9 Lessons AEW Should Learn From Revolution 2021
7. Hard-Hitting Women's Championship Matches Are The Way To Go
Hikaru Shida's AEW Women's Championship reign has been up and down, to say the least, but her successful defence against Ryo Mizunami was a major thumbs up. It was a good old fashioned slobber knocker, filtered through a modern lens and all the better for it. Shida won, but it took every ounce of her desire to pick up the victory.
The AEW women's division has come in for plenty of stick over the last 18 months, but this is another major W for the company. In fact, a look at the best-received women's matches in the company's history will throw up a common theme; fewer histrionics, more stiffness. The division is clearly best served by Shida being a total bad-ass and her matches centring around her and her challenger beating the tar out of each other.
It will be interesting to see what direction AEW chooses to take next with Shida and the women. There is an inevitability about Britt Baker eventually winning the championship, but could it be a better idea to hold off on that for another cycle at least? There are a number of women with total legitimacy who could build on Shida's good work and take the division to the next level. Brazilian judokas that happen to hang out with vaguely cultish groups of friends, to be exact...