‘AEW: Dark’ Review (Jan 17th 2023)
Another week, another episode of AEW: Dark which this week features seven matches once again… You know I love a shorter show! Anyway, on with the review.
Match #1: Kiera Hogan def. Danika Della Rouge
My Thoughts: This was an OK match to open the show, I would say this was akin to an AEW quasi-squash but Rouge managed to get just enough offence in to make it look like more of a competitive match-up.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #2: Brian Cage def. Carl Randers
My Thoughts: After seeing Brian Cage’s match on Elevation this felt like a massive comedown and a return to the kinds of squash matches we’ve seen from him in the past. A shame.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #3: Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia def. Brian Cook & Deimos
My Thoughts: Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia teaming is NOT something I really want to see, the latter undoubtedly superior to the former – and if I was Garcia I’d worry about the heat rubbing of on me. As for the match, Meh, it was as expected. A squash.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #4: Action Andretti def. Ari Daivari
My Thoughts: Is Action Andretti the only person to really sell one of Jericho’s fireballs? It feels like it (though he’s probably not). This felt like a tune-up match for Andretti, throwing Daivari under the proverbial bus to build to Andretti’s match against Daniel Garcia on Friday. To be fair though, this was pretty decent… and competitive.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: Powerhouse Hobbs def. Jaiden
My Thoughts: Christ, if you thought Cage’s match was a squash, this one was even more so. This really felt like a waste of everyone’s time, especially Hobbs’.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #6: Matt Menard and Angelo Parker def. Eddie Pearl and Ricky Gibson
My Thoughts: Looks like JAS are racking up the wins tonight aren’t they? Much like Dark Order, they seemingly rack up the wins on YouTube to get their asses handed to them on the main shows. Though Matt Menard and Angelo Parker looked a damn sight more dominant than Dark Order did on Elevation this week.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #7: Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli def. The Butcher and The Blade
My Thoughts: A decent main event but not as good as you’d have expected given those involved. Still, this was better than 90% of this card (with only Action Andretti’s match getting anywhere near) so there’s that. To be fair, I can watch Claudio Castagnoli wrestle all night long…
