By Briar Starr, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@briarstarrtv)
AEW Dark (Episode 190)
Taped in February 26, 2023 in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios
Streamed March 21, 2023 on the AEW YouTube Page
Dark opened up with a new video introduction… Excalibur and Taz were on commentary…
1. Leon Ruffin vs. “Rock Hard” Juice Robinson. Ruffin performed a hanging neck breaker and a cutter off the top rope. Shortly thereafter, Ruffin nearly got an upset victory after hitting a running cannonball. Robinson rallied and ended Ruffin’s night with a DDT.
Juice Robinson defeated Leon Ruffin via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A good back-and-forth match between Ruffin and Robinson. Ruffin’s character showed a lot of heart while going for the upset victory. Robinson got a momentum building win as he heads toward his eventual match with Ricky Starks, which should be a good one.
2. Leila Grey vs. Kiera Hogan. Hogan executed a sliding boot to the side of the head of Grey after the bell rang. Hogan struck with a superkick. Grey rolled to the outside. Grey eventually performed a snap suplex on Hogan in the middle of the ring and followed up with a rising knee strike. Toward the end of the match, Gray rolled up Hogan by the tights and snuck away with the win.
Leila Grey defeated Kiera Hogan via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: As Excalibur noted on commentary, this was a battle between Jade Cargill’s current and former Baddie. It was a strong match. I was a little bit surprised to see Hogan take the loss just because she is so well-established. However, Grey has a lot of upside and I hope to see more of her in the future.
3. “Iron Savages” Bronson and Boulder vs. Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi. Nemeth and Bononi were planted by Boulder with a scoop slam. Bronson performed a backbreaker on his knee and followed with an under-hook slam. Bononi returned to the ring and executed a suplex of his own on Bronson. Later, Bronson splashed on Nemeth in the corner and then Boulder chokeslammed Bononi. Eventually, the Savages hit their splash finisher and got the victory.
“Iron Savages” Bronson and Boulder defeated Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: A predictable match with a predictable outcome, thought it was a good outing for the Iron Savages. I’m still a bit surprised that this team hasn’t been in the tag title mix, as they’ve done some good work on Dark.
4. Avery Beaux and Mafiosa vs. Charlette Renegade and Robyn Renegade. Beaux threw a big kick to Charlette and had some brief momentum. Robyn and Charlette made cohesive tags and hit an elbow drop combination to Beaux. While Beaux and Mafiosa got some offense, the twins fought back and hit the Renegade combination finisher on Mafisoa to score the win.
Charlette Renegade and Robyn Renegade defeated Avery Beaux and Mafiosa via pinfall.
5. Billie Starkz vs. Toni Storm. Storm sent Starkz crashing to the floor with a hip attack. Shortly thereafter, Storm continued to dominate Starkz on the outside of the ring. Back in the ring, Storm and Starkz went back and forth with strikes and punches until Starkz hit a backheel kick to Storm. After the backheel kick, Starkz followed up with a senton atomico on Storm. Starkz began climbing up to the top rope, but Storm swept out the leg and struck with a hip attack followed by the storm zero to win the match.
Toni Storm defeated Billie Starkz via pinfall.
Briar’s Take: This is the second time that MLW had someone who would challenge for a title later in the night lose a match on AEW Dark. Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it’s not. Starkz is getting a lot of air time on multiple shows and it’s easy to see why. This was a good match to close the show.
Overall, this episode was similar to last week’s show. There was nothing really compelling on the show, thought it there was three good matches. If you check out Robinson vs. Ruffin, Grey vs. Hogan, and the main event with Starkz vs. Storm, you’ll get your fill this week. With so much AEW content and the rumored Saturday show, I wonder if AEW is cutting back on the number of Dark matches compared to the bigger cards the show has featured in the past. Hopefully they will keep the show length as it’s been over the last two weeks, as it’s an easier watch. Episode 190 clocked in at 44 minutes and 35 seconds. Final Score: 6.0 out of 10.
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