AEW Dark Elevation recap (Mar. 28, 2022): Always nice to see Roppongi Vice

Episode 56 of AEW Dark: Elevation is in the books! If you missed the live broadcast click here for the Cageside Seats stream. The announce team this time was Excalibur alongside Mark Henry and Paul Wight. Let’s talk about what went down (or up) on Elevation this week!

Lee Moriarty (w/ Matt Sydal) vs. Serpentico (w/ Luther)

Serpentico brought an awful 2022 record of 0-8 to the ring for this week’s show. Moriarty brought a much more respectable record of 5-3. Matt Sydal hobbled down to the ring on a pair of crutches to support Moriarty in this contest. Henry in particular seemed impressed by Moriarty’s physique in this match. He sold as Luther screeched advice from the outside and Serpentico tried to work a chinlock. Moriarty escaped, hit a Saito suplex and a big boot, double knees to the corner, and a clubbing lariat when Serpentico missed with a forearm. Moriarty hit a chop and knee strikes to the head and put on a crossface that made his opponent tap out. Taiga Style” prevails once again!

Danni Bee vs. Abadon

The “Living Dead Girl” crawled to the entrance ramp with a record of 29-3. Danni Bee was already waiting for her in the ring to make her AEW debut. She tried to charge Abadon at the opening bell at it immediately backfired. The action spilled outside of the ring as Abadon wiped Bee out with a rolling senton, garnering a crowd chant for her in Austin, Texas. Bee tried a boot to the gut and a jawbreaker when they got back in the ring but Abadon quickly killer her with a lariat and another senton. Black Dahlia finished it off. Bee was there to do a job and she did it but I liked her look and wished she had done more.

JPH vs. Penta Oscuro (w/ Alex Abrahantes)

The lights went out before Penta Oscuro was bathed in a red glow, emerging from behind a tombstone with his shovel in hand, sporting a record of 59-30. JPH was waiting for him in the ring to make his AEW debut. It wouldn’t go any better for him than it did for Danni Bee.

Texas was chanting “Zero Miedo” and he still made the hand signs to acknowledge their love for him. Oscuro hit the slingblade for a near fall and then unloaded with a big chop on the ropes. The crowd loved it so much he called for silence and delivered another. Oscuro hit Made In Japan, snapped the arm, then covered JPH for three. Henry: “Call the paramedics. I think he broke his arm off.”

Frankie Kazarian vs. Brandon Cutler

Cutler came to the ring with a 2022 record of 1-0, spraying cold spray all the way to the squared circle. Kazarian came to the ring with an overall record of 66-29. Wight: “Both of these guys are from California but have completely different styles.” In case you hadn’t noticed Paul, California is a large state. If it were a country it would be the 10th largest economy in the world all on its own. Cutler didn’t take off his rainbow tiger jacket for the match. He even zipped it back up when he got thrown out of the ring. Wight: “In a drawer full of knives, Brandon Cutler’s the spoon.” Cutler teased using the cold spray, hit a cheap shot when the ref confiscated it, but missed Kazarian when he tried to jump off the bottom rope. Kazarian did a guillotine from the second rope that found the mark. Cutler tried to do ten punches in the corner but Kazarian crawled out from underneath while he was doing it. “There’s dumb and then there’s stupid.” Commentary ain’t lying. Kaz put on the crossface chicken wing to bring this to a merciful end. Wight: “I don’t know how to feel about what I just saw. He’s a top tier talent who got stuck with that mess.”

Rache Chanel vs. Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel)

Hayter brought a record of 2-0 to the ring. Chanel was making her singles debut even though she’s been on the Dark shows before. Chanel put her hands up to try and beg off and then pulled a comb out of her boots to fix Hayter’s hair. Hayter pretended to like it then dropped Chanel with a right hand before laying in ground and pound. Chanel tried a roll up and barely got one. Hayter hit a backbreaker and a Gordbuster for the quick squash win.

Sonny Kiss vs. Max Caster (w/ Anthony Bowens)

Kiss came out first with a 2022 record of 2-2. “Yo! Listen! Listen! Yo. Sonny Kiss, you losing to Acclaimed tonight, because you can’t get on TV to save your life. You shouldn’t even get a verse. You would still be a loser in the Metaverse. Even with my hand raised up, you’ve got silicone in your pancake butt. I thought you had ass, where’s that jelly? Looking like Plank from Ed, Edd and Eddy.” Caster had a 50-24 record for what it’s worth.

Kiss got a near fall before being turned inside out by a dropkick. Caster hit multiple knees to the back and applied a headlock, but Kiss got back up with elbows to the gut. Caster tried to throw Kiss, but Kiss landed clean and hit a discus punch and a dropsault. Middle rope ‘rana and Kiss twerked the butt before a corkscrew kick for two and change. Kiss went to the top rope but got yanked off. Caster went to the top rope for the Mic Drop and hit it. That’s all she wrote. Yo.

Madi Wrenkowski vs. Hikaru Shida

Shida came out first with an overall AEW record of 52-12. Wrenkowski was waiting in the ring with a record of 0-2. Shida hit a knee to the face and an inside out suplex for two. Wrenkowski grabbed a handful of hair for a bulldog but missed with a leg drop and ate an axe kick. Falcon Arrow for Shida and this was all over. I really wish they had five minutes instead of 90 seconds, but it is what it is.

Ruby Soho & Anna Jay vs. Robyn & Charlette Renegade

Soho and Jay were 21-4 and 29-11 respectively. The Renegade twins were 0-1 in tag team competition before this bout. You won’t be surprised to know that their twin magic was not effective here. They ate a double flatliner and then Robyn ate a series of kicks before Jay got tagged in. Soho hit the No Future kick and Jay applied the Queen Slayer for the submission.

Roppongi Vice - Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero (w/ Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy) vs. QT Marshall & Aaron Solo (w/ Nick Comoroto)

Marshall and Solo came out first for our main event sporting a tag team record of 3-2. 35-25 and 2-3 were the records of Beretta and Romero respectively. Comoroto hit them with a double clothesline before the bell even though he wasn’t in the match. The heels took advantage of the situation on the outside and then cut off the ring to work Romero over when they got back in. The crowd was more than happy to boo Marshall any time he did anything. Romero hit a running sliced bread and leapt across the ring to give Beretta the tag. Dead lift German by Beretta onto the tagged in Solo. DDT. Romero got the tag. Beretta laid him on the ropes, Romero came off the top, and Solo kicked out at two. Marshall ran in to interfere and threw Romero out, got clotheslined out for his trouble, and Beretta went for a suicide dive before Comoroto got on the apron to block it. Solo took advantage for a corkscrew kick. Marshall hit a pop up, Solo went for a pin, Romero made the save. Romero threw haymakers at everyone in sight as the ref had lost any semblance of control of this match. Beretta and Romero hit Strong Zero and Beretta made the pin on Solo. This was a great main event but would have been even better with more time.

What to watch/skip

This week’s “what to watch/skip” for Elevation is brought to you by RPG Vice Theme. I have nothing for you to skip this week — this was a fun 48 minutes that I wouldn’t have minded being a full hour. Nothing to skip, nothing bad, and an excellent main event. Watch it all!

Cageside commentary crew! Share your feedback and thoughts in the comments section below. You can also hit me up on social media. See you tomorrow night for AEW Dark!