By Rich Bailin, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@RichBailin)
AEW Dark: Elevation (Episode 64)
Taped May 18, 2022 in Houston, Texas at Fertitta Center
Streamed May 23, 2022 on the AEW YouTube Page
Elevation began with Ethan Page making his way to the ring with Dan Lambert. Paul Wight welcomed us to Elevation and was joined on commentary by Mark Henry and Scorpio Sky. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer…
1. Ethan Page (w/Dan Lambert) vs. JD Griffey. Page teased a lock up but kicked Griffey in the midsection instead. Page then sent Griffey into the ropes and hit him with a back elbow. Griffey fought back with strikes and then attempted to send Page into the ropes, Page reversed and charged towards Griffey but Griffey caught Page with a knee strike and hopped up on the top rope. Page punched Griffey then grabbed Griffey by his arms and flipped him over onto the mat. Later Griffey caught Page with a high knee but Page shrugged it off and leveled Griffey with a shoulder tackle. Page followed up with the Ego’s Edge for the pinfall victory.
Ethan Page defeated JD Griffey by pinfall in 2:05.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A fine showcase for Page, who hasn’t had a lot of in-ring action as of late.
An ad for the three-year anniversary episode of Dynamite aired…
2. Mercedes Martinez vs. Hyan for the ROH Women’s Championship. Hyan, being from the local area, received a good reaction from the fans. Code of Honor was adhered to. After some initial back and forth, Martinez held on to a headlock for an extended time. Hyan eventually fought out and attempted a couple of hip tosses that Martinez blocked. Martinez then tried to back bridge Hyan but Hyan was able to fight out of it and caught Martinez with a Pair of hip tosses and a single leg dropkick.
Martinez fought back with forearms and chops and then dropped Hyan with a spinebuster. Martinez threw Hyan with a pair of double underhook suplexes and on the third held on for a submission. Martinez released it and then started to ground and pound Hyan. Hyan fought back and pushed Martinez face first into the turnbuckle and then ran into Martinez with a high knee.
Hyan lifted Martinez up for a sit out suplex. Hyan went for the cover but Martinez escaped and rolled up Hyan for a two count. Hyan charged towards Martinez but Martinez sidestepped and Hyan went shoulder first into the ring post. Martinez followed up with a pair of elbows to the back of Hyan’s head before locking in the Brass City Sleeper for the submission victory.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Hyan by submission in 5:00.
After the match Martinez helped Hyan up, shook her hand and hugged her…
Bailin’s Breakdown: If AEW is going to continue to have ROH matches on Elevation, can Henry and Wight learn some ROH history and not act so shocked when there is a handshake to begin and end the matches?? The match itself was fine but maybe a notch below last week’s title defense.
An ad for Double or Nothing aired.
3. “The Butcher and The Blade (w/The Bunny) vs. “The Varsity Blonds” Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. Julia Hart did not come to the ring with the Blonds. Garrison and The Butcher started the match. Both men ran into each other but neither budged. They tried again with the same result. Garrison then hit Butcher with a boot to no reaction and Butcher responded with a shoulder tackle. Garrison got up and then dropped Butcher with a shoulder tackle. Garrison tagged in Pillman but Butcher immediately kneed Pillman in the midsection and tagged in The Blade.
Blade took over with chops but then he sent Pillman into the turnbuckle and charged after him. Pillman went up and over Blade and arm dragged him. Pillman then held onto Blade’s arm and made the tag to Garrison. Garrison held Blade up for Pillman to dropkick him. Garrison went for the cover but Blade kicked out at two. Blade ducked a clothesline attempt by Pillman that almost hit Garrison. Pillman then turned around into Blade, hooking him into a corkscrew neckbreaker and then tagged in Butcher. The Butcher and The Blade tagged in and out working over Pillman with double teams.
Pillman started to make a comeback but both he and Butcher went for a cross body block at the same time and both men were on the mat. Both men made the tag to their partners and Garrison ran over Blade with clotheslines and then hit Blade with a corner splash. All four men wound up in the ring. Pillman superkicked Butcher and then told Garrison to set up Blade. Garrison hit Blade with a discus punch but Blade ducked Pillman’s superkick attempt and Pillman kicked Garrison instead. Blade threw Pillman out of the ring and then tagged in Butcher. Butcher and The Blade then Full Death on Garrison for the pinfall.
The Butcher and The Blade defeated the “Varsity Blonds” Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr by pinfall in 5:55.
Bailin’s Breakdown: It was good to see the Butcher and The Blade on the winning side of things. This match felt like it could have gone either way and I would not have been surprised by the result, but it felt like the right team won. Pillman foreshadowed him hitting Garrison accidentally earlier in the match so no surprise it ended in that way.
The AEW/DraftKings ad aired again…
4. Lee Moriarty vs Alex Reynolds. After an early feeling out process, Reynolds dropped Moriarty with a shoulder tackle and they reset. Reynolds went for a cover after a dropkick that Moriarty kicked out of. Reynolds then held onto a headlock but Moriarty used a belly to back suplex to escape. Moriarty then started to attack Reynolds with a series of strikes. Moriarty then caught Reynolds with a bridging suplex and then flipped over for a ground and pound on Reynolds.
Reynolds fought back with a pair of elbow shots then hit Moriarty with a boot to the face. Reynolds then climbed the top rope and attempted a moonsault but Moriarty rolled out of the way. Moriarty then held Reynolds up and hit a series of Muay Thai knee strikes to Reynolds head. Moriarty then locked Reynolds in a Border City Stretch and Reynolds tapped out.
Lee Moriarty defeated Alex Reynolds by submission in 4:00.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A minor upset? This was another match that could have gone either way with both men mainly being in tag matches as of late and no issue between them. I am surprised at how quickly this match went as when the lineup was announced I had this “circled” as my match of the night. While it was good, the previous tag match was a little better. Still a good back and forth match that I wouldn’t mind seeing run back if they ever needed too. Moriarty was a bit more aggressive than we have seen from him in the past.
An ad for this week’s Dynamite aired…
5. Yuka Sakazaki and Skye Blue vs. Emi Sakura and Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero). All four women received their own entrance. Sakura and Sakazaki started the match. Sakura bit Sakazaki’s arm early and powered Sakazaki down to the mat. Sakazaki bridges and Sakura pushed her knees down but Sakazaki held her bridge. Sakura, frustrated, pulled away and covered Sakazaki. Sakazaki slid out of the cover and caught Sakura with a huracanrana. Sakura executed a tilt a whirl backbreaker on Sakazaki.
Sakura sat on Sakazaki’ s back and pretended to drink tea before tagging in Rose. Rose told Sakazaki she could have a free shot but Rose blocked it and punched Sakazaki. Rose body slammed Sakazaki then tagged Sakura back into the ring. Sakura did her chops, splash and backbreaker combo to Sakazaki and went for the cover. Blue broke up the pin. Vickie Guerrero got on the apron and Blue and Sakazaki attempted to double team Sakura but Sakura tied them both up in a double submission as Rose came back into the ring and posed. Sakura tagged Rose back into the match and she continued to work over Sakazaki.
Sakazaki eventually escaped and caught Rose with a top rope dropkick and made the hot tag to Blue. Rose also tagged in Sakura. Blue caught Sakura with a high knee in the ropes then caught Rose with a huracanrana and then kicked Sakura in the face. Blue went for the cover but she was too close to Rose’s corner and Rose kicked Blue in the head to break the pin. Rose body slammed Blue then dragged Sakura to their corner. Both teams tagged their partners. Sakazaki did a roll thru with Rose and kicked Rose in the face. Sakazaki tried to follow up with a sliding clothesline but Rose picked her up in a side slam but only got a two count. Rose then hung up Sakazaki on the top rope and went for her top rope knee drop but Sakazaki moved out of the way and Rose went right into a kick from Blue.
Sakazaki slingshot Rose off the top rope and then came off with the Magic Girl Splash and went for the cover. Sakura broke up the pinfall. Sakazaki made the tag to Blue then came off the top rope and onto Sakura who was outside the ring. Blue then climbed the top rope and went for a cross body but was caught by Rose. Blue slipped out then came off the middle turnbuckle and caught Rose with another huracanrana. Rose rolled through and held on lifting Blue into the Beast Bomb for the pinfall.
Nyla Rosa and Emi Sakura defeated Yuka Sakazaki and Skye Blue by pinfall in 6:15.
Bailin’s Breakdown: A very good back and forth match that felt like it could have gone either way, though I would have been shocked to see Rose and Sakura lose two weeks in a row. I’m pretty sure it has happened before but I wouldn’t mind seeing a singles match between Sakazaki and Rose at some point.
6. Anthony Ogogo vs The Mysterious Q. Q was taller and more muscular than Ogogo. Ogogo wore down Q early with an armbar and headlocks. Q eventually started to fight his way out and pushed Ogogo into the ropes from a headlock. Ogogo tried to clothesline Q but Q ducked then body slammed Ogogo. Q then elbow dropped Ogogo and went for the cover, Ogogo kicked out immediately. Ogogo missed another clothesline but then hit Q with one from the other side.
Ogogo stomped on Q then hit a series of European uppercuts and then started to remove his hand and wrist tape. Q managed to get a couple more shots in but Ogogo responded with an overhead belly to belly. A few moments later once all of Ogogo’ s tape was removed he lifted up Q and hit the knockout punch. Ogogo then put his flag on top of Q and the referee counted Q out.
Anthony Ogogo defeated The Mysterious Q by knockout in 4:10.
Bailin’s Breakdown: An odd choice for the main event, as any of the previous four matches would have made more sense here. This was Ogogo’ s longest match on Elevation and he actually had to play a little defense for a change. It was nice to see the small step up in competition for Ogogo.
A decent episode overall this week. The total time was 43 minutes and 51 seconds. The two tag matches were the matches of the night. The ROH Women’s Championship match was also a little more competitive than I expected it to be. In fact my only real gripe this week was their odd choice for the main event.
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