Without a doubt, The Dark Order has consistently been one of the most dominant factions in All Elite Wrestling.
The group (originally consisting of Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) debuted at Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019. Since then, they have used effective propaganda-style messages to recruit new members. Things really gained traction when The Exalted One was revealed as their leader, but their identity remained a mystery.
However, on the March 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite, The Exalted One revealed themself as none other than Brodie Lee. Since then things haven’t been the same, which isn’t a good sign for the rest of the AEW locker room.
With Lee’s enigmatic presence at the helm, The Dark Order continued to bolster their ranks. In less than a year, they’ve brought in John Silver, Alex Reynolds, Preston Vance, Alan Angels, and Colt Cabana.
But they didn’t forget about the women, recruiting Anna Jay and, most recently, Tay Conti. These two are a force to be reckoned with and will certainly put the AEW women’s division on notice.
Jay is a relative newcomer to wrestling, making her debut for Georgia Premier Wrestling in September 2019. She trained under Ray Lloyd (better known as Glacier) and Nightmare Family member, QT Marshall.
She made her first appearance with AEW on the April 1, 2020 episode of Dynamite against Hikaru Shida. While she didn’t defeat the soon-to-be AEW Women’s Champion, she impressed many with her showing. Just six days later, the company announced via Twitter that they officially signed her.
A few weeks later, she appeared on the April 21, episode of AEW Dark, losing to Penelope Ford. She then returned to Dynamite on June 17, but came up short against Abadon. After the match, Lee and The Dark Order came down to the ring and helped her to the backstage area.
Jay officially joined the group on July 29, when she accompanied Lee and Cabana to the announce desk on Dynamite.
Perhaps the biggest statement she has made thus far happened two weeks ago. After Lee defeated Cody for the AEW TNT Championship, The Dark Order laid waste to the Nightmare Family. Brandi came out to protect Cody, but Jay locked her in a choke hold and put her to sleep.
She took part in the AEW Women’s Tag Team Tournament: The Deadly Draw, teaming up with Tay Conti. The two defeated Nyla Rose and Ariane Andrews in the first round before losing in the semi-finals to Diamante and Ivelisse.
Fans are very familiar with Conti thanks to her time in NXT. She signed with the company in October 2016 and made her debut at WrestleMania Axxess the following April. She also competed in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, losing to Lacey Evans in the first round.
Her NXT TV debut came on October 11, where she interfered in a triple threat match between Liv Morgan, Nikki Cross, and Peyton Royce. This started a feud between her and Cross, and the two came to blows during her first televised match on November 1, where she lost.
Conti took part in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, making her the first Brazilian female to compete on The Grandest Stage of Them All. She then qualified for the second Mae Young Classic after defeating Vanessa Bourne that fall. After beating Jessie Elaban in the first round, she lost to Lacey Lane in the second round.
She went on to regularly compete during live events but made sporadic appearances on NXT TV. In April 2020, she was one of the talents released from the company during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August, as mentioned above, she teamed with Jay during The Deadly Draw Tournament. While they only made it to the semi-finals, they impressed many with their showing and fans wanted to see more of the duo.
It looks like they might get their wish; The Dark Order invited Conti to join them last week on Dynamite, an invitation she seemingly accepted.
With both Jay and Conti in their ranks, The Dark Order grows even stronger. Will we see more women join them in the future? Adding the likes of Abadon, Kris Statlander, Nyla Rose, or even Awesome Kong could make them unstoppable.
Who knows, maybe the next recruit. . .is you.
Together, we can become more powerful than ever before.
Don’t be scared.
Join The Dark Order.
https://www.joindarkorder.com/
