With AWS later tonight, here are some quick thoughts on RISE 2 ASCENT from January 27th.
This was their debut in Southern California and their second show overall. I haven’t seen their first show, and outside of Stardom I haven’t watched much non-Southern California women’s wrestling recently, so i had no idea what to expect going in.
The doors were supposed to open at 6:30 for a meet and greet, but this being indy wrestling they opened an hour or so late and moved the meet and greet to intermission. I’m sure it worked out fine as it still seemed like there was enough time before the show, during intermission, or after for people to get as many pictures as they wanted and talk to the wrestlers. There were also some sound issues during the show and only a few wrestlers had entrance music. The attendance looked to be around 150-200.
Desi De Rata over Jewels Malone [5’20]
This match started out pretty good and was fairly even. I thought both Desi and Jewells really had some nice offense in this. It looked like Jewels got legitimately hurt in the match, and the ref made a two count, realized she was hurt and after a delay counted the three. This was decent up to the abrupt ending.
Sage Sin over Allie Kat [6’14]
Sage Sin was really hitting some stiff looking elbows in this. There were a few fun sequences in this, but there seemed to be some miscommunication at times as well. Sage won with a Canadian Destroyer.
Rosemary over Samara [7’21]
Rosemary had the Impact Knockouts title with her. Rosemary was super over. Samara played scared to start the match and really did a good job at it. Even before the match she never took her eyes off Rosemary during her introduction staying cautious. Rosemary started the match by biting Samara’s hand. Samara was able to make a small come back and got in some decent offense. Rosemary won with what looked like a modified F5. This match was a lot of fun.
Saraya Knight over Kikyo [3’40]
Saraya Knight came out and I wonder how long it would be till someone yells out something about Paige. It was about 10 seconds. Since the person yelling it didn’t get a reaction, they yelled it about four more times. Cool. Anyway, Saraya Knight challenged anyone in the back to come out and face her. A young looking girl was tossed through the curtain and Saraya destroyed her in 29 seconds. They never announced her name. Then “The Derby Doll” Layne Rosario came out and got destroyed as well in a minute. Finally Kikyo came out and while she did manage to get some offense in, she was pretty much destroyed as well. Saraya was delivering some really stiff strikes and at one point while Kikyo was in the corner she was blasting kicks into her groin. This was a squash, but it was fun to watch. For anyone who didn’t know Saraya Knight before, she came off as a legit badass in this.
Pst match a masked woman came out and knocked out Saraya with an object and laid a Queen of Spades card on her.
Ruby Raze over Hawlee Layne [6’04]
This was the first match after intermission. Hawlee got some offense in, but for the most part Raze pretty much killed her. She did a pretty crazy looking crucifix power bomb on Hawlee into the corner. I’m looking forward to seeing Raze and Saraya match up at AWS. Like the previous match, this was pretty much a squash but Raze looked great and I thought Hawlee did a good job selling the punishment.
Mercedes Martinez over Shotzi Blackheart [13’27]
I haven’t seen any of Mercedes Martinez’ recent stuff, but she looked really good in this. Shotzi is really good and has so much charisma in the ring. When WWE does their women’s tournament, it will be a shame if Shotzi isn’t a part of it. Nicole Savoy was ringside for Mercedes, but didn’t interfere in the match at all. This was really even and had a lot of good back and forth action. This was really good.
Britt Baker over Chelsea Green [13’51]
This was another good match. I thought both wrestlers looked great in this and Chelsea Green did a great job as the heel. She does such a good job with her facial expressions. I was really impressed with Britt Baker who I’d never seen wrestle before.
After the match RISE’s Kevin Harvey came to the ring and announced that Chelsea Green, Britt Baker, Kikyo, Shotzi Blackheart, Angel Dust, and Delilah Doom will all be part of their regular roster.
Angel Dust over Delilah Doom to retain the Phoenix of RISE title [11’38]
The last three matches on the show were all really good. Delilah Doom has a lot of energy in the ring. I thought Angel Dust looked really crisp in everything she did too. I really enjoyed this. I’m glad Delilah Doom is getting brought out to SoCal more often, and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Angel Dust as well. This was good.
Post match Angel Dust and Delilah went to shake hands, but Rosemary comes out and Angel Dust attacks Delilah from behind. Rosemary and Angel Dust beat down Delilah and leave her laid out in the ring.
I didn’t really know what to expect going in, but overall this was a fun experience. The matches were all fairly short and the show had a really good pace to it. With only four wrestlers on the show who work regularly in Southern California, it was interesting to see a lot of wrestlers I normally don’t get to see. Especially considering the low ticket price, RISE really delivered on an entertaining show.
They mentioned at the show they are working on coming back to Southern California as well.
