So I spent some time seriously thinking about who were the 5 best women’s wrestlers without a contract for the Big 2 (In this case, WWE & TNA/Impact.) I’m probably going to upset some women and some fans of those women. That’s why there is a comment section. So please understand this is simply my opinion.
So what was my criteria? Are these my favorites? Not necessarily. All the below are great workers that I like, otherwise they obviously wouldn’t be on this list. My Fav 5 (to steal a Booker T-ism) is another topic for another time. Are these the best workers out in the indy scene? Not necessarily. Obviously I’d say Jazz, Beth Phoenix, Awesome Kong & Rain are in the top. But they’ve been to the big dance. I’d like to concentrate on those who haven’t been to the big dance. And are these my favorite workers to watch? Not necessarily. I love watching Allysin Kay & Athena & Veda Scott, but that’s not what this is about. These are the wrestlers that I feel could go to WWE or TNA/Impact tomorrow and contribute immediately. This is my collection of who I think are the 6 (I couldn’t narrow it down to 5.) best unsigned (by WWE or TNA) female wrestlers in North America.
Mia Yim-Is there a better combination of beauty and wrestling ability? Yim’s look is exotic. She would look great in a Diva’s model shoot. She has the experience of having traveled all over the world. And this woman doesn’t break noses because she’s clumsy. She breaks noses because she’s trying to decapitate you. There is photographic proof known as Allysin Kay. Could Mia Yim show up tomorrow in the WWE or TNA and make an immediate difference? You can bet on it.
Courtney Rush-If this Canadian were not a wrestler, you would probably see her as a beach volleyball player or a track star or some other kind of athlete. She is a tremendous athlete, like watching a wild gazelle run on a Discovery documentary. But that’s not all she offers. I recently saw a match in SHIMMER (Volume 48, to be exact) where she carried it mostly by her personality. The story was that Sara del Rey was looking for a tag team partner, and she couldn’t find anybody to be her partner, except for a way-too-enthusiastic Courtney Rush. The vignettes were entertaining, and the match was something I have not seen done in wrestling before. She is very over with their crowd and just continuing her simple gimmick, tweaked for the Big 2’s creative minds, I could see her being very successful.
Melanie Cruise-Every once in a while, wrestling needs that one woman who can come in and destroy every one. This has been a role that Awesome Kong/Kharma, Jazz and Chyna have played in the past. I think Cruise would be perfect for this role. The thing is that Cruise is still a beautiful woman. Much like Beth Phoenix, Cruise could be the respected woman renowned for her wrestling ability but still has the right amount of femininity.
Leva Bates-The biggest minus for Leva in the past was AJ Lee of the WWE. Now AJ has evolved beyond the geeky character to psycho leaving room for the geek to return. Leva has the dorky cuteness that appeals to a lot of wrestling fans. She’s good on the mic and very good in the ring. She can play whatever character she wants to. I could see her breaking the hearts of many wrestling fans who would be in love with her.
Brittney Savage-As some of these wrestlers are great workers, Savage has one thing going for her. Savage is unbelievably hot. The WWE and TNA love them some hotness. I think she could show up tomorrow in a WWE or TNA ring and break hearts everywhere. Now, just because I think she has the look most companies crave doesn’t mean she’s not a good worker. She knows her way around a ring and is really good on the mic. She is a natural heel and would be a great addition to any if the big two.
Kellie Skater-If you have never seen the Ratetank persona, I think it is well worth a view to watch how she applies the persona into every aspect of her match. I really love her hair and see little girls dressing like her in arenas. (Note to self: Daughter must do if she ever sees her live.) There aren’t enough Aussies in the international wrestling market, and I feel that between Skater and fellow Aussie Shazza McKenzie, hearts of teenage boys would melt. Skater has a great physique and plays a great heel. I could see her lasting well in the WWE or TNA.
Sweet Jeebus, there is a PPV on Sunday and this is the WWE’s last ditch effort to convince you to pay for it. After battling the ratings challenge of this month, including going up against the NFL, MLB playoffs, infomercials, and the Presidential debates, you’d think they’d treat this show like it meant something. But you’d be wrong. So, let’s just get down to hopping into Ryback’s water tank and swim like a dolphin not violating the wellness policy, shall we?
Happy Halloween! Remember when choosing your costume, sometimes it’s just for the best to be yourself.
Sorry no pics to entertain. Just a very disappointed feeling. BFG was mediocre to say the least. I watched in quick succession as (this includes a preshow) where two titles are forever tarnished. A bi polar face change. And a good match from two men. One who is known for phoning it in and the other who was with the company before but left. The continued embarrassment of Samoa Joe, which now includes Matt Morgan. This folks was Bound For Glory.
Lets start with the bad please.
(bleep) it. The worst abomination known to humanity. If you’re a female this should set you back 200 years, when you ancestors wore corsets and stood quietly by as they had no voting rights. THIS MATCH ALMOST MADE ME UTTER THE MOST HATED (American)TERM THAT BEGINS WITH A “C” AT MY MONITOR.
We watch Karen Jarrett officiate a debacle of a match. So bad that the Philly crowd was chanting “BORING”! Wheres Mickie James stood in the middle of the ring and shouted with irritated conviction “Come On” Which got a momentary acknowledgement from the crowd. This match is the classically stated overbooking everyone talks about, you have 4 competitors, a special guest referee, Outside interference, and a heel ref bump that leads to a babyface ref coming out to count the three! With all of this the match was still a horrid mess. I honestly believe the crowd only cheered because it was finally over. It would be akin to be a Vietnam war prisoner with the bamboo beneath the finger nails and when they finally finished you congratulated your captors.
Lets just look at the players.
Madison Rayne- One of the worst heels in the business, and not in a good way a heel should be bad. Even as she descended the ramp I heard no crowd reaction other than crickets and people getting around to their bathroom breaks. The Killer Queen title fits seeing as how she killed the crowd.
Velvet Sky- Miss Retcon herself. Who is now a baby-face for no reason other than they had no other popular female “wrestlers” and I use that term loosely. She gets a good pop but that is because she is the lesser of two evils. Men supposedly according to Taz “Let the pigeons loose” in her presence. That is no different than watching your favorite porn star, but you watch her in a non wrestling element, not in a wrestling ring!
Mickie James- Someone who at least no matter how awkwardly she looks attempts to put on a show. The former stripper attempted to keep the show grounded but was overshadowed by her protege Velvet.
Finally the Champion Winter, the batshit crazy Lesbian Vampire Brit who spits blood. That would be a long title for a movie. Who came out to confusion. Someone who if she wasn’t saddled with a crap gimmick would be a perfect snobbish heel. But I digress, In all this mess I was actually rooting for Winter! The booking for this match is simple Velvet (shudder) vs Winter w/Angelina. If Sky wins she gets her friend back, and sadly a title. But no we get padding for an already sad match.
Someone on another site posted how two of the best female wrestlers in the company Tara and Sarita were otherwise pre disposed. Sadly that is the state of the division if you have talent you get buried for looks. Velvet Sky namesake aside is a glorified valet who was given a devalued trinket to a once promising division. A belt I might add two years ago wouldn’t even be considered an option for heel jobber Sky. Amazingly a regime change and a massive exodus later she now has no barrier to the title.
Anderson and Ray was excellent even with the missed spot. Ray has experience never mined in WWE. The way he turned that crowd against him was gold. He essentially sold Anderson as the fan favorite in a town he helped put on the map.
Bi-Polar moments astound me in wrestling. First we have Sting go all crazy then we have Hogan after losing to Sting listening to the Hulkamaniacs and changing allegiances taking out all of jobber Immortal? They’ve signed new contracts, Hogan and Bischoff, so now what we have two more years of Hogan now face running around in the Red and Yellow fighting Immortal and Eric Bischoff? So much for the youth movement. Sadly it was quoted that the Hogan change was similar to Return of Jedi, as Luke (Sting) pleaded with Vader (Hogan) to help him in his fight with Immortal (Emperor) yes it was a blatant rip off that even with the crowd reaction Hogan had already ruined it in interviews prior to BFG answering that we (fans) would see the red and yellow soon. Yippee.
Joe jobbing is enough said for me. Even the fans booed when the winner was declared.
RVD tried and I mean actually attempted to put on a good match. He won which still shows that back stage politics still work when it comes to Rob.
The never ending Daniels vs AJ feud is still continuing. The theme music that played during their feud video even made no sense when it came to the lyrics. Title winning before one dies? There was no belt on the line. If that is the case then why not give either one the Television title because god forbid Eric Young isn’t using it. Weak finish ruined this match.
Preshow on Facebook came across as one would expect. No title change. Christina Von Eerie or as she is known in TNA as Toxin was ehh. She did her job of awkwardly (there’s that word again) taking out two women motioned to the crowd turned scratched Anarquia’s eyes and depantsed him. Still this tomfoolery is better suited for RAW not for TNA Impact “Where Wrestling Matters, Again”. Bush league at best. Hence why we got it for Free.
All I can say about the Bobby Roode title match is Bullshit!!!!!!!!! A sad month of hype. A retconned back story (remember Bobby was a JBL style wrestler with money who had Traci Brooks and Eric Young in his back pocket?) I don’t either because he is Rocky Balboa. He is built up and then after a 15 minute match where similar moves were repeated over and over ended with Apollo Creed (Angle) winning in questionable fashion because you know the referee is blind. This is a crazy epidemic in TNA, this blind referee syndrome. At first I thought it was just Earl Hebner but I guess it is hereditary because Brian Hebner let Kurt rob Bobby. Don’t get me wrong Roode was booked all wrong.
First we have the Bound for Glory Series where we are treated to various contenders who all are given the wink wink of moving forward. Crimson with his undefeated streak looked like a winner but was kayfabe taken out. RVD was screwed by Lynn. Bully Ray just couldn’t get the job done. Gunner tapped. Storm choked. Pope and Joe didn’t stand a chance after their lackluster feud. But there was one man who was waiting for his chance to become the champion, a man that had promised by the end of the year to be TNA World Champion. His name was……Matt Morgan! He was in prime condition to be the next big main event guy. He had paid his dues in the company and was basically homegrown. A WWE Jobber who was stuck with a gimmick no one would want. Who after coming to TNA grew into a fan favorite even when he was a heel. Then an injury happened and he was shelved then taken off the shelf to feud with Joe the perennial wrestler a man creative must love to torment with all the different reinventions they’ve attempted since his loss to Angle. And while they were at it they threw in the “Undefeated” Crimson, Philly and fans were not amused. So what do we have instead? Kurt wins the title from Sting. Aligns with Hogan after some asinine plot point about Dixie knowing Jarrett and Karen were a couple before he did. He turns around and puts down the young talent. A complete U turn from a couple years ago. Roode default wins BFG series and we get a month of Rocky vignettes. And a screw finish that would make Bret Hart blush. Thank you TNA.
Finally we have Aries vs Kendrick, a match that was first on the show and easily outshined most. The crowd was thoroughly behind Aries who proves once again what kind of presence he brings to any company. Dejected by ROH, WWE and if I remember correctly Chikara but when he returned to Impact Wrestling he cut one simple promo and was a “star” once more. Him having that belt gives more credence to it than a thousand Brian Kendricks. The man who in July saved the division from the Monster Abyss sank into oblivion once Austin Aries came on the scene. Kendrick may be talented but he always came across as a better tag partner than a full fledged solo star. A Marty Jannety who needed his Michaels (Paul London) Because to make matters worse he is the basic definition of a “vanilla midget” not much of a personality. They give him the Wizard of Odd gimmick the same they gave Amazing Red the color red as his. Coat him in any guise and he is still just vanilla. You have a division that includes Kid Kash, Zima Ion, Alex Shelley,Jesse Sorenson (who needs a better gimmick than a “Alex Riley” FCW run) and if they’re smart Eric Young. All these guys albeit Sorenson look to be able to run with the ball against Aries. To but asses in seats as it were. Now that the feud is over we can get an Alex Shelley feud with Aries. They have a shared history in the company and beyond.
Hopefully BFG is an eye opener for management to get their ducks in a row and move past this sub par PPV. This is the Starrcade of TNA make it mean as much. You can’t cheer home grown talent if you don’t push them properly. Look at Hogan for instance for a good year or so in WWF he was the man who worked his way with the crowd to a good build up against a credible heel before winning and defending against Andre and so forth. Meaning he was built up a winner someone the fans could cheer and love. Simple booking where the heels were the heels and the faces were the faces. No retcons. Especially in this internet savvy century.
