AEW Dynamite: Booms and duds for Feb. 19, 2020, including Cody vs. Wardlow

Boom: the resurgent women’s division

Possibly the biggest critique of AEW the first four months of Dynamite has been the lack of in-ring quality in their women’s division. This hit a nadir with the Brandi Rhods & Mel vs. Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander tag match on the Jan. 15, 2020 episode.

Well, last week’s Riho vs. Nyla Rose championship match was well received and set a new standard for what fans should expect from women’s matches in AEW. I believe many fans were so jaded with the matches that last week’s match stood out even more. It was going to be hard to follow last week’s match.

This week, however, maintained the higher match quality we have been clamoring for. Shanna, always a favorite when wearing her Goku-inspired gear, and Statlander had a nice back-and-forth match with the simple story of Statlander just being too strong.

Then, Rose gave her best promo to date as a fiery heel who (rightfully) is extremely confident in her abilities. AEW also planted the seed for future matches by having both Statlander and Big Swole interrupt Rose (don’t forget about personal favorite Shida).

The only “dud” about any of this is there was only one women’s match; baby steps, right?