Cazer’s AEW Dark Review 5.24.22

It’s Tuesday Night and you know what that means! It’s time for another episode of AEW Dark! Having not seen the official lineup just yet I do think we could be in for a bit of an interesting show just based off of the names announced on the YouTube title. We’ve got Roppongi Vice, Kris Statlander, AQA, Cool Hand & Daddy Magic of The JAS and more announced. Not your typical AEW Dark headliners. It’s a sad day in the world today so I’ll be looking to focus predominantly on the positives as we use pro wrestling to help us forget some of the darkness that’s out there. Prayers to all those affected.

Kris Statlander vs. Avery Breaux

Kris Statlander looks to add some momentum as she approaches the semi finals of the Owen this Friday. Pretty much exactly what you’d expect from Statlander going into an important match this Friday. They did let Avery get a bit of offense in but it was short lived and showed Stat can take a bit of a beating if necessary. Breaux is caught lacking taunting and that’s all Stat needs to regain control and take home the victory. Statlander with her finisher for the victory in short order.
Rating: N/a
Review: This was nothing more than a traditional AEW style squash match with Statlander dominating about 75% of the match and giving up a short bit of offense to her opponent. Breaux was solid in her position but not exactly anything we haven’t seen before on Dark.

Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. Eli Isom & Tug Cooper

This should be a solid match as the team FKA 2.0/3.0 are quite good, just not sure this iteration of them has done much for me just yet. Matt Menard gets on the mic and tells us that Jericho isn’t here so there’s no JUDAS no sing-a-long, NOTHING. Angelo takes the mic and says if they know anything about the JAS it’s that they beat up PRO WRESTLERS for the AEW Galaxy. Not that it matters much but this would be a bit more impactful if they were beating up some mid-well known indy talent rather than Isom and Cooper who i’m not really aware of. Blake Christian and Rohit are names who have helped elevate talent on Dark that immediately stick out to me. Double DDT on Cooper and Menard covers at 1:42 for the victory.
Rating: N/A
Review: This was a simple squash to give these guys a bit of juice going into the PPV, I don’t think they had a ton of momentum before the JAS but im not sure theyve gained much since either.

AQA vs. Brittany Jade

Taz hilariously mentions that Brittany has redrum tatted on her stomach and Excalibur assumes she’s just a big Hook fan. Funny stuff. AQA is very athletic and someone they clearly have high hopes for but her work to this point has been limited from what i’ve seen. Early on in this one we get very little outside of grappling and headlocks, nothing too exciting and the crowd reaction is what you’d expect. Dead. They do get behind AQA as she’s in peril and give her the slow clap to regain momentum. Both women exchange offensive stretches before AQA starts to take control with a series of slingblades prompting an ol Slingblade jones. AQA with the flipping neck breaker and covers Jade for the victory in 3:56.
Rating: *1/2
Review: This match is the biggest example of an AEW developmental match and I don’t mean that negatively. With Dark being this style of programming to give talent a shot and let them grow you’ll get matches like this. AQA and Brittany Jade had some solid moments but a lot of this match felt a bit clunky and not exactly to the par of what we typically see here but again with it being more of a developmental show I get it.

Lee Moriarty vs. Alan “5” Angels

Give these two some time and they’ll have a banger no doubt about it. Lee’s been great to follow and I hope he gets a solid singles victory here. Good grappling early between the two, funny moment when Angels locks in a submission off an armdrag and Lee says he wont tap off an armdrag. Lee has Angels in the ropes and wont break immediately pissing Angels off. Seems Lee might be undergoing a bit of an attitude change. Lee with a stiff kick to Angels prompting Alan to call Lee a bitch and ask for another. They get heated and exchange strikes before Lee sends him to the mat shoulder first. Lee continues to work the shoulder, Angels sells it well but maybe too well. This is some great work between both guys telling a good story with a random AEW Dark match. Angels attempts to fight back but he can’t toss Lee out of the corner due to the injured shoulder. Awkward moment when Angels blocks Lee with his injured shoulder and falls to the outside as Lee goes down as well. It made sense but the crowd didn’t really buy into it. Angels with a fiery comeback and he sells the shoulder a bit during it, but at one point throwing a forearm with the injured shoulder, these are nitpicky things but when you’re working a limb you gotta stick with it. Angels struggles to get Lee up top for a spanish fly but he finally gets up there and attempts it. Angels completely lands on his shoulder rather than as he should and BOY that HAD to hurt. Angels on the outside recovering but not for long as Lee hits him with a running tope to the outside. He sends Lee back inside and drops him with a rolling chop and covers, Angels kicks out at two but is submitted right after at 9:45.
Rating: ***1/4
Review: These two put on a hell of a match and outside of the botched spanish fly (which added to the story but potentially broke Angels shoulder) they killed it. I did nit pick slightly over Angels sell of the shoulder but that happens with even the best wrestlers. I’d love to see these two run it back every few months just to see them improve on this banger.

Sonny Kiss vs. Carlie Bravo

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Sonny on AEW in general. Bravo not getting an entrance this week telling us all we need to know. Bravo gets in Sonny’s face early and says this is the BRA-VO show. Sonny doesn’t take kindly to this and takes Bravo down momentarily. Bravo fights back screaming at Sonny that this is his show and he needs this. Bravo shoves Aubrey out of the way to hit Sonny again in the corner. Sonny with the comeback lifts Bravo up off the top rope carrying him and dropping him in the center of the ring. Kiss with a backflip into a kneedrop and covers immediately after for a two count. Sonny with the springboard elbow in the corner followed by a leg lariat. Really clean work from Sonny here you can tell they’ve worked on a number of the small things and it’s made everything smoother. Bravo takes control after dropping the ropes out from under Sonny during a springboard. Bravo nearly picks up the win off a tornado DDT. Bravo startings mocking Sonny chants, prompting Sonny chants. Sonny with a springboard backflip into a clothesline very unique offense there. Sonny with a HUGE crossbody to the outside taking Bravo out. Sonny sends Bravo back inside and hits the split legged moonsault and covers for the victory in 4:30.
Rating: **1/2
Review: This was a really good match for Sonny who got a chance to showcase how well they’ve improved in the ring. When Sonny started I was less than impressed but i’ll tell you everything Sonny pulled out in this match was fantastic and lead to a pretty decent showcase for both Sonny and Bravo.

Robyn Renegade vs. Vicky Dreamboat

Robyn getting an entrance up against Vicky who is making her AEW debut according to the lower 3rd but Excalibur tells us of a story from her previous match so it seems that may be wrong. Renegade taking no time taking control of this one dropping Vicky with a boot then chopping her a number of times outside the ring. A fan tells Robyn they wish her sister was here and she got in their face before going back to the ring. Robyn with a double fishhook on Vicky she lets go allowing Vicky to score a roll up but it’s only good for two. Robyn with a pump handle slam before getting in the fans face again asking if they liked that. Robyn up top looking for a moonsault but she taunts too long allowing Vicky to move. Robyn rolls outside but the ref refuses to allow her outside. This allows Robyn to recoup and get back inside dropping Vicky with a pretty sweet powerslam for the victory in 3:20.
Rating: **
Review: This was a pretty decent squash match that allowed Robyn to look really strong. I missed the switcheroo so Tony telling us after actually helped but I did think the execution of all of the post match interview stuff was a bit odd.
Post match: Tony Schiavone meets Robyn in the ring and says he knows she’s not Robyn. He asks how they’re continuing this charade. Robyn’s sister arrives and they promise they’d never do anything to fool anyone especially Tony. Tony says that Robyn missed the flip went under the ring and switched out. Tony tells us there will be more about that to come.

Anthony Ogogo vs. Trenton Storm

Storm is a big dude who is actually about as tall as Ogogo. Ogogo takes control early with strikes in the corner but Trenton attempts to fight out only to get wrestled right to the mat and beaten down by Ogogo. Ogogo slams Trenton but he lands on his bum rather than his back prompting a loud BOO from a few fans. Really light heat for Ogogo as he continues to work over Storm. Ogogo runs right into a dropkick allowing Storm to get some offense in, it’s short lived as Ogogo holds onto a toss and hits Storm with an elbow strike. Storm with a superkick and he powers up but runs right into a clothesline. Ogogo stomps away at Storm before lifting him up for a series of uppercuts. Ogogo sets him up in the ropes and lays in a body shot TKO in 3:35.
Rating: **
Review: I hate the body shot finish, it has never seemed that good or sensible, that may very well be because i’m not a boxing fan so I haven’t seen it a lot in true combat sports but it just seems goofy. This was fine but Ogogo really should just be squashing small dorks not going toe to toe with other big dudes if you asked me.
Post match: Ogogo hits a completely uncalled for Tower of London to Storm in the corner.

Leva Bates vs. Kiah Dream

Wow I feel like we haven’t seen Leva compete in inring action in a long while. Somehow she maintains the librarian gimmick to this day. Kiah slams her books to the ground and steals her glasses early saying they look better on her. Bates with a headlock and steals her glasses back before giving them to the ref. Taz cuts off Excalibur mid rundown and it popped me. Leva with a completely ugly roll up pin for the victory in 2:00.
Rating: N/A
Review: This was not a great match and an even worse finish. I enjoy Leva but I do think they need to let her work way more often if they’re going to have her work at all, because in the time she’s been there so many other talent have grown exponentially. She does a lot of behind the scenes stuff so I get her involvement in the company but if she’s gonna wrestle let it happen a lot more often.

Roppongi Vice vs. The Wingmen

This should be a solid main event, the winners are easily given considering Roppongi Vice are challenging for the ROH Tag Team Titles tomorrow but it’s still a decent AEW Dark main event. Nemeth and Avalon attack Trent and Rocky before the match even officially begins attacking them both tossing them into the guardrail several times. Rocky and Trent regain control allowing Rocky to hit a splash off the steps taking both men out on the outside. Trent with a moonsault off the stage onto Avalon and Nemeth prompting a light response given the high risk nature. They send Avalon into the ring officially starting the match, Rocky works him over shortly before tagging in Trent and they ping pong Avalon with a series of strikes then a running knee/clothesline combo. Trent steps on the face of Avalon and he escapes quickly to make a tag. Nice to see JD Drake outside with Avalon and Nemeth during their big match. The numbers get to Trent allowing The Wingmen to get control. Funny moment when JD tells Nemeth to teach Trent a lesson in pro wrestling but Trent just counters and takes control. Rocky tags in and hits the forever clotheslines on The Wingmen. Nemeth ducks one but he just drops them both with one. Love to see the unique tag team offense from Roppongi vice, they have a sweet set of moves that they can execute together. Avalon dumps Trent off the top turnbuckle onto the back of his neck. The Wingmen nearly take the win off a combination neckbreaker elbow drop but Rocky breaks up the pinfall attempt. Nemeth and Avalon shake the hips and taunt like goofballs of course allowing Trent to recover. He dumps Avalon outside, Rocky slides in and they hit Nemeth with the double knee strike. Trent calls for Nemeth to get up and hits him with another running knee and Nemeth kicks out just in time. Trent off the ropes but JD Drake sweeps the leg and the referee is completely oblivious. Orange Cassidy comes out and lays into JD with the kicks on the outside. Roppongi Vice hit strong zero on Nemeth for the victory as Orange Cassidy watches on.
Rating: ***
Review: This was a good main event but it went a bit too long for a tag team that’s heading into a World Tag Team Championship match tomorrow. They have some momentum but they beat one of the biggest joke teams in AEW so not sure what all that adds up to. Also gotta wonder where Chuck is? Overall the match was good as expected but I’d rather have seen Trent and Rocky win very quickly if they were going to do that much wild stuff before the match even started.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

For how much they pushed this week as being highly important I must say this episode was a bit lackluster. I know they'll sometimes drop an extra episode of Dark during the week of a PPV but still this was underwhelming. They did a bit to help people gain momentum going into the upcoming big shows but did leave this episode of Dark lacking in star quality compared to previous weeks. I will say that the match quality was pretty decent this week with Lee and Angels really giving us a banger and the main even tag match delivering as well. I'd suggesting checking out those two matches if nothing else.