AEW Dark results: Frankie Kazarian vs. JD Drake, Sonny Kiss vs. Blade

It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means: 90+ minutes of AEW Dark. 

The arena was set up for fans, but featured the usual workers and stage hands around the ring as a crowd unlike Monday’s Elevation. Ricky Starks joined Taz and Excalibur on commentary for the first few matches. 

Wardlow defeated Baron Black (2:32) 

Wardlow won by propping Black up on the top rope from a suplex position and then driving him down into his knee. This wa quite the squash win.

Lee Johnson (w/ Dustin Rhodes) defeated Vary Morales (5:30)

Morales looked good against Johnson in spots, but it was not to be. Morales hit a pair of rolling vertical suplexes into a falcon arrow, but Johnson kicked out at one. Johnson countered another suplex attempt with a small package to cue his comeback, eventually winning following a fisherman’s buster into a neckbreaker for the win. 

Abadon defeated Hyan (2:00) 

Hyan made her AEW debut here in a losing effort. I suspect that if Abadon goes on the road with AEW, she is going to be very over with the live crowds. She won here with her inverted Rocker Dropper. 

Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Marko Stunt (0:50) 

I think Hobbs’ hair alone is taller than Stunt. They ran around for a bit before Stunt tried a sliced bread and Hobbs turned it into the Town Business for the pin. I was disappointed Stunt didn’t get destroyed here. 

Lance Archer defeated Kenny Bengal (1:59) 

Bengal tried to leave, so Archer chased him up the ramp and threw him into the ring. Archer dominated, finishing off Bengal with a spinning side slam. All we need is a squash from MIro to complete the set. 

Tay Conti defeated Charlette Renegade (2:19) 

Conti hit a pump kick in the corner and the facewash, finishing off Renegade with the DDTay hammerlock DDT. Conti looks like she has so much fun in these squashes. She danced with ref Aubrey Edwards after the match (the gifs of which I’m sure will break the internet. Go find them, I’ll wait). 

QT Marshall and Aaron Solow (w/ Nick Comoroto) defeated Chad Lennex and Zachariah (4:18) 

Lennex and Zachariah are trainees of Dustin Rhodes, so this is an extension of the Factory vs. Nightmare Family feud. Zacha ah looked good while Lennex looked like a total job guy. It was a perfectly fine tag match, but I couldn’t get into it. Marshall and Solow took out Lennex with a back suplex/neckbreaker combo and after a diamond cutter on Zachariah, Solow finished him with a top rope double foot stomp. 

Frankie Kazarian defeated JD Drake (w/ the Wingmen) (5:54) 

When Cezar Bononi tried to interfere, the referee ejected the Wingmen. Drake used the distraction to nail Kazarian with a right hand to take control. Kazarian came back with a flying forearm and a leg drop. Drake came back with a leaping boot and a cannonball in the corner, but missed a middle rope leg lariat. “The Elite Hunter” locked in a crossface chicken wing for the submission win.

Angelico (w/ Matt Hardy) defeated Arjun Singh (2:30)

Angelico’s single matches are becoming a weekly Dark highlight. He won quickly with the Navarro Death Roll and feels like the next performer who is going to break out after a bunch of great Dark performances similar to Conti and Hobbs. After the match, Matt Hardy again pressured Jora Johl into joining the HFO, a continuation of the angle that started on last week’s show. 

Also, there was an uneventful interview with Alex Marvez and Joey Janela about Janela’s injury status. No update, just Janela storming off. 

Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Holidead (1:16)

Per usual, Rose was introduced by Guerrero. Holidead is a former SHINE Tag Team champion with Thunder Rosa and made her AEW debut with this match. However, this was another total squash that Rose won with the Beast Bomb. Taz making up lyrics to Rose’s music was more interesting than the match. 

The Blade (w/ TH2 and The Bunny) defeated Sonny Kiss (7:00) 

The most interesting thing about this match was the Jungle Boy vs. Angelico match announced via an on-screen graphic which the announcers ignored. Is this a known match? It’s the first time I’m hearing of it and I’m now immediately way more excited for Dynamite. (Editor’s note: this was a newly-announced match, but it’s actually Jack Evans vs. Jungle Boy.)

Kiss did well in this bout, taking out both Blade and TH2 with a crossbody to the floor. Back in the ring, Black countered an Irish whip with a hot shot and then dumped Kiss to the floor for his lackeys to beat on him. A hangman’s neckbreaker from Blade got a near fall and the crowd got behind Kiss with chants. Kiss came back and hit a split leg drop for a near fall. Blade hit a spinning bowerslam and then a doctor bomb to win the match.

Afterward, TH2 and Blade were beating Kiss up but Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy made the save. Well, they are looking for a new friend. Janela, once the heels had been chased away, also came out to help Kiss, but Kiss rejected him.

Julia Hart (w/ Varsity Blonds) defeated Ashley D’Amboise (2:35) 

Both girls looked really green here. Hart hit a bulldog and a standing moonsault, but only got two. She got the win with same split leg legdrop that Kiss used in a losing effort in the previous match. Post match, the Blonds and Hart celebrated with fireworks going off in the sky. (These are apparently fireworks that go off regularly in Jacksonville, so this was some clever shooting/editing on AEW’s part.)

Private Party and Jack Evans (w/ Matt Hardy) defeated Dark Order’s Stu Grayson, Evil Uno and Colt Cabana (7:45) 

The story of this match seemed to be Evans screwing up and losing the advantage for the HFO at every turn. Grayson was blindsided with a Marq Quen forearm from behind and the HFO got the heat on Grayson for the bulk of the match. Evans blew a handspring elbow and Grayson got the tag to Evil Uno who hit a step-up hurricanrana — an impressive feat for a man his size. Grayson came back and hit a frog splash on Evans for a near fall that was broken up by Quen. Evans and Quen tried to go for the Jack and Juice on Cabana, but Cabana countered into the Chicago Skyline on Evans to get the pin. Hardy was upset with Evans and berated him after the match. 

Excalibur closed the show like this was the main event, but there was still more to come. This show was more than enough at this point. 

Shawn Dean defeated JDX (4:04)

This was both Dean’s first match since March and JDX’s AEW debut. Dean won with a tequila sunrise variation for the submission. 

Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi (w/ Peter Avalon) defeated Sage Scott and Jake St. Patrick (2:42) 

Nemeth got the pin after a hangman’s neckbreaker. And that’s the end of the show. 

Final Thoughts: 

Next week is probably (hopefully?) the last Dark they tape with no fans and 30 matches.