AEW Dark: Elevation is Freshly Squeezed AND Critically Acclaimed!

Anthony Bowens is cleared for action so he and Max Caster want satisfaction! Will The Acclaimed rise back up on AEW Dark: Elevation?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Rey Fenix w/ Penta El Zero Miedo VS Chuck Taylor w/ Trent; Fenix wins.
• Ryan Nemeth w/ The Wingmen VS Ryzin; Nemeth wins.
• Orange Cassidy VS Dean Alexander; Cassidy wins.
• The Acclaimed VS Liam Gray & Adrian Alanis; The Acclaimed win.
• Nick Comoroto w/ The Factory VS VSK; Comoroto wins.
• Leyla Hirsch & Ryo Mizunami VS Amber Nova & Diamante; Hirsch & Mizunami win.
• Kris Statlander w/ Best Friends VS Tesha Price; Statlander wins.
• Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page VS Alex Reynolds & Alan Angels w/ The Dark Order; Scorpio & Ethan win.
• Big Swole & Red Velvet VS Madi Wrenkowski & Nyla Rose w/ Vickie Guerrero; Swole & Velvet win.
• Joey Janela w/ Sonny Kiss VS Matt Sydal w/ Mike Sydal; Sydal wins.

MY THOUGHTS

Clearly, I’m going to be doing things differently for AEW Dark: Elevation on Mondays, and also Dark classic on Tuesdays. There will NOT be a Play By Play section, just Official Results and My Thoughts. The number of matches always changes week to week, and therefore the runtime of the videos (that are also commercial free) also changes week to week. The overlap of AEW’s Elevation and Dark with WWE’s Monday Night Raw and Tuesday NXT really complicates things, so this is just the most efficient way for me to do all of it, because I don’t want to miss out just in case something exciting does happen.

A little disappointed that AEW advertised FTR VS Hughes Brothers for tonight but it was NOT part of the final line-up. Not sure why, maybe they’re having a hard time keeping track of Dark: Elevation and Dark Classic cards. Of course, that can happen when they shove them so full every week. I appreciate that Best Friends have their theme and Cassidy has his. They’re together as a unit, but Best Friends’ theme is too fun and too fitting to ditch. Putting Chuck VS Fenix on here definitely helps in making Elevation feel important as the trio series gets to be as much a part of this show as Dynamite. And it being first up really helps this episode get views, definitely watch that one.

Naturally Cassidy and Statlander have easier matches, they just needed momentum going into their Dynamite matches, Cassidy VS Penta and Statlander VS Penelope Ford. Great to see Peter Avalon is back, and thankfully they seem to be going with “The Wingmen” as a group name so that I didn’t have to type out “w/ Peter Avalon, Cezar Bononi & JD Drake” and really bloat the card. Was hoping JD would walk out to the ring in one of the outfits from last week, but having the promo to plug that story was good enough. Avalon being all in and Cezar being against it are great details. The pinkie tip touch thing is a bit weird but that also works somehow.

The Acclaimed continues to bring it! And I like that the raps are now getting to where Bowens has to step in and keep Caster from going over the line. It was good story detail for Bowens to have some trouble with Gray & Alanis because this was his return, but of course The Acclaimed win. And just as they said on last week’s Showcase, these two are definitely going to get right back up in the rankings and building that “Over as Heels” momentum so they stay on our screens. I like the guts VSK shows but of course he was going to get mauled by Comoroto. I still hope The Factory looks to add others, and goes for those that put up the best fight against their members. Probably not VSK, in that case.

Reynolds & Angels have a good promo together, as do Scorpio & Ethan. The sarcastic argument over team names that aren’t even team names was clever, but Scorpio saying Ethan is his best friend has to get at SCU at some point. If SCU somehow keeps going through their title shot, I think Scorpio & Ethan beating them and breaking them up would be a very strong story. The match tonight was of course for Scorpio & Ethan to win and stay strong in the tag division, though story wise they’re going after Sting and Darby, but it was a great showing for the Dark Order. A group like the Dark Order really should be able to mesh any two together to be a good team, even with veteran duos like Uno & Stu or Reynolds & Silver.

We got a very good Rising Star vignette for Leyla Hirsch, we got to learn so much about her, that is a must-watch. Hirsch & Mizunami are making a great combo just on Mizunami helping Hirsch have some fun before going hard in the ring. Diamante wanting after Leyla 1v1 is great, that match is going to be #LEGIT. #Swolevet VS Nyla & Madi is must-see, not just because of the action, but because one, Swole changes her look! No more dreads was shocking to see! And second, Nyla throws Madi around because she and Vickie Guerrero don’t respect her, culminating in a Beast Bomb on Madi because Nyla’s fed up being in a tag team. That is, unless Vickie can get Jade Cargill to join up.

Oddly enough, Nyla cutting the tag match short herself gave more time for Janela VS Matt Sydal, which helps any main event. A great showing from both guys, even just for roughly 12 minutes. Given that the Sydal Brothers are facing the Young Bucks on Dynamite, it was a natural choice for Matt to win so that he and Mike can have some momentum before undoubtedly losing to the AEW World Tag Team Champions. If anything, Janela losing can help get back to that story of frustration and tension he has with Sonny Kiss. If Janela keeps losing and Kiss keeps winning, that will add to the tension and Janela will certainly snap and turn on Kiss.

My Score: 8.1/10