By Rich Bailin, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@RichBailin)
AEW Dark: Elevation (Episode 39)
Taped November 24, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois at Wintrust Arena
Streamed November 29, 2021 on the AEW YouTube Page
After a seven-minute delay on YouTube, Excalibur welcomed us to Elevation. Excalibur said he was covering for Tony Schiavone and introduced us to his partners on the broadcast team Paul Wight and Eddie Kingston. Kingston said he missed Schiavone, and Excalibur said he could not top that, and sent it to ring announcer Justin Roberts for the introductions to the first match…
1. Diamante, The Bunny, Emi Sakura and Nyla Rose (w/Mei Suruga, Vickie Guerrero) vs. Leyla Hirsch, Ryo Mizunami, Skye Blue and Julia Hart. The teams came out to Nyla Rose’s music and Julia Hart’s music respectively. Match started with Ryo and the Bunny in the ring first. Bunny hit Ryo with a forearm to no effect. Ryo responded with a forearm of her own that knocked the Bunny down. Ryo then body slammed Bunny and attempted a leg drop but the Bunny rolled out of the way then came back and hit a rising knee to Ryo and then tagged in Rose.
Rose and the Bunny sent Ryo into the ropes and attempted a double clothesline but Ryo split them then came off the ropes with a double spear. Ryo did her rapid-fire chops to Rose in the corner and then tagged in Hirsch. Ryo sent Hirsch into Rose then Hirsch and Ryo sent Blue and Hart into Rose. Diamante entered the ring and was backdropped onto Rose. Hirsch went for a cover but barely got a one count. Rose started to take over on Hirsch and then tagged in Sakura. Sakura hit Hirsch with the cross body in the corner then followed up with the double underhook backbreaker and attempted a pinfall that Blue broke up.
Blue and Hirsch went to Irish whip Sakura but Sakura held on and made Blue and Hirsch collide into one another. Sakura then tied up Hirsch and Blue in a submission. Mizunami and Hart tried to break it up but were also caught in submissions as well. Hirsch attempted a comeback but as she came off the ropes Vickie Guerrero caused Hirsch to fall through them and to the floor where Guerrero and Suruga attacked Hirsch.
Diamante was tagged in but was caught with a belly to back suplex by Hirsch. Hirsch tagged in Blue who went on the attack on Sakura. Blue had control and climbed to the top rope and Hart made the blind tag. Sakura tagged in Rose so Blue climbed off the rope. Blue went for a pump kick but Rose caught her leg. Hart chop blocked Rose and then Blue kicked Rose.
Diamante pulled Blue out of the ring which left Rose and Hart alone in the ring. Hart managed to catch Rose in an inside cradle for a two count then Hart climbed to the top rope. As Hart came off the top rope Rose chopped her. Rose then hit the Beast Bomb on Hart and got the pinfall…
Diamante, The Bunny, Emi Sakura, and Nyla Rose defeated Leyla Hirsch, Ryo Mizunami, Skye Blue, and Julia Hart by pinfall in 6:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: Lots going on in this back-and-forth match, which felt like it could have gone either way, just as similar matches in the past few weeks have gone. Match-wise this was fine and with all the talent it could have been a train wreck. The only thing I can point to that I did not like was the submission spot, which seemed more choreographed than an NFL team’s defense’s victory dance in the end zone after a turnover.
2. Tay Conti and Anna Jay vs. Alice Crowley and Missa Kate. Jay and Kate started the match but Jay quickly made the tag to Conti. Conti hit a trio of judo throws then sent Kate into the corner and attempted a pump kick. Kate moved out of the way. Conti tried to stop Kate from tagging in Crowley but Kate kicked Conti off. Both Conti and Kate made tags. Jay hit Crowley with a variety of kicks and went for the cover. Kate went to break up the pin with an elbow drop but Jay rolled out of the way so Kate wound up hitting Crowley. Conti entered the ring and pump kicked Kate out of the ring. Jay then locked in the Queen Slayer for the submission win.
Tay Conti and Anna Jay defeated Alice Crowley and Missa Kate by submission in 2:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: Anna Jay got the bulk of the work this week while last week it was Tay Conti. Another quick showcase win for them this week.
3. Brayden Lee and Isaiah Moore vs Santana and Ortiz. Lee and Santana started the match. Lee hit Santana with a dropkick but Santana shook it off. Santana quickly took over with strikes and a dropkick of his own and then tagged in Ortiz. Santana and Ortiz lifted Lee and dropped him on the top turnbuckle then Ortiz sent Lee to Santana who powerbombed Lee. Ortiz allowed Lee to make the tag to Moore. Lee broke up a pinfall attempt after Ortiz hit Moore with a criss cross Northern Lights suplex. When Lee rolled out of the ring Santana moonsault off the middle turnbuckle. A short while later Santana and Ortiz used their combination offense and after a discus lariat pinned Moore.
Santana and Ortiz defeated Brayden Lee and Isaiah Moore by pinfall in 3:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A quick showcase for Santana and Ortiz who while giving up a little offense were never in any danger of losing.
4. Tony Nese vs. Vic Capri. After a lockup, Nese decided to pose. Nese and Capri went for another lock up but Nese hit Capri with a knee. Capri started to fight back with punches but Nese sent Capri into the ropes and then slid out of the ring tripping Capri on the way out. Nese then came back in and jumped over the top rope slamming Capri throat first on the top rope.
Nese hit a springboard moonsault off the second rope. Nese then sent Capri into the corner and charged but Capri rolled out of the way and rolled up Nese for a near fall. Capri went to send Nese into the rope but Nese slid underneath Capri’s legs and then transitioned out of a pumphandle into a sit out piledriver.
Tony Nese defeated Vic Capri by pinfall in 2:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A good showcase for Nese going into his TNT Title match with Sammy Guevara on Rampage this Friday night. The pumphandle into the piledriver was particularly impressive looking.
5. Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy and The Blade (w/The Bunny) vs. Evil Uno, Stu Grayson and Alan “5” Angels. Mark Henry replaced Eddie Kingston on commentary. The HFO attacked the Dark Order before the bell rang. When the bell rang it was Hardy and Angels in the ring with Hardy maintaining the advantage with a trio of leg drops. They continued to isolate Angels with quick tags. Hardy and Kassidy set up Angels for Poetry in Motion but Angels leaped off Hardy’s back and hit Kassidy with a huracanrana.
Angels fought off Hardy and the Blade and tried to make the tag but Kassidy and the Blade pulled Uno and Grayson off the apron. Hardy then hit a side effect on Angels. Hardy went for a pin attempt but Uno broke it up. Hardy then made the tag to Kassidy who climbed to the top rope and attempted a Swanton but Angels rolled out of the way. Angels finally made the tag to Grayson. Grayson fought off Kassidy and the Blade but then Hardy is tagged back in and it winds up Hardy and Angels again.
Angels reversed a Twist of Fate and then hit one of his own on Hardy. Angels then hit Hardy with a frog splash from the top rope. The Blade and Kassidy broke up the pin attempt. Hardy tried to get Angels on the top rope again but Angels fought out. Hardy then attempted a side effect that Angels rolled out of for a two count. Hardy then went after Angels again but got hit with an elbow. As the referee checked on Hardy, Kassidy kicked Angels in the back of the head and into a Twist of Fate by Hardy for the pinfall.
Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy and The Blade defeated Evil Uno, Stu Grayson and Alan “5” Angels by pinfall in 6:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A good back and forth match that again felt like it could have gone either way. In the end, it was a good showcase for Angels, who will be facing Bryan Danielson on Dynamite this Wednesday. Excalibur even said that the story of the match was that even with the HFO winning, Angels had Hardy’s number and would have beaten Hardy had Kassidy not gotten to Angels first.
6. Jay Lethal vs. Trenton Storm. Instead of locking up, Storm immediately kicked Lethal and then started to punch, kick and chop him. After an Irish whip Lethal recovered and landed a low dropkick to Storm and then strutted. Lethal with an Irish whip of his own and as Lethal charged Storm went up and over Lethal and headbutted him and raked Lethal’ s eyes.
Storm then hits a thrust kick to Lethal for a one count. Lethal fought out of a chinlock. Storm attempted to kick Lethal but Lethal caught Storm’s foot then went underneath and hit Storm with a clothesline. Lethal then caught Storm in a reverse DDT position but then lifted him up and dropped Storm face first on the mat. Lethal then hit the Lethal Injection for the victory.
Jay Lethal defeated Trenton Storm by pinfall in 2:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A good showcase win for Lethal. It will be interesting to see which Lethal we get in AEW whether it’s the TNA comedy version or ROH’s more serious version. The good thing about Lethal is he can do both so I’m sure he will be fine either way.
7. “The Acclaimed” Max Caster and Anthony Bowens and “Chaos Project” Luther and Serpentico vs. John Silver, Alex Reynolds, and “The Varsity Blonds” Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison (w/ Julia Hart). Caster ended his rap by saying (to the Blonds) “And I know you politicking for a spot, but you’re like Aaron Rodgers you’ll never get a shot.” Luther and Reynolds started the match with Luther immediately landing a pump kick and tagging in Serpentico. Luther tried to send Serpentico into Reynolds but Reynolds kicked Serpentico then kicked Luther. Reynolds then tagged in Silver and they hit a double drop toe hold on Serpentico followed by a pair of low dropkicks.
Silver then tagged in Garrison who immediately tagged in Pillman and the Blonds hit a pair of double team maneuvers on Serpentico as well. Serpentico with a huracanrana on Pillman from a powerbomb attempt. Pillman wound up close to the corner and fought off Bowens and Serpentico before turning into a clothesline from Caster. Serpentico made the tag to Caster who then tagged in Bowens and they began to isolate Pillman.
Bowens tagged in Luther who tried to send Serpentico into Pillman but Pillman moved out of the way. Pillman then sent Luther out of the ring then made the tag to Garrison who cleared the ring. After laying out Bowens with a punch and suplexing Serpentico, Garrison made the tag to Silver. A short while later Silver hit the Spin Doctor on Serpentico for the pinfall.
Brian Pillman Jr., Griff Garrison, John Silver and Alex Reynolds defeated Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, Luther and Serpentico by pinfall in 5:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A good back and forth match. If The Acclaimed teamed with anyone else, I probably would have felt like it could have gone either way. But Acclaimed and Chaos Project together usually mean a loss.
This was a decent episode of Elevation this week that I will bump up to being pretty good based on the Chicago crowd, who were hot for pretty much everything. This episode was only 43 minutes this week and with three of the seven matches being competitive, along with showcase matches for Nese and Lethal. With those matches playing to a hot crowd, this episode is an easy to recommend if you have the time to spare. It’s a three-way tie for match of the night and the two eight-person tag matches that bookended the show and the six-man tag are all worthy of match of the night.
Trenton Storm, pro wrestler or New York Yankees minor league affiliate?