5 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (May 15 - Results & Review)

4. AEW Heats Up Build For One Of Its Biggest Women's Matches Ever

16 5 Mercedes Mone
AEW

A wrestler was put through the table with a powerbomb during a contract signing segment.

While this closing visual won't defend Jennifer Pepperman from the allegations that she is stealing a living, the angle was effective in building interest in the match. It was also promising, in that AEW appears to have grasped where the money is with Mercedes.

Willow put over the long legacy of pro wrestling on TBS and vowed to embody what that means for a long time to come. In what has to be a heel turn at this point, Mercedes effectively rubbished that, stressing that she personally was more important than pro wrestling's spiritual home. This wasn't anything special or iconic, but the crowd at long last is being shown how to react to all of this, and Willow Vs. Mercedes feels like one of the biggest women's matches in AEW history. The contract signing isn't inherently bad. It is mere set dressing designed to convey the idea that an upcoming match is more important than most.

After some well-performed and received dialogue (by wrestling's exposition-happy standards), Willow delivered her killer line: "I walked out of our match a champion. You didn't walk out at all."

This compelled Mercedes to slap the piss out of Willow, who responded as an ass-kicking babyface should by driving her though the table.

A bit WWE - but a bit of WWE isn't necessarily terrible by default.

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!