The third match between Alissa Flash (Cheerleader Melissa) and Joey Spector has been pushed up to August 7th. The match will also have a special stipulation. Check out the announcement video below:
Additionally, yesterday’s Chikarasaurus Rex event featuring Del Rey & Haze vs Kong & Saeed is on DVD already. Pick it up by clicking here.
Great news for a rising young talent… Mia Yim, who had a TNA tryout last month, will be honoured in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s ‘One to Watch’ column in the November 2010 issue.
The issue goes on sale in September.
Congratulations to Mia! Big things are coming for this girl.
Northeast Wrestling has announced a blockbuster match-up between one of the most popular WWE Divas of all time and one of the most popular TNA Knockouts of all time.
Former Knockouts Champion, Awesome Kong will face former Women’s Champion, Mickie James for the first time ever on October 1st in Waterbury, CT.
This is probably the biggest women’s match that could ever be announced right now, with both women such hot free agents. This is a PPV caliber match, for sure.
To pick up tickets and read more info, click here.
Diva Dirt’s own Jennifer recently shared a great story:
In an interview I had a few weeks ago, we were asked, ‘If money was no question, and if you didn’t have to work for your livelihood, what would you do?’ My hand shot up. I was honest; I said, ‘I’d wrestle.’ The whole room erupted into laughter. The interviewer said, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I would love to wrestle.’ She thought I was the most interesting person in that interview, hah. I make no apologies – I’ll admit I’m a wrestling fan and if the conversation goes farther I admit my real passion is for women’s wrestling. If folks aren’t mature enough to handle that, then sucks for them. They don’t know what they’re missing.
I love this story for several reasons. First of all, I love people’s passions. I don’t care if you love the Civil War, collecting bottle caps, or writing poetry. I am interested in hearing more about it. I like seeing someone’s eyes light up when they talk about something they care about. I love how Jennifer didn’t worry about the reaction in the room. That’s the great thing about believing in something, about having a true passion. You feel it inside of you and that’s all that matters. I also love this story because it made me think, “Jesh, how would I truly answer that question?” What would I truly love to do with my life?
Well for starters, I know I wasn’t born to be a project manager. The job is fine, I work with nice people, and I enjoy business travel, but I don’t jump out of bed every day and mark out because I get to generate project plans. When I was a kid I saw the movie JAWS and wanted to be a marine biologist, but now I’m afraid of the ocean. Plus I don’t really want to be in a small boat all the time…I like my TiVo too much. So I’m glad I didn’t follow through with that. The truth is that I’ve always kind of known what I wanted to be when I “grew up”. I was born to be a booker. I was born to script professional wrestling. I never figured out how to pursue this dream, but I started to feel this way the night I saw my first match, October 1985 at the Hershey Park Arena. The next thing I know I am buying my first Big John Studd action figure and I’ve been booking ever since. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the actual matches, but I have always been more interested in putting together the card, of building the excitement of an entire show from one match to the next. I think I’m pretty good at it too, because ever since 1985 I have been putting asses in seats.
Just announced at CHIKARA’s Chikarasaurus Rex event in Philly, Japanese legend Manami Toyota will make her American debut at CHIKARA in September.
Former TNA Knockouts, Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed reunited just moments ago at CHIKARA’s Chikarasaurus Rex event at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia. Diva Soup‘s Eric is in attendance and sent us these live results:
Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze def. Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed
It is interesting to note that before the show, three promos were aired. One was for the main event, one was a generic CHIKARA promo and the last was the “I Need a Challenge” promo for the womens match. This promo got the loudest cheers by far.Death Rey and Haze out first as heels. Kong and Saeed as faces. Saeed has a new hijab. It’s glittery like a Christmas bulb or a pretty, pretty gift bag from your grandmother. I liked it. Daizee was in full on comedy heel mode. The match began with Haze begging Saeed not to hit her “because she is little”. Several times she tried to interfere. One time she literally stuck her thumbs in her ear and stuck out her tongue at Kong, distracting the ref in the process. The match had great back and forth action, with Kong way over. Several chants such as “Kong is gonna kill you” and “Kong is gonna eat you” erupted each time she entered the ring. Surprise ending when Del Rey pulled Saeed out of the ring and Daizee Haze hit a German suplex on Kong (this got lots of gasping) to pick up the win.
Our own Allison Danger and Canadian Ninjas star, Nicole Matthews were also spotted at the show.
SHIMMER star MsChif‘s two and a half year reign as NWA World Women’s Champion came to an end last night as she was defeated for the belt by Tasha Simone. Read the press release below:
On July 24th in Lebanon, TN, MsChif defended her title against Tasha Simone. These two women battled all over the NWA Top Rope arena and then some, even going outside in the parking lot in a No Time Limit, No Disqualification match for the NWA Women’s World Championship.
As these two are no strangers to one another, a packed house of 225 people watched for 32:09 as these women brutalized one another back and forth. From being tossed down a flight of stairs to having their head busted open on a car hood nothing seemed to be out of reach for either competitor. Both women put everything they had into this match and then some.
In the end, these two fought throughout the arena and even through the concession stand, and finally back to the ring when MsChif sprayed green mist into Tasha Simone’s eyes, and everyone thought it was over. MsChif immediately ran for water at the concession only to surprise everyone when she washed Tasha’s eyes out. As the fans watched this happen you could hear a lot of fans talking wondering what MsChif was doing. As soon as the mist was removed, MsChif continued to brutalize Tasha, and finally MsChif gave Tasha one opportunity she will probably regret as Tasha dropped MsChif face first to the mat, and we saw a three count and a NEW NWA Ladies World Champion crowned.
MsChif had held the belt over 800 days, after becoming champion in April 2008.
Watch highlights of the match below:
WSU Champion, Mercedes Martinez has yet another high profile match on the horizon. As well as facing Mickie James in a couple of weeks, Martinez has now been booked against Awesome Kong on September 11th for the WSU Championship at EVOLVE.
The longest reigning & defending champion in all of womens wrestling today, WSU World Champion Mercedes Martinez, who recently surpassed her 500th day as champion and making her 28th World Title defense, defeated Tina San Antonio to retain the championship on 7/23 in Union City, NJ at EVOLVE.
Martinez increased her win/loss record in EVOLVE to 4-0, previously defeating Niya, Sumie Sakai & Brittney Savage.
However, after the match, Martinez asked for more competition and again challenged Amazing (Awesome) Kong. This time, over the video screen, Awesome Kong accepted the challenge. WSU & EVOLVE officials have signed the match. On 9/11, in Rahway, NJ, Mercedes Martinez, if still champion, will defend the World Title against Amazing Kong.
We say “if still champion”, because Mercedes Martinez is scheduled to defend the WSU World Championship at an ICW event on 8/7, when she faces her most high profile challenger to date – MICKIE JAMES. If James is to win the WSU World Championship, James will be signed to give the winner of Martinez/Kong a World Title shot at a future WSU event.
If Martinez is no longer champion, Martinez/Kong will be a number 1 contenders match to the WSU World Title. Champion or not, Martinez wants this match with Kong to prove that she is the greatest womens wrestler in the world today. However, Kong is no push-over, and guarantees to put up the biggest fight to date in Martinez’s EVOLVE career.
Here are results from last night’s ROH show that saw Awesome Kong face off against Sara Del Rey in a rematch of their match earlier this year:
Kong def. Del Rey
Finish came when Kong got a rollup after almost losing due to interference from the Kings of Wrestling. (Source: Wrestling News World)
Del Rey and Kong will be on opposing teams today at CHIKARA’s Chikarasaurus Rex event. Kong reunites with TNA manager, Raisha Saeed to take on Del Rey and Daizee Haze.
The original TNA Knockout, Traci Brooks will be sitting down to talk to us next week and we want to hear your questions!
Is there anything you’re burning to know? Leave your suggestions in the comments!
It’s back! Welcome to the third annual 50 Sexiest Divas competition! What is your definition of sexy? Each year, we find out in our countdown of the sexiest women in wrestling as voted solely by you. For the past two years, WWE’s Melina has taken the top spot — will she make it a three-peat? Let’s get started…
We have compiled 100 names from the world of women’s wrestling that have had some prominence in 2010 thus far. Whether it be in WWE, TNA or independent promotions like SHIMMER, Wrestlicious etc. We have also taken into consideration, for the first time, coverage on Diva Dirt. These 100 women have in the past six months either contributed on television, in the ring or made the headlines here at Diva Dirt. This year, we have taken serious consideration to not include older names that are no longer focused in the wrestling industry to allow a more accurate 50 Sexiest Divas list that we feel is representative of 2010.
The 100 women who have made our longlist have been randomly placed in five groups (Groups A-E), with 20 women in each group. For the next five weeks, we will give you a chance to vote for your favourite woman in each group. From each group, the 10 Divas with the most votes will secure a place in the top 50, and the 10 with the least votes will be cut. Once you have voted for every group, we will have the 50 Divas who will make up the ‘Sexiest’ list for 2010… but it doesn’t stop there! You will then vote for your favourite woman in the top 50 to secure their place in the chart. This is when you’ll decide who is #1 all the way up to #50.
Vote now for Group D:
Former TNA Knockout, ODB, spoke to Alex Marvez in his syndicated column regarding her TNA departure. She also gave her thoughts on the current direction of the Knockouts division.
Kresa and the monstrous Kong (real name Kia Stevens) were two of the diverse female characters who struck a chord with TNA fans. But once the Bischoff/Hogan era began, it quickly became obvious that beauty was going to get pushed over brawn. Kresa, Stevens and Nicole “Roxxi” Raczynski are three of the original Knockouts released by TNA this year.
“I’m not dumb,” said Kresa, who was a college hockey player at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota before becoming a pro wrestler. “I noticed the change in the Knockouts division with Kong being gone and a lot of girls leaving. I was the next one.
“We were the ones who built the Knockout division. People wanted to watch because we were all so different. That’s what guys like. They’re going back to the cookie-cutter (performers), I think.”
To read the full piece click here.
Awesome Kong made her ROH return last night in Collinsville, IL main eventing the show with her recent rival, Sara Del Rey, in a six person tag team match. Results below:
Jay Briscoe, teaming with Mark Briscoe and Amazing Kong, gets the pin on Chris Hero, who teamed with Claudio Castagnoli and Sara Del Ray. Kings of Wrestling went for a double team maneuver on Jay but Mark broke up the attempt allowing Jay to roll up Hero. (Source: Wrestling-Radio.com)
Great to see Kong & SDR in the main event of the show. The two will battle tonight in Chicago in a rematch from their Supercard of Honor V match back in May. We’ll hopefully have results tomorrow.
With a big feud of Kong vs Del Rey on ROH shows, I have to wonder if things will spill over into the SHIMMER tapings in September. Perhaps a big blow-off match on one of the volumes?
Check out the latest Women of Wrestling Podcast featuring Del Rey by clicking here.
We’ve been sitting tight-lipped for a little while now but we can finally confirm the reports!
We are extremely excited to reveal that our own Kristin Astara‘s fiancé, Ryan O’Reilly, has signed a new deal with WWE to return to the company.
The couple will move to Tampa soon where Ryan will return to his old stomping grounds of FCW.
Kristin (wrestling as Krissy Vaine) and Ryan previously worked for WWE before requesting their releases in 2007.
Kristin is, of course, part of the DD family and by extension, we like to think of Ryan as part of the family too. To Ryan and Kristin: We are ecstatic for you both! What a journey you’ve had over the past few years, we are so proud of you both. Congratulations, Ryan!
Following a successful pay per view title defense last Sunday at Money in the Bank, Women’s Champion Layla relaxed this week on SmackDown as she was thrown a celebratory party by BFF, Michelle McCool. Watch below:
After exchanging gifts, which miraculously end up being two halves of one pendant [they’re psychic apparently], in comes GM Teddy Long to announce that Layla will defend the Women’s Title next week against Tiffany, or as she’s now dubbed, ‘Skirt Tiffany’.
Despite being a short segment, I can’t even lie — I cracked up on more than one occasion. First at ‘Skirt Tiffany?!’ and then the Teddy-isms. Very funny. Again, Layla’s comic timing is perfect. I find her extremely enjoyable to watch in these little skits.
As for the match between Tiffany and Layla next week… wow! What a fast turnaround for Tiffany from wrestling debut to title shot. I think she’s worked really hard over the past few months, had consistently good performances in the ring and I look forward to seeing her wrestle Layla. Do I think she will win? Probably not, but it’s nice to see her being given an opportunity. She’s no worse than Kelly, Alicia, Eve or Maryse, who have all been in the title picture in the WWE of late, so why not?
My only gripe is that I tend to feel there should be some storyline development leading to a title shot i.e. a No.1 Contender’s Match or a battle royal. It is quite random that Tiffany is just granted a title shot, especially so soon after Kelly’s. Perhaps this will be a pit-stop leading to Kelly getting a rematch? We’ll see how it plays out last week.
Nothing more to really write about SmackDown this week. I enjoyed the humour of the segment, though.
If you want to see this week’s obligatory ‘Rosa in Training’ segment, click here. Not even worth discussing, to be honest.
Last night, Ring of Honor debuted in Louisville, KY at the Danny Davis arena. Yours truly was in attendance for the sole fact that the Women of Honor were on the card. In a bout before their team up at Chikarasaurus Rex this weekend, Sara Del Rey took on Daizee Haze. Accompanied by the Kings of Wrestling, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli (who has one of the best 6-packs I’ve ever seen, by the way), Del Rey was actually on the defensive for part of the match. Never let Daizee’s size fool you, she kept Sara on her toes at all points in the match. In the end, she did manage to pull off the win, getting Del Rey in a rollup.
Seeing these two in person for the first time was an absolute thrill. Del Rey has some of the stiffest kicks and forarms — stiffer than most of the men! Daizee’s athletic ability and agility are amazing. Both are outstanding physically — Haze is ripped and Sara’s guns are so buff, she ought to register with the NRA. (Cue crickets here.)
Also, after the show I ran into former TNA Knockout and current OVW star Josie aka Sojo Bolt. She’s an incredibly sweet woman who took the time to let her fans know she appreciates all the support she’s gotten throughout her career. She’s still wrestling in OVW, but now she’s mainly helping to build the next generation of women wrestlers. She also let me know that she’s a huge Diva Dirt fan!
All in all, Ring of Honor had an excellent show last night. I’m glad they came to Louisville — it gave me a taste of what’s to come in September and a chance to catch up with Josie!
WWE Monday Night Raw writers, Brian Gerwitz and Ed Kosky appeared at a panel discussion at Comic Con in San Diego, and one of the questions asked was why some of the matches, particularly for the Divas, are so short. Check out the answer below:
And if any of you were wondering what happened to the lengthy matches on RAW, or why a Diva like Eve might get stuck in match that only last for one minute…well, Gewirtz and Kosky had something to say about that too. “On RAW we have a live show,” Gewirtz said. “And often times you can put aside a certain amount of time for the matches that you want to see and believe it or not, and I can’t speak for this panel [smiles right at The Miz] but sometimes the talent will go over the allotted time [crowd laughs] and that creates a domino effect that cuts into the time in the next segment and then the next segment and on a live show, if a segment goes three, four minutes heavy, you’ve got to take time out of something else.” “Kind of like the Main Event stuff, with the beginning, middle and end, is going to take up the majority of the time so if something runs long then it’s the in-between stuff that gets cut,” Kosky clarified. “And that’s when you usually get your two minute matches. It’s just the cost of doing business when you do live TV.”
Read the rest here.
There you have it! Funny how it always seems to affect the Divas, though.
Take a look at the official poster for Trish Stratus‘ feature film debut, ‘Bail Enforcers’. The 7-time WWE Women’s Champion is front and center on the artwork and looks phenomenal!
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Image Credit: TrishStratus.com
Thanks to Frank for the tip off.
WWE and Mattel has unveiled the first ever Diva doll as well as slew of new action figures at this week’s San Diego Comic Con.
Beth Phoenix becomes the first Diva to get her own doll created by Mattel, who also produce the Barbie dolls.
New action figures include Kelly Kelly, Melina and Michelle McCool.
Check out all the pictures below. Full credit to The Pop Culture Network.
[nggallery id=”395″]
Thanks to Peter for the tip off.
Always first for originality, TNA’s next pay per view — Hard Justice — has been renamed Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand and will be a tribute show featuring many ECW originals. But of the names rumoured so far [Jerry Lynn, CW Anderson etc.], there doesn’t seem to be any women from the original ECW. Hmm, just an oversight I’m sure…
To help out Dixie and co., here’s our guide to the four women we’d like to see:
Hardcore history: Making her ECW debut in 1995, Beulah was introduced a major catalyst in a feud between Tommy Dreamer and Raven. The two feuded over Beulah and there were many twists and turns including a fake pregnancy. After siding with Dreamer, Beulah was then revealed to have had an affair — with a woman! Perhaps her biggest highlight is a bloody brawl with Bill Alfonso. Beulah re-emerged in the WWE incarnation of ECW, catfighting with old rival Francine at One Night Stand in 2005 and then competing in a six-person tag match involving Lita in 2006.
Why she should be at the PPV: As Tommy Dreamer’s wife, it’s entirely possibly that Beulah may turn up at Hardcore Justice. Dreamer is reportedly putting the show together and it’d wouldn’t be a surprise to see his wife by his side at the pay per view. Perhaps a Dreamer/Raven rematch for old time’s sake with Beulah at ringside?
Watch Beulah’s match with Alfonso below:
More after the cut:
Last week on Impact, the Knockouts took an unexpected, yet welcomed step in the right direction in terms of their booking. Whoever wrote the show or whatever gave all of us long suffering KO fans a well deserved treat in the form of a brilliantly scripted and well acted in-ring segment and a pretty darn good streetfight. Personally, it was almost to much for me to handle you know what I’m sayin’? This week, the action wasn’t overwhelming but it was still great, and very enjoyable to watch.
Tonight’s Knockout portion of Impact kicks off with a segment featuring Madison Rayne, Sarita, Velvet Sky, and Lacey Von Erich. Sarita and Madison are hanging out in the women’s lockerroom and they’re gossiping. Eventually the subject gets switched to Velvet, and Madison starts to run her mouth unaware that Velvet and Lacey have both walked up behind her. Lacey attempts to cover Velvet’s ears so she can’t hear the mean things Madison is saying, but it fails and Sarita goes quiet. Madison wants to know what’s going on and of course, Velvet is standing behind her when she turns around. Lacey begs them to stop, but Velvet’s not having that and she looks down her nose at Madison. She tells Madison that if she has something to say then she better say it to her face. Sarita is in the background smirking, but Velvet calls her out next. She basically accuses Sarita of being the mystery biker chick and tells her that she should keep the helmet on her big ass head. Bitching ensues and once again, Lacey tries to break it up. Both Madison and Velvet snap at Lacey like she’s a five year old, and then Madison gets all cocky, saying that tonight she is going to be handed back her TNA Knockouts Championship. Velvet just rolls her eyes and mentions that she still has her title because she never lost it. Both girls try and buck up to one another, and poor Lacey. She’s just stuck in the middle of all of this and getting treated like crap. Sarita and Madison both walk away, and Velvet and Lacey go off in the opposite direction. TNA goes to commercial.
After a bit of pointless crap, Angelina Love and Taylor Wilde make their way to the ring. Angelina is still wearing the Knockouts Championship but that’s about to change. The Beautiful People music hits and Sarita walks out with Madison. Sarita and Taylor are jawing back and forth at one another during the entire entrance and Madison is literally bouncing to the ring with a bright smile on her face. Once all that is finished, senior referee, Earl Hebner, stands in the middle of the ring with a microphone in his hand. He informs Angelina, as well as the crowd, that the Board of Directors have no proof that a member of the Beautiful People was riding that bike therefore Angelina has to surrender the championship. Madison starts demanding that she be handed the belt, but after Angelina passes it off she cold cocks Madison right in the kisser. Taylor attacks Sarita and the fight between these four talented ladies is underway!
Get your weekly dose of Knockout action on tonight’s Impact. To watch, tune in to Spike TV at 9pm ET.
Discuss the show in the comments!
“Don’t catch her eye… she’ll KILL US ALL!!!” Thankfully, real-life Sara Del Rey isn’t the unstoppable killer she portrays in the ring, so we took the chance to catch up with Del Rey before she steps into the ring this weekend for Chikara Pro to preview Chikasaurus Rex and her partnership with Daizee Haze. We also talk about how difficult she found wrestling training at the beginning, travelling internationally to Japan & Mexico, early days in IWA:MS, the impact of her work in SHIMMER, the evolution of the “Death Rey” character, being recognised in the street (or not), her amazing fitness regime, working for TNA recently (as part of a deal with JAPW) and whether her future lies in WWE or TNA. Oh, and Golden Girls. Really.
You can direct feedback to the hosts either via the Women of Wrestling Facebook page or by sending a message to Stew or Lee on Twitter.
To listen to the Women of Wrestling Podcast directly on the website, just click on the play button below. You can also download the Women of Wrestling Podcast via iTunes to put on your iPod/iPhone or download the MP3 file straight to your computer by right clicking here and selecting ‘Save Target As’.
Please Note: The ‘Women of Wrestling Podcast’ is the proprietary content of Stew Allen and Lee Burton. By downloading this audio you agree not to repost the content elsewhere including but not limited to other websites, blogs or message boards. Failure to respect copyright will result in legal action.
Rumours began circulating a couple of weeks ago that a new Diva was being brought up to SmackDown after a ‘coming soon’ vignette aired at a taping. The vignette was not shown on television however and I was skeptical about whether it was true or not.
According to the Wrestling Observer, there is indeed a new Diva coming to the SmackDown brand — and all signs point to AJ Lee.
While this could change, the reason Smackdown hasn’t aired the vignettes introducing the new woman that were taped is a decision was made for only one at a time, and right now the vignettes are introducing Del Rio. Once he’s on TV, then they will start building up her. I believe the woman is April Jeannette, or A.J. Lee as the name she’s now using. She’s really small, like less than 100 pounds. She’s 23 and has been in the program for 14 months and did indies in the Northeast before that. (Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As we revealed last month, AJ recently travelled on the road with the Raw brand — perhaps a sign of her pending call up.
Wrestlicious TakeDown will no longer air on Mav TV in the US or Bite TV in Canada, Diva Dirt has learned.
Nine of the 13 episodes scheduled for season one aired on the two networks, however after a brief hiatus in June, the series was not brought back for the final four episodes which began airing earlier this month on America One.
Bite TV executive producer Jason Agnew tells Diva Dirt that the show will ‘no longer be airing’ on the network, as well as Mav TV, “due to the change in direction and aesthetics the series has taken.” It should be noted that Mav TV will continue to air re-runs of episodes one through nine.
I’m told that the networks didn’t respond well to the final four episodes [dubbed ‘TakeDown on Tour’] being filmed at real wrestling venues, preferring the studio feel of the first nine episodes.
Meanwhile, Wrestlicious producer, Johnny Cafarella says that the show will return to a studio for season two and both networks have expressed interest in airing the next season.
Wrestlicious TakeDown episodes will, however, continue to be posted online at bite.ca/wrestling. Episode 10 is expected to be posted this week.
The show will continue to air new episodes on America One, Tuff TV and The Fight Network.
As announced on Diva Dirt LIVE, Mia Yim will be working the next set of SHIMMER shows in September. Mia will wrestle on the pre-show, SPARKLE on September 11th and 12th.
Catch the replay of DD LIVE by clicking here.
To pick up your SHIMMER tickets, click here.
