In a rarity, AEW taped just two matches for this Monday’s Dark: Elevation prior to Wednesday’s Dynamite in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to reports from fans, they played the Double or Nothing Countdown show inside the arena instead of more action.
Given Friday’s live Rampage, it’s likely they will tape more action for Elevation, in addition to Tuesday’s Dark, before and after Rampage.
In one of the matches, Konosuke Takeshita rebounded from his loss to AEW World Champion Hangman Page last week with a victory over Ryan Nemeth of The Wingmen.
Takeshita recently returned to both the U.S. and AEW and drew praise for the Page match.
In the other, Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez defeated Dark regular Mazzerati by submission. Martinez recently unified the title by defeating Deonna Purrazzo in a title vs. title match on Dynamite.
Wednesday’s action was set at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, the site of Friday’s show as well. Sunday’s pay-per-view will transition to the T-Mobile Arena
It’s Monday and you know what that means: a six-match AEW Dark: Elevation taped last Wednesday at the Fertitta Center in Houston, Texas.
Mark Henry and Paul Wight were on the call tonight.
Ethan Page (w/ Dan Lambert) defeated JD Griffey
This was pretty much a squash. Page won after using the Ego’s Edge to improve his overall record to 25-8.
Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez defeated Hyan to retain the title
Hyan got a great reaction because of her hometown advantage which motivated her throughout the match. Martinez’s strategy was to ground her with headlocks. Hyan used several high armdrags to get the champ in trouble at times, even getting a near fall with a falcon arrow.
In the end, Martinez (6-3) used a lariat to the back of the head and the Brass City Sleeper submission for her second successful title defense.
The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny) defeated The Varsity Blonds
Griff Garrison tried to challenge The Butcher’s strength which was a mistake. However, his speed was able to overwhelm Butcher and later on Blade with a roll-up that was a near fall. Once Butcher & Blade took over the match, they isolated Brian Pillman Jr. but a Garrison comeback turned the tables in favor of the Blonds.
The end was not in their favor as Pillman accidentally superkicked Garrison which led to B&B hitting Drag The Lake to pick up the win.
Lee Moriarty defeated Alex Reynolds
This match was all about Moriarty and Reynolds trying to one up each other with speed, giving Moriarty the advantage. His technical wrestling overwhelmed Reynolds at times in addition to his more aggressive style. Reynolds missed a standing moonsault and a combination of several Moriarty Muay Thai knee strikes and a crossface gave him the win.
Emi Sakura & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Skye Blue & Yuka Sakazaki
Every time Sakazaki and Sakura shared the ring, it was so awesome. Honestly, a TV match between these two would be awesome. Rose and Sakura isolated Sakazaki, throwing the “Magical Girl” around. One of the best spots was Sakura tying Blue and Sakazaki in a pretzel. Sakazaki had a near fall on Rose with the top rope magical splash. Blue went for a top rope Tijeras that Rose countered into a Beast Bomb to get the win.
Anthony Ogogo defeated Mysterious Q
This was the AEW debut of Mysterious Q. Ogogo was in control, but Q was able to showcase a bit of offense and overwhelm Ogogo. In the end, Ogogo used the Gov’na’s Hammer to improve his overall record to 13-1.
One half of Bear Country won in a squash with a black hole slam. Bronson’s 2022 record is 3-3 after the win.
Brody King defeated Alex Reynolds
The size and speed of King overwhelmed Reynolds from the start. The House of Black member won in quick fashion with a brutal ganso bomb to improve his overall record to 5-1.
Yuka Sakazaki & Anna Jay defeated Emi Sakura & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero)
Sakura and Rose attacked Sakazaki and Jay before the match began to get the early advantage. The heels isolated Jay at first, but a comeback and a hot tag to Sakazaki turned things in favor of the babyfaces.
Sakazaki used a magical go-around on Sakura to give the babyfaces an unexpected win over the more experienced team. It was great seeing an upset on Elevation for once.
The Acclaimed & The Gunn Club (w/ Billy Gunn) defeated Lucas Chase, Zack Clayton, GKM & Bryce Donovan
The Acclaimed got the biggest pop of the night. This was another quick match as a combination of a Colt 47 and the Mic Drop to GKM was enough to end this match in favor of the new faction.
Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Ten defeated VSK & Eric James
In yet another quick squash, Ten and Uno used Dark Reckoning on VSK to get the win.
Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez defeated Trish Adora to retain the title
Martinez immediately targeted Adora’s left arm. The match quickly evolved into a technical wrestling showcase with both women being pretty much equal. Adora used quick pin combinations to try and overwhelm the champion, but Martinez was able to respond to everything Adora had to offer with her strength.
Adora used a deadlift german suplex for a near fall, but it was the closest she got to becoming champion on this night. Martinez immediately responded with a nice tribute to Eddie Guerrero with the Three Amigos suplexes. Martinez (5-3) used a dragon sleeper to win by submission and retain the title.
This match was a great showing for Adora and, hopefully, we’ll see more of her on AEW going forward. This was the best match on the show.
Here are spoilers from tonight’s AEW Rampage and AEW Dark: Elevation that took place during tonight’s Dynamite tapings in Long Island, New York:
AEW Dark Elevation:
Bear Bronson defeated Brandon Cutler
Brody King defeated Alex Reynolds
Emi Sakura and Nyla Rose defeated Anna Jay and Yuka Sakazaki
The Gunn Club and The Acclaimed defeated Zack Clayton, Bryce Donovan, Lucas Chase, and GKM. Anthony Ogogo was on commentary for this match.
Evil Uno and 10 defeated VSK and Eric James
Mercedes Martinez defeated Trish Adora to retain the ROH Women’s World Championship. Martinez won with a dragon sleeper.
AEW Rampage:
Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El 0M and Rey Fenix) defeated The Butcher, The Blade, and Marq Quen. The House of Black confronted Death Triangle.
Shawn Spears defeated Bear Boulder. After the match, Spears beat up Boulder with a steel chair.
Ruby Soho defeated Riho in a Owen Hart Foundation tournament quarterfinal match.
Tony Schiavone interviewed TBS Champion Jade Cargill, Kiera Hogan, and Red Velvet. Schiavone announced that Kris Statlander will be replacing an injured Hikaru Shida against Red Velvet next Friday on Rampage.
Scorpio Sky defeated Frankie Kazarian to retain the TNT Championship. Despite Sky telling Dan Lambert and Ethan Page to not get involved, Lambert distracted the referee and Page hit Kazarian with the TNT title. After the match, Sky revealed he was in on the plan and struck Kazarian with the belt again. Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti, who were at ringside, ran off Lambert & Men of the Year.
Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland defeated Chaos Project in a dark match close out the tapings.
It’s Monday and you know what that means: a five-match AEW Dark: Elevation taped last Wednesday at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Mark Henry and Paul Wight were on the call tonight.
Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, Alan Angels & 10) defeated Ryan Mooney, Diego, Josh Fuller & Brandon Scott
This was pretty much a squash match. Dark Order dominated, winning after everyone hit their finishers on their opponents. A combination of a full nelson from Ten and a botched power bomb from Evil Uno ended this one.
Abadon defeated Emi Sakura
Sakura tried to use her experience to overpower Abadon, but that wasn’t effective with Abadon’s unorthodox style. The crowd really responded to Sakura’s loud chops. Abadon (33-3) used the Soul Reaver to get the win.
Sonny Kiss defeated Peter Avalon (w/ Ryan Nemeth)
Kiss got one of the biggest reactions of this week’s episode. This was a great showcase of Kiss’ athleticism and improvement overall as a wrestler since joining AEW. Nemeth intervened in favor of Avalon, distracting Kiss. It worked against him, however, as Kiss won with a roll-up after Nemeth hit Avalon by mistake. Kiss upped his 2022 record to 5-2 in the process.
John Silver (w/ Anna Jay & Alex Reynolds) defeated Tony Deppen
This was the AEW debut for the former ROH TV champion. The strength and speed of Silver overwhelmed him at first, but when Silver played to the crowd, it opened an opportunity for Deppen. In the end, Silver used the Spin Doctor to get the win and his 50th overall victory.
Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland defeated QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto (w/ Aaron Solo)
Lee and Swerve started strong by isolating Marshall to take an early lead. Lee throwing Marshall around got one of the biggest pops of the night. Once Comoroto and Lee shared the ring, we had a clash of BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPIN’ MEAT.
Once Solo intervened, The Factory was able to control the match and isolate Lee until a Strickland hot tag helped turned things around.
Comoroto was later able to showcase his strength by lifting Lee and impressing the crowd big time. Lee had the last laugh, hitting the Big Bang Catastrophe on Comoroto to get the win and end the show.
Final Thoughts:
Lee, Strickland, Kiss and Silver were the most over wrestlers and got great pops from the crowd. This week’s main event of Elevation was the match of the night and worth checking out.
Tony Deppen will make his AEW debut on Dark: Elevation.
The show was filmed on Wednesday, May 4 from the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It will also feature Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Comoroto & QT Marshall.
Other notable matches scheduled include Sonny Kiss vs. Peter Avalon and Abadon vs. Emi Sakura.
AEW suffered a power failure during the taping of this episode on Wednesday. As a result, matches involving Max Caster facing Cheeseburger and Nyla Rose wrestling Skye Blue were unable to be filmed.
AEW Dark: Elevation airs Monday at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The full lineup for the show is as follows:
Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto
Abadon vs. Emi Sakura
The Dark Order’s Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, Alan “5” Angels, & 10 vs. Ryan Mooney, Diego, Josh Fuller, & Brandon Scott
AEW suffered a power failure during the Dark: Elevation tapings on Wednesday.
Two matches scheduled for the show were unable to be filmed. The problems started during a match between Cheeseburger and Max Caster and continued as Nyla Rose faced Skye Blue.
Our own Dave Meltzer addressed what happened on Wednesdays’ edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
“The entrance and the announcing place all of a sudden went dark,” Meltzer said. “So, they did the match, Max Caster won, and then they did another match that they announced which was Skye Blue and Nyla Rose and they just said, ‘This match is only for you fans in the arena, it will never air.’ Because they couldn’t tape it because they had the power failure, or whatever it was. Luckily, they got the thing fixed by eight o’clock and there was no problem with Dynamite.”
The scheduled Dark: Elevation main event between Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Comoroto & QT Marshall was then taped after Dynamite.
AEW taped matches for this Friday’s Rampage and next week’s Dark: Elevation at Wednesday’s Dynamite event in Baltimore.
Below are results and notes from a live perspective:
AEW Rampage spoilers for Friday, May 6 —
Toni Storm & Ruby Soho defeated Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. & Jamie Hayter
Storm pinned Baker with a cradle after a good match. Lots of spots with Storm and Hayter working together.
A graphic was shown on the video wall for Storm vs. Hayter in the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament, but the date was not made clear. That may take place on next week’s Dynamite on Long Island.
Hook defeated JD Drake
Danhausen offered to align with Hook after the match, but Hook appeared to decline.
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament qualifier: Riho defeated Yuka Sakazaki
Really good match that got a lot of time.
Shawn Spears cut a promo and called Wardlow the real giant of pro wrestling, but said he’s the giant killer.
American Top Team’s Dan Lambert, TNT Champion Scorpio Sky, and Ethan Page did an in-ring promo. Lambert said he was from Baltimore and wore an Orioles shirt, then heeled on the crowd and said the people here have ruined the city and that’s why he tells people he’s from Miami. Page cut a babyface promo on Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti. Sky said that he is restoring prestige to the TNT title, which means Lambert has to return his version of the TNT title to the ATT trophy case. Frankie Kazarian interrupted and Sky agreed to give him his TNT title match “next week,” presumably on Rampage.
Jay Lethal (w/Satnam Singh & Sonjay Dutt) defeated Konosuke Takeshita
Lethal won with the Lethal Injection. Dutt and Lethal stomped Takeshita after the match. Best Friends and Orange Cassidy came in for the save. Singh beat up Best Friends. Cassidy avoided Singh. Samoa Joe ran in with a steel pipe, but was cut off by security and referees on the ramp.
AEW Dark: Elevation spoilers —
Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alan Angels, Preston Vance & Alex Reynolds) defeated four enhancement talents
Abadon defeated Emi Sakura
Sonny Kiss defeated Peter Avalon
Max Caster defeated Cheeseburger
Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland defeated QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto
In a match only for the live crowd, Nyla Rose defeated Skye Blue
It’s Monday and you know what that means: an easy to watch and enjoyable eight-match AEW Dark: Elevation taped last Wednesday at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tonight, Paul Wight and Mark Henry were on the call.
Julia Hart defeated Abby Jane
This was the AEW debut for Jane. Something to note: the bruise/darkness on Hart’s “injured” eye is getting bigger.
Once again, Hart worked a more aggressive style and brutalized Jane at times. Hart won with her split-legged bulldog to improve to 4-3 this year.
Anthony Ogogo defeated Goldy
Ogogo used an elevated punch to win this squash match by ref stoppage, improving to 12-1.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Rhett Titus
This was the AEW debut for former ROH TV champion Titus. He started the match with the Code of Honor by shaking Takeshita’s hand.
Takeshita won over the crowd immediately, especially after he landed a super elevated shoulder tackle and later with his out of nowhere blue thunder bomb that got a two count. Takeshita used an elevated knee strike to destroy Titus for the win, improving his overall AEW mark to 4-1.
Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) defeated Cheeseburger
This was the AEW debut for the world famous Cheeseburger. Nese had the upper hand at first, but underestimating Cheeseburger is always a huge mistake and he paid for it at times. Nese worked Cheeseburger’s ribs to ground him and slow him down. Nese (14-2) hit a spinning kick and followed up with a knee strike to get the victory.
Wight and Henry were great during this match.
Cheeseburger was super over with fans and with Wight and Henry during this match, it was incredible. It’s always fun to watch Cheeseburger’s matches.
Willow Nightingale defeated Gia Scott
Nightingale (1-3) hit a power bomb on Scott to get her first AEW win in a squash. The future of Nightingale could be with an AEW contract soon.
Max Caster (w/ Anthony Bowens) defeated Zack Clayton
Caster’s entrance rap didn’t disappoint, using references to Ben Simmons and the Heard/Depp case. This was an easy win for Caster (4-4) after he hit the Mic Drop.
Anna Jay & Kris Statlander defeated Emi Sakura & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero)
The heels started the match strong and isolated Jay, but when Statlander came in, the flow of the match changed. Statlander and Rose had an exchange of power during their time in the ring, but Statlander’s athleticism was the deciding factor.
As usual, Guerrero helped Rose and Sakura with her heel manager shenanigans. They almost got the victory with an assisted swanton bomb on Statlander, but Jay was able to make the save at the last second. Statlander used a combination of a superkick and Night Fever on Sakura to pick up the win for her team.
Dark Order (Alan Angels, Alex Reynolds, Stu Grayson, Evil Uno, John Silver & Ten) defeated Mike Law, Jaden Valo, Eli Isom, Cory Bishop, Bret Waters & Anthony Bennett
This ten-man tag team match was pretty much a squash. Angels hit a frog splash on Bennett after every Dark Order member hit their finisher to end this and give them the win.
The AEW debuts of Rhett Titus and Cheeseburger are set for Dark: Elevation.
The promotion announced eight matches scheduled to air tonight at 7 p.m Eastern on YouTube. The show was filmed Wednesday, April 27 from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Titus will face DDT’s Konosuke Takeshita while Cheeseburger will take on Tony Nese. Other matches booked for the show include Julia Hart vs. Abby Jane and Willow Nightingale vs. Gia Scott.
The full lineup for Monday’s edition of AEW Dark: Elevation is as follows:
The Dark Orders’ Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver, Alex Reynolds, Alan “5” Angels, & 10 vs. Anthony Bennett, Kori Meshaw, Mike Law, Jaden Valo, Eli Isom, & Brett Waters
Julia Hart vs. Abby Jane
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Rhett Titus
Willow Nightingale vs. Gia Scott
Anthony Ogogo vs. Goldy
Kris Statlander & Anna Jay vs. Emi Sakura & Nyla Rose w/ Vickie Guerrero
Max Caster vs. Zack Clayton
Tony Nese w/ “Smart” Mark Sterling vs. Cheeseburger
AEW taped matches for Dark: Elevation and Rampage before and after tonight’s live edition of Dynamite.
AEW Dark: Elevation results:
Julia Hart defeated Abby Jane
Willow Nightingale defeated Gia Scott
Anthony Ogogo defeated Goldy via knockout.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Rhett Titus
Tony Nese (with ‘Smart’ Mark Sterling) defeated Cheeseburger
Kris Statlander & Anna Jay defeated Nyla Rose & Emi Sakura (with Vickie Guerrero). Statlander defeated Sakura to win the match.
Max Caster (with Anthony Bowens) defeated Zack Clayton
The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Alan ‘5’ Angels, and 10) defeated Anthony Bennett, Eli Isom, Mike Law, Jaden Valo, Cory Bishop, and Bret Waters
AEW Rampage results:
Darby Allin defeated Swerve Strickland to qualify for the men’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament.
Jade Cargill, Kiera Hogan, and Red Velvet defeated Skye Blue, Willow Nightingale, and Trish Adora. Cargill pinned Adora.
Keith Lee defeated Colten Gunn
The confrontation between Danhausen and Hook ended up having Mark Sterling and Tony Nese coming out. Hook ran Nese off and refused Danhausen’s attempt at friendship.
Samoa Joe defeated Trent Beretta by TKO to retain the ROH Television Championship.
AEW will tape matches for AEW Dark this weekend in Orlando, then return to Baltimore at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena for Dynamite and Rampage.
It’s Monday and you know what that means: a seven-match AEW Dark: Elevation taped last Wednesday at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Excalibur, Mark Henry and Paul Wight were on the call tonight and, per usual, were always fun to listen to.
Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Alan Angels, Alex Reynolds & 10) (w/ -1) defeated Luther, Bulk Nasty, Tito Oric, Jake Omen & RC Dupree
This match was the AEW debut for Oric, Omen, Nasty and Dupree. Luther literally threw every one of them at Ten and he just destroyed them. Uno and Grayson used Fatality on Omen get the win in very easy fashion.
Kris Statlander defeated Julia Hart
Hart’s eye where she wears an eyepatch is getting darker which is something interesting to keep an eye on (no pun intended).
Once again, Statlander worked a more intense style and the same can be said about Hart. She tried to overwhelm Statlander with her speed and agility, but the strength of Statlander was always there to stop any momentum. Statlander (42-17) won with the Big Bang Theory.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brandon Cutler
Takeshita annihilated Cutler. He looked like a big deal in this match and Cutler did everything he could to make him look amazing. Takeshita hit a blue thunder bomb for a near fall that should have been the end of the match. Cutler was able to get a near fall with his always reliable cold spray, but Takeshita (3-1) used a leaping knee strike to get the win.
Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) defeated The Steel City Brawler
This was the AEW debut for SCB. Before the match started, Sterling cut a promo about Nese being great and other typical heel stuff.
This match was all about Nese underestimating SCB but always finding his way back in the match. Nese used a running knee strike to pick up the win and improve his overall record to 13-2 and 3-0 since Sterling became his manager.
Minoru Suzuki defeated QT Marshall (w/ Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto)
At the onset, Suzuki worked Marshall’s right arm to prevent him from using the Diamond Cutter. Solo and Comoroto interfered, but as soon as they did, the ref saw them and ejected them from ringside. Suzuki straight up killed Marshall with a great elbow strike with some great selling from Marshall as he dropped like a sack of potatoes. Suzuki used his patented sleeper and Gotch-style piledriver to get the win.
John Silver (w/ -1) defeated Vince Valor
This was Valor’s AEW debut. He tried to use his height advantage, but underestimating Johnny Hungie was a big mistake. Silver won in quick fashion with the Spin Doctor.
Anna Jay, Ruby Soho & Skye Blue defeated Emi Sakura, The Bunny & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero)
Once again, we had the typical Elevation match that sees Blue, Soho and Jay facing Rose, The Bunny and Sakura. Honestly, it feels like we’ve seen this matchup way too many times.
One of the things that differentiated this from others was that Blue got more offense in than in previous bouts. Still, the heels isolated her for a while which built to an eventual Jay hot tag that saw her clean house. She got the Queenslayer on The Bunny to give her team the win by submission.
Penta Oscuro (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Max Caster (w/ Anthony Bowens)
Caster made fun of Abrahantes and Penta’s new gimmick, even insulting Penta in Spanish.
Oscuro controlled the flow of the match due to his vast wrestling experience, but Caster used some heel shenanigans to get the upper hand. Oscuro used his arm breaker to get the win.
Final Thoughts:
Suzuki vs. Marshall and Takeshita vs. Cutler were the highlights of the episode and both a worth checking out, but I’m ready to change things up from Jay, Blue and Soho vs. Rose, Bunny and Sakura.
Here are spoilers for both AEW Dark: Elevation and Rampage, which were taped before and after tonight’s live Dynamite in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
AEW Dark: Elevation:
Alex Reynolds, Stu Grayson, Evil Uno, 10, and Alan ‘5’ Angels of The Dark Order defeated Luther, Serpentico, Tito Oric, Bulk Nasty, and RC Dupree
Kris Statlander defeated Julia Hart
Kokosuke Takeshita defeated Brandon Cutler. This is Takeshita’s first match since leaving DDT for a US excursion earlier this month.
Tony Nese defeated Steel City Brawler
NJPW’s Minoru Suzuki defeated QT Marshall
John Silver defeated Vince Valor
Ruby Soho, Anna Jay, and Skye Blue defeated Emi Sakura, The Bunny, and Nyla Rose
Penta Oscuro defeated Max Caster
AEW Rampage:
Adam Cole defeated Tomohiro Ishii to qualify for the men’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Romero was in Ishii’s corner with Orange Cassidy, who was no longer wearing a sling. The finish had Jay White emerge, throwing Romero into the barricade. Ishii was distracted, allowing Cole to low blow Ishii.
Lance Archer defeated Serpentico. Shawn Spears was on commentary.
Eddie Kingston defeated Daniel Garcia. The stipulation was that no one was allowed at ringside.
Jade Cargill defeated Marina Shafir to retain the TBS Championship.
AEW next week will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Liacouras Center for Dynamite and Rampage.
It’s Tuesday and you know what that means: a six-match AEW Dark taped last Friday at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. Eddie Kingston, Taz and Excalibur were on the call and were a joy to listen to throughout the show.
Toni Storm defeated Gigi Rey
Jamie Hayter was on commentary talking about her upcoming match with Storm and a potential matchup with Dr. Britt Baker down the line in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament.
This was an easy win for Storm following a combination of an Alabama Slam and Storm Zero, improving her AEW record to 2-0.
Danielle Kamela defeated Rache Chanel
Kamela won this short match with an out of nowhere neckbreaker to score her first AEW win — an important one ahead of her Owen Hart Foundation Tournament qualifying match Wednesday against Baker.
Powerhouse Hobbs & Ricky Starks defeated Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Stu Grayson
Before the match started, Starks cut a promo burying the crowd and saying last week’s crowd in New Orleans was better.
The power of Hobbs was too much to handle for Uno and Grayson, but their experience helped them turn the flow of the match to their favor. Grayson and Uno knew that Starks’ weak point is his neck and both targeted it throughout the match. Evil Uno got a near fall on Starks with Something Evil as Grayson followed it up with an elbow drop that was also a close near fall. But Starks hit a spear out of nowhere on Grayson to get Team Taz the victory.
This was a good match, but messy at times.
Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) defeated JD Griffey
This was Griffey’s AEW debut. Nese (12-2) won in a squash using a combination of a pump handle piledriver and a running knee strike.
Marina Shafir defeated Alejandra Lion
Undefeated this year, Shafir (6-0) used a triangle to get the quick submission win. She continues her momentum ahead of Friday’s TBS title match against Jade Cargill on Rampage.
After the match, Cargill appeared for a staredown with Shafir.
Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland defeated The Factory’s Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solo (w/ QT Marshall & Anthony Ogogo)
The start of this match was Comoroto and Lee and like the great Big E once said: it was big meaty men slappin’ meat. Ogogo and Marshall kept interfering and helping their fellow Factory members control the match. Comoroto and Solo isolated Strickland which built for a great Keith Lee hot tag. A combination of the Spirit Bomb and a stomp on Solo was enough to end this match and give Lee and Swerve (1-1) the win.
This was the best match on the show as AEW has something interesting with Lee and Strickland.
It’s Monday and you know what that means: a seven-match AEW Dark: Elevation taped last Wednesday at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Excalibur and Paul Wight were on the call tonight on a very Andrade Family Office-centric edition of the show.
Kris Statlander defeated Ashley D’Amboise
From the second the bell rang, Statlander worked in a more aggressive style and annihilated D’Amboise. She hit an impressive delayed standing suplex which the crowd went nuts for. Statlander (41-17) won in quick fashion with the Big Bang Theory.
Andrade El Idolo (w/ Jose the Assistant) defeated Alan “5” Angels
Andrade used his size to overwhelm Angels by grounding him and preventing him from using his speed. Andrade, at times, underestimated Angels and the Dark Order member would make him pay. In the end, Andrade (13-7) used his modified Rings of Saturn-type submission for the win.
This was an important win for Andrade ahead of his coffin match against Darby Allin on Dynamite.
Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) defeated J. Spade
This marked the AEW debut for Spade. He and Nese had a bicep flex showdown and Nese used this distraction to destroy Spade. Spade was able to surprise Nese at times, but a running knee strike ended his hopes. Nese picked up the win to improve to 11-2.
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno, John Silver & Stu Grayson) defeated Dale Springs, Kameron Russell, Izaiah Zane and Allen Russell
The Dark Order’s experience with this type of match and their chemistry helped them dictate the tempo. Uno and Grayson ended things after hitting Fatality on Russell. They are now 3-2 in eight-man tag action.
Roppongi Vice (w/ Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor) defeated The Factory (Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto)
Roppongi Vice started out by isolating Solo from Comoroto. Trent Beretta tried to take o Comoroto, but that was an impossible task and he paid for it. Roppongi Vice struggled at times with Comoroto’s strength, but Trent was eventually able to get some payback from earlier. Beretta and Rocky Romero used Strong Zero on Solo to get the win.
Anna Jay, Hikaru Shida & Ruby Soho defeated Emi Sakura, Raychell Rose & The Bunny
This was the battle of experienced tag teams with Soho and Jay against Sakura and The Bunny with the additions of Shida and Rose to spice things up.
Rose did well considering the competition and didn’t get overwhelmed like other wrestlers in the same position might be. In one of the most interesting spots of the match, Sakura was going for her crossbody to the turnbuckle, but Shida caught her former mentor and threw her away. Shida used her stretch muffler on Rose to get the submission win.
The Hardys & Top Flight defeated Private Party, The Blade & Angelico
This match had a lot of cool things happening with a very fast tempo as there was always something happening in the ring.
The babyfaces would try to control the flow of the match, but the AFO members used their heel shenanigans to shut them down. AFO picked Darius Martin as the weak link and isolated him from his team for a while, but this was design for an eventual (and awesome) Dante Martin hot tag.
A Twist of Fate/swanton bomb combination from the Hardys to Angelico was enough to end this match and give the babyfaces the victory. This was super fun and well worth watching.
