AEW Dark Review - April 25, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Harley Cameron def. Mafiosa

Cameron has wrestled on Dark before, but these days she's a part of the QTV crap with QT Marshall and company. I'd pull the plug on that now that Powerhouse Hobbs is no longer AEW TNT Champion, though it's not like it should have ever been given the green light to begin with. She seems to be competent in the ring as this was fine for what it was. I'm curious if this was a one-off in the ring for her or she'll be wrestling more as part of her new gimmick.

Blake Christian def. Lee Johnson

This was a match that made sense to be competitive (and would've been a better opener than the one we got). Both guys are talented and are basically in the same spot on the card, at least in AEW. Christian has been a regular in Ring of Honor since the relaunch and has been getting plenty of opportunities over there. These two were given an ample amount of time and had the enjoyable, well-wrestled match you'd expect from them.

Brock Anderson and Brian Pillman Jr. def. The Wingmen (Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi)

Anderson and Pillman cut a really good promo backstage earlier in the episode, talking about how wrestling is in their blood and how they do it because they have to due to knowing nothing else. I still have my reservations about them as a team as I feel Pillman is long overdue for some singles spotlight, but they do work well together, as seen here. There wasn't much to the match, but at least Pillman and Anderson beat an actual team. Could they not have won more decisively? It's the damn Wingmen. Arn Anderson stood in their corner, so he may be pulling double duty if he continues to manage Wardlow as well.

Emi Sakura and Mei Suruga def. Ashley D'Amboise and Reka Tehaka​

D'Amboise signing with AEW is reportedly official, but she was strictly in enhancement mode here. Her and Tehaka were in there to put over Sakura and Suruga and did a decent job of doing so. Sakura and Suruga have been showcased as a team before and have excellent chemistry together. I don't know how often we'll be seeing them going forward, but this was a fun outing while it lasted.

Zack Clayton def. Jake Logan

Clayton remains one of the most generic dudes on the roster, aside from possibly Cole Karter (who he coincidentally teased an alliance with last week). I'd say to give him more mic time to help him stand out more, but his promos have largely been average as well. The best thing I can say about this match is that it was a straightforward squash and was kept on the shorter side, not taking up more time than it had to.

The Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese and Josh Woods)

All of Dark Order seem to be shifting over to ROH, so don't expect to see them doing much in AEW any time soon. They're the kings of Dark in that they're featured a ton and have their matches down to a formula, so although this was well worked, it was no different than most Dark Order matches we've seen on this show. Ari Daivari attempted to interfere before being thwarted by Evil Uno, so that six-man tag team matchup will likely be a main event on Dark one of these days.

Overall Show

Dark was back to being filmed at Universal Studios this week, but it thankfully wasn't a 90-minute episode with a dozen matches. Instead, this was another appropriately-structured show that ran under 45 minutes and only had six matches. Granted, half of the matches weren't all that interesting, but the women's tag team match was an entertaining sprint, Anderson and Pillman are clicking more as a team, and Christian and Johnson made the most of their time. All in all, it was an solid episode.

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