AEW Dark recap: Daniels finds his mojo to delay retirement

Episode 68 of AEW Dark featured Sammy Guevara trying to steal the show and SCU battling TH2 with Christopher Daniels’ retirement angle looming large.

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

• Fenix vs Vary Morales (okay)
• Lindsay Snow vs Penelope Ford (okay)
• Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs Shawn Dean & Tyson Maddox (okay)
• Anna Jay vs Jazmin Allure (okay)
• The Waiting Room with Matt Sydal (okay)
• Ryzin, Nick Comoroto, & James Tapia vs Team Taz (okay)
• Fuego Del Sol vs Griff Garrison (okay)
• Santana & Ortiz vs Terrence & Terrell Hughes (okay)
• Aaron Solow vs Sammy Guevara (solid)
• Chaos Project vs Ariel Levy & El Cuervo de Puerto Rico (okay)
• Leva Bates vs Madi Wrenkowski (okay)
• Danny Limelight vs Matt Sydal (solid)
• Tay Conti vs Vertvixen (okay)
• Royal Money, Baron Black, & Mike Verna vs Gunn Club (okay)
• SCU vs TH2 (watch)

The main event was the best match by far. Solow vs Guevara and Limelight vs Sydal were in the next tier of quality. Terrence & Terrell Hughes had an energetic performance as a team to keep an eye on.

Watch the show here.

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The broadcast began with a graphic to honor the memory of Mr. Brodie Lee. Commentary was filmed before Mr. Brodie’s death. They mention Fenix challenging Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship Wednesday night on Dynamite. That original plan has now been pushed back one week to make room for a tribute Dynamite show celebrating Dark Order’s Exalted One.

Excalibur teamed with Taz to call the action. Ricky Starks and Peter Avalon dropped by to join commentary. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer.

Fenix defeated Vary Morales. Pentagon was ringside. Morales was in control early until running into a high kick. Morales also surprised Fenix with a spike DDT. Fenix flipped the switch after that and unleashed fancy kicks and a spinning musclebuster driver to win.

Penelope Ford defeated Lindsay Snow. Kip Sabian was ringside. Crushing performance by Ford sealed with a handspring cutter.

Alex Reynolds & John Silver defeated Shawn Dean & Tyson Maddox. Outside of a minor spurt of offense from Dean, this was a dominating victory for the Dark Order duo. Reynolds and Silver closed it with a combo sequence of a big boot, high kick, spinning elbow strike, enzuigiri, stunner, German suplex, and jackknife pin.

Anna Jay defeated Jazmin Allure. Jay was accompanied by bestie Tay Conti, but Conti did not remain ringside for the bout. Quick win for the Queen Slayer on a rear naked choke. Jay barely broke a sweat.

The Waiting Room. This edition was all about roasting Cody Rhodes’ desire to hog the spotlight. Dr. Britt Baker DMD pointed out Cody even doing it on baby announcements to compete with Jon Moxley. Matt Sydal was the guest to promote his match against Cody on an upcoming Dynamite. TBS sent over a promotional poster for Cody’s Go Big Show. Sydal drew a third eye on Cody’s forehead.

Team Taz defeated Ryzin, Nick Comoroto, & James Tapia. Taz’s son, Hook, was ringside and hit a sneaky clothesline on the floor.

Team Taz beat ass. When the underdogs gained momentum, it was quickly extinguished with a spear by Ricky Sparks, a powerslam by Will Hobbs, and a Drill Claw by Brian Cage for the win.

Griff Garrison defeated Fuego Del Sol. Brian Pillman Jr. was ringside. On commentary, Peter Avalon put over Garrison’s beauty for Pretty Peter’s Pageant Provocation. The match was competitive. When Fuego failed on a tornado DDT attempt, Garrison blasted him with a spinning forearm for victory. Afterward, Avalon handed Garrison a signed 8 x 10 photo. Garrison tossed it to the ground. Avalon stewed in anger at the disrespect.

Santana & Ortiz defeated Terrence & Terrell Hughes. TNT were surprisingly in charge of the action and hit a 3D to Ortiz.

Santana made the save on the pinfall, then Proud and Powerful regrouped for success. A cutter, pop-up powerbomb, and running knee sequence earned the W.

Sammy Guevara defeated Aaron Solow. Sammy had trouble early until Solow flew into a jumping knee strike. Guevara followed with a springboard moonsault to the floor. Solow fired up again, but Sammy clobbered him with another knee strike and his GTH finisher. Afterward, Guevara cut a promo about this being his 10th anniversary as a professional wrestler. He put in the work on the indies to earn his spot in AEW. Sammy is ready to prove he is the best.

Chaos Project defeated Ariel Levy & El Cuervo de Puerto Rico. The chaotic hooligans used their unique teamwork offense with Serpentico as a battering ram. An elevated flying double knees won it.

Leva Bates defeated Madi Wrenkowski. Bates presented Wrenkowski with a gift of the Young Bucks’ new book, but Wrenkowski ripped out the pages and went on the attack with a steamroller. Bates rebounded with karate kicks and a bridging suplex. Wrenkowski had the upper hand again and tore out more pages. Bates superkicked the book in Wrenkowski’s face and won via roll-up.

Matt Sydal defeated Danny Limelight. The underdog was tough, but Sydal was on another level. Sydal hit a Cobra Clutch suplex then set up his finishing slam maneuver, however, Limelight escaped for a roll-up. Sydal countered with a crucifix pin to win.

Tay Conti defeated Vertvixen. Anna Jay returned the favor of support for her friend. After double head kicks knocked both competitors cold, Conti strung together a series of tosses leading to a pump kick and a back rack to knee strike for victory.

Gunn Club defeated Royal Money, Baron Black, & Mike Verna. Success was never in doubt. Colten won the bout with a double underhook neckbreaker. Afterward, Austin grabbed a mic for a garbled message about protecting family and beating ass.

SCU defeated TH2. The story going in was the potential breakup of SCU after their next loss due to Christopher Daniels’ declining skills. SCU wrestled with focus and urgency. Daniels had a hot tag moment to uranage Jack Evans on top of Angelico.

A Blue Thunder Bomb followed, but Evans kicked out on the cover. SCU had a blip of miscommunication when Evans grabbed CD’s foot and Frankie Kazarian accidentally clotheslined his own teammate. TH2 pounced for a neckbreaker/backbreaker to flatliner combo and a standing corkscrew splash by Evans. Kaz stayed alive. TH2 came back with an assisted 450 splash. Kaz refused to lose.

The turning point occurred when Daniels used a monkey flip to send Kaz with force to hit a double clothesline to TH2. Daniels finished Evans with a teamwork gutbuster. SCU lives to fight another day. Afterward, the Acclaimed came out to ambush SCU. The Young Bucks made the save.

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The SCU story has me on pins and needles. I thought for sure they were done after the corkscrew from Evans, but Kaz showed his grit in not quitting. I was fooled once again on the SCU clothesline bumble. I thought that could be the end of SCU building to a post-match explosion. Like true grizzled veterans, SCU persevered for victory. I like how Kaz was still portrayed as the stronger of the two with Daniels finding the fire to up his game. SCU’s final run should be an intriguing journey.

Share your thoughts on Dark. Who stood out most for episode 68? Which was your favorite match?

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