7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dark (Feb 2)
Ricky Starks joins Britt Baker's Waiting Room, Tay Conti shines, and Nick Comoroto gets win no. 1.
An episode like this requires brief commentary on the Ups and Downs format, as glancing at this week's title is likely to give a false impression of the show's quality.
AEW Dark comes with a well-defined ceiling. It's low. You're never going to see streams of blow-away, Dynamite-calibre matches on the YouTube series because that isn't the intention. It's a developmental record-padding show, an opportunity to give work to out-of-pocket indie wrestlers, and a chance for full-timers to work loosely in a less serious environment. Yes, seven Ups are listed here, and they eclipse the Downs, but most were "fine" rather than "very good" and none were so strong that you need to go out of your way to see them. They benefitted the show - and there was a lot more on this show that benefitted it than dragged it down. That's all.
This week saw Ricky Starks join Britt Baker and Rebel in the Waiting Room, with 'Absolute' busting out one of his finest turtlenecks for the occasions. Elsewhere, we got showcase bouts for Rey Fenix, Tay Conti, Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss, Bear Country, Santana and Ortiz, and many more. Chaos Project and SoCal Uncensored met in Dark's most competitive bout and there was a clear levelling-up for Nick Comoroto in the opener.
Let's light the fuse...