Mercedes Martinez vs Xia Li
Li has a massive disadvantage in terms of experience, as
this is played up as her first ever match. In contrast, Martinez is the
veteran, and obviously someone the WWE trust to work with their green talent.
With that said, Li looked terrific here. She’s got a unique look that makes her
stand out, but her offence was really on point here. Loved her range of kicks
and her movement to slide into a crucifix behind Martinez. Her running punch to
a kneeling Martinez was really great before she gets caught in a lovely looking
spinebuster. Mercedes gets the win by locking in a surfboard into a Dragon
sleeper. Bit of a Li showcase, but an effective one, with Martinez moving on to
get more chances to shine later.
Marti Belle vs Rachel Evers
Considering how good Li looked in her match, the fact that
these two put on such a stinker is more telling. On the positive side, Belle
does some nice character work as a condescending heel, but the rest…terrible. There’s
an early tell as Evers barely gets over on a suplex. Evers and Belle exchange
some woeful looking punches, though Evers does hit a nice looking senton. An
Evers spinebuster looks sloppy, and she then takes an odd looking bump from a
Belle Stroke. They just don’t look to be on the same page, so it’s a relief
when Evers gets the win with a roll up. The worst match of the tournament so
far.
Rhea Ripley vs Miranda Salinas
Another match with some impressive rookie performances.
Ripley in particular had some great looking dropkicks, a lovely running boot in
the corner and a diving dropkick into the corner. Salinas does some nice work
in getting over as a heel despite being substantially shorter and her heel
control was perfectly fine. Ripley gets the win with a full nelson slam, and
both girls looked promising here.
Mia Yim vs Sarah Logan
You can really tell the fact that these two are more
advanced than a lot of the competitors, as this is a really good match. They
cut a much faster pace, working fluid looking sequences. Loved the sudden
dropkick Logan hits to a kneeling Yim, and Yim fires back with some stiff
kicks. They also exchange some nasty blows on the mat. A German suplex to Logan
looks a little off as Logan has to roll into place to have her shoulders down
after initially landing out of the pin. Logan misses a leaping kneedrop and Yim
hits Eat Defeat for the victory. Really good stuff.
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