2013 Year in Review/2014 Year in Preview: Women's Promotions in America

Melissa sent Danger out unceremoniously Photo Credit: Gregory Davis/DDS

Promotions: SHIMMER Women's Athletes, Women's Superstars Uncensored, AIW Girls' Night Out, SHINE Wrestling, nCw Femmes Fatale

What Happened in 2013: This year was quite the interesting year for women in independent wrestling. Absolute Intense Wrestling expanded their Girls' Night Out series to be more like SHIMMER's taping schedule, SHIMMER ventured away from the Eagles Club for a special WrestleCon appearance, WSU partnered with CZW, and SHINE continued building upon its debut year. Organizers within the promotions created the "Female Fight Season" as a way to capitalize on having a cluster of the best women wrestlers in the world converging for a series of cards around the country.

Unfortunately, the other theme of 2013 has been injuries. Kalamity, whose star had been rising, suddenly went on leave after the Fight Season in the spring. Athena suffered an injury at a secret show before she was to wrestle Jessicka Havok in a best two out of three falls match for the WSU Championship. Courtney Rush's year was derailed by injury as well. LuFisto took an errant dive at WrestleCon and missed the entire rest of the spring and most of the summer. In perhaps the most crushing blow, both Ayumi Kurihara and Allison Danger had to retire due to nagging injuries. Kurihara's injuries were chronic in nature, but Danger, who founded SHIMMER and has been one of the pioneers of women in wrestling in the last decade, fell victim to a series of strokes.

SHIMMER capitalized on Danger's retirement by having Cheerleader Melissa attack her at the end of the spring tapings, a two-week period that saw Melissa go from the highest high of vanquishing Saraya Knight in a steel cage at WrestleCon to regain World Championship to the deepest depths of jealousy and spite. While Melissa successfully retained the title through the end of 2013, she didn't make too many friends in the process, most notable among them being Danger's Regeneration X tag partner Leva Bates.

SHINE Wrestling saw the rise of a new stable, Valkyrie. Rain gathered an impressive array of followers in Ivelisse Velez, Allysin Kay, Taylor Made, and April Hunter, and the group managed to reign terror over the Florida monthly. The group helped Rain retain the SHINE Championship, one she threatened to abscond with in retirement at the most recent show. However, she reneged on her promise before defeating Amazing Kong.

Who will stop Havok's reign of terror? Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

Jessicka Havok had another huge year, going wire to wire as WSU Champion and making her long-awaited debut in SHIMMER. Her run in WSU was a bit checkered, however, as her challengers for the title kept getting knocked out before the matches beforehand. Cracks also began to show in the Midwest Militia as Sassy Stephie had some unkind words to say about Havok at points during the year.

In AIW, Allysin Kay also went wire to wire as Women's Champion, facing various threats along the way. Girls' Night Out 8 in January saw Mickie Knuckles return to claim the title she never really lost in the first place. Kay put that challenge down, but spent most of the year prepping for an assault from Veda Scott, who won a ladder match at that same show for a shot at the title, which didn't happen until October. Kay turned back the threat, but Scott still looms as a major player within AIW, both within the GNO brand and in the normal narrative.

2013 MVP: Cases could be made for Veda Scott, Rain, or even Allison Danger, but my choice for MVP this year is Cheerleader Melissa. Of all the midterm heel turns that took place among various Champions of indie promotions, hers was most effective and probably the most needed. SHIMMER's roster of plucky babyface stars - including Athena, Leva Bates, LuFisto, Courtney Rush, Ayako Hamada, and Serena Deeb - was in need of a menacing big bad to go up against, and Melissa filled the bill by turning heel the only way should could have.

What's Going to Happen in 2014: Several companies have Champions who are ripe to lose their titles in big moments next year. Havok has been WSU Champion for nearly two years. Kay's run with the AIW Women's Championship has been just a shade longer. Rain has been the only holder of the SHINE Championship, and while Melissa's second run with the SHIMMER Title has been short compared to the three before her, well, she still hasn't eaten any in-character comeuppance for the way she treated Allison Danger on the way out. The question now becomes who will be the wrestlers to unseat this slate of Champions?

For Melissa, three potential reign-enders come into my mind at least. First, even though Bates had an unsuccessful shot at the title, she has to be the one to give Melissa her ultimate comeuppance for ending Danger. Whether that comes in the form of a title win or some other blowoff remains to be seen. Madison Eagles, to my knowledge, never got her rematch after losing the title the first time to Melissa. Her comeback has been one of the most inspirational stories in wrestling, and I feel like her run was truncated due to her slate of nasty injuries. Athena is the third one. I feel like she was headed for a reckoning until she got hurt, but once she's recovered, I can't see her not going right back into her stride towards the main event.

A rising star Photo Credit: Gregory Davis/DDS

Oddly enough, I only think Havok is still WSU Champion because Athena got hurt. While the apparent implosion of the Midwest Militia might lead to a showdown between Havok and Kay in a place other than SHINE (where they're feuding, oddly enough), Athena still might be the favorite to dethrone Havok and reign supreme busting hussies on the East Coast just the same as she's been doing in Texas. If not Kay or Athena, I would look at Christina von Eerie as a dark horse candidate to dethrone Havok.

As for SHINE, dissension in Valkyrie will come to a head at their first show in 2014, as Velez gets a crack at Rain. The Champion has been hinting at retirement, and while she said she wasn't going to go gently into that good night before her match with Kong, I get the feeling that she might end up dropping the title to a wrestler who has been a protege to her of sorts in her final match.

Five Wrestlers to Watch in 2014:Athena - The Hussy Buster's run to the top of the world in 2013 was delayed by an unfortunate injury at a WSU secret show. When she comes back, I see no reason why she shouldn't continue her hot streak. She could end 2014 with three major title wins under her belt - the SHIMMER World, WSU, and Anarchy Championships. She's already proven to be one of the surest things for a good match, regardless of style, gender, or standing, and no matter where she goes, she's popular as hell. This year could be the year where she enters the pantheon of indie wrestling names for good.

Sweet Cherrie - She's been making a lot of noise in the Montreal-based nCw: Femmes Fatale. LuFisto and Kalamity have proven Quebec to be a fertile breeding ground, and she's been tested against the best wrestlers in the world. I think 2014 will be a year where she breaks out and heads south into America.

Ivelisse Velez - The former Tough Enough contestant may not have gotten into TNA, but that snub could have been one of the best things to happen to her from an artistic standpoint at least. She has seemingly been anointed as the next big star of SHINE Wrestling. I doubt she will end 2014 without having won that title, and her win may come as soon as SHINE 16. The next question is whether she'll make the jump and start competing in SHIMMER, where she'll no doubt find several new opponents against whom she can test herself.

Allysin Kay - Kay is running out of challengers to slaughter in AIW, but her star is still rising rapidly in the rest of the world of women's wrestling. She could conceivably be in main events in three different promotions by the end of the year. Anyone who's been paying attention to her in AIW knows she can handle being in the top match as easily as she can wield a machete. She's already been testing the waters against most-of-the-time ally Jessicka Havok in SHINE; could that be a portent of the future for WSU?

Hania - The unmasked Saturyne has made a splash in WSU and Beyond Wrestling near the end of this year. Although she's hurt right now, I can see her gung-ho, high-flying style making a huge impact in any promotion she might wrestle for. As she gets more and more matches under her belt, she'll get more and more comfortable within her own style, and she'll definitely fill the need for female high spot artists that exists on the scene right now.

No more mask, just as bright a future Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

Three Things I Want to See Happen in 2014:1. More integration between SHIMMER and SHINE - When SHINE was created last year, the company was heavily tied to SHIMMER. I understand wanting its own identity, and having different bookers can make collaboration problematic. However, the related branding between the two companies can expand creative boundaries and create a dynamic breeding ground for both companies. If SHINE were to be the "monthly TV" arm and SHIMMER as the "supercard," I wonder how much the face of women's wrestling would change for the better.

2. Manami Toyota wrestling for at least one of the Female Fight Season bloc promotions - I love that Chikara brought the veritable joshi legend over for several shows, but I find it curious that no other company has successfully brought her over. Maybe Mike Quackenbush has connections that the other folks don't have. Still, Toyota could have so many memorable matches with the plethora of amazing wrestlers who work for companies like SHIMMER. I want someone to call up Quack and find out how to make Toyota vs. Cheerleader Melissa or Athena or Nicole Matthews or Allysin Kay or Jessicka Havok happen.

3. More integration of women's wrestling within regular cards across America - The only major active promotions that regularly have females competing for it in America are Beyond Wrestling and Anarchy Championship Wrestling. That number is way too low. While ACW has a bit to be critical about, their fortitude towards integrating genders on their shows, even if that integration is just in the form of having more women's matches on a show, is my favorite thing of any promotion in America. Some of the best wrestlers in the world are women. Why can't AIW have more than one "Girls' Night Out" match per non-branded show? Why does AAW only seem to have more than two women on a given card around SHIMMER weekend? The talent is there; promotions need to start putting it on their shows and fighting the awful stigma perpetrated by WWE and TNA that one could comfortably skip a women's match.