AEW: Three ‘hidden gems’ on the women’s roster

All Elite Wrestling is building its women’s division. There’s a lot in the group to be excited about for the future. Thunder Rosa and Jade Cargill are at the top, while there’s continued focus on names like Hikaru Shida, Serena Deeb, Kris Statlander, and Leyla Hirsch. As that part of the roster continues to grow, here are three “hidden gems” that AEW should leverage in the future.

Skye Blue

At only 22-years of age, Skye Blue has long-term potential for AEW. She certainly stands out on this roster as someone the promotion can slowly develop into a central force for the future.

Even before signing with AEW, other promotions knew she was someone that fans would want to see. She’s held three titles already for GPW, CSW, and ZERO1, but continues to be featured at the top of cards outside of AEW as well. For example, she took on Athena and Thunder Rosa in a triple threat for the Warrior Wrestling Women’s title at Warrior Wrestling 20.

Booking Blue as the underdog type babyface would be an easy play, but AEW has done great work with the intricacies of character development that those wrinkles could be interesting as well. She’s a name to watch throughout the rest of 2022 and beyond.

Jamie Hayter

Everyone sees the writing on the wall with Jamie Hayter. While she’s Britt Baker’s enforcer, for the time being, it will not be long before those two women are in a blood feud. Hayter’s in a great position now where she’s frequently shown on AEW television and picks up a solid number of wins. Even after they battle, there are opportunities to use that as a starting point to more battles against the likes of Rosa and others.

Hayter is another young individual on the AEW roster but still has a solid experience base as she boasts 6 years in the industry. Again, as AEW continues to play the long game, this is another person that the company can start to shape now, for a long run at the top of the card in years to come.

Emi Sakura

While the focus on Hayter and Blue is around the youth that they add to the roster for long-term planning, Emi Sakura is an established veteran that has a lot to bring to this roster immediately. She’s consistently featured on AEW Dark and Dark Elevation, which is understandable as those two shows are meant to build records and give reps to those that need them. But Sakura’s experience across the professional wrestling industry could be leveraged to help further establish one of the younger names in a more prevalent position on television.

Fans who follow the Japanese professional wrestling scene closely are familiar with Sakura’s body of work early in her career. She’s a multiple-time champion, holding titles in nearly every promotion she’s competed in.

AEW has successfully leveraged many veterans on the male side to help build talent for the roster. Sting, Chris Jericho, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and Jake Roberts are just a few examples. Sakura should be used in the same fashion to help build the future of the women’s division.