 The Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. Zuka and Alexander MossThe finals of that AEW World Trios Championship Tournament was probably Dark Order's last chance of regaining relevancy as a group. The Elite becoming the inaugural champs made the most sense at the time, but them winning wouldn't have been the worst thing considering The Elite are now suspended indefinitely. Silver and Reynolds work well together and they needed this win to bounce back, but there isn't a whole lot to get excited about with them right now. Emi Sakura def. Avery BreauxThis was the obligatory Emi Sakura match we get once in a while where she'll showcase her skills, dominate her opponent and pick up a win. As I've said before, I understand why AEW does it (so anyone beating her will mean more), but it doesn't make her matches any more interesting to me. Her act has improved a little bit, but she's still the ultimate stepping stone of AEW's women's division. This was a means to an end. The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Slim J and Parker Boudreaux) def. Marcus Kross, Mike Magnum and GKMI honestly forgot The Trustbusters were still a thing. It's likely a case of my memory failing me and AEW having so many shows, but I don't think they've been featured nearly as much since they lost in the trios tourney (as they should have). Personally, I can't bring myself to care about them. There isn't any obvious chemistry between the three of them and their matches (such as this one) are like watching paint dry. My only hope is that Boudreaux can gain experience from this faction before breaking out on his own eventually). Anthony Ogogo def. Luke KurtisEvery Ogogo squash is pretty much the same by this point, but I do think him winning by knockout is a nice touch. It emphasizes his legitimacy and highlights his boxing background. I also think he has an excellent presence about him, as seen in his post-match promo putting the roster on notice. Unfortunately, his words ring hollow because we haven't seen him wrestle a single time on television in well over a year, but he made the most of his mic time, if nothing else. Zack Clayton def. Vary MoralesI'm not sure how anyone is supposed to care about Clayton coming off his potentially-record-setting loss to Hook last month. That wasn't the smartest way to introduce him to the main AEW audience because now he'll automatically be viewed as an undercard loser. Maybe that'll where he'll be slotted on the card going forward, but I think he at least deserves an opportunity to get over. The only interesting thing about this match was Clayton jaw jacking some random dude at ringside. Marina Shafir def. La Rosa NegraInterestingly, Shafir flew solo here without Nyla Rose or Vickie Guerrero at ringside. I realize this was taped a while ago, but she's still recovering from the mostly-negative feedback her promo on this week's Elevation received on social media. The best thing AEW can do with her at this point is keep the microphone out of her hand. This was serviceable stuff, but I remain unimpressed by pretty much anything Shafir does. Madison Rayne def. Viva VanIt seems Rayne has settled into her role as a backstage trainer for AEW and occasional wrestler, but she's had a handful of matches so far. None of them have been anything outstanding, but she's having perfectly fine matches. This was going well up until that terrible finish. Considering this is a taped show, why not edit that out and do something else for the ending instead? Her post-match promo somewhat made up for it but not entirely. KiLynn King def. Sahara SevenAEW's usage of King has been bizarre so far. She was a regular on the Dark shows in 2020 and 2021 and then all of a sudden she disappeared. She resurfaced not too long ago and proceeded to have back-to-back bouts on Dynamite. She's also been competing consistently in the NWA as of late and has done decent work there. This was kept very brief, but I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing. Tony Nese and Josh Woods def. Baliyan Akki and Ryan MatthewsWe saw Akki in the corner of Sakura earlier in the evening. He and Matthews (no relation to yours truly) were only there to put over Nese and Woods and nothing more. I've mentioned many times before that Nese and Woods aren't the most compelling combo at the moment, but they had to score a win ahead of their upcoming tag team affair with Wardlow and Samoa Joe on Friday's Grand Slam edition of Rampage. Sonny Kiss def. Joe OcasioIs it bad I completely forgot Kiss joined The Trustbusters? I didn't see him ringside with the rest of them for their match earlier in the episode (unless I missed him), and I'm not sure he was at ringside when they lost in the trios tourney. Either way, Kiss winning is never a bad thing. This was meant to re-establish Kiss, but there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about it otherwise. Also, props to Ocasio for appearing on both Dark and NWA Powerrr tonight. Matt Sydal def. JD DrakeGod bless Tony Khan for finally realizing that Drake is much better off with Anthony Drake in The Workhorsemen than The Wingmen. I wouldn't call Drake or Sydal top talents by any means, but they're both super skilled and it was refreshing to have a competitive main event on Dark that could have gone either way. This was a quality contest. I was shocked Dante Martin didn't make the save for Sydal afterward when he was getting beat down by The Workhorsemen. Overall ShowWe were back in Universal Studios this week for Dark, and while I think the more inexperienced talent benefit from that setting, it makes these shows less enjoyable from this viewer's standpoint because the fans in attendance aren't the most lively bunch (and I don't blame them considering they're sitting there for mostly squash matches). I appreciated that this was only a little over an hour long, but 11 matches was too many. This was a very middle-of-the-road edition of Dark.
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