AEW Dark: Elevation Review - October 17, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford def. Jeremy Prophet and Jessika Neri

Sabian and Ford have been in action together a few times as of late, which makes me think they might be entering a storyline with another couple on AEW soon. Even if not, I'm fine with it because Ford has been better off. I said for the longest time that I wanted to see Ford on her own, but she did nothing of note while Sabian was out injured, so making them an on-screen unit again isn't a bad thing. This was a solid showcase for them.

Frankie Kazarian def. Blackmon

Interestingly, Kazarian just won the Impact X-Division Championship from Mike Bailey at IMPACT's Bound for Glory pay-per-view a few weeks ago but announced last week on IMPACT! Wrestling that he'll be relinquishing the title for a shot at Josh Alexander's Impact World Championship by way of Option C. Technically, he's still champion until Thursday, but that was already taped and that was not acknowledged here. He obviously didn't bring the belt with him, either. At any rate, this was a short and sweet squash and a nice return for Kazarian after not being around for the last month.

Athena def. Jody Threat

Athena has looked damn good in the ring since coming to AEW, but I think this might have been one of her strongest showings yet. He worked with a sense of urgency and pulled out some awesome stuff. She has the crowd behind her mostly, but as I've mentioned before, she hasn't had much direction since failing to beat Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship at All Out. She's simply spinning her wheels for now.

The Butcher and The Blade def. The Voros Twins

I'm probably as familiar with The Voros Twins as anyone else in that the only thing I know them from is that stupid video that went viral years ago. I knew they were training to be wrestlers, but they look like goofs and thus it brought me joy to see Butcher and Blade completely kill them in this match. It's well documented that I've never been a Butcher and Blade fan, but I was certainly cheering for them here and they didn't disappoint.

Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh def. Junior Benito and Dylan Davis

The last we saw of Lethal, he lost to Darby Allin on Dynamite and teased tension with Singh and Sonjay Dutt by walking out on them afterward because Allin told him he didn't need them. I assume that was the start of a babyface turn for Lethal before he eventually challenges Chris Jericho for the ROH World Championship. They furthered that story here. This was all Singh, who is still very much a work in progress. Lethal should be on his own, but Singh being on his own at this point would be a disaster (even with Dutt as his mouthpiece).

Serena Deeb and Emi Sakura def. Madison Rayne and Skye Blue

Blue and Rayne recently teamed up unsuccessfully against Tay Melo and Anna Jay A.S. on Rampage, so apparently they'll be a tandem going forward. Blue will benefit because Rayne has been around a while, but that isn't to say I want a women's tag team division in AEW by any means, simply because I don't think AEW would do it justice. This was largely well wrestled and I liked that Deeb won for her team.

Gunn Club def. The Bollywood Boyz

I don't think I've seen Bollywood Boyz pop up in any promotion that I watch regularly since they were released by WWE in the summer of 2021. I didn't care much for them while they were there, but they seem to be genuinely good dudes and it was cool they were given an opportunity in the main event of Rampage. This was perfectly passable and was designed to give Gunn Club a victory ahead of their eventual showdown with FTR.

Overall Show

On a side note, I'm really digging the new announce team of Paul Wight, Matt Menard and Ian Riccaboni. We've heard Riccaboni a lot lately for the Ring of Honor stuff on TV and I'm glad he's being utilized for Elevation as well. Wight is fine and Menard is going to be a great commentator down the road when he retires from the ring. Nonetheless, this was your average edition of Elevation. Some familiar faces popped up, the in-ring action was adequate and the 45 minutes flew by, so I have no complaints.

SEE MORE: Elevation Reviews