Thunder Rosa Defeats Serena Deeb, Retains AEW Women's Title at Double or Nothing 2022
In her first pay-per-view title defense, Thunder Rosa defeated Serena Deeb at AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday to retain the AEW Women's World Championship.
Rosa connected with a superplex and transitioned seamlessly into the Fire Thunder Driver to earn the victory.
Sunday's bout was a long time coming, as both Rosa and Deeb made their All Elite Wrestling in-ring debut in a match against each other on the Sept. 2, 2020, episode of Dynamite. Rosa won that contest, but Deeb eventually got some measure of revenge.
In October 2020, she beat Rosa for the NWA women's title and followed that up by successfully defending it against Rosa weeks later on the Nov. 18 edition of Dynamite.
Despite Deeb's success, it was Rosa who broke through to the top of the AEW women's division first by virtue of her rivalry with Britt Baker.
Rosa famously beat The Doctor in an unsanctioned lights out match on the March 11, 2021, episode of Dynamite, and almost exactly one year later, she scored an even bigger win over her.
With a victory at Revolution in March, Rosa became AEW women's world champion and ended Baker's 290-day reign.
She followed that up with a win over Nyla Rose at AEW Battle of the Belts II in April, giving Rosa her first successful title defense.
Just a couple of weeks later, Serena beat Hikaru Shida in a street fight on Dynamite, cementing her status as the No. 1-ranked contender in the women's division and earning her a title shot at Double or Nothing.
Deeb noted that while she respected Rosa, she didn't consider her the best women's wrestler in the world, and she would establish herself as such by beating her at the PPV.
She tried to get in Rosa's head leading up to Double or Nothing, even orchestrating a surprise attack on a recent episode of Dynamite, but the champion managed to remain focused and left Las Vegas with her title reign intact.
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