: *1/2

The momentum continues for Will Hobbs, and it seems only a matter of time before he’s getting some Dynamite appearances. A couple more wins should get him there for sure. Pretty easy stuff for him this week.

‘The Machine’ Brian Cage (6-1) vs. Tony Donati (0-2) : Something tells me the FTW Champion won’t take too long to finish Mr. Donati off. Taz is outraged that Cage isn’t introduced as the FTW Champion. Elbows in the corner, big German suplex. Double underhook suplex, followed by a fallaway throw preceded by some bicep curls. Donati with a kick! Some forearms! A flying forearm! Welp, Cage thrist kicked the boy’s jaw off. Powerbomb, Buckle Bomb, followed by the Weapon X and the three count.

Winner: Brian Cage (1:48)
Match Rating: N/A

Angélico (3-5) vs. Griff Garrison (0-4): Garrison rocking the 1999 Y2J hairstyle here, which is certainly a choice. Some arm work & reversals to start us off here. Wrestling! Angelico wants to get on the mat, Garrison prefers the striking game apparently. He strikes the turnbuckle with his head after Angelico pulls him in, and the veteran takes the advantage. Now with a series of submissions learned from Negro Nevarro. He probably taught Angelico how to hold the ropes on his submissions too. Griff fights back, but Angelico retakes the advantage. Drop toe hold into a choke, something you don’t see every day here in AEW. Clotheslines by Griff, couple of big boots send Angelico down. Into the corner, one time he hits a clothesline, the other time he doesn’t. But Griff gets Angelico into a torture rack into a sitout powerbomb for two. That’s all he gets though, Angelico twists Garrison into a pretzel and ends up with an ankle lock that gets the submission.

Winner: Angelico (5:50)
Match Rating: *3/4

Didn’t feel like Garrison had a lot to add to Angelico’s style on this one. I do like Angelico changing his game into this submission artist when I previously knew him as a guy that jumped out of high places. Might be a good way to extend his career.

Skyler Moore (0-4) vs. Anna Jay (2-4): I don’t think I mentioned this last time, but Anna Jay’s new music is tremendous. Only the best for the Great One, Number 99. The Dark Order walks back to the locker room, as they are gentlemen and don’t need to intervene here. 20:42 Knee to Moore’s chest right away by Jay, takes her on a tour of the turnbuckles. Whip into the corner, wrenching Moore’s back. Moore fights back, reverses an attempted hip toss, picks Jay up and front slams her down. Anna talks about how Skyler doesn’t know the new her, and I’m inclined to agree as Skyler immediately gets dominated upon Anna’s return to the ring. Big spin kick in the corner, but Skyler fights back with some strikes. Gutwrench suplex gets 2 for Moore. Kick in the corner by Jay, she props Moore up in the corner! Back rake followed by a stomp sends Moore down. And now there’s that rear naked choke for the submission. Excalibur calls it the Kata Anna Jay, we’ll see if that sticks or not.

Winner: Anna Jay (3:37)
Star Rating: *1/4

Anna Jay making pretty quick work of her fellow youngster, showing wisdom & ring presence beyond her years.

Lee Johnson (0-14) vs. Eddie Kingston (0-1): Taz is not a fan of Eddie’s ring attire, as it looks a little too close to his WWE ring gear. There may be some words exchanged backstage, we’ll have to wait & see on that. 27:38 Lee with the side headlock. Eddie wants a harder shoulderblock out of Lee, doesn’t get it, so he T-Bone suplexes the kid. Lots of mockery from Kingston here. Big chop. Series of chops to Johnson, who keeps getting up. Elbow in the corner & a kick from Johnson. Heads up top, big dropkick! Blue Thunder from Lee Johnson for a two count! Kitchen sink knee, and the Backfist to the Future finishes Johnson off.

Winner: Eddie Kingston (3:16 says I just whipped Lee Johnson’s ass)
Star Rating: *1/4

Not too much to this one, just Eddie Kingston doing his thing. Lee got some moments to shine, but he was in over his head here. That backfist sure looked good.

Sonny Kiss (9-12) vs. Serpentico (2-6): Taz is now upset since Serpentico crossed his arms during his entrance. He’s going to rip off Serpentico’s streamer gimmick now. 33:33 Sonny a master of escaping, along with splitting arm drags, but Serpentico superkicked Sonny on another splits. Big ol’ elbow strike by Sonny, Serpentico knees Sonny, grazes him with a diving foot stomp for two. Serpentico goes on the offensive and hits the old chinlock. Sonny fights back with some kicks, hits the splits legdrop for two. Only off the bottom rope. Serpentico with the knee. Sonny with the suplex, back handspring into a slap, then a Flatliner gets two. Sonny gets double stomped on the Matrix move, then gets DDTed for two. Sonny comes back, up top, hits the Molly Go Round for the three count.

Winner: Sonny Kiss (4:45)
Match Rating: **

Big win for Sonny, who recently interacted with Chris Jericho on AEW Dynamite. Maybe this is Le Champion’s next feud? Would anybody really be surprised? Seems like something Jericho would sink his teeth into.

‘Absolute’ Ricky Starks (6-1) vs. Ben Carter (Making AEW Debut): Carter comes to us from the United Kingdom, which I hope means PAC will be back soon. One of my personal favorites, just like the Absolute One. I was wondering who Ricky was making kissy motions towards, and sure enough there’s Vickie Guerrero at ringside. Ricky’s everybody’s type so I assume he’s Vickie’s type too. Starks offers the handshake, Carter is dumb enough to take it and gets forearmed down for his trouble. Go-behind, reversed by Carter, and that’s the theme early on. Starks with the headlock takeover, but Carter gets out. Starks with a low kick to gain the advantage for a second. Dropkick to Starks’ side takes him down. Series of gymnatics moves, then Starks back suplexes the man. Like the stomp to the head while applying a standing armbar! Vickie joined at ringside by Nina, part of MJF’s campaign that might be done now. They’re happy with Ricky’s offensive efforts. Back elbow by Starks. Carter fighting back now, in the corner, but Carter runs into a Starks boot. Back suplex gets a 2 count. Kind of an octopus hold by Starks that gets broken up with a jawbreaker. Carter flips out of a suplex attempt, schoolboy, superkick and Carter up top…frog splash gets a 2.7! Vickie is not pleased by that move. Phoenix splash misses, Starks with the big spear and the Rochambeau gets the three count!

Winner: Ricky Starks (7:22)
Star Rating: **1/2

Nice debut effort from Carter, but at the end of the day Ricky Starks was just too much for him.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

This was a pretty good show to establish some of the rising talent on the AEW roster. Will Hobbs seems like somebody they have plans for. Of course the likes of Eddie Kingston, Anna Jay & Ricky Starks figure to have roles in the buildup to Full Gear. Sonny Kiss is becoming more prominent in AEW matters. Maybe somebody like Ben Carter gets noticed. That's the fun with this show, there's always somebody that'll pop up and surprise you.