A Collective Review of AEW Dark 10/29/2019 by Lance Augustine

Welcome back to the weekly Collective Review of AEW Dark. Last week on Dark, we had a solid show, which included a solid 8 man tag match in the main event, although it wasn’t quite as good as the week before.

The AEW Dark show has matches taped from last week’s AEW event and they post the full show on the AEW Youtube channel. I will post it at the bottom of this review. I actually attended this show and you can read my thoughts about it here. How does this edition of Dark stack up in week 4? Let’s find out.

AEW Dark from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 10/29/2019

The show starts off with Tony Schiavone in the control room. He talks about this week’s episode of Dynamite which will feature the finals in the AEW Tag Team Tournament between SCU and The Lucha Brothers, among other things. He goes over tonight’s lineup of matches before sending us to the ring with Excalibur and Jim Ross for the first match.

Peter Avalon and QT Marshall (w/Leva Bates) vs Dustin Rhodes and Sonny Kiss

QT Marshall is out first. For those who tuned in to Dark last week, QT was on Cody’s segment and talked about his return to the ring, and here we are. Peter Avalon and Leva Bates are our next and I have to say, they have some good heat. Love them or hate them, the crowd certainly reacts to most of the stuff they do. Avalon cuts a promo on QT and rags on him about his apple eating. Avalon goes on to talk about the Pirates losing, which being from Pittsburgh, is completely true. He rags on the city a little bit more before Sonny Kiss makes an entrance, followed soon by Dustin Rhodes. Kiss and Rhodes have matching ring attire which is cool.

The match starts with Kiss and Avalon starting things off. Kiss grabs a book from Bates before hitting Avalon with some offense. Avalon is on all fours when Kiss sits on his back and poses with the book. Avalon breaks away but Kiss keeps on the offense for a near fall. Avalon tags in QT as Kiss tags in Rhodes. Rhodes stays on the offense and hit QT with some chops on the corner and an uppercut. Rhodes works over QT’s arm a little bit more before tagging in Kiss who hits some nice offense. Kiss attempts a headscissors but is cut off by Avalon. Kiss rebounds, but is quickly kicked out of the ring by Avalon. QT tags in Avalon who starts to work over on Kiss a little bit more. Avalon brings Kiss into the corner and hits a series of chops. Double suplex by QT and Avalon for a quick nearfall. Kiss hits an enziguri on QT, but it cut off while trying to make a tag to Rhodes. Avalon is back in and starts working over on Kiss a little more. Avalon attempts a splash in the corner, but Kiss moves and hits both members of the team before they regain the advantage. Avalon attempts a moonsault, but misses as Kiss evades some offense from QT. Kiss makes the tag to Rhodes who cleans house. Quick powerslam on both Avalon and QT as Dustin climbs to the top and hits a diving body press for a two count. Sonny Kiss is on top and hits a headscissors before hitting the Meteora on the outside. Bates gets involved, but Rhodes cuts her off and puts her on the top rope before hitting Avalon with Final Reckoning and Dustin gets the three count at around the 8-minute mark.

Winners: Dustin Rhodes and Sonny Kiss
Match Rating: (2.25/5 stars)

Match Notes: A pretty decent match to start the show. Nothing out of this world good, but nothing horrible either. Avalon and Bates are actually getting heel heat, which is never a bad thing. Kiss got some good athletic offense in with Rhodes carrying his own as the seasoned veteran. QT Marshall didn’t play a huge role in the match, but got some spots on. A solid tag match all around to start the show.

Post-match the replays are showed as we see Rhodes and Kiss celebrating the victory in the ring.

Back in the control room, Tony talks about the AEW women’s division and puts over Nyla Rose as well as AEW Women’s Champion Riho, before sending it back to the ring for the next match.

Emi Sakura vs. Allie vs. Sadie Gibbs vs. Penelope Ford

Penelope Ford is out first for her second appearance in AEW. Sadie Gibbs is next, making her AEW debut as Excalibur runs down her accomplishments while being relatively new to the business. Allie is out with some pyro for her entrance. Emi Sakura is the last woman to the ring as the match gets underway.

All four women start to circle the ring and feel each other out. They all lock up and push away from each other. A test of strength is next with all four women being overpowered by Gibbs. Allie walks around the ring and smiles as the other women attack her from behind. Allie and Gibbs have an exchange that sees both getting the advantage before Gibbs goes for a pin and a two count. Allie is thrown through the ropes and hits the floor. Ford and Gibbs start going back and forth in the ring which Ford gets the better of. Ford hits a crucifix bomb and goes for the pin but Sakura breaks it up. Ford and Sakura tie-up in the ring as Sakura grabs Ford’s hair before dancing around the ring with the referee. Sakura puts Ford in the flying surfboard but Allie breaks it up before she can submit. Allie throws Gibbs into the corner and hits her with some elbows before Gibbs makes a comeback and knocks Allie to the mat. Sakura puts Gibbs and Allie in a double submission before Ford comes in with a triple submission.

Gibbs gains the advantage as she and Ford both hit double handspring elbows. Allie regains her composure before hitting some offense on Ford and hits the floor. Gibbs takes advantage of the prone Ford and throws her to the outside. Gibbs rolls Ford back into the ring and gets some more offense in before another near fall. Allie back in the ring and starts to work over Gibbs a little bit more. All four women are back in the ring now, as Allie and Gibbs hit Ford with a double suplex. Allie and Sakura hit some double team offense before Sakura grabs the advantage. Sakura stomps on the mat a little bit which gives the other three a chance to regain the three on one advantage. Sakura fights back and throws all three into the corner before hitting a crossbody into the corner. Sakura with the Vader bomb on all three other women for a two count. Ford hits Allie with a DDT before Gibbs hits Ford with a kick and all four women are on the mat. Sakura is the first one up, but all four women eventually make it back to their feet. Each woman taking turns working on the other, with no one getting the advantage. Justin Roberts with the time cue as the women kick it into high gear. Sakura regains the advantage and hits the Tiger Driver on Ford and the win at the 12-minute mark.

Winner: Emi Sakura
Match Rating: (2/5 Stars)

Match Notes: This match didn’t really have anything that stood out. The crowd was dead for most of it and the four-way moves didn’t do much for me. Gibbs showed some good power throughout the match while Allie and Ford got some offense in as well. Sakura was the standout of the match and got most of the shine throughout. Nothing spectacular, but it didn’t do anything to hurt any of the four women in the match.

From Undesirable to Undeniable with Cody

The guest this week with Cody is MJF. Personally, I think MJF is a star that hasn’t been given enough to do on AEW TV so far. He plays the old school, cocky wrestling heel so well. They start talking about being best friends. MJF talks about playing football when he was little and being the only Jewish kid on the team. He goes into detail about how hard it was when he didn’t fit in with the other kids. “You have to kill who you were born to be to become who you want to be” is the quote of the interview. He talks about people that fun of him that may be drug addicts and a college dropout, while he is famous now. They ended the segment with some over the top stuff as MJF leaves the interview.

Segment Notes: MJF was really into it telling that story. Now, I don’t know how much of it was actually true, but you could see in his eyes that it had affected him at least a little bit. That, or he could just be the best heel in the business playing it up. Either way, I was a fan of this quick segment.

Tony is back in the control center running down this week’s matches for Dynamite, as well as the contract signing between Cody and Chris Jericho for the AEW Championship. They go to a package talking about the finals of the AEW Tag Team Tournament between SCU and The Lucha Brothers, which I am very excited for. Tony talks about the upcoming AEW shows before sending it to Alex Marvez who is with Kip Sabian.

Kip Sabian talks about issuing a challenge to the elite this week on Dynamite. The Elite, consisting of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, accepted the challenge and now is a six-man tag team match also featuring the Hybrid 2, which is Jack Evans and Angelico. They send it back to the ring for the Main Event.

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Darby Allin vs. Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Havoc

Havoc is out first followed by Evans. Allin is out last and is definitely the most over of the three.

Evans starts the match off with a kick to both men and a moonsault off the second rope. Evans stays on the offensive and hits a handspring back elbow on Havoc. Havoc rebounds and hits an elbow with a Death Valley Driver. Allin hits a sunset flip bomb on Havoc for a two count. Havoc comes back with multiple elbows to both of his adversaries. Allin hits an over the top stunner before diving to the outside on Evans. He tries on the other side but is met with a chair shot to the head by Havoc who covers him on the outside for a near fall. Havoc throws the chair into the face of Evans and sets the chair up on the ground. Havoc tosses Evans over the guardrail but is cut off by Allin. Allin dives over the guardrail onto Evans which is followed up by a rolling senton by Havoc to both men. The fans chant AEW as all three men work their way through the crowd. Evans and Havoc exchange blows as they make their way to the side of the entranceway. He hits Havoc and Evans with some forearms before Havoc recovers and covers Allin for a two count. Back on the ramp, Evans hits Havoc with a suplex and a two count. Evans argues with the referee a little before getting back on the offensive. Evans attempts a moonsault off the stage but is caught by Havoc and after a few reversals gets hit with a suplex on the stage.

Havoc runs and hits an elbow drop off the stage on the Allin for another two count. Evans follows that up with a senton from the stage into both men and covers Havoc for a two count. Evans and Havoc make their way back down to the ring. Evans tosses Havoc back in the ring as Evans circles, trying to find a weapon. Evans goes outside and throws multiple chairs into the ring. Evans springboards off the ropes but is caught with an elbow by Havoc. Allin is back in the ring but is cut off by Havoc. Havoc hits a second ripe suplex on Allin and brings him inside the ring. Havoc back on the offensive but he’s caught by Allin and Allin and Evans hit a double team move on Havoc. Allin puts Evans in the armbar as Evans reaches for the ropes. Havoc breaks it up with a chair shot to Allin followed by a Tiger Driver on a chair for a nearfall. Evans hits Havoc with a sidewalk slam on the side of an open chair. That had to hurt. Evans follows it up with a 450 splash on the same chair and a two count. Allin brings a table in the ring, but is intercepted by Evans as he sets it up in the corner. Havoc hits Evans off the top rope before hitting a piledriver off the top rope through a table. That was a hell of a spot. Allin capitalizes and hits the coffin drop on both his opponents with a chair on his back. Allin covers Evans for the win at the 15-minute mark.

Winner: Darby Allin
Match Rating: (3.25/5 Stars)

Match Notes: That was wild. That was a 15-minute brawl that went throughout the arena. All three men did some cool things throughout the match, with Evans hitting the most memorable spots. The sidewalk slam followed by the 450 on the open chair was something else. The piledriver off the top rope was a huge spot in the match that leads to Allin getting the win. I think Allin has huge potential in AEW and he is definitely over with the crowd. A very good main event.

After the match, Allin celebrates as Excalibur sends it back to Tony. Tony puts the finals touches on the show, giving us the final details about this week’s Dynamite before signing off.

Overall Show Grade: 5.5 out of 10

This week’s episode of AEW Dark was fine for what it was. The opening tag match had some back and forth action but nothing really of note. The fatal four-way women’s match was the worst of the night with no real crowd heat and nothing that jumped off the screen. The four women in the match were fine, but I thought the match dragged on a little too long. The main event was a wild brawl that went all throughout the arena and had some memorable spots. All three competitors held their own and the right guy won the match. Not a bad edition of AEW Dark, but nothing out of this world either.

What did you think of this week’s AEW Dark? Loved it? Hated it? Didn’t watch it? As always keep the conversation going over @collectiveheel on Twitter and let me know your thoughts. Support the site and each other and I’ll be back soon enough with some more Collective Thoughts.