WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

AEW Dark Review - July 14, 2020

7/14/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brandi Rhodes and Allie def. Rache Chanel and Diamante

I don't think I'm in the minority in feeling this way, but I'm not invested in this ongoing story with Brandi and Allie whatsoever. We all know it's going to end with Allie betraying The Nightmare Family and likely reuniting with The Butcher and The Blade, so I don't see the purpose in dragging the story out, especially if their tag matches are always going to be this bad. Brandi has hardly improved and Allie has seemingly regressed in the ring since joining AEW. It was cool seeing Diamante return, but that's the only positive thing I have to say about this.

Ricky Starks def. Robert anthony

There were reports that AEW had immediate plans in mind for Starks coming off his impressive performance against Cody a few weeks back, but he hasn't wrestled on Dynamite since. Hopefully he can find direction soon. As for this outing, it served its purpose in giving Starks a win. The guy just oozes charisma. It's worth noting that Starks showed respect toward Taz multiple times and vice versa. I don't know if he'll be joining Taz at some point, but it's something to keep an eye on.

The Dark Order (Alan Angels, John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. Shawn Dean, Joe Alonzo and Will Hobbs

Angels, Silver and Reynolds are clearly the "weak links" of Dark Order, so it didn't bother me that it took them so long to win this match. They faced a talented trio of competitors, even though I just saw Hobbs get squashed by Orange Cassidy in matter of seconds last week on Dark and thus I'm not sure what incentive viewers had to take him seriously here. It was a perfectly solid six-man tag team affair that solely excited to establish these three members of Dark Order as credible.

Michael Nakazawa def. Marko Stunt

Nakazawa's match was easily my least favorite part of last week's Dark episode, so I came into this contest expecting more of the same. Sure enough, it was exactly what I thought it would be. Stunt's athleticism and aerial abilities were impressive, but Nakazawa's whole shtick turns me off on his matches. Hell, the guy busted out the body lotion seconds into this outing. I guess it was designed to be comic relief, but it was too stupid for my liking.

Luther and Serpentico def. Brady Pierce and Pineapple Pete

Luther and Serpentico were a really odd pairing, but hey, anything to make Luther bearable. Serpentico was a treat to watch and Luther was decent. I was fine with this as a showcase for them, but it lasted way longer than it needed to. It'll be interesting to see if Serpentico will be signed eventually (assuming he hasn't already), just because it's rare they give the enhancement talent victories.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) def. Peter Avalon and Brandon Cutler

I guess the storyline is that Cutler and Avalon are starting to click as a duo, but I'm not seeing it. Their matches aren't bad, but I personally don't care about them any more now than I did when they started teaming a while ago. On the bright side, this was a fun little match and arguably the highlight of the night. You can never go wrong with Jurassic Express while Cutler and Avalon put forth a commendable effort.

FTW Champion Brian Cage def. Brian Pillman Jr.

This match wasn't supposed to be for the FTW Championship until Cage demanded before the bout that it be on the line, even though it isn't an active title. I'm willing to classify it as a technical title matchup, unlike with IMPACT's Moose whose TNA World Heavyweight Championship is clearly defunct. Pillman scored some offense, but this was largely meant to be a glorified squash win for Cage ahead of his opportunity at the AEW World Championship at Fight for the Fallen on Wednesday.

overall Show

It was mentioned during the latest installment of Being The Elite that this Dark taping took place around 1 a.m., which would explain why the crowd sounded so drained all episode long. I don't blame them one bit because this was yet another tedious edition of Dark with absolutely nothing of note happening. And no, a "defense" of the FTW Championship from Cage wasn't enough to make this show worth watching. I could think of worse ways to spend an hour, but I continue to wonder what AEW think the appeal is of an hour-long show featuring nothing but squash matches. The occasional competitive contest would be nice, but we barely get that.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact