AEW Dark: Elevation Review - July 18, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bobby Fish def. Blake Li

Fish was out of action for about a month, I believe due to injury like his other Undisputed Elite partners. I'm glad he's back and hopefully he returns to TV as soon as this Wednesday's Dynamite. As for Li, he's one of QT Marshall's students and I'm pretty sure he was squashed by Hook one time on Rampage late last year. This was basically an extended squash for Fish, who dominated the entire match for as long as it lasted.

Nyla Rose and Marina Shafir def. Skye Blue and Brittany

I'm sorry but I find it impossible to care about Shafir at this point regardless of who she's paired with. She's certainly improved from her WWE NXT days, but that isn't saying much considering she was pretty terrible before. Plus, she's beyond boring and the crowd is almost always sleeping whenever she's in the ring. This gave the team of Rose and Shafir a win, but building them up feels like a waste of time if they aren't going to amount to anything on television.

Julia Hart def. Amber Nova

All of Hart's matches since turning heel and aligning with House of Black have basically been the same in that they're short and sweet and that's not necessarily a bad thing. She's simply not all that good in the ring, so keeping most of her matches to the bare minimum is probably for the best. It's been almost two months and I'm still trying to understand why she was put with House of Black because she adds nothing to the group.

"All Ego" Ethan Page def. Leon Ruffin

With the way Men of the Year have been booked over the last year, Page would probably be better off branching off on his own at this point. Scorpio Sky has been very damaged and Page will gain nothing from continuing to be aligned with him. These showcases for Page on the Dark shows are nice and all, but he never wins whenever it matters most on Dynamite or Rampage, and I'm not sure how much he's benefiting from Dan Lambert managing him. This crowd was very much behind Ruffin, so that made the match more fun.

The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Preston "10" Vance) def. Terrence and Terrell Hughes

Both Uno and Vance's partners are no longer with AEW (Stu Grayson and Alan Angels), so it looks like they'll be a team going forward. They work well together, but as I've said before, Dark Order does nothing for me these days as it's been almost exactly a year since they lost a lot of their steam. Despite that, AEW appears to be adamant about keeping them together. At least they made quick work of their opponents here.

Angelico, The Butcher and The Blade def. Jameson Ryan, Brandon Bullock and Bryce Cannon

Wait, are these guys still aligned? I thought The A.F.O. wasn't a thing anymore? Maybe the commentators addressed it, but I could've sworn Andrade El Idolo ditched those losers in favor of Rush a month or two ago. I know Andrade accompanied Private Party to the ring on Friday's Rampage (because Private Party are morons in storyline), but I really hope this doesn't mean that group still exists because it was brutal. This was fine, but I have no idea what purpose it was supposed to serve.

Tony Nese def. John Walters

I didn't know who Walters was up until a year or two ago, but he returned to Ring of Honor after previously wrestling for the promotion many years ago. He was a former ROH Pure Champion and that was primarily the division he competed in upon his return. Thus, it was nice to see him back here and it was a well-wrestled affair, even if this was fairly brief. This got Nese back in the winning column following his recent Rampage loss to Orange Cassidy.

Overall Show

The 40-minute editions of Elevation with six or seven matches are right up my alley. Although it lacked a competitive main event, there was some decent action scattered throughout. There really isn't anything worth going out of your way to see, but Fish's return to the ring was somewhat notable and the episode flew by, so I don't have any complaints. I could do with a little less of Shafir, though.

SEE MORE: Elevation Reviews