On February 19th, the NCW Femmes Fatales Twitter sent out a tweet, saying that history would be made on March 30th at Femmes Fatales XI; that it would be “a first” in women’s wrestling. In the weeks beforehand, they had already announced matches for their March 30th show, so the tweet made fans wonder what could be done to top the groundbreaking events at Femmes Fatales X back in November. The card for March 30th was set up as follows.
As was announced on the Women of Wrestling podcast in December, there will be three main events for FFXI. The Femmes Fatales International Champion Kalamity will defend her title against Mercedes Martinez. LuFisto will battle the SHIMMER Champion Saraya Knight in a non-title bout. And making her return to FF, WSU Champion Jessicka Havok will face former SHIMMER Champion Cheerleader Melissa (also a non-title affair). It was noted that as well as Havok, the other two members of the Midwest Militia, Sassy Stephanie and Allysin Kay, plus Allison Danger would all be making their returns to the promotion. In the following weeks, more matches were added. Sweet Cherrie will face a member of the MWM, Sassy Stephanie. Allison Danger will wrestle Courtney Rush. Midianne will wrestle Xandra Bale. Angie Skye will take on “The Rate Tank” Kellie Skater. In three-way action, Mary Lee Rose will take on Allysin Kay and Cherry Bomb. And finally, Jewells Malone will jump from competing in a dark match at the last show to debuting on the main card against Pink Flash Kira.
On March 5th, Femmes Fatales proclaimed on their Twitter that they were ready to unveil why their eleventh show would make history. In rapid fire tweets, it was announced that not only would the FF International Championship be on the line, but that there would be three additional titles on the line. In a ground breaking cross-promotion agreement, they announced that the eleventh show would be host to the Women Superstars Uncensored Champion, Jessicka Havok, defending her title against former SHIMMER Champion Cheerleader Melissa; current SHIMMER Champion, Saraya Knight, defending her belt against former Femmes Fatales Champion LuFisto; and current Bellatrix Champion, Allison Danger, will put her title on the line against Courtney Rush. These matches had all been previously announced, but the ante has been upped significantly. Four different titles being defended on one show and only one is for the promotion that is putting on the show.
Let that sink in for a moment.
When was the last time that three promotions have agreed to have their main titles defended on a fourth and separate promotion’s show? Has a scenario like this ever occurred? Possibly (although this writer cannot, for the life of her, find an instance of it online), but even if it has happened, was there ever a legitimate chance that more than one title has a strong possibility of changing hands? Two or more have a strong possibility of switching owners before the night is done. Lets take a look at the matches.
Allison Danger has held the Bellatrix title (formerly the World Association of Women’s Wrestling title; the promotion owned and run by Ricky and Saraya Knight in the United Kingdom changed it’s name to Bellatrix: Female Warriors in 2013) for over a year now since winning it in November 2011 at the first show of the re-booted WAWW promotion. Since then, events have kept her away from the United Kingdom and therefore unable to defend the British belt on it’s own turf. However, the next best thing is to see it defended on a member of the Commonwealth of Nations – Canada. The challenger is a woman who has been making a name for herself in Canada, America and even had a short tour of Japan in February 2012 – “The Suplex Machine” Courtney Rush. Rush knows what it is to be a champion – she held the SHIMMER Tag Team titles with Sara Del Rey for a four month period in 2012, and is a former women’s champion in a few Canadian promotions. This is one match that could take Rush into new territory. If she wins the belt and becomes Bellatrix Champion, she would presumably be flying to the UK at some point to defend it against some of the top prospects in the company. Her UK debut would be coming in as a champion. On March 30th, we will see if one of the rising Canadian stars can upset the veteran Allison Danger.
On March 3rd, 2012 Jessicka Havok defeated Mercedes Martinez in a long running feud to become the new Women Superstars Uncensored Champion. Since then she has held the title, beating back challengers such as Martinez, Alicia, Lexxus and Athena. During that time, Havok has made a name for herself outside of the Northeast, debuting at Femmes Fatales in July, Anarchy Championship Wrestling in June (wherein she made it to the finals, where Athena finally defeated her after two O-Faces) and becoming a staple of the new SHINE Wrestling promotion in Florida. She was also part of the short-lived Crossfire Entertainment promotion in Nashville, a key figure in their women’s division. Jessicka has become a highly sought after name, and when the match for Femmes Fatales XI was announced, most fans considered this a dream match. Cheerleader Melissa is another veteran of the sport and has traveled the world, winning several titles over the course of her career. Her Kudo Driver (invented by famous Joshi, Megumi Kudo) is one of the most brutal moves in wrestling, so much so that she added on a second finisher, the Air Raid Crash – a move that her opponent also utilizes. Melissa has had several epic feuds across the world, but this time she faces someone that is considerably taller, arguably stronger and much more vicious than anyone she has ever faced before. A win over Melissa would lift Havok’s profile even higher, making her even more in demand than before. Whereas a win for Melissa would make it the first time a complete outsider has ever held the WSU title, as she has never competed in the company. It’s a battle of the Air Raid Crashes. Who will be the first to hit it and score the win?
[EDIT] On Wednesday, Femmes Fatales put out a statement concerning one of the matches that needed to be changed, due to an injury one of the participants received. Here is that statement:
“Today, March 27th, I unfortunately need to do an announcement that I hate to do but still need to.
One of Femmes Fatales XI Main Events now need to change. Jessicka Havok was wrestling for a couple of weeks with a knee injury, but her injury got worse last week-end during her match at SHINE in Florida. She won’t be in Montreal to defend the WSU Title this Saturday.
I know this was an important match for the crowd and for Femmes Fatales and I’m really sad to break this news.
But, with all the other matches on the card, this will remain an historical moment.
To replace Jessicka Havok against Cheerleader Melissa, the Midwest Militia is sending Allysin Kay in the action. This will be a first match between those 2 great athletes.
Cherry Bomb will now face Mary Lee Rose in a single match.
Really sorry again and hope to see you on Saturday.”
We here at PWPonderings wish Jessicka Havok well in recovering from her injury. While the change is disappointing, the replacement is more than adequate. Allysin Kay had a strong showing everywhere she went in 2012, becoming one half of the WSU Tag Team Champions (alongside partner Sassy Stephanie) and defeating Mia Yim in a “Fans Bring the Weapons” match in Absolute Intense Wrestling to become their Women’s Champion (the feud between the two put AIW’s “Girls Night Out” event on the map as a must-see event). In SHINE, her and her partner Taylor Made, formed a devastating tag team called “Made in Sin” that went on a winning spree and cumulated with them joining up with Ivelisse and Rain to form VALKYRIE. Kay can throw down with the best of them, and her taking on Melissa should provide one hell of a match. Here’s hoping for no further bad news for Femmes Fatales!
Kalamity has had one hell of a Femmes Fatales International Championship reign. Defeating LuFisto for the belt in October 2011, she has definitively defeated such heavyweights as Mercedes Martinez, Sara Del Rey, Portia Perez and fellow LuFisto trainee Sweet Cherrie. She has also retained against rising stars like Athena, Kellie Skater, Missy and Angie Skye. Now she faces Mercedes for the third time in her Femmes Fatales career, and the stakes have been raised. The two are tied at one win apiece over each other (Mercedes defeated Kalamity at Femmes Fatales V in January 2011; Kalamity retained her belt against Martinez at Femmes Fatales in March 2012), but after their last bout, Mercedes snapped and started beating on Kalamity after the match. This brought out LuFisto and ignited a war between the two that lasted all of the rest of 2012 and went into 2013. At Femmes Fatales X Part 2, Martinez and LuFisto battled inside a steel cage, a first for that promotion, and the former got the win after a Fisherman’s Buster from the top rope. This earned her a second bite at the apple that Kalamity still holds. Plus, after the cage match, Saraya Knight locked herself and Martinez inside the cage to do further damage to LuFisto. This brought out Kalamity as well as Melissa and Mary Lee Rose to unlock the cage and clear house. It’s certain that the Champion hasn’t forgotten about Martinez’s sneak attack after their first title match. Expect this to be a hard hitting, brutal bout. Both can wrestle with the best of them, but given the personal bad blood between the two I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go at it, much like LuFisto and Mercedes have. As of late, everywhere she has wrestled, Mercedes has been on a tear. It remains to be seen if the veteran can add the Femmes Fatales International Championship to the list of belts she has won over the years; or if the Oncoming Storm can unleash enough fury to keep the Latina Sensation down.
The last match is for one of the most prestigious titles in female wrestling today. It was born out of a vendetta the champion made it clear she had against the challenger at the last Femmes Fatales show. It was made personal by the champion decimating two of the challenger’s proteges. The line was crossed when the champion locked herself inside a steel cage and battered the challenger from pillar to post, making the latter’s bloody face even worse, and leaving her to be helped to the back by her proteges. Come March 30th, Saraya Knight will face the “Super Hardcore Anime” LuFisto for the first time ever, and much like Mercedes versus Kalamity, you can expect brutality from both women. There was no doubt this was going to be a physical match driven by bad blood, but when the announcement was made that the SHIMMER title would be on the line, the ante shot skyward. Saraya has been SHIMMER Champion since March 2012 when she pulled off a shocking upset over Cheerleader Melissa to win the belt. She has fended off challengers such as Athena, Kellie Skater, Hiroyo Matsumoto, MsChif and the Cheerleader, as well as had a successful defense of it against challenger Destiny in her home promotion of Bellatrix: Female Warriors just this past weekend – the second overseas country to see a SHIMMER title defense. Knight has been a demonic force that has caused injury to anyone and everyone that stands in her path, be it fellow wrestlers, ringside workers, even fans. Her path of destruction has trailed from SHIMMER to SHINE in Florida to Femmes Fatales in Canada, and no one is immune. By hook and by crook, she has kept hold of the title. However, a beacon of light stands ready to fight this Knightfall. LuFisto has had two shots at the SHIMMER title (first on Volume 26, on May 3rd, 2009 against champion MsChif; the second on Volume 28, on November 8th, 2009 against MsChif and Amazing Kong in a three way bout), and she was unsuccessful both times. However, four years later, we have seen LuFisto evolve in body and in style. She is more focused, more determined, and has tasted gold since that time. She was the inaugural Femmes Fatales International Champion, winning the tournament to crown a champion in October 2010. In February 2012, she made her debut for Lucha Promotion Original Pro-Lucha (Lucha POP) and won the Lucha POP Women’s Championship. And in December 2012, she won the North Shore Pro-Wrestling Championship – the first woman to ever hold a major men’s title in Quebec. All this has had to have made Lufi hungry for more gold and the fact that she would be taking it away from Saraya would be the cherry on the cake. Both women are veterans of the squared circle, both have had their share of injuries during their years, both are hardened warriors. LuFisto has the home court advantage, and the knowledge of seeing first hand what Saraya can do. Knight has shown a propensity for doing whatever she deems necessary to hang onto the SHIMMER title. The outcome is completely up in the air, but one thing is for certain: when the bell rings, Shakespeare’s words will echo. “Cry ‘Havoc’ and let slip the dogs of war!”
This is truly a historic event, and wrestling fans should thank the owners of each promotion involved for setting aside any differences to put on a spectacle like this. The under-card has it’s own appeal – Kellie Skater has been a heel previously in Femmes Fatales, but she will be taking on a woman with a lot of potential, Angie Skye, who is also a heel. However, with Skater’s face turn at SHIMMER last year, we will most likely see that cross over, and with the Australian coming off another tour of Japan, her match against Skye has a ton of promise. Angie has a unique look as well an unorthodox manager in Kath von Goth, and her matches at FF X Parts 1 and 2 were very good. This has the potential to be the sleeper match of the show. Elsewhere, Cherry Bomb will attempt to get her first win in FF as she is involved in a three-way dance between herself, Allysin Kay and Mary Lee Rose. Rose is coming off a rough time, as she was beaten by Sassy Stephie (who had assistance from Rose’s former manager, Mademoiselle Rachelle) then brutalized by Saraya Knight at the last set of shows. Allysin was last seen as part of the 6 woman tag team match that pitted the Midwest Militia against the “Rush Revolution” consisting of Courtney Rush, Xandra Bale and Cat Power. The MWM got the win, putting Kay at an advantage in her return. Speaking of Bale, she will face off against Midianne in a match in a sequel from the last show, where the trio of Missy, Bale and Leah Von Dutch faced She Nay Nay, Deziree and Midianne. The former team won but the animosity is still there. Midianne will seek revenge against the plucky superhero, and the latter will have to watch out for the injured Deziree who will be accompanying her partner to ringside.
Sassy Stephanie (accompanied by Mademoiselle Rachelle) will look to get her winning streak back on track after falling to X-Cute Sweet in November. She faces one of LuFisto’s proteges, Sweet Cherrie, and it promises to be a good match. Rachelle will undoubtedly make a difference, making it more like a handicap match than a one on one. Cherrie always puts up a good fight though, drawing strength from the crowd. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to overcome a pair of devious women. Lastly but not least, Pink Flash Kira will take on Jewells Malone in a friendly match. Both are two to keep an eye on – Kira takes her cue from the Powerpuff Girls and has a lot of potential. The same goes for Jewells, as she impressed in her dark match in November and has a very striking similarity to Beth Phoenix in facial expression and build. Each woman will be looking for a win to start rising up the card.
Femmes Fatales XI on March 30th was a jam-packed show even prior to the additional title stipulations. Now, the Montreal promotion will make wrestling history. If you can be there in person, I highly encourage you to do so. Otherwise, make sure to pick up a copy of the DVD when it is released. There are still tickets available, the cost is $27. Send it via PayPal to payment@ncw.qc.ca. Here’s wishing everyone involved from the wrestlers to the ring crew to promoter Stephane Bruyere all the best for this monumental show!
The J-Crown tournament in Japan in 1996 had 8 different titles from 7 separate promotions being unified together. This is the closest thing to it, though.
Bonne chance aux lutteuses du Québec !!!