AEW Dark: Elevation Review - April 12, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Preston "10" Vance def. Zack Clayton

Vance has been making progress in the singles ranks lately and it's cool to see. He could be a breakout star at some point if they continue to book him right. This was all about him as he won in a matter of minutes. He's going to need to face more credible competition eventually, but for now, he's doing well with what he's been given and is slowly building his win-loss record.

Miro def. Hayden Backlund

How do you have a last name of Backlund and not be related to Bob? Unless he is and I just missed the memo. Regardless, Miro is on his own now and is finally the dominant monster heel he should have been from the get-go in AEW. He completely killed Backlund here and looked great doing it. This guy should be in championship contention very soon because he's a top talent that shouldn't be overlooked any longer.

AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida and Tay Conti def. Katalina Perez and Leila Grey

Shida and Conti have been allies recently in their rivalry with The Bunny and Nyla Rose. They lost to them a few weeks ago on Dynamite in tag team action, but they avenged that loss with a win here. Granted, it wasn't too impressive considering Perez and Grey are enhancement talent, but they worked well together. You have to assume Conti will be getting a shot at Shida's AEW Women's World Championship sooner rather than later.

The Hybrid2 def. Carlie Bravo and Dean Alexander

I've always called TH2 an underutilized tag team, but it's not like they really rose to the occasion during their mini-feud with The Young Bucks late last year. They had some good matches, but there's probably a reason why they've largely been relegated to the Dark shows since then. That said, I still enjoy watching them in the ring. Even though this was a pretty basic squash match, it was fun while it lasted.

Orange Cassidy def. John Skyler

If you aren't an Orange Cassidy fan, you probably hated this. I am an Orange Cassidy fan, and while I didn't love this match, it was acceptable with it being Dark: Elevation. They had a nice little outing before Cassidy won decisively. It wasn't a total squash (which Cassidy has had a handful of in AEW), but it didn't overstay its welcome and that's probably the best thing I can say about it. AEW hasn't done much with Cassidy since his feud with Chris Jericho, but at least he's been protected in singles competition.

Konosuke Takeshita def. Danny Limelight

This marked Takeshita's AEW debut. Apparently he's from the DDT Wrestling promotion and I thought he had a solid showing. Then again, it would have been near impossible for this to be below average considering who his opponent was. Limelight is terrific and makes the most of every opportunity he has on these Dark shows. I had no problem with this being one of the longer matches on the show because it was entertaining and well-wrestled.

FTR def. Midas Black and Jay Lyon

It isn't often we get FTR on the Dark shows. I assume that's done by design because too many wins would get them back at the top of the tag team rankings and I don't get the sense AEW plans to put them back in the title picture any time soon. Now that they're a part of The Pinnacle, it's more important than ever for them to be booked strong. They were obviously going to win here, but it was smart to have them win as quickly as they did.

Death Triangle (Pac and Rey Fenix) def. Andre Montoya and Vary Morales

Death Triangle have their AEW World Tag Team Championship opportunity coming up this Wednesday on Dynamite. The Young Bucks turned heel just last week, so I have no doubt they'll retain, but it's bound to be a hell of a match. Pac and Rey Fenix work wonderfully together and thus this was an entertaining showcase for them. My only nitpick is that it could have been a few minutes shorter.

Dante Martin def. Baron Black

Dante can gain a ton from working singles matches while Darius is out injured. WWE will do this thing where they take someone off TV completely (and that includes Main Event) if their partner is hurt, so I'm glad AEW doesn't seem to be following that same formula with Top Flight and is instead using Dante in Darius' absence. Despite being green, he's a blast to watch in the ring, as seen in this brief bout.

Britt Baker def. Skye Blue

Although Conti is likely being primed for the next shot at the AEW Women's World Championship (on an upcoming edition of Dynamite, not Double or Nothing), it couldn't be more obvious that Baker's title opportunity is coming. She needs to take the top spot in the rankings first, which she'll do if she continues to rack up wins like this one. Baker isn't the world's best wrestler, but her mannerisms are entertaining and she knows how to be a heel.

QT Marshall and Nick Comoroto def. Andrew Palace and Cole Karter

Marshall's heel turn continues to do nothing for me, but I do think Comoroto has shown signs of promise. We have yet to see him in a truly competitive match, mind you, but I've liked what I've seen so far. I would've preferred to see Comoroto work most of this matchup, but either way, the heels were on offense for almost all of it. Better yet, it was kept short and sweet. Marshall is being built up for a match with Cody Rhodes, and although I'm not overly anticipating it, wins such as this one will help him feel more credible before then.

Mike Sydal def. MT Nakazawa

Nakazawa has been feuding with the Sydal brothers for a few weeks now. His match against Matt was stupid enough and this was even worse because it served no purpose. Nakazawa's matches should be very limited and Mike has no business wrestling on his own unless he's being jobbed out to someone. Mike isn't awful, but on a two-hour-plus show, his matches are meaningless. This was a total waste of time.

"Legit" Leyla Hirsch def. Shanna

This marked Shanna's first AEW match in nearly two months. I can't say I'm upset we haven't seen a ton of her lately, but it's weird she disappeared out of nowhere unless she was hurt and we just didn't hear about it. Thankfully, the only reason she was used here was to put over Hirsch, who will be a future star in AEW's women's division. Granted, it wasn't the smoothest encounter, but it had the right result.

Penta El Zero Miedo def. Brandon Cutler

Why the hell did this last as long as it did? I realize Cutler has been racking up wins for the last few months and isn't a total jobber, but he is a glorified enhancement guy at the end of the day and isn't anywhere near being on Miedo's level. The length of this match was honestly a joke, but at least there was some decent wrestling in there. Miedo isn't going to be seen as being a threat to guys like Cody Rhodes if he struggles to put away a guy like Cutler.

Thunder Rosa def. Diamante

I love Diamante's intensity and I knew she and Rosa would work well together. This is another case where I didn't mind it lasting as long as it did because it gave Diamante a chance to shine in defeat. She's so much better off with Ivelisse, who may be officially gone from AEW. Meanwhile, Rosa elevates everyone she's in the ring with and this was no exception. This is the type of women's match that I'd like to see more of on Dynamite.

"All Ego" Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky def. Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss

Page and Sky keep rolling as a team. I've complained quite a bit about their alliance because I'd prefer to see them in the singles ranks, but I realize they're being primed for a program with Darby Allin and Sting. They won't win, obviously, but it's not a bad spot for them to be in. Plus, they have excellent chemistry as partners. This was a passable match because Kiss and Janela are a subpar team, but it was better than Page and Sky beating two independent wrestlers for a change.

Best Friends (Trent and Chuck Taylor) def. Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi

Best Friends have originally reunited now that Trent is back from injury. Cassidy did a commendable job of filling in for Trent while he was out, but I prefer the original version of Best Friends and now they're back on track. To their credit, Nemeth and Bononi are doing fine work as part of their new act, but they just aren't very good in the ring. This was your average main event with nothing overly special about it.

Overall Show

I was so happy when AEW gave us shorter shows last week for Dark and Dark: Elevation, thinking AEW was doing us a solid because of all the other wrestling there was last week. Unfortunately, not only was it back to normal this week, but the show was almost two-and-a-half hours long. I've said it a million times, but that's overkill, no matter how much you may enjoy the matches. There was some nice stuff sprinkled throughout the episode, but the length caused me to interest in the later matches.