‘AEW Dark: Elevation – Episode 94’ Review
Welcome back to another review of AEW Dark: Elevation, which this week keeps the match count low, with only 6 matches on this week’s card! We’ve got Matt Menard and Paul Wight on commentary, so let’s get into the review.
Match #1: Marina Shafir def. Jazmin Allure
My Thoughts: Shafir dominated this match, squashing Allure in less than two minutes. Short and sweet but very effective.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #2: Emi Sakura and The Bunny def. Lady Bird Monroe and Gigi Rey
My Thoughts: Another squash match. Not much to say about this one other than Emi Sakura and The Bunny made for a good team – both of them have evil streaks that really added to the storytelling of this one.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Top Flight (Dante and Darius Martin), Ethan Page, Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy and Konosuke Takeshita def. The Trustbusters (Sonny Kiss, Slim J, and Jeeves Kay) and The Wingmen (Peter Avalon, Cezar Bononi, and Ryan Nemeth)
My Thoughts: What a stacked match! It was weird seeing Ethan Page, a heel, on a team of faces but it worked. What also worked was seeing Takeshita in action with Top Flight! Interesting to see Page get the win with Hardy’s Twist of Fate – seems like the story between Page, Hardy and Private Party is definitely going to continue in 2023.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Eddie Kingston and Ortiz def. Hagane Shinno and Steven Andrews
My Thoughts: Not the squash match I was expecting – but then this is Eddie Kingston, who does like to let his opponents at least get a chance to showcase their skills. Which is exactly what Hagane Shinno did in this one, going toe-to-toe with Kingston at one point. An impressive tag match!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: ROH Women’s Title Match – Athena def. Vertvixen
My Thoughts: Vertvixen gets an opportunity for the ROH title… It’s nice to see someone fresh going for a title, even if – in this case – you knew they were never going to pick up the win. Athena continues her hard-faced heel journey by smashing Vertvixen’s face into the belt after the match. Which was nice. Squash-tastic!
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #6: Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli def. The Workhorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry)
My Thoughts: Loved seeing The Workhorsemen actually get a decent match, even better that this wasn’t treated a “jobbers versus talent” match – this was a competitive match and one that made both teams look good. Which I appreciated given how much of a fan I am of JD Drake! A great main event that topped off another good episode of Elevation.
