WrestleQueendom 2018 Review

Howdy!

So what brought me out of my self-imposed retirement? It’s all Phred and Talbot’s fault, really.

I hang out on the night threads sometimes while I’m waiting for New Japan to start their shows, and lately, there’s been a lot of Joshi watching. I asked a few questions here and there, and Lawrence told me that there was a kick-ass Kay Lee Ray/Meiko Satomura match available on the Pro Wrestling EVE WrestleQueendom show from last year, and best of all, the entire show was streaming for FREE on You Tube! Free is a hell of a deal!

So, I planned to just ff to the KLR/Meiko match, but I found out that the show also had a Wargames that started the show, and instead of just going to the one match, I decided to let the show just play instead. And, to my delight, the show was really, really good and I enjoyed it immensely – so much so that, with the 2nd incarnation coming this Sunday, I thought it couldn’t hurt to toss up a few words about this show that I ended up liking very much.

As I came to this entire show completely in the dark, it made for a relatively unique experience in so much as the wrestlers themselves had to get the characters and angles over for myself, without having any prior knowledge. Their work was exemplary enough that I’m hoping that I can get even one or two of you all to click the link at the bottom and check the show out for yourself – again, it’s FREE.

If there’s any demand, I’ll review the second one after it airs on Sunday. For now, let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

WRESTLEQUEENDOM 2018 – 5/5/18

Ring announcer Emily Read welcomes us to the show!

Your hosts are Dan Read (husband of Emily) and Leanne Marie, and they do a tremendous job all night, calling the matches and explaining the stories going on.

Wargames – Squad Goals ((Rhia O’Reilly, Emi Sakura, Addy Starr & Laura Di Matteo) vs. The Deserving (Jayla Dark, Charli Evans, Jamie Hayter & Blue Nikita)

I’m not sure I would start a large event with Wargames, but let’s give it a shot. Up to this point, I’ve only ever seen O’Reilly, Sakura, and Hayter wrestle before. This appears to be traditional Wargames, unlike NXT, with alternating intervals and submission as the only way to end the match. Story here is simple – O’Reilly was out injured and was made the EVE matchmaker, and the Deserving felt that they were looked over for important matches. In true pro wrestling style, the only solution is to beat the hell out of her as a result. Rhia got her own group together, and we’ve got a fight.

Brawl outside the ring to start us off, because, you know, they hate each other. We get it settled, and the match starts proper with Sakura and Nikita kicking things off. Sakura has never been in a cage before and sells it well, freaking out as she runs around the ring. Nikita controls with chops and a neckbreaker, but goes for a pin that gets nothing, because, you know, It’s Wargames. Sakura comes back with overhead chops, but gets cut off by Nikita into a boot choke, with the heel team holding Sakura’s legs from the outside. Little more back and forth and Nikita puts Sakura’s arm through the cage and the heel team yanks on it until the ref pulls them off.

Coin toss and you’ll never guess – the heels win. I’m as shocked as you are. Charli Evans heads in now, Sakura makes a comeback with a backbreaker on Evans and a forced splash by Nikita, and we get a double bow-and-arrow by Sakura that the crowd goes bonkers for. That doesn’t last for long as the heels take back over and hit Sakura with a double suplex. Buzzer goes and Di Matteo comes in and runs wild on both heels, but gets cut off relatively quickly and the Deserving takes over again. Beautiful Northern Lights suplex by Nikita on Laura.

Buzzer and Hayter is in now, and she makes a beeline for Di Matteo, hitting a very nice sitout Falcon Arrow on her, then suplexing Sakura into the corner. Running knee in the corner crushes Sakura as Hayter looks like the biggest star in the ring. She’s really good, by the way, in case you didn’t get it from my tone.

Starr is in next and she grates Hayter’s face into the cage before sending her to the steel, then giving us a double noggin-knocker between Hayter and Nikita. 6 women in the ring and it’s starting to get crowded. Dark comes in as the final member of the heel team, and she just drops everyone with clotheslines. Dark climbs the cage and cannonballs onto everyone, which sounds a bit more impressive than it turned out. She charges and gets sent to the cage, and here comes O’Reilly.

O’Reilly climbs to the top of the cage and dives onto everyone to make her entrance, and Wargames begins. The Deserving gets control and we get stereo faces to the cage from the heels, and they follow that up with simultaneous submission holds on the mat. The faces break and everyone hits finishers on everyone else, O’Reilly gets a half-crab on Nikita, but that gets broken up.

Dueling tower of doom spots and Sakura splashes the heels against the cage, followed by a few draping DDTs and the faces now put all of the heels in submissions, and Dark submits to a camel clutch. (Not sure on the finish as to who submitted, but it looked like Dark was the first one.) SQUAD GOALS WINS WARGAMES, SUBMISSION, 21:02

THOUGHTS: ***. Match was fun, with a hot ending and some meandering in the middle and at the start, but there were a few problems here and there. There didn’t seem to be a buildup to the end, with anyone working a body part or working a specific submission to win the match, and it also highlighted why Wargames is typically in two rings; they used the cage as best they could, but the violence factor never really ratcheted up to the point where I was really into the hatred that I’m used to from Wargames in general, and part of that related to the lack of space for wrestlers to really pair off and go at each other. That having been said, the match was good with Hayter being a standout star, along with Evans and O’Reilly; I also quite liked Addy Starr.

Post-match, O’Reilly borrows a beer from a fan at ringside and tours the front row while they take the cage down, even posing for fan pics to give something to do. The commentators recap while this is going on, putting over Rhia and her team.

They tell us that due to Jinny’s injury and Nicole Matthews coming down with an illness, Jetta called out Kris Wolf and we’ve got our next match. Eventually, because they’re still pulling down the cage.

Back to Emily, who tells us about EVE archiving their work at…..some institute. I can’t lie, I could barely make out what she was saying and had to watch it a few times.

Meanwhile, the cage is still coming down.

Jetta comes out now and takes the mic, cutting a promo on Nicole Matthews for not showing up. She’s going to beat the snot out of Kris Wolf, get into the ladder match, channel Jeff Hardy with her moves, get the contract down, and win the EVE championship. Alrighty-then. Great promo from Jetta here, as she comes across as a complete shit, which is no doubt exactly her goal.

And, after 15 minutes, the cage is down! Praise the Lord.

Jetta forces Emily to read off a litany of her names during the intro, including ‘British Wrestling Legend’ and ‘Princess Diana of professional wrestling’, which causes the crowd to ooh.

I think I love Jetta.

Kris Wolf is out next, winner gets into the ladder match.

Kris Wolf vs. Jetta (Special referee: Erin Angel)

Angel is a friend of Jetta’s, but she’s a straight-up babyface while Jetta is a heel. Wolf, ahem, smells Angel before we start things off. Wolf’s enthusiasm is like watching Bayley on crack. Jetta offers the handshake and immediately whips her to the corner because she’s fucking awesome. They do a criss-cross sequence and Jetta kills her with a shoulderblock. Suplex and she wraps Kris up on the mat and fishhooks her, because Jetta is awesome. Enzuigiri by Wolf and she chases Jetta around the ring, while Jetta escapes underneath it. Kris stops to have some beer from a fan in the front row, reaches under the ring and comes up with a boot. Jetta emerges and taps Kris on the shoulder, causing Wolf to whirl around and hit Jetta in the face with the boot. HA! That was actually pretty clever.

Back in the ring and Wolf drops Jetta in the corner and hits a knee, then sets her up for the Shattered Dreams, which in her world is a dropkick to the nether regions and the announcer calls her the ‘box breaker’. Write your own joke. T-Bone suplex by Jetta as she shakes it off and stomps away in the corner. Jetta STEALS THE WOLF HEAD from Kris’ corner, then gets her squirt bottle and pantomimes, ahem, peeing on Wolf in the corner. I LOVE THIS WOMAN. Seriously, no lie, that was awesome. What a heel. Kris no-likey this turn of events, and she kills Jetta with kicks and then a knee to the nether regions. Yoinks.

Jetta can’t see through the mask as she gets to her feet and Wolf pushes her into the ref, whom Jetta promptly perfectplexes; in a brilliant little spot, Wolf drops down and counts 3, making Jetta think she won the match! Kris even raises Jetta’s hands around the ring, Jetta takes off the mask thinking she’s won…..and Wolf promptly kicks her low and schoolgirls her for two. What the hell? This is the most serious female on female genital abuse I’ve seen since I watched Blue is the Warmest Color. Jetta comes back and hangs Wolf in the tree of woe, then figures if it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander, so it’s a dropkick to Wolf’s groin now. They do a wristlock sequence and Wolf comes off the ropes, landing on Jetta and entangling herself to the point that we end up with a lame-o double pin. DRAW, DOUBLE-PIN, 8:12

THOUGHTS: **3/4. Match was super, super fun until the silly finish. Jetta is awesome and I would gladly pay money to watch her wrestle, which is the best compliment I can give. Wolf was good as well, but sadly retired from concussions just recently this year.

Anyway, with the draw, that sends both of them to the ladder match, which is up…..next!

Nina Samuels vs. Leah Owens vs. Millie McKenzie vs. Livvii Grace vs. Kasey Owens vs. Jetta vs. Kris Wolf – Wild Card Ladder match

This is the EVE version of Money in the Bank, with the winner getting a title shot at the title of their choosing. Samuels comes out to nuclear heat and is clearly the biggest star in the match, not only in the reaction but the way she carries herself and her response to it. McKenzie is out last and the announcers make note that she’s 17 years old and there’s only been one other 17 year old in EVE before, and that was Britani Knight, AKA Paige.

Nina gets things started with a big boot to Wolf, and things break down quickly with almost everyone on the floor. The dives get started with Kacey hitting a tope first on everyone, then Wolf diving onto everyone off the top, then Millie doing a somersault onto everyone off the top. Jetta takes advantage by grabbing a ladder and bringing it in, but that ladder is, shall we say, a bit lacking in size. Kacey takes her out and now she and Leah have a sisterly disagreement over use of the ladder. They’re twins, by the way, so if I end up mixing them up, I apologize. Kacey wins that, but Samuels is back in and she takes out Kacey as the crowd hates her. Millie back in and she spears Nina to the crowd’s delight. McKenzie has all the tools to be a super-awesome wrestler assuming the business doesn’t chew her up and spit her out.

We trade off a few more times and Wolf climbs, but the Owens twins cut her off. Samuels back in with a backbreaker on Wolf, then a catapult into the ladder. McKenzie back in, and it’s German suplexes for everyone! Jetta breaks that up with a kendo stick, but ends up caning herself and Millie gives her a German as well.

Meanwhile, an actual ladder has made its way into the ring, and Millie climbs, but Kacey cuts her off. Kacey makes it to the top, but McKenzie pulls her off into a cutter. Leah stops Millie and powerbombs her for her insolence, then comes off the ladder with what looked like a legdrop, but blows her knee out in what looks like a legit injury. They help her to the back as another, even taller ladder, comes into the ring.

Kacey with the climb now, but Nina stops that by pushing the ladder over and sending her to the floor. Nina climbs, but gets cut off by Wolf with a shot from the wolf head. Kris climbs and Nina dumps her – she climbs, but thinks better for a moment, then ties Wolf to the ropes by her tail to make sure there’s no one left. Samuels makes the climb and claims the briefcase to the disgust of the crowd. NINA SAMUELS WINS THE WILD CARD LADDER MATCH, 10:17

THOUGHTS: ***1/2. Match moved like a shot and was never boring. Samuels was the clear standout, if not for her in-ringwork, then for her character work as she came across like an absolute superstar that the crowd was completely invested in absolutely loathing. McKenzie was the other standout in the match, and she’s the one we’re all going to be talking about in the next several years if she makes it, because she’s got a ton of talent and the crowd really wanted to get behind her. I didn’t see much of Grace in the match and the Owens sisters were hit and miss. The botched legdrop was kind of a downer and brought the match down a bit on my end, but overall, they worked hard and it was fun to watch.

Nina cuts a promo from the top of the ladder, calling herself the ‘star attraction’ and a ‘ticking time bomb’ that will someday be the Pro Wrestling EVE champion.

The announcers say that Owens has been taken to a hospital.

Kay Lee Ray is out next, followed by Meiko Satomura, and we’re in for what is being called an International Dream Match.

“The Hardcore Daredevil” Kay Lee Ray vs Meiko Satomura

Handshake to start. Both of these women are outstanding professional wrestlers. Wrestling sequence gets us going and Meiko controls on the mat. Ray works out and goes to a headlock, and in one of the things to very much appreciate in this match, they fight it out from there instead of just doing the cursory ‘headlock on to the mat into a headscissors’ break – I know it seems like a super minor thing, but they really put the effort into it to make it look like a struggle as Ray tries to hold Satomura’s shoulders down and that’s what allows Meiko to flip into the headscissors. I know I’m going on at length about such a simple sequence, but it’s the little things that make a match in pro wrestling, and too many times I see that sequence blown by without any weight given to how to make it look good, and these women made it look great. I wish everyone would.

Anyway, back to it as Meiko controls. They get to their feet and Satomura wraps up the arm and bends Ray over, Ray reverses to a hammerlock and then a forearm to the back of the head tells us that the sportsmanship is over for the time being. Satomura wrings the arm and hits Ray with kicks that are so good, if Miz ever watched this match he would stop throwing kicks forever purely out of shame that his are so much worse. Meiko gets two off knees to the gut. More kicks in the corner and Ray is just dying out there, as Meiko is kicking the absolute shit out of her.

Ray rolls out and takes a breather, but that does her no good as Meiko kills her with knees and a DDT when she comes back in. Cartwheel knee misses from Meiko, and Kay Lee has an opening. Kick to the knee and then it’s chops for Kay Lee, forearm in the corner from Ray, Ray hits a missile dropkick for two. Gory Bomb attempt from Kay Lee is blocked, they get into a strike battle won by Ray, Ray with a sliding downward spiral.

Meiko kicks out at two, but Ray smoothly rolls her into the Koji Clutch. Meiko makes the ropes after a battle, then comes off with a spinning heel kick and a DDT on Ray. Cartwheel knee hits this time, Ray tries to block the backdrop driver with elbows, but Satomura powers her over anyway for two. Meiko goes up, but Ray cuts her off and goes for the Gory Bomb again. Meiko escapes, but Kay Lee sweeps her legs out and smacks her in the face with a forearm. Ray goes for a DDT on the floor (there are no mats on the floor, so YIKES), but Meiko pushes her into the barricade and they fight it out on the floor now.

Ray takes advantage there and hits a Gory Bomb onto the ring apron (the HARDEST PART OF THE RING, dontcha know?), then takes Satomura up to the apron and tries another one, but Meiko escapes and kills Ray with elbows, then hits a Death Valley Driver on the apron! Both women barely beat the count back in. Forearm battle now with some fucking awesome selling from Satomura, Meiko gains the advantage and goes for another DVD, Ray tries to fight it off, but Meiko spins around and KILLS Ray with a Death Valley Bomb. 1, 2, NO! I was sure that was the finish for a second. Meiko can’t believe it and goes for Scorpio Rising, Ray escapes that and hits a Gory Bomb! 1, 2, NO! Crowd thinks this is awesome, and the crowd is very much correct.

Ray goes to pick Meiko up and gets kicked in the head for her troubles, so Kay Lee hits her with another Gory Bomb. Rather than just go for the pin, since Satomura has already kicked out of that move, Ray opts to go up instead. That proves to be unwise as Meiko hits a cartwheel kick to knock Ray down, and then hit another Death Valley Bomb for two! Satomura can’t believe it, but goes for another one, and Ray slips out into a flash cradle for 3! KAY LEE RAY OVER MEIKO SATOMURA, PINFALL, 15:36

THOUGHTS: ****1/2. This match is the reason I ended up watching this show, and it more than lived up to its billing. The story of the match, as Ray quickly realized that she was in over her head but kept fighting against the seemingly unstoppable Meiko, was well-told and was accompanied by these women just absolutely killing it in the ring. Satomura is so good with her facials and her offense, and Ray sold the shit out of every single thing that Meiko did. As a result, Ray’s comebacks had more weight because she kept coming back from the asskicking that Satomura was dishing out, which made Kay Lee look fantastic and like a hell of a fighter out there. This match was just the right length, with the right finish, and is very much worth going out of your way to watch.

Post-match, Kay Lee wants a handshake but Meiko refuses, then offers a bow instead as the crowd claps like crazy and gives them a standing ovation. Outstanding.

2 matches left to go!

Aja Kong vs Viper

You’ve probably seen Viper as Piper Niven in the Mae Young Classic and in NXT UK. Aja Kong is, of course, Aja Kong. Her most recent appearance was at Double or Nothing, but she’s been knocking around for years in Japan.

They tie up and Viper backs her into the corner to establish she’s just as strong as Kong and isn’t intimidated, and we get a few shoulderblocks, nobody moves. Kong invites Viper to come off the ropes, then follows her in and clotheslines her to make sure we know who the heel is here. They head outside the ring and Kong drives her into the ring walkway. Back in and Kong pounds away, cutting off a comeback from Viper by going to the eyes. Kong with an elbow drop for two. This has been shitkicking of the first order so far.

Aja keeps on destroying Viper, but Viper makes the comeback and finally drops Kong to the mat with a dropkick, follows with a senton, and hits a splash for two. Viper charges and Kong hits her with a trash can, then hits a terrifying looking brainbuster for two. Spinning backfist is ducked by Viper and a headbutt sets up a cannonball for two. Viper goes up for a Vaderbomb but hits the knees, and a backdrop driver by Kong gets two. Spinning backfist by Kong sets up a second-rope elbow for the pin. AJA KONG OVER VIPER, PINFALL, 9:51

THOUGHTS: ***. Your mileage may vary here. I’ve been assured by people who know more than I do that this was not Kong’s best performance, but her star aura was almost enough to carry it. The entire story of the match was that Kong was in there with an opponent who could match her in both size and power moves, which was a rarity for her. But at the end of the day, this was two superheavyweights trying to lay each other out, and if that isn’t your cup of tea (it really isn’t mine, to be frank), then this one isn’t really going to work for you. If, on the other hand, you like the normal Aja dynamic, then seeing her in the ring with someone her size who can work will be quite fun. All in all, a bit above average is where I landed.

Post-match, Aja seemingly offers the handshake, but pulls it way and marches out, ‘forever the villain’ according to the announcers. Yep. Viper gets a nice ovation heading to the back.

Main event time, and out comes Charlie Morgan.

Now, here’s my thing with Charlie Morgan. When I watched this show for the first time, the instant she came out, without knowing shit one about what was going on here, I recognized that she had to be the absolute top babyface in the entire company. She hits the ramp with a crazy determined look about her that I 100% bought into; the crowd goes completely apeshit for her. I had one of the most visceral reactions to a wrestler, male or female, in the first minute I saw Charlie that I’ve ever had, which was basically “I really hope she whoops ass and wins this match” just based on the way she fired up the crowd, the way she carried herself, the aura that absolutely surrounded her. She is a STAR.

Sammii Jayne is out next – she’s the champ, doing the cocky heel walk to the ring. Let’s get it on.

Pro Wrestling EVE Championship – Charlie Morgan vs Sammii Jayne (C)

Jayne piefaces Charlie to start, so Morgan spears her down and Jayne runs for her life outside the ring. Up the ramp and Jayne suplexes Charlie on the stage, but Morgan fights back and tosses Jayne off the stairs, then gets back in the ring and hits a tope. Sammii returns the favor and we’re back on the floor now.

Jayne beats on her outside and sets up a table, trying for a dragon suplex through the table, but Morgan escapes with a kick, and now they’re in the crowd and we’re touring the arena. Jayne tries to go up a ladder left over from earlier, but Charlie powerbombs her off into security. Morgan looks up and heads to the top of the ladder…..and keeps going to the balcony. SOMERSAULT SENTON OFF THE BALCONY! Crowd chants ‘Holy Shit!’ as tries to bring Jayne back to the ring. Morgan beats her from corner to corner, but misses a charge and Jayne takes over.

Snap suplex and double knees get two for Jayne. Crowd is RABID for Morgan. Jayne works the arm and stomps on it, then wraps it around the rope. Armbar now by Jayne, but Charlie makes the ropes. Morgan fires up with a superkick and a springboard bodypress for two. Lungblower and Morgan goes up, Jayne catches her and a sit out DVD gets two for Sammii. They fire suplexes at each other, Charlie fires 3 superkicks at Jayne, but Sammii fires off a leaping enzuigiri and both of them are down.

Charlie tries to come off the ropes, but Jayne slides under and suplexes her. Jayne goes up, but Charlie runs up and shoves her off the top rope through the table! Back in, Morgan hits an implant DDT for two. Charlie goes up to finish, but Jayne moves out of the way of the somersault senton and applies a cross-armbreaker, transitioning from there into the Fujiwara armbar, and Morgan is in deep trouble. She finally rolls Jayne over for two to force a break.

Jayne with a Northern Lights Bomb for two as Morgan refuses to stay down. Jayne has had ENOUGH of this shit and goes for a ladder underneath the ring. Sammii sets it near the corner and goes up, but Morgan meets her on the top rope. Charlie gets control, top rope DDT from Morgan! 1, 2, 3! CHARLIE MORGAN (NEW CHAMP!) OVER SAMMII JAYNE, PINFALL, 20:30

THOUGHTS: ****. The story of the match was these two just throwing everything at each other to win, yes. But for me, the biggest story was watching Morgan play the underdog babyface role to absolute perfection, selling like crazy to draw the crowd in, and then hitting all of her big spots to keep them invested until the big finish. Jayne, while not my cup of tea, did fine as the big baddie who Charlie had to finally overcome, and Morgan did the rest. This was much more of a brawl than a wrestling match, but that’s what was needed to sell the character work, so that’s what they did.

Post-match, the locker room comes out to celebrate with Morgan as the announcers bid us farewell.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I wrote this not because I wanted to waste several hours of my life – I wrote it because I thought this show was pretty goddamn good and I wanted to give it some well-deserved attention. With the second WrestleQueendom happening on Sunday, in which the main event will be the EVE farewell to Kay Lee Ray and Viper, my hope is that you all will take a few minutes to check out the show and see if you want to watch along with a few of us this Sunday.

This show is free on You Tube, and it’s certainly more entertaining than anything that Raw or WWE has crammed into their last several 3 hour quagmires (oh, shit, Seth Rollins is gonna be mad at me now), so why not give it a try? You may dig it. I certainly did.

Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETBcUtaO7uY&t=6791s

I now welcome Talbot and Phred telling me all the things I was wrong about in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter