AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament is a fantastic concept. They are featuring great talent, putting on a series of excellent and intriguing matchups.
After months of poor booking and lack of focus, it seemed like the title was getting some much-needed recognition. However, and in what appears to be AEW’s unfortunate modus operandi when booking their women’s division, the tournament is not executed to its full potential. Not because of match quality but due to AEW’s inability or unwillingness to put more women’s matches on their television.
We have seen excellent matches from the U.S. and Japanese brackets thus far. Thunder Rosa defeated Leyla Hirsch in a great match, and Riho beat Serena Deeb in AEW’s best women’s match ever. But AEW’s announcements regarding further contests taking place on YouTube proves they can’t or won’t fully invest in their women’s division. Therefore, as fans of women’s wrestling, how are we supposed to invest in a tournament when the promotion doesn’t appear to itself?
The Japanese matches taking place on YouTube makes sense as the pre-recorded matches had no fans in attendance. But this week, AEW announced that the remainder of the first-round and one of the semi-finals would not be on, Dynamite but on YouTube. That means that two of their most prominent names in the division, Britt Baker and former AEW women’s champion, Nyla Rose, will not be on TV. This is a bizarre decision and one that shows the tournament is not a high priority for the promotion.
The reason for these matches getting bumped to YouTube is because of the time remaining before Revolution on March 7th.
This timing issue begs the question, why didn’t AEW start the tournament sooner or add two women’s match to Wednesday nights? One must assume that another random Ryan Nemeth match, Jade Cargill throwing basketballs and Brandi and Cody’s baby’s gender reveal take precedent.
Despite fan backlash, AEW has further added to the disappointment with another match shift. AEW announced the highly anticipated semi-final match between Thunder Rosa and Riho will happen on Bleacher Report on February 28th.
Unfortunately, the women’s title tournament follows a similar path to last year’s Women’s Tag Team Tournament. The Deadly Draw aired entirely on YouTube apart from the final. The finals took place on Dynamite but were never followed-up, nor were Diamante and Ivelisse elevated by winning.
AEW has continuously dropped the ball when it comes to their women’s division. The women’s title competition, albeit delivering top-notch matches, is AEW’s latest fumble. The promotion must invest more time, effort and focus. They must dedicate themselves to providing a division that the wrestlers have proved they can. The likes of Hiraku Shida, Serena Deeb, Britt Baker and the entire female roster deserve so much more than what AEW gives them.
How do you feel AEW’s women’s tournament has played out thus far? Do you think AEW will ever deliver on its promise of an improved women’s division? Sound of in the comments below.
