6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dark (Aug 4)

3. FTR vs. Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison

FTR AEW
AEW

An FTR match is never going to yield subpar work in AEW. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are tag team masters and their craft is close to flawless, even in pseudo squashes like this one, where Garrison and Pillman Jr. were never going to win.

The joy of an FTR match is witnessing Harwood and Wheeler utilise classic techniques and tactics that have never gone out of style and updating them for modern wrestling. They cut off the ring, take shortcuts, and work double-teams as well as any of their idols, and were in top form here, grinding Pillman to pieces before Garrison got the business in the second half. Fire brought the jobbers back into it but they were eventually cut down by FTR, who finished Griff with the Goodnight Express.

Extra points for the continued Four Horsemen teases, too, with Tully Blanchard lurking in the entrance tunnel and Shawn Spears watching from ringside. This is a good storyline - and one AEW aren't smashing over your head yet.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.