AEW Battle of the Belts II (April 16, 2022) originated from the Curtis Culwell Center in Dallas, TX. The show featured three title bouts, defending the AEW Women’s World Championship, the TNT Championship, and the ROH World Championship.
Let’s break it all down.
The warrior spirit of Thunder Rosa
Thunder Rosa had a Monster Challenge in store for the night’s main event. To retain the AEW Women’s World Championship, she had to overcome Nyla Rose.
The ladies worked a rousing style of little babyface versus intimidating powerhouse. The Native Beast hit Thunder early on. When Thunder tried to get smart, Nyla caught her for heavy slams, such as a powerbomb on the apron.
Even though Thunder was downstairs, she was never outside. The champion kept coming forward despite the pain. Thunder’s persistence paid off by dodging Nyla’s flying guillotine. Thunder flew for a hurricanrana but Nyla caught her. Thunder managed to counter into a code red for the night’s move.
Later in the match, Nyla regained control via a jackhammer-style suplex. Thunder rang out on the cover. Thunder rolled beneath the ropes, so Nyla opted for a flying senton. Thunder moved at the last moment as Nyla crashed onto the apron. Donner kept pounding Nyla, but then she hit a power slam. That couldn’t hold the champion down for three, though. Back on his feet, Thunder surprised Nyla with a hurricanrana pin to win and retain the women’s world title.
Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose had a pretty good match for the champion’s first title defense. The David vs. Goliath vibe was implemented well. I like how it took some time for Thunder to finally knock Nyla off her feet. The finishing flow was questionable. The winning pin came out of nowhere, but it wasn’t necessarily built to a crescendo of excitement. The moment just happened and Thunder stayed champion.
Alongside victory, Donner’s warrior spirit shone brightly. Playing blow for blow with the Native Beast takes courage. No matter how hard Thunder was hit, she never stopped believing in herself. Thunder’s intensity and incessant attitude are the foundation of her rise.
Title change at TNT and appearance of Paige VanZant
At the opener, Sammy Guevara became TNT champion for the third time. Guevara survived Scorpio Sky and his crew of misfits to prevail in the end.
Guevara stepped in with Tay Conti at his side to share a sensual hickey on stage. Sky had Dan Lambert in their corner. When the opening bell rang, Sammy attacked aggressively. As Guevara jumped for a leapfrog, Sky caught him in a fireman’s carry, hoping to deal with a quick TKO. Sammy escaped unharmed.
Highlights include Sammy with a moonsault from the ring steps and Sky with a TKO on the apron. Sky focused on the lower back with three consecutive back breakers. Sammy rallied to put Sky in danger. The challenger climbed for an airstrike, but Ethan Page ran to the ring to save Sky from harm. As Conti yelled at Page, Guevara jumped over the top to do a shooting star press on Sky and Page.
Sammy went back to work on a double springboard cutter. He didn’t make a clean connection, so Sky kicked the cover. Lambert attempted to turn the momentum in Sky’s favor by causing a referee distraction. That almost backfired when Conti cheated to whack Sky’s hands off the ropes into a roll. Lambert was fed up with Conti, so he called Paige VanZant for backup. The two engaged in a wild brawl.
VanZant is so far a superstar in the making. Watching her fight with Conti was my favorite moment of the night. VanZant has the it factor to wow the crowd. Her athletic MMA background gives substance to the sugar.
Back in the ring, Sky caught Sammy in the eye. With the referee’s focus on Conti and VanZant, Sammy didn’t hesitate to hit a low blow in retaliation. Sammy picked up Sky for the GTH and the win.
The new TNT champion celebrated with hot tongue action from Conti. Seriously, the camera zoomed in as they played almond hockey.
Guevara and Sky put on a hot opener. Before all the fun, they had a fiery affair with cool moves on both sides. The outdoor activities fitted well with the overarching story, so it didn’t feel like too much to overshadow the game. Hook or crook, Sammy did what he had to do to recover the gold. I’m curious about the future direction of the two men. Sammy will likely defend the title more often while keeping the Lambert feud going. I don’t know what AEW is supposed to do with Sky. His reign will go down as a footnote without building momentum to increase his star power.
One odd aspect of this fight is that the boos for Sammy, who is said to be a babyface, are getting louder and louder. He still has vocal supporters, but the critics are increasing. It was obvious from the start. Sammy took control to land a barrage of punches in the corner. Boos rained down. Sky picked Sammy up to slam down on the mat. Cheers broke out. There were also dueling chants of “Let’s go Sammy” and “Sammy sucks”. The negative mockery was a tad louder.
I wonder if Sammy will be the new Cody Rhodes for AEW. Sammy becomes a divisive figure in fan reaction. His match had all sorts of shenanigans, and Page was cut to deliver blood. In this scenario, if you replaced Sammy with Cody, no one would bat an eyelid. It only fits since Cody lost to Sammy in his last AEW match. This is a dangerous torch to pass on.
ROH in the house with a huge sighting
The middle of the sandwich was filled by the Ring of Honor World Championship match as Jonathan Gresham successfully defended the belt against Dalton Castle. AEW did ROH justice by keeping time-honoured traditions alive. The code of honor handshake took place before and after the game. ROH ring announcer Bobby Cruise was brought in for the official interviews. Gresham entered wearing his signature octopus mask. AEW even gave Dalton Castle time for a full performance with his boys, the Tate twins.
At the end of 2021 I wrote an AEW wish list. One of the items called for Castle’s entrance in front of a full crowd. AEW complied with this wish. The crowd seemed unaware of Castle’s gimmick to provide the necessary energy in response, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Thank you AEW.
The contest was a technical wrestling duel with Flash. Unlike the chop fest between Samoa Joe and Minoru Suzuki on Dynamite, Gresham and Castle had a hilarious exchange of crouching chops. In another exciting sequence, Castle lifted Gresham up for his spinning Bang-A-Rang finisher, however Gresham managed to escape before impact. This resulted in numerous roll-ups rolling around the ring.
In the end, Gresham dodged a tall boot and then stomped on Castle’s foot. The octopus completed an octopus submission. Gresham cranked low to increase the pressure. Castle had to give in and admit defeat.
Gresham and Castle stayed true to their style of pure wrestling for a solid fight. The idea of mat work is often associated with slower, more methodical action. When Gresham leads, there’s constant movement. That was exhibited here. The antics were bolder than usual for him, but that fits with Castle’s gimmick of putting on a show.
The aftermath went haywire with the arrival of Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh. The giant destroyed Castle and his boys then went after Gresham. Lethal filled in for a blindside cutter on the ROH World Champion. Lee Moriarty and Matt Sydal tried their hand at being Good Samaritans on the big man, but they couldn’t even faze him.
Samoa Joe entered the scene with a metal whistle in hand. Singh bravely stood ready for action. As soon as Joe entered the ring, Singh went outside. Joe respected Gresham for shutting down the segment.
Singh’s second appearance at AEW played to his strengths well. It was great to see the difference in elevation between Singh and Gresham. Knowing Gresham’s superior technical ability, I’m dying to watch this match to see how he solves the puzzle. Unfortunately I don’t get my hopes up. I doubt Singh is ready to carry the ROH World Championship anytime soon and it’s way too early for this behemoth to take a beating to lessen his monster aura. Maybe we’ll get a taste of a tag match instead.
Grade: A-
The second edition of Battle of the Belts was a fun show. There were three different styles of play, and each one was entertaining in its own way.
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