AEW Dark results: Dante Martin & Matt Sydal vs. The Factory

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means: AEW Dark from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

To the back of the Elite Zone, Alex Marvez welcomed the debuting Santana Garrett to All Elite Wrestling. Her interview was interrupted by Diamante who challenged her for a match next week. Diamante piefaced her and the fight was on, broken up by a gaggle of officials. 

Your hosts are Excalibur and Taz. 

Thunder Rosa defeated Nikita Knight (4:00) 

Rosa is now the number one contender for the AEW Women’s title. She hit a devastating avalanche dropkick in the corner that, by all rights, should have been the finish. Rosa then hit a Russian leg sweep into the Peruvian necktie for the submission to spoil Knight’s AEW debut.

Private Party defeated Carlie Bravo and JDX (4:34) 

Private Party is the number four ranked tag team in AEW. JDX mocked the “shots! shots! shots!” bit from Private Party’s music before coming in with a double axehandle on Kassidy. Private Party hit the Gin ‘n’ Juice on Bravo to get the win. 

Kiera Hogan defeated Leila Grey (3:00) 

During the match, Excalibur said “Keira Hogan is All Elite” which apparently means she has signed a deal with the company.

The crowd was behind her in this one. Hogan rallied with a pair of Polish hammers and a shotgun dropkick, followed by a sliding dropkick. A roundhouse kick finished off Grey in a dominating win for Hogan.

10 (w/ -1, Alan “5” Angels, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) defeated Brandon Gore (2:30) 

-1 is on the AEW roster page, which is just the best thing. A pair of clotheslines, pump kick and spinebuster devastated Gore. Vance followed up with a pop-up power bomb and the submission with a full nelson. 

Cezar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude defeated Jake St. Patrick and Ryzin (3:07)

Jaoude is the former Arturo Ruas, formerly of NXT and Raw Underground until he was released this year. He wrestled barefoot. Bononi and Jaoude are both from Brazil and none of the Wingmen were out with Bononi, so this might be a gimmick change for Bononi. Bononi spent a good bit of the match on the apron while Jaoude did the work which looked pretty good. He hit a kneestrike on Ryzin right into a spinning Angle style slam for the finish. 

Lance Archer defeated Arjun Singh (0:22 officially, but really more like three minutes) 

This fight started in the back and Archer threw Singh through the curtain and down the ramp. He continued the brawl on the floor and Singh offered no offense. Archer beat up Singh all around the ring and barricades, dropping him with an uranage on the ring apron — all before the match even started because both guys hadn’t been in the ring yet. Singh got a brief advantage after a missed boot, but Archer caught him with a cannonball senton into the ring. Archer then hit the Blackout for the pinfall. 

Ricky Starks (w/ Hook) defeated Darius Lockhart (9:00) 

Lockhart made his AEW debut in Starks’ first match since he won the FTW belt in mid-July. He had Hook hold the belt in a velvet bag because, as Taz let us know on commentary, the belt gets refinished and refined once a year. Okay, then. 

Lockhart saw success early working on Starks’ arm. He did some good matwork that was giving me flashbacks to Zack Sabre in the G1. Starks escaped with a right hand and followed up with chops in the corner. Lockhart came back with a back elbow off the middle rope and went back to working on the arm. Starks escaped by whipping him into the ropes and Lockhart took an awkward bump. Starks took Lockhart onto the floor and tossed him into the ring barricade.

Back in the ring, Starks went to the top to taunt the crowd (who were giving him dueling “Let’s Go Ricky!”/“Ricky Sucks!” chants). Lockhart caught Starks up top, but Starks was able to drop him against the ropes, followed by a top rope dropkick for a near fall. Lockhart came back with a series of near falls, but Starks caught him with a flying boot for two. 

Lockhart managed another comeback, catching Starks with a crossbody off the top for a near fall. A cross corner whip was followed up with a forearm. Starks countered an exploder attempt with a cradle for a near fall. Starks then dodged a clothesline and just obliterated Lockhart with a spear for the pin. This was a really fun match. 

Evil Uno & Stu Grayson (w/ Colt Cabana) defeated Adrian Alanis & Liam Grey (3:10) 

So for those keeping track, the Dark Order divide is Uno, Grayson and (perhaps reluctantly) Cabana against Reynolds, Silver, 5, 10 and -1.  I assume Conti and Jay will take up -1’s side of the feud? 

Alanis and Grey dominated Grayson for a bit. Grayson hit Grey with a belly to belly suplex and then took out both his opponents with a back kick. Uno and Grayson hit the punt kick/piledriver combo on Grey for the win.

Julia Hart (w/ The Varsity Blonds) defeated Reka Tehaka (3:12) 

Hart hit an impressive twisting splash off the top rope that really should have been the finish, but then followed up with her bulldog with a split to score the pin. 

Bear Country defeated Jameson Ryan and Brick Aldridge (4:16) 

Ryan and Aldridge looked very impressive hitting a double spinebuster on Bear Bronson. Bronson came back with a crossbody off the middle rope onto both men and got the tag to Bear Boulder. He missed a middle rope moonsault and Aldridge was able to get a near fall after a belly-to-belly suplex. JR should be calling this one because it’s a hoss fight! 

Boulder slammed Aldridge and then Ryan on top of Aldridge, piling them in the corner. Bear Bronson then came in with a somersault cannonball to get the pin on Ryan. Boulder was limping at the end of the match but has wrestled since the taping. 

Matt Sydal and Dante Martin defeated QT Marshall and Aaron Solo (w/ Nick Comoroto) (9:35) 

Sydal and Martin have a tag match tomorrow night against Cody Rhodes and Lee Johnson, so I expected a win but at different times, I thought Marshall’s team might go over.

After a brief exchange between Martin and Solo, Sydal got the tag and hit a brainbuster variation on Solo for a near fall. Sydal took out both his opponents and hit a standing skytwister press on Solo for another near fall.

Marshall got the advantage and hit a backbreaker on Sydal for a near fall. Solo followed up with a legdrop for two. Marshall went for a suplex on Sydal, but Sydal flipped it into a rana and got the tag to Martin. 

Martin came in with a series of dropkicks on Marshall, taking out Solo with a forearm. Another dropkick sent Marshall out to the floor and Martin followed him out with a plancha. Sydal hit Solo with a meteora on the floor as well. Sydal and Martin hit a pair of moonsaults on their opponents from the ramp to the floor. 

Back in the ring, Martin tried a springboard attempt but Solo tripped him up. Marshall hit a massive sit-out power bomb on Martin for a near fall. Solo got the tag and got hit with a Martin flipping stunner. Sydal took out Marshall with the lightning spiral and Martin hit the double jump moonsault on Solo for the pin. 

Final Thoughts: 

It was good to see Martin get a win heading into Dynamite tomorrow night. The tag match was okay, but it was nothing I would go out of my way to see. Starks also looked very impressive in his first Dark appearance in a few months.