Lovell’s AEW Dark Review 10.26.21

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

Image Credit: AEW

Bobby Fish (2-2) vs. Invictus Khash (0-2)

Excalibur and Taz hype Fish’s match with CM Punk on Dynamite, which will be another nice opportunity for the former Undisputed Era member. Like Taz, I’m a big fan of Fish’s style in the ring. Lots of hard strikes to Khash in the early going, and Fish hit the knockout kick for the easy win at 1:49.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

– Tony Schiavone in the ring with Fish. The ALL ELITE ZONE is chanting for Punk, but Fish isn’t buying that Punk is the best in the world. He’s not wrong because that honor goes to Shane McMahon. Fish says it’s clobberin’ time on Dynamite.

Riho (5-2) vs. Xtina Kay (0-1)

Riho is the ultimate babyface, and the crowd agrees by chanting her name as soon as the bell ring. The Riho bridge gets a huge pop from the crowd as well. Kay takes out some aggression on Riho with a bodyslam and near fall. But Riho fights back with forearm strikes, then goes up top and counters Kay’s counter into the flying cross body for two. Riho back up top, and she misses the foot stomp. Kay tries to take advantage, but Riho hits her with the double knee strike to the face for the victory at 4:32.

Blake’s Rating: **

– Sammy Guevara comes out to hype his TNT title defense against Ethan Page on Dynamite. Sammy basically says Page will have to kill him to win the title. Page then comes out and notes that he’s thrown a grown man down a flight of stairs, and that he’s ready to kill. Eventually, Scorpio Sky attacks Sammy from behind, and Sammy is busted open. Page goes for the Ego’s Edge, but Satana and Ortiz make the save. Good segment here to build the hatred between these two.

Eddie Kingston (27-7) vs. Jack Evans

Buzzcut Jones making an appearance in this one after Evans lost the Hair vs. Hair match. Evans runs his mouth a bit to try to get the crowd to chant for them, but that’s not happening. Evans off to a fast start as he showcases a variety of offense. The momentum swings when Kingston catches Evans off the top, though he’s still playing up the shoulder issue. Kingston with the DDT for a near fall. Evans gets his own near fall after the Michinoku driver. But it’s Kingston who quickly takes control and forces Evans to tap at 4:23.

Blake’s Rating: **1/2

Dante Martin (17-7) vs. JDX (0-2)

Lio Rush out with Dante once again. This could be fun since both Dante and JDX are very good. Dante hits a ridiculous dropkick in the early going to prove that he can indeed fly. Dante continues his high-flying ways before JDX catches him with a flatliner for two. And then Dante goes back to the double jump moonsault and hits it for the win at 2:55.

Blake’s Rating: NR

– Schiavone with Dante and Lio. The latter hypes up Dante as one of the best wrestlers in the game. Lio then talks about how great he is for Dante.

– And now Schiavone is with Adam Cole BAY BAY in the ring. Schiavone calls out Cole on his actions, so Cole takes the mic away from him and runs down Christian Cage and Jurassic Express. Cole says Schiavone and everyone else hasn’t seen anything yet.

– Schiavone is backstage with Jade Cargill and Mark Sterling. Jade is that bitch and she wants you to know it.

Tiger Ruas (1-0) vs. DJ Brown (AEW debut)

Excalibur has got all the stats on Ruas’ background. And well, Excalibur listing off Ruas’ accomplishments lasted longer than the actual match, as Ruas only needed one kick to the face to score the victory at 12 seconds.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

– Schiavone with Ruas, who runs down Brown for not being on his level. Ruas then asks Schiavone to give him more competition. Take it to the booking committee, Ruas! In all seriousness, simple promos like this are so great for establishing a new character’s direction. I love it.

Diamanté (12-8) vs. Skyler Moore

Good to see Moore back in action on AEW Dark. She was a regular on the show last year. Aggressive start for both women, which includes Moore using a rollup for two. But it was all Diamante after that, as she went to the nerve hold and body scissors to force Moore to tap at 1:22.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

– Schiavone with ‘The Premiere Athlete’ Tony Nese. He says he came to AEW for competition, but half the roster doesn’t belong in the same ring with him. He calls out Fuego Del Sol for next week.

Shayne Stetson (0-1) vs. 10 (30-4)

The GOAT -1 is back to continue his managerial dominance. Stetson wants a test of strength with 10, and I don’t think that’s a good idea. It wasn’t, with 10 destroying Stetson from start to finish as he locked on the Full Nelson for the quick win at 55 seconds.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

Too Fast Too Fuego (AEW tag debut) vs. Kidd Bandit & Dean Alexander (AEW tag debut)

Cody Rhodes is ALL IN on this luchador gimmick, and I’m all about it. Excalibur does some detective work about the dream tattoo on this mysterious luchador’s chest, which he notes that Fuego pointed out that you couldn’t see the whole thing. In fact, you actually can’t see much of the tattoo at all. The crowd is cheering for Fuego Dos, so maybe it’s not Cody after all. Taz: “This Fuego Dos kind of sucks. He’s getting his ass kicked a lot.” Hilarious. Hot tag to Fuego Uno, who runs wild. However, Alexander hits a tombstone on Fuego Uno, while Bandit takes out Dos. Fuego then catches Alexander for a BRUTAL tornado DDT for the victory at 5:52. This was entertaining.

Blake’s Rating: **1/2

Bryan Danielson (4-0-1) vs. Aaron Solo (12-19)

Danielson appearing on AEW Dark automatically bumps the show up a half point. Those are the rules. Good back and forth between these two, with Danielson proving his technical prowess by going after Solo’s limbs. Danielson continues the onslaught until Solo starts proving his own worth with a few great counters and a near fall. QT Marshall gets involved with some shenanigans, which fuels Danielson’s comeback. Comoroto grabs Danielson’s leg while QT distracts Bryce Remsburg, which allows Solo to get another near fall. Cool spot with Danielson hitting a tope suicida on Comoroto, but then Solo counters with a dropkick in another awesome spot. But it’s Danielson that regains the momentum, and he uses the LeBell Lock to earn the win at 9:30. What a fun sprint this was, and it was a great performance for Solo.

Blake’s Rating: ***1/2

*For more of my thoughts on pro wrestling, subscribe to the 411 On Wrestling podcast and follow me on Twitter @wrestleblake. Thanks for reading!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a very entertaining edition of AEW Dark, mostly due to it being more than just wrestling matches. I love the transition back to adding more meaningful segments to hype upcoming matches both on this show and other AEW shows, and there was lots of that on this episode. And again, short and sweet promos for newcomers like Tony Nese and Tiger Ruas go a long way towards getting people to invest in them. We know why they decided to come to AEW, and we know what their goals are. It really can be that simple. Meanwhile, the main event between Danielson and Solo was good stuff, but that shouldn't surprise anyone. Also, is Tony Schiavone the hardest-working man in wrestling or what? No wonder Britt Baker loves the guy. Sorry, Adam Cole.