AEW Dark Review - January 14, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Memphis Legends Were Honored

These were all the legends that were shown sitting ringside at last week's Dynamite. There are going to be those that bitch and complain about these guys "taking up TV time," but the fact of the matter is, it's Dark and it doesn't really matter. The crowd was super respectful throughout and you know it had to mean the world to the guys in the ring. The Rock 'N' Roll Express, Lanny Poffo and Austin Idol, among others, were present. I can understand the argument that it went a little long, but I liked that all of them were given their moment and were made to feel important.

Darby Allin def. Brandon Cutler

Cutler is basically the babyface version of Peter Avalon except he's slightly more bearable. He's perfectly fine in the ring but comes across as extremely basic and bland. On the bright side, Allin is a real star on the rise and had a fun showing here. Even iconic announcer Dave Brown was impressed by him on commentary. He always shines, but it's high time he was given something meaningful to sink his teeth into. Right now, he's having matches for the sake of having matches.

Shanna Attacked Nyla Rose

Before the bout could begin, Shanna ambushed Rose from behind on the ramp before putting her through a table at ringside. Excalibur explained that Rose attacked Shanna weeks ago on Dynamite (which I honestly completely forgot about), so this made total sense. Rose returned the favor by attacking Shanna backstage afterward. It's nice to see a women's rivalry developing outside of the title picture. Granted, Rose vs. Shanna doesn't intrigue me a ton, but I appreciate the effort, nonetheless.

Gunn Club def. Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears

Excalibur noted on commentary that Spears has been on the hunt for a new tag team partner lately. Why he'd even bother recruiting Avalon, who has yet to win a match in AEW, is beyond me. I'm not even sure why Spears needs a partner. He's perfectly fine on his own in singles competition. Nonetheless, this was a fun tag team affair with father and son Billy and Austin Gunn working well together. Austin has officially been offered a contract, which makes me wonder if we'll be seeing him team with Billy more or if it was just a one-off. For what it's worth, I've read that their matchup last week was never meant to air on Dark, even though it felt like it was pulled at the last minute (which would explain why the show was significantly shorter than usual).

Overall Show

For someone who probably isn't the slightest bit familiar with the AEW product, Dave Brown did a really good job on commentary and it's cool that he finally got to call his first major American wrestling show. The opening segment won't be everyone, but I enjoyed it. Plus, Rose and Shanna furthered their feud, Allin had a solid showcase, and the main event was enjoyable while it lasted. If I had any gripes, Dark is usually known for its excellent video packages, so I wish we got a little more of that this week.