AEW Battle of the Belts II Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of AEW Battle of the Belts II on April 16.

Battle of the Belts is neither a pay-per-view nor a regular show. This event could be compared to WCW's old Clash of Champions shows that ran between the big PPV events.

Three huge title matches took place Saturday, including one for AEW's new sister promotion, Ring of Honor.

We also saw the TNT and AEW Women's World Championships defended during this hourlong special, so there was plenty of action to fill the show.

Let's take a look at everything that happened at the second Battle of the Belts.

The first of the night's three title matches saw Scorpio Sky defend the TNT Championship against the man he beat for the title, Sammy Guevara.

Tay Conti accompanied Guevara, while Dan Lambert sat in Sky's corner. They did not waste any time and immediately started brawling. Sky hit a big slam to get the upper hand, but The Spanish God hit a side suplex a moment later to turn the tide back in his favor.

Their previous match involved ladders, so there was likely a little pressure on them to match the energy of that bout within the restrictions of the usual rules. They did a good job keeping the pace steady and hitting big moves, but this bout lacked the big-fight feel of their last match.

As Guevara began to build momentum, it was clear much of the crowd had turned against him. Page VanZant got a bit of a pop when she ran down to fight with Conti.

Sky hit a poke to the eye behind the ref's back, but Guevara hit a low blow followed by his finisher for the pin and the win. The Spanish God regained the TNT title, and a lot of fans did not seem happy about it.

Considering how Sky has been getting babyface reactions and Guevara has been getting booed, this might lead to Sky regaining the belt after both men have turned. We'll see.

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Guevara may not be a big dude, but the way Scorpio scooped him up and slammed him at the beginning of the match took some power.
• The crowd had dueling "Let's go, Sammy" and "Sammy Sucks" chants going after just two minutes.
• The way Guevara kissed Conti on the stage was very reminiscent of the way The Miz and Maryse kiss on the stage. It felt like a heel move.
• Sky and Guevara can hit all of the high spots, but some of the best moves in this match were a simple trio of backbreakers. Sky hit them perfectly, and Guevara sold them like he was hit with a bat.
• Guevara hit a nice shooting star press from the top rope to the floor to take out both Sky and Ethan Page when he ran down to interfere.

We've already seen the Ring of Honor TV and Tag Team Championships defended on AEW programming, and this match added another belt to that list when Jonathan Gresham put the ROH world title on the line against Dalton Castle.

Both men observed the Code of Honor and shook hands before the match got underway. The Octopus put his technical ability on display right away, so Castle was forced to take a break before the clock had even reached two minutes.

This match felt different than most of what we see in AEW in some small ways. It's hard to explain, but there are certain things in indie wrestling that you don't see in mainstream shows, and we saw some of those things in this bout. It's not a bad thing, but certain things that pop a live crowd don't always look good on TV.

After a good fight, Gresham successfully made Castle tap out with his trademark Octopus submission. Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh came down and attacked everyone after the match. Samoa Joe showed up with a lead pipe to send them packing.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• After winning both ROH title belts at Supercard of Honor, it appears as if Gresham will only carry the silver design going forward.
• Castle's back-and-forth gutwrench suplex is a nice spot. It would disorient just about anyone.
• The guys who accompanied Castle to the ring were running back and forth at ringside as Castle was running in the ring. It was giving off serious Damien Mizdow vibes in a good way.
• The spot when both men were ducking each other's strikes went on a little too long to be anything close to believable. They also traded a few too many near-falls when they were rolling around on the mat a moment later.
• Seeing Joe and Gresham holding up the ROH TV and World Championship at the end of the segment was a fun moment.

The main event of the card featured Thunder Rosa defending the AEW Women's World Championship against the top-ranked contender, Nyla Rose.

The challenger immediately asserted her dominance by knocking the champ out of the ring and beating her up at ringside with some help from the barricade.

The Native Beast had the upper hand for several minutes and through the commercial break. Rosa would occasionally try to make a comeback, but Nyla would immediately stop her in her tracks. It helped make the champion look like the underdog, which is exactly how it should be with these two.

When we returned from the break, the champion began to build up a head of steam. Nyla still had plenty of offense, but it was no longer a one-sided battle. After overcoming several close two-counts, Rosa scored the win with a hurricanrana.

This was one of The Native Beast's best performances in months. She and Rosa had great chemistry and it helped them put on a competitive match with some great moments. This was the right match to put in the main event slot.

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Nyla's facepaint was cool. She would have fit right in with House of Black.
• The powerbomb Nyla hit on the apron looked clean. She put Rosa down flat and as safe as possible while still making it look like a painful maneuver.
• People keep bringing signs to AEW shows that mention Elden Ring. It's kind of funny.
• Nyla's hair was getting in her face a lot, so she was constantly brushing it out of the way. She probably regretted not tying it back a little better.
• Rosa countering a powerbomb with a code red was a nice spot. They hit it perfectly.