All Elite Wrestling (AEW) recorded its latest AEW Dark tapings at Universal Studios on Sunday and it featured a number of debuts in the promotion. Here are the latest AEW Dark taping spoilers, featuring multiple debuts to look forward to in the coming weeks.
AEW Dark Tapings Spoilers: Former NXT North American Champion, IMPACT Star, and NJPW STRONG stars make debuts
Leon Ruff
Hey! That's @LEONRUFF_ #AEWDark pic.twitter.com/sytUmMWyKF
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) May 1, 2022
Former NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff competing at the tapings Sunday. Ruff, 26, made his name in EVOLVE before being signed by WWE in 2020. Ruff defeated Johnny Gargano to become the NXT North American Champion on Nov. 11, 2020, holding the championship for 25 days before losing the gold at NXT TakeOver: WarGames IV. WWE released Ruff in August 2021. Since then, Ruff has competed for promotions like Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and TERMINUS.
Jake Something
The AEW debut of @JakeSomething_ #AEWDark pic.twitter.com/ykCnVoWou2
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) May 1, 2022
Jake Something also made his AEW debut at the tapings. The 32-year-old was a staple of IMPACT Wrestling programming since 2019, first competing as Cousin Jake, teaming with Cody Deaner as part of The Deaners, before eventually breaking off to be a constant presence in the X-Division as Jake Something. He left IMPACT earlier this year with his last match in the promotion coming at Sacrifice, where he challenged Trey Miguel for the X-Division Championship. Something has competed around the United States for years now and will be facing Brody King on an upcoming episode of NJPW STRONG.
NJPW STRONG (Yuya Uemura, Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, The DKC, and Kevin Knight)
The LA Dojo guys have invaded the Dark Zone!@ClarkConnors
@karlfredericks_ @Im_YuyaUemura @Jet2Flyy @AlexCoughlin93 #AEWDark pic.twitter.com/wRPERTjXvQ— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) May 2, 2022
The AEW-NJPW partnership grows stronger. NJPW STRONG was heavily featured on the tapings as Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, The DKC, Kevin Knight, and young lion Yuya Uemura all competed. With Forbidden Door coming up in two months, the continued cameos by AEW and NJPW talent on each other’s shows should come as no shock. In April at NJPW’s Windy City Riot, Connors, Fredericks, and Uemura competed against The Factory’s QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, and Aaron Solo, so it’s possible that continued here. It was a notable day for Connors, who was announced as part of the Best of the Super Juniors 29 lineup during Wrestling Dontaku earlier Sunday.
These episodes of AEW Dark will air in the coming weeks Tuesday nights on YouTube.
More from LWOS Pro Wrestling
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TNT and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night.
