The Queen Has Arrived: The Night Sara del Rey Became a Heroine among Heroes

Sara del Rey kicking Mike Quackenbush at Chikara's The Germans last year: Moments like this helped pave the way
for her crowning moment at Chikarasaurus Rex this past Sunday.

When Sara del Rey rolled up Claudio Castagnoli at the end of Chikarasaurus Rex weekend Sunday, the roar from the hundreds of fans who'd packed into the iconic indie wrestling mecca nearly tore the roof off the building. Compare that to the reaction she had gotten fewer than 24 hours prior, sound boos from a crowd that had some overlap, and you'd be surprised that it was the same wrestler. What happened between those two events that made the Queen of Wrestling the queen of the hearts and minds of Chikara faithful?

The easy answer would be to say that she went up against Claudio, the leader of the most hated group in the promotion, perhaps in its history. Wrestling against him in a Chikara ring would make anyone a favorite in the eyes of the crowd. However, I'm not sure that was wholly the case. There were some story elements going on here that really enhanced the atmosphere and really made del Rey's ascension that much more special.

First, del Rey has a legitimate case for the respect she feels she hasn't been shown by Claudio and the rest of the males in the BDK. This runs a lot deeper than "David vs. Goliath" or "Billie Jean King vs. Gerald Bobby Riggs" if you wanted to play battle of the sexes. If being a woman in a man's world was enough to make someone a babyface, then Sara and Daizee Haze would have gotten raucous cheers their first match as members of the BDK, a tag affair against the Osirian Portal. The cold truth is that del Rey has been a dominant force, holding her own against the men for the most part, imposing her will on a gender that is supposed to be superior to hers in every way when it comes to all things physical. Audiences, especially indie ones and especially indie ones that are as keen to storytelling as Chikara crowds are, pick up on this. It's not like Sara is a damsel in distress. She's the exact opposite, and that's why she commands respect. So when big, bad Claudio treats her like she's Kelly Kelly in a sea of Randy Ortons, then that's a major party foul. If there wasn't so much equity built up in Sara del Rey before this angle began, then there'd be no way that she'd command that kind of fan support for her to prove her "superiors" wrong.

And while I don't think that the whole "woman in a man's world" metric is the only or even the biggest reason, it certainly plays a part. Again, Kelly Kelly is the Divas Champion in WWE, and she's for the most part feeble. No one would buy her if she were to switch divisions and wrestle the men. Sadly, this is the archetype for the mainstream female wrestler, no matter how many Beth Phoenixes or Kharmas have come along. Even then, the trope is that a woman has to be of a certain build to compete, and often, that build is unflattering.

Only recently, and by recently I mean in the last 10 years if that, has the Joshi ethic of women of all shapes and sizes being asskickers caught on here in the American underground. It's obvious why del Rey would attract such a female fanbase, because hey, identification with a strong character is not solely a male trait. However, she's also getting props from male fans. This is not an accident. Again, Chikara attracts a much smarter, much more socially progressive crowd. That isn't to say that we've been itching to root for a woman, but if the right one comes along and kicks ass, you had better believe that she's going to get a massive amount of support.

Sara del Rey is the right woman.

The way that main event theater played out, it was no surprise that del Rey got the loudest reactions all weekend in that singular match. She was a true feel-good story without really pandering to the lowest common denominator. Yeah, Claudio overpowered her at times, but she more than held her own. It didn't matter if it wasn't "realistic" (as if 100% realism is even in the top 5 of things when it comes to a great story in pro wrestling); the crowd collectively bought it as if it were Mike Quackenbush the night before or Tommy Dreamer, Chris Hero or UltraMantis Black at events past. It was clear she was the underdog though, but at the same time, when she hit those three koppo kicks in succession, it worked. That's a testament to all parties involved.

I think that's what made the finish work as well as it did. Sure, the whole "pick up your beaten opponent at 2 only to get flash-pinned" is a tried-and-true story mechanism that works in all situations. It would only make sense that a chauvinistic man would do that to a defeated woman to prove a point. However, the fact that Claudio was doing it to del Rey? I don't know about the rest of the crowd, but in the moment, I felt insulted. It was because del Rey had proven herself worthy, not like some fluky über-underdog who gets the flash pin at the right time because of cockiness alone. There was a feeling that del Rey used guile and technique to counter Claudio's hubris, hubris that was unwarranted from get-go one because del Rey had earned the respect she demanded, at least with the crowd.

So that brings us back to the beginning of the post. del Rey rolled up Claudio for the win, and the place exploded. You now know the reason why the reaction was so magnified, and when I say that this was a true coronation of the new Queen of Chikara, it's not trite or cliched. It's real.

Whether del Rey goes on to win the Campeonato del Mundo from here is irrelevant. I think she'd be a terrific choice to win (and I've said so on two separate occasions now), but the real story here is that she's made it, at least in Chikara, she has. No other woman has really made this much of an impact in an indie fed that wasn't already dedicated to female wrestling excepting maybe Rachel Summerlyn and Portia Perez down in ACW, where men and women also wrestle each other on the reg. And she didn't do it by flaunting her tits or anything that would have made her rise cheap.

She earned it, every last bit of it. That's why this is so impressive, and that's another reason why Chikara is so much better than most other wrestling promotions out there.

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

Wrestling Six Packs: Women Who Can Make Intergender Wrestling Work (Aside from Kharma and Beth)

Ever since Chyna pretended he was a woman and wrestled against the men in the then-WWF, there has been controversy and fascination surrounding the idea of intergender wrestling. In WWE, the idea has been teased briefly of equal time fighting between the genders at the Royal Rumble in 2010, when Beth Phoenix eliminated Great Khali with a kiss and then ate a GTS from CM Punk (and now the two are dating... how's that for interesting?). There are also Sara del Rey, Madison Eagles, Manami Toyota and Daizee Haze mixing it up with the men in Chikara, which is a great spectacle, but easier to imagine because the men in the fed aren't as big as they are in WWE.

Obviously, Phoenix and Kharma are the two examples who can credibly hang with the big boys in WWE. If she wasn't a threat to kill legit kill someone at her stage in training, Lindsay Heyward (aka Isis the Amazon aka Aloisia) would too. But what about some offbeat choices? I got six whom I'd think work well with the men in WWE.

1. ODB

I've accused ODB of not being the gender she says she is in jest in the past, but problems I have with her aside, really, is there anyone who thinks she wouldn't fit in a men's division? Seriously, broad shoulders and man-hands aside, she's a woman who looks like if she got into a fight with her baby's daddy, she'd be the favorite to win. I mean, she'd take a pull from her flask and start comin' at you like a spider monkey, a la the children of Ricky Bobby.

War Manami!

2. Manami Toyota

This is a bit of a cheat, since the legendary joshi star actually has competed against men who've legitimately competed in WWE. And of course, she looked damn good doing it. I fell in love with Manami Toyota, the worker, King of Trios weekend, as she was one of the stars of the event. Imagine what she could do against Tyson Kidd, Daniel Bryan or even Rey Mysterio? It'd be magic, and I'm not sure anyone would really complain unless they really had a problem with men and women going up against each other.

3. LuFisto

She's probably the smallest woman on this list, and who knows if she'll even wrestle against other women anymore. There's something about her, that she's just this little ball of frenetic energy and she'd work well as a hardcore pinball, someone who was hard to catch but certainly hit really, really hard when she did come close. Well, that is if it were maybe five or so years ago when hardcore wasn't pushed out as non-PG. Still, there was a time and place where LuFisto would have been perfect going against the men.

4. Nattie Neidhart

Not everyone who'd fit into this mold has to come from outside the company. While Nattie is more the size of the typical WWE Diva, she has something that no other woman in the world has, and that's a Hart Dungeon education. Who said that the only ones of the Hart family bloodline who could tango had to be men? There's only so much she can do in the Divas division before she gets stale (and not of her own doing).

5. Madison Eagles

She's tall and lanky and with a little bit of muscle, she'd look imposing enough to take on the male of the species. I think what would set her apart would be the MMA training she's received, which would add a little bit of street cred to her offense. Plus, I think the fact that she's an Aussie would up the toughness. I mean, the houseflies down there can maim you, just as my blogging bloke from Down Under Cameron Riley would attest to. I'm pretty sure your average Aussie lass is as tough as the average American prizefighter (which can only explain why there's been so few Aussie men coming up to the States to wrestle... their toughness would make it very hard for them to restrain themselves while working their moves).

6. Cheerleader Melissa

I saw Melissa in person as Raisha Saeed at Chikarasaurus Rex last year. She tagged with Kharma (then as Awesome Kong) against Sara del Rey and Daizee Haze. She definitely had some good size on her compared to the ladies of the Bruderschaft. She could be the elusive woman who'd combine super sexiness with the physical credibility without having to look slightly muscular to achieve this. So she'd be like Beth Phoenix without the bulky shoulders and arms, or like Chyna without the penis. Score!

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

From the E-Feds to Reality: The School Girl

Underestimate at your own risk, sexist pig!

For those who don't know, TH is an e-fed enthusiast. Even in years when he wasn't watching wrestling, he was still e-fedding. He ran several characters in several feds at a time at his peak, but now, he resides only in Empire Pro Wrestling with one character. Still, he's handled and seen a ton of characters. Some may work in the real world, some may not. This is one of those characters from the former.

Name: Inoue Doi, The School Girl (handled by the inimitable Michael K. Dupin)

What's Her Deal: It's exactly what the name says. She's a petite Japanese anime-fetish style woman wrestler, replete with a school girl outfit. Yep. She also was among the most feared threats on the roster, an example of not judging a book by its cover. Her strikes and knowledge of how to dismantle larger opponents, especially with her feared URAKEN~!, were among the best in her home fed. Think about her as one of the ninja-hookers from Sin City. Underestimate her at your own risk.

Was She Successful in E-Feds: I'd say that since she was the signature character in her main fed, the Squared Circle, she was pretty successful. I'm not sure how many titles she won, but she was definitely one of the most memorable characters there.

Could She Get Over in Reality: It depends on the setting. WWE is under intense public scrutiny. If she would dominate over the males, it might drive some of the more meatheaded fans away (not that I'd complain, but money's money). If she took too much of a beating, the PTC and other watchdog groups would be on their asses. ROH strikes me as kind of the place where they don't care too much about women at all. She'd have to be a full-time character in PWG (where Candice LaRae and Christina von Eerie have wrestled the men), Chikara (where Sara del Rey, Daizee Haze and Madison Eagles continue to wrestle against men) or Inter-Species Wrestling (where really, anything goes). I'd love to see a character like The School Girl doing battle full-time in Chikara. I think she'd get the best treatment there, and the matches would be out of sight. Plus, URAKEN~! battles with Eddie Kingston!

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!