Jordan Huie of the Overtimer here for another slice of recaption, this time for episode four of AEW Dark!
Tony Schiavone introduces us to the show as always and plugs the tag title tournament final coming tomorrow, and Full Gear in two weeks. We begin with tag team action as QT Marshall is set to make his AEW in-ring debut! Surprisingly, he is really rocking the apple motif, even being introduced from the Big Apple.
Avalon as always runs down the crowd. Tells QT the apple bite was a bit too loud, as loud as Sonny Kiss’ outfit. He notes finding out that very first MLB World Series was held between Boston and the Pittsburgh Pirates… and the Pirates lost. He gets barely any heat but reacts like he gets a ton. Says the last thing he wants to do is hurt their feelings, ’cause he knows how hurt they are, he’s seen the Steelers’ starting line-up. Eventually Leva shushes him for everyone.
QT Marshall & Peter Avalon (w/ Peter Avalon) vs. Dustin Rhodes & Sonny Kiss
Sonny and Peter start us off. Leva has a book that Avalon seems fascinated with until Sonny takes it away, a drop toe hold takes Avalon onto his knees and Sonny sits on his back to give the book a read. Shoves Peter away and tosses the book out, quick roll-up for a two count, flipping dropkick from Kiss. Tag to QT Marshall, who seems to want Dustin. Kiss gets him in a wrist lock, tags to Dustin who comes in and chases him into the ropes to try and avoid any damage.
QT shoots him off a side headlock, shoulder tackle from Dustin. Dustin chops QT in the corner. QT reverses a whip, Dustin with a float-over but QT avoids it, steals one of his Goldust taunts only to eat a right hand, deep arm drag follows. Dustin works over the arm ’til he gets a knee to the gut. Sonny with a blind tag, springboard clotheslines takes him down. Bout of twerking follows, Sonny with a moonsault just as Goldust drops an elbow, nearfall. Kiss gets reversed into the corner, looks for Kiss My Sass but gets taken to the apron, WWE Headkick takes QT down. Leva grabs the ankle of Kiss as QT distracts the ref, Avalon with a running pump kick to the head nails Kiss flush, taking him onto the apron. Chant of “You Suck” as QT takes Kiss from the apron to the ring with a superplex! Not quite Cesaro-style but impressive nonetheless.
Tag to Avalon who comes in with stomps. Peter backs Kiss up into the corner, chop. Tag to QT, double team suplex for 2. Kiss with an enziguri, but Avalon tags in, Sonny goes down into the splits to avoid him but gets caught with a chinlock. Kiss actually slides forwards whilst still in the splits, until Avalon stops him with a thrust kick to the face. Avalon takes Kiss to a neutral corner, rains down punches, cheap shot to Dustin, Idiot Charge avoided, Kiss gets Avalon with a big clothesline! Gets the mount and sends a bunch of effeminate punches his way, QT comes in and pulls Kiss off, eats a back elbow, Kiss hits the ropes but QT gets him with a Pop-Up Elbow strike. Avalon pins, Dustin breaks it up.
Avalon slams Kiss near his corner, middle rope moonsault but Kiss rolls out of the way. QT tags in and looks for a handspring moonsault but Kiss casually rolls out of the way and he crashes and burns. Simultags, Dustin is a house of fire, gets his signature uppercut from the knees to Avalon, inverted atomic drop, running kick to the head. QT sent to the apron, Avalon gets the snap powerslam! QT comes in and gets one of his own! Dustin with a twisting body press off the middle hits both, pins Avalon but he kicks out. Kiss with a flying rana off the top taking Marshall to the outside, Flying Meteora off the top takes him down! Suddenly Leva is up top, flies at Dustin, he catches her and lets her go… before scooping her up and seating her on the top rope! Shushes her. Avalon dashes in, Dustin evades him and he runs into Leva, accidentally knocking her off the top rope! Final Reckoning finishes him off!
Winners: Dustin Rhodes & Sonny Kiss
That moves Dustin to a 2-3 overall record, Sonny to 2-1. QT debuts at 0-1, Avalon drops to 0-3.
Women’s four way is next. Penelope Ford gets booed when they mention her being from Philly. Allie notably gets some pyro, signifying how highly they see her. Big international vibe here with the American Ford, Canadian Allie, English Gibbs and Japanese Sakura.
Penelope Ford vs. Emi Sakura vs. Allie vs. Sadie Gibbs
Four-way tie up starts somehow, they all have to break. And now a four-way test of strength? Sadie is powerful enough to get all three girls down at once! Allie rolls away, Ford and Sakura get Gibbs into a double arm wringer and Allie leaps onto her back for a Kaientai pose. Sakura and Ford with a double kick to Allie, whips her to the ropes but she catches them with a double crossbody. Allie gets a deep arm drag in, Gibbs returns the favor, hooks both legs for a cover but Allie kicks out. Alli with a crucifix, Gibbs escapes, sudden camera cut leads to a roll-up but Ford pulls Allie off and throws her outside. Gibbs gets a shot in, hits the ropes, Ford follows, spin kick to the gut, knee lift to the chest, roundhouse kick to the head but Gibbs is hard to get down. Crucifix Bomb does the trick for a nearfall when Sakura breaks it up!
Emi chops Ford in the corner, hair biel takes her to the opposite corner. Waistlock, Ford reverses, Emi keeps grabbing the hair, does a do-se-do with Rick Knox, Sakura holds the arm up as Ford charges in, forcing Knox to clothesline Ford essentially! Romero Special follows, Allie sneaks in under Ford to cover Sakura, forcing her to break! Gibbs comes in to get Allie with a headscissor, idiot charge avoided, Allie with several charging elbows, looks for another only to get a big running elbow strike of her own. Allie with a sunset flip, Sakura breaks it up and turns it into a single leg crab on both of them somehow! Ford grabs Sakura in an abdominal stretch, yet the crabs continue! Unique.
Ford whips Allie to the corner, flipping shoulder thrust. Gibbs controls Sakura in the opposite corner. Tandem back handspring elbows to both sides. Gibbs snapmares Allie and poses as Ford pins her, only for Gibbs to break it up! They fight over the pin until they start throwing hands. Ford hits the ropes, Sakura catches her with a kick from the apron, Allie gets Gibbs with a vicious couple of elbows to the throat! Sees Ford sat against the ropes, hits a unique sliding elbow and baseball slide to Sakura at the same time! She brawls with Sakura on the outside as Gibbs hoists Ford up, Ford escapes, evades a clothesline, tope suicida to Sakura and Allie! Gibbs out there to drag Ford back into the ring, hoists her up, Fireman’s Carry Driver, Allie breaks up the pin.
Allie throws hands to Gibbs, toe kick, wants a suplex but Gibbs holds her ground. Ford hooks Gibbs too to look for a double team, Sakura comes out to assist Gibbs, stalemate, Ford knees Sakura to take her away, they hit the double suplex but before either girl can get up, Sakura with a simultaneous crossbody/running knee to Allie and Ford! Chops Gibbs in the corner, starts getting the crowd clapping along until Allie cuts her off, Emi tosses her against Gibbs in the corner. Clapping commences, Ford kicks her but gets whipped too… but before she can do anything all three women spill from the corner and swarm on her to great heat! It’s a struggle but Emi once more sandwiches all three into a corner, big running crossbody to all of her opponents! They’re then stacked up on the floor… Vader Bomb to all three women for a triple kickout!
Reverse Neckbreaker to Gibbs, Allie breaks up the pin. Allie with a superkick to Emi, Ford with a DDT to Allie, double pump kicks from Ford and Gibbs leave both women laid out! Knox starts a count as everyone is down. They get to their knees and start trading hands! They rise as the shots get bigger… chops and haymakers, Emi gets Ford and Allie with a chop at once and looks for a Tiger Driver on Gibbs, back body drop stops it, Allie with a backstabber to Gibbs leading to a running Neckbreaker from Ford to take Gibbs down all the more! Ford matrixes’ to dodge a clothesline from Allie, leans back into a stunner! Emi gets Ford with a Butterfly Backbreaker, nearfall. With less than two minutes left, Tiger Driver finishes Ford off!
Winner: Emi Sakura
That puts Emi up to 1-2. Allie, Ford and Gibbs drop to 2-2, 0-2 and 0-1 respectively.
And now we have it…
Undesirable To Undeniable With MJF
Cody and MJF do their A-E-DUB high five. Cody asks MJF at what point in his career that he felt undesirable. MJF says absolutely never in his wrestling career. But in his life, he played football, says that he was the only Jewish kid on the team and kids didn’t like that. They didn’t like the idea of a Jew taking up a spot on the team and beating out folks that had been doing it a little longer. Says a kid whose name is bleeped out came up to him, said “Hey Jew-boy” and threw rolls of quarters at him, demanding he pick them up. MJF says he was pretty floored, and it messed him up and he remembered going home and bawling his eyes out.
Says you have to kill the person you were born to be, to become who you want to be. Was never going to allow himself to get bullied ever again, made it a point to go to the gym and eat right. Now he can say that *bleep* is a drug addict and dropped out of college, whilst MJF is famous, rich, hanging out with the best guy in the world and ridiculously handsome. Cody asks what his definition of ‘undeniable’ is. MJF says it’s being better than you and you know it. Cody calls that the best interview he’s ever done.
Shiavone hypes up some matches for tomorrow, including Hangman Page vs. Sammy Guevara, and The Elite vs. Kip Sabian & The Hyrbid-2. We’re also promised to see Jon Moxley in action, and a contract signing between Chris Jericho and Cody. This of course in addition to crowning the first-ever AEW World Tag Team Champions, in a tournament final between the Lucha Bros and SCU.
We see Alex Marvez interviewing Kip Sabian, asking what led to the challenge for the trios match tomorrow. Sabian is glad Marvez stopped talking, asked who was in the first-ever AEW singles match? Kip Sabian and Sammy Guevara. Who won that match? Kip Sabian. And who has the best win/loss record to have not yet debuted on Dynamite? Kip Sabian. Says he and the Hybrid-2 all feel the same; it’s all about the Elite, it’s All Elite! So if you want to make a statement, you go for the Elite. Marvez asks him what the endgame is. Sabian says it’s simple; beat the Elite, become the Elite.
Speaking of the Hybrid-2…
Falls Count Anywhere: Darby Allin vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Jack Evans
Darby gets a nice reaction on his way in and a solid chant of his name as the bell rings. Havoc and Allin, frequent opponents, start shoving each other. Evans gets between them with a flipping kick to both men, handspring elbow takes them both out. Evans vaults over a doubled over Havoc with a huge capoeira kick to Allin! Evans whips Havoc into a corner, another handspring back elbow. Havoc reverses a whip, gets an axe kick off an idiot charge. Evans pops up top, Havoc stops him with a leaping uppercut. Gets him onto his shoulders, DVD, Basement Dropkick! Evans rolls out as Allin catches Havoc with a rolling cover, springs around the ring, gets some slaps in, Code Red, Evans breaks up the cover and gets a crucifix for a 2 count!
Allin with a charging back smash to Evans, Havoc catches Allin with a forearm shiver, Evans gets Allin with a German but he lands on his feet as Evans kips up! Charge, Allin gets the boot up, combat rolls past Evans, gets his flip Stunner in on Havoc, leading into a suicide dive to Evans! Man this is a match! Havoc is out on the opposite side, another suicide dive attempt, Havoc catches him with a chair shot to the face on his way out! Allin is draped on the second rope until Havoc suplexes him to the floor! Cover for 2! Havoc throws the chair into Evans’ face, sits the chair up and throws Evans into the crowd. Havoc stands on the chair until Allin clips him, forces him to sit on it, Allin with a charge, but Havoc back body drops him over the barrier and onto Evans! Havoc uses the chair to step onto the barricade, flipping senton wipes out both men!
Chant of “AEW” as Havoc takes Allin further into the stands. Evans with a running kick to the face of Havoc, starts gloating to the crowd until Allin throws a trash receptacle into his face and it crumples against him! Havoc grabs Allin, sends him into a barrier as the fight approaches the stage. Evans breaks up a pin, takes Havoc onto the ramp, snap suplex onto the metal for a 2 count! Evans argues with Aubrey Edwards and gets some heat. Pulls Havoc up, Havoc reverses a whip, Evans hops atop the stage platform, looks for a moonsault, Havoc catches him, he counters into an attempted Reverse Reverse, but Havoc backflips into a Reverse Suplex of his own for a nearfall!
Havoc keeps Allin out of the action with a kick, then goes off the ramp with a big elbow drop! Evans watching from a distance, he’s a long ways away… gets a big running start, flip senton off the stage into both men! Evans attempts a cover on Havoc, jackknife pin on Allin, both nearfalls! Evans takes Havoc up onto the ramp, throws him into the ring! Evans throws a couple of chairs into the ring, pursues into the ring. “We Want Tables” chant starts as Evans goes outside to… get more chairs, just to try and agitate them. Havoc has risen in the ring, Evans with a springboard corkscrew right into a punch to the face out of the air! Havoc sets up a chair, just as Allin gets onto the apron to cut him off, looking for a suplex off the second rope to the floor! But Havoc on the second rope reverses and suplexes him inside! Evans with a run, arm drag leaves him in a tree of woe where his head is caught against the chair! Havoc gets Allin, DVD right onto Evans onto the chair!
Allin with the narrow kickout as Evans scales up top to recuperate. Havoc pursues, Evans back elbows him onto Darby’s shoulders, flying knee drop to the face takes him off Darby’s shoulders! Darby gets Evans into the Fujiwara Armbar! Evans struggles to the ropes but Darby grabs the arm to keep him from getting to it! Havoc throws a chair onto Darby to break it up, Tiger Driver ’98 onto the chair! Evans breaks up the pin! Havoc throws a chair at him as well. Havoc hooks two chairs together on their side, Evans avoids a DVD, Sidewalk Slams him onto those chairs!
And as Havoc is still laid out on them, Evans comes off the top with a ruthless 450! Jesus, that looked to have broken him in half! Somehow Havoc kicks out! Darby pulls a table into the ring, Evans dropkicks him off the apron. Sets the table up in the corner. Puts Havoc onto the table, it’s a wobbly setup. Evans up top, Havoc gouges the eyes to stop him! OH MY GOD, TOP ROPE PILEDRIVER THROUGH THE TABLE?! As he covers… Allin off the top, CHAIR-ASSISTED COFFIN DROP TO HAVOC, Allin pins Evans and that is that!
Winner: Darby Allin
Maaan that was some madness! There’s something very fitting about violent, hardcore main events for AEW Dark! That puts Darby at 3-3-1, Havoc dropping to 1-4 and Evans to 2-4.
Afterwards Allin and Havoc share a fist bump, and Schiavone sends us off.