Kades House Of Wrassle Weekly Post #219!
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unconventionalfanworkex[An in-universe match recap blogpost for fiachairecht, featuring Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, and Aubrey Edwards.]
Kade's House Of Wrassle Weekly Post #219!
Hello and welcome back to another week of Kade's House of Wrassle! I've been watching a lot of the AEW womens division lately so I wanted to do a deep dive into a couple of the matches from last week. As regular readers know, I've followed Kris Statlander's arc but never really gone in depth there. Quick little background for those who aren't familiar: Statlander started out in AEW with an alien gimmick working with the Best Friends faction. The faction is gone and so is her alien gimmick but she's still doing some great wrestling! She has had an on again off again tag team with Willow Nightingale while she turned heel and face, and even though the feud is pretty much over, lately they've had a few interactions that I want to highlight over the next couple weeks as this storyline develops. Stay tuned!
Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale from Dynamite last week
This is a great match because you really get to see their skills as strikers. You don't see a lot of women strikers in the US but it's clearly something they both work at and do well at.
The first surprise was that Nightingale came out alone. Obviously she's part of the Conglomeration but none of the guys came out to corner for her, even the ones who weren't wrestling. As soon as the bell rang they traded strikes at the opening before Statlander went to the outside. She tried to bait Nightingale out with her (I was wondering if this was a moment where she was struggling against the heel tendencies!) but Nightingale got up on the ropes and grabbed Statlander to pull her back in.
Nightingale gets out on the apron and goes for a powerbomb, but Statlander superkicks her in the shoulder before she can get close. They grapple a little bit and fall off the apron onto the ground. But before the ref starts the count, Nightingale puts Statlander back into the ring. Statlander kind of looks stunned a little bit. She's moving almost on instinct through the next sequence and kicks out without a lot of force when Nightingale goes to get a pin. Nightingale says something to her, but the ring mics weren't very good and I couldn't hear it. Please, if you could decipher what she said, let me know in the comments under the post! But whatever it was it seemed to snap Statlander out of it and she started working on Nightingale's shoulder with some more kicks and strikes, and gets her in a wrist lock. Nightingale escapes the wrist lock and whips Statlander into the corner, where she jumps onto the middle rope and starts punching her. Statlander lifts Nightingale up and slams her down.
I hate when wrestlers just spam their finisher over and over, but in this case I think Stat pulled out Staturday Night Fever because she just didn't know what else to do. You could see her kind of going in and out of heel mode. Nightingale wasn't expecting it so she just took it and didn't even try to counter, but it was barely a two count before she kicked out, so it's safe to say it needed a lot more before Statlander could get there.
Nightingale created some distance between them and hit the ropes to get a lariat on Statlander, but it didn't knock her down. Statlander got staggered but stayed up and went back to try and put some more pressure on the right shoulder of Nightingale. At this point I was waiting for some more flashy offense since it was mostly a slugfest. Nightingale got Statlander with a spinning backfist and then climbed up to the top rope for a splash. She landed it but only hooked the near leg for the pin, and that's what let Statlander kick out.
Nightingale went for another pin immediately but Statlander got the ropes and pulled herself underneath and out on the apron. She caught Nightingale by the wrist and jumped to the floor, wrenching her shoulder even harder and sending Nightingale staggering. She could have capitalized on it but she almost looked frozen on the outside of the ring, looking toward her corner even though neither of them came out with anyone. I thought we might get a tope con Willow but it wasn't happening. Instead Statlander got back up on the apron and Nightingale slammed into her to knock her back down. Statlander went under the ring and came out with a chair, but got shouted down by the ref and for some reason threw it away on her own.
Nightingale got out of the ring to shove Statlander back in again (exactly like earlier in the match), but this time Statlander surprised her with a DDT off the ropes. It jarred the shoulder Statlander had been working over the whole match and Statlander went for a quick rollup. It was two and three quarters before Nightingale got free, but she hit another lariat and I saw Statlander's head bounce off the mat. It was crazy! Nightingale put Statlander down but only got two and a bit before Statlander reversed it and went for another flash pin. They switched back and forth for a bit before Nightingale finally got up and DEADLIFTED STATLANDER. Yes, you read that right. She hit Babe with the Power Bomb from a deadlift. And yeah, finally Statlander went down for the three.
Now the interesting thing here is when you actually watch Aubrey Edwards, who's reffing the match. Longtime readers know I love refs and Aubrey is one of my favorites. She's extremely professional and stands up for herself when wrestlers try to bully her. Other refs in AEW and in other promotions sometimes cave when a wrestler threatens them, but I've never seen her do that. Anyway! The whole time, especially when the strikes and the in and out of the ring is happening, Aubrey is almost never looking at Nightingale. If you watch her, she's focused almost entirely on Statlander the whole time and honestly there are points where she looks nervous. So it's my theory that refs can tell when a heel turn or a face turn is about to happen even if they don't really care. I'm worried about Statlander turning heel again and trying to drag Nightingale with her -- there are more than enough heels in the womens division right now, we need some real actual babyfaces.
After the match Nightingale offered her hand to Statlander to shake, but Statlander turned away at first. But a second later she turned back and went over to show respect. I'm really excited to see where this goes! Will they get back together? Will Statlander stay a face? Will Nightingale leave the Conglomeration? Let me know what you think below!
See you all next week for another match recap here on Kades House of Wrassle!
fiachairecht, featuring Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, and Aubrey Edwards.]Kade's House Of Wrassle Weekly Post #219!
Hello and welcome back to another week of Kade's House of Wrassle! I've been watching a lot of the AEW womens division lately so I wanted to do a deep dive into a couple of the matches from last week. As regular readers know, I've followed Kris Statlander's arc but never really gone in depth there. Quick little background for those who aren't familiar: Statlander started out in AEW with an alien gimmick working with the Best Friends faction. The faction is gone and so is her alien gimmick but she's still doing some great wrestling! She has had an on again off again tag team with Willow Nightingale while she turned heel and face, and even though the feud is pretty much over, lately they've had a few interactions that I want to highlight over the next couple weeks as this storyline develops. Stay tuned!
Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale from Dynamite last week
This is a great match because you really get to see their skills as strikers. You don't see a lot of women strikers in the US but it's clearly something they both work at and do well at.
The first surprise was that Nightingale came out alone. Obviously she's part of the Conglomeration but none of the guys came out to corner for her, even the ones who weren't wrestling. As soon as the bell rang they traded strikes at the opening before Statlander went to the outside. She tried to bait Nightingale out with her (I was wondering if this was a moment where she was struggling against the heel tendencies!) but Nightingale got up on the ropes and grabbed Statlander to pull her back in.
Nightingale gets out on the apron and goes for a powerbomb, but Statlander superkicks her in the shoulder before she can get close. They grapple a little bit and fall off the apron onto the ground. But before the ref starts the count, Nightingale puts Statlander back into the ring. Statlander kind of looks stunned a little bit. She's moving almost on instinct through the next sequence and kicks out without a lot of force when Nightingale goes to get a pin. Nightingale says something to her, but the ring mics weren't very good and I couldn't hear it. Please, if you could decipher what she said, let me know in the comments under the post! But whatever it was it seemed to snap Statlander out of it and she started working on Nightingale's shoulder with some more kicks and strikes, and gets her in a wrist lock. Nightingale escapes the wrist lock and whips Statlander into the corner, where she jumps onto the middle rope and starts punching her. Statlander lifts Nightingale up and slams her down.
I hate when wrestlers just spam their finisher over and over, but in this case I think Stat pulled out Staturday Night Fever because she just didn't know what else to do. You could see her kind of going in and out of heel mode. Nightingale wasn't expecting it so she just took it and didn't even try to counter, but it was barely a two count before she kicked out, so it's safe to say it needed a lot more before Statlander could get there.
Nightingale created some distance between them and hit the ropes to get a lariat on Statlander, but it didn't knock her down. Statlander got staggered but stayed up and went back to try and put some more pressure on the right shoulder of Nightingale. At this point I was waiting for some more flashy offense since it was mostly a slugfest. Nightingale got Statlander with a spinning backfist and then climbed up to the top rope for a splash. She landed it but only hooked the near leg for the pin, and that's what let Statlander kick out.
Nightingale went for another pin immediately but Statlander got the ropes and pulled herself underneath and out on the apron. She caught Nightingale by the wrist and jumped to the floor, wrenching her shoulder even harder and sending Nightingale staggering. She could have capitalized on it but she almost looked frozen on the outside of the ring, looking toward her corner even though neither of them came out with anyone. I thought we might get a tope con Willow but it wasn't happening. Instead Statlander got back up on the apron and Nightingale slammed into her to knock her back down. Statlander went under the ring and came out with a chair, but got shouted down by the ref and for some reason threw it away on her own.
Nightingale got out of the ring to shove Statlander back in again (exactly like earlier in the match), but this time Statlander surprised her with a DDT off the ropes. It jarred the shoulder Statlander had been working over the whole match and Statlander went for a quick rollup. It was two and three quarters before Nightingale got free, but she hit another lariat and I saw Statlander's head bounce off the mat. It was crazy! Nightingale put Statlander down but only got two and a bit before Statlander reversed it and went for another flash pin. They switched back and forth for a bit before Nightingale finally got up and DEADLIFTED STATLANDER. Yes, you read that right. She hit Babe with the Power Bomb from a deadlift. And yeah, finally Statlander went down for the three.
Now the interesting thing here is when you actually watch Aubrey Edwards, who's reffing the match. Longtime readers know I love refs and Aubrey is one of my favorites. She's extremely professional and stands up for herself when wrestlers try to bully her. Other refs in AEW and in other promotions sometimes cave when a wrestler threatens them, but I've never seen her do that. Anyway! The whole time, especially when the strikes and the in and out of the ring is happening, Aubrey is almost never looking at Nightingale. If you watch her, she's focused almost entirely on Statlander the whole time and honestly there are points where she looks nervous. So it's my theory that refs can tell when a heel turn or a face turn is about to happen even if they don't really care. I'm worried about Statlander turning heel again and trying to drag Nightingale with her -- there are more than enough heels in the womens division right now, we need some real actual babyfaces.
After the match Nightingale offered her hand to Statlander to shake, but Statlander turned away at first. But a second later she turned back and went over to show respect. I'm really excited to see where this goes! Will they get back together? Will Statlander stay a face? Will Nightingale leave the Conglomeration? Let me know what you think below!
See you all next week for another match recap here on Kades House of Wrassle!
