AEW Dark Review - June 7, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lance Archer def. Aaron Solo

Archer received a tepid reaction at best when his music hit. I assume that's because the audience forgot he was still employed. Seriously, AEW's booking of him over the last year has been horrendous and I honestly don't see how he'll be able to bounce back with the company continuing to hire more and more talent. He's lost in the shuffle at this point, so expect to see him squash more fools on the Dark shows going forward. Solo's a heel and the crowd was behind Archer as he destroyed Solo, making me think he might be a babyface again. I don't see that making much of a difference, though.

Christopher Daniels def. Steven Andrews

Daniels just appeared on Monday's edition of Elevation alongside his former SCU partner Frankie Kazarian. He entered here to his old Fallen Angel music from his TNA days, which I popped big for because that song is awesome. I believe this was only his second AEW match since the dissolution of SCU last year and obviously it was cool that he wrestled in his home state of California. He didn't show much ring rust, and although this was rather brief, it was fun while it lasted.

Marina Shafir def. Skye Blue

These two infamously faced off on Dynamite before Shafir challenged Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship on Rampage two months ago. That first Shafir vs. Blue match was panned by fans and this wasn't much better. I've said before that Shafir has improved from her WWE days and while that is true, she is still very rough around the edges. The fact she's severely lacking in the charisma department doesn't help, either.

Ortiz def. Serpentico

It isn't often we see Ortiz compete in singles competition, but it makes sense he'd be showcased on his own here ahead of his Hair vs. Hair match against Chris Jericho next week on Dynamite. Serpentico is serviceable and is a fine person for Ortiz to beat to establish some singles credibility, but it really shouldn't have taken Ortiz as long as it did to win. This was decent and Ortiz showed good fire.

Toni Storm def. Zeda Zhang

Storm and Ruby Soho beat Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter in a tag team match last week on Dynamite, so I hope we haven't seen the last of Storm vs. Baker because that original encounter of theirs was subpar and Storm needs to avenge that loss eventually. Zhang has been used here and there by AEW on the Dark shows and I thought she impressed in defeat here. She and Storm made the most of their time in what was a nice little sprint.

Max Caster and Gunn Club (Austin and Colten Gunn) def. The Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds and Preston "10" Vance)

Dark Order just lost to The Factory on Monday's Elevation, so I thought for sure they would win here, but apparently not. It's possible they're going back to being lovable losers, but they were already in that role for a while and it's simply not interesting. I'm not sure if AEW will consider disbanding the group since it's meant to be a tribute to Brodie Lee at this point, but they definitely need to do something different. These two trios had quality chemistry together and it was a fun main event for what it was. Gunn Club will never be my favorite faction, but they oddly work well with Caster, so at least there's that.

Overall Show

Any edition of Dark that clocks in under an hour gets an automatic thumbs-up in my book. Dark should stick to this six-match formula in the future, but I know this episode was an anomaly because it was taped in front of a full live crowd and not at Universal Studios. There wasn't much memorable in-ring action, but some stars were showcased and Daniels being back in the ring for the first time in a while was a nice treat and the highlight of the night for me, personally.

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