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Since its inception All Elite Wrestling has had issues with their women's division. Starting out with a thin roster and just as things seemed to be on the up, the pandemic struck. This ruled out many talents from competing in AEW, one of which was Jamie Hayter.
However, after Britt Baker defeated Red Velvet on the first episode of AEW Rampage, Jamie Hayter re-debuted, coming to Baker's aid and aligning with the AEW Women's Champion. The next week it was announced Hayter would have her first match in AEW since 2019, taking on Red Velvet who she helped Britt Baker beat down.
A simple set-up for a match that ultimately exists to re-introduce Jamie Hayter to fans and get over her power as well as her character. Red Velvet is essentially "someone who can take a loss" in this scenario, to serve the more pressing issue of making Jamie Hayter look great.
Breaking Down The Stats
Jamie Hayter starts well, shaking off early attacks from Red Velvet, showcasing her power with strikes and grapples to dominate the first minute. Into the second minute Hayter continues to dominate until Red Velvet hits two dives which swings the tide briefly in Velvet's favour.
In the next few minutes Hayter takes over again, utilising her power advantage to throw Red Velvet into the ring-post, elbow her off the ring apron and yeet her into the guard railing. Velvet sells this offence brilliantly to really accentuate Hayter's power advantage.
During these minutes Hayter dictates the tempo with a bunch of kicks and punches to Red Velvet when she's already down. These are effective in inflicting damage, so whilst not registering as a strikedown, Hayter's output of strikes are important to her dominance.
Hayter also gets in eleven taunts, as well as six fouls, which further illustrates who she is; a cocky heel who can rely on her power whilst being backed up by "the baddest bitch on the block."
Into the sixth minute and Red Velvet catches her second wind, exchanging blows with Hayter, including running uppercuts. With her two dives and five strikedowns we can see that Red Velvet is putting up a fight. However, she is having to rely on her momentum and body to do so, particularly with her running strikedowns in this sixth minute.
Hayter continues to shrug these off into the seventh minute before finally a back elbow, a facebuster and knees to the back of the neck with Hayter draped over the middle rope allows Red Velvet to finally get Jamie Hayter down to the ground for a significant period of time.
Baker causes a distraction before Red Velvet misses a standing moonsault. We're left to assume this is a botch, however Red Velvet and Hayter deal with this mistake well. Velvet sells the effects of missing the move before Hayter takes advantage. Jamie hits strikes whilst Red Velvet is down, a backbreaker and a brutal clothesline, which Velvet sells excellently, to get the win.
Red Velvet simply couldn't deal with Jamie Hayter's power throughout the match. Despite having slightly less big offence, Hayter's strikes to the ground were particularly effective in getting her the win. This puts over Hayter's power and, despite Red Velvet's offence being rare, it was effective. Hayter shrugging this off whilst walking through Red Velvet makes for a very impressive debut against someone who we just saw take Britt Baker to the limit.
This match achieved its aims. It was far from exceptional but as an introduction to a new[-ish] character it was effective. The more exciting thing from this match is what Jamie Hayter offers moving forward.
Why is Jamie Hayter a Game Changer?
The first thing to note is that she's Britt Baker's muscle, something Britt has sort-of needed for a while. Someone Britt can effectively hide behind without becoming a boring, stereotypical cowardly heel.
Rebel, meanwhile, is more of a comedic device rather than a genuine threat to Britt's opponents. Both women compliment Baker's act very well. There is also potential for a Hayter vs Baker feud for when Britt inevitably turns babyface.
Baker's best character work arguably came when she was hiding behind conspiracy theories and injuries. Since that dried up, Britt has become a little too likeable for your top heel, so Hayter can help massively in drawing sympathy for Britt's opponents. You only need to watch how Hayter tortured Riho back in 2019 to see how effective she can be in this role.
Britt has also now formed the first proper women's stable in AEW. Could this be something as big as the Inner Circle? Probably not. However, so much of the storytelling in the men's division is enhanced by, or directly told through, faction warfare. We need to see more, but this is a good start in this regard.
It's really important to have roster members who can take a loss here and there, whilst remaining a threat. Jamie Hayter can do this as she isn't exactly looking to climb the rankings. Not yet, anyway. She's the champion's muscle. Hayter is there to be overcome by the next babyface challenger to prove they deserve an opportunity, or to stop them getting there and making us want it more. Think of what Wardlow is to MJF.
Jamie Hayter's power means she's always a threat and whilst AEW do have women's powerhouses in Nyla Rose, Jade Cargill and Kris Statlander, none of them fill the role Hayter can. Statlander is a babyface. Nyla has faced everyone and, as a character, is a little stale. Jade Cargill meanwhile is one of the most protected women on the roster. She doesn't take losses like Hayter can and she's also nowhere near as experienced as Hayter.
Is it groundbreaking? No. But these are little steps forward AEW need to be taking with their women's division and it's good to see AEW being smart about who they hire. They need wrestlers who add something new or something needed to the roster and Jamie Hayter does both of those.
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