The following are AEW Dark: Elevation spoilers from Cincinnati, Ohio, taped prior to Wednesday’s Dynamite.
The matches will air this Monday on YouTube while AEW will tape this Tuesday’s Dark prior to Friday’s live Rampage taping in Jacksonville, Florida.
Preston “10” Vance defeated Baron Black
Vance will be in action against Rush on Friday’s Rampage.
Eddie Kingston & Ortiz defeated Russ Myers & T-Money
This is Kingston & Ortiz’s second straight win as a team after picking up a win on Tuesday’s Dark.
Serena Deeb defeated Hayley J
This was Deeb’s first singles match since her September loss to interim Women’s Champion Toni Storm. This is her ninth win in her last ten singles matches.
The Varsity Blonds defeated The WorkHorsemen
This is the Blonds’ first win since an August edition of Dark and only their fourth match since August.
Emi Sakura & Mei Suruga defeated Jaylee & Nikki Victory
This marked Suruga’s return to AEW for the first time since December 2021 and fourth match for the company overall.
Matt Hardy defeated Lord Crewe
This was Hardy’s first match since joining The Firm after Ethan Page’s win last Friday over Isiah Kassidy.
This week’s AEW Dark: Elevation was taped last Wednesday in Toronto, Canada, with Ian Riccaboni, Matt Menard and Paul Wight on the call.
Despite the hot crowd, this was the usual Dark: Elevation episode with a pretty fun match in the middle between Athena and Jody Threat.
Penelope Ford & Kip Sabian defeated Jessika Neri & Jeremy Prophet
This was under traditional rules where Sabian could only be against Prophet who we learned was trained by Jacques Rougeau. Ford, however, landed her running handspring elbow strike on Prophet right in the view of the ref. Menard asked if it was a DQ while Riccaboni and Wight moved on.
Ford hit the Superbad driver on Neri (a high school teacher) followed by Sabian hitting an Anarchist suplex for a near fall. Sabian and Ford then decided to run it back with her hitting a codebreaker off Sabian’s shoulders on Prophet followed by a second Anarchist suplex for the win. They have won three straight and were being pushed for a future AAA Mixed Tag Team title match.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Matt Blackmon
Commentary put over Kazarian’s look and gear in addition to the fact he’s the current Impact X-Division Champion (until Thursday, anyway). Blackmon, making his AEW debut, has some impressive size. It was for naught as Kazarin won after using his chicken wing submission for his third straight win. Kazarian is a fine talent, but they don’t have any real direction for him.
Athena defeated Jody Threat
This was a very entertaining match between two veteran wrestlers.
I have seen Threat in person several times and she’s legit. The Canadian had the crowd solidly behind her and took it to Athena early on, hitting a Michinoku driver for a near fall. Athena, usually a fan favorite, was booed which was unusual to hear.
This eventually broke out into a brawl and Athena embraced the boos. She then unceremoniously dumped Threat to the outside using a front suplex throw which was something to see. So was an Athena running dropkick on the outside which rammed Threat awkwardly into the barricade.
Athena picked up the win after a second rope O-Face, a big boot, and an overhead drop into double knees which was really impressive. Athena raised her hand afterward to bring things full circle. I’d like to see Threat get some more Dark opportunities in the months ahead.
The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny) defeated The Voros Twins
I have heard of these guys before, but they got a full entrance which is rare for Dark enhancement talent. Apparently, they have a large following on Tik Tok. Butcher & Blade are from Buffalo (Bunny is from Toronto), so they got a big reaction.
To say there was a visual difference between the two teams is an understatement. Butcher & Blade got the relatively quick win after hitting Drag The Lake.
Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh (w/ Sonjay Dutt) defeated Junior Benito & Dylan Davis
Dutt grabbed the mic and addressed the rumors Lethal, Dutt and Singh aren’t on the same page, saying they are a well-oiled machine and that they are going to kill Benito and Davis.
However, Dutt immediately commanded Lethal to tag in Singh which is adding to the problems. Singh hit his usual array of offense which included a double suplex on both men. He went for a power bom, stared at Lethal, and hit his razor’s edge whirlybird. Lethal wanted a tag, but Singh ignored him and just stepped on Davis for the win.
Singh still has just five matches under his belt all time. I’m surprised they aren’t trying to get him more work if they see something in him.
Serena Deeb & Emi Sakura defeated Madison Rayne & Skye Blue
Rayne is now wearing a backward hat that says “coach” to match Blue’s backward hat, evoking the 30 Rock Steve Buscemi “How do you do, fellow kids?” meme.
The Toronto crowd loved Deeb from the onset and she nearly immediately called out Blue. After Rayne & Blue briefly had control, the heels took over, working over the young Blue. Rayne & Blue eventually rallied until they didn’t with Rayne tapped to the Serenity Lock. Blue & Rayne haven’t impressed lately as a team.
This marked the AEW debut for the former Singh Brothers in WWE. Menard said there’s not two people he hates more than these two. They got the full entrance and the crowd was into them. Less so the Gunns who brought out homemade title belts and FTR t-shirts.
The Boyz did some dancing in Austin Gunn’s face, leading to Colten Gunn hitting both of them from behind. The Gunns then took over, wearing one of the Boyz over with a rear chinlock. Is this WWE Main Event?
After a short hope spot off a hot tag, the Gunns finished up with Austin hitting the Fameasser for a near fall when Colten pulled up one of the Boyz. They then mocked FTR by hitting the Big Rig for the pin.
The following are spoilers for this Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation, taped Wednesday prior to Dynamite at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford defeated Jessica Leary & Jeremy Prophet
Frankie Kazarian defeated Matt Blackman
Athena defeated Jody Threat
The Butcher & The Blade defeated The Voros Twins
Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh defeated Junior Benito & Dylan Davis
Serena Deeb & Emi Sakura defeated Skye Blue & Madison Rayne
Gunn Club defeated The Bollywood Boyz in the latter’s AEW debut. They were the Singh Brothers in WWE from 2016-2021 before they were released. Since then, they have been working in the indies, primarily for DEFY Wrestling and Vancouver’s NEW.
Dasha Fuentes was the ring announcer while Ian Riccaboni, Matt Menard and Paul Wight were on commentary.
AEW returns to Toronto Thursday for a Rampage taping with the following card:
Ethan Page vs. Isiah Kassidy with stipulations
Nyla Rose vs. Anna Jay-AS
Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. The Butcher & The Blade
FTR & Shawn Spears vs. The Embassy
It’s expected they will tape matches for this Tuesday’s Dark prior to the show.
This week’s edition of AEW Dark: Elevation was filmed with the myriad of shows they held last week in Washington DC. The all-star team on the call tonight was Ian Riccaboni, “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard and Paul Wight.
Hikaru Shida defeated Erica Leigh
Shida made her way to the ring donning two belts, one being the Regina di Wave title and the other being the International Ribbon Tag Team title she holds with Ibuki Hoshi in Japan.
The two women started with a collar and elbow tie-up. That didn’t work so Leigh just started asking Shida to hit her which was an interesting strategy. A big boot got Shida down to the ground but it didn’t last long. They traded places and Shida connected with double knees for a two count, following that up with her Katana kick for the win.
Lance Archer defeated Papadon
For some odd reason, Papadon was on the ramp when Archer started his entrance, so he just hit a massive forearm to get him back in the ring. There was no introduction from Dasha Fuentes, so they just got into the action.
Papadon almost made a little bit of a comeback, but Archer hit a giant lariat to take the upper hand. He then asked the crowd if they wanted him to rip his head off and they cheered. Thank god he didn’t. I’ve seen too much of that on House of the Dragon. Surprisingly, Papadon stayed in the match as much as he could, but Archer hit a chokeslam and a Blackout for the win.
Emi Sakura defeated Trish Adora
These two went at it to start things out. Adora has been really good in the AEW matches she has been a part of the last few months. Sakura went for her patented Tea Time and followed it with a super loud chop. The two went back and forth a little more, but Sakura got countered when she went for the butterfly backbreaker. Adora kept her in this nasty hold that I can’t even explain, but Sakura fought out quickly and hit two butterfly backbreakers to win the match.
Josh Woods & Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) defeated Action Andretti & Myles Hawkins
Sterling made his way to the ring with the neck brace on. I’m with the commentators: we really need to get this guy a doctor. Nese and Woods also finally got matching tights, something Menard has been talking about for weeks on commentary.
The match started with catch wrestling as you would expect with Nese. Andretti was in the ring with him to start and held his own with neither man looking for a tag. Andretti really looked awesome. Woods finally made his way into the match, but Andretti held his own again until Woods connected with a hip attack and a deadlift slam.
Hawkins came in with a hot tag that was quickly put to bed with a spinning back kick by Nese which would have been a three count if Andretti didn’t break it up. They also hit a nasty double team that saw Nese hitting a V Trigger-esque knee for another two count. They hit another double-team backbreaker for the win.
Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero & Marina Shafir) defeated Jordan Blade
This is Rose’s first match in storyline since running off with Jade Cargill’s TBS title at Friday’s Battle of the Belts IV.
Rose came bursting out of the gates with a running dropkick. Blade fought back and hit a right hand for her only offensive move of the match. It couldn’t get Rose down and then, for some reason, she thought she should roll out of the ring and get in Vickie Guerrero’s face. Marina Shafir just grabbed her from the back and let Guerrero slap her around. They rolled her back in the ring for Rose to hit a Samoan drop and a knee from the top rope for the win.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Brett Waters, Goldy & Logan Laroux
I’m not sure how I feel about ROH champions defending their championships on YouTube against what are essentially jobbers. I know it’s for the fans in attendance, but there’s more to it than that.
Waters started the match with Castle, but they called him “Wet” Brett Waters because he’s very wet apparently. They switched out quickly but Castle was able to handle all of them. It started getting a little bit more competitive when Brent (one of The Boys) came into the match. Both Boys (Brent & Brandon) had some great offense, but Castle came back into the match and dominated again. He hit the bangarang onto Waters for the win. This was a title match according to the card and results, but they didn’t really mention it all on the show.
Brandon Cutler defeated Serpentico (w/ Luther)
No offense to these guys, but this is not what I think of when it comes to Dark: Elevation main events. But, I’m not a stickler: the crowd loved it and just from the entrances alone, I could tell this was going to be fun.
It was standing switch city to start the match. Neither could get the upper hand until Cutler surprised Serpentico with a suplex. Cutler just started dancing and hitting elbow drops until one failed, but they both started missing moves just like at the start of the match.
Cutler hit a splash off the middle rope for a two count. He went for a splash onto the ropes, but Serpentico just moved and Cutler fell out of the ring. He tried to capitalize but Luther came in and tried to stop him from taking a move off the apron. You would’ve thought it was Drew Gulak at ringside. Luther then proceeded to slam Serpentico off the apron plainly in the referee’s view. I have no idea what’s going on anymore.
They both were back in the ring going blow for blow. Serpentico set up Cutler for a senton and cutter for only another two count. Cutler countered another splash into a helicopter spin that just made both of them dizzy. They both fell down on top of each other and actually got a two count.
Serpentico grabbed some of Cutler’s spray to use as a weapon but Cutler had his own and used both cans on both men to set up an elbow drop from the top for the win. This was super weird, but I can’t complain as everyone loved it.
The full lineup for Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation lineup was officially announced — one that will feature both the Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Champions and the returning Brandon Cutler.
Dalton Castle & The Boys will be in non-title action against Goldy, Brett Waters & Logan Laroux in a featured match. The trios have been working more AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation shows as of late.
Cutler will be in action for the first time since being suspended following the post-All Out fight involving the Young Bucks, CM Punk, Ace Steel, and Kenny Omega. He will face Serpentico.
Former ROH roster member Trish Adora will return to the AEW ring as she takes on regular Emi Sakura.
Monday’s YouTube lineup will see seven total matches that were taped last Wednesday in Washington, DC:
Brandon Cutler vs. Serpentico
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys vs. Goldy, Brett Waters & Logan Laroux
Nyla Rose vs. Jordan Blade
Trish Adora vs. Emi Sakura
Hikaru Shida vs. Erica Leigh
Josh Woods & Tony Nese vs. Action Andretti & Myles Hawkins
Here are spoilers from Wednesday’s AEW Dark Elevation tapings, which were held prior to tonight’s Dynamite in Washington, D.C..
Brandon Cutler returned to in-ring action for the first time since July 20, defeating Serpentico. He was initially suspended as part of a fight that took place following All Out that involved Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, CM Punk, and Ace Steel. However, Cutler and Pat Buck, who was also allegedly part of the fight, was cleared for a return by September 14.
Ian Riccaboni, Matt Menard, and Paul Wight were the announcers for Elevation.
Emi Sakura defeated Trish Adora
Tony Nese & Josh Woods (w/ Smart Mark Sterling) defeated Action Andretti and Myles Hawkins
Nyla Rose defeated Jordan Blade
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Lorgan Laroux, Goldy, and Brett Waters
Lance Archer defeated Papadon
Hikaru Shida defeated Erica Leigh
Brandon Cutler defeated Serpentico (with Luther)
AEW Rampage will be held live this coming Friday. AEW Battle of the Belts IV will air immediately after Rampage, as the two shows will be held back-to-back.
This week’s packed edition of AEW Dark: Elevation was filmed before last week’s edition of Dynamite in Philadelphia. Ian Riccaboni and Paul Wight were on the call to start the night.
Skye Blue defeated Trish Adora
The two started with a Code of Honor-esque handshake, but Adora used it as an armdrag. They went back and forth with Blue locking in a side headlock, but Adora fought back with shoulder tackles and a really nasty submission that is hard to even explain. Blue fought out and went for the Skyefall, but a German suplex got Adora out of it. She bridged for the pin, but Blue kicked out and then connected on the Skyefall for the win.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) defeated Tracy Williams
This is the first AEW singles appearance for Cage since October 2021 and his first for any Khan company since July’s ROH Death Before Dishonor. His strength easily got him the upper hand here, although Williams kept using his technical prowess to wiggle his way out of some moves.
It was more of the same for most of the match until Cage moved out of the way of Williams in the corner and lifted him up from the outside for a suplex from the middle rope. Cage used Williams to do some curls, but Williams kept fighting back.
He hit a cool DDT that drove Cage’s head into the top turnbuckle and locked in the STF. Cage powered up though and hit the Drill Claw for the win. This match was awesome as Cage looked like a real monster.
Later, a video played with Cage answering people who have been asking where he’s been. He said he’s been putting together an undefeated streak and he will return on the third anniversary edition of Dynamite this Wednesday against Wardlow in the TNT title open challenge.
Lance Archer defeated Cheeseburger
Crowd favorite Cheeseburger didn’t even get his own entrance here. He tried to escape quickly, but he jumped on with a sleeper and Archer just kept doing his entrance in a pretty cool visual. It got even cooler when Archer hit Cheeseburger with a suplex, but released him and it slingshotted Cheeseburger across the ring. Archer went for the Blackout and Cheeseburger fought out, but Archer quickly went for it again and hit it for the win.
Abadon defeated Abby Jane
This match couldn’t have been more different. Abadon is this scary, nasty, and intense fighter while Jane is a happy and smiley girl with hair clips.
This went exactly how you thought it would. Abadon got everything and it wasn’t even close. After a backward mule kick and a senton, Abadon hit her Black Dahlia for the pin. She hasn’t lost a match since her no DQ match with then-AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker in October of LAST YEAR.
ROH Six-Man Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Primal Fear (Adrien Soriano, Gabriel Hodder & Matthew Omen) to retain
Primal Fear got their own entrance. It felt like AEW made this a big deal which is good because they are going to need a lot more six-man teams if they want two different divisions in ROH and AEW.
Castle and Soriano started the match and after a big chop by Soriano, Castle got the Boys to fan him off. Riccaboni mentioned his beach wrestling championship as he started using his amateur prowess. The Boys helped Castle with a triple-team move, Brent came in the match and Primal Fear got the upper hand again with their own triple-team boot to the head. Brent turned this into a hot tag for Castle who took out all three Primal Fear member.
Castle and The Boys then did the great move where Castle individually throws out each Boy into a tope suicida. Castle hit the Bangarang on Omen to give his team the win and successful title defense.
Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford defeated Gia Scott & LSG
This is the first time Scott and LSG have tagged together. As you could probably guess, that wasn’t going to bode very well against Sabian and Ford.
Sabian led at the start, getting LSG into his own corner where they double-teamed LSG. Ford tagged in and hit a move but they tried to play it off like the referee didn’t see it and Sabian just kept going, but it just ended up confusing everyone. Ford did make her way in eventually, hitting the Superbad cutter and locking in the Muta lock for the win.
Lucha Brothers (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Dante Martin & Tony Deppen
This was another match where a world-class tag team was taking on a pair that had never tagged together before.
Some side headlocks started the match with Fenix and Martin. They kept going back and forth until they just stopped and shook hands. It was great. Deppen and Penta tagged in. Penta made sure to tell him he has no chance and when he went to take his glove off, Deppen ran over and caught it and then threw it at him in a funny spot. Penta dominated Deppen and double-teamed both men. Fenix held Deppen in position while Penta hit a dropkick to the hind parts of Deppen for a near fall.
Martin eventually got the hot tag and took out both men. Martin and Deppen got about as close as you can to beating the Lucha Brothers, but Fenix fought out and tagged in Penta followed by the assisted piledriver onto Deppen for the win. I know they really tried to make sure Martin looked good, but he should never be losing on Dark.
Best Friends, Danhausen & Rocky Romero defeated The Factory (Aaron Solo, Cole Karter, Nick Comoroto & QT Marshall)
The Best Friends side sure made up a very, very interesting tag team. The crowd was really hot for this one, or, I should say, they were really hot for Danhausen. The Factory was quick to take over. Marshall got in the ring just for Danhausen to bite his finger.
Karter, the newest member of The Factory, made his way into the match just for him to also get beat on by Romero and Danhausen. They got back on the offensive thanks to Comoroto hitting a massive clothesline behind the referee’s back. Marshall did the same thing with a right hand.
They really dominated Romero and cut off the ring. After a hip toss, Romero tagged in Chuck Taylor. Best Friends got to work quickly, taking out Solo and Comoroto, but of course, Marshall fought dirty and found his way back in. It didn’t last long as Trent Beretta and Romero did their signature Roppongi Vice moves followed by a Best Friends hug.
Everybody was then diving all over everywhere. Solo came back in the match and got cursed by Danhausen leading to the Strong Zero and the win. The Best Friends team ended the show with a nice pose.
This night of action felt awesome — full of matches that meant something and a lot of ROH talent that was used the right way.
The ROH Six Man Tag Team Championships will be defended on AEW Dark: Elevation.
Monday’s episode features Dalton Castle & The Boys defending the titles against Primal Fear (Adrien Soriano, Matthew Omen, & Gabriel Hodder).
Brian Cage will face Tracy Williams on the show as well. It will be Cage’s first singles match in AEW since the Jericho Cruise in 2021. Williams will be making his AEW debut.
Other notable matches scheduled to air include The Lucha Bros vs. Tony Deppen & Dante Martin and Best Friends with Danhausen & Rocky Romero vs. The Factory.
Matches for this week’s episode were filmed Wednesday, September 28 from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA.
AEW Dark: Elevation airs Monday at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The advertised lineup for the show is as follows:
Skye Blue vs. Trish Adora
Lance Archer vs. Cheeseburger
Abadon vs. Abby Jane
ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brandon & Brent) vs. Primal Fear (Adrien Soriano, Matthew Omen, & Gabriel Hodder)
Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford vs. Gia Scott & LSG
Brian Cage w/ Prince Nana vs. Tracy Williams
The Lucha Bros (Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix) w/Alex Abrahantes vs. Tony Deppen & Dante Martin
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta), Rocky Romero, & Danhausen vs. The Factory’s Cole Karter, Nick Comoroto, QT Marshall, & Aaron Solo
This week’s AEW Dark: Elevation was taped last Wednesday night prior to Dynamite Grand Slam at the world-renowned Arthur Ashe Stadium. “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard once again joined Ian Riccaboni on the call.
Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford defeated Shawn Dean & Skye Blue
The lively crowd made this showcase for Sabian and Ford a ton of fun to watch. Sabian, in particular, got a frankly shocking pop for how little he’s been featured on AEW television over the past year. He played maestro with the crowd early and kept control on “The Captain.”
Sabian and Ford kept the referee distracted as Ford hit a back handspring elbow on Dean in the corner followed by a Sabian cannonball. Menard was very funny in this match, and I hope he sticks around as a commentator. Dean countered Sabian’s finisher with a small package, followed by a DDT and the tag.
Blue came in like a house of fire, hitting a neckbreaker and a rising knee on Ford. Sabian tried to interfere, but Blue hit a Canadian destroyer on him to a massive pop. That allowed Ford to hit a cutter for a nearfall.
The men tagged back in and Sabian hit a headbutt, but Dean caught him off the ropes with a sky high for a near fall. Dean went to the top for the Last Salute, but ate Sabian’s knees. The Anarchist neckbreaker scored the win for the professional boxer Sabian. Get it? Because of the box, you get it, you get it.
Ortiz defeated Serpentico (w/ Luther)
This was a quick and easy win for Ortiz in his hometown who got the huge pop coming out. He was in firm control in the early stages until he fell to the outside where Luther dropped him with a suplex. Ortiz fought right back, landing a powerslam for a two count.
Serpentico hit a rana out of the corner and landed a senton bomb for a near fall. Ortiz cut off Serpentico’s next move and hit a stalling Perfect Plex for the hometown win.
AEW has announced two matches for this week’s edition of Dark: Elevation.
Ortiz will face Serpentico in singles competition on the show. The other announced match features Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford teaming up to take on the team of Shawn Dean and Skye Blue.
Both matches were filmed on Wednesday from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York ahead of AEW Grand Slam.
For Ortiz, this will be his seventh singles match in AEW (his record is 3-3) and his first since dropping a hair vs. hair match to Chris Jericho in June. This will be the second time Ortiz and Serpentico have met in singles action. Ortiz won their first encounter on a Dark taping held on June 3.
AEW Dark: Elevation airs on Monday beginning at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The advertised card is as follows:
Ortiz vs. Serpentico
Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford vs. Shawn Dean & Skye Blue
This week’s edition of AEW Dark: Elevation was filmed last Wednesday before Dynamite at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York. The great Ian Riccaboni and “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard were on the call.
Zack Clayton defeated Conan Lycan
Clayton was announced as being from Albany, but he quickly turned heel when it was announced that he moved to the Jersey Shore. Lycan (from AAW) looked absolutely huge, but it didn’t help against Clayton’s heel work.
Clayton hit a release northern lights suplex for a near fall and went right back to using the ropes and other things you shouldn’t in a wrestling match. Lycan went for a crossbody off the middle rope, but Clayton caught him for a swinging powerslam for another near fall.
Lycan kept going for moves off the top rope (Drew Gulak would hate this guy, but after missing another one, Clayton connected on a spinout torture rack for the win.
Nyla Rose (w/ Marina Shafir & Vickie Guerrero) defeated B3CCA
B3CCA, who has wrestled in New England and also overseas recently, looked like a teenager across the ring from the former AEW Women’s Champion. As expected, this was dominated by Rose. B3CCA connected on a kick in the corner that was followed by a Rose spear and the Beast Bomb for the quick win.
After the match, Shafir took to the mic and talked about how she and her mom immigrated to Albany from Moldova. She blamed Albany for how she was raised and that they were part of the problem. She started furiously screaming about how they don’t know anything about her. Not really sure what she was trying to say here.
The commentary was quick to put over how Private Party took AEW Tag Team Champions Swerve In Our Glory to their limit a month ago on Rampage. Aggro and DangerKid (MSP in Limitless Wrestling and other Northeast indies) showed great teamwork against Private Party, but it didn’t last long. They singled out DangerKid in the corner and took Aiden Aggro completely out of the match.
Aggro eventually got a hot tag and ran through Private Party for a near fall, but Quen and Kassidy got right back in control, hitting Gin and Juice for the win.
Skye Blue defeated Clara Carreras
Blue is on a winning streak on the Dark shows, and is getting more and more screen time every week. She dominated here, hitting Skyfall to get her third straight win. The commentary team mentioned a TBS title shot in her future if she continues her winning ways.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Boujii, Rick Recon & Omar in a non-title match
Dalton Castle and The Boys made their usual extravagant entrance. I love that Riccaboni was able to be on commentary for this.
Recon started against Castle. For what was basically a squash match, these two teams had great chemistry. Omar tagged in and Riccaboni referenced The Wire — always love to see that. The twins both tagged in and out against Boujii and Omar. It turned into a hot tag for Castle who took turns with every member of the enemy team. He took each of the Boys and threw them out of the ring into his opponents. He did this about six times which was great. Castle ended the match with a bangarang for the win.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Jora Johl
Johl, who we haven’t seen in a while, got his own entrance. It was nothing compared to the reception and entrance the veteran Kazarian got.
Kazarian was quick on the offensive, getting in an elbow and moving the match to the outside. His striking was on full display. Johl looked hopeless until he caught Kazarian on his shoulders and countered into a fireman’s carry slam. They then went back and forth, but Kazarian kicked out of a backbreaker to completely turn things around. He finished things with his chicken wing crossface for the win.
Mascara Dorada defeated Serpentico
This was the AEW debut for Dorada (the former Gran Metalik in WWE). He was making his debut and I’m really disappointed it wasn’t the main event. The King of the Ropes came out red hot. It was picture perfect lucha libre. Serpentico actually got a lot in after Dorada hit an asai moonsault to the outside.
Dorada hit a superkick and followed it with an airplane spin for the win. This was a solid debut, but he definitely deserves better.
The Butcher & The Blade defeated Liam Davis & Mike Anthony
I’m assuming this was the main event because both The Butcher and The Blade are from Buffalo, but they were also in Buffalo last week. I almost screamed at my TV, Butcher scared me so badly. Anthony tried using some strikes to take down Blade but he didn’t budge. Butcher and Blade got both men in the ring and connected on the Drag the Lake to get another win.
Final Thoughts:
An idea I had in the middle of the show, while trying to make these shows make more sense in my head, was a match like Blue vs. Rose or Private Party vs. Butcher & Blade — some matches between the regular Dark talent that actually mean something. They’ll never do it because of the nature of the show, but I really don’t like the downplay of Dorada and the fact that nothing on this week’s show had to do with the company’s biggest show on cable coming up in just two days.
This week’s AEW Dark: Elevation was taped prior to last Wednesday’s Dynamite with Excalibur and Matt Menard on the call.
Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated JC Storm and Joelle Clift
At some point, I assume AEW will introduce Women’s Tag Team titles to help give a purpose to some of the women that don’t have anything to do. Rose has been stuck on Dark and Dark: Elevation for months in tag team and trios matches with no real purpose.
Shafir and Rose got the win in a short match after hitting Clift with a double team fireman’s carry/DDT that saw Clift land right on the top of her head.
Julia Hart defeated Tiara James
Hart continues to roll with this new character, picking up her fourteenth straight singles win. They are clearly positioning her for some kind of title match before the end of the year.
She made James’ AEW debut a rough one, winning a quick match with the Hartless submission.
With Malakai Black seemingly gone from AEW, you wonder what they will do with the team so they don’t lose any momentum as fans are really into the act.
Matt Sydal & Dante Martin defeated Serpentico & Zack Clayton (w/ Luther)
Clayton is one of Tony Khan’s new Dark projects as he has developed an affinity for the reality show star as of late. Why Serpentico is teaming with hi instead of his regular partner Luther was never explained.
Martin & Sydal won this in roughly two minutes after Martin hit Serpentico with the Nosedive. I think Excalibur and Menard joked through nearly all of it.
Athena defeated Emi Sakura
This was Athena’s first match since losing to TBS Champion Jade Cargill at All Out. Surprisingly, this was only her 10th overall match since debuting in early-June. That feels low, doesn’t it?
This was a spirited and competitive match early with both shoving each other early and Sakura hitting a Cross Rhodes into her “We Will Rock You” hand claps.
The story here was that Sakura wouldn’t die no matter what Athena did. Athena got beat up for a while but finally rallied with a thrust kick and the O-Face finisher to get the win. We’ll see where they go from here.
House of Black (Buddy Matthews & Brody King) (w/ Julia Hart) defeated Isaiah Prince & Kubes
Based on the reaction to HoB, it’s hard to believe they will be disappearing following Black’s aforementioned exit. Both King and Matthews are great and deserve a nice main roster run as a tag team.
King used his power to overwhelm Matthews and King, hitting the cannonball dive. Matthews finished off Kubes (yes, that’s really his name) with a chokeslam on his knee followed by the pump handle driver for the win.
Menard hit the “Alright, I’ve heard enough” meter during this match with the incessant laughing and screwing around. Again, if the announcers aren’t taking this seriously, why should the viewer?
Hikaru Shida defeated Christina Marie
This is the first match for the former AEW Women’s Champion since the four-way for the interim title at All Out. She will team with new champion Toni Storm against Britt Baker & Serena Deeb Wednesday.
Shida won easily, hitting the meteora and the Katana knee for the pin and win. She hasn’t been on Dynamite with this frequency since April.
John Silver defeated Ryan Nemeth
This was Silver’s first match since the loss at All Out in the Trios title tournament. Evil Uno, 10 and Alex Reynolds all came out with him, nursing various injuries.
This was a comedy match that Silver won with the running boot to the back of the head, followed by the Spin Doctor for the pin and win.
Menard wondered what Silver’s Google history looked like based on his facial expressions. He’s turning into an SNL character stretched out into a movie.
The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny) defeated The Factory (Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto)
This was a homecoming match for Butcher & Blade as they are synonymous with the area. This was a perfect way to use them here in a featured match considering they aren’t in any main show program. All three came out in custom old-school Buffalo Sabres jerseys.
QT Marshall, who ran down the city before the match, and Cole Karter were all out with their Factory mates. I can appreciate Comoroto trying something new with his character but the whole presentation feels like he pulled it out of a hat.
Blade and Solo worked the first portion, eventually giving way to the big men. Comorto wasn’t backing down, but Butcher gained the advantage leading to some double-team action.
The rest was as you might expect: the heels get the advantage, the faces eventually fight back, and the good guys hit Drag The Lake to get the win. The one nuance was Marshall getting thrown out for getting in the ring which led to the finisher on Solo.
I don’t believe Butcher & Blade will ever get back to the point when they were fighting the Young Bucks in a falls count anywhere match on Dynamite, but at least they got this moment tonight.
Final Thoughts:
Condense this and Dark into a one-hour show with some good matches and have the commentary team take it more seriously and there’s something. Otherwise, it’s an assembly line of quick matches to give people to do with the occasional fun moment like the main event.
This week’s edition of AEW Dark: Elevation was filmed before Dynamite last Wednesday at the NOW Arena. This was also their first show since that media scrum last night and All Out that happened before (remember that?). Excalibur and “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard were on the call.
Julia Hart defeated Alice Crowley
Crowley, from the midwest U.S., was the poor victim of Hart tonight. Crowley started with heavy hands in the corner, but Hart quickly threw her to the ground and hit a moonsault for a near fall. She intentionally ended the attempt early and landed a superkick. The referee even got a little scared of Hart in this one. After another superkick, the Hartless lock gave Hart her 13th straight win and 16 in her last 18.
Josh Woods & Tony Nese (w/ “Smart” Mark Sterling) defeated Jordan Kross & Renny D
Sterling wasn’t wearing a neck brace for the first time in a long time.
Woods and Nese dominated Kross to start and never really lost control. Renny D tried to get involved, but was quickly thrown aside. Nese & Woods connected on an assisted neckbreaker for the win.
Serena Deeb defeated Nikki Victory
Deeb came to the ring in a big robe that she didn’t want to take off. Victory took advantage and actually got the upper hand on the 17-year veteran. But, Deeb kept the robe on until nearly two minutes into the match. Aubrey Edwards had a hard time getting her under control as she basically did everything wrong she could in the little time this match had.
Deeb went to lock in the Serenity Lock, but Victory started hitting some right hands. Deeb then locked in another nasty submission where she sat on Victory’s head and stretched out the shoulders from the back for the win — her fourth straight singles win since her loss at ROH Death Before Dishonor.
Private Party defeated Brandon Gore & JDX
JDX and Isiah Kassidy started, but Marq Quen came in quickly to break some rules. Each partner got the hot tag and Gore was on top for a little bit, but Private Party could not resist illegally double-teaming their opponents.
Matt Hardy came out on stage for this match, just like Private Party did for him a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, in the ring, Gore was hit with the Gin ‘n’ Juice to give Private Party the win.
Skye Blue defeated Diamante
There aren’t many better things than seeing Blue getting a win in Chicago. She started from the bottom, going back and forth in this one. Diamante was really dominating Blue, but it helped the crowd get more behind Blue. She eventually rallied and hit a hurricanrana, followed by a high knee.
Diamante had her own counter with Brock Lesnar-esque german suplexes. She went for the cazadora, but Blue countered into the flatliner for the win. This was both the most competitive and best match on the show.
Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Madison Rayne & Queen Aminata
New AEW signee and women’s coach Rayne started with MMA veteran Shafir. Rayne started on the offensive but was distracted by Guerrero which gave Shafir the upper hand. Rose and Shafir started double-teaming Rayne, but Aminata came in quickly…just to be another victim of their own opponents.
Rose and Shafir dominated Aminata with quick tags. Both Rayne and Rose got their own hot tags, but Rose showed off more dominance and quickly disposed of Rayne with the assisted double-team DDT for the win. Also, to stop Aminata from breaking from the pin, Rose went barrelling toward her in the corner and they kind of switched places on the apron. That was cool.
Final Thoughts:
This was a good episode for pushing storylines that hopefully have some kind of future on Rampage and Dynamite. Wrestlers like Hart, Woods & Nese, Deeb, Private Party, and Shafir & Rose are all on some pretty insane win streaks, but none of them appear on either big show. That especially goes for Hart, who you would still think is a manager if you just watch Wednesdays or Fridays.
This special edition of AEW Dark: Elevation was taped Wednesday at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, with Tony Schiavone & Matt Menard on the call.
I guess this makes this the official go-home show for All Out, so there’s that.
AAA Mixed Tag Team Champions Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo defeated GPA & Lady Luck in a non-title match
This was Guevara & Melo’s final stop before defending the titles against Ortiz & Ruby Soho in the trilogy match on Zero Hour Sunday prior to All Out. Why a trilogy? Why not?
Per usual, the fans hated Guevara and Melo. Per the unusual, this Dark: Elevation match went longer than it needed to. Melo and Guevara got the win after hitting dual GTHs. If you look at where they were a year ago, this whole presentation feels it’s holding both Guevara and Melo back.
AEW Tag Team Champions Swerve In Our Glory defeated Storm Grayson & Jah-C
As Mike DellaCamera pointed out in his All Out preview, Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland have turned out to be a pretty cool team that compliment each other really well. I am looking forward to singles runs with each of them, but I’ll take this while we got it.
The champs gave quite a bit to their competition, but got the win with the Strickland double stomp on a Lee-hoisted C for the win. They defend against The Acclaimed Sunday.
Hangman Page & Dark Order’s John Silver/Alex Reynolds defeated The Factory (Nick Comoroto, Cole Karter & Aaron Solo)
The Dark Order team is preparing for their shots at the inaugural Trios titles on Sunday against The Elite. The Page inclusion and the possibility of facing his old friends feels like it should have played out longer, but here we are.
There’s part of me that wants to say I don’t understand Comoroto’s new gimmick, but he needed something so I’ll take it. Menard absolutely loves him.
The beginning of the end saw Silver & Reynolds use their finishing sequence to put Solo on spaghetti legs, followed by Page’s Buckshot lariat to finish him off.
The Acclaimed defeated Invictus Khash &JPH
This was The Acclaimed’s last match before Sunday and, of course, they had to throw some shade at the current champs before this match, mentioning Strickland’s rap career and Lee’s soft voice on promos.
Khash started across from Bowens and got some offense in to start but the no. 1 contenders quickly started double teaming Khash. They went for the scissor but JPH broke it up which the crowd really hated. They took out JPH quickly and Caster hit the Mic Drop elbow for the quick win.
This was a tune-up for Ortiz & Soho before they take on Melo & Guevara Sunday. The men started, but Soho came in and took out Sakura and both hit the double Rick Rude hip swivel. Sakura was not messing around, eventually chopping Soho to the beat of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and even started singing it.
Akki followed all this with a tope to the outside onto Ortiz. Ortiz rolled back in and was targeted by both competitors. Everything then broke down as everybody was hitting everybody with anything, and the rules went out the window. Soho finally kicked Akki in the head and Ortiz got the pin to win the match.
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta) defeated Angelico, The Butcher & The Blade
None of the competitors here are set for action Sunday.
The Blade dominated Beretta to start with a healthy amount of trash talk. Beretta was in the corner fighting the whole team and got his “midsection” driven into the ring post. Angelico’s team really fought well together. Beretta almost got back into it, but Butcher and Blade broke up any tag that was going to be made.
Danhausen was on the outside trying to hype up his friends by pounding the mat. Angelico just walked over, slapped him up, and moved him on. However, during this, Cassidy got the hot tag and used his jacket for some strikes and some OC kicks. He put his hands in his pockets and jumped through the middle ropes onto Blade.
Best Friends took over and almost hit a triple team move, but just like the entire match, Butcher and Blade put a stop to it. Danhausen got on the apron as a last hope for Best Friends, cursing Angelico. Angelico tried to curse him back, but Danhausen just punched him in the groin to set up the Best Friends’ new triple team finisher for the win.
