How AEW Did The Impossible
A series of vignettes that ran in November sought to explain what the Dark Order were, and what they were was a cult inspired by Scientology. This development showed mild promise, in that it tethered the act to something resembling a viable reality: the creepers, as it turned out, were incel figures rejected by society drawn to the Dark Order to improve their lives. But AEW said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet: 'Dark Order' was something of a giveaway that one's life wasn't set for improvement.
There was always something to the act on the drawing board. The brainchild of the Young Bucks, who had worked the Super Smash Bros all over the indies to immense acclaim, this wasn't some half-baked idea. The Bucks, as shown on Being The Elite, are very meticulous and intelligent storytellers. The bare premise was thus: a heel stable were to prey on the losers in the wins and losses matter promotion (Michael Nakazawa and Brandon Cutler, originally), and recruit them in order to bolster the ranks and gain "strength in numbers". What appeared to be dated, naff b*llocks actually fit holistically into AEW's narrative framework. The concept was sound, the execution abysmal: they looked like sh*t, and Grayson and Evil Uno barely won to put themselves over as leaders worthy of belief.
The events of December 18 were so awful that they compelled Dave Meltzer to compare the show-closing angle to the very worst of WCW. Following a tremendous sprint between the Bucks and SCU, the Dark Order initiated John Silver and Alex Reynolds, and in an apparent show of force, Uno drew Day-Glo blood from the throat of Matt Jackson. It was a hokey, amateurish and wildly damaging scene: the creepers infamously punched the air, in a helpful visual aid of how far this missed, and Kenny Omega, the best wrestler of his generation and the unprecedented non-WWE draw that made all of this viable, was handily beaten down by some anonymous goobers.
In a scene drenched in as much irony as the debut was in darkness and silence, Evil Uno proclaimed that we'd "never doubt" the Dark Order again.
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