AEW Dark results: Archer vs. Luther, Limelight vs. Martin

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means. 

Powerhouse Hobbs & Ricky Starks (w/ Hook) defeated Rick Aldridge & Aaron Frye (:31) 

The Town Business from Hobbs finished off Frye in just 31 seconds. 

Leyla Hirsch defeated Diamante (2:37)

Diamante held her own with Hirsch on the mat for a bit and hit a stunner out of a cazadora and a dropkick in the corner for a near fall. Hirsch came back with a pair of german suplexes and a knee strike. She and Diamante exchanged slaps until Hirsch got sick of that and slapped on the cross armbreaker for the quick tap out. 

Varsity Blonds defeated Liam Gray & Adrian Alanis (3:39) 

On a week when the Dark Side of the Ring documentary debuts on his father, Brian Pillman Jr. wore Cincinnati Bengals trunks. Alanis and Gray jumped Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison before the bell, but got stereo suplexed for their troubles. Garrison hit a high boot and Pillman Jr. came in with a dropkick on Alanis, but Alanis came back with a sling blade.

Alanis and Gray combined for a backbreaker/neckbreaker combo on Pillman Jr. for a near fall. Garrison got the hot tag and hit a pair of clotheslines and a suplex for a near fall. Garrison hit the rolling elbow on Alanis and Pillman Jr. came in with the Air Pillman clothesline with Garrison getting the pin.

SCU defeated Spencer Slade & Jake St. Patrick (4:18) 

I have to say that nothing makes the top five rankings (and all these SCU squash matches we have watched the last four months) seem more worthless than hearing on Dynamite last week that the no. 1 contenders are going to have to fight though ANOTHER four-way match to get the title shot that I guess being no. 1 contender doesn’t entitle them to. I wonder if Dr. Britt Baker is aware of this? 

Frankie Kazarian looked good early and then Christopher Daniels got in trouble in the heel corner and almost broke his neck on a belly-to-belly suplex from Slade. A sloppy looking Best Meltzer Ever ended an unnecessary match. 

Big Swole defeated Megan Bayne (3:33)

Swole has no hair anymore and Bayne is dressed like she’s from Athens….but Greece, not Georgia. I think there was a mistake on the finish here. Swole hit her through the ropes stunner on Bayne. She then ran the ropes, slowed down and gave Bayne — who was kind of wandering around confused — a big boot. Swole finished a short time later with the Texas cloverleaf. 

Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss defeated Kit Sackett & Justin Law (2:30)

“You ain’t a vegetarian if you like Sonny Kiss, because that ass is a whole lotta meat,” Joey Janela said after invading the commentary desk before the match. Okay, then. Janela clotheslined Law to the floor and smacked his head against the ring in an ugly spot that had Taz and Excalibur losing it on commentary. Law got taken out with the slop drop/split leg drop combo. 

KiLynn King defeated Julia Hart (3:45)

Hart made her debut here. She looked okay enough, hitting a flipping avalanche clothesline in the corner. She also stole Kiss’s split-legged legdrop. King countered a headscissors attempt by throwing her into the ropes throat first, finishing Hart with the Kingdom Falls. 

PAC (w/ Penta and Rey Fenix) defeated Serpentico (w/ Luther)  (2:14)

Serpentico started off quick with a dropkick and tope suicida and then got destroyed with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. PAC hit a sharp snap suplex and followed up with a tombstone piledriver as the Dynamite Kid tribute playbook continued. PAC finished with the brutalizer. 

The Bunny defeated Leila Gray (3:26) 

Bunny cheating and then screaming her innocence was a great touch at first, but she took it way too far and it got old. Gray got a near fall with a sunset flip, but Bunny came back and won with an inverted DDT. 

The Acclaimed defeated David Ali & Vary Morales (2:35) 

Max Caster tried to get their opponents to applaud the returning Anthony Bowens (who had actually already returned) but they wouldn’t. Caster also claimed Bowens was coming back from “knee reconstruction” which is not quite the injury he had. I hope this continues to get more ridiculous. The Acclaimed to Fame finished off Morales in a match where the best part was the mic work. 

Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky defeated Terrence and Terrell Hughes (3:32) 

Remember when they broke Scorpio Sky away from SCU to give him a singles push? Now he’s in a worse tag team in an even more crowded tag team division than when he left. Good times. Page hit a knee breaker on Terrell and Sky locked in the heel hook to get the tapout. 

Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson & Alex Reynolds) defeated JD Drake, Nick Nemeth & Cezar Bononi (w/ Peter Avalon) (7:07)

Excalibur introduced this as the main event. 

Drake wrestled in jeans and a black tank top which improved his look 100%. Reynolds ducked a Drake clothesline, but walked right into one from Bononi. Reynolds wound up as the face in peril, eating a cannonball from Drake for a near fall. Reynolds came back with a moonsault and got the hot tag to Grayson. 

Dark Order set up the Fatality on Nemeth and Avalon tried to interfere. Reynolds ran him off into the arms of Bononi and Grayson hit the Fatality on Nemeth to get the pin. 

That was not the main event of the show after all.

Dante Martin defeated Danny Limelight (9:23)

Limelight dominated a good bit of the match, like he does every week, before ultimately losing. Martin hit a nice double springboard moonsault and Limelight came back with a pump kick, a pair of rolling vertical suplexes, and a neckbreaker. Limelight went for a slingshot senton, but found Martin’s knees instead. Martin went for a 450 splash, but missed.

Limelight got a triangle choke but had to break the hold when Martin countered it into a cradle. Limelight hit a hard clothesline. Martin hit a shotgun dropkick with some added spring from the bottom rope, a juicebox, and finally the 450 splash for the win. 

This was a great match that would have probably been better served as the show opener, not airing well past the point when people may be tuning out for NXT. 

Lance Archer defeated Luther (w/ Serpentico) (4:04) 

Jake Roberts was on commentary. 

There was no reason for this match. I don’t need to see Archer squash a guy for the fourth week in a row and I don’t need a Luther match ever. 

Serpentico tried to jump Archer which went badly. He also tried to interfere which went even worse. Fuego del Sol got sick of Serpentico’s interfering so he ran out of the crowd and ran Serpentico off. Archer got Luther up for the blackout slam, but there was no way Luther can take that bump. A ripcord into a side slam finished him off instead. I don’t know why this ended the show. 

Final Thoughts: 

I feel bad for Limelight and Martin who had a really good match that a lot of people probably missed given the timing and the lead-in match before it.