With Sabotage coming up this weekend, I tracked down Gregg, otherwise known as DJ Chopstix, who spends 18-20 hours a day researching Sabotage, six days a week (which is amazing since they’ve only had 1 show so far). Together we took a look at the upcoming Sabotage show, preview the matches, and give our thoughts on who is going to leave with the first ever Sabotage Championship.
Steve: After what has to be considered a successful first show, Sabotage is back this weekend with their sophomore effort, “Hey Ladies.” This time around they are going to be crowning their first champion with a sixteen woman tournament that has a bit of different format. The sixteen women are divided into eight tag-teams, and the first three rounds will be tag-team matches, with the two team members of the surviving team squaring off in the finals. The teams were somewhat randomly put together by voting on Twitter as well. I’m here with Gregg, who is the world’s foremost expert on Sabotage, to take a look ahead this weekend’s show.
Gregg: I’ll take it!
Steve: Since this a tournament, it’s a little more difficult to break down the matches, as we only know the first round, but let’s give it a try.
Ruby Raze & Ray Lyn vs. Sage Sin Supreme & Kimmy Shellhammer
Steve: This is an interesting match up to me for several reasons. First, you have Raze and Sage who are normally tag partners, on opposite teams. It should be fun to see how that plays out. Then you have Raze and Ray Lyn who have really seemed to have bonded and have been having some fun interactions on Twitter. Before the teams were announced, I would have had put both Raze and Sage Sin among my favorites to win the whole tournament and at least one is going out in the first round. Ray Lyn has been a really great addition to the women’s wrestling scene in Southern California and has a ton of charisma. I admittedly don’t know anything about Kimmy Shellhammer, other than she is aligned with the promotion’s main heel, Donovan Troi. I haven’t had a chance to watch her wrestle yet, so I’m not sure what to expect here.
Gregg: I’m a huge fan of Raze. I think that 2017 is going to be a breakout year for her. I’ve said it before, if she doesn’t end up in Shimmer by the end of 2017, this year will officially suck more than 2016. It’s hard to bet against her, she’ll ragdoll Sage, Kimmy, and maybe even Ray Lyn (if she gets in the way). While I don’t see either Raze Cray making it to the finals (I’ll explain more later), they’ll make it far in the tourney. I like the contrast of styles of Raze Cray and hope we get to see them VERSUS each other more often.
Heather Monroe & Holidead vs. Mazzerati & Desi DeRata
Gregg: This will be an interesting one. Holidead and Desi DeRata are both on the taller side, so I look forward to seeing them match up. I’m impressed with Desi’s presence and her entrance is definitely one of the more unique ones on the scene today. Heather Monroe has been solid from what I’ve seen of her, and I’m not too familiar with Mazzerati.
Steve: I’ve only seen Mazzerati a couple of times, but thought she was pretty solid. I’ve really liked Desi DeRata’s work and she has a ton of ring presence. That being said I don’t think there is any way they beat Holidead and Heather Monroe.
Buggy Nova & Delilah Doom vs. Allie Kat & Kaitlin Diemond
Steve: This is another interesting match up. It’s really hard to take a guess at who is going to win here. Delilah Doom is really good. She is becoming one of the best women’s wrestlers on the indy scene. Buggy Nova is a ton of fun to watch as well. She has a lot of in-ring charisma and her personality comes off so well. On the other hand you have Kaitlin Diemond who had a really good match against Yoko Bito and Kairi Hojo at the first Sabotage show, and is a member of Oedo Tai, and Allie Kat who is a good wrestler out of Texas. Like the first match, I could see Delilah Doom or Kaitlin Diemond with a shot at winning the title, but one is going out early.
Gregg: This one has me torn. Delilah Doom is becoming a SoCal favorite and is actually my pic to win the whole thing. On the other hand, I’m also a Kaitlin Diemond fan. She is, after all, the Roppongi Rockstar and her singing voice is what I would imagine it would be like if heaven were to open up and we hear the angels sing. However, my pick to win this whole thing is Delilah Doom. This sets up nicely for her to take the belt back to Texas and promote Sabotage’s upcoming show there.
Shotzi Blackheart & Samara vs. Violet Payne & Mariah Moreno
Gregg: Shotzi is becoming another SoCal star and is also going to have a breakout 2017. I’m not too familiar with Samara besides watching her get murdered by Rosemary. I thought she showed heart and charisma. Not too familiar with Violet Payne either and the little I’ve seen of Mariah Moreno, I’m wondering why she doesn’t get booked more often. Gotta give this one to Shotzi and Samara. But I hope we get to see what Shotzi and Mariah can do in the ring together.
Steve: Shotzi has been one of my favorite wrestlers to watch, male or female, over the last few months. I’m in the same boat as far as Samara goes, I’ve only seen her at RISE last month and it was pretty much a squash. I’ve never seen Violet Payne, but I like her Twitter profile, so that’s something! I also hope Mariah Moreno and Shotzi get to go against each other. I have to go with Shotzi and Samara here too.
Christina Von Eerie vs. Mystery Opponent
Steve: This is one of two non-tournament matches that have been announced. It’s pretty hard to preview a match that one of the members haven’t been announced (without spoilers at least). I’m pretty sure I know who the opponent is. This should be good.
Gregg: I’m hoping her opponent is recently retired WWE diva (and “Total Divas” star) Rosa Mendes. #GOAT
Thunder Rosa vs. Scoot Robertson
Gregg: SCU’s Women’s Wrestler of the Year. What I enjoy the most about Thunder Rosa is her charisma. You can’t help but watch her. La Mera Mera gets the “W.”
Steve: I was thinking Thunder Rosa too, but then I don’t think she’s won a singles match in like 6 months. When I first saw this match announced I’ll admit I first thought it was the “Black Nature Boy” Scoot Andrews coming out of retirement to right some wrong that Thunder Rosa did to him in the past. I’ve never seen Scoot Robertson though, so I can’t say I know much about him. According to Wikipedia he is an “American concept artist, known for his transportation design work, contributions to movies like Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, and his educational DVDs with the Gnomon Workshop.” Interesting.
Predictions and Final Thoughts
Steve: We didn’t talk a lot about Donovan Troi. I thought his stuff was fun at the first show, and they’ve put out some entertaining videos with him leading up to this. Hopefully it doesn’t get over done this time around. The format of the tournament makes it difficult to predict how it will go. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict Heather Monroe to win the tournament. She’s had a really good year and just keeps getting better and is someone I think can become a star in women’s wrestling. The first Sabotage show was a lot of fun, and I think with the format for this show and some of the talent they are bringing in this one should be too.
Gregg: Doomies never say die. Delilah Doom is going to win this. I wouldn’t be surprised if she showed up in Stardom or Shimmer before the year’s end.
So come out, support SoCal wrestling and support women’s wrestling. Win or lose, they’ll all be putting it out there for our entertainment. And with CWFH’s Hideaki Shibata on the mic, you can’t go wrong. I hope we get the chance to see him regularly as a ring announcer (in case anyone is listening).
Sabotage’s “Hey Ladies” is taking place February 18, 2017 at the Clela Arena in Los Angeles, CA at 8:00 pm. More information is available on our event’s page. Stay tuned to SoCaluncensored.com for updates from the show.
