Cazer’s AEW Dark Review 11.22.22

Look I got the date right this week. Happy Tuesday folks, it’s time for another AEW Dark recap. We’ve got a nice comfy seven match card on tap tonight and an interesting group of superstars appearing. We have talent like Rush, Yuta, Jake Hager and Tay Melo all set to appear, a few names who have shown up on Dark a time or two but certainly not the regulars we usually get. It should be a nice change of pace lets get to it!

Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese & Josh Woods) vs. Rosario Grillo & Dean Alexander

Dean with control early as Nese taunts giving Alexander an opening. It’s short lived as Nese quickly gains control with a right hand and sends Dean into the corner following up with a series of kicks and strikes. Grillo tags in and Nese works him over, Grillo to the apron and Woods drops him with a strike as the referee is distracted. Woods tags in and they nail him with some combination strikes. Woods teases allowing Grillo to tag before tossing him around with a gut wrench suplex, then twice more. Woods drops Dean off the apron and tags in Nese, they set Grillo up on the apron and Nese tosses him into a leaping knee from Woods. Nese covers but Dean makes the save at two. Woods tosses Dean outside, Grillo tosses Nese as well. Woods with a big toss, Nese back in the ring and tags in Woods they nail Grillo with the combination olympic slam neckbreaker. Nese covers for some reason and they pick up the victory.
Rating: **1/2
Review: This was a decent showcase tag match for the Varsity Athletes, their name is way to similar to the team FKA the Varsity Blondes.

Willow Nightingale vs. Marina Shafir

Two superstars who appear on AEW Dark with some level of frequency, I am interested to see who comes out on top here. Lock up early, Willow attempts a toss but Marina holds on and locks in a submission, both women struggle for control and Marina is forced to let go. Marina maintains positioning laying into Willow with a series of strikes and again looks for a submission. Willow fights free dropping Marina with a shoulder tackle and follows with a low crossbody cover combination for a two count. They exchange roll up attempts before Marina tosses Willow neck first into the middle rope. Marina in control and she tosses Willow with a throw and covers for two. Marina with strikes to Willow in the corner but Willow shoves her out and attempts a firemans carry but Marina with a roll up for two. Both women to their feet and start exchanging strikes. Willow with a hip attack in the corner and a big boot to drop Marina. Willow with a spinebuster and covers Marina for a close two count. Marina lifts Willow up but Willow with a shot to the back to get free. Willow off the ropes but Vicky with the distraction. Marina looks to hit Willow but she moves and nearly hits Vicky. Marina is distracted and turns around into a doctor bomb from Willow, she covers and picks up the victory!
Rating: ***
Review: The match itself was solid, it wasn’t too special but one of Marina best matches on AEW thus far which says a bit about her growth but also shows Willow can work well with a lot of AEW’s women. Pleasantly surprised to see Willow pick up the win here.

Wheeler Yuta vs. KM

KM with the size advantage, he backs up Yuta early but Yuta with a burst of offense to take control taking KM out with a series of dropkicks. Yuta ducks a lariat but KM grabs him and slams him to the mat anyways. KM with strikes to the head of Yuta laying into him with a knee to the midsection following with a sidewalk slam. KM with a cover but Yuta kicks out right away. KM with a bodyslam to Yuta, he attempts a splash from the apron into the ring but Yuta moves just in time. Yuta with a couple of dropkicks but KM stays on his feet. Yuta to the middle rope and takes KM down with a middle rope drop kick. Yuta points to the corner and heads up top, KM sweeps the legs sending Yuta groin first into the turnbuckle. Yuta with elbows to the face of KM but he grabs the arm of Yuta and tosses him across the ring. KM attempts a lariat but KM catches the arm and hits an olympic slam. Yuta with hammer strikes to the head of KM, Yuta locks in the pinfall and picks up the victory showing some fire as he celebrates.
Rating: ***
Review: This wasn’t that long and i’m glad it wasn’t because Yuta looks pretty strong picking up the decisive victory against a larger opponent.

-Ethan Page is backstage and he talks up the success of the Hardy Party saying their merch sales have done wonders for the Firm. Hardy asks why Ethan chose the broken photo of him for the shirt. Ethan says it’s foreshadowing because in no time he’s going to break Matt once again. Ethan says that next week they’ll have a trios match on Dark against the Wingmen, Ethan wishes them luck saying they’re going to need it. Ethan walks off and Zay flips him off. Matt asks how they feel about this, Kassidy says some weird stuff and Matt tells him to get his head in the game. Matt sentences the Wingmen to deletion.

Jake Hager vs. Bryce Donovan

Donovan goes toe to toe with Hager but Jake takes him down and slaps him in the back of the head. Donovan with a series of strikes to Hager and a boot to block the lariat. Donovan with a boot in the corner but Hager drops him with a huge Lariat. Donovan to his feet and Hager hits him with another lariat. Hager lays into Donovan with a series of strikes then a Hager bomb in the corner. Hager with a splash in the corner and Donovan moves, Donovan leaps off the ropes but lands right into a slam from Hager. Hager with the head and arm triangle forcing Donovan to submit right away but he holds on just to show how strong he is.
Rating: **1/2
Review: This was a fine squash match but it didn’t do a whole lot for me, Hager is such an odd AEW superstar in that he’s around a lot but rarely wrestles so even when he does it doesn’t feel that important to me.

Tay Melo vs. Skye Blue

Back and forth with strikes early, both women attempt roll ups just a bunch of one counts. Finally Tay breaks free. Tay attempts a roll up once again but Skye breaks free right away. Skye with a forearm in the corner that clearly misses. Tay runs into the corner but Skye moves and hits her with a forearm. SKye up top but Anna J distracts her allowing Tay to hit the dragonscrew to Skye off the ropes. Tay covers for a two count and chokes Skye in the corner. Anna J with the choke from behind as the referee deals with Tay. Tay continues to work over Skye laying into her with a knee to the side of the face and covers for another two count. Skye counters with a rana and fights back laying into Tay with a knee in the corner. Skye with a thrust kick dropping Tay and covers for two. Tay fights for leverage and attempts a submission but Skye counters, Skye with a roll through but Tay counters into a german suplex. Tay with a weak running kick and covers Skye for two. Tay attempts the Tay KO but Skye counters into a slow pinfall attempt for two. Skye with a modified codered but Anna J distracts the referee. Tay attempts a pinfall attempts but Skye covers for two. Tay pulls Skye to the mat and locks her in a submission for the victory. Post match Anna and Tay attack Skye until Willow hits the ring to make the save.
Rating: *
Review: This was not good, and never got good. It had way too many ugly moments. These two are best when facing people who have much more experience than them and this was a showcase of that.

RUSH vs. Leon Ruffin

Well at least we get to see RUSH but why isn’t this guy featured on Dynamite every week. Ruffin tries to start off with a hot start but RUSH just eats his multiple drop kicks and drops Leon with a stiff right hand. Ruffin in the corner and RUSH lays into him with a chop before tossing him to the other side. Ruffin moves but runs right into a belly to belly from RUSH into the bottom turnbuckle. RUSH with the bulls horns in the corner and he covers Ruffin for the EZ victory.
Rating: **3/4
Review: It was too short to rate it any better but this was GREAT. I want to see RUSH just job out relatively recognizable faces in less than three minutes every week.

The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver & Alex Reynolds) vs. Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Sonny Kiss, & Jeeves Kay)

Interesting match up here as we have two of the more prominent AEW Dark factions squaring off in the main event of tonight’s Dark. The Dark Order work over Jeeves Kay early making quick tags isolating the butler from the rest of his squad. Reynolds off the ropes and Daivari with a knee to the back allowing Sonny to tag in and take control. Daivari tags in and lays into Reynolds preventing him from making a tag. Daivari with a knee to the midsection and covers for two. Daivari pulls Reynolds to the corner and everyone seems a bit confused finally Jeeves tags in and lays into Reynolds as well. Jeeves distracts Aubrey allowing Kiss and Daivari to attack Reynolds in the corner. Reynolds fights back with a series of strikes to Jeeves but the isolate him again in the corner. Kiss with the flip into a strike of Reynolds then tags in Daivari, who locks in a headlock and prevents Reynolds from making a tag. Jeeves tags in and sends Uno off the ropes. Reynolds with a strike to Jeeves but Sonny grabs his hair preventing a tag, Sonny is sent into the post. Daivari tries to cut Reynolds off but he’s sent outside. Reynolds sags in Silver who runs through Jeeves Kay. Silver sent onto the apron, Jeeves attempts a springboard but SIlver with a dropkick instead. Silver runs wild ont he Trustbusters outside the ring. Silver up top, and hits Jeeves with a crossbody but Jeeves counters and rolls Silver up. Silver with a series of kicks and a brainbuster to Jeeves. Silver tags in Uno who tags in Reynolds and they hit Jeeves with the pendulum powerbomb. Reynolds covers as Silver and Uno stop Sonny and Daivari from making the save allowing Reynolds to pick up the victory.
Rating: *** 1/2
Review: I enjoyed this because it wasn’t just the Dark Order running through some job squad for five minutes. Instead they were given some trouble but still quickly overcame and picked up the win. Solid main event.

The final score: review Torture

The 411

Tonight's episode of Dark felt much better than last week if I recall correctly. This week had a nice variety of matches rather than the usual 4-6 squash matches we got something more diverse in terms of match ups and length. I thought Marina vs. Willow as well as the main event were really solid and I also thing the RUSH squash match was well done, it's also able to stand out as such as it was the only real full on squash that we saw tonight, Hager's was close but still longer than a traditional squash i'd say.