For all of the love and praise AEW gets for its match quality, its attention to the small details, and priding itself on being a professional wrestling company that isn't bothered about "sports entertainment," there is one area of AEW that everyone has at one point out as its biggest weakness; its women's division.
Some people have put it down Tony Khan's influences as a booker being the likes of ECW, early ROH, and the recent 2010s golden age of NJPW, all of which are male dominated. Others have cited the severe lack of TV time the women get compared to the men, and then there's a few who simply believe that Khan doesn't really care. That last point couldn't be any further from the truth considering that in the six years of AEW's existence, the women's division have managed to produce some of the most compelling feuds in company history.
With All In Texas approaching, we thought it would be fun to give the AEW women's division its well overdue flowers and highlight some of the feuds and rivalries that will go down in history as some of the company's best, or most important, for a variety of reasons. So sit back, relax, and join us on a journey through the history books of AEW, where we celebrate 10 of the most memorable feuds from the female side of AEW, matches and rivalries that will live long in the memory, and why they are integral to the success of AEW as a company.
When talking about rivalries in the AEW women's division, it's only right that we start at the beginning of the company with the feud between the first two AEW Women's World Champions.
Riho and Nyla Rose were the female equivalent of the classic David vs. Goliath story. Riho, as Jim Ross always used to point out on commentary, was less than 100lbs in weight, but had the experience of a seasoned veteran given that she started training at the age of nine, while Rose, nicknamed "The Native Beast" was a behemoth of a woman, and the first transgender woman to be heavily featured in a major American wrestling company.
The feud started at Fyter Fest 2019, AEW's second ever event, where Riho defeated Rose and Yuka Sakazaki in a three-way match, but Rose attacked both women after the match. She had been on a mission to rule AEW women's division from day one, and won the Casino BattleRoyal at All Out 2019 to earn the right to fight for the AEW Women's World Championship on the first episode of "AEW Dynamite."
However, it was Riho who became the inaugural champion by scoring the upset victory, and even defended the title against Rose in a four-way match that also featured Hikaru Shida and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.. Rose would eventually get her win back over Riho on February 12, 2020, becoming the second-ever AEW Women's World Champion, and while they've briefly crossed paths since 2020, they moved on to different feuds once Rose became champion.
Considered by many as the first truly great women's feud in AEW, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. and Thunder Rosa arguably became the two faces of the division going into the company's hottest period to date thanks to their intense rivalry.
Beginning in late 2020 after Baker cost Rosa a match where "La Mera Mera" was aiming to regain the NWA World Women's Championship that she lost to Serena Deeb. The two would brawl all over Daily's Place for many weeks, resulting in a match at the 2021 Beach Break edition of "AEW Dynamite" which Baker won via outside interference and an exposed turnbuckle.
In an attempt to even the odds and settle the score in the same match, Rosa would get her rematch in a Lights Out Unsanctioned Match at the St. Patrick's Day Slam edition of "Dynamite"that March, which she would win. That bout would be the one that made Baker and Rosa famous as it was heavily praised by fans and critics for proving that women could do deathmatch-style wrestling as well as the men, which ultimately opened the door for the rest of the women's division to dive into their blood-soaked bag of tricks for years to come.
They would briefly go their separate ways when Baker became the AEW Women's World Champion, but the beginning of 2022 saw the rivalry pick up where it left off, only this time there was gold at stake. Baker would successfully retain her title against Rosa at the 2022 Revolution pay-per-view, but less than two weeks later, Rosa would dethrone Baker in a match that was not only in front of her hometown fans in San Antonio, Texas, but was also the first-ever all-women's Steel Cage match in AEW history on the one year anniversary of their Lights Out classic.
A rivalry from AEW's hottest period thus far that doesn't get nearly enough love as it should due to the fact that there were no titles on the line, and none of their matches happened on pay-per-view. However, Hikaru Shida and Serena Deeb has one of the most compelling TV rivalries in AEW history, and proved that the women's division could tell stories without the need to pursue gold.
Beginning at "AEW Dynamite's" second anniversary in October 2021, Shida was going for her 50th AEW win, with the company even making her a nice trophy if she won. Deeb took this personally as many people just assumed that she would get ran over by Shida, but that was not the case, leading "The Professor"to turn heel by not only beating Shida, but viciously proving why she was also nicknamed "The Woman of 1,000 Holds."
This would kick off a five match series that saw Shida win their second match, eliminating Deeb from the tournament to determine the first-ever AEW TBS Champion in the process, and the third match at the second-ever Winter is Coming edition of "Dynamite" that December. After the turn of the new year, Deeb leveled the series at two wins each by dishing out a brutal beating and defeating Shida in less than two minutes on the January 12, 2022 episode of "Dynamite."The feud would conclude in an intense Philadelphia Street Fight in April 2022, coincidentally taking place in the same building their feud started in, where Deeb picked up the win, leading her to challenge Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women's World Championship the following month at Double or Nothing. Five great matches that are highly worth watching if you haven't already.
One of the many feuds in the AEW women's division that still feels like there is some gas left in the tank for it because of how things ended.
Thanks to their shared time on the UK independent scene, Toni Storm and Jamie Hayter knew each other well, but by the time Storm got to AEW in 2022, Hayter was already aligned with Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., and would dish out a violent beating to anyone who would step up to "The Good Doctor." Thunder Rosa was, of course, not afraid to get in Baker's face, and Storm being friends with Rosa meant that she would have to deal with Hayter, beginning one of the most physical feuds in the AEW women's division so far.
Things were taken to another level when Rosa would go down with a serious back injury, resulting in Storm becoming the Interim AEW Women's World Champion in the process, a title that Hayter wanted more than anyone at that time, especially considering Storm held a pinfall victory over Hayter from earlier in the year. Their eventual rematch would take place at the 2022 Full Gear pay-per-view, with Hayter winning the title in one of the best matches in the division's history, which also led to Storm aligning with Saraya as a result, forming The Outcasts, and vowing to get the better of the AEW originals.
Baker was taken out by the Jericho Appreciation Society, The Outcasts had outnumbered Hayter on more than one occasion, and Storm would dethrone Hayter at the 2023 Double or Nothing pay-per-view, Hayter's final match for 15 months. The two have not crossed paths since, but when they do, there will certainly be no love lost.
We are kind of cheating with this entry as the vast majority of it took place in Ring of Honor, but since ROH is owned by Tony Khan, Athena and Willow Nightingale are both under contracts with AEW and ROH, and the fact that Athena has been doing the best work of her career in Khan's version of ROH, we had to include "The Fallen Goddess" somehow.
Having turned heel in late 2022 following a match with Jody Threat on "AEW Dark" that was so physical, fans thought she had gone into business for herself, Athena had won the ROH Women's World Championship right at the time where the promotion was finally getting a weekly show that streamed on their HonorClub service. Willow Nightingale, who had become a major fan favorite in the weeks and months following her official signing as an AEW talent in October 2022, stepped up as Athena's first challenger in the HonorClub era, and it was clear as day that the two were made for each other.
Athena may have picked up the win, but Willow would go on one of the hottest streaks of her career, going undefeated in ROH, beating Mercedes Mon for the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship, and winning the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, a tournament that also saw Willow eliminate Athena. With their series at one win each, and with Athena wanting to rectify her loss to Willow, their trilogy match was set for July's Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, where "The Fallen Goddess" once again retained her title in the first-ever all-black female main event in ROH history. One of the best trilogies in recent memory, and a shining example as to why fans love both Athena and Willow Nightingale so much.
Probably the first feud that comes to mind when "greatest AEW women's rivalries" becomes a topic of discussion, the story of Toni Storm and Mariah May is not only one of the best in the history of the AEW women's division, but one of the best in the history of women's wrestling all together.
A story modeled after the 1950 movie "All About Eve,"May arrived in AEW in late 2023 as a huge fan of Storm, who at this point had become "Timeless,"and wanted to be taken under the AEW Women's World Champion's wing (or bosom if you asked Storm). After initial apprehension, Storm would grow to love May as she saw a younger version of herself, but this was all part of May's plan to take everything from the champion, betraying her in July 2024 after winning that year's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
From there, the two women would have their long-awaited grudge match at All In London inside Wembley Stadium, where May not only slapped her own mother and kissed Nigel McGuinness, but dethroned Storm to become the new champion, but essentially banished Storm from AEW. In Storm's absence, May became "The Woman from Hell," and ruled the division with an iron fist, but Storm would return before the end of 2024, this time under her former gimmick, but something wasn't right. May could see right through it and attacked Storm when the two were set to hype up their title rematch for Grand Slam Australia.
However, Storm had been playing the role of a lifetime, revealing she had been "Timeless" the entire time, and after winning her title back from May in Australia, the two would have a violent "Hollywood Ending" match at Revolution 2025 that is considered by many as the greatest women's match to take place on American soil. Storm would retain her title, the curtain would come down on their story, and May would eventually leave the company in June 2025.
Sometimes the best of friends make the best of enemies, and that's exactly what happened with Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander.
The two women had a mutual respect for each other following their matches against each other, but would form a genuine friendship towards the back end of 2023. That bond would remain strong heading into 2024, but when Willow became the number one contender to the AEW TBS Championship in March, many thought Statlander would get jealous, and those people would be half right as Statlander would be very happy for Willow when she dethroned Julia Hart for the title at Dynasty, but when Mercedes Mon beat Willow for the title, that's when Statlander stuck the knife in.
Throughout the summer, the story continued as Willow would eliminate Statlander from the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament in the semi-finals, but Statlander would get her win back in a CMLL World Women's Championship Eliminator match. The two would have their match set for All Out that September, but a mixed tag team match at All In London featuring Tomohiro Ishii and Stokely Hathaway would determine the stipulation. Willow and Ishii won, and a Street Fight was chosen, which actually led to Statlander losing her shot at the title as CMLL don't allow their titles to be defended in Street Fights.
However, Statlander would get the last laugh as their match at All Out was not only considered one of the most chaotic in AEW history, but Statlander got the better of her former friend. In the months since their Street Fight, the two have come close to reconciling, but now that the Death Riders have their eyes on Statlander, watch this space as this rivalry might have another chapter yet.
When MercedesMon joined AEW in March 2024, she promised to take women's wrestling global and do what it takes to prove that if you want to be considered one of the best women's wrestlers in the world, you had to be in AEW. This positivity was quickly shaken away as "The CEO" would win the AEW TBS and NJPW STRONG Women's Championships from Willow Nightingale and Stephanie Vaquer respectively, but for some reason, the excitement surrounding Mon wasn't as high as many would have hoped. A subpar match against Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. at All In London, a fairly decent match against Hikaru Shida at All Out, and being completely left off of WrestleDream wasn't what people expected from "The CEO," but then she ran into Kris Statlander.
Almost immediately, it was clear that the two women had chemistry. Statlander wanted to right the wrongs of the summer that led to her friendship with Nightingale to fall apart, and wanted to make things right by dethroning the woman that dethroned her former friend for the AEW TBS Championship. Of course, Mon would get the better of Statlander at Full Gear and Worlds End, but the matches they put together not only showed that Statlander was someone who needs a run with a title at some point, but it finally felt like the moment that "The CEO" had arrived in AEW. Again, this could have more chapters to come in the future, and when they are written, expect as many fireworks as their first two meetings.
Towards the back end of 2024, there was arguably no one in AEW who the fans organically willed on to succeed more than Harley Cameron. From her musical skills, to speaking fluent Chinese, and of course her ventriloquism, Cameron was adored by the fans for being herself, which caught the attention of Mercedes Mon, someone who was also being herself but hated because of it.
Cameron had improved in the ring to the point where she told the world it was her dream to wrestle in her home country for AEW, but Mon claimed that she wasn't on her level. While that might have been true in the ring, the same couldn't be said for outside of it, with Cameron finally pushing Mon's buttons enough to be given an AEW TBS Championship shot thanks to Mini Mon, a puppet version of "The CEO."
Mon would retain in Brisbane, with Cameron putting in a strong showing, but since the two have remained close on-screen, and even closer off it, perhaps there is still more to come from one of the most unique pairings that the AEW women's division has ever produced.
And here we are in the present with the feud currently being set up between Mercedes Mon and "Timeless"Toni Storm.
Their match is currently scheduled for All In Texas on July 12, with Storm defending her AEW Women's World Championship against "The CEO" who currently holds the AEW TBS Championship, and gold from RevPro in the UK, CMLL in Mexico, and EWA in Austria. Marketed as the biggest women's match in AEW history, already the feud as produced a number of memorable moments. Mon's various steak dinners at ringside watching Storm compete, Storm making a surprise appearance at Grand Slam Mexico to attack Monfrom behind, and the various promo battles where Storm has stated that she will need to be killed in order to be beaten, while Mon is looking to become the most dominant women's wrestler ever.
The two women did briefly cross paths during their shared time in WWE, but All In Texas will be their first official singles meeting ever, and it's certainly on course to make as much history as AEW hopes it will. Not much else can be said right now, but rest assured, this feud will be talked about by AEW fans for many, many years to come.
