All Elite Wrestling adds a big four-way title match to the AEW All In card. NWA continues to build to their 75th anniversary show. Trish Stratus battles Becky Lynch. Riley Matthews speaks with WrestleZone, and more.
Four-Way Title Match Added To AEW All In
Last week, AEW shared a major announcement regarding the AEW Women’s Championship. On the heels of Hikaru Shida‘s title win the week prior, the company revealed that the title would be defended in a four-way match at All In in London.
Former champion Toni Storm received an automatic entry into the match as she invoked her rematch clause for the title. Meanwhile, AEW had three other spots to fill. In the main event of last week’s Dynamite, current AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida defended her title against Anna Jay. In addition to being a title match, this contest served as the first of three opening round matches in the AEW Women’s Championship tournament. The finals, of course, will culminate at AEW All In on Sunday, August 27.
After Hikaru Shida secured her place by defeating Anna Jay, only two openings remained. During last Friday’s episode of Rampage, Saraya and Sky Blue battled over the third spot. Unfortunately for Blue, Saraya was accompanied by rest of The Outcasts (Toni Storm & Ruby Soho), which led to some outside hijinks. Despite a valiant attempt to combat the interferences, Blue was finally subdued after taking a can of spray paint to her face. With the referee distracted, Saraya then nailed Blue with her Good Knight finisher to seal the win.
On last night’s episode of Dynamite, Britt Baker and The Bunny competed in the final opening round match of the tournament. Prior to this bout, Bunny had been sidelined from action since February. As Baker appeared to be setting up for the Lockjaw, Penelope Ford, who was standing at ringside, proceeded to snatch Baker’s glove out of her hand. Baker quickly responded by knocking Ford off of the apron before curbstomping The Bunny for the victory.
With Baker’s win over The Bunny, the field is now officially set for All In. AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida will defend her title against Toni Storm, Saraya, and Britt Baker in a highly-anticipated four-way match. This contest will mark the second title defense of Shida’s second reign. For Norwich native Saraya, All In will mark a homecoming, as she competes in the United Kingdom for the first time in seven years.
RELATED: Hikaru Shida Says Her Recent AEW Women’s Title Win Came As A Surprise
NWA 75 Updates
The wrestling action intensifies next weekend as the National Wrestling Alliance presents NWA 75 on August 26 and 27.
This year’s card will see the return of the Burke Invitational Gauntlet match, named after NWA legend, Mildred Burke. So far, NWA has confirmed nine confirmed for the night one match, including former NWA World Women’s Champion Allysin Kay. In addition to Kay, the following competitors have also been announced for the third annual Burke Invitational Gauntlet: CJ (Christi Jaynes), Heather Monroe, MJ Jenkins, Ruthie Jay, Samantha Starr, Sierra, Taylor Rising, and The WOAD. Eight of the nine confirmed participants have previous experience in the NWA. The event will mark the promotional debut for Canada native Taylor Rising.
Also on the card for night one, NWA World Women’s Champion Kamille will defend her title against Natalia Markova. The winner of that title match will then defend the title on night two against the winner of the Burke Invitational Gauntlet. As of this writing, Kamille has just surpassed 800 days as the NWA World Women’s Champion.
Night two of NWA 75 will also see the NWA Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line as M95 (Madi & Missa Kate) defend their titles against Pretty Empowered (Ella Envy & Kylie Paige).
Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch
While many fans expected this week’s WWE RAW to be the culmination of the feud between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus, it was not.
Following Stratus’ rather sneaky victory over Lynch at Night of Champions, the two finally had a rematch on August 14. This contest didn’t end quite as expected though. In the midst of their match, Lynch and Stratus began brawling on the outside. This brawl appeared so intense that neither woman made it back in the ring before the referee’s count of ten. This led to the referee calling for a double countout.
After the bell sounded, Lynch and Stratus continued to fight. They first went through the crowd, then near concession stand, and finally into the merchandise stand. Upon arrival to the merch stand, though, Stratus received some backup in the form of her ally, Zoey Stark. Despite her efforts to fight back, the numbers game was too much for Lynch to overcome. Stratus and Stark ultimately walked away on top.
Following their brawl, WWE official Adam Pearce revealed that Stratus and Lynch would settle their differences inside a steel cage. The date of this steel cage match has yet to announced.
RELATED: When Life Gives You Lemons, Becky Lynch Gets Lemon-Themed Merchandise
INTERVIEWS
Independent star Riley Matthews spoke with WrestleZone’s own Ella Jay about training with former WWE star and referee Roger Ruffen, AJ Lee’s influence on her career, ring gear inspirations, being born with a cleft palate, and more.
Former WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley joined Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful. She discussed being the MVP of the pandemic-era, missing WrestleMania, recovering from ACL injury, and more.
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida chatted with Denise Salcedo about her reaction to her title win, her thoughts on the AEW Women’s division, how she feels heading into AEW All In, how AEW has changed her life, and more.
Former WWE Diva Summer Rae sat down with Chris Van Vliet. Summer Rae spoke about her return at the Royal Rumble, appearing on Total Divas, her storylines with Rusev and Dolph Ziggler, what her DMs typically look like, and more.
