Kevin’s AEW Dark Review 7.07.20

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Excalibur and Taz were on commentary.

Brian Pillman Jr. (0-0) vs. Shawn Spears (7-2 in 2020)

It’s a treat to get to see Pillman Jr in action. Like Spears’ match last week, he found himself in quick trouble and needed a break to get advice from Tully. Once he did that, he became more vicious and used his possibly loaded glove. Pillman got in a few decent spots but this was mostly one-sided. Spears picked up the win with his C4 running DVD in 5:11. Decent stuff and I look forward to more Pillman Jr. [**]

Spears laid out Pillman after the bell after the glove was loaded.

Big Swole (4-3 in 2020) vs. Rache Chanel (0-0)

Chanel has a gimmick of seemingly caring more about material things and her looks than her wrestling. I really liked how Chanel would try to send Swole off the ropes to break a headlock but Swole was too strong and just kept putting on the breaks. It’s the little things that count. Chanel nearly broke Swole’s neck on a rough looking draping backbreaker. As Swole got worked over, we got an appearance from the Roll Model herself, Britt Baker. Swole fought back and started firing off shots, including the Dirty Dancing and pump kick to win in 7:19. It was a bit longer than it needed to be. Swole was good but Chanel was a bit sloppy. [*3/4]

Post-match, Swole went over to confront Baker but Rebel drove her off.

A backstage sitdown interview was conducted with Allie and Brandi Rhodes. Fight for the Fallen was brought up and last year, Brandi beat her with help from Amazing Kong. They bickered over who led the team to wins until Dustin came over. He told Allie that he knows she’ll break QT’s heart. He implored her not to and to focus on making the Nightmare Sisters successful.

Frankie Kazarian (19-10) vs. Luther (2-1)

A win puts Frankie with Omega, Cody, and Scorpio in the 20-win club. A clash of styles here. Kaz kept things at a slow pace surprisingly and it was Luther who came back with things like a spinning heel kick. That put the big man in control but Kazarian kept kicking out. Kaz began to rally with a flying forearm like he’s 2000 Chris Jericho. Just when it looked like Luther might pick up the win, Kazarian used a victory roll to secure the win in 6:48. A stronger outing for Luther than I expected. Their styles didn’t mesh all that well but it was still pretty good. [**]

Brady Pierce, Faboo Andre, Joe Alonzo and Tony Donati (0-0) vs. The Butcher and The Blade (7-5) and The Lucha Bros (6-6)

Imagine having Fenix and Pentagon on your roster and having them be just 6-6. The same could be said for Santana and Ortiz. Anyway, this is meant to preview the eight man tag tomorrow. Donati interrupted CERO MIDEO and went right after Pentagon. It was cool to see the Lucha Bros do tandem offense again. The match broke down and Pentagon worked with Blade for a superkick/Brainbuster combo. He and Butcher even did CERO MIDEO. Butcher duplexes one of the jobbers into a Pentagon powerbomb onto Blade’s knees and Fenix added a dropkick off the top. That ended this in 3:14. A super entertaining squash. [NR]

Orange Cassidy (5-5) vs. Will Hobbs (0-0)

Hobbs has an impressive physique. He talked smack when he saw Cassidy put his hands in his pockets. As soon as the bell rang, Hobbs charged. Cassidy moved, he hit the post, and then Cassidy hit the Superman Punch to win in 0:12. That was great. [NR]

Michael Nakazawa (1-1 in 2020) vs. Shawn Dean (0-8)

Nakazawa immediately got out of a wiastlock by pouring oil all over himself and wriggling out. It’s a sight. Dean got in more offense than a lot of people on this show. He had some decent back and forth. Nakazawa hit a tackle and then a diving shoulder block got him two. Dean hit a TKO and a Backstabber to nearly become the first of these guys to get a win. Nakazawa put on the abdominal stretch and used his own g-strong on Dean’s face to try and win by submission. Gross. Dean survived but got slammed by it and lost in 5:42. Yeah, I’m not really into Nakazawa’s whole schtick. [*]

Serpentico (0-3) vs. Scorpio Sky (20-9)

This had a good pace to it. Serpentico came out quickly and though Sky tried to slow him down, he couldn’t. Serpentico hit a pretty sweet tope suicida that sent Sky into the guardrail. Back inside, he remained in control and came close to picking up his first win a handful of times. They built up a suplex spot that Sky kept blocking and he eventually countered it into a brainbuster. Serpentico was still not done and hit some nice aerial offense for more near falls. Sky weathered the storm and won with the TKO in 9:58. A good back and forth match. Sky continues to shine and Serpentico impressed. [***]

Brandon Cutler and Peter Avalon (0-4) vs. Dark Order (6-0 in 2020)

Cutler and Avalon showed off some decent tag offense at the start. Cutler played the face in peril for a bit after it and surprisingly, Avalon got a mild tag. He did pretty well, even hitting an Arabian Moonsault for two. Leva tripped Grayson and he went after her, so Avalon hit him with a springboard dropkick. Other Dark Order members came down and she hit them with a book before Cutler took them all out with a springboard tope con hill. A flurry of offense after was their last hope. Avalon soon fell to the Nightfall(?) in 7:23. That was solid as Avalon and Cutler are growing on me. [**1/4]

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

It was over an hour, which is usually a bad sign for the show. Sky/Serpentico was good and I dug the eight-man tag squash. There are a couple of decent matches but nothing more.