AEW Dark results: Lucha Bros, Acclaimed, Top Flight, Private Party
By Joseph Collins for F4WOnline.com
The Big Takeaways:
The tag team scene is bursting at the seams in AEW, highlighted by excellent performances from Top Flight and The Acclaimed.
It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means. Excalibur, Taz and guest commentator Ricky Starks welcomed us to the show.
Luchasaurus def. Brandon Cutler (w/ Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt) (5:53)
The match started off with a Luchasaurus promo who assured us that dragons are not real. We can trust him because he has a Masters Degree. Luchasaurus brutalized Cutler out on the floor, grabbing him in a wheelbarrow and slinging him into the guardrails. This lasted well past a count of 10, but when they rolled back into the ring, the ref was only at three.
Cutler hit a tope to the floor, slingshot senton, and a long distance legdrop and only got a one count. Cutler avoided a chokeslam and hit a springboard elbow, but Luchasaurus sat right up. A second springboard elbow got a two count. Luchasaurus nailed a hook kick and an ugly chokeslam for a near fall before another devastating kick finished Cutler. This was a pretty good opener and the loss ended an eight match winning streak for Cutler.
Sammy Guevara def. El Australiano (5:54)
Australiano danced a lot by shaking his hips so Taz and Starks suggested they play Shakira music during his matches. Australiano got a ton of aerial offense, scoring a near fall off a rana into a cradle. Finally, Guevara took advantage of an ill-advised dive and kicked him mid-air in the back of the head. Guevara hit a back suplex into a DDT for a near fall. I saw it and I didn’t understand the physics of it, but trust me, that’s what happened. Guevara missed a shooting star press, and Australiano hit his own version for a near fall. Australiano sold like he was hurt, so I guess maybe Guevara was supposed to get his knees up and didn’t? A burning hammer into a GTS won the match for Guevara.
Guevara applauded his opponent afterward and cut a promo about how he has a chip on his shoulder and that Chris Jericho scouted him for AEW. This actually felt a little bit disjointed from the storyline they are telling for Dynamite with the three-way tag match tomorrow night.
Scorpio Sky def. Nick Comoroto (7:04)
Comoroto is really growing on me in these episodes. They need to give him a caveman gimmick to have him feud and eventually team with Luchasaurus. Caveman vs. dinosaur writes itself. Comoroto dominated early on by working over Sky’s back. After several minutes of dominance from Comoroto, Sky came back with a cactus clothesline and a top rope dropkick. Comoroto countered a TKO attempt with his own fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker for a near fall, but Sky powered Comoroto up into the TKO on the second try for the pinfall. This was both a big win for Sky and a nice showcase for Comoroto.
Shanna def. Marti Daniels (3:38)
Daniels “looks like a bad ass” according to Starks on commentary. An absolutely vicious looking boot from Daniels gave her the advantage early on. The rest of her offense was mainly stomps and trash talk, but she did trash talk like a champ. Shanna came back to hit a stunner and went to finish with a tiger suplex and bridge. Daniels, however, couldn’t get her shoulders down on the bridge and was slumped to the side so it looked awful. Finally, Shanna pulled her back up and they repeated the tiger suplex spot. This time, Daniels landed on her back and shoulders for the pin. This was going good until the ugly finish.
The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny) def. Mike Verna and Baron Black (6:40)
Butcher and Blade cut off Black from Verna early on while Bunny interfered liberally throughout the bout. Black avoided a double clothesline and got the tag to Verna who held his own against both Butcher and Blade. Bunny distracted the ref, giving Butcher and Blade the opportunity to catch Verna in their powerbomb and hangman’s neckbreaker combination. Butcher pinned Verna for the win.
Gunn Club def. RYZIN, Adam Priest and Vary Morales (4:49)
Austin Gunn got worked over by the heels after getting clotheslined from behind by Priest. He eventually reversed a RYZIN suplex and got the hot tag to Colton Gunn, who got a near fall off a tilt-a-whirl slam. Colton and Austin finished Morales with the 3:10 to Zuma, basically a backdrop into a neckbreaker.
Santana & Ortiz def. Danny Limelight & Jon Cruz (1:34)
Santana & Ortiz dropped the Proud & Powerful name, but still have that awful theme. Santana dared Limelight to come in off the top, and when he did, Santana nailed him with a superkick. A minute later, a powerbomb finished off Cruz to finish off a squash win.
— “Pretty” Peter Avalon cut a promo about challenging Lee Johnson to a “walk off” which is basically a modeling contest for next week’s AEW Dark.
Private Party (w/ Matt Hardy) def. Lee Johnson & Aaron Solow (6:58)
I feel like PP has been outclassed by a lot of the recent new teams coming up through Dark. The story of this match was the miscommunication between PP and Hardy. Everytime Hardy tells either guy to do something, they try it and it backfires. When PP follows their own instincts, they control the match. Hardy tripped up Solow to help out Marq Quen. Hardy also got in the way of Isiah Kassidy when he was trying a dive onto the floor, and Kassidy wound up eating a dropkick from Solow back in the ring.
Despite the storyline, this was a fine back and forth match. Solow got a near fall with an O’Connor Roll, but when Quen kicked out, Solow ran into a Hardy right hand. PP missed the interference and hit a double enziguri on Solow for the pin.
Big Swole def Alex Gracia (3:27)
Swole is the no. 1 contender for the AEW Women’s title. There was some solid back and forth here until Swole hit the ripcord forearm for the pin. Her music and dancing will get her over when there are crowds back in the arenas.
Sonny Kiss def. Zack Clayton (2:52)
Clayton got a one count after a long delayed suplex followed by a knee drop. Kiss came back with a series of forearms and a dropkick. After another flurry of kicks and a rolling forearm, a split-legged legdrop off the middle rope finished the match for Kiss.
Top Flight def KC Navarro and AJ Kirsch (4:51)
90 minutes feels like the sweet spot for these shows, and that’s where we are timewise at this point.
This was the AEW debut for Kirsch who was on the 2011 season of WWE Tough Enough. Taz intimated on commentary that Top Flight would be a good fit for Team Taz. Navarro avoided a dropkick from Dante early on, but was pretty cocky about it and Dante nailed him on the second try. Nonetheless, Dante was cut off by the heels and got worked over. Darius got the blind tag and hit a high cross off the top on Navarro. Darius hit a spanish fly for a near fall. Dante came off the top and hit a moonsault to the floor on Kirsch while Darius rolled up Navarro for the pin.
Ivelisse & Diamanté defeated Tesha Price & Katalina Perez (4:30)
Ivelisse & Diamanté worked over Perez in their corner for the bulk of the match, cutting her off from her partner. Eventually, Price got the tag and hit a cartwheel into a kick and followed that with a bulldog on Ivelisse for a two count. An enziguri from Perez was followed up with a neckbreaker from Perez for another near fall. Ivelisse came back with a spinning kick to Perez for the pin.
The Acclaimed def. Fuego del Sol and Shawn Dean (4:04)
Anthony Bowens and Max Caster combined to hit a hangman’s neckbreaker and backstabber combination for a near fall on Dean. Del Sol got the hot tag and hit a sliced bread on Caster by walking up Bowen’s chest in another fun spot. Caster countered a spinning DDT from del Sol by reversing it into a brainbuster. Bowens got the pin on del Sol after a top rope elbow from Caster to get another great win for The Acclaimed.
Lucha Bros (w/ PAC) def. Chaos Project (6:40)
Serpentico got the first near fall of the match after a short DDT on Penta. Luther got the tag and dropped Serpentico on Penta for a near fall. Luther just drags down whatever match he’s in. Again, the gimmick for the Chaos Project is Luther uses Serpentico as a weapon against his opponents, and Serpentico is slowly getting sick of it. I’m not sure this story should be anchoring the main event spot for the second week in a row though.
Penta hit the slingblade on Luther and got the tag to Fenix. A power bomb from Fenix was followed up with a boot to the spine from Penta that got a near fall. A spike package piledriver finished off Serpentico with Penta getting the pin. I hope Chaos Project having a spot on Dynamite means someone else is main eventing Dark next week.
Final Thoughts:
I was surprised there was no Dark Order tonight but I guess they didn’t need to be as Dark clocked in at just under two hours or about 30 minutes too long. I still don’t understand Chaos Project getting the “main event” spot three weeks in a row.
The Acclaimed and Top Flight looked really good here this week and continue to impress. It’s crazy how many good tag teams are in AEW right now, ideal for some kind of tournament.
Overall, this was a good show.