AEW Dark Review - May 12, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Colt Cabana def. Shawn Dean

Cabana should be a great addition to the upcoming Casino Ladder match at Double or Nothing, even though I don't expect him to win. As for Dean, he's been all over both Dynamite and Dark as an enhancement talent and has shined in defeat every time. This was a well-wrestled opener that allowed Cabana to bounce back coming off his recent loss to Kip Sabian on Dark.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) def. Mike Reed and Ryan Rembrandt

You can always expect to be entertained whenever Jurassic Express are in action. Honestly, I'm shocked they have yet to receive a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship. As for this match, I'm glad it was just Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus for a change while Marko Stunt watched from ringside. They kept it short and sweet and went over in decisive fashion.

Private Party def. Lee Johnson and Musa

Private Party are another team I'd like to see more of on Dynamite. I hate to sound like a broken record, but as I've said countless times before, they started off hot in AEW with that win over The Young Bucks back in October and have done nothing of note since. Wins like this will help them rebuild momentum, but I feel like the crowds are a big part of their act and thus they're suffering from not having any fans in the audience to play off of.

10 def. Jon Cruz

10 is an impressive physical specimen and it should come as no surprise that The Dark Order appears to be in the process of being built around him. I assume Stu Grayson and Evil Uno have been quarantining at home, but Dark Order would benefit from having them around. Brodie Lee watched in approval as 10 completely decimated Cruz and scored the victory.

Fenix def. Alan Angels

Fenix has been off AEW TV for over two months and has been in quarantine I believe, so it was terrific to see him back. However, I don't know what this means for Pentagon Jr. and their Death Triangle stablemate Pac. I assume Pac won't be around for a while, but I'd be shocked if Pentagon was still in quarantine. He and Angels had an excellent sprint and I liked that Fenix was able to showcase his skills as a singles competitor. There's still more for The Lucha Bros to do together, but he'll shine on his own eventually.

Kris Statlander def. Dani Jordyn

Jordyn has appeared in the crowd on recent episodes of Dynamite, but I know her best from her appearance on the NWA's The Circle Squared show a few months ago. She must not have gotten that NWA contract if she was used here, which is the NWA's loss because she has potential. She and Statlander weren't given much time to have the match they were capable of, but this was decent while it lasted.

Orange Cassidy def. Jason Cade

Although Cassidy's act isn't the same without a crowd, I'll never complain about seeing him in action. This was far from a competitive contest as Cassidy didn't do much (or in other words, his usual shtick), but it worked for what it was supposed to be. Best Friends are scheduled to do battle with Jurassic Express on Wednesday's Dynamite, so this served as good hype for that.

Britt Baker def. Skyler Moore

The quality of Baker's matches has drastically improved since she went heel earlier this year. I loved the match she had with Hikaru Shida a month or so ago and I thought this was a strong showcase for her. Moore had a solid showing in her own right, but this was all about Baker and further establishing her heel persona. It also gave her a small momentum boost heading into the four-way match on Dynamite.

Jimmy Havoc def. Luther in a No Disqualification Match

Havoc and Luther have been teasing going to war for a few months now and it was only fitting that this was had a No Disqualification stipulation. I appreciated that they didn't get too crazy but still did some cool stuff. Havoc has been a standout on Dark for the better part of 2020 and Luther held his own here, so I'd consider this a success all around. Of course, the outcome was the correct one.

Overall Show

With nine matches and over an hour in length, this was basically a pay-per-view edition of Dark, or a super-sized episode of WWF Superstars from back in the day. Nothing is worth going out of your way to see, mind you, but it was a nice change of pace from what we've come to expect from Dark lately. I wouldn't stick with this elongated format every week, but as a one-time thing, it was efficient, effective and enjoyable.