Seven Days in Women’s Wrestling: February 19 to 25, 2024

It’s been another busy week in wrestling. We’ve gone to Australia, TNA has had a special event and ROH is throwing people through tables. Let’s see what the women have been up to this week!

Monday – WWE Monday Night Raw

Tonight’s Card: One of five matches involved women for approximately 14:00. Nineteen women saw action compared to fourteen men.

Raquel Rodriguez won an Elimination Chamber Qualifying Last Chance Battle Royal in 14:00. Other participants included Alba Fyre, B-Fab, Candice LeRae, Chelsea Green, Elektra Lopez, Indi Hartwell, Isla Dawn, Ivy Nile, Katana Chance, Maxxine Dupri, Michin, Natalya, Shayna Baszler, Tegan Nox, Valhalla, Xia Li, Zelina Vega and Zoey Stark. I quite enjoyed this and not just because of the representation. The hot crowd did wonders, but a lot of the women came off looking good here. I liked that Michin was so strong, loved the double teaming of Shayna and Zoey, and of course loved the Chelsea Green tease. I do think it was pretty set that Raquel was winning when she appeared, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad call.

Other Developments: Rhea Ripley and Nia Jax have a split-screen interview to wrap up the build to the Chamber match. We get the obligatory segment with the six women of the Chamber arguing, ended by a Nia attack.

Final Score: Raw did something it’s gotten good at – showing its women’s roster. We had a match with nineteen women that went fourteen minutes and saw another eight women over two segments, not including Samantha and Cathy. A.

Tuesday – WWE NXT

Tonight’s Card: Five out of eight matches included women for approximately 24 minutes of in-ring action. Eight women saw action compared to eight men.

Roxanne Perez defeated Wren Sinclair in 4:21. Short and sweet with Roxanne leaning into the dark side but also Wren fitting the NXT mold nicely.

Jacy Jayne defeated Arianna Grace in 3:19. Jasmyn Nyx, ringside for Jacy along with Thea Hail, helps Jacy win.

Lash Legend defeated Kelani Jordan in 4:24. The growth of Lash continues as she looked great here. Kiana James and Izzi Dame appear post match in a failed attempt to attack Kelani.

Lyra Valkyria defeated Shotzi in a NXT Women’s Title match in 3:22. This one ends by referee’s decision when Shotzi accidentally wrecks her knee on a move.

Lyra Valkyria defeated Lash Legend in 5:50. Lyra asked for a new challenger and got one. Very impromptu and they covered that well. We also saw Roxanne Perez upset that she didn’t answer the call.

Other Developments: Thea is upset about the lack of followup from her Valentine’s date, which is mocked by Arianna. Later in the show, Fallon Henley bonds with Thea as they’ve both been through some hurdles lately. Lyra checks on Tatum Paxley after last week, who offers to attack Shotzi in her honor.

Final Score: Much like I said for Raw, NXT is for the ladies as we see so many intertwined in numerous stories from beginning to end. Even without the bonus match due to injury, we went in with four matches spotlighting eight women. A.

Wednesday – AEW Dynamite

Tonight’s Card: Two out of five matches tonight involved women for approximately nine minutes of action. Wait, did I type TWO?? Two exclusively women’s matches for the first time since February 2022? Tony Khan is broken. Four women saw action compared to twelve men.

Toni Storm defeated Sydni Winnell in 1:51. Stormi Renee elsewhere, this was Sydni’s “big three” debut. It did not go well for her, as she was quickly beaten by Toni using Deonna’s Venus de Milo submission.

Deonna Purrazzo defeated Madison Rayne in 7:16. This was a bit rough, which is generous if you read anything on the Internet about this match. It happens. Deonna wins with the ankle lock. Post-match, Toni attacks Deonna.

Other Developments: Ruby Riott and Angelo Parker go on a date.

Final Score: I know, TWO MATCHES. I should be happy, right? I am, it’s a big development. That said, two matches that combined were shorter than the shortest of the men’s matches is still… not good. Outside of that, we’re still largely not reminded that other women work for the company. It’s an improvement, but there’s so, so far to go. C.

Thursday – ROH on HonorClub

Tonight’s Card: Five of the nine matches tonight involved women for approximately 46 minutes of in-ring time. Ten women saw action compared to ten men.

Taya Valkyrie defeated Sussy Love in a Women’s TV Title first round match in 7:19. “Big three” debut for Sussy who has been very active in AAA. Some would question why it would take Taya seven minutes to beat someone we’ve never seen on this show before, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Red Velvet defeated Sandra Moone in a Women’s TV Title first round match in 9:01. We last saw Sandra on the losing side of a tag match on Dark Elevation, but she’s been pretty great on the indies. A breakout match for Sandra worth your time and I hope they circle back to her.

Abadon defeated Viva Van in a Women’s TV Title first round match in 5:48. Last seen here losing to Skye Blue on ROH in early 2023, Viva has also been killing it on the indies. I’ve wanted any of the big companies to throw money at her for quite a while. This however was a match to put shine on Abadon and it worked as they looked like a killer.

Billie Starkz defeated Robyn Renegade in a Women’s TV Title first round match in 9:47. A good match actually, which might shock you if you’ve spent the last year watching Robyn and her sister be the company’s top losers in the last year.

Athena defeated Nyla Rose in a two out of three falls Tables Match for the ROH Women’s World Title in 13:57. I really enjoyed this, but I’m pretty biased towards both women here. I’d assume Nyla gets the title rematch for the upcoming PPV as there are no other contenders built up.

Other Developments: Queen Aminata is ready for her second-round match against Taya.

Final Score: It feels like I’m just throwing out A’s this week but it’s been for good reason. ROH gave us a PPV-level main event and another solid round of lengthy women’s matches. A.

Thursday – TNA Impact Wrestling

Tonight’s Card: One of six matches involved women for approximately two minutes. Two women were featured compared to fourteen men.

Ash by Elegance defeated Savannah Thorne in 2:07. The TNA in-ring debut for the former Dana Brooke, while we last saw Savannah in a tag team squash loss against Decay about a month ago. Ash gets a big intro and wins with the Rarefied Air (a Swanton). She felt like a bigger deal than she did as Dana, but we’ll see if TNA runs with her.

Other Developments: Gisele Shaw gives Gail Kim attitude. Tasha Steelz sets up a third match against Xia Brookside. Jody Threat and Dani Luna want a shot at the Knockouts tag belts.

Final Score: … and then there’s TNA. I appreciate that they’re at least building a few stories this week, but they’ve got to find more time for their women to actually wrestle on their show. For a company that has often been known for their women’s division, it feels like they’re often in the backseat being ignored. D.

Thursday – WWE Main Event

Tonight’s Card: Zero of two matches involved women. Zero women competed compared to six men.

Final Score: This isn’t a shock – the women were mostly in the battle royal on Raw. Still a F, but I get it.

Friday – AEW Rampage

Tonight’s Card: One of four matches involved women for approximately eight minutes. Two women competed compared to fifteen men.

Mariah May defeated Anna Jay in 7:46. Good to see Mariah in action, something we should see A LOT MORE OF. The fans will latch onto her so much if they get a chance to actually see her.

Other Developments: Ruby and Angelo finally go on that date. Saraya and Harley Cameron do some weird flirting or something while being mad at Ruby. I think I’m the target audience for whatever Saraya and Harley were going for and it just missed. We’re covering this all in the ring next week, which will hopefully end this storyline that’s been going on since roughly the time Bobby Fish hit AARP age. Skye Blue has problems with Stokely Hathaway while Julia Hart says she’ll dig graves for Willow, Statlander and Hathaway. She’s so spooky!

Final Score: The match was good. There were other segments with the women, even though they didn’t work for me. They tried! B.

Friday – NXT Level Up

Tonight’s Card: One of two matches involved women for approximately five minutes. Two women saw action compared to four men.

Karmen Petrovic defeated Brinley Reece in 4:39. Nothing in particular hit here for me, but it was Level Up.

Final Score: The usual. B.

Friday – TNA No Surrender

Tonight’s Card: Two of the ten matches (including two on the Countdown to No Surrender) involved women for approximately eighteen minutes. Including preshow matches, six women saw action compared to 22 men.

MK-Ultra defeated Decay in a TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles match in 7:27. I’m very biased to the whole MK-Ultra vibe, but I was glad to see them win the belts back. A fun match too. Dani Luna and Jody Threat appear post-match.

Jordynne Grace defeated Giselle Shaw in a TNA Knockouts World Title match in 10:38. With Ash by Elegance at ringside, Jordynne gets the win. A good match but they need to do something to continue to elevate Giselle.

Other Developments: None.

Final Score: I don’t have much room to complain here. Both women’s titles were defended in good matches and we set up possible challengers for both. B. The key now is seeing how they follow up on it with new leadership.

Friday – TNA Xplosion

Tonight’s Card: Zero matches of the two aired involved women. Zero women saw action compared to four men.

Final Score: This show still existed tonight despite No Surrender and continued its streak of not featuring one woman since its rebirth. F.

Friday – WWE Friday Night SmackDown

Tonight’s Card: One out of five matches involved women for approximately twelve minutes. Two women saw action compared to twelve men.

Tiffany Stratton defeated Liv Morgan in 11:42. With Bianca Belair watching from ringside, the blondes put on a fun match and they got time, something SmackDown has started giving the women again.

Other Developments: Elektra Lopez leads the crew on an attack on Zelina Vega and the LWO. Dakota Kai comes up limping backstage, saying Damage CTRL attacked her and setting up a tag match next week where innocent Angel Dakota definitely won’t hurt our feelings.

Final Score: The women had the lead off match spot and rocked it and we set up a continuation of the Damage CTRL story. A good show. B-.

Saturday – AEW Collision

Tonight’s Card: Two of the seven matches tonight involved women for approximately eleven minutes of in-ring time. Four women saw action compared to sixteen men.

Thunder Rosa defeated Lady Bird Monroe in 2:08. LBM is a fantastic name. We last saw her on the losing end of a few tag matches in 2022 on Dark Elevation. This was all about highlighting Rosa.

Serena Deeb defeated Lady Frost in 8:42. Frost was a last minute replacement for the sick Kiera Hogan. This was a good match that was hurt by the commercial break, the one constant in the women’s division, breaking the flow. Frost winning a match at any point would also help.

Other Developments: Kris Statlander sets up a match with Skye Blue next week as Stoke is upset about the spooky girls.

Final Score: The women are still underrepresented her, but they always get at least a little more spotlight than on the A-show. C.

Saturday – WWE Elimination Chamber Perth

Tonight’s Card: Including the Kickoff, the women were a part of three of the five matches presented for approximately 56 minutes. Twelve women saw action compared to ten men.

The Kabuki Warriors defeated Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell in a WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles match in 8:55. A good match to get the crowd going with home-country girl Indi.

Becky Lynch defeated Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Naomi, and Tiffany Stratton in a #1 Contender’s Elimination Chamber match in 32:15. I enjoyed this more than the men’s version, but maybe that’s to be expected. Tiffy came out the star of the match, with the crowd solidly behind her, but they all looked good and this set us towards Rhea vs Becky as expected.

Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax in a WWE Women’s World Title match in 14:25. It was the foregone conclusion match but it worked as the women main evented and Australia’s own Rhea overcame the odds. A fun match and Nia continues to be good.

Final Score: The women main evented, but they also had the better Chamber. A. Of course.

The Week’s Totals:

WWE/NXT: Over approximately 13 hours of programming, the company presented eleven women’s matches for approximately 111 minutes of action. 39 different women saw action. Tiffany Stratton, Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan, Indi Hartwell, Lash Legend, and Lyra Valkyria all competed twice.

AEW/ROH: Over approximately seven hours of programming, the company presented ten women’s matches for approximately 74 minutes of action. Twenty different women saw action.

TNA: Over approximate 5.5 hours of programming, the company presented three women’s matches for approximately 20 minutes of in-ring time. Eight different women saw action.