Mercedes Martinez vs Shayna Baszler
They play up the teacher/student relationship between
Martinez and Baszler, and in keeping with that Baszler shakes hands with her
opponent for the first time in the tournament. Tentative start, with both
hesitant to commit, but it’s Martinez who draws first blood, reigning down
chops, forearms and even throwing some feints on Baszler. She also misdirects
Shayna before locking in a chinlock. When Baszler gets an opening, she hits a
nasty looking strikes combo, throwing shots to different parts of the body (crucially
including the knee) that Martinez can’t block. Loved Baszler’s rolling
gutwrenches, showing off a bit of strength. They exchange strikes in the middle
of the ring before Martinez is able to hit the Fisherman Buster. However, her
knee has been broke down by the assault by Baszler and she can’t get over to
cover in time. Martinez is able to hit a series of suplexes, but Baszler
reverses another Fisherman Buster attempt into the choke to win.
Kairi Sane vs Toni Storm
Calling bullshit on the commentary claims that these two
have never faced each other before, primarily because I saw them on opposing
tag teams in London last year. Nice chain wrestling sequence to start, with
Storm getting in one sharp blow to the right arm of Sane. Sane does these
really fun sells of Storm’s uppercuts, as if she’s desperately trying not to
show weakness by falling. Sane hits a big crossbody to the floor in an
impressive moment. Storm avoids the Sliding D by getting feet up, again causing
pain to the arm. Loved Sane countering the hip attack with a massive spear.
First attempt at the big elbow is stopped by Storm getting a bridging muscle
buster for two. More damage is done to the arm as Storm blocks the spinning
backfist and pulls her down into a bridging armbar, which looks nasty. What I
like is how the elbow injury is played. Sane knows her arm is injured, but also
knows her elbow drop is her killshot, so she takes the risk to hit the top rope
elbow and, when she does, it gets the win. Really good match.
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