We are back at it again, rounding out the division with part two of our series. As mentioned in the previous article, talent stuck overseas and enhancement talent on AEW Dark won’t be mentioned. We want to focus on those signed to AEW and have actively competed within the last several months.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
Nyla Rose
Kicking things off is a former AEW Women’s Champion.
Rose began training at the KYDA Pro Training School in West Virginia and made her wrestling debut back in December 2012. She has wrestled for various promotions, including Covey Promotions, Warriors of Wrestling, Pro Wrestling ZERO1, and Pro Wrestling WAVE.
She signed with AEW in February 2019 and made her debut at Double or Nothing that May. The following month at Fyter Fest, she took part in a triple threat match with Yuka Sakazaki and eventual winner, Riho. At All Out, Rose won the Casino Battle Royal and earned a chance to compete for the AEW Women’s Championship.
On October 2, 2019, during the first episode of Dynamite, Rose and Riho battled to determine who would become the inaugural AEW Women’s Champion. In a hard-fought contest, Riho outlasted Rose for the title.
The Native Beast continued to climb the rankings until she got another shot at the champion. On February 12, 2020, Rose defeated Riho to finally capture the AEW Women’s Championship. She held it until May 23 at Double or Nothing, where she lost it to Hikaru Shida in a no disqualification/no count out match.
In July at Fyter Fest, she announced that she found herself a manager to help get her back into the title hunt. The following week, Vickie Guerrero was revealed as her new manager.
There are few, if any, on the roster that can match Rose’s size and power. While her first title reign was a little lackluster, there’s no doubt she’ll get another shot at the title in the future. Perhaps having Guerrero in her corner is just what she needs to get things back on track.
Brandi Rhodes
Up next is the Chief Brand Officer of AEW.
Rhodes started her career in WWE’s developmental brand, FCW, in 2011. Shortly after joining the company, she transitioned into a role as a ring announcer. She announced for Superstars, NXT, and SmackDown until she asked for her release that December.
She returned to WWE two years later and was an announcer and backstage interviewer for NXT, SmackDown, and Main Event. By early 2015, she announced during WrestleMania 31 and served as the backup ring announcer for RAW. In May 2016, she again asked for her release after her husband, Cody, did days prior.
After that, her and Cody would show up at various promotions, including TNA/Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor. She also wrestled for World Wonder Ring Stardom in 2018 before she broke her collarbone.
In 2019, Rhodes became the CBO of AEW. She appeared at Double or Nothing, adding Awesome Kong to a triple threat match between Nyla Rose, Britt Baker, and Kylie Rae. In July at Fight for the Fallen, she made her in-ring debut in a winning effort against Allie.
Her and Kong soon formed The Nightmare Collective, eventually adding Mel and Luther to their ranks. However, the group didn’t go over well with fans and they disbanded after a few months.
Since then, she started to once again accompany Cody to the ring during his matches, as well as The Natural Nightmares (QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes). She also teamed up with Allie to form The Nightmare Sisters and the two competed in The Deadly Draw tournament. They made it all the way to the finals before losing to Ivelisse and Diamante.
It looks like Rhodes may have found her footing again after the debacle that was The Nightmare Collective. While she may not find herself in the title picture, she seems to be doing just fine with The Natural Nightmares and The Nightmare Sisters. Like the old saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Allie
Then we move on to Brandi’s teammate.
Allie made her wrestling debut back in May 2005. In her over 15-year career, she has wrestled for the likes of Shimmer Women Athletes, Women Superstars Uncensored, Ice Ribbon, Combat Zone Wrestling, and Shine Wrestling.
However, she’s best known for her time in Impact Wrestling. During that time, she was a two-time Impact Knockouts Champion, taking on the likes of Jade (Mia Yim), Gail Kim, Sienna, and Madison Rayne. She was also a part of several high-profile storylines, including the feud between Rosemary and Su Yung.
She signed with AEW on March 21, 2019 and debuted that June at Fyter Fest, where she defeated Leva Bates. The following month at Fight for the Fallen, she lost to Brandi Rhodes after interference by Awesome Kong. Allie also competed in the Casino Battle Royal at All Out, which was eventually won by Nyla Rose.
During the November 27 episode of Dynamite, she began accompanying The Butcher and The Blade to the ring, becoming The Bunny in the process. However, she stopped managing them in May 2020, instead turning her attention to QT Marshall. She eventually teamed up with Rhodes, forming The Nightmare Sisters.
While the angle between her and Marshall looked like a classic “snake in the grass” storyline, they seemed to have moved away from that. She’s consistently gotten more TV time as part of The Nightmare Family, which is a welcome change considering how her AEW career started off. Just like Rhodes, it looks like she’ll be staying out of the women’s title picture for now.
Kris Statlander
Moving away from The Bunny, we now look at The Galaxy’s Greatest Alien.
Statlander debuted in November 2016 after being the first female graduate from the Create A Pro Wrestling Academy. She’s wrestled for Victory Pro Wrestling, WrestlePro, Warriors of Wrestling, and Combat Zone Wrestling.
On the April 9, 2019 episode of SmackDown, she teamed with Karissa Rivera in a losing effort to the then-WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, The IIconics.
She then made her AEW debut during the November 27 episode of AEW Dark, where her and Big Swole lost to Britt Baker and Riho. The following month, she officially signed with the company.
Statlander wasted little time making an impression, defeating Baker on December 18 to become the number one contender to the AEW Women’s Championship. Her title match came on the January 8, 2020 episode of Dynamite against Riho, but she lost after interference from The Nightmare Collective.
She received another shot a month later at Revolution, this time against the new champion, Nyla Rose. However, she was once again unsuccessful at capturing the title.
For the rest of the spring, Statlander continued to appear on AEW programming. But in June, she suffered a knee injury during a tag match that saw her and Hikaru Shida lose to Rose and Penelope Ford. She later confirmed that she tore her ACL and would be out of action indefinitely.
It didn’t take long for Statlander to make an impact in AEW. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit her this summer, but hopefully she’ll be back sooner rather than later. Whenever she does return, you can bet that she’ll pick up right where she left off.
Big Swole
Finally, we close out our series with the highly charismatic Big Swole.
Swole debuted in 2015 as part of Queens of Combat. She wrestled for promotions like Shimmer Women Athletes, Shine Wrestling, and Warrior Wrestling. Her WWE debut came on the August 1, 2016 episode of RAW, losing to Nia Jax. She also took part in the 2018 Mae Young Classic, where she lost in the first round to Zeuxis.
She made her AEW debut in 2019 during the Casino Battle Royal at All Out. Swole signed with the company that December, defeating Emi Sakura during her Dynamite debut on December 11. Afterwards, she mainly made appearances on AEW Dark.
During the summer of 2020, she began a feud with the then-injured Britt Baker. Things culminated several weeks ago at All Out, where Swole defeated the returning Baker in a Tooth and Nail match at the latter’s dental office.
Even though she struggled to find consistent TV time early on, Swole really found her groove during her feud with Baker. It was easily some of the most entertaining programming this summer, and hopefully both women can keep the momentum going. As for Swole, it would be nice to see her challenge for the AEW Women’s Championship at some point. Her throwing down with Hikaru Shida could make for some pretty good matches.