AEW Dark Review - May 26, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Natural Nightmares def. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver)

Natural Nightmares is the new team name for Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall. They've grown on me as a duo and it's a good way to get Marshall relevant since he bores me to tears on his own. Reynolds and Silver have never been established as anything more than punching bugs for Dark Order, so I can't say I'm surprised that they lost (again). Allie scouting Marshall from the crowd was interesting, though. I say Marshall and not Natural Nightmares on the whole because of how she was eating an apple. I'd ask what happened to The Butcher and The Blade, but that would be implying that I care.

Michael Nakazawa def. Brandon Cutler by count-Out

Yes, you read that correctly. Nakazawa beat Cutler by count-out, which is a first in AEW (thanks to the commentators for making note of that). Cutler's growing frustration and how he's never won a match in AEW was the story of the match, so his latest loss furthered that. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary whatsoever, but I am mildly curious to see where it leads. A heel turn would be something new, but who knows if it would actually work.

Jungle Boy def. Peter Avalon

Avalon confronted Cutler following his loss and threw it in his face that he's a loser, despite never winning a single match himself. They've been going back and forth on Being The Elite for months, so it's a running gag between the two. Jungle Boy is coming off a standout performance against MJF at Double or Nothing, and while this wasn't as memorable of a match, it was still 

Christopher Daniels def. Serpentico

Serpentico failed to impress me in his AEW debut last week against Darby Allin, but I thought he fared well for himself here. Then again, Daniels is a seasoned veteran and a consummate professional, so I guess I should have expected that. Even in the twilight of his career, Daniels can still deliver. This was a nice little match while it lasted that saw Daniels pick up his first singles win in over two months.

Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss def. John Skyler and Brady Pierce

I believe these two have teamed before if I'm not mistaken. Their chemistry is decent, but I have no desire to see them continue teaming. Kiss is almost incapable of escaping Dark at this point, while Janela has been directionless for a while now. I'm not complaining, but it is a bit odd. If nothing else, you could clearly tell Janela and Kiss were having fun, so at least this bout had that going for it.

Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc def. Tony Donati and Faboo Andre

I've pretty much accepted that Sabian and Havoc are going to be teaming from here on out and that doesn't appear to be temporary. I prefer Havoc by himself and they have yet to explain their alliance, but I suppose it's better than Havoc floundering on Dark (even though that's where this happened). I have nothing bad to say about this, but Ford's constant interference takes away from the matches more than it adds to them.

Wardlow def. Mr. Grim

This was my first time seeing Mr. Grim and he had a solid showing, but this was all about Wardlow asserting his dominance against someone his size for a change. He's been a force to be reckoned with since debuting for AEW and reminds me of Brock Lesnar in many ways. Despite Grim being a big dude, Wardlow was still able to hit him with the F-10, which was a surreal sight.

Colt Cabana def. Lee Johnson

Johnson has been all over these empty arena shows lately and never disappoints. He can hang with someone like Fenix and then be a good foil for someone like Cabana. There wasn't anything overly special about this whatsoever, but Cabana was entertaining doing his usual shtick. He's settled into a midcard role since coming to AEW and, to be honest, that's exactly where he belongs.

Penelope Ford def. KiLynn King

Ford definitely has star potential at first glance and the cool thing is that she's able to back that up in the ring. I didn't love her match with Kris Statlander at Double or Nothing, but that was largely because the bout came out of nowhere and had no storyline support. This had its fair share of rough spots and was probably the weakest matchup of the night, but I appreciated the effort, nonetheless.

Best Friends def. Shawn Dean and Alan Angels

Like Lee Johnson, Dean and Angels are another two enhancement wrestlers that have always delivered whenever they've been in action on these shows. However, the highlight of this entire outing was Orange Cassidy almost corpsing at ringside early on. That was hilarious. Best Friends are always a blast, so I didn't mind this as the "main event" of the episode, even if it was barely above average.

Overall Show

The supershow gimmick was fine for one week, but I hate it happening every week. They really should be airing four or five of these matches at a time, not 11 over the span of 90 minutes. A competitive match or two would be appreciated if they intend to stick to this format. Props to AEW for giving these independent guys and girls some work during the pandemic, but it's made Dark a complete chore to watch for those of us who don't want to watch 11 squash matches in a row with no promos or vignettes in between. Variety is key.