7 months ago
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AEW
The Owen Hart Cup has become an annual tradition in AEW, following the company's partnership with the Owen Hart Foundation charity in late 2021. So far, Adam Cole and Ricky Starks have won the men's tournaments, while Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. and Willow Nightingale have won the women's tournaments, and for Nightingale, winning the tournament had some extra significance.
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Appearing on "Chats and Graps," Nightingale explained that winning the tournament was special, considering what her first televised match for AEW was the year before. "Winning The Owen was also a really cool full circle moment, because the very first match I had on AEW television — because I had done "Dark" a bunch, but the very first television match I had was against Red Velvet in an Owen Hart Cup qualifying match on "Rampage" the year before. So that was really my first exposure to the AEW crowd who's only tuned in on TV for me. To then be in the next tournament and win it all, it was like something's working."
Nightingale had to go through former AEW Women's World Champion Nyla Rose and current ROH Women's World Champion Athena to get to the finals, where she would get the better of her former friend Ruby Soho, who had also been defeated in the 2022 final as well. Nightingale also explained how the Owen Hart cup win came right in the middle of her run as the NJPW STRONG Women's Champion, and her main event match with Athena at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023, which proved to her that she was not only capable of being in a main event spot, but was capable of getting the job done when put in those positions.
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Please credit "Chats and Graps" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
