AEW Dark Review - August 30, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

John Silver def. Serpentico

Silver and the Dark Order guys advanced in the AEW World Trios Championship Tournament last Friday on Rampage when Alex Reynolds pinned Malakai Black (I'm still rolling my eyes at that decision). Silver is obviously very talented, but it might have made more sense to give Dark Order another win in six-man tag team action to further their momentum. That said, this was a nice little match while it lasted. Kicking off Dark with established talent is always a smart call.

Diamante def. Charlette Renegade

I'm one of the bigger Diamante fans out there and really wish she'd get more television time. It's pretty astounded she hasn't gotten an "all elite" graphic yet and at this point I think it's safe to say she never will.​Unfortunately, this was pretty lousy. Diamante is skilled enough to where I think the blame falls on Renegade and her inexperience. They also just didn't gel well at all. Hopefully the Renegade sisters can improve because AEW seems to be super high on using them.

"Cool Hand" Angelo Parker def. Gus De La Vega

It's well documented at this point that Matt Menard has been out injured since Blood and Guts in late June. He's maintained a presence on television alongside Parker and was even on Elevation commentary with Excalibur on Monday. The two have been taking shots at Hook recently, so clearly they're building toward Parker vs. Hook for the FTW Championship. In fact, that was why this was so short, so he can brag that he put his opponent away quicker than Hook did.

Kiera Hogan def. Mylo

Hogan had a lot of potential in IMPACT before she left last year and I was worried she'd become just another name getting beat on Dark. Thankfully, she's found a nice role for herself as one of Jade Cargill's baddies. She has yet to have that one standout match, which is hard to have when you aren't given a ton of time, but this was perfectly passable and gave her a much-needed victory.

The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Slim J and Parker Boudreaux) def. Logan Cruz, Tyshaun Perez and Hermano

Although they were eliminated from the AEW World Trios Championship Tournament two weeks ago on Rampage, I don't see AEW easing up on their push any time soon. I guess it's commendable that Tony Khan is all in on his newest group, but they're just not very interesting. The only purpose I see this serving is building up Boudreaux and protecting him in these tag team matches. This was a straightforward showcase for them.

Julia Hart def. Vicky Dreamboat

Slowly but surely, we're getting more and more of Hart in the ring. She's improved, but I'm not still not quite sure she's ready for longer, competitive matches yet. She was rushed into an in-ring role way too quickly on television, but relegating her matches to the Dark shows for the time being is for the best. This was a few minutes long and she looked decent. It also looks like she's becoming more comfortable with her character work, so that's encouraging as well.

Kayla Rossi def. Vipress

Vipress has made quite a few appearances on the Dark shows over the last year and I honestly think she has more upside than Rossi, who has size on her side but is incredibly green. She played the role of Joey Janela's bodyguard well. I mean, she didn't do much, but she does have an intimidating presence. This wasn't terrible, but she probably get more reps elsewhere. She's not even Dark ready yet.

Varsity Blonds def. Rosario Grillo and Dean Alexander

It's sad to see how far Varsity Blonds have fallen from where they were even a year ago. They were a team I expected to go far, and perhaps they still can, but it's going to take plenty of rehabbing after all the losses they've endured this year. At this point, I'd rather see Brian Pillman Jr. branch off on his own and attempt to salvage his singles career because Varsity Blonds might be dead in the water as a tandem. This was a brief bout and didn't need to be any longer than it was.

Dante Martin def. AR Fox

Fox is a terrific talent. I said this recently when he popped up on one of the Dark shows in a tag team match, but I hope AEW continues to use him if not sign him to a deal, maybe under the Ring of Honor banner. He and Martin wrestle similar styles, so this was very enjoyable as you'd expect. Fox had a chance to shine before eating defeat. I just wish this got more time than it did. Why not trim one of the other matches to give this a few more minutes?

Brock Anderson def. Tyson Maddux

Arn Anderson is sticking around as Brock's manager at ringside, and although that's good for Brock, it feels like a waste of Arn after some of the excellent work he was doing with Cody Rhodes prior to Cody's departure. That said, Brock can still be something but needs experience. That's what matches on Dark can provide. Then again, I don't know how much experience he's going to get from matches as brief as this was, but I'm not complaining.

The Workhorsemen def. Oliver Sawyer and Manny Lo

Anthony Henry and JD Drake work really well together and I'm hoping we don't have to wait until Ring of Honor gets up and running for them to be featured more. This was your typical squash from them. Their matches are usually fun sprints and this was no exception. Interestingly, Drake noted in their post-match promo that he'll be fully focused on The Workhorsemen going forward and not The Wingmen. Needless to say, that was well overdue.

Leila Grey def. Renee Michelle

I believe Grey was booted as one of Cargill's baddies last week on either Dynamite or Rampage, so that alliance appears to be over. I guess this means she's back to doing jobs on Dark? Grey certainly has a presence about her, but she needs a lot of work in the room. That may explain why she was booted from Cargill's group so quickly unless Red Velvet's return is imminent. This was not the smoothest encounter, to say the least.

Rush def. Blake Christian

As I've said before, Christian is a good hand to have in the ring, but there's nothing remotely interesting about him as a character. He's cut the occasional promo on Dark, but nothing stands out as special about him despite being talented. Rush, on the other hand, is someone I'd like to see a lot more of in AEW. He has that star presence about him and I like his pairing with Andrade El Idolo a lot. Thankfully, he's gotten a fair amount of television time lately and his victory was a nice momentum boost for him.

Overall Show

Shoving 13 matches in an hour-long timeframe is never ideal, but I'd rather have an edition of Dark that's closer to 60 minutes than 90 minutes, so as I always say, that automatically enhances my enjoyment of the episode. We got to see some faces we don't ordinarily see, so that was a plus. None of the matches seemed to stand out or are worth checking out, but it was serviceable show that I would classify average on the whole.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews