AEW Dark Elevation recap (July 4, 2022): Fireworks in and outside of the ring!

Episode 70 of AEW Dark: Elevation is in the books! If you missed the live broadcast click here for the Cageside Seats stream. The announce team of Tony Schiavone and Mark Henry called the action this time. Ready for some fireworks? Then let’s swing into action!

Anna Jay (w/ -1) vs. Megan Meyers

Anna Jay brought a record of 41-12 to the ring for the opening contest along with the leader of the Dark Order. Meyers was waiting for them both with a record of 0-1. Schiavone claimed she had a dance background, but Henry was convinced she was more of a horror movie aficionado. Either way Jay hit her with an arm drag and a face plant before a roundhouse kick and some right hands came back her way. Jay got on offense again with three straight back elbows and then signaled for Meyers to get up and take more punishment. Meyers ate a head kick, a reverse heel kick, and got yanked backward into the Queen Slayer for the submission. It wasn’t entirely one sided but it was close enough.

Best Friends vs. Isaiah Broner & GPA

Tony Schiavone was excited to see Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta back together again and apparently so was the live crowd. They brought a team record of 28-11 to the ring. Henry: “Friends. How many of us have them?” I love the Whodini reference. Broner & GPA were working together as a tag team for the first time. Schiavone: “I had a pretty high GPA in school... but I went into pro wrestling anyway.” Henry: “I won’t hold that against you.” Schiavone: “That was such a bad joke!” I don’t know Tony — I’ve heard (and laughed at) far worse. Broner bombed Beretta for a near fall and tagged GPA in. Taylor got the hot tag when Beretta escaped his grasp, but GPA raked the eyes for some heat and got double teamed with Sole Food in response. The ref had been warning GPA for his misdeeds so he (apparently) just let the illegal move go. The action spilled out with Broner and Beretta, while back inside Taylor spiked GPA right on his head for the pin. A hug finished this off.

Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh (w/ Sonjay Dutt) vs. James Alexander & Ren Jones

Lethal and Singh had only competed in one tag team match prior to Elevation, but they brought a record of 1-0 to the ring along with Sonjay Dutt and the pencil behind his ear. Henry called Singh “the biggest man I’ve ever seen” which is quite the comment coming from him. Alexander and Jones were making their tag team debut which didn’t bode well going against either of their opponents. Henry: “Singh is 7’3”. How can you even punch that high?” Let’s ask Big Country how he did it to Stefan Struve then — it +can+ be done. Singh bounced a head off the mat like a basketball while Lethal did a running suicide dive to the other opponent. Singh picked up the remaining “carpenter” and gave him a helicopter spin from his shoulders and pinned him with one foot. What a gloriously squash-tastic squash!

Anthony Ogogo vs. Pat Monix

Ogogo brought a record of 17-1 to this match. Monix was making his AEW debut here. If you suspected this would be just as one sided as the prior match you’d be absolutely right. Ogogo stomped on Monix, hit a head butt to the gut, and scooped Monix up for a slam. I could swear the crowd was chanting “let’s go Monix” for this one. They certainly cheered loudly when he kicked out of anything Ogogo did to him, but after a high back bodydrop it was all but over. Ogogo hit a Samoan Drop and pulled Monix back up before the pin. Pop up right hand, ten count, ring the bell. Ogogo draped the Union Jack over his foe as per usual.

Hikaru Shida & Yuka Sakazaki vs. Heather Reckless & Laynie Luck

Shida was 55-13 and Sakazaki was 9-7 according to the entrance graphics. We didn’t even get the records of Reckless and Luck as they jumped their opponents before the opening bell. Shida hit an axe kick and tagged Sakazaki in for some of her magic. She tagged Shida in but did a missile dropkick before leaving. Shida followed it with double knees but the pin was broken up by a run in to make the save. Both faces picked up their opponent for a slam and a vertical suplex combination. Shida hit Reckless with the Falcon Arrow for the win.

The Factory (QT Marshall, Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto) vs. Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & Preston “10” Vance)

The Factory brought a trios record of 4-5 to the main event of Elevation this week. -1 came back out for the main event, although his team were all listed individually instead of by a team record. Consistency AEW — find some! This is as bad as when they can’t make up their mind whether to list someone by their overall record or their 2022 record. The Factory jumped Dark Order during their entrance and a “QT sucks” chant broke out immediately. After taking out his teammates The Factory gave Evil Uno a three-on-one beating, with the referee doing nothing about it but waving a finger with disdain. For some reason one fan in particular got under QT’s skin to the point he said “you’re a 4 out of 10 on the street.” This caused another anti-QT chant. Even Henry was getting fed up with the ref by this point for admonishing Vance on the apron instead of the men double and triple-teaming Uno. Marshall hit Uno with a power bomb for a near fall and was ticked off that it wasn’t three.

Marshall took too long setting up a suplex putting the bad mouth on Evil Uno, and this allowed Uno to reverse it and hit one of his own before Vance got the hot tag. He ran wild on all of The Factory and held Solo high in the air for well more than a ten count. He was ready to apply the full nelson but Marshall ran in to break it up with a double axe handle. Uno tried to drag him outside but Marshall got the better of the exchange. Solo took a pump kick before Vance got triple teamed and Reynolds had to dive in to break it up. Reynoldshit a knee lift and pulled down the rope to send Comoroto to the floor. Marshall soon followed suite and Reynolds got the assist onto the pile. Vance signaled again for the finish and hit Solo with a discus lariat for the immediate pin. Strong finish for Elevation.

What to watch/skip

Tonight’s “what to watch/skip” is brought to you by “Kids In America.” There’s a certain irony to the song I appreciate now that I was blissfully unaware of growing up, and since it’s the 4th of July we might as well celebrate the contradictions. In all seriousness I hope you had a safe, happy and festive day off with family and friends. If you don’t live in the United States of America the same to you as well. I think the only competitive match here was the main event although (and I mean this with only respect) I feel like The Factory and The Dark Order need some new dance partners. We know they work well with each other, but let’s have them work with some other teams and/or factions for a while. In theory this means you could skip everything else, but do you skip the fireworks on the 4th of July just because they’re quick and explosive? No. You enjoy the spectacle and tonight I certainly did.

Cageside commentary crew! Share your thoughts in the comments section below and find me on Twitter too for more pro wrestling talk. See you tomorrow night for AEW Dark!