SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWA EPISODE 29: QUEEN VS. KING
MARCH 1, 2023
AIRED ON PRO WRESTLING TV
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Alyssa Marino, Sam Leterna
Gabby LaSpisa was backstage with Queen Aminata to talk about our Queen vs. King main event. Aminata always feels great. She welcomed KiLynn to WWA. Tonight it’s going to be about queen of the castle.
-Elsewhere, KiLynn King had a rebuttal. She’s known Aminata for two years. They’d never been booked against each other but lately it’s been back to back to back. She implied that Aminata’s beaten her before but she learns from her mistakes. Apparently she tapped out to the Juicy Lock last time but it won’t happen this time.
-Opening theme.
-LaSpisa found Kayla Sparks and Alex Gracia backstage. They’ve both had issues with Missa Kate and complained about her to LaSpisa. She’s not going to keep getting away with it.
-Kate made her entrance in the arena and stole a fan’s hat before tossing it on the ground. Sierra was out next, followed by the babyfaces.
(1) ALEX GRACIA & KAYLA SPARKS vs. SIERRA & MISSA KATE
Sierra and Sparks started. Sparks overwhelmed her, which led to Sierra quickly tagging out. Kate spat her gum at Gracia on the apron. The distraction allowed Sierra to grab Sparks and give Kate the advantage. Sparks hit two arm drags and a body slam, though. She dragged Kate to her corner and tagged Gracia. Tandem back elbow to Kate. Kate tagged as she bailed to ringside and Sierra caught Gracia with a kick through the ropes. Tag to Sparks, who dropped Sierra with a series of clotheslines. Sierra shoved Gracia off the apron and tagged out. The heels isolated Sparks.
Sparks made the hot tag at 8:00. Gracia was a house of fire on Kate. Sierra broke up a pin. Sierra dragged Kate to their corner and tagged herself in. Kate was put out by her audacity and elected to leave. Lungblower from Gracia to the distracted Sierra for the pin.
WINNERS: Gracia & Sparks in 9:35.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Gracia & Sparks become the only team besides The Hex to pick up a win in WWA. Commentary wondered if we could see more from them in the future, which would be nice. Establishing some relationships and building some teams or factions would help give WWA shows some firmer stakes with no championship to compete for at this time. It would also help in the sense that there are simply not that many established women’s tag teams on the American indies. Speaking of…)
-The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) were walking around outside in matching studded red leather jackets. Belle literally said that there aren’t any tag teams anymore, just randos thrown together. Like Tasha Steelz & Mazzerati. They’re fine wrestlers but they’re not a unit because they’re not lifelong friends like them.
-Sierra walked through the curtain backstage, followed by Kate.
-LaSpisa was with Tasha Steelz on the interview set. She asked about a bump in the road with Steelz in WWA. She implied her mentorship with Mazzerati has come to an end. She was leading by example but lost because she’s slipped. She’s a former champion. She doesn’t lose like that. She needs to focus on herself. She’s issuing an open challenge.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Steelz’s partnership with Savannah Evans in Impact recently came to an end for seemingly all the same reasons she outlined here so this was some nice cross-platform storytelling. In Impact, though, she’s walked away from the ring altogether for the foreseeable future. So we’ll see who answers this open challenge and if the resulting match is the last we see of Steelz in WWA for a while.)
-Queen Aminata made her entrance and had a valet place her crown on her head.
(2) KILYNN KING vs. QUEEN AMINATA
Feeling out process in the early minutes as we’re clearly setting in for a longer one. They traded flash pins. Aminata was sent to the floor and took a double chop. King wound up whipped into the ring post. In the ring, Aminata hit a face plant but King avoided the Juicy Lock. She ripped off a fake eyelash and powered up with a shot to Aminata’s kidney. Aminata with a penalty kick to King’s spine. Neckbreaker. King avoided a double stomp and hit a suplex. Shotgun dropkick from King and Aminata was back on the floor. A dropkick through the ropes connected. King rolled her back in but only got a two-count.
Aminata with a sunset flip at 10:00. Big powerbomb from King for a two. Pumphandle slam avoided by Aminata. Knee strike landed. Aminata up top but King moved out of the double stomp again. Pumphandle driver from King but Aminata kicked out! The crowd was certain that one was it. Headbutt from Aminata. She yanked King off the second rope and went up top for a third time. The double-stomp finally connected! Hip-check in the corner. Face wash. King kicked out.
The women traded pin attempts. King landed a roundhouse kick. Another kick-out from Aminata. “This is awesome” chant from the crowd. Chop from King. Slap from Aminata. Aminata flipped her to the mat. King went for a roll-up. Aminata reversed. It was enough.
WINNER: Queen Aminata in 15:04.
-An angry King glared at Aminata from ringside and may have spat at her.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Out of 29 episodes, that was in my top two WWA matches alongside Jordan Blade-Holidead from July. Aminata’s a personal favorite of mine and probably in my top five women working today. She’s just the total package. King, I am admittedly not familiar with. It looks like she wrestles for NWA regularly and commentary mentioned her facing Mayu Iwatani on a NJPW show in New York. This one was a real treat and I love the finish. Aminata’s been established as a top player in WWA so I’m glad to see her win. But it was also a clear “that could have gone either way” scenario that lays the groundwork for a rematch and puts her up 2-0 in the series, making an eventual King win that more meaningful. And she didn’t tap. She wasn’t knocked out for a firm three. Aminata got, to an extent, lucky.)
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