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AEW Dark

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AEW Dark
AEW Dark logo
GenreProfessional wrestling
Created byTony Khan
StarringAEW roster
Opening theme"Facedown" by Mikey Rukus
(November 17, 2020 – April 25, 2023)
"Falling From Grace" by No One Hero[1]
(October 8, 2019 – November 10, 2020)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes193 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setupMulticamera setup
Running time60–120 minutes
Production companyAll Elite Wrestling
Original release
NetworkYouTube
ReleaseOctober 8, 2019 (2019-10-08) –
April 25, 2023 (2023-04-25)
Related

AEW Dark, or simply Dark, is an American professional wrestling streaming television program that was produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), running from October 8, 2019, to April 25, 2023, on AEW's YouTube channel. The program featured matches taped either before or after the preceding episode of Rampage (if it was live), a pay-per-view, or at Soundstage 21 in Universal Studios Florida, which served as the main location for the tapings of Dark's weekly episodes.[2] Prior to this, it was taped before and after the preceding episode of AEW's flagship program, Dynamite, and had featured segments highlighting the previous week's Dynamite and interviews with AEW personalities. The show was originally hosted by Tony Schiavone and Dasha Gonzalez in a studio called the "AEW Control Center". Both Dark and its spin-off, Elevation, were canceled due to the addition of AEW's television program, Collision.

History

Old stage for Dark from 2019 to 2022

On October 2, 2019, All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) flagship program, Dynamite, premiered on TNT. During the event, there were four dark matches, two before and two after the live broadcast.[3] During the media scrum following this event, AEW President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Khan stated that the dark matches would become available to view on video in some form. On October 5, then-AEW Executive Vice President and wrestler Cody Rhodes announced a sister program to Dynamite called AEW Dark, which would be the home of AEW's dark matches. On October 8, the program began airing on Tuesdays at 8pm Eastern Time (ET) on AEW's YouTube channel. During the week of a pay-per-view (PPV), however, Dark would air on Friday as the go-home show; this continued until May 2021 for that year's Double or Nothing PPV. Unlike the dark matches of other wrestling promotions, which generally do not affect storylines, these matches on Dark were part of AEW's storylines and counted towards the wrestlers' match statistics.[4][5][6]

During the November 5 episode, Tony Schiavone announced AEW Spanish commentator Dasha Gonzalez would be his co-host going forward.[7] Schiavone and Gonzalez hosted segments on Dark from the "AEW Control Center," highlighting matches and storylines within AEW.[8][9] On December 31, AEW aired a special episode called AEW Dark – 2019 Year in Review, featuring highlights of the show from the past year.[10]

On February 24, 2021, AEW announced that a new spinoff of Dark would premiere on Monday, March 15 titled Dark: Elevation. This was the promotion's third program, after Dynamite and Dark, and aired on Monday nights at 7pm ET, also on AEW's YouTube channel.[11][12] With the premiere of Rampage in August 2021, Khan said that Dynamite and Rampage would be AEW's core properties, while their YouTube shows, Dark and Elevation, would be their peripheral properties, essentially their developmental shows.[13] With Rampage airing in the 10pm ET slot on Fridays, it replaced Dark as the go-home show for pay-per-views.[14]

On August 27, 2021, it was revealed that Dark would begin being taped at its own set within Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida at Soundstage 21—the same studio which previously hosted weekly episodes of TNA Impact!—while Elevation would continue to be taped in conjunction with Dynamite.[2][15] The first set of tapings for Dark at Universal Studios occurred on September 11, 2021. AEW taped Dark episodes about once a month, recording four shows per taping with each show lasting about 90 minutes. During the weeks that Rampage or Battle of the Belts aired live, AEW taped Dark in conjunction with that program.[16] AEW had also occasionally taped Dark in conjunction with Elevation, notably in December 2021.

Dark aired its last episode on April 25, 2023. Both it and Elevation were canceled in preparation for the addition of AEW's television program, Collision, which premiered on TNT in June 2023. This was due to an amended deal with AEW's broadcast partner Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), in which all of AEW's programs would air exclusively on WBD's channels.[17][18] It was also reported that Rampage would begin showcasing younger wrestlers, essentially becoming what Dark and Elevation were for the company.[19]

Roster

Main article: List of All Elite Wrestling personnel

The wrestlers featured on All Elite Wrestling take part in scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers are portrayed as heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. AEW Dark features both AEW contracted wrestlers and various independent wrestlers.

Commentators

Commentators Dates
Jim Ross and Excalibur October 8, 2019 (2019-10-08) – October 15, 2019 (2019-10-15)
October 29, 2019 (2019-10-29)
Excalibur and Taz October 22, 2019 (2019-10-22)
January 21, 2020 (2020-01-21)
February 4, 2020 (2020-02-04) – March 24, 2020 (2020-03-24)
April 7, 2020 (2020-04-07)
May 12, 2020 (2020-05-12) – April 25, 2023 (2023-04-25)
Excalibur and MJF November 5, 2019 (2019-11-05)
Excalibur, Goldenboy, Arn Anderson, and Chuck Taylor November 8, 2019 (2019-11-08)
Excalibur and Dustin Rhodes November 19, 2019 (2019-11-19)
Excalibur and Shawn Spears November 26, 2019 (2019-11-26)
Excalibur and Nyla Rose December 3, 2019 (2019-12-03)
Excalibur, Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy, and Britt Baker December 10, 2019 (2019-12-10)
Excalibur, Vickie Guerrero, and Joey Janela December 17, 2019 (2019-12-17)
Excalibur and Colt Cabana December 24, 2019 (2019-12-24)
Excalibur and Chuck Taylor January 7, 2020 (2020-01-07)
Excalibur and Dave Brown January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone January 28, 2020 (2020-01-28)
Tony Schiavone and Cody March 31, 2020 (2020-03-31) – May 5, 2020 (2020-05-05)
Tony Schiavone and Jimmy Havoc April 7, 2020 (2020-04-07)
Tony Schiavone and Taz August 4, 2020 (2020-08-04) – August 11, 2020 (2020-08-11)
September 14, 2021 (2021-09-14)
Tony Schiavone, Taz, and Veda Scott August 18, 2020 (2020-08-18) – August 25, 2020 (2020-08-25)
Excalibur, Taz, and Veda Scott September 15, 2020 (2020-09-15) – September 22, 2020 (2020-09-22)
Excalibur, Taz, and Ricky Starks September 29, 2020 (2020-09-29) – October 20, 2020 (2020-10-20)
January 19, 2021 (2021-01-19) – January 26, 2021 (2021-01-26)
Excalibur, Taz, and Anthony Ogogo October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27) – November 6, 2020 (2020-11-06)
November 24, 2020 (2020-11-24) – December 15, 2020 (2020-12-15)
January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12)
February 2, 2021 (2021-02-02) – March 9, 2021 (2021-03-09)

Ring announcers

Ring announcers Dates
Justin Roberts October 8, 2019 (2019-10-08) – March 17, 2020 (2020-03-17)
June 16, 2020 (2020-06-16) – March 4, 2023 (2023-03-04)
Live AEW event-based shows.
Dasha Gonzalez December 3, 2019 (2019-12-03)
March 24, 2020 (2020-03-24) – June 9, 2020 (2020-06-09)
August 17, 2021 (2021-08-17)
September 14, 2021 (2021-09-14) – April 25, 2023 (2023-04-25)
Studio-based shows.

References

  1. ^ "AEW Themes 2.0". bandcamp.com. All Elite Wrestling. July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Lee, Joseph (August 27, 2021). "UPDATED: AEW Dark To Be Taped In Studio, Note On Likely Location". 411 Mania. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  3. ^ "AEW Dynamite off-air results: Four dark matches". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  4. ^ "Post-AEW Dynamite Dark Match Results". WrestlingInc.com. 6 November 2019.
  5. ^ "BREAKING: "AEW DARK" begins this Tuesday! Featuring the matches you didn't see on Dynamite. Hosted by @tonyschiavone24". Cody Rhodes on Twitter. October 5, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  6. ^ Pratt, Emily (2019-10-07). "AEW Just Announced A Very Goth Number One Contender's Match". UPROXX. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  7. ^ "AEW DARK REPORT | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  8. ^ "AEW Dark coming to YouTube, will be hosted by Tony Schiavone". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. 2019-10-05. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  9. ^ "AEW Hypes Matches For Premiere Episode Of "Dark" (Photos)". Wrestling Inc. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  10. ^ AEW DARK - 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW. YouTube – All Elite Wrestling. December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  11. ^ Defelice, Robert (February 24, 2021). "AEW Dark: Elevation Announced As Third AEW Program, Will Air Mondays On YouTube". Fightful. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  12. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (February 24, 2021). "Premiere Date And Paul Wight's Broadcast Partner Announced For AEW Dark: Elevation". Fightful. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  13. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (May 19, 2021). "Tony Khan Reveals New Details About Move to TBS, Says He Was Offered a Third Hour of Dynamite". 411mania. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  14. ^ Shrivastava, Arpit (June 17, 2021). "Tony Khan discloses interesting details about AEW Rampage". Sportskeeda. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  15. ^ Sean Rueter (August 27, 2021). "AEW Dark set to become a studio show (Updated)". Cageside Seats. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  16. ^ Gagnon, Joshua (September 11, 2021). "First-Look At AEW Dark At Universal Studios". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  17. ^ Nason, Josh (May 3, 2023). "AEW Dark & Dark Elevation done for now due to new exclusivity deal with WBD". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  18. ^ Rueter, Sean (May 25, 2023). "Tony Khan on AEW vs. WWE, WBD deal, Collision secrecy, more". Cageside Seats. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  19. ^ Nason, Josh (May 5, 2023). "Update on future direction of AEW Rampage". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
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