10 AEW Moments You Totally Don't Remember

9. The Dark Order Recruit Alex Reynolds Via TV Set

Cody Chris Jericho
AEW/Lee South

The Dark Order have outlived their usefulness now, but at least they were useful at one point. In 2020 and 2021, the act was instrumental in presenting Hangman Page as an upstanding dude who'd rather lose alongside some well-intentioned geeks than win the wrong way. 

In late 2020, the Dark Order was entirely useless. 

"They are spooky and some out of shape extras follow them around" wasn't a particularly great opening pitch. AEW soon pivoted to a Scientology-adjacent repackage. This enabled the use of the dreaded (and supposedly banned) invisible camera in a strange vignette that undermined the sports-based promise of AEW's early PR. 

The Beaver Boys, jobbers in AEW's early phase, were naturally preyed upon by the Dark Order. The idea wasn't terrible, but the execution was criminal: John Silver and Alex Reynolds were recruited through a television set on the December 11 Dynamite. The Dark Order communicated to Reynolds with the apparent use of magic. Either that, or they were hackers. 

The Ministry of Darkness or RETRIBUTION: either way, it was hardly Battlarts, was it?  

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!