AEW Dark Women's Matches- March 30, 2022 (Episode 136)

 By Mark Rodriguez

We got 4 matches today for Dark where we get to see Tay Conti and Emi Sakura in action. Also it looks like Kiera Hogan drew the short straw on facing Nyla Rose. And for NWA Powerrr, we get to see more of the impressive Kamille. 

Match 1- Sakura vs Layla Grey

Both women grapple and Emi wastes no time in shoving Leila up against the turnbuckle and giving her a massive chop. She then grabs her by the hair and throws her across the ring. Emi starts singing 'Day'O' and gets Leila in the surfboard. After suspending her in the air for a bit, she just lets her drop, doing the prissy anime girl laugh. 

Leila fires back with some elbow shots, ending with one big elbow that sends Emi back from the impact. Emi lets out another Karin Kanzuki laugh and then knocks Leila down with a single chop. Emi gets Leila in hold, while yanking on her hair back, and she keeps cutting off the ref before he can count to 5, making him start over and prolonging the damage. 

Emi finally lets her go and Leila tries to fight back. Emi grabs her and gets ready to flip her upside down but her opponent gets behind her and hits her with a Russian Legsweep. As Emi gets up, Leila knocks her back down with a big thrust kick to the face. Leila kicks Emi and grabs her, getting her ready for a faceslam. Emi gets out of it so when Leila jumps she just lands hard and Emi hits her with a dropkick. With Leila up against the ropes, Emi starts her 'We Will Rock You' chants and starts throwing chops at her, finishing with a running crossbody. Emi then grabs Leila in an underhook backbreaker. Emi climbs the ropes and lands with the Vader Bomb, pinning her for the win. 

Match 2- Diamanté vs Kelsey Heather

Diamante slams Kelsey with a headlock takedown. Kelsey gets out of it but still gets socked in the face. Diamante gets her up against the turnbuckle and lays in the chops. She then runs Kelsey along to the turnbuckle on the opposite side of the ring and slams her face into twice. She then knocks her down with a lariat. Still holding onto Kelsey's arm, she knocks her down with another lariat and then grabs and slams her in a suplex. Diamante tries to do a bridge pin but Kelsey kicks out.

With Kelsey trying to recover on the ropes, Diamante runs and hits her with a jumping knee, knocking her onto the floor outside the ring. As Kelsey tries to regain her footing, Diamante gets out of the ring and runs her over with a clothesline. Diamante grabs her and shoves her back into the ring. Kelsey is now actually bleeding from her nose. Diamante grabs her by the hair, picks her up and slams her down. She then grabs Kelsey in a body-scissors submission move and she is quick to tap out. Diamante wins the match.

Match 3- Tay Conti vs Shalonce Royal

Tay and Shalonce' grapple a bit until they shove each other away. Shalonce' starts hitting the opera notes and Tay just knocks her down. Tay tries to get Shalonce' in a sunset flip but the singer stops herself from falling into it. As she tries to reverse it, Tay grabs her into a submission hold. Shalonce' forces Tay's shoulder down, which would count as a pin, making her break the hold. Tay grabs her legs but Shalonce' holds onto the ropes. Tay kicks her hands off the ropes and goes back to grab her. Shalonce' counters with a jawbreaker and kicks her in the midsection. She sings as she grabs Conti in a headlock and slams her face into the turnbuckle.

Shalonce skips to the other side of the ring and lets out a high note as she run and slams into Conti with a crossbody. Shalonce' sees Negative One outside the ring and starts taunting him with singing. Conti taps her on the shoulder and socks her in the face as she turns around. Shalonce' falls onto the floor and Conti grabs her and rolls her back into the ring.

Tay goes for a waistlock and when Shalonce' tries to get out of it, she flings her to the mat with a judo throw. Tay is still holding onto her arm and she delivers a series of kicks to the chest until Shalonce' falls back. As Shalonce' gets to the turnbuckle, Tay runs at her with a high kick. She runs up against the other turnbuckles and hits her with a high kick both times. Tay grabs Shalonce' in a Gotch-Style Piledriver and pins her for the win. Negative One and Anna Jay get into the ring to celebrate with her. 

Match 4- Kiera Hogan vs Nyla Rose 

Nyla hits Kiera with a knee to the midsection when she was expecting a grapple. Nyla goes for another knee strike but misses and Kiera socks her in the face. Kiera throws more elbow strike but it takes a single punch from Nyla to double her over. Nyla grabs her by the hair and throws her into the ropes. Nyla goes for a swing as Kiera bounces back but she ducks under it and comes back, smacking her in the face. Kiera then dares Nyla to come at her. 

As Nyla runs towards her, Kiera trips her down so she falls against the ropes. Kiera unleashes a series of elbow strikes and chops, knocking Nyla back against the ropes. Kiera runs at her but Nyla gets out of the ring. Not wanting to stop the momentum, Kiera goes for a Tope' Suicida but Nyla catches her. Nyla rams Kiera's back against the steel ringpost. Nyla grabs her and throws her against the barricade. Nyla throws her into the ring and goes for a cover. Kiera manages to kicks out.

Nyla gets on Kiera and throws a series of elbow strikes on her. She goes for the ropes and jumps off with a splash but Kiera gets out of the way. Nyla gets up and tries to go for an elbow smash, once again missing her mark. Kiera runs and knocks her back with a shotgun dropkick. Kiera runs at her with a clothesline and then trips her with a legsweep. She then runs around the ring and hits her with a sliding dropkick. Kiera gets pumped and hits Nyla with the legdrop and goes for the pin. Nyla kicks out.

Kiera goes for a thrust kick to the face but Nyla catches her foot. The Native Beast then picks her and slams her down with a choke slam. Nyla destroys Kiera with a Spear and then finishes her off with the Beast Bomb. She pins her for the 3-count and wins the match. Vickie Guerrero drops the 'I Survived Nyla' shirt on Kiera's face. Nyla Rose is currently setting her sights on the current AEW Women's Champion, Thunder Rosa.

My Opinions- 

The first match was pretty much an Emi Sakura showcase. The Freddie Mercury Chops, the Day O' Surfboard, the snooty anime girl laugh. The only thing missing was the Death Valley Driver she does every now and then. Very fun and entertaining match, especially if you're a fan of Emi's antics. Leila got some offense in there, but this was the Emi Sakura show.

Diamante pretty much destroyed Kelsey too. She's another person that's always fun to watch. I also wonder exactly when Diamante will be on TV. She's been doing a good job racking up wins here.

Shalonce' returns with more opera fun. While Tay didn't exactly start singing back like Emi did, it was still funny seeing Shalonce' hit the high notes while running or even while trapped in a hold. Shalonce' is becoming a fave, at least for her cheesiness and seeing how the different wrestlers react to her.

As for Nyla VS Kiera, Kiera really brought the fight to her. I've notice lately more and more challengers have been stepping up to Nyla Rose. Kiera even dared her to attack her, which is something we don't see too often. It was a pretty close match and Kiera actually came close to winning. In AEW the Dark Matches matter as the more wins the wrestlers get the closer to get to challenging the champ some day. I'm sure if Nyla wasn't trying to get on the path towards Thunder Rosa's title, Kiera might have won this match. 

Pretty decent set of matches. Some good power slams and some silly antics. One thing that caught me off guard, but also made sense was the fact that they actually advertised the upcoming Ring of Honor Supercard event this week during the Tay VS Shalonce' match. In case you didn't know, the owner of AEW, Tony Kahn, now also owns Ring of Honor. Even the commentary thought it felt weird to promote them, but it makes sense, especially since quite a few AEW stars will be at the event.

And as for that mystery woman that was going to challenge The Bunny on AEW Dynamite... well....