America…F**k Yeah!

by Dave on 11th October 2013

So I never got round to previewing my trip to the US, and it’s been and gone so this makes this a review of one of the crazier wrestling weekends with around 7500-8000 miles of travel in 5 days. First however lets take you back to about 3 years ago on 16th October 2010 (I only know the date due to checking the DVD case).

The show was Pro Wrestling EVE: Empire Strikes Back, the reason I mention this show was due to this being the first time I would ever see someone who I would later rant and rave about and who 3 years later has been booked in Japan and is currently in the US on a month long tour. This is a person I class as a friend, a person who I’ve talked with most about her future career plans, this person is Nikki Storm.

So this night would see Nikki (billed even then as ‘The Best in Scotland’) face Saraya Knight in what would be my then Match Of The Year, and later in the night join Jetta’s European Empire. In the following set of shows she would go on to reach the finals of the Pro Wrestling EVE title tournament, losing to Britani Knight (now known as Paige in WWE) and this set of shows would finally see me meeting this woman.

In the 2 and a half years since, I have seen her at every EVE show (bar the one show I couldn’t make due to prior commitments), SWE twice, ICW:FF twice, VOW and AIW, and she has developed to a ridiculously effective heel who can both talk and wrestle to what should be TV (WWE/TNA if either decide to push their women correctly) level.

Away from and after shows I have talked to her about a whole variety of things, including her desires to wrestle in Japan, her doubts about people wanting a Nikki Storm t-shirt (both of which she achieved/had within a year of me talking to her). She has deserved everything she’s achieved and should the UK lose her to a worldwide mainstream company I would be pleased to have been a part of watching her journey and I’m pleased that the world is finally seeing what I’ve been saying for so long.

So anyway to my most recent (and longest trip) to the US, which saw me see Nikki Storm wrestle 3 times and leave my Scottish flag in her company. The first show I attended was VOW that involved about a 400 mile round trip to go to a place that was in the middle of nowhere called The ICE Mine, Connelsville, PA with a couple of wrestling fans from Cleveland (Pat Lucey, who I continuously buried throughout the weekend and Gary Wilson who drove) and Ben Ward from the UK. Whilst there we met up with Dave Muscarella who was also coming to the the AIW GNO show the following day.

The show itself was indytastic with a ‘so bad its good’ tag team ‘Clockwork Orange’ match that saw a taped and pre sawn table brought out, which almost fell apart when someone was placed on it. I also saw Leah Von Dutch finally win a match (which in spite of wrestling 9 times [I think] in England never happened) against someone (who Nikki pinned), Nikki (who walked out) and someone else (who again I can’t remember). I apologise for terrible reporting, but there were 3 Canadians pulled from the card as they were due to appear for ROH (but then got stopped at the border and were refused entry to the US).

This show had me being very British and taking Brendon Burns ‘this is in no way homoerotic’ shout during a Heel vs. Heel match when there was a lull in the action. I have to say this was everything I wanted from an American indy show like this…and more. My only complaint (and again a British thing) was the lack of a bar.

So the following day I travel via public transport to a very stereotypically poor neighbourhood where there was a shop accepting food stamps and as I walked along the street with Ben there was a guy in a rocking chair on the porch listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Eventually we reached Turners Hall and met a few new guys. Eventually Pat turned up and then we were let in to do the meet and greet which was fun as I got to meet some top indy talent (and as I was repping my ICW “C**tasaurus” t-shirt it was received well by the majority of fans and wrestlers who saw what I was wearing).

Girls Night Out 9

  1. Annie Social (w/ Sammy Geodollno & Heidi Lovelace) pinned Jewells Malone with a Stunner.
  2. Santana Garrett beat Jenny Rose via submission.
  3. Leva Bates & Xandra Bale beat Jody D’Milo & Jasmin when Bates pinned D’Milo following a Superhero Kick.
    – Post match, The Social Network of Annie Social, Heidi Lovelace & Sammy Geodollno attacked Bates & Bale.
  4. Three Way Match: Angel Dust won over Melanie Cruise & Heidi Lovelace when she pinned Cruise with a roll-up.
  5. Leah Von Dutch pinned Mickie Knuckles following interference by The Duke.
  6. Savannah Summers pinned Sassy Stephie with a roll-up counter to the Kiss My Sass.
  7. Taeler Hendrix pinned Marti Belle.
  8. Kimber Lee made Nikki Storm submit to a cross armbreaker.
  9. Dream Partners Tag Match: Allysin Kay & Mia Yim beat Veda Scott & Shanna when Yim pinned Shanna after Kay had chased Scott to the back.

Girls Night Out 10

  1. Kimber Lee pinned Santana Garrett following an inverted piledriver.
  2. Jasmin pinned Jody D’Milo.
  3. Sassy Stephie defeated Jewells Malone via submission.
  4. Melanie Cruise pinned Angel Dust following a Chokeslam.
  5. The Social Network (Annie Social & Heidi Lovelace) beat Leva Bates & Xandra Bale with a powerbomb/backstabber combination.
  6. Three Way Match: Leah Von Dutch (w/ The Duke) won over Savannah Summers & Shanna when Von Dutch pinned Summers after Summers had been laid out by The Duke.
  7. No Disqualification: Mickie Knuckles pinned Jenny Rose after suplexing her through a table.
  8. Nikki Storm pinned Mia Yim with the Cyclone Neckbreaker.
  9. AIW Absolute Women’s Title: Allysin Kay made Veda Scott submit to retain the title.

The shows were both great and ran at just about the right length of time per match. It was also great to see how well Shanna and Nikki were received by the American crowd, getting themselves over as effective heels and Leah Von Dutch turning up was unexpected (bearing in mind there seemed to be legit heat between her and AIW). After the show a few of the wrestlers and fans went to Melt for food and I got into discussion with a few people. I travel back out to America a week again today for Shimmer and can’t wait.

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