Seven Days in Women’s Wrestling – April 28 to May 4, 2024
By Miss Peacockery on 7th May 2024
Good day to you all and welcome to another Seven Days in Women’s Wrestling. Thanks as always for joining in on this journey. This week, we started with the second half of a draft and ended with the people of France scerenading Bayley. Let’s take a look at the week!
Monday – WWE Monday Night Raw – Draft Night Two
Matches: 2 women / 4 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 12:00 min women / 35:30 men
Representation: 4 women / 14 men
Candice LeRae d. Maxxine Dupri (1:45)
Liv Morgan d. Nia Jax (10:30)
The big focus of Raw was, of course, the second night of the WWE Draft. Jade Cargill was the second overall pick, staying with SmackDown. Damage CTRL also went in the first round, moving all four women to Raw. In the second round, B-Fab and the rest of the Pride and Tiffany Stratton stayed on SmackDown. The third round saw Zelina Vega and the LWO move to Raw while Elektra Lopez and Legado stayed on SmackDown. Naomi stayed on SmackDown while Chelsea Green and Piper Niven moved to join her in the fourth round. Lyra Valkyria received the callup from NXT to Raw in the fifth round while Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell were drafted to SmackDown. The final round saw Scarlett and friends move to Raw and Blair Davenport move from NXT to SmackDown.
The supplemental draft, after the show, moved Tegan Nox to SmackDown. Otherwise, Raw chose to keep Ivy Nile, Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, and Natalya.
The show opened with Becky Lynch, Liv Morgan and Nia Jax talking to each other. On Nia’s final night on Raw, she said she would be taking Liv out. They had a good match but Liv won, which is the expected result. Tiffany Stratton and Naomi both appeared to brawl, setting up their Backlash match with Bayley. I’m excited to see what Nia does with the SmackDown crew. A lot of people are down on here here, and I’d expect a lot of those are judging Nia on 2018 Nia and not wanting to see the change. She’s been good since she came back.
Candice and Maxxine have a tiny little match, which is usually all the Raw overlords allow the two women, and Candice took a quick win before jetting off to SmackDown.
We get a little visit from Damage CTRL backstage, telling Becky they’re coming for her. That’s exciting!
While this year’s draft was a big dull with a lot of names just being announced as being on the same show, there were a few key moves for the women’s side. I think Raw worked fairly well within the draft constraints, but I’m excited to see where it goes after Backlash. C.
Tuesday – WWE NXT – Spring Breakin’ Week Two
Matches: 2 women / 3 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 17:30 min women / 29:00 men
Representation: 4 women / 12 men
Thea Hail d. Jacy Jayne (7:57)
NXT Underground: Lola Vice d. Natalya (11:51)
NXT’s Spring Breakin’ ends its show with the Underground match in the main event. In my opinion, which is a bit biased, it worked wonderfully. The match looks impressive which its special setting, and I think it was one of Nattie’s best matches in quite a while. Lola Vice was great as well and it’s only a matter of time before she’s doing this well on the main roster.
In-ring, NXT GM and Mayor Ava announced a big ladder match at Battleground to crown an inaugural Women’s North American Champion, the same way the men’s title started out. She said she will be holding a performance combine, with the twelve top performers getting into qualifying matches for the ladder match. This gets interruptions from Jaida Parker, Sol Ruca, Arianna Grace, the returning Michin and a sea of others. I think this is Jaida’s to win, but I think this will be a pretty big showcase for Michin as well.
The show started with Trick Williams celebrating his title win, which brings out Lash Legend for the horniest segment NXT has had this year (that’s a big competition). She had an envelope which she said could end his reign, but we’ll see that next week.
Arianna and her fashion trainee Gigi Dolin go out to dinner and again, Arianna is really good at all of this.
Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne have a big match, with Jacy getting a busted nose and bleeding everywhere. Fallon Henley turns on Thea after the match because Thea is the Rey Mysterio of NXT.
The show ends with Ava listening to the complaints of Roxanne Perez. Ava announces Roxanne’s title contender next week – Chelsea Green. I’m in.
Yes, as always NXT had a whirlwind of things going on with the women’s division. The show started with Lash Legend and ended with the Underground match and title match announcement, and a lot happened in between. B+.
Wednesday – AEW Dynamite
Matches: 1 women / 4 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 10:30 min women / 50:00 men
Representation: 2 women / 8 men
Serena Deeb d. Mariah May (10:31)
The Elite are running the show now, which largely means nothing for the women as they aren’t involved in the storyline. The women do get the main event match of the show at least, though the Elite segment actually ends the show. Serena gets the win over Mariah when Toni Storm throws in the towel, because throwing in the towel is big in wrestling this week. I enjoyed the match but man, do I need Mariah to win some things. We are setting up Serena as Toni’s next challenge though.
Skye Blue issues a challenge for the TBS Title on Rampage, which is in the third hour spot tonight thanks to pesky sports. Willow accepts and Stokely gets himself and Kris Statlander barred from ringside because Stokely.
I know this sounds like normal, but there wasn’t a lot there with the women on Dynamite. What they had worked, but the division is robust enough to do more. C.
Wednesday – AEW Rampage
Matches: 1 women / 2 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 11:00 min women / 19:30 men
Representation: 2 women / 4 men
TBS Title Manitoba Massacre Match: Willow Nightingale d. Skye Blue (10:40)
Continuing the story from Dynamite, we get the Willow and Skye match but we are going hardcore and falls count anywhere. Willow wins a wild brawl and it was a fantastic main event. Here’s my problem: Willow doesn’t need to keep doing these hardcore brawls. You can draw in a certain audience with Willow if you try – and that audience isn’t the same one that’s going to be wanting to watch people dive through barbed wire. There was also a little less of an impact because Jericho had a hardcore match earlier in the night. Glad to see Willow getting a shine though.
Deonna Purrazzo has some general complaints and threatens Thunder Rosa. Harley Cameron sets up a match with Mariah May on Dynamite that falls under #HotGirlGraps.
I can’t REALLY complain here. The women main evented and were given time. B.
Wednesday – NXT Speed
Matches: 0 women / 0 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 0:00 min women / 2:30 men
Representation: 0 women / 2 men
Yep, still the men. I’d like to think Candice is the women’s Speed champion though. F.
Thursday – ROH on HonorClub
Matches: 2 women / 4 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 6:30 min women / 22:00 men
Representation: 4 women / 18 men
Nyla Rose d. Camron Branae (1:24)
Queen Aminata d. Robyn Renegade (5:14)
You never know if you’re getting a long or short ROH (which is probably a problem), but this week we’re on the short side. The good news is that we are at Daily’s Place this week, which is a unique setting and something ROH desperately needs. The bad news is that the women’s champions are not present. Well, we’re equal with the men’s division on ROH now.
Nyla gets a big ol’ squash against Branae, the former Amari Miller of NXT. Aminata gets a pretty easy win over Robyn Renegade, which is typical as the Renegades took more losses than any other women in ROH last year. Aminata’s probably gearing up for Athena.
And that’s it. Meh. C-.
Thursday – TNA Impact
Matches: 2 women / 3 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 13:30 min women / 30:00 men
Representation: 4 women / 32 men
Alisha Edwards d. Dani Luna (3:30)
Knockouts World Title Match: Jordynne Grace d. Miyu Yamashita (9:55)
I’m here to talk about the women, but let’s talk about Mustafa Ali too. He’s on the cover of the current Pro Wrestling Illustrated. You know who is inside on page 70 (with Warhorse!)? Me. It’s available digitally and on newsstands where fine magazines like PWI are sold.
Both title scenes get some in-ring play this week, Alisha getting the pin over Dani. Their respective partners, Masha Slamovich and Jody Threat, are ringside as we go to TNA’s favorite trope for the Knockouts Tag Belts – a champion being pinned in a singles match. At least they’re on the show.
Miyu as a random challenger of the week was fine and I really enjoyed their match, which main evented. The women are on a main eventing roll this week. Like we were with Rhea and are with Athena, Jordynne is in a place where it’s hard to image who will actually be able to unseat her.
Steph De Lander and Kon run in after the match to attack Jordynne, with PCO running out to save her and setting up their tag match which is happening because uh reasons. Still, a good show for the women. B-.
Thursday – WWE Main Event
Matches: 1 women / 1 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 5:30 min women / 8:30 men
Representation: 2 women / 2 men
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter d. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven (5:14)
It’s a truly sad week on Main Event, as Chelsea and Piper have been drafted to SmackDown. That means that for the last time on Main Event, at least for now, we get Chelsea Green.
We’ve seen this particular match a few times before and the four deliver as they usually do. It’s worth your five minutes if you’re into women’s tag action. B as usual.
Friday – NXT Level Up
Matches: 1 women / 2 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 5:00 min women / 11:00 men
Representation: 2 women / 4 men
Kelani Jordan d. Kendal Grey (5:15)
The usual 2/1 men/women mix for Level Up. This is Kendal’s sixth match ever, so there is that. A serviceable match though and Kelani is a good hand to learn alongside. B.
Friday – TNA Under Siege / Countdown to Under Siege
Matches: 3 women / 9 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 21:00 min women / 94:00 men
Representation: 8 women / 26 men
Ash by Elegance d. Havok (5:22)
Knockouts World Tag Team Title: Alisha Edwards & Masha Slamovich d. Spitfire
Jordynne Grace & PCO d. Steph De Lander & Kon (10:58)
Didn’t we just have a TNA special? Here’s another one!
First, let’s talk about Ash vs Havok. It was ridiculous in the best way. Ash’s comedic skills were really shown off here against the supernatural.
The women’s tag belts have been hotshotting around this year, and this time it’s Masha getting them back with new partner Alisha as Killer Kelly is out. The mixed tag certainly happened as well. Not a bad show for the women. B.
Friday – TNA Xplosion
Matches: 1 women / 0 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 6:30 min women / 0a;00 men
Representation: 4 women / 0 men
Decay d. Alex Garcia & Viva Van (6:13)
This is a big one for me as a big fan of Viva Van. She’s doing some great stuff on the indies and holds numerous titles. Alex occasionally appears on AEW-branded programming, most recently taking a loss on ROH on HonorClub. This is for Decay to win though, and they do. Glad to see the women on this little show. A.
Friday – WWE Friday Night SmackDown
Matches: 1 women / 4 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 10:30 min women / 25:00 men
Representation: 8 women / 10 men
Bayley, Bianca Belair, Naomi & Jade Cargill d. Damage CTRL & Tiffany Stratton (10:16)
You’ve probably seen clips of this episode on social media, as the first of two shows where the fans in France made it seem like the biggest show ever. Really though, imagine coming across SmackDown on FOX for the first time and it being with THAT crowd. I’d be hooked forever.
There was another reason to hook you in with a great eight-woman tag match opening the show. Every woman got all the cheers and it felt like a main event just from the fans, however it was an actual good match as well.
We didn’t get anything else with the women, but we packed stories with both of tomorrow night’s Backlash matches into one big match and it felt BIG. I would’ve loved to see a second match, but this being the first thing these fans got to see and the way they reacted to it meant a lot. B.
Friday – WWE Speed
Matches: 0 women / 2 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 0:00 min women / 4:30 men
Representation: 0 women / 2 men
That’s right, we had two episodes of Speed this week. I am probably the biggest (and only) fan of Speed on this site, so that was good for me! It wasn’t good for the women, but we knew this would be the championship match. Triple H has said that we will be seeing some women on Speed in the future, and they’re pros at having to finish a match in under three minutes so they’ll be great. F.
Saturday – WWE Backlash France
Matches: 2 women / 3 men
Approx. In-Ring Time: 31:00 min women / 65:00 men
Representation: 7 women / 8 men
Women’s Title Triple Threat: Bayley d. Naomi and Tiffany Stratton (13:34)
Women’s Tag Team Titles: Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair d. Damage CTRL (17:22)
You’ve heard about this one too and the incredible reactions of the crowd. The women received half an hour of time and maximized it.
I especially enjoyed the triple threat. I think it was the best match all three women have had in some time, and the crowd elevated what was already a hot match.
The women’s tag title match was enjoyable for me too. It went too long and the referee confusion in the middle hurt, but it served its purpose. I think Jade did mostly well, and much like the Nia hate, I think people who can’t see the improvement since AEW don’t want to actually look for the improvement that is there.
Quality show and a solid A- on account of the women.
Final Tallies:
WWE – 6 matches, 62:00 approximate in-ring time, 15 different women had matches (Bayley, Stratton, Naomi, Cargill, Belair, Asuka and Sane all wrestled twice)
NXT – 3 matches, 22:30 in-ring time, 6 different women had matches
AEW – 2 matches, 21:00 in-ring time, 4 different women had matches
ROH – 2 matches, 6:30 in-ring time, 4 different women had matches
TNA – 6 matches, 41:00 in-ring time, 13 different women had matches (Grace, Edwards and Luna wrestled twice)