AEW Dark Review - January 31, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AR Fox and Top Flight def. The Wingmen ("Pretty" Peter Avalon, Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi)

We've seen them team up before (and it's clear they're in line for a shot at the AEW World Trios Championship based on Top Flight's recent Dynamite win over The Young Bucks), but this match served as another example of the strong chemistry Fox and Top Flight have together. They're a super fun trio and compliment each other nicely. Of course, The Wingmen do nothing for me, but to give credit where it's due, they played their roles well here and it was an enjoyable opener.

Red Velvet def. Sofia Castillo

Velvet had one of the best matches I think I've seen her have in a while against Billie Starkz on Monday's Elevation. It was basically a glorified squash, but Starkz scored more offense than I thought she would and was impressive. Castillo wasn't as impressive, unfortunately, and this really should have been a straightforward squash, especially with Velvet scheduled to challenge Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship on Dynamite this Wednesday.

Zack Clayton def. Fulton

I'm shocked Fulton hasn't signed anywhere since leaving IMPACT last year because the dude appears to be in the best shape I've ever seen him in. Good for him. He definitely deserves another look by any company, not just AEW. I can't remember the last match Clayton won, so I guess this existed to give him an overdue victory. The problem is that he's extremely generic and hasn't done much to stand out yet. The match was passable, if nothing else.

Brian Pillman Jr. and Brock Anderson def. Dean Alexander and Rosario Grillo

I was really happy to see Pillman in singles competition on Elevation. I was less than enthused to see him teaming with Anderson here. No offense to Anderson, but Pillman is beyond the tag team stuff at this point. Anderson definitely needs Pillman at this point more than Pillman needs Anderson. It just feels like an excuse to do a team with the sons of The Four Horsemen. This was a pretty bland match that didn't change my mind on them teaming.

Skye Blue def. Renee Michelle

I don't understand why AEW continues to put Blue with women who aren't seasoned. Okay, so Michelle's been wrestling for a while, but I can't say I've seen anything from her that would make me think she was an amazing worker. She's okay, but Blue needs opponents who are better than okay so she can improve (though she has improved a lot already). This was fine. Blue picked up a rare singles win, so there was that.

Shane Taylor Promotions def. Mr. G and Dante Casanova

I don't believe I've seen Shane Taylor and JD Griffey in action since their tag team loss to Swerve In Our Glory at Final Battle in December. I don't know if this means they're officially signed to Ring of Honor, but I hope so, especially in the case of Taylor who has plenty of untapped potential. As seen in this match, they work well together and went over in dominant fashion here. I could see them eventually setting their sights on the ROH World Tag Team Championship.

Yuka Sakazaki def. Avery Breaux

Sakazaki won her tag team match against Athena and Diamante on Elevation by Diamante, so if it wasn't already obvious, she'll be getting her shot at the ROH Women's World Championship very soon. I suppose they could have save it for when ROH TV launches soon, but it'd also be a great attraction for an edition of Elevation or Dark one of these weeks. Sakazaki is a hell of a worker and this win gave her another credibility boost.

The Workhorsemen def. Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis

Workhorsemen almost always wrestle teams on the AEW roster that they're guaranteed to lose against, so for those losses to mean anything for the teams they lose to, they need to win once in a while and that's the purpose this served. Plus, Anthony Henry and JD Drake are just a terrific team who constantly work with a sense of urgency, which I appreciate. This was a nice little sprint.

Konosuke Takeshita def. Angelico

Takeshita has a tendency to rack up wins on the Dark shows but lose when it matters most on Dynamite and Rampage. That said, I don't think that will be the case on Dynamite when he faces Brian Cage. I'm looking forward to that one. He and Angelico had a well-worked main event. It could have been better without all of the useless interference from Chaos Project, but what we got was entertaining enough.

Overall Show

If Dark is under an hour, it automatically earns a thumbs-up from me more often than not. It may sound silly, but that's my rule. The longer editions of Dark are a chore to sit through, and although this featured a few more squashes than it probably needed to, it was an efficient hour of wrestling on the whole. More importantly, it started and closed on a high note. That six-man tag team opener in particular was a treat.

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