AEW Dark: Elevation Review - February 6, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jericho Appreciation Society ("Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker) def. The Boys

As I've said before, I'd like to see Menard and Parker score more meaningful wins on AEW TV. They've always been portrayed as a jobber team on the main shows (including in WWE), but I think they have the potential to be more than that. I appreciated that they beat an actual team this week, and it was cool to see The Boys in action by themselves for a change. I was actually surprised the crowd was as quiet as they were.

Juice Robinson def. Jake Crist

Robinson is back to pulling Dark duty after unsuccessfully challenging Darby Allin for the AEW TNT Championship on Rampage a few weeks ago. Seeing as how he's done nothing of note in AEW otherwise since signing with the promotion, I assume he's earmarked for the Ring of Honor roster. Meanwhile, Crist is a former Impact X-Division Champion and thus it was cool to see him pop up here. That's why I liked how this was competitive despite being brief.

The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. Renny D, Matt Brannigan and Crash Jaxon

Every Dark Order match is practically the same, so this was pretty much what you'd expect from them. As I always say, the matches themselves are whatever, but crowds continue to care about them despite their lack of television time. That was once again the case here. Maybe with enough wins, they can eventually work their way back into the AEW World Trios Championship picture, possibly for a one-off on TV and not necessarily on pay-per-view.

Yuka Sakazaki def. Billie Starkz

This was the third AEW match Starkz has had in the last three weeks and she's been more and more impressive with each outing. Of course, working with someone as skilled as Sakazaki will only help her cause as I haven't seen a poor match from Sakazaki yet. This wasn't a straight-up squash as Starkz was actually made to look credible in defeat. However, Sakazaki had to win ahead of her upcoming opportunity at the ROH Women's World Championship.

AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy and Best Friends def. Zack Clayton and Chaos Project

I can't imagine Angelico is hurt considering he recently faced Konosuke Takeshita on Dark (unless that was taped a while ago and I just can't remember), so it was weird that Clayton teamed with Chaos Project instead. Either way, this was all about Cassidy and Best Friends and nothing more. I don't find the comedy with Chaos Project to be funny at all, so it's possible I liked this less than most people.

Powerhouse Hobbs def. Corey Calhoun

Hobbs has replaced Lance Archer as my favorite person to watch when it comes to squashes. He decimates dudes and it's terrific. This was more of the same, so it was smart to keep it short and sweet. I continue to wonder when we'll see him back on Dynamite and Rampage in a regular role as part of a program with someone. He brings the Book of Hobbs to the ring with him every time he competes, but he needs something significant to do eventually.

Top Flight def. The Butcher and The Blade

Top Flight continue to rack up wins on the Dark shows, and it's understandable as they head into Dynamite this Wednesday where they'll challenge The Elite for the AEW World Trios Championship. Plus, this win meant more because they faced an actual team on the roster. Their styles meshed really well and it was a fun sprint. For the record, Butcher looks great with his newly-shaved head.

Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir, Emi Sakura and Diamante def. Madison Rayne, Skye Blue, Queen Aminata and Hyena Hera

This was basically a collection of all the women AEW doesn't have anything for creatively at the moment. That said, Sakura is coming off an enjoyable affair with Jamie Hayter on the January 27th edition of Rampage. If you missed it, definitely make time to check it out. Despite this being an eight-woman tag team match, they didn't receive a ton of time, but what we got was decent and everyone fared well for themselves.

Blackpool Combat Club (ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli and ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta) def. Ari Daivari and Tony Nese

Blackpool Combat Club is seemingly down to just Castagnoli and Yuta since Bryan Danielson is busy with MJF, Jon Moxley is busy with Adam Page, and William Regal is busy, well, in WWE. I'm fine with them continuing to team for now before ROH TV starts up soon. They work well together and they had a nice main event with Daivari and Nese. Daivari and Nese are a better fit together than their current partners because of their history from WWE, but the crowds clearly don't care about them, regardless.

Overall Show

Last week's 100th edition of Elevation was a special treat and therefore was better than usual. It was back to the norm this week with your average array of enhancement matches. Nine was a few too many, but I appreciate that they kept the show under an hour. There were some well-wrestled matches mixed in this week and that made it an easy watch, even though most of the same names were featured.

SEE MORE: Elevation Reviews