By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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West Coast Pro Wrestling “Queen of the Indies”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
May 13, 2023 in San Francisco, California at United Irish Cultural Center
Veda Scott and Alyssa Marino provided commentary. I like them both individually, but their voices are quite similar and it’s difficult to know which one is speaking.
* The show opened with the eight competitors in the tournament coming to the ring. We have four quarterfinal matches, then a tag match with the four winners. The winning team will then square off in the finals. (This format means one fewer tournament matches.) We have a female ring announcer and a female referee. The crowd is in the 300 range.
1. Promise Braxton defeated J-Rod, Amira, Gigi Rey and Jordan Blade in a five-way scramble at 4:50. Veda and Alyssa said these five all competed in a tryout. I saw Amira on a Prestige show in the Pacific Northwest in a surprise win over Sumie Sakai. Jordan is a Black woman and she is taller and visibly stronger than the others. Braxton has appeared on AEW Dark, and they said she is a Booker T student. We started with two in the ring and three on corners, but it quicky turned into a scramble where everyone flowed in and out of the ring. Promise hit a TKO stunner and scored the pin on Amira.
2. Lady Frost defeated Dulce Tormenta in a first-round tournament match at 9:16. I’ve seen Dulce on a few lucha shows; she has long black hair and wears a Juventud Guerrera-style mask. Frost, of course, had a nice run in Impact and has appeared lately on ROH. They traded huracanranas. Tormenta hit a top-rope crossbody block at 2:30, then an enzuigiri. Frost fired back with some chops and a nice fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 5:30. They traded rollups. Frost hit a cartwheel-into-kick in the corner on Tormenta for a nearfall. Nice move. Frost hit a top-rope corkscrew press for the pin. Good match.
3. Masha Slamovich defeated Hyan in a first-round tournament match at 12:41. I always compare the Latina Hyan to Deonna Purrazzo, from her mat skills to her elaborate outfit. An intense lockup to open and Masha worked the left arm. Hyan hit a nice dropkick at 2:30. Masha applied a modified Camel Clutch at 5:00, and she pulled on Hyan’s hair, too. Masha hit a snap suplex.
Hyan nailed a Mafia Kick at 8:30. Masha hit a Northern Lights suplex. Hyan went for an implant buster, but Masha escaped and got a rollup for a nearfall. Masha applied a sleeper, and Hyan tapped out. Good match. Hyan is really underrated.
4. Mio Momono defeated Maria in a first-round tournament tournament match at 8:22. I don’t know Mio; she wore a title belt and she has similar looks and haircut to Asuka. Maria is also an Asian woman with longer hair. Mio choked Maria in the ropes. Maria hit a dropkick at 3:00 and a stiff Mafia Kick. Mio got a jackknife cover for a nearfall. Mio hit a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall at 5:30. Maria hit another hard dropkick for a nearfall. Maria applied a cross-armbreaker, but Mio reached the ropes. Maria nailed a half-nelson suplex for a believable nearfall. They traded multiple rollups. Mio finally got a rollup for the pin. That was tremendous.
5. Unagi Sayaka defeated Billie Starkz in a first-round tournament match at 9:58. I don’t know Unagi either. She has white-ish blonde hair with a splash of purple; Billie has several inches of height on her. Starkz hit some stiff forearms and a basement dropkick at 4:00. Unagi hit a Lungblower. Billie hit a hard forearm to the back of the head and got booed at 6:30. They hit simultaneous Mafia Kicks and were both down.
They traded stiff forearm shots. Billie hit a suplex with a bridge for a nearfall at 8:00. Unagi applied a Gory Special, bending Billie backward, and she got a nearfall. Billie dove through the ropes onto Unagi. In the ring, Billie went for a Swanton Bomb, but Unagi got her knees up. Unagi immediately nailed a Jay White-style Blade Runner spinning faceplant for the pin. Good match.
6. “Team Marvelous” Chigusa Nagayo, Sandra Moone, and Takumi Iroha defeated Lady Apache, Nicole Savoy, and Karisma at 9:16. Each woman got their own entrance, so this took a while to get going. Moone has wrestled all over the Midwest in recent weeks. Savoy came out of retirement for this show, proving that you can never say never in pro wrestling. Karisma is tall and really thin with black hair with a splash of red. Apache wore a title belt with her. Nagayo got the hero’s treatment but I admittedly don’t know her; she is heavier and older with very short hair, and she hugged Lady Apache. The commentators gushed over the importance of this moment.
Chigusa and Apache started and traded stiff forearms; a quick internet search says Chigusa is 58. All six brawled on the floor. In the ring, Chigusa chopped Savoy. Iroha entered and hit a running kick on Savoy at 4:00. Savoy hit a pair of butterfly suplexes on Moone. Moone hit a Falcon Arrow on Savoy. Savoy hit a German Suplex for a nearfall at 7:30.
Chigusa hit a Death Valley Driver, and Iroha immediately hit a Swanton Bomb on Savoy for a believable nearfall. Savoy applied an anklelock on Iroha. Iroha slammed Savoy to score the pin. That was fun, but I really had hoped it would go longer! Savoy retired in May 2022, and I really hope this doesn’t become a one-off for her.
Intermission. Really long. I actually watched three AEW Rampage matches and the Hardys segment before this show returned.
7. Masha Slamovich and Mia Momono defeated Lady Frost and Unagi Sayaka at 9:30. Again, this is the second round of the tournament, and the winning team will face each other in the finals. Unagi hit a bodyslam on Mia. Frost entered and she chopped Mia. Frost hit a fisherman’s suplex at 3:00 as they continued to work Mia over. Masha made the hot tag and she hit a running knee on Frost in the corner and a short-arm clothesline for a nearfall. Unagi hit a Hogan Legdrop for a nearfall.
Mia hit a top-rope crossbody block and a dropkick on Unagi’s face for a nearfall at 6:00. Frost hit a standing moonsault. Unagi applied the Gory Special on Mia and got a nearfall at 8:00. Frost hit a top-rope twisting crossbody block on Mia. Unagi hit a frogsplash for a nearfall. Mia hit a frogsplash on Unagi for a nearfall. Mia hit a Code Red to pin Unagi. Good match.
8. Johnnie Robbie and Brooke Havok defeated Mac Daddy Mylo and Rachelle Riveter at 9:17. Riveter is a young Black woman with long hair in braids. Mylo is white with long black hair and reminds me of Paige/Saraya. Brooke is the graduate from Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory and she’s still fairly new. Robbie’s hair goes all the way to her butt. We have a male ref; I think this is the first man in the ring tonight. Riveter and Robbie started. Havok entered and worked over Robbie.
Mylo chopped Havok against the ropes at 4:30, and she hit a slingshot suplex for a nearfall. Riveter repeatedly spanked Brooke and got a sunset flip for a nearfall. They hit simultaneous crossbody blocks and were both down at 6:30. Johnnie made the hot tag and hit some German Suplexes, then a neckbreaker over her knee on Mylo. Mylo hit a stunner. Riveter hit a superkick. Robbie hit a backbreaker over her knee. Havok hit a chinbreaker over her knee to pin Mylo. Good match; I see a lot of promise with these four.
* A promoter got in the ring and boasted about the accomplishment of doing a queen of indies tournament. Chigusa Nagayo joined him. He called her “an absolute legend.” He then announced he is bringing back the king of the indies.
9. Masha Slamovich defeated Mia Momono to win the Queen of Indies tournament at 15:01. Quick reversals and a standoff in the first minute. Mia hit a dropkick. Masha snapped Mia’s face against the ring ropes, and they brawled to the floor at 3:00. Masha nailed a snap suplex on the floor! Masha accidentally clotheslined the ring post, and Mia hit a bodyslam onto the floor. Mia dove off the top turnbuckle onto Masha on the floor. In the ring, Mia hit a top-rope missile dropkick.
Masha nailed several stiff forearms; Mia fired back with her own. Mia nailed a spinning back fist at 7:00 and a kick and got a nearfall. Masha slammed Mia’s face on the bottom turnbuckle, and she hit a running boot to Mia’s face for a nearfall. Masha nailed a top-rope superplex at 9:30, and they were both down. Mia hit a German Suplex; Masha hit her own German Suplex. Mia hit a German Suplex with a bridge for a believable nearfall.
Masha put Mia along her back and hit a piledriver move for a believable nearfall. She applied a rear-naked choke, but Mia quickly got to the ropes at 12:00. Masha hit a sit-out powerbomb for a believable nearfall. Mia hit some headbutts and a Code Red for a believable nearfall. Masha hit a doublestomp to the chest and she went back to a rear-naked choke. Mia fought and rolled around, trying to escape, but Masha kept it locked in. Masha let go just long enough to hit a piledriver and score the pin. That was tremendous.
* Masha got on the mic and thanked Chigusa, who was at ringside. “And as for me, long may she reign!” Masha shouted as she held a title belt above her head.
Final Thoughts: A very fun event. I’m sure this meant even more to people who are familiar with the Japanese talent. A stellar main event that is definitely worth checking out. With that said, I figured Masha was the favorite entering this tournament, and I really never considered Momono a threat to win that match. Momono-Maria was really hard-hitting and I’ll go with that for second place, and Masha-Hyan for third. Check out this show, and all West Coast Pro Wrestling shows, at IWTV.
Chigusa Nagayo was one half of the Crush Gals, one of the most popular female tag teams in history. In 1988, Nagayo main evented the most watched wrestling show of the year(male or female) in Japan, and Crush Gals also received cross promotional fame as singers(their first single sold 100k copies). During her time on top, they were drawing television ratings higher than what Hogan, Austin, and The Rock were drawing in their peaks, to give you some idea of just how big she was. She’s considered a legend in the Japanese wrestling business, and now she’s the owner and trainer for the promotion Marvelous, where Mio, Maria, and Iroha are currently based out of. She’s retired now, but makes occasional 1 off appearances. Masha has done an extended tour of Marvelous in the past, and Nagayo and the other Marvelous girls have played a large part in helping her become the wrestler she is currently.
Iroha got her start in Stardom, before being hand selected by Nagayo to become her student(Stardom’s then owner and current booker is friends with Nagayo and allowed Iroha’s departure). Nagayo has handed the day to day running of Marvelous off to Iroha who is considered the “ace” of Marvelous and a top level talent in the joshi wrestling scene. Even though Marvelous is her home promotion, she shows up in various other promotions fairly often, such as Seadlinnng, Pro Wrestling Wave, Pro Wresling EVE in the UK, and has even had some major return matches in Stardom, with the most recent being in 2021 where she competed in their version of the New Japan G1 Climax tournament as well as getting a title match for the company’s top belt.
Mio Momomo and Maria are both Marvelous talent, Mio is likely to be their next ace should Iroha retire or lessen her time in ring. Maria is generally more of a tag wrestler, though following the retirement of Rin Kadokura(who you may have seen in AEW’s women’s tournament awhile back) she’s been picking up more singles matches. Like most wrestlers in smaller joshi promotions, both wrestlers also make appearances in other promotions such as Sendai Girls(Meiko Satomura’s promotion).
Unagi Sayaka is a freelancer. A former gravure model, she got her wrestling start in TJPW(home of Maki Itoh, Yuka Sakazaki, and Miyu Yamashita) where she primarily played am undercard comedy character basically focused on, well, the size of her breasts. She was not happy with this role, leading to her departure for Stardom. In Stardom, she was allowed to develop much further as a wrestler as well as a personality, and became a very popular member of the roster. However, after awhile, she decided the Stardom roster was essentially TOO stacked with people competing for the top spots, so she went on her “gyan period” and became a freelancer, and was able to leverage the fame and success she got from Stardom into becoming major name in the freelancer scene. Nagayo took notice of her and has been further helping her develop, frequently booking her for Marvelous shows. Shes been coy about the exact status of her relationship with Stardom, she still considers herself a member of the faction she was with in Stardom and it’s been hinted she can return should she decide she wants to, and it also seems she would be welcome as a full time Marvelous roster member as well if she chose that route.