8/7 WOMEN’S WRESTLING ARMY REPORT: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Trish Adora, LuFisto vs. Riley Shepard

WWA EPISODE 8
AUGUST 7, 2022
AIRED AT BRANDARMY.COM/WOMENSWRESTLINGARMY
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentary: Alyssa Marino, Lenny Leonard

Opening theme.

-The commentators appeared on camera and hyped LuFisto vs. Max The Impaler in two weeks. LuFisto’s debut WWA match was up first.

(1) LUFISTO vs. RILEY SHEPARD

LuFisto tied up Shepard on the mat. Arm drags from Shepard. Drop toe-hold from LuFisto and a crossbody to Shepard draped on the ropes. Camel clutch. Face wash. Curb stomp. A barrage of headbutts from LuFisto to Shepard in the corner. Shepard tried to come back but LuFisto swatted her off the apron and swept her legs. Shepard managed a missile dropkick and both women were down. Suplex from Shepard but LuFisto immediately came back with a burning hammer.

WINNER: LuFisto in 8:55.

-Max The Impaler and Amy Rose walked down the aisle. Rose convinced Max to wait and led them away.

(Pageot’s Perspective: A prolonged showcase for LuFisto as Shepard barely got any offense in. Makes sense, though, as they are building to the LuFisto-Max showdown. With matches like this and our upcoming main event, WWA is starting to evolve from Women Of Honor 2.0 into Shimmer 2.0. That’s a good thing. A Shimmer that actually runs frequently and can be streamed in a timely manner is a great addition to the indie wrestling landscape of 2022. Speaking of, I don’t put it over enough but the WWA production is truly top-notch. The camera work is so clean and high-definition as well as the graphics, music, etc. I’d put WWA on par with Impact at this point, behind only WWE and AEW in terms of production.)

-Alisha Edwards was backstage with Gia Scott. Edwards was telling Scott about her plans to start a Twitch channel. She asked Scott which video games she’s into.

-Beyond The Belles clip of Will Washington and Alyssa Marino talking to Tasha Steelz. They seemed to be hinting at a Purrazzo-Steelz match in WWA.

(Pageot’s Perspective: “What’s The Dish With Lish?” was sort of awkwardly charming at first but it’s quickly become pointless. I don’t need the traditional format where Edwards asks one question and the wrestler then monologues for a minute but there’s got to be something better we can do with this time. We didn’t get any real personality from Scott here or any insight into her character.)

(2) “THE VIRTUOSA” DEONNA PURRAZZO vs. “THE AFRO-PUNK” TRISH ADORA

Chain wrestling led to a couple stand-offs. Purrazzo yanked Adora to the mat by the hair to boos. They traded arm drags. They both ran the ropes with Purrazzo catching Adora with a back elbow. They traded forearms, then went back and forth in dodging each other’s chops. Running crossbody from Adora. Sidewalk slam onto her knee but Purrazzo kicked out. Flatliner from Purrazzo into a ground sleeper. Adora rolled her into a pin, forcing Purrazzo to break the hold. Cattle mutilation from Adora. Rope break. Purrazzo wanted Queen’s Gambit but Adora countered into a pin. They went back and forth with pin attempts, ending with Purrazzo pinning Adora in the ropes while also grabbing the middle rope. The referee missed both of them.

WINNER: Deonna Purrazzo in 11:25.

-Purrazzo ran off. Adora ranted off-mic. Someone handed her a mic and she said she’s not going to lose anymore, she’s sick of it. This is her house.

-Backstage Adora addressed the cameras. Purrazzo claims she’s the best in the world but the best doesn’t pull tricks like that.

-Purrazzo was found backstage. Adora wants a rematch? Tough luck. She’s already packing her bags. She’s got a busy schedule.

(Pageot’s Perspective: Really nice match, as you’d expect. Adora is a strong pick for the first WWA Champion, whenever we get to that. There’s been no discussion of title belts being introduced yet, which I actually appreciate. Let’s continue to establish the top players and threats in WWA before we rush into a tournament.

WWA’s definitely been growing in confidence and voice as the episodes go along. They’ve started announcing main events a week out and bigger matches even further out. We haven’t had any documentary-style promos lately, which newcomers like Gia Scott and Riley Shepard could have benefited from, and my personal tastes always call for more vignettes and more content filmed outside of the arena. I’d say those are the only real missing pieces for me. It’s great that they announced Max-LuFisto four weeks out and followed it with a couple wins from them and a stare down tonight but I could use some more coloring to fill in some of these outlines and really make some memorable stories.)

-Next week: it’s Janai Kai vs. Gia Scott.