In terms of the work from the talents involved, Taya Valkyrie vs. Sky Blue was fine for what it needed to be; a solid win for Taya over an ever-popular babyface, which now pushes Valkyrie up the food chain and towards Britt Baker.
Why this bout finds itself on the Downs section, though, is due to the familiar problems in how AEW unfortunately often utilises its women's division.
On a two-hour broadcast, Valkyrie vs. Blue received eight minutes, with nearly half of that time spent in a picture-in-picture commercial. Sure, La Wera Wera was afforded a couple of minutes post-match to lay down her challenge to D.M.D., but this was yet another example of AEW presenting its female talent as an afterthought.
If the ladies of AEW only receive one match on a TV broadcast, with half of that bout taking place during an ad break, what sort of message does that sent to your audience about how important - or not - your women's division is?
AEW must do better in this regard, but this is nothing new. Regardless of the constant complaints about this issue, said complaints sadly seem to continue to fall on deaf ears.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
