November 10, 2017 in Berwyn, IL
Rise is a relatively new promotion (associated with the well established Shimmer) that is built around holding training seminars taught by professional wrestling veterans from around the world and having participants earn a chance to perform on the related Rise shows.
Rise 5: Rising Sun was held the Friday night before Shimmer’s Fall 2017 taping weekend and followed a day long seminar featuring Madusa (Alundra Blayze) and an advertised Joshi legend who turned out to be Aja Kong. Kong would later wrestle on the show, teaming with two seminar participants against another trio featuring Joshi talent (and Shimmer regular) Hiroyo Matsumoto and another pair of seminar participants.
This was my first time seeing Rise (outside of a couple of dark matches before the November 2016 Shimmer tapings). I like the concept behind the promotion and the unique opportunities it presents for both the participants and the promoters.
A three match pre-show started things off and was broadcast free on youtube, which was a worthwhile way to try to generate buzz. It also allowed a significant number of extra participants to be featured in a fine 6-woman tag of Paloma Starr, Samara & Trixie Tash vs Londyn Ali, Robyn & Savanna Stone, had a great contest between Indi Hartwell and Hyan (which very well may have been the best seminar participants only match of the night), and ended nicely with Layne Rosario getting a shot at veteran LuFisto.
To open the main show Delilah Doom came out with an emotional, tearful explanation that she injured her wrist during the seminar and had to pull out of the main event. I remember thinking it was appropriate if legit, and manipulative and overdone if part of a story. And since it was a full blown in ring interview instead of just an announcement and the cameras were rolling…
Wrestling-wise the early part of the main show had four (what I think were) participant vs participant matches of Heather Monroe vs Renee Michelle, Jewells Malone vs Hawlee Layne, The Sinister Sweethearts (Brittany Blake & Samantha Heights) vs Amanda Carolina Rodriguez & Valentina Loca, and Tasha Steelz vs Allie Kat. All were pretty much exactly what they were intended to be: ok matches allowing the wrestlers an opportunity to perform and the audience a chance to see some new faces.
Things picked up with the tryouts vs veterans section, starting with an impressive showing for Zoe Lucas (who earned a chance to travel to the US and appear at Rise and Shimmer via Rise 4’s seminar in Great Britain) against Cheerleader Melissa. Melissa’s ring style has changed significantly since last I saw her, but she still played the bullying powerhouse well against Zoe’s arrogant upstart challenge. Zoe looked great all weekend and I hope she returns.
The best storytelling of the night was certainly in the Four Way Match between Saraya Knight, Karen Q, Miranda Salinas, and Ray Lyn. Ray and Karen did everything in their power to avoid Saraya at all costs, working over Miranda constantly and scattering whenever Saraya was tagged in, leaving her no choice but to bring the beaten down rookie back in and hope she lasted long enough for Saraya to come back in. It was an odd dynamic, and I generally don’t like when mulit-person matches become quasi-tag team matches, but it really worked here. Everyone played their roles perfectly, and Miranda couldn’t have looked any more sympathetic. I came out of this fun story really wanting to see Saraya and Miranda as a team.
After a solid contest in which Nicole Savoy defeated Kylie Rae, Hudson Envy came out and demanded a match with someone new to Rise and Shimmer. Of course instead of a rookie from the seminar she’s answered by the debuting Taya Valkyrie (who was a last minute replacement when the advertised Courtney Rush couldn’t make it). Good, hard hitting match.
Another big debut, and one I’d really been looking forward to, saw Thunder Rosa face Heart of Shimmer Champion Shazza McKenzie in a non-title bout. Rosa looked fantastic and gave Shazza her best match in ages before the champ squeaked by with a rollup.
The semi main was the previously mentioned Joshi led 6-woman tag team match with The Blue Nation (Charli Evans & Jessica Troy) joining Aja Kong and Dynamite DiDi & Rachael Ellering on Hiroyo Matsumoto’s side. This was a ton of fun, with the two powerhouses pounding on each other in between really good showings from their partners.
The main event saw a 6-way “Incursion of the Phoenix” elimination match for the Phoenix Of RISE title featuring six original members of Rise roster (one year previous). Supposedly it was now a 5-way with Doom out injured. This was an ordered entry elimination match with pinfalls, submissions, disqualifications, and countouts in effect and increasing time intervals between entries (two minute first period, then three minutes after entrant #3 until entrant #4, etc).
The early going was decent, with Britt Baker and Deonna Purrazzo starting followed by Kikyo and the champion Shotzi Blackheart. No eliminations until four of the (supposed) five were in the ring, after which Kikyo cleared Baker and Purrazzo. The section with the four of them went on so long (seemingly much longer than the four minutes it was supposed to) that I was starting to think there was no one else when Dust finally came out.
Dust did not seem at all interested in reclaiming her title, instead getting herself disqualified and attacking Shotzi with a barbed wire bat after help from the promoter Kevin Harvey, then leaving after being told by him “she” (Courtney Rush) says that’s enough. The dominant Kikyo then finished off the scraps of the defending champion to become the NEW …. hahahahaha. No. She finished off Shotzi then surprise surprise Delilah Doom comes out to “valiantly” cheat her way into the last spot. Er, valiantly defeat the “unfairly” crowned champ Kikyo, who had actually kicked ass so much the crowd was cheering for her.
As Doom celebrates a scratchy recording of Courtney Rush played and poor Doom has to pretend she can’t tell, that it’s live, and she’s trying to figure out where Rush is speaking from. I know things had to be changed since Rush couldn’t appear, but this was eye-rollingly cheesy. It all leads to Doom vs Rush in a cage for the title being set for Rise 6.
I was quite interested in the match concept and appreciate the attempt at trying something new and notable, but honestly this was disappointing. It just didn’t come together, with inconsistent enforcement/execution of the overly convoluted rules leading to crowd confusion and disinterest. The three eliminations practically made Kikyo a face, and a corrupted authority figure is the LAST thing a developmental federation needed. The increasing time periods for entry had no logical reason from a competition standpoint, and I’d be shocked if they were properly timed, leading to awkward pacing. Doom either got preferential treatment (by the promoter who just turned heel mind you) by being allowed to enter the match last after the random draw had happened, or she drew anyway despite supposedly not being in the match and just happened to get the last spot. One lessens sympathy for her and both strain credulity.
I apologize if it seems like I’m nitpicking, but I want to explain in full the issues I had here, as they did make what could have been an exciting match with compelling stories a bit of a mess instead. Let me be clear: the wrestlers all put in great effort and did the best they could here, providing a lot of good action. And a good chunk of the audience did get behind Doom’s win. But I felt the booking and overall execution let the wrestlers down.
Rising Sun had a nice mix of veterans brought in to work with the new / tryout talent, with a couple of matches between themselves to spice up the card. I understand the reason for having such matches as a draw and they were some of the best of the night. But from start to finish this was WAY too long at 14 matches, so I wonder if going with more tag matches involving participants and veterans would be better. I’d also cut down or out the pre-show and possibly just show the first match of the “main” show online for promotion. But again, I’m explaining my criticisms in detail in hopes that Rise continues to refine itself and grow as a promotion. And the length of the show is less of an issue while watching on video versus live anyway.
Despite some issues this was a good show overall that I would recommend checking out, with a variety of new and experienced wrestlers all putting in incredible effort and a number of standout performances. There’s just room for improvement, and I’m sure Rise will iron out the rough spots as it progresses.
Derailments of Thought 