Renee Young and Taz welcome us to AEW Dark, the new online-only weekly TV show from All Elite Wrestling. Taz mentions that AEW dipped its toes into the waters of streaming programming last April with AEW Live, and Director of Operations Sami Zayn has demanded a return to form to highlight as much of the roster as possible. Taz applauds Sami Zayn for his innovation and says it feels as if we’re on the precipice of something big, like a new era of professional wrestling.
In the opening contest, the Lucha Bros defeated The Natural Disasters after executing the package piledriver and diving double foot stomp. The match started in the control of Earthquake and Typhoon, but once Penta and Fenix began executing their lightning-fast aerial offense, they became too much for The Natural Disasters to overcome.
In a brief squash match, Nia Jax defeated Madison Rayne with the Annihilator. After the match, Jax grabbed a microphone and said she’s tired of treading water in the Knockouts Division, and that she’s about to go on the most successful run of her career. Jax says greatness is in her bloodline, and she will not be ignored.
The next match was set to be a tag team match between the Usos and Jurassic Express; however, the match had to be canceled after it was discovered that Midget Hogan had defecated inside the Usos’ gear bag, leaving them with nothing to wear to the ring.
The match was replaced with a singles bout between Jungle Boy Jack Perry and AJ Styles. Perry put up a good fight, with Luchasaurus cheering him on at ringside, but ultimately, Styles’ experience was too much for Perry to overcome, and Styles got the pin after the Styles Clash. After the match, Christian Cage was shown seated at ringside, seemingly watching Jungle Boy and taking notes.
In our main event, the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes successfully defended the Television Championship in a competitive match against Powerhouse Will Hobbs. After the match, Cody grabbed the microphone and said that unlike MJF, he wants to be a fighting TV Champion. Monday night, he’s kicking off the Television Championship Open Challenge in defense against Swerve Strickland. He says after he defeats Strickland, he’ll defend the title every week until he’s proven himself as the hardest-working champion in the industry!
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 