PWWA returns to action August 3rd

Australia’s PWWA has announced today that they have a show booked for August 3rd in Parramatta, Sydney, NSW at The Roxy. While PWWA branded matches continue to be a spotlighted part of PWA shows, this will be the first all female event for the company since last October’s show in another Sydney suburb, Casula.
On the show last October, New Zealand standout Evie defended the PWWA Interim Championship against Kellie Skater in their third big meeting. The match actually ended in a 30 minute draw, allowing Evie to retain her title. Of course, the reason why there was even an Interim Championship to begin with was the long term injury to regular PWWA Champion Madison Eagles, who missed the entirety of 2012 due to a knee injury. Although no matches have yet been announced, one could speculate that the show may see the unification of the PWWA Championship and the PWWA Interim Championship (in keeping with the general rule of Interim Championships), but that is strictly speculation at this point.
As you’ll note, the graphic above shows the “Big 5″ PWWA stars (Shazza McKenzie, Madison Eagles, Evie, Kellie Skater & Jessie McKay) – all of whom recently travelled to the US and competed for SHIMMER and SHINE – and one would expect the usual suspects from Australia and New Zealand to be there too. The UK’s Amazon worked on the October show, and the previous show to that featured Nicole Matthews (and the first SHIMMER Title defence outside the US), so international guests are not an impossibility. In fact, PWWA have invited any interested female wrestlers to give them a holler via email for information.
We will, of course, bring you news of the card as it is officially announced.
In Video: A few words for Allison Danger…
A week ago, Allison Danger announced her retirement from in-ring competition during the taping of SHIMMER Vol 57 in an emotional moment that didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.
Of course she’s not leaving wrestling for good – she’ll continue in a backstage role at SHIMMER – and while everybody there that weekend was fortunate enough to be able to say their own personal thanks to the woman herself, we kinda figured that Danger deserved something more. So, without her knowledge, we started recording video messages across the weekend with the idea of putting them together as a lasting tribute to someone who has meant so much to so many.
Now that the woman herself has had a chance to see the video, we happily share our video with the Ringbelles readers. Some messages are heartfelt, some are funny… some are, well, you’ll see… (more…)
SHINE 9 results: Eagles vs Havok steals the show, plus Leva finally commits Kimberly to Arkham Asylum
SHINE Wrestling returns to iPPV this evening with what is without doubt the most stacked card in company history – featuring, as it does, a Steel Cage Match main event to (presumably) cap off the long standing rivalry between Leva Bates & Kimberly, which currently stands at 2-2 after four matches (Bates won at SHINE 3, then after Kimberly turned heel at SHINE 5, she won their rematch at SHINE 6. On SHINE 7, Leva won a Last Woman Standing match, only to see Kimberly win the Fans Bring The Weapons/I Quit match at SHINE 8).
The show also sees the first Qualifying round of the SHINE Title tournament, which takes place at SHINE 11 in July – with eight hopefuls looking to advance to the single elimination tournament. In a first time ever dream match, Madison Eagles takes on Jessicka Havok, while Sweet Saraya Knight battles Su Yung. VALKYRIE stable members Rain & Ivelisse Velez will also see tournament action, against Jazz & Angelina Love respectively. And that’s not even all. Jump through after the page break to follow results as they come in from the Orpheum in Ybor City, FL. (more…)
SHINE 9 card: “Arkham Asylum” Steel Cage match, plus Qualifiers for first SHINE Title tournament
With SHIMMER weekend done, all roads lead to Ybor City this Friday night for SHINE 9 on iPPV via WWN. Although news of the main event – billed as an “Arkham Asylum” Cage Match between Leva Bates & Kimberly (watch Bates lay down the challenge here) – has been known for a couple of weeks, some of the other marquee matches have now been announced for what is looking like it could be one of SHINE’s biggest shows to date.
With SHINE now on the verge of creating their first champion, the promotion have announced that they have selected 16 competitors, the first eight of which will first battle in four one-on-one Qualifier matches at SHINE 9 this week. Next month at SHINE 10 on May 24th, the next eight challengers will make up a further four Qualifiers. This all leads to SHINE 11 on July 12th, which will see the eight final competitors battle it out to be crowned the first SHINE Champion in a one night single elimination tournament. With the roster for SHINE 9 full to the brim with international competitors coming off SHIMMER last weekend, the talent pool for the Qualifiers so far is deep and rich, and features two former SHIMMER Champions, current champions in WSU & PWWA, a former WWE Women’s Champion and a former TNA Knockouts Champion. (more…)
SHIMMER Volumes 56 & 57 DVD taping results (now updated with thoughts and photos)

After the events of yesterday, SHIMMER returns for its DVD tapings for volumes 56 and 57.
Expected to continue on from yesterday’s tapings include the quest by the Global Green Gangsters to secure another Tag Team Title shot at the Canadian Ninjas; Saraya Knight‘s reign of terror is being curbed by the officials; meanwhile, Jessicka Havok wants to leave more bodies in her wake, and Cheerleader Melissa is looking to retain the SHIMMER Championship. Also, these tapings mark the final matches for Allison Danger, who retires from the ring on volume 57.
As with yesterday, we will bring you results after the jump, along with pictures on thoughts on the show in due course. For now, click into the results and enjoy. (more…)
SHIMMER Volumes 54 & 55 DVD taping results (now updated with live thoughts and photos)

It’s the kickoff to SHIMMER’s Vols 54-57 tapings in Berwyn, IL at the Eagles Club with Vols 54 & 55 being recorded today. We’ve got a big preview of the Vol 54 taping up already, and we’ll be updating this page with results after the conclusion of both of today’s volumes. As noted in the preview, we’ll be back with thoughts and pictures from the event at some point thereafter. Enjoy!
(more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (9 April 2013) – SHIMMER 53 reaction, SHIMMERs 54-57 preview & more
Lots to mention from SHIMMER volume 53 on Saturday afternoon, so let’s get into it.
Let’s start with the main event, which had the right result for the biggest show in the promotion’s history (not 93,173 as announced by Joey Eastman but more around a hefty 700+, which is more than three times the maximum attendance at the Berwyn Eagles Club). With nowhere for her enemy to run and with nobody to help her, Cheerleader Melissa soundly defeated Saraya Knight inside a monolithic steel cage to regain the SHIMMER Championship. While the match was OK, the real tale was in the story told, which did not see Melissa eke out a victory with luck, but saw her deliver a super hurricanrana, missile dropkick and Air Raid Crash to convincingly pin her rival of close to six years.
The crowd was quiet for much of the match – part of the reason being that a lot of the crowd may not be completely familiar with their history, or that the action was not the crisp sort of execution as other contests because most of their matches look more like fights than matches – but they came out of their seats for the finishing sequence, which was a simple tale of good punishing evil and the snarling, unfriendly heel finally getting her comeuppance. However, despite her loss, Saraya retained her scary aura, attacking fans on her way out of the ring – and was also put over by Bryan Alvarez, who was getting his first viewing of Knight, pointing out that she was a proper, grizzly, old-school wrestling heel.
One would anticipate that Melissa will enjoy a longer run with the belt during her second reign than with her first – when she dropped the title to Knight on her fourth defence, following wins over Nicole Matthews, Portia Perez and Jessie McKay. While there is no detail on who Melissa will be facing in Berwyn this weekend for the usual two-day, four-DVD taping extravaganza, there are a lot of names to play around with – including one debutante who surprised everyone when she hit the ring… (more…)
SHIMMER Vol 53 – Knightmare over as Melissa becomes 2 time Champion; Havok debuts, targets Deeb

It’s WrestleMania weekend, which means it’s also WrestleCon – and the return to action for SHIMMER Women Athletes for their Spring taping season. While there’s a weekend of festivities in prospect next weekend in Berwyn for four tapings across two days, there’s the small matter of today – right now – when SHIMMER makes its iPPV debut in front of its biggest live crowd to date.
You’ve read our primer, you’ve watched Eagles/McKay from Vol 35, you’ve listened to Athena’s podcast and you’ve followed Saraya’s winding road to Vol 53 with successful title defences in both Bellatrix and Femmes Fatales, and you’re ready for action, right? Well, we hope you’re watching live on iPPV via WWN, but we’ve got your results right here as they come in anyway. (more…)
In Video: Madison Eagles v Jessie McKay
Ahead of SHIMMER volume 53 on Saturday (which you can pre-order here), the promotion has given us a hell of a taster of one of the big matches which has been announced for the bumper card.
The contest between former tag team partners Madison Eagles and Jessie McKay on volume 35 still ranks up there as one of (if not the best) SHIMMER Championship matches, and had fans at the Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL going batty, as you will see in the video after the jump, as the entire contest has been uploaded as a sweetener for their return match this weekend. The contest on September 12, 2010 came about after McKay earned the shot by beating Sara Del Rey and Ayako Hamada in a 3-way in what was a mild surprise. To a certain extent, the favour lay with the defending champion, who had been main-eventing SHIMMER shows as well as holding a size and experience advantage over her fellow Australian.
Unfortunately for Madison Eagles, nobody told Jessie McKay that she was the underdog. (more…)
TNA Knockouts PPV taping features Serena Deeb’s return match; Daffney shows up independently
Well, it had a difficult birth – with most of the former Knockouts banding together and turning down offers to work the show – but TNA have managed to put together a Knockouts only PPV as part of their taped “One Night Only” series after all, and managed to pull a coup out of the bag by featuring Serena Deeb‘s first match since October 2011. Deeb took on fellow OVW trainee Mickie James in the match, which it is believed will likely air in the July or August slot on TNA’s One Night Only calendar. (X-Travaganza will air in April, the Jokers Wild Tag Tournament in May, and TNA’s live Slammiversary will air in June). All of the early matches were termed as qualifiers for the main event “Queen of TNA” Gauntlet match, which is TNA’s Royal Rumble style timed-entrance Battle Royale with the final two facing off in a pinfall/submission standard match.
Interestingly, one former Knockout did show up despite not being booked – as Daffney, fresh off resolving litigation with the company, was seen protesting the show with an “I’m here independently” sign (in reference to her threat to challenge the so-called ‘Independent Contractor’ clause in TNA contracts).
Click back after the break for an exclusive pic of Daffney & Amber O’Neal at the show, along with full results, which also saw the return of other former Knockouts, a former Diva, Gut Check competitors and independent talent (more…)
In Video: Madison Eagles back in the ring
Madison Eagles is racking up the ring time since her return to the ring in January, ahead of her US return on the stacked SHIMMER volume 53 iPPV on April 6, where she will face former tag-team partner Jessie McKay. As well as her home promotion of the Pro Wrestling Alliance, the 28-year old former SHIMMER Champion is also spending some time in Pacific Pro Wrestling – where she will compete for the vacant Women’s Championship on March 16.
The match we have for you this weekend is from a PPW event on February 16 in Bundamba, Australia, with Eagles teaming with Shazza McKenzie against Mighty Mel and Eagles’ opponent in that match in two weeks, Storm. McKenzie and Eagles have formed an alliance since the latter’s comeback, with Shazza seemingly more into the partnership than the 2011 PWI Female 50 winner but Madison is tolerating her so both can pursue their future goals. Click the jump to watch the match in full… (more…)
Jessie McKay returns to SHIMMER; facing Madison Eagles on volume 53 – plus, iPPV news
Another comeback has been announced for the upcoming SHIMMER volume 53 in Secaucus, NJ on April 6, and it also clears up who fellow returner Madison Eagles will face on the show. In fact, it’s the woman who she debuted with all the way back on volume 21 on October 19, 2008 – Jessie McKay, who returns after missing the last tapings.
The pair made their first appearance in the promotion as the Pink Ladies in the Tag Team Championship Gauntlet to determine the first titleholders – still the longest match in SHIMMER’s history. They were the first team eliminated by the Canadian Ninjas of Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews, and also fell to The Experience – Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka – on the next taping.
However, while it was plain to see at the time the hierarchy in the team, an illness suffered by Eagles on the second day of the volume 23-26 tapings in May 2009 gave McKay a break. She took on Cheerleader Melissa on volume 25 – going down in defeat, but she was rubbing shoulders with bigger names – won a 4-way on the next edition, and when SHIMMER returned in November, stood across the ring from Sara Del Rey. At the time, she was plucky but lacked the edge to get the win over the top talent, though her feud with Nicole Matthews over a number of volumes saw her make her way into a #1 contender’s match against Ayako Hamada and Del Rey on volume 34… and guess what happened? (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…)
Ringbelles Roundup (22 January 2013) – Mia Yim, TNA’s reality hits and misses, and more
There are many interesting prospects in North America. One which has been simmering for a while is Mia Yim, who has been honing her skills and gaining more experience by partaking in a number of extended trips to Japan to wrestle for REINA x World. Domestically, she has had some interesting matches which have been of a good quality, and was a beneficiary when one of her kicks broke Allysin Kay’s nose last January leading to a number of well-received matches between the two with greater stipulations reflecting the development of the programme, culminating in a cage match at Absolute Intense Wrestling’s Girls Night Out 7. She had a fine outing against Jessicka Havok at SHINE 3 last September, and also enjoyed outings against the likes of Kana and Yumi Ohka in SHIMMER in 2011.
However, there is one major sticking point when it comes to her work in the US – barring the original nose-breaking match against Kay at GNO5, Yim has lost most of those high-profile outings.
Despite that, she has the opportunity to claim a really big scalp at SHIMMER volume 53 in Secaucus, NJ on April 6, and spoil the homecoming of one of its biggest stars at the same time. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (15 January 2013) – Kaitlyn, Eve Torres, Women Of Wrestling and more
So Kaitlyn is finally the WWE Divas Champion. A week shy of five months after (accidentally) winning a battle royal to challenge for the title at Night Of Champions – a shot which never happened after she was written out so Eve Torres could vie for the belt like was originally planned – the NXT Season 3 winner reached the top of the pile, defeating Torres on the 20th anniversary episode of Raw. We’ll get to the new champ in a moment – but firstly, let’s discuss the noise which preceded the match…
Yesterday, PWInsider reported that last night would be Eve’s final match with WWE before leaving the company, and it would be likely that she would be dropping the belt to Kaitlyn, who she has been feuding with since mid-September. As it turns out, that is exactly what happened, though her title loss came a bit earlier than others were expecting. According to the most recent Wrestling Observer Radio, Torres handed in her notice a month ago with the agreement that she would stay on to build up the title feud with Kaitlyn and then drop the belt to her, with the internal expectation being that she would lose the title at the Royal Rumble in two weeks, after a series of matches between the two when Eve would use underhanded tactics to retain the title. Instead, the decision was made for the switch to take place on the milestone Raw – which makes more sense, as it means more viewers would see the change and Kaitlyn’s moment of glory would take place in her home town of Houston, TX. It was a smart move, as the partisan crowd was hotter for the match than it would have likely been compared to the audience at the Rumble in Phoenix, AZ. Besides, fans have been conditioned to a certain extent to not be that bothered about the Divas, so it was unlikely that the match would have generated a massive amount of pay-per-view buys. (more…)
Fight Like A Girl: Madison Eagles
The Champ Is Here. Right on the verge of her return to the ring at PWA’s “Bash At The Beachie” on Saturday (in mixed tag format) and “The Unusual Suspects” (in women’s tag action) next Sunday, the former longtime SHIMMER Champion and still PWWA Champion Madison Eagles checks in with Ringbelles to discuss the long road back from injury, her thoughts on the Aussie scene during her year out of the ring (including the ascent of Evie) and her picks for success in 2013.
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
Keep up with Madison Eagles at her Facebook, as well as on Twitter
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…)
DVD Review: MCW Fight Like A Girl
Melbourne City Wrestling presents its first DVD dedicated to the women in its promotion, featuring personality profiles and matches from the last two years of MCW.
Results
1. Kellie Skater made Shazza McKenzie tap out to a stranglehold neckscissors
2. Shazza McKenzie pinned Tenille Tayla with a small package.
3. Eliza Sway defeated Shazza McKenzie and Savannah Summers in a 3-way. Sway pinned Summers after McKenzie had delivered the Shaztastic Stunner.
4. KC Cassidy beat Kellie Skater with an elevated DDT. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (25 December 2012) – Arisa Nakajima, Veda Scott, 100th Roundup & more
Emi Sakura has had a hell of a year, and it’s been well documented here at Ringbelles. Her success since leaving Ice Ribbon has included setting up her own promotion in Thailand, having it migrate to Japan, winning the JWP/Daily Sports Tag Team Championship, securing the services of Kaori Yoneyama then having her take her side in some sort of Stockholm Syndrome scenario, forming a team to invade JWP and then taking hold of the promotion’s crown jewel by winning the Openweight Championship. In addition, she defended the belt in the UK for the first time in its history and won the Pro Wrestling: EVE Championship on the same night. Indeed, it has been one hell of a year for the 36 year old. However, it seems as if 2012 is going to end on a mildly disappointing note.
Yesterday, 17-year veteran dropped the Openweight Title in the main event of Climax 2012 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall after 57 days – the second shortest reign in the title’s 20 year history (for the record, the shortest was Devil Masami’s 32 day run which ended when the title was vacated for unknown reasons). She was beaten by current Tag Team Champion Arisa Nakajima, who has also enjoyed a tremendous 2012. (more…)
SHIMMER debuts and returns, Femmes Fatales main events announced, WSU teases intergender match
Have you listened to the latest edition of the Women Of Wrestling Podcast yet? Featuring the heads of SHIMMER, NCW Femmes Fatales and Women Superstars Uncensored, Dave Prazak, Stephane Bruyere and Drew Cordiero spoke frankly on a number of topics such as their respective fortunes in 2012, the pros and cons of booking former WWE Divas or TNA Knockouts on a show and what they think of iPPV. Amongst all the great chat, each took the time to reveal nuggets of what we should expect in 2013 from their respective promotions.
For SHIMMER, Prazak revealed that at at the volume 53 show on April 6 in Secaucus, NJ as part of the WrestleCon event will see the return of two big stars and the debut of one of women’s wrestling’s hottest prospects. Former SHIMMER Champion Madison Eagles – who has been out of action since October 2011 with a devastating knee injury – will make her long-awaited return to the promotion where she reigned supreme between April 2010 and last October, where she dropped the belt to Cheerleader Melissa on volume 42. Her injury occurred mere days later as she was in training ahead of her match against Kana for CHIKARA , with a mere double stomp causing all the problems. At the time, she was told that she could either rest and see if the injury healed of its own accord, or have surgery which would end her career. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (20 November 2012) – Divas then and now, Amazing Kong’s return, NWA Hall of Fame
While being interviewed for the new WWE 13 video game, Amy “Lita” Dumas explained the difference between the Divas now and the ones from the Attitude era:
I think the women of The Attitude Era really did a good job at figuring out who they were and what they wanted to portray to the fans. So each woman was such an individual — you were never going to get Lita and Ivory confused. You’re not going to get the two confused, as opposed to now, is it the hot athletic girl with the short shorts on? No, it’s the other hot athletic girl with the short shorts on.
It’s harsh, but fair, and she has a point.
There are eight women on the main roster who are considered wrestlers rather than valets or managers, and for the most part, they are interchangeable curvy shapes with little character to speak of. The obvious exception which jumps out is AJ Lee, who despite being tiny, geeky and – compared to the others but probably not in real life – could be considered mousey or plain, is the most developed personality of all the women who step into the ring… and that’s something that Dumas pointed out:
I think it’s interesting to see the Divas of today and to see who the fans are attaching to. Obviously, right now, it’s AJ Lee, who’s not the strongest; she’s not one of those classically hot chicks. But she sets herself apart, and you have emotion when she’s out there and you get a sense of who she is, and so I think that’s really cool to see the kid that wasn’t supposed to make it being the one that’s out there, and that’s who the fans want to know more about.
Date set for Madison Eagles’ return
On November 2, former SHIMMER (and reigning PWWA) Champion Madison Eagles announced that she would be making a return to the ring after more than a year out because of a knee injury which she suffered two days after losing the SHIMMER gold to Cheerleader Melissa in the main event of volume 44. Speaking exclusively to Ringbelles about it last December, the 28-year old told us:
It’s just disgusting. I got the worst prognosis that I could have; either surgery and you can’t wrestle again or let’s just wait it out and see what happens. Unfortunately, that one doesn’t have any time restraint on it. We’re looking at crap or crapper.
She decided to sit it out, and it looks like the patience has paid off – as evidenced by the tweet announcing her impending return – though no date was set. Until today, when PWA Australia revealed that she would appear on the show in Toukley, NSW, on January 12 next year, 466 days after the injury occurred. (more…)

On October 1, 2011, Madison Eagles was at the height of her career. As well as being the reigning SHIMMER Champion – holding the belt for close to 18 months – she had just been presented with the plaque for emerging on top of the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Female 50, becoming the first woman who wasn’t a WWE Diva or TNA Knockout to win the honour. Despite a nagging shoulder injury suffered in a car accident the previous April which had restricted her bookings, she was in the middle of a string of five matches in three days, culminating with her dropping the SHIMMER belt to Cheerleader Melissa in the main event of volume 44.
2012 Diva of the Year (named by both WWE Magazine and the WWE fans via the Slammy Awards) AJ Lee is about as far away from WWE’s idea of what a Diva should be as you can imagine. Short, quirky, geeky, lacking the body shape that others have had in the past, she comes across as the person you would be more likely to meet over an Xbox Live session of Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 than at an awards ceremony or a fancy bar. She’s your friend, your buddy – she’s not what WWE would perceive to be the ultimate in femininity.

Interact!