By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 54)
Taped in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place
Streamed September 29, 2020 on the AEW YouTube Page
Excalibur, Taz, and Shawn Spears opened AEW Dark. Spears said he was there to see one guy and one guy only (Scorpio Sky)…
1. Ray Rosas and Ryzin vs. “SCU” Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky. Kazarian and Rosas started out the match for their respective teams. Kazarian put Rosas in a side headlock takedown. Kazarian then took Rosas down with a shoulder block. Sky made the blind tag on Kazarian, and hit a dropkick to Rosas. Sky then hit a Russian leg sweep as a follow up to Rosas.
Ryzin finally made the tag, but Sky threw right hand punches. Ryzin was able to hit a leg lariat to Sky afterward. Rosas made a tag again, and Sky tagged Kazarian back in, and both members of SCU hit double back elbows, with Kazarian hitting a leg drop to Ryzin. Kazarian then hit a release german suplex. Rosas hit a missile dropkick of his own to Kazarian and only got a one count. Rosas made the tag to Ryzin, and Ryzin would hit Kazarian with foot stomps. Ryzin then picked up Kazrian with a lift up powerbomb in the turnbuckle.
Rosas tagged in again, and he and Ryzin tried a couple of double team moves, but Kazarian tagged Sky. Sky then hit a leaping elbow to Ryzin. Sky followed with a cutter to Rosas. SCU would win the match with Kazarian hitting the thunder rising knee strike with assistance from Sky.
Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky defeated Ray Rosas and Ryzin via pinfall.
After the match, Evil Uno and John Silver were talking about Colt Cabana, and their differences with each other. When the convo ended or was still going, Cabana came down the stairs and asked if he missed anything…
Briar’s Take: Good match from SCU who never disappoint. Also, it was interesting to hear Shawn Spears on commentary to document his next potential storyline with Scorpio Sky.
Before the second match started, Ricky Starks joined the commentary team with Excalibur and Taz.
2. Alex Garcia vs. Penelope Ford (w/Kip Sabian). Alex Garcia made her AEW debut, and is from San Antonio, Texas. Ford took Garcia down with an arm drag when the bell rang. Ford followed by planting Garcia on the mat. Garcia then hit a slight dropkick to Ford, which then saw Ford rolled out of the ring. However, Ford would lay a running boot to Garcia. Ford would hit the knee to the midsection of Garcia, and only get a two count. Ford quickly put Garcia away with the fisherman suplex for the victory…
Penelope Ford defeated Alex Garcia via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Quick, and painless and nothing more.
3. M’ Badu and Bshp King vs. “Best Friends” Chuck Taylor and Trent. Bshp King made his AEW debut. Badu and Trent threw punches back and forth, but Trent hit a back elbow to plant Badu down. Trent made a tag to Taylor, while Badu tagged in King. King was able to hit a shoulder block to Taylor, but Taylor hit multiple arm drags before tagging Trent back in.
King hit a powerslam to Taylor. Badu followed with a splash to the corner on Taylor after being tagged in. King was back in the match, but missed a senton to Taylor. Badu tried another splash but missed as well. Trent followed with a back suplex to King, and a swinging DDT to Badu. Both Taylor and Trent hit a couple of combination moves, before winning the match with the Strong Zero.
Best Friends defeated M’ Badu and Bshp King via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: The strong momentum continues for Best Friends, who got another victory.
A Brandon Cutler promo was shown where he told Peter Avalon that there will be a rematch…
Briar’s Take: Surely that match, if it happens, would be a lot better than the presidential debate, no?
4. Dark Order’s 5 and 10 vs. “Jurassic Express” Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy (w/Marko Stunt). Luchasaurus and Vance missed each other’s moves when the match started, but Luchasaurus went for an overhead release. Jungle Boy tagged in, and saw his first moments of the match and so does Alan Angels. Angels hit a back kick to Boy, but Boy flipped over Angels. Luchasaurus is back in the match, and hits a tossing powerbomb into the ropes. Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy team with each other, as Boy hit a senton to Angels.
Vance is tagged in again and hits a punt kick to Jungle Boy. Vance then followed with a suplex to Boy. Angels would hit a spinning kick to Boy, and a small jumping frog splash in the process. With help from Angels, Vance hit a diving dropkick to Jungle Boy, and only got a two count. Afterward, Vance landed a backward slam to Jungle Boy. After being dominated by Vance and Angles, Jungle Boy hit a clothesline and tagged Luchasaurus back in the match. Luchasaurus would hit a tail whip to Vance, while he slammed Angles on the mat.
Vance hit a powerslam to Jungle Boy, while Angles hit a frog splash from the top rope. Vance tried going for a cover, but got a close two count. Jungle Boy hit a superkick to Angles, as Luchasaurus chokeslammed Vance. Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy won the match by landing the Jurassic Express on Angels.
Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy defeated Dark Order 5 and 10 via pinfall.
Afterward, a Luther and Serpentinco segment was shown laying out a challenge to Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr…
Briar’s Take: A good competitive match, with the expected outcome. There were a few close moments where Vance and Angels could have gotten the victory.
5. Shawn Dean and Cezar Bononi vs. “The Gunn Club” Billy and Austin Gunn. Bononi made his AEW debut and is from South Brazil. Dean flipped over Austin as the bell rang. Billy tagged in and targeted Dean’s right shoulder. Bononi made the tag and saw his first AEW action. Bononi wanted Billy, but Austin didn’t tag Billy at first. However, Austin eventually tagged Billy in the ring. Bononi and Billy tried hitting each other with move’s, but both were unsuccessful until Bononi hit a leaping big boot to Billy and started stomping on Billy in the corner.
After being distracted by Austin, Billy hit a side slam to Bononi. Austin and Dean are tagged in, with both having momentum and hitting a flipping neckbreaker to Austin. Though, Austin followed with a DDT. Austin tried going for the cover, but Bononi stopped the attempted cover. Billy and Austin would follow with a clothesline combination to Dean. Billy then laid out Dean with the Fameasser for the victory.
The Gunn Club defeated Shawn Dean and Cezar Bononi via pinfall.
Afterward, the Natural Nightmares with QT Marshall, Brandi Rhodes, and Dustin would cut a promo on The Dark Order.
Briar’s Take: Bononi is another big guy who made his AEW debut on Dark. As for the match itself, there was really nothing to see here. It went a lot longer than I anticipated.
6. Red Velvet vs. Tay Conti. Conti had fire straight from the get-go, but Velvet had offense with numerous arm drags to Conti. Conti then followed with a flying cross arm breaker. Conti then hit a powerful kick to Velvet, and only got a two count. The two wrestlers went for several pinfall attempts and rest holds, before Velvet hit a leg lariat and knees to the back of Conti. Conti planted Velvet down on the mat, and made Velvet tap out to a submission hold…
Tay Conti defeated Red Velvet via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: When the bell rang, Anna Jay joined the ring to celebrate with Conti. Jay then hit her signature kick to Velvet. Brandi then came to the ring to help Velvet.
7. Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison vs. :Chaos Project” Luther and Serpentinco. Garrison threw Serpentinco over his head for a back body drop. Pillman Jr quickly tagged in, and hit a delayed northern light suplex to Serpentinco. Pillman Jr hit a back elbow to Serpentinco, but Luther hit a right hand to Pilman Jr which allowed Luther to tag in. Luther and Serpentinco hit double team moves with body slams onto Pillman Jr.
More tags were made between Serpentinco and Luther, not allowing Pillman Jr to have any advantage. Luther hit a clothesline to Pillman Jr and a suplex as well. Pillman Jr got an advantage with a crossbody to Serpentinco, and tagged Garrison back in the ring. Garrison made the big splash in the corner to Serpentinco, and planted Serpentinco in the middle of the ring. Serpentinco hit a superkick, while Luther followed with a boot. Serpentinco and Luther doubled teamed on Pillman Jr to win the match.
Chaos Project defeated Brian Pillman Jr and Griff Garrison via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Another disappointing loss for Pillman Jr, while the team of Luther, and Serpentinco is very random.
8. Rache Chanel vs. Nyla Rose (w/Vickie Guerrero). Rose hit a bodyslam to Chanel once the bell rang. After the bodyslam, Chanel hit a dropkick, and a running knee to Rose in the corner. Not too long after, Rose finished Chanel with the powerbomb.
Nyla Rose defeated Rache Chanel via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: At least Chanel was able to get a couple of moves in.
9. John Silver and Colt Cabana vs. “The Natural Nightmares” QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes. After missing several moves, Dustin took Cabana down with an arm drag. Silver is tagged in, but Dustin threw a right hand to Silver. Dustin and Marshall hit a double russian leg sweep to Silver. Marshall then hit a delayed vertical suplex to Silver. The distraction from Cabana allowed Silver to hit a suplex to Marshall, and get a two count.
Cabana tagged in, and hit a splash on Marshall. Cabana and Silver hit some combination moves, with Silver hitting a release german suplex. Silver then would lay kicks to Marshall. However, Marshall countered Silver with a flat liner, neckbreaker combination. Marshall tagged Dustin in the match, and Dustin hit a right hand to Cabana and a Manhattan drop. Afterward, Dustin hit two powerslams on Cabana and Silver.
Cabana and Silver tried a double team, but Dustin broke the move up. As Dustin got Cabana out of the ring, Marshall planted Silver with the cutter to score the pinfall.
The Natural Nightmares defeated John Silver and Colt Cabana.
Briar’s Take: A miscommunication between Silver and Cabana helped Marshall and Dustin to win the match. It will be interesting to see how AEW follows this storyline with the problems Cabana and Dark Order are having.
Overall, a solid, and improved episode of Dark. It was nice to see some segments from the wrestlers who are wrestling on Dark along with follow-ups. Meanwhile, it looks as though AEW might be high on Ricky Starks doing commentary for the time being, as this was the second straight week that he was on the broadcast team. Starks does a solid job on commentary, and somewhat brings a breath of fresh air. I can’t really say that there were any matches that stood out. Most of the matches were really random as they normally are on Dark every week. If I have to pick a highlight, I’ll go with SCU vs. Ryzin and Ray Rosas simply for the great wrestling from SCU. Final Score: 8.0 out of 10. The episode 54 clocked in at 1 hour, 24 minutes, and 38 seconds.
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