This was a match I was looking forward to just because Jamie Hayter really seems to have taken this division by the scruff and is bullying it into being North America’s Joshi promotion and Bunny, for her part, is plenty tough to be able to take some strong style hits. Unfortunately, due to a mistimed exploder suplex, they had to “take it home” early. Despite that, let’s still have a look at the match.
Everything before…
Both women shake hands before the match. I can’t help but wonder if that’s playing into the idea that “Day One” AEW women have that level of respect for each other. Hayter shows her power advantage early running over Bunny with shoulder blocks. Bunny returns with some trickery on the apron then brings Hayter outside where she suplexes her on the floor, Jamie’s leg hits the steel step! TBS viewers are ushered to PIP.
During commercial break, Hayter gets whipped into the steps. Both women return to the ring and begin exchanging chops. Once again Bunny brings the fight to the apron. After some fighting there both women end up face-slamming each other on the apron as we come back from commercials.
On the floor, Britt Baker has grabbed a Hayterade sign which Penelope grabs and rips up. In the ring, Jamie hits a beautiful exploder suplex. Bunny gets up and Jamie goes for another…
…The Finish
…but this time it doesn’t go smoothly. I think a lot of fans assumed that The Bunny landed on her face or didn’t get all the way over but from what I can tell despite the jump at the beginning being mistimed, Bunny did manage to get all the way over and landed successfully on her back but in powering through the move, rather than Bunny landing beside Jamie, she landed under her and Jame’s shoulder came down onto Bunny’s face. They decided to “go home” at this point, Jamie picked Bunny up and hit a much lower version of Hayterade to finish the match.
I will, as I sometimes do, reserve the right not to grade this match as it felt “incomplete” but I do give both women and Rick Knox a ton of credit for thinking quickly on their feet and making the call to end the match right away safely. Also, Taz for putting over how sometimes trying to defend a suplex can backfire and Excalibur for crediting Jamie’s champion-calibre recognition for it being the right time to go for the finish.
Get Well Bunny
It’s a really unfortunate turn of events but it’s also a reminder that we shouldn’t take the successful execution of these moves for granted as this type of thing can happen at any time. I suspect Bunny’s injuries could be an orbital bone injury. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious and she can have a speedy and comfortable recovery. Allie The Bunny already has a reputation for being tough as nails. Hopefully something positive can be spun out of this as far as her character or connection with fans goes as well but as a performer and a person, we wish her all the best and hope to see her back soon.
