Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up: Jamie Hayter Is All Elite, PROGRESS Crowns New Champion, Purrazzo Captures AAA Gold

Women’s wrestling continues its hot streak this summer: Jamie Hayter signs with All Elite Wrestling, PROGRESS crowns a new champion, Deonna Purrazzo becomes a dual champion, NWA Empowerrr delivers more talent announcements, and much more! Let’s break it down in this week’s Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!

Jamie Hayter Is All Elite

A new face has officially arrived to the AEW women’s division.

The main event of All Elite Wrestling’s debut show of Rampage last week featured Dr. Britt Baker defending her AEW Women’s Championship against Red Velvet in an incredible matchup. Baker would retain, and subsequently attacked Red Velvet after the match, with Kris Statlander attempting to make a save. A hooded figure would then appear and come to the aid of the champion, clearing Statlander and Velvet out of the ring. This figure was revealed to be none other than former RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Champion, Jamie Hayter. Hayter is now seemingly aligned with the champion, after Baker had previously hinted that she would be bringing in help as the target painted on her became too massive for herself and Rebel to handle by themselves.

AEW then confirmed Hayter’s signing via Twitter shortly after Rampage.

Jamie Hayter has previously competed twice for AEW, both in 2019. Ironically, one of those two appearances was against the current AEW Women’s Champion, Britt Baker in October 2019 on Dynamite, where Hayter fell short. Hayter and Baker have wrestled against each other in Pro Wrestling Eve, where Hayter is a former EVE International Champion. Hayter also spent a significant amount of time in Stardom over the last few years, capturing multiple championships including the Goddesses of Stardom Championships, alongside Bea Priestley. Moreover, Hayter was ranked #47 on the  2020 PWI Top 1oo Women’s List.

RELATED: AEW Confirms Jamie Hayter Is ‘All Elite’ After Her Return On AEW Rampage

Kanji Vacates PROGRESS Women’s Championship, New Champion Crowned At Chapter 117

Last weekend, PROGRESS showcased another incredible women’s performance, this time in the form of a triple threat match at their Chapter 117 show.

PROGRESS Women’s Champion, Kanji opened the show by announcing that she was unfortunately forced to relinquish the championship due to injury. Kanji had held the championship since May, after defeating Gisele Shaw in a best of three series.

Following Kanji’s status was announced, it was revealed that Gisele Shaw, Alexxis Falcon and Mercedez Blaze would be competing in a triple threat for the vacant PROGRESS Women’s Championship later in the evening. Shaw would go on to defeat her two opponents become the new PROGRESS Women’s Champion, marking her first reign with the title.

PROGRESS Wrestling’s Chapter 117: Making Diamonds is available on Peacock and Demand PROGRESS.

Deonna Purrazzo Wins Reina De Reinas Championship at TripleMania XXIX

Deonna Purrazzo’s list of accolades continues to grow.

Back in May, Purrazzo made an appearance at AAA’s Rey de Reyes event to challenge the Reina de Reinas Champion, Faby Apache, to a Championship vs Championship match at TripleMania.

Over the weekend, that match finally came into fruition at Triplemania XXIX, as Purrazzo laid her IMPACT Knockouts Championship on the line against Faby Apache’s Reina De Reinas Championship. The two fiercest competitors collided in a back and forth match, but Purrazzo was given the upper hand by the referee on multiple occasions with assistance to rope breaks, fast counts, and overlooking interferences. Ultimately, Purrazzo would defeat Apache via submission to become the new Reina de Reinas Champion, adding another title to her collection!

With her victory at TripleMania, Deonna Purrazzo now holds the IMPACT Knockouts Championship and AAA Reina De Reinas Championship simultaneously. Her next challenger comes in the form of former 5-time WWE Women’s Champion, Melina at NWA Empowerrr on August 28th, where Purrazzo will defend her Knockouts Championship.

RELATED: Deonna Purrazzo Wins AAA Reina de Reinas Championship At TripleMania XXIX

Purrazzo is also slated to defend the IMPACT Knockouts Championship on October 16th at WrestlePro against former NXT star, Mercedes Martinez.

https://twitter.com/Superstar_KM/status/1426321835717808133?s=20

Mickie James vs Kylie Rae Set For NWA73, More Empowerrr Talent Revealed

We are now less than two weeks away from NWA’s first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view, and the excitement is certainly building as NWA has unpacked even more talent announcements for their EMPOWERRR event over the last week.

Here’s a rundown:

Over the last week, Mickie James and the NWA have revealed three of the four teams vying for the returning NWA Women’s Tag Team Championships:

• “The Hex” – Marti Belle & Allysin Kay
• “Hell on Heels” – Renee Michelle & Sahara 7
• KiLynn King & Red Velvet

The forbidden door continues to bust down even more for women’s wrestling. With these selections, NWA continues to crossover with talent from other wrestling promotions. The NWA Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament will see Marti Belle and Allysin Kay, who are both currently competing in the Ring of Honor Women’s Championship Tournament. KiLynn King and Red Velvet will be representing AEW in their appearance at Empowerrr.

As of this writing, one team remains to be revealed for NWA’s Women’s Tag Team Tournament, scheduled to take place at their Empowerrr pay-per-view. NWA has already brought in a variety of talent, so it will be exciting to see who claims the final slot in the tag team tournament. What other surprises could the NWA have up its sleeve?

Speaking of surprises though, three more competitors have also been confirmed for the first-ever NWA Women’s Invitational: Jennacide, Masha Slamovich, and Thunder Kitty.

Jennacide has appeared on NWA Powerrr on numerous occasions in the past, and now she will be accompanied by Taryn Terrell at Empowerrr. Thunder Kitty has appeared in notable promotions like SHIMMER and Shine. Masha Slamovich is known as “The Russian Dynamite” and has competed in Marvelous, Mission Pro Wrestling, and most recently, AEW Dark.

With these three additions, nine entrants have now been officially announced for NWA’s Women’s Invitational:

• Chelsea Green
• Thunder Kitty
• Debbie Malenko
• Jennacide
• Lady Frost
• Bianca Carelli
• Jamie Senegal
• Tootie Lynn
• Masha Slamovich

Ten competitors will compete in the first-ever NWA Women’s Invitational in the main event of Empowerrr.  Competitors will be vying for an NWA Women’s Championship opportunity on August 28th, where the winner will go on to NWA73 the following night for a title match.

The tenth entrant is still yet to be announced, but WrestleZone will you updated as more details become available.

RELATED: Thunder Kitty Announced For NWA Women’s Invitational Cup At NWA Empowerrr

The night after Empowerrr is NWA’s 73rd Anniversary Show, where Mickie James will be returning to the ring for the first time since January. Last week, Billy Corgan revealed the official lineup for NWA73 on the YouTube channel of the National Wrestling Alliance, including James’ opponent for her in-ring return: Kylie Rae.

Mickie James has been acting as the executive producer for Empowerrr, but noted that she will not be wrestling at NWA’s first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view. However, she previously revealed that NWA73 will mark her in-ring return the following night. Her opponent for that evening has finally been revealed as the current Warrior Wrestling Women’s Champion, Kylie Rae. Rae previously signed with NWA back in June, and will be competing on both NWA Empowerrr, against an opponent that is yet to be announced, and NWA73 against Mickie James.

Mickie James versus Kyluie Rae is now one of two confirmed women’s matches on NWA73. The winner of the Women’s Invitational at Empowerrr will go on to face the winner of the NWA World Women’s Championship match between Kamille and Leyla Hirsch from the night prior.

RELATED: Mickie James’ NWA 73 Opponent Revealed, Full Match Card Announced

Melina Perez To Make IMPACT Wrestling In-Ring Debut

After being revealed as Deonna Purrazzo’s opponent at NWA Empowerrr, Melina is now set to make her in-ring debut this Thursday on IMPACT Wrestling.

Melina’s opponent is not yet publicly announced, but WrestleZone has obtained the results of IMPACT’s tapings for this week’s episode on AXSTV, which you can find out below.

(WARNING: THE FOLLOWING LINK CONTAINS SPOILERS)

RELATED: 8/15 IMPACT Wrestling Spoilers: Content Taped For Emergence, Weekly IMPACT TV Show

New Texas Pro Announces First Round Matchups For Texas Grand Prix Women’s Tournament

After announcing their inaugural Texas Grand Prix Women’s Tournament, New Texas Pro Wrestling revealed all the first-round matchups in their single-elimination tournament, noting that the New Texas Pro Wrestling Women’s Championship will be on the line in every round.

Firstly, Rok-C will be defending her championship against Mia Friday in the opening round.

Three more first-round matches were also announced:

• Heather Monroe vs Killa Kate
• Promise Braxton vs Charity Kane
• Raychell Rose vs Haley Danielle

This Texas Grand Prix is scheduled for Saturday, August 28th on IWTV.

Slam! Wrestling Finland To Host First-Ever All-Women Tryout

Founded in 2018 by Michael Majalahti, Slam! Wrestling Finland will be holding their first-ever women’s professional wrestling tryout this weekend on August 21st and 22nd, hosted by Heidi Katrina.

INTERVIEWS:

“The Hot Mess” Chelsea Green recently chatted with A Wrestling Gal podcast about discuss reality television, her new ventures in commentary, wrestling Deonna Purrazzo, fashion trends, the ROH Women’s Tournament, and more!

The Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Champion, Trish Adora recently appeared on Straight Talk Wrestling to discuss the Ring of Honor Women’s Tournament, the GSW Tournament, facing Allysin Kay, future ambitions, and more.

Independent star, Ashley D’Amboise spoke with the Matt Michaels’ People I Don’t Hate Show about her dance career, her experiences in AEW, improving her in-ring work, learning from Damian Adams and more.

GCW Women’s Champion, Queen Aminata appeared on Shooting Star Wrestling Media to discuss wrestling in Japan, her chemistry with Ray Lyn, her faith, her in-ring style, and much more.

Independent star, Kaitland Alexis spoke with O-Face Wrestling about her inspiration to becoming a professional wrestler, her experience training under Dr. Tom Prichard & Glen Jacob’s, her goals in the business, hula hooping, and much more.

Billie Starkz recently chatted with A Man and His Podcast about balancing school and wrestling, Everett Connors, Charli Evans, AJ Gray, and more!

NWA EMPOWERRR Executive Producer, Mickie James spoke with NWA’s Billy Corgan to discuss her beginnings as a standout female in a male-dominated industry, the challenges of becoming the best in her field, how all of this culminated in the birth of NWA Empowerrr, and more.

WOMEN’S WRESTLING RESULTS:

Mission Pro Wrestling, August 14th

• The Renegade Twins (Robin & Charlette) defeat Brittany Jade & Lilly
• Thunder Rosa defeated  Karen Tran
• Savannah Evans defeated Dani Jordyn
• WOAD defeated Sadie Lee Moss
• Selina Rose defeated AC Rizzy

World Wonder Ring Stardom, August 13th – 5Star Grand Prix #6

• Four Way: Mina Shirakawa defeated Hanan and Lady C and Syuri 
• Queen’s Quest (AZM, Hina & Utami Hayashishita) defeated Oedo Tai (Rina, Ruaka & Saki Kashima) 
• Future Of Stardom Title: Unagi Sayaka (c) defeated Mai Sakurai
• 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block B: Starlight Kid [5] defeated Fukigen Death [0] 
• 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block A: Saya Kamitani [4] defeated Konami [2] 
• 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block A: Tam Nakano [6] defeated Maika [6] 
• 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block B: Mayu Iwatani [4] defeated Natsupoi [3]
• 5STAR Grand Prix 2021 Block B: Giulia [4] defeated Koguma [2] 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

WWR+, August 22nd

FLAWLESS Wrestling, August 20th

FSW: Future Star of Women’s Wrestling, August 22nd

Warrior Wrestling, August 21st