The rivalry between Thunder Rosa and Britta Baker has been going on for months. Baker, the first woman signed to All Elite Wrestling, has seemed to hold an everlasting chip on her shoulder. Since being in the promotion. While Riho became the first-ever Woman’s Champion, Baker has maintained that she is the cornerstone of the women’s division in AEW.
Then, Thunder Rosa made an emphatic debut, with an absolutely outstanding match against Serena Deeb. For a moment, Thunder Rosa was all anyone could talk about in AEW, but Britt made sure to remind everyone who should be the face of the women’s division, and she’s hounded the former NWA champion for weeks upon weeks.
Baker has interfered in Thunder Rosa’s matches and the two of them have even fought against one another in a tag team match at this year’s Revolution pay-per-view event. There, Baker teamed with Maki Itoh to face Thunder Rosa and Riho. Rebel was of course at ringside and after smashing Thunder Rosa in the back with her crutch, Britt Baker was able to score the pinfall victory.
But on the latest episode of AEW Dynamite, the two finally faced off again, one on one, in the first-ever AEW Lights Out match on TNT. All Elite Wrestling has only had one other Lights Out match, which was when Jon Moxley faced Kenny Omega at Full Gear in 2019.
The Lights Out match was billed as the main event of the night and did it ever live up to that billing. Both women took one another to the limit, which started with Rebel once against using her crutch, smacking Thunder Rosa in the back. The violence only escalated from there, with the women starting the match outside of the ring.
Chairs and Ladders were quickly brought into this match, with Britt Baker suplexing Thunder Rosa onto a pile of steel chairs from the top rope! Early in the match, Thunder Rosa was busted up after Baker stomped her face into the steel steps near the ring. Rosa’s blood paled in comparison to Dr. Baker’s, though, who was severely wounded after Thunder Rosa dropped kicked a ladder into the face of Baker. Her crimson masked face didn’t deter Baker. She battled back, maniacally smiling at the camera, as the blood poured down her face, into her hair and eyes.
The chairs and ladders weren’t the peak of the savagery of this match. Rebel reached under the ring and handed Britt Baker a mysterious black bag. Baker, still bleeding profusely, strutted to the middle of the ring, and pour out the contents: thumbtacks! The Doctor couldn’t capitalize on the weapons, though, instead falling victim to them. Thunder Rosa power bombed the dentist onto the painful office supplies, painting Britt Baker’s back in metallic shards.
Thumbtacks, crutches, ladders, chairs, steel steps. This Lights Out match was horrendously incredible, but it all came to an end when Thunder Rosa hit her finishing maneuver, the Fire Thunder Driver, on Britta Baker outside of the ring, through a table. She was able to pin the bloodied dentist for a win and finally put an end to this rivalry between the two women.
Simply put, this match was incredible. As stated earlier, these two women have been gunning for one another for months now. They’ve gone back and forth, fought on preshows, pay-per-view, and Dynamite. A Lights Out match was the only way this rivalry could end, and it ended in spectacular fashion.
Both women fought tooth and nail. The back and forth between them kept the pendulum swinging. They proved why they are two of the best wrestlers in the company. While Thunder Rosa seemed to be in control at certain moments of the match, it looked like Britt was readying herself for the win, especially with Rebel ringside. In the end, though, the win was achieved by the former NWA women’s champion.
What’s next for these two women? Will Thunder Rosa reset her sights on reclaiming the Nation Wrestling Alliance women’s championship? Or does she look for a new mountain to climb, aiming at AEW’s Women’s Champion, Hikaru Shida? And how will Britta Baker take this loss? She has called herself the ultimate role model for months. Will she show how a role model can bounce back and keep fighting, or will this Lights Out match have taken too much out of her? Time will tell.
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