50 Worst Wrestling Moments Of The 2020s (So Far)

22. Saraya’s Start To Life In AEW

AEW Full Gear 2022 Saraya
AEW

Saraya’s debut was nice for her, and that was the peak.

Either AEW genuinely signed her sight unseen, and she wasn’t medically cleared until after she put the ink on her contract, or AEW didn’t know what to do with her.

In a dismal exercise in optics, she was installed as somebody who was there to kickstart a “Revolution”. After all, she’d done it before. AEW always said it would draw inspiration from wrestling the way it used to be: Mid-South, Jim Crockett Promotions, that time Stephanie McMahon wanted to get herself over by pretending to care about women’s wrestling…

On the September 28, 2022 Dynamite, Saraya cut a promo. Acting as some sort of authority figure, she, flanked by the women’s roster, booked an impromptu Lumberjack match stipulation for Toni Storm Vs. Serena Deeb. Saraya had words for Britt Baker, too. She said “Well Dr., your name rhymes with “s***”. Chris Jericho wept as he took an eraser to his promo notebook.

This line was awful, Saraya was horrendous, and this BritWres Stephanie McMahon act was depressing. Saraya patronised Toni Storm (!) as the women being shown briefly at ringside was framed as some profound shift in parity for the division. In one catastrophic segment, AEW admitted its women’s division was neglected, and promised to save it by presenting Saraya as Teddy Long.

On the subject of the Knight clan…

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Contributor
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!