Though no one could ever really replace Brodie Lee, The Dark Order truly needs a leader to rein in the gang, and point them towards victory. The Dark Order needs Anna Jay as their new captain.

Originally led by Mr. Brodie Lee, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Alan Angels, Eight, Nine, Preston Vance, Colt Cabana, Anna Jay, and now -1, have dominated our TV screens and hearts on Being The Elite, AEW Dynamite, AEW Dark, and now AEW Dark: Elevation.

And though clearly a tight-knit group with silly tendencies—tendencies like trying to recruit Adam Page to their faction—The Dark Order is more than just a comedy act, or a crazy family perpetually on wacky adventures. The Dark Order is filled with skilled athletes; athletes who should be topping both the singles and tag team AEW Rankings, week after week.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Since the beginning of 2021, only three members of The Dark Order have graced the rankings. Evil Uno and Stu Grayson have made appearances low in the tag team rankings for January, even though having zero match wins. Anna Jay, too, appeared for two weeks in January, but her injury has snuffed out her fiery path to domination. Since Jan. 27, no member of The Dark Order has appeared on the AEW Rankings, and that will just not suffice.

So, how does The Dark Order reclaim their spot at the top of the pecking order? A new leader.

Now, it seems like an obvious move, and frankly cliché a move, for a women’s wrestling site to choose the only woman in the group to be the leader. Just, hear us out…

The Dark Order listens to Anna Jay. When she’s in their presence, they respect, listen to, and support Anna in the way a close family should. It’s painfully clear, when watching Being The Elite, that Anna is also the most competent and intelligent member of the group. Keeping a cool and calm demeanor, she is the balance to the goofy men who compose the rest of the group.

But Anna is not the quiet token woman in the stable; she’s anything but. The other members of the Order fear Anna, and rightfully so. The Queen Slayer is a quick study and vicious with anyone who stands in her way, killing them with a glare while remaining professional when the rest of the family is busy with high jinks. Only Grayson has the balls to occasionally try to step to Anna, but quickly backs down when she inflicts pain and intimidation. And I mean pain. We’re still not sure if Anna likes Stu…

When you’re watching the men of The Dark Order flinch in her presence, don’t let her hard exterior fool you: she’s also a loving den mother that the men so desperately need. When Adam Page turned town the offer to join The Dark Order, and left the fellas moping at their pajama party, The Queen Slayer went after Page.

“What are you doing here?” [Points at the bottle of whiskey in Page’s hand] “Oh, for that. Of course you are. You know what? You broke these boys’ hearts…leading them on for all this time. You know what? You need to move on, so that we can move on and be a family. A real family. So take this [points at the bottle of whiskey again], and get the fuck out.”

And like we knew he would, Page walked away, Anna squashing any attempt by Page to defend himself.

So, let’s quickly recap. Anna is smart, skilled, feared, intelligent, cool, collected, protective, respected, loyal, and dishes out punishment when it’s deserved. Still not convinced she should be the new leader? Okay…we love a good debate. Let’s continue.

Mr. Lee himself saw potential in Anna Jay, and the faith he had in her abilities stood tall against the faith he had in the rest of the family. In fact, her nickname “99”? It was given to Anna by Mr. Lee; the jersey number of “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky.

Still not convinced she should lead the group? We’ve got one last case to make in her defense.

AEW isn’t the most vivid storytellers, when it comes to feuds between roster members, especially when considering the women’s division. In fact, Cody Rhodes told Bell To Belles in a media call for Full Gear, late last year, that AEW avoided “war and peace” storylines. It’s an explanation that AEW fans weren’t entirely happy with, and for good reason. There’s plenty of room for a few good feuds within the women’s division.

Let us fantasy book, for just a moment. It was announced last month that Anna had injured her shoulder, required surgery, and would likely be out for 6-12 months. That’s 6-12 months to build a stellar feud between her and Tay Conti. Though Team TayJay seems like it could last forever (and part of us wants it to), simmering not far away is the potential for a serious Anna heel turn.

Earlier, we mentioned that not one member of the Dark Order has been in the AEW Rankings since January. Do you know who has been slowly making her way up the rankings? Tay Conti. Tay has won 7 out of the 9 matches she’s competed in so far, this year. One of those matches was for the NWA World Women’s Title against the defending Serena Deeb, at New Year’s Smash. Though she lost to Deeb, it shouldn’t be overlooked that Tay is getting these opportunities.

Speaking of opportunities, Conti was even featured in the AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Tournament. Yes, she lost to Nyla Rose in the first round, but being chosen as one of the eight women to compete on the US side of the bracket is a major victory.

Tay Conti has been successful this year; success that surely hasn’t gone unnoticed by Anna. If Tay’s trajectory continues to speed towards the top, the injured Dark Order member might not like that her friend, who denied joining the Dark Order, is getting all of the opportunities and glory that Anna feels she should get herself.

Anna works hard to get back to ring-ready, the whole time seething at Tay’s path to the top. Anna makes her return stronger than ever, returns to an AEW crowd and AEW roster happy to see her back. Anna arrives as a heel: a bitter, conviving, jealous, and deadly skilled heel. She turns on Conti, turns on the AEW crowd, and assumes the top position of The Dark Order, where she belongs, promising to return glory to the faction who once reigned over the company.

Chills. Chills, all over.

AEW is positioned to put a true leader in her rightful spot, when she returns to action. She has all the characteristics a good leader needs, and can pull off a heel turn MJF wishes he could.

AEW can give the women’s division a shot in the arm with a killer feud, while crowning The Queen Slayer the Dark Order Kingpin. Give the Dark Order a chance to be more than a fun plotline in a YouTube show, again.

Let Anna Jay reign supreme.