AEW Dark: Elevation Review - February 20, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Juice Robinson def. Fuego Del Sol

Robinson has done a whole lot of nothing since signing with AEW a few months ago. He unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the ROH World Television Championship at ROH Final Battle followed by Darby Allin for the AEW TNT Championship on Rampage soon after, but that's about it. It feels like Tony Khan signed him because he liked his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling without having an actual plan in place for him. I appreciated that he beat someone on the roster here and Fuego always works well in the underdog role, so it was a nice match and more competitive than I thought it would be.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Evelyn Carter (Non-Title)

While it's always a blast watching Athena bully her opponents, all of her squashes are essentially the same and they've begun to blend together. I like that she's been feuding with Yaka Sakazaki as of late, but we didn't see Sakazaki appear here like I thought she might afterward when Athena continued her beatdown on Carter. Athena vs. Sakazaki would be perfect for the launch of ROH TV next week, but it's also a possibility for Supercard of Honor in early April.

The Firm (Lee Moriarty and Big Bill) def. Zack Zilla and Warren Johnson

The Firm have largely meant nothing since coming together in the fall. The stuff with Ethan Page, Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy has my interest, but Moriarty and Bill simply exist on the roster at this point. That's a shame because I think both guys have something to offer. They had fun with the two local athletes here, but I don't think they needed to take as long as they did to put them away.

Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir and Emi Sakura def. Willow Nightingale, Madison Rayne and Leva Bates

It honestly bothered me seeing Nightingale in there with Rayne and Bates because she came across like a second-class citizen. The outcome was never in doubt as a result and that's a bummer because Nightingale has plenty of potential. Didn't she win that tag team Street Fight with Ruby Soho on Rampage last month? Unfortunately, the match itself wasn't very good, either. The heels dominated most of it. Also, it looks like Rose and Shafir aren't teasing tension with Vickie Guerrero anymore, which begs the question of what the point of that was in the first place.

Powerhouse Hobbs def. Sal Muscat

It's high time Hobbs gets involved in a storyline with someone. Not to sound like a broken record (as I've said this several times in past reviews), but I have no clue why he randomly resurfaced as part of the AEW TNT Championship heading into Full Gear in November only to go back to doing nothing. I'm glad he's racking up wins, but these wins (as well as the Book of Hobbs stuff) has to be leading to something significant eventually.

Best Friends and The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. The Firm ("All Ego" Ethan Page, Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy), The Butcher and The Blade

It would have been very dumb for Uno's team to lose before he faces Jon Moxley one-on-one on Wednesday's Dynamite. Plus, he and the rest of Dark Order backed up Adam Page against Moxley last week, so it would have made them look like total losers had they come up short here. It was a well-worked multi-man match and the latest loss for The Firm furthers the story between Hardy and Page. Hardy and Kassidy continue to act like babyfaces while Page remains a heel, so I dig the dynamic.

The Lucha Brothers def. Ari Daivari and Tony Nese

This was the first Lucha Brothers match we've seen since they lost the AEW World Trios Championship to The Elite last month. Reportedly, they were dealing with visa issues and were only recently cleared to return. They'll be taking part in the tag team Battle Royale on Dynamite to determine who will enter the AEW World Tag Team Championship match at Revolution and I can certainly see them winning that. This was a pretty straightforward showcase for them.

Overall Show

I was skeptical of the near-hour-long runtime, but seven matches is an average amount and some just so happened to last a little longer than others. It felt more like an edition of ROH TV than anything else, but it was serviceable on the whole and didn't drag. The main event was hardly worth seeking out, but Lucha Brothers being back in action after a brief hiatus was certainly notable. Everything else was standard stuff.

SEE MORE: Elevation Reviews