AEW Dark Review - January 18, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Adam Cole def. Kaun

Kicking off the show with an Adam Cole match was a smart call seeing as how he's one of AEW's top stars and doesn't make appearances on Dark often. As for Kaun, I've spoken about him before as he's wrestled on AEW programming a time or two and was previously with Ring of Honor as part of Shane Taylor Promotions. He's an impressive dude, and because of his size and skills, I didn't have much of an issue with him lasting as long as he did against Cole despite being an enhancement guy. Hopefully he continues to get more opportunities. In a post-match promo, Cole hyped up the mixed tag team match coming up on Wednesday's Dynamite.

Gunn Club (Austin and Colten Gunn) def. Bison XL and Larintiz X

Gunn Club have been all over Dark and Elevation as of late, and while I would have absolutely hated that a few months ago, they've surprisingly become more bearable as heels because they're naturals in that role. There's still room for improvement as far as their in-ring work goes, but their matches aren't lasting longer than they need to. I'm just not sure where these wins are supposed to be leading because I doubt AEW has any plans to feature them in the AEW World Tag Team Championship picture (and nor should they with the immense amount of talent we barely see as it is).

"Legit" Leyla Hirsch def. Katalina Perez

I've been digging this more aggressive edge from Hirsch lately. She's always been a badass, but AEW has done virtually nothing with her as a babyface, so hopefully this heel turn will get her some more television time. A feud with Kris Statlander is a step in the right direction. This was a nice little sprint with Hirsch hitting all of her signature offense before picking up the victory. She hasn't officially turned heel yet, but it's clearly coming sooner rather than later.

Lance Archer def. Liam Cross

I was happy to see Archer return on Dynamite last week after a three-month absence. I've always enjoyed his work and just wish AEW would do more with him. Yes, a feud with Adam Page for the AEW World Championship is certainly meaningful, but he probably should have been rebuilt first because it's extremely obvious he's not taking the title. It's worth noting that Jake Roberts didn't come out with him then or here, so hopefully he'll be back soon as well. This was a straightforward squash that I honestly wouldn't have minded being over even quicker than it was. Archer should be killing the enhancement dudes with ease.

Varsity Blonds def. Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis

Two jobbers with the first name of Liam in back-to-back matches? What are the odds? At any rate, this was an effective rebound win for Varsity Blonds, who haven't had a lot of luck lately against Malakai Black. Varsity Blonds vs. Black and Brody King has already been announced for Wednesday's Dynamite, so while we know they won't be winning that one, I appreciated that they were more serious than usual here and this gave them the minor momentum boost they needed. 

Red Velvet def. Vipress

Velvet doesn't do much for me as a character (she's someone who could benefit from a heel turn I think), but her in-ring work is getting better at least. Dark is where she belongs for the time being. Meanwhile, Vipress, who we've seen on Dark quite a bit over the last year, scored more offense than I was expecting and she fared well for herself. It was a perfectly fine match for what it was. 

Skye Blue def. Robyn Renegade

Blue will be facing Serena Deeb this week on Dynamite after coming to the aid of Hikaru Shida last week following her loss to Deeb. I assume Deeb vs. Tay Conti is the ultimate direction they're headed in, so sacrificing Blue to Deeb as she embarks on this dominant heel run makes sense. Blue is the quintessential underdog and tends to fight from underneath in most of her matches. That was the case with this outing as well, but the result was the right one.

Anna Jay def. Tiffany Nieves

Happy Birthday to -1, who accompanied Jay to the ring here. According to Excalibur, he turned 10 (no, not Preston Vance) on Monday. As for Jay, she has some momentum coming off her Street Fight tag team win on the New Year's Eve edition of Rampage, but I'm not sure what you do with her now unless she'll be involved in the likely Deeb vs. Conti feud. In the meantime, she'll be best suited picking up wins on Dark and continuing to hone her skills. This was short, sweet and serviceable.

Daniel Garcia def. Anthony Greene

Greene is the perfect person to be brought in from time to time to work with the more established guys and look credible in defeat. This was fairly competitive with Greene getting to showcase his skills. I still find Garcia to be a bit bland (2point0 notwithstanding) and he rarely wins the important matches, but there's no denying his talent between the ropes. This was a well-worked match with Garcia winning with a cool-looking submission. 2point0 called out Chris Jericho afterward and I can't say I'm overly excited that feud isn't over yet.

Bear Country def. Brandon Bullock and Jameson Ryan

This was all out destruction and I'm not complaining. This is what we need to see from Bear Country more often. The issue is that they'll win more than practically any other enhancement talent (and I use that term because they never got the "all elite" graphic) on Dark and yet I can't remember a single match they've won on Dynamite or Rampage. They were made to look like the monsters they are here.

Orange Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta def. The Wingmen ("Pretty" Peter Avalon and JD Drake)

Avalon looked like an absolute goof, or at least more than usual. He made some over the headlines over the weekend when it was reported that his contract could be up with the company and he didn't confirm or deny anything on Monday when he tweeted that he was available for all independent dates going forward. He can help out backstage, but as far as having a presence on air, he's not needed. I could live without seeing another Best Friends vs. Wingmen match ever again, but it was a solid main event.

Overall Show

Dark is making progress as far as cutting down on the amount of matches, which is appreciated. We only got around 11 matches on this edition and it lasted just over an hour. Granted, the main event wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I did like Cole vs. Kaun and Garcia vs. Greene was well wrestled. This followed the formula that I think Dark should most weeks: showcasing several stars, hyping up Dynamite and Rampage, and giving up-and-comers a platform to improve. That's all I really ask for from this show and this episode delivered on all of that without overstaying its welcome.

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