By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WOW (Women Of Wrestling)
Taped in May 15-16, 2018 in Los Angeles, California at Belasco Theater
Aired September 14, 2019 on on AXS-TV
WOW opened with a recap of the segment involving Tessa Blanchard and her challengers for the WOW Championship… The broadcast team was Stephen Dickey and David McLane…
Tessa Blanchard was shown at an undisclosed location receiving a briefcase from Sophia Lopez, presumably in exchange for one of her wrestlers getting a shot at the WOW Championship…
McLane stood in the ring and welcomed viewers to WOW. Lana Star and “Beverly Hills Babe” Amber O’Neal headed to the ring. Star said she would be returning to the ring with a partner for the WOW Tag Title Series. The broadcast team assumed that O’Neal would be teaming with Star, who then introduced Faith the Lioness as her tag team partner. O’Neal took exception and it led to a match…
1. Faith the Lioness vs. “Beverly Hills Babe” Amber O’Neal. Lana Star sat in on commentary and was asked who she was cheering for. Star said O’Neal would just let her down again. O’Neal worked over Faith’s leg from ringside while jawing at Star. O’Neal had Faith down and jawed at Star instead of going for the pin. Once she did, Faith rolled her into a pin. “You have never been a Beverly Hills Babe, you’ve always been a Beverly Hillbilly,” Star told O’Neal over the pic…
Faith the Lioness beat Amber O’Neal.
Powell’s POV: I assume this means Faith is turning heel and teaming with Star while O’Neal will give up the Beverly Hills Babe gimmick for something else.
A quick teaser aired for Adrenaline vs. Abilene Maverick… [C]
Maverick and Stephy Slays crossed paths backstage. Slays asked when Maverick was going to give her a match. Maverick said her one win was a fluke and they had nothing to talk about until Slays beat a credible opponent. Maverick face-palmed Slays and shoved her aside…
2. Adrenaline vs. Abilene Maverick. The broadcast team pointed out several times that it was Adrenaline’s WOW debut match. They also praised referee Jeff McGowan and noted that he’s a third generation referee. Late in the match, Adrenaline performed a Samoan Drop for a two count. Maverick caught her in a school girl rollup for a two count. Adrenaline came right back with a kick and a Canadian Destroyer and scored the clean pin…
Adrenaline beat Abilene Maverick.
Powell’s POV: Adrenaline works as Diamante in Impact Wrestling and elsewhere. I liked her work as part of LAX both in terms of adding moves from ringside and her character work, particularly during the build to LAX vs. The OGz. She’s a nice addition to the roster and this was a solid match.
A Siren the Voodoo Princess and Holidead vignette aired. Siren was using tarot cards and did an evil laugh at the end… McLane hyped the tag team championship series match for after the break… [C]
A video package focused on Keta Rush and Stephy Slays forming The Bully Busters early in their WOW run and then opting to focus on singles careers. The narrator noted that Rush beat Slays in a competitive singles match and then said they are united again in their pursuit of the WOW Tag Titles…
A shot aired of Rush and Slays approaching Maverick and asking her how it feels to be a loser…
Powell’s POV: The Bully Busters are bullying Maverick? I guess the idea is that turnabout is fair play.
3. Holidead and Siren the Voodoo Doll vs. “The Bully Busters” Keta Rush and Stephy Slays in a WOW Tag Team Championship Series match. Late in the match, Voodoo Doll took out Rush with an exploder suplex. Slays hit Doll with a lung blower. Holidead hit her finisher on Slays and pinned her clean…
Holidead and Siren the Voodoo Doll beat “The Bully Busters” Keta Rush and Stephy Slays to advance in the WOW Tag Team Series.
Afterward, ring announcer Shaul Guerrero asked Siren and Holidead about winning. Siren said now now fans know what the cards have seen – victory… [C]
Powell’s POV: The broadcast team noted that Holidead was not the legal woman in the match. Holidead is always impressive and this was a good tag team match.
Jessie Jones spoke with a depressed Amber O’Neal backstage and asked her why the Bullet Babe cared about Beverly Hills. Jones told O’Neal to come with her and she would get her out of her “clown suit” (Beverly Hills attire). O’Neal said she loved it, but Jones said said it looked ridiculous…
Footage aired of last week’s main event being a draw, leading Blanchard to say she would pick her own challenger for the WOW Title… McLane said we’d find out who will challenge Blanchard after the break.. [C]
4. Tessa Blanchard vs. Serpentine (w/Sophia Lopez) for the WOW Championship. The broadcast team noted that Serpentine was Kobra Moon from Lucha Underground. Dickey said he thought she no longer participated in WOW. McLane said the contract that Lopez turned in referred to Moon as Serpentine.
Late in the match, Serpentine picked up a near fall off a dropkick on Blanchard, who was seated and leaning against the bottom rope. Blanchard came back with a facebuster for a near fall of her own. Blanchard went up top and leapt off and then landed on her feet when Serpetine moved. Serpentine blasted her with a running knee and followed up with a shoulder-breaker for a near fall. Blanchard caught Serpentine on the ropes and performed a Codebreaker for a good near fall.
McLane warned viewers that the show may run long and said they would have highlights next week if it does (nice touch). Serpentine went up top and leapt off. Blanchard moved and Serpentine landed on her feet. Blanchard superkicked Serpentine and then performed the Diamond DDT (hammerlock DDT) before scoring the pin.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Serpentine to retain the WOW Championship.
The obnoxious canned heat was piped in right after the pinfall (why?). Blanchard celebrated her win and then Havok, Jungle Grrrl, and The Beast all came out and stood at different parts of the ringside area. Dickey said they all want the WOW Championship to close the show…
Powell’s POV: At roughly ten minutes in length, this is likely the longest and certainly the best match in the history of WOW on AXS. I don’t mind the way they keep things moving with some brief undercard matches, but WOW does a good job of setting up the main events and hyping them consistently throughout the show and basically set up viewers for a letdown because most main events are so are brief. In other words, this episode was a step in the right direction and I hope this formula continues throughout the season. In fact, this was my favorite edition of the WOW series to date thanks in part to Blanchard and Serpentine working a strong main event.
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