AEW Dark results: Miro vs. Sonny Kiss, SCU makes a big decision
The Big Takeaways:
SCU (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) will break up the next time they lose and Alex Gracia will face AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida on this week’s Dynamite.
Show Recap:
Excalibur and Taz opened the show with Ricky Starks joining commentary for the opener.
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (w/ Marko Stunt) defeated Bear Country (Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson)
Bear Country debuted last week and they are a fun team, although rather rough around the edges. Bronson tried to overpower Jungle Boy who escaped with some gymnastics and a dropkick. Luchasaurus and Boulder tagged in which was a good visual as Boulder is nearly Luchasaurus’ height. Luchasaurus downed both of Bear Country with kicks before assisting Jungle Boy on a flatliner. Jungle Boy followed it up with an assisted senton. Bronson avoided a corner attack and planted Jungle Boy with an exploder suplex.
Bear Country beat down Jungle Boy with power moves and double teams before he escaped a suplex and tagged in Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus laid in strikes and kipped up after a German suplex. He easily dispatched both opponents, but Boulder broke up a pin attempt after a chokeslam and a standing moonsault. Bear Country regained control and Bronson hit a fire thunder driver onto Jungle Boy while simultaneously landing a seated splash on Luchasaurus.
Boulder hit a second rope moonsault for a close near fall on Jungle Boy. Jurassic Express came back with a doomsday device on Bronson before dispatching Boulder. A cyclone kick from Luchasaurus and a running back elbow from Jungle Boy earned the victory for Jurassic Express.
Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Tesha Price
Price offered a handshake which Rose accepted, but then gripped too hard. She escaped some offense and landed a cartwheel kick, but Rose caught the follow up and downed her with a forearm. Rose hit repeated backbreakers and a fallaway slam. After more power moves, a diving draping knee drop got three.
Miro (w/ Kip Sabian) defeated Sonny Kiss
Miro immediately dropped Kiss with a high kick. He called for Game Over, but Kiss rolled out of the way and landed a kick of his own. Kiss hit a hurricanrana and followed it up with his slap, but that just served to make Miro mad. Kiss landed another diving hurricanrana and a kick for two, but Miro popped up and went for a kick that mostly missed. Miro laid in stomps and applied Game Over for the submission.
The Waiting Room with Dr. Britt Baker featuring SCU
Baker thanked Tony Khan for fixing the set after last week’s brawl. She briefly addressed Thunder Rosa before announcing that Sting would be her guest soon. Baker then previewed this week’s Dynamite, insulting everyone involved.
SCU (Daniels and Kazarian) came out. Kazarian said he wasn’t in a good mood and that it wasn’t supposed to come to this. SCU had a rotten year, but Kazarian knew he could rely on Daniels and Scorpio Sky — until now. Kazarian said that last week, SCU wrestled The Acclaimed and Daniels was the one who lost, which is what happens every time SCU loses. Kazarian has dedicated his whole life to this business and called Daniels not just his tag team partner, but his best friend. He apologized for letting professional responsibilities get in the way of personal relationships.
Daniels told him to stop, because he has nothing to apologize for, calling Kazarian the epitome of a professional in this business. He apologized to Kazarian because Daniels lost the passion he had. 2020 was the worst year of his professional life to the point that he hated coming to work every week. He said maybe that’s a sign it’s time to walk away before he ruins his reputation forever.
A dejected Daniels was about to leave, but Kazarian wouldn’t let him, saying “You don’t get to do that.” He called Daniels a fighter and asked him one more time to fight by his side. Right now, they’re at the bottom of the tag division, but they will fight and claw and become champions. Kazarian then laid down an ultimatum: the next time they lose as a tag team, they’re done forever. Daniels closed by agreeing: “Let’s do it.” Kazarian then challenged TH2 to a match.
That was absolutely phenomenal and perhaps the best promo segment in Dark history. Kazarian, in particular, showed tons of personality and passion, but both were great.
Thunder Rosa defeated Jazmin Allure
This was Allure’s AEW debut. Rosa locked on a top wristlock but was taken down with a leg sweep and a dropkick. Rosa came back with a knee strike to the gut before laying in kicks followed by running double knees for two. A powerslam followed for another two. Rosa hit a series of chops and back elbows but missed a corner attack and was met with elbows from Allure. A cazadora driver from Allure mostly landed for two, but a dropkick and a fire thunder driver ended it for the former NWA Women’s Champion.
Stu Grayson (w/ Evil Uno) defeated Lee Johnson (w/ QT Marshall)
This was really good as Grayson is an underutilized talent and Johnson is probably the best of the Dark enhancement talent.
Johnson laid in strikes and downed Grayson with an elbow. Grayson came back with a dropkick and cut off a slingshot move before landing a senton on the apron. He then followed up a strike exchange with a uranage for two. Grayson continued the beatdown until Johnson hit clotheslines and downed him with a dropkick.
A Blue Thunder Bomb from Johnson followed for two. Johnson almost escaped a dragon suplex, but Grayson rolled through and nailed it. A springboard 450 followed for a good near fall. Johnson avoided the running knee and landed a series of cradles before following it up with a buckle bomb. Johnson hit a Cancun Tornado that nearly got the win, but Grayson’s foot was on the ropes.
On the outside, Grayson dropped Johnson over the barricade before tossing him into the ring post. Back in the ring, Grayson hit a bicycle knee and the Nightfall for the win.
Alex Gracia defeated KiLynn King
For some reason, the winner of this match will wrestle Hikaru Shida on this week’s Dynamite. Gracia was way off on this match, completely missing a tiger feint kick and unable to even do a basic corner exchange.
King downed Gracia with a shoulder tackle and hit arm drags to take control. Gracia whiffed on a tiger feint kick, but landed a forearm. King laid in chops and a dropkick for two. Gracia came back with a tijeras and corner strikes. King caught a cazadora and landed a German suplex, but Gracia popped up and hit a neckbreaker for the win, her first in AEW.
Peter Avalon defeated Mike Verna
Avalon came out first with a microphone, saying it was time for Pretty Peter’s Pageant Provocation which, I guess, is like an open challenge but only for handsome people. It was Verna, making his AEW debut. Verna’s made appearances for a few high profile indies including EVOLVE, Beyond, and CHIKARA.
Verna locked on a full nelson early on and downed Avalon with a shoulderblock. Avalon turned a tilt-a-whirl into a tijeras, but Verna hit a slingshot suplex where he slingshotted Avalon on all four sides of the ring. Avalon sent Vernon into the ring post, allowing him to target Verna’s arm for the heat. Verna fought back with a knee strike, but Avalon escaped a power bomb with an arm wrench for two.
They fought on the top rope, but Verna sent Avalon to the mat with a missile dropkick. Verna landed clotheslines followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a Northern Lights suplex for two. Avalon avoided a senton bomb and hit the Marti-Knees for the win.
Red Velvet defeated Vertvixen
This was Vertvixen’s AEW debut. Velvet hit arm drags and a single leg dropkick to take advantage. Vertvixen tried to fight back with a series of kicks, but Velvet avoided the third and landed a strike sequence. Velvet then hit a cazadora bulldog and a moonsault for two. Vertvixen went to the second rope, but Velvet sent her to the mat with an Iconoclasm. A single leg dropkick followed, giving her the quick win.
Dark Order (Colt Cabana, Alan “5” Angels & Preston “10” Vance) defeated Aaron Solow, Fuego Del Sol & Ray Jaz
They showed Dark Order “-1” at ringside throughout the match who I believe is Brodie Lee’s son.
Solow and Del Sol are Dark regulars, but this was Jaz’s AEW debut. Cabana overpowered Del Sol at the start, using his experience and strength advantage to toy with Del Sol. Angels and Solow tagged in and wrestled to a stalemate until Vance and Jaz entered the match where Vance flattened Jaz with a spinebuster. Dark Order then beat Jaz down with frequent tags.
Jaz eventually escaped to Del Sol for the hot tag, who forced a meeting of the minds between Angels and Vance with a tijeras. He called for the tornado DDT, but Vance caught him with a wheelbarrow German. After sending Jaz packing, a hook kick from Angels into a combination lariat and bionic elbow got Dark Order the win.
Leyla Hirsch defeated Madi Wrenkowski
Yet another AEW debut tonight, this time for Wrenkowski. Hirsch immediately took Wrenkowski down with a double-leg. They performed some chain wrestling, but Hirsch applied a cross armbreaker, forcing Wrenkowski to reach the ropes. Wrenkowski downed Hirsch with a running dropkick and landed a corner crossbody.
Hirsch kicked out Wrenkowski’s leg and landed a German suplex. Wrenkowski applied a backslide for two and hit a facebuster for another two. Hirsch avoided a pump kick and hit a Saito suplex before re-applying the cross armbreaker for the submission.
Gunn Club (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) (w/ Billy Gunn) defeated TNT (Terrence Hughes & Terrell Hughes)
TNT are the twin sons of D-Von Dudley so this was truly a family affair. Terrence and Colten started off and Terrence landed a hip toss before Austin and Terrell tagged in. Austin downed Terrell with a shoulderblock, but Terrell applied a crucifix pin after a nice fireman’s carry takeover. They exchanged holds until Austin took control, allowing him to tag in Colten, and a running blockbuster got two. A blind tag from Terrence allowed TNT to take control after another shoulderblock.
Terrence and Terrell maintained their advantage with frequent tags and double teams. Gunn sent Terrell into Terrence, buying him time to reach Colten for the hot tag. Colten ran wild, concluding the attack with a dropkick. He followed it up with the Colt .45 (a double underhook swinging suplex) for the victory.
Rey Fenix defeated Danny Limelight
This was a great athletic showcase for both men, leading into Fenix’s AEW World title shot against Kenny Omega on next week’s Dynamite.
They each applied cradles early on, but neither could establish control. Limelight hit a couple chops, but just one from Fenix was able to flatten his opponent. Another cradle exchange followed before Fenix downed Limelight with a dropkick. Fenix went for the Penta Driver, but Limelight fought out. Limelight hit a round kick, but Fenix fired back with his rebound heel kick.
They had another strike exchange which Limelight won with a double stomp. He followed it up with a neckbreaker for two. Fenix fought out of a corner attack with a kick and an enziguri to the back of the head before deathlocking Limelight in the ropes. Fenix broke the hold with a slingshot leg drop for two.
Limelight jumped up with a double stomp to Fenix’s back for two. Fenix went to the top, but Limelight jumped up with a knee. They then each walked across the second rope, meeting each other in the middle for a chop exchange. Limelight sent Fenix to the floor but was crushed with a kick on a springboard attempt. Fenix laid in more kicks and hit a black fire driver for the win.
Matt Sydal defeated Serpentico (w/ Luther)
Sydal and Luther exchanged words about their separate “third eye” gimmicks. Sydal outwrestled Serpentico early on, so Luther pulled Serpentico out of the ring to give him some instructions. It was all Sydal until he got caught up in the ropes, allowing Luther to toss Serpentico into Sydal.
Back in the ring, Serpentico kept up the attack with a slingshot double stomp for two. Serpentico distracted the official, allowing Luther to attack Sydal. Sydal made a comeback with a leg lariat and kicks. A Northern Lights bomb followed for two. Sydal hit a standing leg drop and a corkscrew moonsault for two, but Serpentico hit a low DDT for two of his own.
Luther implored Serpentico to head to the top rope where Sydal avoided a stomp. Sydal then hit his new sidewalk driver for a close two before locking on the cobra clutch. Serpentico escaped and hit Sliced Bread for a near fall, but Sydal rolled him up for two. Sydal then hit a twisting fireman’s carry slam for the win.
Final Thoughts:
While still too long at just shy of two hours, this week’s edition of Dark was a far more palatable show than most weeks with some good action (Grayson vs. Johnson, Fenix vs. Limelight) and a particularly excellent promo segment from SCU.