The go-home show for WrestleQueendom 2 saw some changes – and a lot of heat. In every sense of the word.
An hour ahead of showtime, it was announced that the Woke Queens – Valkyrie and Debbie Keitel – were off the weekend’s shows, prompting some card changes here, not helped with Erin Angel, Jamie Hayter and A. Ref being stuck in traffic… Dann Read’s on commentary, initially with Laura di Matteo.
Nightshade vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Yuu
We have a bell! Grace dumped Nightshade early with a German suplex, sending her outside for a dive. Hey, we didn’t have many of those last night, and there’s two in the opening minute here.
Grace kept going, looking for a Muscle Buster on Yuu, only to get hung up in the ropes with a back cracker by Nightshade, who got the superplex off for a quick two-count. Nightshade dumps Grace to the outside as commentary pointed out that Jordynne hung her knee up in the ropes – not to worry, Nightshade’s able to keep going, kicking away on Yuu before a Flatliner was broken up by Grace. There’s a nice shotgun dropkick/back senton from Yuu to take out two opponents in one go, before a Judo takedown landed on Grace. There’s a spinning sidewalk slam for Nightshade too, before Yuu ran into a pushdown stomp as Grace nearly took the win with a Vaderbomb. Yuu again dispatches of Grace as she then made a beeline for Nightshade with a katahajime, but Grace dropkicked it away as Nightshade was about to have the match waved off.
All of a sudden, Grace gets distracted as she mouthed off to Laura di Matteo on commentary… then gets rolled up for the win by Yuu. A perfectly fine trios match as they did a little to build up to tomorrow. ***
Post-match, Nightshade attacks Yuu before leaving – and judging by t-shirt spoilers, that’s heading somewhere…
Charli Evans vs. Jetta
Having been booked in Wolverhampton last night, Charli Evans is back for the first time in EVE in almost two months, following a tour of Japan. This is a warm-up for tomorrow’s tag title match, and there’s some aggro as soon as Jetta hit the ring too.
The match instantly spills outside as Jetta hooked away on Charli by the bar. Hi Mort! A slap to Charli’s back led to them rolling back in for a two-count, before Jetta’s attempt at a German suplex was thwarted so instead we got a Tree of Woe and a dropkick to the Aussie Evans for another near-fall. Charli recovered with a Fisherman’s suplex for a two-count, then with some choking in the ropes as she looked to work over Jetta’s arm. Facewashing boots in the corners follow, which helped to bloody Jetta’s nose as the pair proceeded to chop each other silly. A knee lift from Charli nearly put her away after some nice work in the corner, before a back cracker led to a Jetta Lock… but they’re way too close to the ropes as Charli saved herself.
Another big boot from Evans led to her tossing Jetta into the corner, as a Fisherman’s suplex with a beautiful bridge puts Jetta way. Some heated stuff here (weather pun not intended), with Jetta showing some good fire after getting bloodied. ***
Post-match, Charli painted her face with Jetta’s blood.
Laura di Matteo vs. Arisa Hoshiki
This isn’t for Hoshiki’s Wonder of Stardom championship – although that is being defended tomorrow…
We start on the mat as di Matteo worked over Hoshiki’s arm, before she took Hoshiki to the mat for a leg lock that ended in the ropes. Hoshiki kicks Laura, then took her into the corner with some running double knees as the Italian was getting pelted on the way to a near-fall. A flying head kick caught Laura for a near-fall, as I think Arisa’s trying to ring her bell… headscissors from di Matteo get her free before a dropkick drew a near-fall. From there, the Veni, Vidi, Vici submission’s applied, but Hoshiki’s able to get to the rope to force a break. Laura keeps up the momentum with a tornado DDT for a near-fall, before Hoshiki went back to the head kicks for another near-fall. I feel like Hoshiki’s like me playing UFC games here – going for a lot of headshots in search of a KO.
Laura’s back with a head kick, only to get murderised by some knees and another headkick, before a small package out of nowhere wrapped it up. That’s Laura’s momentum killed going into tomorrow, but this felt like a lot of bomb throwing with some rough edges. **¾
Post-match, Jordynne Grace hit the ring and laid into Laura with some forearms, then dumped her out unceremoniously. She tells Laura “I’m right here”, a reference to those promos in the past, as things felt a little awkward.
Nina Samuels vs. Erin Angel
Nina started out the aggressor here of the two title challengers, as she looked to work over Angel’s arm in the opening stretch.
Armdrags got Angel back in it, as do headscissors, only for a backbreaker from Nina to put things back to how they were. Nina stomped on Angel in time to the crowd’s chanting, before a dropkick sent Angel reeling backwards for a near-fall. Samuels looked to be bossing this, scoring with a clothesline, but Nina manages to fire back, taking down Nina with a crossbody and a running neckbreaker. Angel headed up top again, but Samuels caught her with a forearm, only to get shoved down as a missile dropkick connected instead. An Unprettier looked to follow, but Nina pushes away, before a Go To Sleep was countered with a sunset flip for a near-fall, as Nina kicked out and quickly put her away with that GTS. That’s both of the WrestleFriends going into their tag title match with losses, while Nina looks comfortable going into her shot at the International title. **¾
Queens’ Quest (Utami Hayashishita & Viper) vs. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Jamie Hayter)
That’s the first and current International champions on the same team as Viper managed to get her lift to the venue after all!
We’ve a new referee for this, Artemis, who I think was making her main show debut. Of course, like all tag matches, things break down quickly… Viper gets handcuffed to the top rope inside the opening seconds as Dann on commentary bemoaned the quality of the referees EVE employ. With Viper at bay, this was pretty much a handicap match, with Kagetsu spraying water at Utami, before she produced the key for the handcuffs and hid them in plain sight, tying them in a bag on the top rope. Alrighty then! Utami’s cornered as Oedo Tai made quick tags to wear her down.
Eventually a dropkick stopped Kagetsu, but Utami found out the hard way Viper was no use because of the handcuffs. The referee was just as useful, not making any play for those keys, before Utami went to the bag and finally freed her partner. Viper gets the tag in and clears house with cannonballs to Hayter and Kagetsu in the corners. Kagetsu’s back in with kicks as Viper’s cornered again, this time without handcuffs, before she caught a springboard and threw Kagetsu to the mat. The Viper Driver’s next, but Hayter breaks up the cover as tags took us back to Hayter and Utami as we had another preview of their title match tomorrow.
Shoulder tackles from Utami dropped Hayter before a STO led to a near-fall as Utami hadn’t hooked the leg. Instead, she goes for a rear naked choke, only for my feed to buffer and return as Viper broke up a cover on a Hayter Falcon arrow. More buffering took us to Viper holding up Hayter for a missile dropkick from Utami for yet another near-fall. A miscue led to Hayter taking a head kick from Kagetsu, leaving her prone for a German suplex as Utami picked up the win. This was a fun little tag, with the fall tellingly seeing Jamie Hayter lose against the International champion one day out from York Hall. ***
Millie McKenzie vs. Mayu Iwatani vs. Su Yung vs. Kay Lee Ray
We’ve bedlam to start out as Millie McKenzie went after Kay Lee Ray from the off – in what was billed as Kay Lee’s final match at the Resistance Gallery… again!
Some Kendo stick shots from Su Yung led to the match spilling outside with Su lifting Iwatani onto the bar for an uppercut palm strike. Yung got posted as the shot changed to Millie McKenzie fighting out of a Gory bomb that targeted the apron, all while the referee stood and watched on. Eventually things “calmed down” back in the ring as Kay Lee Ray went wild with chops, before countering a spear from McKenzie into a tornado DDT for a near-fall. Iwatani’s double lucha armdrag eventually took Yung and McKenzie into the ropes for a dropkick, but she can’t follow up as Yung hangs Iwatani in a Tree of Woe in the corner.
Millie tries to interfere, but she quickly backed off as Iwatani caught Su with a Final Cut… only for Millie to return to steal a two-count and then run off. Some biting from Su led into some buffering as it was time for that rotten red glove to some into play. Rather than run scared, Millie bit away on the hand ahead of a swinging neckbreaker, before she caught Kay Lee Ray with her own Gory bomb for a near-fall. More buffering takes us into a Tower of Doom superplex, before Kay Lee Ray went flying with a tope to McKenzie on the outside. There’s more of that as Su headed onto the apron for a flip senton into the pile, before Iwatani flew with a crossbody off the top.
Back in the ring, Iwatani blasted through Yung with a double stomp for a near-fall, before Millie again tried to snatch a win with a spear. Kay Lee Ray stopped that with a Gory Bomb, before she took Su’s Panic Switch. That would have led to the win, but Martina came down and accidentally spat at Kay Lee Ray before the two brawled to the back… That left us with Iwatani, McKenzie and Kay Lee… but with Mayu on the floor, it’s effectively now a singles match as a ragdolling German suplex dropped the EVE champion, ahead of another spear. Millie looked for another Gory bomb, but Kay Lee countered out with a sunset flip… and that’s it! A win on her final appearance here, but this was a four-way that looked to put spotlight more on Su Yung and Millie McKenzie than anyone else. ***¼
Post-match, Charlie Evans came out to flatten Kay Lee with a crossbody as yet another spear leaves Kay Lee Ray down. Viper runs out to make the save, and had to block what was meant to be an accidental superkick from Kay Lee Ray, as those two had an uncomfortable encounter before they shook hands and left.
Back in their regular home, this was a step up from what we had in Brighton on Friday night – although the crowd noticeably tired out as the show wore on. I blame the heat. As a go-home show though, perhaps felt a little by the numbers at times, with focus only placed on the big matches, and relatively little on that undercard. Speaking of, here’s your current, advertised, line-up for WrestleQueendom 2:
Death Match: Session Goth vs. Su Yung
Wonder of Stardom Championship: Little Miss Roxxy vs. Arisa Hoshiki (c)
Jordynne Grace vs. Laura Di Matteo
Kagetsu vs. Mayu Iwatani
EVE Tag Team Championship: Erin Angel & Jetta vs. Medusa Complex (Charli Evans & Millie McKenzie)
EVE International Championship: Utami Hayashishita (c) vs. Jamie Hayter vs. Nina Samuels
EVE Championship: Kay Lee Ray (c) vs. Viper – in what’s being billed as both women’s final match with the promotion
- WrestleQueendom 2 is tomorrow (Sunday June 30), with a 4pm BST start time – if you’re not going to be at York Hall, then you can watch the live stream via eveondemand.com