By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 67)
Taped in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place
Streamed December 22, 2020 on the AEW YouTube Page
Excalibur welcomed viewers to Dark and was joined on commentary by Taz. Ricky Starks eventually joined the commentary team…
1. “Bear Country” Bear Bronson and Bear Boulder vs. “Jurassic Express” Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus (w/Marko Stunt). Jungle Boy and Bear Bronson locked ties as the match started. Jungle Boy hit multiple dropkicks before Boulder tagged in as did Luchasaurus. Both Luchasaurus, and Boulder threw strikes back and forth with Luchasaurus throwing a question mark kick and a roundhouse kick. Jungle Boy, and Luchasaurus then hit the flat liner, and senton but only got a one count. Jungle Boy fired with kicks, but Bronson planted Jungle Boy on his head.
Boulder came back after a tag, and clotheslined and a back body dropped Jungle Boy. Bronson was tagged in again, however Jungle Boy tagged Luchasaurus in as well. Luchasaurus hit a German suplex on Bronson and threw chops to Boulder, then was hit with the clothesline. Luchasaurus also chokeslamed and performed a standing moonsault on Bronson.
Bronson hit the monster driver on Jungle Boy and planting him on Luchasaurus in the process. Boulder was tagged in, and hit the moonsault to almost nearly score an upset victory. Bronson landed on his head during a Doomsday Device. Jurassic Express won by using the corkscrew kick from Luchasaurus and a kick from Jungle Boy.
Jurassic Express defeated Bear Country via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Very impressive match between the two teams who continue to shine, especially Bear Country. However, Bronson landing on his head after the Doomsday Device looked cringe worthy. Definitely, a nasty landing.
2. Tesha Price vs. Nyla Rose. Price tried offering a handshake to Rose, who shut her down by planting Price on the ground. Price hit the kick to the side of the head of Rose, and followed with another round kick. Rose caught Price in mid-air, then threw a strike that sent Price down. Rose lifted Price up and landed Price with the samoan drop. Rose tossed Price across the ring. Rose put Price on the ropes, and hit the knee on the back of the head of Price to score the victory.
Nyla Rose defeated Tesha Price via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Predictable finish, and nothing more.
3. Sonny Kiss vs. Miro. Miro fired off with a high round kick to Kiss quickly as the bell rang. Kiss would hit the jawbreaker, and a huracanrana to Miro as well. Kiss slapped Miro in the face, and hit another diving huracanrana. Kiss tried rolling up Miro, but Miro kicked out at two, caught Kiss with a kick. Eventually, Miro put Kiss in a Camel Clutch type submission and made Kiss tap out.
Miro defeated Sonny Kiss via submission.
Briar’s Take: An impressive short, and sweet win for Miro. Kind of a treat for those who are a fan of Miro, and see him on Dark. If my math is correct, I believe this is the first time Miro was featured on Dark.
The Waiting Room with Britt Baker segment took place with SCU as her guests. Baker said she would like to thank Tony Khan for fixing her room after Spears was thrown through by Scorpio Sky. Baker announced that Sting would be in the Waiting Room on a future episode. She later hyped the Dynamite card for Wednesday night, and eventually introduced Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian.
Kazarian told Daniels it wasn’t supposed to be like this. He brought up the tag team tournament from last October, and questioned whether winning the tag titles happened. Kazarian said here they were a year later and they lost part of something. However, Kazarian said he knew he could rely on Daniels throughout the year until now. Kazarian brought up losing to The Acclaimed, and told Daniels he lost. Kazarian added that any time he and Daniels lost was due to Daniels losing, not Kazarian. Kazarian apologized for allowing professional frustrations.
Daniels told Kazarian to stop apologizing, and that he was proud of Kazarian to be his partner. Daniels said he lost his passion about 2020, and that this year was a failure. Daniels added he hated coming to work every week. Daniels said all this failure is a sign for him to walk away. Daniels tried leaving, but Kazarian stopped him and said you don’t get to do that for being in the wrestling business for many years. Kazarian motivated Daniels and asked him to fight by his side one more time. Kazarian said he and Daniels would become AEW Tag Team champions, but if they lose one more time, then they are done as a tag team forever.
Briar’s Take: An impressive fiery promo from Kazarian and Daniels. Not surprising, because both wrestlers are great at what they do. This segment was intriguing for a little while, as it looked like Kazarian was going to turn on Daniels. Still, great stuff from Daniels and Kazarian. This segment reminded me of the EC3 and Eli Drake segment a few years back, which was great itself.
4. Jazmin Allure vs. Thunder Rosa. Both Allure and Rosa attempted wrist locks, but Rosa swept the leg of Allure, who came back with a dropkick and got a one count. Rosa countered with a knee strike to Allure, and began throwing kicks to the back of Allure. Rosa hit the double knee strike on Allure, and received a two count. Rosa planted Allure down after a powersalm for another two count.
Allure dodged Rosa in the corner, and hit the round kick to the back of Rosa. Allure planted Rosa down on the mat, and got a two count. Rosa though fired with a single leg dropkick to the side of the head of Allure. Rosa would hit the thunder driver on Allure to get the victory…
Thunder Rosa defeated Jazmin Allure via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A great showcase from Thunder Rosa who shined well in this match.
A Young Bucks Book ad was shown.
5. Lee Johnson vs. Stu Grayson. Grayson fired away on Johnson right after the bell rang, but Johnson caught up with Grayson by hitting strikes to Grayson. Johnson went for the dropkick, instead hit the running elbow. Grayson eventually laid the dropkick for Johnson. Grayson blocked a senton from Johnson by hitting the boot, then landed on the midsection of Johnson.
Grayson went for a two count after planting Johnson. Grayson then hit Johnson with a strike that sent Johnson on the ground. Johnson hit the back elbow to Grayson, and then followed with clotheslines, a dropkick to Grayson. Johnson laid Grayson on the mat with a blue thunder bomb and got a two count. Grayson hit the dragon suplex and a springboard 450 splash to try and put Johnson away. Johnson kicked at two, and then powerbombed Grayson into the turnbuckle.
Johnson would hit the Cancun tornado from the top rope and nearly got the victory, but Grayson put his foot on the ropes at the last second. Both men went to the outside where Grayson threw Johnson into the ring post. Eventually, both got back inside the ring and Grayson hit the bicycle knee strike and the nightfall to win the match.
Stu Grayson defeated Lee Johnson via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Fantastic match between Grayson, and Johnson. Definitely one of the best matches of the night as the two wrestlers were on fire from the get-go.
6. KiLynn King vs. Alex Gracia. King put Gracia in a waist lock but Gracia fired one back of her own. King hit the shoulder tackle to Gracia, and then the arm drag. King went for the crucifix pinfall attempt, but Gracia kicked out immediately. Gracia threw a kick to the face with assistance from the ropes. King and Gracia would throw chops back and forth until King hit the dropkick that sent Gracia down.
Gracia rolled up King for a two count, but Gracia followed with the elbow to the corner of King. Gracia fired with a kick to King, and got another two count. King hit the German suplex, but Gracia came back with a neckbreaker and got the victory…
Alex Gracia defeated KiLynn King via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Finally! An upset on Dark, and the match was great! Gracia will have a great opportunity to fight Hikaru Shida on Dynamite Wednesday night.
A Chris Jericho Bubbly ad aired.
7. Mike Verna vs. Peter Avalon. Verna went for the waist lock, but Avalon went for the side headlock instead. Verna then locked Avalon into the full nelson, and planted Avalon on the ground. Verna then hit the slingshot by hitting the ropes four times. Avalon sent Verna in the ring post, and hit the short arm scissors. Verna countered with a roll up for a one count on Avalon.
Verna lifted Avalon up after a pinfall attempt, but Avalon drove Verna down on the mat. Verna hit the missile dropkick on Avalon, and followed through with clotheslines. Verna hit the backbreaker and a suplex. Verna got a two count, but failed when he tried to follow with a senton from the top rope. Avalon got the victory by hitting the Martinis to Verna.
Peter Avalon defeated Mike Verna via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A competitive match that lasted longer than expected. Verna is from New York and has wrestled in various promotions in the Northeast such as Warriors of Wrestling, Fighting Spirit Wrestling, and New York Wrestling Connection, just to name a few. Great stuff from both men.
8. Vertvixen vs. Red Velvet. Velvet would start the match with arm drags, and a dropkick to Vertvixen. Vertvixen would hit multiple kicks to the head of Velvet. However, Velvet countered with a bulldog and a standing moonsault press. Velvet attempted a pinfall, but Vertvixen kicked out at two. Velvet hit the double knees to the back of Vertvixen, and then finished her off with the single foot dropkick across the jaw.
Red Velvet defeated Vertvixen via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A good showing from Velvet, who quickly put Vertvixen away.
9. Fuego Del Sol, Aaron Solow, and Ray Jaz vs. Colt Cabana, Alan Angels, and and Preston Vance. Cabana and Del Sol started the match respectively for their teams. Del Sol went for the dropkick, but wasn’t strong enough to send Cabana down. Del Sol went for the clotheslines and missed Cabana in the process. Solow tagged in, as did Angels. Solow planted Angels with the dropkick, but Angels countered with the Russian leg sweep.
Vance was tagged in, and Ray Jaz was as well. Jaz put Vance in a side headlock, but was caught by Vance with a spinebuster. Vance threw Jaz to the outside, and into the barricade. Both men got back in the ring and then Cabana and Angels tagging in. Angels landed the dropkick to the side of the head on Jaz. Vance tagged in suplexed Jaz.
Jaz tried firing back on Vance, and instead tagged Del Sol. Del Sol landed the huracanrana to Vance. Del Sol then hit the enzurigi to Vance. But, Del Sol was caught by Vance with a wheelbarrow suplex. Vance threw himself onto Jaz with a spear. Del Sol was dominated by Cabana, Angels and Vance who ended up winning the match.
Colt Cabana, Alan Angels, and Preston Vance defeated Fuego Del Sol, Aaron Solow, and Ray Jaz via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Some solid stuff here from Cabana, Angels, and Vance. Poor Del Sol, he never really stood a chance at the end where he was dominated by all three members of Dark Order.
Another Young Bucks book ad was shown.
10. Madi Wrenkowski vs. Leyla Hirsch. Hirsch put Wrenkowski in a leg submission immediately as the match stated. Wrenkowski broke out of the hold. Hirsch attempted a cross arm breaker, but Wrenkowski got to the ropes. Wrenkowski used the ropes for a running dropkick on Hirsch and followed with a knee lift. Wrenkowski face planted Hirsch and got a two count. Hirsch countered with a German suplex. Wrenkowski came back with a backslide, and once again planted Hirsch on the mat. Wrenkowski went for the punt kick, but Hirsch avoided it and made her tap out to the cross arm breaker.
Leyla Hirsch defeated Madi Wrenkowski via submission.
Briar’s Take: Great stuff from Hirsch.
11. Terrence and Terrell Hughes vs. “Gunn Club” Colten and Austin Gunn. Terrence and Colten went for the collar elbow tie up, but Colten planted Terrence with a shoulder tackle. Austin and Terrell tagged in themselves. Austin hit an explosive shoulder block. Austin and Terrell both hit the arm drag takedown before Austin put Terrell in a side headlock submission. Colten tagged in and then he and Austin double teamed on Terrell.
Colten hit the Russian leg sweep on Terrell, with Austin doing the flipping neckbreaker. Terrence and Terrell tagged in multiple times and Terrence hit the belly to belly suplex on Austin. Both Terrence and Terrell hit the assisted senton on Austin and got a two count. Austin made the tag to Colten, who came to the ring explosive and performed a dropkick. Colten hit the Colt 45 to win the match.
Gunn Club defeated Terrence and Terrell Hughes via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Once you stop and think about the wrestlers in this ring, it’s pretty crazy to see the new generation of wrestlers from famous families. Some solid in-ring work from both teams who continue to improve every week, especially Colten.
12. Danny Limelight vs. Rey Fenix. Fenix shoulder tackled Limelight on the mat, but Limelight rolled up Fenix for the two count. Limelight attempted a Sharpshooter, but Fenix escaped the hold easily. Fenix hit the chop to Limelight that sent him down. Fenix hit the dropkick on Limelight, and attempted the package piledriver. However, Limelight countered with a kick. Despite Limelight trying to gain momentum, Fenix fired with a kick of his own to stop Limelight in his tracks.
Limelight was able to gain some momentum again, but got a two count on Fenix. Limelight followed through a standing neckbreaker. Limelight was caught with a thrust kick from Fenix and then a leg drop. Limelight stomped Fenix on the back of his head, and had another two count. Limelight went for the brainbuster, but hit the knee instead. Both men fought on the ropes with Fenix throwing chops to Limelight, who tried jumping from the top rope, but was caught with a kick. Fenix lifted Limelight and hit the Muscle Buster to score the victory.
Rey Fenix defeated Danny Limelight via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: They tried their hardest to have a good showing and excelled in doing so. Fenix also never fails to disappoint. Give some credit to Limelight too for delivering quality in-ring action.
13. Serpentinco (w/Luther) vs. Matt Sydal. Sydal put Serpentinco in an arm wrist lock to stop Serpentinco in his tracks. Sydal then hit numerous arm drags on Serpentinco. Sydal followed with more arm drag takedowns to Serpentinco. Sydal would put Serpentinco in a left arm submission, before Serpentinco broke the hold. Sydal hit a round kick, but missed a standing moonsault.
Serpentinco and Sydal went outside of the ring. Luther picked up Serpentinco, and threw him on top of Sydal. Serpentinco hit a high kick that dropped Sydal. Sydal rallied and hit a leg lariat on Serpentinco to get the momentum back. Sydal got the inside hook, and landed the brainbuster. Sydal performed a standing body press on Serpentinco, but Serpentinco hit the low hanging DDT to Sydal. Luther shouted to Serpentinco to go to the top rope, but Sydal avoided his foot stomp attempt. Sydal came back with a Russian leg sweep, but Serpentinco hit Sliced Bread No. 2 and for a two count. Sydal came back and twisted Serpentinco inside out for the victory.
Matt Sydal defeated Serpentinco via pinfall.
Excalibur then ran down the card for Dynamite Wednesday night’s Holiday Bash Part 1.
Briar’s Take: A good back and forth match. Overall, this episode of Dark flowed very smoothly, and consisted with great quality in-ring content. A great card from top to bottom with really no bad matches. My only guess is that with the last two weeks of the year being holiday weeks, AEW most likely wanted to put a strong card together in case fans would think this was going to be a throwaway show, as is often the case in wrestling during holiday weeks. Instead, AEW brought their A game for this Dark. I would most likely go out of my way to watch this episode.
If you’re looking for match recommendations, Stu Grayson vs. Lee Johnson, Peter Avalon vs. Mike Verna, Danny Limelight vs. Rey Fenix, and Matt Sydal vs. Serpentinco were especially good. You could also probably throw in the tag team match with Terrence and Terrell Hughes vs. Colten and Austin Gunn, which was also solid in its own right. All in all, Dark was above average this week. Episode 67 clocked in at 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 12 seconds. Final Score: 8.5 out of 10. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Holidays!
Be the first to comment