Identifying the Key Factors Sparking the Rise of AEW's Women's Division

Women's wrestling has reached the height of its popularity in the U.S. over the last few years. The growth of NXT and WWE's accompanying Women's Revolution helped to break barriers and create a groundswell of support that started to emerge from Impact's Knockouts division and independent promotions like Shimmer and Rise. 

AEW started in January 2019 and made its network television debut on TNT in October of the same year. Its arrival came with a palpable amount of excitement but just as much pressure to become a viable alternative to WWE. The Elite and Tony Khan created something fresh that paid homage to companies of old and captured some of the familiar energy of modern indie wrestling. However, the newfound women's division stumbled out of the gate.

Some early creative decisions and a lack of strong storylines hampered a diverse roster, and a string of injuries and travel restrictions caused by COVID-19 didn't help matters. Fortunately, the fledgling division has finally found its legs thanks to some new additions and phenomenal matches.

On last week's episode of Dynamite, Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker became the first women to compete in the main event of the series since its premiere. Their brutal Unsanctioned Lights Out match has received nearly unanimous praise online, and it proved to be a significant ratings boost, bringing in 119,000 more viewers in the final quarter of the show for a total of 795,000. The historic bout will be a career-defining moment for Baker and Rosa and a potential turning point for AEW's women's division.

This feels like the beginning of something special. Baker is rapidly becoming one of the best characters in the company, and several other factors have helped spark the rise of AEW's women's division this year.

Hikaru Shida was one of AEW's bright spots in 2020. She finished the tumultuous year with one of the best win/loss records in the company, and her dominant run made her a great flagbearer for the division.

The third AEW women's world champion is the longest-reigning titleholder in the history of the company, surpassing Jon Moxley earlier this year. This feat and all the work she has done to elevate the championship, which isn't even two years old yet, will make her tenure with it memorable.

It's a shame that she hasn't had the opportunity to cut many promos or take part in meaningful storylines. That is the only downside to her reign. Still, what she has lacked in character development, she has made up for with her stellar in-ring ability. Shida's title defenses have been some of AEW's best pay-per-view matches to date.

It was also nice to see the Japanese star return to her home country to help produce matches for the women's championship eliminator tournament. She played a major role in bridging the gap with Japan and continuing to foster a relationship with Joshi wrestlers.

Her promotion of the tournament on Twitter and media appearances in the U.S. and abroad showed that she takes a great deal of pride in leading the division, and she deserves some credit for the progress it has made.

AEW's women's championship eliminator tournament was met with some criticism, but it was still highly successful. The event offered some excellent weekly matches, especially on the Japan bracket.

It's easy to say it was just a display of high-quality wrestling, but the company also managed to fit in some solid storytelling and create some breakout stars. Maki Itoh quickly became an internet sensation, and her popularity transitioned into a short American tour. The Tokyo Joshi Pro star made some new fans as she appeared on the pre-show for Revolution, Dynamite and Dark: Elevation this month.

Ryo Mizunami was also one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. The charismatic student of Meiko Satomura survived the Japan bracket, pulling off upsets on Itoh, a legend in Aja Kong and Yuka Sakazaki. Then, she went on to defeat Nyla Rose in the finals to earn a title match against Hikaru Shida.

Although the Native Beast came up short, getting to see Rose re-establish herself as a legitimate threat was one of the highlights of the event. Her matches with Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa were both top-notch.

Veny, the first Japanese transgender professional wrestler, and Mei Suruga also had great showings along with Emi Sakura. Meanwhile, Serena Deeb and Riho delivered a fantastic first-round match that set the tone for what will hopefully become an annual tradition.

Speaking of Riho, her return to AEW after an 11-month hiatus on the Feb. 17 episode of Dynamite illustrated just how popular the Joshi star is with the company's core audience. The inaugural women's champion grew into a fan favorite before the pandemic, and the small crowd at Daily's Place welcomed her back with recognizable chants.

The 23-year-old's absence on television was glaring. However, she worked with Stardom in Japan during that time and she didn't miss a beat.

Her return match with Serena Deeb did exceptionally well. It was the most-watched segment on that week's episode of Dynamite, pulling in 789,000 viewers. Riho routinely does well with younger viewers, and the match saw a gain of 1,000 viewers aged 18-49.

Moreover, Riho is one of the better workers in the division and a top babyface. Having her back will make a big difference if AEW wants to do more secondary feuds. In fact, one of the triumphs of the main event featuring Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker was the fact that it wasn't a title feud but still had high stakes. Hopefully, that's a sign that the company will develop more ongoing rivalries as well as a title picture.

At the end of 2019, Big Swole and Kris Statlander made a major impact on the AEW women's roster as its newest signees. They both brought in some much-needed enthusiasm, and a similar shift is happening with the addition of a tremendous technical wrestler in Leyla Hirsch and Red Velvet, whose fiery in-ring and promo work has been a treat like her ring name suggests. Similarly, Jade Cargill has been a standout since she debuted on the Nov. 11 episode of Dynamite.

The 28-year-old newcomer has an unmistakable allure even though we haven't seen that much of her. Standing at 5'10", she boasts an incredible physique and an imposing but captivating presence. Cargill already proved that she has some chops on the microphone, but the question remained how she could perform between the ropes. The Georgia native put those reservations to rest when she and Red Velvet upstaged Cody Rhodes and Shaq in their mixed tag match on March 3.

In her in-ring debut, Cargill proved her immense personality translates well to the squared circle as she arrogantly taunted her opponents throughout the match. Her power-based offense also perfectly matched her look, and her finishing move evoked greats like WWE's Beth Phoenix and Jazz.

It also helps that AEW has crafted such a strong presentation around her, with a dynamic logo and an awesome entrance that helps her look the part. It may still seem early to say, but this homegrown talent appears to have a bright future. She could become an integral part of the direction of the company.

Thunder Rosa has been an invaluable asset to AEW since her surprise debut last August. Straight away, the former NWA women's world champion and Shida stole the show at All Out, and her recurring appearances bolstered the division during the pandemic.

La Mera Mera has been dedicated to the betterment of women's wrestling for the last few years. Through her run with NWA and her work with her own indie promotion, Mission Pro Wrestling, she has done so much to accomplish that.

She brought all of that goodwill to AEW in the form of amazing matches, but she also had a hand in training women from Mission Pro who have appeared on Dark, such as Madi Wrenkowski. Wrenkowski also replaced Anna Jay in the first round of the women's championship eliminator tournament after she suffered an injury.

Rosa bet on herself when she signed with NWA, and you could see how emotional she was about everything she has achieved since during her post-match interview following the main event of Dynamite last week. It was touching to see how much it meant to her to bring value to women's wrestling on a national stage, but it was even more rewarding to see the culmination of her personal journey.

If anyone deserved the chance to headline a show on network television, it was the Texas resident, and she literally shed blood for what she believed in.