11 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Double Or Nothing 2020
4. Beast Slayer
New York resident Nyla Rose was prevented from attending AEW’s March/April television tapings, delaying a match with Hikaru Shida that may have gone down months ago if not for the global health crisis. Shida had topped AEW’s women’s rankings for ages. Her title shot was more than earned and finally, at Double or Nothing, it happened.
And it was awesome.
Shida refused to bow to the 'Beast,' putting forth an awesome giant-killing showing by drawing fire, generating sympathy, and kicking ass. Hers was the best individual performance on the whole show. Take nothing away from Rose, who was excellent herself and worked with great intensity, but Shida was elite, believable, and genuinely fearsome at points, whether selling during the monster's control phases or mounting plunder-fuelled comebacks on the outside.
A match characterised by physicality saw Shida overcome Rose's mistreatment and abuse to put her away with multiple runnings knees following an avalanche Falcon Arrow. She had to cut the big bad 'Native Beast' down blow by blow, move by move, and both played the stipulation perfectly, working the bout like they genuinely hated one another.
More of this, please.