AEW Dark: Elevation Review - September 6, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bear Country def. The Wingmen (Ryan Nemeth and "Pretty" Peter Avalon)

The Wingmen are clearly enjoying themselves out there and I can respect that, but they do absolutely nothing for me as wrestlers. They're solely there to put over people over and that was happened here. I still don't know if Bear Country are officially "all elite" yet, but the fact they've won a handful of matches in AEW is a positive sign. There wasn't anything special about this opener, but the right team came out on top.

Emi Sakura def. Missa Kate

I continue to be completely unamused by Sakura's regal act or whatever it's supposed to be. She's talented, but her matches aren't exciting enough to the point where I care about her character. She seems to be a decent hand for AEW to have in its women's division who the other ladies can benefit working with. She dominated a majority of this match and Kate did a nice job of selling her offense.

Lance Archer def. GPA

Archer killing dudes is my favorite pastime. The entire episode could consist of nothing but Archer squashes and I wouldn't complain. The problem is, what do you do with him now? He's fresh off his loss of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. He seemed to enter a feud with Dan Lambert and The Men of the Year, but he hasn't been featured in any of their segments lately or on Dynamite. I fear he's going to get lost in the shuffle if AEW doesn't find something for him to do soon.

Kiera Hogan def. Blair Onyx

Hogan has wrestled a handful of matches so far in AEW since leaving IMPACT, but this actually marked her first win in the promotion. It's about time. She's better than being booked as a jobber, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come for her. As for the match itself, there really wasn't much to it as it was only 90 seconds long. To Onyx's credit, she's done an effective job of getting her opponents over in such quick matches.

Nyla Rose def. Laynie Luck

Rose betrayed Jade Cargill in the Casino Battle Royale at All Out, so expect the bad blood from that to boil over one of these weeks. I don't know how good a competitive match between the two of them is going to be, but fingers crossed it isn't a train wreck. This was your typical Nyla Rose squash with Luck getting minimal offense in before Rose put her down in dominant fashion. It's nice it appears they'll be giving her a feud outside of the title picture for a change.

Anthony Bowens def. Griff Garrison

As I've said before, Bowens is a talented dude and can more than hold his own in the ring, but I don't blame the fans for not caring about him without Max Caster around. Speaking of Caster, he returned from his month-long absence at the end of this by aiding Bowens to victory, which the crowd was happy about. That would explain why Brian Pillman Jr. wasn't at ringside here. It was a solid match.

Red Velvet def. Queen Aminata

The Chicago crowd sounded a bit more kind toward Velvet on this show than were on Dark two days ago. I really think AEW should consider turning her heel. She's fine as a face, but you may as well roll with it, right? She's improving in the ring, but keeping this on the shorter side may have been for the better. There was no room for botches and Aminata had a good showing, so this was pretty much what it needed to be.

The Dark Order (John Silver and Preston "10" Vance) def. Travis Titan and Isiah Moore

There was no signs of Dark Order drama on this show outside of Silver and Vance coming together as a team. They usually don't team up together, which is why it's worth noting. However, they've quickly developed chemistry as partners and I thought they looked good here in this straightforward squash. Silver has the potential to be a breakout star from Dark Order when the time comes, and Vance has shown some serious skills as well.

Dante Martin def. JD Drake

Dante is a damn good babyface and has been making the most of every opportunity he's been afforded so far, no matter the show. It was nice to see him beat more of a notable name this week as opposed to the usual unknown enhancement talent. I liked the dynamic of their match with Dante having to fight from underneath and ultimately score the victory. The finish seemed to come out of nowhere, but otherwise, this was fun.

Riho def. Skye Blue

As I noted in my review of the special Saturday night edition of Dark, Blue is a Chicago native, so she had the support of the crowd here. Although she's never been among my favorites, Riho being back is big for AEW's women's division. Being a former AEW Women's World Champion, she's credible and works well against a variety of opponents. She and Blue had the best bout of the night and really maximized their minutes.

Darby Allin, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston def. Chaos Project and RSP

Chaos Project was in the main event of Dark over the weekend against Jurassic Express. I can't say I was too thrilled with seeing them featured in yet another prominent match on this show, but at least it was all about the babyfaces and didn't last long. The heels served as fine foils and Chicago was very much behind Allin, Moxley and Kingston. I like that they're continuing their alliance here and there and teaming up occasionally. The crowds are always into their matches.

Overall Show

I might be biased because I was in attendance for this past Saturday's edition of Dark as well as the one set to air on Tuesday night (they were both taped before Friday's Rampage in Chicago), but I thought this was an uneventful episode by usual Dark/Elevation standards. Okay, so Max Caster returning was a cool surprise and there was some star power in the main event, but the rest of the episode felt like it just existed. I appreciated that the episode didn't overstay its welcome, but I'm hoping the format picks up a bit once Dark starts taping out of Universal Studios soon and Elevation remains on the road.

SEE MORE: Dark: Elevation Reviews