This article comes as a little bit of a fire lit under me. I had the unfortunate event where I saw some great negativity in the world of social media (Imagine that, right?). Rather than give the tools who create this negativity any publicity, I decided to step back and rather than rant about them, I would focus on some positivity. Here is a list of 5 reasons to love women’s wrestling.
(This list is simply mine, so please before you take me to task in the comments, this is my list. I’ll forget some important people and aspects, no doubt. Maybe I’ll have a reason for a sequel.)
1. Grumpy Cherry-If you read my writing often, you know and I make no apologies for being a huge Cherry Bomb fan. I think she is one of the best complete total packages of look and in-ring work. And I loved Good Babyface Cherry. I thought she had great enthusiasm and kept the crowd engaged during matches. And then I saw Cherry Bomb as a heel. It was like watching Babe Ruth go from being a pitcher to an outfielder. And as a heel, she has the greatest facial expressions, which have been known as Grumpy Cherry. Keep your eyes on her for a bit. I think we are on the verge of a rise to prominence.
2. SHIMMER/Shine/WSU exchange-The past few years there were all these dream matches because there were certain factions based on the companies and never did the tween meet. That was dashed when the WSU champion Jessicka Havok had a surprise run-in on SHIMMER 53 (whereupon I marked out like a little tween girl seeing Justin Bieber). The egos in the big women’s wrestling companies in the US-SHIMMER, Shine, WSU, and even though they don’t run women’s shows exclusively, AIW and Anarchy Championship Wrestling-are disappearing and we’re getting to see some matches we never thought we’d be able to see.
3. Rise of new names-A lot of new wrestlers are getting their chance on a big stage. A lot of them have more than impressed. Kimberly has been one of the nicest surprises from 2012 and into 2013 with her Shine work. Addy Starr is a star very quickly rising (forgive the pun). Angelus Layne is lighting rings on fire metaphorically, and I’m sure “Crazy” Mary Dobson is setting them on fire quite literally. And if I may say so, it’s always nice to see the return of Miss Natural. A lot of the mainstays the last decade or so (Allison Danger & others who have hinted at it) are stepping aside from active competition. This is giving the chance for a lot of new names to rise to the top. Veda Scott & Leva Bates are just a few names of those who are on the rise.
4. Saraya Knight-
Very few wrestlers scare me. With very few wrestlers do I see believability. It’s much like watching Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad. He is so intense you believe him as the psycho who wants to make meth to prepare financially for his family. All she does is walk out and stare people in the face, and she has one of the best entrances in wrestling. If you are wanting to study ring presence and how to be a heel, watch her. She has got to be one of the top all-around wrestlers, male or female.
5. Texas-Okay, before I talk about this, full disclosure: I’m from Texas. I’m sure there are other hotbeds out there, but this is the one I know best. We are one of the first locations to give the immortal Jazz her start. We have perhaps the top female on the planet: Athena. Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin brought Rachel Summerlyn, Jessica James, Angel Blue and some other wrestlers to the forefront. They do a yearly Joshi tournament that brings in top talent like Angelus Layne, Addy Starr, Veda Scott, Jazz, Portia Perez and Jessicka Havok (and is usually my wedding anniversary weekend, and I somehow can’t convince my wife to go watch a women’s wrestling tournament for our anniversary). Not only that, there are plenty of wrestlers all throughout the great state that could be the next thing: Barbi Hayden, Claudia Solis, Jordynne Grace, Miss Diss Lexia, Livi La Vida Loca. It’s a great time to be a women’s wrestling fan in Texas.
So what are your favorites? What are your reasons to love women’s wrestling?