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Steve wrote:

Best. Show. Ever. I guess I’ll have to fly back over (from Dublin!) again now won’t I

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Lee Burton wrote:

Damn, the drive from Wolverhampton to Ipswich is easy. M6, A14, Ipswich – a 3 hours drive done in 2h50. F*** you, TomTom.

After being in Berwyn last weekend for SHIMMER, I was skeptical that ChickFight’s first TV tapings in Ipswich would compare. When I got in the queue, I was somewhat buoyed, as there were more people in the queue than I predicted would be at the show. And then my optimism took a dive then I got into the venue. Swanky, it is not.

However, there’s some good to be taken from it. The tables being used a barrier was a great move, as the noise those things create made for a great atmosphere, coupled with the crowd of around 120, who were enthusiastic all the way through. While the ring was pretty small, it made a massive noise when anyone took a bump. And even though the entranceway was just a door, I’m not going to hold a grudge about that, as a certain promotion based in Berwyn did the same for its first 6 DVD tapings.

***

While I was surprised to have Wesna v Cheerleader Melissa IV as the opening match, it really did set the tone for the show, and let the crowd know this wasn’t going to be divas in short, pointless affairs. Rather, it was going to be s**t-kicking of the highest order. Hell, even the smartarse kid in the front row who was trying to wolf-whistle at Melissa hushed his gums when the clubbering for underway.

Strangely, neither woman was positioned as a heel or face, which for longtime CF fans would have been a bit perplexing, but for a new crowd in a new venue, made sense – Melissa initially appears to be all glam, so it would have been difficult to set her as a heel straight away. And even though this match didn’t reach the ridiculous violence of their draw at CF9, it was still the kind of outing you expect from these two. The finish created a nice piece of controversy too – while it did appear Wesna was clamouring for the rope, it was utterly believable why ref Chris Roberts thought she was giving up.

It also added a bit more credence to Jetta’s sudden arrival to bitch about how Melissa allegedy gets favour from ChickFight, and told Wesna they would talk later. Again, first-timers to CF might have wondered why Jetta had a problem with Melissa, but she summed up the violence, the “suspension” after the hotel “incident” in Skegness last year and her shady win over Wesna minutes earlier.

I was all set to come on here and slate Becky James for her match against Coventry’s Loudest due to her hesitancy and getting lost during her comebacks, but when I got told that was her first match on British soil since graduating from Lance Storm’s academy, I’ve done a 180. Instead of it being a horrid CF debut for her, I reckon she did bloody well. She sells brilliantly, has a look to her and is pretty decent at working a crowd. Keep an eye on her.

I heard about Team Bloosom about 2 years ago, when another wrestler told me about these identical twins training in the north, and they were going to be stars. Tonight was the first time I’d seen them, and on first appearance, they’ve got a decent chance of doing something great. Like James, they had professional looking gear, and held their own well against CF mainstay Jade and the debuting Italian giant Maya. They even brought out some double-team moves – always nice to see in any tag team.

Maya apparently flew over from Italy out of her own pocket for a chance on the card, and she didn’t embarrass herself. Fair enough, she didn’t do anything dynamic or amazing in her first match, but she used her size well, and was in the right place at the right time. Naturally, the whole thing was carried by Jade, who I’ve really grown on in the last year – her new East End wannabe gangsta gimmick isn’t anything special, but it’s better than “Da Essex Gurl” schtick. One thing though – she still needs to cover that midriff – it ruins her look.

***

Following Dann Read’s burial of Rebecca Knox – much like Paul Heyman’s burial of Sabu when he no-showed – the former “Jezebel” Eden Black came to the ring to make her announcement. At some points you really felt like rushing into the ring and giving her a hug – she looked on the verge of tears at some points, and when she announced she was bowing out, you could have heard a pin drop. But then Jetta came out and ruined everything.

If there’s a better woman on the mic than Jetta, inroduce me to her. All night, she came out with one liners and putdowns, and articulated herself in this segment in such a way that she came off as the ultimate cow to end all cows. Plus, the prospect of having Jetta v Eden Black one last time in August is going to be worth anyone’s money, if their last match and pull apart and death threat barrage in RQW a few months ago is anything to go by. You really get the feeling these two can’t stand each other.

Wesna’s frustration with her earlier loss was apparent in the second period, as she was in no mood to be humiliated by Bubbles like Cheerleader Melissa was at the last ChickFight show in Skegness. She was more aggressive – if that’s possible – and ended up dropping Bubbles on her head with the Sunset Driver.

It’s been great to see Bubbles evolve as a wrestler though. She didn’t get much of a showing at ChickFight 8, had a horrid match at ChickFight 9 and was carried by Melissa at 9.5 to a pretty good outing. Here though, she held her part of the match well, looked great in the ring, and pulled off a brilliant Code Red for a heart-stopping near-fall. Plus, the families adore her, as she’s got that butter-wouldn’t-melt look about her. She’s the Everywoman – or Everygirl, considering she’s not even hit her 18th birthday yet…

Fucking hell, Jetta is tremendous. First off, she puts the seeds of resentment in Wesna’s head, then interrupt’s Eden Black’s retirement speech, and then bursts into tears at the prospect of facing Cheerleader Melissa. Her seven minutes of stalling by breaking the count only to roll back outside worked the crowd up bigstyle, and then when she got the advantage by spitting water in Melissa’s face, she had a look on her face that encapulated everyone’s feeling on the match – how the hell was she winning?

Thankfully, normal service was resumed and Melissa got to the pasting, to the point that Jetta was slapped around so much that she suffered a big nosebleed. Luckily, she didn’t have to suffer the Kudoh Driver, as Wesna’s ire overflowed and attacked Melissa, leading to the DQ. Jetta had got out with her life, Wesna wanted another shot at Melissa, and Melissa looked like she wanted the same. This was such a good double-turn. Inf act, you could tell how popular Melissa was going to be, as she was swarmed with people at the gimmick table during the break.

***

Becki James’ second match of the night – and ever on these shores – was against Jade, so it wasn’t going to suck, but because of James’ shortcomings, it wasn’t going to be a classic either. It was OK for what it was though. James needs to work on her punches – they look far too soft and weak, and most of the ones she did while on the ropes missed the target by a good 4 inches.

Maya v Bubbles had the potential to be the worst match of the night. I still had worries that Bubbles needed to be carried, and Maya wasn’t exactly the most mobile person in the world. However, it was fine because they kept it short, kept it simple, and Bubbles overness helped a great deal. You could see the crowd collectively gasp when she took Maya’s Black Hole Slam, which was dangerously close to being a hideous botch, but to her credit, she pulled it back. After Melissa, Bubbles could be the most popular face ChickFight has.

The “bonus match” 3-way wasn’t much kop at all. I’ve never heard of any of these girls before, but that Faith lady needs to wear more clubbing fetish outfits like that. She was pretty darn yummy.

So to the main event. Melissa/Wesna V – quite fitting really, as the two best wrestlers bookend the show.

Wesna came out first to the awesome “You’re The Best Around” track, which fits her new persona to a T, but didn’t make it to the ring before Melissa came out and showed us that brawling violent streak which she showed in ChickFights 7,8 and 9, beating Wesna all over the shop.

Even though this was their third match of the night, this was the better match of their two outings in the evening, as there felt like there was more hate between the two – Melissa spent much of the match barrelling Wesna to the mat just to she could lay punches into her, which was truly awesome. Melissa had the match won with the Kudoh Driver, but Jetta came out to break the count, but was sent packing by Eden Black, who came from the back to get a piece of her enemy.

It was the break Wesna needed. She hit a yakuza kick and a Sunset Driver for a stupidly close near-fall, only to nail another for the three, and her first win over Melissa on British soil in four attempts.

***

So, final thoughts:

I’ll start with the newbies first. Maya might have some potential, as she heels it up well, emphasises her 5’11” frame to great advantage, uses the fact that she’s Italian to draw some xenophobic heat, and has some moves from Kevin Nash’s moveset, which can never be a bad thing.

Team Blossom could be great. They look like they have enthusiam, can hold up their part of a match and look like they belong. The main thing that could hold them back is the fact that they both look stupidly young. For all I know, they are probably older than Bubbles, but don’t look it.

Becky James has something. Anyone who gets the seal of approval from Lance Storm can’t be bad. All she needs is more matches under her belt and she’ll be up there.

The girls in the triple threat need work, but they didn’t do anything stupid, and each of them has a look, which is half the battle won.

Now, onto the ones we’ve seen before:

Bubbles is a joy to watch improve. Give her another year or two and I can see some great things for her. She’s adored by the people, she’s eager to get better, and she’s got a great attitude to it all.

Eden Black may or may not be retiring after her match with Jetta, but she really drew everyone in with her speech – possibly the best and most emotive one she’s ever done. I look forward to seeing her wrestle again… even if it is for the final time.

Jade? I take back what I said about her when I was slating her. Maybe I just didn’t “get” her.

Wesna as a heel makes more sense. She’s got a no nonsense look, and she’s got a lovely ruthless streak to her as the antagonist, so I look forward to seeing her try and claw her way to the top spot in ChickFight.

Who holds that top spot is up to debate though. Some would say it’s Cheerleader Melissa, who’s adored by the crowd, has contantly good to great matches and makes everything seem a bit more “real”. Having seen her wrestle 5 matches live in 8 days, I can say she’s probably the best in the world.

But this ChickFight was all about Jetta. I said last year she should be the focus of the promotion, and this show proved why. She can provoke, entertain, wrestle and make you want to part with your money to see her get murderised. Eden Black may be the one to do it to her, but that’s if Melissa doesn’t beat her to it. Her facial expressions say more than any other wrestler I’ve ever seen, and the sight of her recoil in horror when she found out she was bleeding with sit with me for yonks. Plus, some of her comments were top-class, from ragging on a kid on the outside because he’s ginger, to screaming “Oh no, I’ve seen this on TV!” when she was being put into the Kondo Clutch, as well as annoying Black into holding off her retirement for one match, at least, so she can try and get the last-laugh over her biggest rival ever.

ChickFight IS Jetta. And rightfully so.

EDIT: Also, credit to Dann Read for putting together the most coherant ChickFight show in this country yet. It all made sense, the stuff which wasn’t expected to be awesome wasn’t out there for long, and had a great episodic feeling to it. I’m confident it’ll look good on TV, and will be as loud as hell.

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$tew wrote:

I suppose I might as well post about this tonight. Why bother with the sleeping gimmick?

Yes, quite possibly the best ChickFight to date, due to a combination of interesting booking, a very lively audience and the top stars excelling themselves in some cracking matches.

We started, incredibly, with Melissa vs Wesna IV. Music cues were wrong in this one, meaning that both girls came out to the wrong music, but nevertheless… they had a good athletic contest which was, while hard hitting (obviously with those two), contested mostly within the rules and within the confines of the ropes. Absorbing battle, with the finish coming when Melissa wrapped up Wesna in the Kondo Clutch and Wesna was reaching for the ropes. In flailing for the bottom rope, her hand was making contact with the mat – which referee Chris Roberts took as Wesna tapping out, so he called for the bell. Melissa was declared the winner, while an irate Wesna questioned referee Roberts and MC Steve Cartwright over what the hell happened. She denied submitting, and pleaded her case. The fans chanted “You tapped out”. At that point, Jetta arrived, and after customarily putting down the fans, she explained that ChickFight management are scared of Melissa, so they let her get away with murder and give her the favourable calls. She said she believed Wesna that she never tapped out, and that Wesna should go to the back and wait for her, because they needed to talk… but first, Jetta had to dispose of her opponent.

Jetta vs Becky James was next. Becky is a trainee of Lance Storm, and was wrestling her first match in the UK since coming back from his camp. The match involved Jetta kicking the crap out of young Becky unmercifully, all the time being the single most entertaining wrestler in the UK. The scouting report on Becky is that she’s got a good look, has good gear, takes a hell of a good shitkicking, and once she gets her confidence on her comebacks, she’s got a lot of potential to be something big on the scene. For a debut, this was great. Jetta won with the stranglehold lungblower turned into the stranglehold camel clutch.

The expected revival of Team Tan never took place as Kelly Adams wasn’t at the show – so in her place, we had Italian wrestler Maya teaming with “East End Gangsta” Jade against the debuting Team Blossom – Hannah and Holly. My first thoughts when I saw Team Blossom were “Norfolk Dolls Lite”, as they’re a bubbly couple of very young looking girls who have a line in matching clothes and double team moves. One of the guys that I was with came away talking about how Team Blossom has a lot of potential, and while I can’t disagree with that, I had a difficult time watching them. Another friend of mine always talked about the fact that he had a problem watching wrestlers like Paul Robinson in the ring because he can’t suspend his disbelief to the point to where he’s a “wrestler” rather than someone who should be at home doing his geography homework. Well, I felt that way about Team Blossom. They are a couple of blondes who look frighteningly young, have flowers on their costume and look like they stepped out of the Mickey Mouse Club. As a result, although the match was pretty decent, I just couldn’t think of them as pro-wrestlers. Maya has improved since I last saw her on some Queens Of Chaos DVDs, but the star of the match was Jade, who managed to hold everything together and do it all while chewing gum throughout. That takes skill~!

So, first period, and nothing bad so far. Wesna and Melissa could have a good match blindfolded (that’s NOT a booking suggestion, Dann..!), Jetta was out of this world entertaining, Becky James debuted and the tag match was perfectly acceptable.

***

Wesna beat Bubbles to start the second period, and it was exactly as you’d expect. Bubbles is a grand little wrestler and has come a long way since her ChickFight debut last year in Gloucester where she got murderised by Pandora. Bubbles actually got in a good amount against the far more surly than usual Wesna, who looked like she wasn’t in the mood for fucking about. Once Bubbles started to get a couple of near falls, Wesna killed her dead with the Sunset Driver for the three.

Next up, Dann Read got in the ring and explained about the no-shows, and that Jazz and he are fine because she was a professional and was apologetic about it and that she’ll be back later in the year… but that Rebecca Knox didn’t just fuck over ChickFight, but also all the fans. She got buried six feet deep, and I figure whatever good will she had with Dann has gone. Dann then brought out Eden Black for her announcement.

Eden explained that she injured herself in August last year, and was told to stop. She didn’t, and carried on, which she now regrets, because her shoulder is all fucked up and that as she can’t ever give 100% in the ring again, she was announcing her retirement. She cried, and apologised to her fans. Jetta then came out to gloat, and explain that the reason she’s injured and the reason she’s retiring is because she (Jetta) caused the injury. Jetta said that Black wasn’t retired until she retired her, and that unless Black would admit that the reason for her retirement is because Jetta caused it, then Jetta challenged Eden for one more match. A final match, where if Jetta wins, Black is retired and Jetta gets the pleasure of sending her into retirement, or if Black wins, Jetta will get on her hands and knees, kiss Eden’s feet and admit she was the better wrestler all along. A bit of banter later, and the match is set for August 3rd – Eden Black vs Jetta, one last time. The thing about this is that I was totally buying the retirement from Jez, so that when Jetta came out to open her gob, I was genuinely pissed off that the special moment was being ruined… but when it became clear that this was build to the climactic battle between the eternal rivals, I became happy again.

Cheerleader Melissa vs Jetta might have been my favourite match of the year so far. Did it have movez and workrate? Nope… but it was the most fun thing I’ve seen in some time. Jetta, bless her heart, was terrified of taking on Melissa, and we had a good seven minutes of stalling… but stalling so damned entertaining that I’d have happily watched them not lock up for a further ten minutes. I can’t do Jetta’s facial expressions justice in mere words, but it was absolutely hilarious. “Did I pee myself?” she anxiously asked at one point, having run away from Melissa. Even the ice queen Melissa couldn’t help but crack a smile at the Jetta Show. Things eventually did get serious, and Melissa appeared to have busted Jetta’s nose up just by slapping her in the face several times. Jetta tried to use her water bottle, but failed and was drenched. “Oh no, I’ve seen this on TV!!” she yelped as Melissa tried to lock on the Kondo Clutch at the end of the match, before Wesna came out to kick Melissa in the head, drawing a DQ. Great stuff. The non finish didn’t matter to me, as the preceeding 15 minutes were so fun.

Second period had a cracking match with Jetta being Jetta. The Eden Black deal was emotional and had a payoff that makes me wish it was August already, and Wesna debuted her new surly heel side. Things continued to be great.

***

Jade vs Becky James opened the final part. Similar in execution to Jetta/James from the first period, and in fact, for the second Becky James match in a row, her opponent started biting her hand – which suggests that Becky’s hands taste good. Similar again, in that the veteran led the match, and Becky kept up.

Next up was Bubbles upsetting Maya in short order. Highlight of the match was Maya hitting a sweet Black Hole Slam on Bubbles when it looked for all the world like she’d lost her. Bubbles with the roll-up.

The three way was the only bad match on the show. I have no idea who any of these girls were, but it served its purpose to give us a buffer before the main event.

The main event was Melissa vs Wesna V, and was far more stiff and wild than their match earlier in the day. Melissa was now babyface and Wesna was now heel, cementing the double turn. Best match of the night as far as actual in-ring is concerned, as both are scary good. Wesna, by the way, is now using “You’re The Best Around” from Karate Kid as her entrance music. This is perfect. I have no idea if this was Wesna or Dann’s choice, but whoever it was… BRILLIANT. Jetta saved Wesna from being pinned by the Kudo Driver, but she in turn was then run off to the back by Eden Black, who leathered her with shots to get her away from ringside. From there, Wesna hit a Sunset Driver… for two and nine tenths… so had to hit a second one for the climactic three, and to draw their series level at 2-2-1.

Melissa/Wesna V was everything it needed to be, short of crowd brawling, but then they did so much of that during their third meeting that it would have seemed pointless trying to top that. The continued rise of Bubbles is fun to watch, and I can’t watch Jade and not be entertained.

***

So yeah… a great show. It had a self contained storyline which played into the longer running rivalry with Wesna and Melissa. The repositioning of their alignments is an interesting move, and will add spice to the obvious sixth meeting that has to be coming soon. It was also really interesting to me that Wesna was right to be upset at losing the first match, but that the manipulative little cow Jetta managed to get into Wesna’s head in a time of turmoil and manage to “turn her” to the dark side – mostly, you assume, because Jetta needed someone to watch her back during her own match with Melissa. You can’t say enough good about Melissa and Wesna. Both are phenomenal.

The Eden Black/Jetta stuff was great, and I’ll no doubt be there to see them fight one more/final time. It’s also worth saying again that Jetta might be the greatest woman in the world.

I also could come away happy that there is a future to ChickFight past the likes of Black and Jetta. Becky James, as I’ve said, appears to have a load of potential, Bubbles is maturing into someone who’s worth going out of your way to see, and Team Blossom, whether their gimmick appeals or not, shows signs for the future.

Also, while the venue looks scummy and cheap, (they need to figure out some way of having an entranceway that is less ghetto than “a door in a wall with a couple of free standing boards on either side”), the stroke of genius was setting out tables around ringside (where you’d possibly otherwise have a guard-rail)… banging on the tables recreates an almost ROH level din (when the ROH fans hit the metallic guardrail covers), so when people get behind the babyfaces and start banging their hands on the tables, it’s awesome.

Must actually sleep now, but two thumbs up.

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Last night was my first live Chickfight experience. Really enjoyed it.

I think the newbies did well. Team Blossom seemed nervous but got the crowd behind them. The BAWA girls did a good job also, I’d like to see all of them appear again.

Nice to see Maya from Queens Of Kaos at the show. She got instant heat from the crowd, for the wrong reasons.

Jade’s new gangstar wannabe gimmick works better than her previous Essex girl one.

Keep up the good work

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Shlom Yager wrote:

Chickfight was fantastic, great booking cant wait till the next one

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Great job from all involved on Sunday night, It far exceeded what I expected it to be especially some of the new wrestlers and if this is what were going to get on a monthly (semi-monthly) basis I’m happy to take a long train journey to see it. But to be brutally honest the only wrestling shows we get in Cornwall feature someone dressed as the fake Undertaker and I did not want to see that on the WWF way back then.

Keep up the good work,

Paul Williams

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Dave Lovell wrote
at 7:51pm
I’m sure I mentioned it (or maybe not), but last night’s show was brilliant.

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Scott wrote
at 5:12pm
I have to say last night’s ChickFight was the best one I’ve ever seen, and you can definitely count on me to attend the next one. Wouldn’t like to miss it.

Scott.

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FSM Magazine Writer Phil Austin wrote:

“Also, credit to Dann Read for putting together the most coherant ChickFight show in this country yet. It all made sense, the stuff which wasn’t expected to be awesome wasn’t out there for long, and had a great episodic feeling to it. I’m confident it’ll look good on TV, and will be as loud as hell.”

I am constantly amazed at how Mr Read manages this-the formula of Chickfght in the UK seems to have been regularly….Chickfight is announced….something insanely unpredictable happens to screw up the scheduled card just days before the event…..Dann Read puts together new card….new card is well received as being pretty damn awesome!

Well done sir. Well done indeed.

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Chickfight is a San Francisco based operation run by Jason Deadrich, and has recently run events in the UK. It features some of the top women wrestlers in the country, and the world for that matter, but the glory of the promotion is a regular tournament that pits eight top women’s wrestlers in a grueling competition.

In the latest DVD installment, Chickfight V, wrestlers from Neo Ladies Pro Wrestling (Japan) join the fray, including Yoshiko Tamura, Tanny Mouse and Sumie Sakai. Tamura is holder of both the NEO Singles title and the NWA Pacific Title; Mouse is a solid veteran; and Sakai is a baby-face looking hardcore dynamo.

Filling out the tournament seeds are ECW great Jazz, the ubiquitous Allison Danger, West Coast standout Cheerleader Melissa, Chickfight IV winner MsChif and one time TNA star Simply Luscious.

Click here to read the complete review at Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer

ChickFight 7 Live Report from F4Wonline.com

Jan 14, 2007
by Stewart Allen
stew@britwres.com

AKA the greatest night I had all time, all my life.

Chick Fight’s first foray to the UK had a difficult birth. Organised by Dann Read of the relatively new XS:W group in the UK, under the auspices of Jason Deadrich of Chick Fight and All Pro Wrestling, venue problems had meant that the show wasn’t officially announced until less than a month ago, which made promotion very difficult. The hall eventually settled on was the Marina Centre in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK – one of the home venues of Ricky Knight’s WAW promotion. Great Yarmouth, however, is a seaside town full of amusement arcades, piers and cafes – all of which were practically deserted as it was a cold and windy night in January. Speaking to Dann before the show, he seemed concerned about whether he’d get much of a walk up. The empty seafront, coupled with the fact that I saw someone putting up a poster outside the door of the venue only a few hours before bell time meant that no-one was particularly hopeful. That being said, by the time of the first match, there were in the region of about 100 people in the hall. Normally that wouldn’t particularly make for a great atmosphere, but then this is Great Yarmouth – and things are very special here.

Quarter Final: Cheerleader Melissa (US) vs Sweet Saraya (UK)

All four of the quarter finals of the tournament had a US vs UK theme, and the fact that they matched these two up not only in the first round but also in the first match of the night blew my mind. Saraya has long been considered the standard bearer for women’s wrestling in the UK, and rightfully so. While Nikita may have leapfrogged her to get a US booking for SHIMMER and eventually a WWE contract, few would deny that this seventeen year veteran still knows every trick in the book. So I couldn’t understand quite why we got the local heroine (Saraya is Ricky Knight’s wife) against someone who is without question one of the dominant names in women’s wrestling worldwide in the first round. If anything, there’s your final. Whatever the reason for it, the match delivered in spades. Remember how I said that it didn’t matter that there were only 100 people in the venue? Well it didn’t, because everybody was totally into this… some to a scary degree. One guy was so emotionally involved in the match that he got out of his seat to push the bottom rope towards the crawling Saraya who was trying to break a leglock submission. I’ve never seen that before – and it wasn’t a planned spot either… it was just an example of how well these two worked together. Melissa was, as always, dominant in her manner… leaving Saraya to play the babyface in peril – and by GOD was she ever in peril. You know those stories that Jim Cornette tells about the old territory days where he and the Midnight Express would barely escape getting stabbed by rabid fans? Well, this was the closest you’re going to get to it in 2007, because I swear there were a load of grown men here who hadn’t been smartened up that this was a work. Saraya was beloved by the crowd, and rallied with offence of her own, encouraged on by her son at ringside (a wrestler in his own right, Zak Zodiak), who encouraged his mum to “…use a Finlay cover! Forearm across the face!” amongst other things. It was a big fight atmosphere like nothing I’ve felt at a wrestling show before (and bear in mind two days ago I saw the Great Muta’s UK debut). The ending came when Saraya was shot into the ropes and got her head caught between the top two ropes about a couple of feet in front of me. Immediately she started kicking and shouting, and the entire Knight Dynasty (along with help from the back) tried to extricate her from the ropes. As she was let down, the referee called a halt to the contest – advancing Melissa to the semi finals. Melissa wasn’t done though, and tried to get at the injured Saraya, and had to be held back by security as a mini riot almost erupted, with fans screaming and getting between the girls. This was absolutely phenomenal. My friend who was sat beside me turned and said “Was that real?” It wasn’t, but the fact is that he, and everyone, was worked beautifully. What a start!

Quarter Final: MsChif (US) vs Jade (UK)
MsChif is, of course, the screaming goth girl – so to hook her up in a match with the prissy Essex girl Jade was a perfect match with their contrasting personalities. Jade is one of the two UK girls who I honestly wasn’t all that fussed on when the lineup was announced. No huge disrespect meant to them, but I thought they were going to be hopelessly out of their league when measured alongside Saraya and the Americans. Unbelievably, that wasn’t necessarily the case, as Jade stepped it up several notches from her usual level of ability and didn’t look out of place alongside MsChif at all. While Jade would have been the heel, she still had some vocal support due to the partisan home crowd. I’ll be damned if I can remember the move that MsChif used to put Jade away with, but whatever it was, MsChif wrapped up a tidy little match to advance to the semi finals where she’d face Cheerleader Melissa in a revival of one of the best feuds of 2006.

Quarter Final: Lacey (US) vs “The Jezebel” Eden Black (UK)
If Saraya is the standard bearer for women’s wrestling in the UK, I truly believe that Jezebel is the girl who will eventually inherit that mantle. Already getting her face all over TV (she’s had matches from several different promotions air on TWC Fight! here in the UK), and attracting some acknowledgement from those in the know across the pond, Jez is very much at the forefront of the UK women’s wrestling revival – and she’s still learning. One of the things that Jez might want to work on is making contact with the crowd a little bit more, and that is something that Lacey is a mistress of. Everything that Lacey does is for a reason, and she’s always one million percent in character. Jezebel (obviously) was the crowd favourite, though Lacey (while remaining appalled at us) informed us that we were “confused” and that we should have been cheering for her. Well, as long as that’s clear. I couldn’t cheer for Lacey even if I wanted to, because Jezebel was such a likeable and fiery character. She even chopped Lacey IN THE FACE. Lacey took Jez the whole way in this one (through tactics both fair and foul), until Jezebel locked in a triangle choke for a tap out. This was great stuff.

Quarter Final: Daizee Haze (US) vs Skye (UK)
Ah, the Haze. She’s adorably cute, eminently likeable, works like a demon and carries a big flower. She’s also one of the slickest mat technicians in the Western World, regardless of gender. No joke. Skye is another girl who I wondered might be horribly exposed in this environment, but she stepped it up too. As a matter of fact, I was informed that Daizee is Skye’s wrestling idol, so it’s hardly a wonder that she was inspired for this match. In fact, I’m with Skye on this one – Daizee’s my idol too. Want to know what else makes Daizee Haze so great? She spoke down to ringside where I was sitting and asked “How should I beat her?” I replied “Kick her in the head”, and she indicated that this was a FINE idea. After some matwork and finding herself on the wrong side of Skye’s offence, Daizee looked a bit annoyed and remarked “I’m gonna kick her in the head!!” In fact, the end of the match came after several reversals, and Daizee hit the heart punch/Yakuza kick combination to floor Skye for the pin. See? I told her~! I don’t for a minute think that my advice *actually* resulted in the finish for the match, but little things like the interaction with the fans are just another reason why Haze doesn’t get half the credit she deserves. While we’re handing out credit; let’s save some for Skye, who did a great job and really opened my eyes.

Semi Final: Cheerleader Melissa vs MsChif
The first round didn’t have a bad match, and now the first semi final is Melissa vs MsChif? Perfect! Melissa & MsChif’s rivalry in 2006 spread across SHIMMER, Chick Fight & ROH, and for my money was the feud of the year just for the innovation, brutality and believability of their work with each other. They’ve fought in many different variations of matches and stipulations, including Falls Count Anywhere and Last Woman Standing, and none of them have disappointed in the slightest. This match was far from their most brutal encounter, but they didn’t come close to phoning it in. I half expected them to use the whole hall as their battleground, but stuck for the most part to the ring and the entranceway. In fact, it was on the entranceway where Melissa pulled out the horrific cloverleaf submission where she makes MsChif kick her own head. I will NEVER get tired of seeing that, nor will it ever seem anything less than horrifying. MsChif was no match for Melissa on this night though, and having dragged her back into the ring, hit an Air Raid Crash for the uncontested three count and to advance to the finals.

Semi Final: “The Jezebel” Eden Black vs Daizee Haze
Oh Christ… I love Jez, but she’s facing Daizee, and I don’t think I could ever not support Ms Haze. As babyface vs babyface, the crowd split was quite pronounced in this one, as they embarked on a pretty awesome little wrestling match. Daizee challenged Jez to a test of strength, holding her hand up high, clearly excited by the fact that for what might have been the first time in a long time, Daizee wasn’t the shortest person in the match. Daizee once again worked the intimate (but rowdy) crowd like an old pro, confirming with ringsiders that “she’s pretty good, right?” (in reference to Jezebel). At one point, Daizee double stomped Jez in the stomach. I cheered, and Daizee exclaimed “Oh, you like that one?” before doing *another* one. If Jez ever reads this, I’m sorry – that was my fault. Jezebel also gets kudos from me for doing a headstand escape from a headscissors. I don’t know whether that spot was a direct response to me and the guys I was sitting with calling for it or not, but it nearly made me weep with admiration. This time, Daizee couldn’t get the job finished, and Jezebel locked on another triangle choke to make it to the finals.

Non Tournament Match: The Norfolk Dolls (Britani Knight & Melodi) vs Destiny & Kharisma
This was a non tourney added bout to give Jezebel some recovery time before the final. The Norfolk Dolls are a heck of a little package. Aged just 14 & 15, according to Ricky Knight after the show, Britani is the daughter of Ricky & Saraya, while Melodi is the girlfriend of Ricky’s son Zak, and they’ve got a good chance at becoming a real phenomenon in this area, as all the young girls in the audience cheered their lungs out for them. Marketed correctly, the Dolls could become a really strong drawing card for young girls to start coming to wrestling shows. WAW already cater strongly to the family audiences, and the Dolls will be a big part of that. Destiny & Kharisma are the opposite of the Dolls – they’re big, sadistic women who delight in kicking the crap out of their opponents. Destiny is often pimped by people who have seen her wrestle as one of the best unknown stars in British wrestling, since she tends to get minimal (if any) bookings outside her home territory. I can only assume that this is because she’s a hefty girl, and when promoters want to have a women’s match on their cards, their thoughts immediately turn to the more aesthetically pleasing girls on the scene, without realising and acknowledging the strengths that Destiny brings to the table – think a young Bull Nakano type, for example, or for the Brits reading this, think a violent version of Vanessa Feltz. Kharisma wasn’t slacking either, at one point kicking seven bells out of Britani mere inches in front of me screaming “Get back to your corner, you scrawny little BITCH!”. The Dolls rallied, but couldn’t stop Kharisma using the title belt on Melodi and Destiny taking the easy pinfall. The Dolls are going to be something special in a few years time, if they can just get the exposure. Speaking of exposure, they looked great in their matching white outfits, but both girls spent half their time (if not more) adjusting their bras. The outfits looked great, but if it is going to result in them fiddling with themselves, it’s probably worthwhile changing to something more suitable.

Final: Cheerleader Melissa vs “The Jezebel” Eden Black
And so it comes to this.
Melissa coolly stalks to the ring, looking ready to wrestle an hour if needs be. Jezebel limps out, looking half destroyed already, having already beaten two of SHIMMER’s best wrestlers. Interestingly, Jezebel’s music starts with a voice exclaiming “Jez is gonna kill ya” – but when I looked at the two sides, I couldn’t help but think that it was going to be the other way around. And it actually was. Melissa tore strips off Jezebel for most of the match, but Jez gave as good as she was getting for portions too, as they laid into each other like crazy. Jez hit a Misawa-esque elbow sequence, with repeated elbows, a rolling elbow and a uraken backfist, until Melissa felled Jez with a sickening elbow of her own. Given that Melissa is one of my favourite wrestlers in the world, I was cheering her – but it got to the point at times when I couldn’t help it and started clapping for Jezebel to fight back. That’s good working right there, because I started to actually feel a bit guilty for cheering on the carnage while young Jezebel was getting murdered. In a truly vicious spot, Melissa took Jezebel in a wheelbarrow position and started to swing Jez’s head at the steel ring steps. Every shot caused the ring steps to move, and Melissa simply took another step and swung Jez’s carcass again. Utterly sadistic, causing everyone to scream in terror. Back in the ring, Melissa tried a Kudo Driver, but Jez flipped out. Mere moments later, Melissa hooked in a successful Kudo Driver, and the match was mercifully over, making Melissa the Chick Fight winner for the second time. But it wasn’t all over. As Melissa derisively rolled the practically unconscious Jezebel to the outside, who should turn up at the entranceway but Sweet Saraya! Saraya, much like her husband, has the ability to cut money promos in her sleep. As she stood on the entranceway, she informed Melissa that it wasn’t over between them, and that she (Saraya) would be looking for her… it didn’t matter where she is or what she’s doing, she’s going to get her. I have to get to that rematch, wherever it may be, because if it is anything near as special as their first match, it’ll be something to behold.

No trophy, which was a wee bit anticlimactic, but nevertheless, that was top to bottom the most intensely exciting and fun wrestling event I’ve ever attended. The fans were so into it (scarily so at times), and it created an atmosphere which would shame a far bigger audience. There isn’t one girl that you could say didn’t give it their all, and everyone reacted to and worked the fans like crazy. The personalities of everyone shone through, and everyone left buzzing about what an absolutely outstanding night of wrestling it was. I talked to Ricky Knight after the show, and he agreed with my assessment, going so far as to say that a lot of the guys should be watching the show for pointers. I cannot disagree.

The show was filmed by Spectrum Multimedia/RQW for what should hopefully be a fairly quick turnaround onto DVD. The attendance might have been disappointing (and might have lost the promoter a load of money), but if there is any justice, DVDs of the show should be bought in their dozens. People should see this.

If I see another wrestling show as good as this in 2007, I’ll consider myself blessed. Congratulations to everyone who made it possible.

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