I think this is the first time I've seen Mercedes since she became Mercedes. It's definitely my first Willow Nightingale match. Mercedes had been doing some sort of J Crown gimmick with a ton of title belts that she won on indies and whatever but she only had about five with her here so perhaps she's been on a bit of a losing streak. I always preferred Sasha Banks working heel and this was a really good heel Mercedes Mone performance. She was super vicious when she needed to be, really aggressive in trying to bridge that substantial size difference, never afraid to just yank Willow to the deck by the hair whenever Willow tried to pick her up. She used some smart counters as well by taking out Willow's legs, something she did as soon as the bell rang with a basement dropkick. She would also chuck Willow into the LED boards around ringside and Willow got heaved into them with enough force early that two of them broke, which was certainly a cool visual. The first real transition also played into Mercedes taking Willow's legs away, sweeping those legs as Willow was on the apron sending her face-first into the ring steps. The follow-up running knees with Willow's head against the steps looked great and that was something else Mercedes went back to several times; the running knee variation. It served her well the whole match, until she went to it once too often and Willow finally caught her late on. In control Mercedes would really crank on a chinlock while driving her knee into Willow's back. She exposed Willow's throat and dragged a sharp fingernail across it, which was kind of goofy but also maybe sort of gnarly in the stupidest of ways? Perhaps? Mercedes' facial expressions as she got more and more frustrated made her actually look like a demented person rather than some ropey method actor. Nightingale was a fun UNIT and she came across as a properly likable babyface. Mercedes being a pitbull helped, but I thought Willow's sympathy-garnering was great, she bumped big (and crazy) and her selling was on point. She also used that size to crush Mercedes when she needed to. Obviously the latter has the speed so Willow would just scythe her down with a monster lariat or a flying shoulder tackle. The tackle nearly sent Mercedes through the fucking barricade. Mercedes was dogged in going for the Mone Maker so at one point Willow repeatedly backed her into the corner and Mercedes took three Bret Hart sternum bumps, if every Bret Hart sternum bump had Neidhart follow him in and squash him agains the buckles. Willow's running senton in the corner looked suitably brutal and exactly what you want from someone who outweighs their skinny opponent by like a hunner pounds cannonballing into their face. The big table spot at the end was rough as fuck and it looked like every one of Willow's vertebrae got separated on contact. I didn't know the result of this going in either, so by the end I was fully behind Nightingale winning the title and not just because my friend's daughter is called Willow so they must've done something right! At my old age you have to appreciate the IMMERSION and such. I should watch more AEW Mercedes.
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