Women in Wrestling Weekly Roundup – October 22-28, 2023

It’s time for another exciting dive into the world of women’s wrestling for the big three companies and their shows. It’s a week without any PPVs this week, but we are on the build to WWE, AEW and ROH PPVs and NXT is celebrating Halloween. Let’s jump in!

WWE Raw (Monday)

It’s another three hours of Raw and we have two women’s matches announced tonight. Will we get more? Could we perhaps squeeze one in per hour?

The matches:

First up, Becky Lynch successfully defends her NXT Women’s Title against Indi Hartwell (9:30). Indi looks good but Becky comes out on top as expected, as her match tomorrow night on NXT has been hyped for a few weeks.

Second, Women’s Tag Team Champions Piper Niven and Chelsea Green defeat Natalya and Nikki Cross (3:12). This is mostly a story match, with Nikki being Natalya’s mystery tag partner. Nikki spends the match staring into the distance and then leaves. Perhaps she is under the spell of a pair of witches? Maybe she’s just doing Nikki stuff?

Other developments:

Rhea Ripley meets up with fellow PWI #1 Seth Rollins, telling him he needs the Judgment Day’s help. We learn that Tegan Knox has an injury of some sort and will be back. Xia Li jumps Candice LeRae in the back. We get a contract signing between the women in the upcoming Crown Jewel five-way (Rhea, Nia, Shayna, Raquel, Zoey). It breaks down as contract signings tend to do, with Rhea watching the others fight. Kayden & Katana talk to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, definitely not realizing the women get even less time over there usually.

The stats:

Two of seven matches including women this week for a combined 12:43. Six women complete versus twelve men getting matches. It’s a C for me this week. We have stories going and had a good title match, but it’s still a three hour show with twelve minutes of women’s matches.

WWE NXT (Tuesday):

It’s night one of the two week Halloween Havoc and we have five women’s matches announced as well as hosts Shotzi and Scarlett doing hosting stuff and wearing badass costumes.

The matches:

Roxanne Perez defeats Kiana James in a Devil’s Playground match (10:53). That means falls count anywhere and there are Halloween weapons around. Roxy is wearing a Freddy Krueger-inspired gear set. I enjoyed it, and Kiana gets a hell of a large bump on her forehead during the match.

Kelani Jordan defeats Arianna Grace in a Women’s Breakout Tournament second round match (7:35). NXT is high on both of these women and we’re going to see a lot out of them as time goes on. Kelani wins a good little match for two women who are at the very start of their careers.

Blair Davenport defeats Gigi Dolan in a Lights Out match (12:33). We get darkened lighting with anything goes, pinfall in the ring rules. Being on the same show with a similar match that had more charismatic wrestlers hurt it a bit, but it should hopefully wrap up this story as well.

Lola Vice defeats Karmen Petrovic in a second round Women’s Breakout Tournament match (3:35). A quick match and Lola shows good heel tendencies with the bonus of having Elektra Lopez at her side.

Lyra Valkyria defeats Becky Lynch to win the NXT Women’s Title (16:06). A hell of a match as Becky’s NXT run ends with a bang. I’d recommend going back to watch this one on Peacock, WWE Network or Hulu. Lyra looked like a star and gets the Becky seal of approval after the match to end the show. Jade Cargill appears in-arena for the first time, sitting on a throne from the stage to watch.

Other developments:

Meta-Four get a backstage segment with Shotzi and Scarlett, leading to Tozowa hijinks. Chase U finally win the tag titles with attempted heelish help from Jacy Jayne. Jacy and Thea Hail celebrate with their school post-match, only to be interrupted by Chelsea & Piper. This sets up a Women’s Tag Title shot next week. Tiffany Stratton is interrupted by a Tiffany-costumed Fallon Henley (she nailed it).

The stats:

Five of the seven matches involved women for approximately 46 minutes of in-ring time on a two-hour show. Ten women compete versus six men, a rare victory for the women. That alone is an A before their the other women’s stories being setup and Shotzi being a hot version of Pinhead.

AEW Dynamite (Wednesday):

It’s Wednesday and you know what that means… probably one women’s match! An AEW Women’s Title match has been advertised.

The match:

AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida defeats Ruby Soho (9:15). This one worked okay but had too much going on with Ruby’s attempted use of spray paint. Toni Storm appears in black and white afterwards for a stare down.

Other developments:

Toni Storm has yet another movie that debuts during picture-in-picture mode. Toni makes movies at the same speed James Patterson writes books.

The stats:

One out of five matches involves women for under ten minutes total of a two-hour show, with two women versus sixteen men getting in-ring opportunities. That’s… rough. As usual. There was an eight-woman dark match that probably could’ve fit in nicely if we weren’t busy having the Hardys in Ring of Honor title shots on the the non-ROH show. No development with the women outside of the match besides Toni. I’m giving it a C-. Dynamite, as always, could do better.

WWE Main Event (Thursday):

It’s our usual mix of pre-Raw matches with women that should be getting time on Raw.

The match:

Xia Li defeats Kayden Carter (5:37). Your basic Main Event sprint. Both women looked good, but we are heating up Xia for a hopeful match with Becky.

Other developments:

None.

The stats:

One of two matches included women for approximately six minutes. Out of the four competitors on the show, two were woman. It’s a B for me.

ROH on HonorClub (Thursday):

We’re building towards a HonorClub-exclusive PPV, likely filled with competitors that aren’t usually on the ROH show. The good news is that the ROH Women’s Title is the one title they stubbornly keep only on ROH on HonorClub.

The matches:

Mercedes Martinez and Diamente defeat Athena and Billie Starks in a Texas Tornado rules match (9:03). A fun match that I’d recommend to you. These four know what they’re doing and do it well and have had a built-up series of stories for weeks, a rarity for ROH. We are probably headed to Billie getting a shot at her leader Athena at the PPV but we have another six weeks to get there.

Leyla Hirsch defeats Nyxx (1:50). No relation to Syxx, this is Nyxx’s debut in the “big three.” Just a simple squash for Leyla.

Rachel Ellering defeats Robyn Renegade (3:19). Rachel has been dabbling in appearances on ROH on HonorClub including getting a shot at Willow Nightingale’s New Japan STRONG title during the summer. This one isn’t much of a match as you’d expect for three minutes.

Other developments:

Post-match, Athena yells at Billie.

The stats:

Three of the ten matches on this two hours or so show included women for a combined fourteen minutes, with eight women competing versus twenty-two men. A lot less time than the women usually get here, really. I’m giving it a C- because at least the title picture has stuff happening even if the rest of the division is spinning in circles.

Impact Wrestling (Thursday):

It’s a recap show this week, as we just had Bound for Glory Saturday and now the talent are headed overseas for a tour. We do get reairings of several matches from Bound for Glory in clipped format, including Jordynne Grace winning the Call Your Shot gauntlet and Mickie vs Trinity. Of note, the tag title match that was cut from BFG – MK Ultra vs Deonna Purrazzo and Tasha Steelz – was released to YouTube on Monday. Would’ve been easy to put on Impact!

No grade this week as Impact didn’t present any new programming.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Friday):

All that is announced tonight is Bianca Belair speaking which doesn’t bode well for a lot of women’s in-ring action.

The match:

Shotzi defeats Chelsea Green (3:38). Sigh. Love them both and they deserve more than three and a half minutes. They didn’t really get time to do anything, but the fans love Shotzi and Chelsea has been told.

Other developments:

Bianca does in fact get to speak, setting up a match against Bayley next week and a title shot against Iyo Sky at Crown Jewel. That puts us at two women’s matches for Crown Jewel.

The stats:

One of four matches involved women for a big 3:38, over twice as short as any other match on the show. Two women competed versus eight men. Bianca set a few things up, but the lack of really anything else including in-ring time gives this a D. Do better.

AEW Rampage (Friday):

It’s an hour of Rampage, and we have been advertised a four way women’s match with the winner getting a title shot against Shina on Collision.

The match:

Abadon defeats Anna Jay, Skye Blue and Willow Nightingale (7:17). It’s good to see Abadon getting a shine and hopefully it continues after spooky season ends. We are still teasing tension with Skye and Willow and their infected eyeballs which are only ever infected on AEW TV. At least we had a fresh set of talent in this match.

Other developments:

Kris Statlander talks with Skye and Willow backstage, with the eye twins being pulled in different moods.

The stats:

Only three matches this week, with one women’s around seven minutes long. Four women competed versus four men getting matches. You know what? I can’t complain much this week. I give it an A-. It’ll probably never happen again. Hang this up on your fridge, Tony.

NXT Level Up (Friday):

It’s our short and breezy developmental to the developmental show.

The match:

Jacy Jayne defeats Izzi Dame (5:07). Actually surprised to see Jacy here, but I guess with the more developmental women on NXT in the tournament at least she’s here. Izzi is looking for her third career win here but doesn’t get it.

The stats:

One of two matches were women for about five minutes of action, while two women and two men competed. No notes. It’s an A for equality and such!

AEW Collision (Saturday)

Two big hours of Collision with Abadon getting their title shot. Will we get more women? Probably not if we get the MJF/Omega match that is being advertised.

The match:

Hikaru Shida defeats Abadon in a Fright Night Fight (10:01). Again, glad to see Abadon here and the crowd digs them. This is your typical Halloween-themed match with such highlights as Shida trying to fly on a broom and moves on top of candy. That said, I really dug it. Toni Storm appears against post-match to glare at Shida.

Other developments:

Kris meets up with Willow and Skye again, telling them to make up. Willow mentions possible Julia Hart-influenced tension, which Skye doesn’t like. I still think they just need a good eye doctor.

The stats:

One women’s match for ten minutes out of seven matches. Yikes. Two women compete versus fourteen men. The women’s match was at least ten minutes and had a spotlight on it, but they can do more with a two hour show. It’s a C-.

Overall Stats:

WWE – Out of 21 televised matches this week across five programs and 8.5 hours, 10 of those involved women for approximately 1 hour and 12 minutes of in-ring action. Twenty different women had marches, with Becky Lynch and Chelsea Green each having two matches.

AEW – Out of 25 television matches across four programs and about 7 hours of programming, 6 matches involved women (half on ROH) for approximately 42 minutes bell-to-bell. Fourteen women had marches this week, with Shida and Abadon each wrestling two.

Impact – Impact presented no new matches across two hours of programming this week. They did have one new match appear as a YouTube exclusive.

WWE gets the win this week, largely due to their strong showing as usual on NXT.