Lovell’s AEW Dark Review 10.19.21

Hey everyone! It’s Tuesday. You know what that means.

As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry Csonka’s daughters is still active. Please contribute and share if you can.

Also, 411’s Steve Cook put together a great piece on Larry’s top seven columns. You should read it.

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

Image Credit: AEW

Jamie Hayter (1-2) vs. Tiffany Nieves (AEW debut)

We’ve got an arena edition of AEW Dark, which is always fun. This one was taped in Miami, and the crowd seemed to love them some Hayter, Britt Baker, and Rebel. Excalibur calls Taz GEOGRAPHY JONES once again, so that gives our friend Chairshot something to work with in the comments. Honest opinion: Hayter is excellent. So excellent that she only needed a vertical suplex and big clothesline to make quick work of Nieves at 1:02.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

The Gunn Club (15-0) vs. Alex Chamberlain, Dean Mercer, and Diamond Sheik (AEW trios debut)

The Gunn Club heel turn hasn’t done a whole lot for me, but to each their own. Meanwhile, Billy Gunn continues to age in reverse, so why should he care if I enjoy his pro wrestling heel turn? Taz thanks Sheik for his jewelry hookup, which is always good to have. Quick tags from Gunn Club as they control things in the early going, and the crowd simply doesn’t want to boo Billy. They do want to boo Colten, and they do just that as he gets in and hits the Colt 45 for the victory at 2:56.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

Thunder Rosa, Kris Statlander, & Red Velvet vs. Nyla Rose, Emi Sakura, & Diamanté

Nice combination of talent in this one. Fast start with lots of action across the board, as Excalibur and Taz hype the upcoming bracket reveal for the TBS Championship. Thunder Rosa is still getting huge reactions from the crowd, and though I say this every week, that eventual rematch with Baker is gonna be a thing of beauty. Sakura gets a near fall on Velvet, then we’ve got a full-on BROUHAHA with everyone hitting moves left and right. It’s Velvet who hits the Final Slice on Sakura to earn the win at 4:03.

Blake’s Rating: **1/2

– Jade Cargill makes her way out with Mark Sterling, and Sterling thinks Jade should be awarded the TBS title rather than making her compete in the tournament. Jade basically calls Thunder Rosa a dog and that’s that.

Lance Archer (24-4) vs. OT Fernandez

Archer gonna destroy someone? Archer gonna destroy someone. In fact, he carries Fernandez out from the back and tosses him into the ring. Eddie Kingston is on commentary, and he’s ready for his match with Archer in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament. Archer allows Fernandez approximately zero offensive moves, and then hits the Blackout for the easy victory at 1:58.

Blake’s Rating: SQUASH

Frankie Kazarian (26-5) vs. Aaron Solo (12-19)

Taz is JAZZED over QT Marshall joining commentary, while Excalibur is far from it. The crowd starts a “shave your back” chant towards Comoroto, which leads to him throwing his jacket in disgust. Gotta love good heel body hair chants. Back and forth from Kazarian and Solo, with a couple of near falls from both men. QT points out that the longer Kazarian’s career goes, the better he gets, and it’s hard to disagree with that. He’s still awesome in the ring. Comoroto gets up on the apron for a distraction, but Kazarian throws Solo into him. Then it’s Kazarian locking in the submission for the win at 5:57.

Blake’s Rating: **3/4

Stu Grayson, Colt Cabana, Alan Angels, & 10 vs. Daniel Garcia, Serpentico, & 2.0 (AEW 8-man tag debut)

Serpentico tries to get all his stuff in during the intro, which pisses off Garcia. Absolutely hilarious. We eventually work towards Jeff Parker using Serpentico as a weapon, and regular AEW Dark regulars know I can appreciate that. Angels hits another standing Spanish Fly that’s always a spectacle, then it’s 10 coming in to run wild on the opposition. More back and forth from there, including an impressive moonsault from Angels to the outside. 10 makes his way in and tosses Serpentico around like a rag doll, then there’s another great spot where Serpentico keeps thinking he’s gonna get dropped by one of the Dark Order members, but they wind up hitting Garcia instead. But then 10 locks on the Full Nelson to score the victory at 6:34.

Blake’s Rating: ***

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

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

It was nice having an arena crowd for this edition of AEW Dark, as that always makes for an entertaining atmosphere. The eight-man tag team main event was fun, while there were also nice squash performances from Lance Archer and Jamie Hayter. And as if you had any doubt, Excalibur and Taz kicked things up a notch with their usual hilarity.