Seven Days in Women’s Wrestling – July 14 to 20, 2024

Welcome to the end of another week in wrestling. The women wrestled last week! I think I should write a 7-8 page article on it. But first, did you catch the previous edition that I posted Sunday? It covered the week I missed in my absence, with excitement like the return of Rhea Ripley and Mariah May stabbing Toni Storm with a heel. You can catch it here.

AEW

Totals for the week: 7 matches / 42 min 14 sec combined time / 14 competitors)

Dynamite (1 match / 9:21 combined / 2 competitors)

Matches: Mercedes Mone defeated Nyla Rose in a AEW TBS TItle Match (9:21). This was a good showing for both, with Nyla getting to show off some humor in addition to her beast powers. I swear if they’d run with letting her destroy people AND be hilarious on a regular basis she’d be their biggest women’s star. Mercedes attempted to use Britt Baker’s Lockjaw as well. Britt, wearing a Sting mask, attacked Mercedes after the match.

Moments: Mercedes had a brief backstage interaction with the Young Bucks and Okada. Mariah May had an in-ring segment in full Toni cosplay. She said she was stringing Toni along and it’ll be All About Mariah at All In. I think a lot were expecting something more, but it was a fine followup to the angle for me and I think there’s plenty of Mariah goodness to come.

This was a good Dynamite for developing the main women’s stories, with Mercedes-Britt advancing as well as Mariah explaining her actions. Nyla also looked like a star. Now if we can get a second match on this show…

ROH on HonorClub (3 matches / 17:02 combined time / 6 competitors)

Matches: The main event was a lights out match with Diamente defeating Leyla Hirsch (12:23). It was a hell of a match you should try to scope out, but I’d definitely question why they didn’t build it up another week and a half to Death to Dishonor (I know they have since announced another match since). Elsewhere, Red Velvet defeated Maya World (2:54). Maya appears occasionally and is presented as one of Athena’s students, so this fit well. Queen Aminata defeated Mackenzie Morgan (1:45) in a quick little squash.

Moments: Athena and Billie Starkz have a segment to talk about both being injured and announcing that Lexy Nair will be giving Queen Aminata five minutes to speak next week. I’m sure there will be no shenanigans.

The women had a decent showing including a big main event this week. A good week for ROH.

Rampage (1 match / 1:27 combined / 2 women)

Match: Kris Statlander defeated Syndi Winnell (1:27). Just a squash for Kris here. This was Syndi’s first appearance since losing to Toni Storm in 1:51 in February.

Moments: Saraya and Harley Cameron talk about their skills with Saraya trying to find her way to All In.

Not a lot to this episode for the women.

Collision (2 matches / 14:24 combined / 4 competitors)

Matches: Hikaru Shida defeated Skye Blue by referee stoppage (3:12) after Skye seemingly hurt her leg. Sending some good vibes her way, that’s a tough moment. Deonna Purrazzo defeated Thunder Rosa in a lumberjack match (11:12). Back in my day, they called them lumberjills. This was an entertaining match as usual between these two, but it’s time to move them onto other opponents.

Moments: Shida challenges Britt Baker for Dynamite, promising to make her bleed again.

The Skye Blue break was tough and probably took 5-6 minutes of women’s action off the show, but it seemed like they planned on giving the women several showcases tonight. Deonna-Rosa was good.

TNA

Totals for the week: 4 matches / 33 min 20 sec combined time / 10 competitors)

Impact (1 match / 5:38 combined / 2 competitors)

Match: Xia Brookside defeated Alisha Edwards (5:38). This was about the numbers game at ringside, with Masha Slamovich attempting to help Alisha. She was cut off by Spitfire, giving Xia the chance to win.

Moments: Jordynne Grace gets a segment to reflect on where she’s been – Royal Rumble, NXT – and her upcoming match against Ash by Elegance. Rosemary stalked Ash’s concierge.

There wasn’t a lot for the women on this episode, but I never expected that much out of the show the week of a special event.

Slammiversary and CountDown To Slammiversary (3 matches / 27:42 combined / 10 competitors)

Matches: The main show featured one women’s match, with Jordynne Grace successfully defending her Knockouts World Title against Ash by Elegance (12:18). Ash looked good here (as she has since joining the company) but didn’t have enough to topple Jordynne. I’m not sure who does if anyone at this point between now and the time she inevitably joins the WWE roster. On the preshow, Alisha Edwards & Masha Slamovich successfully defend their Knockouts Tag Titles against Spitfire (8:47). A fine tag match and really, the women’s tag champs should be on the main show. In a four way opener, Tasha Steelz defeated Gisele Shaw, Faby Apache and Xia Brookside (6:37). Faby is a guest from AAA.

Moments: After PCO won his title, Steph De Lander appeared to propose to him, which he accepted. Insert Dolph Ziggler “it should have been me” gif here.

This was a better showing for the women’s side of TNA than they’ve had in a long time. The women’s title match was good as usual, the tag titles were in one of the better matches of the show and four women opened the kickoff with a fun match. Let’s do this more often!

Disqualified this week:
Xplosion

WWE

Totals for the week: 9 matches / 41 min 40 sec combined time / 19 competitors)

Monday Night Raw (2 matches / 10:59 combined / 6 competitors)

Matches: The matches were all about the stable that Mia Yim has hilariously named The Studline. Sonya Deville defeated Zelina Vega (1:06). A very quick win for Sonya here, followed by her stablemates beating down Zelina. Katana Chance, Kayden Carter and Lyra Valkyria came for the save. Later in the show, Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark defeated Chance & Carter (9:53). It was a perfectly fine tag match between two teams that have done this a few times, but this time with the sides of Lyra and Sonya.

Moments: The matches were not the focus of Raw for the women however. The focus was squarely on Mami herself. The show opened with Rhea Ripley coming out to a gigantic reception. She tried to cut a promo on Liv Morgan, but Dominik Mysterio showed up with a black rose instead. Liv eventually appeared on the video screen, saying she was hoarse because she had been screaming all weekend in Mexico. Rhea issued a challenge for SummerSlam and that’s set. Throughout the show, we get Rhea segments where she reestablished things with Damien Priest, questioned Carlito hanging out with Judgment Day, and being hit on by Jey Uso. Rhea also chased Liv away during the Dom/Jey match, with Rhea being frustrated at Dom’s loss. Zelina Vega also issued a challenge for the title when the love triangle was over while slinging some quality insults at the Studline.

You could feel the energy of Rhea being back all show and it was a boost to a show that’s already on a roll.

NXT (3 matches / 12:26 combined / 6 competitors)

Matches: Three matches with the ladies this week. Tatum Paxley defeated Izzy Dame (4:03) after the distraction by Wendy Choo. Spooky Wendy has become buddies with fellow creeper Tatum and I’m here for it. Lola Vice beat Jacy Jayne (2:45) which was set up by Jacy and Jasmyn Nyx taunting Lola backstage earlier. Lola was jumped by Fallon Henley after the match but the save came from Sol Ruca and Karmen Petrovic. Michin teamed with Gallows & Anderson to defeat Jaida Parker and the men of OTM (5:58) in a mixed tag match. It’s still on sight for Michin and Jaida. They have been two of the more standout talents of the show for a while.

Moments: Roxanne Perez has an in-ring segment where she talks about being overlooked for names like Giulia and Stephanie Vacquer. She taunted Thea Hail, who eventually appeared and made her tap. This was a good segment for Thea development. Keliani Jordan had a segment preparing for her next challenger and was interrupted by Choo. Later in the show, she meets Tatum Paxley who has a Kelani-like doll. Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend get hit on by newcomers Cedric Alexander and Ashante Thee Adonis. Wren Sinclair attempts to join the No Quarter Catch Club.

I could cut and paste this weekly, but NXT is ahead of every other show when it comes to the women. Not only did this show set us a match for its main title and a possible angle for its secondary title, but there were at least four other women’s angles continued in-ring and backstage. We also have the looming appearances of Giulia and Stephanie starting to be mentioned.

Friday Night SmackDown (2 matches / 8:52 combined / 4 competitors)

Matches: Our big match was Michin defeating Tiffany Stratton (7:56). Michin continues to be the MVP of all the shows, pulling good matches out of everyone (not that it’s a challenge with Tiffany). Bayley and Nia both appeared, including Bayley destroying Tiffany’s briefcase and giving us room to give her a customized Barbie case. Bianca Belair beat Chelsea Green (0:56) in a quick win, with Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre appearing on the screen post-match to tell Bianca and Jade Cargill they’re ready to give them a rematch.

Moments: Nia and Bayley have a split-screen interview, with Bayley bringing up Nia injuring her years ago.

The in-ring stuff is rocking it on SmackDown, with the Women’s Title story swimming around and Michin establishing herself firmly as Bayley’s second. The tag title scene is moving along as well.

NXT Level Up (2 matches / 9:23 combined / 4 competitors)

Matches: Jakara Jackson beat Kendal Gray (4:48) and Adriana Rizzo defeated Lainey Reid (4:36) in the night’s matches. Jakara’s charisma jumps off the screen. This was the tenth match of Lainey’s career and 30% of those have been televised.

Disqualified this week:

Speed

Main Event

Week in Review:

AEW squeaks out the time victory this week with under a minute more action. Without the injury ending the Shida/Blue match, I think they might have added more time. WWE had the most different women in action this week, largely due to NXT and Level Up, with nineteen different women in action. TNA showed out more than usual for the week with Slammiversary. Michin, Xia Brookside, and Alisha Edwards all competed twice this week.