Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up: Extreme Rules Preview, SHIMMER Announces Return, InDex Get Married

By Ella Jay

The summer may be coming to a close, but women’s wrestling is still as hot as ever: three women’s matches are set for WWE Extreme Rules, SHIMMER announces their return show, InDex ties the knot, and much ! Let’s break it down in this week’s Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!

Extreme Rules Preview

WWE’s most extreme pay-per-view is set to emanate this Sunday from Columbus, Ohio. As of this writing, three women’s matches have been announced, including two championship bouts. Firstly, the RAW Women’s Championship is scheduled to be defended, with the current champion Charlotte Flair facing off against Columbus’ own Alexa Bliss.

Over the last few weeks Bliss and Flair have traded words and strikes, including last night on RAW from Alexa’s Playground. Flair was increasingly not impressed by Bliss’ childish antics, but Bliss knocks her for not having some fun. So, Bliss presents her with another Charly doll of her own, modeled after the infamous Lilly doll that Bliss has been walking around with for months. Flair proclaims. Flair isn’t here to play games, or with dolls, however, she’s here for Alexa Bliss. She wants the real Alexa Bliss back, one of the most decorated and respected former women’s champion ever. Tensions rise as Flair asks Bliss wants to get a beatdown then or at Extreme Rules, but Bliss snaps back by pointing out that although Flair has won more championships than any other woman, that does also mean she has lost the most as well. Bliss then declares that Flair is nothing without a championship, and again offers her the Charly doll because she’s a “miserable b*tch”. Flair then attests that Bliss is never going to find out who Flair is without the title, and the two get into a scuffle as Flair rips the head off of Charly. Before she can do the same to Lilly, Flair is met with a DDT from Bliss, sending her to the mat.

Charlotte Flair is now set to defend her RAW Women’s Championship this Sunday, September 26th at Extreme Rules against Alexa Bliss. This officially marks only their second televised one-on-one match on the main roster–the first occurring in 2017 at Survivor Series in a Smackdown vs RAW match where each held their brand-respective women’s championships

RELATED: Alexa Bliss Gives Charlotte Flair ‘Charly’, Her Own Lilly Doll

Extreme Rules is also bringing a non-championship match to the card, with Liv Morgan now scheduled to square off with “Most Beautiful Woman in WWE”, Carmella.

Last week on Friday Night Smackdown, Morgan teamed with Toni Storm to take on Carmella and Zelina Vega, where Carmella was thrown face-first into the ring’s turnbuckle early in the matchup. This prompted Carmella to leave the ring and visibly panic and clutch her face over a perceived broken nose. Her partner, Zelina Vega, left the ring to check on her in an attempt to console Carmella, but neither heard the referee inside the ring counting to ten until it was too late, so the duo then lost via count-out to Morgan and Storm.

Following the count-out result, Liv Morgan snagged a microphone and adamantly said that she was not sorry about what happened to Carmella’s nose, because she was fed up with Carmella running her mouth. So, Morgan then challenged Carmella to a match at Extreme Rules and said she would make Carmella look just as “hideous” on the outside as she is on the inside. Carmella accepted the challenge, but also added that Liv Morgan will have to go through her partner, Zelina Vega, in a singles match next week on SmackDown before their pay-per-view clash.

RELATED: Liv Morgan vs. Carmella Announced For WWE Extreme Rules, Updated Card

Also representing the blue brand this Sunday will be Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair, as the two collide in a bout for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Ever since losing to Becky Lynch at SummerSlam, Bianca Belair has been set on reclaiming her Smackdown Women’s Championship, and now she finally has the proper chance.

Over the last few weeks, the intensity has heated up between Lynch and Belair. Now with their match this Sunday contractually signed and sealed, these two competitors promise to deliver a stellar performance. Last week on Friday Night Smackdown though, the tensions rose even more. Smackdown took place in Belair’s hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, where she main-evented the show with a Homecoming Celebration. Joined by WWE Hall of Famer, Kane, Belair arrived to a thunderous ovation in her hometown, proclaiming that she will win back the Smackdown Women’s Championship in their honor.

Kane then presents her with the key to Knoxville County, as Belair then leads the crowd to sing the Knoxville anthem. The celebration is cut short, however, when Becky Lynch arrives. The crowd pops when Belair asks why Lynch is here when she doesn’t even go here.

Lynch retorts by acknowledging that tonight is indeed Belair’s night, so she doesn’t want to steal her thunder. Lynch reaches out for a handshake, which Belair hesitantly accepts, and won’t let go of. Lynch then attempts to clock Belair, but Belair ducks and manages to lifts Lynch up on her shoulders for the KOD. Lynch masterfully drops from her shoulders and strikes Belair with the Manhandle Slam instead, and walks away with her Smackdown Women’s Championship.

Smackdown’s go-home show to Extreme Rules premiers this Friday, with two women’s matches at the forefront, so it’ll be interesting to see who stands tall heading into the pay-per-view. It is also worth noting that Naomi is still yearning for her first match back on Smackdown, which Sonya Deville has denied thus far. Perhaps, a match between the two will commence?

Shotzi and Nox have also been impressing with a string of victories within the WWE women’s tag team division over the last couple months. With new Women’s Tag Team Champions crowned on RAW, will Shotzi and Nox finally get a true title shot?

RELATED: Rhea Ripley And Nikki A.S.H. Compete In Honor Of Connor’s Cure, Win WWE Women’s Tag Titles

SHIMMER Announces Return

The world renowned all-women’s promotion, SHIMMER, recently announced that they will be returning for the first time in over a year on October 31st in Berwyn, Illinois. SHIMMER’s last show occurred last October for Volume 118 where Kimber Lee retained the SHIMMER Championship against Nicole Savoy. Hyan also still holds the Heart of SHIMMER title, while the Sea Stars remain SHIMMER Tag Team Champions.

SHIMMER’s return also plans to be a celebration of their 16 years since the promotion first opened in 2015. They will be having two shows, one at Noon and one at 4 P.M. No matches have formally been announced as of this writing, but the promotion has confirmed the following talent for the show:

– SHIMMER Champion: Kimber Lee

– SHIMMER Tag Team Champions: “Team Sea Stars” (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo)

– Heart of SHIMMER Champion: Hyan

– Mercedes Martinez

– Nicole Savoy

– Zoey Skye

– Willow Nightingale

SHIMMER noted that there will be two shows on October 31st, at 12pm and 4pm, so there will be plenty of women’s wrestling action!

WrestleZone will keep readers updated as more details become available.

NXT 2.0 Debuts, Indi Hartwell Gets Married To Dexter Lumis

Last week, NXT transformed itself in preparation of the new generation of programming: NXT 2.0. The show saw plenty of women’s wrestling representation, including the debut of a new Diamond Mine member, Ivy Nile. Nile was introduced by Malcolm Bivens following a tag team victory by The Creed Brothers. Nile was also noted for previously competing in NBC’s Titan Games. Nile (aka Emily Andzulis) also showed off her impressive physique.

Also featured on the show was B-Fab from Hit Row, where she defeated Katrina Cortez after hitting a neck breaker. Additionally, Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter defeated GiGi Dolin and Jacy Jayne (with Mandy Rose) via disqualification, until Sarray made the save to even up the odds in time for a six-woman tag team match. Mandy Rose, GiGi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne then went on to defeat Sarray, Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter.

Finally, InDex (Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis) closed NXT 2.0 with their highly anticipated wedding, where the lovely pair proclaimed their ceremonious “I do” to each other. Luckily too, Beth Phoenix stepped in when the Minister passed out. Lumis and Hartwell are now officially husband and wife, in perhaps the most smoothly ran wrestling wedding ever.

RELATED: WWE NXT Results (9/14/21)

Heather Reckless Wins CSW Women’s Championship

A champion was dethroned, and a new champion was crowned this past weekend at Chicago Style Wrestling in a highly competitive fatal-four-way match between defending champion, Skye Blue, and her three challengers: Billie Starkz, Sierra, and Heather Reckless. The closing of the match saw Reckless retrieve the title from atop a ladder to secure the victory, and become the NEW CSW Women’s Champion. Skye Blue had previously held the championship for an impressive 500+ days.

Reckless is a graduate of the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy, trained by Marek Brave and WWE’s Seth Rollins. She also recently competed on AEW Dark against Thunder Rosa, Julia Hart, Tay Conti, and Hikaru Shida.

INTERVIEWS:

UK star, Amira Blair recently chatted with A Wrestling Gal about the inspiration behind her ring gears, her experience in the makeup world, why Myla Grace is the reason she’s in pro wrestling, future goals, and more.

Empower Champion, Kasey Catal appeared on Bell To Belles to speak on making the PWI 500, her last year in wrestling, dream tag team opponents for The Kirks, how to prepare for a deathmatch, and more!

EVE Tag Team Champion, Charli Evans also recently joined Bell To Belles to discuss the 2021 PWI 500, spoke with Warren Hayes on becoming a deathmatch legend, Medusa Complex, the Australian indie scene, and more!

IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Famer, Gail Kim spoke with the Battleground Podcast about that special moment between her and Awesome Kong at NWA Empowerrr, details on Knockouts Knockdown, paying tribute to Daffney at the show, her thoughts on the Deonna & Mickie feud and more!

All Elite Wrestling’s Ruby Soho recently chatted with Stephanie Chase about her incredible All Out debut during the Women’s Casino Battle Royale, using Rancid as her entrance music, the upcoming Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Show, and more!

Former RAW Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley appeared on Table Talk to discuss Raquel Gonzalez’s success in WWE NXT, Nikki A.S.H, differences between NXT and the main roster and more.

IMPACT Knockout, Savannah Evans recently spoke with Jim Varsallone about signing with IMPACT, appearing on AEW Dark, her future goals and more!

Former IMPACT Knockouts Champion, Jordynne Grace appeared on Women’s Wrestling Talk to discuss body positivity, her dream matches, what she learned from rooming with Kiera Hogan, music artist Drake, and more.

WOMEN’S WRESTLING RESULTS

SHINE Wrestling: Shine 68

  • Amber Nova defeated Kaci Lennox
  • Myka Madrid defeated Kelsey Heather
  • Tracy Nyxx defeated Alyx Sky
  • SHINE Nova Championship – Street Fight: The WOAD defeated Natalia Markova (c) – TITLE CHANGE 
  • ACR defeats Katalina Perez
  • The Coven (Erica Torres & Harlow O’Hara) defeat Kelsey Raegan & Sahara Se7en
  • Marti Belle (w/Jayme Jameson) defeated Stormie Lee
  • SHINE Championship Steel Cage: Ivelisse (c) defeated Allysin Kay

Beyond Wrestling x WWR+: Masha Slamovich Presents Borscht At The Beach

  • Ashley Vox defeated Kaia McKenna
  • The Kings Of The District (Eel O’Neal & Jordan Blade) defeat The Higher Society (Armani Kayos & Paris Van Dale)
  • Little Mean Kathleen defeated Kayla Sparks
  • The Administration (Damian Adams, Pedro Dones & Tina San Antonio) defeat Ashley D’Amboise, Riley Shepard & Willow Nightingale
  • Davienne defeated Kennedi Copeland
  • Megan Bayne defeated Erica Leigh
  • Masha Slamovich defeated Allie Katch
  • Leyla Hirsch defeated Killer Kelly

STARDOM: 5STAR Grand Prix Tag 14

  • Fukigen Death defeated Lady C 
  • Syuri defeated Waka Tsukiyama 
  • Konami defeated Mai Sakurai 
  • 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block A: Unagi Sayaka [7] defeaeds Ruaka [0] 
  • 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block B: Koguma [7] defeated Saki Kashima [2] 
  • 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block B: Mayu Iwatani [9] defeated Mina Shirakawa [4] 
  • 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block A: AZM [4] defeated Takumi Iroha [9]
  • 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block B: Starlight Kid [9] defeated Himeka [6] 

UPCOMING EVENTS

AAW Wrestling: Defining Moment – October 1st

2CW Wrestling – October 1st

Pro Wrestling Eve: Beers, Brawls, & Bad Ass B*tches – October 2nd

Ella Jay
Ella Jay

Ella Jay is a writer, podcaster, interviewer, and host in the wrestling space.
Her love for professional wrestling sparked at the age of 11, finding Friday Night SmackDown while scrolling through channels. Ella watched and attended numerous wrestling events growing up, captivated by the likes of Jeff Hardy, Mickie James, and Shawn Michaels. 

Ella currently resides in Buffalo, NY and has a Bachelor's in Psychology and minored in Creative Writing at Canisius College. She also highly enjoys reality television and crime shows, specifically: Survivor, Big Brother, Law & Order: SVU, and NCIS.
Follow Ella on Twitter: @itsellajay

EMAIL: ellajayofficial@gmail.com

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