The Disturbing Truth Behind The AEW Women's Division

Kris Statlander
AEW

The message: women's wrestling just wasn't as important as the men's. Shunted to the penultimate quarter hour and unable to get out because fan interest just wasn't there - which trapped them in the penultimate quarter hour - the fans started to react with silence from a default position. Even excellent matches, like the gnarly Riho Vs. Jamie Hayter battle of December 8, 2021, generated a tepid reaction before the Long Island crowd got worked into it.

This is not the fault of the fans; they've been conditioned to think of women's wrestling as an afterthought for too long. If you go back and watch the halcyon February 2020 period, the fans are extremely high on the Britt Baker heel act, and Riho Vs. Nyla Rose II was legitimately one of the hottest TV matches in company history up to that point. Fast-forward to this week, two very talented wrestlers in Serena Deeb and Hikaru Shida worked a nasty plunder brawl in the hardcore city of USA, Philadelphia, and few people in the building cared. Why?

Because the feeling really seems to be mutual.

Worryingly, we've now reached a point at which AEW has exhausted every excuse. The women's division is actually loaded with talent. Jamie Hayter is as good at bumping as she is making her offence look like death; Kris Statlander is jaw-dropping when she is afforded the opportunity to unleash her power game; Britt Baker almost always generates a loud reaction; Toni Storm is one of the best women's wrestlers in North America; Thunder Rosa is a killer when she gets going; Nyla Rose has immense babyface potential; Serena Deeb's work looks positively gruesome and she need not rely on stiff strikes nor head drops to make fans wince (when her matches are effectively promoted).

The cynical take is that AEW just don't care, and...it's hard to counter that argument.

CONT'D...(4 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!