A very special episode of the TBS Tournament

Tag team match

Full Gear needed a pre-show match, and a two-and-a-half month long tournament can always use a little more heat. So we’re getting Jaime Hayter & Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida & Thunder Rosa for free before Saturday’s PPV.

The Road to Full Gear

When you look at the TBS Tournament bracket, it’s pretty clear why Tony Khan picked these women for The Buy In: the two babyfaces face the two heels in upcoming second round matches.

AEW’s Twitter

Shida and Rose have been with AEW since day one. They’re two of the four wrestlers to hold the company’s Women’s World title - in fact, Hikaru took it from The Native Beast at last year’s Double or Nothing. They’ll renew acquaintances soon, with a semi-final berth on the line.

Rosa & Hayter joined the company later, and they don’t have nearly as much history with one another. But they have built-in beef. The Brit runs with Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. And the dentist and the luchadora have history to spare.

It all adds up to the proverbial combustible situation.

What to watch for

This one should be fun, just based on the styles and talents of the women involved. I’ve personally been really impressed with Hayter since she rejoined AEW back in August; the way she puts her whole body into both delivering her offense and selling her opponent’s is great.

It’ll also be interesting to look for clues to future tournament booking. Who is this one set-up to spotlight, and does that make it more or less likely they’re taking another step toward being the first TBS champ?

I also wonder if we might not see Serena Deeb get involved. Shida defeated the Woman of 1000 holds in the first round of the tourney, and paid the price with a post-match assault. Their feud will almost certainly continue... will it continue on The Buy In?

Let us know if this sounds like a good way to start off Full Gear. And let us know...