5 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dark (Sep 22)
2. Lucha Brothers vs. Dontae Smiley and Maxx Stardom
Though largely fit for purpose, this was entirely too long for what it needed to be.
Maxx Stardom surprising Rey Fenix with a Gedo Clutch should have been the end of him and Dontae Smiley. Instead, they were controlled for a long, uninteresting period early on, with the Lucha Brothers utilising a variation on the worst move in professional wrestling, the Paradise Lock, to stifle Maxx. Time passed at a glacial pace before Smiley tagged in, ran through a few spots, then got out of there, leaving Stardom to take the fall via a double-team Package Piledriver.
The Lucha Brothers are perfectly capable of being nasty, over-the-top pricks in situations like this. Here, it felt like they didn't want to break a sweat.
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