Picking up where Chapter One left off, we’re back in Sudbury seven years ago for the rest of EVE’s debut!
Hey, this is two New Year’s Eve in a row when we’ve done this… We have the same crawler as before, as Fred Ellison’s back to provide commentary. Before we get into action, Melanie Price is out with her PA Janey B for an in-ring promo… Janey’s wearing headgear and a gumshield, but she offers her match to Melanie instead as Alpha Female’s back out!
Alpha Female vs. Janey B
Of course, Price backs off and orders Janey to take the match anyway as her apprentice. Maybe it’s stuff like this that’d make Janey a little Psycho later in her career? After an initial roll-up, Janey gets murderised by a series of clubbing forearms, before countering a suplex into a DDT for just a one-count. Alpha Female popped straight back up though and hits a powerslam for the win. Splat.
Up next is a “DVD bonus feature” from August 2008’s Chickfight XI show.
Jetta & Wesna Busic vs. Blossom Twins (Hannah Blossom & Holly Blossom)
Well this is a bit of a throwback, going to Norwich for this as an impromptu warm-up for Wesna’s retirement match. She’s teaming up with Jetta against the Blossom Twins, a tandem that had a brief run with TNA back in the day.
The Blossoms hit first with a pair of shoulder blocks and dropkicks to send Wesna and Jetta to the outside. When they returned, Holly sent Jetta flying with a monkey flip, before Wesna tagged in and booted Holly in the back several times as the more experienced Wesna was all over Holly… even when she tried for a comeback, stuffing some headscissors and turning it into a facebuster out of the corner.
Jetta tagged in and hits a big body blow as Holly remained agonisingly far away from a tag. Hannah gets knocked off the apron, and since Chris Roberts is the ref here, “doing his job” means checking on Hannah, rather than watching for some double-teaming as Holly continues to take a beating.
Eventually Holly makes a brief comeback, getting a schoolboy roll-up and a jack-knife roll-up for near-falls… Holly’s strangely resisting a tag-out, and that backfires as she’s dragged back into the corner as Wesna comes in next to dump her with a Samoan drop for a near-fall. More of the same from Jetta sees her knock down Holly for another near-fall, before Holly uses a jawbreakers to escape a stranglehold and finally bring in Hannah.
Hannah’s a house of fire, and lands a wheelbarrow bulldog for a near-fall as Wesna breaks it up. Somewhere in here, Hannah’s thrown out by Wesna, as Jetta hits a backcracker on Holly before going back to that stranglehold for the win. Yes, Holly wasn’t the legal person, but this is Chris Roberts we’re talking about here… a decent match for the time, although a lot of it doesn’t hold up (particularly the babyfaces who babyfaced so much they came across as dumb, costing them in the end). **¾
After the match, Jetta keeps going after Holly’s arm – as the jolly background music played over it all.
Jetta vs. Eden Black
Filmed later in the same show as the tag match we just saw, this was Eden’s retirement match – one that Jetta wanted to spoil, especially given these two had feuded for years.
Eden’s shoulder was taped up after an attack from Jetta on a prior show, but she started by grounding Jetta early, only to get rolled up for a near-fall. A brief shoving match ensues as the bad blood from the past comes up, with Eden throwing in some forearms before blasting Jetta in the corner with a running double knee strike.
Jetta quickly targets that arm again as she mounts a comeback, with a series of short-arm and regular shoulderblocks and an armbar as Black continued to be put on the back foot. A neckbreaker gets Jetta a two-count, before the pair end up outside for a spot of brawling, with Jetta of course targeting the shoulder, pulling it into the ring post.
Eden returns the favour, trapping Jetta in the Garden of Eden armbar against the ringpost, and that helps to turn things around as Jetta take some kicks to the back as Eden dishes out plenty of receipts. A modified seated surfboard almost gets the win, but Eden releases it before going for a version of a Vertebreaker, then a kick for a couple of near falls as Jetta’s nose was all bloodied up.
More kicks from Eden make the matter worse, but Jetta manages to come back with a Fujiwara armbar – whilst propping herself up on the ropes for added leverage. Referee Chris Roberts eventually spots it and forces a break as Jetta just charges Eden’s shoulder into the corner some more, before trapping Jetta in her own strait-jacket camel clutch submission… Jetta’s just about able to reach the ropes for another break though.
A double clothesline follows as both women crash to the mat, but Jetta comes back with a Garden of Eden triangle armbar as the pair swapped each other’s finishers, but this time Eden’s able to break it in the ropes. Jetta keeps up with a lungblower, flipping it over into the stranglehold camel clutch, but Black gets free and is taken into a shoulder block as Jetta reapplies the hold.
Another rope break ends the hold, and Eden eventually fired back with the Garden of Eden triangle armbar, trapping Jetta in the middle of the ring. Jetta nearly dragged herself to the ropes, but Eden pulls her back in, only for another rope break to end things. Once again, Jetta goes for the arm, before hitting a trapped-arm backcracker to add even more pain to the shoulder, but Eden’s able to kick out at two and goes straight back to the Garden of Eden as Jetta eventually taps! This was an enjoyable match, but given how commentary was putting over how serious the shoulder injury was, there were points that I found it hard to believe the injury, particularly at the end. ***½
Jetta vs. Britney Knight
They show us highlights of this match, which was Jetta’s billed as retirement match. Of course, this being wrestling, she kept on for another 18 months before taking four years out, because nobody ever retires. The highlights show Jetta working over Britney’s arm, before the wristlock’s reversed as they painted this as two friends in an exhibition. Jetta has friends?! Cross-fade take us to Britney ramming Jetta’s face into the turnbuckles, before Jetta stretches the future Paige in the ropes.
Jetta gets dumped to the floor after missing a charge to Knight in the ropes, and then we fade into a chinlock before Knight landed a series of clotheslines, as one more cut takes us to Jetta winning with the stranglehold backcracker. What they showed us was alright, but at least it’s better than nothing.
Glamour Gym (Sara-Marie Taylor & Carmel Jacob) vs. Team Storm (Becky James & Rhia O’Reilly) vs. Northern Shooters (April Davids & Jenny Sjödin)
This triple-threat tag match isn’t under elimination rules, and we start with James grounding Carmel in a front facelock, before Jacob backs into the corner and gets off a tag to Taylor.
Rhia O’Reilly gets a tag too, and she starts with a series of armdrags before her and Becky land a double clothesline to Taylor… who then tags out to Jenny Sjödin for the sake of it. Sjödin rolls O’Reilly into a front facelock that could have led to a submission, but instead Jenny ends up pulling the Irishwoman into a backbreaker for a near-fall.
April Davids comes in next to take her shot at Rhia, lifting her up for a trapped-arm suplex for a near-fall, before taking Rhia’s eyes along the top rope. Sjödin comes in with back senton for a near-fall, and somewhere in here Carmel Jacob inadvertently tags in… but the Glamour Gym get wiped out with forearms from Jenny, who apparently tags in to Becky James with a flailing arm during that exchange, and all that’s left is for Becky to roll-up Taylor for the win.
That was way too short to be anything – you could tell that there was a lot of inexperience on show here. Team Storm getting the upset was a fun wrinkle, especially given that they capitalised on the Shooters’ work. **
They replay clips from A New Hope (Chapter One), where Blue Nikita beat Britney Knight before getting into it with Saraya. That leads to our main event…
Falls Count Anywhere: Blue Nikita vs. Saraya Knight
Or a hardcore match, whatever you want to call this! Saraya jumps Nikita during the entrances, but the Grecian quickly recovers and chops Saraya in the corner. A trapped-leg side suplex gets Nikita an early near-fall, but Saraya rebounds off the ropes into a hand-walk set of headscissors as the veteran claimed a two-count for her own.
They head outside where Nikita pushes Saraya over a table for some clubbing blows and a leaping elbow off the apron. Saraya gets back up and heads backstage to get some plunder, including a Kendo stick and a metal bin… that Kendo stick’s whacked over Nikita a few times before Saraya swings and hits the ring post as the tables turn, with Nikita breaking the Kendo stick with some repeated shots.
Nikita grabs a plastic wet floor sign and smashes it into Saraya’s head a few times, eventually knocking her down for a near-fall on the floor… somehow, Knight comes back, using that floor sign and a cake tin on the Greek, but Knight struggled to climb back into the ring.
When she does get in though, she’s able to whack Nikita with a baking tray before dragging her into the ring with a rope-hung DDT for a near-fall. Nikita returns the favours with the baking tray shots, before setting up the bin for a low dropkick, as a Code Blue (Air Raid Crash) drills Saraya onto the baking tray again for the win. Short and basic, but what they did was enjoyable if you’re into hardcore matches. **¾
I’m guessing that this debut show was split into two parts for technological reasons, as the second half was only about half an hour long before you factored in the Chickfight bonus matches. Still, as a total event, A New Hope was a decent enough base to build off of – and two shows that are very easy to watch. Sure, there’s some rough moments, but considering the lack of opportunities and the inexperience involved, that was always to be expected.