AEW Dark Review - December 20, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kenny Omega def. Hagane Shinno

As Excalibur noted on commentary, this marked Omega's first singles match since losing the AEW World Championship to Adam Page at Full Gear in November 2021. I'm surprised it happened on Dark of all places, but it was obviously a nice boost for this show. I assume Omega handpicked Shinno as his opponent. This was a quality contest, but it reminded me of Omega vs. Alan Angels a few years ago when Omega sold more for him than he should have. It didn't upset me, but this definitely did not need to be as competitive as it was considering Shinno has yet to wrestle a single match on AEW TV.

Action Andretti def. Invictus Khash

Andretti was the dude who beat Chris Jericho in shockingly clean fashion last week on Dynamite, so I'm happy they wasted no time putting him back in the ring (this was taped over the weekend). He's obviously very talented, but hopefully we get to hear from him on the mic one of these days. He sold a little more for Khash than I would have liked, but he looked good in there regardless and having him rack up wins at this point is the right call.

Marina Shafir def. Angelica Risk

Much like her match on Monday's Elevation, this was kept brief and thankfully so. Shafir seemingly didn't nearly injure her opponent this time, so that was a plus. As I've said before, I realize these matches are likely designed to give Shafir more reps, but what is she really gaining if these matches are short squashes? And how much does her beating random losers really mean if she can't win when it matters most?​

Parker Boudreaux def. Gus De La Vega

I feel like Boudreaux has been completely absent from AEW TV as of late. We know The Trustbusters have been around, but Boudreaux has been conspicuous by his absence. They weren't ringside with him for his match, either, so if the idea is to have him part ways with them, then he'll be better off. He works with intensity and could have potential but remains very green.

Angelico and Chaos Project def. Jay Marte, Jarett Diaz and Richard Adonis

We haven't seen Chaos Project team much in recent month (Serpentico has largely been relegated to singles matches), which I've been completely content with. Serpentico won't flourish on his own, but at least he's bearable, unlike Luther. This was a simple showcase for them and Angelico, and in a post-match promo, they officially declared themselves Spanish Announce Project because Angelico and Serpentico are the Spanish announce team for AEW apparently. That means we have yet another undercard trio in AEW. Oh joy.

Julia Hart def. Sahara Seven

We heard from Hart earlier in the episode via a video package. She has yet to impress me in the ring, but to her credit, she has shown noticeable improvement with her character work as well as her mic work. She's still House of Black's manager and nothing more, but at least she's back to getting reps in the ring on Dark. I appreciate that this was short, but Hart isn't as intimidating as they're trying to make her out to be.

Jeff Jarrett and Satnam Singh def. Dean Alexander and Rosario Grillo

As I've pointed out before, Singh will team with Jarrett and Jay Lethal on the Dark shows but not on Dynamite or Rampage. That's obviously because he's not ready for television yet, so I appreciate they're not rushing him into anything. At the same time, this heel group has been all over AEW TV recently and they feel overexposed. This was designed to give them another win before they eventually challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Jarrett wrestling at Universal Studios again was quite cool, though.

The Wingmen ("Pretty" Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth) def. Jake St. Patrick and Sage Scott

Giving The Wingmen any sort of victory always feels like a waste of time. It hasn't happened in a while, but  almost understood it a while ago because that was when the wins and losses factored into the power rankings, which no longer exist. This was whatever. Avalon is okay, but Nemeth has subpar performances more often than not (his brother, he is not). He might actually be better in a managerial role.

Kip Sabian def. Caleb Konley

I'm down for any appearance Konley can make on AEW programming. He left IMPACT earlier this year and hasn't signed anywhere since, which is a bummer because he's always been able to go. Sabian was a nice opponent for him as they had a quality contest and Konley had a chance to show a little bit of what he's capable of. Sabian is clearly headed for an AEW All-Atlantic Championship match against Orange Cassidy, so he needed to win here.

AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill def. Dream Girl Ellie in an AEW TBS Championship Eliminator

Cargill rarely competes on the Dark shows, but at this point, I don't mind it because it means we're another step closer to her extending her undefeated streak to 50-0. It will be a cool milestone, but I'm more so looking forward to whatever she does after that because her development has stalled in recent months. She was made to look strong in this match and that's all you can really ask for at this point in her reign while we wait for AEW to build someone up to challenge her.

Ricky Starks def. Cezar Bononi

Starks is fresh off losing to MJF at Winter Is Coming and failing to win the AEW World Championship, so I liked how AEW wasted no time in giving him a rebound win. Bononi is abysmal, but this worked because he's significantly bigger than Starks, so it was more impressive when Starks beat him. Starks has hit his stride as a babyface since the implosion of Team Taz and I hope he'll settle into his next feud soon so he isn't without direction for too long.

Overall Show

Dark was bearable this week at just over an hour, but I could have done without 11 matches. And that was with Omega vs. Shinno lasting as long as it did! Yes, I'm thankful matches featuring the likes of Shaifr and Chaos Project were quick and painless, but then again, there's no need for matches like that to happen in the first place. I appreciated that Dark had more star power than usual this week, but most of the stuff in the middle was meaningless.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews​