AEW Has The Right Outlook With Their Future Women’s Championship
AEW is busy building its initial roster ahead of the Double or Nothing Pay Per View, which will take place on May 25 in Las Vegas. There may not be a Women’s Championship match at the show, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Britt Baker, Penelope Ford, Kylie Rae, Nyla Rose, Aja Kong, Yuka Sakazaki, and Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes are the six women who could potentially wrestle at AEW‘s upcoming Double or Nothing show in Las Vegas. Of those names, it seems like Baker, Ford, Rae, and Rose are the only wrestlers officially signed who aren’t also in executive positions.
That said, the AEW Women’s Division is growing, and based on the signings they have made so far, fans should have every reason to believe that their division will be strong. Baker is one of the best in the world, Rose is a future star (and the first openly trans wrestler to sign with a major promotion), Ford was a breakout star at All In before facing Jazz for the NWA Women’s Championship, and Rae was right on Baker’s level as arguably the best free agent in wrestling.
Though AEW has the makings of a strong nucleus of talent in its Women’s Division, the promotion will be careful not to rush things. Brandi Rhodes recently told the media that she isn’t expecting a Women’s Championship to be rolled out at Double or Nothing. Now, she didn’t rule out the possibility of a title match happening at the first event, but her is on building the division first.
Quote via Fightful.com’s Jeremy Lambert:
"“I’m not expecting (a Women’s Title) at (Double or Nothing). There obviously will be a Women’s Championship. But as far as Double or Nothing goes, it’s a miss to do too many things at once. Some things get lost in the sauce and that’s a huge thing. I would like to take our time and build on that.”"
Brandi’s approach to building the AEW Women’s Division seems like the right way to go for a growing promotion. Even established promotions like ROH and WWE rarely have title matches when a brand or championship is first unveiled.
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Sumie Sakai had to win a tournament to become the first Women of Honor Champion, Tyler Bate won the United Kingdom Championship after a tournament, TJP won the Cruiserweight Championship in a tournament (and Cedric Alexander did, too), and Rhea Ripley was the first United Kingdom Women’s Championship after winning a grueling tourney.
AEW could decide to do this with their Women’s Division, especially since they are still filling out their roster. They are being cautious with how they plan their initial signings, because they have stated several times that they don’t want to sign too many wrestlers, only to leave them hanging around with nothing to do. Brandi herself said the same thing when it comes to building the Women’s Division, which is a challenge since there are so many amazing women who seem interested in joining.
That’s why getting Sakazaki and literal living legend Aja Kong to work Double or Nothing is so huge, as these partnerships can allow AEW to showcase wrestlers at big events without signing too many people on at once.
And when it comes to crowning their first champion, they can also afford to take their time as the roster fills out. Creating meaningful matchups and feuds, such as Rose vs. Rae (teased at the Ticket Party in Vegas this past week), can help build anticipation for the first champion and make a possible tournament for the title feel even more important due to the additional, personal stakes surrounding the matches.
AEW has made all the right moves so far, signing wrestlers like Sonny Kiss, Kylie Rae, PAC, and Nyla Rose and working with promotions like TJPW and AAA. They also seem to have the right mentality with both building their roster and creating new championships, so Brandi Rhodes’s caution with building to a Women’s Champion should be seen as a positive sign of this deliberate approach.
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While praising AEW too much before the product is available would be presumptuous, criticizing them without considering their vision and approach would be an equal dose of cynicism on the other side of the coin.