Women in Wrestling Weekly Roundup – October 15-21, 2023

It’s our second week rounding up the news and results of the women’s divisions for the big three – WWE, AEW and Impact. As always, we’ll go show by show and grade based on opportunity and time given. But first…

Women’s news! The PWI 250 listing of the top 250 women wrestlers came out with Mami on top, as Rhea Ripley took home the trophy. The others in the top four included Guilia, Bianca Belair, Jaime Hayter and Tam Nakano. Athena came in a few spots too low for my book at 6, but it’s a great overall list.

Now, let’s check out the programming our millionaire overlords have provided for us. Have they blessed us with a bounty of women’s wrestling this week? (Probably not.)

Monday – WWE Monday Night Raw

It must be Monday! It’s our season premier.

The matches:

Two previously advertised matches tonight, starting with Women’s Tag Team Champion Piper Niven battling former champ Natalya (6:16). A lot of this match is lost to an ad break, but Piper gets the win. Her partner Chelsea Green tries for the save but is thwarted by Tegan Nox.

Our second match is Rhea Ripley facing Shayna Baszler in a non-title match (5:37). They have a good brawl much like their NXT matches, but this is all a setup for Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, and Zoey Stark to interfere to set up Crown Jewel’s five-way match.

Other developments:

Rhea spends the show intertwined in Judgment Day stuff as well. Indi Hartwell issues a challenge for Becky Lynch’s NXT Women’s Title, which Becky accepts. As Becky walks off, she comes face to face with Rhea. Xia Li is also granted her match, but on her time. Becky meets Jade Cargill and tells her to get in line.

The stats:

The women get two of the six matches for a little under twelve minutes, which is less time total than three of the men’s matches. Four women competed compared to ten men. I’m giving this a C-, because it’s a three hour show and surely they can fit more than twelve minutes on it.

Tuesday – WWE NXT

Competition-free, NXT goes even wilder with the women’s matches. We get four of them in a row, which seems like it is probably a record (excluding gauntlet matches).

The matches:

First is a Breakout Tournament with Karmen Peteovic vs Jaida Parker (3:36). This is Karmen’s first career win (in sixteen matches) while Jaida loses what is only her fifth match ever. Lots of room for improvement here, but it is a Breakout Tournament for a reason.

Tegan Nox is next against Lyra Valkyria (11:31) in a good match. Natalya is here with Tegan. Lyra has an upcoming Halloween Havoc title shot against Becky Lynch, so her winning isn’t a shock. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven appear to distract Tegan.

Following up last week, Shotzi is back to get a win over Kiana James (8:35). Roxanne Perez appears to run interference on Kiana using the ol’ brick in her purse gag, which sets up a future battle.

Our second Breakout Tournament match features Arianna Grace defeating Brinley Reece (2:57). Arianna is the daughter of Santino and has mostly been on Level Up, while Brinley is only in her third match ever (she just had her first in September). Nothing remarkable again, but Ariana has some good comedic chops which isn’t shocking considering her bloodline. Of note, Brinley is replacing the injured Jakara Jackson.

Other developments:

Jacey Jayne joins Thea Hail ringside cheerleading the prestigious Chase U. Blair Davenport and Gigi Dolan set up their Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal Match with Gigi spinning up a Lights Out match. Perez and James also set up a Wheel match, with Roxanne spinning the Devil’s Playground match. The show closes with Lyra telling Becky she’ll see her in a week. Jade Cargill then appears on screen, pointing to her wrist.

The stats:

Four of the six matches were women’s matches this week for approximately 24 minutes. 23 men competed compared to 8 women, but 20 of those were in a battle royal. I can’t give this anything but an A. Four matches, lots of other stuff going on and five matches built for next week.

Wednesday – AEW Dynamite

It must be Wednesday, because we have one women’s match on Dynamite.

The match:

In a Women’s World Title Eliminator match, champ Hikaru Shida tops Emi Sakura (8:52). It’s good to see Emi get this opportunity, and this is probably her best TV match. In a nice break from a bad Dynamite tradition, this is the second match of the show instead of crammed in before the main event. Naturally though, the 8:52 here included commercials.

Other developments:

Speaking of commercials, we get Toni Storm’s latest silent film debut which runs during the picture-in-picture commercials. Sigh. Toni deserves full screen. Kris Statlander also announces she is defending the TBS Title against Willow Nightingale at this weekend’s Battle of the Belts.

The stats:

As is the norm, only one women’s match was in the six matches of the show for 8:52. Two women competed, while twenty men wrestled (twelve in a battle royal). I’m giving it a C because, as usual, Dynamite can do better. If only they cared.

Thursday – WWE Main Event

No women’s matches this week. In a week where there were a lot of women in matches on Raw, this would be good. In a week like this where only four wrestled on Raw, this is lame.

The stats:

Two matches, zero women. You get a grade of a F this week, Main Event.

Thursday – Ring of Honor on HonorClub

As usual, the wheels are spinning on ROH but without 75% of the champions on the ROH show. A slightly trimmed down runtime this week.

The matches:

Mercedes Martinez defeats Marti Belle (6:44). Mostly an extended squash for Mercedes, which unfortunately will probably lead to nothing because they don’t seem to know what to do with her. It was good to see Marti back.

Billie Starkz wins against Diamente (5:14) in a continuation of last week’s story. Athena seconds Billie, Mercedes is back to be at Diamente’s side. Good little match that will surely lead to a tag team match. I’m not mad at it.

Kiera Hogan defeats Allysin Kay (4:02) ex. Kiera was shuffled back into the AEW scene for a big week a few weeks ago and has disappeared again, though most women have disappeared from AEW outside of the champions, Toni Storm and Skye Blue. Also very good to see Allysin.

Last but not least, Lady Frost beats Zoey Lynn 1:37). I love Lady Frost, but they’ve built her up so much as “the one who never seems to win on ROH” that it almost seems weird they’ve decided to let her squash someone. Hope they build her back up.

Other developments:

Athena continues to push her Minions in Training, all of which deserve to be seen on cable TV.

The stats:

Twelve matches here with four being women’s matches (a combined 24 minutes or so). 8 women wrestled versus 24 men. I’m giving this a C because they’re doing a little storyline building here.

Thursday – Impact Wrestling

It’s the final show before Bound for Glory and we have a big women’s match to build up. Can they coexist??

The match:

Mickie James and Trinity defeat Gisele Shaw and Savannah Evans (9:27). It’s the ol’ “pay-per-view opponents team up” angle, though really there wasn’t much “they can’t coexist” happening here. A good little showing for all four women.

Other developments:

We get a hype package for the MK Ultra vs Purrazzo & Steelz match. Boy, I hope it doesn’t get cut from the pay-per-view! … oh. We also hear from participants in the Call Your Shot gauntlet match, including several women.

The stats:

One women’s match on a five match show this week, but it is the main event. Four women wrestled compared to ten men. Giving this a C.

Friday – WWE Friday Night SmackDown

After last week’s three minutes of women’s action, we’re all hoping we get something at least from our hyped up main event.

The match:

Iyo Sky successfully defends her title against Charlotte Flair (16:08). A good match, which was probably never in doubt with the participants. It’s worth tracking down on Hulu. Iyo gets the win with an assist from Damage Ctrl. Bianca Belair returns from vacation to save Charlotte from a post-match situation.

Other developments:

We don’t get much else for the women’s division, but we do get Cathy Kelley interviewing Kevin Owens. Team Cathy always here. We also get Alicia Taylor in the house, guest announcing for the vacationing Mike Rome. We like Alicia a lot in this house.

The stats:

One main event women’s match on what was only a three match show. The women had almost double the time of either men’s match. Two women competed versus six men. It’s a B just for the lack of anything going on elsewhere on the show with the SmackDown ladies.

Friday – NXT Level Up

Time for our Friday night dose of NXT developmental action, all in thirty minutes or less!

The match:

Fallon Henley defeats Lash Legend (6:07). Legend has Jakara Jackson and the rest of Meta Four with her, while Henley has Jensen & Briggs.

Other developments:

None.

The stats:

The women have one of two matches on the show, and it is two seconds longer than the men’s match. Two women versus four men. A solid B, the women are represented well here as usual.

Friday – AEW Rampage

Another exciting hour of Friday action with our one women’s match.

The match:

Ruby Soho defeats Skye Blue (10:03). We get Saraya here with Ruby, which plays into the results as she hits Skye with a spray paint can to help Ruby get the win. Kris Statlander saves Skye from an Outcasts beat down after, but Skye doesn’t really want the help. Probably because of her poison eye.

Other developments:

The only other woman we briefly see is Anna Jay.

The stats:

The women get one of the four matches. Two women competing versus eight men. At least they got a little time, I guess. A C.

Saturday – AEW Collision

We’re back to back with Battle of the Belts this week, which means we have three hours of action. I’m sure Tony Khan will give us a bounty of women’s action here on two hours of Collision!

The match:

Skye Blue defeats Hollywood Haley (1:58). Haley is probably known to many from the Netflix “The Wrestlers” show. Skye is known as being the woman wrestling on every show because we can’t focus on too many at one time. Nothing to this one.

Other developments:

Kris Statlander uses interviewer Lexi Nair for squats in prep for her Battle of the Belts match. CJ Perry watches a Miro match for almost ten minutes. Ruby Soho demands a title shot, which is funny since earlier in the show we get a graphic saying she’s getting a title shot next week.

The stats:

Only one micro women’s match on a card of seven matches, and as I complained they got a whole two minutes. Two women versus eighteen men in action. A solid D-. Do better.

Saturday – AEW Battle of the Belts VIII

As noted by many others, we never seem to have any actual title changes at these Battle of the Belts and they don’t feel important. It’s just another hour of TV time.

The match:

Kris Statlander successfully defends her title against Willow Nightingale (10:23). A good battle between two of my favorites. Willow hasn’t really won anything of note on AEW TV for a while, which kinda telegraphs this one. Worth a watch! Post-match, Skye Blue is here because she is everywhere. She tries to get her poisoned eye buddy Willow to deny Kris’ handshake of honor, but Willow shakes anyway.

Other developments:

None.

The stats:

For a bonus show, one women’s match against three men’s matches with two women versus ten men. A fourth of the show isn’t horrible. A B-.

Saturday – Impact Bound for Glory

It’s a big pay-per-view for Impact. During the show, a mini-movie announces the impending return to the TNA branding for the company. I’m not mad at it.

The matches:

Jordynne Grace wins the Call Your Shot gauntlet match (28:56). An Intergender match, this is basically Royal Rumble-style until we get down to the last two competitors, then it turns into a match. Lots of good representation here, with Gisele Shaw, Jody Threat, and KiLynn King getting some shine. We also get Sonny Kiss’s debut as well as some Matt Cardona and Juventud. I enjoyed this. Jordynne gets the win and pin over Bully Ray. Jordynne calls her winning shot for a match at the Knockouts Championship at Hard to Kill.

Trinity defends her Knockouts Title against Mickie James (11:58). A successful defense for Trinity and these two work well together. Mickie always looks so good for how long she has been rocking this. I would recommend checking out both others.

Other developments:

The Knockouts Tag Title match gets bumped off the card, but I believe was filmed and will be aired as a digital exclusive later this week. Traci was inducted into the Hall of Fame by Gail Kim during the preshow.

The stats:

Two of the seven matches included women, including one Intergender match for a combined 40 minutes. We had 7 women compete versus 29 men. I’m not mad at it, really, due to the gauntlet. It’s a B from me.

Overall stats for the week:

WWE presented 8 women’s matches this week out of the 19 total matches aired across approximately 8.5 hours of programming (including 5 of those women’s matches on NXT programming). Approximately 58 minutes of airtime went to women’s matches.

AEW presented 8 women’s matches this week out of the total 32 matches aired across approximately 8 hours of programming (including four women’s matches on ROH programming). Approximately 54 minutes of airtime went to women’s matches.

Impact presented 3 women’s matches this week out of the total 12 matches aired across approximately 5 hours of programming. Approximately 50 minutes of airtime went to women’s matches (including an Intergender gauntlet match).

Four women had multiple matches this week: Gisele Shaw, Trinity and Mickie James in Impact and Skye Blue in AEW all competed in two televised matches.