AEW Dark: Elevation Review - January 30, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Red Velvet def. Billie Starkz

Velvet will challenge Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship this Wednesday on Dynamite, so this was designed to give her a win before then. I actually liked how it was a competitive contest with Starkz scoring as much offense as she did. This was easily the most impressive performance she's had in AEW to date and I'm looking forward to seeing more from her. The crowd was behind her by the end.

The Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. The Workhorsemen

Dark Order are back to being the popular team with a winning streak on the Dark shows. Their wins don't amount to much as they typically beat teams who aren't under contract to the company, so it was nice to see them get a step up in competition this week. Workhorsemen work well with just about anyone, so unsurprisingly, this was a well-worked affair with a fun finishing sequence.

Rush def. Brian Pillman Jr.

I'm definitely down for Rush getting more of a singles spotlight. I enjoyed his time with Griff Garrison (where the hell did he go?) in Varsity Blonds, but they were largely never utilized as anything other than an enhancement team. Pillman has potential, so giving him more matches against established talent such as Rush will only help him in the long run. This was really good stuff as they had quality chemistry together and I appreciate Pillman being made to look credible in defeat.

Yuka Sakazaki and Skye Blue def. ROH Women's World Champion Athena and Diamante

Sakazaki recently emerged as the latest challenger to Athena's ROH Women's World Championship and I like that AEW didn't immediately give it away here. Instead, Athena had to find a partner and was shown settling on Diamante in a backstage segment. Sakazaki pinning Diamante made total sense. We may even get an Athena vs. Diamante match out of this with Athena blaming Diamante for the loss. This was well wrestled and nicely paced.

Top Flight def. Tony Nese and Ari Daivari

Despite Mark Sterling playing up Nese and Daivari with a pre-match promo, there was no chance of them winning here with the roll Top Flight are on right now. Top Flight are coming off a huge victory over The Young Bucks and are clearly in line for an opportunity at the AEW World Trios Championship. Nese and Daivari work well together, 

Kings of the Black Throne def. Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum

It's always a treat whenever Malakai Black and Brody King team up, but it'd be even better to see Black in more singles matches. I love House of Black, but Malakai really should be prominently featured by now. Instead, they're waiting in the wings until the time comes for them to face The Elite for the Trios titles. This was a straightforward squash for them. Props to Floyd and Magnum for playing their roles well and for selling their fear.

ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli def. Blake Christian

The ROH World Championship being defended on Elevation is a big boost for Elevation, but it's an obvious step down for the belt considering it was being defended on Dynamite, Rampage and AEW pay-per-views a few short months ago. I know it's been defended on Elevation and Dark in the past, but it's different now that it feels like it's exclusive to these shows until ROH TV gets going (hopefully soon). On the bright side, this was an entertaining sprint with Christian taking Castagnoli to the limit before eating defeat.

Overall Show

With this marking the 100th edition of Elevation, I'm really glad they made it a special show by mixing in some star power and above-average matches by Elevation standards. Castagnoli defending the ROH title was cool and we got more competitive matches than usual. This is what I'd like to see from Elevation more often instead of seven straight squashes, but I realize this was likely a one-week-only thing due to the occasion.

SEE MORE: Elevation Reviews