AEW Dark results: Dustin Rhodes vs. Aaron Solo, Thunder Rosa in action

It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means. This week’s action was taped last Wednesday in Austin, Texas.

Dustin Rhodes started the show with a promo on Aaron Solo to set up tonight’s main event. They’re in his hometown of Austin and if this were WWE Dark, he would be in real trouble. 

The Blade (w/ The Bunny) defeated Ryan Mantell (1:52) 

Mantell is also from Austin, but he was clearly a job guy in this situation as Blade has a big match with Orange Cassidy on tomorrow’s Dynamite. Blade got a star reaction from the hot crowd and so did Bunny when she choked Mantell across the bottom rope and scratched his back. A doctor bomb ended this quick squash. 

Thunder Rosa defeated KiLynn King (2:42) 

Rosa — also a hometown girl — got a huge reaction and loud “Thunder Rosa” chants. There was lots of great mat wrestling early on. Rosa converted a cazadora into a facebuster and then crushed a seated King with a dropkick in the corner. King came back with a German suplex and went for her finisher, but Rosa countered and caught King with the Peruvian necktie for the quick tapout. 

Private Party and The Acclaimed defeated The Varsity Blonds and Dark Order’s Alan “5” Angels and 10 (w/ Julia Hart) (6:52)

I guess now that they’re touring, -1 can’t come to the shows. Caster’s raps continue to be fantastic. “In Texas, you’re all haters/I wanna bounce like your Democrat lawmakers!” They also threw a giant roll at Hart for reasons that are going over my head, but now I want a sandwich so thanks for that. 

The crowd was solidly behind Brian Pillman Jr. Marq Quen tripped him up running the ropes and he fell victim to Silly String and a spinning DDT. Anthony Bowens, who avoided a tag early on, was more than eager to work over Pillman. Quen followed up with a top rope axehandle. Pillman caught Quen flying in with a boot and tagged in Griff Garrison who attacked everyone with big boots and clotheslines.

10 got the tag and hit Bowens with a spinebuster and Angels flew in with a moonsault for a near fall. Bowens came back and hit Pillman with an implant DDT. Bowens and Angels felled each other with a double clothesline. 

Bowens went to use the boombox as a weapon, but Hart took it away. Bowens went after her and Angels rolled him up for a near fall. A standing Spanish fly also got Angels a near fall. Private Party combined to hit Gin & Juice on Angels, and Caster came off the top with the elbow for the pin in a great Dark match. 

After the match, Bowens cut a promo on the Blonds. He said some especially rude things about Hart with a very different definition of “tag teaming.” I love this Acclaimed/Blonds feud. More of this next week, please. 

Abadon defeated Promise Braxton (1:33)

Abandon, who has barely wrestled on the main show, got a great reaction. She won with her inverted DDT/rocker dropper finisher. 

The Cypress Hill commercial for All Out, which is great, aired here. 

The Bunny (w/ the Blade) defeated Big Swole (3:31) 

Just as the match started to get going, Diamante came out on the mic and distracted Swole, allowing Bunny to get the advantage. Diamante sat at ringside to watch the match and Bunny took the fight to Swole. Swole came back with a nasty looking headbutt and an avalanche clothesline in the corner. Swole went for the Clearwater clover leaf, but Blade got up on the apron to distract the ref. Diamante then kicked Swole from the apron and Bunny rolled her up with a big ol’ handful of tights to get the pin. 

Later backstage, Swole cut a promo about how that loss cost her money, so now she’s ready for a match with Diamante. 

Wardlow defeated Chad Lennex (0:31) 

Lennex is a Dustin Rhodes trainee and came out to Rhodes’ music and with Rhodes himself. Wardlow knocked him out in 31 seconds after a spinebuster and a knee strike: the one that starts with Wardlow positioning his opponent on the top rope for a superplex but drops him straight down from the top onto his knee. They need to give that a name. I suggest Warhead. 

Dustin Rhodes defeated Aaron Solo (w/ Nick Comoroto & QT Marshall) (6:02) 

Solo and Marshall cut a promo on their way to the ring. Rhodes was introduced from Austin, Texas, and got a huge pop. 

Rhodes and Solo brawled on the floor to start. When trying to get back in the ring, Rhodes got distracted by Marshall and Solo whipped him into the ringpost to get an advantage. Back in the ring, Solo buried a knee into Rhodes’ midsection for a near fall. Solo distracted the ref so Marshall could take a cheap shot on Rhodes in the ropes. Rhodes caught a charging Solo with a reverse atomic drop, but failed on a bulldog attempt.

After a collision, Rhodes came back with clotheslines and one of the best spinning powerslams in wrestling. He then hit a Code Red for a great near fall. Solo countered a Final Cut attempt with a superkick and followed that up with an ugly German suplex. A corkscrew kick got him a nice near fall. Solo went for the totally not a pedigree, but Rhodes countered like Solo was HHH with a slingshot. Solo then countered that with a double stomp. Rhodes went for the bulldog, but Solo avoided it by pushing Rhodes away. Rhodes caught him with a second bulldog attempt and that got him the pin in another great Dark match.

Final Thoughts:

Yes! Yes! Yes! More of this kind of Dark, please. Keep the show at about an hour, give a few of the featured players some nice wins, and you have a nice YouTube exclusive feud building between the Varsity Blonds and The Acclaimed. Also, coming from a lit up arena with a hot crowd that was hot for all the matches made a huge difference.