PAC and Fénix taunt The Young Bucks - AEW (YouTube)

Pops & Botches: AEW Elevation & Dark – 4.12.2021 & 4.13.2021

AEW Dark Elevation Pops & Botches

 

Have y’all recovered from the massive week of wrestling? Like a true mark, I survived by not paying attention to anything but AEW. So what happened on April 12’s Elevation and April 13’s Dark? Read on to find out!

Last time on Dark…

Max Caster took out Colt Cabana on his way to hang, man. Matt Hardy and his guys laid waste to the undercard. Chandler Hopkins showed there’s room for another cowboy on the roster. If you missed it, click over to our April 4/5 recap.

Elsewhere in the AEW Arcadia…

Dynamite last week perhaps held back a little bit to give some room to NXT’s final Wednesday night show. Adam Page interrupted Max Caster’s rise to number one contender. Darby Allin survived a title attempt from JD Drake. It was fine.

Dynamite closed with some Bullet Club shenanigans, which continued in Being the Elite episode 251. Kenny Omega cut a fantastic, impassioned promo in an attempt to turn the Bucks heel AF. Christopher Daniels briefly walked in on The Nun Squad and slyly commented “that’s a hell of a gimmick, wish I thought of that”. Not The Fallen Angel RYZIN chowed down on Good Brothers’ little blue pills, with predictable effects. BTE, never failing to deliver multiple dick jokes per episode.

Cody Rhodes appeared on episode 315 of Sammy Guevara’s vlog, in a very amusing skit celebrating his new merch. I won’t spoil it but suffice to say Baron Black gets “extraed” again. There’s a pretty neat sequence where Negative One takes the camera and brings us on a reverse first person jaunt into the ring with Dark Order.

I also discovered “All Ego” Ethan Page has a vlog of his own. No promises on recapping that one.

Let’s take a look at episode 5 of Monday Night Elevation.

Dear lord, it’s 2.5 hours. Wish me strength.

BOTCH: Slow start

Opening the show is Jersey Shore’s Zack Clayton versus Dark Order’s Preston “10” Vance.

Clayton’s a fairly big guy, and the idea is probably to give 10 a win against someone who looks like a legit contender, but Clayton works slow and it’s just not very exciting.

The best part of this match is when the crowd remember how fun it was to chant “10” over and over back in Full Sail, so they resurrect it here at Daily’s Place. Florida, we love you!

Anyway, 10 wins, bla bla.

BOTCH: Why are you wasting my time?

It’s Hayden Backlund! He’s apparently fought once in AEW, which I don’t remember, but I think he might be one of the Nightmare Factory alumni. He is about to be squashed by Miro.

I do not enjoy Miro in the ring. He is far more entertaining as a comedically evil European video game snob in the promos with Kip Sabian.

He wins and addresses the camera: “why, are you wasting my time?” You said it, my friend.

MEH: Treading water

Tay Conti and Hikaru Shida are teaming again. I know they’re both faces, but it’d sure be nice to see the number one contender get a program with the champ instead of tagging alongside her. Anyway, they have Katalina Perez – one of my favorite pink-haired local jobbers – and Leila Grey.

Conti starts it off with Perez, who pulls out all the comedic reaction faces I hoped for. There are some quick tags, Conti hits her triple seio nage, both our top women hit their tandem triangle choke, then Shida takes Grey down for the pin.

It’s passable. Conti gestures at the belt after the win, so maybe we’ll get that title match at some point.

POP: Bucket hat death roll

Two more Nightmare Factory alumni have arrived – Dean Alexander and Carlie Bravo. They’re likely going to be letting TH2 claw back some wins. Angélico walks in with a fucking bucket hat on his head, and it makes him gloriously punchable.

Bravo and Angélico face off. Bravo is one of my faves of the last cohort of Nightmare grads, and he shows off his skills very well in the technical opening sequence. TH2 distract the ref, then double-team our former marine. Jack Evans teases dragging Bravo over to tag in Alexander, then drags him back like a royal heel. Bravo hits back, makes a combat roll evasion and melodramatically tags Dean Alexander who proceeds to immediately get Navarro Death Rolled by Angélico.

This was a fun, action-packed match. A return to form for TH2 and a great showing for Carlie Bravo.

POP: With your feet on the air…

This Pixies song is growing on me. Orange Cassidy is here, y’all, with Best Friends and Kris Statlander, who I think is now officially a Best Friend too. He’s facing John Skyler, who looks and sounds like a Forgotten Son.

Skyler is a pretty good foil for OC, constantly (and loudly) grumbling about how the slacker should take it all more seriously. He hits a powerful spear, but this is an OC showcase.

The Pixies play us out.

POP: DDT share another of their stars

Well here’s a match which deserves a better announce team than what we got on Elevation: NJPW’s Danny Limelight versus DDT’s Konosuke Takeshita!

And, hallelujah, the production team wised up and got Excalibur in as special announcer. It’s amazing how much more he brings to the table, not just in knowledge of the wrestlers, but in the way he actually sounds engaged with the match.

I’ve never seen Takeshita in action before, but he looks real good here. He’s a fairly big guy (when compared to Limelight, at least), but he moves quickly around the ring and when he hits that flying clothesline, wow! Bring that strong style!

For some reason halfway through the match Excalibur’s mic gets cut after mentioning El Generico (now known as WWE’s Sami Zayn) and we have to listen to Wight and Schiavone struggle to call the play-by-play. It almost makes me want to turn this show off. Like, what’s the angle here? It’s a 2.5 hour show, and we’ve got one match with a decent commentator, then you muzzle him? For fuck’s sake.

Commentary drama aside, in the ring Takeshita and Limelight are killing it. Takeshita hits an awesome blue thunder bomb, then a bit later a brutal power bomb. Limelight does a bit of rope walking and then smashes Takeshita with an epic DDT. Both guys are selling like their lives depend on it. This match is easily match of the night, and we’re only like an hour in.

Takeshita wins.

A bit later in the show Kenny Omega shows up to cut a promo inviting Takeshita to tag with him versus the Sydals. Then he swerves us by saying actually it’s going to be Takeshita and Michael Nakazawa versus the Sydals. Asshole boss. But later, on Twitter, Tony Khan pulled rank and change it to a trios match for Omega, Nakazawa and Takeshita, versus Limelight and the Sydals! Tune in next week!

BOTCH: FTR continue to suck

FTR have got some interesting opponents tonight – Jay Lyon and Midas Black aka The Mane Event. The indie team gets jobber entranced, but that’s alright, because Jay Lyon has a lion mask and a giant tongue gimmick, or maybe it’s – as Schiavone suggested – a raw steak.

In any case, Dax Harwood immediately rips Lyon’s mask off in a botch that gets him not nearly enough heat. Cash Wheeler hits some uppercuts. FTR just come across as mean-spirited, which I guess is the role of a heel, but their schtick doesn’t work as well in AEW as it did in NXT. The teams here are more colorful.

Black – in bright green trunks and bedazzled suspenders – tags in and promptly gets brainbustered. FTR hit the Goodnight Express and it’s over. I get why The Pinnacle need some squashes to make them look strong, but this felt like the wrong kind of team to get it against.

POP: Death Triangle working it out

Closing out the first hour is Rey Fénix and “The Bastard” PAC representing Death Triangle. They’ve got our sexy metaler Vary Morales and Chilean superstar Andre Montoya.

Fénix struts about and makes short work of Montoya. Morales tags in and shows a bit more spirit. Well, he hits one tijeras takedown from the turnbuckle before eating an enziguri. PAC and Fénix take a break to mock The Young Bucks, then they start to toy with the jobbers, choosing to punish rather than pin.

Montoya connects with a pair of handspring elbows, and that just pisses the triangle off. Powerbomb, frog splash, it’s over.

POP: Future of the business, etc

Next up, “The Empbruh” Baron Black versus “Angel Dorado” Dante Martin. Will they let Black actually get a win here against the tag team specialist? Probably not, seeing as the best extra just got jobber entranced. He’s in white ring gear tonight!

Their opening salvo is slick and fast as hell. Black plays the heel here, switching into some stomps, but he’s still the Head Technician In Charge, grabbing Martin out of midair and then suplexing him. There is some amazing shit going on in this match. Twice in a row, Black goes to suplex Martin, and he somehow manages to backflip out of it! It’s wild.

Martin wins with a 450, but this was awesome. Second match of the night! And we still have four “main events” to come!

POP: Baker pumps her stats

Dr Britt Baker DMD has another jobber to lockjaw this week – it’s Skye Blue, who has been working the indie circuit for a couple years. The doctor is accompanied by Rebel, who is still wielding an entirely unnecessary crutch.

Thankfully this isn’t as humiliating a squash as Alex Gracia last week. Blue gets in a bit of serious grappling and shows she’s got some moves to go up against AEW’s self-proclaimed face of the division. With the ref distracted, Rebel uses Chekhov’s Crutch to choke out Blue.

The visitor gets in a bit more offense back in the ring, but Baker gets the win.

POP: The Factory have arrived

Next up we have a match for the Dark afficionados. QT Marshall and Nick Comoroto in The Factory mode versus debuting talent Andrew Palace and Cole Karter. I like the new music of The (Not Nightmare) Factory, it sounds like some industrial rock from a 90s computer game. Construction complete!

QT Marshall get’s a “Cody’s friend” chant, which he ignores. Then a “Cody’s better” chant starts. Chef’s kiss. QT is the best new heel.

Paul Wight continues to show his ass on commentary by joking that Comoroto obviously isn’t vegan because… he’s cut? I guess? Like, vegan body builders are a thing, dude, they’ve been all over YouTube for almost a decade! Vegans are cool now! And buffed! Someone should call plant-based heroes British Strong Style through the Forbidden Door to sort Show out.

Anyway, back in the ring Palace is suffering most of the hits. Karter gets neck-broken by Comoroto, Palace gets power-slammed, then it’s QT with the Diamond Cutter and the pin.

POP: Definitely wholesome entertainment

Michael Nakazawa has been rebranded as MT Nakazawa, and today he’s fighting yoga bro Mike Sydal.

Nakazawa starts taking calls on his headset as soon as the match starts, and his comedic timing is so good it still makes me pop. Sydal starts doing some downward dogs to fill the time. Naka with the nipple twisters! Sydal with the arm drags! And we’re fighting.

Which, of course, for Nakazawa means getting Sydal straddled around the steel ring post and giving him a good yank, then pistoning him down the ropes in a Hentai Slide. Saucy! Naka tries to win it with a laptop-to-the-face, but Sydal rolls him up for the pin.

POP: Legit heat

Shanna is back again after a few weeks break. She’s taking on my current biggest wrestling crush “Legit” Leyla Hirsch.

Hirsch has such an aggressive stance, hunched over and ready to take her opponent straight to the mat. Shanna does a pretty good job keeping up with the amateur technician in the opening sequence of locks, throws and trips.

The crowd is solidly behind Hirsch, which lets Shanna lean into a more heelish character that works well for her. Hirsch loses it and gets Shanna down for some ground’n’pound, and ref Paul Turner physically has to pull her off. Shanna gets the Russian outside and knees her in the gut, then takes off her T-shirt and uses it to choke her out. Wow! I am totally here for evil!Shanna.

Hirsch eventually gets the arm bar locked and Shanna taps out, but after the match it looks like these two aren’t done. Giving these two a small program would be awesome.

POP: Cutler lost in the Death Triangle

In one of our four (!?) main events, we have Brandon Cutler versus Penta el Zero M.

Cutler is a pretty good sport here, letting Penta get all of his taunts in, and eating a kick to the face on a failed tope attempt. He connects on the second attempt, but then is caught on the outside between Rey Fénix and a scowling PAC. The rest of the Death Triangle don’t get involved in the match, but they’re intimidating enough to steal Cutler’s mojo.

Cutler hits a nice vertical suplex and wicked DDT, but this is Penta’s. Arm snap and package piledriver for the win.

POP: Reptile Tribe in effect

Earlier in the night Dasha Gonzalez interviewed Thunder Rosa who cut a strong bilingual promo on Diamante. Now they’re here to face off for real. Thunder Rosa is in some sweet Reptile Tribe ring gear.

We don’t have Austin Gunn in the crowd this week to kick off an AC/DC Thunderstruck chant, but some of the jobbers give it a faint effort. Doesn’t matter, Rosa is on fire. Diamante is no slouch either, taking Rosa to the outside and slamming her down on the ground. This is a hard-hitting fight!

It’s a heavy back-and-forth but eventually Rosa takes it with her Fire Thunder Driver.

EH: At least Janela falls over good

Earlier in the night Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss had a brief skit where Janela gave up the offer of having his nipples sucked to “come hard” for Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky.

On the other side, “All Ego” Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky also cut a fantastic promo ahead of the match. They can really talk! Great, charismatic heel work from both of them. I’ve yet to see it in the ring, but the promo’s got me hype. Let’s check out this main event.

Sky and Page thoroughly clobber Janela in that slow and boring heel style that I hate. Kiss and Janela get Sky down for a near fall, but he kicks out, and gets his revenge by pulling Janela off the turnbuckle and splattering his body all over the ring. And the barricades.

Janela’s selling really does a lot of work in this match. Ego and Sky are working a really tedious style, so Janela flopping around like a ragdoll is the main thing that keeps it entertaining.

Kiss with the hot tag! Finally some exciting moves! It’s a short run, though, as the heels eventually overcome. Page hits the Ego’s Edge on Kiss and that’s all she wrote.

CROMULENT: Trent returns

Our final main event (how many mains can you have?) is Best Friends versus the team of Cezar “Daddy” Bononi and “The Hollywood Hunk” Ryan Nemeth.

Nemeth and Chuck Taylor to start. Nemeth gets more orange each week. The Kentucky Gentleman isn’t really in the mood for Nemeth’s antics, so he tags out to Trent, whose spray tan gives the hunk’s a run for its money. Trent hits a few exploratory shoulder blocks and a Northern Lights suplex. He’s looking pretty good back from his injury.

Bononi comes in to apply the boot to Taylor. The Best Friends quickly turn it around and hit a Soul Food, and Strong Zero to finish off Team Pretty.

This episode of Elevation had a few really good matches, but it was way too long. I can’t see the average fan turning on 7 hours of AEW each week, not when they also have weekly shows from WWE, Impact and NJPW to check out, plus dozens of indie events. The YouTube shows could definitely be capped at 2 hours.

I still find Wight’s commentary annoying, although I have to admit he’s improved since his debut. But hearing Excalibur alongside really made it clear how much it adds to the match having someone who really knows what they’re talking about when it comes to the Japanese and Mexican influences that are now well and truly part of American professional wrestling.

Anyway, let’s move on to the B-show with the better announce team. Episode 84.

Dim the lights, it’s time for Dark.

POP: Inaugural tag champs show how it’s done

Oh, the sweet, dulcet tones of Excalibur opening the show. It’s like a balm. Just call me the lady of the lake.

Coming to the ring is SCU, about to take on The Mane Event, pulling double duty.

Midas Black and Frankie Kazarian lock up, and Kaz quickly takes control. Christopher Daniels tags in to continue the beatdown, but gets bodyslammed by Jay Lyon instead. Then Black pulls out his hoolahoop, which Lyon dives through to hit a rolling senton on CD. This is the comedy I was expecting from these two.

Kaz and CD play straight men just as good as FTR did on Elevation, but SCU give these guys a bit more room to show their stuff before destroying them.

POP: Yoga monsters

Luther has a solo bout booked for tonight – he’s facing Matt Sydal. Battle of the Third Eye, as Taz puts it.

Sydal is pointing to his own third eye when Luther immediately unloads on him. Sydal comes back with a mariposa and submission attempt. Luther takes a break to talk to the camera while choking out Sydal on the ropes, and ref Bryce Remsburg admonishes him for it, which results in more whining from the original death dealer. Luther might be a little scruffy in the ring, but he makes up for it with oodles of character.

Sydal hacks away at the bigger man, hitting him with kicks and knees, and eventually he gets the win.

EH: Very developmental

Our first Dark Order match of the evening is Alan “5” Angels and Preston “10” Vance versus Nightmare Factory alumni Kit Sacket and Hayden Backlund. Kit Sacket is a name so bad that it’s good.

10 quickly gets the better of Sacket, then sets 5 up for a double stomp from the turnbuckle. 5 looks like he should be setting up a tijeras that would throw Backlund across the ring, but somehow he ends up falling in the exact opposite direction into Sacket. Not sure if that spot was botched, but it sure looked weird.

Angels tags out to Vance and it’s the spinebuster of doom, full nelson and another win for Five and Dime.

POP: A light interlude

Oh my, what have we here? Colt Cabana is fighting someone who looks like Yogi Bear’s Ranger Smith. It’s “The Man Scout” Jake Manning, reading a book about bears.

This match is all comedy. Cabana and Manning both have great timing – each time Manning gets overwhelmed he goes back to his corner to peruse his book. At one point Cabana steals it, runs all the way around the ring, then throws it in the air and hits a surprise roll-up as Manning tries to save it. Manning kicks out! Cabana snatches the book up to club him with it, but ref Bryce Remsburg snatches it away. Beautiful sequence.

Cabana gets the win by submission.

OKAY: Trialing some new talent

Red Velvet and Big Swole are teaming again this week. KiLynn King is in their corner, showing off some awful dance moves. She’s got some work to do to get to the level of Angélico’s delightful awfulness. The faces have drawn local jobbers Queen Aminata and Amber Nova. Aminata is GCW women’s champion! No, not that GCW – Tampa’s Generation Championship Wrestling.

Swole kicks Nova out of the ring, then takes on the champ, who is about 7 feet tall. She might have the size advantage, but she is technically outmatched by the home team, so tags back to Nova who has a nice exchange before getting pinned by Velvet.

Jade Cargill runs in after the bell and they have a bit of a scuffle to sell the upcoming match on Dynamite.

POP: Dark’s own faction make themselves comfortable

It’s Fuego!! He’s facing The Factory’s Aaron Solow whose blue hair fits well with the new faction’s black and blue logo.

He launches straight into del Sol. I’m not sure, but I think I heard someone start a “Shotty’s better” chant, which is some smarky-ass bullshit and I love it. Solow is in full heel mode here, abandoning his aerial and técnico offense for the usual forearms and stomps. Del Sol finally comes back with a step-up enziguri, flying uppercut, spear and suplex combo. Nice!

Del Sol almost hits the Tornado DDT, but Solow escapes and hits a nice corkscrew kick for the win.

POP: More introductions

The Gunn Club has been conspicuously absent in the crowd this week, but seems they’re still up for battle. They have a random team of Andrew Palace, Stone Rockwell and Mike Magnum.

Palace is way more hyped than he was for Elevation, bouncing around like a rabid Janela. Rockwell has an Indiana Jones meets private dick gimmick and wears a charmingly pained expression on his face. When the most normal-looking guy in your trios team is Mike Magnum, you got some kind of Dark-ass team, I tell you what.

Colten Gunn and Rockwell get into the wristlocks. Palace and Austin Gunn pinball around the ring so fast they’re making me dizzy. Billy Gunn has The Starving Artist. Billy gets stomped and is on all fours when Austin vaults over him and takes out all of the jobbers. Colten pins Magnum for the win. Fast, explosive, joyous. It’s a Gunn match, alright.

FINE: A very Dark match

KiLynn King is back again to compete. She has synthpop queen Madi Wrenkowski.

King has the advantage in the ring, but once Wrenkowski gets her outside it’s barrier city for the face.

King wins it with her Kingdom Falls.

POP: Big Money Battle

Matt Hardy is here with the whole gang to face Ken “Cashflow” Broadway, who also has a Big Money gimmick. Smart get.

Broadway squares off with Hardy and shows some fancy footwork to open. Hardy smashes Broadway’s face into the turnbuckle over and over. This is a violent battle, and Hardy’s taking as good he’s giving.

Broadway does a money moonsault, spewing out more 20s than a Young Bucks entrance, but Hardy has a message to send to Darby Allin, so he crushes the New Yorker with three finishers before taking the win.

POP: Wham bam

It’s another Dark Order match! Evil Uno and Stu Grayson versus Spencer Slade and Vary Morales.

This match is so full of quick tags it’s hard to recap. Everyone gets in the ring, hits a spot, then tags out. It never gets boring. Something like two minutes in, Oney and Twoey get the Fatality.

FINE: Just checking boxes

AEW seem to have opened their jobber bubble recently, because we have yet another debut tonight. Britt Baker is kayfabe slumming it on Dark to get her rankings up so she can face Hikaru Shida, and today her victim is Shawna Reed.

Reed appears to have some kind of yandere psycho gimmick, and she goes straight for Baker. It’s kinda fun to watch two baddies going at it. Baker definitely has more TV experience, spiking the camera at every opportunity.

Reba, get the glove! Baker wins with the Lockjaw submission.

POP: Something’s brewing with Starks and Cage

Carlie Bravo and Dean Alexander are pulling a double. They’re about to get clobbered by “Absolute” Ricky Starks and “The Machine” Brian Cage.

Bravo and Starks lock up. Bravo gets tossed outside somehow both Hook and Powerhouse Hobbs sack him without the ref noticing. Cage does some curls with the former marine, and when Alexander comes in to save him, he immediately gets powerbombed.

Vertical suplex. Boom. F5. Boom. Drillclaw. Boom. 1. 2. 3. Not sure what Starks is doing, but he’s totally marking out for Cage, and now I’m intrigued with this storyline.

EH: Just another squash

Vickie Guerrero interrupts Justin Roberts to introduce Nyla Rose “The Native Beast”.

Leila Grey gets merked. Grey tries to get some momentum off the ropes to chop down the former champ, but there’s no chance.

Beast Bomb. Rose wins.

POP: The flowing mane event

Varsity Blonds are here to look pretty and kick ass. Their opponents are debuting Will Allday and Prince Kai.

Allday and Brian Pillman Jr open it up with a solid técnico exchange. Griff Garrison “Jr” also shows a surprising bit of technique. Kai tags himself in and gets all heel up in Pillman’s face. This pace is hectic! Garrison with the hot tag! He takes everyone out!

Flyin’ Brian takes Prince Kai out with a flying clothesline, but both new faces had an impressive debut. Outta nowhere, this is my match of the night!

POP: Jake the Snake, you can come back any time

Can we fit in another squash before the main event? Lance Archer says yes.

Archer knees Cole Karter in the face as soon as he gets into the ring. Archer’s entrance music hasn’t even finished playing and Karter is already pretty much dead.

Highlight of this match is Jake “The Snake” Roberts on commentary, who comes up with more hilarious non-sequiturs than Taz.

POP: Reynolds kicks some ass

Earlier in the night, Ryan Nemeth cut a promo straight at the camera about how he’s a “dominant force” in AEW who wins “nearly half the time”. It was amazing. Even if he doesn’t get the W against Alex Reynolds, he won the match already. Dark Order’s promo was an ad for an American insurance company so they’re obviously the heels.

I’m not sure if Nemeth blew his wad on the promo, but we’re not getting any banter in the ring, and I am disappointed. You can’t set a match up with comedy and then fight it straight! Reynolds does look pretty good when he pops off, though – back elbow, flying uppercut, drop kick, yeah!

Reynolds hits a “Big Ol’ Bomb” and leg drop for a near fall. (John Silver is on commentary, helpfully informing us of the move names.) Reynolds hit’s the “honk honk” for the win. I have no idea what the hell this match was, but it left me smiling, so that’s okay in my books.

This was a well entertaining week of wrestling. Elevation had some excellent matches and Dark was full of all the dopey goodness we all love. It’s nice to see a bunch of new faces, and even the developmental bouts which objectively aren’t very good do feel like part of the experience. It will make it all the better when some of these guys break through and get their “is All Elite” tweet.

Dynamite this week doesn’t have too much going on for undercard fans. Kris Statlander will be having her first match back versus Amber Nova, who did some great work versus Red Velvet this week. The biggest thing to check for will be Anthony Ogogo’s debut! We’ve been listening to him on commentary for most of the corona era, but now he’s joined QT Marshall’s The Factory faction, so hopefully he’ll be as entertaining in the ring as he was on the mic. Enjoy the show, join the live chat on Discord, and I’ll see you back here next week for more YouTube recappery!

     

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