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…)
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.
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 (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…)
Ringbelles Roundup (11 December 2012) – Divas future, intergender wrestling part 2, Portia’s tweets, Fierce Females DVD review & more
WWE knows the Divas division is in tatters at the moment, and seems intent on asking us what we want to happen to it, so the promotion has been contacting focus groups asking about the future of the women. PWInsider reports they were sent out to ask fans what they think of the Divas in the past, what they are like now, and which women they liked. Another question which was reportedly on the list is what role they wanted to see them in – be it as valets/managers, dancers, wrestlers, love interests and more.
This could be the opportunity that fans of women’s wrestling have been waiting for. If the data comes back in the way which we would hope for, it could see a resurgence of in-ring action for the Divas in 2013, along with some proper storylines with episodic character development, culminating in big matches at pay-per-views. It could see them take more prominent roles on the TV shows, and have their segments played out in front of interested, active crowds who care about what is going on. It could also see an injection of new talent into the ranks, possible gimmick revamps to make them more interesting, and having more options of big matches all as part of the quest to snare the Divas Championship.
Oh yes, it could be the start of something beautiful.
But what if it isn’t? (more…)
My Name Is… Kellyanne English
We have received a number of emails from women in the wrestling world who are interested in the free airtime we are offering as part of My Name Is… and we feature another one today in the form of Australia’s Kellyanne English (or Nikita Naridian, depending on which promotion you are watching her in).
She discusses how she got hooked on wrestling – as well as how it is similar to Sammii Jayne‘s story last month – starting training at a young age, travelling to the Storm Wrestling Academy as soon as she possibly could, competing against Amazon Ayesha Ray at the last PWWA show, the reason for the two different character names, and how she is planning another big trip abroad next year.
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
Keep up with Kellyanne English/Nikita Naridian on Facebook and Twitter
Looking to expand your profile and want to be featured on a future show? Send us an email!
Ringbelles Roundup (9 October 2012) – the return of Rebecca Knox, WSU and more
“I am so sorry I have not been in touch in a while. I have been in and out of hospital and have not been able to get access to the internet in over a week. I am very upset I have to write this email because I have to cancel all future dates until December. I am not sure if you had heard about the knock to the head I got in Germany a few weeks ago or not, but I got a bad cut above the eye and it was stitched up and all seemed fine. But after a few days I was getting extremely painful headaches, loud buzzing in my left ear and my vision in my left eye is completely blurred. The doctor has told me it may be damage to the 8th cranial nerve and I am waiting for a CT brain scan and have been advised to stop wrestling for the next few months. It could be permanent or it could go away by itself, but until all signs have been alleviated I will not be able to engage in any heavy physical activity.”
That’s the message Rebecca Knox posted on her own website back in October 2006, following her serious injury in a match against Kisu in Dortmund on September 22 of that year. The match finished as normal, and took on Sweet Saraya the following night in Great Yarmouth, England in a match which saw her drop the Queens Of Chaos Championship. After that, she took some time out to get medically checked out, which gave her the bad news about her 8th cranial nerve injury. It also meant that the proposed Iron Woman Match between she and Daizee Haze at SHIMMER Volume 7 had to be scrapped, after the pair had engaged in a heated feud in the promotion’s early days.
As she points out in her post, she was expecting to be out until December 2006. It’s now October 2012, and only now is the 25-year old from Dublin, Ireland seriously thinking of a return. (more…)
PWWA results – Evie v Kellie Skater III, now with thoughts from Rhi from NHB Girls
It has been more than a year since the last Pro Women’s Wrestling Alliance show where Madison Eagles successfully defended the SHIMMER Championship against Jessie McKay and Nicole Matthews in the first SHIMMER title match to take place outside of North America.
Since then, Eagles has experienced a long period on the shelf due to a serious knee injury but retains the PWWA Championship by her side – meanwhile, a PWWA Interim Champion has been crowned in Evie, who won the title during the most successful week in her career in August. She makes her first title defence today against Kellie Skater, who has been beaten twice by the champion, but told us on our most recent Women Of Wrestling Podcast that she’s looking to prove she can beat the kick-happy New Zealander.
Elsewhere, Evie’s (former) BFF Megan-Kate takes on Shazza McKenzie, Jessie McKay faces Britenay, and England’s Amazon Ayesha Ray makes her Australian debut.
Our friends at NHB Girls are on hand providing live results from the Casula Powerhouse in Sydney via their Twitter, or you can click after the jump to read about everything that’s going down. (more…)
In Video: The PWWA Interim Champion in action
New Zealand’s Evie defends her PWWA Interim Championship on Saturday, having won the belt in a tournament which ran over the summer (or winter, if you’re from the southern hemisphere), just one week after winning the Impact Pro Wrestling Women’s Championship in a 3-way involving Britenay and Megan Kate, though her BFF was inserted into the match at the last minute. It was a questionable decision which made many wonder how Megan Kate managed to sly her way into the title match after losing her semi-final to Britenay on two occasions.
However, Megan Kate stood by the side of her BFF in her match last weekend as Evie defended the IPW strap against Britenay in her first defence of that belt too, as part of IPW Fallout in Auckland. You can watch the match after the jump, and keep watching after the decision for more developments. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (2 October 2012) – Sara Del Rey, TNA DVD ban, Alpha Female and more
“I don’t think there’s a better female wrestler in the world right now.”
Not my words – though I agree with them – but the words of WWE Champion CM Punk, who confirmed that Sara Del Rey has been employed as a trainer for the company and will be working in its developmental facilities in Florida.
We have stayed deathly quiet over Del Rey’s signing with WWE since we found out, as they notoriously hate their private business affairs being discussed openly, and would not want to jeopardise the position of anyone signing a contract with them. For that reason, we wait until the ink is dry and they appear in WWE facilities. That happened on September 28 when Bill DeMott sent out a Tout video of Joey Mercury, Norman Smiley and Del Rey in NXT trainers’ shirts offering a small pitch for wrestlers to come and try out. A photo of the trainers soon followed, and then came the confirmation from Punk at the Ohio Comic Con on September 29.
“We recently hired Sara Del Rey to train our future Divas. I know a lot of people will be like, ‘Oh, that sucks, Sara should be on television’ and maybe you’re right, but I’ve talked to her about it. This is her dream job. She gets to wrestle everyday and she gets paid for it.” (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (25 September 2012) – Beth Phoenix departure rumours, Ice Ribbon issues & more
Following last night’s Monday Night Raw (which we will get to in a minute, be patient), Beth Phoenix was approached by fans outside the Times Union Center in Albany, NY, asking if the rumours about her planning to leave WWE and retire were true. Lords Of Pain reports that she replied she was neither leaving WWE or retiring in the near future.
To paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies – a model involved in one of the biggest scandals of in British 1960s politics, the John Profumo/Christine Keeler affair and discredit of the Conservative Government at the time – “well, she would, wouldn’t she?”
Wrestling Inc was the first website to report that Phoenix was intending to leave WWE. It posted a piece last Thursday saying that they had heard from a source that she would be going in October. This was later picked up by other wrestling news sites, and was given extra weight by the Wrestling Observer, which says it has had it confirmed by other sources within the company. However, Phoenix is a professional, and will likely not be addressing the rumours – if she is leaving, she will do so in the right way, quietly slipping into the shadows, likely putting over remaining talent along the way. (more…)
WOW Podcast #46 with “Rate Tank” Kellie Skater
Episode 46 with Kellie Skater
We’ve been meaning to get Kellie Skater back on the Podcast for some time, and with PWWA‘s next show coming up very soon and her being announced as returning to SHIMMER in October, what better time? This will be her eighth trip over for SHIMMER, and we talk favourite memories of her stateside adventures so far, and future plans in SHIMMER. We discuss her three month Japanese trip from earlier in the year in great detail, including Christmas in Japan, training, friendships, drinking, networking, drinking, getting kicked in the face and more drinking – and we get a crash course in conversational Japanese (and swear words). We also talk Australia, and recent goings on Down Under, including the recent interim PWWA Title tournament – and Skater calls out her preferred opponent for PWWA on October 6th. Plus more!
Follow Kellie Skater on twitter | Kellie Skater fanpage on facebook
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
Ringbelles Roundup (28 August 2012) – the Aussies & Kiwis, April Davids & more
There has been a lot of focus on the continent of Australasia recently, and most of it centres around one kick-happy wrestler from New Zealand.
As we have documented, Evie has been catapulted into everyone’s line of sight, winning both the IPW Women’s and PWWA Championships in the space of seven days – the first in a triple threat match with Megan-Kate and Britenay, and the latter against Jessie McKay just last Saturday.
When approached for comment, the Auckland resident told Ringbelles:
Winning the IPW Women’s Title and then the PWWA Interim Title… words can’t pinpoint the feelings I felt over those nights. I was extremely emotional… a few tears were shed, and it definitely is the highlight of my career to date. I came away from both matches battered and bruised, but it was all worth it in the end… after five years, I finally feel like a champion.
The fans have also been rad… I can’t believe how much support I received through those tournaments, both online and in person. It was amazing!
Two titles in one week for Evie
It has been seven amazing days for New Zealand’s Evie.
After becoming the first ever Impact Pro Wrestling Women’s Champion last Saturday by beating Britenay and Megan-Kate in a triple threat match, she has added another title to her cabinet by capturing the PWWA Interim Championship at today’s Call To Arms event in Casula, Australia, defeating Jessie McKay in the tournament final. The Auckland native made it to today’s main event by defeating her BFF Megan-Kate in the quarter-finals, then seeing off Kellie Skater in a rematch from last September’s PWWA event.
According to the running commentary being tweeted by our friends at NHB Girls, the match started with a technical display, but broke down into a fight when both women agreed to let everything fly – and fly they did, with Evie managing to score a big hit on McKay with a top rope dive to the outside. Back in the ring, the frenetic pace continued with Jessie looking for a submission victory but was frustrated when her opponent made it to the ropes. Fighting back, Evie scored with her TTYL finisher (Go To Sleep) but was shocked when McKay managed to kick out at two for a heart-stopping near-fall. McKay dug deep, applied her octopus stretch to try and get the tap out, but Evie broke free, and nailed a second TTYL for the pinfall to claim the title. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (21 August 2012) – Too many promotions, BLOW, Caylee Turner & more
It’s a jungle out there.
Take a look at the Upcoming section – most specifically the section for October and November. In the space of a month, you have three iPPV shows (SHINE will be one of them, most probably on October 19), as well as the SHIMMER weekend, nCw Femmes Fatales and Pro-Wrestling: EVE. In a four week gap, there are hugely advertised women’s cards taking place across the western hemisphere. If you expand the boundaries a bit to include the start of October, there is the new UKWW/WAWW venture in the UK, the debut of REINA x World in the US, PWWA in Australia and Joshi4Hope in Japan. No doubt, if you’re a fan of women’s wrestling, you certainly have a lot of stuff to choose from. Unfortunately, it may be too much for a minority in a minority like women’s wrestling certainly is.
On August 8, Pro-Wrestling: EVE promoter Dann Read tweeted his thoughts on the matter: “Its been obv for a while but I’m now feeling that the women’s scene in the US is becoming over saturated to a potentially harmful level.”
The first apparent victim of this rapidly expanding calendar was Ohio-based Independent Women’s Internet Wrestling, which shut up shop last week after one – albeit well received – show in July which crowned Cherry Bomb as its first champion. In a message posted on its Facebook page last week, it said; “As you know there is SHIMMER and WSU and Femmes Fatales which provide women’s wrestling action as well as Pro Wrestling Eve in England. And now there are two new promotions Shine and Blow which are going to be having regular and affordable iPPV’s featuring top talent.
“I see little reason in attempting to compete with a fraction of the resources. Even on a hobby promoting level it’s too expensive and too little return to pursue any further.” (more…)
One down, one to go for Evie – now with video
When we spoke to Evie a week ago, she could barely contain her excitement at possibly becoming the first ever Impact Pro Wrestling Women’s Champion, progressing to the final against Britenay and headlining the Destiny show last Saturday night. She was keen on winning the belt in her home promotion, and always having the moniker of being the first Women’s Champion in the promotion – an achievement that nobody can take away from her. However, the one on one contest between the two of them was turned upside down just moments before the bell would ring…
Destiny opened with Commissioner Dion McCracken addressing the crowd as well as the competitors. He told Evie and Britenay that this match would be determined under a one on one contest, and then proceeded to ban ‘Handsome’ Danny Jacobs from ringside for the match later on, much to the delight of the sold out crowd. Evie’s BFF Megan-Kate was also ruled out, so there would be no excuses, and a rightful winner would be decided. Someone else had alternative plans though, and it would result in the Commissioner’s credibility being undermined, the two competitors being thrown a curve-ball, and a strong friendship being put to the test in the quest for the gold. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (14 August 2012) – Femmes Fatales, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Maria Kanellis & more
Wrestling promotions spend a long time building up a reputation. Many groups which are starting out at the moment like SHINE and BLOW are looking to get some traction, credibility and a fan base behind them to be mentioned in the same sort of high regard as companies like SHIMMER and Women Superstars Uncensored. Another promotion which has created a great reputation for itself is Montreal, nCw Femmes Fatales, which was worked hard over the last three years to be known as the standard bearer for all-women shows in Canada.
Earlier this year, another promotion looking to start its own women’s show did not do as much research as it probably should have. Insane Championship Wrestling in Scotland called its group Femmes Fatales, but after realising that there was already another Femmes Fatales out there which already had a positive reputation and was working on heritage. After a brief contact from the original, ICW agreed to change the name to Fierce Females, admitting that there would have been some confusion, rebranded itself and looked ahead to promoting its first show, which takes place in Glasgow on September 30 (which Ringbelles will be attending, we may add). It was a considered, reasonable and mature approach exhibited by all which meant that nobody felt aggrieved or hard done by, and would mean that there would be no confusion by fans.
A similar situation came to light this week. (more…)
Fight Like A Girl: Evie
New Zealand’s Evie has a busy couple of weeks ahead of her. After having never competed for a championship in her career, the Auckland native could become a double champion by the end of the month by winning two tournaments. First up is the final of the Impact Pro Wrestling Women’s Title tourney on Saturday, which will crown the first ever champion when she takes on Britenay. Following that a week later is her match against Jessie McKay to crown a PWWA Interim Champion.
As part of this edition of Fight Like A Girl, Evie discusses how nervous she gets before big matches, the women’s wrestling scene in New Zealand, the road to both finals, prospects for the future, and which title (if any) means more to her.
(left click on picture to stream, right click and “save as” to download)
Keep up with Evie at her and Megan-Kate’s Facebook, as well as on Twitter
Read more about IPW Destiny, and check out more about PWA Call To Arms
Ringbelles Roundup (7 August 2012) – Wrestlers Rescue, Dawn Marie, BLOW & more
Former WWE and ECW personality Dawn Marie seems to have a good heart. Setting up Wrestlers Rescue in 2008 (and the subsequent Pro Wrestlers Relief) in 2009, her goal was to make life easier for wrestlers with medical issues to help them pay their bills – a common problem for wrestlers outside of WWE who may not be able to secure the proper insurance needed to cover their ailments.
In the last week or so, her charity has received a battering from James “Kamala” Harris, who has had both of his legs amputated due to complications stemming from diabetes and high blood pressure. He claims that Wrestlers Rescue and Boston-based independent wrestling promotion the Millennium Wrestling Federation promised to help him out financially, and never did so, calling Dawn Marie “no good” and accusing her of keeping the money that was raised for him.
Wrestlers Rescue has not had the best of reputations in its short existence, but following this high-profile attack on her work, Dawn Marie decided to go public with all the details. (more…)
KC Cassidy on training with Lance Storm
KC Cassidy has recently returned from three months training with the Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and has offered some thoughts on her experience living abroad.
The former self-professed PWWA Champion – who claims she hails from Bitchville, Australia – wrote a blog for Australian women’s wrestling site NHB Girls about her time. You can click here to read the whole blog, but below are a couple of excerpts:
Lance [Storm] cares so much about his students and that shows when guys who have never trained before are able to walk away with three months of training and are able to confidently wrestle a match. Best decision I could have ever made for my career at this point was definitely going to Calgary to get trained by Lance.
I was able to prove to myself that hard work pays off and for me it paid off in a fantastic way.
Ringbelles Roundup (31 July 2012) – Beautiful People reunion, no Divas and more
Velvet Sky was released from TNA last week, and I’m sure it wasn’t a decision that she came to lightly. However, following the departure of her longtime tag team partner Angelina Love at the start of July, she thought out loud on Twitter about a Beautiful People reunion, and there was no way that could happen on TNA TV, so we should have read into that at the time. Well, now it’s set to happen, as Sky and Love (now going under her original guise of Angel Williams) will be on the same show for Northeast Wrestling on September 22 in Fiskhill, NY, and have been booked to participate in a tag team match for Family Wrestling Entertainment on October 5 in Brooklyn, NY against Maria Kanellis and a partner who has not been announced yet.
Like I pointed out when the news of her release was announced, Sky must imagine that there must be a lot of money on the table for the Beautiful People to do a tour. However, as well as taking the money on the table, both she and Williams have the opportunity to give back too. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (24 July 2012) – SHINE, PWWA, Raw 1000 & more
There was been a lot of talk about SHINE Wrestling in the lead up to the first Internet PPV on Friday night, and plenty more afterward, with plenty of comments from both people who where there, as well as fans who watched online.
For that reason, we asked Joe Vitale – who was at the Oprheum in Ybor City, FL – what he thought of the show, as he got to experience the atmosphere first hand. Below are some of his reactions:
“I like the setup for the show; it felt like a good introduction to the characters and styles of the workers and it was nice that almost all of the ladies came off like individuals to be interested in rather than “Brunette girl 1″… I really like how well the heels interacted with the crowd, Jayme Jamison and Allyson Kay/Taylor Made made fans out of my non-wrestling friends.”
Overall, one can view the show as being a big success, which built to a tremendous crescendo with Sara Del Rey falling to Jazz in the main event. Nikki Roxx and Rain may only wrestle on a limited basis these days but had a good outing which shows that they have a lot to offer both in in-ring activities but also knowledge that they can impart onto younger talent. Mercedes Martinez and Leva Bates had a tidy outing that set Martinez up for an apparent match against Jazz on SHINE 2 on August 17, and Bates proved that despite wearing a Spider-Man outfit, slinging webs and hanging upside down, there is a wrestler in there who can work, and is ready to get serious. (more…)
Ringbelles Roundup (17 July 2012)
I’ve been concerned about the future of Pro Wrestling: EVE, as each show seemed to be becoming a stand-alone production. EVE v Ice Ribbon was a great weekend of action, but didn’t really offer much indication on what would happen next, barring the win streaks of Alpha Female and Nikki Storm. At No Man’s Land in February, there was only one advertised match, which was the title match with Jenny Sjodin defending against Alpha, and that ended inconclusively. Meanwhile in the Queen of the Ring tournament which was set up after the plans to crown new Tag Team Champions fell though, Nikki won, which only reminded us that she was the next contender, and didn’t offer much to speculate about for the next show. Then Alpha won the belt on a non-EVE show, which – while it was the right move – would have been best on the No Man’s Land card. In addition, attendances were less than stellar, which was a shame – doubly so for the EVE v Ice Ribbon shows, which featured some spectacular matches.
However, last Saturday, things slotted into place very nicely. (more…)
A good half year for… Kellie Skater
For many wrestlers, Japan is still the mecca when it comes to what they do. Many strive to get there, and some accomplish it. For some, it is for a booking or two, or maybe a stint with a specific promotion. For Kellie Skater, she packed up her suitcase and headed out to Japan for three months with no set plan on how many times she would be wrestling, or for which promotions or against which talent. What ended up happening was a rapid evolution of the Rate Tank, maturing into a more well-rounded competitor – so much so that it caused more than a few people to sit up and take notice… (more…)
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