The AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament is a 16 woman single elimination event taking place at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida and The Nippon Budakan & Icon Ribbon Dojo in Saitama, Japan. Pop Break’s Melissa Jouben and Bill Bodkin break down the significance of the tournament and review the matches from the first round.
Melissa Jouben: I was hoping that when Britt Baker said that 2021 was going to be a turnaround year for AEW’s women’s division that her words would prove prophetic in light of the Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament announcement – a really exciting showcase for the division coming very early in the year. I was even more hopeful that was true when they announced the tournament participants and the pretty innovative addition of a Japanese half of the tournament, featuring women from AEW’s roster who have been off television since the pandemic, as well as a few fresh faces eager to introduce themselves to the American wrestling audience.
Then I started to feel that excitement dissipate when they announced their innovative and potentially revolutionary Women’s Championship Eliminator Tournament (the tournament that decides who gets to challenge the women’s champion) would air the Japanese portion on Youtube. My initial reaction was to feel like AEW was shooting themselves in the foot. I’m not yet optimistic that this Youtube-exclusive tournament, meant to showcase new talent in the women’s division, is going to be what helps put them on the map in AEW. But if you’re going to half-ass something like this the least you can do is make the matches worth the trip and the three ads per each 10-20 minute match. And to be fair to AEW: they absolutely did.
I understand that airing these matches on Dynamite would eat up a lot of airtime. And as Britt Baker has mentioned in defense of the division’s slow start, the lack of ratings for women’s matches during Dynamite is the reason why there aren’t more: the viewership just isn’t showing up and showing support. I think the excuse is a bit flimsy when you consider that AEW will air most matches with picture-in-picture, usually reserving the full-length commercial breaks for women’s matches.
Then there’s the problem that claiming viewers don’t tune in for women’s wrestling doesn’t really work when you throw it on YouTube so that it attracts in a day only a quarter of what Dynamite can do in a single airing. This isn’t to say that 200K+ views in 24 hours isn’t an impressive start, but it’s clear to me that if this tournament ends up failing to make the waves they hoped it would, it isn’t an indictment of the ability of the women in AEW to draw viewers.
In fact, if I learned anything watching the first round of matches in Japan, it’s that AEW kind of can’t afford not to bring these women into the fold ASAP. There are so many undeniable stars taking part in this tournament, that it’s a shame they can’t light it up in Daily’s Place. I know that the pandemic completely wrecked what little momentum some of these women had in the company by forcing them to stay put in Japan, and it isn’t entirely AEW’s fault they’ve been without these women for so long, but it’s going to be AEW’s fault if they don’t figure out how to bring them back to television – even if it means airing footage of them shot in Japan.
Bill Bodkin: Melissa and I have been talking about the AEW Women’s Division for months on end (could be a year — I don’t understand time anymore). The issues she brings up in her part of this preamble to our review, echoes my sentiments, when it comes to how AEW has presented women’s wrestling Dynamite. It’s something I’ve spoken about at length on this site and on numerous podcasts — this division has all the potential in the world but it needs television match time, it needs more television-experienced veterans in its ranks and it needs more vignettes and features across AEW real estate (Dynamite, Dark, Road To, etc.)
However, I do feel there’s been a shift in recent months. Yes, it’s been a slow shift, but a shift nonetheless. Matches like Anna Jay & Tay Conti vs. Britt Baker & Penelope Ford, Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa and Thunder Rosa vs. Leyla Hirsch for example have been given more time on television, they’ve not been getting the full commercial where we lose moments from the match and they’ve started to move from that dreadful “segment before the main event” (minus Leyla/Thunder). But most importantly, all of these matches have kicked serious, serious ass. Show-stealing matches that should be slaps across the mouth of any doubters of the talent AEW has in the division and hopefully signs AEW realizes what they’ve got as well.
The Eliminator Tournament is something I was and am still stoked for. The concept of a bracket taking place solely in Japan — incredible. However, the YouTube situation was an initial deflation for me, as it is for Melissa. Now, given COVID quarantines in the US and Japan plus travel, bookings, etc. could have forced AEW to move this to YouTube in order to execute the plan for the winner of the Japan bracket to face the winner of the US bracket in order to face Hikaru Shida (who is apparently producing a lot of this tournament) in time for the early March, Revolution PPV.
While the matches not making Dynamite disheartened me at first, I couldn’t help but think that if AEW wasn’t serious about this tournament they would not have invested the time and money to book a Japanese bracket, send their champion over (with quarantine restrictions in place) to produce it and add refs, announcers and commentators (for the Japanese broadcast) that had strong ties to the world of Joshi if they didn’t care. Could they have done more (e.g. adding a female commentator like Veda Scott), yes they could’ve. But I don’t think the product they produced for YouTube suffered from it.
While more could have possibly been done for the Eliminator Tournmanent, one thing I am almost positive of is that the majority of the women will be coming to AEW in 2020. I believe that this bracket was used as a refresher to everyone who forgot the joshi who have wrestled in AEW before and introduction to new exciting talent we’ll be seeing. The pandemic will still stall the expediency with which they come over to the U.S. but after this show, AEW would be making a massive mistake not to bring them in.
Yuka Sakazaki v. Mei Suruga
Melissa: Yuka Sakazaki is returning to AEW “television” for the first time since the pandemic began last March. Her last match was a win against Britt Baker – a sad reminder of what the last year could have looked like in a Yuka-filled timeline. Mei Suruga, on the other hand, is a newcomer with only two and a half years of experience under her belt – something I found kind of baffling for Excalibur to harp on considering that nearly three years in the business is more than some of the women on the American side of the tournament can claim. The desire to paint her as the young prodigy going up against a more experienced wrestler didn’t need to be the storyline here and I think Suruga could have gotten over without the constant reminder. That said, Yuka’s victory was inevitable even if the match was hard fought by both. Yuka looked great here, and I could see her as a genuine contender for the title.
Bill: “The Magical Girl” vs. “The Apple Girl” was a terrific way to start. It was a high-energy dive into the world of joshi. I liked that Yuka toned down the whimsical nature of her character as it is not only is too similar to Suruga’s character, but it showed this “must win” attitude. She was more aggressive, more calculating than we’ve seen her in AEW. This will definitely come into play when facing much more aggressive opponents in the tournament. Suruga’s Oklahoma Roll was terrific spot, but the outcome here was academic. Sakazaki is already over in the U.S. so she was going to win. Suruga definitely will be a favorite amongst the AEW crowds when she gets to the states.
Emi Sakura v. Veny
Melissa: All I can say is holy shit. For all my criticism of AEW’s mishandling of the women’s division so far, I love to give them credit where credit is due: They are continually committed to showcasing diverse talent that highlights the trans and queer communities, and I am so grateful to see a performer like Veny get an opportunity like this. Having a background in Lucha Libre, their wrestling style is this really exciting fusion of styles that tells you Veny is capable of anything and everything. Watching them wrestle is probably the closest I’ve been to being on the edge of my seat in a long time.
They also have this quiet confidence that is just captivating to look at; really one of the most obvious stars-in-the-making you could hope to come out of a tournament like this. Although Veny lost to Sakura – a very talented and well-respected wrestler who deserves the title shot just as much as the other semi-finalists – you can tell this is far from the last time we’ll see them. Veny could be a huge pillar of the division going forward, and I’d be very delighted to see it happen.
Bill: Match of the night and a contender for match of the tournament. These two showed up and showed out in the biggest way possible. Emi Sakura, like Yuka Sakazaki, was a much different character in this tournament than her AEW presentation. Here, she came off like a female Arn Anderson — beating the tar out of her opponent with sheer physicality and ring acumen. A far cry from her Freddie Mercury cosplay in AEW. Veny (who goes by Asuka) became an instant “must have” for the AEW women’s division. They moved with ferocious agility and the ability to withstand major punishment. Highlight of the match was Sakura throwing WALTER-esque chops to Veny and Veny bouncing back. This was a 12 minute match that easily would’ve received a standing ovation from a live U.S. crowd.
Ryo Mizunami v. Maki Itoh
Melissa: This was probably the most anticipated match so far and, judging by the reaction on social media, maybe the one with the most controversial outcome. It’s hard to fall in love with Maki Itoh so hard and so fast only to see her lose, but anyone who doesn’t want to see more of Ryo Mizunami is lying to themselves. Maki Itoh’s ability to channel her cuteness and crudeness into one cohesive character is an exciting blend of reality and the theater of wrestling that is easily my favorite thing about the sport of professional wrestling. Her backstory as an idol-turned-wrestler is not only at the core of her performance but is consistently engaging and funny in a way that a lot of wrestlers don’t understand how to pull off. She’s so in charge of herself and so effortlessly good that you have to wonder if AEW even understand yet what a star they have on their hands.
But, again, Kizunami herself has so much charisma and charm that the two were equally matched; she’s so ostentatious and overly confident that her big personality doesn’t make Itoh’s feel outsized at all, and vice versa. These two really performed with their entire souls, fully committing to their characters, and it’s absolutely the highlight of the night. I could easily see these two having a feud down the line in AEW. And seeing as Recruitment Specialists John Silver and Alex Reynolds are already trying to bring Maki Itoh into the Dark Order, I’m absolutely sure that this is something we might see somewhere not far down the line.
Bill: While this match was nowhere near the thrilling wrestling match as VENY vs. Sakura, this was a gaga-filled spectacle that as just pure joy to watch. Maki Itoh, when she does come to AEW, will be massive for the company. She’s an unparalleled star who is so charismatic and original that you just can’t help but becoming a fan. The fact Silver and Reynolds are already trying to get her in the Dark Order is a sign this is all going to work out just fine.
Ryo Mizunami, like Melissa said, is someone you cannot sleep on. She matched Itoh’s comedic and theatrical chops, but also showed she’s an absolute tank that can mow through people — something only Nyla Rosa can really claim at the moment. Mizunami has huge upside and that will show as she advances in the tournament.
Aja Kong v. Rin Kadokura
Melissa: There isn’t a lot to say other than: Aja Kong. It’s really refreshing to see her in action, and barely miss a beat. Someone in the comments on YouTube pointed out that Aja has been wrestling longer than Goldberg and can still go longer than him in the ring. I know that it’s not a huge feat to go longer in the ring than Goldberg, but it stands to be acknowledged that despite her status as a beyond-legendary wrestler she looks just as formidable as ever. I will admit that I didn’t anticipate seeing her win this match but now that she’s got this victory under her belt, I don’t think she came all this way just to lose in the semifinals.
Bill: This started off like it was going to be squash city and a dull on at that. However, Rin Kadokura came through and showed a lot of flashes here and made this match very fun. Aja Kong’s diving/falling Animal Hamaguchi-style elbow (which Shingo Takagi in NJPW does as well) is just devastating. To me, Kong is destined for the finals and going to take on The Magical Girl.
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