The women’s bracket of the Owen Hart Cup continued on the Zero Hour of AEW Forbidden Door and it occurred in a big way between Mariah May and Saraya. Despite still being in curlers, AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm came out in support of Mariah May and it was a slugfest between the two Brits.
The stakes are high for the Owen Hart Cup winners as the champion of each tournament earns the right for a title should at Wembley Stadium for All In in London. With Saraya and May both being from across the pond, this opening round bout had to mean a lot to both competitors.
During the fight, Storm inadvertently nearly cost Mariah May a victory with a ringside distraction as Saraya hit her finisher, but May had the wherewithal to grab hold of the bottom rope to stop the count. The two women battled it out even more and it ended up being a roll-up pin for May to the definitive 1-2-3 against the longtime veteran in Saraya.
With May advancing, that means she’s one step closer to facing her “mentor” Toni at Wembley and post-match  Mina Shirakawa came out to celebrate with May as she and Storm showed further tension before their match later in the evening. Mariah May still tried to play peacemaker despite getting blasted with a wine bottle on Wednesday’s Dynamite by Shirakawa. Mina was aiming for Storm, but accidentally nailed May with the bottle, further setting up some animosity between her and the AEW Women’s Champion.
May will face Deonna Purrazzo in the semi-finals round of the women’s bracket after Purrazzo advanced against Hikaru Shida in their quarterfinals match.
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