‘AEW Dark: Elevation – Episode 52’ Review
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW Dark: Elevation, which is shorter than last week’s show and, hopefully, features better matches than the squashes and multi-man matches we got last week. Let’s find out!
Match #1: Jay Lethal def. Jora Johl
My Thoughts: This was OK. Nothing exciting but a solid match nonetheless. Lethal made Johl look good and vice versa, with both men selling for the other and getting the best wrestling they could out of each other. Post-match Matt Hardy continued his anger/disappointment at AHFO members not winning matches, dressing down Johl and threatening to “delete” him from the faction.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #2: Red Velvet def. Skye Blue
My Thoughts: Again, another solid if not remarkable match. This was two young, relatively new, wrestlers feeling each other out. This was a bit too short and suffered from the Leyla Hirsch distraction, which is good for storytelling but distracted from what was happening in the ring.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Frankie Kazarian def. Alan “5” Angels
My Thoughts: This is more like it. Alan Anglez matching Frankie Kazarian hold for hold, move for move, grapple for grapple. Both men worked really well together, really well. Nice story told here too, with Angels finally running out of steam against the veteran Kazarian, who had more in the tank in terms of stamina AND moves, which eventually meant he got the win.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: Trios Match – Diamante, Emi Sakura, and Nyla Rose def.. LMK, Kayla Sparks, and Paris Van Dale
My Thoughts: This was pretty much a retread of ANY of the trios matches that Sakura, Nyla Rose and an ever-rotating third partner have participated in. They’re dominant, they’re in control and they squash their opponents. Especially so when it’s a team of enhancement talent. No change here.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #5: Lance Archer def. Fuego Del Sol
My Thoughts: Lance Archer gets to do his usual “beast mode” thing but… this time Fuego Del Sol offers some decent offence. Not that it matters as Archer is bigger and stronger and still throws Fuego around, beating him up as he does so. But at least this wasn’t your usual Archer squash AND Fuego Del Sol got some screen time. Nice little match.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #6: Leyla Hirsch def. Willow Nightingale
My Thoughts: Leyla Hirsch continues her heel run against the ever-smiling Willow Nightingale, who got a great shout-out from Eddie Kingston last week on TV. I like both these women, both offer something different and both worked well together. Nightingale was given just enough to not make this a total squash by Hirsch and I appreciated that. A great AEW quasi-squash match IMHO.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #7: Dark Order (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) def. Chaos Project (Serpentico and Luther)
My Thoughts: I really am getting tired of Luther’s shtick now. We’ve seen Serpentico wrestle good matches and now it just feels like Luther is holding him back. This wasn’t exactly a thrilling main event for Elevation but at least Dark Order got the win… for a change.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
The matches on Elevation were a huge improvement the previous episode of Elevation – though I feel I might have been too generous with the final score last week. Some decent matches, nothing remarkable but nothing disappointing like last week either. Nice division in matches this week too, with three women’s matches on this card.
