Cazer’s AEW Dark Review 4.5.22

It’s Tuesday Night and you know what that means. We’re back to review another episode of Dark. The one thing this show lacks and desperately needs is consistency. One week we have 14 matches the next we have 6, I’d love a happy medium of 8 or if it’s six let’s get six 7-12 minute matches that really showcase great talent. I don’t expect that from this weeks show but I wish AEW would lean more in that direction, using Dark as a show full of squash matches to pad stats is fine but as a viewer it leaves me wanting something else more often than not lately.

Ryan Nemeth vs. Chandler Hopkins

We’ve seen Hopkins a few times on Dark and i’ve been fortunate enough to see him live for FSW so I’m excited to see him back on Dark. He and Nemeth had a decent little back and forth, leaning into Nemeth’s legitimate wrestling background early as he played on the idea that he was leading Hopkins in points. Hopkins looked good in this one and nearly picked up the win with a SSP but Nemeth moved just in time. Nemeth hit his neckbreaker finish for the victory and won in just about 4 minutes.
Rating: **1/2
Review: These shorter dark matches are harder to really get into or give too much love to but overall this was a decent opener to Dark even though I’m not huge on Nemeth. I am a big fan of Hopkins and glad he got to work some time on offense but it wasn’t like he really got to shine. I don’t tune into Dark Elevation enough to know but I wish AEW went back to more showcase style matches on Dark or had a show that actually allowed Indy talent like Hopkins to really show what they’ve got. Dark does that from time to time but in two to four minute matches you just can’t get a whole lot done as the job guy. 

JP Harlow vs. Sonny Kiss

Sonny recently made comments online about not appearing for AEW on tv in over 500 days. That’s a tough break but if you’ve followed Dark you understand that Sonny’s definitely had to do some growing in the ring. Lets see how they look in this match and decide if we think Sonny should be on T.V. How wild is it that Sonny continues to appear on Dark but Janela hasn’t following their feud. JP Mustache Jones making a good first impression with his nice stache according to commentary. Kiss has clearly grown as an in ring competitor, this match wasn’t exactly anything to write home about but it’s nice to see Sonny’s growth over time.
Rating: N/A
Review: This was another short match and even shorter than the first, the finish was unique and could be something new for Sonny, it was clear at first that commentary expected this to go a bit longer and were surprised by the finish as was I but i’ll give it time before I write it off as a potentially decent finish.

Abadon vs. Hyena Hera

Hera trying to show no fear against Abadon but the freakish look of Abadon is a bit much for her to get passed. Abadon is an interesting case of AEW Superstars, her gimmick is somewhat unique and she leans into it great, but I still think as fans we’re relatively unsure of what she is. Abadon hits the black Dahlia for the victory in 1:35.
Rating: N/A
Review: We’ve got a six match card, and are only 15 minutes in yet somehow we’ve already seen three matches. The match itself was fine, Abadon has certainly grown both as a competitor and a character but I think it’s time to either get her a manager, add her to a group or give her more depth, if she’s just scary and wins on Dark then shows up to put over the current Champion I don’t think it does anything for anyone. She could benefit from some type of feud on Dark in the near future. 

Luke Sampson & Guillermo Rosas vs. Cezar Bononi & Tiger Ruas

You may recognize Sampson from previous episodes of Dark as he looks like a regular sized Kevin Nash. Cezar and Ruas are currently undefeated as a team, it seems that AEW has started to let go of the Wingmen gimmick as Cezar and company have all started to find new partners. Probably the best for all of them outside of Avalon. Ruas and Cezar are a solid team, they have history from their time together in NXT, I often discuss growth for talent on Dark but Cezar has grown leaps and bounds since his time in NXT. Cezar with a pump handle suplex to Guillermo allowing Ruas to pick up the win in 2:35. Post match Ruas and Cezar lay into Guillermo hitting him with another pump handle suplex before posing to end the match.
Rating: N/A
Review: This was fine, but why not give Bononi and Ruas decent opponents to have a lengthy good match with. This shows they’re both strong and intimidating and the lengthy match can come later but on a show full of short squash matches I could’ve done without this. It’s not that it was bad in anyway I’d just rather some longer matches on Dark especially if it’s a six match show this week. 

Lance Archer vs. Dean Alexander

Poor Dean I love his work on BTE and Sammy’s vlog but I imagine he’s about to get destroyed in about two and a half minutes because that’s the theme of this show. Dean tries to catch Archer off guard by attacking before the bell but it doesn’t affect Archer at all. It’s cool that Deans getting offense in, he stumbles Archer briefly with a right hand before Archer again takes control of the match. Dean is a good opponent for Archer, he’s had a lot of smaller opponents over time, Dean is still smaller than Archer but likely a bit bigger than Archers typical opponents. Dean gets caught up top and hit with the blackout, Archer follows that with the EBD claw on Dean before covering for the victory in 2:39. Hate to say I called it, but what do you know I did. I’m glad this one didn’t go longer though, even though the entire show has been shorter matches I did enjoy this one.
Rating: N/A
Review: This was a solid squash match and exactly what I would’ve asked for. While i’ve been a bit bummed by the overall product of this show thus far because of short matches this one i’ll give a pass to as it is best for Archer matches to go this way especially against a relative no-name opponent like Dean Alexander. 

Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto vs. Alan “V” Angels & Ten

This is a decent main event for fans of AEW Dark, they’re both relatively established teams but they’re also both job squads so either team could win. I’m not saying it’s a home run main event, but if you watch the show week to week it ‘makes sense’. Angels wastes no time getting this one going with a dive off the ramp onto Solo, Ten catches Comoroto on the outside and teams with Angels to send him into the stairs. These two teams have history and commentary does a good job reminding us of that and explaining that’s why The Dark Order is starting out so hot. I’m intrigued what the future is for 10, he seemed like an important ‘big man’ for AEW early but now he’s not within the top 5 pushed big men and to an extent is at the same level or below Comoroto. Nick with the pie face jones to 10, I think standing toe to toe with Comoroto and being shorter hurts 10 a little bit, against smaller talent he looks huge but similar sized superstars are clearly bigger than he is. Angels tags in and goes for a crossbody, Comoroto catches him but 10 helps with the pump kick. QT gets involved on the outside, and the crowd all chant that he sucks, he’s probably not your favorite wrestler but he does a great job as a shitty heel. Solo with an ugly kick to Angels in the corner, he’s not a bad wrestler but always seems to be involved in moments like that. Comoroto throws Solo into a weak forearm on Angels in the corner after tagging in. -1 gets a chant for his work on the outside, this tag match isn’t bad but I feel like hyping it as a suitable main event early on was wrong. Angels kicks Solo off and he weakly falls back, this stuff isn’t egregious but it’s the simple stuff that really sets the upper half of this roster apart from guys like Solo and Angels. Angels is a great ragdoll though, Comoroto launches him to the outside and he flew. The Dark Order go for a tag maneuver but QT calls it out so Comoroto can see it coming, why doesn’t he do this more, hell why doesn’t every manager do this more. Solo with a corkscrew kick after QT interferes, Comoroto follows that up with a HUGE spear, Solo covers Angels and somehow he kicks out. Not a fan of that at all. QT argues on the apron and gets pants’d for hit work. QT runs to the outside and gets hit with a spear from 10. 10 tags in and hits a leaping spear from the apron on Comoroto. 10 locks in the full nelson for the victory at 8:10.
Rating: ***
Review: This was a fine tag team main event, I could complain about the simple stuff that looked subpar but you can read that above. These teams are fine ‘job’ teams but I can’t take either serious as legitimate threats. I would’ve honestly rather The Factory won after their combination kick/spear move on Angels, him kicking out is not entirely believable and makes both Solo and Comoroto look weak. Meanwhile 10 is hitting way uglier spears to finish out the match. Against good teams both of these teams shine, but in this position they just did alright and did a lot to show why each of them aren’t being pushed in bigger spots. This could be the start of that for them but I honestly think this was just a down filler episode of Dark and the main event positioning isn’t a sign of brighter things to come for 10+Angels.

Jobber of the Night:

Chandler Hopkins – Hopkins is a great talent and given the right opponent/feud he would be a wonderful addition to Dark on a week to week basis. His match against Nemeth wasn’t a blow away showing for him but it was the second longest match of the night and I honestly wouldn’t have been shocked to see Nemeth win.

Names to watch Following AEW Dark:

Alan “5” Angels and Preston “10” Vance – I don’t exactly expect them to make a huge jump in the tag division but they did get the chance to main event Dark and picked up the win, I hope they’re the next team involved in a longstanding AEW Dark feud, maybe bring back Bear Country for a run with them, they aren’t the best tag team in the world but they’re serviceable and worth keeping more of an eye on going forward.

Ryan Nemeth / Cezar Bononi – Leaving The Wingmen has proved to be the best for both of these men as they both captured victories and seem to be better off in solo positions rather than in the group. I could see them bringing it back from time to time but I think that ran it’s course and all four members are better without it even though it was enjoyable while it lasted. Nemeth and Bononi grew a lot in their time with the group while Avalon and Drake are already awesome, i’m intrigued to see what all four do next.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

I am really curious what the future of AEW Dark is as ROH starts to come into the fold and talent from AEW become more prominently used there. I imagine we will see a lot of cross promotional stuff but Kaun and Toa Liona are good examples of AEW Dark talent moving to ROH to 'step up' if you will. This weeks Dark could be an outlier but the last few weeks have been subpar in ways and this was the biggest showing of that. There was one match that went longer than five minutes, only six matches on the card and truly no real notable talent on this weeks Dark. I hope this is just a one off, as we've had weak episodes before but I really believe this could be the weakest of them all. Not that it was BAD in any way it was just a very short filler episode that didn't do anything for any of the talent outside of a few. I enjoy Dark at its best and it's not like I hated this but I just know how much better these shows can be so i'm a bit disappointed.