By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 93)
Taped in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place
Streamed June 15, 2021 on the AEW YouTube Page
Excalibur welcomed us to Dark and was joined by Taz on commentary…
1. Danny Limelight vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page. Scorpio Sky was a guest commentator for the match. Limelight threw a dropkick, but the dropkick wasn’t strong enough to knock Page down. Page underhooked Limelight from the ropes and planted him down on the mat. Page then hit a vertical delayed suplex. Limelight hit a backward kick to regain momentum and then leaped off the top rope for a flipping neckbreaker. However, Page hit a big shoulder tackle and slammed Limelight down for the victory.
Ethan Page defeated Danny Limelight via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A good match from Ethan Page in his second ever AEW Dark match. This was actually his first singles competition on Dark, excluding Elevation. That said, good stuff from Page. If given the time, Page can be a breakout star in AEW and could potentially challenge for the AEW Championship here and there in a year or two if he stays.
2. Sonny Kiss vs. Dante Martin. Kiss locked in an armbar early, but Martin flipped him over to counter the hold. Martin then used the bottom ropes for an advantage to hit a low dropkick to Kiss. Kiss hit back with a crossbody and a knee drop on the back of Martin. Martin would hit a moonsault press and cover, but only got a two count. Martin then flipped over with the stunner and used that move for the win.
Dante Martin defeated Sonny Kiss via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: I’m really not sure, but I think this is the first time we’ve seen Martin not use the 450 splash to finish a match? Martin is always good, but at least this time, the finishing sequence wasn’t predictable, as we’ve seen him use the 450 splash for a good while now. Kiss and Martin showed respect after the match.
An AEW 2.0 Games ad was shown.
3. Charlotte Renegade vs. Nyla Rose. Rose hit the snap suplex and planted Renegade on the rope. She then lifted Renegade up and finished her off with the Beast Bomb.
Nyla Rose defeated Charlotte Renegade via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Renegade made her AEW debut here, but she didn’t stand much of a chance. The match was over in a matter of seconds. It’s the same stuff you expect from Rose’s matches.
4. Shane Mercer and KTB vs. Dark Order’s Evil Uno and Stu Grayson. Uno hit the step up huracanrana on KTB, but Mercer and Grayson tagged in briefly after. Mercer lifted Grayson up in the air but Grayson stayed on top of him before making another tag to Uno. Uno then hit a hanging neckbreaker on Mercer and a high boot. With assistance from Mercer, KTB hit the punt kick to Uno and Mercer doubled up on Uno trying to gain momentum. Mercer would hit the delayed vertical suplex and barely get the upset on Dark Order. Grayson tagged in and hit the belly to belly suplex on KTB. Grayson put KTB on his shoulders and landed Nightfall for the win.
Dark Order’s Evil Uno and Stu Grayson defeated Shane Mercer and KTB via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: An enhancement match for Dark Order, but Mercer and KTB showed good fight during some stages. I think this match could’ve easily been an opener for Dynamite with how back and forth the match was.
5. Chandler Hopkins vs. Wardlow. Wardlow laid out Hopkins with a clothesline and then made Hopkins tap out to the Front Chancery.
Wardlow defeated Chandler Hopkins via submission.
Briar’s Take: Wardlow continues his winning streak so far this week by going 2-0 heading into his fight with Jake Hager on Friday night, which should be a great match.
6. Dillon McQueen vs. Cezar Bononi. Bononi put up the big boot to McQueen as the bell rang and then hit the hoff toss. Bononi would plant McQueen down with the backdrop suplex. Bononi planted McQueen down on the mat for the victory.
Cezar Bononi defeated Dillon McQueen via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A momentum victory for Bononi going into his match with Orange Cassidy on Friday night.
7. Jake Tucker vs. Frankie Kazarian. Kazarian hit multiple arm drags to Tucker before locking in the head lock. Tucker fired back with a running bulldog with assistance from the turnbuckle. Shortly thereafter, Kazarian locked in the crossface chicken wing and made Tucker tap out for the victory.
Frankie Kazarain defeated Jake Tucker via submission.
Briar’s Take: You have to go back to episode 59 of Dark for Kazarian’s last singles match iwin. That said, Kazarian looked good here as he always does whether in tag or singles. This was his first match following the SCU split from a few weeks ago. It will be interesting to see where Kazarian goes from here.
8. Valentina Rossi vs. KiLynn King. Rossi hit a few boots to the midsection of King in the corner before the ref broke the maneuver. However, King hit back with a shotgun dropkick to Rossi, and then quickly hit the Kingdom Falls to win the match.
KiLynn King defeated Valentina Rossi via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Rossi made her AEW debut here with King. She was good for a brief period, but King ultimately got the victory.
Alex Marvez interviewed Joey Janela and asked about the situation with his injuries. Janela said who cares and that it’s Bad Boy summer. Sonny Kiss interrupted Janela’s interview and asked why Janela has been acting the way he is. Janela said he’s been a bad, bad friend. Kiss told Janela they were done as a tag team.
9. “Chaos Project” Luther and Serpentico vs. “Gunn Club” Billy and Colten Gunn. Luther tried throwing Serpentinco against Billy for a crossbody, but Billy proved to be too powerful. Billy hit a side slam on Serpentinco before tagging out to Colten and slamming him down on Serpentinco. Colten threw a dropkick at Luther that sent him to the outside for a brief while. Luther returned to the ring and threw a right hand to the midsection of Colten. Luther hit a snap suplex on Colten. Billy went for the Fameasser, but missed Luther, who kicked him. After missing the first time, Billy successfully hit the Fameasser for the win.
Gunn Club defeated Chaos Project via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: The match was unpredictable for the most part, as both teams are featured prominently on Dark and occasionally on Dynamite. Both teams did their usual good work here before Gunn Club walked away with the victory.
10. Willow Nightingale vs. Tay Conti. Nightingale took down Conti with the shoulder tackle, but Conti countered back with the release German suplex. Conti continued with the kick across the back of Nightingale. Conti then hit the DDTay to score the win.
Tay Conti defeated Willow Nightingale via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Hard to gauge off much from this match other than another win for Conti and nothing more. Conti now has 19 overall victories in AEW.
11. Dark Order’s Colt Cabana and Alan “5” Angles vs. “The Acclaimed” Max Caster and Anthony Bowens. While the ref was distracted, Bowens hit the back of Cabana’s knee using a boombox. Caster then hit a dragon screw leg whip on Cabana and went for the cover, but Cabana kicked out. Angels used a quick pace on Bowens and put him down with a clothesline. Angels then hit a standing Sliced Bread on Bowens. Bowens hit back with a combination to Angels in an attempt to gain momentum. With help from Bowens, Caster landed the Mic Drop to get the win.
The Acclaimed defeated Dark Order’s Colt Cabana and Alan Angels via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Awesome stuff here from both teams. All in all, a somewhat fast paced edition of Dark that featured some debuts and quick matches. The only matches that stood out were Kazarian in singles competition (Kazarian’s first singles match in quite some time), Chaos Project vs. Gunn Club was solid for what it was, and the main event was good. A good sleeper match to check out would be Danny Limelight vs. Ethan Page. Other than that, this episode featured brief outings from your regular AEW stars. Episode 93 clocked in at 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 26 seconds. Final Score: 7.8 out of 10.
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