On June 19 Dreamwave and Uprising presented Uprising 8, which was part of Dreamwave’s All Star Weekend. The weekend included Uprising 8, Wrestling After Dark’s Walk of Shame and Dreamwave’s Eve of Destruction.
Uprising, which is Dreamwave’s sister promotion, had some big names and big matches. AEW’s Megan Bayne faced off against VertVixen, TNA’s Maggie Lee took on the birthday girl and international superstar B3CCA, and in the main event Rebecca J Scott defended her Uprising Alternative title against an American Gladiator, J-Rod.
Harley Hudson takes on Tori Fox to open the show. Harley has the experience advantage and it shows as she dominates most of the match. This is a clear veteran versus rising star match up, as Hudson uses all of the tricks that she has learned throughout her travels. Tori gets some spurts of offence but they are quickly stopped by Harley. However, Tori is able to get the upset by forcing Harley to tap out
In the second match Davina Thorne, who appears to be a complete diva who is very self obsessed, goes up against the very athletic, former Division 1 athlete Rachel Ley. Davina tries to cut some corners early, but Ley shows off some of her athletic ability and really gets the crowd going. This is a very action packed, hight paced match. I loved this match and want to see more Davina Thorne. Rachel Ley, hits an incredible move off the top rope that leaves everyone in awe. It looked like she cartwheeled off the top turnbuckle. Whatever it was, it got her the victory.
Possibly the most hated wrestler in Uprising, Brittnie Brooks, takes on a late replacement and fan favorite Emily Jaye. Brittnie has been one of the top stars at Uprising since it started, so if Emily is able to get a win here, it would put her in the championship conversation. However, Brittnie showed her dominance in this match. Emily put up a good fight and showed that she is tough and will be one to look out for, but Brittnie gets the win with “It’s Brittnie Bitch.”
A triple threat, no disqualification match between Badger Briggs, Shazza McKenzie and Gabby Forza. Gabby and Badger team up on Shazza and Gabby deadlifts Shazza onto the ring apron. The team of Gabby and Badger explodes once they get in the ring. Gabby takes on both of her opponents and she is just strong enough to do it. This finish comes when Gabby drives Badger through a door, then Shazza hits Gabby with a chair and picks up the win. Shazza didn’t do the most in the match, but was in the right spot. This was a fun match, nothing too crazy, we had some chairs, trashcans and the door. Gabby showed off her power, Badger showed off her toughness and Shazza showed off her smarts.
Briar Hale, one half of the Hale Twins, takes on Brody Dahl. I have not seen Brody before, but she looks pretty impressive to start the match. The Hale Twins do some Twin Magic and Sage Hale dominates Dahl. Dahl gets in some offense and Briar comes back in. This is not a tag team match, but the Hale Twins sure are making it feel that way for them. The ref sees both of them together and throws out Briar by mistake. Sage hits Dahl with a chop to the throat and gets the win for Briar.
B3CCA comes singing to the ring, and it is her birthday! Her birthday present is a match against one of the best wrestlers in UPRISING, a TNA Knockout, Maggie Lee. Maggie took out B3CCA’s whole tour group with a dive. She seems to be a step ahead of B3CCA and her friends until the ref goes down. Brittnie Brooks comes out with the referee down, then B3CCA locks Maggie in a submission as the ref wakes up and B3CCA gets a birthday victory.
AEW superstar, Megan Bayne, takes on VertVixen. Bayne will have the size advantage like she does in most of her matches, but Vert is one of the toughest wrestlers that you are going to find. Vert tries to use her speed advantage, but Bayne is a lot quicker than one might think. This is a new VertVixen, than the Player One we all know. She is more focused and determined than ever. These two threw everything at each other and neither one was backing down. This was an incredible, must see match, where Bayne gets the victory with a spear followed by the Mega Bomb.
In the main event, we see The American Gladiator, J-Rod challenging Rebecca J Scott for the Uprising Alternative Championship. RJS starts out fast early, which is smart, because she has to defend her Dreamwave Women’s Championship tomorrow against B3CCA in a strap match. J-Rod is a lot bigger and stronger than RJS, but RJS is not intimidated by anyone. J Rod hits RJS with a big spear, but pulls RJS up by her hair. This was a big mistake, as RJS rolled her up for the win. After the match, B3CCA attacks RJS from behind and chokes her with the strap that they will use in their match tomorrow.
I really enjoyed this show, as there were some great matches, some matches that introduced us to new wrestlers, and some matches that helped put the focus on the Dreamwave show the following evening. My favorite matches from the show were Davina Thorne against Rachel Ley and the battle between Megan Bayne and VertVixen. It will be interesting to see if Megan Bayne cashes in her suitcase for a title shot after the strap match between RJS and B3CCA at Dreamwave’s Eve of Destruction, because you would figure that even the winner will be pretty beat up.