The following are spoilers for Friday’s AEW Rampage & Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation, taped at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on Wednesday.
AEW Rampage —
The Acclaimed defeated Jack Cartwheel & Starboy Charlie. Matt Menard and Angelo Parker came out on the stage after the match.
Riho defeated Nyla Rose. Saraya, Toni Storm, and Ruby Soho made an appearance after the match.
Mark Briscoe came out and announed a ‘Reach for the Sky’ ladder match for the ROH Tag Team titles at Supercard of Honor. The Lucha Bros. were announced for the match.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Preston Vance
Sammy Guevara defeated Action Andretti
AEW Dark: Elevation —
Jake Hager defeated Levi Shapiro
Marina Shafir defeated Mighty Myra
Brian Cage defeated Jack Cartwheel
The Butcher & The Blade defeated Vinnie Massaro & Midas Creed
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Inder Mundi
Best Friends defeated Starboy Charlie & Olumide
The Lucha Brothers defeated The Wingmen (Ryan Nemeth & Peter Avalon)
This was the AEW debut for indie favorite Charlie while it’s Cartwheel’s second straight week on AEW programming as he debuted Tuesday against Konosuke Takeshita.
It’s Monday night and you know what that means: an episode of AEW Dark: Elevation taped last week at the Cow Palace in Daly City, CA, before Dynamite. Paul Wight and Matt Menard were on the call as usual.
This was another quick show with some matches that even had more stakes than usual, but except for Willow Nightingale and Athena, they didn’t really push anything forward.
J-Rod started with Shafir, but got dominated and had to leave quickly. Moone tagged in and called out Rose which went about as well as you would think. The heels double teamed Moone who eventually got the tag to J-Rod who then got hit with the assisted DDT by Rose for the quick win.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) defeated Rob McKnight
McKnight started with some chops that didn’t phase Cage who started curling McKnight like he was a big dumbbell. A few elbows by McKnight were his last bit of offense before Cage got him up for a power bomb. He then tied up his legs and stepped on his neck, getting a quick tap for the win.
Juice Robinson defeated Titus Alexander
Alexander, famous on the California indie scene, threw up his hand signs to start and Menard accused him of throwing up gang signs. Robinson won a strength contest and went for the early pin. When the count was two, he got in Aubrey Edwards’ face which was not received well.
Alexander missed a couple of dropkicks while Robinson was wasting time. Alexander got the heat back with a dropkick that finally hit and a German suplex bridge for a near fall. Robinson got the heat back and hit his face plant DDT for the win in a really good finish. The Juice really was loose. Put it on a shirt.
Skye Blue defeated Leila Grey
This show usually has all the quick jobber matches, but Blue was taking on one of The Baddies here tonight. Grey, who has been riding with TBS Champion Jade Cargill, started off well using her size. Blue hit a high knee in the corner and locked in a full nelson, but Grey hit a side slam for another near fall. Blue kicked out and hit a side superkick for the win.
Christopher Daniels defeated Cole Karter
This was another match that was more than just an enhancement match which I liked. The Cow Palace loved Daniels, of course. Karter looked strong with some high-octane offense, but he kept getting distracted by showing off to the crowd. A solid right hand got him a nearfall.
After a headlock, Daniels made his comeback by avoiding a suplex with his own German suplex. His own right hand and clothesline set up the finish, but Karter fought out and hit a sitout powerslam. Karter missed on a top rope move, leading to Daniels going up top and hitting the Best Moonsault Ever for the win.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Brooke Havok in a Proving Ground match
This is ROH’s version of a title eliminator match where if Havok beat Athena or made it to the time limit, she earns a title shot. Havok tried to get the crowd on her side by staying on top of Athena, but Athena caught her off the ropes and hit a brutal Rock Bottom. After a kick out at two, she drove Havok’s head into the mat with multiple power bombs. After that, she locked in a crossface and ended the match quickly.
Athena went to drive Havok’s head into the belt as she does with everyone, but Willow Nightingale ran out. Before she could get to the ring, Athena still went through with it and ran away. She even did a little jig to Nightingale’s music to further taunt her.
Lance Archer defeated Jack Banning
Archer’s music hit and he ran out with some poor guy in his hands, tossing him like a football down the ramp. Right when he got in the ring, he ran over Banning and continued with his entrance. Banning was smiling after to which the Murderhawk Monster did not take kindly to. Archer kept up the punishment and took offense that Banning was still alive. Banning actually started landing a few kicks and even slapped Archer in the face.
When he went for a move off the top rope, Archer caught him in the air and hit a power bomb, followed by a clothesline while screaming “Everybody dies!” This was an easy win for Archer.
Evil Uno defeated Lee Johnson (w/ Cole Karter)
Johnson came out with Karter, who was still holding his midsection from his match earlier. Uno surprisingly came out by himself, which commentary was quick to point out.
Right before the bell rang, Karter held the foot of Uno for Johnson to attack, but it didn’t quite work out. Uno hit Johnson with some chops and when he tried to escape, he just joined him on the outside and ran him over.
Karter tried to get involved again, but Uno had a right hand for him, too. However, this was distraction enough for Johnson to hit his own chops. Karter was constantly getting involved whenever the referee wasn’t looking. Uno couldn’t stay out for long as he hit a whopper of a clothesline that sent Johnson flying. Wight even referenced Clubber Lang from Rocky III, it hit so hard.
Uno set up a senton from the top rope for a near fall. Johnson kicked out and tried his own top rope move, but Uno caught him and hit a piledriver for the win.
It’s Monday night and you know what that means: AEW Dark Elevation filmed before last week’s Dynamite in Phoenix. Paul Wight and Matt Menard were on the call.
Emi Sakura defeated Rachelle Riveter
Sakura started the show with FSW regular Riveter. They took their time with each other, hitting some European uppercuts and kicks. Sakura turned a suplex into an inverted DDT, followed up by a crossbody in the corner and a moonsault off the top for the win. After the match, she used Rick Knox as a seat for tea time.
The Kingdom (w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett) defeated Aguila Aguirre & EJ Sparks
The Kingdom clearly had the advantage early on as you would expect. Sparks got the brunt of it until a question mark kick got Aguirre into the match. The jobber offense didn’t last long as Mike Bennett and Matt Taven traded blows to Aguirre’s face in the corner. Taven hit the running knee in the middle of the ring for the pin.
Diamante, Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Brittnie Brooks, Mazzerati & Miss May
Shafir started against Brooks and dominated, even hitting her teammates with some gut punches to establish the offense. The heels switching partners constantly gave Brooks the opportunity to simply run to the other side and get a tag. But, Rose just used this as a way to throw them all at each other.
May actually got so scared of Rose that she just jumped off the apron and ran away right to the back. Rose then ran over Mazzerati and just pinned her. Poor Miss May.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Daniel Evans
Evans looked like the most normal human being of all time. Despite that, he got run over, punched, slammed, and clotheslined by Hobbs. The torture rack slam finished it off. This was almost hard to watch, but in a good way.
The Firm (Ethan Page, Isiah Kassidy & Matt Hardy) (w/ Stokely Hathaway) defeated Braxton, Ice Williams & Watson
Page cut the music and thanked Hardy for being a good partner and friend. The crowd absolutely hated that, but Hardy tried to convince them that it was okay. Hathaway then tried to talk about Hook but Kassidy told him to shut up so they can “Party Hardy with Hardy Party.”
Kassidy started the match on fire, but Hardy came in soon after and almost lost steam, but he turned it around and The Firm started doing the triple-team good chemistry thing that ended with Hardy hitting a Twist of Fate and the win.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Danielle Kamela in a title eliminator match
Athena was as brutal as I have seen in a while, just throwing Kamela around the outside into the steel steps. Kamela turned it around with a neckbreaker and went for a top rope move, but Athena used the ref as a shield to knock her off. She then followed that up with the O-face for the win. She then drove Kamela’s head into the belt after the match.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Lee Johnson (w/ Cole Karter)
The action started off hot before the match even got going with Menard pointing out Karter’s “hard nipples.” When the wrestling started, they went back and forth with Takeshita running the ropes like a superstar, Johnson turned things around with a hard elbow, dominating for a couple of minutes with rest holds.
Takeshita fought out of it and threw Johnson over the top, followed by a tope con hilo onto both Johnson and Karter. They went back and forth with Johnson hitting an inverted DDT. Takeshita got control with a blue thunder bomb and hit two running knees for the pin and win.
This was a very quick but action-packed AEW Dark: Elevation before Revolution this Sunday.
The following are spoilers from this Friday’s AEW Rampage and this Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation, taped in Phoenix, Arizona Wednesday.
AEW Rampage
The Young Bucks defeated Aussie Open. After the match, the lights went out and The House of Black surrounded the ring. However, the lights went out again and when they came on again, they were gone.
Toni Storm defeated Willow Nightingale. Ruby Soho made the save after the match before Saray and Storm could use their spraypaint on her. Jamie Hayter entered the ring and attacked Saraya.
Lance Archer defeated Bryce Saturn. Jake Roberts was with Archer.
Sammy Guevara defeated Action Andretti
AEW Dark: Elevation
Emi Sakura defeated Rachelle Riveter
The Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) defeated EJ Sparks and Aguila
Marina Shafir, Diamante & Nyla Rose defeated Mazzerati, Miss Anna May & Brittnie Brooks
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Evan Daniels
The Firm (Ethan Page, Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy) defeated Watson, Action Braxton & Ice Williams
It’s Monday night and you know what that means: AEW Dark: Elevation taped last Wednesday in Laredo, Texas, with Paul Wight and Matt Menard on commentary.
Juice Robinson defeated Fuego Del Sol (6:07)
Whatever happened to Fuego Dos? Del Sol was all fired up early on and got a bunch of near falls. He went for a tornado DDT, but Robinson tossed him to the mat and cut him down to size with a back elbow. Robinson hit a flapjack, a side Russian leg sweep and a standing frog splash for a near fall.
Robinson tried to pull off Del Sol’s mask, which fired him up. He caught Robinson with an enziguri and an Asai moonsault on the floor. Robinson countered a second DDT attempt by overpowering Del Sol and dropping him stomach-first on the top rope. Robinson pulled at the mask again and hit a cannonball in the corner.
Robinson went for the Left Hand of God, but Del Sol countered with a cradle. Robinson finally yanked the mask off, hit the Left Hand and then a DDT for the pin. This was a fun squash for Robinson who needs more real TV time.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Evelyn Carter in a title eliminator match (2:53)
Carter caught Athena with a forearm on the floor and Athena proceeded to beat her around the ringside area. Back in the ring, Carter tried a couple of quick covers and then got chokeslammed. Athena locked in a crossface for the quick tap out. She superkicked Carter after the match and then smashed her face against the title belt. This was a dominant performance from the champion.
Lee Moriarty & Big Bill (w/ Stokely Hathaway) defeated Zack Zilla & Warren Johnson (5:32)
Zilla and Johnson used a couple of double teams on Moriarty until Bill got the tag. He sent Johnson out of the ring with a big boot and tossed Zilla across the ring with a fallaway slam. Zilla fought out of a front facelock and got the tag to Johnson. They mounted a brief comeback, but Bill and Moriarty finished off Zilla with a full nelson slam/sit-down power bomb double team.
Moriarty and Bill move on to a match with The Acclaimed on Wednesday.
Rose locked Rayne in a dragon sleeper and scratched at her stomach. Later, Sakura chopped Rayne in the corner and hit a body block. Shafir then got her opportunity and choked Rayne in the ropes, followed by her distracting the ref so Guerrero could do the same.
This brought Blue over to break up the cheating with a superkick Rose. Nightingale got the tag and hit an enziguri on Shafir followed by a cannonball in the corner on Sakura. Nightingale hit a spinebuster on Shafir for a near fall. Rose and Shafir later hit a DDT on Nightingale and Rose went to cover, but Bates was the legal woman in the match. So, Rose grabbed Bates and gave her the Beast Bomb for the pinfall. Man, Nightingale’s stock has fallen quickly. She can’t even win on Elevation.
Blue will face Saraya on Wednesday.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Sal Muscat (1:36)
Hobbs is another act who should be getting real TV time. Muscat hit an enziguri and Hobbs shook it off, planting Muscat in the mat with a spinebuster. Hobbs hit his version of the burning hammer for the pinfall.
Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver & Alex Reynolds) and Best Friends defeated The Firm (Matt Hardy, Isaiah Kassidy & Ethan Page) and The Butcher & The Blade (w/ Stokely Hathaway) (8:48)
I think all of these teams are somehow involved in the tag team battle royal on Wednesday, including some pairing of Hardy, Kassidy and Page. The Butcher took Silver and Reynolds down with a double clothesline and soon everyone was brawling in the ring. Kassidy tried to charge in and Uno floored him, followed by him putting him in a reverse chinlock so Best Friends and Silver and Reynolds could give the people what they want.
Page worked over Uno in the corner while the crowd chanted “We want Hardy.” Hardy got the tag and led the crowd in a “Delete!” chant while ramming Uno’s head into the turnbuckle pads. Kassidy got the tag and hit Poetry in Motion with Hardy for a near fall. Kassidy hit a slingshot senton and Page called for a double headbutt on Uno with Butcher, which hurt his own head. “That was stupid!” Page delivered an impressive delayed vertical suplex on Uno who later came back with a hangman’s neckbreaker.
Kassidy and Chuck Taylor got the hot tags, and Taylor backdropped Kassidy. Beretta came in and they combined for the Soul Food/Half and Half combo on Kassidy. Soon, all the teams were brawling again and Kassidy caught Beretta with a swanton bomb for two. Page went for the Twist of Fate on Uno, but Uno countered and delivered his own.
Butcher and Blade pulled Uno out to the floor and gave him the Drag the Lake. Reynolds and Silver caught Butcher and Blade with a pair of dives, and Kassidy took Silver and Reynolds out with his own dive.
Back in the ring, Kassidy went for a Twist of Fate on Beretta, but Beretta shoved Kassidy into Hardy, who crashed into the barricade, and then hit Kassidy with a superkick. Kassidy went to tag Page, but Page dropped to the floor to check on Hardy. This left Kassidy to fall victim to Strong Zero from Beretta and Taylor, giving Team Dark Order and Best Friends the win.
Lucha Brothers (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Tony Nese & Ari Daivari (w/ Mark Sterling) (6:40)
Tony Schiavone replaced Paul Wight on commentary with the story that Mark Sterling had Wight barred.
To no surprise, the Lucha Brothers were incredibly over with the Laredo crowd.
Penta and Nese started out. Penta tried a handshake, but Nese responded by shoving his biceps in Penta’s face. Sterling unsuccessfully tried to interfere when Penta tossed his glove to Abrahantes. Daviari got Penta with a shot from behind and then Nese hit Penta with an elbow. Nese and Daivari tried a double-team, but Fenx broke it up. The fight went to the floor where Daivari whipped Penta into the barricade and took control.
Back in the ring, Daviari tried to take off Penta’s mask and wound up eating a superkick. Nese got the tag and knocked Fenix off the apron. Penta caught Daivari with a superkick and Nese with a sling blade, and then finally got the tag to Fenix.
Fenix got a near fall on Daivari after a cutter. Sterling broke up an attempt at the Fear Factor, and Daviari got a near fall with a rollup. Fenix and Penta hit superkicks on both guys, and Sterling came in and got superkicked as well. The Lucha Brothers then hit Nese with the Fear Factor to get the pinfall.
The Lucha Brothers will return to tag team action on Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation.
Due to what is believed to be visa issues, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix (and PAC) have been gone since losing in the seventh match of best-of-seven series against The Elite for the AEW Trios titles in early-January.
The two did return on this past week’s Dynamite for a run-in. Monday’s match against Ari Daivari & Tony Nese will mark their first traditional tag team match in AEW since last October’s AEW Dark match in Toronto, Canada.
The show will also feature a ten-match tag team match as Dark Order & Best Friends unite to battle The Firm.
Here’s a look at the full lineup taped last Wednesday in Laredo, Texas:
Dark Order (John Silver, Evil Uno and Alex Reynolds) & Best Friends vs. The Firm (Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, Ethan page and The Butcher & The Blade)
ROH Women’s Champion Athena vs. Evelyn Carter in a non-title match
Juice Robinson vs. Fuego Del Sol
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Sal Muscat
Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir & Emi Sakura vs. Leva Bates, Madison Rayne & Willow Nightingale
Lucha Brothers vs. Tony Nese & Ari Daivari
The Firm (Lee Moriarty & Big Bill) vs. Zack Villa & Warren Johnson
The following are spoilers from AEW Rampage and AEW Dark: Elevation, taped Wednesday in Laredo, Texas.
AEW Rampage (Friday):
Rampage will air at 7 PM Eastern due to the Slam Dunk competition as part of NBA All-Star weekend.
The Elite defeated AR Fox and Top Flight to retain the AEW Trios Tag Team titles. After the match, The House of Black appeared, then disappeared on the ramp.
Ricky Starks defeated Daniel Garcia. Guevara tried to help Garcia during the match, but Action Andretti came out to even things up.
Don Callis was seen backstage attempting to recruit Konosuke Takeshita.
Jade Cargill defeated Vertvixen to retain the TBS Championship.
Dustin Rhodes defeated Swerve Strickland by DQ. The finish had Rhodes going for the crossroads but Parker Bordeaux came in for the DQ. Keith Lee then made his return and made the save for Rhodes.
AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday):
Juice Robinson defeated Fuego Del Sol
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Evelyn Carter
The Firm (Lee Moriarty & Big Bill) defeated Zach Zilla & Warren Johnson
This week’s episode of AEW Dark: Elevation featured matches filmed last Wednesday in El Paso, Texas, prior to Dynamite. Per usual, Paul Wight and Matt Menard were on commentary.
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & John Silver) defeated El Dragon, El Cobarde & Vary Morales
Dark Order won in dominant fashion, picking up the victory after the trademark Silver/Reynolds flurry of combo offense. Of note, this particular Dark Order unit have won nine straight which could portend a future Trios title match them.
– Matt Hardy apologized to Ethan Page for blowing their shot in their challenge of AEW Trios Champions The Elite on Rampage recently even though Isiah Kassidy took the pin. Page wasn’t buying it and accused Hardy of playing to the camera. Hardy then kissed Page’s ass for a solid minute and bought Page a shirt to make amends. Page bought it and now, they are great friends.
Big Bill defeated Gino
I’m not sure what Bill is going with for a look, but jeans, Timberlands and visible Calvin Klein underwear was the order of the day. This was Gino’s AEW debut and it ended with him getting pinned after a big chokeslam. I’m still not sure if AEW knows what he’s doing with Morrissey and The Firm but time will tell.
Eagle-eyed AEW fans will remember DD Doom (aka Daddi Doom) as flanking MJF during one of the Dynamites when he was hanging out in a luxury box. It felt strange to see Cargill in an early Dark: Elevation tag match, but here we are. Cargill picked up the quick win for Team Baddies after Jaded on Tormenta.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) defeated Jastin Taylor
I know some people don’t care for Cage, but you rarely see him in a dud even in squashes like this. He won a quick one here with the Drill Claw and moves on to face “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Nyla Rose & Emi Sakura (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Skye Blue & Madison Rayne
El Paso native Guerrero got a chance to scream “Excuse me!” and some other inaudible things on the mic pre-show as the crowd chanted “Eddie.”
While I understand that more title belts aren’t at the top of anyone’s list for AEW wishlist items, I feel like Women’s Tag Team titles could give a lot of contracted talent something to do. There are so many of these women’s tag matches on Elevation that they need something to strive toward.
As action spilled to the outside and Blue took Sakura into the guardrail, Guerrero hit a spear on Blue out of nowhere that popped the crowd. Sakura later took out Blue with a crossbody into the barricade before Rose took out Rayne with a death valley driver for the pin and win.
Yuka Sakazaki defeated VertVixen
VertVixen is an AEW YouTube show regular and is also the current DEFY Women’s titleholder while Sakazaki is chasing an eventual match with ROH Women’s Champion Athena, likely at Supercard of Honor.
VertVixen got some offense in, but Sakazaki eventually picked up the win after the Magical Dream Girl Splash, preceded by an airplane spin slam. Afterward, Athena ran in and laid out her future challenger with a title belt shot, threw her into the ringside stairs, and then tried to injure her knee by sliding into the stairs with Sakazaki’s leg trapped in them. Sakazaki kept coming and got laid out with a big boot for her trouble.
Josh Woods (w/ Mark Sterling, Tony Nese & Ari Daivari) defeated Man Scout
Man Scout Jake Manning has competed in AEW before and was still focused on reading his Boy Scouts book prior to the match. Woods won in super short order with a rolling German suplex that looked like it was in slow motion. Woods moves on to face Mark Briscoe on Wednesday.
Best Friends defeated Aydan Colt & Frank Stone
It’s rare that a squash match gets the Elevation main event slot, but here we are. Stone and Colt did get brief spots of offense in, but this ended in a few minutes after the Soul Food/half n’ half suplex combo followed by Taylor getting the pin after a piledriver.
The 101st edition of AEW Dark: Elevation was filmed last Wednesday before Dynamite in Dayton, OH, at the Nutter Center. Paul Wight and Matt Menard were on commentary for most of the show.
Jericho Appreciation Society (Angelo Parker & Matt Menard) defeated The Boys (Brandon & Brent)
Menard was involved in the first match instead of on commentary, so Wight took over the duties by himself. It caused some dead air here and there, but Wight has a lot of great insight and the dead air was filled by the arena sound effects which was interesting.
The JAS tried a lot of heel stuff by distracting the ref and keeping The Boys locked off in their corner. The Boys got a little offense in and showed some great teamwork, but this one didn’t last long. Menard got rid of Brandon with a massive lariat, which led to a double DDT onto Brent for the win.
– Lexy Nair had Ari Daivari, Tony Nese and “Smart” Mark Sterling in the back for an interview about tonight’s main event. Sterling noted that last week’s Elevation got the most views out of any Elevation ever because of their match with Top Flight. Sterling also pointed out that the BCC has been a thorn in his side for years even though they were formed 11 months ago.
Juice Robinson defeated Jake Crist
First of all, Robinson’s music is incredible. I love the country rock style…but he came out in graffiti jeans which I didn’t like the style of.
Crist, the longtime Impact Wrestling veteran, used his size early keeping Robinson in the corner. He hit a crossbody off the top, but Robinson caught a kick and started raining down punches. For some reason, he got in referee Aubrey Edwards’ face and called her “Audrey” which was really funny. Crist got up and hit some loud kicks, but Robinson landed a tall flapjack, a Russian leg sweep, and a DDT for the win.
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & John Silver) defeated Crash Jaxon, Matt Brannigan & Renny D
A really popular few guys from the Midwest indies were up against the Dark Order in this one. Jaxon actually had a great match with Steve Maclin the night after this taping at Pro Wrestling Revolver, which also featured a lot of AEW talent.
Brannigan started with Silver to the usual “Johnny Hungie” chants. The indie team established themselves as the heels by attacking Silver, but Dark Order came back and singled out Jaxon. Brannigan found himself alone in the ring with the rest of Dark Order and they hit their assisted backdrop for the win.
Yuka Sakazaki defeated Billie Starkz
Starkz held her own against another top-level talent which was great to see. She even hit a somersault leg drop onto Sakazaki who was on the apron that looked absolutely brutal. Sakazaki came back with her own missile dropkick. Both that and a sliding clothesline got near falls. Starkz got her own nearfalls with a high-angle German suplex and a swanton bomb. Sakazaki powered up and hit a body slam followed by the Magical Dream Girl Splash which was enough to put Starkz away.
– The Boys were backstage with Lexy Nair, but Dark Order interrupted again. Nair tried to call them out, but they just told her that she had her sassy pants on today. Due to their loss earlier, they believed The Boys needed a change of scenery so they offered them a spot in Dark Order. When The Boys seemed unimpressed, John Silver started doing a variation of the twist. Yes, the dance.
Brandon & Brent started dancing along, but when Nair tried to join in, Silver started yelling at her and telling her to just stand there. Evil Uno offered The Boys a contract which was just a bundle of blank papers with the words “Dark Order Contract” on the top. They all started dancing away and Brent grabbed a couple of sheets of paper and shoved them in his mouth. I don’t know whether to be really confused or really amused.
This was a very interesting matchup. Cassidy tried to get right to it with the pockets, but Serpentico delayed it for a few seconds. Eventually, Cassidy got them in there. The two teams went back and forth cutting off the ring, but when Best Friends did it, it just consisted of Danhausen distracting the ref while each member wretched Serpentico’s arm. Cassidy even hit Taylor with a few lackadaisical ones.
SAP and Clayton singled out Cassidy and actually hit him with a triple bear hug, but Cassidy fought out and baited Clayton into punching, not one, but both of his own teammates. Beretta got the hot tag and he took out Clayton. Taylor and Beretta got rid of each one of their opponents and went for their big hug, but Clayton broke it up only to get triple-team choke slammed for the pin.
After the match, Angelico got in the ring and called out Cassidy and then got hit with his powerful kicks. Danhausen snuck up behind him and cursed him, followed by a big Best Friends hug.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Corey Calhoun
This was the epitome of short and sweet — a squash as they call it in the business. Hobbs just kind of threw him around until he decided he wanted to end it with the burning hammer for the win.
Top Flight defeated The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny)
Butcher and Blade obliterated Dante Martin before the bell even rang with Blade chopping the hell out of his chest. They did a great job of cutting off the ring and it was cool to see Darius Martin get the hot tag for a change. He hit Blade with an impressive Spanish fly for a near fall that Butcher had to break up. He followed the pin attempt with a run-up DDT off of Dante’s body for another near fall.
Blade turned the match back around when he hit a brutal-looking knee onto Darius. Butcher and Blade got Darius up for Drag The Lake, but Dante was the legal man the whole time. Dante used a headscissors to throw Butcher out and hit his Nosedive for the pin and win.
Diamante, Emi Sakura, Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Hyena Hera, Madison Rayne, Queen Aminata & Skye Blue
This was a lot more here than I expected. Blue got most of the work for the babyface side, but everybody got their time on the heel side in the early going. But, we eventually saw every combination you can see in this match (I don’t know how many total as I didn’t become a writer because I was good at math) before it eventually fell apart.
They all congregated to the outside where Blue and Rayne each hit moves off the top rope. Hera found herself alone in the ring with Shafir and Rose who hit the Beast Bomb for the win. Shafir gave Rose the evil eye after the match.
Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) defeated Ari Daivari & Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling)
If you were waiting all night for the Mark Sterling Ohio Law jokes, you’re in the right place. This week on the way out, he pointed out how it’s illegal to fish for whales on a Sunday. He apologized to the bachelors of Ohio who now had one less day to find Ohio women. He then called the BCC a couple of “Moby Dicks” and said after his team was done, they would have some caviar. (Caviar is fish eggs and has nothing to do with whales.)
The crowd let out a big pop for the BCC. Nese spent the early going trying to show off his physique to two ROH champions which was an interesting strategy. Daivari made his way in and tried chopping Castagnoli, but the ROH Champion followed it with a European uppercut that dazed Daivari so much he tried tagging in Yuta. Yuta actually got tagged in, only for Daivari and Nese to cut off the ring with some help from a distracted referee.
Yuta connected on a clothesline and finally got Castagnoli back in the match. Nese ate a ton of European uppercuts and went down, but Daivari broke up the pin. Daivari got his own uppercut and fell out of the ring. Castagnoli reversed a backslide and tried to get a big swing going, but Sterling got on the apron.
Instead of just swinging Nese, he gave Sterling the big boot. Nese used the distraction to hit a kick and then his 450 splash, but Castagnoli kicked out, After things broke down and Daivari was taken out of the match, Castagnoli launched Yua into a flying DDT on Nese. Daivari went for a dive, but Castagnoli caught him and hit a backbreaker, taking him for a swing until Yuta delivered a dropkick mid-swing to get the pin and win.
The following are spoilers for Friday’s AEW Rampage and this Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation, taped Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.
AEW Rampage:
The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks) defeated Ethan Page, Matt Hardy, and Isaiah Kassidy
Swerve Strickland defeated Brian Pillman Jr.. Strickland and the rest of Mogul Affiliates attacked Pillman after the match until Dustin Rhodes made the save.
Toni Storm and Saraya defeated The Renegade Twins. After the match, Storm and Saraya spray painted the letter L on The Renegade Twins’ backs.
Rush defeated Christopher Daniels
AEW Dark: Elevation:
Matt Menard & Angelo Parker defeated The Boys
Juice Robinson defeated Jake Crist (former Impact wrestler
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver & Evil Uno) defeated Renny D, Matt Brannigan & Crash Jaxon
This week’s edition of AEW Dark: Elevation hit a massive milestone of 100 episodes. The first one aired two years ago in March 2021 with Jungle Boy at the top of the show. My, how times have changed.
This week’s show was filmed before last Wednesday’s Dynamite in Lexington, Kentucky, with Ian Riccaboni, Matt Menard and Paul Wight on the call.
Red Velvet defeated Billie Starkz
This was a rematch from a mid-December Dark match taped at Universal Studios in Orlando.
The 18-year-old Starkz was tremendous in this match. They started out very physically with Starkz hitting elbows in the corner, followed by two German suplexes. They exchanged pinning combinations after a perfect swanton bomb by Starkz. However, a poisonrana and spin kick by Velvet finished off Starkz who is now 0-3 in AEW.
– ROH Women’s Champion Athena was backstage with Lexy Nair but she quickly kicked her out. She needed to find a tag team partner for her match tonight and walked up to Diamante, asking the cameraman for her name. The only way Diamante was going to join her was if she was given a title opportunity. Athena agreed and we were on.
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) (w/ Evil Uno) defeated The WorkHorsemen
“Johnny Hungie” chants rained through the arena as Silver got his offense going against Anthony Henry. JD Drake made his way in and started throwing Silver around like a rag doll. The WorkHorsemen cut off the ring, but some showboating opened up for a hot tag to Reynolds. He took out both members of the heel team and planted Henry with a tiger driver for a near fall.
A misstep by Reynolds took out Silver and the WorkHorsemen were back in front, but Silver got right back up and hit Drake with a German suplex to set up Henry for the stunner suplex bridge combo and the win. That move is always so crisp.
Rush (w/ Jose The Assistant & Preston Vance) defeated Brian Pillman Jr.
Pillman Jr. got a big reaction from the Ohio Valley area crowd. Menard talked about how the locker room saw this match on the card tonight and were talking about it. Except for a few high-flying outbursts, this was slow and methodical by Rush. He took him to the outside and threw so many knees to Pillman Jr.’s face that referee Aubrey Edwards had to join them and try to pull him off.
Jose and Vance used this opening to attack Pillman Jr.. Once they were back in the ring, they started chopping and slapping the hell out of each other. Both men’s chests were nearly purple by the end of it. Rush followed the exchange with the Bull’s Horns to get the win.
After the match, somebody threw the neon green cable into the ring which Rush used to whip Pillman Jr. and choke him.
Skye Blue & Yuka Sakazaki (w/ Madison Rayne) defeated ROH Women’s Champion Athena & Diamante
Diamante came out with glow sticks in between her fingers for Athena’s entrance, but quickly ditched them which really pissed off Athena. Diamante started with Sakazaki. Each team took turns cutting off the ring, but Blue definitely got the worst of it and got beat down for several minutes. Sakazaki finally got the hot tag and hit a missile dropkick and body slam onto the ROH Women’s Champion.
Each member of the match took the other out, but Sakazaki took out Athena. Diamante took over and got hit with a kick and helicopter slam pin for the win. Athena was faking an ankle injury on the outside and was getting ready to attack Sakazaki, but all three women in the ring stared her down so nothing happened.
Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) defeated Ari Daivari & Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling)
Sterling told the crowd that not showering in Lexington is a crime so he bought everyone a bar of soap that was under their seat. But this was obviously a lie and he called everyone who looked under their seat guilty. This was really funny.
Top Flight was as good as you can get in this match. They started off with a great double team move, but Nese quickly cut off the ring against Darius. Both Daivari and Nese were in the ring punching him in the corner and Rick Knox just kinda stood there. Darius turned it around with a double hurricanrana and tagged in Dante who came in with a crossbody and a tope suicida. The two teams traded near falls until Dante hit Daivari with his Nosedive for the pin and win.
– Yuka Sakazaki was getting interviewed by Lexy Nair in the back, but Dark Order interrupted. Due to Anna Jay A.S. leaving, they asked her to join. Sakazaki just kept saying “hai” which is yes in Japanese. They thought she was introducing herself and didn’t understand, so they walked away.
Kings of the Black Throne (Brody King & Malakai Black) defeated The Outrunners
OVW’s Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) looked like a team straight out of the 80s. They didn’t have a chance against King and Black who got a mammoth reaction. Each of the Outrunners took a turn against Black, but both got dominated. King came in and chopped each guy to death, followed by King hitting Magnum with an assisted piledriver for the quick win.
ROH Champion Claudio Castagnoli defeated Blake Christian to retain
Caprice Coleman joined the commentary desk for this one. I just saw Christian a few weeks ago live at GCW in Charlotte, so I was really excited about this one.
Castagnoli came out of the blocks hot with a dropkick and early pin attempt. The champion didn’t really face any adversity in the first few minutes. Christian looked like he was going to get something done, but Castagnoli moved out of the way of a springboard dive and took back control. He drove Christian into the ring post on the outside. Every single move that Christian tried to pull off, Castagnoli countered with something even better.
Eventually, the challenger hit a bulldog and a spear onto the apron and connected on a Fosbury Flop. Castagnoli kicked out of a double stomp and tried to start his giant swing, but Christian rolled him up and hit a 450 splash for a great near fall. Castagnoli got back up and hit a straitjacket power bomb and started his swing. The ref thought it was enough and called it in the middle of the swing. This was a really awesome main event to close the 100th Dark: Elevation.
The following are spoilers for Friday’s AEW Rampage and this Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation, taped Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky.
AEW Rampage —
Hangman Page defeated Wheeler Yuta
Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal defeated Best Friends and Danhausen when Singh pinned Danhausen. Both Sonjay Dutt and Orange Cassidy were at ringside.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Tony Mud
Jamie Hayter defeated Emi Sakura
AEW Dark: Elevation —
Red Velvet defeated Billie Starkz
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) defeated The WorkHorsemen
This week’s AEW Dark Elevation was filmed before last Wednesday’s Dynamite in Fresno, CA, at the Save Mart Center. This week’s show is actually the 99th Dark Elevation in history. Who knows what they have planned for next week? Ian Riccaboni, Paul Wight & Matt Menard were on the call.
Skye Blue defeated Zoe Dubois
There was a good pop for Blue per usual. I couldn’t find any prior matches or info on Dubois, but Riccaboni did mention she was a rookie from the Las Vegas area. She started the match with a big knee and three back-to-back suplexes. Dubois looked good in this match and she got over well. They went back and forth some more until Blue hit her Skyfall finisher for the win.
The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny) defeated Beef Candy (Flex McCallion & Richie Slade)
Blade started the match hitting some impressive knife-edge chops onto Slade. The Bunny also got involved early behind the ref’s back. Butcher entered and dominated McCallion just the same. Slade tried to help his partner, but Butcher and Blade stacked them up and hit Drag The Lake for the win.
– After the match, Lexy Nair was backstage while ROH Women’s Champion Athena was backstage looking for Yuka Sakazaki and found her. Their build to a future match continues:
La Faccion Ingobernable (Preston Vance & Rush) (w/ Jose The Assistant) defeated Papacito Blanco & Papacito Negro
I had no idea who these two were as they looked like a couple of buff guys from California that put on a mask for this match and the gimmick after. Rush wanted to go bump for bump with Blanko, but resorted to chops and threw him to the outside and then threw him in each corner. Vance tagged in and they looked ready to do some kind of double-team move, but it was really awkward instead. Negro tagged himself in, but Vance dominated him with strength and striking.
Rush and Vance set up another double-team move, but it just ended up being them mocking a football field goal, perhaps a jab at the Fresno fans after the Chargers lost last week. Rush hit a cannonball dropkick in the corner. Vance hit a discus lariat and they stacked them up for the pin followed by their traditional ripping the mask off their opponents.
Emi Sakura defeated Brooke Havok
The commentary team started by mentioning Havok is a graduate of the Nightmare Factory in Georgia. It’s good to see them still mentioning that stuff. She started hot, but Sakura started pulling hair and being an old-fashioned heel. She even bent Havok over her knee and gave her a spanking. Never thought I would type that. Sakura hit her with the “We Will Rock You” chops to set up a backbreaker and a moonsault from the top for the win.
Ari Daivari & Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) defeated Big Fonz & Jordan Cruz
Before the music could even get going, Sterling stopped it and talked about how there’s a law that you can’t be ugly in San Francisco. He then said they were going “down” to San Francisco to party with the pretty people. San Francisco is actually north of Fresno.
Nese started posing with Cruz who has been on NJPW Strong recently. Nese and Daivari cut off the ring and pummeled Cruz until he was able to get the hot tag to Fonz. The heels interfered again though with Nese hitting a running knee on Fonz for the win.
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & John Silver) defeated The Wingmen (Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth) & Serpentico (w/ Luther)
No offense to these teams, but I feel like I see some sort of combination of this match every week. Nemeth started with some gyrations and Luther screaming about how sexy he is. Silver came back with his own gyrations and Serpentico was so offended he jumped off the apron. Reynolds got a hot tag, but the heels attacked him on the outside and then cut off the ring.
Eventually, Avalon took out Silver on the apron, but it opened up a hot tag to Evil Uno. He delivered a move to each one of the opponents. Dark Order set up the Abyss, but Silver was tripped. It was all-out chaos after this as everybody took their turn until Silver and Reynolds singled out Avalon and hit a lariat/pinning combo for the win.
Here are results from AEW Dark Elevation and Rampage, which was taped before and after Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Additionally, AEW taped a ROH tribute show to Jay Briscoe following Rampage.
AEW Dark Elevation:
Skye Blue defeated Zoe Dubois
The Butcher & The Blade defeated David McCallion and Richie Slade
Rush & Preston Vance defeated Papacito Blanco and Papacito Negro
Emi Sakura defeated Brooke Havok
Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds, and Evil Uno) defeated Ryan Nemeth, Peter Avalon, and Serptentico
Tony Nese & Ari Daivari defeated Big Fonz and Jordan Cruz
AEW Rampage:
Jungle Boy defeated Ethan Page. Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy were at ringside. Towards the end of the match, Page grabbed Matt Hardy’s hair to avoid a code red. Hardy shoved Page, leading Jungle Boy to hit the code red for the win.
Tony Schaivone interviewed Eddie Kingston and Ortiz. They argued, with Ortiz saying their trainer Homicide would be mad at him, calling Kingston a fake tough guy. Kingston attacked Ortiz with a steel chair and walked out.
Brian Cage defeated Willie Mack
Jade Cargill and Leila Gray defeated Jaina and Jordyn Vanity
Action Andretti defeated Daniel Garcia
ROH Jay Briscoe tribute show:
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman opened the show, talking about Jay Briscoe.
Wheeler Yuta defeated Hagane Shino to retain the ROH Pure Championship. Judges were Jerry Lynn, Dean Malenko, and BJ Whitmer. Yuta won via submission.
Adam Cole came out and talked about Jay Briscoe
Marina Shafir defeated Mighty Myra via submission
Eddie Kingston defeated QT Marshall by submission
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Madison Rayne via submission with a crossface. After the match, Athena attacked Skye Blue at ringside, laying her out with a belt shot.
Yuka Sakazaki defeated Sandra Moone
Juice Robinson defeated Brandon Cutler
Claudio Castagnoli defeated Christopher Daniels to retain the ROH World Championship. Both Danielson and Castagnoli talked about Briscoe after the match.
