Pro Wrestling EVE returns this week with two shows to celebrate their 13th anniversary. Definitely the biggest celebration taking place in London this weekend in my view. The top of the card is undoubtedly the main event of Friday’s show: a 30-minute iron woman match for the EVE Championship between champion Miyu Yamashita and Millie McKenzie. The shows also boast the UK debuts of Billie Starkz and Janai Kai, and will be available to watch on YouTube, the first half of each show for free and the second half under the Champion Tier of the EVE subscription. Here is a rundown of the matches announced thus far.
Night One
EVE Championship: Miyu Yamashita (c) vs. Millie McKenzie in a 30-minute Iron Woman Match
The “Momoiro Striker” returns to the UK to defend the major prize in the organization, the belt she won at last year’s Wrestle Queendom where earlier in the day, she defeated Millie McKenzie to earn the opportunity. This will be the fourth time the two women have been in the same ring, three of which have been singles matches. 22nd October. Barcelona, Spain. That was the first meeting, which saw Millie come out victorious. A little over two weeks later it was EVE and the aforementioned Wrestle Queendom which saw Miyu even it up and go on to defeat Alex Windsor for the EVE Championship later in the night. One week later saw the two meet in Shinjuku FACE in what was the TJPW debut of McKenzie. This time it was tag action with Billie Starkz and Yuka Sakazaki joining in the fun. It was McKenzie and Starkz getting the win before McKenzie got her first shot at Yamashita’s EVE Championship the week after at TJPW All Rise at Korakuen Hall. Miyu successfully retained her championship here in an excellent match.
So that’s where we are: 2-2. Or 2-1½. Either way this time, back in EVE, they meet again, and this time it will be contested over thirty minutes in an iron woman match, a match that has been highly anticipated since being announced at EVE Women Behaving Badly in March after Miyu defeated Lizzy Evo. Miyu the next day wrestled in EVE again, taking on Miyuki Takase, before setting off to the US to tour the independents. She is back in EVE though to attempt to make the fourth defense of her championship, after knocking off McKenzie, Evo, and Rhio. McKenzie defeated Rhio and Kasey before going to a time-limit draw with Emersyn Jayne to stake her claim at the title and currently sits at #1 in the EVE rankings. The history, the form, and the iron-woman stipulation mean we are looking at a potential EVE classic in the main event, and in my opinion, we will see a new EVE Champion.
Prediction: Millie McKenzie
Billie Starkz vs. Safire Reed
Night One will also see the Generations Tournament: two matches, one pitting two EVE veterans against each other, and the other, putting two of women’s wrestling’s blue-chip prospects across the mat from each other, as 18-year-olds Billie Starkz and Safire Reed face off in the hotly anticipated UK debut of “Space Jesus”. Reed is the one that will be less familiar to a lot of people but her rise has been rapid since debuting in EVE last May, which included a spot as a last-minute replacement in the SHE-1 tournament last year. Her road to a scheduled match is nearly complete, and with nearly two months of preparation, Read will be as ready as ever for what may be her biggest challenge to date against the former Black Label Pro Heavyweight Champion, making her first trip to the UK just hours after taking a test at school. The winner of this match later in the night will face the winner of this next match to find a number one contender for the EVE Championship, but Billie will have a date with the champion anyway if the cards stack up to a successful Yamashita defense in the main event.
Prediction: Billie Starkz
Emersyn Jayne vs. Laura Di Matteo
In the other half of the Generations tournament, former EVE Champion Emersyn Jayne takes on the former EVE International and current EVE Tag Team Champion, Laura Di Matteo. These are two names that people outside of the UK may not know, but for my money, this is two of the top five women’s wrestlers in the country going at it and should be an absolute barnburner with the winner facing the winner of the previous match later on in the night with the winner earning an EVE Championship match on July 2. Emersyn Jayne has a very recent history with Millie McKenzie, thus being a time-limit draw in their first-ever meeting last month, so there is some unfinished business there which I think we will see come to a head at the conclusion of this tournament.
Prediction: Emersyn Jayne
Tournament Final Prediction: Emersyn Jayne def. Billie Starkz
The M62 Wrecking Crew (Lizzy Evo and Alexxis Falcon) vs The Unbreakables (Rhio and Lucy Sky)
The final match announced for Night 1 is a tag match featuring the brilliantly named M62 Wrecking Crew (The M62 is the road between Lizzy Evo and Alexxis Falcon’s hometowns) and The Unbreakables in what is the EVE debut of Lucy Sky. Lizzy Evo and Alexxis Falcon made their tag debut at the last event in a losing effort to The Royal Aces (Jetta and Charlie Morgan) and as two members of the roster that usually fell on the villainous side, they both received an overwhelmingly positive reaction, likely due to the hatred of the fans for their opponents and respect for Evo after an outstanding match with the Champion Yamashita the night prior. Will they get this reaction again? It’s tough to say as they take on Rhio (not to be confused with Riho) who is very popular with the EVE Faithful and is someone that will be familiar to fans of TJPW. Her tag partner is the debuting Lucy Skye who will be an unknown quantity to a lot of EVE fans but is an eight-year veteran most known for her work on the northern scene, notably for promotions such as Wrestle Island and TNT Extreme Wrestling, so this is a very intriguing new addition to the EVE roster.
Prediction: The M62 Wrecking Crew
Night One will also feature The Nina Samuels Show Starring Nina Samuels, Skye Smitson, The Royal Aces, and more.
Night Two
EVE Tag Team Champions – The Rock ‘N’ Rome Express (Rayne Leverkusen and Laura Di Matteo) vs The Royal Aces (Jetta and Charlie Morgan)
Rayne Leverkusen returns to the UK after a brief foray in DDT and straight into a big match defending the EVE Tag Team Championships with Laura Di Matteo, who wrestles in the Generations Tournament the night prior, as they take on The Royal Aces. Jetta and Charlie Morgan are two of the leading mainstays in EVE history, with Jetta appearing on the first EVE show thirteen years ago, and after turning their backs on Alex Windsor have gone undefeated, staking their claim for the title shot at last month’s show, beating the M62 Wrecking Crew. The Rock ‘N’ Rome Express, recently formed by accident essentially and found themselves defeating the well-oiled machine that is The Uprising for the championships, defending them against the same opponents in a three stages of hell match, proving their win at EVE 100 was not a fluke. The Royal Aces are two of the most technically proficient wrestlers in the company though and have added aggression and arrogance to their game in recent months, and I think, may be a step too far for the once makeshift team of Leverkusen and Di Matteo.
Prediction: The Royal Aces
Miyu Yamashita vs. Billie Starkz
In addition to their respective matches on Night 1, we will see a “Special Challenge Match” on night two as EVE Champion (potentially) Miyu Yamashita takes on Billie Starkz in what is an international dream match. The two have collided twice prior. The aforementioned tag match in TJPW and a triple threat also involved one-half of the next match in Janai Kai. This is the first of two upcoming singles matches between the two and is an intriguing battle on paper between the Ace of TJPW and perhaps the most hyped young women’s wrestler in years, which is absolutely deserved and a lot of people are excited for her EVE debut this weekend. After a Thirty-Minute Iron Woman match on Night One for Miyu, and potentially two matches for Starkz, it will be interesting to see the shape that these two are able to come into this match in, but it promises to be worth the admission or the YouTube subscription alone.
Prediction: Miyu Yamashita
Emersyn Jayne vs. Janai Kai
Perhaps this writer’s two favorite independent women (shout out Destiny’s Child) clash on Night Two as Emersyn Jayne, fresh off of competing in the Generations Tournament, faces another woman making her UK debut in Janai Kai. Firstly, I must say that I traveled across state lines during a trip to the US three weeks ago to see Janai Kai vs. Miyu Yamashita in person so to see them both on the same card around 40 minutes on the tube from my apartment is very, very exciting. Thank you Dann for that! Janai Kai is a rising star of the US independent scene, most notably competing for GCW, and has recently worked some shows for TJPW so is someone that would have been on the EVE radar for a while. A striker with kicks on the level of Yamashita, I predict that the crowd will immediately attach themselves to the aura that Kai brings to a match and she will have a lot of new fans by the end of it. Jayne however, is a veteran and currently the #4 ranked contender in EVE and definitely, through winning the Generations Tournament or otherwise, will have her eyes firmly set on the winner between Yamashita and McKenzie, so this is about as tricky of a debut as it gets for “The Kick Demon”.
Prediction: Emersyn Jayne
Also, a story in three parts, I’m taking some credit for this booking!!
The rest of Night Two’s matches will stem from the events of Night One.
The shows take place Friday 5th May and Saturday 6th May, with Friday beginning at 7:30 pm in the UK (2:30 pm EST) and Saturday kicking off at 7:00 pm (2:00 pm EST). If you are in London, limited tickets are still available here. If you cannot make it to The Dome in Tufnell Park, the shows will be broadcast on the EVE YouTube Channel, with the second half of each show exclusive to Channel Members on the EVE Champion tier.
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