AEW Dark Review - June 21, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Max Caster def. Trevor Aeon

This was the first Acclaimed appearance in recent weeks where Gunn Club wasn't present. It's an alliance I largely haven't minded, but I'm glad they went at it alone here. There wasn't anything memorable about Caster's pre-match rap (or the match itself for that matter), but this served to give him a rare singles win just to pad his record. It was a basic bout that didn't overstay its welcome.

Serpentico def. Vary Morales

Was it really necessary to give Serpentico a singles squash win? I guess the intent was to give him a win so it will mean more when someone on the roster beats him soon, but I don't think it will have the effect Tony Khan thinks it will. It's okay for certain people to never win a match and Serpentico to be one of them. With all of that said, this was perfectly fine for as long as it lasted.

Kris Statlander def. Ava Everett

The more aggressive side of Statlander has been nice to see these past few months. She appears to be primed to challenge Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship soon, unless Athena gets the shot first. The important thing is that she's racking up wins for now and is looking good doing it. This was a solid showcase for her and she seems to be getting more comfortable with her new character.

The Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. The Wingmen ("Pretty" Peter Avalon and Cezar Bononi)

Dark Order moving into a Dark feuds with The Wingmen and The Factory is a fall from grace for them. I know they're supposed to be "lovable losers," but the shtick has run its course and it might be time to move in a different direction with them unless AEW can come up with something significant for them to do. This was a well-wrestled affair, but it's hard to care about either team right now and more matches appear to be coming based on what happened afterward.

Brock Anderson and Varsity Blonds def. Larry Lizard, Terry Yaki and Jay Lucas

I just read today that Lee Johnson will be out for the foreseeable future with an injury, so that's unfortunate. Anderson is likely doomed on his own, but I like the pairing of him and Varsity Blonds given the Brian Pillman Jr. and Arn Anderson connection. They didn't get a chance to show much because this was so brief, but they seemed to have quality chemistry together from what I could tell.

Diamante def. Devlyn Macabre

We haven't seen much of Diamante on her own as of late, which is a shame because she's very talented. Unfortunately, I don't think AEW sees her as a star at all, otherwise she'd be used on TV once in a while. Instead, she's given the occasional singles win so it means more when she gets beat, like I wrote earlier about Serpentico. This was also on the shorter side, but I always appreciate her intensity.

Tony Nese def. JDX in a Pure Rules Match

Pure Rules matches were a Ring of Honor staple that were brought back in 2020 and used throughout 2021, mostly for matches with the ROH Pure Championship on the line. This was obviously just a squash, but it served as a small preview of what to expect next week when he challenges Wheeler Yuta for the title. I'd love if they made the Pure title the top prize on this show so we could see it defended more often.

Serena Deeb and ROH Women's World Champion Mercedes Martinez def. Yaide and Anna Diaz

Deeb and Martinez teamed up twice before this, both times on Elevation. Thankfully, we heard from them before this bout and Deeb made it clear she's willing to team with Martinez for now, but her sights are obviously set on the ROH Women's World Championship. That has the potential to be excellent, but it looks like we're going to have to sit through them teaming for the time being. This was along the same lines as their other outings with both women trying to top with each other.

Jay Lethal def. Blake Christian

Christian has always been damn talented in the ring, but there's nothing interesting about him as a character and thus I'm not surprised he didn't last long in WWE NXT. Despite that, he had a chance to impress against Lethal in this main event and I thought he did just that by looking credible in defeat. This was both competitive and enjoyable. I liked how Lethal actually won with the diving elbow for a change. Hopefully Samoa Joe isn't gone for long so Lethal can resume his rivalry with him.

Overall Show

There were way more promos than usual on this edition of Dark, which was a nice change of pace. I also really liked how they set up a ROH Pure Championship match between Yuta and Nese one week out. Nese is a glorified stepping stone, but I'm looking forward to that. Similar to Monday's edition of Elevation, this didn't need to be around an hour long and several squashes could have been cut, but it was a serviceable show on the whole.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews