AEW Dark Women's Matches- March 8, 2022 (Episode 133)

 By Mark Rodriguez

This time around, we actually got 5 women's matches in this super action packed edition of AEW Dark. We get to see more Kris Statlander and a cool tag team match. Plus Skye Blue is bold enough to go after Nyla Rose. Let's see how it goes.

Match 1- Marina Tucker vs Anna Jay

The women lock up and Anna Jay gets Marina in a headlock. Marina shoves Anna Jay towards the ropes but she bounces back and shoulder-tackles her down. Ann Jay runs at her and stops Marina's attempted hip toss and throws her with an armdrag. Anna Jay grabs her arms, kicks her knee out, and then kicks her in the face. Marina smacks Anna Jay across the face and then picks her up and body slams her. With Anna Jay trying to recover, Marina does a cartwheel elbow drop and goes for the pin. Ann Jay kicks out.

Marina grabs Anna Jay and tries to throw her towards the turnbuckle, but the member of the Dark Order reverses this and throws her there instead. Anna Jay hits Marina with a running elbow. She socks her in the face and then does a running reverse kick to the face. With Marina dazed, Anna Jay grabs her arm and hits her with the Jade Kick. She then grabs her in the Queen Slayer submission move and Marina quickly taps out. 

Match 2- Kiera Hogan vs Red Velvet

Both women shake hands and lock up. Red takes down Kiera first and goes for a quick pin. Kiera raises her shoulders and gets her opponent in a headscissors. Red Velvet flips out of it and  runs towards Kiera. Kiera grabs her in a headlock takedown. This time Red gets her in a headscissors and Kiera flips out of it. As Kiera runs towards her, Red trips her and goes for a pin, being unable to keep her down. Kiera also managed to trip Red down and go for a pin, but Red is able to bridge and slide her way out from under her.

As Red Velvet poses, Kiera grabs her and tries to take a swing at her but misses. Red gets her in a waistlock, but Kiera reverses it into a waistlock of her own. Red grabs onto the ropes to prevent Kiera from throwing her and shoves her off her. As Red lets go of the ropes and turns to face her, Kiera knocks her down with a dropkick. Red leans against the ring post to recover and Kiera runs at her with an elbow strike. Red drops to the mat and Kiera hits her with a running hip attack to the face. Kiera is not done and runs at her again, clocking Red Velvet in the face with a sliding dropkick. Kiera goes for the pin but Red kicks out.

As Red Velvet tries to crawl away, Kiera bounces off the ropes and lands on her with a legdrop. She goes for the pin and Red somehow kicks out. Red gets to her feet and blocks and dodges Kiera's attacks. Red Velvet socks her in the face, then kicks her knee out and finishes with a spinning kick to the face. As Kiera tries to attack her, Red hits her with a thrust kick to the stomach. Red then sets her leg over Kiera's head and slams her down with the Last Slice. Red Velvet pins her and gets the win.

Match 3- Kelsey Raegan vs Kris Statlander

Both women lock up a few times until Kris gets Kelsey in a rear waist lock, picks her up and drops her to the mat. Kelsey suggests they try for a Test of Strength, but when Kris lifts her arm up, Kelsey kicks her in the midsection. Kelsey takes the chance that Kris is doubled over to grab her in a headlock. Kris is able to pick her up and sideway slam her. Kris sends Kelsey to the ringpost but Kesley is able to switch their positions and cracks Kris with a chop. Kelsey fakes going for another chop and slaps Kris across the face instead. 

This pisses off Kris Statlander as she walks over and grabs Kelsey by the neck. She picks her up, holding her above her head (keeping in mind that Kris is 5'8 and has long arms) and just drops her to the mat. Kris runs over to her but Kelsey elbow rams her and then does a kick to the face. 

As Kris tries to recover, Kelsey takes to the ropes. Kelsey leaps off the top turnbuckle but is caught by the Galaxy's Greatest Alien. This puts her in the perfect position for the Big Bang Theory and Kris pins her for the win. Kris gets a big group hug from Trent!, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta and Danhausen. The only one missing was Orange Cassidy, though at this time he was probably getting ready for his ladder match at Revolution.

Match 4- Diamante & Emi Sakura vs Ruby Soho & A.Q.A

We start the match with AQA sizing up against Diamante. As they lock up, Diamante grabs her opponent in a headlock takedown. AQA gets Diamante in a headscissors and she kicks out of it. Diamante gets her in another headlock. AQA tries to pick her up and Diamante reverses this into another headlock takedown. AQA manages to get to her feet and push her off. Diamante runs at her but AQA leapfrogs over her and gets her in an armdrag. As Diamante gets up, AQA sends her back down with a dropkick. With Diamante up against the turnbuckle in her opponents corner, AQA launches herself at her with a Flying Splash. Ruby is tagged in and they both Irish Whip Diamante up against the ropes. A she bounces back, AQA trips her down with a dropkick and Ruby lands a running knee to her face. 

Diamante tags Emi Sakura in. Emi grabs Ruby's arm and starts to bite into her wrist. Ruby hits the side of her head so she can let go. Ruby runs into Emi and she tries to throw her. Ruby reverses this into and overhook armlock. Emi grabs Ruby by the hair and prepares to throw her across the ring, but Ruby is able to reverse this into a roll up pin. Emi manages to kick out. 

Ruby hits Emi across the back and tags AQA in. As they both prepare to attack her, Emi cuts them short by kicking AQA and grabbing Ruby by the hair again. Emi drags Ruby along with her as she tags Diamante in. Emi rolls Ruby onto AQA, tangling both women up, leaving them open for Diamante to run in and dropkick both at the same time.

This is insane!!

As Ruby rolls out of the ring, Diamante grabs AQA in 2 rolling suplexes and then slams her on her back. Diamante gets AQA in a side headlock and slams her face into the turnbuckle. Emi Sakura gets tagged in and hits AQA with the Freddie Mercury chops. She stops to taunt Ruby and then hits AQA with the running crossbody splash. Emi goes for the pin but AQA kicks out. 

Emi gets AQA in an underhook and then rakes her nails across her back. She then picks her up in a Canadian Backbreaker but AQA is able to slip out. AQA uses her small frame to her advantage as she sneaks out from under Emi and tags Ruby in. Ruby immediately knocks Emi down with a running clothesline. Ruby knocks her down with a running elbow and then smacks her in the face. Ruby hits her with a back kick and then a knee to the face. Ruby slams her with a back heel trip and goes for the pin but Diamante rushes in to break it up. 

Diamante tries to drag Emi towards her corner so she can be tagged in officially. AQA runs in but Diamante flips her onto the ring apron and kicks her out the match. Emi tries to go for a quick roll up pin as Ruby was distracted but the Runaway kicks out. Emi angrily knocks Ruby down with a lariat and tags Diamante in. Diamante kicks Ruby and gets ready for a Code Red, but she gets shoved off her. Diamante goes for another kick but this time Ruby blocks it and hits her with a rising knee strike.

Ruby drags Diamante along and tags AQA in. Ruby knocks Diamante out with the No Future kick and runs over to headbutt Emi Sakura out of the ring. AQA takes to the ropes and lands a Shooting Star Press on Diamante. She pins her and wins the match.

Match 5- Skye Blue vs Nyla Rose

Skye runs in with a waistlock and transitions into a headlock. Nyla shoves her off, but Skye leaps across her back trying to go for a crucifix pin and a possible sunset flip. Nyla grabs her hits her with a knee to the midsection. The Native Beast picks her up for a Beast Bomb but Skye gets her in a legscissors takedown. Skye kicks her in the face and tries to whip her into the ropes. Nyla holds onto her arm and whips her into the turnbuckle. Nyla runs in for a splash but Skye elbows her back. Nyla runs again but this time Skye gets out of the way and bounces her neck against the middle rope. As Nyla tends to her throat, Skye takes to the ropes. Vickie Guerrero grabs Skye's leg and pulls her back, making her fall out of the ring.

Nyla gets out of the ring and throws Skye into the barricade. She then grabs Skye and throws her back into the ring. Nyla goes for a pin but Skye kicks out. Nyla then grabs Skye by the throat for a choke slam, but her smaller opponent manages to jump out of it. Skye goes for a kick but Nyla catches her foot and chops her knee. She then slams Skye down with a neckbreaker. With Skye down, Nyla hits her with a legdrop. 

Nyla bounces off the ropes for a body splash but Skye raises her knees. As Nyla gets up, Skye hits her with a thrust kick to the face. Skye goes for the pin and Nyla shoves her off. Skye hits the ropes and goes for a crossbody splash but Nyla catches her. Nyla gets her in a fireman's carry but Skye is able to wiggle out of it. Skye tries to grab Nyla in an underhook but the Native Beast doubles her over with a kick. Nyla then picks up Skye and slams her with a Beast Bomb. She gets the pin and scores the win.

Vickie Guerrero comes in with a shirt that reads "I Survived NYLA and All I Got Was This Shirt" and sets it upon Skye's unconscious body.

My Opinions- 

It was a good of matches. The Anna Jay match was ok, Marina got some decent offense in. I liked her cartwheel elbow drop. Anna Jay is also getting better at hooking in that Queenslayer submission move.

The Kiera and Red Velvet match was good too as both women tried to outwrestle each other with reversal after reversal. That bouncing legdrop Kiera does looks like a finisher to me but people always kick out of it. Kiera still gave Red Velvet a run for her money before she got taken down. I do hope to see Kiera Hogan rise up in the ranks.

I always love seeing Kris Statlander in action. This time the Best Friends have her the boops before the match. It looks like Danhausen is part of the crew now, and people just love to see him there. The camera kept showing his reactions to Kris getting hit with faces that say 'oooh that looked like that hurt' and so forth. Kris shows off her amazing strength in this one. I liked how she just held Kelsey high above her head... and just dropped her. Ouch. This is probably the last time we'll be seeing the alien gimmick going forward though, so we'll see what waits her going forward. Maybe challenge Jade for the TBS title?

The tag match was a lot of fun. Emi Sakura was on point with biting Ruby's wrist and doing that unique technique of getting Ruby and AQA tangled together so that Diamante can kick them both. She also seemed to have too much fun taunting Ruby. Diamante is always good to see though she seems like the serious one alongside Emi's antics. Ruby is always good and AQA got to show off her speed and that amazing Shooting Star Press in the end, so that was good.

Skye Blue put on a good showing against Nyla Rose, though I'm surprised she just ran at her, completely unafraid. I'm not sure if Nyla's been nerfed or Skye Blue is just that bold. I was expecting when Skye was trying to go for waist locks and headlocks for Nyla to just stand there like 'that's cute' and just put her out of her misery. Nyla might like to 'break bitches' but this new breed of 'bitches' just might be harder for her to break. I did like the extra touch of Vickie laying that shirt across Skye's face. That could be a new thing to do from now on during Nyla's solo matches.

Overall a good couple of matches. These matches, as well as the Dark Elevation matches, were filmed before AEW Revolution, so I'm curious to see what next week will bring since they will now be after the PPV. Once again I must say, I hope they bring Emi Sakura back on TV. Also, I just noticed this was International Women's Day. They must have put 5 matches on Dark knowing they would post them on Youtube on this exact day.