By Rich Bailin, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@RichBailin)
AEW Dark: Elevation (Episode 45)
Taped January 5, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey at Prudential Center
Streamed January 10, 2022 on the AEW YouTube Page
Elevation started with the familiar but remixed sounds of “Pomp and Circumstance” as ring announcer Justin Roberts introduced the opening match. Jay Lethal and Sonny Kiss made their way to the ring. Tony Schiavone, Mark Henry and Paul Wight checked in from the commentary desk…
1. Sonny Kiss and Jay Lethal vs. Jaden Valo and Chris Steeler. Lethal and Steeler started the match. Steeler got behind Lethal and focused on Lethal’ s back with forearms. Lethal recovered and dropped Steeler with a short arm clothesline and tagged in Kiss. Lethal and Kiss sent Steeler into the ropes and hit some combination offense. Kiss lifted Steeler onto his shoulders, but Steeler slipped out and tagged Valo. Before Valo could make it in the ring Kiss knocked him off the apron but was met with kicks and a side Russian leg sweep by Steeler.
Valo stomped Kiss then attempted an Irish whip that Kiss reversed. As Valo hit the ropes Steeler held onto him. Kiss charged towards Valo, but Valo moved, and Kiss kicked Steeler. Valo attempted the same to Kiss but this time Lethal held on to Kiss but as Valo charged both Lethal and Kiss moved, and Kiss hit Valo with an enzuigiri and tagged in Lethal. Lethal came in and then dove out of the ring with a Tope Suicida onto Steeler. Lethal got on the apron but Steeler held onto his leg so Lethal couldn’t get in. Kiss hit Steeler with a forearm which released Lethal. When Lethal came into the ring he quickly hit the Lethal Injection on Valo for the pinfall.
Sonny Kiss and Jay Lethal defeated Jaden Valo and Chris Steeler by pinfall in 2:30.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A very good tag debut for Lethal and Kiss. Very fast paced and hard hitting. If I didn’t know better, I would not have believed this was the first time Kiss and Lethal have tagged together. As is always the case on Elevation, this could be just a one-time thing or the start of something bigger.
2. Nyla Rose and Emi Sakura (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Skye Blue and Tina San Antonio. Both teams received televised entrances. Blue and Sakura started the match. Blue got behind Sakura and Sakura was unable to escape so she grabbed referee Aubrey Edwards and started to dance with her. Blue tried to get to Sakura but Edwards stopped her so she could get out of the way. Sakura used the distraction to poke Blue in the eye.
Blue was angered and started to hit Sakura with forearms followed by a knee to Sakura’s face. Blue ran towards the ropes, but Vickie Guerrero tripped her. Sakura tagged in Rose. Rose lifted Blue onto her shoulders, but Blue slipped out and kicked Rose and tagged in San Antonio. San Antonio attempted a clothesline, but Rose didn’t move. San Antonio attempted another clothesline, but Rose caught her and hit a sidewalk slam.
Rose tagged in Sakura but splashed San Antonio who was on the mat. Sakura then splashed Rose’s back. A short while later Sakura attempted a pin on San Antonio that Blue broke up. Sakura pushed Blue into a spine buster from Rose. Sakura then tagged in Rose who picked up San Antonio and hit the Beast Bomb for the pinfall.
Nyla Rose and Emi Sakura defeated Skye Blue and Tina San Antonio by pinfall in 3:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: Good to see the continued pairing of Rose and Sakura in what was a fine showcase for them. Blue also got a fair bit of offense in this match.
3. AAA Tag Team Champions “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. Pat Brink and Myles Hawkins in a non-title match. Hawkins and Wheeler started the match but not before Wheeler grabbed a hug from Harwood. FTR isolated Hawkins during the early portions of the match. Hawkins was able to recover and catch Harwood with a cross body block from the second rope before making the tag to Brink. Hawkins sent Harwood into Brink who was waiting in a three-point stance. Brink tagged back inHawkins, but Harwood quickly regained control.
Harwood sent Hawkins to the corner and then dropkicked Hawkins. Harwood started writhing in pain on the map favoring his shoulder that was taped up. Brink entered the ring and tried to be respectful by holding open the ropes for Harwood, but Wheeler knocked Brink out of the ring. Harwood then popped up and Harwood and Wheeler hit the Big Rig on Hawkins for the victory.
AAA Tag Champions “FTR” Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler defeated Pat Brink and Myles Hawkins by pinfall in 3:00 in a non-title match.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A fine showcase for FTR, who got a good crowd reaction throughout the match and a much bigger one when they hit the Big Rig. Fun Fact, FTR were not the only tag champions in that match. Brink and Hawkins are a part of Maryland Championship Wrestling where Hawkins is one half of the MCW tag champs.
4. Red Velvet and Leyla Hirsch vs. Notorious Mimi and B3cca. Velvet and Hirsch came out to Velvet’s music. Velvet and Hirsch were friendly on their way to the ring. Velvet and Mimi started the match. Late in the match Hirsch reversed a double suplex attempt and suplexed both Mimi and B3cca simultaneously. Hirsch made the tag and Velvet hit Mimi with a pair of slingblades. Velvet dropped Mimi over the middle rope but when she ran towards the ropes Hirsch blind tagged herself in. Velvet hit Mimi with double knees then a spin kick and went for the cover. The referee would not count. Hirsch locked in an arm bar and Mimi tapped out.
Red Velvet and Leyla Hirsch defeated Notorious Mimi and B3cca by submission in 2:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: I’m liking Hirsch’s new attitude. Velvet and Hirsch showed no real signs of dissension until Hirsch stole the win. Velvet was irritated, but Hirsch smoothed things over quickly and they walked out together.
5. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ryan Clancy. Eddie Kingston replaced Mark Henry on commentary. Hobbs dominated before locking Clancy in a Torture Rack for the submission win.
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Ryan Clancy by submission in 1:30.
Bailin’s Breakdown: It was nice to see Hobbs slow things down and work a longer match. Seriously, though, this was as dominant as it should have been. Hobbs looks like a monster heading into his match with Dante Martin on Dynamite this Wednesday.
6. QT Marshall (w/Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto, Anthony Ogogo) vs. Zack Clayton. As The Factory made their way to the ring, QT cut off Justin Roberts. He called out his opponent who was is the fiancé of Jersey Shore’s JWoww. QT name dropped Snooki, who was also there, and both were shown on camera. QT Marshall said he was the biggest wrestling star on reality television, and he was the one who put Jersey on the map. QT then said after he is done being Clayton the only thing left to do is let Aaron Solo make Jenny really say wow.
Clayton responded by punching Marshall in the face and then sending him over the top rope with a clothesline. Clayton followed Marshall outside the ring to continue his assault. Clayton threw Marshall back into the ring but looked away which allowed Marshall to dropkick Clayton to the floor. Marshall maintained the advantage until Clayton caught him with a powerslam. Marshall retreated to the corner and caught Clayton with an enzuigiri. Marshall climbed to the top rope gloating, but Clayton caught Marshall and hit him with a superplex then held on and hit a Fisherman’s buster for a near fall. As Clayton argued with the ref, he was rolled up by Marshall for the pinfall.
QT Marshall defeated Zack Clayton by pinfall in 3:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: Clayton showed a lot of potential here, much more than I anticipated when they said the words Jersey Shore. Was Snooki his trainer?
7. Avery Good vs. Andrade El Idolo (w/Jose). Idolo methodically worked over Good before locking in the La Muerta for the submission victory.
Andrade El Idolo defeated by Avery Good by submission in 2:30.
Bailin’s Breakdown: Another showcase for Idolo to build up his win count. There wasn’t much else to this one.
8. Kevin Matthews and Joey Ace vs. “The Acclaimed” Max Caster and Anthony Bowens. Bowens and Caster isolated Ace in the early portion of the match. Ace caught Bowens with an enziguri and made the tag to Matthews. Matthews hit Bowens and Caster each with clotheslines and then dropkicked Bowens. Matthews tried to splash Caster in the corner, but Caster moved. Matthews attempted a cross body, but Caster caught him and slammed him to the mat. A short while later Bowens slammed Ace to the mat and Caster came off the top rope with the Mic Drop for the pinfall.
“The Acclaimed’ Max Caster and Anthony Bowens defeated Kevin Matthews and Joey Ace by pinfall.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A fine showcase for The Acclaimed. The fans were into them as well. The win keeps the momentum going for a possible tag title match in the future.
9. Dante Martin vs Action Andretti. Martin landed a high dropkick early. Andretti pushed Martin away and caught Martin with a springboard kick to the temple that sent Martin to the corner. Andretti then snapmared Martin over and caught Martin with a shooting star press for a one count. Andretti attempted another springboard, but Martin moved out of the way. Martin the caught Andretti with his springboard cutter for the victory
Dante Martin defeated Action Andretti by pinfall in 1:30.
Bailin’s Breakdown: I was really looking forward to this match when the card was announced. Andretti is also a part of MCW and is their most recent Shane Shamrock Cup winner. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to show too much in this match. While that was to be expected, another minute or two would not have hurt. But now Martin can say he was able to beat his opponent just as fast as Hobbs did his.
10. The Blade and “Private Party” Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy (w/Matt Hardy) vs. John Silver, Alex Reynolds and 10. The HFO attacked the Dark Order as they posed on the apron prior to the bell ringing. The bell rang once it was Reynolds and Kassidy in the ring. Kassidy caught Reynolds with a spin kick. Quen and Kassidy then set up Reynolds and hit him with a double stomp neckbreaker. Quen then dove over the top rope hit 10 and Silver. Quen was then tagged in and attempted a standing moonsault but Reynolds rolled out of the way. Matt Hardy punched Reynolds from outside the ring. Reynolds continued to be isolated and Private Party caught him with a silly string for a near fall that Silver broke up.
The Blade is tagged in but Reynolds started to fight back and sent Blade out of the ring to make the tag to 10. 10 caught The Blade with a spine buster and attempted to lock in the full nelson. Blade pushed himself back into the ropes and Hardy grabbed at 10’s legs. When 10 broke up he was caught with a powerslam from The Blade for a near fall. The Blade charged towards 10 in the corner but was caught with a back elbow. 10 then came off the middle rope with a shoulder tackle and tagged in Silver. The match started to break down and Private Party attempted silly string again on 10, who caught Kassidy and held him up with Reynolds while Silver flipped Kassidy’s legs over, causing him to land face first to the mat. Silver then got the pinfall
John Silver, Alex Reynolds and 10 defeated The Blade and “Private Party” Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy by pinfall in 5:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A solid main event and good win for the Dark Order though no new ground was broken here. At least this match felt like it could have gone either way.
A solid episode of Elevation as well this week. Admittedly my enjoyment level was slightly increased due to seeing some talent on the show from my area. Putting that aside, it was still a typical episode of Elevation this week. The Jay Lethal/Sonny Kiss pairing has potential. And while I don’t expect to see him back any time soon, Zack Clayton had a very fine showing. In fact, I’ll go so far as to call it match of the night because it was so unexpected, much like Troy Hollywood last week. Even with it being QT Marshall, at least someone got mic time tonight as well. Episode 45 clocked in 47:22.
So Jay Lethal has already been reduced to being on a tag-team with Sonny Kiss on dark elevation? Not liking it.