9/24/16 AWS “Ladies Night 2” at American Legion Post #335, South Gate
When Bart books some of the region’s top ladies, fly in some other high-end indie talents, and bring back the fan favorite 10-wrestler Men v. Women tag team match, you know great times are to be had. The “Ladies Night 2” card was no exception, as a capacity crowd filled the legion hall, despite some changes to the lineup. Cheerleader Melissa & Samara were the notable ones that couldn’t make the show, but Santana Garrett was available, as she was in L.A., most likely to prepare for Thursday’s WoW Superheroes event. Fortunately for the fans, “Team Hammer Guy” didn’t win everything in the raffle, as some of the young fans won raffle prizes, including a poster of the flyer for the night’s card, signed by all of the wrestlers.
1 – Holidead v. Buggy Nova (w/ Chuckie)
A very strong opener, complete with a nice gimmick. Buggy brought a Chuckie doll to the ring, and “had him go after the Twisted Sister” during the match. If there was any ring rust in Buggy, then she didn’t show it in the ring. In the end, Holidead was able to keep a hold of Buggy, preventing her from going for one of her signature Springboard Bulldog/Stratusfaction finisher, and blasted her with the Pump Kick for the pin.
2 – Laura James v. Shotzi Blackheart
Good preliminary match. Shotzi showed some good stuff in the ring, including a 4-stomp combo that she chained into a Senton Bomb, but it didn’t prevent her from falling to Laura’s YP Plex.
3 – LuFisto v. Thunder Rosa
These two ladies set the bar high for the rest of the night, trading stiff strikes, bodyslams, and submission holds, both in and outside the ring. LuFi dodged Rosa’s Top Rope Double Stomp, then nailed her with the Burning Hammer for the pin.
4 – (Men’s) Heavyweight Championship: Tyler Bateman (c) v. DDT Pro’s Shigehiro Irie
A brilliant men’s singles match, where they traded moves and holds. Tyler really had to work for the V1–his first successful title defense–especially when he seemed to prevent his head from taking the brunt of a Piledriver, because he got right back on his feet. Tyler nailed Shigehiro with the Spinning Elbow Strike/Death From Above for the pin. As I tweeted during the show, the fans gave the DDT Pro Japanese talent the “Please come back” chant.
5 – Datura & Kitana Vera v. Ruby Raze & Ashley Grace
Raze had the initiative on Datura & Kitana early on, but that turned around when Ashley tagged in. In fact, Datura & Kitana really cut the ring in half, preventing Ashley from making a hot tag to Raze. As the match went on, Raze became increasingly fed up, giving Referee Danielle quite a hard time. In fact, Raze got in the ring, even without the hot tag from Ashley, drilling Kitana with the Dream Smasher, flooring Datura with the Soul Eater, then gave Ashley a Powerbomb onto Datura, letting Ashley score the pin. (Note: Part of this particular recap is off of Raze’s response to my ringside tweet during the show.)
6 – Women of Honor v. Women of Wrestling: WOH Taeler Hendrix v. WoW Heroine Santana Garrett
Great action from these two high-end talents. Taeler showed some great stuff that makes her a major player in ROH, even though she found just how battle-hardened Santana has gotten from her recent tours with Stardom, and her run with the Wonder of Stardom title (won from Io Shirai Last November, dropped to Kairi Hojo Last May). Santana got some help from Sage Sin, who distracted Taeler, then smacked her squarely in the face with her Jack-O-Lantern basket. Santana capped it with the Shining Star Press for the pin.
SM – Women’s Championship: Hudson Envy (c) v. Nicole Savoy
These two ladies really went at it, trading stiff strikes, slams, and submission holds. Nicole couldn’t put Hudson away with her array of Suplexes, but Hudson couldn’t put Nicole away with the Air Raid Crash. Nicole capped the match, chaining 3 consecutive Royal Butterfly Suplexes, into an Armbar Submission for the title-clinching tapout.
NEW AWS WOMEN’S CHAMPION — “QUEEN OF SUPLEXES” NICOLE SAVOY
M – The 10-Wrestler Men v. Women Intergender Tag Team Match — H.A.T.E. v. Team Raze, Special Guest Referee B-Boy
H.A.T.E.: Ray Rosas, Peter Avalon, Che Cabrera, Raunchy Rico Dynamite, & Bad Dude Tito Escondido (w/ Pinky)
Team Raze: Raze, Shayna Baszler, Holidead, Laura James, & “Real Man” Hector Canales
No surprise that this match brought out a crazy mix of comedy with gimmick wrestling. Hopefully, Ray got “tended to” by his wife, Yuli, after being the recipient of a series of submission holds and stiff strikes from Shayna. There was Raze hitting a Double Suplex on PPRay, holding her own ground in the process. Laura James put two members of H.A.T.E. in an odd situation, only to get “gangbanged” by the men, when Tito put her in the Pendulum (Are they really trying to “draw the ire” of Laura’s fiancee, Joey Ryan?). There was a massive cluster in The Hot Tub Guy’s section, and a parade of signature moves. But then H.A.T.E. “ripped off” Hector’s “Real Man” top, delivered a beatdown on B-Boy, and brought out Referee Justin Borden. Referee Rick Knox interfered, and they had their battle, before The Bad Dudes floored Rick. Tito capped it with what looked like a Schoolboy Rollup on Raze, with feet on the ropes, and Justin Borden doing the 3-count.
Matches like these is a big reason why the fans did what they could to help bring AWS back last month, whether it’s for the crazy stuff that comes out of the 5 Men v. 5 Women matches, or the showcase of the women wrestlers. As already posted on social media, Nicole Savoy will have her first AWS Women’s title defense against Sage Sin at Sabotage on 10/7. We’ll still have to wait and see who will throw it down with the Twisted Sisterz at Sabotage, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they challenge Wonder of Stardom Champion Kairi Hojo & Stardom’s 2016 5-Star Grand Prix Champion Yoko Bito (pending any injuries suffered by either of those 2 ladies at the next Stardom Japan event on 10/2). After all, Thunder Rosa & Holidead are scheduled to be at Stardom for the remainder of the year, especially for their annual Goddess of Stardom Tag Team League. In the end, all the talents left everything in the ring, and gave the fans something to talk about for awhile.
MOTN
1 – Women’s title match
2 – H.A.T.E. v. Team Raze
3 – LuFi v. Thunder Rosa
Photos from the event: https://www.facebook.com/SimplicioPhotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=551679711690855
Next event: If a go, WoW Superheroes on Thursday. Otherwise, Sabotage Wrestling on 10/7 at the “EWF Arena” (and I do hope to use the photo op from the VIP Package to do what I couldn’t do at Stardom USA Last October, and that is get a picture w/ “The Pirate Princess” Kairi Hojo)
