By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 145)
Taped in Las Vegas, Nevada at Michelob Ultra Arena
Streamed May 28, 2022 on the AEW YouTube Page
1. Brandon Cutler vs. Darby Allin. Allin fired away with a quick dropkick once the match began and hit the jumping sucidia on the outside. Quickly, Allin followed through with the Coffin Drop and made Cutler tap out to the Sharpshooter as a tribute to Sting.
Darby Allin defeated Brandon Cutler via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: The match barely lasted a minute.
2. Sandra Moone vs. Anna Jay. Jay hit the running shoulder block to Moone and landed a fisherman’s suplex as well. Moone hit an elbow strike back to Jay, but Jay regained momentum by countering a lateral press. Jay charged in with a leaping elbow strike to Moone and ended her night with the Queen Slayer.
Anna Jay defeated Sandra Moone via submission.
After the match, Jade Cargill came out and had a stare-down with Anna Jay.
Briar’s Take: Jay gained momentum going into Double or Nothing with a quick win over Moone, who made her AEW debut in this match.
3. Adriel Noctis, Gregory Sharpe, and Matt Brannigan vs. “House of Black” Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews. Black and Brannigan began the match for their respective teams before Black sent Branningan down with the rolling back elbow. Matthews tagged in and drove in the stomp from the top rope onto Noctis. King made the tag and threw a powerful chop at Noctis. Sharpe was then laid out with the bomb from King. As Matthews made the tag out again, King hit the running cannonball senton to Noctis before Matthews planted Noctis in the center of the ring to score the win.
“House of Black” Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews defeated Adriel Noctis, Gregory Sharpe, and Matt Brannigan via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A quick showcase victory from the House of Black.
4. Nyla Rose (w/Vickie Guerrero), Diamante, and Emi Sakura vs. Riho, Yuka Sakazaki, and Skye Blue. Riho planted Rose with a spike DDT that sent her out of the ring. She then made the tag out to Blue, who turned her focus to Sakura. Before Riho got out of the ring, she hit a running knee bulldog. After a distraction from Vickie Guerrero, Sakura took advantage and planted Blue with the Full Nelson. Diamante had a brief flash in the match with a dropkick to Blue in the corner.
Sakura missed a Vader bomb in the corner, which allowed Blue to tag out. Sakazaki landed a leaping dropkick from the top rope to Sakura. Sakazaki continued with the helicopter sit-out spin on Sakura. Riho landed a big crossbody on Diamante after retagging. Shortly thereafter, Riho got the victory with the double knees to the face of Diamante.
Riho, Yuka Sakazki, and Skye Blue defeated Nyla Rose, Diamante, and Emi Sakura via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: About the only unpredictable match on the card. However, we’ve seen various formations of these matches on Dark Elevation several times. Hey, barely any screaming from Sakura for once!
5. “The Factory” Q.T. Marshall, Nick Comoroto, and Aaron Solo vs. “Death Triangle” Pac, Penta Oscuro, and Rey Fenix. Marshall ran into a thrust kick from Oscuro, who followed up with a backstabber. Oscuro attempted a pump-handle but failed to do so and Marshall tagged out to Comoroto. All three members of Death Triangle hit dropkicks to take down Comoroto. He came back with a powerslam on Fenix. Comoroto landed a suplex as Solo hit the dropkick to Fenix.
Fenix regained momentum with a quick kick to Marshall and then Oscura hit a diving crossbody on Marshall. Pac tagged in and hit a diving stunner on Marshall. Shortly thereafter, Marshall almost got an upset victory over Death Triangle with a powerbomb on Pac. Fenix and Oscura doubled up and hit the Fear Factor on Solo until Pac made him tap out with the Brutalizer.
Death Triangle defeated The Factory via submission.
Briar’s Take: One of the better matches on the card. Most of it was a spot fest for the most part, but all in all it was a very nice match.
6. Marq Quen (w/Isiah Kassidy) vs. Johnny Elite. Elite immediately hit a leg lariat on Quen along with a corkscrew pinfall attempt. Quen looked for the Silly String but DDT’d Elite instead. Elite came back with quick kicks to Quen and lifted him up for the water wheel drop. Elite missed a springboard dropkick and accidentally knocked out the ref instead. Quen took advantage with a low blow and then Private Party drove down Elite with the Snapshot. Quen missed a shooting star press. Elite won the match with the moonlight Starship Pain.
Johnny Elite defeated Marq Quen via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: It was a nice surprise for fans who watch Dark every week to see Elite with the company. AEW has been doing a great job keeping Elite as a surprise so far and he had another nice match here against Quen.
Overall, this was a passable show with most of the matches being brief in nature. Not all of them were bad, but most were predictable and short. The best match of the night goes to The Factory vs. Death Triangle, which was a really solid match. Johnny Elite was also great in his own right. Kudos to AEW for putting this out there on their social media hours before this went live. I remember the days when these pay-per-view weekend specials would be uploaded without warning or notice. They have gotten better about it. Double or Nothing should a good event and I’m looking forward to it. Episode 145 clocked in at 50 minutes and 53 seconds. Final Score: 6.0 out of 10.
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