AEW Women's Division Discussion

[AwamoriRock]

Feb 3, 2021 22:12:01 GMT -5 markymark said:

I wonder we will see Stardom talent on Dynamite by mid 2021........

Would like to see Maki make it to the semifinals, sucks that Miyu isnt in the tourney

Even before Bushiroad took over, Stardom has been very insular by nature. They're probably harder to work with than NJPW.

[markymark]

I think TayJay will be out in the first round.

Prediction for the US side
Serena vs Riho: Riho
Britt vs Tay: Britt
Rosa vs Nyla: Rosa
Anna vs Leyla: Leyla

2nd round:
Britt beats Riho
Rosa beats Leyla

Rosa vs Britt II

[markymark]

Hope she makes it to the semifinals at least. 

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 3, 2021 22:43:33 GMT -5 markymark said:

Hope she makes it to the semifinals at least. 

Maki's a star in the making if they let her

[toodarkmark]

Feb 3, 2021 22:42:07 GMT -5 markymark said:

I think TayJay will be out in the first round.

Prediction for the US side
Serena vs Riho: Riho
Britt vs Tay: Britt
Rosa vs Nyla: Rosa
Anna vs Leyla: Leyla

2nd round:
Britt beats Riho
Rosa beats Leyla

Rosa vs Britt II

It's not my favorite idea, but I think Riho makes it to the finals. I think Rosa and Britt maybe cost each other the win, I could see the finale on the American side being Tay Conti versus Riho, or Riho versus Nyla for a re-match. But I'm ok with anything.

[markymark]

Feb 3, 2021 22:53:33 GMT -5 toodarkmark said:

Feb 3, 2021 22:42:07 GMT -5 markymark said:

I think TayJay will be out in the first round.

Prediction for the US side
Serena vs Riho: Riho
Britt vs Tay: Britt
Rosa vs Nyla: Rosa
Anna vs Leyla: Leyla

2nd round:
Britt beats Riho
Rosa beats Leyla

Rosa vs Britt II

It's not my favorite idea, but I think Riho makes it to the finals. I think Rosa and Britt maybe cost each other the win, I could see the finale on the American side being Tay Conti versus Riho, or Riho versus Nyla for a re-match. But I'm ok with anything.

TKs tournaments have been mostly straight forwards and simple, hence im going with Britt vs Rosa II for the semis.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Thinking more about the tournament line-up...it's actually really notable that the lineup is stacked in such a way that anyone who wins is going to be getting some big, big wins on the way.

Pre-lineup, my favorite was Tay Conti, because she's really put it all together, has potential as the top babyface with the belt, and wasn't really in line for a title shot. The last part has actually changed with the ranking reset, which might mean less reason for her to win.

Riho was my pick for a shot at Shida just on the grounds that she had beaten Shida in their one previous AEW one-on-one match. But, throwing her against Deeb first thing instead makes me think that they're going to give Riho one big win to set up an NWA title match, then knocking her out of the second round. But the logic of giving her the title shot still holds, she is probably the biggest match for Shida right now barring a killer build for someone else (that can happen via the tourney).

Leyla Hirsch, in the absence of someone like KiLynn King or Ashley Vox, seems like the ideal pick for a Cinderella story - she's been given big matches on Dynamite, always losing but never losing clean. She also low-key has that Rey Mysterio or KENTA quality of winning people over just by wrestling in a cool, distinctive way that's easy to cheer for. But, all of that (except for never losing clean) is also true of Tay Conti, so there is some conceptual overlap between the two right now. Would make for a fantastic story if Hirsch/Conti were the US bracket final...anyway, Hirsch is the most underdog of underdogs in this tournament, which might mean that she takes a necessary loss early, or might mean that it is designed specifically to put her over.

Deeb, Britt, Nyla, and Rosa all feel like they gain the least from winning. Britt has been on a roll and can always pick up three or four dirty wins to sail to a title shot. Rosa is already the face of the division if she signs her name on the dotted line. (Also, a Britt/Rosa gimmick match blow-off now feels inevitable.) Deeb is either definitely not challenging Shida, or easily able to goad Shida into a match for the NWA title. Nyla has already had two matches with Shida and badly needs to do anything else, so she and Vickie probably get the most mileage out of a loss in the first or second round to kickstart a feud. Still, any one of them would be a really good overdog for the US bracket final, if Riho doesn't have that spot.

Anna Jay is is probably the wrestler with the least to gain in the entire tournament, win or loss. I figure she gets knocked out of the first round, unless the second round pits her against Tay. Anna likely runs into an impassable wall like Nyla Rose or a taking-the-tournament Leyla Hirsch in her first match. Her role as the resident no-frills badass of a popular face stable will serve her well, probably making her the babyface most able to take some key losses at the moment.

...yeah, even though I only see three out of the eight participants as high-tier quality winners, the other five all have something interesting to do regardless of where they end up. This is already a solid tournament just from a match quality prospect and a "how exactly does this happen?" prospect.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Excalibur said the Tourney will start in February, but we still don't have a date just yet, might not be this week yet.

[chrom]

Just hope that it's not being relegated to Youtube

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 3, 2021 23:07:20 GMT -5 chrom said:

Just hope that it's not being relegated to Youtube

It's not completely, though the Japan side might be an online special, it hasn't been confirmed yet

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2021 23:07:20 GMT -5 chrom said:

Just hope that it's not being relegated to Youtube

And let's hope it isn't as worthless as the tag tournament either. It didn't lead to Womens Tag Titles and they haven't done jack shit with Ivalese and Diamanté since they won.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

The lineup suggests that the Youtube portion will be the Japan bracket. I am generally cynical about their women's booking, but the lineup on the US side feels like they wanted to load this up with Dynamite matches - I'd be more worried about some US matches getting Youtubed if the tournament included any of the Nightmare Factory or Mission Pro crew.

[chrom]

Feb 3, 2021 23:12:01 GMT -5 @therealoblivion said:

Feb 3, 2021 23:07:20 GMT -5 chrom said:

Just hope that it's not being relegated to Youtube

And let's hope it isn't as worthless as the tag tournament either. It didn't lead to Womens Tag Titles and they haven't done jack shit with Ivalese and Diamanté since they won.

Yeah, La Sicuria's been aimless since winning it and neither are in the tournament. I'm just guessing its leading to them going to Impact to challenge Fire N Flava.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

Feb 3, 2021 23:06:21 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Excalibur said the Tourney will start in February, but we still don't have a date just yet, might not be this week yet.

I'm willing to bet it starts next week given they haven't announced some of the card. 

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Maki Itoh comes in and is friends with Archer, Jake is just bemused by the tiny rude music girl.

[toodarkmark]

Feb 3, 2021 23:00:18 GMT -5 markymark said:

Feb 3, 2021 22:53:33 GMT -5 toodarkmark said:

It's not my favorite idea, but I think Riho makes it to the finals. I think Rosa and Britt maybe cost each other the win, I could see the finale on the American side being Tay Conti versus Riho, or Riho versus Nyla for a re-match. But I'm ok with anything.

TKs tournaments have been mostly straight forwards and simple, hence im going with Britt vs Rosa II for the semis.

Heyy just read it and when I said "It's not my favorite idea", I meant Riho in the final, not your pick for Britt-Rosa II which I think is a great idea. Hope you didn't think that's what I meant Marky Mark.

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2021 23:14:14 GMT -5 chrom said:

Feb 3, 2021 23:12:01 GMT -5 @therealoblivion said:

And let's hope it isn't as worthless as the tag tournament either. It didn't lead to Womens Tag Titles and they haven't done jack shit with Ivalese and Diamanté since they won.

Yeah, La Sicuria's been aimless since winning it and neither are in the tournament. I'm just guessing its leading to them going to Impact to challenge Fire N Flava.

That's a neat idea actually to have an AEW women's tag team go after the Knockouts tag belts, with their reasoning being that AEW has no Women's Tag Titles.

[chrom]

Feb 3, 2021 23:21:19 GMT -5 @therealoblivion said:

Feb 3, 2021 23:14:14 GMT -5 chrom said:

Yeah, La Sicuria's been aimless since winning it and neither are in the tournament. I'm just guessing its leading to them going to Impact to challenge Fire N Flava.

That's a neat idea actually to have an AEW women's tag team go after the Knockouts tag belts, with their reasoning being that AEW has no Women's Tag Titles.

Apparently they got called out last week on Impact to come challenge them.

[AwamoriRock]

So just a rundown (some is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt) regarding the joshi side. I can give match recommendations if anybody wants to check them out, but thought it'd be simpler just to do a blurb on them in case people are unfamiliar with some:

Aja Kong--obviously a living legend. She's not all that mobile anymore, but still puts on good matches that work around it. An interesting wrinkle is that nobody really pins her unless they're an ace or top star, I can only really remember her being pinned a few times in the last few years, so I'd imagine if she gets eliminated it'd be a rollup kinda thing. She had a pretty violent match with Shida before she moved to the US, and has history with everyone in the tournament.

Mei Suruga--Emi Sakura's prized pupil and the current star of Gatoh Move. She's a very crafty and speedy wrestler with a bratty personality. If she wrestles Emi in the tournament expect a teacher/student clinic.

Ryo Mizunami-she wrestled once in AEW but it was a tag match where she couldn't show off a lot. She's a very hard hitting power wrestler and very charismatic. Sadly I don't think Tony will pony up for the rights to her Pitbull entrance theme. She has a lot of history with Shida.

Maki Itoh--even if you don't follow TJPW or DDT you likely have heard her name due to her cult following and Twitter presence. You shouldn't expect some workrate beast (although I think she had the best match of her career vs Miyu Yamashita recently), the hype around Itoh is largely due to her impeccable character work and charisma. She's an excellent storyteller in the ring.

VENY--I can't sing her praises enough, she's world class at a very young age. She is Japan's first openly transgender wrestler, and while a joshi star, regularly wrestles men as well. She goes by the name ASUKA in Japan but adopted the name VENY for international appearances to avoid confusion with, well, the other Asuka. She can really do it all, high flying, power, technician stuff, etc. I expect WWE/AEW/Stardom to court her in the next few years.

Rin Kadokura--Rin is somewhat of the secondary ace of Marvelous, where Nyla Rose wrestled for a while. Her nickname "cool needlefish" is one of the funniest in wrestling (fans apparently said she resembles a needlefish). She's a very good all around wrestler with a bit of a "chip on her shoulder" demeanor.

Yuka Sakazaki--don't need to say much as she's been featured a bit in AEW, but an interesting note is that she recently lost her TJPW championship. While she obviously has TJPW commitments as a big star there, it's possible her booking is more flexible in terms of match results.

Emi Sakura--Again I don't think I need to go into much about her, but she's an awesome veteran responsible for the training of many stars. I think she is likely part of the organizers for the tournament. She has done a lot of promotion for AEW in Japan, organizing live watches for Dynamite etc.

[AwamoriRock]

A Japanese outlet (https://proresu-today.com/archives/137822) says the tournament is YouTube and that the Japanese side will take place without fans.