RISE of the Knockouts Brings the Best of IMPACT to RISE

Credit: RISE-wrestling.com

On my drive up, I was sad to learn that Shotzi Blackheart was not going to be competing that evening. This was a huge blow to the planned show considering that the title had already been vacated only days earlier due to an injury suffered by then-champ Delilah Doom. Building up the storyline around the Phoenix of RISE championship has been a big part of ASCENT, and Blackheart reclaiming the belt from Doom or another competitor was something I was very much hoping to see.

Unfortunately, injuries happen. I watched on Twitter with some trepidation as the RISE planning team jumped into action. Hours before a big pay-per-view they were going to have to reshuffle the card and put together a new championship match. And not just any match, but a 30-minute iron man match. Would they be able to pull it off?

I am not a particularly timely person and I hadn’t been to Naperville before, so I arrived at the Illinois Basketball Academy five minutes before the televised action began. I missed the dark match between Allie and Deonna Purrazzo, which I am still sad about. I hustled to my seat in the dark, anxious to avoid the hard cam and enjoy the show.  

(I was not successful. You can definitely see me marking out in the background of most of the matches. I will never tell you where!)

Things started fast with a singles match between Tessa Blanchard and Kris Wolf. This was a great way to kick things off because it was high energy and there is not a human being alive who doesn’t love Kris Wolf. Kris is probably best known to American audiences for her wolf gimmick and funny antics, but don’t let that fool you: she is an accomplished flyer and one of the most physical competitors you’ll see in any match today.

Watching her go toe-to-toe with Blanchard was awesome. Both women put in an incredibly strong performance, and it was impressive to see Kris flip her freewheeling comedy persona on her head and match Blanchard strike for strike.

Don’t sleep on the chance to see Wolf live in a smaller room before she gets snapped up by a big promotion. (If she isn’t in the Mae Young Classic I’ll eat my furry wolf head.)

Credit: RISE-wrestling.com

Then came a match I was really excited for: the Twizted Sisterz (Holidead and Thunder Rosa) vs Bones of Contention (Karen Q and Ray Lyn). This match is just a murderer’s row of incredible talent. Holidead and Thunder Rosa are an infamous tag team in the indies, and they work together astonishingly well. They are a nightmare scenario for any tag team not on their game. They’re mean, quick, and incredibly in sync. This was an especially bad scene for the Bones of Contention, who are known for their love of winning and their hated of each other.

I appreciated that RISE gave these two teams the spotlight instead of putting them in the fatal four-way; even though you could make an argument that Bones had earned a chance at the Guardians of RISE belts, they have a more interesting story going on right now, as they try to learn to work as a team through their animosity. (Sometimes the best wrestling stories aren’t about belts at all! Imagine that.) As for the Sisterz, they’re a big enough deal that they deserved the cache of a one-on-one match, and they definitely delivered.

I have no notes on this match at all because I got so sucked into it, but I can tell you this: if Twisted Sisters are tagging within a hundred miles of you, go. They are a well-oiled two person butt-kicking machine, and the tandem moves they pulled off got the biggest pops of the night.

Karen and Lyn put in a great match as well, with an increasingly furious Karen Q bringing her best strikes to Thunder Rosa, but as soon as Holidead tagged in it was basically over. The beautiful synchronicity between the Sisters only highlighted what the lack of teamwork costs Bones in every match. From a storytelling perspective it was a triumph, and from a wrestling perspective it was a total banger. Probably my stealth favorite for the night.