AEW Dark Review - March 8, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Anna Jay def. Marina Tucker

Jay continues to be showcased in singles competition on the Dark shows. I'm glad she's getting the experience she needs, but I'm hoping she gets to do something meaningful on the main shows at some point. She's one of the women stuck in a lull at the moment having already lost to the two top champions Britt Baker and Jade Cargill. This was a short and not-so-sweet squash for Jay as it wasn't entirely smooth for the minute it lasted.

Scorpio Sky def. Sonny Kiss

It's about time Sky starting beating established talent and not just local athletes. The problem is that it's too little, too late. AEW has been boasting about how he's undefeated going into his upcoming AEW TNT Championship match on Wednesday's Dynamite against Sammy Guevara, but he's barely won on Dynamite and Rampage over the last year. Why should anyone take him seriously? On the bright side, this was a quality contest with both Sky and Kiss having nice showings.

Red Velvet def. Kiera Hogan

I'm a fan of both of these women and their potential, though Velvet feels more miscast in her current role than Hogan. Velvet just hasn't likable as a babyface for a while, but at least she's been racking up wins on the Dark shows as of late and it means more for her to beating known names such as Hogan than random enhancement talents. This was fine while it lasted but could have been better with more time.

Top Flight def. The Wingmen ("Pretty" Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth)

It was great to see Top Flight finally reunite last Wednesday on Dynamite after almost one year of Darius Martin being on the shelf. AEW could have done more with Dante as a singles star, but it was clear he was cooling off before Darius came back because AEW wasn't doing anything of note with him. Hopefully they won't be solely relegated to Dark going forward, but it does make sense to have them work matches against undercard teams so Darius can work off any ring rust. The Wingmen do nothing for me, but this was a nice match.

Kris Statlander def. Kelsey Raegan

Did all of Best Friends need to be ringside for this? Where were they when Leyla Hirsch cheated to beat her at Revolution? Then again, we got an appearance from Danhausen at ringside, so it's hard for me to complain. Statlander needed a few wins to get back on track and she got just that on Elevation and now on Dark. This was a fairly straightforward squash for Statlander that didn't overstay its welcome.

Ruby Soho and AQA def. Emi Sakura and Diamante

Dark is probably the best place for AQA at this point. She has potential and her Shooting Star Press is impressive, but as seen in her debut match against Jade Cargill, there's plenty of room for improvement. Thankfully, she had an experienced partner here in Soho and they worked well together. Soho feels completely lost in the shuffle at the moment after a hot debut, but at least she's been winning consistently on the Dark shows.

The Butcher and The Blade def. The Dark Order (Alan "5" Angels and Colt Cabana)

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Butcher and Blade win a match, let alone one against two guys on the roster. I probably should have seen that coming considering Angels and Cabana don't normally team together. This turned into a pretty good match. As I've always said, I couldn't care less about Butcher and Blade as characters, but they're competent wrestlers and this proved that. They need to stop jumping from faction to faction, though.

Nyla Rose def. Skye Blue

Blue plays her underdog role exceptionally well and will win the occasional match but tends to lose whenever it matters most. That makes sense considering I don't believe she's officially signed yet (which is bizarre to me), at least based on how she hasn't received the "all elite" graphic yet. Nonetheless, I really liked the dynamic between these two and I appreciated how Blue was able to fight from underneath for a few minutes before eating defeat as opposed to losing quickly.

Jay Lethal def. Serpentico

I'm sorry but Lethal really shouldn't have struggled to beat Serpentico. I've complained quite a bit about how underutilized Lethal has been since signing with AEW in November, but putting him in a competitive match with a goof like Serpentico is a step too far (though I suppose it's better than his opponent being Luther). There wasn't anything actively bad about this, but it definitely didn't need to be five minutes. I fear this is role Lethal will be stuck in going forward, but I really hope I'm wrong.

Private Party def. Lee Johnson and Brock Anderson

Private Party haven't had a lot of luck, and even if the plan is for Matt Hardy to be booted from the A.H.F.O. soon, I hope Private Party branch off on their own eventually as well. They've only been hurt by being associated with the heel faction and need a reboot as babyfaces. They had a fun little match here with Johnson and Anderson where both teams got to showcase their skills a bit. I'm glad we're still seeing Arn Anderson almost every week despite Cody Rhodes leaving AEW, even if it's on Dynamite or Rampage.

Overall Show

Dark is typically filmed out of Universal Studios in Orlando, but this week was the exception because Rampage was live last week and I assume it was taped prior to that show. That would explain why it was a little bit longer as well. Even 10 matches is too many, but thankfully, most of them featured established talent. That helped make the in-ring action more enjoyable compared to a standard Dark show, so this was solid stuff on the whole.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews