WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us

Columnist Corner

AEW Dark Review - September 29, 2020

9/29/2020

Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

SCU (Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian) def. Ray Rosas and RYZIN

Shawn Spears sat in on commentary for this match. It was teased on last week's Tuesday night Dynamite that Spears could be headed for a clash with Sky soon as Sky came to the aid of Spears' opponent that night Matt Sydal. As for this match, it was a nice showcase for not only Sky but SCU on the whole before they challenge FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship on Wednesday's Dynamite. I'm glad Sky isn't completely separate from SCU after doing his own thing lately.

Penelope Ford def. Alex Garcia

I'm still stunned how AEW did nothing with Ford after her stellar performance against Hikaru Shida two months ago. She feels like a total afterthought at the moment with Miro becoming Kip Sabian's best man, but I'm glad she had the spotlight to herself here. She continues to improve weekly and matches like this will help with that. Lord knows AEW's women's division could use all the star power it can get.

Best Friends def. BSHP King and M'Badu

Best Friends are coming off a huge Parking Lot Brawl victory over Santana and Ortiz two weeks ago on Dynamite. They looked good here, but I don't think they'll gain any more momentum by winning squash matches on Dark. Obviously, it doesn't hurt, and this was fine. BSHP King and M'Badu scored some offense, but this was ultimately a decisive win for Best Friends.

Jurassic Express def. The Dark Order (Alan "5" Angels and Preston "10" Vance)

I know Angels and Vance have won here and there, but they've never been positioned as anyone important in Dark Order. They simply exist to lose to other teams in the division. That said, they aren't bad and I liked how these teams had a similar dynamic (one bigger guy, one smaller guy). I didn't have an issue with Dark Order taking Jurassic Express to the limit before predictably losing.

The Gunn Club def. Shawn Dean and Cezar Bononi

You would think Gunn Club are an unstoppable team based on their win-loss record, but it's only because they face nothing but enhancement talent on Dark. In fact, I don't think I've seen them wrestle a single tag match on Dynamite yet. This was decent, but that's about all I can say about it. I'm glad Austin is improving, but Billy being in there makes me roll my eyes every time. Dean is a good hand to have for these squashes and Bononi showed signs of potential while in NXT. Perhaps AEW can capitalize on that the same way they signed Tay Conti a few weeks ago.

Tay Conti def. Red Velvet

Conti hasn't been wrestling very long but has all the tools to be successful with more seasoning. She's a great pickup for AEW, though I thought it was odd her first match on Dynamite as a member of the roster was a loss to Nyla Rose on Dynamite. Despite that, she had a solid showing here and I liked the submission maneuver she used to win. Anna Jay, her tag team partner in The Deadly Draw, congratulated her afterward, but I don't see the need for Conti in Dark Order. Hell, I don't see the need for Jay in Dark Order aside from the faction wanting a female member.

Chaos Project def. Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison

Chaos Project is apparently the new team name for Luther and Serpentico. I don't understand what brought them together in the first place. I mean, is Serpentico even signed? Because I don't remember seeing an official announcement. I find Pillman and Garrison to be a better duo than them as they made this thing bearable. Less of Luther, please.

Nyla Rose def. Rache Chanel

Sometimes I forget Rose is a part of the AEW women's division because her presence on Dynamite has drastically declined in the last few months. I feel like she's gotten less television time since debuting Vickie Guerrero as hew new manager, and I still don't agree putting Vickie with her was the right move. She needed this dominant win and thus the match was exactly what it needed to be, but Chanel was just terrible.

The Natural Nightmares def. John "4" Silver and Colt Cabana

The Nightmare Family's rivalry with Dark Order isn't over yet, unfortunately. I was shocked Allie wasn't ringside for QT Marshall, but maybe that was for the best. The match was less about the in-ring action and more about telling a story with Silver and Cabana. Silver clearly isn't sold on Cabana being a member of Dark Order and their lack of cohesion led to them losing. I'm glad they're finally furthering the Cabana angle because he was randomly a part of the group for a while with no additional development. Thus, this worked in that respect.

Overall Show

The show featured nine matches this week yet still almost went 90 minutes. How the hell does that happen? Yes, some of the matches were given more time, but none of them were remotely memorable (at least last week had Ben Carter vs. Lee Johnson), so what was the point? One thing I will say that I liked about this episode was that it featured more backstage promos setting up some of the matches, giving them more purpose in the process. I appreciated that. It was a fairly ho-hum edition of Dark other than that, though.
Comments

    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    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

©2021 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us