AEW Dark: Elevation Episode #1 3/15/2021

AEW Dark: Elevation Episode #1 3/15/2021

No intro or anything here even though it's the first episode and Big Show's AEW announcing debut.

I was interested in watching this until I found out it would be another 2 hour Dark with mostly jobber matches and until I found out that it would be on at the same time as Raw. Sadly, I'm not sure how much I'll be watching of this moving forward due to those reasons listed. I think Dark sucks and I can't imagine why anyone would want more of that.

I don't like the name at all. Everyone's just going to call it Elevation and it doesn't flow.

Jungle Boy with Jurassic Express vs Danny Limelight

JB hits a dropkick on Danny as they start out fast. Danny goes over the back with an armdrag and JB comes back with a hurricanrana and armdrags.  DL headscissor chokes JB over the ropes then rolls in for a neckbreaker. JB hits his head off the mat on a backdrop.

Marko tries to pull Danny's leg when he goes near the ropes and Luchasaurus stops him. DL messes up a rolling move then gets caught with knees on a slingshot flipping senton. DL gets his headscissors caught with a backbreaker. JB then flips him with a lariat. DL messes up on another move and then single leg crabs JB. Stunt helps JB catch the ropes.

They trade kicks on the apron and DL 619's the post to hurricanrana him to the floor. DL then does a twisting dive out on JB. Marko takes off his shoe to hit DL with it but stops. DL then walks the middle rope and canadian destroyer ddt's him for 2...of course. DL runs up the buckles and then the ropes for a ddt but JB stops it and suplexes him. JB then immediately taps him with an STF to win. Not a good one unfotunately with DL being unusually sloppy and them kicking out of a springboard flipping ddt.

Miro and Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford vs Vary Morales and Baron Black

Kip gets a slingshot suplex countered then he is hurricanrana'd. Black single leg crabs Kip and Miro just pushes him right off. Black hits a backstabber for 2 and Vary runs at Kip with a superkick. Vary missile dropkicks him but Miro gets in and knocks off Black. Black then gets thrown into the stage's wall.

Vary springboards and gets a double chop and a big overhead belly to belly. Kip hits bridged neckbreaker over the top rope and wins it in a squash.

QT Marshall gets interviewed about why he walked out on the Nightmare Family. QT wants to talk about Elevation instead. He mocks Marko Stunt for his height and said everything is good in the Nightmare Family.

Skyler Moore vs Big Swole

Moore is 0-11 and I'm not seeing how that's changing here. They talk about Swole suffering from Chron's disease which is not a nice visual. Moore has a good look but needs to drop some weight.

Moore gets whipped into the apron and rails early. Moore beats up on Swole and taunts a little. Swole fights out of a chinlock and gets caught on a crossbody with a slam for 2. Swole hits some cross chops and a headbutt to the chest, then she does a bad looking spinning ripcord forearm. This wasn't any good.

I'm skipping QT Marshall vs Marko Stunt. Stunt got jumped after by Peter Avaln, Cezar Bononi and Briley Pierce. QT teases helping but leaves and Luchasauras has to bat them of.

We get a video package on Lee Johnson. He said he always wanted to be a wrestler. He says he has a lot of pressure. He said he used to be called "shotgun", because it was his uncle's football name, but he had to change it to "Big Shotty" when he came here. He said it's a mindset, but I'm not real sure if I get that one.

Tay Conti with -1 vs Ashley Vox

Tay hanging armbars Vox over the ropes then STO's her. She hits some judo throws but Vox comes back with a headbutt. Vox headscissors her and Tay pump kicks her as she is on the apron. They fight outside a little and Tay spinning backbreaker's her on the floor. They get back in and Tay hits a pump kick then hammerlock ddt's her for the win. As usual, -1 was really distracting.

Matt and Mike Sydal vs Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs

Nelson and Isaacs are wearing matching tights and Isaacs was on NWA Power. Mike backflips into a dropkick then trips Royce so Sydal can baseball slide him. Matt double stomps Royce's lower back and Matt does a nice reversal of a body slam into an armdrag. Matt bridges Jorel over the top rope and Mike double stomps him.

Mike then standing moonsaults Jorel. Royce lariats Mike from behind and brings him into his corner. Jorel then double stomps Mike. Mike takes a suplex + powerbomb combo for 2 and ducks a lariat to tag out. Matt gets the hot tag and cleans house with kicks. Matt slices Jorel with his leg and twisting moonsaults Jorel for 2. Jorel then takes a double lightning spiral for the loss. Nelson and Royce got a decent bit in here.

Hobbs and Hook get interviewed. They laugh at Brandon Cutler getting 9 of 11 wins lately and perhaps getting a 10th here. Hobbs calls it BS. He said he doesn't play games and they will handle business tonight.

Dani Jordyn vs Red Velvet

Velvet splits to evade Dani and pops up with a dropkick. Red gets tripped into the middle buckle and really sells it hard, going outside for it. Dani then lariats her on the outside. Dani drew a page in her book for Red and said she isn't scared of a cake in it.

Red comes back with lariats and then standing moonsaults her for 2. Red hits a spinning back kick to the head and wins it with a lame looking dropkick to the side. Red didn't look too bad here except for the finish.

The Sydal's are interviewed in the back. Kenny Omega, Don Callis and Michael Nakazawa interrupt. Kenny said people would rather hear him talk. He says he is here to scout for Dynamite and maybe they might make it there someday. They agree to a stipulation where if Sydal beats Nakazawa tonight he can get a title match with Kenny, but if he can't, it is just a non-title match.

Max Caster vs Dante Martin

Max did a rap and brought up Dante's mom. Max handstands on the top rope and double boots Dante. Dante jumps up to the top rope and moonsaults to armdrag Max. Max gets arm dragged out then Dante legsweeps Max outside. Dante springboards but is caught up top then is whipped onto the other rope.

Dante gets crotched up top and then cuttered while he bis body is still on the top. Dante comes back with a big lariat and a hurricanrana. Dante then hits a high flip dive to the outside. Dante springboard splashes Max for 2. Max goes for his boombox and Dante grabs it. The ref takes it up and while he isn't looking, Max pops up Dante into a nut shot. Max then hits a top rope elbow for the win. Max does his stupid hand kissing taunt after. This had some okay parts to it.

Abadon vs Ray Lyn

Abadon feels like she has fell off the radar. Ray is tall and thin. Ray nails Abadon from behind and runs for it, then gets caught with a lariat. Abadon puts Ray on the 2nd rope and backbreaker's her. Ray hits some kicks and but is capture suplexed. Ray hits a high kick on the outside. Ray runs into a nodowa otoshi on the floor. Abadon hits a gori special neckbreaker for the win. I thought Abadon was doing too many complicated moves here for her character.

She then chokes Ray after.

Powerhouse Hobbs with Hook vs Brandon Cutler

Why is Culter getting an entrance with fire? Hobbs pounces Cutler early. Cutler springboards into a somewhat missed crossbody onto Hobbs. Cutler crossbodies Hobbs again and is hit with an emerald flowsion for the quick Hobbs win.

Leila Gray vs Diamante

Gray shoulder blocks her and poses then armdrags her. Gray hits a crossbody for 2. Diamante hits a big lariat and some crossfaces. She then suplexes her into the bottom buckle and then dropkicks her there.

Gray and Diamante blow a corner spot and Diamante wins it soon after with a code red in a not good match.

Private Party, The Butcher and The Blader vs Dean Alexander, Carlie Bravo, Brick Aldridge and David Ali

3 of these dudes are Nightmare Factory students. Bravo is dropkicked and then gutwrenched. PP does a pop-up into an atomic drop and a couple of other things in a sequence.  PP does another double team sequence on Alexander that ends in double dropkicks. Brick is wearing some odd checkered flag gear and gets lariated by Butcher.

Matt Hardy is outside and pushes Brick into the post then Bunny punches Brick.  Ali comes in and takes a Blade powerslam. PP double enzugiri's Ali then Ali takes a powerbomb/suplex combo from B&B for the loss.

As expected, there isn't much you can do when so many people are involved unless it goes long.

Matt Sydal with Mike Sydal vs Michael Nakazawa

Nakazawa is wearing work clothes and a headset here because we couldn't resist this being a joke. Nakazawa is eating as he beats up Matt. Nakazawa puts an apple in Sydal's mouth and kick it out. Then he chokes him with his lanyard.

Sydal finally hits a spin kick but Nakazawa comes back with a samoan drop. Sydal pulls down Michael's pants and wins with a high kick. This was beyond stupid garbage and I almost turned it off early.

Omega attacks Sydal after, hititng him with a laptop. Omega says they should do their match right now and hits a one winged angel and pins him. He talks about ratings and Tony Khan comes out. He says this was bs and says he makes the matches. Tony then started talking in a nasally voice and says they will have a real match in 9 days.

This was awful and Tony Khan coming out as a character was exactly what many figured would eventually happen but were told it wouldn't. Money mark.

Maki Itoh vs Riho

The reactions from the crowd aka AEW undercard wrestlers and the announcers here were beyond silly. Maki's entrance doesn't work in the US at all. It sounds off with the music and nobody understands the words.

Riho cartwheels over Itoh early. Maki misses her headbutt. She then gets her head banged off the top rope and does it to her self. Riho bridges out of a headbutt attempt and Maki headbutts her gut instead. Maki does some awful corner punches and bulldogs her. Big show talks about Japan during this and Maki buts Riho in a clutch while she does some holds.

Riho crossbodies her from the apron. Back in and Itoh gets put across the middle rope and hit with a 619. Riho then top rope crossbodies her for 2. Riho hits a northern lights suplex for 2. Maki hits a tornado ddt after a missed double foot stomp from the top.

They trade forearms and Riho rolls her into a double stomp. Riho double stomps her from the top for 2.  She gets her running knee reversed into a single leg crab but Maki lets her out to headbutt her. Maki puts her into a deep lion tamer but Riho hits the ropes.

Maki misses a headbutt off the top then Riho hits a meteora on her for the win kind of out of nowhere. Maki atleast did some logical work on the back amongst some headbutt attempts but this felt like it went on too long and most of Riho's offense looked too weak.

Overall thoughts: I wasn't a fan of this. I don't like Dark and 2 more hours of Dark is not really what I'm looking for. I'm glad they did a little more than just squashes here but at 2 hours while Raw is on, I need more.