AEW Dark: Elevation Review - May 10, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lee Johnson def. David Ali

Johnson is one of the few people involved in this meaningless Nightmare Family vs. Factory feud that I feel could find success at some point. However, we're going to need to know more about him at some point, and I don't know if he's going to get that character development when the focus is on the factions and not the individuals. He can go in the ring and that was evident here. He'll continue to benefit from more experience.

Eddie Kingston def. VSK

VSK was just on IMPACT! Wrestling last week and took on the debuting El Phantasmo. I would say that he got more offense than usual here because of that, but I'm pretty sure that aired after this was already taped. They had a decent match and Kingston went over as he should have. He cut a passionate promo (as always) later in the show about setting his sights on The Young Bucks, so expect him and Jon Moxley vs. Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship to be made official for Double or Nothing this week.

"All Ego" Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky def. Fuego Del Sol and Baron Black

Although I don't understand why Page and Sky are being positioned as a tag team when they should be spotlighted as singles stars, at least they have nice chemistry as partners and are having quality matches together. Fuego sold well for their offense, so this was one of the more fun squashes on the show. Page and Sky are building up wins before they likely take on Darby Allin and Sting soon, as hinted at in their interview later in the show.

Thunder Rosa def. Renee Michelle

I was surprised that Michelle lasted as long as she did against Rosa. She's decent and has a good presence about her, but this was all about Rosa as she's a total star. She was interviewed backstage later on in the show and acknowledged Britt Baker getting the next AEW Women's World Championship shot despite beating her in that Lights Out Unsanctioned match two months ago. She also called out Serena Deeb, so AEW is clearly killing time with her until Deeb returns from injury.

Chuck Taylor def. Vary Morales

Taylor was accompanied by the rest of Best Friends here as well as Kris Statlander. Had this match not happened, I don't think it would have mattered most. Seriously, why bother wasting time on a Chuck Taylor match? He's easily the least interesting member of the group and doesn't have anything of importance going on at the moment (to my knowledge). I realize this didn't take up a ton of time, but I question why it was booked in the first place on a near-two-hour show.

"Legit" Leyla Hirsch def. Dani Jordyn

These are two of my favorite up-and-coming women in AEW, even Jordyn despite the fact she isn't currently signed by the company. I'm disappointed she didn't get an entrance even if the outcome was never in doubt. This was a hard-hitting affair while it lasted with both women bringing the fight to each other. Hirsh is an absolute treat to watch and I'm looking forward to her becoming more of a regular on Dynamite eventually.

Matt Sydal def. Danny Smith

I honestly don't know what purpose this was supposed to serve if Matt is more of a tag team guy now. Don't get me wrong, he's a terrific talent and should be spotlighted on his own instead of in a tag team with his brother, but unless he's being built up for something (like when he faced Kenny Omega not too long ago), this felt pointless. If nothing else, it was kept short and sweet.

Jade Cargill def. Reka Tehaka

Cargill has been slowly putting the pieces together since making her in-ring debut on Dynamite and has shown signs of major potential. She shouldn't be in the conversation for any championship any time soon, but she should continue to hone her skills with squashes such as this one. Working with established talent will also help her cause. Post-match, she was approached by Mark Sterling, the same lawyer who was partnered up with MJF during his "campaign" last year before Jon Moxley beat him in a match. I'm curious to see where that goes, but I maintain Cargill doesn't need someone representing her.

Matt Hardy and Marq Quen def. Dean Alexander and Dillon McQueen

No, Isiah Kassidy isn't injured, and in fact, he wrestled later in the show against Alex Reynolds. I guess they wanted to switch things up? Quen wrestled in his street clothes here, so that was unique. Hardy's new faction has been featured quite a bit lately, so this served as a solid showcase for them. The best part about it was that The Blade and The Bunny were nowhere to be seen at ringside.

Britt Baker def. Raychell Rose

Baker already has her shot at the AEW Women's World Championship set for Double or Nothing at the end of the month, but that hasn't stopped AEW from continuing to pad her win-loss record with wins over enhancement talent on the Dark shows. Hey, I like Baker, so more of her isn't necessarily a bad thing. Plus, she's keep beating her opponents in under a minute, so I can't complain.

Tay Conti def. Madi Wrenkowski

This didn't last more than a few minutes, but I'm glad Wrenkowski was able to score some offense before eating defeat. She's another one of those enhancement wrestlers that's been coming into her own in her many appearances on AEW programming and stands out more than most. That said, this was designed to spotlight Conti, who has grown leaps and bounds since signing with AEW last year. This was a nice rebound win for her following her recent loss to Hikaru Shida.

Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt) def. Chaos Project

I feel like we haven't seen Stunt in action in a while. That isn't to say I was clamoring for a match of his, but that occurred to me while I was watching this. I wish this was one of those squash matches Jurassic Express have been known to have here on the Dark shows because Chaos Project are unbearable. Okay, so Serpentico is a skilled wrestler, but Luther is the unbearable one. This wasn't awful, but it was a big time-waster.

Alex "3" Reynolds def. Isiah Kassidy

Similar to Quen earlier in the evening, Kassidy wrestled in his street clothes here. He and Reynolds had a well-wrestled match. Hopefully John Silver isn't out for much longer, but it's been cool seeing Reynolds get singles opportunities in his absence and show people how good he actually is. I feel like this faction feud has been mostly one-sided in favor of the H.F.O, so Reynolds beating Kassidy was a pleasant surprise. That said, the heels stood tall afterward when Hardy attacked Reynolds and made Silver watch.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley def. Danny Limelight (Non-Title)

Since Moxley has an IWGP U.S. title defense coming up on Wednesday's Dynamite, he came out with the belt over his shoulder here. It disappeared from AEW TV following his last title defense in February, so I wish AEW was more consistent with it. As for Limelight, he had an excellent sit-down interview earlier in the episode with Paul Wight. I'd be shocked if he didn't end up with a full-time contract at some point because he makes all of his opponents look good. I was happy that this was a competitive contest with Limelight having a strong showing before losing. Moxley's Paradigm Shift from the middle turnbuckle was a sweet spot to close it out.

Overall Show

This show nearly clocked in at two hours, which is way too long for a show that's heavy on enhancement matches. In my opinion, 90 minutes would be more suitable. On the bright side, this was a serviceable show with more competitive matches than usual, which would explain the length. I would have cut out three or four matches, but this was still a solid show on the whole with an entertaining main event. Maybe I'm just getting used to the format because I know it isn't likely to change, at least until AEW gets back on the road full-time. I appreciated that Moxley was in a showcase match for a change and not thrown in the middle of the show for no reason like last week.