AEW Dark Review - September 7, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lance Archer def. Jason Hotch

Archer's music hitting and him coming out was one of the best parts of this Dark taping when I was there. The dude connects with the crowd and is definitely popular, even though that hasn't been too apparent with his recent booking. He dropped the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi last month and hasn't been seen on Dynamite or Rampage since. At least he's been back on the Dark shows and winning in decisive fashion, as he did here.

The Bunny def. Laynie Luck

This was taped on Friday, so I thought it'd air before All Out to make it seem like The Bunny had some momentum heading into the Casino Battle Royale at the pay-per-view, but apparently not. The Bunny remains mediocre to me and I assume the only reason she's aligned with Penelope Ford is so they can eventually losing to the reuniting Tay Conti and Anna Jay. This was a pretty basic bout that thankfully didn't last long.

Evil Uno def. Alan "5" Angels

For anyone who has never attended a Dark taping before, other than the main event, you don't know what the matches are going to be until the competitors come out. Thus, people in the crowd were surprised to see Uno and Angels be introduced as opponents and it was obvious they weren't happy about it, chanting "Please don't fight!" among other things during the bout. This was fun stuff and played into the recent tension teased within The Dark Order. I'm curious what the endgame is going to be and if they're all going to get back on the same page before long.

The Acclaimed def. Shawn Dean and Robert Anthony

They're back! Max Caster originally returned from about a month-long layoff on Monday's Elevation to help Anthony Bowens beat Griff Garrison, but this was their first match back as a team. What Caster said was dumb, but it shouldn't have cost him his job and I'm happy he's returned. Their pre-match "scripted" rap was hilarious and I loved how they played off the incident. This was a welcome return for The Acclaimed.

Joey Janela def. Lee Moriarty

As I've said before, Janela does absolutely nothing for me, but he's slightly more bearable as a heel and giving him a female bodyguard in Kayla Rossi is admittedly interesting. Moriarty has made at least one or two appearances on AEW programming recently and has been impressive each time. He and Janela must have history because they had strong chemistry together here and made the most of their time. I'd be shocked if Moriarty wasn't on AEW's radar because the guy is good. Post-match, Sonny Kiss returned to further that feud with Janela.

The Dark Order (Colt Cabana and Stu Grayson) def. Travis Titan and RSP

Cabana and Grayson were an odd pairing, but it's because Dark Order has seemingly splintered off into two separate groups. Grayson is great and Cabana was the Chicago hometown favorite, so he got a nice reaction. This was essentially a showcase for the Dark Order guys and an excuse to get Cabana on the show. It served its purpose and was fun while it lasted.

Big Swole def. Diamante in a Three Strikes Match

This was essentially a Three Stages of Hell match with toned-down stipulations. The first fall had to be won by pinfall, the second by submission, and the third by knockout. Being there in the audience, and maybe this was just me, but I was slightly confused at one point because Justin Roberts made it sound like you had to get one of each in order to win, and I could've sworn one of them went for a pinfall when it wasn't the first fall. On the whole, though, this was solid stuff. This took place after Rampage already aired, so the Chicago crowd was clearly tired and that's why they weren't too into it, but it was well worked and both women had good performances. Now can we please get them on Dynamite more often?

Overall Show

This was the second half of the Dark taping I attended during Friday's edition of Rampage in Chicago. A ton of matches were taped in the span of two hours, but AEW did a decent job of keeping the crowd entertained for the most part. As a standalone episode, this was above average. Archer killed a dude, there was Dark Order drama, The Acclaimed were back in action, Janela vs. Moriarty was a treat, and the women were spotlighted in a unique main event. It was also under an hour. This was better than the norm by Dark standards.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews