AEW Dark: Elevation Review - November 7, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Abadon def. Amy Rose

As Ian Riccaboni mentioned on commentary, Rose is a familiar face to Ring of Honor fans, but she was mainly used as a manager for La Faccion Ingobernable. That said, I'm not sure I've ever seen her wrestle before, and now I know why. She's not terrible, but nothing I saw in this brief bout made me think she'd be a valuable addition to AEW's women's roster in an in-ring role. Meanwhile, these Abadon matches continue to feel like a waste of time if they're not leading anywhere.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle and The Boys def. The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Slim J and Jeeves Kay)

Elevation rarely features much in the way of storyline progression, but it would have been nice for this to be built up in advance in some form or fashion. Granted, I couldn't care less about Trustbusters, but this was a really random match to go on second on Elevation as opposed to being positioned as the main event considering the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship was on the line. This was a well-wrestled affair. It's hilarious how the six-man tag titles have been defended more in the past two months than the AEW World Trios Championship.

Athena def. Abby Jane

On the surface, you'd see Athena being relegated to Elevation over the last month and be discouraged considering where she was on the main shows just two months ago, but I have hope that this newfound mean streak is leading to something on TV. The intensity and aggression she's shown during and after her matches has been a breath of fresh air and it's clear she's headed for a heel turn. This match was another example of that.

Tay Melo def. Trish Adora

Adora continues to make the most of all of her opportunities. This was kept short and sweet and she didn't have a chance to do much, but she played her role well. Melo is in a weird spot because she's racking up wins on the Dark shows and on Rampage, but they're not amounting to anything. Of course, that can change and perhaps there's a plan in place for her, but she feels like a background player in Jericho Appreciation Society spinning her wheels right now.

Dante Martin def. Eli Isom

Isom was a standout during his ROH days and it's a shame the company went under just as he was starting to build momentum. Despite his few appearances on the Dark shows, it doesn't look like Tony Khan has shown much interest in signing him to his ROH roster. I thought he had a solid showing with Martin here and that they worked well together. It was a fun little sprint while it lasted.

The Factory (QT Marshall, Lee Johnson and Cole Karter0 def. Cheeseburger,  Rhett Titus and Logan Easton Laroux

Tony Khan obviously knows Cheeseburger as Cheeseburger, hence why he's reverted back to that gimmick instead of continuing on as World Famous CB (which is what he went back toward the end of his ROH run). As I've said many times before, The Factory bores me to tears, and adding Johnson to their ranks doesn't change my mind at all. This was a standard showcase for them with Cheeseburger's brief fluffy of offense being the only highlight. A cryptic video showing a nail aired on the big screen afterward during Marshall's promo, so apparently someone is targeting The Factory.

Eddie Kingston and Ortiz def. Myles Hawkins and Joe Keys

Keys was another ROH prospect for a time. He made many appearances on ROH TV but was largely utilized as an enhancement talent. He and Hawkins scored some offense on Kingston and Ortiz, but this was mostly a squash for the babyfaces. Kingston continues to tease he has issues managing his anger, and while I applaud the storyline progression, it's been the same thing for weeks. Thankfully, Kingston will be back on AEW TV this week as part of the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament.

Kip Sabian def. Alex Reynolds

Sabian was accompanied to the ring by Penelope Ford this week. Both of these guys are established but are on the same spot on the show as undercard competitors. Thus, I don't blame the crowd for not caring. Sabian trying to control the crowd with that taunt he's been doing lately and them not playing along was unintentionally funny because it was a fail. The match was well worked but probably didn't need to last as long as it did. Sabian winning was the right call because he has the brighter singles future of the two.

Rocky Romero and Best Friends def. Angelico, The Butcher and The Blade

Best Friends are an over act, so I was surprised the crowd was into this match more than they were. It was basically every six-man tag team match you've ever seen them have, but their involvement wasn't enough to get this crowd to care, apparently. Maybe that's because Angelico, Butcher and Blade are three of the biggest losers booking-wise on the roster? This was decent and the crowd popped for Danhausen's interference at the end, but that was about it.

Overall Show

Matt Menard was missed on commentary this week, but Riccaboni and Paul Wight picked up the slack just fine. This edition of Elevation was longer than what we've been getting lately at around an hour and 15 minutes. Why they decided to do nine matches instead of keeping it to the usual six or seven, I have no idea. You absolutely could have trimmed off a match or two. On the whole, however, this was an average episode featuring nothing overly great or terrible. It simply existed.

SEE MORE: Elevation Reviews