AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament: Show 4 Review - March 1, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Madi Wrenkowski def. Leva Bates

It's been almost two years and Bates is still doing the dumb librarian gimmick. I know she isn't in action often nowadays (and thankfully so because she isn't very good), but she's never going to be taken seriously until she ditches it. As for Wrenkowski, she's been in Dark a handful of times in the last few times and has shown signs of potential, so I was actually pleasantly surprised that she picked up the win here. The match was wisely kept on the shorter side.

Leyla Hirsch def. Miranda Alize

Similar to Wrenkowski, Alize has been a recent regular on Dark, while Hirsch has been super impressive since debuting in AEW late last year. I'd be surprised if she wasn't under some sort of a deal to the company given how frequently she's been appearing lately. She's a killer when that bell rings and I was glad that this was designed to be a showcase for her. She has a ton of potential and I'm looking forward to see her continue ascend in the ranks.

Nyla Rose def. Thunder Rosa in an AEW World Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament Semifinal Match

This was the finals of the United States side of the bracket. Britt Baker was my original pick to win it all, but when Rose eliminated her in the previous round, I figured Rosa was the next best choice. Well, apparently not. I realize it will probably be Ryo Mizunami getting the title shot at this point and that's fine, but Rosa facing her in the finals would have made more sense because it would have been less predictable. There's almost no chance Rose beats Mizunami because she's already lost to Hikaru Shida twice. That said, this was another really good match from the ladies and this is the best work I've seen from Rose yet in AEW.

Overall Show

I wasn't sure if this would be a one-match show or not, but it was nice that they added on the two squashes that didn't overstay their welcome. The right women won also. Rosa vs. Rose was as enjoyable as I expected it to be, but again, I wasn't a fan of the outcome. That's not a knock on Rose, but I honestly don't have a ton of enthusiasm for Shida facing either her or Mizunami at Revolution, although either match would be well-wrestled. But again, back to this special, the half-hour flew by. The action throughout this tournament has been entertaining, but it would have been better for more of these matches to make Dynamite.