wrestling / TV Reports
Cook’s AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament: Deadly Draw (Night Two) Review
Loading...Hey kids! We’re back this week with the third & fourth quarterfinals of AEW’s Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament: The Deadly Draw. We’ve got two more quarterfinals before heading to the semi-finals. We’ve got Tony Schiavone & Veda Scott. Shaul Guerrero is ring announcing. Madusa is around. What else does one need? Let’s hook ’em up!
– We open with clips from last week show, then we find out what makes a champion thanks to the opening song.
– Earlier today, Dasha was backstage with Big Swole. She was born ready. If you stay ready, you don’t have to be ready. She’s got a partner situation, but that’s ok though. She’s just happy Dr. Britt Baker DMD isn’t there. As it turns out, Big Swole’s partner will be none other than Lil’ Swole. Talk about a lucky draw!
– Leva Bates & Rache Chanel are the last two left. They do a “cool team pose”.
Quarterfinal Match: Rache Chanel & Leva Bates (w/Peter Avalon) vs. Big Swole & Lil’ Swole: I would write about Rache’s background on AEW Dark, but Leva has asked for a shush. Quite a few, actually. Leva has a book for Rache, it’s about fashion & stuff! Looks like they’re on the same page. Veda Scott is very happy to see Lil’ Swole here tonight, as she’s one of her favorite competitors. We’re talking about SHIMMER championships! Lil’ & Rache start us off. I’m just saying that Lil’ is a little taller than Big. Big does look stronger though. I dunno, I just work here. Chanel doing some dancing into a tieup. Dances out of a wristlock too, but gets tied into a leg grapevine by Lil’ Swole. Variation on the ol’ Native American Deathlock there. Now she’s twisting Rache & does the Pentagon arm snap on Rache’s purse carrying arm. Bad times. Leva tags in & has a convo with her partner, Lil’ rolls up Veda for two, then knocks Rache to the floor. Has Lil’ lost track of who’s legal? Apparently so, since Big picks up Lil’ and carries her away from that situation. Places Lil’ back in the ring. Tag and here’s Big & Leva. Headlock takeover, big shoulderblock, dropkick and Leva’s not having a lot of fun here. Lil’ tags in, locks in the Rings of Saturn, but here’s Peter Avalon to distract the referee while Chanel uses the brush on Lil’. Big suplex on Chanel, but Leva hits the backstabber for a two count and a change of pace. Fisherwoman’s suplex gets a two count. Chanel tags in, double axehandles Lil’ & isolates her in the corner. Facewash by Chanel, double knees by Bates. Slam by Bates, Chanel tags in and continues the domination. An armbar that Lil’ works out of. The dance by Chanel gets met with knee strikes, a suplex and a tag to Big. Kicks to Chanel, kicks to Bates, back suplex to Chanel gets a two count. Spear by Leva! She tags herself back in, sets Big up for a near-fall. Chanel kicks Big and Bates winds up on top. Shades of old WWF tag team matches here, with Bates getting over a three count on Big while the referee is attending to Lil’ & Chanel. Series of strikes leads to a Flatliner/Blockbuster combo to a kneeling Leva and a three count! Kind of awkward on the cover though, Big kinda rests on Leva’s upper body, the ref starts counting & Big quickly rolls over to hook the leg during the count. Got the three though!
Winners: The Swole Family (8:50 via Big pin on Bates)
Match Rating: **
– I was very impressed with Lil’ Swole’s contributions and she should be a player in AEW women’s division going forward. Leva & Rache have nice characters, though I kept trying to type “Veda” instead of “Leva” throughout the match. All these attractive nerds with four-letter names ending with “A”, man. A guy gets confused.
– AEW Heels commercial
– AEW Unrivaled Collection commercial
– AEW All Out commercial
– Earlier today, Ivelisse drew pink. Turns out that Diamante also drew pink, which is good news. They appear to be back on the same page after their match on Dynamite.
– Also earlier today, Dasha was talking about the Deadly Draw when Madusa stepped in and took the microphone. It’s time for Dasha to draw! Dasha is very excited about getting to wrestle. She gets blue, which happens to be the color Rachael Ellering drew! They’re very excited, as they’ve known each other for years. They can hug, but they should also prepare. Madusa tells us that anything is possible at the Deadly Draw.
Quarterfinal Match: Rachael Ellering & Dasha vs. Ivelisse & Diamante: Rachael is all about that Strong Smile while Tony puts over her father, “Precious” Paul. Veda points out that if excitement can win matches, Dasha has a pretty good chance here. Ivelisse is apparently an assassin according to her nickname, which doesn’t surprise me. This is the first time they’ve actually teamed in a match, even though they’ve been friends and training partners for a long time. 22:24 Ivelisse draws Dasha into a conversation, which leads into an elbow and some strikes by Ivelisse. Dasha fights back with some forearms, kind of up top with an arm drag. Nip up! Handspring into a forearm in the corner! Dropkick! Tag to Diamante, who gets wrist control. Dasha reverses, tag to Ellering, suplex, wrenches the arm, shoulderblock by Rachael, off the ropes, there’s a flying elbow block for two. Tag to Dasha, here’s a double suplex, handspring into a splash by Dasha for two. Awkward off the ropes into a strike, there’s the kick from Ivelisse explaining the awkward spot a few seconds ago. Tag to Ivelisse, stomping Dasha into the corner. Diamante with the rope choke. Suplex into a bridge by Ivelisse for two, then into a lotus lock. Diamante with the ol’ cravate! Knees to Dasha’s face. Tag to Ivelisse and some nice teamwork in the corner. Flatliner gets a two count. Dasha nearly flails her way into her own corner, but Diamante & Ivelisse reel her in for a double faceplant. Ivelisse misses Trouble in Paradise, Dasha rolls over and gets the tag! Rachel is a house of fire. Strikes to both her opponents. Senton to Ivelisse gets a two. Off the topes, Diamante tries to hold Rachael, but Ivelisse ends up hitting Diamante after Rachael ducks. Forearm in the corner, STO, Ellering with a twisting legdrop for two. Diamante breaks it up. Diamante sent back out. Tag to Dasha, they try a doubleteam move but Rachael misses Ivelisse in the corner. Dasha goes for a leglock but gets booted in the face. Tag to Diamante, who twists into a stunner on Dasha, knocks Ellering to the floor, gets the two count. Ivelisse tagged back in, scorpion kick, Ellering wiped out again, and Ivelisse hits the Code Red on Dasha for the three count!
Winners: Ivelisse & Diamante (10:14 via Ivelisse pin on Dasha)
Match Rating: *1/2
– They tried, but there were just some really rough parts here. Dasha definitely has athletic ability and I think if she got more reps she’d have some potential. We’re talking about somebody with two matches on the Internet Wrestling Database. I’ve seen Ivelisse, Diamante & Rachael have better outings, so this was what it was, an imperfect night at the office.
– Alex Marvez is with the Swole Family. It’s “Lil'”. They been doing this thing, A1 since Day 1, you know what they do. Swolenanigans all day. Alex wouldn’t want to face these two.
– Dasha’s been looking forward to this for a long time. It was a loss, not terrible but a starting point. Hopefully she’ll get another chance. She loved teaming with Rachael. Hoepfully it won’t be the last time we see her in the ring.
– Ivelisse says she & Diamante had a rocky start, but respect brings them together. Diamante says you better consider them a threat.
– We end by finding out the Semi Final pairings: Swole Family vs. Nightmare Sisters and Ivelisse & Diamante vs. Tay Conti & Anna Jay. Should be a hoot!
