Hikaru Shida vs Emi Sakura

Surprise! Thursday night Dark Elevation!

It’s a battle of “the student versus the teacher”. On commentary making her first appearance in AEW is “Women’s Division Head Coach” Madison Rayne.

Hikaru Shida and Emi Sakura start the match by exchanging strikes. A shoulder black sends Emi to the floor, Shida looks to do an aerial attack but Emi pulls her to the floor and whips Shida against the barricade and the side of the ring. Sakura brings Shida back in, hits her “We Will Rock You” crossbody in the corner for two.

She hits a suplex, a couple running corner attacks and then a stalling suplex for two. Emi avoids an attack from the middle rope then gets ahold of Shida and hits a rope assisted back breaker on her. Shida reverses another backbreaker attempt, hits Sakura with a running knee and then tries for the Falcon Arrow but her back betrays her.

Emi hits Shida with a Tiger Driver and gets a 2.99-count out of it. Shida reverses Emi’s a stalling backbreaker, hits a step up dropkick off the turnbuckle and then hits a spinning knee to the face for the win.

Post match Jade Cargill comes out. To approach Hikaru Shida??? Nope, to get in Madison Rayne’s face. She and Stokely Hathaway setup a match between Rayne and Leila Grey on Rampage.

Watch Match on YouTube