WSU: Dawn of a New Day

Women’ Superstars Uncensored

www.WSUwrestling.com

www.DOIwrestling.com

$15.95

Reviewed by Joe Babinsack

Uncensored is a weird name for a Women’s Pro Wrestling promotion. It’s either vastly titillating, and undoubtedly not going to deliver -- or it’s going to hearken back to the days of WCW and project images of bad wrestling, poorly taped segments and the haunting specter of Vince Russo one day taking over the pro wrestling world.

Well, that nightmare has yet to dissipate.

What’s good for the viewers is that WSU destroys the aforementioned expectations.

While one can scarcely imagine a promotion doing nudity and crassness as part of the product, even despite the strong appearance of Missy Hyatt as commentator and host, WSU delivers in a different manner.

Its product is top notch, the styles of wrestling are strong and the competitors are, well, awesome.

Awesome to look at, like Lacey Von Erich, Dawn Marie, Alexa Thatcher, Annie Social and Nikki Roxx. Awesome to watch, like Awesome Kong, Mickie Knuckles, Amy Lee, Angel Orsini, the Soul Sisters and others.

And sometimes, both in the same package, like Mercedes Martinez.

What I loved about watching WSU for the first time was being greatly surprised about a lot of things.

Seeing Awesome Kong and Amy Lee certainly lived up to expectations.

Seeing Lacey Von Erich certainly showed her potential.

Seeing some great matches, some interesting angles and a great roster was also of note.

And then, the introduction of Dawn Marie and the realization that Tammy Sytch is the WSU Champion?

But let’s stop with the superlatives and get on with the matches.

1) Mercedes Martinez vs. Mickie Knuckles

This is the opener?

Seriously?

There are very few matches this year that showed this kind of intensity and passion. Martinez and Knuckles are students of the game, and have obviously seen a few NOAH matches, because this is a vintage strong style match.

And not just at that point where they’re trading forearms like a Misawa/Kobashi classic!

These are two highly talented gals battling it out like they’ve got the biggest of spotlights on them. Do them a favor and go check out their match.

2) Alexa Thatcher & Cindy Rogers vs. Nikki Roxx & Alexa Little Feather (Special Guest Referee: Dawn Marie)

Wow, Nikki’s sporting darkly dyed hair, and she’s the heel. Nice.

With women’s wrestling, it’s more about face versus heel, and the gals go all out here. While Alexa Little Feather (ALF) is a little too over the top for me, and Sean Hanson get’s really close to the imaginary line of decency, I do appreciate that WSU does more angles than other women’s promotions.

They didn’t do much justice to the “mystery guest” here, and the whole angle was a little off, but in the end, it worked out and made sense and drove some storylines further, so that’s a good thing.

Nice how they set up competitors for Tammy Sytch to defend against.

3) The Soul Sisters & ALF (see above) vs. Roxxie Cotton & Rick Cataldo & Annie Social

Ok, ok, ok.

WSU’s doing the gay gimick, with Cataldo.

It’s pretty funny and entertaining. Roxxie Cotton is this mall rat gimmick, and she’s having fun (as in, happy happy joy joy, not the other kind) with Cataldo. They bring in Annie Social to team up against the meanies of the Souls Sisters and their partner, Alere Little Feather.

ALF continues the drunken American Indian stereotype, which gets really old. But then again, it’s Stone Cold with naughty bits, in a sense, so call it parody.

I’ve seen Annie Social on Pro Wrestling Unplugged. She can wrestle? SHE CAN WRESTLE!!!

And she’s good to look at to boot.

There’s this weird clash of dynamics involved in this match. On one level, they play out the strange partners pretty well. On the other hand, they set up the strange partners a little badly.

But in the end, all’s well. There’s a few spots of vastly entertaining notes, and watching girls bounce around in the ring never looked so good.

(I can’t believe I wrote that.)

4) Lacey Von Erich w/ Missy Hyatt vs. Angel Orsini

Ohhhh Kayyyy…..

There’s a lot to digest in this debut of Lacey Von Erich.

For a wrestling purist, there’s stuff to criticize and critique. From a wrestling enjoyment level, there’s a lot to take in.

Why Lacey came to the ring in THAT outfit is the biggest crux of the complaints. Well, then again, who would complain, but it’s only a few moments into the match that you realize that this isn’t ring gear garb, and that Lacey’s way too involved with avoiding a wardrobe malfunction than actually concentrating on the wrestling.

What the viewer will be focused on is hard to nail down.

Do you watch how well Angel Orsini carries the match?

Do you watch for the little things that show how well trained Lacey is?

Do you stare at her bare feet, or look to other anatomical regions?

Do you admire the match as much as you should?

Bottom line is that, despite the problematic references to her father and to her family, Lacey shows tremendous promise, despite being green. I’m not so sure why the WWE seems to have avoided picking her up, but one can readily imagine that they’d prefer she learns the business and shows dedication before they take the chance on her.

She’s certainly got the pedigree, the body and enough understanding of the ring to go far.

The big question is, should someone buy her a good outfit, or should she be encouraged to make do with what she’s got?

5) Becky Bayless promo, interrupted by Dawn Marie.

I greatly avoid word-for-word transcriptions, so this is left for the viewer to hear. Bayless is seen, often as a ROH interviewer. I was unaware of her being a Texas Champion, but I don’t dispute that.

There’s some cool connections (Alicia, whom I just watched on SHIMMER Vol 13) is a pal of Becky’s, and I can see that dynamic.

And then, she rips on Dawn Marie, and you just had to expect that to work out well.

Dawn’s looking good, and with Missy’s Cleavage Ohio references, you can imagine where I’m going with that.

Way too much black in the ring wardrobe, but who am I to complain about that?

What I love is that WSU is playing to Dawn Marie’s standing and reputation, and doesn’t just thrust her into the ring and a match.

They are using her, well, correctly, having her appear, guest referee and do some promos.

That’s a judicious use of a name, and one that should be well applauded.

6) Amy Lee vs. Awesome Kong

I first saw Lee as a second to Ian Rotten, and sort of dismissed her as merely a gimmick.

I’ll admit it, I was wrong.

Everything about this match was excellent, from the setup to the stips to the staging.

The match itself was brutal in the best way, and while I’d love to joke about the brutal announcing talent of Missy Hyatt, I’ll keep it short as to not distract from the match. Missy didn’t try to hard, but I will.

Sean Hanson: “This is like two monster trucks going at it!”

I’ll say.

The dynamics -- shorter, white, biker chick Lee, versus TNA name, African American, larger Kong, screams box office. And while I began the DVD wondering how Lee would stand up to Kong, I got my answer in the first few blows.

Awesome!

There’s a point towards the end of the match where these two hulking women run at each other outside the ring, in a show of force that made monster trucks look like Tonka toys.

That’s the level of hitting that started at the bell, and really didn’t surcease until the bell sounded to end the match.

Shades of Hart/Austin, but done well, and done to justify the comparison.

There’s nothing like the oozing hatred between two wrestlers out to show each other who’s boss. While Amy Lee has the mouth of a sailor, I just loved the gist of “this I my house, come get it” that she screamed to start the match.

This was truly a war.

And they set it up for a rematch, which should always be the purpose of a dream matchup.

And for that, I can’t give it anything but the top praise.

Women Superstars Uncensored: Dawn of a New Day is a top notch production and one that deserves your viewing. It’s definitely on my list of must-see DVDs of the year, and features two Match of the Year contenders.

(And no, I won’t qualify that phrase.)

Joe Babinsack can be reached at [email protected]. Look for other women’s wrestling reviews, including SHIMMER and ChickFight. Plus an array of other stuff to talk about.

P.S.

I have some great news, after you read this review and want to buy the DVD, now is the time to do so.

There is a sale extended until Tuesday, where you can obtain this DVD for only $7.95.

http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/wsu725sale.html