AEW Dark 11/24 (The First Hour)
Intro: Three hours of mid-carders winning over debuting wrestlers seems a bit extreme. I looked at the first hour of the latest show. In 57 minutes there were five matches. Each match had a "debuting" wrestler face off against a mid-card wrestler with absolutely no surprise outcome. There were a few buildup segments and promos, but nothing too serious.
Match 1: Vipress vs. Big Swole (w)
Match flow: Started with tie-ups and light takedowns, then followed intense face and body strikes and ended with some strong throws.
Match Majority: Tie-ups and jockeying for position
Common throws: arm drags, hair throws, snapmare.
Strike variety: shoulder charges, back elbows
Strong throws: Northern lights from Big Swole, Sideslam, tiger driver to cloverleaf submission from Big Swole for the win.
Impression: Nothing out of the ordinary for a women's match. Big Swole is great at suplexes and drivers.
Match Importance: A way to boost Big Swole
Match 2: Lee Johnson/Aaron Solow vs. Alex Reynolds and John Silver (w)
Match Flow: Started with strong knockdowns, transitioned into a lot of clothesline spots, Lots of kicks from both teams, Alex and John end with a finisher.
Match Majority: Clotheslines and kicks
Common throws: Japanese armdrags, Neckbreakers
Strike variety: Clotheslines, face kicks, spin kicks,
Strong throws: Attempted Gorilla throw, a variation of the spinebuster, Armdrag to gutbuster, head toss, two neckbreakers, Thunder Mountain, A 3D team-up to an elbow to the face, and the finisher from Alex and John: neckbreaker- German Suplex Hold- Jackknife pin
High Risk: Somersault plancha
Impressions: Tagteams always start with strong throws and attacks. The clothesline, kick and the neckbreaker were the go to moves between strong throws.
Match Importance: A way to boost the Evil Uno stable
Nakazawa vs. Trent? (w)
Match Flow: Melee exchanges to turnbuckle dives to more melee exchanges then strong throws and Trent's finish
Match Majority: Strikes
Common throws: Leg sweep
Strike variety: chest strikes, elbow and forearm smashes, running knee, clothelines
Strong throws: half-half suplex, northern lights suplex, spinning DDT (attempt), Olympic slam variation (Nakazawa), Jacknife cover, backdrop driver
Highrisk: Top rope shoulder tackle
Impression: The match centered around how angry and spiteful Trent? was. Nakazawa did some great comedy spots, but the match was never about him. It was all about Trent's frustration in his storyline. Trent has a weak knee strike finisher in his singles' matches.
Match Importance: A way to show The Best Friend's storyline
Red Velvet (w) vs. Tasha Price
Match Flow: Tie-up struggle to common throws to some bulldog takeovers and finished with strikes
Match Majority: Lots of kicks and knee strikes dominated the match
Common throws: arm drags, Japanese arm drags, snapmare, head toss
Strike variety: face kick, gut kick, axel kicks, knees to back, knees to face, a clothesline
Technical spots: Arm breaker submission, jockeying tie-up pins, chokehold
Strong throws: Bulldog, wheelbarrow bulldog,
Highrisk: Top rope body splash
Impression: This match was a chance for Red Velvet to continue her streak of popularity. The match went into its comfort place with some starter tie-ups and then transitioning with heavy kicks, light throws and ending with a victory for Red Velvet.
Match Importance: This is an AEW women's match structure. Nothing groundbreaking or riveting, just filler combat.
VSK/Baron Black vs. Private Party
Match flow: a tie-up to kick melee, strong throws, charging strikes, ramped up to charging strikes, and then set up for a Private Party finisher
Match majority: A good switch between intense strikes and strong throws.
Common throws: takedown slam, drop toe hold, armdrag, and Japanese armdrags, atomic drops, atomic drops
Strike variety: dropkicks, kicks, and clotheslines
Strong throws: Manhattan drop (VSK), Pancake, Big back body drop, monkey flip to a bulldog
High risk: Somersault plancha, Shooting star press
Technical: Bow and Arrow submission, chokehold, wishbone
Impressions: Another tag match where the give and take is strong and fast. VSK and Baron Black only got two or three spots to dominate. This was another chance for Private Party to prove they are just and agile and entertaining as Young Bucks.
Match Importance: Boost Private Party's popularity
Kilynn King (w) vs. Rachel Chanel
Match flow: tie-up and pin attempts, running strikes and light submissions and throws, more smashes, a German Suplex, and Kilynn's finisher
Match majority: 1/4 technical tie-ups and 3/4 strike smashes
Common throws: a bookbag smash in the corner, head toss, snapmare with hair
Strike variety: leg trips, elbows, running corner strikes, clothesline, punches,
Strong throws: German suplex from Kilynn, Kilynn's big body slam finisher
Technical spots: Le Mag pin, jockeying pins, sunset pin, chicken wing/neck lock from Rachel
Impressions: I am starting to see a trend with the low-card women's matches in AEW (and maybe most promotions). It starts with tie-ups, mat work, and transitions into a majority of strikes and light throws. Once again, I didn't know who was going to win and I didn't have any investment in either. This might be Kilynn's big break because she has some nice strong throws.
Match Importance: Maybe Kilynn's first step toward the mid-card, but we will see.
Sammy Guevara vs. Marko Stunt
Match flow: Opening bell promised body slams and high-risk ranas, ended with more high-risk ranas and Sammy's finisher.
Match Majority: A short match filled with rana and somersault spots
Common throws: a head throw
Strike variety: strong boot kicks and elbows
Strong throws: an opening body slam from Sammy, The GTS from Sammy
High Risk: Three different hurricanrana variations from Marko, a 450 splash from Sammy, a rolling somersault off the stage from Marko. top rope corkscrew
Impressions: A fun match of high-intensity moves. This is a glimpse of what the Dynamite show offers.
Match Importance: Pure entertainment and fun. Sammy was going to win no matter what.
Overall Impression: AEW is the perfect middle brand between pure technical and sports entertainment fluff. It's the happy medium that wrestling fans love. AEW Dark is a gamble that fans want bulk matches of mid-carders wrestling jobbers. It isn't squash matches by any means and the quality is proof of the companies philosophy. The women's matches leave the most concern. The women's division doesn't seem to have anything nearly as fun as the quick tag-team battles or the showmanship of Marko Stunt and Sammy Guevara. It seems that they get wedged into a hybrid corner of technical tie-ups, light takedowns, and lots of slaps and kicks. I hope Dynamite's women's division matches are more intense.
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