Tenille Dashwood came to town as WWR’s latest outing saw the former WWE star take on the winner of January’s Revolutionary Rumble – Jordynne Grace.
Unlike last time, WWR had their own pre-show – rather than one put forth by Beyond – as the show once again came from Worcester’s Electric Haze. Paul Crockett is on commentary, initially starting with Deonna Purrazzo…
Willow Nightingale vs. Oceanea
Oceanea is the former Ashley Vox, whose character’s changed in CHIKARA… so it must change elsewhere. The word of the Quack!
Willow mocks swimming around Oceanea at the start, but she doesn’t take kindly to that as she started to charge at Nightingale… only to get knocked down with a shoulder charge ahead of more mocking. Oceanea, who seems to be keeping her old gear that proclaimed her to be a “reel catch”, fought back to knock Willow to the outside, only to be dragged out for some punches and an eventual suplex onto the edge of the apron. Back inside, Oceanea was able to poke Willow in the eye, but when it goes to strikes she’s quickly knocked down as they looked to fight onto the turnbuckles… only for a running knee from Oceanea to send Willow back to the apron as she began using her knee to wear down her bigger foe. A PK just angers Willow, who responds with a lariat, before she got caught in the ropes doing a moonsault, before Oceanea dragged her into a Tree of Woe for a big dropkick.
They tee off on each other with forearms before duelling big boots left them down. Willow’s back up with a head kick, a uranage and a back senton for a near-fall, but Oceanea’s able to shock her way back into the match with a fisherman buster… only to miss a senton off the top. A death valley driver put Nightingale right back in it, but she misses a moonsault before a fish hook – modified chicken wing – got the quick tap out. A pretty solid match, but I don’t feel like I knew anything about the Oceanea character after this. **¼
Allie Recks vs. Solo Darling
Ahead of this one, there’s a line on commentary that (in a rather different culture) could have been taken in completely the wrong way. Let’s just stick with the “firey” adjective for Solo, eh?
The pair trade kicks early, as Reks ends up getting shoved into the corner… but she replies with a cartwheel forearm and a bulldog as the action remained pretty frantic. Some pinning attempts followed, as they go back to the strikes, with Solo trying to kick out Reck’s quads, only to get caught with a lungblower. A slap from Solo stops Recks in her tracks as commentary called out how “unsure” they looked in the ring… just as Darling nailed a tornado suplex for a two-count. The Cloverleaf forces Recks to crawl towards the ropes, as she mounted a comeback with kicks and forearms before landing a neckbreaker for a near-fall of her own.
Solo keeps on the cloverleaf, this time locking in a grounded version of the submission, but Recks fights free and hits another lungblower, then Eat Defeat, eventually getting a near-fall as Darling had to fight to get her foot on the rope. It seems that Recks only knows the lungblower, but Solo stays on her feet as this starts to feel like a video game glitching out, before Solo caught Eat Defeat and turned it into a flapjack… then goes right back to the cloverleaf for the submission. This felt a little clunky – I get the story of wrestlers having a game plan, but when your plan is “kick and hit one move a lot”, it quickly gets tired. *½
Delmi Exo vs. Faye Jackson
Having had one half of the former Sea Stars on the pre-show, we’ve now got the other as Delmi Exo appeared with her new tomboy character.
Stokely Hathaway’s out with Faye Jackson, and he’s not exactly shown love for his promo… and after a few moments we’re finally underway, with Exo trying an O’Connor roll early before scoring a knee-to-the face and a neckbreaker for an early one count. Faye misses a charge in the corner, sort-of, and gets pulled into the ropes as Exo hits a dropkick on the apron for another eventual one-count.
Exo moves to a wristlock, but Jackson fights out, right as Stokely Hathaway gets on the apron for a distraction… allowing Faye to choke Exo with her hair extensions. Well, it beats t-shirt choking! A legdrop after that gets a couple of sloppy one counts before it’s turned into a brief submission attempt as Jackson’s Northern Lights suplex gets her a two-count.
After the kickout, Exo plays dead, but it’s a ruse as an inside cradle nearly gets her the win! Clotheslines follow, but she can’t get off a side Russian legsweep, which instead got countered into a belly-to-belly for a near-fall, before she starts to follow in with some hip attacks as Exo couldn’t get off the mat. Once Jackson pulled her up, Exo began a fightback, taking Faye into the corner for an avalanche splash, then a flying neckbreaker off the middle rope that almost got the upset. Jackson responds by low-bridging Delmi to the outside, hoping to get a count-out by repeatedly kicking her off the apron.
The referee counts to nine as Exo headed to the bar… so she could get a drink. Yeah, that didn’t look good on the referee’s part as he just held up the count. Back in the ring, Exo fired up a la Stone Cold, hitting a stunner as Stokely again tied up the referee… he’s knocked off the apron by Delmi, before she turns around into a Michinoku driver for the win. This was alright, but the spot at the end with the referee looked all kinds of wonky and took me out of it. **½
No Disqualification: Maria Manic vs. Terra Calaway
I don’t know what necessitated the addition of the stipulation here, but hey, it’s a no-DQ main event for the pre-show. Manic tries to intimidate Calaway at the bell, but that wasn’t happening. What was happening… lots and lots of forearms as Manic finally grabbed an arm and took Calaway into the corner ahead of a low dropkick from the apron.
Manic tried to follow up, but Calaway sweeps the leg as they went outside, leading to a brutal sidewalk slam onto the floor. Terra keeps up by throwing Maria into the wall, before grabbing some chairs from under the ring, setting them up in an ominous landing area… but instead this turned into a bit of a bar fight. Eventually Manic gets chopped out of her seat, and gets taken back into the ring as a neckbreaker gets Calaway a near-fall… which she tries to improve on by choking away at Manic. A sit-down splash, a la Bastion Booger follows (just without the wacky dance), but Manic’s able to push out as she manages to surprise Calaway with a series of German suplexes.
A nasty DDT follows, but a delayed cover only gets a two-count, so Terra grabs a chair and looked to land a full nelson slam… only for Manic to slip out and dump Terra through the chair with a Samoan drop for the win. That looked nasty, but a nice win and usage of the no-DQ stuff given how little time they had. **½
For the main show we’re led on commentary by Denver Colorado and Paul Crockett.
LuFisto vs. Shotzi Blackheart
LuFisto’s all over the debuting Blackheart early, but the two gradually trade submissions, starting with full nelsons before LuFisto escaped a wheelbarrow roll and turned it into a STF.
After a rope break, they go to a test of strength, which LuFisto initially won out on, only for Blackheart to get tripped as she looked to reverse it. LuFisto changes her game plan as she throws fists and takes Shotzi into the corner for some chops, before draping Shotzi over the middle rope for some more shots as they seemed to work their way to the floor.
Back inside, LuFisto tried to wear down Shotzi with a rear naked choke, only for it to be escaped and met with a neckbreaker as Blackheart mounted a comeback, dropping LuFisto with an enziguiri for a near-fall. She followed up with her take on a Muta lock, morphing it into almost an inverted surfboard before rolling up LuFisto for a surprising two-count. A running kick in the corner misses, which allows LuFisto to put Blackheart in a Tree of Woe for a baseball slide and a cannonball, but she can’t untie her so a pinning attempt ends up being massively delayed. Regardless, Shotzi’s back with a pair of lungblowers like she’s Allie Reks or something, and we’re back to the exchange of strikes as neither woman looked to budge.
Shotzi’s Slingblades take LuFisto down for some running double knees, but it’s not enough, so she switches plans and fires away with kicks. LuFisto switches free and hauls Shotzi up into a tree slam that’s turned into a Fisherman’s buster for a huge near-fall, prompting another fight-back that saw Blackheart combine a Stinger splash into a spiking DDT for a two-count of her own.
That seemed to give Shotzi enough confidence to go up top, but her back senton off the top whiffs badly as LuFisto hammer-fisted her way back into the match, before hauling her up for a Burning Hammer for the win. Nice and competitive stuff to get the main show underway – it was always going to be a huge ask for Shotzi to get the win here, but it was a game fight and an even contest that left you wanting more. **¾
Denver Colorado announces on commentary that the planned main event of Deonna Purrazzo vs. Sonya Strong was off because Sonya had been hospitalised.
Kennedi Copeland vs. Nadi
Nadi’s billed from “central Armenia”, which I guess is a new take on the usual “Russian heel” gimmick that’s been around for ages. Fortunately they don’t play up her home country as a gimmick, as Nadi instead takes a shot at Copeland for being a failed MMA fighter who wanted to wrestle.
Can’t help but wonder if that’s a veiled shot at someone?
Nadi starts by literally kneeing Copeland in the thigh as the pair ran at each other, before Copeland’s backslide fell apart… as does a La Magistral as pinning attempts weren’t quite working. After getting tripped in the corner, Nadi runs out with a lariat for a near-fall, before a sidewalk slam kept her in control of the match, if not her ring gear. Copeland tries a small package, but Nadi kicked out and keeps up on top, taking Copeland into the corner as the crowd started to boo… and I’m not sure if it was for heat. Some rope jogging led to Nadi landing a STO for a near-fall, but Copeland’s right back with a big boot as she began to mount a comeback. Clotheslines and elbows follow, before Nadi falls a little too soon for a neckbreaker attempt.
Copeland flips over Nadi for some reason, and gets whacked with a curb stomp as those two-counts kept coming… and with Nadi spending too much time arguing with the ref, she misses Copeland getting back to her feet. One Shining Wizard later, and this is mercifully over. Story-wise, this was good back and forth, but a lot of this looked badly-timed. At least it was short. *¼
Kasey Catal vs. Vanity
You might recognise Catal if you watch Raw every week – she was one of Asuka’s squash victims in October 2017…
Catal started off by working around Vanity’s wrist as the pair kept things simple in the early stages. A leg sweep put Vanity down, but Catal takes a while to capitalise, and ends up getting taken into the corner before rebounding with a hiptoss. Vanity’s powerslam acts as a reply as she took over, taking Catal into the corner before nailing a suplex to keep her down.
A slingshot suplex connects for a near-fall as Vanity was starting to work over Kasey’s back, but Catal almost nicks a win with a roll-up before she’s bulled down with a forearm. Catal climbed onto Vanity’s shoulders in the corner and landed a nice Victory roll for a near-fall, before slipping onto the apron as she played a game of cat and mouse with Vanity. Back inside, Catal manages to charge Vanity’s head into the turnbuckles, but she takes way too long for a moonsault and gets hung up in the ropes for a neckbreaker instead.
Catal tries again on the middle rope and this time nails her move – a springboard cutter – but it’s only enough for a near-fall as Vanity rolled onto the apron… and hung her arm across the top strand instead as Vanity began a flurry of offence, ending with Eat Defeat for the win. An impressive showing from Catal, who showed a lot of fire and could be a good prospect in the years ahead, despite coming up short here. **¼
Kris Stadtlander vs. Davienne
Stadtlander didn’t impress me on her last showing here, but it’s easy to get lost in a trios match, especially as a newcomer. This time she’s up against someone pretty underrated in Davienne, as the originally scheduled trios match ended up getting cancelled due to injury.
Stadtlander’s gimmick seems to be that she has special powers – which she demonstrated by thwarting a test of strength early on, returning in with a dropkick as Davienne was on the back foot in the opening stages. An abdominal stretch into a roll-up was the long way around into a one-count, before she used her powers to break away some hair pulling and then flip Davienne to the mat.
Hey, it’s like Joey Ryan without all of the shtick!
Stadtlander ends up running into a boot as Davienne switched gears, taking Kris around the corners for some chops, as she decided to work on “breaking Kris’ antennae”… by which she meant her fingers. A big spinning heel kick took Davienne down though, with Stadtlander getting a near-fall only for Davienne to fire back up with some clubbing axehandles as she resumed the offence. They head outside as Davienne looked to kick her head on the apron, then tried to baseball slide her into the ring post as those near-falls started to rack up. Stadtlander happily exchanges forearms as both women were knocked down… a missile dropkick from Kris follows for a near-fall, only for Davienne to quickly reply with a swinging side slam… but Davienne was far from happy that it wasn’t enough to put away the relative rookie.
Stadtlander tried to go up top, but was caught by Davienne, who ended up getting caught her self as an Electric Chair facebuster brought Davienne hard out of the corner. An axe kick followed, but Sammy Lane gets on the apron to distract the referee as Kris had the match won. Lane’s sent down from the apron after a head squeeze (a la Crush), but Stadtlander ends up turning around into an Air Raid Crash as Davienne picked up the win. I really enjoyed this – a really good showing from Stadtlander, who really only lost because of outside interference. Another one from that Create a Pro school to keep your eye on! **½
Jordynne Grace vs. Tenille Dashwood
Curiously hidden away in the midcard, Grace’s crack at the former WWE star came after she won a Revolutionary Rumble back in January.
The pair start off at a decent pace, with Grace working her way into a headlock takedown, only to get caught in some headscissors as the pair went at it. Grace backed into the corner as Dashwood had a hammerlock, but the former Emma’s right back with a full nelson as the pair countered so much they probably got dizzy… at least until Grace teased a pumphandle driver!
Dashwood goes back to the hammerlock as she tried to neutralise Grace’s strength advantage, but a shoulder block quickly snuffs that out as Jordynne ends up catching a Thesz press, turning it into a bear hug instead. Grace tries to charge back, but gets tripped into the corner as Dashwood scores with the sliding splash into the corner for a near-fall, before nailing a floatover into a side Russian legsweep to keep the pressure up.
Grace rolls onto the apron, but it backfires as she’s caught with a neckbreaker through the ropes, before ducking a PK and instead smashing Tenille face-first onto the apron with an Electric Chair. Jordynne keeps up with a suplex as she started to dominate the match, whipping Dashwood into the turnbuckles… only for Tenille to reverse things with some good ol’fashioned head smashing into the buckles. A Tarantula hold follows in the corner as Dashwood briefly stretched Grace and nailed a butterfly suplex as well for a near-fall. Dashwood ends up running into a big spinebuster for a couple of near-falls as Grace tried to power her way through, before we got some indy’riffic near-falls as the pair countered sunset flips back and forth.
Out of nowhere, Dashwood scored a reverse DDT, but Grace is right back in as she lifted Tenille up into a Liger Bomb for a near-fall of her own. Some elbows and uppercuts in the corner follow, but Dashwood rolls away from a Vader Bomb before finishing off Jordynne with a running Spotlight kick… and that’s all! A pretty solid, and even, contest, which saw Dashwood get the win without it ever feeling like “the former WWE star hogged the contest”. Any chance of a rematch – this was real good! ***¼
They go to interval – and in the meantime they air some stuff from Beyond’s last event. We’ll get around to that someday, but in the meantime, I’m hitting fast-forward!
Penelope Ford vs. Barbi Hayden
Hayden outlined herself as the bad guy in this one during her entrance, ordering fans aside… well, at least we definitely know what side of the fence Barbi’s on today!
Ford started by working a wristlock on Hayden as the pair fought for a headlock… ending with a snap takedown as Hayden tried to turn it into a backbreaker of sorts. On the mat, Hayden manages to counter with headscissors, wrenching all the way back as commentary teased a submission while Barbi tried to do push-ups as well. Eventually Ford just handstands her way free, but Hayden tries to catch her… and ends up falling to some satellite headscissors as the relative veteran’s taken to the outside.
Hayden’s right back in with a tiltawhirl slam for a near-fall, as she wore down Ford with a Dragon sleeper and some knees to take her into the ropes. Ford’s in big trouble, having to kick out as Hayden almost gave Ford a loss in her first singles outing here. It’s kept up too when Ford’s crucifix is blocked, with Hayden charging her awkwardly into the turnbuckles, before running in with a knee and a headscissors takedown out of the corner.
Commentary’s all over the referee for not checking on Ford after she’d been backed into the corner earlier, and with Ford getting taken to the outside, it gets worse as a spear on the apron took Ford down to the floor. Back inside, Hayden teases a rope-hung DDT, but Ford slips out and nearly nicks the win with an alligator clutch, before simply clubbing Hayden down to the mat.
Hayden throws a wild clothesline that misses at Ford, who responds with a Downward Spiral into the turnbuckles as she continued a comeback, nailing a handspring back elbow into the corner, then a springboard cutter for the win! A nice come-from-behind win for Ford, despite a late series that looked a little off – but this was a really good performance… and with Hayden refusing a handshake at the end, it’s pretty clear that this wasn’t a “I’m bad just to try and win” character. **¾
Alisha Edwards & Gilian Leigh vs. Team Adams (Karen Q & Tasha Steelz)
We opened up with Q and Leigh, as commentary called out Gilian’s knee brace being a potential target in this one. Another target looked to be Karen’s forehead, as Leigh broke uncleanly in the corner with a forearm, before Edwards tagged in and landed a wheelbarrow-assisted back senton onto Q for an early two-count.
Eventually Q tagged out to Tasha Steelz, who nails an axehandle out of the corner as the pair exchanged frequent tags as they restrained Leigh. A double-team elbow gets a near-fall, before Steelz cinched in a side headlock before kneeing Leigh… only to get knocked off the turnbuckles by an invading Edwards.
That nasty landing gets Leigh a near-fall, as does a high-impact slam, before some ground and pound put Leigh firmly in control. Edwards keeps up with forearms on Steelz, before some grounded body scissors looked to try and force a submission as Steelz just couldn’t get out of her opponent’s corner. It’s standard, but efficient tag team offence, which built up into the Steelz comeback… but it was Leigh who almost helped her tag out as a right hand sent Tasha recoiling towards her own corner.
Leigh massively crashes and burns as a shoulder tackle saw her miss in the corner, hitting the post and sailing all the way through to the floor, giving Steelz a chance to recover and make the tag out… which she eventually does as Q fired up against a freshly-tagged Edwards. A cartwheel forearm into the corner and a pair of kicks gets Q a near-fall as all four women hit the ring with the referee seemingly losing control.
Karen’s thrown to the outside as Steelz lands an Ace crusher to Edwards, starting a Parade of Moves that ends with Alisha nailing Q with a Downward Spiral. A jawbreaker from Karen helps her into a Boston crab on Edwards, but Leigh’s quickly in there to break it up, before accidentally taking down her own partner as a spinning fireman’s carry laid out Edwards… a missile dropkick from Steelz gets rid of Leigh, allowing Karen Q to go right back to Edwards for that Boston crab for the win. A nice, frantic finale, and a really good tag team match as WWR started to push Q and Steelz as the team to beat. ***
Skylar vs. Rachel Ellering
Skylar’s still looking for her first win in WWR – but commentary is keen to point out that she has a win over Jordynne Grace on a recent Beyond show. Can she build on that and get a win over Rachel Ellering here today?
They started with a tie-up as Ellering took Skylar into the corner, as the early feeling out process was rather measured, with the pair trading wristlocks as Ellering worked Skylar down to the mat to keep working on that arm and shoulder. A side headlock gets Ellering some one-counts as they kept things grounded, going from headlock takedowns, to headscissors and the like.
Ellering’s dominating early on, nailing a dropkick before Skylar slipped out of a fireman’s carry and tripped her for a near-fall, before Rachel hit right back with a shoulder tackle as the pair went off the ropes. Plenty of swings and misses ended when Skylar burst into life with armdrags, then a wacky wheelbarrow/bodyscissor armdrag combo as Ellering decided to flick a switch and play dirty. A chop in the corner stops a clean break, as Ellering starts to put the boots to Skylar, kicking her when she was down. Ellering keeps up with a nice slam and back senton combo for a near-fall, before knocking down an attempted comeback, drilling Skylar with a forearm. It’s almost too dominating a performance for Ellering, who keeps up with a powerslam as those two-counts were stacking up.
Skylar starts to fight back from the bottom, but Ellering’s knees to the gut looked to be her final bit of offence as both women clattered into each other with clotheslines at the same time. They get back up as Skyler’s comeback continues, nailing elbows and clotheslines before an overhead kick rocked Ellering… a hiptoss knee keeps Skylar ahead, as she lands a DDT for a two-count.
Ellering cuts it off and comes back with a STO and a legdrop out of the corner as Skylar’s comeback was snuffed out… Skylar avoids a piledriver and boots Ellering away, before nailing a Meteora off the top rope as she almost claimed her first WWR win. From the kick-out though, she floated over into a Last Chancery, and although Ellering’s got a long way to crawl, she’s able to get a foot on the ropes to save herself.
Another pump kick from Ellering decks Skylar, who rolled to the apron… and almost got booted off it again with some pump kicks. You sensed the end was nigh, but it wasn’t as you’d expect – Ellering took Skylar down with a pop up spinebuster… and despite having the pin, Skylar shocked her with a crucifix on the mat as the flash pin earned “Hot Scoop” her first WWR victory. Beautiful stuff here – with Ellering playing the slight bad guy here so Skylar could get her moment in the sun. ***
So, our main event was scheduled to be Deonna Purrazzo against Sonya Strong – who had riled up Deonna by saying she’d only “gotten as far as she has in wrestling because of who she’s dating”. The latter’s hospitalisation meant that we had a change, as Purrazzo instead issued an open challenge…
Sonya Strong’s music hit, as she came to the ring in street clothes to run her mouth… before Jordynne Grace interrupted things. Strong quickly scarpers, and I guess this is our main event?
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jordynne Grace
Yep, that’s double duty for Jordynne, who wants to quickly get herself back to winning ways.
Grace tried to nick the win early with a crucifix, but instead they trade holds as the feeling process began in earnest. A front facelock from Grace saw her drag Purrazzo down to the mat, but it’s swiftly countered back and forth as they both looked to work on the arms, before Deonna started to work over some headscissors on the mat.
Grace manages to roll through and rather than handstand her way free, she turned it into a roll-up for a near-fall as the stalemate continued. Purrazzo goes back to the arm though, then levels Grace with a kick after a snapmare took her to the ground. Commentary was hinting that Grace was a little tired, having already wrestled once today, but she’s able to level Purrazzo with a massive pounce to take her down for a two-count.
A back elbow in the ropes keeps Purrazzo at bay, as does a bear hug, before a sidewalk slam from Grace earned her a solid two-count. Another spinebuster keeps the pressure up for Jordynne, but Purrazzo reverses a throw and sent Grace to the floor via the ring post. Purrazzo tries to wait for the count-out, then decides to head outside where she’s caught by Grace… but the Electric Chair drop onto the apron is blocked as Deonna flies off the apron with a crossbody instead.
Back inside, a knee lift and a side Russian legsweep gets a near-fall for Purrazzo as the match became rather more even. Purrazzo fires up despite getting repeatedly slammed, even kicking out of a Michinoku driver! A Vader bomb looked to be next, but Grace misses and gets caught with a La Magistral for a near-fall, before Deonna switched right to a Fujiwara armbar as she looked for the submission. She turns it into a Rings of Saturn too, but Grace squirms her way to the ropes to force a break.
After that break, Purrazzo nails a pump kick and a German suplex, sending Jordynne into the corner, but a big boot stomps whatever offence was going to happen as Purrazzo ate knees and a sliding punch in the corner, before nailing the Vader bomb for a near-fall. Grace teases the Liger bomb out of the corner, but Purrazzo escapes and tries another German suplex as we have plenty of reversals… ending with an O’Connor roll as Grace snuck out with the victory! A heck of a performance from Jordynne, who perhaps cemented her role as the Ace of WWR with this – having taken on two matches in one day and shown her worth in both of them. Easily the best bout on the card – in a fitting role too! ***½
Grace quickly left after the match – and that gave Sonya Strong an opening to hit the ring and beat down Purrazzo from behind… running away only when Jordynne returned as the show came to a close.
“From The Pinnacle To The Pit” was a long show – especially if you factor in the pre-show… and as such it was a mixed bag. By the time we got to the feature matches, the action really picked up – with WWR showing off a roster that has plenty of potential across all parts of the card. If you’re pushed for time, I’d say you could perhaps skip the first few matches of the main show, but overall this show is worth your time if you’ve any interest in women’s wrestling.