AEW Dark: Elevation Review - December 13, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Thunder Rosa def. Gabby Ortiz

This marked Ortiz's AEW debut. I was curious to see how she'd do, but after only hitting a few moves, she was quickly beaten by Rosa by being forced to tap out. In other words, I still have no idea what she's capable of. It largely only existed to set up the post-match angle with Mark Sterling (a Long Island native if I'm not mistaken) and Jade Cargill interrupting Tony Schiavone's interview with Rosa and build toward Rosa vs. Cargill in the next round of the AEW TBS Women's Championship Tournament.

Kris Statlander and Red Velvet def. Nikii Duke and Tina San Antonio

Both Statlander and Velvet were unsuccessful in the AEW TBS Women's Championship Tournament and are now left with nothing to do. I don't remember the last time they teamed up, but they were back on the same side of the ring this week for whatever reason. I think Statlander is terrific, and while Velvet has improved, she still needs more seasoning. This was a nice little match to give the babyfaces a needed win.

Gunn Club (Billy, Austin and Colten Gunn) def. Joey Sweets, Antonio Zambrano and Jack Tomlinson

I was among the first on the train of people who couldn't have cared less about Gunn Club and I remain on that train despite all the television time they've gotten lately in their mini feud with Darby Allin and Sting. To their credit, they're better off as heels because they're so damn annoying, and at least their many wins on Dark and Elevation finally amounted to something, but I can't say their performances made me want to see more of them on Dynamite or Rampage any time soon, especially with how bloated the roster is right now. This was a fine showcase for them, if nothing else.

Emi Sakura def. Notorious Mimi

Mini has made a handful of appearances for AEW as an enhancement talent before. She scored way more offense in this match than I thought she would, but then again, I guess Sakura's purpose is to make all of her opponents look good and help elevate them regardless of whether they're signed or not. At least that's what it seems like to me. This was a serviceable squash that didn't overstay its welcome.

Anthony Ogogo def. Jaden Valo

Who else saw Ogogo going at it on Twitter with Jonathan Gresham, Jordynne Grace and Swoggle the other day? It started with Ogogo taking completely random shots at Gresham winning the ROH World Championship, so I'd like to think it's a part of an angle that will pay off somewhere eventually. At any rate, this was as quick as it gets at roughly 30 seconds and exactly what it needed to be? Where the hell was this Ogogo last week?

Santana and Ortiz def. Mike Verna and Anthony Gangone

As I've said in other Elevation and Dark reviews, I'm very familiar with Verna from the northeast independent wrestling scene, so considering this show emanated from New York, I was happy to see him included on the card. However, this was all about Santana and Ortiz, who are over anyway but they were extra over in their home state of New York. They made short work of their opponents and won with ease. Now it's time to start heating them up for a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship.

Tony Nese def. Alex Reynolds

Both of these men are Long Island natives (of which AEW has a ton of its roster). I was slightly surprised Nese didn't receive a stronger reaction when he made his entrance. Maybe because he's still new to AEW and they didn't recognize his music when it first hit? Either way, this was a fun main event from two very talented professional wrestlers. The crowd was quieter than I expected them to be, but it's possible they didn't want to see either of their "hometown heroes" lose. Nese winning made more sense because he's fresh off a strong showing against AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara on Rampage.

Overall Show

At 35 minutes, this was one of the shortest editions of Elevation yet and I'm not complaining. As I've said time and time, the shorter shows made the episodes that much more enjoyable, especially since they tend to be a nice mix of effective squashes and competitive matches. The main event was the best bout of the night but still too brief to be anything special. Still, this was an easy watch that breezed by.

SEE MORE: Elevation Reviews