By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 148)
Taped in Ontario, California from the Toyota Arena
Streamed June 14, 2022 on the AEW YouTube Page
1. Q.T. Marshall (w/Aaron Solo) vs. Dark Order’s Alan “5” Angels. Angels threw an elbow strike to Marshall, but with a ref distraction, Solo was able to sweep the leg of Angels. However, Angels quickly rebounded with a standing Sliced Bread and nearly picked up a quick victory over Marshall. Shortly thereafter, Angels hit the enzuigiri on Marshall, but Marshall threw a kick after a failed moonsault attempt from Angels. Angels went back to the top rope and successfully hit a frog splash and almost picked up the win once more. Angels attempted the wing snapper, but Marshall quickly dropped him with the Diamond Cutter to win the match.
Q.T. Marshall defeated Alan “5” Angels via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A rare victory for Marshall, who had a great back and forth outing with Alan Angels. Marshall’s last victory came in episode 130 of Dark against Pat Brink.
2. Brock Anderson vs. Bobby Fish. Anderson and Fish began with hammerlocks until Fish got the better of him with strikes to the midsection. Fish then performed a dragon screw leg whip on Anderson and followed up with the sliding lariat. Fish came over the top with the senton and went for the early cover. Anderson went for the back suplex, but Fish got the boot up to Anderson and a high kick to the chest.
Anderson gained momentum with the back body drop and continued with a spinebuster, which nearly led to the upset victory. Anderson nailed a DDT to Fish but failed to get the pin. Eventually, Fish locked in the knee bar submission and made Anderson tap out for the win.
Bobby Fish defeated Brock Anderson via submission.
After the match, Fish held on to the submission hold and Darby Allin came to the rescue of Anderson and made Fish roll out of the ring.
Briar’s Take: A good standard match with the crowd nearly silent for the most part. Anderson got more offense than I thought he would. Darby coming out afterward pretty much woke the crowd up and nothing more.
3. Jake Banning, Sinn Bodhi, and Ray Rosas vs. “Jericho Appreciation Society’s” Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, and Angelo Parker. Parker threw strikes and elbows to Rosas to begin the match. Garcia tagged in briefly and threw chops at Rosas. More tags were made from the Jericho Appreciation Society members, and then Menard and Parker hit the double DDT, which was followed by Garcia tapping out Rosas to a Sharpshooter.
Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, and Angelo Parker defeated Jake Banning, Sinn Bodhi, and Ray Rosas via submission.
Briar’s Take: More quick work from the Jericho Appreciation Society, who seemingly win most of their non-television matches quickly.
4. Nyla Rose, Diamante, and Emi Sakura vs. Anna Jay, Ruby Soho, and Kris Statlander. Diamante immediately went to Soho and began striking her. Soho countered with a forearm and a headbutt. Statlander and Sakura tagged in and then Statlander planted Sakura with the running shoulder tackle. Jay hit a running neckbreaker on Sakura followed by a leg lariat. Afterward, Sakura returned the favor with the double underhook to Jay.
Diamante then hit the running baseball slide to Jay that sent her to the outside. Sakura and Rose took advantage of the beatdown. Rose tagged in and missed a cannonball senton and then Soho hit kick combinations to Rose. Statlander landed a diving crossbody from the top rope on Rose. Statlander landed the Big Bang Theory on Diamante to pick up the win.
Anna Jay, Ruby Soho, and Kris Statlander defeated Nyla Rose, Diamante, and Emi Sakura via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Nothing against the wrestlers in this match, but I would be fine not seeing this trios match ever again. It’s been happening almost every week on Dark Elevation and has now transferred to Dark. If you’ve seen this match before, then it’s what you would expect.
5. Nick Ruiz vs. Anthony Ogogo. Ruiz was knocked down by Ogogo with the thunder tackle and a strike to the midsection. Ogogo popped up Ruiz and struck him with the right hand for the knockout shot.
Anthony Ogogo defeated Nick Ruiz via knockout.
Briar’s Take: As I’ve said before, Ogogo improves with every match. I look forward to seeing him back in an AEW TV program here soon. The only other thing to note here is Ruiz made his AEW debut and it was a short night for him.
6. Nick Comoroto vs. Konosuke Takeshita. Comoroto took down Takeshita with a shoulder tackle after the bell rang. Takeshita threw a dropkick at Comoroto that sent him to the outside. Takeshita looked for the jumping sucidia, but Comoroto rolled out of the way at the right time. Comoroto ran Takeshita’s arm into the turnbuckle and drove him face-first into the ring apron. Afterward, Comoroto planted Takeshita with a backbreaker.
Takeshita eventually found a breakthrough with a clothesline and then hit a jumping suicida. He made the climb to the top and landed the frog splash on Comoroto. Takeshita rallied with a jumping knee strike and ended the match quickly.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Nick Comoroto via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: I enjoyed this match. Great stuff and I strongly recommend going out of your way to watch this one.
7. Taylor Rust vs. Matt Sydal. Sydal used his quick ability to Rust with side headlock takedowns. Shortly thereafter, Rust used an ankle lock submission to turn the match in his favor, but Sydal quickly hit a leg lariat to slow things down. Rust dropped Sydal with a standing neckbreaker and got a two count. Sydal eventually won the match with the Lightning Spiral.
Matt Sydal defeated Taylor Rust via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A fast-paced back-and-forth match between Sydal and Rust. This was a hell of a match despite it being too short. I hope we’ll be able to see these two faces again, as Rust was great in his own right.
8. Frankie Kazarian vs. Ethan Page (w/Dan Lambert). Kazarian used fast paced offense and performed a leg sweep on Page that resulted in a two count. Shortly thereafter, Kazarian landed the leaping back elbow. Page walked up the ramp and teased not wanting to continue the match. However, Kazarian stopped him in his tracks by rolling Page back inside the ring. With a distraction from Dan Lambert, Page punt kicked Kazarian.
Page threw Kazarian into the ring post on the outside. However, Kazarian rolled up Page and got a two count. Page dropped Kazarian down with the delayed vertical suplex. Kazarian used a swinging neckbreaker to turn the tables and followed up with a flying forearm. Kazarian elevated over the top rope with the DDT but failed in his pinfall attempt with Lambert putting Page’s leg on the ropes. The distraction allowed Page to roll up Kazarian and gain the pinfall win.
Ethan Page defeated Frankie Kazarian via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: I wondered how this match was going to go when I originally saw this match on paper. AEW used an out with the distraction of Lambert. Otherwise, this was a really solid matchup. Essentially, this is a three-match show with Takeshita vs. Comoroto, Sydal vs. Rust, and Page vs. Kazarian. Everything else on the card was so-so and some combination of passable and predictable with the exception of the opener. The show was skippable until the Takeshita vs. Comoroto outing unless you’re a diehard viewer. The match of the night most likely goes to Page vs. Kazarian. Episode 148 clocked in 1 hour, 05 minutes, and 58 seconds. Final Score: 7.0 out of 10.
Be the first to comment