By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 32)
Taped in Norcross, Georgia at One Fall Power Factory
Streamed May 5, 2020 on the AEW YouTube Page
Cody said at the top of the show to Tony Schiavone that, “it’s their last show together.” They ran down the card lineup for the show.
1. Ryan Pyles vs. 10 (w/Brodie Lee). 10 started the match with a big clothesline to Pyles and a couple of chops in the turnbuckle. He then hit Pyles with a release German suplex. Pyles, sitting in the corner, was hit with a running clothesline.
The two went outside and fought for a short-while with 10 getting most of the moves in. After a chop, Pyles screamed loudly. Pyles was able to get a little bit of offense, but anytime he did, Brodie Lee would take a chair and hit the outside of the ring with it. 10 hit Pyles with a running boot and a pop up spinebuster to pick up the win…
10 defeated Ryan Pyles via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: It’s hard to say anything about this one without knowing much about “10.” It was pretty predictable and just a showcase for the Dark Order, who really haven’t done anything since Brodie Lee appeared on Dynamite a couple of weeks ago.
An AEW Double or Nothing ad aired…
2. Shawn Dean vs. Sammy Guevara. Before the match, Guevara was on his phone “vlogging,” before Dean rolled Guevara for a quick two-count. Dean followed up with a couple of big moves until Guevara got the advantage. Guevara then hit Dean with a couple of kicks to the stomach. Guevara put Dean on his shoulders and started going up, and down with Dean.
Guevara tried suplexing Dean, but Guevara took too long and Dean countered with his own suplex. With Dean leaning on the ropes, Guevara did an illegal submission hold before the ref broke it. Guevara put Dean into a long submission hold. Dean, however, countered and got a couple of clotheslines in and hit Guevara with a DDT. Dean didn’t go for the cover and tried hitting Guevara with a running dropkick in the corner, but he missed as Guevara finished Dean off with a burning GTS.
Sammy Guevara defeated Shawn Dean via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: This was a better match than the previous one that started the show, but still nothing to write home about. Another showcase for Sammy, who is rarely on Dark.
3. Kip Sabian (w/Penelope Ford) vs. Colt Cabana. While Kip was making his entrance, Tony threw it back to last month on March 18 Dynamite, where Kip and Colt had a small interaction between each other. Sabian started the match with a slap to Cabana across the face. Sabian also tried following up with a side headlock, but Cabana stopped Kip from doing so. The two then missed each other’s moveset.
Kip was going to hit Cabana with a flying kick, but missed him in doing so. Cabana followed up with a submission hold on Sabian. Cabana very shortly used a side headlock, but Sabian was able to break it. Cabana was on the apron and started hitting Sabian with bionic elbows. Though Cabana got distracted by Penelope and Sabian hit Cabana with his flying kick.
Not too long after, Sabian hit Cabana with a dropkick from the apron. But, Cabana quickly rolled Sabian in a pin to get a two-count. Sabian tried going for another dropkick from the apron, but Cabana countered with knees to the face. Cabana used one of his moves and another bionic elbow only to get another two-count. Cabana went to the top rope to try and finish Sabian off, but Penelope interfered to beg Cabana to not do it. Afterward, Sabian hit Cabana with a low blow from the Penelope distraction and picked up the win.
Kip Sabian defeated Colt Cabana via pinfall.
Tony and Cody ran down the card lineup for Wednesday’s Dynamite with Cody vs. Joey Janela, Kenny Omega and Matt Hardy vs. “Le Sex Gods” Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara…
Briar’s Take: Easily the best match of the night on Dark, but that’s not saying much. There was a lot of standing and stalling, and some of it felt choreographed, especially when Cabana and Sabian missed each other’s movesets (which is getting old). There was also some comedy involved in here too, which I did not care for at all. In reality, it shouldn’t have took long for Sabian to beat Cabana.
This show was definitely better than some of the previous episodes, as there was a little more effort involved and having more matches. But the matches continue to be short, not much if anything happens in those matches at all. For the most part, Dark continues to be a showcase for wrestlers that just randomly appear. I really want Dark to succeed and I am glad it’s not a clip show like WWE turned into a lot of their shows (i.e. Jakked, Metal, Velocity, Heat, etc.). Still, if you’re only going to have short matches and feature wrestlers that fans do not know much about, I strongly advise holding Dark off until fans are somewhat allowed back in the buildings. As for the show, it’s passable and disappointing unless you have absolutely nothing else better to do. Final Score: 6.5 out of 10. The show clocked in at 31:30.
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