‘AEW Dark: Elevation – Episode 54’ Review
Welcome to this week’s review of AEW Dark: Elevation, once again we’ve got Paul Wight and Mark Henry on commentary and only a 6-match card. Let’s get right into the review… and the action!
Match #1: Nyla Rose def. Katalina Perez
My Thoughts: We’ve got Nyla Rose filling the Lance Archer role on Elevation this week, quickly squashing her opponent in this one. Nothing much else to say really!
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #2: Frankie Kazarian def. Tiger Ruas
My Thoughts: Tiger Ruas returns to AEW in his first match since November last year, in another brilliant display of technical wrestling. Ruas looked badass and Kazarian gave him ample time and space to do so. This was a superb example of AEW stars giving enhancement, or unsigned, talent a real chance to chine on AEW programming and Ruas certainly delivered on that opportunity.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: Emi Sakura and The Bunny def. Skye Blue and Kilynn King
My Thoughts: Emi and the Bunny team once again (how many times is it now, feels like every week for at least a few months), this time against fan favourite Skye Blue and personal favourite Kilynn King – who both took the fight to their opponents even if they didn’t get the win. Both teams looked really good at the end of this match.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Jay Lethal def. Merrick Donovan
My Thoughts: I’m going to be honest and say I still don’t get the hype behind Jay Lethal. His matches all feel very samey and he’s even less of a character in AEW than he’s ever been. His opponent in this match, Merrick Donovan, even looked more interesting in this one – especially given that he had time to shine, Which he did. Otherwise this was decidedly average.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Match #5: Ruby Soho def. Amber Nova
My Thoughts: Once again Amber Nova sells well for an AEW star, in this case Ruby Soho, and looks good while doing it. This was technically what I call an AEW quasi-squash match, with Soho giving Nova just enough room to make an impression in what is essentially a squash match.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #6: Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds and Jon Silver def. Chaos Project
My Thoughts: It was only 2 episodes ago that Dark Order’s Evil Uno and Stu Grayson got the win against Chaos Project and this is a total retread, just with different Dark Order members. So… I’ll say what I said then: 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.
My Score: 2 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
Some decent matches, nothing remarkable but still an improvement over THAT episode from a couple of weeks ago. This episode seemed to be more about giving enhancement talent a chance to shine – in particular Amber Nova and Tiger Ruas. I think the show needs to up the game when it comes to main events though.
