AEW Dark Review - August 11, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Rey Fenix def. Lee Johnson

Whether he's with Pentagon Jr. or flying solo, I never tire or Fenix's matches. He's an exceptional athlete and manages to work well with just about everyone. Johnson has been impressive in the enhancement role during this pandemic era for AEW and sold nicely for Fenix here. This was a very fun match to kick off the show.

Shawn Spears def. Alex Chamberlain

The most interesting thing about Spears right now is not his heavy-handed glove but rather the fact a faction involving himself and FTR continues to be teased. Chamberlain didn't stand out at all, but this was a simple and straightforward squash for Spears that didn't overstay its welcome. The glove gimmick does nothing for me, personally.

The Gunn Club def. Shawn Dean and M'Badu

As I've said before, I have no desire to see Billy Gunn continuing to wrestle in 2020. Yes, it's Dark and I understand the purpose of the team is to give his son Austin Gunn more experience, but AEW's tag team division is loaded enough as it is and doesn't need The Gunn Club. Their matches largely bore me and this was no exception.

Kip Sabian def. Michael Stevens

Stevens is a fresh face for the "local athletes" in AEW, and I liked how he stood out with his entrance. Not everyone will a fan of how flashy he was, but at least he left a lasting impression more than most of the people the company brings in to lose. However, this was all about Sabian. He's a skilled wrestler but screams midcarder. Does every squash have to be at least five minutes long? Shave a minute or two off this and it would have been better.

Private Party def. Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr.

Private Party lost their last two matches on Dark, so it was imperative that they won here. It was obvious that they were going to, but at least it was fun while it lasted. Garrison is a good hand and Pillman will be one to watch in the future. I really hope MLW lets him out of his contract at some point so he can join AEW full-time (AEW won't utilize him in a meaningful manner until he does), especially if MLW doesn't have plans to resume shows any time soon.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt) def. Pineapple Pete, Aaron Solow and Corey Hollis

Most six-man tag team matches involving Jurassic Express automatically get a thumbs-up from me. They had a terrific thing going and their matches are almost always enjoyable. This was a treat as well. It had a nice pace to it and their opponents sold everything well. This was a necessary win for Jurassic Express ahead of their AEW World Tag Team Championship match on Wednesday's Dynamite.

The Natural Nightmares def. The Hybrid2

You had to know this was coming after Jack Evans beat QT Marshall last week, and you had to know it was going to end in a loss for TH2 because, well, why wouldn't it? They've been grossly under-utilized since coming to AEW and it bothers me knowing what they're capable of. This was a perfectly fine match with some solid tag team work, but The Natural Nightmares pale in comparison to TH2 in my opinion and didn't need to win here.

Penelope Ford def. Rachael Ellering

This marked Ellering's second AEW match after competing in the quarterfinals of The Deadly Draw on Monday night alongside Dasha. She didn't blow me away with her work there and she didn't have the strongest showing here, either. A lot of Ford's matches are very hit or miss and this was more of the latter in my opinion. Some spots were off and it never hit the right rhythm.

The Butcher and The Blade def. SCU (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian)

The Butcher and The Blade have been featured pretty prominently on AEW programming in recent months, and although they can hold their own, I don't find them nearly as exciting as most of the other teams in AEW's tag division. On the bright side, this was a quality main event. They didn't tear the house down or anything like that, but it was competent enough and it made sense for this to be the longest match on the show.

Overall Show

The length of Dark continues to be the worst part about the program. Is 90 minutes of squash matches really necessary? I'm all for getting people over, but I don't think boosting their win-loss records with meaningless victories does much to help anyone. The in-ring action on this episode specifically was decent on the whole and thankfully the time didn't drag as much as it normally does, but if they were to just shave off 30 minutes and a few of the matches then Dark would be an infinitely easier watch.