Fight Like A Girl: Alpha Female
Alpha Female is in demand. Having just completed an extended trip of Japan which saw her capture the World Of Stardom Championship, the mammoth German is getting right back on the cycle in Europe.
In this half-hour interview, Alpha compares her two matches with Nanae Takahashi, how angry fans were with her (teamed with how scared they were of her), and how her tattoos caused problems for her in Japan. She also discusses the friendships she struck up with the likes of Dark Angel, Jenny Rose and Kellie Skater (with the Rate Tank getting some serious love) and what it was like wrestling at Sumo Hall for the Ryogoku Cinderella show where she lost the title to Io Shirai. She also talks about her upcoming British dates – most notably Pro Wrestling: EVE‘s Queen of the Ring show next Saturday as well as her debut for Bellatrix next month. Check it out.
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
Bellatrix 6 card – plenty of first-time matches
Until today, the only match which we knew was going to be taking place at Bellatrix 6 on June 23 was Rhia O’Reilly defending the British Championship against Erin Angel – a match which is likely to deliver, especially since they have tangled twice in the past month with each claiming a victory over the other. However, the promotion has now revealed what its big roster featuring a lot of debuting women will be up to on the show, and there are quite a few first-time encounters on the card… (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (14 May 2013) – Christy Hemme, WSU updates, news & more
Anyone who watched TNA Impact Wrestling last week saw an unnecessarily uncomfortable moment for one of the roster.
Ring announcer Christy Hemme made a mistake on the live broadcast during the entrance for Austin Aries and Bobby Roode, incorrectly introducing them as Kazarian and Christopher Daniels’ team of Bad Influence. A silly mistake, but it’s live TV and mistakes sometimes happen. Upset, Aries got into the ring, backed Hemme into a corner and forced her to give the correct introductions, which she did, under some duress. As she was finishing off her correction, Aries climbed onto the ropes, essentially placing his crotch less than six inches from her face – something which Hemme laughed off.
However, things clearly weren’t so funny for Christy.
When asked about the incident on Twitter, Hemme replied with the solitary word of “unacceptable”, which made it clear that her reaction to Aries actions were not something that she found amusing, but had brushed it off to be a professional and get on with her job. Aries responded on his Twitter on Saturday with a load of penis and testicle puns, saying “Pretty nuts, some of the junk people get the balls to say over the net, knowing they couldn’t to your face…Eh, anyway, time to sack out.” (more…)
Fight Like A Girl/Bird/Lass: Nikki Storm
Fresh off a trip to Japan and returning back to the UK with a lot of prospects over the next few months, it seemed like a good time to talk to Nikki Storm, who successfully defended the Pro Wrestling: EVE Championship while wrestling in JWP.
During this 25-minute interview, Nikki talks about her win-loss record in Japan, setting foot in Korakuen Hall for the first time, falling asleep backstage and having an embarrassing wake-up call, getting on the wrong side of the JWP Dojo cat, Mink, as well as defending the EVE title against Hanako Nakamori and spending some down time recording a lot of promo videos for YouTube. She also discusses the rise in European women’s wrestlers – a topic we’ve been covering over the last week – facing Rhia O’Reilly at the next EVE show in two weeks (as well as how it’s a throwback to her EVE debut), debuting at Bellatrix next month, and the rise of Scottish talent, including ICW: Fierce Females.
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
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Photo by Youji Kawauchi
Bellatrix 6 roster revealed, many new additions
It’s been a pretty Euro-centric sort of week here at Ringbelles, so we may as well continue in that ethos…
The roster for the Bellatrix 6 iPPV on June 23 has been revealed, with a lot of new names featuring in the lineup. Nine European nations are represented on the show, with women from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Finland, France, Italy, Germany and Portgual being represented. Representing England are regulars Saraya Knight, rising star Penelope, RQW European Women’s Champion Liberty, rookie Chanel, Destiny, Skarlett, Erin Angel and Violet O’Hara. Other roster members returning are Italian Queen Maya, Northern Ireland’s Rhia O’Reilly and Norway’s Miss Mina, as well as Finn Aurora Flame and France’s X-Cute Sweet, who have both been absent since Bellatrix 2 11 months ago.
There is also an influx of Scottish talent heading to Norwich. Nikki Storm, Carmel Jacob, Bete Noire and Kay Lee Ray all make their debuts, while Viper makes her first appearance in the promotion since teaming with Destiny at WAWW The Return in November 2011. Rounding off the roster are Germany’s Alpha Female and Portugal’s Perfect Athlete Shanna making their first Bellatrix appearances, making it a roster of 20 women participating. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (7 May 2013) – the European scene, Mickie James & more
I’m still buzzing after Insane Championship Wrestling’s Fierce Females show on Saturday, which culminated with Kay Lee Ray winning her first ever championship when she won the tournament to become the inaugural Scottish titleholder. Beating Rhia O’Reilly and Viper in two very different contests, she proved that she is versatile and dependable as a main event talent. However, it was more than just KLR who impressed, with her defeated opponents also impressing, along with Carmel Jacob, Bete Noire, Erin Angel and Blue Nikita putting together great outings, and North American talent like Leah Von Dutch and Crazy Mary Dobson also entertaining. In fact, those two elements got me thinking…
First off, women’s wrestling fans are doing themselves a disservice by ignoring Europe. While places like America, Canada, Japan and Mexico are places which get a lot of attention, there are now three major all-women’s indie promotions to speak of in the UK alone, and plenty of skilled women from all over the continent looking to make their mark, and they can make it in the likes of Fierce Females, Pro Wrestling: EVE and Bellatrix because of their differing standpoints. (more…)
My Name Is… Violet O’Hara
She may be small in stature, but Violet O’Hara has some BIG plans. After getting into wrestling through some fairly unique circumstances, the Pocket Princess of Wrestling has spent the last year and a half facing some large challenges and accumulating some great experience along the way.
As part of her My Name Is interview, O’Hara talks about wrestling on iPPV with Bellatrix 5, taking on Saraya Knight, having to encourage guys to hit her properly and whether her size bothers her. And as for that size, she goes into detail on how tall she is, and the number isn’t very big!
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
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Ringbelles Roundup (23 April 2013) – Stardom at Sumo Hall, Yuzuki Aikawa retirement and more
Sitting in the Tokyo ward of Sumida, Japan, Ryōgoku Kokugikan is primarily a venue for sumo wrestling, hence the alternative name of Sumo Hall. Hosting tournaments throughout the year as well as three special events in January, May and September, the 28-year old building holds a lot of tradition for sports other than sumo. The building also hosts boxing, concerts and professional wrestling. However, when it comes to joshi, Sumo Hall may well have been in Narnia, as there has not been a show there since Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling held an event there on February 12, 2007.
The show featured the semi-finals and final of a 10-woman All Star Tournament with Shinobu Kandori pinning Meiko Satomura to win the whole shebang. Attendance numbers are disputed, though the reported figure was about 5,800, which is less than half of the 13,000 that the building can hold.
Since then, there has not been a joshi show held there, though that will change next Monday, when Stardom presents its biggest and most ambitious show in its two and a half year history with a stacked card which features wrestlers from a number of different joshi promotions. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (2 April 2013) – Femmes Fatales XI, SHIMMER Volume 53, WrestleMania XXIX & more
Last week, I repeated my previous assertion that two championships would change hands at NCW Femmes Fatales XI in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Saturday. Lo and behold, that’s what happened – with the Bellatrix World Championship and the Femmes Fatales International Titles being won by Courtney Rush and Mercedes Martinez respectively.
Martinez’s victory over Kalamity is only part of her story in the show. She continued her cross-promotion feud with LuFisto following her defeat to the Super Hardcore Anime at Women Superstars Uncensored’s An Ultraviolent Affair in February by attacking her foe during LuFisto’s challenge for the SHIMMER title against Saraya Knight. The steel chair attack to LuFisto’s head was enough for Knight to lock in the Bridal Rocking Horse for the stoppage and retain the belt, meaning that no matter what happened with Mercedes’ challenge to Kalamity, the Martinez/LuFisto programme would continue.
As it turns out, the programme will likely feature the International Championship, as the Latina Sensation used a Fisherman Buster onto a steel chair to gain the pinfall and bring The Oncoming Storm’s 17-month reign to an end. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (26 March 2013) – Bellatrix growth, Femmes Fatales XI, WrestleMania
Not making it to Bellatrix 5 in Norwich, England on Sunday may have been unfortunate, but it did provide me the opportunity to utilise the option to watch the show on iPPV. Considering a lot of the changes from Bellatrix 4 last November were being done because of this one being broadcast live, it was interesting to be able to assess if those changes were successful.
They were.
Improvements to aesthetics like giant wall hangings of the roster, an improved entranceway, ringside barriers and more attention paid to start and running times were coupled with the venue being a purpose-built TV studio with full-scale lights and sound systems, the Epic Studios in Norwich looked vastly different to 5 months ago. The benefit of it being a proper studio also made it easier for the show to be streamed online, as the facilities to broadcast were all there, and had been tried and tested with previous unrelated shows. As a result, Bellatrix 5 was one of the slickest women’s wrestling iPPVs produced to date. (more…)
Bellatrix 5 results – Saraya Knight retains the SHIMMER Title; Liberty wins the RQW European belt
It’s been building up to this day for months, and coupled with a heavy bout of promotion both locally and online, Bellatrix Female Warriors launches its first show since officially changing the name from the World Association of Women’s Wrestling at the start of the year. Bellatrix 5 is also the promotion’s first iPPV (which you can order by clicking here), headlined by the first SHIMMER Title match on British soil.
Saraya Knight defends the championship against Queen of the Ring Destiny, while the undercard was given an extra sweetener in recent days with the announcement that Liberty‘s match against Queen Maya will now be for Maya’s RQW European Women’s Championship.
Elsewhere on the card, Bacardi and Rebecca Mason make their debuts, while Amy Lee and Phobia make their returns. Ringbelles is on hand at the Epic Studios in Norwich, England to bring you results. Click after the jump to check them out, and keep hitting refresh for the updates. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (19 March 2013) – TNA One Night Only tapings, Bellatrix, GLOW documentary & more
WARNING: Spoilers lay within.
TNA Wrestling is saying goodbye to the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL by hosting a series of One Night Only pay-per-views. In last week’s Roundup, we discussed the Knockouts Knockdown all-women show which saw a number of former Knockouts turn down the offer of being there. At the time, Traci Brooks was one of the women who had declined the offer, but it was not because she was holding a grudge of any description, tweeting “I had to say no to TNA for the KO ppv as I couldn’t make it that day. No other reason”.
Payton Banks (Rain) and Winter (Katarina Leigh) pointed out last week that they had also been asked but said no, while Salinas (Shelly Martinez) vlogged that she wasn’t asked. However, it was the former Roxxi who came out and explained in detail why she didn’t go back for Sunday’s show.
Nikki Roxx (who was messed around during her two stints in the promotion) spoke to the Greg DeMarco show about her turning down the offer, saying, “You can only get kicked so many times… I think that I had finally had enough. They had trouble treating me very well to begin with and I felt like I was being a glutton for punishment every time I went back… I felt like it was the right time to tell them no. It was like one of those bad relationships where you keep trying to get away from it… You can’t treat people badly and then hope that they’ll come back and hang out.” (more…)
Fight Like A Girl: Penelope
Bellatrix 5 lands on iPPV on March 24 (which you can pro-order from tomorrow by clicking here), headlined with a SHIMMER Title match between Saraya Knight and Destiny, though there are also some intriguing matches on the undercard – one of which sees Penelope takes on fellow high-flier Erin Angel.
The promotion is doing some heavy promotion for the show across the media and the Internet, and Penelope joins us on Fight Like A Girl to talk about the show, the prospect of drawing in new fans from around the world, taking on Angel, and how it may help her gain more stamps in her passport.
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
Follow Penelope: Facebook | YouTube
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Ringbelles Roundup (5 March 2013) – Paige’s rise, AJ Lee’s fall, Femmes Fatales XI, ABC Catch and more
On Saturday night in Kalamazoo, MI, Paige defeated AJ Lee at a WWE house show in a match refereed by Hornswoggle. The following evening in Cleveland, OH, the same match took place with the same outcome. The results of a WWE house show don’t usually mean much, but in these instances, they may mean a great deal.
First off, let’s look at the 20-year old Briton. It’s the second time that Paige has been on the road with WWE since she first reported to developmental in Florida 14 months ago – the first time round saw her team with Layla to beat Aksana and Natalya in tag matches in South Carolina at the start of December. However, she’s been given an even bigger shot in the arm by wrestling singles matches and beating AJ – the most over woman in WWE last year. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (19 February 2013) – WSU/BLOW clash, Fierce Females and more
Earlier this month, there was a clash of shows, with no more than 70 minutes drive between the two. In Voorhees, NJ, you had a double-header featuring Women Superstars Uncensored in the afternoon followed by a Combat Zone Wrestling card. Meanwhile, 65 miles away in Metuchen, NJ, there was a Bombshell Ladies Of Wrestling event followed by a show from its parent company Pro Wrestling Syndicate. Critically, the WSU show was better than the (frankly poor) BLOW event, though the latter boasted the larger audience number. For all that anybody knows, it could have been more, but there were hundreds of fans down the I-95 watching another couple of promotions running at approximately the same time. It meant that fans had to choose which show they wanted to see, and was a clash which felt unfortunate. It was very unlikely to happen again.
Or was it…? (more…)
WOW Podcast #51 with Serena Deeb
Episode 51 with Serena Deeb
Last week, Serena Deeb was announced as returning to the ring after an eighteen month injury hiatus following a severe concussion suffered on SHIMMER Vol 44 – which begs a number of questions; questions that we aim to ask on this podcast. Get the full rundown on her decision to return to the ring, how close she was to returning last Fall, and how attending a show a couple of weeks ago helped convince her to get back in the ring. We talk about what she’s been up to for the last year and a half, including Yoga and DVD box-sets, how much she’s kept in contact with both the wrestling business and the people in it, and discuss what exactly happened when she was arrested last July 4th. We also touch on Davina Rose‘s signing with WWE, and nail down whether this is a temporary or a permanent comeback, and talk future plans. Plus, before the 40 minutes with the Deebious One, Stew & Lee spend 20 minutes running down what to expect in the next couple of months – from SHINE to EVE, Bellatrix to SHIMMER and AIW to NCW: Femmes Fatales. Oh, and just what is happening with Kaitlyn for WrestleMania? We ponder the imponderable, here on the Women of Wrestling Podcast.
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
First SHIMMER title match on British soil announced
On Saturday, we ran down the card for March 24′s Bellatrix 5, knowing that there was one match still to be announced. Earlier today, that final match was revealed, and it’s groundbreaking on a number of levels.
When Saraya Knight faces Destiny in the main event of the show in Norwich, England, it will be fought under British rounds rules with the first woman gaining two falls winning the match – and to sweeten the pot a bit more, Saraya’s SHIMMER Championship is on the line, making it the first time that the title has been put up for grabs on British soil. (more…)
In Video: Build up to Bellatrix 5
Yesterday, six matches were announced for March 24th’s Bellatrix 5 show in Norwich, England – the first show since the name changeover from the World Association of Women’s Wrestling to Bellatrix, something which was explained by Destiny in our interview with her at the end of last year.
The biggest match announced so far is a return contest from last November’s Bellatrix 4 with RQW European Women’s Champion Queen Maya taking on Liberty in an encounter that was cut short because of a broken arm suffered by the tall Italian. This contest is billed as non-title, but a victory by Liberty could propel her to a title shot in the future.
However, the revelations continue – as well as the aforementioned rematch, Bellatrix 5 features debuts and returns – such as Amy Lee making her first appearance in a Bellatrix event since the original one last March where she face Miss Mina, who is now fully recovered from the ankle injury she suffered last November. Speaking of returns, the creepy Phobia – who hasn’t been about since Bellatrix 2 – will be seen again on March 24, standing across the ring from rookie Chanel, who is going in the right direction in terms of progression.
So that’s the returns taken care of – how about the debuts? (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (12 February 2013) – WSU, Saraya Knight, Serena Deeb, TNA Gut Check & more
The two big stories coming out of Women Superstars Uncensored’s An Ultraviolent Affair were Jessicka Havok retaining the WSU Championship by beating Athena with a top rope Air Raid Crash, and LuFisto defeating Mercedes Martinez in a Falls Count Anywhere match to become the next number one contender. However, after the latter match, a double-turn took place, with Mercedes Martinez turning heel and LuFisto turning babyface.
As a result, Martinez is now the aggressor in all the big-name women’s promotions in North America. Previously, WSU had been the exception to the rule, with her smiling and playing nice while in SHIMMER, NCW Femmes Fatales and SHINE, she was hankering for the jeers of the fans. Likewise, WSU was the only place where LuFisto was working heel. What that now means is that there is a status quo amongst the big players on the continent, so fans don’t have to work out whether they should be cheering or booing somebody. While this makes it easier on the audience, does it create a natural harmony that isn’t necessarily needed? (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (5 February 2013) – Shanna v Emi Sakura, Rachel Summerlyn and more
On Sunday, I sat among 400 people in a hall in a small city in the west of England. The only reason why I had decided to go – well, apart from it being a 15 minute walk from my front door – was that it featured a women’s match that was pretty hyped up about. Unfortunately, the billed contest between Kay Lee Ray and Shanna had to be scrapped because of KLR suffering a broken toe two days previous, then wrestling for about 40 minutes on it the previous day – though as it turns out, her metatarsal had been broken for about a month, which was compounded by the broken toe. As a result, a suitable replacement was brought in to replace Ray, and it would more than compensate.
The fans at Alternative Wrestling World in Wolverhampton had no idea who Emi Sakura was. To them, she was a Japanese woman who wears a lot of fabric, doesn’t show much skin and visually, didn’t look like much to write home about. Around me, I heard some borderline racist jokes about the “Chinese” woman in the ring and some unfunny gags about ordering Chinese cuisine in a mocking Far Asian accent. Her opponent also got the heckles, with a guy yelling “get your tits out” to Portugal’s Perfect Athlete – as if that line has EVER worked. Needless to say, we were dealing with an audience with spectacularly low expectations for the contest, and more than their fair share of xenophobia and ignorance. I’m stunned that I didn’t see anyone get up to go to the bar or toilets. They would have regretted it if they had, as little did they know, but they were going to be treated to a showcase featuring one of Europe’s best against one of the best in the world… (more…)
Bellatrix forms external working relationship
It’s changed its name from the World Assocaition of Women’s Wrestling, has its first show under the new name on March 24, and now Bellatrix has announced a new working relationship with another wrestling promotion – and it’s quite a surprising one, considering it’s one which hasn’t really dealt with women’s wrestling in the last five years.
Since LDN Wrestling‘s Capital TV show came to an end in 2007, the promotion has only held a handful of women’s matches. Most of them were intergender affairs and all of them containing Jetta – which, when you consider how long it has been since she gave up full-time wrestling, show you how long it has been since women wrestled in LDN.
In the past, LDN featured matches involving Jetta, Skye, the Jezebel Eden Black, Kelly Adams, Violet (now Janey Britannico) and more, though it was Jetta who was the main attraction. As her horizons expanded, the promotion’s interest waned and eventually petered out. However since then, women’s wrestling has grown and expanded in the UK at a huge rate, and LDN is venturing into that world again, and is doing so with Saraya Knight‘s promotion. Click the jump to read the official statement: (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (1 January 2013) – holding wrestlers back, Ribbonmania, news and more
Former WWE Women’s and Divas Champion Michelle McCool must have talked to her official fansite MichelleMcCool.net for about a kabillion years for it to produce as many different releases about things she has said about her time in WWE. There are masses of quotes about Beth Phoenix, Maria Kanellis, Layla, Sharmell Huffman, Vickie Guerrero, Tara, Natalya, Torrie Wilson, Mickie James and more. Seriously, the interview must have gone on for about three hours to sufficiently cover all these topics. Quite why she has decided to do this now after spending more than 18 months out of the wrestling spotlight is a discussion in itself, as it is doubtful that she is doing to come back, and she has positive things to say about everyone, which doesn’t lead to that many juicy tidbits. However, it is her comments about her experiences with Melina which we found the most interesting.
The 32-year old discussed how they collectively got in trouble following their contest at Night Of Champions 2009, where McCool successfully defended the Women’s Championship, with one particular move on the outside of the ring causing the problem:
It was that day – I was like: “could you not tell anybody, but do you think we could do a DDT on the barricade?” And [Melina] was like: “Ohhhh! Yeah!!!” — Not even thinking twice about it. We kind of hid it all day, even though we did ask our agent for approval, I think it was Fit — which is no secret that he was always fighting for the girls. We just made sure that we can stand up and get our balance, but we never actually did the bump. She was the one who was going to take the huge bump, and there was no doubt, no hesitation, that she would make it look ridiculous — and it did! [During the match] She finally takes the bump, it looks sick [pictured above], pops off — up to that point, that was the best match I’ve ever had. We had the pay-per-view, we had time, I was really proud of that match. (more…)
Stew’s 2012 highlights
Much like when I sat down a few days ago to look back over the Podcasts we’ve done in 2012, when I think of the shows I’ve seen and covered for this website over the last year, either live or on video/download/iPPV, I can’t help but feel a bit gobsmacked – it’s been a busy, busy year. As far as live wrestling was concerned, I chalked up two more transatlantic trips (both times taking in SHIMMER in Berwyn and NCW:Femmes Fatales in Montreal), and more all-female shows than ever back here in the UK (I personally tallied up four WAWW/Bellatrix shows and an EVE show – and bitterly regret the fact that work stopped me making the first EVE show of the year, and the ICW:Fierce Females debut in Scotland). With those shows, plus the likes of WSU, AIW, Shine and more, there’s never been a better time to be covering women’s wrestling, at least at the indy level.
Lee’s 2012 highlights
Dolly Parton said that – wise woman.
The reason I started out this piece about my favourite memories from 2012 with that quote is because to truly appreciate the moments you most enjoyed, you need something negative to compare it to – and for me, that moment was back in mid-March when I was sat at home in the early hours of the morning updating the results of the SHIMMER volumes 45-48 tapings for Ringbelles.
I was at home because the inevitable happened – after eight trips to the Chicago area in four years, the coffers had run dry and I couldn’t afford to go. While Stew was at the Berwyn Eagles Club watching everything unfold, I was remotely keeping up with the festivities, feeling more and more disappointed that I wasn’t there. After his return, Stew let me know about the epic encounter that was Ayumi Kurihara and Ayako Hamada against Ray and Leon which saw the crowd lose their collective shit, as well as the whole Queens of Winning storyline play out, culminating in Courtney Rush and Sara Del Rey winning the SHIMMER Tag Team Titles. However, the ultimate low point for me would have been the ultimate high point if I was there, and that was Saraya Knight winning the SHIMMER Championship. (more…)
December 31, 2012 | Categories: Commentaries | Tags: Bellatrix, Erin Angel, ICW:FF, Nikki Storm, Pro Wrestling: EVE, Rhia O'Reilly, SHIMMER, WAWW | Leave A Comment »