Tech difficulties at the get go. The 2nd pre-show match (Kenzie Paige vs. Paola Blaze) never saw the light of day. The PPV opened with a black screen as announcer Joe Galli tried to resolve production issues.
A desk interview shot 50s style (grainy black and white) featuring Aron Stevens (with Kratos) aired Stevens said men would always dominate pro wrestling and scoffed at the idea of an all woman PPV...fast forward to the Chase Ballroom. Stevens always makes me laugh.
The venue looked fantastic, beautifully lit. Galli later announced it as sellout. Velvet Sky and Brent Tarring (aka Timmy Baltimore) were thee other members of the announce team. Sky struggled early but got into a decent rhythm with Galli as the show progressed. Tarring added little of value.
Car Shield was clearly a major sponsor, with mentions during the broadcast and the Car Shield name plastered on the ringposts.
Executive Producer Mickie James opened the show. The crowd adored her. James was getting choked up as she said people told her women's wrestling didn't draw money and tonight, wrestling was returning to the Chase after 37 years and it was women's wrestling.
Battle of the Brands: Diamante (AFW) defeated Kylie Rae (NWA) and Chik Tormenta (AAA) in 8:12. Would have been better as a singles between Rae and Diamante. There was an interesting dynamic between them. It felt like Tormenta was shoehorned into the match to rep AAA. Rae had Tormenta ready to tap with a crossface when a chain inexplicably appeared in the ring (thrown in by Diamante evidently but missed on camera). As referee Mackey Phillips was removing the chain, Diamante dropkicked Rae, then hit Code Red on Tormenta.
The Hex (Allisyn Kay & Marti Belle) defeated Hell on Heels (Renee Michelle & Sahara Se7en) in 6:56 to advance to the finals of the NWA Women's Tag Team Tournament. This was rough. The officiating didn't help. Kay is such a polished pro. She was head and shoulder above the others as a performer in this match. Se7en was pinned after a double team face plant called the Execution.
KiLynn King & Red Velvet defeated The Freebabes (Miranda Gordy & Jazzy Yang with "Hollywood" Haley J ) in 6:44 to advance to the finals of the NWA Women's Tag Team Title Tournament. Freebabes are all second generation wrestlers. Jazzy is painfully green. It was up to Gordy to carry the match for her team and she did an admirable job. King looked was the ring general here. The best moments of the match were the big women (King and Gordy) squaring off. Velvet looked so small compared to the others but wowed the crowd with her athleticism. King precipitated a collision of Freebabes and pinned Yang with Kingdom Falls.
Mae Valentine interviewed The Hex. Kay talked about how much it would mean to be the first women's tag team champions of the modern NWA era. Belle mentioned becoming the first recognized Dominican NWA champion (a nod to Jack Veneno unrecogized world title win over Ric Flair).
Nine time Impact Knockouts Champion Gail Kim appeared to a huge response. She made a sincere and heartfelt speech honoring the history of women's wrestling including mentions of trailblazers Mildred Burke, Sherri Martel and Wendi Richter.
Taryn Terrell (looking absolutely fantastic) interrupted with Jennacyde and Paola Blaze in tow. Terrell said it was all about her. Terrell and her henchmen entered the ring with evil intent.
Awesome Kong made a surprise appearance to a huge pop. Kong decimated Blaze and Jennacyde, concluding with an Implant Buster on Blaze.
Kong summoned Kim to the ring and took the mic. Kong said it had been a tough year. Nothing could have motivated her to get off her couch and away from those malicious ice cream bars except Kim. She was done and there was no other way she wanted to go out then with her toughest foe. Kim said they would have a bond for life. Kong and Kim were in tears as they embraced. The emotions of the moment were palpable.
I loved this. It was a great tribute to both women and their classic rivalry from the golden era of the Impact Knockouts division.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Melina via submission to retain the Impact Knockouts Championship in 14:37. Through this match, I finally grasped Purrazzo's greatness. Aided by a tremendously kind and energetic crowd, Purrazzo and Melina made magic. Melina's was limited in her ability to execute physically. Her selling and facial expressions were awesome. Purrazzo applied the figure four and they played off Melina's history of knee injuries. Something went wrong when Melina tried for the Last Call. Purrazzo covered for the botch. Melina's knee was in such pitiful shape, the ref was ready to stop the match but she stopped him. Melina managed to hit Play of the Day for a near fall. The finish was killer -- Purrazzo applied an armbar. When Melina reached for the ropes, Purrazzo grabbed the arm and locked in the Venus de Milo, then switched to a single leg crab/armbar combo.
The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) defeated KiLynn King & Red Velvet) in 9:42 to capture the NWA Women's Tag Team Championship. A good match that made me want to see two singles matches - Kay vs. King and Belle vs. Velvet. Madusa joined the broadcast team. Belle was much better here than in the opening round match. Belle pinned Velvet after an double team AK-47.
Madusa came to the ring for the presentation of the belts and a nice show of mutual respect and appreciation ensued. Hex was the right choice for champions.
Billy Corgan came to ringside with a belt bag. Ring announcer Kyle Davis read a statement honoring Mildred Burke and Burke's silver title belt was displayed to the crowd and applauded. It looked tiny by modern standards.
Kamille defeated Leyla Hirsch to retain the NWA Women's World Championship in 13:06. Totally blew away my expectation, Kamille's performance especially. She's come a very long way from her AWE appearances. Tim Storm joined on commentary. They took the David vs. Goliath story to the hilt. The pesty Hirsch persistently worked for an armbar. Kamille fought it off and roughed Hirsch up in front of the area where Nick Aldis, Thomas Latimer and Chris Adonis were seated. Hirsch was able to hit a german suplex launched from the top rope on the Amazon woman then three more in the ring. At that point, the match kicked into high gear and never looked back. Hirsch connected with a pair of running knees and Kamille grabbed the ropes to save being pinned. Kamille hit a rack bomb for a near fall. Hirsch answered with a lariat for a near fall and stayed on the attack. She got Kamille in a cross armbreaker. Kamille slammed Hirsch to break the hold. Kamille caught a charging Hirsch, tossed her across the ring and speared her for the three count. Kamille vs. Jade Cargill would be visually stunning although probably a horrible match.
Trevor Murdoch came out and jawed with Nick Aldis, separated by a row of fans. Latimer slapped Kamille's ass. Could anything have been more uncouth for this show?
Chelsea Green defeated Kiera Hogan and Masha Slamovitch and Bianca Carelli and Debbie Malenko and Lady Frost and Jennacyde (with Taryn Terrell) and Jamie Senegal and Tootie Lynn and Thunder Kitty in 24:06 to win the inaugural NWA Women's Invitational. This was good in spots and not so good in others. Green and Hogan started. Hogan was introduced as the hottest free agent in wrestling. I think that's a viable way for Hogan to position herself, especially as great as she looked in the match and the way the crowd booed when she was eliminated. Carelli went for crossbody on Jennacyde, who caught her and slammed her for the pin. When Frost entered, the roving camera stayed on her at ringside forever, like they lost the hard camera shot. Jennacyde pinned Thunder Kitty during this. Malenko started suplexing everyone in sight. Frost did a skytwister press before Malenko made her tap to a submission. The 49 year-old Malenko's stellar run offense ended when Hogan pinned her. Upon entering, Slamovitch did a swanton dive onto a bunch of folks. It took three women to pin Jennacyde. Hometown favorite Tootie Lynn entered to a big pop and did a number on Senegal, but it was Slamovitch who pinned Senegal with a package piledriver.
The final four were Hogan, Green, Lynn and Slamovitch. A tower of doom spot resulted in Hogan being eliminated by Slamovitch and loud booing. Lynn rolled Slamovitch up for a moment of local hero triumph. It was down to Lynn and Green. Lynn came close to taking home the prize but Green won it with an Unprettier.
Green and Lynn hugged. James, Kong, Kim, Jazz and Madusa joined some of the other women on stage, ending with a group hug. In the ring, Green celebrated victory and was awarded a trophy cup. Outside the ring, Lynn received emotional congratulations from her family.
Galli hyped NWA 73 tonight to close the show.
I thought Empowerr made for worthwhile viewing. Hirsch vs. Kamilla and Purrazzo vs. Melina were compelling matches. Kim and Kong was special. They laid it on a little thick about being the first all women's PPV. Obviously, it wasn't the first PPV to have all women's matches but perhaps the first to have that also had all women in charge of the production and booking. Empowerr did a great job of shining a light on US women's wrestling outside WWE and AEW, but by the same token, it showed how tough it will be for any other women's wrestling to compare favorably.
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