AEW Dark Review - April 19, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Toni Storm def. Gigi Rey

Storm just debuted with AEW less than a month ago and she's already pulling on Dark duty. She's officially buried, folks! I kid, I kid. Like with The Hardys on Monday's edition of Elevation, she's a great get for Dark for this week, but I wouldn't have her competing on the show consistently. She looked great as always and came off as a star. This was a nice warm-up for her as she prepares to take part in the women's Owen Hart Cup.

Danielle Kamela def. Rache Chanel

Other than this, I think I've seen Kamela have all of one match since being released by WWE, whenever that was. She's never been overly impressive to me in the ring, but she definitely has a presence about her and she's worth a look by AEW. Her women's Owen Hart Cup qualifying match against Britt Baker this Wednesday on Dynamite may be nothing more than a glorified squash, but it'd be cool if she had a chance to shine before losing.

Team Taz (FTW Champion Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs) def. The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson)

​I'm happy that Team Taz are finally getting something of a push. I thought they would be positioned as stepping stones for Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland, but they surprisingly won that tag team match last week on Dynamite. It was also nice to see them beat an actual team on this show and not a pair of uncontracted wrestlers. This was a lot of fun while it lasted with everyone playing their roles well.

Tony Nese def. JD Griffey

Since Nese just picked up a squash win on Monday's Elevation, was it really necessary to feature him on this show as well? I realize they're really trying to get over his new partnership with Mark Sterling, but I truly don't see it benefiting Nese in the long-term. He'll likely be built up to lose to someone more important on Rampage and that'll be it. The best thing I can say about this is that it was kept short and sweet.

Marina Shafir def. Alejandra Lion

As I've said elsewhere before, I can't bring myself to care about Shafir being Cargill's 30th opponent and that match being for the AEW TBS Championship. Seriously, is anyone legitimately excited for that? I know Shafir has been built up nicely on the Dark shows in recent months and boasts an undefeated record, but the one appearance she made on Dynamite was a dud, so I have zero hope their matchup is going to be any good. This was pure domination from her, but I still don't see her as a threat to the title.

Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland def. The Factory (Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto)

If Lee wasn't going to be in action on Rampage or Battle of the Belts II last week, the Dark taping was the next best thing. He was beloved in his home state and it was really cool to see. I always rag on The Factory for not being anything more than serviceable in the ring, but they held their own in this one and it was a quality main event. The tag team chemistry of Lee and Strickland was the true highlight.

Overall Show

This edition of Dark benefited from being taped the same night as Friday's Rampage and Battle of the Belts II in Texas and not at Universal Studios, so the crowd was hotter. Dark has been better in recent weeks with the significantly shorter runtime and this episode was no exception. They also filled the show this time with matches without sprinkling in any video packages for Dynamite, which I honestly didn't mind. By Dark standards, this was an above-average episode with two top-notch tag team matches and an appearance from Toni Storm.

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