10 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen (27 July)

8. It Wasn't What It Could've Been, BUT...

... Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita was a satisfying bit of business nonetheless.

This AEW Women's World Title fight definitely had some stodge to it. There were several instances of Yamashita and Rosa seemingly losing their cohesion, as if they weren't quite able to get on the same page. This was particularly noticeable while they were attempting to manoeuvre each other into position on the ring apron early on. Regardless, Jim Ross' assertion that Yamashita and Rosa weren't working at a championship pace was baffling. This was not a slow match. At all. Though imperfect, it was worked at a good, competitive clip and an appropriate level of urgency, making JR's comments truly baffling.

Fast, flowing exchanges and multiple quickfire pinfall attempts started things off before the aforementioned messy apron exchange. Bombs dropped thereafter, with Yamashita coming off the apron and nailing her version of a Disaster Kick on the outside, using the side of the ring for propulsion. If nothing else, the crowd were appreciative of her and Thunder Rosa's efforts, which speaks to their craftswomanship in this second-to-last fight of the night.

Yamashita came close with a Northern Lights Suplex pin, then her signature head kick, jumpstarting the match's most energetic, compelling sequence. She was hoisted by her own petard in the end, though. A Thunder Rosa roundhouse Miyu wasn't expecting led to the Fire Thunder Driver, the pin, and a show of respect.

Both wrestlers are better than this match. They will work better bouts in the future (actually, they already did a few weeks ago), but while this didn't hit its lofty quality ceiling, Rosa vs. Yamashita II still satisfied.