AEW Dark Elevation Women's Matches- March 8, 2022 (Episode 53)

 By Mark Rodriguez

Before we start with today's matches, I have to say that AEW Revolution was an amazing show. I have to say that if you had to show a newcomer what AEW was all about, this PPV is the perfect introduction. Just the dog collar match between CM Punk and MJF is amazing and will be discussed for days.I mean, whipping each other with chains hard enough to leave welts was one thing BUT THEN THEY BROUGHT OUT THE THUMBTACKS. And then we got 62 year old Sting going through 3 tables in an amazing spot. It was amazing. 

Even the Buy In matches were amazing in which Kris Statlander got to face off against Leyla Hirsch and we got to see Eric Redbeard FKA Eric Rowan join Penta Obscuro and PAC to face the House of Black. Those matches were super intense for Buy In matches. Where's my wallet to buy the actual show? 

Not only did we see Kris and Leyla fight it out as their feud continues to heat up, both Women's Champs, Jade and Britt Baker got to defend their titles. And hey, Jade got to cosplay as Jade from Mortal Kombat. Not only is it a clever idea, given her name, but she looked amazing wearing the outfit too. Between 4-5 hours of intense wrestling and enough pizza and snacks to feed a small army, my buddy and I had a great night. 

Anyways, this week's Dark Elevation brings us two matches, one of which brings in Kris Statlander for even more action.

FINISH HER!!!

Match 1- Session Moth Martina vs Ruby Soho

Ruby runs in and her theme song is so catchy, even Martha is dancing along to it. Ruby and Martha shakes hands and she pretty much dances in her face, rubbing Ruby the wrong way (figuratively and literally). As the women lock up Ruby grabs Martha in an elbow lock and the Session Moth uses her other elbow to get out of it. Ruby doesn't let go so Martha maneuvers herself around to grab Ruby in a waist lock. Ruby reverses this, getting Martha in a waist lock now, but Martha starts dancing again, making her let go. Ruby had enough of Martha shaking her butt all up against her and slaps her across the face.

Ruby Soho is pretty cheerful, but you don't wanna piss her off

Ruby lands a few kicks on the Session Moth, but as she runs for the ropes, Martha actually grabs her tights and punches her in the back, making the Runaway land on the ropes. Martha dances as Ruby tries to compose herself, and she runs over to kick the Runaway on the back of the head. Ruby finally gets back to her feet, laying up against the ringpost and Martha lands some elbow shots on her until she gets pushed off her. Martha runs at her and Ruby tries to kick her, but the Session Moth catches her foot and socks her in the face again. Martha runs at her and elbows her in the face. As Ruby is still reeling from the impact, Martha grabs her by the hair and gets her in a suplex pin but she kicks out. Martha grabs Ruby in a submission hold as the Runaway fights hard not to tap out. 

Ruby powers her way to her feet and slams Martha away with a suplex. She crawls over to the ropes to get some time to recover. With Ruby on the apron, Martha run at her, but the Runaway catches her and slams the Session Moth's face into the turnbuckle. Ruby climbs onto the ropes and grabs Martha with her legs and pulls her face first into the turnbuckle again. Ruby gets herself amped up as Martha runs into her for an attack. Ruby catches her arms and socks her in the face. Martha goes for a kick but Ruby catches her foot and knees her in the face. 

Ruby grabs Martha and goes for the ropes, but her opponent reserves it into a waistlock. Martha tries to throw her but Ruby hangs onto the ropes and shoves her off her. Martha tries to grab Ruby in a Crucifix Pin but she kicks out and cracks her with the No Future kick on her. Martha is out like a light, Ruby pins her and wins the match. 

Match 2- Emi Sakura vs Kris Statlander

Kris comes in (still in her Galaxy's Greatest Alien gimmick) and as she hangs upside down from the ropes during her intro, Emi throws her cape on her and starts kicking her down. Emi grabs her taller opponent and bounces her off the ropes. As Kris falls to the mat, Emi hits her with a dropkick to the face. Emi grabs and flings Kris across the mat. With Kris up against the ropes, Emi does her classic chops along to the tune of  "We Will Rock You",  however this time when she runs in for the flying crossbody Kris catches her. Showing off her impressive strength, Kris carries Emi around and slams her onto the mat. 

Kris grabs Emi and slams her face into the turnbuckle a few times and then lets loose with a series of chops. Not done yet, Kris plants Emi right back up against the turnbuckle and hits her with a running uppercut and a running back kick, nearly knocking her out of the ring. Kris runs at her, but Emi gets out of the way. Now with Kris on the apron, Emi lands a chop across the face. Emi then runs at her with a crossbody spear and knocks Kris off the apron and onto the floor below. Emi lets out what I call the Karin Kanzuki laugh. 

Gotta love seeing the snooty anime girl laugh in real life

Emi grabs Kris and slams her into the barricade outside the ring. Emi rolls Kris back into the ring and argues with the crowd. Kris is still trying to recover and Emi grabs her and slams her on her knee with a backbreaker. Emi goes for a pin but Kris kicks out. The women trade chops until Kris grabs her and slams her on her knee. They both run at each other and Kris clotheslines her. Kris knocks her down again with a back elbow. As Emi tries to run at her, Kris grabs her and slams her, going for a pin. Emi still kicks out. 

Kris picks Emi up and gets ready for her finisher, but Emi reverses it and slams her facefirst into the mat. She goes for the pin but the Galaxy's Greatest Alien kicks out. Emi grabs Kris and drops her on her knee. Emi goes to do it again but this time Kris catches herself and grabs her in a side headlock. Emi flips Kris off her, but she didn't notice that Kris actually landed on her feet. Kris grabs her in a rear waistlock, but Emi reverses it with a waistlock of her own. Kris regains control again, but Emi elbows her in the face to get out if. Emi bounces off the ropes but Kris nails her with a kick across the face. With Emi rocked, Kris grabs her and slams her down with the Big Bang Theory and pins her for the win.

My Opinions- A good set of matches. Session Moth was an interesting one, constantly dancing and shaking her butt all up on Ruby, but also delivering some good offense. From Ruby's perspective she went from 'aww she's cute' to 'ok now she's annoying' to 'damn, I gotta put her away before she puts me away!'. It was a good match and Martha really put Ruby through her paces. Also, I just couldn't stop thinking of Batman every time I had to write down Martha for this review.

WHY DID YOU SAY SESSION MOTH?!

As for the second match, wow, that was a good one. Emi didn't let Kris' size and strength scare her and put out all the stops on her. I liked the variation of her usual Freddie Mercury Chops/Running Crossbody combo in which Kris actually caught her, lifted her up and slammed her. Also loved Emi doing the snooty anime girl laugh, and it was funny the reference went completely over the commentary's heads. I hope she does that more often, maybe not every match, but once in a while so it won't get annoying. It adds a little something-something to her heel persona alongside her Freddie Mercury gimmick. The only thing missing is I would have loved to have seen Emi use the Death Valley Driver on Kris or at least make an attempt to if she couldn't get her up. That would been intense.

On that note, I wish they'd put Emi back on TV. Heck, Vickie's entire trio stable of Emi Sakura, Nyla Rose and Diamante should be on TV once in a while. This match was one of the bigger ones I seen on AEW Dark Elevation and could have been on an episode of Dynamite or Rampage. I mean, Kris is pretty well established and Emi isn't exactly a KiLynn King or a Willow Nightingale (no offense to either, I just mean in terms of where they are in the AEW ladder). Either way I hope we Emi Sakura back on TV.

As for Kris Statlander, this is quite a week for her, at least appearance-wise. She will also be in a Dark Match alongside what we just saw on Dark Elevation. There's also a chance she might make a TV appearance seeing as Leyla Hirsch has a match against Thunder Rosa on Dynamite and she might show up there to continue their feud. Kris is currently dropping or toning down the alien gimmick. I don't think there's really going to be much change in her overall character, but she will stop doing the boops and won't be referred to as 'The Galaxy's Greatest Alien' hailing from Area 51. Since the Dark/Dark Elevation matches are pre-taped, this week will probably be the last time we see her as an alien.