7 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dark (Oct 22)

1. Leva Bates Flounders Vs. Nyla Rose

Leva Bates Nyla Rose
Lee South/AEW

This should have been a squash. Nyla Rose should have murdered lowly Leva Bates in under 60 seconds, scored her first AEW win, and moved onto the next one. It didn't need to be more than that.

What we got were five minutes of stunted action that kicked off with Bates trying to make a hot start by jumping Rose as Avalon distracted 'The Native Beast' with books. Sloppy execution hindered the excitement she was trying to generate here, with Leva's half-speed corner splashes and lack of fire killing the pace. She tried to work quickly and with urgency but is too janky and disjointed to pull it off. It's almost a shame, though the evidence that she isn't cut out for this level (even as a jobber) is mounting.

Nyla worked hard to hold this thing together, but that's difficult when you're tasked with making gourmet lemonade from year-old lemons. One particularly impressive spot saw 'The Native Beast' gorilla pressing Bates over the top and onto Avalon. Her Beast Bomb brought the bout to a merciful end soon after that, hopefully propelling Rose towards more credible competition.

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Channel Manager

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.