AEW Dark Review - April 18, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Juice Robinson def. Pat Buck

Not only was this Buck's Dark debut, I believe this was the first match he's ever wrestled for AEW. If he looks familiar, it's because he has served as a producer for WWE and AEW in recent years, but before that, he was strictly an independent wrestler and a very experienced one at that. I was surprised how much he was spotlighted here and how competitive this was. It was a well-worked match, but a more straightforward win for Robinson would have been ideal to make him feel like more of a threat to Ricky Starks.

The Renegades def. Brittany J and Kiah Dream

I'm still not sure whether The Renegades are officially contracted to AEW/ROH yet or not, but the fact they keep winning matches leads me to believe that's the case. I was never their biggest fan because of how often they were featured on AEW programming last year despite not being very good, but they've shown noticeable improvement and this was a solid showcase for them for as long as it lasted.

Cole Karter def. Hunter James

I've lost any and all interest in Karter since he signed with AEW last year. He showed some promise in that one Dynamite match he had against Starks last summer, but it was all downhill once he joined The Factory. That obviously did him no favors because the group broke up recently and Karter is completely directionless. This was a boring squash. It was only fitting Zack Clayton confronted backstage afterward after potentially forming an alliance because they're the two most generic heels in the company.

Iron Savages def. The Trustbusters (Sonny Kiss and Jeeves Kay)

It's about time Iron Savages faced actual competition. Okay, so Trustbusters aren't the biggest stars in AEW, but this is at least a step up from Iron Savages beating unknown indie talent. Kiss and Kay gave them a bit of a fight, but Iron Savages went over decisively as they should have. I like that they've been getting more focus on Dark in recent weeks and hope this push for them continues.

Marina Shafir def. Dream Girl Ellie

I've been harsh on Shafir in the past, but I have credit where it's due: she's definitely gotten better in the last few months. No, I still don't want to see her in a regular role on Dynamite or Rampage, but I appreciate that her squashes aren't as disjointed as they used to be. As long as she doesn't pick up a microphone, then she'll be fine. This was exactly what it needed to be with Shafir dominating Ellie.

Rohit Raju and Jora Johl def. Ariel Levy and Jarett Diaz

Raju and Johl formed their team not too long ago, but we've barely seen them in action together since then. Johl is a competent competitor, but I'd much rather see Raju spotlighted as a singles star. He has a much higher ceiling than Johl in my opinion based on what I saw from Raju during his Impact X-Division Championship reign a few years ago. The best thing I can say about this is that it was kept short and sweet.

Christopher Daniels def. Angelico

As I always say, Daniels can clearly still go in the ring even in the twilight of his career and I enjoy any chance we get to see him mix it up with the current talent. Angelico's style is similar to his, so I was looking forward to this and they did not disappoint. It wasn't a barn burner by any means, but it was as entertaining of an outing as you can expect from Daniels at this point. He won with his alternative finisher, Angel's Wings, so he's likely saving the BME for bigger matches.

Overall Show

I'm worried whenever we get an episode like this that we'll be back to getting hour-long episodes with 10 matches the following week because this is the format the show should follow consistently. It's just so much more tolerable. The shorter runtime was refreshing, but outside of the main event, there isn't anything worth seeking out from this episode. This was pretty standard stuff and nothing was offensively bad, but I personally don't care about most of the people that were featured.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews