REVIEW: Pro Wrestling EVE - WrestleWomania

Pro Wrestling EVE: WrestleWomania
The Big Penny Social, London
Friday, April 5th, 2024
Reviewer: Jamie Walker (@walker_this_way)

On the biggest weekend of wrestling of the year all eyes were on Philadelphia, on WWE, on all the indie shows that run over Mania weekend. But where the eyes should have been were on the Big Penny Social in London.

Those that were watching would have witnessed not just a fun show but one of the best matches of the entire weekend, and one of the best in the history of Pro Wrestling EVE.

Charlie Morgan and Alex Windsor put their bodies on the line in an absolutely gruelling match that left both a bloody mess and had plenty in the Big Penny teary-eyed at the end of the night. I had really hoped to be there in person but illness meant I had to watch online.

But we’ll get onto more of that main even that later, for now there’s still the rest of the card to go.

The fabulous Lolo Brow opened the show, as is customary, and was bloody hilarious as ever. They are an absolute treasure and it benefits EVE so much to have a ring announcer who is not only good at the announcing part but is also funny, witty and pure filth.

Jetta vs Emersyn Jayne

This contest was billed as the co-main event so it was a surprise to see it open the show, I swear I will never understand the mind of Dann Read and I won’t even try to.

Emersyn came out with Kanji as their new duo The Top Shagger and her Donny. It’s still unclear who the Top Shagger is but one thing I can say for sure is that the pair are hilarious together. their new act is brilliant and you can tell they’re having so much fun out there.

Jetta is her usual heelish self and absolutely detests the filth that Kanji and Emersyn are now peddling to the crowd, looking shocked and horrified every time any kind of innuendo or sexual suggestion is made.

The match itself was a solid enough opening match and very funny, Jetta trying to worm her way to victory while Emersyn used her power to overcome everything the Princess Diana of Pro Wrestling dished out. And the continuing x-rated humour from Emersyn really annoying Jetta.

Emersyn would win and help continue the current upward trajectory she and Kanji are currently on, but little would we know this would be the last singles match Jetta ever had in EVE.

But more on that later…

Safire Reed & Maya Matthews vs The Gals (Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan) - Pick Your Poison

Safire makes her way to the ring first, ready to announce her surprise partner for her Pick Your Poison tag match. She starts off with a great promo, once against denouncing the oldies of the locker room and assuring her that nobody on her team for the upcoming War Games match would be over 30.

She was right about her first partner, who would also be her partner in this contest, as she introduced her best friend Maya Matthews. Maya has be tearing it up across London and the south and after finally making her EVE debut last show it looks like she picked up a taste for the Big Penny.

The Pick Your Poison stipulation meant that their opponents would be chosen by Operation SAS (Skye Smitson & Nightshade). They chose the hard hitting Irish duo of Keitel and Vaughan, who were keen to defend their honour, and the honour of all those Safire had insulted.

They started off strong, using their size and experience advantage to really give the young upstarts a test. But Safire was being devious and heelish at every opportunity, eventually giving her and Maya the upper hand.

There was a moment where Debbie seemed to be getting back into the contest but then tragedy struck. After hitting a big knee to Safire, Debbie crumbled to the ground in agony. The injury looked really serious, with Debbie in tears as she was helped out the ring and to the back. I would later learn the injury was purely for storyline which was shocking because Debbie sold it so well that I was positive it was a legit injury.

Anita boldly stepped up to finish the match on her own against Safire and Maya and while she is an absolute powerhouse she was already too tired to overcome the two-on-one assault.

It’s a big win for Safire and Maya heading into May’s show, and their team would gain one more member before the end of the night…

On a separate note, it’s brilliant to see more of Maya at EVE and so much of Debbie and Anita, they are an exceptional tag team and it’s awesome to see them being a more regular feature on shows.

Kanji vs Freya The Slaya

The Top Shagger and her Donny were back out for more action (insert wink emoji here) next, this time it was Kanji taking to the ring to take on American star Freya the Slaya, who was making her EVE debut.

Known as the Queen of the North, Freya had a dominating presence from the moment she walked out and it made for a really interesting power dynamic in the match, with Kanji having to find ways to work around Freya’s size and power advantage.

She tried roll ups, reversals and everything in between but it seemed tough to keep Freya down for any sort of time, if at all. However the frustration was equally as much for Freya who was met by a Kanji determined not to be beaten down.

This match also had a weird bonus of having the one and only Will Ospreay on commentary. He’d clearly come to support Alex Windsor in the main event and decided to pop down next to Dann and give his thoughts on the match. He’s definitely got a future as a colour commentator based on his brief cameo.

It was The Top Shagger (Or Donny?) who would pick up the win, finally overcoming the power of Freya to put her down with a big forearm.

Freya is definitely someone I’d like to see back in EVE, her look is great and she offers something different to EVE’s current singles roster in terms of the big powerhouse competitor.

Ivy vs Evie Madden

Another debut up next for EVE as the brilliant Evie Madden made her way to the ring. Dann explained on comms that Evie had stepped in just an hour or so before showtime and agreed to face Ivy.

And the last minute choice seemed to have worked in Evie’s favour as she attacked Ivy before the bell and continued her assault once the match had officially begun.

Ivy had to adapt quickly in order to get back on top, quickly deciphering Evie’s fighting style and working around it. She of course was able to and continued her fine form at EVE to pick up the win.

Despite the loss it was brilliant to see Evie make her EVE debut, she’s someone I’ve admired for a long time and who has said before how much an EVE debut would mean to her and now she’s bloody done it!

After the match she got on the mic and called out the team that had plagued her and Lana Austin so much at EVE, the M62 Wrecking Crew (Lizzy Evo & Alexxis Falcon). They’re the ones that put Lana on the shelf and Ivy wasn’t having any of it, deciding to challenge them to an I Quit match at EVE’s May show…that’s gonna be awesome!

LA Taylor & Zizi vs Operation SAS (Skye Smitson & Nightshade) - Pick Your Poison

LA and Zizi both came to the ring expecting to be facing each other in a singles match, which we still absolutely need to see at some point, However, that didn’t happen. Instead Safire came out to the ring and announced that as she was picking the poison for Operation SAS she decided to make LA and Zizi team up to take them on.

Zizi was more than game for the challenge, but LA wasn’t so enthusiastic. She looked heartbroken as her best friend Skye made her way to the ring. The pair share the tag titles in Resurgence and have worked as a team at PROGRESS and other promotions for a couple of years now, so neither wanted to fight the other.

They shared a pre-match hug but both found it really tough to inflict any damage on one another. While Nightshade and Zizi were happy to fight anyone, Skye and LA looked close to tears every time they were both the legal competitors.

The storytelling here was brilliant. Zizi was trying to bring the brutality out of LA but at every turn Taylor was unwilling to go too hard on her other tag team partner.

There was a brief moment where this changed, Skye struck LA a bit too hard and LA in a blind rage clotheslined the hell out of her - although she did feel immediately terrible afterwards.

Eventually Zizi would get fed up of LA holding back and instead decided to blindside her teammate. This was the cue for Safire and Maya to enter the fray and the trio beat up LA, Skye and Nightshade.

As the babyfaces went to fight back the young trio fled, clearly Zizi had declared herself to be on Safire’s team for War Games next month leaving just one competitor left to announce.

Skye got on the mind and promised to beat the crap out of Safire in the match, as well as the rest of her team. This storyline has been built really nicely over the course of months and in May it’s going to culminate in one of the biggest matches EVE has ever put on.

Charlie Morgan vs Alex Windsor - Loser Leaves EVE

And then it came to the main event, a match that itself is the culmination of more than a year of build and tension and feuding between the two former best friends.

The match had been built up to throughout the show with a couple of brilliant promo videos taking us through the friendship and eventual relationship breakdown between Charlie and Alex. This was a really nice touch and made the match feel even bigger than it already was.

The looks the pair went for really added to the feel as well. Charlie in a top that Ospreay (again on comms) would reveal is one that she would wear on holiday with Alex. And Windsor herself in a Mick Foley-esque shirt that had been cut off at the sleeves and looked badass as hell.

These women beat the absolute hell out of each other for over 30 glorious minutes! We had tables, chairs, kendo sticks, thumbtacks, the whole nine yards. Will Ospreay was back on comms and rightly losing his shit as he watched his partner get the hell beaten out of her by her former best friend.

At one point Alex was busted open and my god! The crimson mask she wore made the one she had on at RevPro a week earlier look like nothing. It was tough to watch at times as Charlie systematically destroyed her former tag partner.

But of course the Iron Queen wouldn’t simply lay down and die, she fought tooth and nail, busting Charlie open herself, duct taping her to the ropes, making sure that she knew how betrayed she’d felt. It was emotional and epic.

I could go on for hundreds of words about this match, about how the story was crafted beautifully as the friendship fell apart and was in the end rekindled, about how these two put their bodies on the line for not just EVE, not just the fans but for themselves and how the inclusion of Jetta just added more drama to proceedings.

But instead I’m going to leave it there and instead urge you to go to EVE’s YouTube channel and check it out for yourself. It was genuinely one of the shows of Mania weekend.

Alex would pick up the victory after what I can only describe as their version of the Shawn Michaels ‘I love you’ moment. Charlie stared at the ceiling and the ref counted three…that was it, Charlie Morgan was OUT of Pro Wrestling EVE.

It ended beautifully, with the pair hugging it out as Charlie contemplated a life without EVE. She was in tears, Alex was in tears, Dann and Emily Read were in tears, fans in the room were in tears, I was in tears sitting in my living room - it was emotional as fuck.

Charlie got on the mic and announced that it was to be not only her last match in EVE but her last show full stop, and that she and her partner Jetta were bowing out together.

That just made things more emotional. To be losing two mainstays of the scene, two women who have given so much to the industry and been so influential and so beloved. It’s going to be so damn tough to say goodbye to them.

Luckily we’ll get ONE MORE MATCH. As they get on the mic and ask Dann for a Royal Aces farewell, Dann asks them to pick their own opponents and they pick three women who have been so instrumental in their EVE journey; Charli Evans, Millie McKenzie and Erin Angel.

That’s it, that will be Jetta and Charlie Morgan’s last ever match in EVE and last ever match in wrestling. They deserve the best send off possible.

REVIEW: Pro Wrestling EVE - WrestleWomania

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