AEW Dark and AEW Dark Elevation are two YouTube exclusive shows that AEW run. While many think that it is AEW’s developmental show kind of like NXT, that is wrong. It is more of a way for AEW to get some more matches for its over bloated roster and to pad the records of wrestlers that are used on Dynamite and Rampage. Here are three wrestlers that are using their time on AEW Dark to its fullest.
Ari Daivari
One of my personal favorite AEW Dark regulars, I think that an argument could be made that Ari Daivari has been the MVP of Dark.
While his win/loss record don’t show much success on the shows, he has been the most consistent worker down there.
Whether he wins or lose, he is always entertaining. He is one of the few people on the shows that are consistently entertaining on the microphone and he fits in wherever you need him to be.
My favorite part of what he was doing down there was the formation of The Trustbusters and how that group seem more and more like a real group every time I see them make an appearance.
While I hate that you see him less and less with the group that he made recently, they do still have him doing entertaining stuff with other groups like The Wingmen.
I would rather see him help get the members of The Trustbusters over and make them work, but as long as he is on the shows, then it is fine.
Athena
I understand the reason why she wrestles on Dark and Dark Elevation, but I think that she is too good to do it. She has been the women’s MVP on these shows.
It is a gift and a curse for her to have the ROH Women’s title. I think that her recent character work and intensity in her matches has earned her a regular weekly spot on Dynamite or Rampage, but her having that title means that she isn’t the number one or two priority in the AEW women’s division.
I would be a fan of her losing the title soon so that they can put her act on national television on a regular basis. We don’t know if she will win one of the other two women’s titles, but she should be contending for them.
The crazy thing about it is that I wasn’t the biggest fan of hers when she was in NXT or WWE, but in AEW, I love her.
I think that the work that she does on Dark is solid even if they are mostly squash matches. If she does stay on the show for an extended period of time, I would like to see her in more longer matches.
Ethan Page
If WWE got to pick three non-essential AEW wrestlers that are regulars on dark to go to NXT, with either the number one or two picks, I think they would choose Ethan Page.
Ethan Page is one of the most purely entertaining wrestlers in AEW in my opinion. In ring, he is above average but that isn’t the biggest deal when if you got the time and chance, you can make fans love you or hate you through what you say.
On AEW Dark, Page has mostly been harassing Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy but it has been so entertaining. It even made me care about Matt Hardy in 2023 which is something that I haven’t done in over ten years.
While I don’t think that Page is the future of AEW, I do see him being a wrestler like The Miz, that can talk well and is super solid in the ring. While he might not be the most decorated wrestler, he might be someone safe that the company can trust to put on solid matches with wrestlers from other companies.
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