By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 136)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios
Streamed March 22, 2022 on the AEW YouTube Page
Excalibur and Taz were on commentary…
1. JD Drake (w/The Wingmen) vs. Jay Lethal. Lethal chants broke out after the bell rang. Drake attempted a shoulder block, but Lethal countered with a dropkick. Lethal followed through with an arm drag and another dropkick to the head of Drake. Peter Avalon tried distracting Lethal, and then Drake threw Lethal to the outside, allowing The Wingmen to capitalize by beating down Lethal. Drake hit a powerful shot to the nose of Lethal.
Back in the ring, Drake powerslammed and then headbutted Lethal but fell short of getting a pinfall. Lethal then powered to the outside with a diving crossbody to Drake. Lethal miss the Lethal Injection and Drake came back with a Bossman Slam and nearly got the upset. Drake missed a top rope moonsault. Eventually, Lethal landed the Lethal Injection for the win.
Jay Lethal defeated JD Drake via pinfall.
Afterward, Tony Schiavone interviewed Lethal about his victory and his thoughts about Tony Khan purchasing Ring of Honor…
Briar’s Take: Going into this match, I didn’t know what to expect and how it would go with the outcome. I think they went with the right victor in Lethal. As for the match itself, it was solid and both men showed their stuff. Great stuff.
2. “Captain” Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo vs. The Butcher and The Blade. The Butcher and The Blade made cohesive tags early and dominated Bravo. The Blade then hit a lariat to Bravo on the outside before making a legal tag. The Blade planted Bravo with a scoop slam, but Bravo countered with a back body drop and tagged out. Dean took down Butcher with a dropkick and a rising knee strike. Bravo hit The Butcher with a hanging neckbreaker, but The Butcher fought back with a low crossbody block. The Butcher and The Blade finished off Bravo with the Full Death finisher.
The Butcher and The Blade defeated Capt. Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: More domination from The Butcher and The Blade, who won in a matter of seconds.
3. Ray Jaz vs. Anthony Ogogo. Ogogo drove in with a shoulder tackle to Jaz right away, but was caught with a dropkick. Jaz then was thrown into midair with an overhead throw from Ogogo, who followed up with a series of shots to the midsection of Jaz to continue his momentum. Ogogo planted Jaz with an Ogogo slam. Ogogo knocked out Jaz with a popup punch to the jaw to win the match.
Anthony Ogogo defeated Ray Jaz via knockout.
Briar’s Take: Ogogo has his original music back. There was no question as to whether he would win this match.
4. Kaci Lennox vs. Nyla Rose. Rose powered Lennox early in the going and her took down with a clothesline. Rose planted Lennox on the ropes and won with the diving guillotine.
Nyla Rose defeated Kaci Lennox via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: More of the same from Rose.
5. Blake Christian vs. Rohit Raju. Christian took down Rajui with a dropkick and a standing frog splash. Raju fired back with a leg sweep of Christian. Shortly thereafter, Raju came through with a roundhouse and a sweep to Christian. Afterward, Christian turned the tide with a corkscrew kick to Raju and a split legged moonsault. Raju nearly got the win with a leaping flatliner, but Christian kicked out at two. Christian rallied with a Spanish Fly and then a springboard 450 splash to score the victory.
Blake Christian defeated Rohit Raju via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A solid match from two former Impact wrestlers. It felt like it could’ve gone either way. It’s definitely worth going out of your way to see. However, can someone get Christian some real music instead of using the AEW Dark theme song?
6. Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis vs. “The Acclaimed” Max Caster and Anthony Bowens. The Acclaimed double suplexed Alanis and then Bowens planted him with a helicopter-like swing. Not too long after, Caster quickly won with the Mic Drop on Gray.
The Acclaimed defeated Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: The Acclaimed made quick work of Gray and Alanis, and Caster got a bounce back win after losing to Keith Lee on Rampage.
7. Valentina Rossi vs. A.Q.A. A.Q.A. performed multiple arm drags on Rossi and landed a crossbody block. Rossi fought back with clotheslines in the corner to regain momentum. However, A.Q.A. hit a flying double sledge to Rossi and followed through with an enzuigiri. A.Q.A. went on to win with a swinging neckbreaker.
A.Q.A. defeated Valentina Rossi via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: AEW seems high on A.Q.A. early in her tenure with the company. It was apparent here in that she won quickly against Rossi.
8. Karam vs. Tony Nese. Nese hit a shot to the throat of Karam and a backward moonsault from the middle ropes. Nese continued Karam’s beatdown with strikes and eventually turned Karam into a single leg crab submission. Karam threw Nese into the ropes and attempted a fireman’s carry, but Nese countered with a release German suplex before landing the running knee strike for the victory.
Tony Nese defeated Karam via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: If given more time, these two could have a hell of a match on an episode of Rampage. I believe Karam has a huge upside and can shine if booked in a competitive match.
9. Angelica Risk vs. Abadon. Abadon planted Risk with a leaping back elbow and drove her into the mat with a leg hook for the victory.
Abadon defeated Angelica Risk via pinfall.
10. Brick City Boyz vs. “Gunn Club” Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn. The Gunn Club immediately beatdown the Brick City Boyz. Colten planted Cruz with the Colt45 for the win.
The Gunn Club defeated Brick City Boyz via pinfall.
11. Gemma Jewels vs. Mercedes Martinez. Martinez hit a running knee strike to Jewels and followed that with multiple chops. Afterward, Jewels was hit with a running dropkick/boot in the corner. Martinez then made Jewels tap out to a dragon sleeper for the win.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Gemma Jewels via submission.
Briar’s Take: Jewels made her AEW debut here, but she lost in a matter of seconds.
12. Sothera Chhun and Tony Vincita vs. “Varsity Blonds” Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison (w/Julia Hart). Garrison hit a hip toss and a high boot to Chhun and Vincita before tagging in Pillman, who was taken down by a double back suplex from his opponents. Vincita and Chunn attempted a suplex to Pillman again, but Pillman Jr slipped out and tagged Garrison back in. Garrison then performed big splashes on Chhun and Vincita in the opposite corners. Pillman threw a superkick at Vincita and then drove him down with a vertical suplex for the victory.
The Varsity Blonds defeated Sothera Chhun and Tony Vincita via pinfall.
Schiavone interviewed the Varsity Blonds about what’s next for the rest of 2022. Pillman said winning the AEW Tag Titles.
Briar’s Take: Dominant match from the Varsity Blonds. Excalibur continued to hype up that there’s been a change in Julia Hart’s character. It’ll be interesting to see if she happens to turn on them in the immediate future, as she paid no attention to the their match while at ringside.
13. Leila Grey vs. Marina Shafir. Shafir planted Grey with a backbreaker. Grey was able to hit a running knee strike to Shafir, but Shafir came back with a hip toss. Shafir applied a submission hold and won quickly.
Marina Shafir defeated Leila Grey via submission.
Briar’s Take: Despite losing in her first AEW outing with Kris Statlander, Shafir now improves to a 4-1 record. Unfortunately, the crowd was really silent during her match, so we’ll see how this go moving forward.
14. Fuego Del Sol vs. Powerhouse Hobbs. Del Sol was quickly destroyed by Hobbs with a running tackle in the corner. Hobbs planted Del Sol with a suplex in the middle of the ring. Del Sol attempted a comeback with a kick to the back of the head of Hobbs and followed with explosive dropkick. Del Sol continued with a jumping suicida on the outside and landed a jumping torpedo on Hobbs. Unfortunately for Del Sol, he missed the foot stomp and then Hobbs caught him with a spinebuster. Shortly thereafter, Hobbs won with a Torture Rack slam on Del Sol.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Fuego Del Sol via knockout.
Briar’s Take: I was curious to see how this match would turn out, as Del Sol wins one week and loses the next. He had some brief flashes of offense, but Hobbs made quick work of him in the end.
Overall, this was a passable episode of Dark with multiple enhancement matches that didn’t last more than two minutes. The tag team matches were also brief in nature, such as The Acclaimed and The Gunn Club’s matches. However, there were a couple of matches worth going out of your way to see, including JD Drake vs. Jay Lethal, Blake Christian vs. Rohit Raju, and Tony Nese vs. Karam. The match of the night goes to Christian vs. Raju, who had a very competitive match. I hope the two get some more time down the road for round two. Episode 136 clocked in at 61 minutes. Final Score: 6.5 out of 10.
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