WrestleHer: Women’s down-under wrestling report
Welcome to the second edition of WrestleHer, a monthly feature where we shine a spotlight on the women trailblazers of Australian wrestling. Each month, we’ll bring you all the latest news, highlights, and heat from the Aussie wrestling scene. From rising stars in the industry to locker room veterans, we’re here to celebrate one of the most impressive women’s divisions in the world.
Let’s kick this month’s WrestleHer off with the latest action from PWA’s dominating forces, Charli Evans and Jessica Troy. Last night saw an intense last wrestler standing match between the two women, that lasted for a whopping 40 minutes and ended in a bloody mess. The two girls have an interesting and intense history, which was put on full display at the Black Label event that saw Evans win the Heavyweight Championship. The main event match saw an extremely personal rivalry between the two as the once best friends went head to head. Both women really released their pent-up aggression in the match, with some intense spots including chair hits that saw them break in seconds, an almost broken finger for Evans, and a bleeding head from Troy all in the first few minutes of the match. The match went on to see some crazy submission reversals and impressive technical moves by both women to try and wear each other out. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, Northshore had to get themselves involved and gave Evans the advantage before The Dropouts came to defend Troy and let the women get on with their own business. Another incredible spot saw Troy launch herself from the top rope to break up another conflict between the two groups, followed by Evans getting the (very sharp) Colosseum sword involved. Right when things were moving in Troy’s direction, Evans somehow made it back on her feet after losing buckets’ worth of blood from a harsh cut with the sword. I genuinely don’t know how the two kept going for this long at this intensity, both were left covered in blood, sweat and tears and still kept getting up. It was eventually an altercation with a mysterious man in black that gave Evans the chance to pick up the win.
The night in PWA also saw the first round of its PWA Premiership between the VeloCities team and the PPK team of Frankie and Nikki Van Blair. Both teams were looking to advance in the trios premiership and certainly bought the heat. Despite Frankie and Blair doing their best with their teammate Marley Peleti, it was eventually an unfortunate double suicide dive to Frank and Blair and a springboard to Peleti that saw VeloCities and Velkan Wild pick up the win. Things went a little better for The Backslide Girlz though, as they successfully defended the tag belts against The Regime. Although The Regime quickly took control of the match, it was the quick thinking from Kingsley that saw Shay Kassidy able to make a tag and unleash on the two men. The two then easily took over the ring, and it was eventually a little help from Everett Connors that saw the Girlz pick up the win.
The last month has also seen some absolute standout matches with the World Series Wrestling tour across Australia, featuring some of the very best from Aussie wrestling, including none other than Lena Kross. Kross had several impressive matches on the tour, including her incredible performance against Ash By Elegance, which got her the WSW Women’s Title. Although the belt was stolen away from her in a Fatal Four Way on the next stop, it didn’t take away from the sheer talent she brings to each and every match.
Over in Adelaide, Wrestle Mania Misery at the Lion Arts Factory last month saw the Kings of Ruin team of Miki Fortune and Zak Sabbath defeat fellow Adl favourite Leah Lovegrove and her partner Link Barnett. Fortune has been an absolutely dominant force in the South Aus wrestling scene this past year, and she certainly did not hold back on bringing the brutality to this match. Unfortunately for Lovegrove, a definite crowd favourite in the rampage universe, it was some miscommunication between herself and Barnett (or rather, Barnett’s distrust in her), despite Lovegrove really bringing her all and impressing audiences with some new tricks, that gave way to the Kings of Ruin to pick up the win. The night at Rampage also saw the queen of darkness Amber, along with her Misery Loves Company teammate Gothic Greg successfully defend their tag team titles against the Australian Takeover team. The match saw the Aus takeover team rudely cross a line into the Adelaide scene, and they were clearly not welcome by local audiences. With the hometown love backing Amber and Greg, the two were able to bring the heat in-ring, and it was eventually a double foot stomp from Amber that saw them pick up the win.
Leah Lovegrove also recently saw herself in an intense matchup between Billie Mac and long-term rival Axe Massacre at QWA’s Aftershock. The three girls went all out in a triple-threat match for the women’s title. Massacre fought incredibly hard to retain her championship in what was an epic match and an interesting trio we hope to see more of.
(Photo: Queensland Wrestling Alliance Facebook)
Australia has also been closely following Natasha Valentine since her impressive defeat of James Marshall at the APW Battle to Survive, which saw her become the Legacy Openweight title holder. Despite some harsh taunting from Marshall, Valentine quickly unleashed hell on her opponent. Marshall was able to gain control again later in the match, but his hard hits weren’t enough to keep Valentine down. It was eventually a spear, followed by a lovebomb that saw her pick up the win.
Aussie legend Tarlee also recently went head-to-head with Ari Nicole to pick up a huge win at PCW’s Ignition. She picked up the win ahead of her number one contender for the Renegades Women’s Title match tonight, with the winner set to go head-to-head with Indi Hartwell, who recently won the belt from Aysha.
– Till next month!
News Writer + Aussies Abroad. Based in Adelaide and winner of the 2023 CPA Young Journo of the year, has been a news and arts journalist for a number of years working across radio and print, but has decided to take her wrestling addiction to PWDU. You can find her at any local wrestling night across the state with a beer in-hand and a front-row ticket to the action.
