Seven Days in Women’s Wrestling – July 7 to 13, 2024

Well hello, and welcome back to Seven Days in Women’s Wrestling. This week, I have two editions for you as I disappeared last week. I was on a great vacation!

That’s a lie, who can afford a vacation in 2024? Long story short, my house was hit with some major electrical issues that left me without power (and, in Georgia, the more important part of air conditioning) for almost the entire week. There were several times it popped back on for an hour, then went away again, causing some great up and down emotions that I didn’t really need for my usual mix of anxiety and depression. They finally diagnosed that they had to dig up and replace the entire electrical line going from outside to my breaker box, and now I have air, warm water, the ability to charge phones, cook food and live like I’m not a cavewoman. It’s nice! Those first few days back, I was working on not being mentally drained and just doing things that made me feel good instead of focusing on writing as well as my actual job, which never stopped during all of this because we’ve gotta pay the bills even when things don’t work..

But now I’m back. I thought about doing this in one big “Fourteen Days in Women’s Wrestling” column, but that seemed like a lot for a column that’s already long. There were some pretty big things in each week as well, so I’m breaking it up like usual. You get the week I missed – July 7 to 13 – today and I’ll pop up Tuesday afternoon as usual with last week, July 14 to 20.

Enough about me, let’s talk about Rhea Ripley, Mariah May and some other pretty big names that did some pretty big things!

AEW

Totals for the week: 8 matches / 42 min 55 sec combined time / 16 competitors)

Dynamite (1 match / 12:45 combined / 2 competitors)

Matches: Mariah May defeated Willow Nightingale in the finals of the Owen Hart Tournament (12:45). A hell of a match between perhaps the two best talents on AEW’s women’s roster, but it has been rightfully overshadowed by the post-match angle. As Mariah and Toni Storm went up to collect Mariah’s trophy and commemorative title, Mariah slugged Toni with the title to the shock of everyone. She knocked Luther off the stage through a table and bloodied Toni, stabbing her with the iconic heel and getting the blood on her own face. I’m often on the side of “ew, blood” and I’m not sure we ever need it on a wrestling show, but it was incredibly effective imagery. Mariah and Toni played their parts perfectly and continue to be the MVPs of all of women’s wrestling – and maybe AEW – in 2024.

Moments: Mercedes Mone gets her championship celebration, which is quickly interrupted by Dr. Britt Baker, DMD. Baker takes out the security and Mone bails. It was short, but I’d think that’s probably a timing issue. Overall, this is one of the most important episodes of Dynamite the women have had, with the women main eventing and an all-timer of an ending with Toni and Mariah.

ROH on HonorClub (4 matches / 16:45 combined / 9 competitors)

Matches: We get four of them this week, starting with Taya Valkyrie defeating Marina Shafir and Robyn Renegade (8:00). I’m not sure I like cooling down Marina with a loss – again – but here we are. Skye Blue defeated Laynie Luck (3:40) which was the Skye showcase expected. Billie Starkz defeated MacKenzie Morgan (5:40) in a Proving Ground match. It was Mackenzie’s “big three” TV debut, so as usual I’m not sure why she gets a Proving Ground match compared to the women on the actual roster. This was just as much about the hijinks of Athena ringside briefly forgetting her injury to attack. Diamente squashed Nyxx (1:41) while dedicating her armbar to Leyla Hirsch.

Moments: Not a lot out of the ring this week, which is frustrating since Death Before Dishonor is weeks away. Athena continued to accidentally forget she was injured, which plays into her match. It was nice to get four matches out of the night, even if the time still isn’t near what we had for the women months ago.

Rampage (1 match / 3:26 combined / 2 competitors)

Match: Thunder Rosa beat Rachael Ellering (3:26). Not much offense for Ellering, who didn’t even get the standard 7-8 minute loss that most women stuck on Ring of Honor get. Post-match, Deonna Purrazzo runs out and attacks Rosa because god forbid their feud ever end.

Moments: Deonna tells us backstage she’s ready to burn everything down. We don’t get any followup to Mariah May or anything involving anything big happening on Dynamite, so it’s just a show this week.

Collision (2 matches / 9:59 combined / 4 competitors)

Matches: Nyla Rose defeated Ava Lawless (1:51). This reminded the audience that Nyla is a badass as she gets ready for her Dynamite title shot against Mercedes Mone. We last saw Ava on television losing a Proving Ground match on ROH to Athena a year ago. Skye Blue won against Harley Cameron (8:09). Skye has come out of her spooky phase to become a cowgirl for reasons we aren’t told. Sure, why not. That happens when I listen to Kacey Musgraves too.

Moments: We take a video look back at Mariah destroying Toni. Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway insult Willow Nightingale, as they do. Deonna says the same things she said on Rampage, but this time Rosa appears to challenge her to a lumberjack match next week. Excuse me, I was told they were lumberjill matches. Skye Blue challenged Shida for next week.

Honestly, if the Mariah May angle didn’t happen on Dynamite, this would have felt like the most important show for the women this week. Two matches, several stories getting advancement. It felt nice.

TNA

Totals for the week: 3 matches / 16 min 34 sec combined time / 8 competitors

Impact (2 matches / 12:52 combined / 4 competitors)

Matches: Our big opener involved Jordynne Grace putting her title on the line in another open challenge. It was answered by NXT’s Izzi Dame, joining the very small group of women who have competed on WWE/NXT and TNA programming in the same week. Grace won the match (8:34) and Izzi looked good, but as usual there was little doubt Jordynne was winning. Ash by Elegance’s concierge made an appearance, being chased into the crowd and into Rosemary. Gisele Shaw defeated Tasha Steelz (4:17) with Gisele especially looking good and like she belongs back in the title picture.

Moments: Steph De Lander, sad on a beach, said she had to wrap up a few things in Australia but hoped PCO would wait for her. Xia Brookside issued a challenge to Alisha Edwards.

Points to TNA, as the women’s division is starting to heat up a little after feeling like its been on the backburner. Jordynne facing the various NXT women has helped, but I think the return of Gisele Shaw will also do a lot.

Xplosion (1 match / 3:42 combined / 4 competitors)

Match: Spitfire defeated Kelly Madan & Vicious Vicki (3:42). A squash obviously. Kelly has now competed for two companies within three days, with this match being taped on June 28 and competing in a loss against Serena Deeb on the June 26 Collision. This was Vicki’s first TV match for the “big three.”

WWE

Totals for the week: 11 matches / 1 hr 20 min 6 sec combined time / 25 competitors

NXT Heatwave / Countdown to Heatwave (3 matches / 32:24 combined / 8 competitors)

Matches: Two big title matches for the women on this special event, first with NXT Women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan successfully defending her title against Sol Ruca (11:36). It was a very acrobatic match – to the delight or dismay of the viewer, depending on who you listen to – and I quite enjoyed it. Both have a bright future in the company. Roxanne Perez defeated Lola Vice in a NXT Women’s Title match (13:08). Lola’s going to be a very big deal one day and she was fine here against Rox, though I know we’re at the point of waiting for something even bigger to happen within the NXT Women’s Division. The preshow brought a third women’s match, with Arianna Grace & Karmen Petrovic defeating Jacy Jayne & Jasmyn Nyx (7:40). It was a good showing for the winners especially, with Ari being very over with her hometown crowd.

Moments: Ava announced that Arianna and Karmen will be facing each other on NXT. So much for that. I think it was a good show for the women as usual.

Monday Night Raw (1 match / 8:39 combined / 6 competitors)

Match: Damage CTRL defeated Lyra Valkyria, Katana Chance & Kayden Carter (8:39). While a good match, this mostly existed for the stories that surround it. IYO Sky showed a lot of frustration for having to do the hard work, while Zoey Stark, Shayna Baszler and Sonya Deville attacked Damage CTRL after, setting up a new stable.

Moments: Well, the big one involved brutality. Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio successfully defeated Rey Mysterio & Zelina Vega. Liv jumped into Dom’s arms and pulled her down on top of her, teasing a kiss before the triumphant return of Rhea Ripley to an explosive reaction. She’s easily one of the top five stars in the entire company. Liv ran through the crowd as Rhea confronted Dom to end the show. We also had a backstage training segment with Liv & Dom that was reminiscent of the Triple H/Trish Stratus training back in the day. Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, who have yet to defend their titles, appeared backstage to taunt Team Sonya.

The return of Mami is a huge deal that we’ve been building to, but I have to say what an amazing job Liv has done carrying the story without her as an on-screen foil. Dom’s been a big part too, but Liv has carried her weight and more. She deserves all the respect, but now it gets REALLY interesting.

NXT (3 matches / 11:13 combined / 6 competitors)

Matches: Our opener was the explosion of Arianna Grace and Karmen Petrovic (2:36) with Jacy Jayne and Jordyn Nyx at ringside. The princess of NXT snuck out a win. Fallon Henley came down and beat down Karmen after the match, telling the mean girls that she’s tired of the rookies. Following hype of her possibly getting a Women’s Title shot, Chase U’s Thea Hail defeated Izzi Dame 3:33). Tatum Paxley was also around to harass Dame. Thea is always good and it’s good to see her get some shine again. Sol Ruca defeated Henley by DQ (5:01) when Jayne and Nyx interfered. They beat down Sol after the match.

Moments: OTM and The OC have a match that sees Michin come out of the crowd to attack Jaida Parker as it continues to be on-sight between the two. This sets up a six-person tag next week. As always, there’s a lot going on with the women of NXT. We have challengers for titles, feuds set up between factions, and lower card feuds that are all being woven through the show. As it tends to be, NXT is at the top of the class for weaving the women’s division throughout the show and making it feel important.

Main Event (1 match / 5:18 combined / 2 competitors)

Match: Alba Fyre defeated Ivy Nile (5:18) in a good singles match. I’m not sure why Alba and Isla are doing this instead of defending their belts, but you can’t lose your belts if you don’t defend them.

Friday Night SmackDown (2 matches / 17:50 combined / 4 competitors)

Matches: Nia Jax defeated Michin (9:29). Prior to the match, Tiffany Stratton gets mic time, which leads to Bayley, then Nia, then Michin appearing and the match getting underway. I’m undoubtedly the biggest Michin fan on this site and seeing her finally get to be the workhorse has been fun. She had a good effort against Nia here. Afterwards, Jax and Tiffany take out Bayley, with Tiffany teasing a cash-in. Naomi defeated Blair Davenport (7:36). Blair hasn’t gotten much time on the main roster to really develop her role, but she was a good foil for Naomi here and they actually got some time.

Moments: Chelsea Green and Piper Niven try to speak with GM Nick Aldis but don’t get a chance. Naomi met up with Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair backstage, with Blair coming to shake Naomi’s hand. Chelsea and Piper talk to them, with Blair then attacking Naomi behind her back. Welp.

Another good week for the women on SmackDown, getting two matches with good time on a show that can be hard to get time on.

NXT Level Up (1 match / 4:44 combined / 2 competitors)

Match: Tatum Paxley defeated Layla Diggs (4:44). This was Layla’s second TV match ever and twelfth match ever. That said, she wasn’t bad against the more experienced Pax.

No matches/moments this week:

Speed

Week in Review:

It was a stellar week for the women this week. The time and match advantage went to WWE, but they did have NXT’s Heatwave which helped. Izzi Dame competed on both NXT and TNA television this week, while Arianna Grace, Karmen Petrovic and Sol Ruca all competed twice within the period.