Welcome to another week of the AEW (AFTER) Dark Review housed right here on the home of all things wrestling, Pro Wrestling Post! This week’s episode of AEW Dark told some very interesting new stories and had some fun matches along the way. We were introduced to a second generation of the Gunn (Club) family, as Billy and son Austin fought alongside each other for the first time (second time if you count the unaired dark match from last week) inside of the AEW product against Shawn Spears and Peter Avalon.
We also got a continuation of the Legends of Memphis Wrestling celebration, which admittedly felt a bit out of place given that it was originally advertised and slated to happen on Dynamite itself. But although we won’t touch on it in this article, it was a nice moment to celebrate both the living and deceased legends of the area.
Featured this week on AEW Dark guest commentary was Dave Brown. He joins Excalibur to further continue the support to the Memphis wrestling celebration. The masked man was on his best behavior, showing an admirable amount of respect for the legend he was seated next to. They found nice chemistry surprisingly fast, speaking to the adaptability of Excalibur as much as the veteran guiding hand of Brown.
Brandon Cutler vs. Darby Allin
A surprisingly even matched contest, Cutler is starting to put the members of the roster to the test as opposed to just being run over. Ultimately Allin would end up taking the victory via Coffin Drop, but the journey there saw a lot of Cutler controlling the action. Maybe it is the D&D inspired apparel and face paint, who knows.
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But regardless, this was decent back and forth contest albeit a bit of a slow burn. Cutler got to show a much deeper bag of tricks than is usual, whilst Allin was a bit tamer which made for a bit of an odd dynamic during the match. Very reminiscent of the dominance of QT Marshall alongside Cody, but with less success in the execution.
As aforementioned, Allin would end up taking the win with the Coffin Drop after a nice looking stunner variant, but it was certainly not as one-sided as it would have looked on paper.
Winner – Darby Allin
Nyla Rose vs. Shanna
Not as much a match as it was a segment, these two have had some bad blood stemming from their run in before the end of the year that saw Rick Nox and Shanna both getting powerbombed by the Native Beast onto a table.
This would come into play very early on, as the two brawled their way into an inevitable battle of deciding “who gets to be the Dudley” and use it to its potential. Doing the work of D-Von, Nyla set up the table and later took the role of Edge rather than Bubba Ray, as he drove Nyla off the apron with a spear through the hardware.
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This is clearly only the beginning of a growing feud between the two, but it certainly wouldn’t classify as a “strong start” to this point. The angle afterward with the beatdown and interrupted interview did a much better job of continuing this storyline along. And a start to including more women’s feuds and storylines is still a start at least. This will be fun to watch develop in the coming weeks.
Winner – N/A
The Gunn Club (Billy Gunn/Austin Gunn) vs. Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears
A fun way for father and son to debut on AEW programming, they even got to cut a small tandem promo to work the crowd into it. The Gunn Club faces Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. On the other side, this also seemed to further demote Shawn Spears down the totem pole alongside designated jobber/librarian/running joke Peter Avalon.
Peter even got to grab the mic and cut a decent little heel jabbing to set the mood for his ass to be kicked to. Spears, on the other hand, was relegated to taking on comedy role duties without the use of a microphone. There were crotch shots, karate chops, and high spots. All at the expense of the Avalon and Spears duo, mind you.
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The father and son team stole the show, and it was a nice moment to experience on Dark. They ended the night of Avalon and Spears with Peter taking the pinfall after a slam to senton bomb combination against the Gunn Club. Austin also got to hit Billy’s signature Famouser along the way, and this was just genuinely fun to watch throughout. It is well worth the watch if you haven’t already seen it.
Winner – The Gunn Club
Until Next Time…
There you have it! This week’s edition of the AEW (AFTER) Dark Review! A lot of moving parts went into this show, and it all came together for a damn good night of action. Seeing the Gunn Club unite was the highlight of the night for me, as I was once a very young boy doing the very lewd gestures that Billy helped make so famous. Seeing him do that alongside his own son was a very full-circle moment for this wrestling mark.
Next week’s Dark will be from the Miami Vice (and WCW, for that matter) inspired Bash at the Beach taking place.
Expect all the reactions to catch you up on that AEW Dark action, right here on Pro Wrestling Post. But, as always, until next time…
Goodbye, and goodnight!
