THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: twosheds316@aol.com
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
In this edition of The Two Sheds Review we’re going to take a look at the world of women’s wrestling, and more specifically, the UK-based World Association of Women’s Wrestling, the sister company of WAW, and their compilation DVD, WAWW Girls, which features a variety of matches from various WAW shows dating back to 2005.
The first match is a four-way elimination match, featuring Kharisma, Sweet Saraya, Destiny and Jetta. This match is taken from the Who Dares Wins II DVD, and is one I’ve actually reviewed twice before, both for the live show and the DVD release. Upon third viewing, it has it’s good and bad points. The early exchanges between Kharisma and Destiny do leave a little to be desired, while Saraya is clearly the best wrestler in this one, with the intensity levels going up a hundred percent whenever she’s in the ring. So, with Destiny and Kharisma eliminating themselves via count out while fighting outside the ring, Jetta and Saraya were left to battle it out in the ring, with Jetta getting the surprise victory after reversing a cross body block.
Which led to the next match, a singles match between Jetta and Saraya at Meltdown a couple of months later. Again this is another match I’ve reviewed live and for the DVD. Fought over three falls, it’s a tremendous technical contest, with Saraya tying Jetta up in knots with a variety of submission holds, and Jetta more than keeping up with the tough veteran. With Jetta getting the surprise first submission and Saraya equalising a couple of rounds later, Destiny came down to the ring in the sixth and final round and attacked Jetta, and then complaining that Saraya had avoided her in favour of a match with Jetta, and because of Destiny’s attack, the referee declared the match a draw.
Then it’s the Sweet Saraya v Destiny singles match from the Yarmouth Uncaged DVD. Although I reviewed this match on DVD before, I didn’t attend the show in person because I was suffering from (at the time undiagnosed) glandular fever. If I didn’t know that these two were good friends outside the ring, I’d would have sworn blind that they really hated each other. While the previous bout may have been a great technical contest, this one was entirely different, fast-paced and hard-hitting from the onset, these two really tore into each other, and I’m sure if a kitchen sink had been present near the ring they would have been tempted to use that as well, although it would have earned one of them a disqualification. But in the end it was the veteran who emerged victorious, with Saraya taking Destiny down with a Samoan drop, following up with a big splash from the top rope. You know what? This match weren’t half bad. And special mention to my old buddy Richard Pyke, who was the referee in this one.
Then it’s three-way elimination action for the vacant British Championship, featuring Melodi, Destiny, and Sweet Saraya from the March Madness DVD. Destiny went to work straight away in this one, battering the hell out of both of her opponents, and with Melodi eliminated first after a big splash from Destiny, it was left to the two bitter rivals to fight for the title, and once again they tore into each other. In fact there was one moment when it looked like Destiny wouldn’t be able to continue, as she let out a cry after being thrown out of the ring. After Saraya threw her back into the ring, Destiny revealed that she wasn’t hurt at all, and while Saraya was being reprimanded by the referee, Destiny scored with a schoolgirl roll-up to get the title winning pin. A good showing here from all three girls.
Forward a few months to Meltdown 2, and a six-ladies tag match featuring Destiny, Melodi and the Pink Lady against the Knight Dynasty team of Sweet Saraya, Britani Knight and Nikki Best. What’s interesting about this one is that it features future Norfolk Dolls tag-team partners Britani and Melodi against each other. This one begins with the villains of the piece using Britani as a punching bag, before she gets the hot tag to Saraya, who proceeds to clean house. After a hard fought bout, it was the youngest member of the Knight team who got the pin, pinning the Pink Lady with a victory roll. If I’m to be totally honest about this one, there were a few messy pieces in this match, and although the majority of it was okay, it wasn’t the best match on this collection.
The final match is taken from Yet Another Night In Yarmouth, a title v title match with Saraya and Destiny meeting in singles action again. The story behind this one was that Saraya was advised by her doctors against competing in this match because she was suffering from tonsillitis. Fought under WAW Championship match rules, it’s a hell of a bout (and another one I’ve reviewed previously). A completely different kind of match to their previous singles encounter sees Saraya battling her illness and Destiny, and never giving up despite the odds being firmly stacked against her. But in the end her never-say-die attitude proved to be her undoing, as Destiny took the match two falls to zero, the second coming after Saraya went down to a tombstone piledriver.
In conclusion – this is a very good collection, and a good example of the WAWW roster. Although there were a few messy moments in a couple of the matches, each match was good in it’s own way. However, my one gripe with this collection is the packaging. As with the WAW Shoot Interview DVDs I’ve reviewed over the past few months, the packaging is very poor, and it really wouldn’t have appealed to me if I’d seen this on sale anywhere. As the old saying goes, appearance is everything, and it’s because of this I hope that WAW will strive to improve their DVD cover designs in the future.
With thanks to Ricky Knight for supplying a copy of this DVD. For more information on this or any other WAW or WAWW release, please e-mail sweetsaraya@hotmail.com.
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THE WAW YEARS
Articles from within the British wrestling business
2001-2005
By Julian Radbourne
Market: Wrestling/Sports & Adventure
Published: Monday, 10th March, 2008
Extent: 304 pages, 6” x 9”
Price: £12.99 plus postage & packing
Available for Sale: Online worldwide via www.lulu.com/twosheds316
In 2001, Julian Radbourne achieved his dream job, working in the professional wrestling business. As chief reporter and webmaster for the UK-based World Association of Wrestling, Julian wrote numerous articles and show reviews, travelling up and down the country until leaving the company in November 2005.
Now, for the first time, you can read all of Julian’s articles on the British wrestling business in one volume. From articles on stars such as “Rowdy” Ricky Knight, Sweet Saraya, Zebra Kid, “The Showstealer“ Alex Shane, Flash Barker, Jake “The Snake“ Roberts & the U.K. Pitbulls, through to “exclusive” columns for 1 Stop Wrestling & The Wrestling Channel. This book also includes other articles from around the British wrestling scene, including articles looking at the now-defunct Frontier Wrestling Alliance, and the controversial Global Wrestling Force.
You can preview this release by visiting http://www.lulu.com/content/1933505
“I have gone through this book three times already, reading it word for word and I can honestly say that Julian Radbourne has put together one heck of a book. I am just hoping he does not stop here.” – Bill Taylor, A1 Wrestling Newsletter
To arrange media interviews or to obtain a PDF copy of The WAW Years for review purposes, please contact Julian Radbourne at
Twosheds316@aol.com
Julian Radbourne, a native of the Norfolk coastal town of Cromer in the UK, is the author of “The Two Sheds Review”, the syndicated professional wrestling and mixed martial arts column. A life-long combat sports fan, Julian has been writing about professional wrestling for ten years. His website, www.twoshedsreview.com, has been online since 2000.
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