Saraya & Toni Storm vs Renegade Twins

On the surface, seeing the graphic “Saraya & Toni Storm In Action!” doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in the quality of the match you’re going to see. You expect to see their opponents being someone not on the roster (which the Renegades aren’t) with the old “already in the ring” introduction (which they were) but even in these moments, I try to look beyond the fixture of the pro wrestling match and find other takeaways, which for this match included:

• If the over-arching “Outsiders vs Homegrown” storyline advanced in any way
• How the Renegade Twins look
• How does Saraya look, for that matter, this only being her 3rd match in AEW

The Match

The match, in and of itself, was an alright 5-minute contest. The Renegades, still only 22, had some good spots with fire-ups and strikes, although the energy wasn’t there from the crowd which I think is pretty natural given that, as far as I can tell, this was two heel tag teams facing each other.

Toni Storm continues to find ways to Hip Attack seated opponents off the apron. I love that spot. I thought the Saraya character has found its footing in this match more than any other because it’s congruent with the direction that the crowd is receiving her. Wrestling-wise, I don’t think this match was long enough or had enough sustained bursts of action from Saraya to warrant any type of review of her work. But I think given that there are some moves she (wisely) won’t take, being in a tag team is wise.

On that note, I like the dynamic of this tag team. I like the difference in complexion between both women, and while not a pure “double team finisher”, I thought the combo of Saraya thrust-kicking Charlette in the head, sending her stumbling into a vicious Storm Zero from Toni for the win.

Post Match

This was the major purpose of this booking. While I often wish this women’s roster would interact with itself more, I think establishing this ‘spray-painting L’s on their opponents’ gimmick required it being done to talent who could fade away. If Toni & Saraya were to do this to, say, Skye Blue & Madison Rayne, it requires a response and automatically sparks a feud.

The next time Saraya & Toni Storm get out the spray paint, the heat from the crowd will be heightened. I’ll be interested to see if they do it to another couple of unsigned talents before moving onto actual #AllElite wrestlers. Maybe down the road, Saraya & Toni can tease spray painting someone and that can be interrupted by, say, Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter.

Green.W.O.

Of course, as soon as spray paint is introduced in a wrestling angle, everyone’s mind goes to the nWo. Could this be a tease that there’s “a third woman”? Britt Baker has certainly suggested as much accusing Ruby Soho of siding with Toni & Saraya. Also, we’ve got green spray paint, Toni Storm (who typically wears red) had green on her gear, Saraya has green on her jacket; Is this pointing to a theme for this budding faction? Ruby Soho’s hair has been green since she returned…