Elevation promises a DOUBLE Main Event!

Building towards the huge Saturday Night Dynamite, AEW Dark: Elevation has Jungle Boy take on the beautiful Brazilian beefcake, Cezar Bononi!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• FTR VS Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson; FTR wins.
• Nyla Rose w/ Vickie Guerrero VS Delmi Exo; Nyla wins.
• The Acclaimed VS Baron Black & Tamilian Vineesh; The Acclaimed win.
• The Varsity Blonds w/ Julia Hart VS Bums R Us; Varsity Blonds win.
• Kris Statlander w/ Orange Cassidy & Best Friends VS Renee Michelle; Statlander wins.
• Matt Hardy w/ The Hardy Family Office VS Jora Johl; Hardy wins.
• Shawn Spears & Wardlow VS Ryzin & Kal Herro; Spears & Wardlow win.
• “Powerhouse” Will Hobbs VS Darien Bengston; Hobbs wins.
• Jade Cargill w/ Mark Sterling VS Robyn Renegade; Cargill wins.
• Penta El Zero M & Eddie Kingston w/ Alex Abrahantes VS Vary Morales & Fuego Del Sol; Penta & Kingston win.
• Jungle Boy w/ Jurassic Express VS Cezar Bononi w/ The Wingmen; Jungle Boy wins.
• Matt Sydal w/ Mike Sydal VS Jack Evans w/ Angelico & Matt Hardy; Sydal wins.

MY THOUGHTS

An hour and 22 minutes, another nice, more manageable time for Elevation. Opening with the Matt Sydal promo to hype his main event match was a natural move and a very good promo in itself. Also, Matt Sydal’s jackets continue to be really cool with the reflective shapes on them. Sydal VS Evans being THE main event, though only having about 10 minutes, was a great one because both men are agile and athletic. Naturally, Matt Sydal wins to avenge his brother from last week, and I have a feeling the Sydal Brothers will become allies for Christian Cage against Matt Hardy. We could maybe get some great trios matches out of that.

The Pinnacle was all over this night, and that’s great stuff for them. FTR being the opening contest with Isaacs & Nelson, aka Milk Chocolate, was a great move for some real good tag team action. Milk Chocolate got a good showing, they could be big one day. Spears & Wardlow teaming up was a surprise, but it does help save some time and space on the card for them to get momentum together. Makes me think we’ll get them against perhaps Hager & Jericho while Sammy VS MJF happens this week. Of course all of The Pinnacle wins because they need to stay strong in this war with Inner Circle.

We got the usual from Vickie and Nyla. One is cruel, sadistic and doesn’t care who she hurts (in kayfabe), and the other is the Native Beast. Nyla dominates again, I almost hope the tag match with them, Britt and Rebel ends up an unofficial Handicap match. Vickie stays away just to talk up Nyla and mock The Doctor, while Nyla tears into Rebel and Britt, proving she’s ready for that title match. It might even happen during the incredible July AEW has scheduled. The Acclaimed were great all around tonight, I didn’t think Baron Black would try something and then get clocked by the boombox. Another great rap with #CorporateSynergy and another great win for this top team.

“Bums R Us” is certainly a unique team name, and the bumrush was a good try, but of course they were going to lose to THE #1 contenders in Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr. It was a good match of two complete teams, i.e. two teams with great team moves and team gimmick, I bet Bums R Us could get something akin to the Bushwhackers one day. I know Statlander needs to build her record and rankings, but she’s been in action more than the Best Friends. When are Chuck & Trent gonna get in a match again? Or is one of them a bit hurt on the downlow and they just need recovery? Well Statlander and Orange Cassidy are holding strong for the group, so it’s all good.

Matt Hardy VS Jora Johl (AKA Robo) was automatically overbooked just on the Hardy Family Office adding The Hybrid2 and getting that much bigger. Johl got a good showing even with that, but Hardy offering him a spot in the HFO was a surprise. And he had a strong promo to respond to it, I like that he didn’t give an answer just yet. This could be a big way for Johl to jump from Elevation to Dynamite, especially should he choose to oppose Hardy and essentially join Christian Cage against the HFO. We got a good promo from Taz and Hobbs to call out Hangman Page, and of course Hobbs wins tonight to go towards that match with momentum.

For the most part, Jade Cargill does exactly as promised on Dynamite by showing up to dominate. But the promo from Mark Sterling, the “monetization of the marketing multiverse” for Team Jade, is great. I hope a lot of that is followed through with, it’d be a great way to build AEW up in the non-wrestling world. We got another great tag match of Penta and Eddie Kingston, and though Fuego and Morales got good showings, of course Penta and Kingston were gonna win. Been awhile since Penta used the “Dark Armbar,” I hope he gets to use it on The Elite at some point. Or at least one of the stooges, like Nakazawa or Cutler.

I find it interesting they brought back the heart sled for this but maybe it’s a sign that The Wingmen themselves don’t take something serious. Though Bononi should’ve taken this serious, it’s Jungle Boy! And because it’s Jungle Boy going towards the AEW World Championship this week, he had to win. It was a very good match, as the penultimate match of the night should, with Bononi getting to show that physical strength and JB showing that toughness. The wheelbarrow countered into an inverted suplex was also creative on Bononi’s part. JB’s still gonna look awesome Saturday but it’s still clear Kenny Omega will win, it’s just a question of clean or dirty.

My Score: 8.2/10