Pro Wrestling EVE’s second show after their reincarnation saw them return to Hackney’ Cre8 Events Centre for a Queen of the Ring tournament.
The show was marked by an eight-woman tournament to crown a new number one contender for the EVE championship; a title that’d also be on the line in a six-match show.
Queen of the Ring First Round: Sammii Jayne vs. Pollyanna
Sammii pitches a fit at the start of the match as the crowd rally behind Pollyanna, who’s got to defend against a wristlock in the early going. She rolls through to reverse it, before they exchange headlocks as we have a deliberate, technical start to things. A headlock ground Pollyanna again, who tries to roll backwards into a cover, before rolling back to her feet… where Sammii catches her in a cravat.
Pollyanna rolls out of that cravat and folds up Sammii for a near-fall. Undeterred, Sammii goes back for a shoulder tackle that works, before trying again just gets her into the path of an armdrag and a bodyslam as Pollyanna leapt onto her with a double stomp for another two-count. Sammii powders to the outside, but the crowd parts like the Red Sea for an incoming tope. She’s caught with an Ace Crusher as she re-enters the ring though, and Sammii takes over with some stomps and a suplex for a near-fall. Jayne keeps Pollyanna grounded with a rear chinlock, then hits a dropkick after Pollyanna had fought free as the Scotswoman looked to be set for victory.
They go back and forth as a missed dropkick gives Pollyanna a brief look in, but she takes a diving clothesline as Sammii again took over briefly. Her attempt at a superplex is cut-off as Jayne’s shoved down across the middle turnbuckles, in perfect place for a double stomp off the top rope that leaves both women laying.
Another series of clotheslines continues the Pollyanna comeback, as she goes up top with an axehandle chop, before following up with a Pollinator for a near-fall. A Samoan Driver gets another two-count as Sammii’s caught off the ropes, but the Scotswoman mounts a comeback of her own with a rope hung neckbreaker and a double kneedrop as Polly was hung across the middle rope.
That’s only enough for a two-count though, so Sammii lifts up Pollyanna for a German suplex, but gets wheelbarrowed through for a near-fall. Jayne gets that German suplex anyway for a two-count, before she catches Pollyanna on the top rope with a leaping enziguiri. A superplex is attempted again, but Pollyanna blocks and flips down Jayne with a sunset bomb off the top rope for a delayed two-count after she picked herself up.
With both women on their knees, they traded forearms, before Polly was tripped with a baseball slide dropkick. Jayne misses a slingshot back into the ring, and that’s the cue for Polly to Finish Her… but that’s turned into a sunset flip for a near-fall, as Sammii rushed back in with an enziguiri again. Sammii goes up top, but Pollyanna sidesteps a legdrop attempt, before landing the Finish Her for the win. A really good opening match – one that had a good false finish in the middle with the Pollinator before continuing. Pollyanna qualifies for the four-way finals later in the show. **¾
Sammii Jayne makes a hasty exit as Blue Nikita comes out to continue their little feud from the first show. She’s still mad at Pollyanna using her moves and her colour – before promising to end Pollyanna’s career if they meet in the final.
Queen Of The Ring – First Round: Erin Angel vs. Kay Lee Ray
Like the first match, we get a technical opening as Angel and Ray trade holds, this time focusing on some grounded stuff as Angel gets some headscissors in, only for Kay Lee to reverse out and grab a headlock.
They stand back up as Ray gets a hammerlock, which is countered into a wristlock as the feeling out process continued. A knuckle-lock leads to a monkey flip and a double pin spot, which ends with both women bridging up as Angel retains the hold as they both trade strangle holds, which gives way to never-ending rolling sunset flips just to troll the ref.
After a breather, Angel trips up Kay Lee in the ropes, and hurriedly side-steps an aborted dive. Back inside, Angel misses a kick and gets one herself as Kay Lee tries to mount a comeback, but it’s quickly cut-off when Angel gets that head kick in. Kay Lee falls for the handshake as she’s taken into the corner, then monkey flipped out as Angel’s bulldog attempt is pushed out of… but Erin is able to block a Gory Bomb and counter it into a Code Red for a near-fall. From the kick-out, she’s met with a double chop in the corner before a spin-out suplex gets a two-count for Kay Lee.
Ray goes up top, but gets crotched as Angel joins her for a hurricanrana attempt, and that absolutely plants Kay Lee for a two-count on the mat. A couple of near-falls later, and Kay Lee surprises Angel with a Gory Bomb, and that’s enough to get to the finals. Another decent outing, with the match being decidedly even until Kay Lee was the first to hit a big move. ***
Queen Of The Ring – First Round: Toni Storm vs. Zoe Lucas
A battle between two women who’d end up wrestling for the Stardom promotion in Japan within the next 12 months.
Storm starts with a waistlock takedown before standing on Lucas, who clearly didn’t appreciate that. Lucas replied with a takedown, but neither woman can keep an advantage as a wristlock takedown from Storm is met with some headscissors… before the Aussie just slaps her way free.
Lucas scores another drop toe hold, but can’t capitalise on the ground, so ends up scoring a spinning heel kick to take Storm back to the mat, and that seems to annoy Toni, who just kicks the crap out of Lucas. Storm takes Lucas into the corner with some stomps, then goes to the hip attacks, before a big boot takes Zoe down for another two-count.
We get a comeback from Lucas, who hits a running forearm in the corner, then a cartwheel into a head kick to get a near-fall, before Melina’s Sunset Split earns the relative newcomer another two-count. Form there, Lucas goes for a camel clutch spliced with a full nelson, only for Storm to come back with a suplex into the corner and a running hip attack, before the Air Raid Crash gets the win. Short and sweet – but they fit a lot of really good stuff into the time they had. ***¼
Queen Of The Ring – First Round: Blue Nikita vs. Ayesha Ray
The “Amazon” Ayesha Ray was wearing purple… Nikita won’t be happy at that almost-gimmick infringement! In fact, she sat in the crowd as the match started with a count-out, before barely getting herself in ahead of the count.
Nikita replied to Ayesha’s offer of a handshake by spitting in her own hand… then wiped it on a fan for good measure. Fair enough, I guess.
They started by trading and blocking strikes, before Nikita scored a headlock takedown on the Amazon. That’s countered with some headscissors, but Nikita easily flips out into a side headlock, as she ultimately pulls Ray to the mat as she went to run towards the ropes. Some knee drops follow for a near-fall, and this is all one-way traffic for the German.
A body slam and a back senton gets another two-count, but Ayesha comes back with a grounded heel hook that the crowd seem to think Nikita tapped to, but instead she ends up kicking out of the hold. Nikita lays into Ayesha with some mounted punches that eventually gets a near-fall, following up with a suplex for a similar result. Out of nowhere, a Samoan drop gets Ayesha a two-count, before she spiked Nikita with a DDT for a two-count. Nikita came back with a death valley driver, before running into what could have been a powerbomb, which Ray turned into a single leg crab instead, forcing Nikita to grab the ropes to break free.
After ducking an elbow, Nikita tied up Ayesha in an Octopus hold, but Ray stood up and turned it into an Air Raid Crash-style slam for a near-fall. From the kick-out, Ayesha went for a waistlock, only to be given a mule kick then an Air Raid Crash as Blue Nikita made it to the finals. This started out pretty one-sided, but got pretty good as Ayesha fought her way in, only to be cheated by the veteran. ***
Pro Wrestling EVE Championship: Rhia O’Reilly (c) vs. Jetta
Zoe Lucas was out with Jetta for some reason, and it was Jetta who complained from the off as some fans started banging on the ring. Apparently, that was off-putting…
Jetta’s taken into the corner with a tie-up, before she returns the favour to Rhia, only to miss a cheapshot after a clean break. We get an early water break which just gives Jetta a chance to spray Rhia with some of it, and that seems to keep the challenger on the front foot, landing a shoulder tackle before O’Reilly counters a hiptoss and rolls her up for a near-fall.
From the kick-out, Jetta takes a snapmare and a dropkick before rolling outside for a breather, but that just earns her a diving dropkick through the ropes. A baseball slide dropkick is countered as Jetta catches Rhia in the apron, before she pulls her into the ring post for good measure as it’s the Northern Irishwoman’s left arm that quickly gets targeted. A shoulder stretcher follows, with Jetta using the ropes for extra leverage, before Jetta charges her into the corners shoulder-first. Jetta simply slaps Rhia in the corner, then does some wacky dance moves which just gets her a clothesline and a back elbow from the champion. O’Reilly gives her a Finlay Roll, then a trip out of the corner as Jetta takes a curb stomp for a near-fall.
Zoe Lucas gets in O’Reilly’s face as she’s choked on the ropes, before Jetta gets a single-arm Cattle Mutilation, again targeting Rhia’s left arm. The champion fights back with a double-leg takedown and some punches, but that’s cut-off as Jetta wrenches the arms into the bottom rope, then dropkicks Rhia to the floor. Jetta distracts the referee, but Zoe Lucas seems unsure of what to do… she doesn’t sneak attack Rhia, so Jetta throws her back in to continue the punishment. Rhia cuts her off with a pumphandle fallaway slam and a Samoan drop, but Jetta lands a back cracker and floats over into a strait-jacket choke.
O’Reilly breaks free and takes Jetta to the corner for a monkey flip… but the challenger blocks it and rolls her up for the pin – with both feet on the ropes! The referee counts the three, and Jetta’s declared as the champion, but O’Reilly begs Zoe to tell the truth. She cannot tell a lie, it seems, and so the referee restarts the match!
Instantly, O’Reilly trips Jetta, scores with a curb stomp, then grabs a strait-jacket hold… but Jetta powers up and charges her into the corner. That doesn’t faze O’Reilly though, who hit back with the Rhiadjustment DDT, and that’s enough to retain the title. Ah well, Zoe Lucas has a lot to learn if she’s going to be a bad guy! A really good match with O’Reilly overcoming the wily Jetta’s attempts to cheat her way to win… and my God, Jetta busted her nose up something bad at the end! ***¾
After the match, Rhia teaches Zoe a lesson – naughty girls get Rhiadjusted!
Queen Of The Ring – Final: Toni Storm vs. Pollyanna vs. Blue Nikita vs. Kay Lee Ray
We’ve had gear changes from Nikita and Pollyanna, with the latter now in some gold-and-black gear that’s more likely to annoy Toni Storm that Nikita.
Nikita starts by mouthing off at Pollyanna, but Kay Lee Ray just dropkicks her to the outside… and we start our frantic pinfall attempts as the three remaining women try to snatch quick wins. Toni, Kay Lee and Nikita end up on the outside, and you know what that means… no dive, as Nikita just decides to take her shots at Pollyanna instead, stomping her down in the corner, before Toni Storm’s arse was used as a weapon.
Kay Lee Ray takes down Toni and Nikita with a double dropkick as those two argued, but Kay Lee and Pollyanna’s offence quickly ended when the German and the Austrian went to the outside. Eventually they hit a pair of topes after fending off some strikes on the outside, as all four women fought around the bar, where Nikita grabbed a bucket of ice and tipped it over Kay Lee Ray.
Hmm, Blue Nikita predicted the Ice Bucket Challenge before anyone else?
Meanwhile, the gold and black pairing faced off, before this descended into every-woman-for-herself, with Pollyanna and Kay Lee in the ring trading near-falls from a see-saw sunset flip. Storm and Nikita ended that by catching them both in simultaneous camel clutches, before they went for a dive, which was stopped by Pollyanna and Kay Lee Ray spraying them with booze.
Again all four women headed outside, as Kay Lee hit the bar, before Nikita choked away on Pollyanna with an EVE hoodie. That’s product placement for you! Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray went through the fire exit and brawled into an outside bar, where they were joined by the other two, where Nikita put a bin over Pollyanna’s head. Kay Lee matched that by leaping off of a picnic table onto Toni Storm, as the lights went out on Nikita and Kay Lee!
That was taken as a cue for everyone to head back into the hall, where Kay Lee dropped Storm with a savat kick, only for a Pollyanna superkick to knock the Scotswoman down. Nikita nearly kills Kay Lee with a death valley driver, before Storm dropped her with a German suplex (irony!), as the parade continued with a Pollinator onto the Aussie, ending when Kay Lee Ray comes back with a spinning suplex to Pollyanna as all four women were left laying.
All four women traded chops from their knees, continuing as they got to their feet, before Storm and Pollyanna were knocked to the mat. Kay Lee takes down Nikita with a Gory Bomb for a near-fall, before Pollyanna’s Samoan driver gets her a two-count. A Storm piledriver on Pollyanna gets another two-count, before Nikita backdropped out of another one, finishing with a belly-to-back piledriver – as Pollyanna’s own move gets Nikita the win! A hell of a fun main event, guaranteeing Blue Nikita a title shot that I think she’s still to cash in! ***¾
With the rest of the show being contained to the ring, I enjoyed the wacky nature of this main event, although it is a shame that the outside-the-venue stuff was curtailed due to the lights going out.
All in, this was a fine follow-up to the company’s re-debut earlier in the year, with good matches up and down the card, and a show that was a breeze to watch in under two hours. Nothing terrible, and plenty of goodness – without the need for the patronising “…for a women’s match”. Ge tthis show! Sadly, it would be their last outing in Hackney following the closure of their venue. Not to worry, EVE still kept going, relocating to the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green (affectionately known now as “Joshi Island”) for their future shows.
DVDs of this show remain available via the Pro Wrestling EVE website, which come with a free digital copy of their November show, “Never Mind The Bollocks”.