Marina Shafir vs. Toni Storm

[2.0] "This match was simply bad, and there's no real way around it. From the opening moments, it felt awkward, slow, and disjointed, with very little chemistry between the two wrestlers. The pacing was off, transitions were clumsy, and nothing flowed naturally. Instead of building tension or telling even a basic story, the match just stumbled from one exchange to the next, never finding a rhythm and never giving the audience a reason to invest. The most frustrating part is that Toni Storm did what she could to keep things together. Her timing, presence, and experience were obvious, but she was constantly dragged down by an opponent who still looks uncomfortable and limited in the ring. Marina Shafir's offense lacked impact and credibility, her positioning was often off, and there was a persistent sense of hesitation that killed any momentum. After this many years, those issues are no longer growing pains -- they're just shortcomings. Nothing here worked: not the structure, not the execution, not the energy. The match felt longer than it was, and by the end, it had actively damaged the flow of the show rather than contributing to it. It's disappointing, especially given Toni Storm's ability, but that only makes the gap in quality more obvious."

[3.0] "This felt really off, & was a huge disappointment considering the workers involved. Shafir is fine, but she's not a miracle worker, & the further that Toni leans into contrived character work & "hamming it up, " the less workable she becomes in-ring. For what it was, it felt very long, as the two could never work together to get things to that second gear, & then as though all that isn't bad enough, the very odd ending happens. I would love to see Storm move away from whatever she's doing now & focus on being a badass in-ring with the hammy character focus secondary, & as long as this annoying Love Bombs tag team continues to be a thing, I don't see that happening. Shirakawa's work has been stagnating in the tag team as well."

[3.0] "Marina Shafir really got exposed here. Just judo throws and sloppy wrestling. It's genuinely awful to see. Toni's not at her best either with some of her stuff looking especially weak. Shafir is on top for 80% of the match and then it just ends via DQ because the ref got pulled out cus of a rollup. Genuinely dogshit. [*.5]"

[3.0] "These two have great chemistry, and a great story going into the match. The finish and death rider shenanigans are really wearing out their welcome. They really should run it back in a stipulation match."

[8.0] "Really underrated TV match in my view, not perfect but the women always seem to be graded a bit more harshly. So it goes but I would not be at all unhappy to see a gimmick rematch here. DQ made sense under the circumstances, I didn't mind it."

[2.0] "This sucked, and in ended in DQ but even before that, the work here was really bad, Mariana is bad in non-plunder matches and not even Toni could've done something good with her, and the storyline between Mina, Toni and OC SUCKS"

[4.0] "Wasn't that trash BEFORE it became pretty trash. Like, the story behind it was cool, they were doing some good bumps and some strikes I even felt they were hard, but them, for some reason, they need to fucking do the trash Death Riders DQ ending. A shame, don't know why it happenned tho."

[2.0] "I've never been high on Marina shafir since she isn't good at all. Whatever improvements she did have have clearly not been enough and she was not able to hang with Toni Storm here at all. The DQ ending was frustrating as well."

[2.0] "I think this 'match' was pretty much all about that bizarre in it's simplicity DQ finish and everything that happened after it. I wouldn't be surprised if the idea here was to only make post-match stuff be remembered, but they decided to work a match on top of it just to make sure it wouldn't come across like a forgettable white noise. In-ring was pretty basic, personally though I have no interest in seeing a rematch."

[3.0] "A very down match, I wasn't shocked because Marnia Shafir isn't really green in the ring but Toni Storm try to make with what she had, and the DQ Finish add the icying on the top. Toni Storm, I hope, gets reinserted in the AEW World Title picture. But this was some uninteresting stuff, and the Orange Cassidy stuff was just uninterested in that as well."

"6.5, Toni Storm received her usual loud ovation--escorted by Luther for the first time in a while--while Marina Shafir got an uncertain, almost uneasy reaction as she made her way through the crowd. Fans made their allegiance clear immediately, launching into a "Toni! Toni! Toni! " chant as soon as the bell rang. The standout moment came when Shafir countered Storm's signature hip attack with a perfectly timed big boot, a simple but excellent spot. The match moved at a noticeably slow, methodical pace--largely dictated by Shafir--which JR openly questioned on commentary, and several of her moves, like the headscissor DDT, still struggled to land cleanly. Storm delivered the stronger highlights, including a trio of ponytail snapmares and a big boot that sent Shafir tumbling to the floor, while Shafir offered one sudden rock-bottom-style counter in return."

[3.0] "If Marina can instantly KO anyone with one half-hearted front kick to the face, why isn't she throwing it in her actual matches? JR summarised this one by saing that it felt like Marina was spending more time standing and looking. She needs more time in the ring off camera, but at least her throws look good and she does them for real, unlike those weird pretend throws Tay Melo uses despite being a legit judoka. This match didn't click match-wise, or character wise, and then had a bad ending on top."

[1.0] "I get what they were trying to do but this wasn't wrestling.Marina is a great character within the Death Riders and she's cool in hardcore matches or when she's in a tag team with someone who can actually wrestle (Bayne, Yuta ect.), but you can't trust her to have a proper singles match on this level. She might be great in judo but not in pro wrestling."

[2.0] "I have not seen a DQ called for pulling the referee out the ring in a LONG time; what a ridiculous ending to a contest that was built to have real meaning and venom. The issue with this is not that the DQ was called here, but now every time someone lays a hand on the referee I 'should' be outraged that the match wasn't thrown out. The match itself flowed poorly; Marina is being built as a brutaliser, yet for some reason tonight interested in taking time to mock Toni with dance-based offence. If you're looking to protect Shafir, I cannot fathom why you would have the DQ called in this manner rather than having her simply brutalise Toni without concern over the consequences - a move far more suited to her character. Nobody won here."

[3.0] "My rating has everything to do with the non finish of this match. Like something from a bad episode of smackdown"

[3.0] "This was quite bad. Started off decently enough before a Marina heat segment that went on way too long and then one of the worst finishes ive seen in a while. I like both of these women but this wasn't a great day at the office for them and the terrible finish didnt exactly help things either. *3/4"

[7.0] "Not the smoothest outing, but an interesting clash of styles. +1 for referee calling the DQ for being pulled out of the ring. I enjoy AEW sprinkling in a variety of endings in its programming, and this one was unusual for referee doing the smart thing and just disqualifying the right person for her cronies' interference."

[5.0] "Way too slow and the ending was a real cop out. I didn't think this one would last as long as it did, more to its own hinderance."

[5.0] "A somewhat messy match, which was probably meant to be a prelude to a more interesting second encounter. At least I hope so, because this episode offers very little exposure for women's wrestling. In-ring quality: 0.75/4. Stakes: 0.5/2. Justification: 1/1. Placement on the card: 1/1. Suspense: 0.75/1. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 5/10. Match watched on Triller TV."

[4.0] "All respect to the two performers but if you really think about it, this wasn't gonna be pretty. They made something interesting but that dq finish just wasn't it at all and knocks it a point. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh but they've both looked better recently."

[4.0] "[1.75*] Despite the absolutely awful DQ finish, I didn't think this was that bad lol. Maybe that's because I'm a huge Marina supporter and I admire her trajectory so I might be biased, but I thought it was very decent until the last minute or so. The ending is indeed inexcusable."

[2.0] "I like both of these women but this was not very good unfortunately. Marina still has a ways to go in the ring and she and Toni just didn't mesh very well at all. The dance spots didn't come of well and the crowd hardly picked up on them. And then a lame DQ to boot. 1.25/5"

[2.0] "This is the first AEW show I've watched all the way through. I was getting VERY impressed by the other matches before this one, but what was this? I understand Toni is acceptable to good in the ring, Marina the same, but they put on this match full of botches, slow, with nothing remarkable, and on top of that, it ended by DQ. For me, it was Triple H's ending, not Tony Khan's. It reminded me of the Chelsea Green vs. Zelina Vega match at SNME, just as awful."

[3.0] "This was really bad, Marina needs a lot of work, Toni tried her best to make this entertaining, she really needs to go on and be in a much bigger storyline. (1.75*)"

[6.0] "I enjoy the hell out of Marina's no nonsense bullshit, just constantly heat, constantly cutting off Toni Storm, thats some real hizzeat brother, but I do need to see more of this, and I hope this isn't 1 and done, if it is i'll be real peeved off, but Marina looked great here and Toni is forever ever and ever over."

[4.0] "This match just never got going. The flow was just off. Marina kept doing the dancing routine with a limp Toni, mocking her doing that with Orange Cassidy. Once would have been fine, but that went on way too long. The whole match just felt off. Now, I would normally give it a 3 but I'll actually give a little boost for the DQ ending. We NEVER see that, heels just cheat away which just makes the babyfaces look stupid for not also cheating. But in this case, Marina lost the match because of it. Blatant cheating like pulling the ref out of the ring should be a DQ, so keep doing this AEW."

[4.0] "Marina Shafir entered this match with a clear game plan, immediately grounding Toni Storm and attacking the leg, but whatever structure that opening promised quickly dissolved. Storm's response leaned heavily on character rather than cohesion, dragging the action outside and turning the early portion into a loose brawl rather than a focused contrast of styles. From there, the match never truly recovered its footing. Interference loomed large and not in a way that enhanced the story. Wheeler Yuta's presence felt less like an organic escalation and more like a distraction that undercut Marina's credibility, particularly as she moved into control. Shafir's offense looked hesitant and oddly paced, with too much emphasis on taunting and theatrics that stalled momentum instead of building heat. The mocking dance spots, in particular, slowed the match to a crawl and clashed badly with her established presentation as a serious, physical competitor. Storm did her best to inject energy on brief comebacks, showing flashes of timing and impact, but the chemistry simply wasn't there. Key spots lacked snap, including a leg-scissors faceplant that badly missed, and the overall flow felt disjointed. The abrupt disqualification finish only reinforced the sense that this was a segment designed to get from point A to point B rather than a match meant to stand on its own. This was a rare miss for Marina, who has shown far more confidence and sharpness in recent outings. More broadly, it highlighted the ongoing issue of pairing radically different characters without a strong connective thread. When that contrast clicks, it can be compelling; here, it only exposed how little these two brought out in one another. **"

[4.0] "I expected absolutely nothing and from a match quality perspective that is exactly what I got. Marina has clearly improved but a ten minute classic is not going to happen. That wasn't the point of this match, and the story progression was."

[2.0] "This was trash, already the worst match for AEW. Both just never clicked here, it was slow, botchy, & boring. They lame DQ ending was the cherry on top of this disastrous mess. Toni is my favorite, so seeing her have to be apart of a match with marina shafir was sad. OK, I'll try and give a positive, Toni at least tried to get something passable outta Shafir, some moments were ok and both worked fine, but overall, this was still a bad match. Marina should be used in squash matches to show her dominance, not above 2 minute matches that'll expose her weaknesses"

[4.0] "Shafir was fine and has quickly became a top level heel in the women's division. The match was average with a below average finish."

[5.0] "Shafir is great in her role as an enforcer but didn't improve at all as a wrestler outside of her specialty matches which being the hardcore ones. Maybe there was a reason they were avoiding putting her in regular singles matches because she doesn't impress that much. The dq finish and men being involved in the only women's match on the card was not a good decision. This feud is being dragged right now and I assume there will be a blowoff hardcore match down the line and I guess that will be better. Post match angle didn't work for me, I feel like they're wasting Toni and Mina's time with this irrelevant midcard stuff when they could have been building the tag division as champs. Another wrong booking decision that stagnated several moving parts on the card."

[5.0] "It was fine, just kind of there. The post match was more entertaining with the Toni-Orange-Mina shenanigans."

[4.0] "Marina Shafir is still pretty green despite having been on the roster for so long. I would have thought putting her in a match with one of the best wrestlers on the roster would have helped but unfortunately with the way this match was booked I didn't really see it."

[3.0] "Marina continues to be a very cool and worthwhile tv act that also is a bad wrestler. It's very confusing, because when she is in matches where she doesn't actually need to full wrestle, like the blood and guts match, she is great and her strong points can shine."

[8.0] "For only the few minutes it got, this was actually great. I was really enjoying it until the DQ finish. Hopefully they get a rematch with a stipulation soon"

[4.0] "A rough outing for Marina, who has looked much better than this recently. Botched the leg scissors faceplant, which looks great when it works, and slowed things down too much by mocking Toni with some dance moves that gave me flashbacks to Teresa May (not a good thing). It's always strange seeing two characters who are presented so differently feud, when it works it can be really good but more often it doesn't work at all and just exposes the lack of chemistry between them."

[6.0] "Marina Shafir vs Toni Storm rocked. The improvements in Marina's game were obvious if one watched her Defy stuff but I am glad it has translated well on AEW TV. She's not the smoothest, somethings do not look just quite good but she is sick as fuck. The ending was unfortunate."