Tag: AEW Dark Elevation

Excalibur and Matt Menard were on the call for this packed edition of AEW Dark: Elevation taped last Wednesday before Dynamite in Cleveland, Ohio.

Dante Martin defeated Wes Barkley

Martin was on the offensive for most of this match — another great way to get the young star over. Everything Barkley did, Martin quickly countered it with, as Menard said, “everything is a flip with this kid.” Martin planted Barkley with his Nosedive finisher for an easy win.

Julia Hart defeated Arie Alexander

Hart has such an awesome entrance. Of course, nothing lives up to the Undertaker’s iconic entrance, but it does give me those vibes. I think Alexander managed to move out of the way of one single move in this match. Hart hit a standing moonsault and locked in her Hartless Lock for the submission win.

Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose defeated Queen Aminata & Skye Blue

Aminata has been making some noise on the indie scene at the last two Terminus events against Killa Kate and Masha Slamovich. Tonight, she returns to the Dark shows to team with the lovely Blue who is yet again in a tag team match with a different partner.

They definitely didn’t get off to the hottest start in this match. Rose was dominant as always. Aminata got some offense in, but Shafir countered a clothesline to bring it back. She then hit Blue with a nasty german suplex followed by Shafir and Rose hitting an assisted DDT that they definitely messed up on. But, they got the win regardless.

Matt Hardy defeated RSP

This is Rickey Shane Page’s first appearance on AEW TV in over a year. In the middle of the match, former Hardy clients Private Party came out on the stage and watched. After they came out, RSP hit a huge roundhouse kick and then went for a senton off the top rope but Hardy moved out of the way. 

Hardy made his way to the middle rope and landed an elbow, followed by the Twist of Fate for the win. Nothing really came from the Private Party situation…for now.

Serena Deeb defeated Katie Arquette

Deeb locked in the flying Octopus Hold early. Arquette fought out of it but Deeb then locked in the Serenity Lock soon after for the quick tap.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Adrian Gretchell

I couldn’t really find anything on Gretchell, but he had an entertaining match with Kazarian. It was one of the most back-and-forth matches of the night with each man getting in their offense. Kazarian locked in the crossface chicken wing after a leg drop to get the win in his first appearance since late-June’s Royal Rampage match.

Rush, The Blade & The Butcher defeated Chase Oliver, Elijah Dean & Zach Nystrom

The indie team was comprised of guys from both AIW and NEW, respectively. They didn’t really have much of a chance in this one, though. The only time they really got any offense in was when Blade entered the match, but even then, it turned around quickly. Rush got back into the match with a massive dropkick in the corner to pick up the win.

Hikaru Shida defeated Emi Sakura to retain the Regina Di WAVE Title

The title in contention is the Regina Di WAVE belt from Japan’s Pro Wrestling WAVE. Shida won the title by defeating Suzu Suzuki earlier this month. This match was put into motion on last Monday’s show.

Sakura came out of the gates hot, hitting a huge clothesline and then pulling Sakura’s hair to drive her head into the turnbuckle. The action went to the outside where Shida pulled out a chair and went for a senton off of it. Sakura caught her in the air and hit a back suplex on to the same chair.

Back in the ring, Sakura connected on a piledriver and moonsault for near falls both times. Shida fought her way back into the match and then opened up her shirt, tempting Sakura to engage in a chopping contest. Sakura tried to use the ref as a shield and then poked the eyes of Shida. 

Sakura kept trying to hit the Queen’s Gambit, but Shida kept getting out of it. She connected with a big right elbow that set up a running knee for a near fall. She followed it up with the Kitana spinning kick to the head for the win.

Final Thoughts:

This was a super fun show that got the point across and everything that needed to happen did happen. I have seen so many Dark shows where there are no story elements and there’s no reason to care. But, on this show, they pushed a Private Party/Hardy angle and the main event included a championship. I always love to see stuff like this. It should be a fun start to the All Out week they have planned.

It’s Monday and you know what that means: AEW Dark: Elevation with matches taped last Wednesday in Charleston, West Virginia. Excalibur and Matt Menard were on commentary.

Anna Jay A.S. (w/ Angelo Parker) defeated Nikki Victory (1:02)

The commentary team didn’t inform us if there was any relation between Nikki Victory and Jack Victory. Jay won quickly with a hook kick into the Queen Slayer for the tapout.

Ruby Soho & Ortiz defeated Nikki Midas & Queen Aminata (1:52)

Soho hit the No Future on Midas, who then walked right into a fisherman’s bomb from Ortiz for the pinfall. Ortiz did his best Rick Rude imitation to all four sides of the arena to give Soho the vapors.

Dante Martin defeated Jackson Drake (2:26)

Drake hit a fantastic fisherman’s suplex early for a near fall. Drake countered Martin’s attempt at a vertical suplex, but Martin reversed the reversal and got the suplex anyway. Martin got a near fall after a top rope crossbody and later got the pin after a half and half suplex that he turned into an uranage. They might have gone home early here. Drake was bleeding from the nose and/or mouth right before the finish.

Serena Deeb defeated Megan Meyers (2:56)

I don’t know why Excalibur needs to do commentary on every show, but he and Menard make a fantastic team. Deeb tied up Meyers in an Indian death lock and clawed at Meyers’ face while soaking in the boos from the crowd. Meyers mounted a brief comeback and then ran into a stiff clothesline from Deeb. Deeb hit a twist & shout neckbreaker and got the submission with the Serenity Lock.

Dark Order’s John Silver, Alex Reynolds & 10 (w/ Evil Uno) defeated D’Mone Solavino, Alexander Apollo & RC Dupree

There was a huge “Johnny Hungie!” chant from the crowd before the match started. Reynolds got caught in the heel corner after an eye rake from Solavino. 10 got the hot tag and overpowered all of his opponents. Dupree got hit with Silver and Reynolds’ rapid fire finishing sequence (rolling elbow into a gamengiri into a stunner into a german suplex), and then 10 finished off Dupree with a clothesline. Silver was so excited to celebrate the win he almost forgot to get the pinfall.

Julia Hart defeated Hayley Shadows (2:06)

Just based on surnames, Shadows should be in the House of Black. Hart should walk to the ring a lot slower to really sell her character change. I will say her new theme is a great fit for the character change.

Shadows walked into a kick from Hart immediately and then Hart dominated. Shadows got a flash rollup for a near fall and Hart responded with a thrust kick. Hart locked in a variation of the Rings of Saturn to get the tapout.

Tony Nese & Josh Woods (w/ “Smart” Mark Sterling) defeated Andrea Guercio & Logan James

Woods got Guercio with a doctor bomb for a near fall that was broken up by James. Nese disposed of James while Woods caught Guercio with an Olympic Slam out of the corner as Nese ran in to add a swinging neckbreaker at the same time. Woods then got the pinfall.

Death Triangle (AEW All-Atlantic Champion PAC, Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo) defeated Rosario Grillo, Dean Alexander & “Manscout” Jake Manning

Everything PAC does in the ring is so smooth. This was a warm-up for Death Triangle before their match on Wednesday with Will Ospreay and Aussie Open. Penta got the win with the Fear Factor Package piledriver.

After the match, they brought a kid in the ring to celebrate his birthday and Penta gave him his gloves.

Emi Sakura & Maki Itoh defeated Hikaru Shida & Skye Blue (7:10)

The crowd was very into Itoh as she sang her way to the ring. 

Shida wore the Regina Di WAVE championship belt to the ring that she won recently in Japan. The heels jumped Shida and Blue before the bell. Shida hurt her hand trying to punch Itoh, but avoided the kokeshi headbutt. Sakura dominated Blue, catching her in the corner with “We will chop you!” and a crossbody. Blue caught Itoh with an enziguri and got the tag to Shida.

Shida caught Ito with an elbow to the jaw, giving Itoh ten punches in the corner (and the camera work did them no favors; it was clear that Shida was hitting her own hand, not Itoh’s head). Shida caught Itoh with a brainbuster and got involved in a tussle in the ropes with Sakura, but got caught from behind with a headbutt from Itoh.

Itoh hit the kokeshi diving headbutt and got the tag to Sakura. Shida came back with forearms on Shida, but Sakura connected with a boot. Shida caught Sakura with a step up hurricanrana, and tags were made on both sides.

Blue tried to send Itoh into the turnbuckles headfirst, but Itoh has an iron head so that didn’t work. Itoh dropped Blue with a headbutt, and then held out her knee for Sakura to drive Blue into gut first. Shida broke up a pinfall attempt and all four women started brawling.

Sakura dropped Shida with a backdrop suplex. Blue went for a superkick, but Sakura ducked and Blue caught Shida with the kick. Itoh came off the middle ropes with a DDT on Shida, and they both fought to the floor. This left Sakura alone in the ring with Blue. Sakura hit Blue with a spinning backbreaker and finished her off with the Queen’s Gambit (Stormbreaker) for the pinfall.

After the match, Sakura challenged Shida for a Regina Di WAVE championship.

Final Thoughts:

It’s a shame that Shida and Sakura are only mixing it up with each other on AEW Dark as they should be on the main shows and in the mix with other performers. This was the best Skye Blue has looked. 

Elevation has a fresher energy than Tuesday’s Dark shows, probably because it’s being taped right before Dynamite. They really only need one of these shows. 

This week’s AEW Dark: Elevation lineup was filmed before last Wednesday’s Dynamite in Columbus, Ohio, with Tony Schiavone and Mark Henry on the call.

Ruby Soho & Skye Blue defeated Nikki Victory & Megan Myers

Both Victory and Myers have been on the Dark shows before, but this was their first time teaming with each other as it was for Soho & Blue. Myers showed some nice offense early and both women were given a decent amount against their name-brand competition.

Blue superkicked Victory out of the ring and Soho got the pin on Myers after hitting her CrossRhodes-like finisher. 

Parker Boudreaux (w/ Ari Daivari) defeated Casey Carrington

This was the second match for both guys, but they are obviously on two different AEW career paths. Boudreaux has Jane’s Addiction-esque entrance music which is probably a tie in with the Entourage theme song ‘Superhero’ by the same band. Because, well, Ari.

Boudreaux got the win with a backdrop suplex driver of sorts. This was less of a match than Boudreaux hitting big power moves without any semblance of a story.

Athena defeated Queen Aminata

Aminata was looking for her first win in her second outing while Athena is looking to remain unbeaten. 

Athena hit a nice dropkick on the outside that took Aminata into the guardrail. Aminata definitely has something in the charisma department and plays a great heel.

Athena got the win after hitting spinning knees to the face off a fireman’s carry followed by the Eclipse. She is now 4-0 in AEW singles action and needs to start getting some steam behind her. Perhaps that starts this week.

Kiera Hogan & Leila Grey defeated Freya States & Alice Crowley

This was the first tag team match for the two Baddies team members who still don’t like each other. This was pretty bad as States didn’t make a great accounting of herself. Hogan got the win after a kick to the back of Crowley’s head. Hogan and Grey continued to squabble afterward.

Dark Order’s John Silver & Alex Reynolds defeated T.U.G. Cooper & Lord Crewe

Crewe and Cooper are Dark regulars while Silver & Reynolds have pretty much been in a holding pattern the last few months along with the rest of Dark Order. They picked up the win after their finisher medley, completed by a Reynolds pin.

Henry said that we don’t need a replay of the finish as it will “be embedded in our brains forever.” Alright, then.

Lucha Bros defeated The Wingmen (Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth)

The crowd finally came alive after being fairly quiet for the duration. Penta is now back to his El Zero Miedo version rather than Oscuro.

Avalon and Nemeth were more into showing off their bodies and screwing around until Fenix and Penta had enough with double superkicks. 

As Penta hit double sling blades, Henry asked if anyone does them better. Alright, then.

Penta and Fenix got to show off their impressive display of offense but Nemeth and Avalon rallied on Fenix with the former landing an elevated DDT.

It didn’t last long as they hit double superkicks on Nemeth, followed by a top rope Spanish fly to Avalon followed by the double team Fear Factor on him to get the win.

Afterward, Andrade El Idolo, Rush and Jose The Assistant came down to ringside ahead of their lucha rules tag team match this Wednesday on Dynamite. They got up on the ring apron and teased getting in, only to jump down and back down.

That’s a wrap for this week’s Dark: Elevation. There was nothing on this week’s show you need to go out of your way to see.