This week's edition of AEW Dark: Elevation was filmed before Dynamite last Wednesday at the NOW Arena. This was also their first show since that media scrum last night and All Out that happened before (remember that?). Excalibur and "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard were on the call.
Julia Hart defeated Alice Crowley
Crowley, from the midwest U.S., was the poor victim of Hart tonight. Crowley started with heavy hands in the corner, but Hart quickly threw her to the ground and hit a moonsault for a near fall. She intentionally ended the attempt early and landed a superkick. The referee even got a little scared of Hart in this one. After another superkick, the Hartless lock gave Hart her 13th straight win and 16 in her last 18.
Josh Woods & Tony Nese (w/ "Smart" Mark Sterling) defeated Jordan Kross & Renny D
Sterling wasn't wearing a neck brace for the first time in a long time.
Woods and Nese dominated Kross to start and never really lost control. Renny D tried to get involved, but was quickly thrown aside. Nese & Woods connected on an assisted neckbreaker for the win.
Serena Deeb defeated Nikki Victory
Deeb came to the ring in a big robe that she didn't want to take off. Victory took advantage and actually got the upper hand on the 17-year veteran. But, Deeb kept the robe on until nearly two minutes into the match. Aubrey Edwards had a hard time getting her under control as she basically did everything wrong she could in the little time this match had.
Deeb went to lock in the Serenity Lock, but Victory started hitting some right hands. Deeb then locked in another nasty submission where she sat on Victory's head and stretched out the shoulders from the back for the win -- her fourth straight singles win since her loss at ROH Death Before Dishonor.
Private Party defeated Brandon Gore & JDX
JDX and Isiah Kassidy started, but Marq Quen came in quickly to break some rules. Each partner got the hot tag and Gore was on top for a little bit, but Private Party could not resist illegally double-teaming their opponents.
Matt Hardy came out on stage for this match, just like Private Party did for him a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, in the ring, Gore was hit with the Gin 'n' Juice to give Private Party the win.
Skye Blue defeated Diamante
There aren't many better things than seeing Blue getting a win in Chicago. She started from the bottom, going back and forth in this one. Diamante was really dominating Blue, but it helped the crowd get more behind Blue. She eventually rallied and hit a hurricanrana, followed by a high knee.
Diamante had her own counter with Brock Lesnar-esque german suplexes. She went for the cazadora, but Blue countered into the flatliner for the win. This was both the most competitive and best match on the show.
Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Madison Rayne & Queen Aminata
New AEW signee and women's coach Rayne started with MMA veteran Shafir. Rayne started on the offensive but was distracted by Guerrero which gave Shafir the upper hand. Rose and Shafir started double-teaming Rayne, but Aminata came in quickly...just to be another victim of their own opponents.
Rose and Shafir dominated Aminata with quick tags. Both Rayne and Rose got their own hot tags, but Rose showed off more dominance and quickly disposed of Rayne with the assisted double-team DDT for the win. Also, to stop Aminata from breaking from the pin, Rose went barrelling toward her in the corner and they kind of switched places on the apron. That was cool.
Final Thoughts:
This was a good episode for pushing storylines that hopefully have some kind of future on Rampage and Dynamite. Wrestlers like Hart, Woods & Nese, Deeb, Private Party, and Shafir & Rose are all on some pretty insane win streaks, but none of them appear on either big show. That especially goes for Hart, who you would still think is a manager if you just watch Wednesdays or Fridays.
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