‘AEW Dark: Elevation – Episode 100’ Review
Welcome back to another review of AEW Dark: Elevation, which features seven matches on the card AND is the 100th episode of the show… however we get no celebration, no rejoicing, just another YouTube show with regulars Paul Wight and Matt Menard on commentary, joined once again by ROH’s Ian Riccaboni. So let’s get into the review!
Match #1: Red Velvet def. Billie Starkz
My Thoughts: What a cracking start to this week’s Elevation. Red Velvet and Billie Starkz put on a great competitive match that made Bille Starkz look good in defeat and was a great showcase for Red Velvet – who’s surely going to be the one to, given recent events, dethrone Jade Cargill? Loved this one.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. The Workhorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry)
My Thoughts: Two great tag teams going at it, what’s not to love? Silver and Reynolds are a well-oiled machine and so are JD Drake and Anthony Henry so this match went off like a dream. Some great fluidity between both teams, both in terms of between each tag partner AND between each team. Another great match!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: Rush def. Brian Pillman Jr
My Thoughts: Given how Brian Pillman Jr has been booked over the past year or so I expected Rush to literally demolish him in a quick squash match. However, what we got was a hard-hitting match that was a lot more physical than I think we’ve seen from Pillman so far. I dug this one a lot.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Athena and Diamante def. Yuka Sakazaki and Skye Blue
My Thoughts: Wow, we’re on a four-match streak for this week’s Elevation with not a squash match in sight so far. This was another great match that was remarkably unexpected – for one, Diamante and Athena had a hard-hitting match not so long ago where Athena did her usual beat-down schtick on Diamante; and two, I honestly didn’t expect Yuka Sakazaki and Skye Blue to hang with such aggressive, hard-hitting opponents. But they did just that and we got a great match as a result!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: Top Flight (Dante and Darius Martin) def. Ari Daivari and Tony Nese
My Thoughts: Good god. Now we get ANOTHER banger of a match, with Top Flight showing once again why they need to be the next tag champs. Seriously. Ari Daivari continues his exploration of tag partners following the end of his “entourage” knock-off. Still this was a decent match, even if I don’t really care for Daivari or Nese.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #6: Kings of the Black Throne (Malakai Black and Brody King) def. Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum
My Thoughts: We had to have at least one squash match on this week’s Elevation didn’t we? To be fair who doesn’t LOVE seeing Malakai Black and Brody King stomp the crap out of other wrestlers in a truly dominant fashion? It looked like Black and King were taking out frustrations on the enhancement talent – something that totally plays into how they’ve been booked recently.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #7: ROH World Title Match – Claudio Castagnoli def. Blake Christian
My Thoughts: Blake Christian given the chance to get his hands on the ROH title? Yeah… we all knew he wasn’t going to win but this match was about the journey, seeing Christian take on Castagnoli, to try and get past his truly legendary skillset and strength, And this match was a great journey and made for a fantastic Elevation main event.
