By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 159)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios
Streamed August 30, 2022 on the AEW YouTube Page
Excalibur and Taz were on commentary…
1. Serpentinco (w/Luther) vs. John Silver. Serpentinco attacked Silver early and got. Silver fought back with strikes and a clothesline. Silver caught Serpentinco with a popup powerbomb ffor a two count. Silver hoisted up Serpentinco and planted him with the Spin Doctor for the victory.
John Silver defeated Serpentinco via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: As expected, Silver picked up the victory over Serpentinco and it’s a rare singles victory as well. Silver dominated most of the match with Luther screaming in the background, as usual.
2. Charlette Renegade (w/Robyn Renegade) vs. Diamante. With Charlette distracting the ref, Robyn struck Diamante to turn the match in Charlette’s favor. Charlotte hit a fisherman suplex, but Diamante regained momentum with three German suplexes before landing a Codebreaker for the victory.
Diamante defeated Charlette Renegade via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Diamante continues to be solid in the ring and I’ll never understand why she is not in a real program.
3. Gus De La Vega vs. Angelo Parker (w/Matt Menard). Parker hit an elevated DDT to plant La Vega for the quick victory. After the match, Parker stared into the camera and told Taz to “send Hook.”
Angelo Parker defeated Gus De La Vega via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: This was quite possibly the quickest match that’s ever occurred on Dark.
4. Mylo vs. Kiera Hogan. Mylo locked Hogan into a side headlock. Hogan threw a sidekick in the corner. Hogan then came through with a hip attack and followed with a sliding dropkick. Mylo fell to a roundhouse kick from Hogan, who won the match.
Kiera Hogan defeated Mylo via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: More of a showcase for Hogan than anything, causing Mylo to fall to 0-2.
5. Logan Cruz, Tyshaun Perez, and Hermano vs. “The Trustbusters” Ari Daivari, Parker Boudreaux, and Slim J (w/Sonny Kiss). Daivari and Perez began the match respectively for their team. Daivari struck Perez with a knee to the midsection. Quickly, Daivari tagged in Slim J and both hit a double suplex. Slim J continued his dominance with a clothesline to Perez. However, Perez found a breakthrough and tagged in Cruz, but Boudreaux also tagged in. Boudreaux laid in a double clothesline and hit a splash in the corner on Cruz, Perez, and Hermano. The Trustbusters put lights out on Perez by flattening him in the middle of the ring.
“The Trustbusters” Ari Daivari, Parker Boudreaux, and Slim J defeated Logan Cruz, Tyshaun Perez, and Hermano via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Well, at least this showcase for The Trustbusters lasted a little bit longer than the previous matches.
6 Vicky Dreamboat vs. Julia Hart. Hart dropped Dreamboat with a back elbow. Dreamboat fought back though with a Russian leg sweep that sent Hart to the outside. The two fought briefly at ringside, but Hart landed a side kick along with an elbow to the back of the head. Eventually, Hart locked in the Heartless submission move for the win.
Julia Hart defeated Vicky Dreamboat via submission.
Lexy Nair interviewed Angelo Parker about his quick victory. Menard said ‘the match lasted 17 seconds.’ Menard added that the match with Hook on Rampage against Zack Clayton lasted 27 seconds. The two eventually challenged Hook for a match and wanted the FTW Championship.
Briar’s Take: Interesting turn of events for Menard and Parker that want to challenge Hook for the FTW title. I’m intrigued to see how this storyline will develop one either Dynamite or Rampage. That’ll also explain why we saw a 17-second match from Parker.
7. Kayla Rossi vs. Vipress. Rossi laid her Vipress with a lariat. Rossi hoisted up Vipress and slammed her down with the fallaway slam and followed up with a moonsault for the victory.
Kayla Rossi defeated Vipress via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: There was nothing special about this match and the crowd was fairly quiet for both competitors.
8. Rossario Grillo and Dean Alexander vs. “The Varsity Blonds” Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison. Pillman targeted the left arm of Alexander. Pillman speared Alexander. Shortly thereafter, Pillman tagged in Garrison. Pillman hit a sweeping neck breaker, while Garrison planted himself on Alexander with a leg drop. Garrison would pick up the victory with an assisted dropkick from Pillman and while Garrison performed a spinebuster Alexander.
“The Varsity Blonds” Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison defeated Rossario Grillo and Dean Alexander via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: This was essentially a bounce-back victory for the Blonds after losing to the Gunn Club in under a minute on Dynamite.
9. AR Fox vs. Dante Martin. After dodging each other’s moves to start the match, Martin threw a dropkick. Fox rolled through by tripping the leg of Martin and hitting a corkscrew brainbuster. Martin regained momentum with a kick to the midsection and planted Fox for a suplex. Afterward, Fox planted Martin with a springboard Spanish Fly followed by a 450 splash. Martin eventually went over with a springboard moonsault.
Dante Martin defeated Ar Fox via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: I wondered how this match would go with both men being high flyers. It was a brief back-and-forth match with high-flying maneuvers and I hope we see a second and longer match between the two. Great stuff.
10. Tyson Maddox vs. Brock Anderson (w/Arn Anderson). Maddox hit a splash in the corner. Anderson came back and ended his night in a matter of seconds with a spinebuster that led to the pin.
Brock Anderson defeated Tyson Maddox via pinfall.
11. Oliver Sawyer and Manny Lo vs. “The Workhorsemen” JD Drake and Anthony Henry. Lo was dominated by Drake with chops to the chest. Drake came back with a diving headbutt. Henry tagged in and kicked Lo across the spine. Oliver tried turning things around, but Henry hit a running knee and then Drake put him out with a running cannonball senton. Drake won the match with a moonsault on Sawyer.
“The Workhorsemen” JD Drake and Anthony Henry defeated Oliver Sawyer and Manny Lo via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Drake and Henry have been showing great chemistry over their past few tag matches.
Tony Schiavone interviewed JD Drake and Anthony Henry after the match about their recent dominance as a tag team. Henry said that what you just saw was the real JD Drake. He aid they would continue their dominance moving forward.’
12. Renee Michelle vs. Leila Grey. Grey hit a hip attack on Michelle and followed through with a snap suplex. Michelle countered with a leaping dropkick from the top rope. Michelle nearly got the victory with a kick to the back of the head. Grey returned the favor after launching off the top rope with a spinning DDT and drove Michelle down into the mat with a facebuster.
Leila Grey defeated Renee Michelle via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A rare victory for Grey. In fact, this was Grey’s first victory on AEW Dark, though she has won on AEW Dark Elevation.
13. Blake Christian vs. Rush. After beginning in the ring, Rush and Christian fought on the outside early on. Rush threw Christian into the tire barricade. Back in the ring, Rush took control of the match with a strong forearm shot. Shortly thereafter, Rush kicked to the face of Christian, who then tripped up Rush and caught Rush with a kick while he was leaning on the ropes. Rush rolled to the outside to catch a breather. Christian came through with three jumping suicidas. Christian almost got the victory with a 450 springboard splash. Christian missed another 450 splash, as Rush struck him with an elbow strike. Rush hit Bull’s Horns and got the win.
Rush defeated Blake Christian via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A bit of an underwhelming match. Rush and Christian worked hard, but Rush dominated the majority of the time. Overall, this episode was somewhat of a step up from the last few weeks, but not by much. The matches were a little bit better, but for the most part, they were brief in nature. AR Fox and Dante Martin had the match of the night and could have been the main event of this episode. I sure hope we see them have another match. The show also had some storyline development with Matt Menard and Angelo Parker, and their feud with Hook. Taz kept saying in the two matches following the segment that he had nothing to do with Hook, who makes all the decisions. This was a somewhat skippable episode of Dark, but I strongly suggest going out of your way to watch Fox vs. Martin. Episode 159 clocked in at 1 hour, 07 minutes, and 36 seconds. Final Score: 7.0 out of 10.
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