AEW Dark Review - October 6, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brandi Rhodes def. Kenzie Page

Kicking off the show with a Brandi Rhodes match was certainly a choice. To be fair, this wasn't too terrible and I thought Brandi looked better in the ring than she normally does, but I'm almost always tempted to turn the show off whenever she wrestles because the matches are usually that bad. That said, this was passable. Anna Jay went after Brandi afterward, so unfortunately that feud isn't over yet. It's worth noting that Red Velvet came to Brandi's aid, which makes me think Jay will recruit Tay Conti to be her partner.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) def. Ray Rosas and Eric Watts

Is Marko Stunt injured or something? It feels like forever since we last saw him in the ring, but honestly, I'm not complaining. At any rate, I remember Watts from the 2011 season of WWE Tough Enough. He looks almost exactly the same and I was surprised how much offense he got in here. This was a solid showcase for Jurassic Express, but Rosas and Watts put in a quality performance as well.

Chaos Project def. Lee Johnson and Anthony Bowens

The video package that aired beforehand promoting the history between Chris Jericho and Luther was terrific and actually made me care ever so slightly about Chaos Project vs. Jericho and Jake Hager on Wednesday's Dynamite. Look, I know it's the 30-year celebration of Jericho's career, but it's not a match that does much for me on paper. At any rate, this was fine and gave Chaos Project a necessary victory ahead of their encounter with Inner Circle.

Will Hobbs def. RYZIN

AEW is obviously high on Hobbs at the moment (but apparently not three months ago when he lost to Orange Cassidy in under 10 seconds... I kid!) and it's nice to see. He's an impressive physical specimen and has shown potential in the ring. That spinebuster alone is excellent. My only issue with his recent push is that we know nothing about him. Where's the video package introducing people to who he is and why he's here? Nonetheless, this was exactly what it needed to be.

John "4" Silver def. QT Marshall

I still can't grasp how Diamond Dallas Page chose Marshall of all people to pass his Diamond Cutter finishing maneuver down to. He's mediocre at best and that's exposed whenever he wrestles on his own. This had some shenanigans with Dustin Rhodes and some members of The Dark Order being at ringside, but it just wasn't interesting. Silver winning his first one-on-one match in AEW was a pleasant surprise, though.

Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. def. David Ali and Cezar Bononi

Garrison and Pillman Jr. and becoming quite the tandem. They've developed a nice chemistry together, and while I doubt they'll ever escape Dark (much like Gunn Club), they can be a solid fixture on the show if they can continue to pick up wins. This team is the only way I see Garrison getting a contract, because while he's a good hand to have in the ring, he doesn't bring much else to the table and feels generic. In all honesty, this feels like a placeholder for Pillman Jr. before AEW can officially sign him. This was well-wrestled for the time it was given.

Big Swole def. Skyler Moore

Big Swole has some momentum coming off her "win" over Britt Baker at All Out, but it feels like she's cooled off a bit lately. This victory helped with that and she's clearly being groomed for a shot at the AEW Women's Championship, but I feel like we don't hear from her enough and thus it's hard to care. On the bright side, this was relatively brief and saw Swole dominate a majority of the matchup.

Matt Sydal def. Michael Nakazawa

I'm honestly surprised this wasn't positioned as the main event of the show, just because it had the most storyline significance of any other match on this show. All right, it's probably for the better that it wasn't the main event because Nakazawa is a joke, but it's been cool to see AEW take a botch with Sydal at All Out and make the most out of it by blaming it on Nakazawa's signature baby oil. This was all explained on Being The Elite, by the way. This was kept short and sweet and was therefore as harmless as possible.

Eddie Kingston def. M'Badu

I'm more entertained by Kingston on the mic than I am by him in the ring, but I have no problem with him picking up a quick squash win every so often to remind viewers that he has credibility. I loved that he beat M'Badu with the same move Jon Moxley beat Kingston with when they fought for the AEW World Championship two weeks ago, and his post-match promo was excellent as well. Kingston obviously has unfinished business with Moxley, so it will be interesting to see when and how that will be blown off.

Angelico def. Shawn Dean

I'm all for The Hybrid2 winning more consistently, but it seems strange that they'll team and then lose in singles competition whenever it matters most. Sure, Angelico won here, but it was against Dean, who I don't think has won a single match since starting with AEW earlier this year as an enhancement talent. This was fun while it lasted, but I miss the Angelico from Lucha Underground.

The Lucha Brothers def. Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss

As I've said before, Janela and Kiss are a decent pairing and I'm glad it gives both of them something to do, but they still need some work. Their outing against Miro and Kip Sabian was rough, but at least they fared a bit better here. Then again, I assume that's due to who their opponents were, as The Lucha Brothers never cease to kill it. This was a fun little sprint with the right team going over.

Overall Show

The 11-match format would be more bearable if one of them was actually worth going out of your way to see. I'm all for giving the wrestlers showcase wins, but when all they do is win meaningless matches, it messes with the win-loss records and you have a situation where The Natural Nightmares are ranked for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. That's a joke. This wasn't an awful episode of Dark by any means but simply par for the course. The show being 90 minutes long doesn't help matters, either.