A Queen Crowned!
by Karen Belcher

Sunday, January 7, I made my first ever trip to Pottstown, PA, for World-1Joshi and Professional Girl Wrestling Association’s Rebirth or Destruction for the Queen’s Cup Tournament. It was an 8 woman tournament to determine who will travel to Pro-Wrestling SUN in Japan to face World-1 Women's Champion Amazing Kong.

The winners of the first round of matches would face each other in the semifinal round, with the winners of those matches facing off in the final round. 

Let me warn everyone, do NOT get directions to Pottstown from Mapquest! If you follow their directions, you will end up in Philadelphia totally lost, because they not only send you out of your way, they tell you to go east when you should go west. Luckily, I was able to figure out that the directions were bad before I got totally lost, so I ended up just going out of my way and getting there a half hour later than I wanted to. I didn’t miss any of the show, but I did miss out on getting interviews with the ladies on the show. Thanks very much to Steve Corino for giving me great directions to get home!

At least I had time to get photos of Nikki Roxx and Sara Del Rey before the show.

***

Due to the Philadelphia Eagles game, the crowd was rather small, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for with enthusiasm. Among those in attendance were Claudio Castagnoli, Nick Berk, Ed Darcey, and Brett Schwan and company. Steve Corino’s son Cody, who is 2-1 in his amateur wrestling career, was working at the concession stand.

Ring announcer Steve Goff came out to start the show and introduced the play-by-play announcer (for the dvd) Marcus “King Kong” Dowling. They explained the rules for World-1 Joshi:

If a wrestler is sent out of the ring over the top rope, it’s an automatic DQ.

Wrestlers get a 20 count instead of a 10 count when outside the ring.

When there is a flagrant violation of the rules, a referee can give a wrestler a “yellow card,” which is actually a warning, as there is no actual card given. If that wrestler breaks that rule again, the referee gives a “red card,” or DQ.

In this tournament, if any match ends in a draw or double DQ, both of the wrestlers in that match are eliminated.

Match 1:  Amber O'Neal vs. Allison Danger

The ref for this match was Senior Referee Bryce Remsburg. Amber let everyone know immediately that she had nothing but disdain for the fans as she entered, snubbing the applause from those at ringside and inviting me to take her photo, then turning her back on me when I raised my camera. When she got into the ring, she demanded applause from the fans. Ref Bryce had to warn her throughout the match, “Stay off the hair!” “Stay off her throat!” “Stay out of her nostrils!” 

Amber and Allison put on an entertaining, action filled match with lots of near falls and submission attempts. They finished with the ever popular rolling small package when Danger pinned O’Neal. Before she left the ring, Amber shouted to the crowd that the ref cheated.

Match 2:  Cindy Rogers vs. Alere Little Feather

Alere started off the match with a foot stomping sort of Native American dance step (Think Tatanka) as she faced off against Rogers, who held out her hands, palms up and quipped, “It’s not raining in here.” They put on a solid technical match with lots of action and mat work, with Cindy’s plan clearly being to work on Alere’s left arm. I couldn’t see the final submission move clearly, but it appeared to be a variation on an arm bar that Rogers used to make Little Feather submit. 

These two skilled women put on the fine match fans have come to expect from them based on their long rivalry, but the crowd would probably have gotten into it more if it had been clearer who was the “good girl” and who was the bad one. I believe Cindy was the heel, based on her funny insults to Alere and the ref, but a good match could have been better if she had been more evil.

Match 3:  Nikki Roxx vs. Sara Del Rey

For fans of scientific wrestling, this was definitely match of the night as these amazing athletes went all out for the full 15 minute time limit. Each woman was working the other one’s arm, trying for a submission win. They reversed each other’s submission attempts in some very clever ways, and at times went for sheer power moves and even some brawling when they became frustrated at not being able to get a pin or submission. 

After a while, Nikki started working Sara’s leg instead, but Sara went right back to working on Nikki’s arm when she got the chance. They followed with some fast arm drags and hip tosses. Nikki went for a flying head scissors, but Sara blocked it, hitting Nikki hard in the jaw. Nikki went out to walk it off, and Sara honorably held the ropes open for her to reenter the ring, establishing this as a face vs face match.

Knowing time was running short, the ladies really turned up the heat, scoring numerous 2 counts and submission attempts, but no one could get the win. Although this made for a very exciting match, it also meant that the finish was a time limit draw, so neither Roxx now Del Rey could move on the the semifinals. The fans chanted for the match to continue for 5 more minutes, but the best W-1W Official Mike Kehner would offer was a rematch with a 30 minute time limit when W-1WJoshi returns to Pottstown on February 11.

Match 4:  Cheerleader Melissa vs. Melissa Stripes

Due to the draw in Match #3, the winner of this match will get a bye in the semifinals. Cheerleader Melissa’s sneering face established from the minute she set foot in the arena that she had nothing but contempt for the fans. Melissa Stripes was clearly outclassed in both experience and power in this match, as the Cheerleader slung her around like the proverbial rag doll.

In spite of her clear advantage, Cheerleader still found it necessary to cheat, even stomping viciously on Stripes’ head at one point, earning her a yellow card warning from the referee. Stripes made a comeback and tried to put away her opponent with a 450 flip off the top, but Cheerleader got her knees up. She followed with a sick Cop Killah for the pin on the unlucky Stripes.

Match 1:  Cindy Rogers vs. Allison Danger

Danger and Rogers opened the match trading funny, catty remarks. Cindy pulled out all the stops going after Allison, earning numerous warnings for continuing to attack Danger while she was on the ropes or in the corner. Later in the match, Rogers resorted to the Greco-Roman crotch stomp on Danger, causing Referee Bryce to wince and turn away. Danger yelled at him, “What?! There’s a bone there suckers!”

They kept the match moving well, using a good mix of power, mat work and submissions, reversing each others’ holds smoothly. At one point, Allison was very suddenly flung backward in my direction and landed partly on my lap! I’ve often wished for some handsome male wrestler to land on me, but this is the first time any wrestler actually did. Cindy continued her cheating, finally getting a yellow card from the ref for poking Allison in the eyes. Danger finally got Rogers to submit with a Surfboard.

They took a break for intermission to allow Allison Danger to rest before the final match with Cheerleader Melissa, and while a couple of men came out and had a comedy match that had the children in the audience giggling, I got this photo of Alere Little Feather, Nikki Roxx and Melissa Stripes.

The ladies came out to talk to fans and sell autographed photos, etc. Near the end of intermission, a loud disturbance was heard from the area where some of the women were still talking to fans, and someone yelled for Security. It turned out Cheerleader Melissa had ruthlessly sneak-attacked Allison Danger, leaving her crying on the floor.

Danger’s concerned brother Steve Corino knelt by her side and called for a table to be brought, so that Allison could be carried to the back and get medical attention. (NOTE: Danger was so convincing that some fans near me wondered if it had been a shoot fight over some disagreement between the two women.)

Match 4:  Cheerleader Melissa vs. Allison Danger

Ring Announcer Steve Goff called out Cheerleader Melissa, who again entered showing scorn to the fans as they booed her. He said that W1-W Official Mike Kehner had decided that Allison Danger was too injured to compete in the final match, so Melissa would be declared the winner by default. 

Then it was announced that Allison wanted to wrestle despite her injury. As she made her ring entrance, Mike Kehner argued with her and tried to stop her, but Danger bravely insisted and finally got her way.

This exciting match erupted into a wild brawl from the first moment that Danger ran at Melissa, attacking her ferociously outside the ring. Unfortunately Allison’s injuries and the fact that Melissa had wrestled only once gave the Cheerleader an advantage throughout this match. Melissa body slammed Danger to the floor, and most of this match was fought outside the ring, throughout the crowd. 

We could see Melissa’s power in her first match, but she displayed it to an even greater extent here. At one point, she grabbed Danger around her waist and slung her around in a sort of airplane spin variation, slamming her into the folding chairs on the floor! No matter what she did, Allison gamely fought back, and for a while it seemed that Danger would just refuse to be beaten. In the end, however, it was just too much for Allison, and she was finally pinned after a particularly vicious Kryptonite Crunch. Melissa left to a chorus of boos, but the fans applauded and cheered for Allison as she was carried out of the arena.

W-1Joshi and PGWA did a good job of choosing the competitors for this joint effort, producing a high quality, entertaining show. I enjoyed it very much, and I highly recommend that fans of women’s wrestling buy the video of this show.

WORLD-1JOSHI: REBIRTH OR DESTRUCTION (1/07/07)
Pottstown , PA

1st Annual Queen's Cup Tournament quick results:

Allison Danger pinned Amber O'Neal in 7:53 with a rolling small package.

Cindy Rogers defeated Alere Little Feather by submission with what looked like an arm bar type submission move in 8:55.

Sara Del Rey and Nikki Roxx went to a 15 minute time limit draw.

Cheerleader Melissa pinned Melissa Stripes in 7:41 with a Cop killah.

Semifinal

Allison Danger defeated Cindy Rogers by submission in 13:05 with a Surfboard.

Cheerleader Melissa got a bye due to the draw between Sara Del Rey and Nikki Roxx

Final

Cheerleader Melissa pinned Allison Danger to capture the 1st Annual Queen's Cup in 18:35 with a Kryptonite Crunch.

Matches Announced For <I>WrestleBowl 2K7</I> on Sunday, Feb. 11

W-1Joshi

Academy Hall

1700 Industrial Highway Pottstown, PA  19464

2:00 PM bell time

Announced matches (more to be added):

1. 30 minute time limit: Sara Del Ray v. Nikki Roxx
2.
3. No DQ: Cheerleader Melissa v. Allison Danger
4.
5. Battle of Debuts: Tiana Ringer v. Cha Cha
6.

Tickets: $15 for Ringside, $12 General Admission, $5 for kids under 12!

Combo prices: $25 for Ringside, $20 General Admission, $5 for kids under 12!

Pay Pal Info@WORLD1Wrestling.com or call 484-938-7045

Karen Belcher appears courtesy of ProWrestlingDaily.com