By Rich Bailin, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@RichBailin)
AEW Dark: Elevation (Episode 59)
Taped April 13, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana at UNO Lakefront Arena
Streamed April 18, 2022 on the AEW YouTube Page
Excalibur welcomed viewers and was joined on commentary by Paul Wight. Excalibur said they were getting right into the action as Kris Statlander made her entrance. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer…
1. Kris Statlander vs. Ashley D’Amboise. Statlander came out with new entrance music and a new darker look. She was also billed as being from Long Island, NY. Statlander dropped D’Amboise with a shoulder tackle immediately after the bell rang. Statlander then sent D’Amboise into the corner and hit her with a running uppercut and then a running knee.
Statlander then lifted D’Amboise up for a reverse suplex then held on and lifted D’Amboise again for a stalling vertical suplex. Statlander held D’Amboise up for about 18 seconds and dropped her. D’Amboise tried to fight back with a couple of shots to Statlander’s midsection but was dropped with a backbreaker. Statlander then powered up D’Amboise in the Big Bang Theory for the pinfall.
Kris Statlander defeated Ashley D’Amboise by pinfall in 1:30.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A dominating win for Statlander as she gets over her new persona. If Statlander is no longer an alien, then she may rename her finisher but it was not mentioned as of yet.
A Rampage ad aired…
2. Andrade El Idolo (w/Jose) vs. Alan “5” Angels. Angels caught El Idolo early with a Poison Rana and El Idolo rolled to the floor. Angels stepped on the apron but El Idolo clipped Angels and Angels fell to the floor. El Idolo re-entered the ring and waited for Angels to do the same. Angels kicked El Idolo then climbed the top rope. El Idolo caught Angels with a dropkick as Angels came off the top. El Idolo and traded chops and kicks until Angels was able to catch El Idolo with a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Angels climbed up to the top rope but was crotched by El Idolo and fell into the Tree of Woe.
El Idolo went for the double stomp but Angels avoided it. El Idolo charged the corner but Angels lifted himself up and El Idolo hit the turnbuckle. Angels hit El Idolo with a thrust kick then climbed up to the top rope again and came off with a frog splash. Angels went for the Brodie Lee discus lariat but was kicked in the face by El Idolo. El Idolo slammed Angels to the mat and then grabbed hold of his arms and wrenched back for the submission victory.
Andrade El Idolo defeated Alan “5” Angels by submission in 4:20.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A good back and forth match though obviously there was no way El Idolo was losing before his coffin match this Wednesday on Dynamite against Darby Allin.
An ad aired for Double or Nothing…
3. Tony Nese (w/Mark Sterling) vs. J. Spade. Nese backed Spade into the corner and then posed. Spade returned the pose and Nese backed off. Spade posed for the crowd as Nese clapped for him. Nese then hit Spade with a throat thrust. Nese then held onto Spade as he ran up and over the top rope dropping Spade throat first on the top rope. Spade fought back with forearms then hit Nese with a leg lariat. Spade went to send Nese into the ropes but Nese went under Spade’s legs and caught him with a pumphandle slam. Spade crawled to the corner and Nese quickly hit him with the running double knees for the pinfall.
Tony Nese defeated J. Spade by pinfall in 2:35.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A good showcase for Nese and his first win under the management of “Smart” Mark Sterling.
4. Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds (w/10) vs. Cameron Russell, Alan Russell, Dale Springs, and Isaiah Zane. Dark Order cleared the ring early, then posed mid ring. Dark Order tagged in and out and eventually wound up with one of the Russell brothers and Reynolds and Silver caught him with their Stunner/German Suplex combo. Uno immediately lifted the Russell brother up as Grayson came off the top rope for Fatality and the pinfall victory.
Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver and Alex Reynolds defeated Cameron and Alan Russell, Dale Springs and Isaiah Zane by pinfall in 2:20.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A dominating showcase for the Dark Order. It may have actually been their most dominating victory (at least in some while). The match was hard to keep track of as Excalibur and Wight seemed to be as unfamiliar with the talent on the other side of the ring as I was. It didn’t help that the Russells are twins and they were all standing in the wrong order when their graphic popped up. Usually, AEW does a very good job of making sure the name of the wrestler is listed under the wrestler, so I can’t knock them for it not happening this time.
5. “Roppongi Vice” Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta (w/Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy) vs. Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto. Solo and Romero started the match and Solo got a couple of early shots on Romero. Solo sent Romero into the ropes and Beretta made a blind tag. Romero ducked a clothesline and came off the ropes with a knee. Beretta then clotheslined Solo. Solo was then draped over the top rope and Romero came off the top rope with a dropkick that sent Solo back into the ring and into a low running dropkick from Beretta. Solo backed into his corner and tagged in Comoroto. Beretta attempted to chop and keep Comoroto off balance but nothing affected Comoroto. As Beretta came off the ropes, he was dropped with a lariat from Comoroto.
Solo and Comoroto isolated Beretta and tagged in and out. Comoroto press slammed Beretta with one arm then attempted a pin by standing on Beretta with one foot. Comoroto allowed Beretta to get himself up in the corner as he backed into the other. Comoroto ran towards Beretta but Beretta was ready and caught Comoroto with a boot. Beretta fought out of the corner then slipped out of a powerslam attempt and sent Comoroto into the turnbuckle. Beretta then hit Comoroto with a tornado DDT and made the tag to Romero. Comoroto also made the tag to Solo.
After some back and forth, Romero and Beretta were setting up Solo for a double team but Comoroto pulled Solo out of the ring. Both Beretta and Romero went after Comoroto on the outside but Comoroto was unfazed. Beretta was sent back into the ring and into a spin kick/spear combo from Solo and Comoroto for a near fall. Comoroto then held onto a backbreaker on Beretta as Solo came off the top rope with a double stomp for another near fall that Romero broke up.
Comoroto ran into double knees from Beretta and Romero and then did so again. Comoroto fell to the floor and Romero through the ropes with a tope suicida. Solo attempted to corkscrew kick Beretta but missed. Beretta then hit Solo with a belly to back suplex then set up Solo for Strong Zero as Romero came off the top rope for the pinfall.
“Roppongi Vice” Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta defeated Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto by pinfall in 7:25.
Bailin’s Breakdown: Excalibur mentioned that this match came about as a direct response to the Factory “running roughshod” at NJPW Strong Windy City Riot in Illinois this past Saturday (even though this match was taped before that event). In a lot of ways, this was exactly like the match they had three weeks ago, except Comoroto took the place of Marshall. It is slightly odd that Marshall was missing completely from this match. Just like the match three weeks ago, it was another good back and forth with some convincing near falls for the Factory. The ending sequence played out almost exactly as the match three weeks ago this week except it took two double knees for Comoroto before he rolled out of the ring. Roppongi Vice only needed one double knee for Marshall. With all signs pointing to the Factory continuing to appear for NJPW Strong then maybe NJPW can send a different response next time.
6. Hikaru Shida, Anna Jay, and Ruby Soho vs. Emi Sakura, The Bunny, and Raychell Rose. Sakura attacked Shida before the bell as The Bunny went after Jay and Rose went after Soho. Everyone wound up outside the ring except Sakura who did her splash onto Shida who was on the ring apron. Sakura climbed up to the second rope but was tripped up by Jay. Shida then hit Sakura with a running knee as she was draped over the top turnbuckle. Soho then came off the apron with a diving crossbody block onto Rose, Sakura and The Bunny.
Jay sent The Bunny into the ring as the bell rang a minute into the fighting. Jay caught Bunny with a Flatliner for a two count then tried to make the tag to Soho but Rose pulled Soho off the apron. Jay then walked into a thrust kick from The Bunny. Bunny tagged in Sakura who hit her backbreaker on Jay before tagging in Rose. Rose hit Jay with a pair of short arm clotheslines. Jay ducked a third and tried to make a tag but Rose held Jay back then knocked Shida off the apron.
Rose attempted to clothesline Jay again but Jay hit her with a spin kick and made the tag to Soho. Rose also tagged in Bunny. Soho hit Bunny with some knee strikes and Shida made the blind tag and kicked Bunny in the back of the head for a near fall. Shida went for a suplex but couldn’t get Bunny up. Bunny raked Shida’s eyes then tagged in Rose who caught Shida with a spear. Sakura then entered the ring and wanted Rose to whip her into Shida. Shida caught Sakura and dropped her on the middle turnbuckle. Rose charged and Shida sent her into Sakura.
Soho then came in and hit Rose with a back elbow, Jay hit Rose with a spin kick and Shida suplexed Rose into Sakura. Shida went for a pinfall but Bunny broke it up. Jay grabbed Bunny into the Queenslayer. Soho had Sakura in a single leg Boston crab and Shida locked in a Full Metal Muffler on Rose and Rose tapped out.
Hikaru Shida, Anna Jay and Ruby Soho defeated Emi Sakura, The Bunny and Raychell Rose by submission in 3:20 (plus a minute before the bell).
Bailin’s Breakdown: A fun back and forth crowd pleasing match. Even Rose got a chance to look good. Granted, things are starting to get repetitive between Soho, Jay, Sakura, and The Bunny, but it’s not quite there yet.
7. Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy and “Top Flight” Dante and Darius Martin vs. Angelico, The Blade, and “Private Party” Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen. Top Flight and The Hardys had separate entrances. Matt and Jeff received the biggest reaction of the night to the surprise of no one. Dante and Kassidy started the match. Dante held onto an armlock until Kassidy was able to get him down with a drop toe hold. Kassidy put one foot on Dante’s back and posed. Dante got up and after some back and forth Dante got Kassidy down and put one foot on Kassidy’s back and posed. Dante sent Kassidy into his corner and made the tag to Darius.
Dante goaded Quen into the ring while Dante held onto Kassidy’s arm. Darius pushed Quen into Kassidy’s arm then dropkicked Kassidy’s arm so that it would hit Quen. Top Flight hit Private Party with dropkicks then the match broke down with everyone in the ring. Matt paired up with Blade while Jeff and Angelico were fighting. The Hardy’s then hit Poetry in Motion on Blade while Dante used Darius as a springboard to hit Angelico with a high dropkick that knocked Angelico off the apron and to the floor. Darius tagged in Jeff who continued to work over Kassidy. Jeff attempted a springboard but Quen shook the top rope and Jeff fell hitting the top turnbuckle. Kassidy worked over Jeff in his corner then hit Jeff with a low dropkick.
Kassidy finally made the tag to The Blade and continued to assault Jeff with kicks. The Blade tagged in Angelico who mocked Jeff. Angelico went to lift Jeff off the mat but was caught with a jawbreaker. Jeff made the tag to Darius and Angelico tagged in Quen. Quen was able to back Darius into his corner and the HFO were able to take over on Darius. Darius started to fight out of a chinlock from Kassidy but Kassidy held him down with a snap mare and tagged in Quen who came over the top rope with a senton on Darius. Quen went for the cover but Darius kicked out. Quen tagged in Kassidy again and sent Darius into the ropes and dropped down. Darius cartwheeled over Quen but Kassidy got behind him. Darius switched it up and sent Kassidy into Quen then caught both with a double huracanrana and tagged in Darius.
Dante cleared the ring and the match began to break down. It wound up with Angelico in the ring with the Hardy’s. Matt hit Angelico with the Twist of Fate then Jeff Hardy came off the top rope with the Swanton bomb for the pinfall.
Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and “Top Flight” Darius and Dante Martin defeated Angelico, The Blade, and “Private Party” Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen by pinfall in 9:38.
Bailin’s Breakdown: First off, it was good to see Angelico back. Excalibur gave him an immediate out for taking the fall by mentioning his five-month layoff for a knee injury. He said that while Angelico had been working out in the gym, it doesn’t compare to in ring time. Excalibur mentioned all that as the HFO came to the ring and reinforced it when Angelico took the pinfall. With all the talent involved this was obviously a good back and forth match even though the winners were not in doubt. But really that is the story most times on Elevation.
This show looked stronger than normal on paper and did not disappoint in execution. Kris Statlander debuted the evolution of her character, Tony Nese’s new partnership with Mark Sterling began, and four matches that were pretty competitive. The last three matches in particular could main event any episode of Elevation. It’s hard to complain about an episode like that, but with the added star power of The Hardy’s, particularly Jeff Hardy, the main event is this week’ s match of the night. Episode 59 clocked in at 51 minutes 44 seconds, which is on the longer side of things, but the added minutes were hardly noticed.
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