AEW Dark Elevation recap (Apr. 12, 2021): Kenny Omega’s tricks

Episode 5 of AEW Dark: Elevation featured Thunder Rosa and Diamante getting rowdy, a good girl gone bad, Death Triangle bloodying the Young Bucks’ friend, and Kenny Omega tricking a new Japanese wrestler.

Not only is Kenny Omega a heck of a pro wrestler, he’s also a jam-up guy. He went out of his way to welcome Konosuke Takeshita to AEW after a barn burner of a bout against Danny Limelight. What a swell chap Omega is. I jest. Actually, Omega tried to trick Takeshita into handling his dirty work.

Alex Marvez attempted to interview Takeshita. Kenny Omega took over, because he is fluent in Japanese. Omega requested Michael Nakazawa to translate his words to Takeshita. Omega scouts talent to promote to Dynamite. He remembers when he was a nobody in Japan and Takeshita put a roof over his head, food in his mouth, and money in his pocket. Then, Omega became a star. Takeshita can pay him back by tagging to deal with the Sydal brothers. Takeshita seemed honored at the request and agreed. Omega clarified that Takeshita would be teaming with Nakazawa. Takeshita was not pleased, since Nak is a goof.

It seems that Omega’s plan backfired a little. Tony Khan stepped in (off-screen on Twitter) to deny Omega’s matchmaking efforts. Instead of a tag bout, it will be a trios affair. Omega will team with Takeshita and Nakazawa against the Sydal Brothers and Limelight next Monday on Elevation.

Here’s the Dark: Elevation lineup with ratings (Dynamite, competitive, showcase, squash) on which matches are worth your time toward Dynamite:

• Zack Clayton vs. 10 (showcase)
• Hayden Backlund vs. Miro (squash)
• Hikaru Shida & Tay Conti vs. Katalina Perez & Leila Grey (squash)
• Carlie Bravo & Dean Alexander vs TH2 (squash)
• Orange Cassidy vs. John Skyler (showcase)
• Rising Star: Shawn Dean (Dynamite)
• Konosuke Takeshita vs. Danny Limelight (Dynamite)
• Midas Black & Jay Lyon vs. FTR (squash)
• Andre Montoya & Vary Morales vs. PAC & Rey Fenix (squash)
• Baron Black vs. Dante Martin (showcase)
• Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Skye Blue (showcase)
• Andrew Palace & Cole Karter vs. QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto (squash)
• MT Nakazawa vs. Mike Sydal (showcase)
• Leyla Hirsch vs. Shanna (competitive)
• Brandon Cutler vs. Pentagon (Dynamite)
• Thunder Rosa vs. Diamante (Dynamite)
• Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page vs. Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss (Dynamite)
• Best Friends vs. Ryan Nemeth & Cezar Bononi (competitive)

This episode had lots of good material within the excessive runtime of 2 hours 27 minutes. Thunder Rosa and Diamante put on my favorite match. It was intense and definitely worthy to be on TV. I think AEW made a mistake giving that one away on YouTube. Takeshita versus Limelight was a show-stealer. I recommend that match to get acquainted with the new Japanese wrestler.

Shida & Conti and PAC & Fenix used cool teamwork. Martin had amazing escapes. Shawn Dean’s Rising Star segment will earn him new fans, and Joey Janela’s promo came hard. Hirsch versus Shanna was the rare case of not having an obvious winner on the Dark shows. The Pentagon match was worth watching to laugh at Death Triangle pose with Cutler’s bloody mug.

AEW Dark: Elevation

Watch the show here.

Tony Schiavone and Paul Wight handled commentary duties. Excalibur joined the booth for Konosuke Takeshita’s match. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer.

10 defeated Zack Clayton. Clayton received a full entrance with commentary explaining he dated JWoww from Jersey Shore. Wight said he buys JWoww’s tanning lotion. Clayton requested Roberts to announce him as MTV’s Jersey Shore #1 star.

-1 was ringside to support 10. Clayton was in control when -1 slapped him. 10 fired up for a spinebuster. Clayton kicked out on the cover. He sent 10 into the ropes. 10 stopped short of colliding with -1 on the apron, but he turned around into a powerslam by Clayton. 10 stayed alive. When Clayton picked 10 up, 10 escaped to apply the full nelson submission for victory. Afterward, -1 put the boots to Clayton to clear him from the ring.

Miro defeated Hayden Backlund. Miro battered Backlund. A big slam led to the Game Over camel clutch. Miro yelled into the camera for AEW to stop wasting his time.

Hikaru Shida & Tay Conti defeated Katalina Perez & Leila Grey. -1 was ringside. Shida and Conti kicked butt with great teamwork. They set up their opponents in opposite corners then attacked with synchronized running knee strikes, judo throws, and triangle sleepers. Shida finished the bout with her Katana spinning knee strike to Grey.

TH2 defeated Carlie Bravo & Dean Alexander. Alexander ran in from a hot tag to knock TH2 around. He set up Angelico in a powerbomb position, but Evans made the save with a spinning heel kick. Angelico capitalized with a Navarro Death Roll to win.

Thunder Rosa responded to Diamante’s comments. Of course, Rosa has a target on her back. She is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Rosa trains hard to fight for what she wants and deserves. The fans on Twitter were excited for this matchup, so AEW gave the people what they want. Rosa is ready for Diamante.

Orange Cassidy defeated John Skyler. Best Friends and Kris Statlander were ringside. Skyler tried to deal with OC’s comedy stylings. When Cassidy ran the ropes for a suicide dive, Skyler exploded for a shoulder tackle. Cassidy prevailed in the end with a tornado DDT and Beach Break.

Rising Star: Shawn Dean. The Captain joined the Navy coming out of high school around the time of September 11. It was in the Navy that he developed values, such as honor, courage, and commitment. After the military, Dean went to college to play football. He continued into Arena Football in Chicago. Dean’s career ended in 2015, but he still had a desire to compete. That’s when he took up professional wrestling. Dean wasn’t getting enough reps, so he made the move to Atlanta. After arriving, he had $20 in his pocket to last the month until his first paycheck. Dean was hitting his stride then the pandemic hit. AEW proved his hard work paid off.

Konosuke Takeshita defeated Danny Limelight. The match crescendoed into a firefight of strikes. Limelight ran the ropes into a pop-up sitdown powerbomb. He rallied for a double springboard DDT. Takeshita took control with a discus lariat. He lifted Limelight for a German suplex, but Limelight countered with a roll-up. Takeshita countered back for a wheelbarrow bridging German suplex to win.

Sonny Kiss was stretching when Joey Janela ran in. There were two girls who wanted to suck on his nipples. Kiss had to convince Janela to get ready for their match. Janela will be coming hard for Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky.

FTR defeated Midas Black & Jay Lyon. Tully Blanchard and Wardlow were ringside. FTR clowned Lyon. They closed with a brainbuster by Dax Harwood and a teamwork spike piledriver for Cash Wheeler to pin Black.

PAC & Rey Fenix defeated Andre Montoya & Vary Morales. The Death Triangle members hit a double superkick then taunted with a Young Bucks signature muscle flex in anticipation of the tag team title bout on Dynamite. The finish came with a sitdown powerbomb from PAC then an Eddie Guerrero frog splash from Fenix to pin Montoya.

Dante Martin defeated Baron Black. Martin used slick elusiveness to avoid high impact maneuvers. He flipped out of a superplex and also flipped out of an exploder suplex. Black charged into a superkick. Martin ended the match with a 450 splash.

Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page aired their grievances. Joey Janela had a less than stellar record when he was awarded a TNT title shot against Darby Allin. Same for Sonny Kiss when challenging Cody Rhodes. Sky had to win a grueling ladder match to earn his opportunity. Page has never been pinned in AEW. Where’s his title match?

Dr. Britt Baker DMD defeated Skye Blue. Reba was ringside. Baker dodged a suicide dive to connect on a thrust kick then a swinging neckbreaker on the floor. Reba choked Blue with her crutch. Blue was picking up steam until Baker smashed her face into the turnbuckle. A Beach Break then a curb stomp granted Baker success.

Following the contest, Tony Schiavone interviewed his best friend in the ring. Baker will play by the rules of the bullshit wins and losses system to reach the top. She better see a positive update to the rankings.

QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto defeated Andrew Palace & Cole Karter. Aaron Solow was ringside. QT started the contest, then Comoroto powered through his opponents. Comoroto hit a powerslam to one jabrone, then QT tagged in for a cutter to pin the other jabrone.

Mike Sydal defeated MT Nakazawa. Nak’s offense consisted of nipple twisting and groin grinding on the ring post as well as on the top rope.

Sydal rallied with kicks and flips. Nakamura tried his cheap shot laptop trick, but Sydal ducked with the splits to win via roll-up. Afterward, Nak was bleeding from the mouth and hit Sydal in the back with his laptop. MT ran away when Sydal was angered.

Fenix rattled off words in Spanish. They are warriors looking for the Young Bucks. PAC took over in English. That warm-up match was a taste of what is to come. Death Triangle is starved for opportunity. On Dynamite, they will headbutt the Bucks’ faces flat to leave with the tag titles.

Leyla Hirsch defeated Shanna. Hirsch used her mat skills to ruffle Shanna’s feathers. Shanna exited the ring then attacked when Hirsch followed. That earned boos from the ‘fans.’ Shanna used her t-shirt to choke Hirsch, who then snatched Shanna’s limb to transition for an armbar. Shanna was able to escape and land a running knee. On a double underhook lift from Shanna, Hirsch countered with a hurricanrana. A winning armbar followed. Afterward, Hirsch approached Shanna in good sportsmanship. Shanna kicked her away then exited.

Pentagon defeated Brandon Cutler. PAC and Fenix were ringside. Cutler suffered a bloody nose during the contest. He had momentum for a springboard elbow drop, but Pentagon caught him to snap an arm. Package piledriver to win. Death Triangle celebrated with Cutler’s corpse as a statement to the Young Bucks.

Thunder Rosa defeated Diamante. Rugged and aggressive fight. Rosa focused on weakening the arm, while Diamante worked through it to lay in her licks. Rosa countered a Code Red into a hard slam. She then pounced for a spinning fire thunder driver.

Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page defeated Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss. Page had Janela up for an Ego’s Edge, but he was too close to the turnbuckles. That allowed Janela a chance to escape and launch for a moonsault. The Jersey boys put Page down with a teamwork flying splits leg drop inverted DDT. Sky made the save on the pinfall. Janela knocked himself silly when his head hit the guardrail on a suicide dive to Sky. In the ring, Kiss clobbered Page with a rolling elbow strike. Kiss climbed the corner, then Sky pushed Kiss down to the mat. Page ran through Kiss on a shoulder tackle. Ego’s Edge executed Kiss.

Best Friends defeated Ryan Nemeth & Cezar Bononi. Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, and JD Drake were ringside. Hot tag to Trent leading to teamwork Soul Food on Nemeth. Hollywood Hunk kicked out and came back with a DDT to Trent. Bononi followed with a pumphandle suplex. Taylor rammed Bononi into the ring post. Trent escaped a gyrating neckbreaker for Best Friends to win via Strong Zero.

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This episode brought up a curious thought in the ole noggin. First up is my displeasure with Brandon Cutler being so competitive against Pentagon. The motocross ninja should have been able to smash through that chump. Instead, Cutler controlled the flow with Pentagon fighting from behind. Give me a break.

The end of that contest with Death Triangle gloating over Cutler’s body make me wonder if the Young Bucks are still considered babyfaces, even after last week’s treachery to Jon Moxley. Death Triangle didn’t exactly act with honor toward Cutler. In fact, that is the kind of behavior that deserves comeuppance. During the Bucks’ superkick tantrums last year, AEW often portrayed them as frustrated good guys. That makes me ponder whether or not they view last week’s deeds with Kenny Omega as a heel turn.

I’m also curious if Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page are practitioners of Festivus. They already participated in the Airing of Grievances. I hope they bring a Festivus pole next week.

The finish to Konosuke Takeshita versus Danny Limelight was awesome. That was a great way to make a statement as a newcomer. Joey Janela’s promo was so absurd that it cracked me up. Shanna’s poor behavior came as a twist. She was a clean cut goodie, and now she is resorting to chicanery. There has been zero setup for it, so, hopefully, Shanna will get promo time to address it next week. Then she can get fed to Thunder Rosa for a high quality match and a butt kicking.

Share your thoughts on Dark: Elevation. Who stood out most for episode 5? Which was your favorite match?

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