wrestling / TV Reports

Cazer’s AEW Dark Review 6.28.22

June 28, 2022 | Posted by Andrew Cazer
AEW Dark Wheeler Yuta vs. Tony Nese Image Credit: AEW Dark
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Cazer’s AEW Dark Review 6.28.22  

We are back to review another episode of AEW dark Tony Khan and the crew just provided us a fantastic PPV with Forbidden Door, and Blood and Guts is just a few days away so tonight they’ve got a solid card on tap. We have 10 matches and even a championship main event that I must say I’m very excited for. Even though I typically don’t enjoy the longer shows I think having a big match to cap off the show makes it much more entertaining and exciting for me as a viewer. This is the 150th episode of Dark and they’re trying to atleast give it some level of importance though I think they could do a bit more. Outside of the championship match we also have The Dark Order Dante Martin and Julia Hart all scheduled for the show as well so overall an exciting show on paper let’s get to it.

Willow Nightingale vs. Ashley D’Amboise

the first match of the night features Willow Nightingale and Ashley D’Amboise. Willow is someone that has really gotten over with the fans recently and you can tell that here as the crowd is firmly behind her for this one. A decent little back-and-forth squash match with Willow picking up the victory over Ashley. Ashley got a fair bit of offence in but it wasn’t enough to take out Willow. Willow picked up the victory with the gutrench Dr. bomb. Some pretty good stuff commentary did a good job of putting over Willow and putting over her current story line which is exactly what you would ask for. Overall a solid opening women’s match for Dark

Rating: **1/2
Review: This was a well-done singles match good way to make Willow look solid and strong in the ring. She does a lot of stuff that gets the crowd behind her and shows that she feels like of a veteran that has been doing this for so much longer than she has. She’s someone that people have their eyes on him for a good reason her future is bright

Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solo vs. Matt Vandagriff & Knull

We have Nick Comoroto and Aaron Solo against Matt Vandagriff and Null, i am completely unfamiliar with Null, I’ve seen Matt Vandagriff a couple of times but don’t really expect much from this one outside of padding the stats of the factory. Pretty decent tag squash match I guess nothing too crazy Vandagriff taking most of the heat, Null got a moment in the ring and he really didn’t do anything to impressive. He’s a real big guy but he moves like you would expect from a guy that size not like the athletic big man in AEW typically are Comoroto picks up the victory for his team with a pretty vicious Alabama slam

Rating: **1/4
Review: Overall matches like this really don’t do as much for me after watching dark for probably 40+ episodes at least. It’s not a bad match but it just does absolutely nothing for me especially with the team like Comoroto and Solo that we’ve seen lose so much over the past however many months

Matt Sydal vs. Jake Something

Matt Sydal versus jake something was a decent little showcase match for Jake especially. Sydal picking up the victory but Jake got some good offense in which makes sense with him having the size advantage. It was interesting they started the match out with Sydal actually with the advantage because of his quickness but clearly the size advantage for Jake allowed him to get some offense in. Sydal with the Meteora and follows up with a shooting star press for the victory this is a good match for jake even if his name will always feel weird to me Post match sign of respect from Sydal and Jake obliges before leaving.

Rating: **3/4
Review: Good stuff, I fully expect Jake to become a bit of a player in AEW even if I think his name is dumb. He’s good and has a good look so at the very least an ROH run should be in order. Sydal’s been pretty great in his role for AEW.

– Yuta is backstage and he says that he’s had a busy schedule but he’s ready for the biggest bloodiest match of his career. He says before that he has to settle his issues with Tony Nese then tomorrow he will kick the Jericho Appreciation society’s ass. Good promo from Yuta he’s grown a tone since joining AEW.

Athena vs. Amber Nova

Amber Nova vs Athena starts out slow and commentary tries to sell Nova as some sort of a threat because she’s wrestled in AEW before but i’m less inclined to believe this will be much more than a glorified squash. Nova briefly got some offense but it’s very short lived as Taz points out she’s pulling out a couple of Matt Jackson’s moves in this one. Athena regains control and picks up the win with some wild submission .

Rating: **1/4
Review: not a bad match but as I’ve said before these squash matches don’t do as much for me. Someone like Athena really should be running through Amber Nova to solidify her dominance but it was a bit less one sided than you may expect. 

We get a video package promoting and celebrating Nyla Rose through pride and pride Month, I love Nylas social media personality and really appreciate what she and AEW have done with her time there.

 Dante Martin vs. Lucky Ali

Good back and forth high paced singles match between Dante and Ali. Dante is someone I really enjoy but Ali getting offense in this one makes more sense than we have seen at other times. Dante is clearly someone the fans enjoy but its not as surprising to see him on the defensive for a bit. There were a few interesting moments in this one, not exactly botches as things didn’t go exactly right but Dante is great at adjusting on the fly. Dante’s speed and ability are unmatched and the way he utilizes both to do things people haven’t seen in the ring is incredible. Dante nearly picks up the win with a roll up, glad he didn’t win it there as id much rather a match finish with something more exciting. Dante delivers just that closing it out with the nose dive for the win!

Rating: **1/2
Review: This wasn’t the best Dante match I’ve ever seen but it wasn’t exactly bad either. Ali wasn’t bad but really didn’t do enough to stand out as much more than an occasional enhancement guy here.

Julia Hart vs. Valentina Rossi

Julia comes out with a new black mask and she looks weird. The build up may end up being better than the execution here with Julia. She stares down Valentina but she doesn’t appear to be legitimately threatening or “possessed” to me at all. She will grow into the role though and she has moments of aggression early on that show that. Julia ignored an opportunity to cover and instead continues her attack and then locks in an awkward arm submission. Julia’s facial expressions are what throw me off. Julia with a sweet moonsault press and rolls right into the Malakai pose that was very well done. Its smart to work this character stuff out on Dark to find what works and what doesn’t. Julia with a submission victory as she stares down the camera before giving a small smirk.

Rating: **1/2
Review: This was a decent spot for Julia to build up this new character of hers and find what works. I may seem overly critical but some stuff clearly worked as other things felt a bit off or awkward.

Fuego Del Sol vs. Marcus Kross

Poor Fuego he’s not getting his issues with Sammy settled but he has a match here against Markus Kross, either guy could win honestly but it feels like Fuegos finally gonna get a win. Commentary doesn’t care much for this one going on an off topic tangent instead. Hard to blame them, Fuego is fun to watch and his storyline was cool but this match doesn’t do a lot for me. Fuego is getting a good shot here to showcase himself here and get some shine against a similar sized opponent. Fuego with a really awkward dragon sleeper in the ropes and a funky rana Excalibur calls it how it is and says it was straight up ugly. Fuego with a tornado ddt and transitions into a submission for the victory. Taz is tired of all the submissions.

Rating: **1/4
Review:
this wasn’t that great and that’s about what I expected. Fuego has moments of greatness and moments you remember why he’s where he is on the card. This was the ladder.
Post match: QT offers Fuego a spot in The Factory but he declines. QT holds the factory back from attacking Fuego. At least we’re getting a storyline built on Dark. 

JD Drake & Ryan Nemeth vs. Evil Uno & 10

The issues between both teams have been brewing as The Wingmen attacked the Dark Order post match last week. Rumor has it the Dark Order has thinned out even more potentially losing Alan Angels. Wild how this team went from nothing to something back to nothing. This was another match that was promoted separately from the rest of the card on social media like the Main Event so one AEW views as a big deal by Darks standards. Good back and forth tag, JD Drake is fun to watch, its a bummer hes not more featured as a singles guy, hopefully once ROH gets running. Weak high low to Uno and Nemeth covers for two. Again commentary hardly invested in this one instead talking about referees not even involved. Ten tags in and runs through both men dropping Nemeth with a spine buster then the ten taunts. Uno nearly dumped on his head but someone manages to land on his feet outside of the ring sheesh. Like a cat. Drake got robbed he had a pin after a moonsault but Ten missed on breaking it up so they sold it. Ten with an assisted launching spear. Uno and Ten with some new tag moves, Ten with the discus lariat for the win.

Rating: **3/4
Review: This was fine but I wasn’t ever really into it. I’ve asked for feuds on Dark but I’m not really into anything The Dark Order does as they lose members. It just lost its luster entirely so it’s just two very weak teams feuding for a battle to stay relevant.
Post match: we get a big brawl to likely set up an eight man tag down the line. 

Ariya Daivari vs. Caleb Konley

Ariya Daivari with his first singles match against Caleb with a K. Caleb making his AEW debut as another former Impact mid level talent becoming an AEW jobber. Waiting for the day we get a singles match like this with a talent I could actually see winning. Ive never talent Caleb seriously and I don’t expect to start after this match. I could be wrong but we will see. Caleb getting plenty of offense in so perhaps I’ll be surprised and the guy with the jobber entrance will win. Caleb with plenty of offense but Daivari regains control, he hits a neck breaker and attempts a splash but Caleb moves and hits a blue thunder bomb nearly taking the victory. Solid sequence and good sell of frustration from Caleb. Konley sent into the turnbuckle, Daivari hits the frogsplash and covers for the victory. The crowd is lukewarm for this one.

Rating: **3/4
Review: Nice singles match between two guys legitimately looking for something to prove. It wasn’t a barnburner but it was a solid singles for both guys to showcase their talent and skill set. Good singles win for Daivari.

ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta vs. Tony Nese

In the words of the great Mark Henry it’s time for the main event. I am so pumped for this one, finally a match on Dark with some level of ‘big fight feel’. It’s even better because typically i’m a stickler for a match to be unpredictable in order for it to be exciting for me. This isn’t the case, I don’t expect Yuta to lose at all but he has plenty to prove heading into Blood and Guts, he’s also become an important piece of ROH by way of being Pure champion, last week Nese got a chance at participating in a Pure rules match and didn’t show many strengths in this style so again not expecting a win. BJ Whitmer, Mercedes Martinez and Christopher Daniels are our judges. Relatively slow start to this one as both men exchange holds and thus control of the match. Yuta with a nice burst of offense to take control with a headlock and a right hand. They call for a penalty for Yuta using a left hand but it was a palm strike so Posey says it’s good, Nese distracts the ref and gets a left hand shot in on Yuta. Good little story telling there. Yuta forced to use his first rope break due to a single legged boston crab. Nese showing he’s learned a thing or two about Pure matches in the last week. Nese has taken control hitting a suplex and covering for two before going back to a submission on Yuta. Yuta tries to fight free but Nese takes Yuta up top for a superplex, Yuta fights free but eats an uppercut from Nese. Yuta uses his second rope break and Nese hasn’t used one yet very different from Nese’s match last week. Yuta fires up and regains control dropping Nese with a leaping forearm lariat. Yuta with a tope to take out Nese outside the ring. Yuta with a solid reaction from the AEW Dark crowd, Sterling pulls his legs out from behind him and pulls him under the ropes, Nese locks in a submission forcing Yuta to use his third rope break smart stuff. Nese goes right back to a submission right away but Yuta fights free, he throws a closed fist and if he throws one more he’s disqualified, Nese spits on him trying to prompt the DQ. Nese with a forearm that sends Yuta to the outside but he rebounds back in into a suplex. Yuta’s nose is bleeding, this guy bleeds a lot. Nese drops him on his face with a pump handle sitout piledriver, he covers for two and goes right to the boston crab, Yuta out of rope breaks so he has to crawl his way up to reverse out. Nese follows with a spinning back kick, he heads up top Yuta moves and Nese falls right on his face. Yuta lays into Nese with the hammer elbows and then right into a modified STF forcing Nese to submit.
Rating: ***
Review: This was a solid main event, not exactly to the level I may have wanted but good none the less. The story they told didn’t really prompt for a five star classic either it was simply good not great and that’s fine as we build to a match I expect to be amazing for the pure title.
Post match: Nese gets to his feet and Yuta offers his hand for the code of honor. Nese reluctantly accepts, Yuta goes to leave but he runs right into Daniel Garcia who leaps off the entrance ramp and he beats the shit out of Yuta both outside and inside of the ring. These two go back so it’s dope they’re building to a singles match alongside all of the black pool feuding. Garcia with a stiff kick right to the face of Yuta. They’re beating him down as Yuta is left alone and they cut a promo telling him he has nothing, they say they’re the five star symbol of excellence and the AEW Galaxy need to appreciate them. Garcia tells Yuta after Blood and Guts he’s going to strip him of his honor, and his belt too.

7.1
The final score: review Good
The 411
The best part of this show was easily the main event and even that felt a bit toned down from what Yuta and Nese could really do given the opportunity to just deliver a banger. Instead they told the story of a compelling Pure Rules match and delivered with that. The rest of the card was fine and outside of the Fuego match they were all solid efforts. The Fuego match wasn't bad but it wasn't great and compare it to the Ariya Daivari match, two matches with talent all looking for something to prove I just don't feel Fuego and Markus delivered that. Willow's opening match was solid and another stand out on this card. Not the best card from top to bottom but I appreciate the effort being put into Dark now, the Main event felt like a true main event, they're building feuds and doing more than just 10 throw away 4 minute matches, can't ask for much more than that on this program. It is funny that they kept saying this was the 150th episode of Dark but outside of the Main Event they did nothing to really celebrate that accomplishment.
legend

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AEW Dark, Andrew Cazer