AEW Dark Review - October 8, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Darby Allin def. CIMA

CIMA showed how great of a wrestler he was in his matches against Christopher Daniels at Fyter Fest and against Kenny Omega at Fight for the Fallen. I doubt he'll ever be a main event player in All Elite Wrestling, but he can be an excellent utility player who helps guys such as Allin get over. Speaking of Allin, I'm a big fan of his and thought he had a solid showing here. They didn't light the world on fire or anything, but it was a well wrestled match. Allin's win gives him a momentum boost heading into his AEW World Championship number one contender's matchup with Jimmy Havoc on Dynamite this week.

The Lucha Brothers and TheHybrid2 def. Best Friends and Private Party

This match wasn't completely random, as Angelico and Jack Evans have had their issues with Private Party since All Out, and Private Party could clash with Lucha Brothers in the semifinals of the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament if they win their respective matches in the first round. It was all action from start to finish and there were plenty of fun moments. Lucha Brothers were far and away the biggest stars in this matchup, so it was only logical that they picked up the win for their team. On a side note, Orange Cassidy's alliance with Best Friends is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's so dumb that I enjoy it immensely.

Britt Baker and Allie def. Penelope Ford and Bea Pristley

Something that dawned on me during this match was how amazing Allie's character arc was in IMPACT yet how ill-defined of a character she's been since signing with AEW. She's a skilled competitor, but there's no reason to care about her otherwise. At any rate, this was a disappointing match considering the talent involved. It didn't have a real flow to it and all four ladies seemed to have an off night. AEW's women's division has a long way to go.

SoCal Uncensored def. Jurassic Express

SCU first faced off with Jurassic Express at All Out, and truth be told, that original encounter felt a lot more energetic than this. That isn't to say this was a mediocre match by any stretch because it was solid on the whole, but it seemed like they were short on time and it never reached that next level. It's amazing that despite how popular they are with the audience, Jurassic Express have yet to win a single matchup in AEW.

Overall Show

I absolutely love the idea of AEW taping their dark matches and airing them on a separate show. It's already been established that these wins and losses will count and I assume they'll play into the ongoing storylines as well. I question airing the matches six days after they're taped, but then again, Tony Schiavone (who is perfect for this type of thing) is able to promote the matches that are tap for the next night's episode of Dynamite, so I don't mind it much. All four of these matches were entertaining and it's easy to skip around to what you want to see with it airing on YouTube. This is exactly what WWE should be doing with Main Event instead of neglecting it.