AEW Dark Review - May 24, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kris Statlander def. Avery Breaux

Statlander was announced as Hikaru Shida's replacement in the women's Owen Hart Cup two weeks ago when it was clear Shida wouldn't be able to participate. She then went on to advance to the semifinals by beating Red Velvet last week on Rampage. There's a strong chance she goes all the way to the finals and possibly wins the whole thing so she can maintain momentum, but I'm personally pulling for Toni Storm. Nonetheless, this was a short and sweet squash for Statlander.

Jericho Appreciation Society ("Daddy Magic" Matt Mernard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker) def. Eli Isom and T.U.G. Cooper

It just dawned on me that we haven't seen the former 2point0 in action on their own since Jericho Appreciation Society became a thing two months ago. By the way, how bad are their new names? I know those are their real names and they likely didn't want to use Matt Chase and Jeff Parker anymore because of The Hardys coming in, but they're not memorable at all. Despite all the television time they've been getting lately, they've honestly been worse off since joining the group. This was a simple squash, but it wasn't interesting at all.

A.Q.A def. Brittany Jade

I feel like we've barely seen A.Q.A. in action since it was announced that AEW had signed her a few months ago. I won't say AEW jumped the gun in signing her because she certainly has potential, but she's also not ready for television, so Dark is the best place for her at the moment. This match was proof of that. It wasn't the smoothest encounter, but hey, at least A.Q.A. is getting more experience. That's what matters most.

Lee Moriarty def. Alan "5" Angels

Moriarty is fresh off a big win over Alex Reynolds on Monday's edition of Elevation, so it would have been dumb for him to lose here. Now that he's beaten two Dark Order members in a row, can be called The Dark Order Killer going forward (a la Randy Orton's Legend Killer gimmick)? In all seriousness, this was a really fun match. The botched Spanish Fly was unfortunate because the rest of this was great stuff. As I've said before, I hope AEW does more with Moriarty soon.

Sonny Kiss def. Carlie Bravo

We don't see nearly enough of Kiss in action, and as others have pointed out elsewhere, it's been years since he was last featured on TV. For someone who has been with AEW since Day 1, that's disappointing. To his credit, he continue to put forth a great effort every time he's in action, including here. He and Bravo worked well together and had a nice match. I'd like to see him at least get a chance on TV one of these days, but I'm not holding my breath.

Robyn Renegade def. Vicky Dreamboat

The Renegade sisters (who are twins, of course) have been featured quite a bit on AEW programming in the last year or so, including in a women's Owen Hart Cup qualifier last month on Rampage against Ruby Soho. They must have impressed someone in the back enough to be able to pick up a win here and get mic time afterward. Granted, it could be a case where they (and I said "they" because they obviously utilized the Bella Twins' twin magic shtick again) won only so they can be fed to someone on the roster in their next match, but we'll see. This served as a solid showcase for the Renegade sisters.

Anthony Ogogo def. Trenton Storm

Ogogo actually "headlined" (a.k.a. went on last since it wasn't much of a main event) Monday's Elevation and he was back in action here. Are they building him up finally with more wins to prepare him for another run on TV? I'd like to see him get another chance, but I feel like that ship has sailed because it's been so long. He's a legitimate athlete, that's for sure, and the body shot finish is unique. He looked dominant here. The key is featuring him more than once a month and allowing him to build momentum.

Leva Bates def. Kiah Dream

It's been a minute since we last saw Bates in action. I've never found her to be terribly good in the ring, so I'm not complaining. I was reminded while watching this why I was content with her not wrestling as much anymore, because this was well below average. It's possible it's because she has ring rust from not wrestling frequently these days, but she's probably better off sticking to whatever role she has backstage. I'm not sure what purpose this was supposed to serve.

Roppongi Vice def. The Wingmen ("Pretty" Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth)

Roppongi Vice announced last week that they're back full-time and are set to challenge FTR for the ROH World Tag Team Championship this Wednesday on Dynamite. Thus, this served as warm-up for them before then. It's been a while since we last got The Wingmen in action, so I was hoping the group had become a thing of the past, but obviously not. Is it necessary for JD Drake to still be with them considering he's teaming with Anthony Henry more regularly now? This was a slightly competitive squash for Roppongi Vice with The Wingmen attacking beforehand to make it look like they had a sliver of a chance of winning.

Overall Show

Dark was significantly shorter this week at just over an hour with only nine matches. I say "only" because usually it's more than that. The best bout on the whole show was Moriarty vs. Angels and the main event was right below that. The rest of this edition of Dark is pretty much what you'd expect in the Universal Studios setting, and by that I mean it's squash match city. That said, nothing was overly long and we got to see some people in action that we don't see wrestle too often. This was a fairly middle-of-the-road episode.

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