Thoughts:
Tonight, the 100th episode of Dark airs. Like the sister show, Elevation, I rarely watch this. I'll check out select matches and a good bud of mine tells me shit, but that's about it. Tonight, well it's a special edition and therefore a special occasion. I have no fucking idea how long this will be and that's a little frustrating. Also, will they edit out a certain edgy rap or air it in full? It was pretty fucked up. Seriously.
Let's see, as it's time to start this one up and the countdown has started!
Refresh As You'd Like Throughout The Night
The commentary team for Dark is far superior to that of Elevation.
We're starting with six-man action. They really need trios belts. The Wingmen are a fun team. I was confused as hell when I heard JD was with these dudes but it works. Starks is working with Taz and Excalibur here, by the way. JD and Taylor kick things off, for a big/little start. Some decent opening moments wrestling here. Yuta and Nemeth tag in for the next series which saw Ryan accidentally chop his partners multiple times and Pretty Peter stopping them from killing Dolph's brother. Will we ever get Ryan and Zigs as a team in AEW? I doubt it. Too bad he's not nearly as good as his brother, also. Cezar overpowered Yuta with some nice power moves here before tagging out in favor of JD. We're deep in the eel control section and Wheeler finally tags in The Kentucky Gentleman, evening things up a tad. It didn't last long before Orange tagged himself in. Shit got fun, as expected. Cassidy is so damn entertaining. The corner train spot was honestly awesome. Good back and forth stuff. JD missed on a moonsault, setting up Wheeler getting the W over the big man. Yuta is interestingly being booked rather strong.
Peter tries to attack, instead gets his ass kicked by the Best Friends' finishers.
BIG HUG SPOT.
Good match.
Jack with an interesting promo backstage before a Rampage advert airs.
PAC versus Evans is next. Awesome. This is gonna be highspot heaven. I LOVE that they mentioned Yoshino here. Dude is a fucking legend in my heart. Evans has gained a bit of weight, is still faster than a fucking cat but looks like he's gassing faster. Not a fat shame, or whatever. My fatass has no right, for one. Some ringside heat took place early between the units, which could be a seed. A sick skytwister late on PAC rocked. Evans has always been an innovative dick. Good nearfalls. This crowd is silent. The slower than expected pace is working nicely, honestly. An avalanche neckbreaker and Brutalizer finish it. This was pretty good stuff.
Andrade came out after with Chavo to have a moment with Death Triangle. He seems to prep for a fight, but cowards out. Standard heel stuff. We're getting a Los Ingobernables de AEW or whatever at some point and it'll be fun.
Tay Fucking Conti Time! Paige is a bit green still. The exchange section was fun. Basically a squash, but Conti looked great once again in it, at least. I'll check after to confirm, but it felt like it was below my rating time length bar.
Tag team action is up next. Fuego is such a perfect lower card underdog. Wardlow got some power in on Dean and then stopped Spears from costing them the match. A C4 instead killed del Sol before Wardlow, starring at Hager, hit an F10. Squash, but an okay one I suppose.
Hikaru Shida is up next for he own squash. Maxx tried a possum spot. Failed. Meh.
I am a big fan of Hikaru's. She got a W, Madi had a few moments. It did seem to run past three so I'll rate it and confirm later. In short, you won't need to rush to see this one is all I'll say.
What I presumed to be the main event in my recent preview was apparently wrong. Chaos Project versus the Lucha Bros is next. Taz is so fucking spirit animal worthy.
Fenix and Serpentico start and yeah, we're not worthy. I like Chaos Project. Admittedly, they are a slightly off brand version of the Lucha Bros in a way. That's not really a knock. The right team won in the end and, honestly, it was a solid filler tag. Not too shabby.
This show is so chill. Honestly, I might start watching Dark more often. I know they threw more at us because it was a special episode, but still I love the commentary team and the loose vibes are just fun.
Here's the moment of truth...time for Caster to get cancelled.
I can't believe they aired it.
Honestly, it was a bit much. Way too much, really. I wonder if it gets legit buzz or not. Someone call those TMZ dipshits.
This is an interesting atomico lineup. The Sydal Brothers look like they're having more fun than I've seen from them in years. I wish AEW would have more bigger name multimans like these on Dynamite. Remember those cluster tag matches from SmackDown where everyone would hit their finishers and shit? I want some of those. Anyway, this was a good little match. Blade hit the knucks to set up the finish. Jurassic Express ran off HFO after. Varsity Blonds and The Acclaims battled in the ring with the faces standing tall.
Would an Internet Championship or YouTube Championship be better or AEW Dark Championship? I really do think they need a few more belts. Women's Tag, Mixed Tag, Trios, and then something for the lesser dudes that largely stick to Dark and Dark: Elevation content. I know it's a lot, but they have the roster size and four shows. It'd be fine.
Yeah, this is rolling nicely.
Leyla Hirsch and Diamante time. Why isn't the latter in Inner Circle? I'd love that. If given time, this could rock, by the way. Apparently, D beat Big Swole last week? Awesome. This feels a bit like a CMLL lightning match. Super fun. I would like to brag, but I've been promoting Leyla since I saw her in CZW.
Bunny distracted Leyla for a moment. Big Swole stopped Diamante from cheating. Nearfall for Leyla and then she got D to tap right after.
Good match.
Bunny vs Leyla will be good.
Big Swole and Diamante brawled up the ramp after.
Now, it's time to see Mox get a squash.
So, this'll be 90 minutes? That's not too bad, though I do prefer 60.
Brick attacked early, lost control for a bit but regained. More back and forth than expected but I like when they do this. Brick isn't too shabby. I see some real potential there, actually. QT/Cody are such great teachers. This was a nice throwaway and a good test match from BA. Yeah, not bad.
I just realized what the main event is and am very happy.
Reka and Ford is the semi, first. Ford is a competent enough worker. Reka I've seen very little of. This was a perfectly fine singles match from two decent talents. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Elite GM commercial is funny shit. Cheap, but funny. I should try the game. I might tonight or something.
Jade is out. She gets a plug. She's being prepped big. It was a cheap heat style of segment, but honestly it worked for what it was and I was entertained. I don't think she's ever going to be as good as where they're likely putting her, but she'll be okay.
Mark Sterling rocks and is a badass plug man.
I like the rise of Dante that I think I'm seeing. Him and Eddie Kingston main eventing the 100th episode of Dark? That feels big.
This either has a randomly weird runtime, the main goes long, or something is going to happen after.
I hope it's the second, third, first in that order. The runtime thing would irk me a bit. The other two are basically tied.
Dante is so fucking good. I wish he could go to DDT on excursion. That's another thing, by the way. Can we get excursions? Maybe post-pandemic?
This didn't last long, but was sincerely fun and exciting. The pace was legit and I dig the respect spot post.
They air a preview for Dynamite and we fade out.
I honestly loved this. The commentary team is awesome, the content went down smooth, and it all felt loose but fun. Fuck it, I'll watch next week, too.
Thanks for reading. Check it out if you missed it.
Overall Rating: 75/100%
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