Ex-WWE & IMPACT Stars Debut At AEW Dark Tapings

This past weekend's AEW Dark tapings brought a couple of notable first-timers in.

by Andy H Murray
AEW Dark debuts
WWE/AEW/IMPACT

All Elite Wrestling held its latest set of Dark tapings at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida this past Sunday (1 May), and the show featured a bunch of notable debuts.

Former WWE talent Leon Ruff was first on the list. The former NXT North American Champion was defeated by Tony Nese during the tapings' first session, having been a free agent since falling victim to one of WWE's rounds of swooping budget cuts in August 2021.

Elsewhere, Jay Lethal welcomed Jake Something to AEW later during session one, defeating the former IMPACT Wrestling powerhouse in their match. The 32-year-old has been on the market since leaving IMPACT in early March, having been with the Anthem-helmed group since signing a contract there in April 2019.

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A handful of wrestlers from NJPW's LA Dojo also wrestled their first AEW matches during both sessions. Yuya Uemura lost to the returning Angelico, while The DKC and Kevin Knight fell to The Factory's Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto, continuing their ongoing, multi-promotion storyline. Later on, Uemura and Knight teamed with classmates Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks, and Alex Coughlin to beat Solo, Comoroto, Blake Li, Brick Aldridge, and QT Marshall.

Expect these matches to be spread out across multiple Dark uploads on YouTube.

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Channel Manager
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.