AEW Dark and Elevation: A Main Event and A Squash Match

Joe Aguinaldo

AEW Dark and Elevation: A Main Event and A Squash Match

Howdy people and welcome to the AEW Dark Elevation and AEW Dark recaps from June 21st and 22nd.

While Elevation was a good enough show, I thought Dark was the better show. It was a shorter show and the matches had a better flow. It was under an hour which is always a bonus. In fact, the length of both shows combined was still shorter than a Monday Night RAW.

From a match perspective, I’m recommending two ends of the spectrum….one main event and one squash match. The main event is the Stu Grayson vs Serpentico match from Dark. It was a good competitive match and had the added entertainment of Grayson having to deal with outside interference from Luther. The squash match is FTR vs Royce Issacs and Jorel Nelson from Elevation. There is skill to doing a squash match properly and I thought FTR gave a clinic on how to do one. FTR gave Issacs and Nelson just enough offence to make them look good while still dominating that match.

Lastly, I’m going to give props to this potential Jora Johl storyline with Matt Hardy which has made me interested in this version of Matt Hardy for the first time. Plus, I’ve been impressed with Johl (aka Robo) since I first saw him. I really hope he gets an opportunity.

AEW Dark Elevation – 06/21/21

Length: 1 hour, 22 minutes

At the start of the show, we see Tony Schiavone interviewing Matt Sydal talking about the TH2 attack on Mike Sydal last week.

  1. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler beat Royce Isaacs and Jorel Nelson after Nelson submitted to a reverse figure four from Dax. Isaacs and Nelson got some good offence and showed some good teamwork during the match.
  1. Nyla Rose used the Beast Bomb to pin Delmi Exo in a very quick squash match.
  1. Max Caster and Anthony Bowens beat Baron Black and Tamilian Vineesh after Caster hit the Mic Drop on Vineesh.
  1. Brian Pillman Jr and Griff Garrison (w/ Julia Hart) got the win over Bums R’Us. when the Blondes hit a dropkick double team move. Bums R’ Us won the tag team name of the night for me.
  1. Kris Statlander pinned Renee Michelle after hitting the Big Bang Theory.
  1. Taz and Powerhouse Hobbs cut a promo about Hobbs’ match with Hangman Page on Saturday. Not a bad promo from Hobbs. Definitely improving from his earlier mic work.
  1. Matt Hardy hit a Twist of Fate to get the pin on Jora Johl. After the match, Hardy (with MFO) offered Johl an opportunity to join his faction. If this is a way to get Johl into some storylines, I’m all for it.
  1. Wardlow and Shawn Spears defeated Ryzin & Kal Herro by ref stoppage when Wardlow hit his rising knee finishing move.
  1. Powerhouse Hobbs hit a Town Business slam on Darien Bengston for the win.
  1. Jade Cargill beat Robyn Renegade with the Jaded. Before the match, Mark Sterling announced that Jade had signed a deal with BNC (Black News Channel). The pre-match promo was longer than the match.
  1. Jora Johl cut a promo about Matt Hardy and said that he needed to think about Matt’s offer.
  1. Eddie Kingston and Penta El Zero Miedo beat Fuego Del Sol and Vary Morales after Penta hit a cross armbreaker on Fuego.
  1. Jungle Boy pinned Cezar Bononi after hitting a running clothesline to the back of Bononi’s head.
  1. In the main event, Matt Sydal beat Jack Evans with the Lightning Spiral in a good competitive match.

AEW Dark – 06/22/21

Length: 48 minutes

We start off with Alex Marvez interviewing the Varsity Blondes. Alex asks Pillman about the altercation with Miro on last Friday’s Dynamite.

  1. Lance Archer beat Rex Lawless after hitting the Blackout. Jake ‘The Snake’ joined Taz and Excalibur on commentary.
  1. Brian Pillman Jr. hit the Springboard clothesline for the win over Bear Bronson. Ricky Starks joined the commentary team during this match.
  1. Brian Cage hit the Weapon X to pin Chandler Hopkins. After the match, Cage chased Starks backstage.
  1. Diamante submitted Ashley D’Amboise with a nerve hold body scissor submission for a quick win (that’s what Excaliber called it).
  1. Colt Cabana hit a quick Superman pin to beat Kt Sackett who was making his AEW Dark debut.
  1. Chuck Taylor pinned Dan Barry after hitting two Piledrivers.
  1. Abandon hit the Leg DDT for an easy win over Ashlye Vox.
  1. Griff Garrison pinned Marko Stunt after hitting a rolling elbow strike.
  1. The Bunny pinned Reka Tehaka after hitting Down The Rabbit Hole.
  1. Stu Grayson hit the Knight Fall for the win in a competitive main event match.

Thanks for checking in. C-ya next week.

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