5 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Rampage (Feb 4)
Downs...
3. That DQ Finish
Eesh.
Look, disqualification finishes are fine so long as AEW don't fall into WWE's trap and lazily book them willy nilly. So, you might be wondering, why is Mercedes Martinez hitting Thunder Rosa with a lead pipe in the 'Downs' section? Well, here's an explanation.
Mercedes and Rosa were having a decent match up until that point, and the DQ felt rather forced. If Thunder is gonna be the next AEW Women's Title challenger for Britt Baker, then it's important that she can run through the rest of the pack too - she didn't do that here.
Britt went on to say that Martinez definitely needs to take Rosa out "next time". There didn't need to be a next time. AEW could've given the babyface a win, then had Mercedes blast her with the pipe post-match. They would've achieved the same sort of result without having to waste a DQ.