AEW Dark results: SCU vs. TH2 vs. Sydal Brothers; Kingston vs. Drake

The Big Takeaways:

“40 Men and Women battle in over 2 Hours of Professional Wrestling Action” might be a little too much when they are all squash matches. 

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means. Taz and Excalibur were the primary commentary team and were joined on commentary by Olympic bronze medalist Anthony Ogogo for most of the matches per usual.

Brian Cage (w/ Hook) defeated John Skyler (:48)

Cage and Ricky Starks are facing the Varsity Blondes on Dynamite tomorrow night. And just as I finish typing that tidbit, Cage finished Skyler with the Drill Claw. 

Lee Johnson (w/ Arn Anderson) defeated Serpentico (w/ Luther) (5:26) 

While lurking on the Observer message board, I learned that Serpentico is also Jon Cruz. ICYMI, Johnson is one of the newest members of the Nightmare Family. Early on, Johnson got a near fall off of a nice dropkick and a press slam. Johnson sold a lot more for Serpentico than I thought he would. Johnson came back with a pair of clotheslines and jumping hangman’s neckbreaker for a near fall. Johnson got the win with a spinning blue thunder bomb for his first singles victory in AEW. 

Eddie Kingston defeated JD Drake (4:57)

Drake made his AEW debut in this one. Kingston and Drake started by exchanging chops and Drake got the advantage with what looked like a low kick and an enziguri for a near fall. Kingston came back with a boot and an eyerake. There were more chops from both guys and Kingston also used some ugly headbutts. Drake caught Kingston coming off the middle rope with a right hand, hit a uranage and a Vader bomb for a near fall. Drake hit a rolling senton in the corner, but missed a moonsault off the top rope, leading to Kingston winning with the spinning backfist. 

Leyla Hirsch defeated Brooke Havok (w/ Cody Rhodes) (2:16) 

Cody came out with Havok with a headset around his neck to show he’s working gorilla on the B-show. Havok blew out her knee somewhere in this match, but I couldn’t tell where it happened. Her one kneepad looked like it was loose the entire match. There was a neat spot where Havok went for a rolling neckbreaker like Curt Hennig used to do, but Hirsch turned it into a cradle for a near fall. A short time later, Hirsch gets the submission with the armbar. 

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) defeated Angel Fashion and VSK (1:25)

This match was a backdrop for Excalibur to plug the Jurassic Express vs. FTR & Tully Blanchard match on Dynamite a week from this Wednesday. Jungle Boy got the pin on VSK after the Express’ powerbomb finisher. 

QT Marshall (w/ Nick Comoroto) defeated JJ Garrett (4:35)

Garrett did hit a frog splash off the bottom rope for a one count. Marshall hit a pop-up uppercut and then a diamond cutter for the win in a very basic match.

Max Caster (w/ Anthony Bowens) defeated Marko Stunt (4:06) 

“Who left Jungle Boy in the dryer? Oh, it’s just Marko.” – Caster. 

Caster caught Stunt coming off the top and dropped him to get the advantage. Stunt tried for the sliced bread, but Caster threw him off. Stunt got in some offense and went to the top, but Caster lept to the top and superplexed him, following up with a top rope elbow for the three. This was a boring match, but Caster is going to be a huge star. 

Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds) defeated Louie Valle and Chris Peaks (5:00)

The rest of the Dark Order, with -1 but without Anna Jay, brought Silver and Reynolds out and went right to the back. Peaks and Valle were surprisingly good here, dominating Reynolds for a good bit of the match. Silver got the hot tag and did a Samoan drop onto both of his opponents at once. The Dark Destroyer (which I love) finished Valley.

Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford) defeated Fuego del Sol (4:28)

Will del Sol hit the tornado DDT this week? He looked like he might have a chance early on, catching Sabian with a hurricanrana and a dropkick. But then, del Sol ran into a big boot and Sabian took over. Del Sol came back with a sling blade into a flatliner. Sabian went for a Deathly Hallows (a face-first burning hammer), but del Sol countered into a small package for a near fall. Sabian then got the Deathly Hallows on the second try for the win. There was lots of making out from Sabian and Ford after the match. 

Varsity Blonds defeated Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo (7:43)

Taz plugged the Blondes vs. Cage and Starks match on Dynamite tomorrow night. Dean got a near fall on Garrison after a slingshot legdrop/slingshot elbow drop combination. Pillman got a blind tag and hit a superkick for a near fall, working over Bravo with a hammerlock. Pillman showed some really good mat work on Bravo. Well, he applied a purple nurple. Pillman followed that up with a single leg crab. Psychology is all over the place here. I mean, pick a body part and work on it, either the nipple or the leg. 

Garrison tried to set up Bravo for a power bomb, but Bravo escaped and got the hot tag to Dean who hit a pair of running dropkicks in the corner and then a DDT for a near fall. Bravo hit a standing sliced bread and Dean hit a splash for another near fall. Garrison contered a suplex attempt with a face-first suplex. Garrison got Bravo up for a power bomb and Pillman flew in from the top with a dropkick to get the win. This turned into a very fun match. 

Ryan Nemeth defeated Aaron Solow (6:55) 

Sure, Solow may have lost a financée this week, but he gained a family: the Nightmare Family. 

Nemeth got a couple of takedowns and demanded two points because he was wrestling this match like an amateur. Solow hit a couple of armdrags and a dropkick sent Nemeth to the floor. Back in the ring, Solow slammed him and dropped a knee for another near fall. Nemeth came back by working over Solow’s arm and executed his hammerlock headstand. Solow started to make a comeback while Cezar Bononi and Peter Avalon come out to observe the match. Nemeth won with a hangman’s neckbreaker. 

After the match, Bononi and Avalon entered the ring to congratulate Nemeth and beat down Solow who continued to have the worst week ever. The Nightmare Family made the save to run them off. 

Ivelisse and Diamante defeated Miranda Alize and Renee Michelle (6:15)

Ivelisse and Michelle started with a great opening sequence which led to Alize and Diamante also having a great exchange. Alize was part of the group with Ivelisse and Diamante until she lost to Nyla Rose a few weeks ago, so they’re going to beat her up over the loss. I do appreciate the little storyline here. After taking quite the beating, Alize hit Diamante with a cutter and tags were made on both sides. Michelle scored a near fall after a spinning kick. Ivelisse came back on Michelle with a stiff knee. Alize got the tag back in but hesitated. As a result, Alize got destroyed with stereo knees, a double power bomb and a double kick. Ivelisse got the pin on Alize. 

Top Flight defeated Tony Vega and Steven Stetson (5:32)

Dante wound up in trouble in the heel corner and was double teamed by Vega and Stetson. Dante tried to leap for a tag to his brother, but Stetson caught him with a nice spinebuster for a near fall. Dante flipped out of a back suplex attempt and got a tag to his brother. Darius hit a shotgun dropkick for a near fall. Darius wedged Stetson’s head in the corner and Dante ran in with a running shotgun dropkick to score the win. 

Bear Country, Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela defeated M’Badu, Levi Shapiro, Daniel Joseph and Aaron Frye (5:21)

Bear Country and Kiss did very well in the opening minutes, but then Janela got caught in the heel corner and had to fight his way out. He hit a German suplex on Shapiro and got the tag to Bear Bronson who dominated a 1-on-4. He hit Shapiro with an uranage, a suplex of Joseph onto Shapiro, and then a senton on to the pile. All four members of the jobber team wound up on the floor and Janela hit a forward moonsault off of Bronson’s shoulders for a near fall. The Bear Country splash (which they should call the Bear Country Jamboree) finished Shapiro. 

Peter Avalon and Cezar Bononi defeated RYZIN and Baron Black (6:19) 

Black had Avalon caught in a crossface and Bononi broke it up by chokeslamming RYZIN onto Black. Bononi then threw Avalon onto Black for his Mar-ti-knees finisher for the win. 

Kilynn King defeated Tesha Price (5:12) 

Price got some heat on King who came back with a fall away slam and a pair of clotheslines. A German suplex and bridge got a near fall for King. Price came back with a heel kick and roll up for a near fall. King finished Price with a clothesline and then picked her up for a back suplex, but instead threw her forward into the mat face first to get the pin. 

This show just refuses to end. 

SCU defeated The Sydal Brothers and TH2 in a three-way (11:34)

The last thing I need to see this late in the show is a triple threat match with a foregone conclusion because there is no way SCU is losing their last match as a team on Dark. 

In the beginning, it was mainly SCU against the Sydals until Jack Evans tagged himself in against Mike Sydal. Mike’s gimmick is that he does a lot of yoga. He got caught in the Hybrid 2 corner and they worked him over with some creative mat work. Daniels broke up a submission attempt because if SCU loses, they will have to break up. 

Matt Sydal eventually got the hot tag and worked over TH2 while SCU stayed in their corner. Kazarian eventually got the tag and all six men were in the ring. A slingshot cutter from Kazarian on Evans got a near fall. Daniels hit an Arabian moonsault on Angelico and later caught Evans with a kick, leading to Kazarian hitting him with a reverse DDT for the win. 

Final Thoughts:

Two hours of squashes is about an hour too long for anything to make an impression, but I liked the Varsity Blondes win and Bear Country continues to impress. I’m not sure what the point of giving QT Marshall ring time is with Nick Comoroto standing right there. There was not much worth going out of your way to seek out this week.