AEW Dark Review - May 4, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Team Taz (Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks) def. Aaron Frye and Brick Aldridge

I love whenever Starks and Hobbs team up because you know it's going to be over quick. Sure enough, Hobbs decimated Frye and Aldridge in under a minute without ever tagging Starks in. I'm happy that Team Taz seem to be back on the same page because nothing good would have come out of them splitting up so soon. I'm also happy that Hobbs has come across so dominant so far. He should have been booked that way from the beginning, but better late than never.

"Legit" Leyla Hirsch def. Diamante

This was set up during last week's last team match where Diamante attacked Hirsch after the bell. Both of these girls are intense spitfires, so I was looking forward to this. That's why I hated it was so short. I mean, of all the matches AEW has given time to on Dark and Dark: Elevation over the last year, why was this under three minutes? As disappointing as that was, they made the most of the time they had and delivered a hard-hitting affair. Both girls have potential, specifically Hirsch.

Varsity Blonds def. Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis

Due to the many wins they've scored in their time as a team, Varsity Blonds will be taking part in the four-way tag team match on Wednesday's Dynamite where the winners will be named the number one contenders to the AEW World Tag Team Championship. SCU are clearly winning that, but it's cool Varsity Blonds will be involved. It's a big week for Brian Pillman Jr., who will be heavily involved in Thursday's Season 3 premiere of Dark Side of the Ring on his father Brian Pillman (Part 1 is already up on YouTube and it's excellent). This was an short and sweet showcase for the up-and-coming duo.

SCU def. Spencer Slade and Jake St. Patrick

As previously noted, there is not a doubt in my mind that SCU are becoming the number one contender's to the AEW World Tag Team Championship on Dynamite, especially after they called out The Young Bucks last week on the show. I'm all for that, but I wish AEW had done a better job of making their stipulation (where they have to break up the next match they lose) matter in the last few months, at least on the more important shows. They're going out on top, so I'm enjoying their matches while we still have them.

Big Swole def. Megan Bayne

Swole debuted a new look here. I believe she started out with shorter hair a few years ago. I'm curious if that's indicative of anything (like a heel turn perhaps) or if she just wanted to switch things up. Either way, she continues to rack up wins on the Dark shows. Bayne wore Greek goddess gear, but she didn't really wow me with what she could do. There has to be some sort of a storyline reason as to why we haven't seen Swole back on Dynamite yet.

Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss def. Kit Sackett and Justin Law

I probably forget that Janela and Kiss are a team more than any other team on the roster. They don't make consistent appearances together on the Dark shows and because of that, they'll never get anywhere as a tandem. I can't say I'm too upset about that considering Janela does nothing for me. Kiss is athletic, but these wins aren't getting him anywhere and therefore it's hard to take them seriously. By the way, what the hell happened to that Janela heel turn that was teased two months ago?

KiLynn King def. Julia Hart

This marked Hart's AEW debut. I was interested to see how she'd do, but King was on offense for a majority of the match and won pretty decisively. I don't think I'll lose sleep over Hart getting squashed (besides, the shorter the show, the better). To be perfectly honest, I still don't care about King. She's competent in the ring, but she doesn't stand out as special to me despite making countless appearances with AEW since last year. Good for her for being able to stick around, though.

Pac def. Serpentico

Considering Lance Archer vs. Luther was the main event on this show and that wasn't very competitive at at all, this probably should have gone on last instead. Pac is a treasure and Serpentico is skilled as well. It would have taken an actual match from them, but this was all about making Pac look like a force to be reckoned with, which is why he won in a matter of minutes, as he continues to climb the rankings.

The Bunny def. Leila Grey

I maintain that I have yet to see a single memorable match involving The Bunny in AEW, but I prefer her in the ring over her at ringside because her screeching during The Butcher and The Blade's matches is unbelievably annoying. She's in the process of finding her footing with the character, but I don't find her to be nearly as interesting as I did during her time in IMPACT. She just exists at this point. Thankfully, this didn't overstay its welcome.

The Acclaimed def. David Ali and Vary Morales

These Dark shows are worth watching for no other reason than The Acclaimed's pre-match raps. Max Caster is a gem and Anthony Bowens compliments him very well. Their matches are usually enjoyable to boot and this was no exception. Much like Varsity Blonds, they'll be taking part in the four-way tag team match on Dynamite, and although it's obvious they won't win, this was a nice momentum boost for them, nonetheless.

"All Ego" Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky def. The Hughes Bros.

As I've said before, I don't understand what the point of the pairing of Page and Sky is when they should be doing their own thing as singles stars. Both guys leaving one team for another makes little sense to me, but at least they're becoming regulars on Dynamite in their new feud with Darby Allin and Sting and aren't completely lost in the shuffle. The Hughes Bros. impress me more and more each time I see them, so this was a nice little sprint.

The Dark Order (Alex "3" Reynolds, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) def. Ryan Nemeth, JD Drake and Cezar Bononi

Peter Avalon is back, for anyone that cares. Hell, I didn't even know he was gone. Obviously, he didn't wrestle here, but he did stand in the corner of his friends or associates or whatever the hell you want to call them. Talk about a group of misfits. There was no chance Nemeth and company were going to win here, but at least Dark Order got to beat a trio of that didn't consist of solely unknown enhancement talent, so there was that. 

Dante Martin def. Danny Limelight

Has there been any update on when we're getting Darius back in the ring? I swear he was on a recent show and it appeared he'd be back soon, but that was a while ago. On the bright side, Dante has been killing it on his own in the meantime. I'm glad he's getting reps in because Top Flight clearly needed more seasoning before Darius got hurt. This was probably the best bout on the show with both guys looking great.

Lance Archer def. Luther

As much as I love Archer, not even he can make Luther bearable. Seriously, the guy is abysmal and should not have been in the main event of this show. Archer opening the show by destroying him in under 30 seconds would have been glorious, but this had to last at least four minutes so Luther didn't lose whatever credibility he had left, or something like that. Jake Roberts being on commentary was a treat, though.

Overall Show

As noted in the previous paragraph, I seriously knocked the grade I gave this show in my head down a bit when I realized Luther was wrestling in the main event. There is no reason for that in 2021, even on the Dark shows. Otherwise, this was a perfectly serviceable show. There were almost as many matches as usual with 14, but it was significantly shorter this week at around 90 minutes. That was a sigh of relief. As always, you know what you're getting with Dark and Dark: Elevation, so there weren't any surprises on this show or anything I'd recommend you go out of your way to see. If you catch it, fine, but if you don't, you aren't missing much.