ThunderStorm vs Baker/Hayter

AEW fans have been asking for Tony Khan to book a women’s match outside of the the penultimate match on Dynamite and low and behold, here we are! Second match in!

Dr. Britt Baker, DMD and Jamie Hayter come in with BEAUTIFUL new gear which looks very much like Homelander from The Boys, a reference I only know because Cody Rhodes wore the same sort of thing once upon a time. Toni Storm comes out to a big pop wearing the ThunderStorm t-shirt. Meanwhile Thunder Rosa comes out wearing a new t-shirt reading “Sand Bagging Since 2014”. Good stuff.

Britt and Rosa start off. TR ducks a clothesline and then whips off her shirt and throws it at Britt. She then takes Baker down and starts swinging away. Jamie Hayter quickly jumps in to break it up, Toni Storm is also in to punch up Hayter. A contentious start!

Britt gets Thunder Rosa into a cross face position looking for the Lock Jaw early but Thunder is able to escape but Baker anticipates this to which Thunder Rosa escapes again, displaying how well these two know each other which Excalibur puts over on commentary. Good, smart start to this one.

Hayter gets tagged in and is greeted with a Dropkick. She finds refuge against the ropes but Rosa dropkicks her in the back. Hayter turns around and gets a Dropkick to the front as well. Both very solid looking dropkicks.

Toni is tagged in. She and Rosa both take runs at Hayter in their corner. There’s a moment where both Storm and Rosa leave the ring, Storm not realizing she’s the legal woman. I’m not sure if this was on purpose or not but it did help tell the story of the match where ThunderStorm are maybe not as much on the same page as Baker & Hayter. If it were just a fortunate accident then credit to Excalibur for catching this detail.

Thunder Rosa snapmares Hayter and while looking at Britt the whole time, lets out a yell and gives Jamie a HARD kick in the back. Taz, this time, points out this detail. There appears to be a ton of subtext going on in this match. Britt would distract Rosa for a moment allowing Jamie Hayter the opportunity to throw a devastating looking forearm shot to Rosa’s face. God damn. Hayter then hits the double knees to TR’s back against the turnbuckle. This match was so stiff and snug!

In PIP, Hayter gives Thunder Rosa a hard slap to the face. Britt hits her double-underhook suplex for two. Snap suplex for two. The heels build up heat as Thunder Rosa is kept away from her corner and Hayter keeps knocking Toni Storm off the apron. There’s lots of closeup shots which I think is important during PIP.

We come back from PIP, Thunder Rosa hits a Stunner on Hayter and makes the tag to Toni who immediately hits a big diving crossbody on Jamie, then pursues Baker who drops to the floor so Storm obliges her by hitting a Tornado DDT off the apron. Rebel confronts Toni and gets punched in the face for her trouble.

Toni returns to the ring with another crossbody on Hayter, then an Alabama Slam for two. She tags in Thunder Rosa as they both attempt to double suplex Jamie Hayter but Hayter fights it off and then suplexes both Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa! Great show of power from Jamie Hayter!

Britt gets tagged in and hits Rosa with a vicious ripcord elbow. TR returns with a knee to the gut and hits a DVD on Britt. Toni is tagged in but as she goes to the top rope, Stupid Sexy Rebel is on the apron distracting her buying time for Baker. Britt stops Toni on the turnbuckle, climbs up and hits an Avalanche Air Raid Crash! Jesus H!

Hayter comes back in and nails a recovering Toni Storm with running Lariat. Britt Baker follows this up with a Curb Stomp. Hayter pins but… Like a WWE2K glitch… Thunder Rosa falls out of the sky and into frame dropkicking Jamie Hayter in the back of the head to break the pin! Holy fuck this was amazing. The contact. The surprise. The way Jamie Hayter looked over to the corner to see where Thunder Rosa was. But she was on her 6 and in the air at the time. Awesome, awesome moment.

Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker get to their feet and meet in the center of the ring. They start jaw jacking. Then exchanging blows. Baker hits an Air Raid Crash on Thunder! Storm hits a Tornado DDT on Britt! Hayter nails Toni with a giant Back Breaker! Phew!

TR and Toni hit Jamie and Britt with stereo German Suplexes which Hayter especially sells at a high angle. Hayter and Baker take refuge in opposite turnbuckles which of course sets them up perfectly for Toni Storm’s Hip Attacks. Jamie gets one. Then Britt gets one. Then Jamie gets another. Then Britt gets another.

Toni Storm goes to hit one last Hip Attack on Britt but Britt she pulls Thunder Rosa in the way and Storm actually nails TR in the ribs! Jamie Hayter gets up and pulls Toni Storm into essentially a Rain Maker for the win!

Wow! What a fucking match and what a showcase for Jamie Hayter. She really got put over in this match as the difference maker. This match would’ve been suitable to crown the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Champs (a topic I’ve written about here) on a Pay-Per-View! This match was a pleasure to review.

On her way out, Britt Baker gives Thunder Rosa a kick in the head, continuing to show the bad blood between them. Love that detail. We all know that wrestlers sometimes don’t get along and whether it’s real or manufactured, it really feels like Britt and Thunder have an issue with each other and it’s money.