AEW Dark Review - February 7, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Blake Christian def. Serpentico

Christian is a hell of a hand. Regardless of who he's up against, he always shines any time he's in action, but the problem is that we know nothing about him as a character and he rarely receives mic time (if ever). Hopefully that changes when ROH TV gets going again because I assume that's where he'll be slotted. Nonetheless, this was an enjoyable opener. My disdain for Chaos Project is well documented, but Serpentico can go and they had nice chemistry.

Rush def. Aiden Park

Rush has been on a tear in the ring this year, which is why I'm excited for his match against Bryan Danielson on Wednesday's Dynamite. Of course, the outcome isn't remotely in doubt, but I expect Rush to have a strong showing beating eating defeat. His squashes are always fun because he lays his stuff in and doesn't slow down at all (in a good way). He's actually benefited from Andrade El Idolo's absence because now he's being positioned as the leader of La Faccion Ingobernable.

Kiera Hogan def. Megan Myers

I remain disappointed that more wasn't done with Hogan during her brief feud with Jade Cargill over the AEW TBS Championship. I don't think she scored a single meaningful win on TV or received any mic time. Yes, she's winning matches on Dark, but they don't count for much aside from giving her more reps. This was perfectly passable and the best thing I can say about it is that it didn't overstay its welcome.

Dalton Castle def. Dante Casanova

Castle and The Boys lost their ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship to The Embassy at Final Battle, so they're pretty much stuck in limbo until ROH TV starts soon. Actually, they'd be stuck in limbo anyway because I'm not sure we've seen Gates of Agony on AEW TV since Final Battle. Nonetheless, I'm all for more of Castle, so I dug this as he got to showcase his skills and do his usual shtick.

Mascara Dorada def. Slim J

It's been a while since The Trustbusters have been in action as I feel like I haven't seen Slim J in forever. I'm not complaining, though. This was similar to the opener in that I was more interested in what Dorado could do than Slim J. The match had its moments and I have to give Slim J credit for the part he played in that. I don't know what Dorado's contractual status is right now, but I want to see him make more AEW appearances in AEW.

The Outrunners def. Logan Cruz and Tyshaun Perez

Are The Outrunners the same guys who lost to House of Black last week on Elevation and to The Acclaimed last week on Dynamite? It's interesting they were given a squash win here. That tells me AEW might be interested in signing them. They definitely have a unique look and were entertaining in their last two matches, but I don't know that AEW needs another jobber team on the roster. This was fine and we'll see where they go from here.

Baliyan Akki def. Rico Gonzalez

Akki hasn't wrestled many matches for AEW and is largely seen accompanying Emi Sakura to the ring. It's cool that he got a chance here to showcase his skills, but I'm not sure what purpose he'll serve on the roster other than pulling jobber duty. If nothing else, this wasn't a bad introduction to what he can do in the ring. Dark can be where he hones his skills, assuming AEW continues to use him in this role.

Konosuke Takeshita def. EJ Nduka

I'm happy this was positioned as the main event because this was easily what I was looking forward to the most coming into this episode. The timing of this was interesting because Nduka's Last Man Standing match against Alexander Hammerstone for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship airs on tonight's premiere of MLW Underground Wrestling. Obviously, unless Nduka re-signs, that was his swan song from MLW and he's officially a free agent. Takeshita is super talented and was an excellent opponent for him. They didn't get a ton of time, but Nduka was impressive whenever he was offense.

Overall Show

This edition of Dark felt like it lasted a lot longer than it actually was, probably due to the abundance of squashes with lower-level talent. However, enough of the squashes were more competitive/interesting than usual to make this a slightly-above-average episode. It was a little light on star power, but Takeshita vs. Nduka in the main event made up for it. Nduka has a ton of potential and I'm hoping he'll either end up in AEW or back in WWE.

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