SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
RADICAN’S AEW DARK EPISODE 2 REPORT
OCT. 15, 2019
TAPED OCT. 9, 2019
BOSTON, MASS.
AIRED LIVE ON YOUTUBE.COM
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur
The Young Bucks were cutting a promo with Tony Schiavone and Kenny Omega came into the picture. They told him he didn’t have a match because he got put through a table last week. Omega told them he wanted a Lights out Unsanctioned match. The Young Bucks acted upset and walked away. Schiavone said the match was on.
Schiavone was in the studio and he said they were going right to the action. He said it would start with Peter Avalon vs. Kip Sabian vs. Sonny Kiss.
Peter Avalon came out with Leva Bates. He ran down the Boston sports teams. “My throat is a little parched. I wish I had a cup of water, but I know this place isn’t good at bringing home cups,” said Avalon. Bates to the mic from Avalon and said she was sorry.
Kip Sabian was out next. He didn’t get much of a reaction coming out. Sonny Kiss came out last to a good reaction. It was hard to hear Kiss’s music. AEW really needs to boost the audio on entrance themes for TV. They’re easy to hear when you’re there in person, but they’re very faint on TV and on AEW Dark a lot of the time.
(1) PETER AVALON vs. KIP SABIAN vs. SONNY KISS
Sabian and Kiss sent Avalon to the floor, which the fans liked. AEW had cameramen on the floor behind the floor section and they showed a nice shot of the ring from that angle. Sabian sent Avalon to the floor with an inside out dropkick. He then hit a cannonball senton that wiped out Avalon on the floor. Sabian appeared to have hurt his hand and the doctor attended to him. Avalon got the upper hand on Kiss and the fans booed. Sabian got back into the action, but Kiss wiped him and Avalon out with a combination move. Bates hit Kiss with a book and Avalon rolled him up for a nearfall. Sabian then hit Deathly Hallows on Avalon for the win.
WINNER: Kip Sabian in 10:00. (**½)
(Radican’s Analysis: I didn’t realize that Sabian dislocated his finger during the match, so credit to him for sticking through to the finish. The match was fine, but nothing special.)
Schiavone was back in the control center. He pitched to the upcoming match and said that highlights from a big upset in the AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament will be shown later.
SCU & CIMA was out next for 8 man tag action and their music could be heard loud and clear.
(2) THE HYBRID 2 (JACK EVANS & ANGELICO) & THE DARK ORDER (STU GRAYSON & EVIL UNO) vs. SCU (CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & SCORPIO SKY & FRANKIE KAZARIAN) & CIMA
Angelico and CIMA were both trained by Ultimo Dragon. The action broke down a bit early and Evans ended up alone in the ring with Daniels. He raked Daniels’s eyes and then Evans grabbed a submission. Angelico slid into the ring and kicked Daniels in the head. The heels tagged in and out to work over Daniels. Evans hit a triple back handspring into an eye rake on Daniels at one point, but the fans weren’t into the action. Daniels finally made the tag to Kazarian, who ran wild on The Dark Order. He then wiped out Angelico. Kazarian continued to run wild and took out The Dark Order with a DDT/Stunner combo and they went to the floor. Kazarian hit a rana to the floor that sent Grayson into Uno. They went to a series of dives with SCU standing tall after Sky hit a dive off the apron to the floor. Grayson cut off Sky and hit the Nightfall. The action continued at a rapid pace with SCU going back and forth with The Dark Order. The ref had his hands full with Uno and The Hybrid 2 hit a double low blow on Sky. Evans then floated over Sky into a pinning combination for the win.
WINNER: Jack Evans & Angelico & Stu Grayson & Evil Uno in 10:00. (***)
(Radican’s Analysis: This match played out better on TV than it did live. I couldn’t see some of the dives when the match was taped and I blinked and missed how Evans set up his pinning combination to get the win. The crowd woke up for some of the big sequences, but they just didn’t fully invest in the match, which would have been a better watch with a hot crowd.)
Tony Schiavone was back in the studio. He wondered if SCU could recover in time for their tournament match this week on Dynamite.
A commercial for the Full Gear PPV on Nov. 9 aired.
They came back to a new segment called From Undesirable to Undeniable with Cody Rhodes. Cody was shown interviewing referee Aubrey Edwards in Boston in the arena last week. She said she had only been doing this for two years. She was asked if she ever felt undesirable. She said she worked with WWE four times and they said they weren’t interested. Cody said that’s a place that doesn’t tell you what you’re missing. Cody asked her what she did to overcome that.
Edwards said she wants to make things for me. She said the sky’s the limit with what she can do. Edwards said her definition was standing with the AEW Championship before Hangman Page vs. Chris Jericho at All Out. She said she’s paying her bills and having a blast. Edwards said she would be happy with how everything turned out if the show ended tomorrow.
(Radican’s Analysis: I thought it was an odd choice to start this new interview segment with a referee. Edwards only got one no from WWE and has only been a ref for two years, so it’s hard to connect with the undesirable aspect of her story. It’s not like she’s been through any kind of hardship in terms of paying dues and now she’s working full time with AEW.
I know referees who have had to work years and years and be told no many times before breaking through and getting a shot with WWE or another major company. Hopefully this segment is used to promote wrestlers not getting TV time in the future.)
Tony Schiavone was in the studio. He said in a big shock, Private Party beat The Young Bucks in the first round of the AEW Tag Team Championship tournament in Boston. Highlights of the match were shown. They got some nice floor camera shots from behind the first row once again.
Schiavone wondered what is next for The Young Bucks. He then said the tournament continues this week with SCU vs. Best Friends and The Lucha Bros. vs. Jurassic Express. The tournament will continue next week in Pittsburgh and conclude on Oct. 30 in West Virginia.
Schivone announced Kenny Omega & Hangman Page would take on PAC & Jon Moxley tomorrow on Dynamite. He also said that AEW Champion Chris Jericho would defend against Darby Allin.
Schiavone pitched to highlights of the main event of Dynamite last week. With Hangman Page & Dustin Rhodes taking on Sammy Guevara & Chris Jericho. Highlights were shown of MJF teasing joining the Inner Circle before making the save for Cody with a chair. They then showed the rest of the post-match angle with several faces trying to clear the ring of Inner Circle.
Schivone previewed the main event of Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela in an Unsanctioned Lights Out match. Schiavone said Omega hasn’t been right since Double or Nothing and now has his sights on Moxley.
Justin Roberts introduced the match and the lights went out and then they came back on. Joey Janela was out first. Jim Ross said he had lunch with Janela today. Excalibur laughed and said Janela is one of the strangest individuals he knows in wrestling. He said Janela has already won over the AEW fans. Ross said Janela signed with AEW with a lot of money and high expectations. Ross said Janela’s record wasn’t stellar.
Kenny Omega was out next and Ross said Omega’s record in AEW wasn’t great either. Excalibur said Omega had been knocked out with a barbed wire bat by Moxley just over an hour ago on Dynamite. Ross mentioned the Unsanctioned matches don’t count towards official records. They said this match won’t count for either man’s record either.
Excalibur said Omega has been getting more and more extreme with his attacks on Moxley, so perhaps this is a test for Omega to wet his feet in Moxley’s world. The fans fired up before the bell rang to start the match.
(3) JOEY JANELA vs. KENNY OMEGA – UNSANCTIONED LIGHTS OUT MATCH
Janela rolled to the floor and got a chair, but Omega cut him off once he got back into the ring. Janela sent Omega to the floor and nailed him with a dive through the ropes. Excalibur said Janela doesn’t want to be known exclusively as a hardcore wrestler. Janela went under the ring and threw a bunch of chairs into the ring. He then got a big gold ladder and tossed it into the ring. Omega charged at Janela out of the corner and Janela tossed a chair right at him. Janela turned his back on Omega and he hit a Kitaru Crusher onto a pile of chairs on Janela. Omega set up for the Terminator dive and connected. Omega smashed his leg on the guardrail when he came down on Omega. The doctor and the ref checked on Omega, but he got up to his feet and said he was okay by giving the crowd a thumbs up. Omega went under the ring and grabbed a table. The fans applauded.
Omega hit You Can’t Escape, but Janela fired back with several chair jabs. Omega ducked a chairshot attempt by Janela and hit a pair of snap dragon suplexes. They battled on the apron and went back and forth until Omega hit another snap dragon suplex on the ring apron and the fans went nuts. Omega climbed the ring steps with Janela on his back. Janela slid around him and hit a German off the stairs to the floor and the fans fired up again. They showed a slow motion replay and Omega’s landing looked rough. Janela set up a table upside down on the steps and the apron. The steps were facing upwards as well. Omega was selling his arm, but he reversed a whip and sent Janela into the ladder that was set up in the corner. Janela slid around Omega a short time later and hit a German into the ladder. WOW! He made the cover, but it was only good for a two count. They showed a replay of Omega’s landing, which was rough. The fans fired up with the Terminator clap.
Both men traded blows and the fans fired up going yay for Omega and boo for Janela. The pace increased and Omega caught Janela with a V-Trigger against the ropes. He set up for another V-trigger, but Janela hit a big clothesline and a brainbuster for a two count. The fans started an AEW chant as both men tried to recover. They ended up near the apron a short time later. Janela went for a Russion leg sweep, but Omega hung onto the ropes and Janela spilled to the floor. Omega tried to powerbomb Janela onto the back of a table on the mat, but Janela backdropped him onto it. Janela picked up Omega and hit a DVD into a ladder. Janela set up the ladder in front of the table. He put Omega on the table and hit several punches. Janela went up the ladder and the fans fired up. He did the Eddie Guerrero shake and went for a frog splash, but Omega got out of the way and Janela crashed and burned.
Omega hit a buckle bomb and then a sitout powerbomb for a two count. Ross did a great job putting Janela over saying, “As long as he’s breathing, he’s in the fight.” Omega hit the V-Trigger, but Janela got out of One-Winged Angel attempt from Omega. They went back and forth and Omega hit a pendulum lariat. He then hit the Paradigm Shift on Janela. The announcers didn’t pick up on Omega using Moxley’s pendulum lariat prior to that. Janela ducked a charge from Omega and tossed him over the top through the upside down table set up between the stairs and the apron. That looked like a really rough landing. The fans chanted you killed Kenny. Janela put a chair on Omega’s chest and hit a double stomp off the top for a two count. The fans chanted fight forever as Janela set up a chair between the top and middle rope in one corner. Janela set up Moxley in a chair and nailed him with an elbow. Janela told Omega he’s not going to beat Moxley. Omega slapped him and then Janela kicked Omega backwards out of the chair.
Janela set up several chairs back to back and put Omega over them, but Omega got up. They battled up top near the chairs. Both men traded blows, but Omega grabbed Janela by the hair and then he tossed him back first over the backs of the chairs that were lined up in the ring. The fans fired up. WOW! Omega hit a HUGE V-Trigger to Janela’s head that was set up against the chair in the corner. Omega then hit a big One-Winged Angel that sent Janela through a chair that was set up in the ring.
WINNER: Kenny Omega in 27:00. (****½)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a great hardcore battle with both men putting together some spectacular spots without resorting to blood. Ross was great here telling a story that put over Janela while talking about Omega’s frame of mind heading into his match against Jon Moxley at Full Gear. These two went all out and delivered a tremendous match for AEW to air on YouTube. This came across better live than it did on tape, but it was still fantastic on tape)
A series of replays of the big spots in the match aired. Ross said Omega was ready for Jon Moxley. Schiavone said Omega looked like the Kenny Omega of old as he gets set to face Jon Moxley.
(Radican’s Analysis: They did not show Omega’s post-match promo that was taped in the building where Omega said he didn’t care what people thought of him doing a match like this on AEW and putting over Janela and how much love and respect he has for him after the match.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was another really good episode of AEW Dark. The opening match wasn’t much, but Schivone once again did a nice job of narrating the highlights from Dynamite last week in Boston and he got over the big picture angles while also previewing the upcoming AEW Dynamite episode tomorrow night in Philadelphia.
The Eight Man Tag match came across better on tape than when I saw it live, but the crowd never got into it. The action was really good once the match kicked into gear and SCU looked good as a unit even though Evans and Angelico cheated to get the pin on Sky.
The main event was one hell of a match. Ross and Excalibur did a great job calling the match so that it played into ongoing AEW storylines and wasn’t just two wrestlers out there killing themselves for the sake of it. Omega looked like himself for the first time in AEW and he really brought the fight to Janela in what turned out to be a crazy hardcore match with no blood other than a little bit on Omega’s arm at one point. Ross did a good job of really putting Janela over as a tough guy, which should help him once he finally gets integrated into TV.
Contact Sean at radicansean@pwtorch.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/sr_torch.
You can watch episode 2 of AEW Dark below:
When viewing matches recommended by radican, please remember two stars are added if the match aired in a company based in japan, three for aew.