wrestling / TV Reports
Winfree’s AEW Dark: Elevation (Ep. 71) Review 7.11.22
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...Well everyone, time to check back in on AEW Dark: Elevation. Tonight we’ve got Julia Hart, Dante Martin, Ethan Page, and a main event of Best Friends taking on The Factory. Hey, Colin Delaney is on this episode. That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while, but good for him.
Tony Schiavone and Caprice Coleman are on commentary tonight. Well that’s certainly a pairing.
Match #1: Emi Sakura vs. Paris Van Dale
Emi slaps away a hand shake then starts tossing Paris around by the hair. Now Emi goes for the leg and ties up Paris then poses on her body, she passes off invisible tea to Bryce Remsburg and he dutifully passes it off out of the ring. Paris tries to fire up with strikes but Emi is mostly amused by this before Paris hits an X-Factor and a bulldog for a 2 count. Emi blocks a suplex by biting the arm of Paris then she hits the Whirling Dervish, to take over. Corner chops and cross body from Emi then the Queens Gambit connects and we’re done.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Emi Sakura won in 3:04
Rating: Cushaw. . . SQUASH
Paris had some good execution on a few moves but her strikes were terribly awkward and you could see Emi have to walk her through a few sequences.
Match #2: Dante Martin vs. JD Drake
They tie up, and Drake shoves Martin down right away. Martin grabs a side headlock but runs into a shoulder block from Drake. Drake misses some strikes then Martin hits the ropes and back flips off of Drake’s back then hits a flying arm drag. Martin flips out of a back suplex and hits a drop kick. Drake rolls out of the ring to slow things down, and Martin misses a baseball slide then Drake tosses him off of the ropes on the floor and hits an elbow. Drake heads into the ring and he’ll take a count out win but Martin beats the count. Stomps from Drake then a scoop slam. Drake strikes Martin into a corner and chops him a couple of times before Martin avoids him and unloads with a combination before running into a boot. High elevation back suplex from Drake then he shoulder blocks Martin down again for a 2 count. Drake grabs a chin lock but Martin fights up to his feet then avoids a suplex and rolls up Drake for 2. Slam from Drake then he heads to the second rope for a Vader Bomb but Martin avoids it and Drake eats the mat. Leg kicks from Martin then he avoids a corner charge, hits a gamengiri but he’s caught on the top rope. Drake goes for a superplex, but Martin knees his way out of it and hits a ridiculously high cross body for a near fall. Back elbow from Martin then he jumps away from Drake a few times only to be caught with a Sick Kick from Drake for a near fall. Lariat from Drake gets another 2 count, he’s running out of ideas as Martin wont stay down. Springboard drop kick from Martin then he avoids a cannonball senton and hits the Nose Dive to get the win.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Dante Martin won in 7:13
Rating: 3 stars
Enough better than average to warrant the third star, Drake is deceptively quick on his feet and was able to provide a solid base for Martin’s acrobatics. Martin remains a ridiculous athlete, and they had a good little match here. Martin has improved a lot over the last 6 months or so, he’s not nearly as spotty as he used to be and he’s smoothed out his matches a lot.
Match #3: Julia Hart vs. JC
Hart just stares daggers through JC and zombie walks towards her, then she fakes out JC and gets her to drop out of fear. They tie up and hit the corner, Hart chokes JC for a bit then she shoves the ref out of the way but walks into a few blows from JC. More elbows from JC, Hart runs into a back elbow but hits a super kick. Hart with a choke then mounted strikes to JC. Hart then locks in a modified Rings of Saturn and gets the tap.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Julia Hart won in 2:03
Rating: Amphora. . . SQUASH
Hart is committed to the new gimmick, which I think will serve her better as she continues learning the ropes as this presentation can hide some of her more obvious short comings. Credit to JC as well, she sold the heck out of the encounter.
Match #4: Ethan Page vs. Colin Delaney
Page is bemused by Delaney but Delaney is relatively over with the crowd. Delaney gets a rear waist lock but Page elbows his way out of it. Page charges into an arm drag and Delaney starts working the arm. Page fights free with a head scissors which Delaney escapes and hits another arm drag. Now Page is annoyed, he knees Delaney then pokes him in the eye and runs him over with a shoulder block. Page lays in strikes then drops Delaney with a back elbow. Mounted punches from Page then he hits a delayed vertical suplex and poses. Delaney avoids a corner rush and lands a couple of chops. Page with a back elbow, but Delaney pokes him in the eye and hits a flying Cutter for a 2 count. Hard right from Page, then an Ego’s Edge and we’re done.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Ethan Page won in 5:10
Rating: Fig-leaf. . . SQUASH
An extended squash but a squash all the same. Page works a crowd quite well, and Delaney still takes a heck of a beating when the occasion calls for it. I’m hoping they’ve got some ideas for Page going forward, the man is skilled.
Anthony Ogogo joins commentary now.
Match #5: Anna Jay vs. Shawna Reed
They tie up and Reed slams Jay down by the hair, then hides in the ropes from Jay. Jay now slams Reed down and starts laying in strikes. Kick to the head from Jay but Reed snaps her into the middle rope then lays in strikes of her own. Jay starts laying in strikes of her own then unloads with elbows. More strikes from Jay in the corner, then her running wheel kick and sliding kick to the head. Jay with her elevated set up into the Queen Slayer and Reed taps.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Anna Jay won in 1:50
Rating: Aurantiaca-Alba. . . SQUASH
Reed held her own here in presentation, her strikes need a lot of work though. As for Jay, she’s still kind of just playing the hits but even doing that she seems a little more reliant on her partner than she maybe should at this point.
Match #6 – Tag Team Match: The Factory (QT Marshall and Aaron Solo) w/ Nick Comoroto vs. Best Friends (Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor)
Taylor and Solo start us off, Solo starts in with strikes right away but Taylor with a rolling single leg Boston Crab off of the ropes. Marshall tags in as does Trent. They tie up and Marshall grabs a side headlock then shoulder blocks Trent down. Trent hits a flapjack to cut off Marshall and lays in a chop. Taylor tags in and drop kicks Marshall in the back for a 1 count. Quick tags from Best Friends, Trent is back in and Marshall takes some double team moves. Solo tries to help Marshall and we get all four men in the ring, Solo and Marshall wind up taking suplexes onto each other then Solo rolls out of the ring and pulls Taylor out of the ring. Comoroto distracts Trent and Marshall is able to hit him in the back and take over on offense. Marshall distracts the ref and Comoroto is able to slam Trent onto the apron. Solo with some stomps and a knee drop. Marshall tags back in and cheap shots Taylor. Clothesline from Trent drops Marshall then he sends Solo out of the ring. Solo pulls Taylor off of the apron to prevent the tag though. Marshall and Solo hit a back suplex and a neckbreaker combo then mock the Best Friends hug. Trent fights off a double suplex and then hits a tornado DDT off of Solo to drop Marshall. Taylor takes the hot tag, Solo tags in as well but Taylor is here to run wild on everyone. Knee from Taylor to Marshall, then he hits a dive onto Marshall and Solo on the floor. Back in the ring Trent makes a blind tag and Solo takes a Sole Food into a Saito suplex but Marshall breaks up the pin. Marshall tags in and starts trading strikes with Trent then Marshall hits a hand spring enziguri. Now Marshall calls for the Diamond Cutter, but Trent avoids him and rolls him up for 2. Trent fights off Solo then flies at Marshall but Marshall catches him with the Diamond Cutter and Taylor has to break up the pin. Marshall tosses Taylor out of the ring and Comoroto tosses Taylor into the ring post. Tornado kick from Solo sends Trent into a piledriver from Marshall but that only gets a near fall. Solo tags back in, he climbs the ropes but Taylor shoves him off the ropes and punches Marshall down. Comoroto tries to get involved again but this time Taylor sends him into the ring post, then Taylor avoids a dive from Marshall who wipes out on the floor. Taylor heads up top, Trent grabs Solo and they hit the Strong Zero to end things.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Best Friends won in 9:40
Rating: 3 stars
Solid main event, they got plenty of time and turned in an acceptable match here. Solo and Comoroto continue to improve, though their timing is standing out the most to me as something they need to refine. Marshall should probably not do that handspring enziguri, I get that he’s a better athlete than people give him credit for but he should find another way to show it off. Taylor and Trent are still a darn good tag team, so no major complaints overall here.
