Through Glass Eyes: Rekindling My Love Affair With Professional Wrestling: WSU's 4th Anniversary Show

I'll never back down from admitting it — I've been a wrestling fan since I was a child. My on and off again obsession with this male soap opera dates back to the 80s when pro-wrestling began to cross over and explode into mainstream. As a child, I would tune in to see legends like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair tell their larger than life stories every week. Catching the weekly wrestling shows became a ritual for me and my friends. We never missed an episode.

In todays world, Pro-wrestling is a lot different than it once was. Gone are the multitude of territorial promotions through out the United States. Sure, WWE is still the main force in "Sports Entertainment". But what exactly is your alternative to Vince McMahon's product? WWE bought out it's competition and there hasn't been a strong challenger to it's brand in the 11 years since. And lets face it, up until this past month, WWE's current direction, had left me disinterested. I was left yearning for old-time wrestling!

Early last year I attended my first ever independent wrestling show (Hard to Believe?), and I began to see where the mystique and excitement of pro-wrestling had been vanished to all along. Curious to experience what a non-WWE show was like, my friends and I drove to a small arena, the Ace Arena, in Union City, New Jersey. In addition to hosting wrestling cards by ACE Wrestling, the arena also housed Women Superstasr Uncensored (WSU), an all-female wrestling promotion which was holding their 3rd anniversary show that day. Unlike WWE, WSU operates on a much smaller scale. This allows the promotion to be a lot more fan friendly and lenient when it comes to booking storylines. This also allows for wrestlers to have a bit more control control over their speaking promos and in-ring characters. While a typical WWE show can fill a 20,000 seat arena, Sold out attendance for a WSU show is about 150.

2011 WSU Hall of Fame Inductee
April Hunter

The 3rd Anniversary show line-up card featured a mix of up and coming young female wrestling stars, as well as well-known established wrestlers from various major promotions around the world. The show opened up with a meet and greet, followed by a Hall of Fame Ceremony, and concluded with the main wrestling show that provided over 4 hours of action packed entertainment. The day's events were a lot of fun, and we definitely recaptured the excitement we once had for this sport. Flash forward a year later, and my friends and I have become regular attendees at WSU shows. Pro-wrestling, WSU in particular, had once again become the must see spectacle.

On Saturday March 5th, 2011, we were in the crowd as Women Superstars Uncensored held it's 4th Anniversary show in Union City. As always, WSU kicks off it's Anniversary shows by honoring a few of the greats who have paved the way for a younger generation of female wrestlers. This year the honors went to body builder and pro-wrestler April Hunter, former WWE champion Ivory (G.L.O.W.'s Tina Ferrari), and the late great Luna Vachon. Ivory was on hand during the fan fest, and I had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time. Unfortunately, Luna Vachon had passed away at end of last summer, and her memory was honored with an emotional speech from "Prime Time" Amy Lee. At the meet and greet we met up with April Hunter and spent several minutes talking about the business side of wrestling. It's always a pleasure talking to April, and she's always gracious to share fashion advice with her fans, my girlfriend included. The wrestling card which followed proved be the greatest in WSU's 4 year history. The entire roster of female wrestlers put on a solid, and at most times spectacular, performance. Be assured that every in-ring competitor in WSU wears her heart on their sleeve.

Pro-Wrestlers Allysin Kay
and Jessica Havok

There were a lot of memorable moments throughout the night, of which I will never forget the Uncensored Rules Triple Threat match for the WSU Tag Team Titles. The Tag Team Champions, the Belle Saints, were down a member as Tina San Antonio was forced out of the match with an injury. However, all was not lost, and the crowd went ballistic as former WWE Woman's Champion, Jazz announced herself as Marti Belle's replacement tag team partner. The match would be contested under Uncensored Rules, meaning anything goes, anywhere in the arena!

I quickly grabbed my camera equipment and was ready to run for my life. Sure enough, 5 minutes into the match weapons, and wrestlers alike, were flying through the arena. As soon as we were displaced from our seats, Mart Belle and Lucious Latasha (One half of the soul sisters tag team) began brawling on the floor, right in front of us! Their battle didn't last long as "Prime Time" Amy Lee came charging through the crowd with a garbage can hoisted over her head. You can only imagine what happened next as both Latasha and Marti Belle had their heads imprinted into the metal garbage can. The carnage in the crowd ended when Amy Lee delivered a defining shot to Latasha's cranium using a metal baking tray. The craziness was followed by a "Holy Shit" chant that was well deserved! Jazz and her tag team partner Marti Belle eventually pulled off the victory, winning the WSU Tag Team gold in fantastic fashion. I can't wait to purchase the DVD of this event so I can see myself running scared on the outside of the ring.

Other notable matches on the card featured The WSU Spirit Championship changing hands as Sassy Stephanie took the title away from Brittney Savage. The match would eventually see Britney Parting Ways with long time Cosmo Club stable mate, Rick Cataldo. Ohio native, Jessica Havok, defeated Rain in an action-packed back-and-forth match. Jessica later went on to interfere in the post main event title match, causing WSU original, Alicia, her chance at recapturing gold. The main event of the evening featured WSU champion Mercedes Martinez defending the WSU World Championship against former WWE Straight Edge Society member Serena Deeb. This proved to be an excellent match as both women are excellent ring technicians. It was an action packed night, and the entire WSU 4th Anniversary Show results can be seen by clicking this link.

Lexxus, of the Boston Shore, Irish whips Nikki Roxx across the ring.

In closing, we had an absolute blast. Thanks to everyone involved with Womens Superstars Uncensored. if you're a wrestling living the New York City /Northern New Jersey area, definitely make it a point to catch a WSU card in the near future. If not, you should still support your local indy wrestling group. It's an experience that is unmatched.

Links:
The Official WSU Homepage - http://www.declarationofindependents.net/wsu/

My WSU Photographs 4th Anniversary show Photographs on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nixed/sets/72157626241488792/