Sarah Logan vs Mia Yim
Sarah and Mia are very evenly matched and they start off chain wrestling from the bat.
They trade fierce blows and Mia brings a fast frenetic pace to the match. She starts hitting Sarah stiffly but Sarah comes back with fierce ferocity of her own. Sarah slows Mia down with a submission. Mia turns it into a pin and they both escape. They continue to go back and forth as Mia controls the match again with hard kicks. She continues kicking Sarah as Sarah wails for more. Mia gets Sarah in the corner as she ties her up with a tarantula in the ropes, a tribute to Tajiri.
Mia then flies off the top rope and drop kicks Sarah to the ground. Sarah fights back but Mia catches her by jumping on her for a guillotine submission. Sarah holds on and fights out of it. They start trading blows again. They separate and Sarah gains the upper hand with stiff shots to Mia. Sarah gets Mia down with a nice hip-lock takeover and hits Mia on the ground with her knee.
Mia then catches Sarah with a back suplex. She then tries another, a German Suplex, this time to try and finish Sarah off but it’s still not enough. Mia starts going at Sarah with a flurry of kicks again. Sarah reverses her into a pin but its not enough. They start going at each other again and Sarah is able to hoist Mia up into an avalanche suplex. Sarah attempts another pin but Mia stays in this. Sarah then hits Mia with double knees and Mia falls into the corner. Sarah then hits a fisherman’s suplex from the corner but it’s still not enough to put Mia away.
Sarah yells, “Off with your head” at Mia before trying to perform a knee take down but Mia bounces back and avoids it. Mia then hits Sarah with a kick again before telling her, “No, off with your head” and hits an Eat Defeat for the win.
In an interview after the match Mia says she’s not intimated by her second round opponent.
In another interview Sarah says she can not wait to lock up again.
Thoughts: I’m so happy to see Mia Yim in the tournament and I’m very proud of her and how far she’s come! The match was so intense and didn’t let up for a minute. Both women were hard hitting and on fire.
Mia was everything she’s always been, fierce and strong, and she bought her A game here. Sarah too brought everything she had to the match. She was tough and aggressive and it was a great showing from her since we’ve barely seen what she can truly do in NXT. The only thing that leaves me scratching my head is Sarah’s gimmick. I’m a bit on the fence with her Swamp, almost Bray Wyatt, backwoods character. It’s different and I’m open to it. I just don’t want to see it turned into a joke, which is sometimes what happens on the main roster.
Sarah’s got so much potential though so I’m eager to see what else she can bring to the NXT women’s division.
Moving forward I’m interested in seeing how Mia vs Shayna Baszler will play out. Shayna’s style so far isn’t really my favorite but I’m curious to see if Mia will bring some more wrestling out of her. Mia is so experienced, I’m confident she’ll be a great opponent to bounce off of.
My overall thoughts of the tournament this far is very positive. I’m excited to see so many fresh faces. I personally feel reinvigorated by how well the presentation is and how different the match ups are this far. It makes me pause because if WWE can put on a tournament this well, why couldn’t they create an all female show for an hour each week to highlight the women and develop them more? This is the ultimate goal and I’m frustrated to say the least that Triple H keeps flip flopping on the idea. We see things are dire on the main roster, mainly Raw and to a lesser extent SmackDown, and although NXT has been a bit less so, that brand is finally starting to come into its own now that Asuka will be leaving the spotlight. It’s very exciting times even if I feel a bit of trepidation for the women’s roster’s future. I can’t wait to see round two!
What did you think of this episode? What match ups are your favorites or least favorites so far? Who has unexpectedly blown you away? Sound off in the comments below.
