Weekend Wrap-Up: Iron Women, Hardly Hardcore and Hollywood Ouster

New Champion, New Heel?
Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com

- So, is an event really hardcore if there's only one hardcore spot in the whole thing? I'm not sure people would have cared if Impact Wrestling gave them a good show in Hardcore Justice, but the consensus seems to be that they failed to deliver. Two new Champions were crowned last night, Kurt Angle the new World Champion (after, in many people's view, pointlessly turning heel) and Winter dethroned Mickie James to become the Knockouts Champion. I can get behind the latter because Winter, nee Katie Lea Burchill, is pretty awesome, but the former just sounds more like bad Russo writing. Also on the card, Crimson defeated Rob Van Dam in a Bound for Glory Series match to continue his undefeated streak. Anyone else get the feeling that he's going to main event their signature PPV, only to lose via shenanigans? After the match, Jerry Lynn appeared again and got in RVD's grill, meaning more RVD/Lynn rematches in the future.

- Rey Mysterio apparently hurt his knee at a house show this past weekend, with it being so severe that they ran an injury angle the next night to shorten his match against Alberto del Rio. Some reports are calling it a "tweak", but with his knees, a tweak can still be serious business. He's expected to work around the injury and appear at SummerSlam, which afterwards, hopefully he'll get a fucking vacation. The man needs to just go home, sip margaritas with his wife and relax for a bit so he can come back before the end of the year, refreshed, recharged and ready for the Internet to find new ways to slur him because they don't like his finishing move.

- Speaking of injuries, Daizee Haze has been listed as "out indefinitely" on the official Chikara message board. Circumstantially, it's because of the injuries suffered at the hands of Mima Shimoda and Claudio Castagnoli at Chikarasaurus Rex, Night 2. It leads me to believe it's all kayfabe, but at the same time, if it is legit, here's to a speedy recovery.

- In better news, Sunday's best show arguably took place in Cleveland, OH, with PWO putting on Wrestlelution 4. I really want to give you some results here, but for the life of me, I can't find them on the Internet anywhere. Bummer. However, what I can say is that according to TWB superfan and friend of the blog Jarret Aubry, the Josh Prohibition vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Matt Cross match was SUPER AWESOME. The man knows good wrestling, so take his word for it.

- JSCW's kickoff event was Saturday night free of charge on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. Judging from the picture posted in the results post, they did alright for themselves. The main crux of the show was the Tag Team Championship tournament, which had four first round matches headlined by a tilt between the SAT and All Money Is Legal, won by the latter team. Also on the card, Dan Maff defeated Apollo Star,

- Mercedes Martinez and Lexus set a modern women's wrestling record by going 73 minutes at the WSU tapings Saturday night. Martinez, who already has one superlative in the longest current Championship tenure under her belt (and may be the longest continuously defended women's title reign ever, given that Fabulous Moolah's 27 year reign was very much sparsely defended), now has another big record under her belt. The match was stopped as a 60 minute time limit draw, but the match was demanded restarted, and 13 minutes later, Martinez won with a fisherman's buster. Also at the tapings, Roxie Cotton made her redebut as Gabby Gilbert, taking two matches. The second taping ended with a WarGames match announced for the next iPPV between the newly formed Midwest Militia of Sassy Stephanie, Jessica Havok and Allison Kay and Team WSU, comprising of Martinez, Alicia and Brittney Savage.

- NWA Hollywood got a big shakeup as Joey Ryan was ousted as the head booker AND a contracted talent. I don't know what's going on that caused the coup, but it's a shocker to me. It's also very disappointing as Ryan has been embroiled in a pretty decent feud with Colt Cabana over the last couple of months. It especially sucks given that now, the only place you can find Ryan is on PWG, and that's only once a month. Granted, one show of Ryan a month is better than none, but at the same time, I can't help but feel that Hollywood is dropping the ball here by at least not keeping him on as a wrestler, even if they want to go a different direction behind the scenes.

- Ending on a happy note, according to the PWG message boards (a lot of message board news today, eh?), not only is Finlay scheduled to appear at Battle of Los Angeles this year in the tournament itself, but TJ Perkins and the Super Smash Bros. will appear at their next card after Battle of Los Angeles. Super psyched to see the SSB get some dates outside of the East Coast and Quebec, because they're a really fun tag team. Not surprising to see them touch down in SoCal though, as PWG has been really good about importing guys from Quebec, as seen with their thrusting of El Generico and Kevin Steen into the mainstream. Looking VERY much forward to this.

Weekend Wrap-Up: Holy Balls, What a Busy Weekend

FUCK YEAH GREEN ANT

- Chikara's tripleshot over the weekend was greeted with great critical acclaim, as always, and some big things went down. For one, the Colony got the win over the BDK in the main event Saturday in Taylor. It was supposed to be a battle of the last two King of Trios-winning teams, but Ares had to drop out because of a family emergency. In his place was Sara del Rey. That's not the biggest news. For me, it was the Colony won via Green Ant tapping Claudio Castagnoli with the cloverleaf. I don't know about you, but I think that's awesome. So happy for Green Ant getting the big moment in the sun. Hell, it wasn't a very good weekend for the BDK at all, as they were getting their comeuppance like whoa. Friday night's main event saw Da Soul Touchaz finally get a measure of revenge on the devious Germans with a massive splash on Jakob Hammermeir by BlackDust himself, Willie Richardson. The Throwbacks got a win Saturday against Tim Donst and Hammermeir, and the Spectral Envoy of UltraMantis Black and Hallowicked took out the Donst/Hammermeir teaming on Sunday.

In other matches of interest, Eddie Kingston defeated Colt Cabana on Friday, but as the weekend progressed, he started getting harassed by one Vin Gerard. Gerard attacked Kingston after his 12 Large Summit match on Saturday against Mantis, and then again interfered on Sunday in his match against Hieracon. That could be interesting going forward. In Sunday's main event, the team of the Colony and Mike Quackenbush defeated FIST and Gerard in an atomicos match, via an Ant Hill splash on Johnny Gargano. Also, Frightmare retained his Young Lions Cup against Kodama.

As for the 12 Large Summit, here's a recap of those matches:

FRIDAY - Sara del Rey d. Icarus, Claudio d. Hallowicked, Mantis d. Fire Ant
SATURDAY - Quackenbush d. Ophidian, Kingston d. Mantis

Those results have a logjam at the top of Group A, with Quack, SDR, Claudio and Hallowicked all with two points. Group B has a similar jam, although with one fewer wrestler in the mix. Gerard, Kingston and Mantis all having two points. I have a feeling this one's going to be interesting to the wire, folks.

- Chikara's Sunday afternoon festivities weren't the only thing going on in Cleveland. Yes, AIW's Absolution 6 took place, and my my, it wasn't a very good day for Gargano at all. After eating the pinfall in the Chikara main event, he went and lost his Absolute Championship as well. Now, was it to Tim Donst, the guy he was scheduled to defend against, or was it against someone different who happened to work for Flexor Industries? At this point, I'm not sure as I can't find ANY results for the main event anywhere on the Internet. I wonder if this is intentional. I'll report as soon as I find out, but if Donst is the new Absolute Champion? Get ready to buy earplugs, because we won't hear the end of it. Also on the card, Kingston and a newly rejuvenated BJ Whitmer had one of the best matches of the weekend by observers. Whitmer got the duke. Also, Chest Flexor of the aforementioned Flexor industries got squishified by Tursas, in what I can only describe is perhaps the faciest thing Tursas has ever done.

EDIT: Good news, Donst isn't the new Absolute Champion. It's Shiima Xion, who cashed in his shot at the title via winning the Todd Pettingil Invitational Tournament. So, big month for Xion, who made his Impact debut last week, and is now the top guy in his home fed.

- Arguably the biggest event of the weekend was ROH's Best in the World, which saw two new Champions crowned. In the main event, Davey Richards defeated Eddie Edwards in a reportedly epic match that TWB superfan Billy Dunlevy claimed that "you'd have no soul" if you didn't enjoy. I'd say that was high praise. Also on the card, Christopher Daniels dropped the Television Championship to El Generico. Side note, if you bitch because they defended the title on something that wasn't on TV, then please reconsider your priorities and perhaps why you're a wrestling fan. Same deal goes if you bitched that Kevin Steen didn't honor his stipulation to leave town for good. I for one am thrilled as fuck to see Steen back in ROH, and even more thrilled that he turned on Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs, partially because he's one of the few guys that the smark maxim of "everyone's better heel" works for, but mostly because Steen vs. Corino most likely be the greatest brawl in the history of professional wrestling. I am not exaggerating. Okay, maybe I am, but it'll be damn close and damn cool. Also on the card, the World's Greatest Tag Team kept their titles, which makes sense, because the All-Nite Express isn't ready, the Briscoes are old hat and the Kings of Wrestling? Well, the scuttlebutt is that they have contracts on the table to go to WWE. VERY EXCITING SCUTTLEBUTT.

- Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin had their Queen of the Joshis Tournament yesterday, and I have results courtesy of With Leather managing editor and ACW superfan Brandon Stroud. Anyway, Rachel Summerlyn won the tourney, defeating Athena in the finals. Also participating were Portia Perez, Mia Yim, Christina von Eerie, Angel Blue, Serena Deeb and Amanda Fox. Outside of Summerlyn taking the tournament, the biggest thing to happen on the card was Perez's manager, Super Electro, unmasking to reveal himself as Robert Evans. He ended up costing Perez her semifinal match against the aforementioned Summerlyn. That's a feud that I'd move to Austin to see. Yes, I am dead serious. Here's a complete rundown of the tournament, because B-Stroud was kind enough to send it over to me:

ROUND 1:
Perez d. Yim, Summerlyn d. von Eerie, Athena d. Blue, Fox d. Deeb

SEMIFINALS:
Summerlyn d. Perez, Athena d. Fox

FINAL:
Summerlyn d. Athena

Also on the card, Davey Vega defended his ACW Championship against Darin Childs.

- Women's Superstars Uncensored held their Uncensored Rumble Saturday, which was won by Lexus over 22 other women. She'll get a crack at Mercedes Martinez, whose reign as Champion has now stretched over 44 defenses and 30 months, making her maybe the longest reigning Champion, male or female, around right now? I don't know, maybe some arcane NWA title that gets defended once every solar eclipse is longer held, but holy shit, for a fed that operates as regularly as WSU seems to, that's impressive. And remember, she defended the title like three or four times on EVOLVE cards too. Also on the card, Jillian Hall made her wrestling return, putting over Kristin Astara in her first match since leaving WWE. Cindy Rogers retired by defeating Allison Danger and both Sassy Stephie and the Boston Shore retained their respective Spirit and Tag Team Championships.

- And just in case you couldn't get enough indie wrestling news, CZW held its annual Tournament of Death Saturday, won by MASADA (who hopped on a plane and landed in Austin the next day to appear in ACW). He defeated Dysfunction, Matt Tremont and then Masashei Takeda for the win. He'll get a shot at Danny Havoc's Ultraviolent Underground Title, and the winner of that will go onto a garbage match Champion vs. Champion affair against Ryuji Ito, Big Japan's Deathmatch Champion. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but it's certainly a big deal. Also on the card, Sami Callihan, whose star is ascending exponentially in the indies, earned a chance at DJ Hyde's CZW World Championship by defeating Greg Excellent.

- And in one bit of Impact Wrestling news, Hulk Hogan dropped on his Twitter that the former TNA would be going on the road every other week to tape Impact starting in August. Good move for the company. Now if they can only stop booking shit shows...

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

Know Your Indie Wrestlers: Sara del Rey

Death Rey

Who: Sara del Rey
Also Known As: Death Rey, Queen of Wrestling
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hometown: Martinez, CA

Promotions: SHIMMER, Chikara, ROH, WSU, JAPW (alumna), ACW

Affiliations: In Chikara, she's a member of the devious and deadly BDK. Otherwise, she's found palling around with the Kings of Wrestling as their queen.

Twitter: @TheSaraDelRey

Signature Moves:

Piledriver


Top 10 Moves, including bridging fallaway slam and Royal Butterfly


Accolades:
SHIMMER World Championship
JAPW Women's Champion (current, perhaps final)
ROH Undisputed Intergender Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (w/ Chris Hero)

Promos:

Sara and Daizee are furious over the lack of competition


Promo on Kong and Raesha


A candid talk about women in wrestling


Promo on Daffney


All About Sara del Rey:

Her Matches - She's not the biggest competitor, even among her peers in the women's divisions or in SHIMMER. However, regardless of how much mass or height she has or doesn't have, she's always projecting a fearsome aura. She's definitely the prototype of the female bully, only one that isn't a larger woman. I think that makes her unique, whether she wrestles men or women. She's got some of the best strikes of any gender, especially her koppo kick which is strangely not clipped anywhere on Youtube (or maybe it is, and I'm lazy). I also absolutely love that she uses the piledriver as a finisher. Not a tombstone or a fire thunder or any other variant, but a regular, Memphis-style piledriver. She's definitely the best female wrestler in America right now, at least in my estimation.

Her Character - In nearly every promotion I've seen her, she seems to play down her femininity and work as a bully like she does in the ring. From the facepaint to the menacing scowl, she's the most unladylike of the current crop of women wrestlers. With her ROH/KoW-second character as the Queen of Wrestling, it works brilliantly. She's the new prototype of woman wrestler, one who, despite her obvious inherent good looks and somewhat petite size, doesn't rely on her looks at all and instead on her ability in the ring. It's a brilliantly simple character.

Why You Should Know Her - Honestly, I may be biased, because she's my favorite female in any wrestling promotion, but I think that Sara del Rey is must see whenever she's in the ring or even out of it. It's a good thing, because she's in very high demand. Whether it's in Chikara, SHIMMER, WSU, start-up women's feds or in any women's division, you can count on her being there and turning in great performances. She's clearly making her case to join her former peer Awesome Kong in WWE as part of a new movement of anti-Divas who can actually wrestle and do more than shake their tits and ass.

The thing is that she dowdies herself down and is actually very, very attractive when she accentuates her femininity. However, I think that it makes a very poignant point. She could very well make it to WWE by glitzing up, putting on a shit-ton of makeup and a push-up bra and trying to fit the mold. She doesn't, and I think she's a credit to women's wrestling for doing it. She's talented and it seems like she wants to make it on her merits as a wrestler. That's awesome to me, maybe the biggest reason why I think I have such a crush on her. She definitely has enough talent as well, maybe the most in my estimation.

SO yeah, you need to know her, because if she's not the best in the world, she's at least one of them. She's just about the biggest star remaining on the indie scene, maybe tied with Serena and Cheerleader Melissa, and if she's on a card in your town, I think you need to be there just to see what she does. I think that goes double for if she's in town with Chikara, because she's most likely wrestling intergender, and those are the best examples of her talent.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!