EVE’s path to SHE-1 rumbled on with a pair of shows in July – and for some reason, we’re only getting the first quarter of that day’s action here.
It’s fair to say that EVE’s on-demand offerings have been a little slow, particularly if you’re looking for new content. However, the recent addition of a new team solely for the on-demand service should increase this output… so let’s give it a go. They’re going old school here as they’ve split their July afternoon show into two parts, so we’ll review it as it appears…
Once we’ve had the opening credits (which for my sake I hope change through time…) as we go straight into the action, with some familiar voices on-hand. It’s Olly Hogben (formerly Oliver Bennett from Rev Pro and “proper sports” fame), alongside the injured Nina Samuels on commentary!
Voodoo Queen Amarah vs. Martina
This was Amarah’s debut in EVE, after an impressive showing at a try-out earlier in the year. Glowsticks go flying as Martina’s entrance gets the crowd going… and she starts by heading to the outside to avoid Amarah’s weirdness.
Trying to calm things, Martina goes to offer a can to Amarah, who instead smashes it into her as the match gets going with a scoop slam, before Amarah grabs a bag of powder that she uses for a ritual, ahead of a big splash for a near-fall. Another splash gets nothing but knees as Martina gets wise to it, before she blocks a sunset flip by sitting down on Amarah. Amarah (ironically!) powders to the outside, but doesn’t get joined as Martina stops a dive so she can have a can instead. Martina sprays beer at Amarah, but a head chop counters a bronco buster for a near-fall, before the Voodoo Queen opens her “voodoo juice” and pours some into Martina.
That’s a bit like spinach to her… as is the voodoo which passes for dancing? Martina plays along and lays into her with a forearm before a big clothesline dropped her in the middle of the ring for a two-count. Martina throws some clotheslines of her own before throwing the powder at Amarah, who somehow kicks out of the lungblower, then avoids a missile dropkick. A Michinoku driver nearly gets the win as Amarah tried to bounce back, before a second one’s escaped and met with a schoolboy roll-up for the win! Martina ekes out the win in a fun match that helped establish Amarah and get the show off to a hot start. **½
Rhia’s Award
Emily Read introduces former champion Rhia O’Reilly to the ring – still sporting a crutch, and starting a Jeremy Corbyn chant. Okay, scratch that – she doesn’t need the crutch, so the comeback’s getting there! Rhia unveils her Rising Star award that she’d been given by WeAreTheCity earlier in the week to recognise her as a role model for women. At the prior shows, Rhia was named as EVE’s match-maker, so let’s see her next bit of handiwork…
Charlie Morgan vs. Livvii Grace
Charlie tries to play mind games from the off, before she starts to work over Grace’s wrist as a prelude to an attempt at biting. Livvii tries to reciprocate, but Morgan escapes before she’s forced to stuff a German suplex attempt and elbow herself free.
Charlie goes back to the mind games by rubbing her hand on Livvii’s groin before landing a superkick to knock down the former Tennessee Honey. Some mocking encouragement from Morgan just leads to a bicycle knee before the two exchange forearms in the ropes as Grace started to edge ahead.
Grace continues with a German suplex after catching a springboard out of the corner, but Grace took too long to make the cover and can only get a two-count from it. Charlie tried to escape, but gets clotheslined onto the apron… then baseball slid off of it, before she returned the favour by sweeping Livvii onto the apron.
The two end up on the apron trading shots as Morgan then dumped Livvii onto the apron with a German suplex! Charlie keeps up the pressure with a flip senton off the apron, which sent both women crashing into the camera, eventually going back into the ring for a near-fall. Still, Grace hits back with a Samoan drop, but that’s only enough for a two-count, before a discus lariat’s ducked and met with a hard superkick.
All that’s left is for Morgan to head up top, with a senton bomb flattening Livvi for the win. Short and sweet, with a rather decisive win for Morgan here. Some of the spots in the match planted seeds for something that was revealed in the evening’s show, but we’ll cross that bridge when it appears on-demand! ***
Speeches from Emily and Dann Read – revealing their York Hall date in 2018 – were edited out as we go to the next match… but first, Jettas’s got a present for her apprentice. Yeah, the crowd brought in signs to mock Jetta’s “be sportsmanship” slip at the last show, which became quite the theme for her.
Long story short, after some more verbal slips (“deject him!” and “race-isom”), Jetta reveals a shirt for her apprentice, bearing her new slogan: “Stay Hungry, In Training”, Yeah, Erin quickly spots that “it’s got shit on it”. After all this, we’ve got a match, and it’s a SHE-1 qualifier too…
SHE-1 Qualifier: Erin Angel vs. Laura di Matteo
You kinda get the feeling that Laura’s got a lot to fight against here, in terms of the storyline that’s in play for her opponent.
Jetta coaches Erin from ringside, but the pleas to not shake Laura’s hand are ignored as we finally get going. Laura trips Erin and works into a front facelock, only for Erin to escape and work into a La Magistral-style roll-up for an early two-count. From the kick-out, Laura sends Erin flying with armdrags and dropkicks, before some flying body scissors get a near-fall. Erin replies with headscissors of her own, then a stunner for a near-fall, before she pulls away Jetta’s attempt to choke away at Laura.
The unwanted cheating still keeps Erin in front, as does a dropkick and a flipping neckbreaker, as Laura’s forced to kick out at two. More coaching from Jetta just serves to distract Angel, who ignores calls to fish-hook the Italian… and eventually Laura fires back with dropkicks and clotheslines. Angel keeps her foot in it though, ducking an enziguiri before kicking Laura in the back of the head for a near-fall. Jetta trips Laura as she tried to make a comeback, and that constant distraction just seems to affect Angel as a missile dropkick gets Laura another pinfall attempt.
Jetta amusingly throws in a seat pillow to cushion the blow from a DDT to Angel – a hell of a spot if there ever was one – but the padding’s removed as Laura takes Angel down into a grounded Octopus for the submission. A decent match, but massively, massively overshadowed by the shenanigans outside the ring. **¾
After the match, Jetta rips into Erin some more – with Angel actually getting a dig in herself. Jetta claimed the move that Erin gave up in doesn’t hurt, and to cut another long story short, Jetta reveals she’s got someone else to help with Angel’s training: Sammii Jayne. However, Debbie Sharpe runs in and has her two cents as she tells her (former?) tag team partner how disappointed she is in her.
Cue a C-bomb, before Sammii’s more measured response leads to her throwing a Snickers bar at her. Ah, for advertising! The chocolate bar’s thrown into the crowd (and caught, from what I remember), before Sammii attacks her from behind as Erin Angel’s forced to hold the ropes as the ring empties.
Roll credits, and that’s us done for this part of the show. So, for a “part one”, this was a solid outing from EVE… but I cannot understand why things are being released in this manner. Sure, anything out there is better than nothing, but as someone who’s set in his ways, I much prefer full shows than anything in piecemeal. Still, if this means we’re getting regular output, then I’m all for it.