Episode 39 of AEW Dark featured Brian Cage and Lance Archer wrecking fools, SCU reorganizing their group, Shawn Spears being a cheater, and Orange Cassidy with his hands in his pockets.
Here’s the lineup with ratings (watch, solid, okay, pass) on which matches are worth your time toward Dynamite:
- Robert Anthony vs Brian Cage (pass)
- Musa & David Ali vs SCU (okay)
- Pineapple Pete vs Shawn Spears (okay)
- Griff Garrison vs Lance Archer (pass)
- Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss (solid)
- KiLynn King vs Mel (pass)
- Lee Johnson vs Scorpio Sky (okay)
- Luther, Serpentico, & Max Caster vs Jurassic Express (okay)
- Peter Avalon vs Orange Cassidy (okay)
In my opinion, Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss was the best bout on the show. The finish for Shawn Spears vs Pineapple Pete is worth watching for the evolving story of Spears’ new black glove. Seeing Cage and Archer smash is always fun, but they made quick work of their opponents. Mileage will vary for the rest of the matches depending on how much you enjoy the stars of the bout.
Watch the show here.
Excalibur and Taz were on commentary. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer.
Robert Anthony vs Brian Cage
Anthony fired off punches until Cage clobbered him with a big clothesline. A buckle bomb, a suplex over the ropes into the ring, and a Drill Claw piledriver quickly ended Anthony’s evening. Who better than Cage? Nobody!
Musa & David Ali vs SCU
Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian represented SCU. Musa and Ali impressively controlled CD, but he eventually managed to get the hot tag to Kaz. Kaz ran wild to clean house. That led to a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo to take out Musa and a Best Moonsault Ever into a Tombstone piledriver combo to pin Ali.
Note: During commentary, Excalibur mentioned that SCU all decided for Daniels and Kaz to focus as a tag team while Sky pursues singles action. They are still a united unit. I prefer this arrangement rather than a rushed breakup storyline.
Pineapple Pete vs Shawn Spears
Suge D fully embraced the Pineapple Pete name. It seems like that’s who he’ll be going forward. Tully Blanchard was ringside to support Spears. Pete used his shiftiness to frustrate Spears early. After consulting with Tully on the floor, Spears took control with a spinebuster and a blue thunder bomb, but he couldn’t keep Pete down for the three count. Tully left a piece of steel on the apron then distracted referee Aubrey Edwards. Spears placed the metal inside the palm side of his black glove. Boom! Spears struck Pete with a left hand. Spears won as Pete was out cold.
After the match, Spears handed the evidence to Tully to hide.
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Griff Garrison vs Lance Archer
Jake Roberts was ringside for the Murderhawk Monster. Garrison had no fear. Bad move. After an initial flurry from Garrison, Archer pummeled him. The Black Out then the claw smashed Garrison’s head into the mat for the winning pin.
Dark Order vs Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss
John Silver and Alex Reynolds represented the Dark Order. Their name graphic listed then as 3 & 4. No other Dark Order members were present. It was a competitive contest. Silver and Reynolds used rugged physicality to grab momentum. Janela turned the tide with a flying double neckbreaker. Double flying dropkicks followed from Janela and Kiss. Kiss won the bout with a flying splits leg drop on Reynolds, while Janela took care of Silver with a Death Valley Driver.
KiLynn King vs Mel
Despite both being tall women of similar stature, Mel was the powerhouse of the bout. She controlled the pace. King’s comeback was halted after missing a flying dropkick. Mel won via chokeslam spinebuster.
Lee Johnson vs Scorpio Sky
Johnson fought hard, but he wasn’t on Sky’s level. Sky hit a surprise TKO cutter to win.
Luther, Serpentico, & Max Caster vs Jurassic Express
Serpentico and Max Caster were clowned by Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, and Marko Stunt. Luther had solid offense on the diminutive Stunt, so take that for what it’s worth. In the end, Serpentico and Luther let Caster take a beating on purpose. They stood on the floor watching as Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus did the lifting so Stunt could chokeslam Caster. Jungle Boy then submitted Caster via STF.
Peter Avalon vs Orange Cassidy
Leva Bates was ringside. Cassidy focused on his hands-in-pockets routine to stifle Avalon early. OC flirted with Bates on the floor, so Avalon hit him with a slingshot plancha. Avalon was in control after that with suplexes and slams. OC came back with a tornado DDT. Cassidy went high risk for a flying crossbody, but Avalon rolled it over upon impact for a pin cover. OC kicked out. Avalon got him with a roll-up attempt. OC kicked out of that as well. Avalon kept the pressure on with a back slide try, however, OC escaped. Cassidy ducked under a jumping leg lariat then pounded Avalon with a Superman punch to win.
The notable news coming out of this episode of AEW Dark is that Shawn Spears is a cheater. The audacity of that man to sully the reputable name of AEW as a sports organization by using a piece of metal to load his glove. I’ll be curious if AEW brass checks out the footage and hands out a fine.
I do have to give credit to Spears and Tully Blanchard for their sly execution. Blanchard is an expert in breaking the rules form his time in the Four Horsemen. He calmly placed the object on the apron, went around the corner to distract the referee as Spears inserted it into his glove, and even had the wherewithal to pocket the evidence post-match. One question I have is why. Pineapple Pete was a little tougher to finish than expected, but Spears was in no danger of losing. Was this practice for the big stage on Dynamite?
For all the tough talk on Twitter from Robert Anthony, he didn’t last very long against Brian Cage. Compare that to Anthony’s recent contest against Jon Moxley, which was roughly 13 minutes. This was a good way to show Cage as a threat to the champ. Defeating Moxley will be a tough task, but pain is a guarantee.
One performance that I was not impressed with came from Orange Cassidy. He has the biggest match of his career coming up against Chris Jericho at Fyter Fest. OC had an opportunity to make a statement. Instead, he struggled with a man who has zero wins in his AEW career. The match was okay on its own, but it did nothing to get me excited for Cassidy versus Jericho.
Share your thoughts on Dark. Who stood out most for episode 39?