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…)
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!
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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…)
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…)
In Video: Nicole Matthews… as a babyface?
Last October, we posted a video of Leva Bates as a heel, and pointed out how unusual it seems. Similarly, in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling there is another incongruity with Nicole Matthews working as a babyface as one quarter of the reigning ECCW Tag Team Champions The Riot.
I mean, just look at that face – could you imagine cheering for someone with a smug look like that? Well, yes – in British Columbia, Matthews is hugely popular as part of the wise-cracking foursome with the Shocker as their signature hand gesture.
As an example, we have a match from January 18′s ECCW PoCoPalooza show in Matthews’ hometown of Port Coquitlam, taking on Cauliflower Alley Club Future Legend nominee Sammy “Bambi” Hall in singles action. Click the jump to watch the video. (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…)
Ringbelles Roundup (8 January 2012) – Madison Eagles’ return, GAMI announces retirement and 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.
Two days later, Eagles’ momentum would come to a crashing halt.
During training for a match in CHIKARA with Kana on Friday, October 7 in Burlington, NC, a double stomp hyperextended her knee so badly that when the doctor was able to take a good look at it, the prognosis was as bad as it could be. The 28 year old was given two options – have surgery which would solve the problem but mean that she could never wrestle again, or to see if it will heal of its own accord, though there would be no timeframe to determine how long it would take. It could be a few months, or it could be years, if ever. Not willing to bow out of wrestling if it was not on her own terms, the 11-year veteran elected to wait it out.
So she waited. And waited.
And then, things started to feel better. (more…)
SHIMMER Volumes 51 & 52 DVD taping results (updated with thoughts on both Vols and photo gallery)
After a bumper day 1 yesterday which saw a number of storyline developments in both title pictures and one of the best matches in the promotion’s history, SHIMMER: Women Athletes returns for the second day of its weekend of DVD tapings.
Yesterday, Ayako Hamada and Kana competed in an epic encounter which saw the veteran gain the victory, though both women came out looking stronger than ever. In the 5-on-5 main event of volume 50, ReGeneration X and the Tag Team Champions Canadian Ninjas had hands in eliminating each other – with Allison Danger ousting Nicole Matthews before being pinned by Portia Perez – while Cheerleader Melissa pinned singles titleholder Sweet Saraya to end the match, which could see them cross paths again at some point today.
No matches have been announced for volumes 51 and 52, though if yesterday was anything to go by, fans at the Berwyn Eagles Club are in for another treat. As with yesterday, the Ringbelles team is on hand to provide results, as well as photos and thoughts later on. Click the jump to keep up with what’s going on…
SHIMMER volumes 49 & 50 DVD taping results (updated with thoughts on both Vols and photo gallery)
It’s rolled around again. More than 30 female wrestlers have gathered at the Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL for the latest round of DVD tapings for SHIMMER: Women Athletes, which includes the milestone volume 50 later today. A number of matches have been announced, but before we get to that, results from last night…
At yesterday’s AAW show, Athena defeated Nicole Matthews, Kellie Skater & Christina Von Eerie in a four way match where Matthews and Skater spent much of the contest playing a game of one-up by doing moves on Athena, but after it descended into a four way brawl, Athena nailed Nicole with the O-Face for the pinfall. Later on, Sweet Saraya retained the SHIMMER Championship by pinning MsChif following a wild, building-wide brawl which left both women with very visible battle scars. The end came when Truth Martini interfered to spit green mist into the challenger’s eyes.
Today, some matches have been announced. For volume 49, Saraya defends her title against Athena, while the Canadian Ninjas put the SHIMMER Tag Team Championships on the line against LuFisto and Kana. Elsewhere, SHIMMER Originals Mercedes Martinez and MsChif square off in a rematch from volume 20, where MsChif retained the SHIMMER Title in one of the best title defences up to that point. Also on the card, Leva Bates tangles with Kellie Skater, while nCw Femmes Fatales International Champion Kalamity faces Ayako Hamada.
Meanwhile, for volume 50, the SHIMMER Originals of Martinez, MsChif, Allison Danger and Cheerleader Melissa are involved in a 10-woman elimination match – which we are dubbing SHIM-vivor Series II, where teams of five strive to survive – and a “first time in SHIMMER singles bout” will take place, though you can let your minds run riot as to what it will be.
We will be updating results intermittently throughout the day, so keep hitting refresh for results – and after the show, we’ll upload thoughts and maybe some pictures…
First names announced for SHIMMER Vols 49-52 – Saraya Knight, Cheerleader Melissa, Canadian NINJAs
With just over two months to go until the tapings for SHIMMER Vols 49-52 in the traditional Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL (tickets available here), we’re able to exclusively bring you confirmation of the first wave of wrestlers to be added to the bill. Joining Allysin Kay (who was announced live on air at Shine 1 last month) in Berwyn will be the SHIMMER Champion Saraya Knight, the SHIMMER Tag Team Champions of Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez, and the former SHIMMER Champion Cheerleader Melissa! (more…)
DVD Review: SHIMMER Volume 45
Cheerleader Melissa defends her newly-won SHIMMER Championship against Nicole Matthews, Athena looks to settle the score with Mercedes Martinez, and four women make their debuts.
Results
1. Courtney Rush pinned Rhia O’Reilly with a Skyward Suplex.
2. Melanie Cruise & Mena Libra defeated Shazza McKenzie & Veda Scott. Cruise got the pin following a top rope legdrop on McKenzie.
3. Sara Del Rey beat Leon following a big powerbomb.
4. Sweet Saraya made Davina Rose tap out to the Knightmare (half crab).
5. Jessie McKay beat Mia Yim with the Boyfriend Stealer.
6. Ray pinned Kellie Skater with a Phoenix Splash.
7. Hailey Hatred & Kalamity beat LuFisto & Kana. Hatred pinned LuFisto following a running powerbomb.
8. Ayumi Kurihara & Ayako Hamada retained the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship by beating ReGeneration X – Allison Danger & Leva Bates. Hamada pinned Danger with the AP Cross.
9. Athena defeated Mercedes Martinez with the O-Face.
10. SHIMMER Champion Cheerleader Melissa retained the title by beating Nicole Matthews with the Air Raid Crash. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (10 July 2012)
Quite a few interconnected items to discuss this week, but they all start at the same point, so let’s go back to last Saturday night…
On the “Before They Were WWF Superstars” DVD back in 2001, we got a look at Edge and Christian’s background, learned about their friendship and how they were high school buddies. From there, they went back to their old school, walked the corridors and showed how a particular hallway entrance doubled up as their wrestling ring.
One element that is pertinent to this piece is that the group of friends that they hung around with were known as the Getalong Gang, as they got along with all the other cliques like the jocks, the geeks and so on. They were the middleground that everyone could be friendly with and not face any attitude, hostility or pretty grudges.
nCw Femmes Fatales is the Getalong Gang. (more…)
nCw Femmes Fatales IX results
A big card of action takes place tonight in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as nCw Femmes Fatales IX strikes. The International Championship is on the line, a grudge spanning two promotions could be settled, and the most fearsome trio in women’s wrestling today head north of the border.
Current titleholder Kalamity faces her toughest test yet when she faces the challenge of Sara Del Rey, while former champion LuFisto takes on Mercedes Martinez following their brawl at Femmes Fatales VIII in March and subsequent encounter at WSU’s Uncensored Rumble V last month, where LuFisto cost Martinez the WSU Championship in the main event Casket Match against Jessicka Havok. And speaking of Havok, she and her Midwest Militia partners Sassy Stephie and Allysin Kay take on Courtney Rush and two mystery partners.
Elsewhere, Kc Spinelli meets former SHIMMER Champion Cheerleader Melissa, Sweet Cherrie and Cherry Bomb take on the Canadian Ninjas of Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews with the winners earning SHIMMER Tag Team Championship match at Femmes Fatales X on November 3 against whoever the titleholders are at that time. Click after the jump for a look at the matches, and we will update them as we get word, courtesy of Pat Laprade, who is in attendance at the show. (more…)
In Video: A touch of Tenille
Close to a year after her last recorded match – a loss to Shazza McKenzie in Melbourne City Wrestling in Thornbury, Australia on July 9 – Tenille Tayla has finally moved to Tampa, FL, to report to Florida Championship Wrestling. On her Facebook, the 23-year old from Melbourne said:
Thankyou to all my family and friends for the love and support. It’s been a long hard journey but happy and proud to say I am now getting a chance to fulfil my dream of not only living in the USA but working for the WWE. I am so excited to start this new journey in my life… Can hardly believe it still! :D Hellooooo Tampa!! Let’s get this show on the road!
It has been a long time since there were rumblings of Tenille being offered a deal with WWE. However, she had to go under the knife last July for a recurring dislocating shoulder – so bad that it happened on such a regular basis that she could just pop it back in by herself with no distress, as evidenced on her appearance on World Of Hurt last year – and moved back to Australia from Vancouver, BC, Canada where she had been living, to recover and get rehab. During that time, her trainer Lance Storm replied on Twitter to a question about Tayla, saying that while she had been offered a deal, nothing had been signed. It seems that WWE was waiting for the doctors to give her the all-clear before assessing the landscape. (more…)
Mercedes v LuFisto at Femmes Fatales IX, plus more
nCw Femmes Fatales IX on July 7 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is taking shape.
As well as Kalamity defending the International Championship against Sara Del Rey and the Canadian Ninjas taking on Sweet Cherrie and a partner of her choosing, the promotion has announced that LuFisto will take on Mercedes Martinez in a match which has its roots set in the closing moments of Femmes Fatales VIII.
After failing to win the International Title from Kalamity, Martinez turned heel and attacked the Champion with a chair, but was stopped by LuFisto, and the pair tore strips out of each other both in the ring and at ringside. It seemed inevitable that this match was going to happen, and now it is official.
Considering their high profiles and being on the same rosters in a number of promotions, this is the first match between the two since SHIMMER Volume 7 back on October 22, 2006. Seriously – these two haven’t faced each other in a big-time situation for close to SIX YEARS.
However, that’s not the only announcement made today. Click after the jump and we will reveal the rest… (more…)
SHIMMER volumes 47 & 48 results – title changes (now updated with live observations)
It’s day two of the SHIMMER tapings in Berwyn, IL (you can find out the results, thoughts and photos from yesterday’s DVD tapings by clicking here), and a number of matches have been announced.
After defeating both Canadian Ninjas in singles matches yesterday, Cheerleader Melissa defends her SHIMMER Championship against Jessie McKay, aware that Sweet Saraya has apparently put a bounty on her head.
Elsewhere, the Tag Team Championship will be on the line as holders Ayako Hamada and Ayumi Kurihara defend against high-fliers Ray and Leon in an all-joshi affair, Mercedes Martinez takes on Hailey Hatred, and the unlikely team of Sara Del Rey and Courtney Rush will meet ReGeneration X – Allison Danger & Leva Bates.
As with yesterday, we will be adding the results to this post as they happen, and Stew will offer his thoughts from ringside later. Click after the jump and keep hitting refresh to follow the goings-on. (more…)
SHIMMER volumes 45 & 46 results (now updated with live observations)
We’ve had WSU; we’ve had Femmes Fatales, and now it’s the turn of SHIMMER as part of wrestling’s March Madness.
Cheerleader Melissa walks into these four DVD tapings as the SHIMMER Champion, while Ayumi Kurihara and Ayako Hamada hold the Tag Team Championship. Although no matches have been announced, we offered some thoughts about what could happen, but they are just musings and nothing more. We will all find out together how things will unfold.
Stew is in Berwyn, IL watching the shows live, and will offer up thoughts on the tapings later on. For now, we will bring you results as they happen, so keep refreshing the page to keep up with all the developments.
Click after the jump to dive in. It’s going to be a busy one. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (13 March 2012)
Reports from Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Saturday say that the most recent instalment of NCW Femmes Fatales was the best yet. With a 25 minute draw between Cheerleader Melissa and Hailey Hatred, Jazz and Lufisto tearing up the building and Kalamity securing her first International Title defence on a FF show over Mercedes Martinez, all three of the main event matches delivered. Groundwork was also laid for Femmes Fatales IX on July 7, and a number of the talking points have relevance to the FF/Women Superstars Uncensored relationship…
First off, there was the announcement that the Midwest Militia of WSU’s dual champion Jessicka Havok and Tag Team Champions Allysin Kay and Sassy Stephie will appear in July. For Kay and Havok, it will being their debut in the promotion, while Stephie wrestled at Femmes Fatales IV. As the most over talent, it seemed logical that the Militia would be part of this talent-sharing initiative, and as a trio, it lends itself to an invasion-style storyline with three badass heels walking into another promotion, and it’s unlikely that the Militia will be out to make friends. Before that happens though, three homegrown FF talents – Kalamity, LuFisto (who were announced during the 5th Anniversary iPPV) and Sweet Cherrie (who was named afterward) – will make their WSU debuts at the Uncensored Rumble on June 16, so the Militia will see their north-of-the-border opposition before making the trip to Canada three weeks later.
However, don’t expect it to be like the old USA/Canada storylines from the WWF in 1997 where talent would be faces OR heels depending on which country they’re wrestling in, as the Militia are already the top heels in WSU, so they are unlikely to be cheered by the WSU fans if a confrontation between them and Kalamity, Cherrie and LuFisto takes place in Deer Park, NY, and they are sure to be booed in Montreal at FF IX. Of course, this is all speculation, as nothing has been announced beyond the names who will be appearing, but this is what fantasy booking is all about. It would be a shame for there to be this overlapping without there being some in-ring friction to spice things up. (more…)
DVD Review: SHIMMER volume 39 (27 March 2011)
Cheerleader Melissa continues her quest towards Madison Eagles‘ SHIMMER Championship, while Jessie McKay and Nicole Matthews settle their feud in a best of three falls match.
Results
1. Kellie Skater defeated Courtney Rush with a Skate And Destroy.
2. LuFisto beat Sassy Stephie with the Mangalizer.
3. Rachel Summerlyn made Mena Libra tap out to the Texas Cloverleaf.
4. 3S (Hiroyo Matsumoto & Misaki Ohata) beat Pretty Bitchin’ (Nikki Roxx & Ariel) to retain the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship – Matsumoto pinned Roxx following an Exploder Suplex.
5. Mercedes Martinez pinned Britani Knight with a Fisherman Buster.
6. Daizee Haze & Tomoka Nakagawa defeated Mia Yim & Jamilia Craft. Nakagawa pinned Yim with a Fisherman Suplex.
7. Jessica James pinned Athena after hitting the Hard Boiled Egg.
8. MsChif beat Sweet Saraya with a Desecrator.
9. Serena Deeb defeated Portia Perez via DQ when Perez hit Deeb with a cookie sheet.
10. Nicole Matthews beat Jessie McKay in a best of three falls match. Matthews took the first fall with a tights-assisted O’Connor Roll, McKay equalised with multiple Schoolgirl Crushes, and Matthews scored the third fall with the Vancouver Maneuver.
11. Cheerleader Melissa & Ayako Hamada beat Madison Eagles & Sara Del Rey when Hamada rolled up Eagles for the pin.
Highlights
• 3S continue their run as SHIMMER Tag Team Champions and establish themselves as the most over team in the promotion’s history with a second successful title defence over Pretty Bitchin’.
• Both Sweet Saraya and daughter Britani Knight are defeated by SHIMMER originals, MsChif and Mercedes Martinez respectively. The former sees the Knight’s manager Rebecca Knox get involved in the match but gets her comeuppance when a Saraya basement dropkick goes awry.
• Haze and Nakagawa earn a SHIMMER Tag Team Title shot by remaining undefeated, beating Mia Yim & Jamilia Craft.
• The Serena Deeb/Portia Perez feud that began following Deeb’s return to the promotion after her release from WWE the previous year continues and starts to involve weapons.
• Nicole Matthews and Jessie McKay put their on-off feud to bed after their best of three falls match after trading victories in singles and tag matches.
• Ayako Hamada pins Madison Eagles to earn a shot at the SHIMMER Championship, much to the chagrin of Cheerleader Melissa, who wanted to get the pin to earn the shot for herself. (more…)
Hailey Hatred added to SHIMMER DVD tapings
As well as making her debut at nCw Femmes Fatales on March 10 taking on Cheerleader Melissa, Ringbelles‘ choice for Wrestler of the Year 2011 Hailey Hatred is scheduled to return to SHIMMER for the volumes 45-48 DVD tapings the following weekend in Berwyn, IL.
The 28-year old made her SHIMMER debut last October, competing on volumes 41 and 42, defeating Kalamity on the first taping, then teaming with her in a defeat to Mena Libra and Melanie Cruise on the following DVD.
However, she would only wrestle for half of the SHIMMER weekend, as she had accepted another booking in her home state of Ohio. She would go on to defend the JWP Openweight Championship which she held at the time against Cherry Bomb in Absolute Intense Wrestling in the first JWP title match to ever take place outside of Japan. This time around, Hailey will wrestle on both days of tapings, meaning that there a strong chance of her being part of a storyline arc.
Hatred joins Melissa, Ayumi Kurihara, Ayako Hamada, Portia Perez, Nicole Matthews, MsChif, Sara Del Rey, Athena and Christina Von Eerie as being confirmed for the tapings. In addition, Del Rey, MsChif, Matthews, Perez, Von Eerie and Athena will all compete the day before the tapings at AAW in trios action. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (24 January 2012)
Beth Phoenix and Natalya sat down with WWE Magazine for an interview which has been published in the February 2012 issue (though this must have been conducted a while back, as Phoenix has been off TV for more than a month and the Pin-Up Strong gimmick has been limping for a long time now), with one of the questions asked being which male-dominated stipulation match they would like to see introduced to the Divas Division. Both went for the ladder match.
“I want to compete in the first-ever Diva Ladder Match. Beth and I think it would be amazing, and I believe we could really pull it off,” Natalya says.
Beth adds, “I have been campaigning for WWE to let me compete in one and have even volunteered to put my Divas Championship on the line in it against absolutely anybody. I have the experience and truly believe the bar could be raised with that bout. There is no doubt in my mind that it would be the most spectacular Divas match of all-time.”
No doubt, a Divas ladder match would be pretty unique, but there is no way that this match should happen now, or even in the near future. A ladder match would have to be the culmination of a strong feud between two Divas who can go, with a number of matches having took place with inconclusive winners and the odd ladder attack, leading to the Divas title belt being hung above the ring. The problem that WWE has at the moment is that the Divas roster as a whole is probably at its most neglected in the last decade, and the number of quality female workers in the promotion who could successfully pull it off is tragically slim.
Beth would have to be one of them. Though it’s not saying much, she’s probably the most over and best all-rounder of all the women, though when it comes to her opponent, it’s slim pickings, for sure. (more…)
Pocket Volcano: What’s in a name?
When Beth Phoenix and Natalya turned heel back in August, WWE Diva fans held their breath. They seemed hell bent on turning the division upside down, separating themselves from the “models” like Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Alicia Fox and others. They christened themselves the Divas of Doom, or, alternatively, Sisters of Salvation, claiming that they were out to “save” the Divas division from princesses and perky blondes.
The storyline has mostly gone downhill now, for several reasons. It took Beth three matches to defeat Kelly for the Divas title. Even when she won it, at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, it was only after Natalya interfered by hitting Kelly in the head with a microphone. Hardly a dominant win. Creative also didn’t go nearly far enough with the storyline – Beth and Natalya still refer to themselves as “Divas”, they still do photo shoots, and they have been very selective in who they choose to go after. So far it has only been the faces such as Kelly, Eve, Alicia, AJ and Kaitlyn. If they were after the models, shouldn’t they also target Brie and Nikki Bella, as well as Rosa Mendes? Tamina was never a model, so there is a logical reason why they wouldn’t go after her.
Also, at the start, Natalya was presented as an equally dominant partner. However, her singles wins have been sporadic, at best – any match that she won was when she was in a tag team match with Beth. Lately she has lost out to Alicia on RAW, SmackDown and at the house shows. This weakens the concept of the dominant team they were originally made out to be. Now it seems like they are another version of LayCool. (more…)
2012 – Opportunity Knocks
Happily though, a chat with a friend in the business a little while ago persuaded me to turn the frown upside down. “Well,” she said (when contemplating the worst case scenario that Deeb, Eagles and others may be facing the end of their careers) “That gives plenty of opportunity for other girls to move up and take those spots”. I stopped and thought for a moment, and answered in the affirmative. I wasn’t yet 100% convinced, but the more I thought about it, the more I figured that there was a definite ring of truth to that statement. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely *not* ready to contemplate life without Eagles and Deeb, and I’d love nothing better than to have them back – but if they don’t return (or even just miss an extended length of time as they overcome their issues), it’s worth considering who actually is likely to benefit, and why we can actually look forward to 2012 as a year of opportunity as much as anything else. (more…)
January 15, 2012 | Categories: Commentaries | Tags: Allysin Kay, Angie Skye, Athena, Courtney Rush, Jessie McKay, Kalamity, Lexxus, LuFisto, Madison Eagles, Mercedes Martinez, Mia Yim, NCW:FF, Nicole Matthews, Portia Perez, Sassy Stephie, Serena Deeb, Sherbrooke Connection, SHIMMER, Stew, WSU | 1 Comment »