AEW Dark Review - March 21, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Juice Robinson def. Leon Ruffin

I've written quite a bit about how little Robinson interest me and his newfound feud with Ricky Starks doesn't change that. Don't get me wrong, he's a good worker and he has charisma, but there's already so many underutilized people on the AEW roster who I'd rather see get television time before Robinson. That said, this was easily one of the most fun matches he's had in AEW thus far and Ruffin had a lot to do with that. Ruffin excels in the underdog role and I had no issue with this being as competitive as it was. 

Leila Grey def. Kiera Hogan

This had some storyline support with Hogan being a former Baddie and Grey still being aligned with Jade Cargill. I'm disappointed with how horribly booked Hogan's face turn has been. She got booted from The Baddies before losing every encounter she had with Cargill and Grey from thereafter, including this match. Hogan not getting any mic time hasn't helped. This was decent yet far from a mat classic. Grey definitely needs more reps.

Iron Savages def. The Wingmen (Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi)

It's about time Iron Savages (f.k.a. Bar Country) got some real competition. Okay, The Wingmen are the ultimate enhancement talent in AEW (as they should be), but it's better than them beating a pair of random local athletes for the umpteenth time. Ideally, Iron Savages should have squashed The Wingmen rather quickly, but at least they won and it wasn't a bad match to boot. Hopefully they can continue to work their way through the tag team ranks.

The Renegades def. Avery Breaux and Mafiosa

All signs point to The Renegades being under contract to AEW, though that hasn't been officially confirmed yet. They've won matches on Dark before, but the fact they won and lost the NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship so quickly leads me to believe they've signed some sort of a deal. Although there was nothing out of the ordinary about this outing, it served as a fine showcase for them. I'm still not the biggest fan of The Renegades, but they're definitely better than they were.

Toni Storm def. Billie Starkz

Storm has been all over AEW programming lately as part of the storyline with The Outcasts, so she was a good get for the Dark main event and Starkz was the perfect opponent for her. Starkz has been making the rounds recently and has been impressive everywhere she's been. She once again put forth an excellent effort and I appreciate that she was made to look credible in defeat. This was a very entertaining main event and what I'd like to see from Dark more often.

Overall Show

Dark is at its best when it follows the Elevation formula of featuring five or six matches and having a runtime of around 45 minutes. This show started strong with Robinson vs. Ruffin and ended strong with Storm vs. Starkz. Both bouts were fun and I'm glad they got as much time as they did. The stuff in the middle was serviceable and the episode flew by, even with it emanating from Universal Studios and not in front of a livelier crowd before Dynamite/Rampage. This was a great edition of Dark and, as I always say, I wish more episodes could be like this.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews