By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 56)
Taped in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place
Streamed October 13, 2020 on the AEW YouTube Page
The broadcast team of Excalibur and Taz welcomed viewers to AEW Dark. Taz was all about Ricky Starks in the opening segment…
1. Evil Uno vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Jungle Boy vs. The Blade in a Four-Way. All four wrestlers began beating each other down as the bell rang. Jungle Boy sent Uno to the outside with a head scissors. Kazarian, and Jungle Boy would fight each other after sending Uno and The Blade to the outside of the ring..Jungle Boy tried going for a pin, but The Blade pulled Jungle Boy out. Uno attempted his own pin on Kazarian, but Kazarian kicked out. Kazarian hit a midsection knee lift to Uno, and a clothesline as well.
Jungle Boy worked on The Blade with an arm drag, followed by a dropkick. He then drop kicked Kazarian to the ground. Kazarian did a bridge pinfall attempt, but Uno saved the count and attacked Jungle Boy. The Blade would work on Kasarian on the outside, while Uno suplexed Jungle Boy in the middle of the ring. Uno did a sweeping clothesline to Jungle Boy, sending him outside of the ring.
After Kazarian, and Jungle Boy are on the outside, The Blade and Uno traded shots to each other. Kazarian and Jungle Boy eventually made their way back to the inside, and doubled team on Uno and The Blade. With assists from Jungle Boy, Kazarian hit a monkey flip and clothesline to both Blade and Uno.
Kazarian hit a cutter on Jungle Boy, a leg drop on Uno, and a fisherman suplex on Blade. Uno hit a high boot to take Blade down, and Uno neckbreaker on Jungle Boy for an almost close pinfall. Kazarian, and Jungle Boy laid each other out by hitting a crossbody attempt. Kazarian, and Jungle Boy tried hitting a double suplex on The Blade, but Uno knocked them off the top rope. Eventually, Jungle Boy hit a jackknife, rolling up Uno for the victory.
Jungle Boy defeated Frankie Kazarian, Evil Uno, and The Blade in a four-way.
After the match, the rest of the Dark Order came down the ring to beatdown Jungle Boy. Marko Stunt, and The Butcher then came out to even the odds, but The Butcher got The Blade out of the ring. Jurassic Express hit their signature moves to send Dark Order out of the ring…
Briar’s Take: The match was really random as has been the case on most episodes of Dark, but every wrestler here did what they needed to do and had a great match.
2. Lee Johnson and Cezar Bononi vs. “The Lucha Bros” Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix. Pentagon Jr, and Bononi started the match for their respective teams. Fenix then tagged in, and was cautious of Bononi size advantage. Johnson is tagged in, but Pentagon Jr illegally kicked Johnson’s back. Pentagon Jr, and Fenix traded tags back, and forth and continued to lay out Johnson. Johnson hit an uppercut, and tagged Bononi back into the match. Fenix made the blind tag, but Bononi threw Fenix down. Pentagon Jr tagged himself in, and tried for a move off the top rope, but Bononi caught Pentagon Jr in midair. Bononi planted both members of Lucha Brothers in the middle of the ring after catching Fenix as well.
Fenix threw kicks to Bononi afterwards, and Pentagon Jr also teamed up with each other. Pentagon Jr hit the punisher from the top rope to Bononi in the lower section. Johnson hit a sucidia dive to Fenix, while Bononi hit a powerslam to Pentagon Jr. Johnson tried lifting Pentagon Jr up for the fireman’s curry, but Pentagon Jr hit the swing blade. Fenix tagged in, and beat down Bononi and Johnson. With help from Fenix, Pentagon Jr hit the spike packaged piledriver.
Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix defeated Lee Johnson and Cezar Bononi via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Interesting matchup. AEW seems high Bononi by giving him some additional ring time. The Lucha Brothers never fail to disappoint.
3. Brandon Cutler vs. Peter Avalon (w/Leva Bates). While Cutler was making his entrance, Avalon attacked from behind, and hit a powerbomb on the apron of the ring to Cutler. Avalon then took Cutler down with knees to the back. Avalon took the mic and told referee Rick Knox ‘to declare him the winner.’ Knox said ‘it ain’t going to work like that.’ Avalon continued to pressure Knox by trying to announce him as the winner.
Cutler made his way to the ring, and the bell finally rang. Avalon hit the martinis to Cutler, and a dropkick that sent Cutler to the outside. Avalon hit backdrop slam to Cutler multiple times. Avalon would put Cutler into a single leg crab submission move.
After being beatdown for a while, Cutler started to make his comeback. Cutler hit a leg drop to Avalon while Avalon was in the middle of the ropes (looked almost like a botch, but I couldn’t tell). Despite the weird instance, Cutler hit a suicida to Avalon on the outside. Cutler rolled
Avalon back to the ring, and hit a springboard elbow drop.
Cutler tried again with the elbow drop, but Avalon countered, planted Cutler down. Cutler dropped Avalon down, and got a near fall. Avalon picked up Cutler again, and hit Cutler with a small modified powerbomb, only to get a two count.
Avalon tried hitting Cutler with a library book, but Cutler countered and planted Avalon onto his knees while taking out the ref in the process. Cutler, and Avalon hit each other with a book and Cutler’s dice to end the match in a double disqualification.
Brandon Cutler fought Peter Avalon ended to an apparent contest.
After the match, Sonny Kiss cut a promo hyping his match with Matt Sydal…
Briar’s Take: Will these two ever get a damn victory? By god, let this end already.
4. Matt Sydal vs. Sonny Kiss (w/Joey Janela). Sydal took Kiss down with multiple arm drags, while Kiss hit a dropkick to Sydal. Sydal followed with a leg lariat. Sydal would then put Kiss into a submission hold by holding the left arm and leg. After breaking the submission himself, Sydal hit a standing moonsault to Kiss. Kiss hit a step up head-scissors, and a Flatliner to Sydal. He then hit a leg split to Sydal, but Sydal kicked out at two. Kiss tried for the diving splits, but missed in the process as Sydal moved. Sydal hit a Russian leg sweep, and made Kiss tap out to the stf cobra clutch.
Matt Sydal defeated Sonny Kiss via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Sydal finally got his first AEW victory. Sydal is good, but if he can drop that ridiculous third eye thing that’s been happening since he started it at Impact four or five years ago, he would be a treasure to watch.
5. Aaron Solow, Angel Fashion, and M’Badu vs. John Silver, Alex Reynolds, and Preston Vance. Solow and Silver started the match, with Silver locking the arm of Solow and a single leg. Solow would hit a dropkick to Silver, and tagged in M’Badu. Silver went for the shoulder tackle, but Badu was too strong for Silver. Silver tagged in Reynolds, and Fashion hit a dropkick to Reynolds. Vance is tagged in, and began his beatdown to Fashion and following with a cutter. Reynolds is back in the ring, and hit a dirty neckbreaker to Fashion.
Silver, and Reynolds traded tags to continue the pressure on Fashion but Fashion countered and allowed Badu to tag in. Badu came in with tons of momentum, but Silver, Reynolds doubled up on Fashion. Fashion tagged in Solow, but Vance hit the spear to Solow stopping any momentum Solow had. Silver, Reynolds, and Vance hit a trifecta tag team move on Solow to win the match.
John Silver, Alex Reynolds, and Preston Vance defeated Aaron Solow, Angel Fashion, and M’Badu via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Week by week and match after match, Solow continues to grow on me. He is so good at what he does. Badu is great as well, with his power and great move set.
6. Elyana Black vs. Red Velvet. Brandi Rhodes sat in on commentary. Velvet hit a single leg dropkick to Black after the bell rang. Velvet took too long with her move, which allowed Black to hit the knee of Velvet. Black went for the pinfall, but Velvet kicked out at two. Though, Velvet planted Black down with a kick, and hit a modified bulldog in the middle of the ring. Velvet hit double knees to Black, then finished the match with Just Desserts (double kick to the head).
Red Velvet defeated Elyanna Black via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Unfortunately, Brandi never added anything on commentary. The match itself was really random.
7. Fuego Del Sol vs. Ricky Starks. Starks threw shots and kicks to Del Sol when the match got underway. Starks followed with a hammer throw to Del Sol afterward. Starks laid out Del Sol with a vicious back elbow. Del Sol tried getting momentum with a dropkick, but Starks sent Del Sol over the top. Starks would go to the commentary desk, put the headset on, and told Taz that the show was now titled “AEW Starks.” Del Sol tried going for a move, but Starks stopped Del Sol in his tracks with a spear, Roshambo for the victory.
Ricky Starks defeated Fuego Del Sol via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Del Sol never stood a chance to Starks, as Starks dominated the match.
Backstage, Scorpio Sky was interviewed by Alex Marvez about Shawn Spears, who quickly intervened. Spears said if Sky had a problem, they could do it right here. Tully Blanchard told Christopher Daniels, “Next week, let’s do this”…
8. Ryzin and Maxx Stardom vs. “The Gunn Club” Billy and Austin Gunn. Ricky Starks sat in on commentary. Ryzin hit an elbow drop to Austin, with Austin hitting a snapmare. Billy is tagged in, and threw punches to Ryzin and Stardom. Billy planted Stardom down, tagged Austin again. Ryzin hit a clothesline to Austin before tagging in Stardom again.
Ryzin hit a backbreaker to Austin, while Stardom went for a two count. Austin and Stardom took each other down with double clotheslines until Austin tagged Billy in. Billy went for the Fameasser, but Ryzin hit a dropkick to Billy. Austin is in the ring again, and wins the match by hitting the neckbreaker.
The Gunn Club defeated Ryzin and Maxx Stardom via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Billy and Austin continue their winning ways.
9. Nick Comorto vs. Darby Allin. Comoroto made his AEW debut. Comoroto laid Allin down on the mat with a forearm. Comoroto continued to overpower Allin by Irish whipping Allin into the turnbuckles. Comoroto would also hit a scoop slam. Early on, Allin tried going for the coffin drop, but Comoroto countered with a backdrop. Allin started getting momentum on his side, and used an illegal submission hold. Allin took Comoroto down with an armbar submission hold. Allin finally was able to hit the Coffin Drop on Comoroto for the win.
Darby Allin defeated Nick Comorto via pinfall.
After the match, Allin got frustrated with Starks and attacked him at the broadcast table. Referees came out to break up the fight…
Briar’s Take: Unfortunately, Allin had a disadvantage with size toward Comoroto (sigh), but he got the job done.
A KiLynn King promo was shown with her targeting Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero…
10. Griff Garrison vs. Colt Cabana (w/Evil Uno). Garrison hit a loud kick to Cabana and tried for a front splash to Cabana, but Cabana missed the move at the last second. Cabana had Garrison over the top, but Garrison got to the ropes to let the ref break the attempted move by Cabana.
Garrison hit a rolling elbow strike to Cabana, which then sent both wrestlers to the ground. Garrison followed with a splash to the corner to Cabana, and went for a move off the top rope, but Cabana put the double knees to the face of Garrison. Cabana followed by hitting the Flying Apple and a diving splash from the middle rope only for a two count. Cabana made Garrison tap out to Cloverleaf-like submission hold.
Colt Cabana defeated Griff Garrison via submission.
Briar’s Take: The match was too short for it to amount to anything, which is unfortunate, as both men are talented.
11. KiLynn King vs. Nyla Rose (w/Vickie Guerrero). King began the match with a punt kick to the side of the head to Rose. Rose caught King and lifted King over her shoulders. Rose then hit a German suplex to King. Quickly after the suplex, Rose won the match with a sit-out powerbomb.
Nyla Rose defeated KiLynn King via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: Short and sweet.
12. D3 vs. Joey Janela (w/Sonny Kiss). Both wrestlers went for pinfalls early before Janela put D3 into a side headlock. Janela then planted D3 down with a shoulder tackle. D3 took down Janela with the head scissors. Janela spun around D3 until releasing him. D3 hit an elbow drop from the top rope. He went for a move on the apron, but Janela caught D3 and hit the airplane spin and a Death Valley Driver on the outside of the ring. Janela quickly put D3 away with three brain busters.
Joey Janela defeated D3 via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: I never had any doubts that Janela wouldn’t be able to win the match, but we’ve seen crazier things happen.
13. Elijah Dean vs. Wardlow. Dean made his AEW debut. Wardlow threw Dean to the ground once they tried locking up. Wardlow hit Dean with a big clothesline. Wardlow knocked Dean out by hitting a knee strike while Dean was on the top rope.
Wardlow defeated Elijah Dean via knockout.
Briar’s Take: The victory pretty much gave Wardlow momentum ahead of the AEW No. 1 contender title tournament.
14. Baron Black vs. Eddie Kingston. Black put Kingston in a head scissors when the bell rang. Kingston had the arm of Black, and hit strong knees to Black’s mid-section. Black sent Kingston over the rope with a far leg, but Kingston made Black tap out to a front headlock submission.
Eddie Kingston defeated Baron Black via pinfall.
Excalibur hyped AEW Dynamite’s one-year anniversary show for Wednesday to close the show…
Briar’s Take: Kingston predictably got the victory, but I’m not sure how much he’ll gain from the match other than more ring experience. Overall, this was one of the longer episodes of Dark, that’s for sure. It was right up there with the two hour show we had earlier this summer. It was hard to get behind any of these matches without any storyline purpose aside from researching the unfamiliar names before the show. There were some nice segments, including the continuation of the Ricky Starks and Darby Allin storyline. Otherwise, this show pretty much peaked at the opening with the four-way match.
As for the rest of the show, the episode is skippable, because none of the other matches really stood out. The only other thing I continued to be frustrated by is that Peter Avalon and Brandon Cutler continue to remain winless. Will the folks at AEW ever give one of them a damn victory? Despite that, happy one-year anniversary to Dynamite. Episode 56 of AEW Dark clocked in at one hour, 52 minutes, and 31 seconds. Final Score: 7.0 out of 10.
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