8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (6 September - Review)

6. A (Slightly) Better Night For The Women's Division

Kris Statlander Emi Sakura
AEW

Emi Sakura was beaten quickly and handily by Kris Statlander, which was both good and a shame. As match in and of itself, this was a cracking little urgent sprint that actually got a very tepid and hardly packed Indiana crowd into it - some doing, since Sakura very much lives down to a certain meme. AEW only cares about her, what, three times a year?

She attacked Stat with a crunching, pleasing viciousness through the ropes and into the stairs. She looked like a woman possessed for those first few minutes - the high stack pin looked like a smothering - after which Stat collected herself, splattered Emi's face across the canvas, and mopped her up with the Wednesday Night Fever. This was good, but come on. Much as the promotion over-relies on the 10 minute back-and-forth, AEW could do with elevating Emi's stock for the betterment of the women's scene.

Within what remains a tentative and inexperienced division underneath the top acts, a veteran warden whose work looks as vile and as snug as Emi's could be such an asset.

Advertisement
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!