We’re plucking another show from Powerbomb’s catalogue, and it’s Preston City Wrestling’s “PowerBombShells” women’s show – with a surprising conclusion.
In a year where the failure of FloSlam’s gotten a lot of column inches/pixels, Powerbomb.tv have quietly come up on the inside, offering a lot more content – and a lot more live streams – for half of your Flo money. Anyway, despite being on the poster, Viper and Lucy Cole were not on the show… more on that one later as we’re straight into the action at the Evoque in Preston, with Greg Lambert and Stallion on commentary, while Joanna Rose is handling ring announcing.
Rhio vs. Sierra Loxton
Rhio’s a product of the PCW academy, and has been breaking out after being involved with former PCW champion Iestyn Rees. She’s all over Loxton from the start, at least until she goes for a crossbody that Loxton catches and turned into a slam.
Sierra kicks away on Rhio’s legs in the corner as she started to go for an inverted bow-and-arrow submission. When that didn’t work, Loxton grounds her in a modified abdominal stretch, but Rhio makes the ropes as the submission attempts kept on coming. Commentary threw in an ominous line about the PCW Women’s title picture here, just as Rhio lands a Samoan drop for a near-fall. Back to their feet, Rhio takes over with forearms and elbows before falling into a German suplex as the momentum swung… as did Rhio’s head when she ate a hip attack in the corner. Another hip attack knocks Rhio down for a near-fall, but the local lass mounts a comeback… only to get swiftly DDT’d and caught in a Last Chancery as Loxton looked to snatch a victory.
Rhio’s able to make it to the ropes though, and after hitting an enziguiri, an awkward looking Flatliner gets her the win. That finish looked a little rushed and not as crisp as perhaps they’d like, but this was a decent opener in front of a flat crowd. I’ve a feeling that this, being a matinee crowd with plenty of empty seats, may be par for the course… **¼
Molly Spartan vs. Jokey vs. Jennie B
Spartan’s a fairly new face from Scotland, whilst Jokey’s making a name for herself, originally coming from Italy. Jennie B’s a PCW trainee with an 80s-ish glam rock act…
Jokey heads to the crowd to watch Jennie complain about Molly “bullying” her… so her response is to try and throw in some shoulder tackles, with little success. Instead, Jennie climbs the ropes, but her crossbody’s easily caught until Jokey flies in with a missile dropkick to steal a near-fall. A spinning sidewalk slam follows for the Italian as Spartan looked to be in complete control, at least until her attempt to dive is stopped as Jennie and Jokey mount some double-team offence… only to break up each other’s pinning attempts. It’s the usual “alliance breaks down” stuff, except the alliance barely lasted in the first place!
Spartan quickly comes back with a double clothesline, before Jokey hits a ‘rana and a bulldog to collect a two-count with Jennie again breaking the count. A belly-to-back suplex gets rid of Jokey, before Spartan powered out of an attempted camel clutch… but she can’t capitalise and quickly gets tripped into the corner for a Bronco buster from Jennie.
The action here is fine, but it feels like it’s at a lower speed than you’d usually see – perhaps through general inexperience. Jennie clotheslines Jokey into a DDT on Spartan, before throwing in in a hip thrust and just pausing for some reason. There’s a miscommunication as Jennie doesn’t go up for a powerbomb at first, before rolling to the outside after eventually being hit with it.
Jokey gets another DDT, this time intentional, but it’s got the same result on Spartan as Jennie breaks up the cover, then hits Jokey with a Flatliner before rolling both women together to get the decidedly non-dominant crowd surfing-style pin. This… had its moments, but inexperience showed as there were plenty of pauses. There’s something there, but there’s a LOT of work needed here… *
Jayde vs. Lady Chardonnay Darcy
This was Jayde’s PCW debut – and it’s not the first time we’ve seen her, thanks to some multi-person exploits for GOOD Wrestling. She’s up against another debutant in Lady Chardonnay Darcy, who was making her return to the UK after a successful tour of Japan for STARDOM (and using another moniker as she continues to pivot away from the “chav” character she originally used).
Before the match, Darcy tries to address the crowd… but the lack of any micing means we barely hear it aside from her heeling on the crowd. When we get going, Darcy tries to work over Jayde’s arm, but the hammerlocks get reversed and countered until Darcy scurried to the ropes for a break. More arm work quickly led to Darcy pancaking Jayde into a front facelock, before Jayde rebounded with a drop toehold and a dropkick as the Lady ended up in the corner. A knee strike nearly wins it, before Jayde throws her onto the apron, where a dive’s caught and turned into a neckbreaker in the ropes.
Back in the ring, Darcy chokes Jayde in the ropes for a spell, but although Jayde headbutts her way back into the match, Darcy’s straight back in it with a surfboard stretch which she countered a counter into a Euro clutch for a near-fall. A brief comeback sees Jayde land a headkick to Darcy to the mat, then a suplex for another near-fall, before Eat Defeat’s countered and met with a chokebomb for the win. A nice finishing sequence here, as both women showed promise… but the lacklustre crowd isn’t helping things for anyone. **
Jayla Dark vs. Sadie Gibbs
Jayla Dark’s another Scotswoman who’s making quite the name for herself under her new moniker… and she’s up against Sadie Gibbs – someone who’s had WWE interest, but, like Luke Menzies, was pushed back due to not having any prior experience. So rather than look elsewhere, “Amazing Grace” is getting around on the UK circuit to build up a reputation. Can’t fault that!
Gibbs started out by taking Dark into the corner and playfully patting her… the favour’s quickly returned, but with a bit more menace at the end as the newcomer looked to have it in her favour early on. A standing moonsault nearly puts away the Glaswegian, and that seemed to be the wake-up call as Jayla fought back with some clubbing forearms and general roughness.
A standing facebuster nearly puts Gibbs away, but from the kick-out she tries to fight back… and runs into a big kick to the gut as Dark went back to a submission with a cravat. Some more kicks put Gibbs down for a two-count, but she comes back with a sunset flip out of a delayed Air Raid Crash.
Dark comes back with some more forearms in the corner as there’s a weird pause before Gibbs charges back with clotheslines, before hoisting her up for a slam… but a missed moonsault off the top rope opened the door for Jayla to come back in, nearly winning with a big lariat, before planting Sadie with a Rocker Dropper for the win. Hey, a nice, distinct finisher… but much like the rest of this card so far, the quiet crowd and some timing issues were on show here. Sadie’s not doing too bad for her relatively low experience… but there’s a ways to go. **
Martina vs. Nadia Sapphire
It’d been a while since we’ve seen Nadia – I think her last match we saw was nearly two years ago for Empress Pro… she still has the same character, being full of herself, which provides some comedic interplay with Martina before the bell even goes.
When the bell did go, Martina stole Nadia’s mirror and hairspray as they both preened, causing Sapphire to freak out. So Nadia gets Martina’s can as we get something of a hostage situation… which ends peacefully as Martina got her can back. When they started wrestling, Martina sprays Nadia with a mouthful of beer, sending her into the corner, but a Bronco Buster’s blocked only for Nadia to be sent outside for… a heavily teased dive. You know the shtick – Martina gets tired, the ref feeds her beer as she Popeye’d up, only for Nadia to cut off the dive anyway.
Another swig of beer leads to more spraying from Martina, and we’re back inside as Nadia slaps Martina on the top rope before press slamming her to the mat. The crowd starts to get behind Martina as Nadia slowly draped her across the ropes in the corner for a hip attack, before commentary exclaimed in disbelief at a wrestling move breaking out. A Stinkface in the corner keeps Martina downed as Nadia twerks for… reasons. A sit-down splash misses, and Martina comes back with a knee and a sit-down splash of her own, before headbutting Nadia, who looked to set up for an X-Factor, only for Martina to counter with a Stunner for a two-count.
Martina’s tour of Attitude Era finisher continued with a Rock Bottom, before Nadia kicks away a People’s Elbow and rolled up Martina for a near-fall. From the kick-out, Nadia tries for a German suplex, but that’s blocked and turned into a Codebreaker for the win… plenty of character work which played well with the crowd, but this was a match that’d have come off better with a bigger crowd methinks. *¾
Kasey Owens comes out and grabs the microphone, noting that she was meant to have a title match… but Lucy Cole’s not here. Instead, she issues an open challenge, and it’s a second appearance of the night for Jennie B?
Kasey Owens vs. Jennie B
Having won that three-way over Molly Spartan and Jokey earlier, Jennie B’s back to try and claim a third scalp of the afternoon. Jennie attacked Kasey from behind as she was putting the microphone down, and Jennie’s low-bridged ot the outside as Kasey takes the upperhand with a PK on the apron. Yep, still got timing woes…
Kasey throws a shoulder charge as she slingshots back into the ring, before landing a springboard crossbody to get a near-fall as Jennie again heads outside for cover. A brief Benny Hill chase scene ensues, but it just gives her a chance to kick the ropes into Kasey as they head back inside. Jennie keeps the momentum going with the Mr. Perfect neck snap, but Kasey hits back with an armbar in the ropes after Jennie’d tried to charge her in the corner. A follow-up missile dropkick misses as Kasey crashed and burned, giving Jennie a chance to go for another camel clutch.
It stays fairly one-way afterwards with Jennie taking Kasey into the corner for a Bronco buster that gets a two-count, before Kasey fires back with some running knees in the corner. A Fireman’s carry somehow goes awry as Kasey ends up taking a DDT for a near-fall… before a DDT in return goes awry, as Kasey instead just waffles her with a knee for the win. A decent showing from Kasey, but Jennie’s got a fair way to go on these outings. **
On commentary, PCW’s Greg Lambert mused about the future of the PCW Women’s Championship, but with no finality…
Falls Count Anywhere: Nightshade vs. Lauren
Originally this match was announced as having Viper take on Nightshade, but instead we’re getting a Falls Count Anywhere match to settle a PCW feud. Fair enough.
They don’t start all guns ablazing, as Lauren picked her shots early, only to get charged into the corner for some forearms from Nightshade. A Michinoku driver almost ended this one sharpish, before Lauren hits a ‘rana out of the corner as Nightshade heads outside, leaving some hair behind!
Lauren quickly followed her outside with a tope, but the ref doesn’t follow the action as Nightshade decides to whip her foe into the ringpost, then into the front row as some of the fans reluctantly scattered. The tables turn as Lauren hits a Drive-By dropkick and a cartwheel elbow, before using a partition wall in the nightclub for a Sliced Bread that nearly gets the win. Nightshade hits back with some clubbering forearms, before catching a wheelbarrow from Lauren and simply dumping her onto the apron. Back inside, we’re back to hip attacks as that seems to be a lot of folks’ preferred moves, before Nightshade spikes Lauren with a Flatliner!
Lauren’s forced to roll outside after taking a German suplex, but there’s little respite as Nightshade ends up taking a DDT after Lauren countered a suplex on the floor. From there, Lauren heads up onto the bar for a dive, but Nightshade easily catches her and dumped her into a chair in the front row with a painful-looking fallaway slam. Rather than go for a pin, Nightshade rolls Lauren back inside, where she lays her out with a head kick… and that’s all. A pretty decisive win, all told, and easily the best outing on the card. That’s what fire and urgency does, I guess! **¾
Commentary again talked about the PCW Women’s title picture after this match, and that finally leads to something as Greg Lambert takes the microphone to make a ruling. Lucy Cole’s not defended the title since she won it in August, and was stripped of the belt due to injury. Since Nightshade decisively beat Lauren, she’s getting a match for the vacant title facing off against Riho later on at the Festive Fury show that same evening. Rhio and Nightshade had a pull apart to end the show, but Rhio’s left standing tall as Nightshade’s escorted to the back.
All-in, PCW’s PowerBombShells was a show that had a few high spots, but not too much more. Undoubtedly hurt by the small and quiet crowd, this was a show that was alright, but could have been so much better had the audience been livelier. Instead, all we had to take away from this was a series of matches with relatively inexperienced wrestlers showing promise in an environment that perhaps didn’t fit well. Worth a watch for the main event, but not much else, I’m afraid…