05th Oct2022

‘AEW Dark: Elevation – Episode 83’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Welcome to this week’s review of AEW Dark: Elevation, the opening salvo in the AEW wrestling week. Once again we’ve got Paul Wight finally back on commentary this week where he is joined by ROH’s Ian Riccaboni. So let’s see what the show has to offer!

Match #1: Skye Blue def. Trish Adora

My Thoughts: Fan-favourite Skye Blue opens Elevation in a quasi-squash match against Trish Adora. Unfortunately both women didn’t quite gel and this one felt a lot more like the kind of “developmental” match Dark and Elevation are supposed to showcase. Which, if training wrestlers and giving them “TV time”, is what the show is about, is a good thing.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #2: Brian Cage def. Tracy Williams

My Thoughts: Nice to see Brian Cage [finally] in another match on AEW programming. Interesting that, given he’s facing Wardlow for the title this week, this wasn’t a squash match – with Williams giving Cage a decent challenge throughout this one and making this quite a competitive match in the end

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #3: Lance Archer def. Cheeseburger

My Thoughts: Good god this was an uneven match-up. Poor Cheeseburger tried his hardest, he really did but to no avail. Archer was his usual machine-like killing machine and it was great to see him pick up the win in AEW after his recent sojourn to Japan.

My Score: 2 out of 5

Match #4: Abadon def. Abby Jane

My Thoughts: I can repeat what I said about Cage’s match for this one. Abadon has been missed in AEW but their time off has been well spent training and styling a new look and move set it seems. Which meant that this was something of a squash (Abby Jane did get a couple of shots in) as Abadon gloriously demolished Jane. And… according to Riccaboni, Abadon is in the running for the women’s title given her win/loss count!

My Score: 2 out of 5

Match #5: ROH 6-Man Title Match – Dalton Castle and The Boys (Brent and Brandon Tate) def. Primal Fear (Gabriel Hodder, Manny Soriano and Matthew Omen)

My Thoughts: Primal Fear have a good look and looked good in action. However, you knew Dalton Castle and The Boys weren’t going to lose this one at all, especially given the MASSIVE intro the team got for this match! In the end this match turned out to be one of AEW’s typical quasi-squash matches, with Primal Fear just doing enough for this to not look like a complete annihilation.

My Score: 2 out of 5

Match #6: Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford def. Gia Scott and LSG

My Thoughts: Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford are back at it again in another mixed-tag match and this one played out a lot better than their previous effort. What I’ve taken away from both matches is that Ford really benefits from wrestling women who have more experience, whereas Sabian can wrestle anyone, any time, anywhere. Like a lot of the matches this week, this was a typical AEW quasi-squash match.

My Score: 2 out of 5

Match #7: Lucha Bros. (Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo) def. Dante Martin and Tony Deppen

My Thoughts: Let’s not lie about it… Deppen was only involved in this match to eat the pin, or because Sydal couldn’t make the show due to issues with travelling thanks to Hurricane Ian last week. Still, this turned out to be a decent competition and Deppen actually got a real chance to showcase his skills. This one, like the match that followed, deservedly got plenty of time to tell a decent story AND please the fans!

My Score: 3 out of 5

Match #8: Rocky Romero, Danhausen, and Best Friends (Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor) def. The Factory (QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, Aaron Solo, and Cole Karter)

My Thoughts: This was one of those crowd-pleasing, send fans home happy, matches with fan-favourite Danhausen and the man fans love to hate, QT, really riling up the fans in attendance. In the end, this was a fun match that featured some great technical wrestling, even if it was hidden underneath a veil of comedy wrestling!

My Score: 3 out of 5

Final Verdict: 2.5/5

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