AEW Dynamite – Bash at the Beach took place from Miami, FL and in a change to the advertised match, Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida would now face Brandi Rhodes and Mel of the Nightmare Collective.
There was a lot riding on this match, as the company needed to respond in the best way possible after last week’s poorly executed and heavily criticised angle involving the Nightmare Collective and the AEW Women’s Championship.
Can the division rebound? Who were the winners and losers? Let’s find out
Brandi Rhodes, Mel and “Japanese Deathmatch Legend” Luther made their way to the ring drawing little response from the crowd. Statlander entered the ring and instantly got in Brandi’s face.
As Shida made her way to the ring “Japanese Deathmatch Legend” Luther would get in her way receiving a kendo stick strike for his efforts, while Mel and Brandi feebly attacked Statlander.
The match kicked off to a lacklustre start as the strikes were weak, the fighting disjointed and the action uncoordinated. Unfortunately, this would be the theme throughout the match.
Brandi was particularly bad in this match but to give her the benefit of the doubt, she is the most inexperienced wrestler and had to step in last minute to replace Awesome Kong. This was Mel’s first AEW match and she performed ok as the dominator but something just wasn’t quite right. Even stranger was that the ever-dependable and consistently good, Shida also looked poor throughout. Nothing landed in the form of serious offence making the match feel awkward, tepid and rather clumsy.
The crowd tried their best to get behind the match and Shida but the action in the ring and the fact that the Nightmare Collective are just not working and not over what-so-ever seemed to hinder any momentum the fans attempted to muster.
Business picked up somewhat when Statlander made the hot tag and got some semblance of revenge against Brandi with a head kick and Michinoku Driver but Mel would interfere. After more underwhelming action Statlander would counter Mel’s offence and hit the Big Bang Theory for the win.
From start to finish everything about this match seemed off, which is a shame considering the talent involved, especially Shida and Statlander. This was not the match we wanted or AEW needed to steady the ship at all.
Winner: Kris Statlander
Statlander continues to impress despite the angle she has been placed in. However, the position has put her at the forefront of the AEW women’s division and that is at least one positive to come out this mess. Hopefully, the victory will have put an end to all the shenanigans and Statlander can get to back to challenging for the title.
Losers: The Nightmare Collective
The stable just hasn’t worked from the beginning and if it and their weird angle continue to be the main thread throughout the division I fear that all involved will find it extremely hard to recover. It needs to quietly go away and never be mentioned again and that’s being nice about it.
Final Thoughts
I’m trying to stay positive, I really am and give AEW the chance to get their footing and start making some legitimate headway. I want the AEW women’s division to excel and thrive but under this management and in this direction I don’t see a bright future at all.
What did you make of the action and do you think we will ever see the end of the Nightmare Collective? Let us know below.
