AEW Dark Elevation Episode 87- 10/31/2022 (Women's Matches)

 By Mark Rodriguez

It's Halloween and we have 4 matches tonight on Dark Elevation. We see a few familiar faces, but surprisingly we even get the TBS champ Jade getting a match in.

Match 1- Diamanté vs Madison Rayne 

Dark Elevation opens as these two competitors try to grapple. Before they can lock hands, Diamante lands a sucker punch to Madison's face. Diamante give her another elbow strike which sends the women's coach up against the ropes. She grabs onto Madison's arm but she fires back with an elbow strike of her own. Diamante sends her to the ropes but Madison knocks her down with a shoulder tackle. Madison knees Diamante in the face. As Diamante bounces off the ropes, Madison lays flat on the mat, making her trip and fall over her. 

As Diamante is trying to shake it off, Madison runs with a low dropkick to the face. Diamante rolls towards the apron where can catch her bearings, showing signs of frustration. Madison goes over to grab by the hair but Diamante bounces her off the rope with a jawbreaker. With Madison down on the apron, Diamante runs towards her with a sliding dropkick to boot her out of the ring.

Diamante jumps out after the coach and slams her back against the ring apron. She poses for the camera and then rolls Madison back into the ring. Diamante climbs back into the ring and hits Madison's back with an elbow drop. Diamante hits with her with a second elbow drop, and then two knee strikes to the small part of her back. She then grabs her in a reverse chin lock.

As Madison fights the urge to tap, Diamante slams her face against the mat. She starts rubbing her face into the mat and finally lets her go. As Madison gets back up, she knocks down her opponent with a enziguri to the face. Diamante runs towards Madison who proceeds to grab her and slam her with a neckbreaker. Madison goes for the pin but Diamante kicks out. 

Diamante hits Madison with an elbow strike then grabs her and does a backflip, using her weight to slam her face first into the mat. Diamante goes for the pin but the women's coach kicks out. Diamante runs towards Madison trying to grab her into the Cazadora. Madison catches her and uses it as a backslide pin. To really keep her down, Madison then bridges over her, folding Diamante in half and getting the three count. Diamante is noticeably angry at her loss.

This is probably the most unique pin I've ever seen, and yes, Diamante's shoulders were down so it counts!

Match 2- Keira Hogan VS Skye Blue

Kiera starts disrespecting Skye by shoving her backwards. Skye shoves her back. Kiera tries to kick her with a spinkick, which Skye ducks under. Skye grabs her from behind which Kiera quickly reverses into her own rear waist lock. Skye goes to the ropes and then turns around, purposely falling on top of Kiera for a quick pin. The former Baddie is able to kick out.

Skye hold onto her arm and flips her to the mat with an armdrag. Skye poses for the crowd and runs towards Kiera. Kiera dodges her and Skye back collides against the ring post. Kiera charges into her with a running lariat. She trips Skye down and then hits her with a running low dropkick. Kiera goes for the pin and Skye kicks out. She then gets on top of Skye and starts throwing elbow strikes at her. 

Kiera gets up and tries to grab Skye for a suplex. Skye gets out of it and grabs Kiera, rolling along the ring with her. Skye goes for a kick, but Kiera ducks under it and goes for the pin. Skye gets out of it and stands back up. With Kiera still on her knees, Skye kicks her across the face. She goes for the pin but she couldn't keep the former Baddie down. Skye picks up Kiera, but Kiera reverses this into a pin. Skye tries to roll over and pin her instead.. After Kiera kicks out, Skye goes for the high boot but misses. Kiera then clocks her with her own kick to the side of her face. As Skye is dazed, Kiera grabs her with a Sidewinder and goes for the pin. Kiera Hogan wins the match. 

Match 3- "The Fallen Goddess" Athena vs Janai Kai 

Both women lock up with Janai pushing Athena back and then flipping her to the mat with an armdrag. Jania rushes towards Athena who flips her with her own armdrag. Janai throws a kick that Athena leans back to dodge. Janai lunges at her which Athena ducks under. The kickboxer throws another kick and this time it does connect with Athena's face. Athena shakes it off and runs towards her, but Janai drops her with a kick to the midsection. 

Janai Kai picks up Athena and slams her to the mat. She goes for the pin but Athena kicks out. Janai gets up and grabs her opponent by the hair and starts throwing rapid kicks to the back of her head. Janai backs off as Athena tries to shake it off and get back to her feet. Janai rushes her and Athena pops her with an elbow strike. Athena picks up and hangs her upside down off the top rope, where she hits her with an elbow to the chest.

Athena grabs onto Janai, who is still hanging upside down and starts kicking her across the back several times. Athena runs in with a final kick across the back before Janai can finally escape the ropes. Janai grabs her for a snapmare but Athena flips to her feet and hits her with a high boot to the face. Janai falls to the mat and Athena knocks her down with a running lariat and then goes for the Ground and Pound. 

Athena picks her up but Janai slips from her grasp. Janai goes for a spinning kick with Athena dodges, but she manages to hit her with a second one. Athena rolls towards the apron while Janai tries to recover from the earlier hits she took. Janai reaches over the ropes and grabs Athena and hits her with two hammer strikes across the back. Janai climbs over the ropes to join Athena on the apron, but the Fallen Goddess shoves her face first into the ring post.

While Janai is rocked, Athena grabs her and slams her back into the ring apron. Athena climbs the top rope and leaps off, catching Janai with the O-Face and leaving her laid out. Athena goes for the pin and wins the match. However, Athena doesn't seem to be done. She looks over at Janai with disdain and hits her with a running kick to the ribs. Janai rolls off the apron and hits the ground. Athena leaves the ring, with the crowd having a mixed reaction. She taunts Janai's martial arts style and leaves the area.

Match 4- TBS Champion Jade Cargill w/ Leila Grey vs Trish Adora 

The women grapple and the champ shoves Trish towards the ropes. Jade angrily hits her with elbow strikes. She grabs Trish and walks her to the other side of the ring and slams her face into the top turnbuckle. Jade hits her with more strikes and uppercuts and then drags her to the middle of the ring. The champ pulls Trish back while talking trash to her, and then slams her against the third turnbuckle of the ring. 

Jade runs at her but Trish gets out of the way. As Jade crashes against the ring post, Trish can finally start landing some offense on her. Trish goes for the ropes and runs at her. Jade takes a swing and while Trish dodges it, she still gets hit with an elbow to the face, knocking her down. Trish gets back up and goes to one of the ropes. Jade follows and hits her with kicks and elbow strikes until she falls. Jade then plants her boot up against her face. The ref gives Jade the 5-count to where she had to let Trish go and back away.

Jade gets into position as Trish is trying to get back to her feet. The champ runs into her with a flying elbow and then rolls her across the mat. Jade runs at her with a jumping high boot to the face than plants Trish to the mat. Jade picks Trish up and slams her down with Jaded and pins her for the win. Jade and Leila pose for their victory when suddenly Nyla Rose's theme hits.

Nyla Rose steps out using trash can lids as cymbals, alongside Vickie Guerrero and Marina Shafir. Nyla is wearing the TBS title around her waist, which she raises to taunt Jade. Jade and Leila chase after Nyla and her crew as they all leave the area. Jade is set to face Marina Shafir in the upcoming episode of AEW Rampage.

My thoughts-

It was a decent quartet of matches and they each had their moments. The Madison Rayne match ended with that very unique pin, and seeing as how angry Diamante was, I hope they do something with that.

The Kiera Hogan match was pretty cool and she scored a win over Skye Blue. The commentary mentioned that she is no longer with Jade and is trying to move up on her own. I haven't seen much of AEW Rampage, which is where Jade usually wrestles, so I missed out on how or why Jade kicked her out of her little group.

Athena has always been a good sport towards her opponents even when they get the drop on her a few times, but this time Janai Kai really pissed her off. Athena showed signs of a heel turn which confused the crowd. It's hard to tell if she's really going heel or if Janai just rubbed her the wrong way. Speaking of Janai Kai, it was cool to see her again.

Jade made an appearance and was definitely angry at how Nyla stole her belt a few weeks back. During her intro she reached for her belt, forgetting she longer had it and that set her off. Sadly Trish Adora had to take the brunt of Jade's anger. To top of it, Nyla made an appearance to remind Jade that she has stolen what is hers. I love when Dark and Dark Elevation help continue storylines from the main shows.

Since this was a Halloween episode it was disappointing none of the women came out wearing costumes. And for that matter, where the hell was Abadon? This is her kind of night. At first I thought it's because Dark Elevation was taped at an earlier date, which it always was, but the logos and such still had Halloween decorations. Missed opportunity, but maybe next year.