AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa has broken her silence after she was accused of ‘sandbagging’ Marina Shafir during their match on Dynamite.
On the 8th of June edition of AEW Dynamite, Thunder Rosa made her third defence of the AEW Women’s World Championship when she attempted to solve the problem of Marina Shafir.
In a little less than eight and a half minutes La Mera Mera was able to put away the former NXT star in a match that wasn’t particularly well-received online.
One commenter on social media, @ericinsarasota, offered a critical view of Thunder Rosa’s performance, accusing the AEW Women’s Champion of “sandbagging” and “no-selling” her opponent:
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a match where somebody so obviously tried to make themselves look better than their opponent by sandbagging and no selling, but I just saw a perfect example of it on Dynamite.”
“It might just look like a bad match to the untrained eye but it’s pretty clear when somebody doesn’t want to play ball. Which sucks because it just makes you and your opponent look bad.”
Thunder Rosa’s long-time rival and the woman she defeated back in March to win the AEW Women’s Title, Dr. Britt Baker liked the first of the Tweets while Rosa’s opponent Marina Shafir liked both of them.
Now speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Thunder Rosa has hit back at the claims, saying the ‘sandbagging’ simply didn’t happen:
“No. And like I said in the New York Post I have nothing but respect for my opponents. Nothing but respect for my opponents. Anyone that dares to stand in the ring with me, I have nothing but respect for my opponents. And I send them nothing but blessings.”
“Moving on forward I will continue to work harder to have the best matches I can bring and to bring the most opportunities for all the women that are behind me so when they step in the ring with me they’re like ‘ok cool.’ People are gonna talk then that’s fine, I’m not worried about that. I will continue to move forward and I will continue to show with my body of work what I am all about. That’s all I have to say.”
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