5 Surprising Moments From AEW Fyter Fest 2020 Night One

#3 Penelope Ford impresses in her AEW Women's Championship challenge

Shida had to work hard to retain on Wednesday night.

If you told AEW fans at the beginning of the year that Penelope Ford would be a challenger for the AEW Women’s Championship on a major event like Fyter Fest, many would have struggled to believe it. In 2019, she wrestled so infrequently that she seemed to be little more than a bit-part player in the Kip Sabian Vs.Joey Janela feud. Like a lot of things in the world, though, the ongoing global health crisis changed that equation.

As Ford was one of the few female wrestlers available to AEW during the initial period of lockdown, she was a regular competitor on Dynamite. It allowed her to display her unique offense and athleticism. She seemed to get better with each match and she started to rack up the victories. She even pulled off a victory over Hikaru Shida leading to this title match.

Of course, injuries to other members of the AEW female roster in recent times left the company short on challengers, but Ford still richly deserved this opportunity to shine.

The biggest surprise to most was how good Ford looked in defeat. She controlled the majority of the bout, showcasing many unique counters to Shida’s offense. She even kicked out of the Falcon Arrow. While Shida retained her title, Ford looked strong thoroughout and the match as a whole was excellent. Ford seems to get better with each passing week. I would love to see Ford get a rematch soon.