10th Nov2022

‘AEW: Dark’ Review (Nov 8th 2022)

by Phil Wheat

Another week, another episode of AEW: Dark which packs in a whopping thirteen matches on the card this week… On with the review!

Match #1: Zack Clayton def. Blake Li

My Thoughts: This was short and totally inconsequential. Does not bode well for the rest of this show.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #2: Ashley D’Amboise def. Kayla Rossi

My Thoughts: Oh look, another quick squash match. How exciting.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #3: The Gunns def. BK Klein & Jarett Diaz

My Thoughts: The Gunns can piss off for all I care. Terrible, terrible, presentation. And their opponents were even worse, with Diaz pausing before a pin attempt for no discernable reason!

My Score: 1.5 out of 5

Match #4: Peter Avalon def. Brandon Cutler

My Thoughts: Well so far this was the best match on Dark. And I’m not being sarcastic, these two actually put on a great comedy-style match that recalled their earlier feud AND featured Leva Bates too!

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #5: The Factory def. The Blonds

My Thoughts: Two good matches in a row, though I feel like we’ve seen this before but that might be because both teams seem to be the proverbial Dark go-to’s these days.

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #6: Anna Jay def. Sio Nieves

My Thoughts: And we’re back to a squash match, with Jay and Nieves putting together a match that can only be described as an AEW quasi-squash match… Same old, same old IMHO.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #7: Kip Sabian def. Marcus Kross

My Thoughts: Well this one a hell of a step-down for Kip Sabain after his match on Elevation against Alex Reynolds. I’m not quite sure Tony Khan knows what to do with Kip these days.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #8: Athena def. Diamante

My Thoughts: Now THIS was a match. These two put on a superb display of hard-hitting wrestling with Diamante turning out to be a great foil for Athena’s new heel style of wrestling. Kudos to these two for putting together one of the best matches of the show.

My Score: 3 out of 5

Match #9: Powerhouse Hobbs def. Rico Gonzalez

My Thoughts: Squash. What else did you expect?

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #10: The Dark Order def. Troy Hollywood, Fulton, & Ativalu

My Thoughts: Oh look, the Dark Order get a win against an enhancement team. but do theyu ever win agasint any “big name” teams? Do they bollocks. If a shambles how the Dark Order have been and continue to be treated. Even with Hangman Page in their corner they’re still not given any sort of credible win in AEW. No wonder Stu Grayson and Alan Angels left.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #11: Eddie Kingston and Ortiz def. AR Fox and Caleb Konley

My Thoughts: I said it for their Elevation match and I’ll repeat it again here: “…this felt like a retread of every other Ortiz/Kingston tag match we’ve had. They squash their opponents, they win, Eddie either keeps the hold on too long or tries to use chairs/weapons on his opponents after the bell rings. It’s sad to see IMHO.”

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #12: Toni Storm & Hikaru Shida vs. Emi Sakura & Mei Suruga

My Thoughts: Well, well, well. Another group of women put on another of the night’s bester matches. Makes a change, though this kind of excellent match should NOT be relegated to YouTube – especailly given some of the dross that mkes it to Rampage!

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Match #13: Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta def. The Wingmen (Cezar Bononi and Ryan Nemeth)

My Thoughts: Well this was something of a comedown after that great women’s tag match. Even Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta couldn’t elevate this to anything other than average – mainly due to the pair totally outclassing their opponents. Hell, if you’re going to have the Wingmen in a match against this BCC duo at least throw JD Drake in the mix!

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Final Verdict: 2.5/5

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