“(AEW) Dark is not Tony’s priority; It’s really just to pad the records for storyline purposes,” this quote, delivered to the AEW Galaxy by Joey Janella via Renee Paquette’s The Sessions podcast, more or less confirms what fans of AEW, both hardcore and casual, alike have known all along.

Now granted, there have been storylines of note on both Dark and Dark Elevation, with the entire Janella-Sony Kiss storyline effectively being told on Youtube, as were the buildups to the ROH Women's Championship bout between Mercedes Martinez and Sereena Deeb, the build-up to Wheeler Yuta's bout versus Daniel Garcia, and the debut of Ari Divari's Trustbusters with Slim J and Parker Boudreaux but as a general rule, fans who don't watch AEW's secondary programing on Mondays and Tuesdays can largely get away with just watching Dynamite and Rampage in order to get the brunt of TK's storytelling.

And yet, on the rare occasion, AEW has just too many stories to tell on any given week, and they need to deliver onto fans a third helping of Youtube wrestling in order to get ready for a big-time match, show, or Pay-Per-View.

That, fortunately or not, depending on your preference, happened in the leadup to Battle of the Belts III, where AEW opted to film a second round of Dark Elevation matches ahead of the promotion's live Rampage from Grand Rapids Michigan at the Van Andel Arena, in order to set up a few matches for both shows.

What? You didn't catch it? Well, fear not, for here are the four biggest storylines you missed from the show in the leadup to AEW's double-dipping of Michigan-filmed programs.

4 storylines you need to know ahead of AEW Rampage and Battles of the Belts III.

4. Hikaru Shida finally beat Emi Sakura in AEW

After being co-workers for the better part of three years in AEW, Hikaru Shida finally secured a singles win over Emi Sakura in Tony Khan's promotion. Working face against her heelish mentor, Shida fought back from a big-time deficit that looked like it would end in a Columbus-broadcasted loss and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Now granted, this certainly isn't the first time the duo have wrestled in singles action, as Sakura has defeated Shida in nine of their previous 10 matches against each other, but after 104 times in the ring together, including 11 total times one-on-one, Shida finally secured a win under her wrestling name – she won her only other match under the name Hika Rushida – and did so in an AEW ring. That, as they say, is pretty darn cool.

https://twitter.com/PepsWrestling/status/1555333046727065601?s=20&t=nUEH4VJ4KNN8S-_QrHWE5Q

3. Madison Rayne was thrust into in-ring action

While you may know that Madison Rayne, most notably of Impact Wrestling, was officially signed by AEW to become the new head trainer of AEW's women's division – if not, read more about it here – you may not be aware that her hiring was to be both inside and out of the wrestling ring. That's right, after watching Shida and Sakura duke it out in what would have been a main event match two years ago from the commentary booth with Tony Schiavone and Mark Henry, Rayne was verbally attacked by Jade Cargill and Stockley Carmichael and entered into a verbal agreement to wrestle Leila Grey, the “Temporary Baddie,” on Rampage.

Considering Rayne was just a Knockouts Tag Team Champion in Impact last month, the smart money would be on Rayne.

2. Josh Woods looks as goods as ever

Josh goods is a very good wrestler (more on that here). While fans of AEW may not be privy to that fact just yet, as Wood has only ever wrestled on AEW Dark, the former ROH Pure Champion's performance on AEW Dark Elevation sure turned a few heads, as the duo of Shivone and Henry alluded to on commentary.

Teaming up with Tony Nese and “Smart” Mark Sterling in a very weird trio, Woods dominated a pair of enhancement talents with his patented combination of holds and strikes before ultimately securing the win via a german suplex. Woods looked lethal, his suplex game looked legit, and he didn't even whip out his signature leg bar, or whatever move KO'd Keith Lee during a backstage segment. Expect an absolute war in their Michigan Streetfight.

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1. Mance Warner introduced himself to the AEW Galaxy.

The Mance Wanner is AEW bound, and fans of independent wrestling are here for it (more on that here).

Though some may have heard of Warner for his time in GCW or for winning the Bunkhouse Battle Royal at Ric Flair's Final Match, the Thursday edition of Dark Elevation marked the first time the Mancer took an AEW ring, and he provided his typical collection of hard-hitting strikes, and Southern Psychopathy while absorbing damage like a pain sponge from both Serpentico and Luther. Warner obviously got the win and did so looking very good, but it's worth wondering if that momentum will be enough to take the belt off of Jon Moxley, who, fittingly enough, is also the GCW World Champion.

Still, it's hard to watch his post-Elevation promo and not think The Mancer has something that Tony Khan should lock up for a very long time.