AEW Dark Ep 166- Women's Matches

 By Mark Rodriguez

We get two interesting matches tonight at an earlier time since this week AEW Dynamite will be on a Tuesday night instead of the usual Wednesday night. Let's check them out before tonight's show begins.

Match 1- Hikaru Shida VS Vanessa Kraven

Both women start by grappling and Vanessa pushes Hikaru up against the ropes and starts hitting her in the midsection. Hikaru manages to run into her and take her down with the flying headscissors. Vanessa rolls out the ring and Hikaru follows. Hikaru reaches under the ring apron and brings out a chair. She sets it up and uses it as a springboard to knee Vanessa in the face. However, her taller opponent catches her and slams her into the ring apron. 

Hikaru rolls back into the ring and Vanessa plants her boot up against her, driving her face into the ring post. Vanessa gets some distance and runs into her with a cannonball. She goes for the pin but Hikaru kicks out. Vanessa picks up Shida and knocks her down with a chop. She is still holding onto Shida's arm, which she uses she pick her back up and knock back down again with another chop. Still not letting go, Vanessa tries to go for a third time but this time Hikaru ducks under the attack and hits her back with several elbow strikes. Vanessa pushes her back and Shida knocks her down with a punch to the jaw. With Vanessa down, Shida runs into and knocks her down with a running elbow.

Shida gets Vanessa over to the ring post and climbs onto her to nail her with 10 consecutive strikes. She then kicks Vanessa away and climbs to the top turnbuckle. Shida knocks her down with a flying dropkick and goes for the pin. Vanessa kicks out.

Hikaru tries to pick up Vanessa for the Falcon Arrow but her opponent stops her. Vanessa knocks her down with a strong chop. She then tries to pick up Hikaru in a Fireman's Carry but she slips out of her grasp. Hikaru hits Vanessa with the in Enzuigi which gets her dazed. Hikaru goes for the ropes and does a flying kick to the face which finally knocks her down. Hikaru somehow picks up Vanessa and slams her with the Falcon Arrow. She goes for the pin but Vanessa kicks out. Hikaru is shocked but gets herself ready for her finisher. As Vanessa gets up, Hikaru his her with The Katana, knocking her our. Shida pins her and gets the win as she is set to challenge Toni Storm for the Interim AEW title later tonight.

Match 2- Willow Nightingale VS Seleziya Sparx

Both women begin to grapple with Willow overpowering Sparx and giving her a noogie. Sparx tries to whip her towards the ropes but Willow does a cartwheel. Willow gets in her opponent's face taunting her. Sparx tries to hit her but Willow sends her down with a snapmare and then knocks her down with a diving crossbody. She goes for the pin but Sparx kicks out. Willow grabs Sparx and knocks her down with a clothesline while still holding onto her arm. Similar to Vanessa in the earlier match, Willow picks her back up and knocks her down with a second clothesline, still not letting got of her arm. When Willow goes for the third time, Sparx grabs onto her arm and falls back using the Soul Food move. Sparx then knocks her down with a sliding lariat and goes for the pin. Willow kicks out.

Soul Food is one of those moves that's hard to describe unless you've already seen it in action

Sparx starts kicking Willow around as she tries to get back up and poses for the crowd. Willow gets up and starts hitting her in the midsection but Sparx grabs her and hits her with her knee. As Willow is doubled-over, Sparx runs in to knock her down with a shoulder tackle but can't make her budge. She tries again but Willow knocks her back instead. Sparx hits her in the face and while Willow is dazed, she tries to knock her down again. Unfortunately all Sparx does is run into Willow's fist. Now that Sparx is the one rocked, Willow bounces off the ropes and runs at her. Sparx also runs towards her and both women knock each other down with a double clothesline.

As Sparx gets up against the ropes, Willow runs into her with a hip attack. She then hits her in the chest and rolls her along the ring with a snapmare. Sparx gets up and runs at her and Willow knocks her back with with the Big Boot. Willow grabs her in a fireman's carry but Sparx slips from her grasp. Sparx hits her in the face and bounces off the ropes to charge towards her. Willow grabs her and slams her down with the Spine Buster, going for the pin. Sparx kicks out. 

Willow tries to grab Sparx for another slam but her opponent shoves her against the ring post. Sparx grabs Willow and slams her into a Northern Lights Suplex, using it as a pin. Willow manages to break free in time. Sparx gets angry and starts kicking her in the face repeatedly. She then runs with Willow and slams her face into the top turnbuckle, and then the middle turnbuckle. With Willow hanging onto the ropes, Sparx goes for the ring apron and nails her with a running boot to the face.

Full extended boot to the face! Willow never saw it coming!

As Willow gets to her feet, Sparx goes for the ropes and knocks her down with a flying dropkick. She goes for the pin but Willow still kicks out. Sparx tries to pick her up but Willow gets behind her and tries to pin her. Sparx gets away and Willow clocks her with a roundhouse kick to the face. Willow tries to grab her but Sparx still manages to escape her grasp and goes for the ropes. As she tries to run towards her, Willow tackles her down with The Pounce. Willow grabs her and finishes her off with the Doctor Bomb. She goes for the pin and scores the win.

My Thoughts-

We got a decent pair of matches at this earlier Noon EST edition of Dark. Hikaru put on a good match against Vanessa Kraven, and Kraven did prove to be a decent challenge due to the size advantage. I haven't seen Hikaru use the 'springboard off a chair' spot in a long time so it's good to see that used again. Also I'm surprised she managed to slam Vanessa in the Falcon Arrow. It wasn't perfect but you would expect something like that with Hikaru trying to pick up someone almost twice her size.

As for Vanessa Kraven, I'm glad to see her back in wrestling. She was one of the competitors of the Mae Young Classic way back then and was also on Shimmer and other indie promotions. She broke her leg terribly in 2018 and I remember being on her Twitch Livestream when she was talking about how she might have to stop wrestling. She actually announced her retirement in 2018 but it looks like she's back in the ring. She put on a decent showing and hopefully she'll be featured more going forward.

Vanessa Kraven VS Lacey Lane

Willow Nightingale put on a good match and Seleziya Sparx put on some good moves too. She showed some good moves like the Soul Food and the Northern Lights Suplex and she gave Willow a decent run for her money. I also hope to see more of her going foward. 

It was funny seeing both Vanessa and Willow use a similar spot, and even the commentary said 'maybe Sparx saw the earlier match'. They referred to Chuck and Trent so it sounds like they also used that tactic.

Hikaru Shida is getting set to face Toni Storm for the Interim AEW Women's championship later tonight. Let's see how that will go.