7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dark (Jul 21)

by Andy H Murray

1. A New Alliance Forms

Brian Cage Ricky Starks
AEW

A cool post-match angle saw Brian Cage maul Darby Allin after the win over Robert Anthony, launching him over the top rope with a suplex. Anthony tried to get involved but was neutralised by Ricky Starks, who has been teasing an alliance with Taz for weeks now, and the new allies ended up putting Allin down before bumping fists.

On commentary, Taz promised that the world would find out more on tonight's episode of Dynamite.

This was an effective way to pay off the recent Starks/Taz interactions and drive the Cage/Allin storyline forward. If this is the storyline that Tony Khan supposedly concocted for Ricky upon being impressed by him wrestling Cody a few weeks ago, good. Rubbing shoulders with the best manager in AEW and his monster will do nothing but good things for Starks.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.