7 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite: St. Patrick's Day Slam (Mar 17)

1. Blood & Thunder

To begin by answering the most pressing question: yes, Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa lived up to the hype.

This was nothing less than the best women's match in AEW's short history. Fitting, given that it was the company's first women's main event, but as big and important a moment as this unquestionably is, that didn't become the story. This was all about the blood feud, not the occasion.

Going with the unsanctioned Lights Out stipulation for a feud built around Rosa and Baker's inability to stop ripping into each other was the only way to go. They killed it not only with blood, plunder, and thunder, but by taking their tangible mutual hatred to the next level. Those tables, thumbtacks, chairs, and ladders would have meant nothing if Baker and Rosa didn't make it feel like a war. They did, though: each forearm was laced with such venom and hatred that it hit twice as hard.

Buzzing with "I want to KILL you!" energy, the match saw Rosa busted open first - but Baker busted open worse. Her skin split after a ladder bump, Britt bled so much that her hair was matted to her claret-coated skull by the end. A stark visual in a match full of them, including the bout-ending Fire Thunder Driver that sent Baker off the apron, through a table, and to her demise.

Rosa emerged from the broken debris in as much pain as her opponent. A superlative performance from both her and her opponent, capping perhaps the best women's feud AEW has put together since launching.