When news broke that Alan “5” Angels of the Dark Order was leaving AEW after failing to agree to a new contract with Tony Khan and company, it felt like a pretty big deal in the grand scheme of the faction's future in the promotion.
Sure, they lost Stu Grayson to a similar contract dispute earlier in the year, and he was one of the founding members of both the original Dark Order tag team – which, fun fact, was originally called The Super Smash Brothers and featured very different outfits – and the faction in AEW alongside Evil Uno, but the performer formerly known as “Stupified” had been off of Dynamite/Rampage since March and outside of a few Dark matches was largely absent from the promotion.
But Angels? Angels was wrestling in AEW all the time, with 20 matches in AEW one way or another, versus just 10 by Grayson. He was a fixture of both Being the Elite and Sammy Guevara's vlog and was widely considered one of the biggest company men in the promotion who would happily take an L if need be or operate in a variety of different team configurations from solo to mix-and-match tag teams, and even multi-man matches.
Losing Angels, though far from as impactful as, say, losing CM Punk to a broken foot, or Kenny Omega to a series of surgeries, showcases even more of a changing of the guard in Tony Khan's promotion, with former stalwarts of its first three years of operation becoming memories of a bygone era.
So naturally, when fans heard that Uno and Angels were teaming together once more under the Dark Order banner, with a bout against Aussie Open booked for NJPW Strong, it felt like a massive relief; even if Angels wasn't going to be appearing in AEW regularly, the Dark Order could transcend where each individual performer works at any given time to become a sort of faction for the Forbidden Door era.
… except that isn't what happened. No, as much of a bummer as it may be for the narrative, this match, which formally aired on Saturday, July 16th, was actually filmed all the way back on June 16th, roughly two weeks before his free agent status from AEW was officially made public. While the team could theoretically unite again in the not-too-distant future, with Angels having already suggested that he would like to wrestle alongside Grayson once more in a propper two-man tag team, it hasn't happened just yet.
Fortunately, history shows us that AEW has no problem allowing wrestlers to continue their previous indie work even after signing with the promotion, as more than a few tag teams from recent memory clearly showcase.
AEW has no problem with their wrestlers changing things up on the indies.
Before they were both members of the House of Black, Malakai Black and Brody King were The Kings of the Black Throne, a cross-promotional tag team in Pro Wrestling Guerilla that featured a member of the AEW roster and a performer who was then contracted to Ring of Honor and New Japan. While King eventually made his way over to AEW as well and has been a resounding success for everyone other than Darby Allin, their initial union was forged on mutual respect and a compatible in-ring style, not some planned union pre-ordained by Tony Khan to have a “trial run” before they went All Elite.
This pairing isn't unique to Black and King, however; no, JD Drake teamed with Anthony Henry long before the Workhorsemen were booked regularly for Dark, Orange Cassidy teamed wth Kris Statlander at NYWC/Outlaw Wrestling King & Queen Tournament long before she joined Best Friends, and even “Pretty” Peter Avalon has found a second life teaming with Ray Rosas as PPRay.
Now granted, these situations are slightly different, as the number of AEW wrestlers who have been released from the promotion only to continue on outside of the promotion with their former in-ring performers is rather small, and not every team with a Tony Khan-contracted performer ultimately makes its way to Dynamite, Rampage, Dark, or Elevation – no offense to Flip Gordon and/or KC Navarro, but they likely aren't going to be Ring of Honor bound any time soon – but the Dark Order feels different because the majority of the team remains under contract, and Brodie Lee will remain one of the true legends of the promotion whether it runs for one more year or until Tony Khan Jr. decides he doesn't want to keep his father's company going. If the storyline is right, Stu Grayson and Alan Angels may find themselves back under contract without so much as lifting a finger, and if they can tear it up on the indies, they might just be able to put themselves over enough to justify a second run in the promotion on their own.
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