Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up: Mariah May Defends AEW Women’s Title, ROW To Present 2024 Sherri Martel Classic, Shazza McKenzie Interview

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Mariah May defends the AEW Women’s Championship at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam. Reality of Wrestling will present the 2024 Sherri Martel Classic. Shazza McKenzie chats with WrestleZone and more! Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!

Mariah May Defends AEW Women’s Title At Grand Slam

All Elite Wrestling kicked off its fourth annual Grand Slam event with a stacked card on AEW Dynamite. One of the matches saw “The Glamour” Mariah May defend her AEW Women’s Championships against Yuka Sakazaki.

For Sakazaki, this marked the first AEW Women’s Championship match of her career. For May, this marked the second title defense of her reign, with Nyla Rose being her first challenger. Sakazaki put forth a valiant effort, notably connecting with a Northern Lights Bomb and a hard kick, but in the end, it was May who emerged victorious.

Upon her win, May looked to nail Sakazaki in the head with her AEW Women’s Championship. Willow Nightingale, though, was not going to let that happen. As such, she rushed down to make the save for Sakazaki.

In a surprise turn of events, Mina Shirakawa‘s music then hit. Eager to celebrate with her on the stage, May hit Nightingale with the title before reuniting with her former tag team partner.

Following their reunion on Dynamite, Shirakawa and May appeared in a backstage exclusive, with May taking verbal shots at both Nightingale and Sakazaki.

“Wow Willow, you really know how to ruin a moment, don’t you? I successfully defeated the bully Yuka; I successfully defended my AEW Women’s World Championship. This is what it looks like, in case you haven’t seen it before. And then precious H-cup angel flew all the way from Japan just to meet me, just to celebrate with me.”

When Shirakawa then asked May what happened out there, May responded, “Pro wrestling’s pain in the ass Willow Nightingale, that’s what happened.”

Elsewhere on AEW Collision: Grand Slam, Jamie Hayter will face fellow former AEW Women’s Champion Saraya in a “Saraya Rules” match, with Harley Cameron at ringside.

ROW Presents 2024 Sherri Martel Classic

Reality of Wrestling will present the Sherri Martel Classic Tournament for the second time. Much like the inaugural one in 2022, the 2024 Sherri Martel Classic will showcase 12 women’s wrestlers from across the independent wrestling landscape. As an added bonus, though, this year’s tournament will also feature one name from the WWE NXT brand. The NXT talent in reference is Carlee Bright, who signed with WWE in the fall of 2022.

Earlier this week, ROW revealed the official brackets for the upcoming Sherri Martel Classic. The competition will span three rounds, beginning with six singles matches. The winner of those opening round contests will then move on to the semi-finals, which consists of two triple-threats. From there, the two victorious women will advance to the finals, where one will be crowned as the next Sherri Martel Champion.

The opening round matchups are as follows:

Promise Braxton vs. Jazmin Allure Alex Gracia vs. Erica Torres Karizma vs. Kayla Kapri Mia Friday vs. Haley J Gigi Rey vs. Sheeva Carlee Bright vs. Monica Monroe

The 2024 Sherri Martel Classic will emanate from the Walker Texas Lawyer Arena in Texas City, Texas on Sunday, September 29. The inaugural edition was won by “The Rennaissance Woman” Hyan in April 2022.

INTERVIEWS

“HEARTBREAKcore” Shazza McKenzie spoke with WrestleZone’s Ella Jay about making her TNA Wrestling debut, which Knockouts she wants to face next, her recent interaction with Mandy Rose at Black Label Pro, life since moving to the United States, getting permission from Daizee Haze to use the Heart Punch, returning back home to Australia for World Series Wrestling, and more.

CMLL Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale appeared on She Digressed to talk about her CMLL title, working with Stokely Hathaway, her matches with Mercedes Mone, her feud with Jade Cargill, and more.

“The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo joined Casual Conversations with The Classic to discuss her earliest memories of wrestling, breaking into the business,, wrestling in Japan, ROH, TNA, NXT, choosing AEW as her new home, her relationship with Steve Maclin and more.

Former WWE NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria chatted with Video Games Chronicle about previously working in a video game shop, seeing her entrance in the WWE 2K24 video game, wanting a WWE premium live event in Ireland, her personal gaming interests, and more.

TBS Champion Mercedes Moné appeared on The Breakfast Club to discuss her big break in wrestling, her potential “Plan B” is wrestling didn’t work out, memories with her cousin Snoop Dogg, her decision to leave WWE, talks with Megan Thee Stallion, and more.