On Wednesday, December 8, 2021, AEW made its way to Elmont, New York. This episode was at the UBS Arena, the home of The New York Islanders. There were tons of matches on the card, but only one women’s match. I found that quite disappointing, considering there were multiple women’s matches on the taping of AEW Dark Elevation, but I’ll get to that.
Jamie Hayter vs. Riho
This match-up between the two women was a solid match. I saw that Jamie had quite a few fans in the arena, but I was cheering for Riho. The backstory of this match is Riho earned an AEW Women’s World title match after beating Dr. Britt Baker on Dynamite two weeks ago. Riho was never eliminated during the All-Out Casino Battle Royale, which allowed her an opportunity for the title. Britt Baker had a lot to say on the side of the ring, and at points, Rebel did involve herself in the match multiple times.
A moment that stood out to me was when Revel grabbed Riho’s foot. After Rebel tried to use this to her advantage, Riho countered with an avalanche crucifix bomb. She did that and followed up with a double knee strike. There was a good back and forth with both women who showed out in this match. Ultimately, Riho hit a Super Crucifix Bomb and a Flying Knee for the win. This match was one of the highlights for me.
AEW did film some matches for next week’s AEW Dark Elevation. There were quite a few women’s matches on there. A few wrestlers I know from the indie scene as well.
The matchups on AEW Dark Elevation will be:
Red Velvet and Kris Statlander vs. Nikii Duke and Tina San Antonio Thunder Rosa vs. Gabby Ortiz Gunn Club vs. Joey Sweets, Antonio Zambrano, and Jack Tomlinson Emi Sakura vs. Notorious Mimi Tony Neese vs. Alex Reynolds Santana and Ortiz vs. Mike Verna and Anthony Gangone (Accompanied by Prince Nana) Anthony Ogogo vs. Jadeh Valo.
My favorite for this lineup is the Red Velvet and Kris Statlander match. However, I won’t say too much as I don’t want to spoil it.