The Pro Wrestling EVE Thread (UK)

[themib]

As just pointed out by Dann, this will be the first EVER women's show in the UK not to feature a single wrestler from England. That's almost like the Chelsea and Arsenal teams of the early 2000s.

[prowrestlingeve]

The Pro-Wrestling:EVE Champion Nikki Storm is NOT happy at Rhia O'Reilly!

[themib]

Kay Lee Ray is the first EVE wrestler announced for the EVE offer match at the Southside Wrestling Entertainment card later that evening. It'll be a tag team match.

[themib]

And now take Kay Lee Ray out of that tag match... as she's replacing Zema Ion in Southside's Speed King tournament.

[prowrestlingeve]

[themib]

Nightmare journey into Nottingham, but I'm here and ready for tomorrow's show.

[themib]

Last minute change to the tourney - Carmel Jacob is replacing Blue Nikita, and will face Emi Sakura in the first round. Think Nikita is getting a title shot as compensation.

[fuzzbuzz]

I must admit I was a bit surprised, and a little disappointed, at how short the show was. They rifled through 8 matches in 90 minutes flat, that there was no real time for any reflection as they just went immediately from one match to another to another. The lack of intermission didn't really give any breathing room to the show.

And I think a few of the matches could have benefited from a bit extra time. Shanna/Leah Von Dutch was one and most definitely Emi Sakura/Kasey Owens which played out at a lightning pace (though fairness to them, they crammed a hell of a lot in; those chops!).

I've no real problems with Shanna winning the tournament, or how any of it played out. She has been rock solid since her début.

The Championship match was a bit strange. I appreciate that EVE are trying to blur the lines between a traditional heel/babyface and I've no objection in theory to seeing heel/heel matches, but Rhia/Storm just felt a little off. There seemed to be an awkwardness of the general crowd over who to cheer for. So Rhia being a heel uses the title to try and steal a win, but then Nikki uses the title to get deliberately DQ'd (an aside for a wrestling pet peeve: why book a (title) match where you can't decide upon a clear winner?), and the crowd has the obligatory boos for a No Contest. Fair enough. Except since Nikki tried to get screwed over, her cheating thereafter to keep the title means that...we should praise her?

Plus, even if Rhia (a heel) does not have any grounds for a title rematch, you still have Shanna (a heel) who should be in line for a title match, and that Carmel Jacob (a heel), and Sara Marie-Taylor (a heel), already have earned title matches...you get the picture. Sometimes it is nice and simple to be told just who to cheer for.

Of the matches I would say that Shanna/Sakura along with Kay Lee Ray/Alhpa Female were probably the standouts, both being very good. It may sound harsh but I don't think there were any blowaway matches, however there were no bad matches at all. So thumbs up overall for the in-ring action.

On a personal note it was my first time seeing both Owens twins and Leah Von Dutch live in person, and all 3 looked good and I would welcome their returns.

Finally it is stating the obvious to say that Emi Sakura is quality and a fantastic wrestler. But after the show she went around everyone and shook their hands and thanked them for coming. A real class act.

[scarletspider]

Yep. By Eve standards, this show was... alright. Whenever Eve have travelled (out of Sudbury) before, it's always still felt like an Eve show. But his one felt different somehow. The low turnout obviously affected the atmosphere a bit, and there was a kind of 'production line' feel to the whole show. And Fuzz is right; whilst there were no bad matches, neither were there any standout bouts either. Nothing that had a real 'wow' factor to it. I think I was especially disappointed that we didn't get the match we could have/should have had between KLR and Shanna, as KLR went into their match playing up the effects of her earlier sneak attack from Carmel.

Rhia and Nikki was probably my match of the show, albeit up until the disappointing conclusion. It was more brawl than ballet, but it had some real fire to it, which until that point the show had somewhat lacked.

As I say, it wasn't a bad show at all, and neither were there any bad matches. But equally, it wasn't the best we've seen from Eve.

[themib]

Having had a day to think about it, there was a fair bit to be disappointed about, but the wrestling and tournament conclusion sure wasn't it. I can comfortably say that this was the smallest crowd I've ever watched wrestling with, and it's a shame it had to be an EVE show. The show wasn't promoted well locally, whereas with Southside, it was jam packed with around 400 people. Some of the EVE matches suffered greatly due to the low attendance, some of the early tourney matches especially. Credit to the Owens Twins for working out mid match how to get the fans into their match, by having Leah start working heel against her sister.

The one issue I have with EVE right now is Dann's insistence of blurring the face/heel lines. Nikki Storm is still very much a heel, and she has four contenders lined up for her title... all of them are heels. Who the hell are we meant to cheer for? I went into the title match planning on cheering for Storm, as Rhia had slagged the fans off in her promo, and Storm had a babyface reason for beating her - yet Storm was the same mouthy madam she's always been (even turning the air very blue for this "family" show), and got herself DQ'd when the match wasn't going her way (after Rhia had also hit her with the belt, with the referee missing it, so we couldn't exactly feel sorry for her) - and now Shanna's getting the WrestleFever 2 shot, after having used heel tactics throughout the tournament, including attacking an already injured Kay Lee Ray before the bell. Someone's going to have to be turned face before then so we have someone to believe in.

Emi Sakura/Shanna was really good, not quite there with their AWW match, but still a pretty good tournament final, and quite the scalp in a former champion for Shanna to take.

[freaky]

Just for clarification's sake, the results:

1. Queen of the Ring Quarter Final: Emi Sakura pinned Carmel Jacob with La Magistral.
2. Queen of the Ring Quarter Final: Kasey Owens beat Leah Owens with an inside cradle.
3. Queen of the Ring Quarter Final: Shanna defeated Leah Von Dutch with a sit out implant buster.
4. Queen of the Ring Quarter Final: Kay Lee Ray beat Alpha Female via count out.
5. Queen of the Ring Semi Final: Emi Sakura pinned Kasey Owens with a corkscrew moonsault.
6. Queen of the Ring Semi Final: Shanna beat Kay Lee Ray with a sit out implant buster.
7. EVE Championship: Rhia O’Reilly defeated Nikki Storm via DQ.
8. Queen of the Ring Final: Shanna beat Emi Sakura with a Warrior’s Way.

There are thoughts from me and more than 20 photos on the link below, but I'm with others on the bottleneck of heels challenging for the title.
ringbellesonline.com/2013/05/25/pro-wrestling-eve-queen-of-the-ring-live-results-nikki-storm-defends-the-eve-title-against-rhia-oreilly/

[themib]

After nearly 18 months away, PRO WRESTLING EVE IS BACK TONIGHT... as a part of the also-revived XWA promotion, as Dann Read has taken over the reigns of that promotion from Greg Lambert, and is using Pro Wrestling Eve as the women's division of the XWA.

There's two shows this weekend - tonight in Sudbury (after Dann was told a couple of years back that he'd never be able to run that venue again, here we are), and tomorrow in Colchester. Tonight features a huge No Count-Out, No DQ Match for the Pro Wrestling EVE Title, as Nikki Storm (who was never stripped of the belt) will defend against Kay Lee Ray.

Tomorrow in Colchester, Storm will face Pollyanna (if Storm is still champion, that may be a title match), Rhia O'Reilly takes on her Bars & Stripes partner Addy Starr, and Kay Lee Ray is in intergender action against the dastardly Jimmy Havoc.

[themib]

Announced for Chelmsford on November 29th, a match 18 months in the making - Nikki Storm defends the EVE Title No DQ, No Countout against Rhia O'Reilly!

[themib]

Also set for Chelmsford, a FIRST TIME EVER meeting between Addy Starr and Kay Lee Ray!

[Deleted]

That card so far is MONEY. I wish it was an iPPV.