AEW Dark Elevation Episode 66 and AEW Dark Episode 147- Women's Matches

 By Mark Rodriguez

I'm going to return to do a few Dark and Dark Elevation matches, and I see a few new faces show up. The most interesting one I noticed lately is Miyu Yamashita who has large fanbase that is more than happy to see her in AEW. It just so happens she has a match tonight. There was only one match on Dark Elevation so I'll make one article about both both episodes this week.

Match -Nyla Rose & Serena Deeb vs. Skye Blue & Miyu Yamashita

The match starts with Skye Blue squaring off against Nyla Rose. Nyla kicks her in the midsection and smacks her while she's down. Nyla whips Skye to the ropes, and as she bounces back she ducks under the Native Beast's kick and starts kicking at her shins. Nyla stops with with rough chop to her chest. Nyla grabs and lifts Skye up, and even though her smaller opponent got out of it, she still bashes her with a back elbow. As Skye is rocked, Nyla grabs her and tosses her across the ring.

Nyla grabs onto Skye and tags Serena in, who proceeds to kick Skye in the ribs. Serena grabs onto Skye's hair and whips her around until Skye Irish Whips her off her. Skye stops Serena's attempt at payback with an arm drag transitioned into an armlock and she tags Miyu in. Both women whip Serena into the turnbuckle and take turns running into her. Miyu rolls Serena onto the mat.

With Serena Deeb dazed and in a sitting position, Miyu kicks her across the back. Miyu hits Serena with some kicks, bounces her against the ropes and kicks her down again. Miyu gets into a pose, spins and lands with her leg smashing into Serena's chest. Miyu goes for a pin but Serena kicks out.

Miyu tries to whip Serena into the ropes, but she gets thrown here instead. She raises her boot to kick Serena in the face as she runs towards her, but she stops and catches her foot and sets it on the ropes. Serena grabs her other leg and back-drops while holding onto it, twisting Miyu's leg. As Miyu falls in pain, Serena gets into Skye's face and pushes her back. This provokes Skye into trying to get into the ring and Serena grabs her leg and twists it in a similar way, making her fall to the mat.

Serena grabs Miyu's leg into an attempted Figure Four and Skye tries to stop it. Serena grabs her and suplexes Skye onto the mat, while her leg was still tied into Miyu's, hurting both women at the same time. Serena gets cheers for an impressive two-for-one move. She grabs onto Miyu's leg and drops her elbow onto it. Serena drops another elbow onto it and tags in Nyla.

Nyla stomps on Miyu's bad leg, then gets her in a scoop slam. The Native Beast does a leg drop on her and goes for the pin. Miyu somehow survives and kicks out. Nyla picks up Nyla and drops her injured leg onto her knee. Nyla tags Serena in and she grabs Miyu's leg and gets her into a more painful variation of the Figure Four. Miyu gets to the ropes but Serena gets as much pressure as she can on that leg before she has to let her go.

Nyla gets tagged back in who tries to pick her up again but this time Miyu grabs her in a headlock and starts throwing fists. Nyla tries to pick her up but drops her halfway and Miyu punches her. They both trade fists and as Nyla runs for the ropes, Miyu runs after her and hits her with a knee. Miyu tries to clothesline her but can't knock Nyla down. Miyu manages to clock Nyla in the face with a spinning kick, but drops to her knees herself due to all the damage her legs have taken into the match. Miyu tries to crawl over to tag in Skye by Nyla holds onto her leg.

Miyu manages to kick Nyla off her and does a diving tag to get Skye in. Skye throws several punches at Nyla but it takes only one from the Native Beast to slow her down. Skye is shoved up against the turnbuckle and Nyla crashes into her with a body splash. Nyla does a cannonball towards the turnbuckle but Skye gets out of the way. Skye takes to the ropes and attempts to grab Nyla in a Sunset Flip but she can't get her to fall back. Just then Miyu jumps off the ropes to kick Nyla back so Skye can successfully pin her. However, Nyla still kicks out of this.

Now showing frustration, Skye grabs Nyla in a jawbreaker and then runs over to elbow Serena off the apron. Nyla grabs and body slams Skye. Miyu comes in and kicks Nyla, who shrugs it off. Miyu follows up with a rougher kick to the side of the face that makes Nyla stumble. Miyu poses and runs towards the ropes but Serena trips her up so she falls out of the ring. Serena grabs Miyu and lays her out with a European Uppercut. Nyla picks up Skye and leaves her hanging on the ropes. The Native Beast climbs onto the ropes and leaps onto her, almost cutting Skye in half. Serena picks her up and drops her face first into the mat, but rather than get the pin, she wants to continue to punish Skye.

Serena slams Skye's knee into the mat several times and then gets her into the Serenity Lock. Skye taps out. Serena and Nyla win the match.

Match 2- Skye Blue VS Marina Shafir

The match starts with Skye doing a running dropkick through the ropes, knocking Marina back before she even has a chance to climb into the ring. Skye grabs Marina's head and throw her into the barricade, twice. As Marina staggers, Skye grabs her and rolls her into the ring. With the bell finally ringing and the match starting proper, Skye hits Marina with two thrust kicks to the face, the second one making her stumble and roll out of the ring.

Marina is dazed and Skye leaps off the apron to grab her in a hurracarana but is caught. Holding Skye upside down, Marina swings her into the barricade three times and then lets her drop. Marina rolls Skye into the ring and follows her, grabbing her and hitting with three hip attacks and then slams her down. Marina goes for a pin but her opponent kicks out. Skye goes up against the turnbuckle and elbow Marina in the face as she approaches her. She goes for a roll up pin but Marina kicks out. Marina plants a thrust kick to the Skye's chin, knocking her back.

Marina shakes off the cobwebs and picks up Skye. She tries to whip her to the ropes but Skye shoves her there instead and follows with a jumping knee to the face. Skye kicks her in the midsection. Marina takes a swing but Skye ducks it and socks her in the face. She bounces off the ropes and elbows her in the face. Skye grabs her waist from behind and Marina gets loose after hitting her with some back elbows and then flipping her to the mat. Marina does a cartwheel around Skye and delivers a kick to the back.

Skye rolls behind Marina and grabs her leg. She shoves her to the mat and goes for a pin. Marina fights for control and gets back up. Marina flips Skye to the mat and gets her in an armbar submission move that also pulls back on her ankle. Skye Blue taps out and Marina Shafira wins the match.

Match 3- Toni Storm vs Zeda Zhang

Both women lock up at the start of the match, and Toni gets Zeda up against the ropes until the ref breaks it up. Zeda gives Toni a quick handshake as both women show their respect towards each other. Both women grapple again until Toni gets a headlock takedown on Zeda. Zeda gets to her feet and tries to shove Toni off her, but she still hangs on to the headlock. Zeda gets back to her feet and this time is able to shove Toni off her, but Toni bounces off the ropes and knocks her down with a shoulder tackle.

Toni bounces off the ropes and knocks Zeda flat on her back with a running dropkick. Toni grabs her and throws some chops and an uppercut and then rolls her onto the mat. Toni bounces off the ropes again but before she can do another dropkick, Zeda throws some kicks to the knees and then one to the face. Toni throws a kick but Zeda catches her leg and lays her out with a back elbow to the face.

Zeda gets Toni up against the ropes and then flips her over her shoulder down to the mat. With Toni down, Zeda grabs her arms and gets in a crucifix submission hold. Toni shifts her weight to try to pin her while stuck in the hold but Zeda pushes her back into position. Toni fights her way back to her feet and elbows her opponent off her. Now both women start trading shots to the face.

Toni grabs her and delivers several elbows in a row. Zeda goes for a kick that Toni dodges. Toni then grabs her and throws her in a German Suplex. With Zeda up against the turnbuckle, Toni runs into her with a hip attack. Toni grabs Zeda with a Swinging DDT. She then picks her up and finishes things with Storm Zero. She gets the pin and win the match.

My opinions-

The first match was a good showcase of everyone in the ring. At first it seemed it was going to be very Miyu-focused since she was the AEW newcomer, but then it switched gears as Serena took over with her large variety of ways to bring in the pain. Skye has ran into Nyla a few times and it's a little funny to see her cause so much trouble to a beast like Nyla and a savage like Serena. I've noticed Nyla doesn't seem as the unstoppable force she used to be but I thought Serena was getting nerfed too but she made up for it as the match progressed, especially with that suplex/Figure Four combo on both of her opponents.

Pretty good match. Miyu showed off her moves, even though she was the one to take the most damage in the match. I love all her dramatic posing. Skye showed off her spirit, Nyla showed off her power and Serena showed off her expertise in pain. I also liked the sinister smile Serena gave when she won. She may have lost the match against Thunder Rosa at Double or Nothing but she is still going to cause trouble to anyone who gets her in her way. 

As for the match between Skye and Marina, wow, Skye really took the initiative and tried to deal as much damage to The Problem as she could before the bell even rung. With someone as dangerous as Marina Shafir, you can't just face her head on and Skye had a plan. This was probably the best way to get a more evenly matched contest between the two where either one of them could have won. Shafir still showed off her skills and scored the win, but this one was pretty close.

Toni has a decent match with Zeda Zhang, who I hope we get to see more of. Toni got most of the offense, but Zeda got that cool back elbow while holding onto Toni's leg and that crucifix submission. Toni is awesome as expected and her Perfect Storm is a cool looking reverse pile driver.

Probably the match of the night for me is Skye VS Marina, especially with how intense and unexpectedly it started out and how Skye actually gave Marina a run for her money.