The first round of Who’s Next Revolution wrapped up, as we had perhaps two of the more experienced entrants of the tournament so far.
We open with Trixie’s entrance, cutting away to her to-camera piece as she tells us she’s shy but flips the switch in the ring. Trixie tells us she finds it important to listen to people and to be humble. She’s playing the heel here, and spins past the front row, so as not to have any of the fans touch her. By the way, today’s judges are Doug Williams, Blue Nikita and Tarkan Aslan…
Trixie’s promo is based around how Italy’s not exactly full of opportunity, and that she’s busted her arse to get here. Problem is, it wasn’t exactly a heel promo… even though the delivery was real good. Her opponent is Camille Grignon, who’s apparently a third-generation wrestler, and has had a WWE tryout in the past. There’s proof too, as there’s a photo from the try-out…
Blue Nikita picks up on how Camille’s always smiling, before the Frenchwoman began her promo. English isn’t her preferred language, which kinda made her delivery of “I don’t want to disappoint my family” come across way more nervous and emotional than perhaps was intended.
As for the tale of the tape, well, these two are the most experienced so far this season: Trixie’s had 20 matches since she started training in 2017, while Grignon’s had an extra year… and a total of 150 matches. Saying that, Trixie’s Cagematch page lists a lot more, so… take this with a pinch of salt!
Trixie vs. Camille Grignon
We get going with a lock-up as Trixie worked the arm and wrist of Grignon, who kipped up out of it as she reverses the hold.
Trixie’s back with a headlock, that she clings onto as the judges praise them for things like keeping their head up and not going a million miles an hour. I mean, they’ve the better part of 200 matches between them, so it’s good the experience is showing! Grignon breaks free with armdrags and dropkicks to switch it up, but she gets pulled into the corner as the judges find something to bemoan – Trixie’s kicks. Tarkan Aslan rightfully says that they’re showing the basics here, as Camille got her own back with chops, before a back elbow in the corner and a knee caught Trixie on the back foot.
Clotheslines follow, then a Slingblade as the judges really are heaping on the praise here, before Trixie clung to the ropes to avoid a back cracker. She tries to cheat in full view of the ref, who spots it – which I guess shows that Trixie’s not usually a baddie – and after she got caught out, she’s put away with a back cracker. Bearing in mind how cut down these matches are, this was really good – that’s not to say that everyone else in the show has been bad, but the experience really shone through here.
Trixie and Camille were both pleased with their efforts… and now it’s over to the judges. Tarkan liked Trixie’s look, but not the content of the promo… Blue Nikita suggested Camille learn English and perhaps switch languages in her promos… while Nikita even said that the match they had perhaps could have been done on the main GWF shows. That’s a heck of a seal of approval there.
After the closing appeals, we’re told that La Catrina beat Keesa the Bambi with 66% of the vote… and that looks to be it for Who’s Next Revolution for now since the voting was done in real time.
Guaranteed to get through to the next round are Kara, Xara Grace, Jazz Lanka, Gulyas Iren and La Catrina – plus either Trixie or Camille Grignon. In prior years, we’ve had drop-outs and wildcards so don’t expect that to be the final line-up as I’d expect the tournament to move to an elimination format – and given we’ve probably got a ringer in the line-up, you’d have to think that whomever get the fan’s vote from this episode is almost surely going to he the favourite to win the whole thing.
That said, and this really is a minor nitpick among everything – how’s someone who’s been able to get a WWE tryout having to open doors via Who’s Next? Perhaps it’s a way of introducing them, but still, that kinda backs up some narratives around WWE’s hiring these days…