REVIEW: Pro Wrestling EVE - She-1 2022, Day One

Credit: Pro Wrestling EVE

Pro Wrestling EVE: She-1 2022 (Day One)
The 229, London
Saturday, June 18, 2022
Reviewers: Dave Sewell (@davesewell04) & Mark Roffey (@ther0ff)

Day One written by Dave Sewell

The day began very early for me, getting up at 4:30am for work and after doing a half day I was able to get to my mum-in-law’s for about 10am. After a quick hour nap, freshen up and change, I made my way to Waterloo as someone had done a Cara Noir mural, meeting a few mates so we could all get a picture, unfortunately it had already been covered so best laid plans etc.

It was then off the The 229, doors were supposed to open at 3pm but we got there 3:09 and they still weren’t open. Once inside it soon became obvious that any hope the show might start on time soon went, being Eve this wasn’t too much of a surprise to be honest. Eventually, at 3.47 we were ready to go.

The host was my favourite host the fabulous Lolo Brow who is just hilarious, after rules, regs and banter we were ready to start. The referees for the day were Oscar (booo) and Lauren (yay). Replacing the now unavailable Jamie Hayter we had one of the hottest young prospects around, Safire Reed, against Emersyn Jayne.

Emersyn Jayne vs Safire Reed - She 1, Block C

It was interesting to note how Safire came out to a good reaction and knows how to work a crowd and she’s only just had about 20 matches, yet Emersyn came out to almost complete silence with no crowd engagement - this seems to be her biggest problem at the moment.

Fantastic as she is there is nothing there to get behind. She can do promos as she proved when she was the heel champ previously, but since then I think, in-ring, I’ve heard her say less than ten words, even a little is better than nothing. She did have the Hart Foundation colours on so that’s a tick in my book.

As soon as the bell rang Safire went straight at Emersyn with two drop kicks and a German suplex, rocking Emersyn who, after collecting herself, hit back with the Shadowfax and laid In some heavy blows - gaining some control with suplexes and slams. 

Safire came back with an Enziguri and drop kick but Emersyn hit a driver, Safire kicked out at 2.99 letting out a scream which we cheered, but Emersyn just put her away with the short powerbomb for the first two points of the tournament.

As a late replacement and as a rookie Safire certainly did not look out of place here and definitely has a huge future ahead of her.

Skye Smitson vs Alex Windsor - She-1 Block A

Skye was accompanied by Uprising teammate Nightshade, it was interesting to wonder what part she was going to play in the proceedings - none at all as it turned out.

Due to current bad blood between these two there was a bit of verbals before any physical action ensued but once it did it turned out to be very  hard hitting, back and forth match with both woman gaining control for short periods.

Smitson found time to flex when she was on top, there were big moves near the end with a Windsor Pop-up Powerbomb and an attempted Alex Liberty Driver which Skye turned into a Dream Street. In between this came a Sharpshooter which Skye showed great fight to first almost reach the ropes before being dragged back and eventually twisting out of the move.

The end came after another Liberty Driver was escaped and reversed into an Air Raid Crash and Smitson Effect for the clean as a whistle win, which was particularly galling for me as every heel has that one fan who bounce of each other and every villainess needs a hero to stand up to them. Still it was my usual Uprising dose of despair for this match.

Charlie Morgan v Takumi Iroha - She-1 Block C

Next up we had the AAAW single champion Takumi against Fearless Charlie Morgan and boy this delivered. Our mate Dave is a huge Joshi fan so was over the moon when Iroha was announced.

After a Charlie handshake was met with a disdainful slap we were off with a huge series of kicks, which ended when Charlie hit an Enziguri followed by a Slingshot Senton.

It wasn’t long before Iroha hit some lightning quick sliding kicks or her own, during the course of the match there were many blistering kicks from Iroha.

Charlie’s early dive to Iroha on the apron was caught then turned into a DDT, there was a great sequence where Iroha missed a top rope Senton when Charlie moved then showed her how to do it herself.

It was also the first match where us fans in the front were moving out the way to safety when the wrestlers were on the outside.

The end of the match saw Charlie wriggle out midway through the Razors Edge-type finisher of Iroha to hit the Aces Over DDT. This normally leads to the three count but not on this occasion, a short while later the finisher was hit again for the win.

This brought up the 10 minute interval, which lasted well over 20 mins before we had.

Jetta vs Rhia O’Reilly - She-1 Block B

The Princess Diana of Pro Wrestling continued her streak of appearing in every She-1 to-date as she took on the Uprising leader - the woman she took the belt off of back at Wrestle Queendom 4.

You can tell these two have no love for each other in the ring, the way they just charged at each other, exchanging forearm blows. It soon spilled to the outside where Jetta was sent crashing into the doors a few times before coming back and clamping on a very painful looking Fish Hook on Rhia.

Soon it was a trip to the bar, with Rhia being thrown into some metal shutters, Jetta ordering a drink and spraying it over Rhia for good measure.

After being suplexed into chairs Jetta was given the indignity of being thrown along the merch table, straight over her own merch. Off they brawled to the back and reappeared on the stage, which led to Jetta being curb stomped onto the wooden stage.

Back to the ring and after some brutal shots dealt out by both (at one point Jetta took Rhia to all ring posts smashing her head into each one followed by a slap) Rhia went for the Petrol Bomb, Jetta reversed into a backslide leading to the popular win.

Rhio v Veny - She-1 Block A

The match began with after a very flexible Veny stretch, Rhio trying the splits (which didn’t turn out too well for poor Rhio) and despite encouragement from the crowd ref Oscar thinking better if it.

I have never seen anyone win a crowd over quicker than Veny who, after a somersault thingy, a quick walk to the ropes, a wave and a smile, had the crowd onside.

It started out how you’d think with Rhio’s power but as soon as Veny started to hit some kicks to get back into it this match really took off.

I thought a Rhio shotgun dropkick into the corner was good and a Veny one off the top rope minutes later left me picking my jaw up off the ground.

Once again some outside action left us moving from our seats to safety, after a missed Veny moonsault led to a Rhio suicide dive - they landed literally next to me.

After a big slam Rhio almost got the win but eventually a gorgeous spinning kick followed by what I can only describe as a spinning sit out rock bottom led to the picture perfect moonsault and the win.

I have no qualms at all saying that Veny absolutely blew my mind both in this match and continually on each show throughout the weekend.

This was match of the show but the best was yet to come from Veny who was also absolutely brilliant at merch after show two, she made a huge fan out of me.

Laura Di Matteo vs Kasey Owens - She-1 Block B

For those not in the know Kasey was the former International champ, who had to vacate the title due injury, leading to a tournament that Laura won. Kasey never actually lost the title, a fact she reminded Laura of after a suicide dive, before LDM got into the ring.

If we moved out our chairs before we were running for the hills in this one as the chair where my mate Adam was sitting was totally destroyed after a big jump into them.

I did think it was funny when mid-beat up, Kasey picked up an empty Coke can and threw at LDM’s head followed up by using her jacket to choke LDM.

Laura had a tenacious fight back which continued once back in the ring, so Kasey decided to take a break from the action. After finally getting back in and gaining the upper hand Kasey decided to take it up a notch by bringing a chain into the match, wrapping it round Laura’s neck and Snapmaring her three times before going to work on the ankle, whipping it with the chain.

Laura grit her teeth and eventually pulled through, following a very smooth transition from a Kasey attack into a Tombstone for the three count.

As much as Kasey heels it up she is very popular, which is down to just how good she is in the ring and how cool the character is.

I will start by saying the old EVE timekeeping was again a minor disappointment, but as it seems to be every show now we’re kinda used to it. But overall this was a very good show (as all four were) and all the wrestlers deserve credit as they all gave 100% there was no we’ll just ease into this.

Iroha was incredible to watch but the wrestler who blew my mind was Veny absolutely incredible and stole the show. I think the crowd at most was about 70% full, atmosphere definitely afternoon vibe, if that makes sense, but with another three to go you’ve got to keep something in the tank.

It was then off to Nando's and start preparing for the next show.

Day Two written by Mark Roffey

Now things are starting to get serious. The crowd’s already in the mood, I’ve literally arrived just in time after having a work shift that included a full building evacuation. Let’s have this, shall we?

Charlie Morgan (0) vs. Safire Reed (0) - She-1 Block C

This was a fun match to get the show going. Charlie was always going to show her experience factor, notably locking in the surfboard stretch and then cranking the head to apply further pressure.

Safire wasn’t going to just move aside, though, hitting Charlie with a cutter. There was a moment on the outside where Safire would try a German suplex on the apron, only to be rammed into the post instead.

Charlie would get the win with the Aces Over DDT putting herself in a decent position going into the last round of matches.

Safire would have to be helped out by officials and, as we found out the next day, would be taken out of the tournament. A good showing by Safire given that she was only put in as a last-minute replacement for Jamie Hayter.

Jetta (2) vs. Laura Di Matteo (2) - She-1 Block B

I can’t lie, this was a rough match to watch. Considering the fact that this was a match between both singles champions, even with all the shenanigans that ensued, it just visually looked off, in particular a pinning exchange about three minutes into the match.

To make matters worse, just as they were beginning to switch gears from their improving pinning exchanges, Kasey and Rhia O’Reilly would come out and attack Jetta and Laura to cause a no contest.

It’s a shame, because I hoped that the match could redeem itself, even if it had to go to a time-limit draw. I suspect the match had to be cut a bit short, though, so that everyone could get home after the show.

Alex Windsor (0) vs. VENY (2) - She-1 Block A

By contrast, Alex Windsor vs. VENY ended up being not only the best match of the show, but arguably the best match of the entire weekend.

VENY, in particular, impressed me a lot in this match. One thing she wasn’t afraid to do in this match was try to go for a moonsault. First to the outside and twice more in the ring with no success, the second being met by a kick in the gut and the third being stopped by a corner powerbomb.

Windsor would then turn up the offence by countering a roundhouse kick with a blue thunder bomb. She couldn’t counter a second roundhouse kick, though.

The finish came when VENY tried her moonsault finisher, only for it to be dodged by Windsor who would take the win with the Liberty Driver. Cue a standing ovation from the whole crowd.

It just goes to show that you don’t need 30 minutes to tell a good story if you’re able to compact it in about 9-10 minutes instead.

Rhio (0) vs. Skye Smitson (2) - She-1 Block A

This match was always going to be hard-hitting from the opening bell with both competitors starting off striking. I did, however, have to pivot my head a lot at the start because of a camera person being in the way (Also called them doing their job).

There were some big moves as the match progressed; Rhio landing a swinging side slam, a spinning heel kick and an air raid crash, Skye getting a nice Samoan drop and Cobra Clutch slam.

Rhio would ultimately get the win with the rear naked choke, evening out everyone in the block on two points heading into round three.

This was a pretty good match that was unfortunately overshadowed by something that occurred between the bells.

Anyone who’s ever been to a wrestling show knows that some fans, including some of us reviewers, like to give a bit of banter towards certain wrestlers, mainly heels.

This is all in good spirits and we’re normally happy to have a chat with the wrestlers after the show, even if they have done the most despicable thing in the ring.

Unfortunately, one drunk idiot didn’t get the message. The idiot, who had apparently never attended a wrestling show before, was making extremely inappropriate comments towards Skye Smitson, which I won’t repeat on here.

The result was an immediate and forceful ejection from the ‘Sexy Viking’ security guard, who also asked the idiot’s group to leave as well. Quite right too.

Nobody should have to deal with abusive comments at a wrestling show. Anyone who utters such atrocities will face the consequences.

Kasey (0) vs. Rhia O’Reilly (0) - She-1 Block B

The situation was simple; losing meant total elimination from the She-1, winning would give one of these two the chance to potentially win the block. But in the time you’ve just spent reading this, the match was already over.

I’m not joking. Literally as the bell rung, Jetta and Laura Di Matteo arrived to attack both Kasey and Rhia, causing the no contest like the Jetta/Laura match.

Dann Read, incensed by all this, announced a Fatal-4-Way Double or Nothing match. The winner would double their points tally whilst the one who took the fall would be reduced to 0 points.

Jetta (3) vs. Laura Di Matteo (3) vs. Kasey (1) vs. Rhia O’Reilly (1) – Double or Nothing Match

This match, whilst cool to watch, didn’t do much for me. There were some good spots in this match such as Kasey and Rhia O’Reilly receiving a double drop kick from Laura Di Matteo as well as being headbutted against each other by Jetta.

There was also a tower of doom spot with O’Reilly powerbombing Jetta and Kasey, who themselves were trying to superplex Di Matteo. O’Reilly, not realising that Di Matteo had escaped the attempt, would be taken down with a missile dropkick.

Kasey would get the win via removing Jetta from the ring after Rhia O’Reilly had been hit with a lung blower. Kasey goes to 2 points, Rhia O’Reilly loses the point she had just gained and is eliminated from the She-1.

I will say that the Double or Nothing concept is an interesting one and one that I think could be explored in future tournaments and other promotions. I just felt it was a bit predictable here.

Emersyn Jayne (2) vs. Takumi Iroha (2) - She-1 Block C

The main event of show two, and Saturday for that matter, had a lot to live up to considering that Alex Windsor vs. VENY had basically stolen the weekend already.

It was whether the last match would end the day on a strong note. I’m pleased to say it did.

The match began at a fairly quick pace with Emersyn Jayne landing a running dropkick, a snap German suplex and a running elbow in the corner whilst Takumi Iroha would land with some fast paced attacks of her own, including a spinning elbow.

When Iroha landed her kicks in the early part of the contest, you could really hear them. This made the sequence where her and Jayne exchanged German suplexes and head kicks later on in the match feel all the more devastating.

Iroha would try a crucifix powerbomb which was countered into a sunset flip pin attempt. A senton attempt would also be reversed by Jayne into an armbar. This would go on to set up 2 Michinoku Drivers before taking the points with her cross-legged falcon arrow.

This was a good way to set up the scene for the Sunday ahead. Takumi Iroha impressed me just as much as VENY did earlier and it was good to see Emersyn keep up with her pace.

I felt that Takumi was the crowd favourite overall and somehow I think Emersyn knew this heading into show three.

Overall, I thought show two was an okay show. There were definitely some weaker moments with Block B, but the matches involving VENY and Iroha were the highlights of the show.

That and the ‘Sexy Viking’ going from just another member of security to an absolute legend in the space of a couple of hours.