We’re back for another edition of AEW Dynamite and a match that had AEW Women’s Champion, Hikaru Shida vs Diamante. Plus we got the rules for the upcoming Women’s Tag Team Tournament – The Deadly Draw and a surprise appearance.
Before we get to the action on Dynamite there were two matches on Dark to get to. The returning and genuinely unsettling Abadon defeated Skyler Moore with a version of the Widow’s Peak.
Also on Dark, Penelope Ford bested Kenzie Page in another impressive outing.
Now on to Dynamite and Shida vs. Diamante.
Before the match, we get a video package for Diamante, which we could’ve done with last week to add a little more interest in her match against Ivelisse. In the video, she says she has nothing to lose but everything to gain.
The match begins with both strikers testing one another’s toughness early on with heavy blows, chops and Shida’s tried and trusted knees. The action spills to the outside and Shida hits her running strike to Diamante with aplomb.
Back in the ring the two exchange fierce strikes but Shida gets the better. A suplex attempt goes array and she eats a top rope guillotine for her efforts.
Diamante unloads on Shida in the corner with a barrage of chops followed by a Stundog Millionaire fora two-count.
Diamante goes for an awkward-looking Destroyer but Shida rolls out and hits a HUGE Falcon Arrow followed by a brutal knee to the face for the victory.
This was an ok match at best. Shida looked great as always but Diamanté seemed gear or two behind the champ and suffered for it. The result was predictable and nothing happened in the match to convince the viewer otherwise. However, that being said the two fighters beat the crap out of each other, which is always good fun to watch.
After the match, it was announced that the Women’s Tag Team Tournament – The Deadly Draw kicks off Monday on Youtube. Yes, YouTube.
We then got a view of the trophy and a run down of the rules
Speaking of the tournament, Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero were backstage and made their pick to reveal her tag partner. That partner would be…Ariane! This was legitimately shocking. The last time we saw her as Cameron was way back in 2016 and is a decision that is way out of leftfield but one that is certainly interesting.
Lets get to the winners and losers.
Winner: Ariane
A winner for the shock value alone. This was a crazy return and completely unexpected. Hopefully, Ariane has been in serious training and improved greatly as she isn’t known for her in-ring prowess. But if AEW can keep up this level of shock and surprise for this tournament then we are in for some intriguing and exciting stuff.
Loser: Anna Jay
Anna Jay was revealed as a new member of the Dark Order but it completely flew under the radar as it was not shown on TV. It was only brought to attention when Tony Schiavone mentioned it briefly on commentary. Only time will tell how it works out for her but as an introduction as the first women in the faction, this was poor.
Final Thoughts
The announcement of the tag team tournament was met with a dubious reaction and rightly so. The company has a hard time showcasing one women’s match per week let alone the singles division. So where is a tournament featuring sixteen women going to fit? On YouTube that’s where. To say this is a disappointing debut for the tournament would be a drastic understatement. But judging by AEW’s poor booking of the women’s divsion from the very start one that was unfortunatley predictible. Expect to see very little of this tournament on Dynamite but words would happily be eaten if AEW proved this to be wrong. But not to end on a downer, the tournament is a way to get a lot of women featured on AEW programming and that isn’t a bad thing at all.
What did you make of the show, the surprise and the tournament debuting on YouTube? Let us know in the comments below. As always stay tuned to Diva Dirt for all of your AEW news and reviews.
