AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament: Show 2 - February 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nyla Rose def. Tay Conti in an AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament First-Round Match

Conti's Dynamite debut was actually against Rose back in September. Conti has come a long way since then, but this went pretty much the way I thought it would with Rose dominating a majority of the match. I'm glad Conti was able to score some offense and look good in defeat, but as a former AEW World Women's Champion, Rose advancing to the next round was a no-brainer. She'll face Britt Baker in the quarterfinals.

Yuka Sakazaki def. Emi Sakura in an AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Both of these women are very talented and this easily could have gone either way. They were given plenty of time and more than made the most of it with the entertaining action and suspenseful nearfalls. Following Sakazaki's victory, she was attacked by Sakura before Hikaru Shida made the save. Was that supposed to telegraph Sakazaki winning the Japan side of the bracket? Shida's appearance here might also explain why she's been absent from Dynamite lately.

Ryo Mizunami def. Aja Kong by Count-Out in an AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I was honestly surprised to see this match last as long as it did. Kong is obviously a legend, but she wrestles at a relatively slow pace. Mizunami was able to work around her limitations and make it a decent match. Kong getting counted out was the right call as it allowed Mizunami to advance and Kong wasn't pinned. Kong vs. Sakazaki would have had an interesting dynamic, but Mizunami vs. Sakazaki should be the better bout.

Britt Baker def. Madi Wrenkowski in an AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament First-Round Match

Baker was originally scheduled to face Anna Jay in the first round before it was announced earlier in the day that Jay will be sidelined with an injury for the next six to 12 months. That's terrible timing considering she was just building momentum in the women's division and as a member of The Dark Order. Wrenkowski, who has competed on Dark before, took her place, but Baker attacked her before the bell and made short work of her as she should have. In other words, this was short, sweet and exactly what it needed to be.

Overall Show

This was a mix of quarterfinal matches from the Japanese side of the bracket and first-round matches from the American side of the bracket. Even though the Japan matches were taped in the same venue as last week, they featured commentary from both Excalibur and Taz this time. The American matches were taped no different than Dark and Dynamite. It was another quality night of action even though none of the matches are really worth going out of your way to see. It's cool that some of the tournament matches will be airing on Bleacher Report's website this Sunday, but AEW really should have planned this out better beforehand by airing more of the matches on Dynamite (or at least the American matches) to make them feel more meaningful. Baker should have been the number one contender all along, but if nothing else, this has been a nice showcase for AEW's women's division.