AEW Dark Review - July 6, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lance Archer def. Ryan Mantel

​This marked Mantel's AEW debut. He wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms by Archer, who squashed him in a matter of minutes. Archer squashes are always fun and this was no different. Jake Roberts sat in on commentary and talked the entire time about Archer debuting a new finisher. He ended up winning with the Hellacoaster, which he's used in the past.The only thing that made it stand out, aside from Jake Roberts sitting on commentary, was Archer debuting a new finisher, which Roberts hyped up throughout the bout.

The Factory (QT Marshall and Aaron Solow) def. Terrell and Terrence Hughes

​God, The Factory is just the worst, especially with Anthony Ogogo apparently out injured at the moment. He and Nick Comoroto are the best parts about the faction and I don't think either of them have competed since late May/early June. I'm really, really hoping the Marshall vs. Cody Rhodes rivalry will end at Road Rager and we can start to see less of The Factory because they aren't interesting in the slightest. On the bright side, The Hughes boys are talented and got to showcase some of their skills here, though I could do without them being a Dudley Boyz tribute act. And yes, I'm well aware that they're the sons of D-Von Dudley.

AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker Hosted The Waiting Room with Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela

​It's been a while since we last got an installment of The Waiting Room and Baker has really grown into the role. It was the perfect place to get some sort of development in the story with Janela and Kiss, which feels like it's been dragged out way longer than needed. I'm all for long-term storytelling, but when we're getting the same stuff week after week, it's not effective long-term storytelling because people will quickly lose interest. I can't say I cared about this too much, but I appreciated the effort, nonetheless. Despite Janela hugging Kiss at the end, I'm sure it won't be long before he turns on him.

Abadon def. Natalia Markova

​The less of Abandon, the better. I'm glad she's relegated to the Dark shows as opposed to Dynamite, but it makes you wonder what the point of her even winning is unless she's going to enter contention for the women's title at some point. If that's the case and they're building to Abadon vs. Baker eventually, then no thanks. As with most Abadon matches, the best thing I can say about this is that it was kept on the shorter side and was relatively harmless.

Matt Sydal def. Carlie Bravo

​I thought there was a chance we'd get Sydal and Dante Martin against Chaos Project on this show after what went down at the end of Monday's Dark: Elevation, but perhaps they're saving that for another week. It's more important for Sydal to be focusing on his single endeavors at the moment considering he'll be facing the debuting Andrade El Idolo at Road Rager this Wednesday. He's always a treat to watch in the ring, so this was a nice little showcase for him.

The Blade def. Tre Lamar

​Blade will be teaming up with The Bunny to take on Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander at Road Rager, so this served as somewhat of a warm-up for Blade. Then again, Lamar was on offense for about half of it and scored plenty of offense, so it's not like this was about establishing Blade as being dominant. It didn't bother me too much that it was a competitive contest because Lamar looked good and Blade won by cheating a short while later, anyway.

Bear Bronson def. Big Trouble Bishop

Bronson's tag team partner continues to come out to the ring with him, which makes me think he's close to making a full return to the ring. They were just starting to build momentum before he got hurt, but Bronson has been holding his own in singles competition in his absence. This worked well as a hoss fight and didn't overstay its welcome. Bronson was basically the underdog here because Bischop is so damn tall.

Marko Stunt and Fuego Del Sol def. Baron Black and RYZIN

This team of Stunt and Fuego felt really random to me. Then again, I don't watch Sammy Guevara's vlog, so maybe that's why. I couldn't care less about Stunt and really wish AEW would limit his time in the ring, but this was more tolerable than if he was in there by himself. Fuego has grown on me and felt like the star of this thing before ultimately picking up his first win in the company, which felt like a big deal with various people coming out afterward to celebrate with him. Good for him. Will this lead to him getting a contract? My guess is that it's only a matter of time.

Kris Statlander def. Viva Van

She'll be in a mixed tag team match on Wednesday's Road Rager show, but Statlander has been stacking up so many wins in singles action that I have no doubt she'll be contending for the women's title before long. I believe she and Britt Baker have faced off in the past, and if so, they can play off that if they want. Statlander has been rocking and rolling since her return to the ring and this was another easy victory for her.

Varsity Blonds def. Chad Lennex and Zachariah

I'm surprised Lennex and Zachariah got an entrance here. I guess because they're Cody Rhodes' students, but who cares? It made sense when they faced The Factory a few weeks ago, but not so much here. They're definitely inexperienced, but they're not terrible by any means. As for Varsity Blonds, they've turned into quite the team in 2021. Their babyface fire is great and they're always improving whenever they're in there. Their record of 16-4 has kept them in the tag team rankings for months.

Angelico def. Prince Kai

Angelico has been getting a ton of opportunities in singles competition lately and I'm not complaining. Granted, he never wins when it matters most, but he's an amazing athlete, so whatever. His athleticism was on display in this bout for a bit before he scored the decisive victory. He took his time celebrating afterward and rubbed shoulders with Wheeler Yuta on his way up the ramp, which foreshadowed the finish of the next match...

Wheeler Yuta def. Ryan Nemeth

After Yuta became one of the only enhancement guys to get something of an entrance on this show, it became obvious he was winning here. It was also believable that Nemeth could have won (unfortunately), so the unpredictability surrounding the outcome was a nice touch. Nemeth is a mediocre worker at best, so keeping this brief was smart along with giving Yuta the win. Him and Angelico eventually should be a blast.

The Pinnacle (Shawn Spears and Wardlow) def. Hunter Knott and Rosario Grillo

Spears and Wardlow are such a weird duo. MJF and Wardlow have stronger chemistry together and Spears simply isn't interesting. Then again, I guess that's where Wardlow is there. This was another match that didn't need to happen because all it did was remind people of their dominance, but it's already been established that they're dominant. In other words, it accomplished nothing. Wardlow killing dudes made this worthwhile, though.

Tay Conti def. KiLynn King

I've been clamoring for weeks for Conti to get a step up in competition, so I'm glad we got that here. She can only beat so many jobbers before her string of wins aren't as impressive. Beating people that fans are actually familiar with will mean more and make her more of a threat to the AEW Women's World Championship when the time comes (and you know it will). As I've said in the past, King has been a Dark stalwart during the pandemic era and deserves credit for constantly putting in quality performances like she did in this match. This was a hell of an effort from them both and one of their best bouts in a while.

The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Colt Cabana, Alan "5" Angels and Preston "10" Vance) def. Will Allday, Dean Alexander, Chandler Hopkins and Jason Hotch

This was essentially any Dark Order multi-man match you've ever seen on Dark. Each member got some time to get their stuff in and that was about it. Most of these matches have a certain charm to them because the group's bond is so strong and they're a fun act (in my opinion, anyway), but they're also pretty pointless aside from AEW just wanting to get them onto the show. Allday was impressive, but that was the only thing about this that stood out to me.

Jack Evans def. Mike Sydal

Mike Sydal is an ideal person for a lot of these guys to beat because he's on the show often enough but isn't positioned as anyone important. He and his brother Mike are a fine team, but I'm actually happy Mike has been used more on his own lately because the Sydal brothers pale in comparison to a lot of the other teams AEW has under contract. Nonetheless, this was a well-wrestled affair while it lasted but nothing more.

Red Velvet def. Ashley Vox

I feel like we haven't seen Velvet in action in a few weeks if not longer. What happened to her team with Big Swole? They were appearing on Dark or Dark: Elevation almost every week for a while, but they haven't been featured lately to my knowledge. Well, she was back here against a talented opponent in Vox. They didn't have enough time to do anything memorable, but this did at least get Velvet back on track with a win.

Penta El Zero Miedo and Eddie Kingston def. Chaos Project

Kingston and Penta are really making the most of their time together. Penta and Rey Fenix have been teaming for so long that I didn't think I'd want to see Penta with anyone else, but he and Kingston have been a fun tandem these last few weeks. After defeating The Young Bucks in non-title action last week on Dynamite, they'll get their shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship this Wednesday at Road Rager. It's no secret that I hate Chaos Project (specifically Luther), but Kingston and Penta made this bearable and it gave them another momentum-boosting victory.

Overall Show

​Over two hours of wrestling, 17 squash matches and a talking segment? Good lord. I thought we were were done with these needlessly-long editions of Dark, but apparently not. I fear that this will become the norm once AEW hits the road again starting Wednesday if Dark: Elevation is going to be under an hour like Monday's show was. Don't get me wrong, I can think of worse ways to spend the two hours, but this was a chore to sit through at certain points. There's just no justifying a 17-match card. With all of that said, some of the matches were enjoyable and several people were able to pick up key victories.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews