Feb 19, 202016 min read

Nerd Watch Wednesday: Wrestle Queendom 1

Updated: Jun 3, 2020

It was JCH's turn to pick this week and I will let the man himself explain why he has chosen this card from the underground feminist punk wrestling promotion from London...

"As the EvE season ticket holder in the group, I wanted to get some eyes on what I remembered as an excellent show from 2018. I chose the main event as I’m self-entered and I have a very small cameo in it.

Setting the story here this show was on the Saturday of Progress Super Strong Style 16 and I had jumped on the graps bus (provided by Steve and Meg) just before the PROGRESS Main Event to take the trip down from Alexandra Palace to York Hall. It was superbly run and we even had time for a couple of pints in the Dundee whilst we watched the queue. Good job Steve and Meg."

Watch the show for FREE thanks to the lovely folks at EvE -

WAR GAMES: BLUE NIKITA, CHARLI EVANS, JAMIE HAYTER & JAYLA DARK vs. ADDY STARR, EMI SAKURA, LAURA DI MATTEO & RHIA O'REILLY

By RJF

So here we are, War Games… The Deserving out first, Jayla Dark, Jamie Hayter, Charlie Evans and Blue Nikita. Boo’s ring out from the crowd, guessing I’m not supposed to like this bunch…Big cheers as Squad Goals music hits, guessing I’m supposed to like this bunch. Rhia O’Reilly, Addy Starr, Laura Di Matteo and Emi Sakura head to the ring.

I will be honest from the get go, I don’t know who is who, so this will be fun! A big brawl already breaks out, security do their best to split things up, but in typical wrestling security fashion, they hold them back for about 2 seconds then another brawl breaks out.

Who will be the first 2 contestants? A whole lot of mouthing off going on on the outside, security finally have some level of control. Sakura gets into the ring, the crowd go wild. Big match feel to this, crowd are hot. Nikita gets in to be her first opponent.

Here we go, the first 5 minutes begin. Sakura not happy that she’s inside a cage and keeps trying to escape. Nikita tries the pin, but the commentator explain this is submission or surrender only and the match doesn’t start until all 8 are in the ring. Nikita on top for the first 5 minutes of this, with not too many moves, guessing they are preserving energy for later in the match. Sakura locking in the Surfboard the highlight of this opening.

The countdown begins, here comes the ref for the coin toss, which The Deserving win and choose to bat. Here comes Charli Evans. Sakura gets the upper hand and locks in a double bow and arrow, very impressive. Sakura held on and here comes Laura Di Matteo, but she is quickly stopped in her tracks and The Deserving are on top. Still not much going on as the contestants are pacing themselves.

The countdown concludes and here comes Jamie Hayter. Squad Goals down 3 to 2 in the ring and The Deserving stay on top as Hayter beats down both Sakura and Di Matteo. As the countdown concludes, here comes Addy Starr who runs wild and gets the upper hand on The Deserving using the cage to her advantage. More methodical wearing down of opponents going on, this is a marathon not a sprint.

The timer hits 0 and here comes Jayla Dark, now it’s her turn to run wild on Squad Goals. The Deserving making the most of the one woman advantage. Dark hits a huge cannon ball of the side of the ring and takes down everyone. This is heating up now as the match is 26 seconds from having all 8 participants in the ring.

Here comes O’Reilly, who enters the ring by climbing to the top of the cage and hits everyone with a splash. As this match finally begins, everyone is down in the ring. “This is awesome” chant from the crowd.

Now then, the real fun begins. The Deserving get the upper hand and all 4 members lock in submissions on Squad Goals. All holds are broken, and everyone gets a spotlight to hit a big move in the middle of the ring. Who will be the first to be eliminated…

Things have slowed down again since the big move highlight spot. Things build back up as we get a couple of superplexes from either side of the ring. Sakura running wild right now as she amps up the crowd. Squad Goals have found their way back in and get the upper hand. And out of nowhere, all 4 members of Squad Goals lock in submissions, is this it? Yes! All of The Deserving submit at the same time!

A great visual for the finish!

Nice little War Games match, always building as each participant entered, then a decent finish. No huge highlights, a couple of nice moves off the cage, but it was more a wearing down of opponents, leading to the eventual simultaneous submissions. Lovely stuff.

WINNERS - SQUAD GOALS BY FOUR SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS

WILD CARD QUALIFYING MATCH: JETTA vs. KRIS WOLF

By Matt Brummitt

My favourite Nerd Watches are where I get to watch something I'm not very familiar with so looking forward to this. I've been to EVE once before for last year's SHE-1 and loved Jetta's schtick and Kris Wolf is ace so this should be fun.

The EVE authority figure comes out to announce something about their Hall of Fame. Jetta interrupts to loud boos. What?! Jetta is a heel in this?! I want my money back. She cuts a promo about her being an original and Wolf only being here 5 mins & yet Wolf gets the preferential treatment. It looks like Wolf is already in the upcoming ladder match but Jetta needs to beat her to qualify.

Kris Wolf is out next to a big pop. Jetta offers her a handshake and Wolf's pure heart is tricked by this nefarious gesture. Match starts off at a quick pace and Jetta gets the initial upper hand. She then slows things down as the crowd chants for Wolf. Jetta keeps fish hooking Wolf on the mat because she is very mean. Jetta picks Wolf up but gets hit by an enziguri. Wolf then picks up her wolf head and chases Jetta around the ring.

Jetta hides under the ring and Wolf tries to find her. Wolf finds a rogue boot poking out of the ring and grabs it but it happens to be empty. During this Jetta sneaks behind her but Wolf spins around, accidentally hitting Jetta with the rogue boot. Back in the ring, Wolf hits a Shattered Dreams variant but Jetta turns things around quickly with a nice T-bone suplex. Jetta then puts on Kris's wolf head (a misplacing of the ownership apostrophe there could be confusing) and using her water bottle, simulates urination on Wolf.

This infuriates Wolf who hits a bunch of kicks on Jetta. Jetta is still wearing the wolf head and due to her lack of sight hits a fisherman on the ref instead! Adding to Jetta's confusion, Wolf counts the 3! Wolf raises Jetta's hand but when Jetta takes off the wolf head, Kris low blows her (I think this is legal in EVE?) and tries a roll up which gets a 2.

Then we get some back and forth offence in the finishing sequence with a Shining Wizard from Wolf and a backstabber from Jetta. Wolf hits a monkey flip variant which leaves both wrestlers with their backs to the mat, the tops of their heads touching, and legs raised and intertwined. The ref counts a 3 with both hands indicating a double pinfall!

The EVE authority figure comes out and rather than announcing a draw, declares them both winners so they both progress to the ladder match!

Summary: A pretty fun match. I think due to its pantomimic nature, it would have worked better live (as it should do as EVE is primarily there for the crowd in attendance).

WINNERS: EVERYBODY!!!

WILD CARD LADDER MATCH: JETTA vs. KASEY OWENS vs. LEAH OWENS vs. KRIS WOLF vs. LIVII GRACE vs. NINA SAMUELS vs. MILLIE MCKENZIE

By Dom Van Dam

G’day lads, after the double count in the Kris Wolf and Jetta contest we are left at a bit of a loose end here at WrestleQueendom. The Wildcard Ladder Match now has 7 participants including both Kris Wolf and Jetta.

Our other competitors in order of entrance are Leah Owens, her twin sister Kasey, Nina Samuels (from the Tele), Livii Grace and Millie McKenzie. Nina Samuels was billed as being from “somewhere better than you.” She’s from Fleet. Fleet! It’s not even a town, just a service station.

Millie McKenzie is only 17 years old at the time of taping. When I was 17, I was eating two minute noodles, reading the Ring of Honor forums and playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. My life has really gone down hill since.

Right, so there’s loads of stuff going on here. The first stave of the narrative revolves around the first ladder in the ring being far too small to reach the Wildcard Briefcase hanging above. This is a nice way to stop anyone making a reasonable run at the prize, whilst all the competitors are hitting their trademark spots.

Suplex Millie is throwing people around like medicine balls in the gym until The Princess Diana of professional wrestling introduces a kendo stick to the fray. This is the first time I’ve seen Leah Owens wrestle, which I was really looking forward to, because of how often her sister Kasey has stolen the show inside the Res Gal, but Leah’s night is cut short when she seems to mistime a leg drop from the ladder and hurts her knee.

Kasey is up on top now, reaching for the briefcase but here’s Nina Samuels, dumping her all the way to the floor. Samuels then ties Kris Wolf’s tail to the middle rope and scales the ladder to glory and grabs the contract which eventually secures her ticket to her first Pro Wrestling Eve championship.

If you haven’t been to Eve before, it’s a banging night out, the bar is cheap and it’s very bohemian. Get amongst it. But most importantly, drink lots of water; and look after your mates.

WINNER - NINA SAMUELS BY TYING KRIS WOLF'S TAIL TO THE MIDDLE ROPE AND GRABBING THE BRIEFCASE

MEIKO SATOMURA vs. KAY LEE RAY

By Pete Hitchcock

This might be the first show for NWW where I was at the show in question unless I'm forgetting something incredibly obvious. Perhaps our supreme leader/fearless editor can be of assistance? (Editor note: It isn't - Pete was at Brixton for PROGRESS which we reviewed a few months back.)

This show occurred on the first day of Super Strong Style 16 2018 weekend, really only a few months after I was inducted into the Nerds and to be honest this day, from memory, is one of my favourite days in wrestling ever. Legging it crosstown on the tube at 7pm to make Queendom because the graps bus - someone tag Steve - had sold out to make it to York Hall in time to meet up with the good people of the Double Footstomp group (in which I was introduced to the legendary Dom Van Dam!), those were the days. Perhaps BritWres is dead.

I remember bumping into JCH on the doorstep of the Dundee Arms following his plush coach trip as opposed to the pain of booking it to Wood Green. Piece of shit. Anyway, enough whatever the fuck and on to the match.

This match was, on the day, one of the two clear highlights of the show along with the main event and it was a no-brainer as picks go. Last time I did the top 10 matches I'd ever seen live, it was the only women's match in the list (although the main event would definitely be up there too!) - however, I have never seen this back on tape, so let's give this a shot to see if it still holds up!

Cut to Emily Read in the ring as this is described as an international dream match and I'm not gonna take a look for myself on the hard cam as I think I had moved from my seat to that nice bit of panelling in between the two York Hall bar entrances. Sip of beer for EVE getting killed by the world famous York Hall security on the night, it took RevPro years to get to grips with that. KLR's entrance is quite quick and to the point, I feel normally there's more time to sink into the whatever-the-fuck-genre her theme was. I'm not a music guy, clearly. The sound quality of the ring and venue in general is not very good on this YouTube version, although the commentary sounds fine at least.

I remember you could pretty much hear all of Dann's commentary live on the day in York Hall. From memory - "we don't see Aja Kong going to the top rope very often!" Big Match Meiko up next, "widely regarded as the greatest wrestler in the world today" and you know what? She is really fucking great. I'm not as high on a lot of the top joshi talent as some of my friends, but Meiko and the Sendai talent in general are some of my favourites. Less of the gratuitous loli idol shit, more of the badass tracksuits and farming!

The chain exchanges at the beginning are really good, it's not too fast but there's an aggressiveness and seriousness that came through live and is easy to see on tape. The sound quality is shite but the camera work is perfectly decent so it's easy to keep up with. KLR vs Viper a year later in the main event felt like a pisstake for well over half the runtime of the match but there's no bullshit here.

Meiko gains the upperhand in the chain wrestling and is able to get KLR in the corner and unload with hard kicks to the chest and abdomen, KLR outside for a breather and regroup but Meiko cuts her off as she goes to re-engage and quickly drops her with a DDT. Cartwheel knee attempt follows but KLR kicks the knee and is able to get an advantage, nice commentary point by Dann Read in how so much of Meiko's offense involves her knees so going after it is a smart move. In general I'm really enjoying the commentary here.

Dropkick and sliding flatliner follow and as Satomura kicks out KLR traps her in a Koji Clutch in a slick transition, but Meiko is able to get out and takes momentum back with a spinning wheel kick and a DDT and lands the cartwheel knee drop to the back! Meiko is able KLR into the Backdrop Driver with a smooth arch but KLR just manages to bridge out, not quite the joshi bridge per se, but it's enough. As Meiko goes up top, KLR is able to get her in position for the Gory Bomb but Meiko is able to get out.

As KLR goes for a draping DDT off the apron, Satomura pushes her off and sort of ends up taking the DDT which looks awkward but her attempt at following up just earns her KLR dropping her with a Gory Bomb into the - quote- HARDEST PART OF THE RING. Yes. As KLR attmepts to follow up on the apron, Satomura is able to elbow out and hit a Death Valley Driver (!) - a move that pinned Martina! - onto the apron. Yowzer!

Back in the ring and a good forearm exchange leads into a hot bit as Meiko fights her way into a second Death Valley Driver, with a bit of a spin as Dann notes, and KLR kicks out very close to 3, I remember that getting me the first time. A big mid kick follows but as Meiko goes for Scorpio Rising, KLR is able to counter into a Gory Bomb, but it's only 2! Call a paramedic, Dann screams, and I'm not too sure how well that comment aged given the rumours about medics, or lack thereof, on this show. KLR is able to hit a second Gory Bomb but as she goes for a move off the top (probably the Swanton bomb?), Meiko intercepts with a Pele kick and hits another Death Valley Bomb...for 2 again! Definitely a lot of finishers going off here which is a fair complaint but this absolutely got me and the crowd.

Meiko hoists KLR up for another Gory Bomb but KLR is able to roll through and pin her with a crucifix into what is almost Charlotte's Web for the 3 count! Meiko is apparently pinned for the first time in the UK (didn't Pete Dunne do it?) and yeah that ruled. I don't know if it's still in my top 10, the first half hasn't held up as much as it did on the day and in the moment but this is a quality match that is worth a watch by just about everyone.

WINNER - KAY LEE RAY BY MODIFIED CRUCIFIX

AJA KONG vs. VIPER

By Matt Connolly

So a dip into the unknown this week. I've never seen any Pro Wrestling EvE but I've heard good things so this could be a little treat. I've gone for two broads who need little introduction. First out is Viper, now running under the name Piper Niven in NXTUK. She's had a great run in one of the Mae Young Classic's a few years back. Crowd are into her. I always tend to gravitate to wrestlers who look like they could beat the shit out of you in real life without effort and this is a quality that The Vixen of Violence has in bundles.

Speaking of beating the shit out of people, Aja Kong is her opponent. Commentary allege this is her first match in Europe. If that is true then what a get! Crowd equally digging Kong as you would expect. The opening is classic tie ups. These two are clearly good enough to get an already excited crowd eating out of their palms aswell.

Two lock ups in and every time one of them inches the other one back the crowd respond. Kong hits a shoulder block that Viper no sells and when they go face to face the crowd go bananas!

Simple stuff done well and the crowd are here for it. Kong challenges Viper to do better but it's all a ploy and as Viper hits the ropes she hammers a lariat across her throat before pointing to her head, in what we all know as wrestling fans is the universal sign for I'm clever. This violent move also lets us know who we should be rooting for. Again, it's the little things.

It's all Aja early doors. Firstly dragging her around the outside. There is no count because the spirit of Eve is in motion? That's just a commentator covering for a crap ref but I'll let it go. The beatdown is so effective that when Viper hits a splash in her comeback the crowd act like they have just seen a destroyer. Kong wants to retake control so wallops her with a bin. I'm guessing that is also the spirit of Eve? Maybe it's no DQ? Either way it looked like it hurt.

The brainbuster that follows looks nasty but Viper is able to kick out, somehow. It's probably the first 'move' of the match but these two have built a compelling story without them so far. This match is a real throwback. Kong misses with her trademark backfist which allows Viper to nail a headbutt followed by a cannonball. She gets too cocky though and her middle rope splash is countered by Kong.

From there it's a backfist and then elbow drop from up top to see Kong victorious. The ending felt a bit rushed and the match could of gone a bit longer for me. All the well placed hoss stuff early on just led to two or three moves and then we were done. I can't stress how much I enjoyed the first stages of this but without the pay off I'm not sure what my thoughts are. It's fine, it could of been great.

WINNER - AJA KONG BY BACKFIST & TOP ROPE ELBOW DROP

EVE TITLE MATCH: SAMII JAYNE (C) vs. CHARLIE MORGAN

By JCH

Main Event time. Simple story here. Heel champ Sammi Jayne has reigned over EvE as champion for almost a year taking on Babyface challenger Charlie Morgan. Morgan won the original She:1 to be crowned Ace of Eve and takes her shot here at the biggest women’s wrestling show in European history - Wrestle Queendom.

Dann Read does a great job on commentary going through the history of the title, which really builds up the occasion. What I lIke is there is no people cheering the cool heel. Sammi did a great job of being unlikable, so good a job that the has had to work really hard to convince people to cheer us in a face turn over the last year or so. Everyone is behind Charlie.

Sammi starts off with a disrespectful face push and Charlie takes her down and we’re away. Straight away we are outside of the ring as we brawl around the ring up the ramp and into the crowd (as I was seated on the balcony this is the part of the match I couldn’t see as it was beneath me.) There is a ladder setup from the earlier ladder match. Sammi tries to climb it to escape and Charlie power bombs her off it. Then climbs the ladder herself and hops onto the balcony. There is yours truly telling her ‘no, don’t do it’ Charlie ignores me and to the dismay of me and the delight of Tony launches herself off the ladder onto Sammi and the sea of bodies below.

One of the most incredible moments I’ve seen live. Definitely that i’ve been that close to. Holy Shit chants ring around the arena. Charlie brings Sammi back towards the ring past Jimmy Havoc and Bill Eaver on the way. The time taken to get back to the ring (and obviously what the dive took out of Charlie) allows Sammi to revere. And she is on top now, beating down Charlie with a smirk on her face as the crowd cheers for Morgan.

Sammi working the arm a lot. This works two ways, to set up for her arm submission finish and also weakening the injured shoulder that Charlie suffered previously. Top stuff. It’s a simple and effective storyline here. The more powerful Sammi trying to keep the quick, high-flying Sammi grounded. Charlie gets flurries in before getting caught and grounded by Sammi. WIth the combination of this, plus variety in the moves, plus strong in-ring and a crowd that is fully in favour of the babyface you get a really strong match,

A frantic exchange of moves leaves both women down and the crowd wills Charlie to her feet. They both rise and Sammi catches Charlie on the ropes and hits her awesome slide through German suppler. Sammi needing to find new ways top put Charlie aways strays from the game plan and goes up top where she’s caught by Charlie, who throws her to the outside and through a table. Implant D-D-T but Sammi kicks out.

Charlie goes on top for the senton but Sammi Sabre Jr catches her into the armbar. Paying off all the work from earlier in the match. Into the Fujiwara armbar. The crowd rises behind Charlie who gets near the ropes before Sammi rolls it back over to the centre of the ring….Sammi tries to reapply the hold fully but Charlie rolls through into the pin attempt to force the break.

Sammi hits a Northern Lights bomb for another 2 count and you can see it in her face, she’s frustrated. She just starts kicking Charlie in the back. Sammi with all else failing, sets up a ladder. Both climb it in the ring, Charlie just smashes Sammi’s head repeatedly off the ladder. IMPLANT D-D-T from the ladder. It’s over. York Hall rises as Charlie Morgan wins the gold.

A top main event, to a top show. The locker room empties to celebrate with Morgan in the ring. Kris Wolf looks the happiest person there, as always. She is dancing in the corner. Incredible. This held up very well on rewatch, really strong match.

WINNER - NEW EvE CHAMPION, CHARLIE MORGAN BY IMPLANT DDT OFF A LADDER