AEW Dark results: FTR vs. Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison

Match Recommendation:

Scorpio Sky defeated Will Hobbs (and don’t skip Sky’s promo)

Show Recap:

Taz and Tony Schiavone were on commentary booth and similar to Dynamite, there was no mention of why Excalibur wasn’t there.

Scorpio Sky defeated Will Hobbs

Hobbs blindsided Sky to start the match and hit a nice spinebuster for a near fall. Sky recovered and hit TKO for the win, looking great in a quick squash. After the match, he cut a promo talking about how he is tired of being on Dark and seeing other less deserving guys get opportunities ahead of him. This was awesome.

The Gunn Club (Billy Gunn & Austin Gunn) defeated Aaron Solow and Serpentico

This was Austin’s first match since the January 8th Dark. Serpentico and Solow made quick tags and beat him down for the majority of the match. He has never looked great to me, but his selling has greatly improved. Austin hit a modified hip toss on Serpentico for the win.

Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela defeated The Initiative (Peter Avalon & Brandon Cutler) w/Leva Bates

Janela nearly immediately took out both members of the Initiative and then tagged in Kiss, who hit all his signature moves including a tope suicida into a DDT. Kiss and Janela continued to work at a fast pace. 

Avalon lured Janela to the entrance ramp and threw him into it, giving The Initiative their first advantage of the match. Unfortunately, a new tag team name wasn’t enough for Cuter and Avalon to pick up their first victory. Janela held up Avalon as Kiss landed a top rope split onto Avalon’s head for the pin.

During the finish, you could see Avalon’s head bounce off the mat upon impact. After the bell, Janela seemed concerned and was clearly talking to the referee and Avalon. I’m not sure who executed this wrong or if it was a freak accident, but that should be reviewed.

Abadon defeated KiLynn King

As Abadon made her entrance, King was seen on the outside clearly shaken up by her presence. Abandon no sold King’s offense for the majority of the match which led to her hitting a move neither Taz, Schiavone or I knew the name of for the win. 

This made Sky vs. Hobbs from earlier tonight feel like Misawa vs. Kawada from early 90s All Japan. Abadon reminds me of the atrocious undead realm in Impact, and I just can’t take anything she does seriously.

Jack Evans (w/Angelico) defeated QT Marshall (w/Allie)

Both wrestlers are returning, but from two very different situations. Marshall has fully recovered from COVID-19, and Evans is back from a brief stint in Mexico. Throughout the match, Allie was heard cheering for every offensive move Marshall landed and criticized him with every mistake he made.

Evans slipped while attempting a springboard maneuver which gave Marshall the opportunity to take control. Allie entered the ring and argued with the referee which allowed Angelico to kick Marshall in the head. Evans then rolled him up for the victory.

FTR defeated Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison

As FTR made their way to the ring, Tully Blanchard could be seen inside the tunnel where FTR exited. So, it appears Blanchard is now advising both FTR and Shawn Spears. Per FTR’s contract, tag ropes were added to the turnbuckles for the match. FTR worked much slower than usual, but it was very solid tag team wrestling. Garrison and Pillman got a little offense in, but in the end, FTR hit Goodnight Express on Garrison for the three count.

The Butcher & The Blade defeated Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy)

Private Party took advantage early on, hitting multiple double team maneuvers. Midway through the match, Butcher and Blade took control and never looked back. Marq Quen made a hot tag to Isiah Kassidy, who landed some nice kicks and a cutter for two count. The end came when Quen and Kassidy were both perched up top to attack Butcher, but Quen was pushed off to the floor by Blade and Kassidy missed a senton. Butcher & Blade hit The Full Death for the win.

Closing Thoughts:

Quality wise, this was the worst episode of Dark in months. I can’t really recommend any match because they all felt like filler. Sky’s post-promo was the best I have heard from him and if he’s handled properly, I believe he can be a huge singles star. It is great that AEW has provided work for numerous indie wrestlers during the pandemic, but as soon as one of them is booked, you already know what’s going to happen. I’m not saying they should go 50/50 with a star, but giving them a little credibility wouldn’t hurt.