Surprise Itoh appearance, Shida/Mizunami battle make Revolution a good night for AEW’s women

Even before we got to the AEW Women’s title match at Revolution, it was a good night for joshi fans.

That’s because the Women’s Championship Eliminator Tournament’s breakout star Maki Itoh joined Dr. Britt Baker to defeat Thunder Rosa & Riho on the pre-show. It was a fun tag match that’s worth checking out (do so here), and it ended The Buy In on a heartwarming note...

Then, the winner of that tournament, Ryo Mizunami, set out to end Hikaru Shida’s record-setting title reigns. Despite facing off against one another numerous times throughout their careers, Shida had never beaten Mizunami. The challenger’s lack of respect for the champion was a theme of this one.

Shida hasn’t been champ for 288 days and counting for nothing, though. She was more than happy to beat some respect into her veteran rival.

Big shots reminiscent of their exchange after Mizunami’s win on Wednesday’s Dynamite followed, and Shida survived the guillotine leg drop that the challenger beat Nyla Rose with on that go home show.

Each woman survived big shots from the other, and there were nearfalls aplenty. Finally, a pair of knee strikes from the champion left Mizunami unable to kick out.

But that wasn’t all! Rose attacked, and got an assist from not only her manager Vickie Guerrero, but Baker & Itoh, too. Rosa made the save there, and it looks like there’s a trios match in our future...

It was a good night for the ladies of All Elite. We’ll see how the company builds on it this week.

Keep up on everything that happens tonight at Revolution in our live blog.