Lovell’s AEW Dark Review 1.26.21

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Let’s jump into this week’s episode of AEW Dark.

Miro (1-0) vs. Fuego del Sol (0-1)

Our friend Fuego is going to get a win at some point. I know he is. However, I do not think his first win is going to come against THE BEST MAN. He’s the best. Miro just destroyed poor Fuego in this match and forced him to tap out at 2:36. We even had Charles Taylor playing his role to perfection.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

Jurassic Express (17-6) vs. Lee Johnson & Aaron Solow (0-3)

THEY CAME OUT TO JUNGLE BOY’S THEME. This shows gets an automatic 10 rating. AEW is gonna have to run a Chris Jericho vs. Jungle Boy main event in front of a packed arena just for the entrances alone. Speaking of wrestlers who are gonna eventually get a win in AEW, perhaps Johnson is gonna do it via The Walkoff later. We’ll see. I do like that AEW and creating a regular team with him and Solow on Dark, so at least they can build some chemistry. Good stuff from all four of these men as you would expect, and Johnson got a near fall on Jungle Boy that faked me out and actually made me think they were about to pull off the upset. But the double team combination from Jurassic Express led to Jungle Boy forcing Solow to tap. Really good match. Let’s celebrate!

Blake’s Rating: ***1/4

SCU (5-5) vs. Terrence and Terrell Hughes (0-4)

Excalibur explaining the difference between the Dudley twins to Ricky Starks is commentary gold. The stipulation continues with Daniels and Kazarian needing to win to stay together as a tag team, and having that storyline helps get invested in a match like this one. TNT continue to impress each time they appear on Dark, and they amped up the intensity late in the match. However, SCU hit the spike piledriver for the victory at 8:40. Another good tag team match.

Blake’s Rating: ***

M’Badu & KC Navarro (AEW tag team debut) vs. The Butcher & The Blade with The Bunny (14-8)

M’Badu is back! He was a favorite several months ago. Blade started this match in his jacket and gloves, it was quite a badass look. Also, Bunny started beating the hell out of Navarro on the outside, and this is a group of maniacs. I love it. Navarro got destroyed for a bit, but M’Badu got the hot tag and hit a couple of Stinger splashes. That pissed off Butcher, and he and Blade used the powerbomb and neckbreaker combination to pin M’Badu at 3:18. Pure domination.

Blake’s Rating: **

Rey Fenix (10-4) vs. Baron Black (0-1)

Anthony Ogogo loves this matchup. Absolutely loves it. Black slapped Fenix early in the match, and things got fun from there. They let Black get a lot of offense in here, and that was nice to see since he’s mostly been in a lot of tag team matches recently. Fenix responded with a vicious slap and a jumping sidekick before hitting locking in a submission, but Black was able to reach the ropes. MORE CHOPS from both men and then EVEN MORE CHOPS. Just tremendous. Fenix really had to work is ass off as Black gave his best shot multiple times, but it was Fenix getting the pin for the win at 8:39. Yet another fun match and a potential breakout performance for Black.

Blake’s Rating: ***1/4

Shanna (2-0) vs. Kilynn King

Ogogo has started to really develop a chemistry with Excalibur and Taz, and it’s hilarious. Meanwhile, this was a solid back and forth match between two women who have been getting a lot of work on Dark. Shanna even hit a jumping stunner. STONE COLD, STONE COLD. Shanna hit the diving foot stomps on King and then delivered a running dropkick before using the Tiger suplex for the victory at 4:51.

Blake’s Rating: **

Brooke Havok (AEW debut) vs. Dr. Britt Baker (16-11) with Reba

The story behind this one is The Nightmare Factory students came to AEW a few months ago, and Baker was Havok’s mentor. It’s the little things like that make it easy to get more invested in developmental matches. As expected, Baker did not take it easy on the young Havok, with Baker hitting the curb stomp and using the Lockjaw for the win at 3:26.

Blake’s Rating: **

– Santana and Ortiz remind us that they’re awesome and that they gave everyone fair warning.

Abadon vs. Vertvixen (0-2)

Welcome back to AEW Dark, Vertvixen. Your reward is fighting a monster. Congrats. Abadon came out on a mission and pretty much controlled this match from start to finish, hitting the Cemetery Drive for the quick victory at 2:43.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

– The Walkoff with Pretty Peter Avalon and Lee Johnson has arrived. The guest judges are Brandi Rhodes, Jerry Lynn, and Aubrey Edwards. Pretty Peter comes out and calls Brandy a MILF…..a mother he’d like to forget about. He then says Aubrey should be competing in the Kentucky Derby. And then he compliments Jerry for being beautiful. Johnson struts, and he gets three 9’s from the judges. Pretty Peter struts, and he gets two 9’s from Aubrey and Brandi before Jerry asks for a replay. The replay shows Pretty Peter nearly tripping, so Jerry gives him a 6. LEE JOHNSON WINS. However, after the match, Cezar Bononi obliterates Johnson with a hard shot to the face.

Santana & Ortiz (14-9) vs. Ryzin & Mike Verna (AEW tag team debut)

Taz claims you can’t trust any man that wears a cape. No one tell The Hurricane. Apparently Taz was right because Santana and Ortiz just destroyed Verna and got the pin at 1:20. Can’t say that they didn’t warn us.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

Davienne (AEW debut) vs. Tay Conti (7-3)

The Dark Order and -1 join Conti after her entrance. -1 even rips his shirt off and throws it at the camera. He’s a future main eventer. Davienne hit some offense early, but Conti used counters and reversals to regain the advantage. Conti went back to her usual submissions and forced Davienne to tap at 3:09.

Blake’s Rating: **

Ray Jaz (AEW debut) vs. The Dark Order’s 10 with -1

There’s a new member of the AEW Dark commentary team: -1! He quickly turns heel and starts bashing Excalibur. He also reveals he’s good friends with Ricky Starks. And then he does his Jim Ross impression and starts yelling WHAT THE HELL, WHAT THE HELL! This kid is a gem. For every offensive move that Jaz hit, -1 lost his mind. Another commentary line from -1 when 10 was kicking Jaz’s ass: “This is what hell looks like.” 10 got the win at 5:02, but -1 was the star of the show.

Blake’s Rating: -1

– After the match, -1 beats up Brian Pillman Jr. with a kendo stick.

Red Velvet (1-0) vs. Madi Wrenkowski (0-2)

-1 is back on commentary for this match. Wrenkowski has been impressive in her previous Dark matches, and she’s someone to keep an eye on. She has great personality and good skills in the ring. Then again, you can same the same about Red Velvet, who is straight outta your momma’s kitchen. Another solid match, as Red Velvet hit the kick to Wrenkowski’s face for the victory at 4:05.

Blake’s Rating: **

Sean Maluta (0-2) vs. Danny Limelight (1-0)

Limelight hit a beautiful dive to the outside early in the match, and then he just hopped right back in the ring and kicked Maluta in the face for the quick win at 1:47. Well, that was certainly something as Limelight racks up win No. 2 in squash fashion.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

Jazmin Allure (0-2) vs. Ivelisse (2-0) with Diamante

Ivelisse is here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and she’s all out of bubblegum. Allure hit a jawbreaker to try to mount a comeback, but Ivelisse took over and used the tornado kick for the victory at 3:30.

Blake’s Rating: **

Jake St. Patrick (AEW debut) vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (1-0) with Hook

Hobbs is just a beast. An absolute beast. St. Patrick went for a hip toss early, and that was not a great idea. Hook got involved once again as he suplexed St. Patrick on the outside. Hobbs finished things pretty quickly after that and slammed St. Patrick for the win at around three minutes.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

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7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This edition of AEW Dark had the usual mix of good matches and squash matches. There were several entertaining matches early in the show, and then there were dominant matches later on that offered some nice character development. Lee Johnson technically got his first AEW win, Danny Limelight is squashing his opponents, and most importantly, Jungle Boy's music played multiple times. However, the real MVP was -1, who was an absolute star on commentary with Excalibur and Taz.