A Collective Review of AEW Dark 11/8/2019 by Lance Augustine

Welcome back to the weekly TJRwrestling review of AEW Dark. Last week on Dark, the show was a little below average for what they have presented so far, but wasn’t terrible.

AEW Dark consists of matches taped before and after AEW Dynamite airs and is shown on the AEW YouTube the next week. I’ll post the video below the review. Does Dark rebound in week 6? Let’s find out!

AEW Dark from Charlotte, North Carolina 11/8/2019

The 6th episode of Dark aired on Friday this week even though it usually airs on Tuesdays. Airing it before Full Gear is smart, and a way for the fans to get ready for the Pay-Per-View.

This week opens with familiar faces Tony Schiavone and Dasha Gonzales. I apologize for calling her Fuentes in my review of Dark last week. That was her WWE moniker. They start by running down the matches for Full Gear tomorrow. They talk more about the feud between Cody and Chris Jericho before sending it down to Excalibur, Goldenboy and special guest announcer, Arn Anderson for the first match.

Hikaru Shida vs. Big Swole

Big Swole is making her second appearance on Dark, after last week. Shida lost to Riho in the match leading to Riho’s AEW Women’s title win. The match begins with both women feeling each other out for the advantage. Swole pushes Shida into the ropes and grabs a headlock. Shoulder tackle by Swole knocks Shida to the mat. Both women are back and forth that ends with Shida kicking Swole in the face. On the outside, Shida hits Swole with a knee to the face. Shida grabs a chair and hits Swole with a knee off launching off the chair. Back in the ring, Shida keeps the advantage with a single leg crab. Swole attempts a reversal but is cut off and stomped for her troubles. Shida with a running knee into the corner and gets a near fall. Swole with some kicks followed by a headbutt and a two count. Hanging guillotine by Swole but is reversed into a backbreaker by Shida. Swole hits a pump kick and attempts a ripcord but Shida recovers with a knee lift and a two count. Shida then hits Swole with another knee strike and picks up the win in about 7 minutes.

Winner: Hikaru Shida
Match Rating: 1.75/5 stars

Match Notes: The match as a whole didn’t have a lot of heat to it. One of my biggest gripes about AEW is the way their women are presented and this was another case of that. Big Swole hit some nice power moves, but overall didn’t do much to improve her stock. AEW continues to push the Japanese women stars and while it isn’t a bad thing, I just wish they had more of a backstory for fans to get invested.

After the match, Shida poses in the ring with a Kendo stick and is immediately interviewed right after the match. She talks about showing off the Japanese style. She is asked about the match at Full Gear between Riho and Emi Sakura and picks Sakura to win.

Tony and Dasha are back in the studio to talk about and introduce the next match coming up.

“The Native Beast” Nyla Rose and Leva Bates vs. Shalandra Royal and Shazza McKenzie

Chuck Taylor joins Excalibur and Goldenboy on commentary for this match. This is the first match McKenzie and Royal have had since the Women’s Casino Battle Royale.

Rose and McKenzie start the match off. McKenzie with the go behind but is quickly taken down by Rose. McKenzie with kicks to the thighs but Rose isn’t affected. McKenzie tags in Royal, but she is also quickly taken down by Rose. Rose with a slam and then starts to grind into the neck of Royal. Bates looks for the tag but Rose ignores her and takes on both opponents herself. Double suplex by Rose on both McKenzie and Royal. Bates showing her excitement in the corner while McKenzie and Royal start to double team Rose, but is quickly hit with a double chokeslam. Rose continues to pound on McKenzie in the ring. McKenzie climbs to her corner and tags in Royal. Rose hits Royal with a fallaway slam. Bates wants the tag again but rose ignores her again. Rose continues to beat on McKenzie and hits a suplex for a two count. Rose carries McKenzie over to her corner and uses her limp arm to make the tag. Rose hits Royal with a Death Valley Driver but the two count was interrupted by McKenzie. Rose hits both of them with a double Samoan Drop. Rose climbs up to the top and hits the Senton Bomb on both women. Rose covers both women and gets the win at around the 7-minute mark.

Winner(s): Nyla Rose and Leva Bates
Match Rating: 1.25/5 stars

Match Notes: This was the definition of a squash match. Nyla Rose dominated The entire match and Leva Bates didn’t tag in at all. Nyla hit some impressive moves, but overall the match was below average.

After the match, Nyla Rose is interviewed by Alex Marvez. Hearing him say Shalandra Royal and Shazza McKenzie was a real delight. Nyla talks about the All In battle royal and reminded us how dominant she was. She said she is tired of being disrespected and is going to start taking out the entire women’s division.

Back in the control room, Tony and Dasha run down the card for Full Gear. They shook to a package talking about Cody’s promo and announcement from this past week on Dynamite. The promo was unbelievable. If you haven’t seen it yet I highly suggest you do.

A hype video is shown chronicling the history between Cody and Chris Jericho ahead of their match at Full Gear. As the package ends, Tony and Dasha are back to introduce the main event.

The Hybrid 2 (Jack Evans and Angelico) and Kip Sabian vs. SCU (Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian) and Cima

Angelico and Cima are the two men to start the match. Cima gets the early advantage and works on Angelico’s arms. Angelico reverses and works on Cima. Cima with a tag to Kazarian, who hits all three opponents with offense. Evans and Kazarian are the legal men and exchange offense. He tags in Sabian and he takes Kazarian down. Kazarian recovers and gets a quick tag into Sky. Sky hits him with a leg drop and tags Kazarian back in. All three men exchange tags again and Sabian is in a bad way. Sky hits Sabian with a few back elbows. Angelico distracts the referee and Jack Evans hits Sky with a kick that knocks him off the apron.

Sabian rolls Sky back in the ring and puts him in a chinlock. Sky makes his way back to his feet and tries to stop Sabian’s momentum to no avail. Sabian tags in Evans and he continues to work over Sky. Sky into the turnbuckle as Evans tags in Angelico. The three continue to exchange tags and keep Sky in their corner. Sabian whips Sky into the corner with force and Sky hits the mat. Sky makes a comeback and hits a nice dropkick. Sky reaches for the tag but is cut off by Angelico. He pushes Angelico off and makes the tag to Cima. Cima takes out all three opponents and stacks them up on each other. He jumps off the top rope and crashes into all of them. Cima with a backstabber on Angelico for a near fall. Cima picks up Angelico but is met with a shot to the face. Evans and Angelico hit some double team moves, including an assisted 450 splash from the mat. Cima makes a comeback and hits Evans with a German suplex. Sabian is in and hits Cima before he can make the tag. Cima rebounds and tags in Kazarian who hits Sabian with a flying knee. Kazarian and Sky double team Sabian with a knee strike double team. Kazarian tags in Cima who hits the Meteora for the win at the 14 minute mark.

Winner(s): SCU and Cima
Match Rating: 2.75/5 stars

Match Notes: The match was alright. Both teams worked well together with lots of tags in and out with double teams moves aplenty. Jack Evans had some athletic stuff throughout, but Sabian stood out the most in the team. Both members of SCU are great and they worked well with here with Cima. All six men worked hard, but overall it was an average six man tag match.

After the match, Cima and SCU celebrate in the ring and we get a hype video for Full Gear as the show ends.

Overall Show Rating: 4 out of 10

I wasn’t a huge fan of AEW Dark last week, but I think it was better than this week. The opening match had little to no heat and didn’t do much for either woman. The tag team match was essentially a squash match with Nyla Rose destroying everybody. The main event was pretty decent but overall nothing really of note. There was no Cody segment this week and instead we had a slew of packages for Full Gear. Dark airing on Friday this week was a last push for people to buy the Pay-Per-View.

What did you think of AEW Dark’s 6th outing? Loved it? Hated it? Didn’t even know it was on? 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 with some more Collective Thoughts.