5 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dark (Jun 9)

1. Jon Moxley Vs. Robert Anthony

This was a noble failure.

Noble because AEW at least tried to present it as something more than you'd expect from the usual Dark fodder, with the promotion mentioning Anthony and Moxley's history. They've tangled several times in the past with Anthony defeating Mox to capture the CZW World Championship in 2011. It takes more than a night of commentary lines and a few social media posts to establish this at the level of believability AEW wanted, however, and the whole deal felt inauthentic.

Moxley laboured with a wrestler unfamiliar to the AEW audience for 12 minutes. He's the World Champion. The last time we saw Anthony, he was teaming with Shawn Spears in a jobber spot on this very show. Not a good look and it was hard to disagree with Taz's "hurry up and beat this guy already" work on commentary.

They tried. It just didn't work.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.