To paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies – a model involved in one of the biggest scandals of in British 1960s politics, the John Profumo/Christine Keeler affair and discredit of the Conservative Government at the time – “well, she would, wouldn’t she?”
Wrestling Inc was the first website to report that Phoenix was intending to leave WWE. It posted a piece last Thursday saying that they had heard from a source that she would be going in October. This was later picked up by other wrestling news sites, and was given extra weight by the Wrestling Observer, which says it has had it confirmed by other sources within the company. However, Phoenix is a professional, and will likely not be addressing the rumours – if she is leaving, she will do so in the right way, quietly slipping into the shadows, likely putting over remaining talent along the way.
The wave of hearsay has generated some reaction online, most notably from Kharma, who was released from WWE over the summer – and would have likely been involved in some sort of feud with Beth, but considering her return was put back, Phoenix was relieved of the Divas Championship and the rumblings of such a match became more and more distant. On Saturday, the former TNA Knockouts Champions tweeted “I must do some investigating when I touch down. Because if a particular rumor is true, I will lose my [shit]. #DreamMatch”
Perhaps a match between the pair will finally happen, though it will be under the umbrella of an independent promotion, as WWE threw the prospect away.
In fairness, 31-year old Phoenix has done everything that she could possibly do in WWE. After debuting in 2006 as a babyface alongside Trish Stratus as part of the Canadian’s feud with Mickie James, there was a tease of some sort of history between Beth and Mickie, though the newcomer needed surgery on her jaw soon afterwards, and she vanished for a year, returning as a heel in July 2007 as The Glamazon, and quickly won the Women’s Championship from Candice Michelle – with the pair engaging in some great matches during their brief run.
Expanding her profile, the 11-year veteran formed a comedic partnership with Santino Marella which saw her win her second Women’s Championship, and following her trade to SmackDown, she entered the 2010 Royal Rumble, eliminating the Great Khali along the way, and turned babyface when she rescued Tiffany (Taryn Terrell) from a beatdown by Layla, Michelle McCool and Vickie Guerrero. Her third title reign began at Extreme Rules when she beat McCool, but dropped the title to Layla the following month after tearing her ACL.
Phoenix’s biggest run should have been the Divas Of Doom (later Pin-Up Strong) partnership with Natalya which started last summer following her earning a Divas Title match against then-titleholder Kelly Kelly. However, the gimmick started with a whimper as Phoenix was beaten by Kelly on two straight pay-per-views (including one in her home town of Buffalo, NY) before winning the title on the third attempt at Hell In A Cell. Her run never really gained any traction, and there were long periods of time where she wasn’t on TV – for example, most of the month of December – which saw the title lose worth, and that rubbed off on Phoenix, who became less valuable with every passing week. She never even got the bragging rights of being the longest reigning champion, as she dropped the belt two weeks before breaking Maryse’s run to Nikki Bella in a damp squib of a title change. Since then, she has been used essentially as enhancement talent, putting over Layla in a series of PPVs to help get over her opponent’s title reign (which failed) and then to get Kaitlyn ready for the title shot that never happened at Night Of Champions.Since the rumours of her departure started last week, something has changed. She has been thrust into the “who attacked Kaitlyn” storyline which developed on last night’s Raw, as the victim of the assault said the assailant had blonde hair, which allowed new Divas Champion Eve Torres to over-dramatically implicate her and beat her up to seemingly defend Kaitlyn’s honour. This may be an opportunity to help to push Eve, Kaitlyn and Layla, as the Divas division is essentially those three these days, and will let Beth go in a positive way. The understanding is that Phoenix is leaving on good terms, and that is underlined by WWE.com putting her over in their list of who has the best physiques in WWE history – she came 16th, and was the only woman on the list, which is a joke, considering Chyna should be there too.
What sort of legacy would Phoenix be leaving behind? A good one, but not as great as it could have been. Had WWE pulled the trigger on the duo of she and Natalya, she could have been a mega-heel, and could have really given the Divas Championship some momentum and prestige. Unfortunately, what happened is that her flat 204 day reign which tarnished the belt and leaves it tarnished to this day. Beth Phoenix could have been the pillar to support the Divas division, but her foundations were constantly shaky due to a shallow roster pool, stunted booking and no real great matches during her reign.
**
Tsukasa Fujimoto admitted that last Sunday’s Ice Ribbon supercard at Tokyo’s Korukuen Hall was not a good day for the promotion. That’s a pretty fair assessment by Ice Ribbon’s new mother hen after Riho wrestled her final match before taking time out to study for high school and eventually move to Emi Sakura’s Gatoh Move in the future, and the show ended with only one of Ice Ribbon’s four championships in the possession of Ice Ribbon talent – namely the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship, held by Kurumi and Tsukushi.After announcing that she was to bow out of the promotion, 15-year old Riho was described as the “sun” of Ice Ribbon. On Sunday, the sun set by falling to former tag champ Aoi Kizuki – one of the handful of names who have been pushed in 2012 – and then partaking in a press conference with Sakura to confirm her new alignment. As someone who has been part of the movement since the very start, Riho’s departure is a massive blow. However, things would go downhill for Ice Ribbon later on in the card.
The Triangle Ribbon Championship changed hands from Neko Nitta to Hailey Hatred in a 3-way match that also included Shuu Shibutani, which was a blow, but not as much as what happened in the main event.
Hikaru Shida has had five successful title defences since winning the ICEx60 on December 25 last year, beating Kizuki in March, Kurumi in April, Maki Narumiya in June, Hamuko Hoshi in July and Nitta last month. The sixth one turned out to be her last, and Mio Shirai is the beneficiary.
The two have only had one interaction this year to set up the title match, with Shirai and Nitta beating Shida and Hoshi a month ago, but their paths haven’t crossed since May last year as part of a SMASH card. Followers of Ice Ribbon accept that title changes generally have precious little build-up – which makes Shida’s title win from Fujimoto something of an anomaly – but I doubt many would have imagined that Mio’s first major singles title win would have been the ICEx60 belt. However, that is exactly what happened thanks to Shirai’s Tsuchigumo finisher (a figure four necklock rolled into a cradle), but her reign already has a queue of challengers who represent Ice Ribbon looking to bring the title home.
Her first defence will be on October 28 against Fujimoto, after the new champion decided to pick her over Miyako Matsumoto, who also made a challenge. Shirai’s reasoning is that she wants to take on the woman who is the face of Ice Ribbon – a telling public statement, considering the former three time ICEx60 champ has adopted that role this year.
Three weeks ago, we had a look at how Ice Ribbon’s talent pool was dwindling as wrestlers moved on, became freelancers or took time out to study for school (an unfortunate by-product of having teenage talent who still need to complete their education). A lack of replenishment was made evident at the Knight Of Ribbons post-event roundtable, which showed how small the promotion’s roster is these days.However, the adversity being experienced by Ice Ribbon has proved to be advantageous for 24-year old Shirai, who – by winning the ICEx60 title – is starting to carve her own path to seprate herself from being merely a member of Triple Tails S alongside her more well-travelled and successful tag team partner Kana. She may not be on an even keel with her “world famous” friend yet, but at least she is heading in the right direction. A few successful defences of the belt will help with her championship pedigree, though considering Ice Ribbon booking, her title reign may only be a transitional one. We’ll find out at the end of October…
**
The best of the rest
WWE
As part of cleaning up its past, WWE has been on a tear to remove any questionable content from sites like YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion. Among them are Edge and Lita’s live sex celebration from 2006 and the Hot Lesbian Action antics from 2002. It’s being done so opponents of Linda McMahon’s political campaign have less ammunition against her. Will that mean DVDs are doing to be pulled from sale too?… Aksana was dumped by Antonio Cesaro after her interference backfired in his match against Santino Marella… Mae Young was used in the Kane and Daniel Bryan segments on last night’s Raw… Cameron Lynn (Ariane Andrew) pleaded not guilty to DUI charges filed in August, despite being twice Florida’s legal limit when she was given a breath test at the scene. Her trial date has been set for October 23.
TNA
Tara bullied around Christy Hemme to get her new heel persona over as part of her feud with former Knockouts Tag Team Championship partner and current singles champion Miss Tessmacher. The champ ran out to make the save. The segment got some heat, which is a great sign ahead of their rematch at Bound For Glory… Rosita discussed her absence from TNA on the Busted Open XM show, saying “I will hopefully be brought back soon. I am doing a lot more training and a lot of fresh new things. If I do come, relatively soon back to TNA, there will a new finisher, and a whole new look really. It’s going be very fresh, very new”… Mickie James is having her ribs examined after working hurt for the past couple of weeks.
North AmericaNiya wants to be Saturyne’s opponent in the WSU Uncensored Opportunity on October 13. She hasn’t been part of the promotion (officially) since losing to Jennifer Cruz last November. Since then, she has been wrestling primarily in WXW-C4 the Pennsylvania… Kellie Skater, Shazza McKenzie and Rhia O’Reilly have been added to next month’s SHIMMER tapings. It has been confirmed that Jessie McKay will not be part of this set… Jayme Jameson scored the biggest upset of SHINE’s short history when she pinned Mercedes Martinez at SHINE 3 on Friday… Sweet Saraya will defend the SHIMMER Championship against Jazz at SHINE 4 on October 19. Meanwhile Kellie Skater, Davina Rose, Rhia O’Reilly, Brandi Wine & Shazza McKenzie will make their debuts. Incidentally, SHINE 1 is now available to buy from the promotion’s website… The card for Bombshell Ladies of Wrestling on October 6 has been announced – you can see all the matches in the Upcoming section below… LuFisto’s match with Tara at Top of the World Wrestling never happened because Tara didn’t bring her passport to the Impact Wrestling tapings, as she would be flying to Canada from Florida. Tara was replaced by Kalamity, and reports suggest the two Quebecers stole the show… Ivelisse Velez (the former Sofia Cortez) has been booked for Family Wrestling Entertainment’s show next month… Veda Scott made her Ring Of Honor debut on Saturday night in a dark mixed tag match… Addy Starr defends the Acclaim Pro Wrestling Women’s Championship in a 6-way match on November 10… Despite being billed as opponents for the show, Kimber Lee & Kacee Carlisle won the Dynamite Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship on Saturday… Allysin Kay retained her AIW Women’s Championship on Sunday, defeating Crazy Mary Dobson.
Japan
She Nay Nay has been added to the Joshi4Hope tapings. She’s teaming with Tomoka Nakagawa against Yumi Ohka & Maki Narumiya… Ran YuYu’s retirement event will take place on December 9… Manami Toyota competed in every match on her 25th anniversary show in Tokyo on Saturday, including one where GAMI dressed up as the legend to become MaGAMI Toyota. Incidentally, a recent poll at the Wrestling Observer site saw Toyota named the greatest female wrestler of all time with 33.7% of the vote. Trish Stratus came second (20.6%), and in third place was the Fabulous Moolah (14.2%).
Europe
It’s not even ran its first show yet, but ICW: Fierce Females has already announced another date – May 4 next year… Alpha Female got to meet Olympic Heptathlon Champion Jessica Ennis during a taping of TV show A League Of Their Own Recently… Angelina Love will face Carmel Jacob at Pro Wrestling: EVE’s Wrestle Fever show on November 10. Janey Britannico has also been announced – technically, this is third gimmick in the promotion, but Britannico is arguably her best. She’ll face the returning Shanna… Nikki Storm retained the W3L Women’s Championship in a steel cage on Friday night… Skarlett won the HEW Women’s Championship in a 4-way on Saturday. Sweet Saraya was the champion going into the match… Holly Rocamora had to miss Alternative Wrestling World’s show on Sunday due to flu. She was replaced by Erin Angel, who defeated Amazon Ayesha Ray… Former FutureShock Women’s Champion Becky James married her fiance Loco Mike Mason on Sunday in a wrestling-themed wedding – the cake had her delivering a backbreaker to her beau. The wedding (and build-up) was filmed for BBC TV’s “Don’t Tell The Bride”, the premise of which sees the groom-to-be make ALL the plans ahead of the big day… The first four teams have been announced for Rad Pro Wrestling’s Mixed Tag Team Championship tournament. They are Rabbit & Alpha Female, Vulture & Viper, Scott Renwick & Amazon Ayesha Ray, and Jonny Storm & Freya Frenzy.
Mexico
Marcela worked through a knee injury to successfully defend the CMLL World Women’s Championship against former titleholder Amapola.
Australia & New Zealand
Niki Nitro completed her tour to Canada last week. She is scheduled for a trip to the US in January next year and is already being booked for customs… There will be some brand new faces for PWWA’s October 6 show – Michelle K Hasluck and Rachel Rose will be part of the ever-growing roster… Alex Lee has been stripped of the PWA Queensland Women’s Championship after missing several scheduled defences due to her wrestling in Japan. A new champion will be crowned in a tournament in December.
**
Results
September 17: Ice Ribbon (Saitama, Japan) – Kurumi b Miyako Matsumoto; Aki Shizuku b Tsukushi; Hikaru Shida & Maki Narumiya b Hailey Hatred & Yoshi Hana; Riho & Tsukasa Fujimoto b Hamuko Hoshi & Hiroyo Matsumoto
September 17: CMLL (Puebla, Mexico) – Marcela b Amapola
September 18: CMLL (Mexico City, Mexico) – La Comandante, La Seductora & Lady Apache b Estrellita, Lady Afrodita & Luna Mágica
September 19: K-DOJO (Tokyo, Japan) – Bambi b Aki Shizuku
September 19: Ohio Valley Wrestling (Louisville, KY) – Heidi Lovelace b Jessie Belle
September 19: Dramatic Dream Team (Tokyo, Japan) – Cherry & DJ Nira b Hikaru Sato & Michael Nakazawa
September 20: Wrestling New Classic (Tokyo, Japan) – Jiro Kuroshio & Nagisa Nozaki b Koji Doi & Makoto; TAJIRI b Syuri; AKIRA b Kana
September 20: WWE NXT (Winter City, FL) – Alicia Fox & Layla b Paige & Audrey Marie
September 21: WWE SmackDown (Philadelphia, PA) – Layla b Natalya
September 21: SHINE 3 (Ybor City, FL) – Santana Garrett b Sienna DuVall; Leva Bates b Kimberly; Su Yung & Tracy Taylor b Gabby Gilbert & Luscious Latasha; Taylor Made b Greek Barbie; Jayne Jameson b Mercedes Martinez; Jessicka Havok b Mia Yim; Allysin Kay b Christina Von Eerie; Jazz b RainSeptember 21: Luch Britannia (London, England) – Alpha Ultima Mamacita b Janey Britannico
September 21: CMLL (Mexico City, Mexico) – Dalis la Caribeña, Goya Kong & Marcela b Amapola, Princesa Blanca & Tiffany
September 21: Top of the World Wrestling (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) – LuFisto b Kalamity
September 21: TNA (Winston-Salem, NC) – Mickie James b Gail Kim
September 21: AAW (Berwyn, IL) – MsChif b Austin Manix, Davey Vega, Markus Crane, Mason Beck & Trevor Court in a 6-way
September 21: Big Time Wrestling (Newark, CA) – Davina Rose b Kc Spinelli
September 21: NWA Texoma (Sherman, TX) – Kyra Maya b Barbi Hayden & Starr Venus
September 21: World Wide Wrestling League (Dunfirmline, Scotland) – Nikki Storm b Sara Marie Taylor
September 22: OZ Academy (Tokyo, Japan) – Command Bolshoi & Rabbit Mito b Nao Komatsu & Sareee; Tsubasa Kuragaki b Yumi Ohka; Aja Kong & Sonoko Kato b Tomoka Nakagawa & Carlos A; Ran Yu-Yu b Hiroyo Matsumoto; Chikayo Nagashima & Mayumi Ozaki b AKINO & Ayumi Kurihara
September 22: Manami Toyota 25th Anniversary (Tokyo, Japan) – Aja Kong, Kyoko Inoue & Tsubasa Kuragaki b Manami Toyota, Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi; Manami Toyota b Miho Wakizawa; Mima Shimoda b Manami Toyota; Manami Toyota v Itsuki Yamazaki went to a time limit draw; Manami Hirota b Sonoko Kato & Toyota MaGAMI by DQ in a time lag battle royale (Royal Rumble)
September 22: Herts & Essex Wrestling (Braintree, England) – Skarlett b Sweet Saraya & Lady Lory to win the HEW Women’s Championship
September 22: Union Pro (Tokyo, Japan) – Maki Narumiya b NOZOMI; Cherry & Mio Shirai b Hiroshi Fukuda
September 22: Pure Wrestling Association (Kitchener, ONT, Canada) – Jewells Malone b Gabriella Vanderpool
September 22: Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada) – Nicole Matthews & The Grappling Gorilla b Breaker I-Ton & Hellion Reaper
September 22: Ring Of Honor (Baltimore, MD) – Veda Scott & Ryan McBride b Marti Belle & Matt Justice
September 22: Northeast Wrestling (Fishkill, NY) – Rosita & Madison Rayne b Angel Williams & Velvet Sky
September 22: Southern Championship Wrestling (Sanford, FL) – Santana Garrett b Leva Bates
September 23: Ice Ribbon (Tokyo, Japan) – Hiroyo Matsumoto b Oshima Whale; Tsukushi & Kurumi b Cherry & Meari Naito; Aoi Kizuki b Riho; Hailey Hatred b Neko Nitta & Shuu Shibutani in a 3-way to win the Triangle Ribbon Championship; Sanshiro Takagi b Miyako Matsumoto; GAMI, Yumi Ohka & Ryo Mizuna; Mio Shirai b Hikaru Shida to win the ICEx60 Championship
September 23: Alternative Wrestling World(Wolverhampton, England) – Erin Angel b Amazon Ayesha RaySeptember 23: Diana (Kyoto, Japan) – Piyota Mask b Jenny Rose; Sareee v KURO went to a time limit draw; ZAP I & ZAP T b Mima Shimoda & Sachie Abe; Megumi Yabushita b Mask de Sun; Kaoru Ito, Jaguar Yokota & Kyoko Inoue b Yumiko Hotta, Keiko Aono & Yuiga
September 23: Sendai Girls (Shikoku, Japan) – DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko b Miyako Morino & Sawako Shimono; Eiger b Rabbit Miu; Meiko Satomura & Kagetsu b Aja Kong & Carlos Amano
September 23: REINA x World (Tokyo, Japan) – Bambi b Kyusei Sakura Hirota; Hailey Hatred b Batten Tamagawa & Jonathan Bader in a 3-way; Hikaru Shida & Tsukasa Fujimoto b Maki Narumiya & Neko Nitt; Aki Kambayashi & Mini Tomato b Cherry & Crazy Star; Leon b Silueta
September 23: Absolute Intense Wrestling (Cleveland, OH) – Allysin Kay b Crazy Mary Dobson; Veda Scott b Mia Yim
September 23: Becky James & Mike Mason’s Wedding (Braintree, England) – Skarlett b Alpha Female & Shanna in a 3-way
September 23: WWE (London, ONT, Canada) – Natalya b Rosa Mendes
September 23: WWE (Worcester, MA) – Eve Torres b Layla
September 24: WWE Raw (Albany, NY) – Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix b Layla & Alicia Fox
Upcoming
September 28: Xcite Wrestling (Binghamton, NY) – Kimber Lee v Annie Social
September 28: Preston City Wrestling (Preston, England) – Kay Lee Ray v April Davids
September 29: MaxPro North (Timmins, ONT, Canada) – Courtney Rush & Jodi D’Milo v Xandra Bale & Jewells Malone
September 29: Pro-Wrestling Euskadi (Bilbao, Spain) – Pollyanna v Rachel Evans
September 29: Impact Pro Wrestling (Auckland, NZ) – Evie v Britenay
September 30: Fighters Revenge Pro Wrestling (Pessac, France) – Morgane Leigh v X-Cute Sweet v Eloanne
September 30: 304 Wrestling (Huntington, WV) – Jessie Belle v Aleida Ortiz
September 30: Insane Championship Wrestling: Fierce Females (Glasgow, Scotland) – Lisa Fury & April Davids v Kasey & Leah Owens; Holly Rocamora v Rhia O’Reilly; Fiona Fraser v Ms Nicola Storm
September 30: Beyond Wrestling (East Greenwich, RI) – Portia Perez v Lexxus; Veda Scott v RD Evans
September 30: Squared Circle Wrestling (Vaughan, ONT, Canada) – Cherry Bomb v Gabriella Vanderpool
October 5: Family Wrestling Entertainment (Brooklyn, NY) – Maria Kanellis & Winter v Angel Williams & Velvet Sky
October 6: Pro Women’s Wrestling Alliance (Casula, Australia)
October 6: Remix Pro Wrestling (Marietta, OH) – Thunderkitty v Allysin Kay
October 6: Riot City Wrestling (Adelaide, Australia) – Miami v Eliza Sway
October 6: WrestleForce (Harlow, England) – Skarlett v Lady Lory
October 6: Tribute Championship Wrestling (Middletown, OH) – Sassy Stephie v Heather Owens
October 6: UK Women’s Wrestling/World Association of Women’s Wrestling (Wakefield, England)
October 6: REINA World Joshi Puroresu (Baltimore, MD)
October 7: CHIKARA (Gibsonville, NC) – Saturyne v Amber O’Neal
October 7: Joshi4Hope (Tokyo, Japan) – Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ryo Mizunami v Arisa Nakajima & Aya Yuki; Ayumi Kurihara & Mika Iida v Leon & Manami Katsu; Veda Scott v Yuhi; MsChif v Hailey Hatred; Maki Narumiya & Yumi Ohka v Tomoka Nakagawa & She Nay Nay
October 11: Bombshell Ladies Of Wrestling (Rahway, NJ) – Jillian Hall v Cherry Bomb; Queen Maya v Sumie Sakai; Katie Lea v Sienna DuVall; Annie Social v Alexxis Nevaeh; Leah Von Dutch v Scarlett Bordeaux; Ivy Fit v Miss Adiva; Brittney Savage v Amber O’Neal; Marti Belle v Nikki Addams; Jewells Malone v Missy Sampson v Silvie Silver
October 12: Tri City Wrestling (Kitchener, ONT, Canada) – Courtney Rush v Allysin Kay
October 13: Women Superstars Uncensored (Deer Park, NY) – Jessicka Havok v Alicia v Lexxus; Tina San Antonio v Brittney Savage; Marti Belle v Nikki Addams; Sassy Stephie & Allysin Kay v Annie Social & Kimber Lee; Jessie Brooks v Addy Starr
October 14: TNA Bound For Glory (Phoenix, AZ) – Miss Tessmacher v Tara
October 19: SHINE 4 (Ybor City, FL) – Sweet Saraya v Jazz
October 20: CWF Mid-Atlantic (Gibsonville, NC) – Kellie Skater v Sassy Stephie
October 26: AAW (Berwyn, IL) – MsChif v Sweet Saraya
October 27: Extreme World Wrestling (Hastings, England) – Lady Lory v Erin Angel; Dominator & The Rage v SkarlettOctober 27-28: SHIMMER: Women Athletes (Berwyn, IL)
October 31: Preston City Wrestling (Preston, England) – Kay Lee Ray v Carmel Jacob
November 3: nCw Femmes Fatales X (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) – Sweet Cherrie v Cherry Bomb; LuFisto v Mercedes Martinez; Pink Flash Kira v Portia Perez; LuFisto v Hiroyo Matsumoto; Mercedes Martinez v Pink Flash Kira; Ryo Mizunami v Courtney Rush
November 9: Preston City Wrestling (Preston, England) – Angel Williams v Kay Lee Ray
November 10: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Sudbury, England) – Alpha Female v Nikki Storm; Carmel Jacob v Angelina Love; Janey Britannico v Shanna
November 10: Acclaim Pro Wrestling (Greely, ONT, Canada) – Addy Starr v Courtney Rush v Vanessa Kraven v Leah Von Dutch v Xandra Bale v Jodi D’Milo
March 30: nCw Femmes Fatales XI (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
April 6: SHIMMER: Women Athletes (Secaucus, NJ)
April 13-14: SHIMMER: Women Athletes (Berwyn, IL)
May 4: ICW: Fierce Females (Glasgow, Scotland)
July 6: nCw Femmes Fatales XII (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
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