AEW Dark Women's Matches- February 8, 2022 (Episode 129)

 By Mark Rodriguez

This time we got 3 matches to check out. We get to see Mercedes Martinez into in-ring action. We recently found out she was brought in by Britt Baker to take out Thunder Rosa, but even so, Mercedes isn't someone to boss around. Let's check this out.

Match 1- Kelsey Heather vs Julia Hart

The show starts off with Julia Hart walking to the ring, accompanied by the Varsity Blondes. As the match starts, both women attempt to grapple and see who could grab the other in an arm lock first. Both women run against the ropes and Kelsey slams Julia down with a hip-toss. Kelsey grabs her legs but gets kicked so hard she falls back. She gets up and runs towards Julia and gets tripped into the ropes. With Kelsey hanging off the ropes, Julia sits on her shoulders until the ref breaks it up.

Julia grabs Kelsey and slams her on the back of her head. As Kelsey gets up, she smacks Julia across the face. Kelsey starts getting into Julia's face angry that she yanked her hair. Julia isn't here to talk though, as she pushes her opponent against the ringpost and starts throwing punches. After the ref pulls her off, Kelsey runs at Julia, but the cheerleader picks her up and slams her. Julia then does a standing backflip, landing across Kelsey's back.

Julia grabs Kelsey and swings her into the turnbuckle. She then does a forward flip and hits her with a lariat. With Kelsey rocked, Julia runs against another turnbuckle and bounces back with a running uppercut. Julia grabs Kelsey and does a Running Bulldog as she lands with a split. Julie gets Kelsey into a headscissors submission hold and makes her tap out. Julia Hart scored the win. Her teammates though, are left a bit confused due to Julia's newfound aggressiveness in the ring.

Match 2- Queen Aminata vs Mercedes Martinez

Man, I feel bad for Queen Aminata already... As both women face each other, they try to go for a Test of Strength, but Mercedes cuts that short by stomping on her foot and smacking her across the face. With Aminata up against the ropes, Mercedes delivers a deadly chop that sends her on her knees in pain. Mercedes smacks her again and flings her towards the turnbuckle. As Mercedes runs at her, Aminata leaps behind her and gets to clock her in the face.

Mercedes smacks Aminata in the face and dares her to hit her. Aminata runs at her but Mercedes sidesteps her and shoves her towards the ropes. Aminata jumps off the ringpost but Mercedes grabs her and slams her with a half-and-half backthrow. Mercedes points and runs at her, kicking her in the face and knocking Aminata flat on her back. Mercedes tells Aminata that this is 'her ring' and grabs while she starts punching the air right out of her chest. After several punches, Aminata falls back.

Mercedes proceeds to press her boot upon Aminata's neck until the ref breaks it up. As Queen Aminata tries to regain her bearings, Mercedes grabs her and tells her the audience isn't there to see her. This lights a fire in Aminata as she starts throwing punches that double Mercedes over. She then hits her with a jawbreaker. As Mercedes runs towards her for some payback, Aminata avoids her and leaps onto her back, pulling her down for a pin, but her opponent rolls out of it. Aminata runs at her but Mercedes grabs her and slams her with a spinebuster. Mercedes gets on top of Aminata and starts throwing shots to the face.

As Mercedes grabs her and forces her back on her feet, Aminata socks her in the face. Mercedes punches back, knocking the Queen down on one knee. As Mercedes tries the running boot again, this time Aminata avoids it and rocks Mercedes with a boot to the face followed by a killer headbutt. As both women are staggering now, Aminata runs towards her opponent, but Mercedes picks her up and slams her with a Fisherman Buster. Mercedes gets the pin and scores the win. 

Match 3- Kaci Lennox vs Anna Jay

Both women try to grapple and overpower each other until Anna Jay grabs Kaci in a headlock takedown. Kaci wraps her legs around with a headscissors until Anna Jay kicks out. As both women get up, Anna Jay grabs her in another headlock but gets shoved towards the ropes. Anna Jay bounces and knocks her down with a shoulder tackle. As Anna Jay runs across the ring, Kaci grabs her but Anna Jay reverses it into a hip-toss. As both women run towards each other, Anna Jay grabs Kaci's arm and kicks out her knee. As Kaci falls to her knees, the female member of the Dark Order kicks her in the face.

Kaci gets up near the turnbuckle and Anna Jay runs towards her. Kaci manages to swing her opponent into the turnbuckle and let loose with punches until the ref breaks it up. Kaci yells to the crowd who started booing her and Anna Jay grabs her and swings her towards the ringpost this time. Anna Jay runs towards her but Kaci is ready and makes her eat her boot. With Anna Jay temporarily rocked, Kaci climbs the ropes. Anna Jay stops whatever she was planning by grabbing her leg and yanking her down, making Kaci fall hard on the mat.

With Kaci getting up, Anna Jay runs into her with her elbow and then smacks her in the face. Kaci is then flung into the other ringpost on the other side of the ring, and Anna Jay runs into her with a back-kick. Anna Jay grabs her arm and kicks her in the back of the head. Anna Jay then grabs her in the QueenSlayer submission hold and Kaci is quick to tap out. Anna Jay won the match as -1 is there too to pose for the crowd.

My Thoughts- 

It was a good couple of matches. The Julia match was fun as we see her get more and more aggressive in the ring, again due to how Alistair Black messed up her eye. This time we see how her teammates, Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr react to seeing their bubbly cheerleader develop a mean streak. I was entertained by how chatty Kelsey was. Not sure if that's her gimmick, but she was talking quite a lot for a wrestling match, and not trash talk mind you, but just stuff like 'nope, not tonight! nuh uh!' whenever she thought she had the upperhand.

Mercedes Martinez is still as brutal as I remember her, having seen her in several matches in Rise Women's Wrestling and such. We did get to see more offense out of Queen Aminata but I already felt bad for her knowing she was facing Mercedes. It was a good match and I like Aminata putting up a fight near the end. I also like Mercedes new gear, especially the cool mask she was wearing. Hope she keeps it for a while. 

Being sent to take out Thunder Rosa by Britt Baker while also not getting along with her will keep her around for a while, as well as set up eventual feuds between Mercedes and Britt and more of Britt VS Thunder Rosa. We always thought if someone was to take the title off of Britt it would be Thunder Rosa, but now that Mercedes is here.... we'll have to see if she doesn't get it first. 

The Anna Jay match was pretty good. She is definitely getting better at landing the QueenSlayer. Also it was neat seeing -1 come back. We haven't seen him for a while, school and such I would assume, and the crowd seems to love him. He is, of course, the son of the great late Brodie Lee, and apparently (assuming AEW is still around of course, which I really hope so) he has a guaranteed wrestling contract when he's older should he decide to do so.  

Overall an entertaining show. Julia and Anna Jay continue to build themselves up and rack up some wins while we got to see Mercedes Martinez in action.