The Disturbing Truth Behind The AEW Women's Division

Anna Jay The Bunny
AEW

The superior joshi contingent was locked down in Japan, leaving the thin and mostly green pool of North American talent (and Hikaru Shida) to carry a division blasted for everything, match quality and parity, as a complex issue was attacked at a reductive or cruel level from all angles.

Signs of improvement glimmered, following a botch-infested summer of 2020, through the signing of Serena Deeb, a loose working agreement with the NWA, and the superb character work of Dr. Britt Baker, but amid these peaks, the whole thing scanned with a grim air of obligation. The feeling that AEW had to book a women's division for the purposes of optics was inescapable. Just look at something as ambitious, intricate and seminal as the Kenny Omega Vs. Hangman Page storyline. Nothing in the women's division has even approached it.

2021 offered more tentative signs of improvement, if not parity. Quietly, AEW developed a talented and not inconsiderable roster of talent. Thunder Rosa stole several Dark: Elevation tapings with her firebrand charisma and snug strike-based arsenal. Anna Jay and Tay Conti ended the year having worked a super and creative Street Fight opposite underrated midcard gatekeepers Penelope Ford and the Bunny. Jade Cargill was a revelation as a personality.

But over time, virtually every AEW crowd received the message.

CONT'D...(3 of 6)

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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!