AEW Dark Review - December 1, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Shawn Spears def. KTB

I'm glad we got a match that meant a little something to kick off the show. Okay, so the match itself wasn't exactly must-see and was more of an afterthought if anything, but it did progress the program between Spears and Scorpio Sky with Sky taking a seat on the stage and watching Spears put KTB away. I can't say their initial encounter on Dynamite last month blew me away, but their rivalry kept both guys busy and hopefully it's building to a win for Sky over Spears soon enough.

Ricky Starks def. Damian Fenrir

You'd swear it was Groundhog Day with how Starks competes on Dark every single week and only ever faces enhancement talent. It's not even funny how repetitive it's become. If nothing else, Starks' mannerisms are a blast as well as his trash-talking. I'd rather he be a fixture on commentary for the entire episode then waste everyone's time with a squash that serves no purpose.

Brandon Cutler def. Danny Limelight

Cutler continues to roll after losing for the last year and it's cool to see. It's a simple story and I'm hoping it eventually leads to him feuding with someone not named Peter Avalon. Cutler is a perfectly competent wrestler, it's just that he doesn't have much of a character other than that he was a perennial loser up until recently. Fans of Being The Elite know who he is and what he's all about, but I wish that stuff would be brought more on Dark.

"Pretty" Peter Avalon def. Jon Cruz

This "Pretty" character for Avalon is something I think he was using on the independent scene pre-AEW. It won't take him to the main event scene, but then again, he's just not a main event caliber performer. In other words, it works for him at this level and is much better than that librarian garbage in my opinion. His matches are serviceable, but I honestly found the recent vignettes he was in to be more entertaining.

Shanna def. Tesha Price

Shanna has been missing from action since the beginning of the year. To my knowledge, she hadn't wrestled for AEW since February. The sole thing of note I can remember her being involved in was that mini feud with Nyla Rose on Dark last year, but that's about it. She's skilled and she got to remind everyone of that here. Hopefully they do something with this time around considering how the company could use someone like her in a division that doesn't have much buzz at the moment. I'm glad she's finally returned, even though I forgot she was gone to begin with.

KiLynn King def. Katalina Perez

We're seeing more and more of King on Dark these days, and not only that, but she's actually been on a winning streak lately. The issue is that while she's perfectly competent in the ring, nothing stands out as special about her whatsoever. What's weird is that AEW is putting more effort into building up King than most women under contract to the company. If King isn't already signed, I assume she will be soon. She'd really benefit from getting the video package treatment so viewers can learn more about her.

Best Friends def. Adam Priest and Sean Maluta

Best Friends can get a quality match out of most of their opponents and that was the case here, but that was partly because Maluta and Priest are two of the more experienced AEW brings in to lose to people. It was a fairly standard affair that saw Best Friends score a victory in the midst of their feud with Miro and Kip Sabian. Speaking of which, it sucks. It isn't exactly what I had in mind when Miro came to AEW.

Leva Bates def. Alex Garcia

I'm all for Cutler and Avalon getting mini pushes and branching out on their own, but there's a reason why Bates didn't wrestle regularly in the first place and that's because she isn't very good. Maybe she's improved since last year, but admittedly, Garcia left more of an impression on me here than Bates did. Keeping this thing as short and as sweet as possible was for the best.

Gunn Club (Billy, Austin and Colton Gunn) def. Angel Fashion, VSK and Shawn Donovan

It's 2020 and Billy Gunn is a full-time active member of a wrestling roster. I realize he's almost always on Dark and not Dynamite and he's focused on training his kids and getting them over, but the matches blend together for me and their act (if you can even call it that) is so one-dimensional. This did what it needed to do and was a step above abysmal, but less of Gunn Club, the better.

Matt Sydal def. Aaron Solow

Sydal hasn't been a part of any significant storylines since coming to AEW, but he's been a fun staple on Dark every week for the past few months. He works well with just about everyone, whether that be the contracted/established talent or the up-and-comers like Solow. On the subject of Solow, he has always felt generic to me, but he had good chemistry with Sydal here.

The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) def. Fuego del Sol and Baron Black

As I've said before, it's strange that Uno and Grayson are probably the best pairing of anyone in Dark Order, yet they don't wrestle often enough. They were ranked pretty high in the AEW World Tag Team Championship power rankings earlier this year, but they haven't been as much of a threat since losing in their shot at the titles over the summer. This was a nice showcase for them, though I wish they won a little quicker than they did.

Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. def. Cezar Bononi and RYZIN

I'm convinced at this point that AEW is booking Pillman as if he's under contract to them even though he isn't officially because MLW hasn't let him out of his deal with them yet. When he's eventually free from that contract, it's all but a guarantee AEW will scoop him because they see potential in him and rightfully so. I've liked his pairing with Garrison more than I thought I would and they've been impressive as a team any time I've seen them in action. That said, it's clear they score the occasional wins like this one so it means more when they're beaten by a more important team on the roster.

Ivelisse def. Lindsay Snow

Snow didn't have a standout showing against Ivelisse by any means, but could the commentators talk about anything else but her tattoos? It was mostly Taz and it got annoying after a while. By the way, I'm not sure where Diamante was and why she wasn't in Ivelisse's corner. Ivelisse's hard-hitting offense made this decent, but I'm still waiting for her to have that memorable match I know she's capable of.

The Acclaimed def. George South Jr. and Bobby Wayward

Even if The Acclaimed were complete crap in the ring, I'd still be a fan because of their pre-match shtick and how it's unique to them. AEW's tag team division is so stacked that it's easy for teams to get lost in the shuffle, but I'd be shocked if that happened to The Acclaimed because of how different they are from everyone else. They can get the job done in the ring and are gradually building momentum.

Chaos Project def. Alex Chamberlain and Seth Gargis

Luther and Serpentico have been teaming for a little while now, but they still do absolutely nothing for me. Serpentico is talented, but Luther is almost unbearable whenever he's in there, and it's not like he's a great enough wrestler to make his matches worthwhile. They're at the bottom of the barrel in AEW's tag team division in my mind, no many how many meaningless matches they win. This wasn't an awful match, but it certainly didn't hold my interest.

Red Velvet def. Lady Frost

I may have mentioned this in my review of last week's Dark, but I find it funny that Velvet is always there for Brandi Rhodes and yet Brandi can't be bothered to accompany Velvet to ringside. Velvet could use some additional development beyond her pairing with Brandi, but her getting to showcase her skills in matches like this one will help her cause. Lady Frost feels like a gimmick you'd see on a low-budget independent show, but she held her own and had a passable match with Velvet.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) def. The Dark Order (Alan "5" Angels & Preston "10" Vance) and Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss in a Three-Way Tag Team Match

Jurassic Express are easily the most featured out of these three teams, so the outcome was never in doubt. Janela and Kiss' matches are typically hit or miss, but they did pretty well here and the duo of Angels and Vance also shined as their chemistry grows stronger. This benefited from having a frantic pace and never having a dull moment. Jurassic Express don't feel as special as they did when there were full crowds, but these wins are at least keeping their momentum alive.

Overall Show

Dark featured a whopping 17 matches this week, which is (as you know) the definition of overkill. It was significantly shorter than last week's show due to not featuring any promos or talk show segments like The Waiting Room, though two hours is still way too long for a show that holds nothing but enhancement matches. By Dark standards, this was a solid episode that was a bit more bearable than usual, but splitting this show into two and airing it twice a week would ultimately be in AEW's best interest.