9 Ups & 2 Downs For AEW Dark: Elevation

4. Decent Character Building

Lee Johnson
AEW

In an echo of the exceptional Road To... series, the character profile at which it excels was integrated into Elevation in a vignette designed to educate the fans on the history and motivation of Lee Johnson.

The material was earnest and truthfully a bit trite - the youngster dreams of being a wrestler deal is overplayed at this point - the effect of which is almost purpose-defeating. We didn't actually learn too much about him, at least to any substantial degree.

But he still radiates a humble and hard-working babyface charm, and it is unreasonable to expect such a young guy to have developed into his final form. He's a likeable man, and this profile contrasted splendidly with the in-ring bullying of QT Marshall to form a classic dynamic.

Advertisement
In this post: 
Kenny Omega
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!