NXT Vs. AEW: Head To Head

9. Women’s Roster

Cody HHH
WWE

The AEW’s Women’s division is diverse, but is not comprised of true world-beaters.

Britt Baker is obviously very marketable, and sound in-ring, but isn’t a great worker. Awesome Kong and Aja Kong are crowd-pleasing spectacle attractions with a limited shelf life. Bea Priestley is good, and much-improved, but a notch below the best women on WWE’s main roster. Riho is very good, charming and sympathetic. Hikaru Shida is a real worker of much presence, with significant ability to construct a long, absorbing match. She is a very authentic seller; she worked around Aja Kong’s limitations wonderfully in Oz Academy last year. Yuka Sakazaki’s naivety adds to her incredible charm, but she isn’t an elite wrestler. Really, beyond Shida, the roster as a whole isn’t, creating an irony around the very name of the promotion.

Marginalised in recent years, the NXT Women’s roster remains excellent in complexion. Shayna Baszler is exceptional at projecting menace and legitimacy; Io Shirai’s character work and eclectic style puts her in the conversation for best women’s wrestler on the globe; Candice LaRae is a dazzling babyface, something NXT has belatedly recognised; Bianca Belair is raw but brimming with potential to showcase her elusive cool factor.

NXT 1 - 1 AEW

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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!