Heartbreaker
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Post by Heartbreaker on Nov 14, 2021 0:40:17 GMT -5
In the Full Gear thread a bit of a conversation got going about the women’s division during the World Women’s title match. Thought I would make a thread to discuss the general problems with the women’s division in AEW. Now, the actual in-ring wrestling itself is fine but there’s many other factors going into why the division is so lackluster, especially compared to WWE and Impact.
First let’s start off with the champion herself: Britt Baker. There is nobody else on her level. Honestly, Britt comes across as a female Roman Reigns: barely gets their comeuppance, is accompanied by a crew and it’s gotten to the point that there isn’t anyone built up well enough to take them down. I always forget that Thunder Rosa beat her in the Lights Out match because Britt always gets the attention.
Then that leads into the talent AEW has signed. The talent is there but again, how many are made to feel on the level of Britt? You can do so much with the women you already have signed, instead most are thrown onto Dark when they should be appearing on Dynamite and Rampage more… speaking of. Hikaru Shida. She went from being the longest reigning women’s champion to disappearing for months. Why wouldn’t she be on TV showing her frustrations with losing and earning her way back to contendership?
There’s word going around that it’s a “TNT issue” or Tony Khan doesn’t care much for women’s wrestling. Whatever the truth is, it’s not good enough. WWE gives so much attention to their division. Charlotte might be really overpushed at least you’ve also got Becky, Sasha, Bayley, Bianca, who do feel on her level, hell even above her in terms of overness. Every PPV gets two women’s matches. Impact gives so much attention to their division, going way back to 2007. AEW is a two year old company so it’s not like you can keep insisting “it’ll get better soon.”
As a wrestling fan, it’s annoying. But as a woman? It’s extremely frustrating. Not only does AEW need to do better for their women, but they need to focus on bringing more female viewers. I could have sworn I saw only one or two women in that Full Gear crowd.
There's probably a bunch of typos/nonsense in my rant. Give me a break, I'm tired from the show.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Nov 14, 2021 0:42:16 GMT -5
The division has a ton of problems, though I think the problems with tonight's match were a combination of 1), the crowd was exhausted and 2), no one remotely believed Britt was losing. The crowd was red hot for the dark match and all.
Though yeah, Britt is becoming a serious problem for the division. She's damn good but it's very hard to care the slightest bit about her when she is the only person who is ever presented as mattering and we all know who she's losing the title to, we're just dragging our feet on just getting it over with.
And even when she does lose the belt she'll still probably be the only woman who matters because she certainly was during Shida's reign.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Nov 14, 2021 0:42:52 GMT -5
Problem keeps getting pushed back
First they needed to sign more women, then they were going to get featured more on Rampage and just "wait and see" and that game has been played for a long time with minimal results
The biggest one to benefit has been Britt and no one is close to her level and it has been that way for a long time even when Shida was champ
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2021 0:43:40 GMT -5
What I don’t get is that you have SO many talented women. Britt doesn’t need the title for a series of matches with Thunder Rosa. At some point you need to build the entire division and not have it be a one woman show.
That is on booking. No one believed Conti would win tonight, Statlander at the last ppv and that is a real shame because there is so much talent & they don’t get nearly enough time in general as a division. Cut out some tag matches and you’re literally good to go.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Nov 14, 2021 0:43:59 GMT -5
WWE gives so much attention to their division.. Reading your post again I do have to dispute this bit given they crammed an entire goddamn tournament into 20 minutes and turned the best women's division in the country to SEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEX.
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Celgress
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Post by Celgress on Nov 14, 2021 0:46:31 GMT -5
This feud was thrown together at the last minute. I'm going to say something controversial (maybe) but I think the match happened so AEW would not take heat for a lack of women's matches on the main card. I hope I'm wrong.
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Kalmia
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Post by Kalmia on Nov 14, 2021 0:46:54 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree. I think the inevitable Britt vs. Thunder Rosa feud and match will be an improvement, but the long-term problems will still persist. Why wasn't a rubber match between Shida and Deeb on the PPV? They're 1-1, their story isn't finished, and their previous two matches have been amazing. I'd have much preferred that over the Cody tag match. I wish wrestlers like Deeb, Shida, Statlander, Riho, Soho etc were featured more frequently on TV. They're all over and can go.
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chrom
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Post by chrom on Nov 14, 2021 0:47:38 GMT -5
Ryo Mizunami and Emi Sakura have yet to be on TV since coming stateside.
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Post by Dave the Dave on Nov 14, 2021 0:48:20 GMT -5
When is Ruby v Statlander? That could’ve been tonight. That would’ve showcased two great talents.
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Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby
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Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Nov 14, 2021 0:48:31 GMT -5
The crowd reaction to Conti/Britt said it all. Those two put on a hell of a match, they did just about everything right, but Tay was just done dirty by this build - and Britt has, to my perception, lost a lot of steam because of her opponents getting lackluster treatment.
Hell, even with Thunder Rosa looming as the presumed woman to beat Britt for the title - Rosa has had so little to do. She's just kind of been backing up other faces lately, with no real motivation of her own. Aside from crowd reactions, Rosa does not feel like the megastar she felt like when she was an outsider - losing the outsider status did a lot to dent her aura, maybe because she's now "just" an AEW wrestler instead of someone whose every appearance felt like a big deal.
Really feels like AEW is banking on the wrestling being good enough to carry it, but unless the wrestlers are actually presented credibly, it doesn't cut it.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Nov 14, 2021 0:48:36 GMT -5
Also, I think having more incompetent minions and a clear endgame for her title reign are the only differences between Britt and Roman. Otherwise she's very much the Tribal Teeth.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2021 0:49:08 GMT -5
Also not to complain about Britt Baker specifically cause this is a giant problem with AEW refs in general but you’re not doing her or the division any favors by having two people who help her win constantly & with no real comeuppance. In fact, since fans will still cheer baker, you’re making these challengers look like chumps and a full tier below. It’s really irritating.
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Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Nov 14, 2021 0:49:13 GMT -5
I still think the AEW Women's Division has made great strides over the last year and change. They still need to fix things up and get things more where they need to be... but finally showcasing a bunch of girls in the TBS Tourney is a big step... having some undercard feuds happen helps a lot. Britt's pretty high up on the top and I get how that's become tiresome... but she's been putting out amazing character and ring work... can't say she hasn't earned it. I hope they begin to push more girls to that level because with Britt they've proven they can.
And I wholeheartedly disagree that WWE is doing better. The Queen's Crown was a spit in the face... and what they've done to the NXT Women's Division is downright insulting.
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Heartbreaker
King Koopa
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RIP Punk's media scrum, Page 54, Muffins, Biting People Bad™ (2022 - 2022)
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Post by Heartbreaker on Nov 14, 2021 0:49:47 GMT -5
WWE gives so much attention to their division.. Reading your post again I do have to dispute this bit given they crammed an entire goddamn tournament into 20 minutes and turned the best women's division in the country to SEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEX. Yeah, the future of the WWE women's division is looking pretty grim right now... I saw this happening when it was announced f***ing Johnny Ace was back. *sigh* Another point: with the way WWE's women's division is heading, you'd think AEW would use this opportunity to book their division stronger and be an alternative.
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Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby
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Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Nov 14, 2021 0:50:09 GMT -5
This feud was thrown together at the last minute. I'm going to say something controversial (maybe) but I think the match happened so AEW would not take heat for a lack of women's matches on the main card. I hope I'm wrong. It very much felt like a mandatory Women's Title match, and/or a PPV payday for Tay. Neither of which would be as big of an issue if it weren't the sole women's match on the show.
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Post by Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite on Nov 14, 2021 0:50:17 GMT -5
They need to actually push a FACE woman to that level
As mentioned they've done a great job establishing Britt and to a lesser extent Jade Cargill has been pushed as a big deal, but A: she's also a heel and B: she's green as hell so she can't do really long matches
They seemed to be on to something with Ruby Soho, and I'm looking forward to this TBS title, but them being dead set on Thunder Rosa versus Britt next year has caused the rest of the division to stall
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Post by Cyno on Nov 14, 2021 0:50:58 GMT -5
It's better than it used to be, but it's still got a long way to go. The only reason it seems even better than it really should is because WWE's divisions have nosedived into the shitter.
Impact is still the gold standard as far as unisex promotions go. AEW has a long, long way to go before they get on that level, if they ever do.
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Post by Instant Classic on Nov 14, 2021 0:57:52 GMT -5
While I like Tay, she was definitely not a viable contender for the title at a PPV. AEW may have a good number of women, but they’re all background characters to the Brit Baker show. The division is weak.
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Post by Mayonnaise on Nov 14, 2021 0:59:36 GMT -5
I think the TBS Tournament has thrown a big into thing right now but yeah, it weak to put it nicely. I'd like to think the pandemic followed by RoH and MLW starting their divisions slowed it's growth but even that seems a lame excuse.
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kidkamikaze10
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Post by kidkamikaze10 on Nov 14, 2021 1:00:18 GMT -5
Yeah, there is a clear structural problem with the division. The problem is two fold: the booking is pretty much built on one story: Britt eventually facing Rosa. The rest, except Shida/Deeb, feels like filler. And in ring, they need more experience and more edge.
The whole division cannot be a bunch of Dustin Rhodes’ projects. They need more women who don’t need mentoring. And no, they aren’t all in Impact. They just seem to be way more willing to bring ‘em in.
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