AEW Dark recap (Aug. 4, 2020): Scorpio Sky wants his spot at the table

Episode 45 of AEW Dark featured Scorpio Sky ready for a spot at the table, intrigue with Tully Blanchard consulting FTR, and two upsets.

Here’s the lineup with ratings (watch, solid, okay, pass) on which matches are worth your time toward Dynamite:

• Will Hobbs vs Scorpio Sky (watch)
• Gunn Club vs Aaron Solow & Serpentico (okay)
• The Initiative vs Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela (okay)
• Abadon vs KiLynn King (okay)
• Jack Evans vs QT Marshall (solid)
• Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison vs FTR (solid)
• Butcher & Blade vs Private Party (solid)

The final three bouts were the best of the bunch. The main event could have fit in on Dynamite. Hobbs versus Sky was brief but exciting. The real reason to watch that segment is for Sky’s post-match promo. He could be turning the page to bigger things.

Watch the show here.

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Tony Schiavone and Taz were on commentary. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer.

Will Hobbs vs Scorpio Sky

Hobbs charged at Sky for a corner smash before the bell. Hobbs kept up the pressure for a hard spinebuster.

Hobbs couldn’t keep Sky down. Sky escaped a powerslam attempt and used Hobbs’ momentum to push him into the corner. Sky stunned Hobbs with a kick to the head then quickly picked up the big man for a TKO to win. Sky’s singles record is now 7-1 in 2020.

After the match, Sky grabbed a chair and cut a promo in the ring. The chair is symbolic as a throne, since people are calling him the king of AEW Dark. If you think this is his ceiling, then you are wrong. He’s one of two people (him and Jon Moxley) that have pinned Chris Jericho in AEW. Sky is tired of waiting for a spot at the table. Maybe it is time for him to kick the door down and bring his own seat.

Gunn Club vs Aaron Solow & Serpentico

The match built toward a hot tag to Billy. Mr. Ass cleaned house to set up a Fameasser, but Serpentico escaped. That led to Austin running wild with a Fameasser on Solow then a hip toss neckbreaker on Serpentico to win.

The Initiative vs Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela

Leva Bates was ringside to support Peter Avalon and Brandon Cutler. Janela was very aggressive in his offense. Avalon used that against Janela as he caused him to run into the steel girder on the entrance ramp. The Initiative took control after that. They had a few close pinfalls and also resorted to cheating. Avalon distracted the referee, so Bates could hit Sliced Bread to Janela on the floor.

AEW’s lovable losers focused their attack on Kiss. Kiss stayed alive long enough for Janela to recover. Kiss and Janela conquered The Initiative in the end with an electric chair flying leg lariat combo to pin Avalon.

Abadon vs KiLynn King

King brought the fight to Abadon, but the ghoul used her zombie powers to absorb the punishment. After a shotgun dropkick from King, Abadon sat up, cracked her neck, and went on the offensive.

King still posed a threat as she picked Abadon up in a front double underhook. Abadon escaped via forward roll. A headbutt made King woozy. Abadon closed it out with her running headscissors spike finisher to win. It was not executed cleanly, but the idea was to drive King’s head into the mat.

Jack Evans vs QT Marshall

Angelico and Allie were ringside. Top moves were QT catching Jack’s flying crossbody for a vertical suplex and Angelico hypnotizing QT with dance so Jack could attack with a flying maneuver.

For the finish, QT crushed Evans with a backbreaker then a facebreaker. Angelico hopped onto the apron to distract the referee. Allie saw this and entered the ring to yell at the ref for not keeping focus on QT’s pin cover. That allowed an opening for Angelico to kick QT behind the ref’s back. Evans executed a bridging roll-up to defeat QT. Even though Allie cost QT the match, I don’t think it was intentional treachery.

Afterward, TH2 put the boots to QT. Allie yelled for Dustin Rhodes, so he could make the save. Dustin chased away Evans and Angelico. This looked like it should set up a tag match for next week.

Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison vs FTR

The camera caught Tully Blanchard advising FTR in the tunnel. Tully did not escort FTR to the ring, but Shawn Spears was in the fan section watching intently.

Per FTR contract stipulations, the tag team ropes were in effect. The blondes looked good before their demise. Pillman hit a flashy flying crossbody.

For the finish, Pillman escaped a teamwork Gory buster to tag Garrison. Jungle Man ran right into FTR’s Goodnight Express finisher to lose the bout.

Butcher & Blade vs Private Party

During Private Party’s entrance, it looked like they were expecting “Big Money” Matt Hardy to join them. Hardy was not present for this contest.

This clash was ruggedness versus quickness. In the end, Isiah Kassidy connected on a springboard cutter to Blade. Private Party maintained the high energy pace for a drop toehold to Blade onto Kassidy’s knees. Marq Quen stood on top of Blade’s body for a standing moonsault. Blade made the save on the pin and was then dropkicked out of the ring. Private Party went to opposite corners for a double flying attack to Butcher. Blade popped up to push Quen off the turnbuckles down to the floor. Butcher dodged a swanton from Kassidy. B&B pounced with a suplex backbreaker combo on Kassidy to win.

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This was one of the better episodes of Dark in a long time. The biggest reason was having two upsets. I would not have predicted Jack Evans beating QT Marshall nor Blade & Butcher beating Private Party. This episode also did well leaving lots of storyline seeds to sprout speculation.

The highlight of the show was Scorpio Sky’s promo. It looks like he’s in for a push, and he deserves it. I like how he isn’t content to be king of the B-show. It will be interesting to see if he has a spot on Dynamite for Wednesday night. It would be a little awkward for Sky if he returns next on Dark without an appearance on the big show. He needs to kick that door down pronto.

I was a little disappointed that Sky took out Will Hobbs so quickly, but it all made sense after that promo. I was pumped up when Hobbs was doing damage like a wrecking ball. Hobbs has quickly become my favorite enhancement talent from the Dark group.

KiLynn King and Brian Pillman Jr. also stood out to my eye. That was their best performance to date on Dark. It was a pleasure seeing Jack Evans again. His unique style is mesmerizing. Even better is that he picked up a win.

Share your thoughts on Dark. Who stood out most for episode 45? Who do you want as Scorpio Sky’s next feud?

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