Wednesday, May 1, 2024

In Video: Tara Interview on Sports & Torts

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Earlier today, TNA Knockout Tara gave an interview with sports radio program, Sports & Torts.

Listen below:

Mickie James to Record New Album, How Fans Can Get Involved

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TNA Knockouts Champion, Mickie James, has announced plans to record a new album and is offering fans the chance to be part of it.

Mickie is taking donations to help produce the album in return for one-of-a-kind prizes including their name in the ‘thank yous’ section of the album cover, being credited as an executive producer on the record and even the chance to have Mickie perform in your living room.

Fans can make donations at this link.

Watch Mickie’s video about the project below:

In Video: Melina Gives Advice to Aspiring Divas, Talks About Interest in Acting

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Former Divas Champion, Melina, posted a video blog answering questions submitted to her via Twitter.

In the clip, Melina gives advice to girls who want to become WWE Divas, discusses whether she’s interested in acting and the best advice that she got when she started in WWE.

Watch below:

In Video: Trish, Lita, Stacy & Torrie in WWE’s “Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century”

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Holy nostalgia, Batman!

A quartet of the most popular Divas of WWE years past, Trish Stratus, Lita, Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson are honored on WWE’s Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century DVD which was recently released.

No doubt, the four Divas were amongst the most popular Divas of the noughties, but WWE’s omission of certain other Divas — such as Molly Holly and Victoria — will likely cause much debate amongst fans.

Nonetheless, it’s great to see any Diva highlighted and it’s really interesting to watch Superstars of today discuss the former stars’ legacies in WWE.

Watch below:

Court Grants Maryse Restraining Order Against Stalker, Banned from Going Near Her for Three Years

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The LA County Superior Court today granted a restraining order request filed by WWE’s Maryse recently against a 61-year-old stalker, Lee Silber.

Maryse Files Restraining Order Against “Obsessed” Man, Fears He Will Kill Her

TMZ reports that Silber is banned from going within 300 feet of the Raw Diva for the next three years.

WWE Beefs Up Security to Protect Maryse from Stalker

The website adds: “Maryse was accompanied to court by WWE superstar The Miz. On their way out of the courthouse, both WWE stars were pretty tight-lipped, but seemed satisfied with the result.”

Read more here.

Thoughts: Hopefully this will give Maryse some peace of mind and put an end to this scary situation.

In Video: Clip of Del Rey vs Castagnoli, Sara Talks About Her Victory

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CHIKARA has released a video of Sara Del Rey discussing her victory over Claudio Castagnoli this past weekend.

Fans will also be able to see a little clip of the match.

This weekend’s CHIKARA events, which saw Del Rey vs Castagnoli, as well as visiting stars from Japan, are already on DVD via Smart Mark Video.

Stacy Keibler Romantically Linked to George Clooney

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Could be pure tabloid fodder, but celebrity magazine Life and Style magazine is rumoring that former WWE Diva, Stacy Keibler, is dating Hollywood star, George Clooney.

Oh my, look who has moved up in the world!

Keibler reportedly visited with Clooney at his famed Lake Como villa in Italy.

The magazine reports:

Though they seem to be an unlikely pair, George and Stacy have been acquaintances for some time and were set up by a mutual friend, the insider reveals. “They have a lot of friends in common and run in the same circles,” another pal tells the magazine, on newsstands now.

But Stacy — who split with her longtime boyfriend, 7th Heaven star Geoff Stults, a year ago — isn’t looking for a commitment, which suits George just fine. “He’s enjoying spending time with Stacy, but he just got out of a two-year relationship,” says the insider. “George isn’t ready for anything serious. This fling is purely for fun.”

Read more here.

Stacy has had fleeting success since she broke out in Hollywood through Dancing with the Stars in 2006. She’s had guest spots on How I Met Your Mother and Chuck, as well as being seen at many a red carpet event.

If the news is true, then more power to Stacy! It’s pretty exciting to see one of our former Divas attached to a megastar. *Tear*

Gail Kim Comments on Her Self-Elimination During Divas Battle Royal on Raw

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Amid all the action during Monday’s battle royal on Raw, fans may have missed a certain golden nugget — Gail Kim eliminating herself from the match by rolling under the bottom rope.

Gail has been asked an abundance of questions about her bizarre elimination, responding to one fan that she did, in fact, eliminate herself on purpose.

Taking to her Twitter page today, she further commented: “oh and also on the contrary, I wasn’t being a mark 4 myself I was being a good employee when ur told to get out of the ring in less than a min.I just did it the fastest way possible:)so really I saved some time!”

Thoughts: Gail has been pretty candid on her Twitter page over the past couple of months about the way she’s been used — or rather, not been used — on TV. I get the feeling that she’s pretty frustrated, and who can blame her? Perhaps her tweets may not be wise politically, but they’re refreshingly candid and damn right entertaining!

Watch Gail’s elimination at the 00:35 second mark below:

Japanese Star Kana Coming to US for SHIMMER and CHIKARA

SHIMMER and CHIKARA announced this morning that Japanese star, Kana, will be debuting for both companies in October.

Kana will be part of SHIMMER on October 1st and 2nd in Berywn, IL. She will also compete for CHIKARA the following weekend on October 7th and 8th.

Official press below:

[notice]One of the most controversial and talked about female professional wrestlers in Japan is set to compete in the United States for the very first time. Kana, who is currently a regular roster member of both Yoshihiro Tajiri’s SMASH promotion and the Pro-Wrestling WAVE organization, will be a part of live events promoted by both SHIMMER Women Athletes and CHIKARA during the first two weekends of October!

Known for her explosive striking ability and lethal kicks, Kana is prepared to make her mark on American soil against the top female athletes SHIMMER and CHIKARA have to offer. Kana made her professional wrestling debut in June of 2004 as a member of the AtoZ promotion. Among her accomplishments during subsequent years was co-holding the NEO Tag Team Championship with partner Nanae Takahashi during late 2009. Kana is currently part of an ongoing tournament in SMASH to determine their first Women’s Champion.

The SHIMMER events featuring Kana will take place on Saturday & Sunday, October 1st & 2nd at the Berwyn Eagles Club, 6309 26th Street in Berwyn, IL, just outside Chicago. Volumes 41-44 of the SHIMMER DVD series will be filmed during the course of that weekend. Visit http://shimmerwrestling.blogspot.com/p/events.html to purchase advance tickets to the October 1st & 2nd SHIMMER shows.

The CHIKARA events featuring Kana will take place on Friday & Saturday, October 7th & 8th. The October 7th event, titled “Small But Mighty,” will take place at the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium, 1813 Frank Holt Drive in Burlington, NC. Visit http://www.chikarapro.com/oct-7-2011.php to purchase advance tickets to the Burlington show. The October 8th event, titled “Klunk In Love,” will take place at the Kingsport Civic Auditorium, 1550 Fort Henry Drive in Kingsport, TN. Visit http://www.chikarapro.com/oct-8-2011.php to purchase advance tickets to the Kingsport show.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to catch Kana’s first American appearances live and in person!

For more information on SHIMMER:

http://www.shimmerwrestling.com/

For more information on CHIKARA:

http://www.chikarapro.com/

For more information on Kana:

http://kana-kana.jp/[/notice]

More Detailed SmackDown Spoilers for Friday

More detailed spoilers for this week’s SmackDown which airs on Friday on Syfy.

Spoiler
* Natalya and AJ come out for their match. It is a pretty decent match. There was a sloppy part where Nattie tries the sharpshooter, and I wasn’t sure what AJ was trying to do to get out of it, but it looked sloppy to me. Anyway, eventually AJ succumbs to the Sharpshooter. Winner: Natalya. POST MATCH: Natalya goes bonkers, and attacks AJ after the match, including giving AJ a snap suplex on the outside. Natalya grabs a mic and says “Beth, you are so right sister, the days of these cuties are over.” (paraphrased). Natalya evidently has turned heel. (Source)

SmackDown Spoilers: August 5th, 2011

Spoilers for this week’s episode of SmackDown. The show airs on Friday on Syfy.

Spoiler
* (2) Natalya beat A.J. via submission with the Sharpshooter. Natalya then turned heel with a post-match attack on A.J. ringside. She said “Beth Phoenix, I’m with you. The days of cute Divas are over.”

* Backstage, Teddy Long was seduced by NXT 3’s Aksana, now with dark hair. (Source)

WWE Superstars Spoilers: August 4th, 2011

Spoilers for this week’s WWE Superstars. It will air on WWE.com on Thursday.

Spoiler

 

In Video: Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly React to What Happened on Raw

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Showing a strange but welcome focus on the Divas, WWE actually followed up on what happened on Raw last night by getting comments from both Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly following the Glamazon’s attack on the Divas Champion.

Beth tells WWE.com: “Why I attacked Kelly Kelly? Why are you even asking that. You should be talking about what everybody else is talking about and that’s [that] I just defeated 11 other Divas to become the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship.”

“You want a real story?” continues Beth, “Tune into SummerSlam and watch me win the Divas Championship for the first time.”

Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly at SummerSlam

Meanwhile, Kelly is also asked about the incident, responding: “Why did Beth Phoenix attack me tonight? I don’t really know why she did. I mean, we were really good friends inside and outside of the ring. She was somebody that I leaned on for advice and then tonight, it blindsided me.”

“I don’t know why she decided to attack me and throw me into the wall and call me a bimbo,” says Kelly. “I don’t know where that came from. Maybe it’s some inner anger issues that she had towards me. I just don’t get it but I’m gonna tell you one thing: At SummerSlam, I’m coming after Beth Phoenix.”

Watch the video here.

Thoughts: Kind of odd to see WWE invest in the Divas even with little extra clips on WWE.com, but that gives me just a glimpse of hope that things will step up following last night’s hot start to this feud. Fingers crossed that they keep this momentum going and don’t drop the ball.

Raw Redux (August 1st, 2011): Beth Turns Heel While Vickie Continues to Bring the Fierce

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When Raw has a good showing three important things happen; angels start to sing, a unicorn sprouts fairy wings and begins to fly, and I get to write a happy Redux. Last night, Raw had a good showing, and I found myself incredibly excited to talk about the show, and write about it. So lets not waste anytime and get right to work.

Last night, we had a battle royal take place to determine the number contender to the Divas Championship which you all know is held by the lovely Kelly Kelly. It involved girls from both Raw and SmackDown and as far as Diva battle royals go, it wasn’t to shabby. Several things about the match surprised me so it deserves the label of ‘good.’

The Good: I mentioned surprises and the ending wasn’t one of them. No one is really surprised Beth Phoenix pulled out the victory, are they? What surprised me about this match is that it was probably one of the longer battle royals the Divas have partaken in. The eliminations didn’t look cheaply done except for the fact Melina seemed to have sneezed and eliminated herself (not really, but you get the point). Despite the fact the thing was billed as every girl from Raw and SmackDown being involved, Maryse (my pick to win…) wasn’t a participant! She would reveal on Twitter the reasons for that later on in the night. The majority of the Divas were eliminated before the commercial break and their order of elimination was Melina, Gail Kim, Rosa Mendes (congrats on not being first, girl!), Kaitlyn, Tamina, AJ, and Natalya. The final five, Brie and Nikki Bella, Beth, Eve, and Alicia Fox continued to battle as Raw went to commercial break.

I can’t really decide if the commercial break was a good or bad surprise, but the fact that all the girls were still in the ring when it returned was a great surprise. The Bellas were working over Beth, while Eve worked over Alicia. The twins had Beth close to elimination but the Glamazon was able to battle back and stay in the match. Alicia was on the brink of being eliminated but she was able to battle back and send Eve over the top. Eve landed on the apron and this is where I got confused. Something happened and all of a sudden Alicia was on the outside of the ring and Eve was still in the match. I’ve watched it a few times and it still doesn’t make sense, so who knows what happened there? Either way, Alicia got eliminated.

That left four girls in the ring, so Nikki turned her attention to Eve, while Brie fought with Beth. Nikki was able to get the better of Eve and dump her from the match, and while she celebrated, Beth scooped Brie up and brought her over to Nikki…

The Great: Yes, we are turning the ending of the match into the great portion of Raw and rightfully so. As I said, Beth carried Brie over to where Nikki was perched on the ropes and not heeding her sister’s screams, Nikki found herself scooped up as well in an amazing show of strength from Beth. Beth toyed with both Bellas on her shoulders for a second, giving the crowd and the announcers a chance to ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhhh’, and then she unceremoniously dumped them from the ring earning herself a shot at the Divas Championship come SummerSlam. Brie hit the floor first, followed by Nikki, and the bell rang for the end of the match.

Before we even move on, wow. Beth never ceases to amaze me with how beautiful and how strong she is. She started a hash tag on Twitter called Pin-up Strong and when it comes to her, I completely believe it. The Bellas elimination has to go down as one of the best Diva eliminations of all time and kudos to all of them for thinking that up. Loved it!

As for what happened afterwards, well that’s just the icing on the cake. Kelly left the commentary table, with her title, and went to congratulate Beth on her victory. The two girls embraced during the post-match celebration and once they pulled apart, Kelly stepped back and clapped for Beth. The Glamazon stared at her for a minute before seizing the moment, as well as the opportunity, to send a message. She grabbed Kelly and chucked her from the ring. Kelly tried to shake it it off and get to her feet, but Beth picked her up and literally tried to throw the blond champ through the guardrail. Kelly hit hard (no one can take an outside bump like this girl, good grief) and Beth went for a microphone. She walked back over to Kelly, dropped down beside her, and delivered a simple, yet effective message.

“Kelly, your days as the perky, cute, blond little bimbo are officially over.”

She dropped the microphone right on Kelly’s chest and her music hit. Beth walked off leaving the champ a sobbing, hurting mess. How amazing was that? Beth does her best work as a heel and I’ve personally loved her matches with Kelly in the past. Kelly is great as a babyface who can take a beating, and as seen on SmackDown, have a magical comeback. The match at SummerSlam has all the potential in the world to be great. Beth can have a great match with anyone. Kelly works very well against evil, uber heels. I don’t want to gush too much, but last night’s heel turn by Beth could be just what the Divas need. So excited!

And just when I thought the excitement of Raw was done, Vickie Guerrero comes out. And she’s given a microphone. Let’s take a look at what I’m dubbing ‘The Amazing’ part of Monday Night Raw.

The Amazing: Vickie is able to garner a ridiculous amount of heat simply from screaming ‘Excuse Me!’ She started off her promo with that and it just escalated from there. She was basically booed out of the building before she could make a valid point and it was amazing. She was finally able to introduce her man, the gorgeous and sexy United States Champion, Dolph Ziggler, and put him over as being better than both CM Punk and John Cena combined. The crowd didn’t agree. Dolph mentioned the challenge he made to the lockerroom last week at the conclusion of his match against Evan and said that no one can top his skills, his techniques, his talent, and his charisma. Vickie agreed. Before Mr. Gorgeous could continue, Alex Riley’s theme song hit and I freaked. Personally, I couldn’t handle the hotness of Dolph/Vickie/A-Ry on my television all at once. Alex had his own microphone and asked Dolph why he always had to hide behind a woman, or in this case, Vickie Guerrero. That comment alone angered Vickie and she snatched the mic from her client’s hand. Vickie, oozing attitude, ran down the list of everything she’s done for Dolph throughout his career and the former NXT rookie failed to look impressed. A-Ry climbed into the ring, looked at Vickie, and said ‘excuse me.’

Vickie wasn’t impressed by that!

Alex started talking again and said that Vickie did bring up a good point. Dolph truly has had a hell of a career up to this point but what A-Ry wanted to know is when the last time Dolph accomplished something on his own? What else is said truly doesn’t matter because they’re men. But what does matter is what this storyline could lead too. A-Ry basically challenged Dolph to drop Vickie, and if I get a chance to see a storyline featuring Alex Riley and Dolph Ziggler, my number four and two respectively favorite wrestlers, oh my God. I can’t even go there. Vickie is the perfect person to use if they wanted to keep Alex Riley’s roll going. The Miz did everything he could for the guy, who I believe is a future world champ, and now I can’t wait to see what Vickie and Dolph can do for him. This storyline is beautiful. And it’s not even really started yet.

From Beth to Kelly to Vickie, Raw was beautiful this week. I have no real complaints. I have no gripes and no coulda, woulda, shouldas. Last night I got to embrace my inner Diva fan and was completely happy with everything the girls got a chance to produce. Good luck topping Raw this week, SmackDown. I never thought I would ever write that!

Until next week… Cryssi out!

P.S. I swear that wasn’t me dressed in a fierce black jumpsuit acting out the Ziggler/Vickie/Riley segment while pretending to be Vickie. Ahem.

In Video: Tara on SoCal Val’s “Pillow Talk”

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TNA has released a new episode of “Pillow Talk” featuring SoCal Val. This time she interviews Tara once again.

Why Maryse Wasn’t in Divas Battle Royal on Raw

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Conspicuous by her absence tonight in the Divas battle royal tonight on Raw was former Divas Champion, Maryse. Well, we now know why.

Maryse revealed on her Twitter page that she is due to undergo surgery for an abdominal hernia, and thus won’t be seeing in-ring action for a while.

The Raw Diva was last seen in action last week on Raw in a tag team match.

Despite being on the sidelines wrestling-wise, fans can still see Maryse as co-host of NXT on Tuesdays.

Best wishes to Maryse on a speedy recovery and successful surgery!

Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly at SummerSlam

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The Glamazon is going to SummerSlam!

Former Women’s Champion, Beth Phoenix, outlasted all the other WWE Divas (well, except Maryse) to earn the right to face Divas Champ, Kelly Kelly, at SummerSlam in two weeks time.

After the match, Beth turned heel, attacking Kelly and throwing her into the barricade. Taking the microphone, Beth sent a message to Kelly, telling her that her “days as the perky cute blonde little bimbo are over.”

Are you excited for Beth vs Kelly at SummerSlam? Tell us in the comments!

Raw Response: August 1st, 2011

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Get your Monday night Divas fix by tuning in to Raw tonight at 9pm ET on the USA Network.

Tonight’s Raw will feature a battle royal for the #1 contendership to the Divas Championship.

Be sure to tune in to Diva Dirt LIVE tonight at 11:15pm ET!

Discuss the show in the comments!

Raw Predictions: Who’ll Win the Divas Battle Royal?

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Tonight will see a battle royal to determine the #1 Contender for Kelly Kelly‘s Divas Title at SummerSlam. The Diva Dirt team weigh in with their predictions…

April: It is far to hard to choose who you think is going to win so I’m just going to pick who I want to win. I would love to see the ever so fierce Alicia Fox pull out this win. I think she’s come so far and she is definitely one of my favorite Divas. I wouldn’t mind seeing her take on a challenger in Nattie, because their chemistry is amazing. I wouldn’t mind seeing her take on a challenger in Beth Phoenix or even Melina. Either way, she can rock the ring so she needs the bling.

Bobby: I’m not going to try to sugarcoat anything, this will probably be given 3 minutes max, and we’ll return from commercial break to everyone already in the ring. The commentators will seem confused by eliminations and compliment Kelly Kelly on her beauty to pass the time as Diva by Diva is tossed over. Rosa or Kaitlyn will sadly go first like every time the SmackDown gang visits Raw, and in the end it’ll come down to Eve, the Bellas, and Alicia Fox. Eve manages to toss Nikki out and begins fighting with Brie on the ring apron. Out of nowhere, Alicia Fox runs up and shoves both to the floor taking the victory and facing K2 at SummerSlam.

Cryssi: There’s a few obvious choices here, so I’m going to stick with my gut and go against the grain. I’m not picking Beth, Alicia, Nikki, or anyone else who might seem like the logical choice. I’m going with someone who I feel with match up the best with Kelly Kelly on the second biggest stage of them all. I’m picking Maryse to win the battle royal and head to L.A. in search of her third Divas Championship in her surrogate home town. For such an important show, there’s not many matches yet, but I expect the two main title matches to take precedent over anything else, and there will some other matches. The Divas match won’t get much time so having a fun, shenanigan-filled title defense for Kelly would be a great route to go. She needs another strong defense to secure her reign as legit so why not go over the longest reigning champ in history so far? No, the match won’t be a Alicia/Melina classic, but it would be fun and actually something I’d get excited to see.”

Erin: I’m gonna go out on a limb and get creative with this one. With the WWE’s history of shrinking from major babyface/babyface matches, I’m willing to bet that the winner of this battle royal will be a heel. Since there aren’t too many viable heel candidates for a title feud, let’s create one. Let’s turn Beth Phoenix. She hasn’t been heel in some time, but we know she’s fully capable of being one, and her raw strength would allow her to heelishly manhandle the underdog Kelly. In the battle royal itself, Beth could align with a bayface for most of the match, only to turn and screw her over at the very end, maliciously taking the victory and intimidating the hell out of a watching Kelly. So, with all of that said, I’ll say that a heel Beth Phoenix will win the battle royal and the title shot.

Katelyn: My pick for the winner of the Divas battle royal is Beth Phoenix. I feel like the looks after last week’s Raw tag match were significant. Coming off a war with the Bella Twins, Kelly Kelly has already pinned most of the other heel divas, whether she’s been feuding with them or not. She is looking like a strong champion. An opponent like Beth, after a heel turn, is just what is needed to freshen things up a little.

Melanie: A few frontrunners here – Alicia, Beth and Eve. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of the three pick up the win, but Eve or Alicia seem like the two most likely candidates. I think all signs are pointing to Fox facing Kelly at SummerSlam because she’s been on a hot streak and is on the promotional material for the pay per view. Alicia Fox wins.

Steven: I think I’m going to place my bet on Alicia Fox to win the battle royal on Raw this week. Aside from Kelly Kelly, Alicia has been the most dominant Diva on either brand in recent weeks and it would be a shame if WWE doesn’t capitalize on that. Hopefully, Alicia takes the win and starts a decent program with Kelly Kelly.

Who do you predict will win? Tell us in the comments.

WWE Beefs Up Security to Protect Maryse from Stalker

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WWE has increased its security at live events following a report last week that Diva, Maryse, has been targeted by a stalker.

TMZ reports that “WWE officials have added additional security personnel at recent events — and plan to keep the extra protection in place as long as the organization feels there is a legitimate threat.”

Maryse Files Restraining Order Against “Obsessed” Man, Fears He Will Kill Her

Last week, TMZ revealed that Maryse had filed a restraining order against a 61-year-old man named Lee Silber who, among other things, left numerous disturbing messages on her voicemail and promised to ‘take her to heaven with him’.

Read more here.

Chikarasaurus Rex Results: Sara Del Rey Defeats Claudio Castagnoli, Joshi Wrestlers Visit

This weekend was a big one for the women of Chikara as the company presented three visiting joshi stars from Japan, and a big intergender match between Queen of Wrestling, Sara Del Rey and her former ally, Claudio Castagnoli.

In a huge victory, Del Rey defeated the rumored WWE-bound Castagnoli in the main event of Chikarasaurus Rex: Night Two in Philadelphia, PA. Del Rey pinned Castagnoli with a crucifix at the 13 minute mark.

“Who run the world? Girls!” indeed.

Full results from both nights below, courtesy of Chikara’s Twitter.

Night One | Reading, PA
Mima Shimoda, Tsukasa Fujimoto & Portia Perez def. Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey & Makoto. Shimoda won after hitting Daizee with a superplex at the 20:18 minute mark.

Pictures from night one can be found here.

Night Two | Philadelphia, PA
* Tsukasa Fujimoto def. Makoto to retain the Ice Ribbon Championship. Fujimoto hit Makoto with a step-up enzugiri to win at the 10:17 minute mark.

* Daizee Haze def. Mima Shimoda at the 8:21 minute mark by reversing a German suplex into a pin.

* Sara Del Rey def. Claudio Castagnoli in the main event of Night Two with a crucifix pin at the 13:15 minute mark. “Philly is going wild,” notes Chikara. After the match, Claudio attacked Sara. Daizee Haze came out and stood up to him but got chokeslammed.

Aja Kong Returning to US for Chikara

Chikara has announced a major name will be debuting for the company in December: Japanese legend, Aja Kong.

Kong will debut as part of Chikara’s ‘Joshimania’ event which will also feature the return of Manami Toyota, who took part in the King of Trios tournament for the company earlier this year.

Kong is a highly decorated star in Japan, holding championships in All Japan Women’s Wrestling, HUSTLE, and GAEA Japan.

To fans more familiar with American names, Aja is a former tag team partner of WWE’s Kharma, who competed as Amazing Kong in Japan. According to her Wikipedia, Kharma “was given the ring name Amazing Kong by Masatsugu Matsunaga, who needed a replacement for Japanese female wrestler Aja Kong in several matches.” Together, the two Kongs were known as ‘Double Kong’.

Aja is a 20+ year veteran in the ring and was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2006.

More details on Chikara’s Joshimania event as it becomes available.

Watch Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota below:

In Video: Roxie Cotton Retirement Speech at AIW Girls Night Out 4

As previously reported, Roxie Cotton retired on Friday night after losing her final match against Portia Perez in Lakewood, OH for Absolute Intense Wrestling.

AIW released the following retirement speech:

Indy Spotlight: Reyna Pink

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At River City Wrestling‘s next event on August 6th, the RCW International Championship will be on the line in a fatal four-way match. One of the wrestlers looking to take that title home with them is our next Indy Spotlight wrestler: Reyna Pink.

Pink has been making quite a name for herself on the Texas wrestling scene. Teamed up with Joey Spector in the recently disbanded stable ‘San Antonio’s Most Unwanted’, Pink has had her fair share of run-ins with former TNA Knockout Alissa Flash and her tag team partner Darci Drake as of late.

Reyna started training at the Texas Wrestling Academy in 2006, under the watchful eye of Rudy Boy Gonzalez and Manny Fernandez, and made her debut at Texas Wrestling Entertainment in 2007 as Angelina. During the early parts of her career, Reyna faced off against such names as Becky Bayless (TNA Knockout, Cookie), Jessica James and fellow Texas Wrestling Academy student, Simply Luscious.

Not content with solely wrestling on the Texas wrestling scene, Reyna took her talents over the border to Mexico, adopting a new masked persona solely known as PINK. Working for Mexican promotions such as LLU and CMLL, Reyna got to test her skills against La Chalaca and luchadora legend, Princess Sugey.

Reyna has an interesting mix of moves ranging from the acrobatic lucha style to the more ground-based American style. Reyna has been known to use her flashy Gringa Killer DDT, as well as the Texas Cloverleaf to put away her opponents. She’s even adopted the Flying Burrito (Flying Forearm Strike) as a nod to her trainer Manny Fernandez. Now under the tutelage of Impact Wrestling star, Hernandez, and former WWE Superstar, Sho Funaki, Reyna is looking to take her in-ring game to the next level, adding more lucha style wrestling to her repertoire to reach the level of stardom attained by fellow Texas Wrestling Academy graduates such as Daniel Bryan, Brian Kendrick and Paul London, just to name a few.

Fans can get a look at Reyna Pink on August 6th in San Antonio, TX as she competes against Darci Drake, Ann Dromeda and RCW International Champion, Big Dog in fatal four-way match with the RCW International Title on the line. Tickets can be purchased here.

Watch some of Reyna’s work below:

** Are you an independent female wrestler looking for exposure? We’re looking to highlight new talent in an ‘indy spotlight’ weekly feature. If you’re interested in getting your name out there to over one million visitors, email us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you! **

Unwrapped (July 31st, 2011): AJ, Kelly, Maryse & Rosita

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Every week, following WWE.com and ImpactWrestling.com’s photoshoot updates, we’ll take a look at the newest Diva and Knockout shoots and give you the opportunity to voice your opinions on them in a feature we lovingly call Unwrapped. Let’s unwrap this week’s eye candy, featuring AJ, Kelly Kelly, Maryse, and Rosita:

Note about TNA photoshoots: Many of the new photoshoots on ImpactWrestling.com only consist of 3 or fewer photos, which hardly lends enough material for an Unwrapped post. In order to make it worth your (and my) while, I’ll only cover ones with 3 or more photos to them. Please don’t leave comments asking about a missing photoshoot.

AJ
A Diva’s ring gear can often serve as an extension of her personality, and AJ’s gear does that better than most. The bright blue color is eye-catching and sporty, the skull and crossbones adorning her hip and knees serve as personal iconography, and the modified Chuck Taylors are quite unlike any other Diva’s boots. The whole look sets her apart and shows that she’s worked at crafting a unique look and personality for herself, and I really admire that. The color of her gear works really well with the background color, making the photos really pop. Her poses are pretty simple, but little touches, like jutting out a hip or positioning her arms a certain way make them interesting. She manages to look genuinely cute, which is not something that is easily done in the WWE, when Divas are more apt to look like supermodels rather than the girl next door.
Rating: • • • •
View the photoshoot.

Kelly Kelly
A black and silver dress and some super long hair are all that were needed for Kelly create an interesting look. The fact that there’s nothing else to compete with them for your attention makes the mermaid hair work–it’s sexy, especially when draped over one shoulder. A more busy look may have made the hair length look excessive. Here, it’s like another piece of the outfit (and no, that’s not a weave joke). Her poses use the hair like an accessory (again, not a weave joke), changing its position in nearly every shot, and she positions her body in ways that showcase it. I don’t blame her for making full use of that hair: it makes her look effortlessly sexy, and the photos are proof of that.
Rating: • • • •
View the photoshoot.

Maryse
Looking like she jumped out of a magazine ad for some luxe perfume or diamond jewelry, Maryse is shining from pretty much everything she’s wearing. The plentiful jewels on her fingers, wrists and ears are far from subtle, yet they don’t look excessive. I think it’s probably due to the relative simplicity of the dress. Sure, it’s covered in ruching, but the champagne color (and the fact that it’s similar in color to the background) keeps the whole look toned down to allow the jewelry to shine. Her poses look like stuff out of those aforementioned ads, with her elegant hair and seductive, aloof poses. This is Maryse at her core: cold, sexy and beautiful. She’s so “above it all” and untouchable here that she won’t even bother to tell you to “talk to the hand”. It’s not groundbreaking stuff, but it’s certainly classic Maryse.
Rating: • • • • •
View the photoshoot.

Rosita
Almost every Knockout has done this kind of shoot, so I guess it was inevitable that Rosita would do the whole “pose in front of a chain link fence” thing too. The stark white bikini looks fantastic on her, no doubt, and her poses are sexy, but I can’t help but think how dirty the surroundings are, and how easily she could muck up that bikini by leaning too close to anything. This is a very obvious “sexy” set-up and while I don’t try to look for nuance in photoshoots (kind of like asking for a layered plot in a rom-com), these kind never really interest me. There’s just no subtlty about a girl in a bikini straddling a fence or bending over and showing her cleavage. I’ll give Rosita credit: she’s definitely hot here, but I really wish TNA would think outside the box when coming up with setting for their shoots. When the choice is between a stark white background, a locker room or a gritty corner of the arena, you know there’s never going to be much diversity in your photoshoots.
Rating: • • • • •
View the photoshoot.

Which photoshoot did you like best? Vote in the poll below and speak your mind in the comments!

Tara Responds to Fans Saying Eve Torres ‘Stole’ Her Standing Moonsault

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TNA Knockout, Tara, has responded to fans commenting that WWE’s Eve Torres ‘stole’ her standing moonsault.

The duo, friends during their time in WWE, both perform the standing moonsault, with Torres recently adding a ‘booty pop’ before performing hers — similar to Tara’s ‘shakedown’ before she hits the move.

Tara Takes Part in Underwear Run for Charity, Reveals Recent Breast Cancer Scare

Writing on her blog, Tara says:

I have heard from a lot of people alerting me that ‘Eve stole your standing moonsault’. Here is my perspective…Eve is a shady thief…I’m totally kidding. Eve is a wonderful person, a good friend, and one of the people I miss the most from WWE. But seriously, hundreds of wrestlers have come and gone through the major wrestling organizations. If every move they used became off limits, there would be nothing left to do. The way I learned it, there is a certain code of honor where if you ‘borrow’ someone’s move, you in some way change it and make it your own, which Eve did.

Tara also talks about Miss Tessmacher using a similar move to Trish Stratus‘ Stratusfaction:

Recently, Miss Tessmacher introduced a move that I thought was not even close to a move Trish did. But then one of the TNA backstage coaches asked her to adjust it, and it became a little more like Trish’s move. Even so, it is definitely Miss Tessmacher’s version. And at the end of the day, Trish was flattered, the same way I am flattered. If you want to spice up your arsenal, you go to wrestlers that you admire.

Read more of Tara’s blog here.

Thoughts: As Tara points, moves are rarely new in wrestling and everyone uses moves that have been done before. I think the fans point of contention comes from the fact that Eve recently added the ‘booty pop’ to her standing moonsault, which is similar to Tara’s ‘shakedown’. However, Torres has been using the actual move for a while and I’ve always thought of it as an homage to her friend more than anything else. Not a huge thing to nitpick over.