AEW Dark Episode 162 (Women's Matches)

 By Mark Rodriguez

We got a couple of interesting matches in this episode of Dark. Kilynn King and Madison Rayne back in action and La Rosa Negra also shows up. I'll probably be doing reviews of Dark and Dark Elevation on and off from now on. 

Match 1- Emi Sakura w/ Baliyan Akki vs Avery Breaux

Avery goes for a handshake but Emi slaps her hand away and then claps her hands against her face three times, knocking her back. Avery fires back with a standing dropkick, knocking her opponent down. Avery poses for the crowd but Emi grabs her by the hair and tosses her across the ring. Emi gets Avery's leg tangled on the rope and sits on her, having some 'tea' with Baliyan. 

Avery angrily gets up and socks Emi in the face twice, that barely phases her. Emi sends her reeling back with a harsh chop across the chest. Emi lets Avery hit her two more times, laughing them off. Emi then fakes her out with an incoming chop but rakes her eyes instead. Emi then grabs her arm and bites into Avery's wrist. Avery hits her again, this time making Emi reel back and goes for a second punch. Emi sends her back with a chop and then flings her towards the ropes. As she bounces back Avery gets her with the flying headscissors and sends Emi flying to the mat. 

With Emi up against the ropes, Avery runs at her and hits her with the cannonball. Avery drags Emi to the middle of the ring and goes for the pin but she kicks out. Avery grabs onto Emi but her opponent ends up overpowering her and slamming her instead. With Avery up against the turnbuckle, Emi starts the 'We Will Rock You' chants and hits her with a flying crossbody. Emi grabs Avery and slams her down with the Butterfly Suplex. Emi takes to the ropes and lands on Avery with a Moonsault Press. She pins her and gets the win.

Match 2- La Rosa Negra vs "The Problem" Marina Shafir 

Both women run in for the grapple but Marina overpowers her opponent with an over the shoulder throw, still holding onto her arm. As Rosa Negra gets back up she is able to pin Marina's arm against her back. Marina gets La Rosa Negra up against the ropes, but she manages to avoid her attempted running knee strike. La Rosa Negra takes this chance to hit Marina with a kick to the midsection. She hits The Problem with some punches and a chop across the chest. Marina whips her against the ropes but Rosa Negra jumps out of the way as she runs towards her. Marina manages to grab her and circle the ring with her in a Firemans's Carry before just dropping her.

As Marina leans over to grab her opponent, La Rosa Negra pulls her in for a quick pin. Marina manages to break out of it in time. La Rosa Negra kicks and hits Marina a few times and then leaps off the ropes in a Trust Fall, knocking her down. She goes for the pin but Marina kicks out. La Rosa Negra tries to grab Marina but she shoves her off.

Both women study each other, trying to see the best way to attack. Marina quickly grabs her and knocks her down with an overhead chop. Marina kicks her around until Rosa Negra angrily chops her across the chest. Marina grabs her and knees her in the midsection. She knees her in the stomach again and flips her with a hip toss. Marina kicks her hard across the spine. As she goes for another kick, Rosa Negra dodges it and grabs onto her leg, trying to get her in some sort of hold. Marina stomps her down and then grabs her leg. She gets her in the Greedy submission hold and makes her tap. Marina Shafir scores the win.

Match 3- Madison Rayne vs Viva Van

Both women start with a grapple and Madison manages to get Viva in the headlock takedown first. As they get to their feet, Viva hits her to get out of the headlock and shoves her towards the ropes. Madison bounces back and knocks her down with a shoulder tackle. Viva tries to trip Madison but she just drops and grabs her into another headlock. 

Viva powers her way up and shoves Madison into the turnbuckle. The Queen Bee goes on the apron to avoid Viva's running attack and hits her in the face. Madison tries for lunging elbow through the ropes but Viva backs up to avoid it and knees her in the face. Madison tumbles out of the ring. Viva gets out of the ring and follows her. Madison hits her but Viva grabs her for another knee strike and then rams her back against the ring apron. Viva grabs Madison and shoves her back into the ring.

With Madison being out of it, Viva goes for the pin but she kicks out. Viva grabs her and shoves her face-first into the top turnbuckle. Viva smacks her around and then tries to whip her against the other side of the ring, but Madison reverses it and whips her there instead. Madison runs at her but Viva gets out of the way and sits on her opponent's back. Viva grabs onto Madison from the ropes as she hangs upside down getting her in the Tarantula.

Madison drops to the mat and Viva runs at her with a sliding clothesline, going for the pin. The former 3 time Impact Knockouts Tag Champ kicks out. Viva gets Madison up on her shoulders but The Queen Bee gets her in a roll up pin. Viva narrowly escapes. As Viva gets up, Madison knocks her down with a step up enzuigiri. With Viva dazed, Madison hits her until she falls on her back. Madison grabs Viva in the Northern Lights Suplex but she can't keep her down. 

Viva goes for a punch but Madison grabs her arm and slams her facefirst into the mat. Madison gets the pin and wins the match. 

Tony Shiavone gives her a quick interview on being both a competitor but also the new AEW Women's backstage coach. She is excited to do both and will turn the women's division upside down. 

Match 4- KiLynn King vs Sahara Seven 

Before KiLynn's music even finishes, Saraha goes from her intro pose to running over and blindsiding her opponent with forearms to the face. Kiylnn shoves her off but Sahara kicks her in the stomach. KiLynn hits Saraha with a harsh chop that gets the crowd's reaction. She asks if they want to see another and she delivers another loud chop. KiLynn then lets looses a series of chops, reels back and knocks Sahara down with a clothesline. 

KiLynn picks up Sahara in a fireman's carry but her opponent slips out of it and tries to grab her in a roll up pin. KiLynn manages to kick out. Sahara goes for another kick and KiLynn catches her foot. She picks her up but Sahara lands on her feet and KiLynn hits her with a high knee strike to the face. With Sahara dazed, KiLynn hits her with a kick to the face and then finishes her off with the Excali-Buster. KiLynn King pins Sahara for the win making short work of her opponent.

 My Thoughts- 

Decent set of matches, though I was very surprised that KiLynn King only got to do pretty much a two minute squash on her opponent. It's good to see her racking up wins. Emi Sakura is always entertaining to see in action. Serena Deeb is and cold and eager to bring the pain as always. Viva Van really did put Madison through her paces though and gave her a tough battle. Probably the most entertaining part was when Viva got her Madison in the Tarantula. 

There was a bit of a funny back and forth between the commentary where Taz joked that he called out the name of the Tarantula first, and that Excalibur didn't know the name of the move. Well they both lose on the last match and they weren't able to name KiLynn's Excali-Buster correctly. Julia Hart's been doing the same submission finisher for months and they still haven't called out the name of it. 

This week's AEW Dynamite Grand Slam was a big surprise for the women's division. There was a f-way match between Interim AEW Women's Champ Toni Storm and Britt Baker, Athena and Serena Deeb. Toni managed to retain the title but Britt and Deeb attacked both her and Athena. Jamie Hayter showed up and despite recent problems with Britt, they both teamed up against Toni anyways. This is when suddenly none other than Saraya showed up in AEW. 

It is not 100% clear if she will be here as an actual in ring competitor or a manager, but she has been cleared for several months now. I'm not sure if WWE just wanted to keep her out of the ring or just didn't have a place for her at the time, but she is here now. One thing for sure, if Saraya is here to actually return to the ring, KiLynn King sure is interested in facing her.