AEW Dark Review - March 17, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Colt Cabana def. Peter Avalon

I loved Cabana's commentary work in Ring of Honor, so while I'm bummed it looks like he'll solely be an active competitor in AEW, he's been a blast so far. He's been involved in SCU's feud with The Dark Order and won on his own here. Granted, beating Avalon isn't too impressive, but it was a decent little match while it lasted. He's comic relief with actual credibility, so it's the perfect combination.

The Hybrid2 def. Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa

I hate to sound like a broken record, but Jack Evans and Angelico have been so underutilized in AEW so far. I realize not everyone can constantly be AEW World Tag Team Championship contenders, but they lose far more than they win. Their work was so awesome in Lucha Underground that seeing them get relegated to enhancement status is frustrating. Thankfully, they picked up the win here in a fun little sprint. Cutler teaming with Nakazawa makes far more sense than him teaming with Shawn Spears, Peter Avalon or Kip Sabian because at least they're both babyfaces.

Penelope Ford def. Riho

We don't see nearly enough of Ford in the ring. She's a wonderful valet for Sabian, but she deserves to be spotlighted as well. She had a very impressive outing here and held her own against Riho. I realize Riho is a terrific wrestler and all, but I can't bring myself to care about her because after all this time we still know nothing about her, nor have we heard from her since she lost the AEW Women's Championship last month. Despite that, this was an enjoyable encounter and Ford scoring the victory was a pleasant surprise. Here's hoping she can capitalize off this and it won't be forgotten about.

Christopher Daniels def. Stu Grayson

Daniels vowed during his hilarious parody of The Dark Order last week to take on and defeat Grayson and Evil Uno in one-on-one matches. We hadn't seen Grayson compete in singles action yet in AEW and this turned out to be a solid match. Having him work with someone as established as Daniels was a huge help, too. Dark Order loses nothing from this as long as the reveal of The Exalted One tomorrow night on Dynamite lives up to the hype. Daniels teased facing Evil Uno afterward, so I assume that will go down on Dynamite as well.

Overall Show

Dark hasn't been anything out of the ordinary for a while now, but I thought this was one of the stronger episodes in recent memory. All of the matches were entertaining, the right people went over, and there was advancement in the SCU vs. Dark Order storyline. Considering this will be the last Dark taped in front of a live audience for a while, I wouldn't be shocked if the format was shortened until things go back to normal.