AEW Dark Review - December 6, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Campions Dalton Castle and The Boys def. Justin Corino, Jaden Valo and Defarge (Non-Title)

Castle and The Boys emerged following The Embassy's six-man tag team win on Monday's Elevation, so it's all but confirmed that they'll defend the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against them at ROH Final Battle on Saturday. Castle and The Boys really should be on AEW TV more often, but at least they picked up a last-minute win here in what might have been their last match as champs.

Abadon def. Leva Bates

These are two of my least favorite wrestlers in AEW's women's division for similar reasons. They both have bad gimmicks and have yet to have a memorable match. I realize Bates works behind the scenes, but I have no idea why Abadon is still on the roster if she's never used on TV and doesn't put others over on the Dark shows. This was a mediocre match that didn't really seem to accomplish anything.

Brian Cage def. Leon Ruffin

The Embassy is being built up for a shot at the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship at Final Battle and hopefully that's a match they can actually win. They've been featured on AEW TV a lot in recent months but haven't been able to win when it has mattered most, but I do enjoy whenever Cage squashes smaller opponents. Props to Ruffin for playing his role as an underdog role so well, though I'm not sure it was necessary for him to score as much offense as he did.

Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh def. Brick City Boyz

It's interesting how Lethal will team with Jeff Jarrett on TV but team with Singh on the Dark shows. I don't think Lethal needs to be in the AEW World Tag Team Championship picture at all, but Jarrett might be a better fit for the spot if the feel Singh isn't ready yet. He isn't the ring for very long during these matches, but at least he's getting reps in. I like Brick City Boyz (they're from the northeast independent wrestling scene), but this was a standard squash for Lethal and Singh.

Athena def. B3CCA

The Athena mean streak continues. We've seen "monster" heels such as Nyla Rose destroy their opponents before, but I haven't seen this sort of intensity from someone smaller like Athena in the women's division in quite some time, or at least not in AEW. It's been a breath of fresh air and has obviously made her feel like the ultimate threat to Mercedes Martinez and her ROH Women's World Championship come Final Battle. This was what we've come to expect from Athena and that's a good thing.

Trent Beretta def. Anthony Henry

I know Henry is super talented and even had a competitive match against Darby Allin on Rampage, but I can't remember him ever winning anything of note in AEW, so were fans really supposed to buy into the idea of him possibly beating Beretta? Then again, he did take Allin to the limit like I said, so I suppose it's consistent for him not to be squashed by Beretta so soon after. They had an entertaining main event and Henry was surprisingly on offense for most of it. Maybe we're getting Best Friends vs. The Workhorsemen in the near future?

Overall Show

I appreciate not only that this show was again taped in front of a full crowd this week (a.k.a. not in Universal Studios) but also that it was a shorter edition of Dark with six matches. It was an easier watch than usual as a result and I liked the show on the whole. The main event was a nice treat, Athena and Cage killing their opponents was fun, the Lethal and Singh squash was quick and painless, and Castle and The Boys opened the episode with a solid showcase. Abadon vs. Bates was the only match I didn't care for, but that was the only miss.

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