Greetings, you joy filled bitches, and welcome to another week of Impact recapping. On tonight’s big show, we continue on the journey to Against All Odds as TNA invades the United Kingdom for its second taping before heading back to the States. Tonight’s episode brought us a rare friend vs friend match up between Mickie James and Velvet Sky, and we also got to see a kickass segment involving the #1 Contender to the Knockouts Title, Tara, and the woman who holds the gold, Gail Kim! This is sure to be a night for all to remember, so let’s get into the swing of things and two step our way on in to this recap.

First up, we are taken outside the arena as the Knockout who challenges for the title this Sunday, Tara, takes us on a video journey through the streets of London. She welcomes everyone to Wembley Arena and praises the ravenous fan base located inside. From there, Tara attempts to record some of the fans walking by her until she is cut off by Gail Kim out of nowhere! Kim poses the question, “How’s this for home footage?!” before striking Tara across the face! The two begin to fight on the sidewalk, as the people walking by don’t seem phased at all for the sight of two women kicking the crap out of each other. As I continue to sit here amazed at their ability to walk by, Gail shoves Tara through an entry way and the two tear each other apart throughout the arena! Kim finally takes Tara down and then proceeds to viciously slam her challenger through a set of doors. She slyly turns to the camera and asks how that was for some home footage… courtesy of Gail Kim!~ Gail walks off, as the camera crew quickly rushes to Tara’s side and offers their help, I’m assuming.

We proceed to head out to the arena, where resident red head Christy Hemme announces the following contest is scheduled for one fall. (Ahem… warming up vocal chords.) HAAAARRDDDDCURRRRRR COUUNNTREEHHHHH blasts throughout the building, and out skips fan favorite, Mickie James. She slides into the ring and poses for the fans, before the music of much beloved, Velvet Sky begins to play. She steps out in her finest pink gear, as these two friends get ready to square off in a treat for the London crowd. Impact plugs the Twitter of my benevolent TNA ruler in Miss Karen’s absence, Aunt Dixie Carter, whom you should all follow now, while the bell sounds and we get started.

The two circle around the ring for a bit before a few “Velvet” chants break out and they lock up. Mickie and Velvet exchange advantages, before Velvet applies a wrist lock that Mickie cartwheels out of and drops into an arm drag pinfall for a one count. James keeps the hold locked in, but Velvet reverses it into a side headlock. Mickie with a quick reversal into a pin for a one count, before transitioning back into the hold until James can send her off the ropes. Velvet with a shoulder tackle, as she follows up by leaping over Mickie and then ducking under a leapfrog from the country gal. Mickie goes for a rolling kick, but Sky catches her early on and hoists her up into a hip lock for a near fall.

Mickie slides out with a bridge and connects with an Oklahoma roll for another two count, which brings the two to a stare off and applause. Velvet extends her hand as Mickie goes to shake it but reverses into a wrist lock to boos! Ruh-roh! James sends Velvet into the corner, but Sky comes back with a boot to the face and springs off with a whirlybird headscissors. Sky charges off the ropes, although Mickie sweeps her under the legs and runs forward herself with a baseball slide dropkick for a few close counts. This does not set well with Mickie, as she begins to display a bit of anger!~ Mickie takes Velvet into the corner and goes to town on her with shots and kicks galore. The crowd tries to get behind Sky, but James snapmares her over and locks in a submission hold to trap the arm and work over the ribs.

Applause from the crowd tries to get Velvet back to a vertical base, but Mickie rolls her up for another two count. Sky finally fights back with a jawbreaker, following it up with a series of clotheslines until she is cut off with a spin kick from Mickie. James goes for an Irish whip, but Sky reverses it into a neck flip type move for a near fall. Velvet tries to set Mickie up for a pair of jawbreakers, but ends up paying the price as Mickie scores with a clothesline. Mickie goes for the Mickie-DT, but Sky counters into an attempt for the Sky High… but Mickie hoists her over and she goes for a sunset flip. James smacks her hand away and attempts to pick her up, but Velvet quickly rolls her up out of nowhere for the victory!

Velvet celebrates her victory, as Mickie James begins to make a pretty scary look on her face following the loss. Nonetheless, Sky walks back up the ramp and slaps a few hands on her way, while Mickie continues to seem upset at the fact that she didn’t defeat Velvet… Interesting!

Thoughts: This was a pretty interesting show for the Knockouts of Impact Wrestling. Beginning with the segment between Gail and Tara, I thought it was extremely well done and hats off to both ladies for that brutal brawling in the street. Even if nobody stopped to see what was going on, it was still a great segment to add some fuel to the fire for their big championship match Sunday, and I’m elated that they weren’t simply forgotten about on tonight’s show in favor of the match, but got some shine as well.

The match was pretty fun to watch for me. It had a few moments where they seemed to get a little step off, but I’ve heard before that it’s challenging to work a match where both people are the same disposition, so I don’t really see any reason to fault them. I wasn’t sure how this match would come off on TV in terms of any signals of a heel turn, but it definitely looks like my pride and joy from the south is about to turn on us loyal Hardcore Country-men and women. Mickie definitely showed signs of an upcoming heel turn, and I could not be more excited. She needs to be rejuvenated character wise in my opinion, solely because while she is extremely popular, you just need variety every so often so you can continue to evolve. I like Mickie a lot, and I think a heel turn would be perfect for her. Very excited to see what develops between these two in the future.

For the past month you’ve voted on your favorite photoshoots, and each week we crowned a “Photoshoot of the Week”. Today we’re pitting the winners against each other to determine your favorite shoot of January.

Gail Kim

Gail’s photoshoot joins the rest of the month’s favorites in the poll below.

The month’s most popular photoshoots feature Aksana, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly and Maxine.

Click the photos below to see their corresponding photoshoot, vote for your favorite below and come back Sunday to see which shoot was crowned “Photoshoot of the Month”. Be sure to voice your opinions in the comments as well!

Aksana

Eve Torres

Gail Kim

Kelly Kelly

Maxine

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A special “SuperSmackDown” will air just two nights after the Elimination Chamber pay per view.

The show will air at 8pm ET on Syfy.

In less than two weeks, Alpha is set to headline Pro-Wrestling: EVE’s debut Internet pay per view, “No Man’s Land” — airing exclusively on Diva Dirt — as she challenges Jenny Sjodin for the Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship. The match has been almost two years in the making, pitting the unstoppable force that is Sjodin, with her technical style and MMA-esque submissions (she can legit make her opponents tap — and fast!), against the immovable object that is Alpha (who holds a 10-1 win/loss record).

Speaking exclusively to Diva Dirt in a near one hour interview, Alpha discusses her career thus far, how she got into wrestling, the rather interesting role she initially wanted to pursue in wrestling before becoming a wrestler, working around Europe, her career in EVE and more.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Addressing the busy few months she has coming up, Alpha talks about her EVE Championship match with Sjodin, as well as other projects in the pipeline including a reality show in her native Germany due to begin two weeks after the iPPV, and a movie. Alpha credits her inclusion in Diva Dirt’s Five to Watch last year as part of the reason for her recent successes.

It’s clear to anyone who’s seen Alpha in action that she’s destined for big things, and last year she was caught in WWE’s radar and offered a tryout, which she discusses exclusively with Diva Dirt. Additionally, Alpha also has choice words about her prior dealings with TNA aka Impact Wrestling.

We also talk to Alpha about being an attraction, not dissimilar from WWE’s Kharma, due to her size and strength.

Check out the interview below or right-click here and select ‘Save Target As’.

‘Like’ Alpha Female on Facebook.

Pro-Wrestling: EVE and Diva Dirt present “No Man’s Land: Sjodin vs Alpha” live on Saturday, February 18th at 7pm UK (2pm ET). Click here to order.

Martin was trained by the likes of The Fabulous Moolah, Joyce Grable and her future tag team partner, Leilani Kai.

Judy held the WWF Tag Team Championships along with Leilani Kai, collectively known as the Glamour Girls, on two occasions. They first won the belts in August 1985, losing them three years later to the Jumping Bomb Angels in January 1988 at the first ever Royal Rumble pay per view. The Glamour Girls would regain the championships, however, just six months later in June. The titles were later dropped by WWF in 1989 with Judy and Leilani being recognized as the last champions.

She also competed for the WWF Women’s Championship, challenging champions Wendi Richter and Rockin’ Robbin. Martin challenged the latter for the title at the 1989 Royal Rumble.

Outside of WWF, Judy has worked for WCW, Ladies Professional Wrestling Association (LPWA), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and the NWA.

Other female honorees at the 2012 CAC Reunion include Wendi Richter, who will receive the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement Award, and former WWE Diva Ivory, who will receive the 2012 Women’s Wrestling Award.

Read more about Judy’s career and her award win here.

The 2012 CAC Reunion takes place from April 16-18th in Las Vegas. More details and tickets here.

Congratulations to Judy!

Watch Judy Martin vs Rockin’ Robbin at Royal Rumble 1989:

If you get time during SmackDown to switch the channels, a really solid women’s MMA fight with ranking implications is airing tonight on HDNet.

The #10 Unified ranked 125 pound fighter, Marianna “The Crushin Russian” Kheyfets (4-0) will be taking on Heather “Hurricane” Clark (4-0) on the XFC 16: High Stakes card in Knoxville, TN.

Both are riding four-fight win streaks as pros.

Kheyfets was signed to XFC in 2010 after an open tryout. She made a huge impact in her debut, defeating Kim Couture via a triangle choke. Since then, she has won all of her pro fights with her latest in October 2011, a decision over veteran fighter, Molly Helsel. Kheyfets trains out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL with #2 ranked 115 pounder Jessica “JAG” Aguilar.

After losing her pro debut, Clark has finished all of her last four opponents with two submissions and two knockouts. Her 10 second KO victory over April Courtino in January of last year won “Knockout of the Year” at the Women’s MMA Awards. Clark trains out of Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, NM with a solid team of female fighters, including #9 ranked 135 pounder Julie “Fireball” Kedzie, and #5 ranked 105 pounder Michelle “Karate Hottie” Waterson.

The fight will air on HDNet at 9pm ET/6pm PT tonight.

MarQ is the lead MMA writer for Diva Dirt and founder of Wombat Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @WombatSports.

Keep up to date with Diva Dirt MMA by visiting Diva-Dirt.com/MMA and following @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

– Images courtesy of XFC

Says SHIMMER of Ray: “The Joshi 4 Hope office secured one of the most athletic women on the joshi scene in Ray to join their group for the March SHIMMER weekend… with a fast paced, exciting style in the ring, Ray is very unique addition to what has become a very global SHIMMER roster of talent.”

For those who’d like a little more information about Ray, she was trained by Emi Sakura at the Gatokunyan dojo and made her professional wrestling debut against her in a match that took place in September 2003 at the legendary Korakuen Hall. Since then, she’s wrestled for a plethora of promotions, some of which include IBUKI, NEO Japan, BJW, JWP, Oz Academy and Universal Woman’s Pro Wrestling REINA.

In her time in wrestling she’s performed under different personas and masks. Originally debuting as ‘Rei‘ (Japanese for ‘Zero’), she also made several appearances with JDStar as ‘Caribbean Moon‘ (a character inspired by the famous Pirates of the Carribean films) between 2006 and 2007, she joined Nanae Takahashi‘s stable Passion Red and re-named herself ‘Passion Ray‘ in 2009, and in 2010 she stripped herself of the mask to wrestle for Tajiri’s promotion SMASH as ‘Lin Bairon‘ (she actually ended up working for SMASH as both Bairon and Ray, the two being treated as entirely different people).

On September 2011 in Tokyo, she defeated Zeuxis to become the CMLL-Reina International Junior Champion – a victory which led to her making the jump to Mexico for CMLL only a few weeks later. She ended up losing the title to Silueta on October 18.

Ray is the eighth in a string of Japanese wrestlers that have wrestled for SHIMMER, joining the likes of Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Kana, Misaki Ohata, Tomoka Nakagawa, and Yumi Ohka as those who have made the transition to American soil.

• Follow Ray on Twitter
• Visit Ray’s official website

Discuss the show in the comments!

RELATED: Impact Wrestling Taping Spoilers from London’s Wembley Arena: February 2nd and 9th, 2012

“Your Two Cents” is the new interactive feature where we gauge the opinions of our Twitter and Facebook followers on different discussions in women’s wrestling.

This week, we’re asking this: The Knockouts are consistently topping Impact’s ratings. Do you think the Divas could do the same with more screen time and better marketing, or is it not comparable? We’ve read your responses on our social media pages and picked some of the best submissions to highlight here on the website. As always, you can join the debate by leaving your comments!

Our Two Cents

Batting for Team DD this week, it’s Cryssi giving us her personal opinion on this week’s topic:

Cryssi: This is a tricky question because the WWE has the talent, Diva-wise, to make this happen. But with their lack of effort it seems like it really isn’t comparable. Part of me wants to say yes, but in order to make the majority of the fans care about the girls they would have to do a complete overhaul of the division and that’s just not something I can see them doing. The WWE doesn’t even take time to build younger talent, let alone try to make their Divas special. The focus will always be on the same three guys, with various others playing supporting roles or getting a big push here or there. The Trent Barretas and Tyson Kidds of the world will continue to be misused and unappreciated.

The Divas are worse off. Even when they get their pushes, like Eve Torres and AJ are getting now, fans still complain that it isn’t good enough, or that something is off. Without spoiling SmackDown, AJ was crucified in one of the spoilers that I read, and whenever you read results on other so-called sites, the Diva match always seems to have the description ‘typical Divas match.’ Attitudes like that don’t help things and are the reasons why the Divas can’t really compare to the Knockouts right now in terms of getting respect. Kharma‘s reaction from the crowd at ‘Rumble and the way Prince Dolph sold for her give me a small amount hope. It proves that there are people in the company who care and want to help. As you can tell, I’m very mixed on this. It’s so whatever.

Your Two Cents

@CaffeineJack | Of course they could. Sure, there’s audience apathy to deal with, but if WWE excels at anything, it’s getting people over and making the fans get behind them. If Superstars like Alberto del Rio, Sheamus and Alex Riley can be pushed into the main event from obscurity in months as a result of good booking and strong investment in storylines, the Divas can too. A call to the WWE – give Beth Phoenix and Natalya ten minutes on Raw or Smackdown to show what they can do, and you’ll get an audience behind the entire division with a single match.

Charles Parker | Probably not. The WWE has consistently trained their audience to not pay attention to anything outside of a handfull of people. Unless Vince or his successors spend a lot of time completely rebuilding the division and how its handled, its probably not going to change.

@GregLucM | It can only happen if WWE becomes like TNA and is willing to take risks in their management and let the women do actual work. Giving the competitors time to, you know, have a wrestling match is certainly part of it. Nobody would be tuning in to the KOs if they were conditioned to expect a match that barely goes over a minute, with a grand total of 3-4 moves performed, and people seriously questioning if more than three people in the division can actually wrestle. But the other part of it is risks. Nobody would be tuning in to the KOs if there weren’t the occasional off-beat match, like cage matches, or intergender matches.Nobody would be tuning in if every girl was a variation of generic smiling face or generic not-as-smiley heel. The proof is in WWE already, and her name is Kharma. She didn’t look like any Diva WWE has ever had. Her character was unlike any Diva. Hell, she’s still NOT listed as a Diva on WWE’s site. She got more over than most guys on the roster without a single proper match. People are STILL waiting for her to come back full-time and somehow do something to “save” the division. And yet, Kharma is one of many undercut by the reason why the Divas are not a draw. While she was busy giving a finisher to *title-contender* Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble, the announce team was more busy being concerned with the ever-present Michael Cole getting eliminated by a girl, like a bunch of school children and despite how un-Diva like Kharma is. At this very moment, WWE is running with a damn fart gimmick on one of the few women people tend to agree can wrestle, and besides that is (or was, rather) supposed to be part of a duo who went on about being taken seriously. This past Monday night, they had a 6-woman tag match where half the participants didn’t even get tagged in, and cut to the crowd sitting on their hands as if they expected a different reaction. WWE does not take their women seriously inside the ring and downright undercuts them, and until that view changes, the Divas, collectively, will not get reactions or ratings.

Leron Mason | That’s comparing apples and oranges. First of all, Impact only gets about a 1-1.2 in the ratings anyway. The Knockouts get that range so that’s about average. If the Knockouts went to WWE with the exact same amount of time, they would still average in the 1-1.2 range. For WWE that would be horrible, but for TNA it’s fine. There is no Diva with the ability to draw in 3.2-3.6 that Raw does. Maybe if Lita came back or Mickie James. The whole division needs to be revamped and with Britani Knight, Tenille Tayla, Kharma and Sofia Cortez, it looks to be headed that way.

@Miss_Diesel Diva’s? They can definitely have the same success as the KOs, and it is all a matter of doing the correct marketing, giving a decent amount of time as well as putting the correct girls out in the forefront. WWE can do so much with girls that they currently have; in both their main roster and their developmental roster. If they spent less time focusing on how beautiful the girls are and more on what they are capable in the ring, worked with them on mic work and gave them more to work with than silly playground issues they would be doing just perfectly fine. Perhaps actually reaching the same level as the KOs.

Mondarious Brantley | Can the Divas pull off high ratings for WWE? In my opinion I think if given the proper attention like the Knockouts the ratings could increase for them. In the past Diva storylines used to good now its like WWE comes up with something and if they dont like it they just drop it without any reason. So can the Divas top ratings for WWE. I say yes look at TNA’s Knockout roster half are former Divas who didn’t get proper attention from WWE, but TNA has given them something to work with character, storylines, and promos and look at how fans take to them!!!

Sarah Flannery | Honestly, I think they could. With them introducing AJ and Eve Torres into main storylines, and giving Beth this unstoppable diva like power, and Kharma waiting in the wings, all they need is the chance! People out there know they’re talented, they just don’t trust the booking.

And now we turn it over to you…

What are your two cents on the debate? Do you think the Divas could top the ratings too? Tell us in the comments…

Former WWE Women’s Champion Lita aka Amy Dumas is featured on a new home video release from WWE dedicated to former WWE Champion, Edge.

Lita, who was Edge’s one-time on-screen girlfriend, is one of the interviewees featured on the documentary portion of the DVD, titled “You Think You Know Me: The Story of Edge”.

Dumas tweeted about filming an interview for WWE last year, and it looks as though this is what she meant.

As well as being paired on screen from 2005 through to Lita’s retirement in November 2006, there was real life drama involving Dumas, Edge and Dumas’ then real life boyfriend Matt Hardy which translated to television in the summer of 2005.

Since her retirement in 2006, Lita has made select appearances on WWE television, but this marks her first interview for a WWE DVD project since leaving the company.

The DVD will be released on April 10th, 2012.

Watch the clip here.

- Relive Lita’s return to Raw during the WWE Slammy Awards

Greetings everybody, and welcome to the your Thursday afternoon recap of choice… the NXT Watch! I’m sure that anyone who reads what I have to say knows how much I love everything about this show and how I pride myself in getting to review it, but tonight’s episode… how do I say it? Tonight’s episode brought my love to new heights. You see, we got to witness Maxine and Kaitlyn square off like we have a few times now, but because this is NXT — or as I like to call it, the Promise Land — we also get treated to a few tremendous segments backstage featuring the two women, Dirty Curty, and the most entertaining male wrestler around today (not named Husky Harris), Derrick Bateman!

Let’s continue on because I can’t contain my excitement any longer…

Following a match involving Percy Watson, we head backstage to see Kaitlyn warming up for a match against Maxine later tonight when she is approached, creepily might I add, from behind by Dirty Curty. He asks if she’s getting ready for her match, but before Kaitlyn can answer that, she questions where his shirt is at since it’s about 35 degrees backstage. From there, Kaitlyn then wonders why he’s even here since he’s off the show now. (Note: I guess NXT is like America where you must marry a roster member to stay on, and since Maxine dumped him, WWE has deported our very own Dirty Curty.) She adds that it doesn’t matter now, anyway, because Maxine chose Derrick instead of him.

Dirty Curty claims that their relationship will never last because he knows a secret that nobody else knows!~ Kaitlyn makes a fair trade in that if she lets him tell her this likely ridiculous secret, he will go back to his van and put a shirt on. Dirty Curty agrees, and informs her that when he was with Maxine, she would always complain about how Derrick had a thing for Kaitlyn. From her hair, to her skin, all the way to her method of gum chewing! He sums it up by saying that Derrick is digging her vibes, before creepily heading off and leaving Kaitlyn to wonder the legitimacy of what she was just told. She decides to shrug it off with a big, “Nahhhhhhhh”, although still appearing somewhat unsure.

After another excellent bout between Trent Barreta and Tyson Kidd, we are taken backstage to see Derrick Bateman walking down a hallway following his loss earlier to the ginger earlier in the night. Kaitlyn suddenly approaches and greets him with a, “Sweet Meat, what’s the deal?”, as he describes his disappointment at his loss earlier. She calls him a winner though, citing his head of cascading curls as a positive, which sparks him to dub her a “good friend” and take part in a consensual high five. He then proceeds to ask if she has any of the gum she likes to chew (GASP), but before she can answer, our beloved Queen of Mean enters the equation as a cold chill runs up their spines, I’m sure.

Maxine walks right in between them, shoving both backwards as she demands to know why he lost earlier! The Queen questions how they are supposed to ever move off of NXT if he keeps losing, especially when it’s to the ginger. (As if I didn’t admire Maxine enough already…) Before he can answer though, Kaitlyn comes to his rescue and sarcastically claims that Maxine is such a supportive girlfriend… and boy, let me tell you, this does not set well with our Queen. She slowly turns around and asks Kaitlyn if she got lost and couldn’t find an exit, because knowing her, she probably couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag!

Just then, that creep Dirty Curty sticks his head out from behind, watching his dirty work unfold before his very eyes. Kaitlyn informs Maxine that she knows right where she is, but this doesn’t stop Queen Maxine from offering her assistance in aiding Kaitlyn to leave. She then demands Kaitlyn to exit the conversation, and stop talking to Derrick. The spunky NXT winner just admits she was trying to be supportive, but oh no, Miss Maxine knows what she was trying to do, and she doesn’t like it one bit. She states that Kaitlyn is trying to sneak one in underneath her, and that it’s quite… um, I think Maxine said a word that ended up getting bleeped out. Vicious indeed!

Nonetheless, she demands that Kaitlyn stay away from Derrick which leads to the plucky fan favorite to ask Sweet Meat how he can kiss that mouth after hearing whatever word got bleeped! This INFURIATES the Queen, as she almost loses it until her Der-Bear holds her back. Kaitlyn then walks off as Maxine screams out, “Why don’t you tone your hair one color, okay?!” Genius. Derrick wants Maxine to act like an adult, and she amazingly tells him to shut up! From there, he makes the noise similar to when Kaitlyn was “giving birth” a few weeks ago, before walking off as Maxine questions what he’s wearing! The duo walk off, as that rotten scoundrel Dirty Curty walks forward and announces, “It’s getting weeiiirddd”. God, I love this show.

Out to the arena we go, to the tune of “If you want it, come and get it!” Our royal highness steps out in her finest thigh high stockings, before strutting down the ramp and climbing into the ring for her match against Kaitlyn. Speaking of which, after hitting the dance floor, I’m sure, Kaitlyn steps out from the back and poses on each side of the stage for the fans. She then twirls down the ramp and gets into the ring herself, as the bell sounds and we kick things off between these two enemies. Maxine charges forward and spears Kaitlyn to the ground, before choking her with her thigh. Those deadly stockings!

Maxine attempts to run after her again, but Kaitlyn moves out of the way and the Queen meets the canvas face first. Once she gets to a vertical base, Kaitlyn drops her with a nice sidewalk slam, before transitioning it into a neat submission hold. It stays in place until Maxine breaks it by reversing into a pinfall for a one count, as she then runs right into a bodyslam. The blond and black haired Diva plants her with a leg/elbow drop combination for a two count, as William Regal brings the “walnut crushing thighs” reference from FCW to NXT! My life has been made!

Maxine strikes Kaitlyn in the stomach, hits her with a knee to the face, and then runs forward with a big clothesline that gains her a few near falls. Kaitlyn shoves her off and gets a two count, as a “Let’s go, Kaitlyn” chant breaks out. Am I in heaven? Or at least, am I dreaming? Maxine slams Kaitlyn’s head into the canvas and locks in her dragon sleeper from a seated position. She strikes Kaitlyn in the stomach a few times, before Kaitlyn is just barely able to reverse it with a jawbreaker. She backs into the corner as the Queen seems imminent on ending this match with a victory by slamming Kaitlyn’s head into the turnbuckle. Maxine climbs up the ropes and looks to go for a few punches, but Kaitlyn cuts her off and shoves her backwards!

A shoulder tackle starts her comeback up, followed by a dropkick and a running crossbody for a near fall! Kaitlyn lifts Maxine up, but the Queen smacks her right in the jaw and runs forward into a crucifix hold. Kaitlyn uses her upper body strength to try and fight the move from being turned into a pin attempt, but ultimately does not succeed in this, as Maxine falls backwards and is able to pin Kaitlyn’s shoulders to the mat for the three count! She scurries out from the ring and walks up the ramp to grin at her victory over Kaitlyn, while the fan favorite wonders what just happened and looks on with revenge on her mind.

Thoughts: I’ve begun to realize that NXT is always going to make me happy, but tonight took it to new levels. The backstage segments are always a blast to watch because they actually get time to develop characters, and both Maxine & Kaitlyn work off each other so humorously. Between Maxine’s seriousness and Kaitlyn’s humor, I want them to feud forever if it results in segments like the ones we saw tonight. Plus, I still believe whoever writes NXT secretly reads what I want because that’s twice now Kaitlyn has been put into a storyline after weeks of my pleading for them to do so.

The match was finally a bit longer than what we’ve been getting the past few outings, and it didn’t feel rushed or anything. I thought they did well together, and I continue to be amazed at how much improvement both have shown since their season of NXT took place. The only fault I had is that I feel like if I see another roll up victory my head is going to explode. Maxine has some of the best finishers for a female, and I refuse to settle for roll up victories! Nonetheless, tonight’s episode of NXT has been perhaps the first strong one since the wedding, and it’s great that we’re getting back to having both segments and matches that go longer than twenty seconds.

Melina, along with John Morrison, will make their debuts for Northeast Wrestling in March and Melina is due to face off with Velvet in the latter’s return to the company.

The pair will face off on March 23rd in Poughkeepsie, New York and again on March 24th in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Given Melina’s popularity in WWE and Velvet’s popularity in TNA, this has the makings of a big match-up.

More details on Northeast Wrestling here.

Cyborg was suspended last month and stripped of her Featherweight Championship after testing positive for an anabolic steroid prior to her title defense against Hiroko Yamanaka on December 17th. Cyborg has had her license suspended for one year.

Speaking of Cyborg’s plight, Rousey offers no sympathy, saying: “I think she was a detriment to women’s MMA. I think that no little girl is going to watch Cris Cyborg fight and want to be like her one day. I don’t think that she’s a good example. I think it was obvious all along that she was doping and I think it’s a really bad message to send to kids that you need to dope to be a champion.”

“I think it’s better with her gone and I think that when she comes back — I plan on fighting her when she comes back and I plan on beating her when she comes back. I feel like that will be a good example. The only positive role that I think Cris Cyborg can play for women’s MMA is as a bad guy Ivan Drago character that’s going to get beat by a Rocky. … She earned her sentence, and when she’s done, she can come back and get her real punishment.”

Rousey also discusses the current state of women’s MMA and the pressure on the women compared to the male fighters. Read more here.

Keep up to date with Diva Dirt MMA by visiting Diva-Dirt.com/MMA and following @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

Follow @DivaDirtMMA

We at Wombat Sports are happy to be new partners with Diva Dirt to give you, pro wrestling fans, coverage of women’s mixed martial arts.

Firstly, a little about Wombat Sports. The site was created by myself in 2011 after working as the news editor for Fightergirls for three years. We cover all women’s combat sports, including boxing, kickboxing, submission grappling, and predominately MMA.  I have had the pleasure of interviewing some of the best in the business, including Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Rosi Sexton, just to name a few.

Female wrestlers and MMA fighters have a lot in common: both sports take feats of athletic skill, a true passion, and a determination to want to prove you can hang with the big boys.

There will be some things that will look very familiar to you, and some things you’ve never seen. Our hope is to educate and make you fall in love with MMA as much as we have. Several times a week, we will provide you with interviews, insights, and fight coverage to help you enjoy the fastest growing female sport in the US. You will learn about the biggest and fastest rising stars in the sport, as well as the different MMA promotions and cards.

To give you a taste of what MMA has to offer, here is our hit YouTube video highlighting some of the best knockouts in WMMA. And yes, there is a powerbomb in there!

MarQ is the lead MMA writer for Diva Dirt and founder of Wombat Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @WombatSports.

Keep up to date with Diva Dirt MMA by visiting Diva-Dirt.com/MMA and following @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

Follow @DivaDirtMMA

The Queen of Wrestling, Sara Del Rey, graced us with her royal presence in video form to accept her 2011 Wrestler of the Year award — as only she can. (You’ll quickly see what we mean when you hit the play button!)

Check out the oh so humble Queen’s acceptance below:

RELATED:
- Diva Dirt names Sara Del Rey its Wrestler of the Year
- Exclusive: Wrestler of the Year Sara Del Rey Reflects on Award-Winning 2011

The former Playboy covergirl, who made her debut alongside real-life boyfriend “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett last December, has now been added to the ROH website.

Kanellis joins a select few female names on the roster, including Mia Yim (the first female talent as part of the new ROH under Sinclair Broadcasting), and Veda Scott, who serves as backstage interviewer.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey admitted to playing mind games with Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate during their recent press tour and ahead of their headline fight on March 3rd.

Speaking to Helwani, Rousey said: “I try to look at her all the time and she’s always avoiding eye contact with me. Whenever she has her eyes down, when I’m looking at her in the eye, that inevitably has to affect you.

Addressing Tate’s comments that she is a “one trick pony”, Rousey added: “I think it’s funny that she says that. It’s really because she has no footage to study. She hasn’t seen what I can do. She’s only seen one of my tricks and what she doesn’t realize is that, with a lot of those matches, I did a different takedown almost every single time and I did a different entry into the armbar from a different position every single time. It may look “one trick” to somebody else, but there’s a lot of knowledge and training that goes into being able to [do that]. If you only see the finish and you’re not seeing the whole thing — and I think her [Miesha] saying that speaks to what she doesn’t know.”

Rousey also talked about her new found fame, including appearances on shows such as G4′s Attack of the Show, which shows crossover appeal. She said: “When I come to these events, I feel like I’m well known within a group of people — within MMA fans — but in general, I’m not a celebrity, I don’t walk around and get recognized all day long. [...] In general, I don’t think that much has changed. I train all day, I sleep all night. I try to do interviews when I can. When I come here [press conferences], I get to feel all pretty and important, but then I go home and everyone’s like, ‘Stop thinking you’re pretty and important!’ [...] Everyone keeps me in check.”

Rousey also addressed suspended fighter Cris Cyborg’s comments and more in the interview. Watch it in full below:

Source: MMAFighting.com

Keep up to date with Diva Dirt MMA by visiting Diva-Dirt.com/MMA and following @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

Follow @DivaDirtMMA

Greetings everybody, and welcome to another edition of your FCW Watch! The developmental program has been on a lengthy string of Diva matches as of late, until last week when the streak was broken and we were all wondering what to do with ourselves. Well never fear, because they return this week in tag team form, as Kaitlyn teams up with Audrey Marie to take on Sofia Cortez (Ivelisse Velez) and the reigning Queen & FCW Divas Champion, Raquel Diaz! We also get a brief continuation of the story that began last week involving General Manager, Maxine, and the newest Diva, Summer Rae (Danielle Moinet).

Without any further ado, let’s get underway!

We head to the arena for the opening of tonight’s episode, as ring announcer for the night, Caylee Turner, announces the following Divas tag team match. The upbeat theme of Audrey Marie hits, as both she and resident SmackDown/NXT Diva, Kaitlyn, step out in matching baseball themed attire. They then exchange a chest bump before hopping into the ring and posing for the adorning fans. Up next comes the new theme song of Raquel’s that I will never forget as belonging to Angela Fong. (Still missed!) Nonetheless, out come both she and partner for the night, Sofia Cortez. They don’t seem to mesh quite as well as Audrey and Kaitlyn did when comparing entrances. Diaz steps in front of Cortez while they step inside the ring, as the bell sounds and we kick things off as Kaitlyn shakes her booty at the villainous duo.

Sofia and Kaitlyn start things off as Cortez mocks Kaitlyn for her ridiculously awesome muscular features before beckoning her for a test of strength. The former NXT victor seems confused at first, but cooperates and easily takes the advantage by hoisting Sofia into the air by one arm and dropping her in her corner as Sir William Regal compliments Kaitlyn’s “walnut crushing thighs”. This man is genius! Raquel decides to make the tag in, as she goes for a slap that Kaitlyn blocks. Ever the one to capitalize on her opponent, Diaz kicks Kaitlyn in the leg and attempts to scream at Audrey I believe, to which Kaitlyn grabs her by the wrist and socks her with a strike. A nice dropkick follows, before Kaitlyn decides to make the tag into Audrey Marie and they hit a double team Irish whip/clothesline maneuver for a one count.

Audrey sends Raquel off the ropes and slips into a nice abdominal stretch, but Raquel quickly breaks it up and transitions into a bridge pin for a near fall. The Divas Champion then ambushes Kaitlyn off the ring apron, before feeling the effects of a kick to the gut from Audrey. Marie sends Diaz off the ropes, but Raquel holds on as Audrey goes for a dropkick. From there, the Queen grabs her by the legs and slingshots her onto the second rope where Sofia kicks her in the head while the referee is caught up with Kaitlyn. Diaz then flips into a jackknife cover for a two count, before shoving her back into their corner and tagging in Sofia Cortez. Sofia then hits a beautiful northern lights suplex for only a two count, as Audrey gets the shoulder up.

Cortez sends Audrey off the ropes, but the former Divas Champion fights back with a kick. She then ducks a clothesline, but gets caught up in a wicked sick flapjack that pretty much looks to snap her neck off the top rope! Sofia hooks the leg, but Audrey gets the shoulder up which only adds to the anger Cortez was facing with her. Raquel quickly tags back in and hits a suplex for a two count, as the crowd starts to get behind the plucky cowgirl. Diaz transitions into a camel clutch, but Marie does not give up no matter what. Raquel just seems relentless in her attacks on Audrey, before flipping it into a pretty cool pin maneuver for a near fall. Sofia Cortez makes the tag back in, as she taunts Audrey and goes for a neckbreaker. Marie manages to flip the neckbreaker into one of her own and drop the veteran with the vicious move.

Audrey tries to make the tag, even kicking Sofia off a few times, which for some reason, persuades Raquel to walk inside the ring and check on her. Sofia proceeds to ambush Kaitlyn off the side of the ring once again, but this gives Audrey the time to make her comeback with a set of clotheslines for a near fall. The crowd gets behind her as she goes for a sunset flip that Sofia counters into one of her own for a close count. Cortez then signals for a backslide, but Audrey drops her with a Russian leg sweep as Kaitlyn soars inside the ring to eliminate Diaz with another one of her dropkicks. Back inside the ring, Audrey goes for the pin but Sofia kicks out. Cortez then looks to go for a suplex, but Audrey sweeps out from under her legs and rolls her up into a bridge pin for the victory! The fan favorites celebrate their victory, as Raquel and Sofia don’t seem too pleased with the result.

Backstage, we spot our new Diva, Summer Rae, as she leads William Regal (Maxine’s former squeeze) into the control room to take a gander at the production behind FCW. She takes a seat per his request, as he looms over her and attempts to show her how to handle the knobs that are a part of the machinery. Summer asks if one of the certain knobs is how you turn the music on, which sparks him to reply that it’s how you turn something on. (Insert our newest WrestleMania theme, Turn Me On by Nicki Minaj, here.) He begins to get a little too close for comfort to Summer, before Maxine walks up on them from behind, none too pleased. She orders William Regal to come to her office immediately, before walking off as Summer questions if Regal has to go. He assures the blond beauty that he can stay for a little bit longer, as he continues assessing the knobs in front of her.

Thoughts: Beginning with the match, I thought it was on the okay side, overall. It was pretty solid until the end when I got confused by what happened. I was waiting for Kaitlyn to get the hot tag for a good few minutes, and then Audrey performs the comeback herself after being beaten up for a majority of the match before that. I don’t know if it was just miscommunication between the four after Raquel ran inside the ring and Sofia shoved Kaitlyn off, but this was the same match I saw at the live event I attended a few weeks ago and I thought that the non-televised match was far superior to this one, so perhaps they worked out the small kinks after this was taped. Who knows?! But I will say that I’m dying for Kaitlyn and Sofia Cortez to get in the ring together for a singles match on TV. Someone make it happen!

Also, I continue to like the segments between Maxine and Summer Rae as well. They’re short, but to the point, and I love that Summer is targeting Maxine’s former (storyline) friend with benefits, William Regal. It makes perfect sense if she wants to get inside Maxine’s head and eventually take over her job, and I really can’t wait to see the continuation between these two. I very much like that Summer is actually being given a role on the show as opposed to simply ring announcing for a while as most Divas do, and fingers crossed, it continues on for her.

Moinet made her debut for FCW in November 2011 and is currently serving as the ring announcer for live events and television tapings.

Moinet, from Raleigh, North Carolina,  is a former model and member of the Chicago Bliss Lingerie Football League team.

Check out her profile page and FCW photoshoot here.

Saraya Knight and Mercedes Martinez have also been added to the tapings of SHIMMER volumes 45 – 48 on March 17 and 18.

It’s particularly good to see Saraya’s addition, as many had speculated that she would be rotated out or not needed without daughter Britani.

SHIMMER says of the addition of Saraya, “On the heels of some of the most memorable battles in SHIMMER history against her own daughter, Saraya Knight brings a career of over twenty years of viciousness to SHIMMER 45-48 on March 17th & 18th.”

As for Mercedes, on the last set of shows, Martinez showed a whole different side to her personality. This culminated in a brutal attack on “The Wrestling Goddess” Athena, in which she injured her leg with a steel chair. Athena was one of the first names announced for the the upcoming tapings, and we’re betting she won’t take the attack lying down.

Front row seating is sold out for the entire weekend, but you can still purchase general admission tickets here.

• • • • •

Like Jessie McKay, Ireland’s Rhia O’Reilly will also make her Canadian debut at NCW Femmes Fatales VIII on March 10 in Montreal.

She’ll be facing off against SheNayNay in singles action. O’Reilly made her debut on SHIMMER’s pre-show SPARKLE in a match against Brittany Force last March.

• • • • •

Pro Wrestling WAVE crowned new tag team champions at an event held on February 5th at the Minami Move On Arena in Osaka, Japan.

Wrestling veterans Toshie Uematsu and Ran YuYu defeated Ayumi Kurihara and Kana in 18:44 to pick up the victory… and the gold. Congratulations to Uematsu and YuYu!

Former Diva Stacy Keibler hosted the Big Game Eve at The Bank Nightclub (at the Bellagio Resort and Casino) on February 4 in Las Vegas. She wore a cute Alexander Wang mini-dress and Christian Louboutin heels on the red carpet. Her appearance has been covered by OMG! NOW on Yahoo.

In other Stacy news, she’s supposedly being inundated with offers to wear brand-name clothing at more than $5,000 a piece during Fashion Week, which begins Thursday.

“She’s an all-American girl. She’s hot in the press right now,” a fashion marketer told the NY Post.

Images: JustJared

In Diva Dirt news, Editor Melanie Rob will be giving an interview for the Wombat Sports podcast today at 4pm ET (1pm PST/9pm UK). Melanie will be talking about women’s wrestling, women’s MMA, the launch of Diva Dirt MMA and the upcoming Pro-Wrestling: EVE “No Man’s Land” Internet pay per view.

Listen to the interview live here.

That’s the news for now. Which tidbits have got you talking? Tell us in the comments…

The Knockouts match featuring Gail Kim and Tara was the highest rated segment on Impact Wrestling last week (February 2nd). It marked the first international broadcast of the show, filmed at Wembley Arena in London, England.

Gail and Tara faced off in a non-title preview match, a prelude to their title match this Sunday at the Against All Odds pay per view, and the segment scored a 1.22 cable rating in the sixth quarter of the show, up 1% from the previous quarter hour, which scored a 1.21 rating.

The subsequent segment, which featured Hulk Hogan’s return to the UK, scored a rather paltry 1.15 in comparison to the Knockouts match.

Impact Wrestling averaged a 1.15 cable rating with 1.61 million viewers.

The last time the Knockouts topped the ratings was just two weeks ago when Mickie James and Madison Rayne faced off in a steel cage match.

Ratings information courtesy of PWTorch.

Welcome, everyone, to another chilling, thrilling Raw Redux!~ Unfortunately Cryssi’s work schedule has taken it’s blasted toll, and therefore, I am here to take over in what was a pretty interesting night for the ladies of Raw. We had a rematch from the Royal Rumble which saw Tamina, Kelly Kelly, Eve, and Alicia Fox take on Brie & Nikki Bella, Natalya, and our reigning Divas Champion, Beth Phoenix! Resident Pocket Rocket, AJ, also accompanied Daniel Bryan to the ring for his ten millionth match against the Big Show, and Eve closed the show in a haunting segment with Kane backstage.

Without any further ado, let us kick off this Raw Redux with some action.

We head to the ring, where Justin Roberts announces the following 8-Diva tag team match, and since there are only eight Divas that WWE regularly uses on TV programming, I think it’s safe to assume who is involved. Nonetheless, “She Looks Good to Me” starts up, and out walks Alicia Fox, Tamina, Kelly Kelly, and Eve! As the four Divas strut into the ring, we get a video recap of last week’s antics involving Kane, Eve, and John Cena before heading back to the classy tune of our Glamazon’s theme. Natalya and the Bellas step out to the ramp by her side, and together the four ladies hop into the squared circle as we get a nice video recap of Beth Phoenix saying there’s no competition for her. Could WWE truly be building to Beth vs. Kharma?!

The bell sounds, and hey, we’re already two minutes and thirty three seconds into this video which on any given night, is the time given to their entire segment. Progress is being made! Nonetheless, the bell sounds as Eve and Beth start things off for their teams. Eve goes for a headlock, but Beth sends her off the ropes and Eve beautifully glides off the Glamazon’s back. She goes for a kick, but Beth DRILLS her in the face with the soon-to-be infamous clothesline that has since possibly broken Eve’s nose. She goes for a cover, but Torres kicks out and Beth bodyslams her before viciously striking Brie Bella in the chest and ordering her to show the Glamazon what she can do in the ring. I have to say, I’m absolutely loving this new version of Beth where she bosses people around “her” ring!

Brie walks into the ring and drops Eve with a neckbreaker, before slamming her head into the canvas and asking Beth what she thinks about that?! Suddenly, we see Nikki Bella scream out, “BRIANNNAAAAA” like any good twin would do, as Brie turns around and gets dropped with a Samoan Drop by our Warrior Princess, Tamina. Nikki hilariously shrieks for Tamina to “leave her alone”, but Tamina refuses to listen and heads to the top rope. Nikki B starts to walk over towards her, but Kelly and Alicia Fox take her off the apron and to the floor. Tamina then proceeds to set up for it… and yes, Superfly Splash connects as Tamina picks up the win for her team. She and Beth then exchange glares towards one another, as the Glamazon seems pleased with Tamina…hmm.

Later on in the night following Chris Jericho’s victory in a six pack challenge, we begin to hear a loud female scream that I assume is a fan with a loud voice, until the camera suddenly cuts backstage to see that it is none other than Eve Torres! She cowers in fear, as Kane walks into her dressing room and proclaims that he can’t stand the hate pouring out of his soul. He continues that John Cena is beginning to embrace the hate, but that he’s not all the way there yet. Kane proclaims that when Cena embraces the hate, he will be in a better place but that if he doesn’t get there soon, he fears for Eve, Cena, or anyone that steps in his path. From there, Kane ends that for the first time in his life, he is afraid of himself! Eve cries in fear, as our horror movie saga comes to a brilliant end for this week.

Also, check out the phenomenal duo that is Daniel Bryan and AJ, as she joins him at ringside for his match against the Big Show:

Thoughts: Pretty unique show tonight. The 8-Diva tag was what it was, in that they still didn’t get a good amount of ring time, however I like that nobody got a commercial entrance. It’s also very intriguing to me that we got to see a recap of the WWE.com segment featuring Beth because we all know the website posts numerous segments involving the women that never translate to TV. I refuse to believe WWE is considering Kharma vs. Beth for ‘Mania because it’s always a let down in terms of booking. The only way I can see it happening is if the dreaded lumberjill stipulation makes its ungodly return, however, they really are building Beth up as this dominant force and I honestly love it. She’s becoming more entertaining to me because she is getting to show some character such as ordering the other females to impress her or get out of her ring. It’s planting the seeds for WrestleMania and I can not wait.

It also looks as if Tamina could be the challenger to Beth heading into the Elimination Chamber, which is pretty interesting considering I remember recapping her and JTG every week on NXT just a few months ago. It’s very weird seeing them actually utilize someone that’s not Kelly or Eve, and while Tamina isn’t everyone’s favorite, she’s one of mine because she is so unique in every way possible. I like that she isn’t cookie cutter, and yes, she’s not the greatest wrestler in the ring, but she and Natalya had a great outing on Superstars, therefore I have no doubt she and Beth could do the same on a pay per view. I’m assuming she is going to be used solely to bide time for Kharma’s complete return heading into ‘Mania, which is fine with me and it provides us with a fresh match that we have never seen before.

Eve’s segment with Kane was killer as well. I love that she is getting so much exposure on Raw with the top caliber stars, and tonight was the icing on the cake in that she actually got to close the show. You had Chris Jericho win a six pack challenge in the main event, and he is interrupted by a segment involving Eve… now that is phenomenal. (Note from Melanie: Backstage segments are pre-taped before the live show, so that’s why Eve looks fine here. The segment was recorded before her injury in the Divas match.)

AJ and Daniel Bryan work so well together too, it’s unbelievable. She plays the victim to a T, and he is the perfect person to work off of because he knows wrestling so well and is able to add in little quirks such as never saying he loves her back, and constantly persuading her to accompany him to the ring and use her to his advantage. I always wanted WWE to incorporate the females into male storylines, and judging from tonight, Eve and AJ are playing key roles on TV and I approve!

In the premiere episode of WWE’s new YouTube show Backstage Fallout, which takes you behind the scenes at Raw and SmackDown, second generation Diva Tamina — fresh off a big victory on Raw — told Divas Champ, Beth Phoenix, that her competition is “right here”.

Last week, Phoenix told WWE.com that there is no competition for her in the Divas division, but after scoring the victory in an 8-Diva tag team match on last night’s Raw, Tamina can safely say that she has a victory over Beth.

Speaking to Backstage Fallout, Tamina said of Beth’s comments on having no competition: “Isn’t that just part of what we were doing out there [giving her competition]? A lot of heads were turned. And her saying there’s no competition? A lot of heads were turned, yes — hers was one of them.”

“So competition? You’re looking at it right here.”

Watch the video below:

Skip to 02:48

Thoughts: Wow! Did not see that coming. We’ve never really seen Tamina cut a promo or speak too much, but I really loved her here. She came across really well and there’s something about her in this promo that connects. Go Tamina!

I’m a little surprised that Tamina is getting the big push, as it seems she’ll be facing Beth at Elimination Chamber, as she was just in the background a few months ago. I’m excited, however, that someone new is getting an opportunity in the spotlight and hopefully Tamina will make the most of the opportunity and cement herself as a top Diva. If she continues cutting promos like this, I can see her doing well.

Strikeforce’s Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate had choice words for her March 3rd opponent, Ronda Rousey, while making an appearance on HDNet’s Inside MMA last night.

Tate called the judo expert and Olympic medalist “delusional” following comments Rousey has made on Twitter and in the press.

MMAmania.com reports the champion as telling the programme:

I don’t really listen to much of anything that Ronda says. I don’t watch her interviews. I get a little bit of that drift that comes through Twitter. When people say, ‘Oh, you know she said this, she said that.’ Half the time, I honestly think it just makes her sound like an idiot. I mean, that’s just being brutally honest. I think she’s pretty delusional. I have yet to see Ronda actually fight. I’ve seen her go out there and do her Judo and whatnot. But she hasn’t ever actually brought a fight and that’s what I’m gonna make her do…fight. Anything that she says is motivation, definitely.

Additionally, Tate addressed the fight, saying she felt fans were going to be entertained:

That’s why this fight makes for an interesting match up, because our strengths are in similar areas. We’re both really great on the ground. I have wrestling, she has judo. I also feel like I have the edge on the feet and the experience overall. I’ve been doing this a lot longer. I feel like I’ll be able to put it together better. When it comes to mixing everything and meshing it, it’s gonna make for an awesome fight. I think people are really gonna enjoy and be entertained.

Watch the clip below:

Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey will face off on March 3rd on Showtime at 10pm ET.

Keep up to date with Diva Dirt MMA by visiting Diva-Dirt.com/MMA and following @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

Follow @DivaDirtMMA

Pro-Wrestling: EVE has announced an 8-woman Queen of the Ring tournament as part of the company’s debut Internet pay per view on February 18th.

Details below:

The website states that Torres was rushed backstage after tagging out of the match as she was bleeding profusely from her nose following a clothesline from Divas Champion, Beth Phoenix.

Early word, according to the report, is that she may have suffered a broken nose.

Best wishes to Eve on a speedy recovery. It’s unfortunate timing for her considering her current storyline with RAW’s big guns John Cena, Kane and the currently out-of-action Zack Ryder.

Discuss the show in the comments!

Speaking to Univision following this past Saturday’s UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker addressed the upcoming main event fight between Ronda Rousey and Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate.

Coker said that there is a fan base out there for women’s MMA based on ratings for previous female fights on Showtime. “”[On] Showtime, historically, when we have female fights on, the ratings are very good, so there is a fan base for female fighting and I think that this fight will do very well,” Coker said.

Speaking on the fight, Coker said: “This is most anticipated female fight in the history of Strikeforce, or I think [in] the history of female mixed martial arts, since the Gina Carano-Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ [Santos] fight that happened August of 2009.”

“I think that these women are great fighters and when you think about Ronda with the Olympic background — she’s a two-time Olympian and she [won a medal] in Judo in the last Olympics in Beijing.”

“Miesha’s coming off of a very big win against Marloes Coenen, who was champion at that time and a lot of the fans and media thought Miesha was going to lose that fight, and then she submitted her which has never happened to Marloes before.”

He adds: “Now you have two attractive girls about to fight, but don’t be deceived by their looks because these girls can really fight. They’re very fast, they’re dangerous, they’re explosive, and it’s going to be a great match-up on [March 3rd].”

Watch the interview here.

Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey takes place on March 3rd and will air on Showtime from 10pm ET.

Keep up to date with Diva Dirt MMA by visiting Diva-Dirt.com/MMA and following @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

Follow @DivaDirtMMA

CHIKARA has released its latest CHIKARA Podcast-A-Go-Go featuring footage from JoshiMania and Sara Del Rey‘s match at the company’s first ever Internet pay per view.

Del Rey faced former BDK team member Jakob Hammermeier.

Watch below:

River City Wrestling has uploaded footage of Alissa Flash aka Cheerleader Melissa‘s International Championship victory in San Antonio, Texas this past weekend.

In Video: Cheerleader Melissa Makes Appearance on Morning Talk Show

Flash defeated Rick David for the title and became the only woman in company history to hold the International Championship, Tag Team Championships and the RCW Heavyweight Championship.

Ring Ka King Write-Up (February 5th, 2012): Alissa Flash vs Mickie James

Watch the video below:

It’s pretty easy to tell what’s going to headline Strikeforce‘s “Tate vs. Rousey” event on March 3. Miesha Tate is set to defend her Strikeforce Bantamweight Championship against Ronda Rousey. Rousey is a 2008 Olympic Games Bronze Medalist in the sport of Judo and has never once lost in her MMA career.

Also announced for the card is a rematch between Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis. Davis made her mixed martial arts debut in April 2007 in a match against Kaufman but was knocked out in the third round. Kaufman has only lost once in her entire MMA career, when she submitted to an armbar applied by Marloes Coenen in a fight that took place in October 2010.

“Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey” takes place on March 3rd, 2012 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. It will air at 10pm ET on Showtime.

Check out an interview Miesha Tate recently gave to MMA H.E.A.T’s Karyn Bryant about her upcoming bout.

• • • • •

Undefeated rising star Ashley “Smashley” Cummins scored another victory on January 28th when she edged out Stephanie Frausto at NAAFS: Caged Fury 16 in Morgantown, West Virginia by unanimous decision.

• • • • •

Pink Fight MMA held its debut event on January 29th, 2012 in Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil.

The event, said to have been very successful, played host to eight fights and featured some of the country’s top female prospects.

Results:

* Kalindra Faria def. Elisabete Tavares by unanimous decision
* Juliana Aguiar def. Weyde Ventura by unanimous decision
* Herica Tiburcio def. Alessandra Silva by unanimous decision
* Kaká “Naja” def. Antonia “Maguila Gorilla” Deize by unanimous decision
* Vanessa Barbosa def. Jennifer Klieger by unanimous decision
* Aline Sério def. Mylla Torres by TKO in 27 seconds
* Christiane Schmitz def. Rosana “Chun-Li” Albuquerque by TKO at 2:56 during round 3
* Jennifer Maia def. Tatiane Aguiar by armbar submission at 1:17 during round 2

Check out a handful of pictures from the event, thanks to Sherdog.com.

• • • • •

Japan’s all-female promotion JEWELS has announced the first bout for their March 3 “18th Ring” event. ‘Future Princess’ Mika Nagano will take on ‘Special Attack Angel’ Emi Fujino, whom made her JEWELS debut at the “17th Ring” event in December 2011.

Both women have actually also previously dabbed in the world of professional wrestling. While both have wrestled for Ice Ribbon (debuting August 23 and August 15, 2009, respectively), Nagano also debuted for STARDOM in January 2011.

JEWELS’ “18th Ring” event will be held at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Shinkiba, Japan on March 3rd, 2012.

• • • • •

Strikeforce veteran Elaina Maxwell and pound-for-pound standout Tara LaRosa will both be in action at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 2: “Yvel vs. Alexander” on March 30th, 2012 in Kearney, Nebraska. Both women await confirmed opponents.

• • • • •

Much like Stacy Keibler and Kelly Kelly, you can vote for Gina Carano to be a part of Maxim’s Hot 100 for 2012.

In other Gina news, she’s receiving much praise for her role as Mallory Kane in the action-thiller film Haywire (directed by Steven Sodenbergh).

MMA-wise, Carano hasn’t fought since her famous bout with Cristiane Santos (also known as Cris Cyborg) in August 2009. The result of this fight has recently been thrown into question after the shocking announcement made in January that Cris Cyborg had tested positive for stanozolol – an anabolic steroid – after her December 2011 Strikeforce decimation of Hiroko Yamanaka (Cyborg defeated Yamanaka by TKO at just sixteen seconds into the first round), which has led many to wonder whether all Cris’ wins have been tainted.

Cyborg has since been suspended for a year and fined $2,500.

Says Santos on the matter, “I would like to sincerely apologize to Strikeforce, the Zuffa organization, Hiroko Yamanaka and my fans for my failed drug test. I am ultimately responsible for everything I put in my body, and at the end of the day, there is no excuse for having a prohibited substance in my system.”

Despite her expression of regret, Santos has so far maintained her innocence, stating that the failed test resulted from “a dietary supplement that I was assured was safe and not prohibited from use in sports competition.”

For more Diva Dirt MMA visit Diva-Dirt.com/MMA and follow @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

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That’s the news for now. Which tidbits have got you talking? Tell us in the comments…

Much like our coverage of women’s wrestling, Diva Dirt MMA (http://diva-dirt.com/mma) will aim to bring fans of women’s MMA the latest news, analysis and interviews.

“Women’s MMA is hotter than ever and like female wrestlers, female fighters are bold, daring and courageous. We are excited to expand into another area of female grappling as we believe that all of these fighting females deserve coverage here at Diva Dirt,” said Editor-in-Chief Melanie Rob.

More news on our expansion into women’s MMA will be revealed this week, so keep your eyes pealed! Additionally, if you are interested in writing for Diva Dirt MMA, we are looking to add another one or two contributors. Details can be found here.

Keep up to date with Diva Dirt MMA by visiting http://diva-dirt.com/mma and following @DivaDirtMMA on Twitter.

Follow @DivaDirtMMA

Former Divas Champion Brie Bella was spotted on the red carpet this weekend at the Head Rush/Unforgiven after party in Las Vegas.

Check out pictures of Brie on the red carpet below:

• • • • •

Two title changes took place at Ice Ribbon’s “Yokohama Ribbon” event at Radiant Hall, Yokohama, Japan on February 5. In front of a crowd of 225 people, Miyako Matsumoto defeated Neko Nitta and Jun Kasai to become the Triangle Ribbon Champion. This was only Nitta’s first defense of the title, having won it on January 25, 2012. This title change also makes Matsumoto the tenth ever Triangle Ribbon Champion.

Right after this match, Tsukasa Fujimoto and Tsukushi defeated Hikaru Shida and Maki Narumiya to win the International Ribbon Tag Team Championships, when Fujimoto pinned Shida at 16:45. This was the third defense for Shida and Narumiya, whom won the tag titles on December 28, 2011 at New Aisuhiro #356. Fujimoto Tweeted a picture of the new champions after their victory, as did Matsumoto.

Fujimoto and Tsukushi recently teamed together at Ice Ribbon’s 19 O’Clock Pro Wrestling #103 event held at the Warabi Dojo in Saitama on February 3. They defeated Sayako Obihiro and Maki Narumiya.

The other match on the February 3 show was part of the ’19 O’Clock Girls Tournament’ (which will feature eight women, with the final taking place on March 9. The tournament winner will then go on to face current IW19 Champion Tsukushi on March 23). Dorami Nagano defeated Mexico’s Lady Afrodita.

Also on the show:
* Aoi Kizuki def. Sayaka Obihiro (7:12)
* Kayoko Haruyama def. Meari Naito (9:10)
* Hamuko Hoshi and Mochi Miyagi def. Dorami Nagano and Kurumi (13:05)
* Hikari Minami and Choun Shiryu went to a draw with Riho & Ribbon Takanashi (15:00)

• • • • •

Hailey Hatred is the next name confirmed for the March 17 and 18 tapings of SHIMMER volumes 45-48.

International star Hatred made her debut for SHIMMER October 1 on volume 41 in a match against Kalamity.

She and Kalamity then teamed up to take on Mena Libra and Melanie Cruise for volume 42.

In October, she was sadly only able to attend one day worth of tapings but this time around, she’ll be at both.

• • • • •

Madusa has continued taunting Divas Champion Beth Phoenix on Twitter. This time she wrote to ‘The Glamazon’: “You will be the only one with mud on your face… And everyone laughing!”

Phoenix responded, “Bring the hate. It fuels me. #divaschampionforever.”

Madusa then vowed to take her Divas Championship, following with: “No hate…only love when I stomp that ass and take the diva title too! Let the schooling begin!”

• • • • •

Taeler Hendrix and Aleida Ortiz beat Bobbie Bardot and CJ Lane at OVW’s “Saturday Night Special” event in Louisville, Kentucky on February 4th. Hendrix pinned CJ Lane following the “SplitKick”.

We now also have confirmation that Bardot is none other than former WWF Diva and Hardcore Champion-for-a-minute, Bobcat. Bardot is married to TNA road agent Al Snow.

• • • • •

Cherry Bomb and “Dangerboy” Derek Wylde defeated Leah Von Dutch and Shawn Spears in mixed tag action on January 29 in Strathoy, Ontario for CCW. Derek Wylde took advantage of the referee being knocked out to deliver a DVD on Von Dutch and dragged Cherry Bomb over to make the pin.

Von Dutch won free professional wrestling training at Squared Circle Training in Toronto. She was handpicked by future WWE Hall of Famer Edge as part of an essay writing contest. Edge won a similar contest when he was eighteen years old, to train with Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchinson at Sully’s Gym. Check out Edge awarding Von Dutch the free pro wrestling training here.

• • • • •

On February 3 for HWA’s FundRAYzer event in Hamilton, Ohio, Nevaeh beat Kimber Lee and Lil Naughty in a three way dance.

In an update to yesterday’s News in Brief, Nicole Matthews was also in action at the ECCW event on February 4 in Vancouver. She teamed up with Ravenous Randy as part of “The Riot” to help defend their tag team titles against the Bollywood Lions. Thanks to Fun! Fun! Vancouver! for the image.

In the opening match for Hoosier Pro Wrestling on February 4, Miss Heidi pinned Canron Star in a brutal Street Fight.

• • • • •

A big press conference took place in Mexico a few days ago, with IWL promoter Valerie Ritcher talking about the upcoming debut card for her X-Project promotion on February 19th. She was joined by AAA stars Sexy Star and Daga. Sexy Star is the director for LuchaPOP and Daga will be starting his own promotion called Daga Dynamic Dojo (DDD), and they all revealed that X-Project will be a group of small promotions coming together under one umbrella to co-promote shows. The February 19 show will actually be two cards in the same venue.

As such, LuFisto will challenge for the LuchaPOP Women’s Championship on February 19, when she battles La Vaquerita in singles action on the DDD/X-Project show.

On the VO/X-Project show, also to be held at the Arena Lopez Monterrey in Monterrey on February 19, will be Vanely and Yuki Star vs. Big Mama and La Felina.

• • • • •

You can now vote for NZPWI’s People’s Choice Awards for 2011.

One of Diva Dirt’s Five to Watch 2011, Evie, is currently up for nomination in several categories: Best Moment, Breakout Star, twice in Best Match, and in Best Tag-Team with Megan-Kate for “BFF”.

Contenders for Best Female include Evie, Megan-Kate, Britenay, J.P.E, Lolli Lane, Misty, Nurse Payne and Queen Hollie.

That’s the news for now. Which tidbits have got you talking? Tell us in the comments…

Welcome to Diva Dirt’s This Week in History, where each week we’ll take a look back at some of the most memorable moments in women’s wrestling from years gone by.

So, join us in taking a trip down memory lane…

February 7th, 2002 | Two Divas and two gay men are feuding. How to solve their differences? With a pose-off, of course! Yes, Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler took on the duo of Billy and Chuck in what amounted to a swimsuit competition and an opportunity for the ever-cultured WWE audience to gasp and grimace at the male-on-male “action”. Torrie and Stacy won, of course, sending a message that every popped-collar frat boy has professed from the dawn of mankind: guy-on-guy: ew, girl-on-girl: hot!

What are your memories of this classic moment? Tell us in the comments…

As reported yesterday, Jenny Sjodin retained the EVE Championship by defeating Shanna and April Davids at XWA.

Check out details below:

It’s back! The Diva Dirt Perfect 10 makes a return as we look at the movers and shakers of the Divas and Knockouts division this past week a la WWE.com’s Power 25. Which femme fatales impressed on Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Superstars, Impact Wrestling and FCW? (Note: Pay per views will be counted the following week.)

Let’s find out…

#10. Eve Torres

Last Week: 8

Not a strong week for Eve Torres, as she left the Royal Rumble on the losing side of an eight diva tag, and was also defeated on Raw in a Divas Championship match that lasted under a minute.

Hopefully the coming week will be better for Eve so she can start to rise in the ranks of the Perfect 10!

Continue on for #9…

Welcome one and all to your first ever Ring Ka King Write-Up, a spin-off of our regular Impact Write-Up, and boy, what a ladies match we have to kick things off.

First of all, for those who do not know, “Ring Ka King” is a promotion set up by TNA and production company Endemol that takes place in India for an electric crowd who may not get to see wrestling first hand very often. The show airs on the Colors network in India, and features many notable names including some you’ve previously seen reported here. Well, it pleases me to say that the match I get to recap tonight is between two women who pretty much everyone that likes female wrestling knows about, that being Mickie James and Alissa Flash (Cheerleader Melissa to some not familiar with her TNA persona). Will the current Knockout best the former? Or can Alissa topple Mickie and prove her greatness to the rabid Indian fans? Let’s find out!

We head to the pretty amazing looking arena as that oh-so familiar (and heavily missed) theme music of Alissa Flash hits. She walks out from the back and executes her finest pose on the stage, before strutting down to the ring and stepping inside. Suddenly, her posing is cut off by a sound that I know very well from Thursday nights… HARRRDDCURRRRRRR COUUNNNTREEHHHHHHH!~ Out skips our favorite country lass, Mickie James, rocking some of her old WWE gear and looking as great as ever. She slides into the ring and poses for the fans, as I take notice of the referee’s green striped shirt. Anyways, the bell sounds and we get things started!

The two lock up, as Mickie takes control with an arm lock until Alissa reverses it and wrenches on the wrist. James with a one armed cartwheel, but Alissa knows this move all too well as she slams Mickie down to the canvas by the hair and chokes her with her boot. Flash Irish whips Mickie, but James slides under the legs, snapmares her over, and charges with a running dropkick! Mickie connects with some punches, as she is sent into the corner and elbows a running Flash. Legs up..and yes! She scores with the Mick-A-Rana! James follows it up with a clothesline, and heads to the top rope before Alissa snaps her off.

Flash begins to pound Mickie’s head into the ring canvas, before choking her using the bottom rope and then transitioning it into a boot choke. Flash starts to toy with Mickie, but she just ends up pissing her off it looks, as James starts to go off. She runs off the ropes until Alissa scores with a HUGE boot to the face for a two count. This sparks Alissa to apply a very unique submission that looks both amazing and painful. James somehow manages to slide to the bottom rope, but she just can not mount a comeback yet. Alissa looks to go for a Samoan Drop, but Mickie escapes out the back and rolls her up into a bridge for a two count! James ducks a clothesline attempt and charges off the ropes with a few of her own to fire this crowd up. She then scores with the flapjack kip up and begins to head to the top rope!

Flash gets to a vertical base, and Mickie leaps off with the Thesz Press into a split cover for a two count as Alissa gets the shoulder up. James signals that the end is near, but Alissa pokes her in the eye and nails the Samoan Drop! She hooks the leg and only musters a two count. Alissa looks to go for the Emerald Fusion, but Mickie manages to kick her in the gut and plant her with the Mickie-DT! Hook of the leg, and James gets the three count! Mickie celebrates her victory to the ravenous fans, as Alissa plots her revenge for another day.

Thoughts: What a competitive match between Mickie and Alissa. I was completely into this and I thought both women performed great together. It’s a shame that we never saw this on Impact Wrestling, but if this is how they want to present female wrestling to the Indian crowd, then it’s fine by me! I like the idea of Alissa being their top female heel, and Mickie being their fan favorite since she’s one of the most notable names in women’s wrestling today. The only fault I have with this is that Ring Ka King doesn’t air on my own TV because this is the type of match I would love to watch on a larger screen!

Writing to a fan on Twitter, Natalya wrote: “No one needs to worry about me. Except for the people at Louis Vuitton!”

As reported yesterday, the third-generation Diva’s uncle, Smith Hart, spoke out against the storyline, tweeting that he was “appalled” by it.

Thoughts: If there’s one word we can use to describe Natalya, it’s classy. Natalya always comes across as a positive spirit and it’s good to see that she can brush off what she may be doing on TV, even if fans find it disturbing. I can certainly see, however, where the fans inundating the Diva with tweets are coming from; we all we just want to see Natalya being used to the best of her abilities and this certainly isn’t it.

Think Natalya is #ClassyNotGassy? Use the Twitter button below to tweet your opinion!

As reported earlier today, former WWE Divas Champions and real life BFFs Melina and Jillian Hall faced off last night at the debut WWFX show in the Philippines.

Melina picked up the victory in the match which reunited the two Divas for the first time in the ring since their time together in WWE.

Watch fan footage of the match below:

Additionally, on Friday, Jillian appeared with fellow former WWE star Carlito on the daytime TV show “Eat Bulaga”. Watch her appearance below at the 4:40 minute mark.

Our weekly photoshoot breakdown is constructed to give you, the reader, the main stage. Each week, we’ll highlight the new WWE and TNA photoshoots and give you the opportunity to vote for your favorite. In the next week’s post, we’ll unveil the winner. At the end of the month, we’ll take each week’s winner and determine the month’s most popular photoshoot. All of this will be determined by you, so do your Diva Dirt duty and vote!

Eve Torres

Eve’s photoshoot will included in our “photoshoot of the month” poll this Friday.

This week’s batch of photoshoots feature Angelina Love, Brie Bella, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Mickie James, Nikki Bella, ODB, Rosita, SoCal Val, Tara, Velvet Sky and Winter. Click the photos below to see their corresponding photoshoot. Vote in the poll below and come back Friday to see the winner.

Angelina Love #1

Angelina Love #2

Brie & Nikki Bella

Christy Hemme

Gail Kim

Mickie James

ODB

Rosita #1

Rosita #2

SoCal Val

Tara

Velvet Sky

Winter

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TNA Knockout Sarita is headed to Japan on March 4 to wrestle for STARDOM as part of Io Shirai’s 5th anniversary in professional wrestling. Coincidentally, this date also falls on Sarita’s 33rd birthday and is not long after her own (tenth) anniversary in wrestling.

She’ll be teaming up with Shirai to take on Nanae Takahashi and Miho Wakizawa in the main event.

Says Sarita of the upcoming bout on Facebook, “I’ll be spending my birthday and celebrating my 10th anniversary as a wrestler in Japan this year. No better way to celebrate!”

Sarita first wrestled in Japan in October 2005 for promotion A To Z.

• • • • •

Melina at WWFX (Pic: @OfficialKevinP)

At the World Wrestling Fan Experience (WWFX) show held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in the Phileppines on February 4th, Melina defeated Jillian Hall.

These two famously wrestled each on October 12th, 2009 on Raw after Jillian had just (sneakily) pinned Mickie James to win the WWE Divas Championship. Guest host Nancy O’Dell announced that she had negotiated a Diva trade and that Jillian would be defending her title against Raw’s newest acquisition, Melina. Melina went on to subsequently defeat Hall and re-gain the Divas Title.

• • • • •

Also on February 4th, Alissa Flash (Cheerleader Melissa) won the River City Wrestling International Championship from Rick David in San Antonio, TX. Flash has also previously won the RCW Championship and the RCW Tag Team Championship (with Darci Drake) within the promotion.

Over in Vancouver, Canada, KC Spinelli retained her ECCW Women’s Championship over Mary Jane Payne via disqualification when Payne’s buddies Scotty Mac and Nick Price from The Administration interfered.

And finally, all the way across the pond in Morecambe, England, for XWA Goldrush, Jenny Sjödin also retained her Pro Wrestling: EVE title when she defeated both Shanna and April Davids in a triple threat match. Sjödin forced Shanna to tap out to her cross armbreaker submission hold. Shanna was helped from the ring by EVE official Dann Read and results say she’s injured her shoulder.

• • • • •

Kellie Skater just keeps tearing it up in Japan! Australia’s “Rate Tank” today teamed up with Hiroyo Matsumoto and Eri Susa in a main event match against Io Shirai, Arisa Hoshiki and Mayu Iwatani for STARDOM’s “Season 5 New Year Stars 2012″ show.

• • • • •

Taeler Hendrix defended her OVW Women’s title in a dark match for OVW’s TV Tapings held on February 1st. She defeated Bobbie Bardot by pinfall following the “SplitKick”.

Hendrix made her debut for OVW in a dark match versus Lady JoJo in August 2010. It was another year before she joined the company full-time, returning in a match against Izza Belle Smothers in September 2011, and she defeated Lady JoJo for OVW’s Women’s Championship on November 12th during a “Saturday Night Special” event at the Davis Arena. Since then, she has defended her title against a plethora of challengers – Bardot, JoJo, Holly Blossom, Taryn Shay and CJ Lane, to name a few.

Hendrix is also known for a handful of appearances she made for Ring of Honor in 2010, in matches against Daizee Haze and Sara Del Rey.

• • • • •

“The First Lady of ROH” Maria Kanellis appeared at the Ring of Honor tapings held in Baltimore, MD today. She taped for the third episode, which will air in a few weeks time.

• • • • •

Torrie & A-Rod at UFC 143. (Pic: @BleacherReport)

In tying with the Super Bowl XLVI game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, WWE.com has selected their own choices for “Patriots” (patriotic wrestlers with a love for America) vs. “Giants” (big, tall and dominating wrestlers), and two Divas made the cut. Batting for the Patriots is former Playboy covergirl Torrie Wilson, and on the Giants’ side is Kharma.

Speaking of Torrie, the blonde beauty was spotted out in Beverly Hills on February 2nd with boyfriend Alex Rodriguez. She was then ‘papped’ the next morning at LAX with Alex, where they caught a departing flight.

Additionally, Torrie and A-Rod were spotted in the audience at last night’s UFC 143 event.

That’s the news for now. Which tidbits have got you talking? Tell us in the comments…

What we are looking for
1. We are looking for writers who are well versed in women’s wrestling news be it WWE, TNA, North American independents or international. Do you have a wealth of knowledge on women’s wrestling history, as well as the current landscape? Do you have a good grasp of the Joshi scene, or perhaps women’s wrestling in Mexico, or somewhere else around the world? Candidates should be on the ball in covering the latest news & results, as well as be able to pitch and write interesting editorials and features. You may also be asked to write weekly reviews (similar to the Raw Redux etc).
2. Additionally, we are looking for well versed writers/fans of female MMA, particularly North American female MMA, to cover the latest female MMA news, conduct interviews, review live fights and more. Candidates should have a good grasp of and interest in female MMA.

Guidelines
1. Please ensure you have a suitable amount of time to devote to contributing to the site.
2. Good use of the English language is a must.
3. Ideal for college/university level students or young writers looking to gain exposure and experience writing for a publication.
4. Duties will include the tasks listed above. Additionally, candidates will be expected to be able to write, source and research their articles to high standards.
5. Positions are unpaid at this time. However, candidates will gain valuable experience in the world of online journalism. Transferable skills include: writing copy, researching stories, creating contacts, working within a team, working to deadlines, image editing and more.
6. The editor (Melanie Rob) and the publisher (Jason Deadrich) are able to provide candidates with references upon request.

If you think you have what it takes, please email the editor, Melanie Rob, at the following address: melanie@diva-dirt.com. Please include the following in your email:

1. Covering letter. This should include details about yourself i.e. age, where you live, education, occupation (if you have one), why you’d be suitable for a role at Diva Dirt, and whether you can meet the requirements of the tasks listed above.
2. Examples of work you’ve previously produced.

Please note: Due to the volume of emails, we will only be able to respond to prospective candidates.

Good luck!

This week on SmackDown, Natalya and Beth Phoenix reunite as the Divas of Doom, to take on the team Aksana and Tamina in tag team action. We also had the return of everyone’s favorite pocket rocket, AJ. But before we get into any of the good stuff, why don’t we get this backstage segment out of the way.

Watch below as Natalya and Beth chat about their match:

Oh, WWE… I really hate you sometimes. I really don’t get the point of this whole farting gimmick, aside from making little kids laugh and embarrassing Natalya. Hopefully, this gimmick will bomb and we can all move along, because this is just getting hard to watch.

Next up, we have our Divas match for the evening. Watch below as the Divas of Doom take on Aksana and Tamina:

Aksana is out first to her espionage/Skinemax entrance theme to meet with her partner, Tamina, who’s already in the ring. Beth and Natalya are out next, and they’re all business it seems. While Natalya and Beth play up to the crowd, Tamina and Aksana discuss their strategy.

The official signals for the bell and our Divas match is underway with Natalya and Aksana starting the match for their respective teams. The ladies lock up and Nattie gets the upperhand, leveling Aksana with a Michinoku Driver. Natalya blasts Tamina in the face with a stiff forearm, before going back to Aksana, but gets caught in the gut with a kick from Aksana. Aksana tries to follow up with a vertical suplex, but Natalya tosses her to the ground face-first.

While Nattie gloats, Beth sneaks up and forcibly tags herself in, picks up the scraps and Glam Slams Aksana to pick up the win for her team.

After the match, Beth and Natalya exchange words for a minute and Beth leaves her partner in the ring. Dejected, Natalya attacks Aksana and goes for the Sharpshooter. Fortunately for Aksana, Tamina makes the save, laying out the Hart heiress with a superkick and a Superfly Splash.

While the match wasn’t much longer than last week’s and had about as much substance, it set up what looks to be a feud between Beth and Natalya, possibly turning the latter face in the process. I must admit, the prospect of a Beth/Nattie feud is fantastic. I just hope we can drop the fart gags behind…

Last, but not least we saw the return of NXT 3 graduate, AJ, who’s been M.I.A. since she was nearly trampled to death by Big Show. It seems her injury also affected her vocal chord, as she communicated exclusively through facial expressions and gestures. Check out the segment below:

While I would love to see AJ tap into her inner bitchy heel and join forces with Daniel Bryan as the top power couple in WWE (sorry, Maxine and Derrick Bateman), I’m really enjoying this good girl/bad boy angle. I’m interested in seeing what kind of role AJ will play in this Big Show/Daniel Bryan storyline in the weeks to come. I believe that this could be the breakout storyline that could lead to her becoming a top Diva.

In recent weeks, we have seen Natalya appearing to pass gas in backstage segments and then run off embarrassed.

Smith, elder brother of Bret and Owen, wrote that he is “appalled” by the gimmick which was given to her by WWE writers.

He said: “I am appalled by this ridiculous flatulence gimmick given to my niece Natalya.”

“Anyone that knows Natalya, knows she is a radiant and incredibly inspirational person deserving of so much more.”

Recent reports suggest, however, that the gimmick is here to stay.

Thoughts: Couldn’t agree more with Smith Hart’s comments.

Layla and Sgt. Slaughter appear on NBC Miami.

Injured WWE Diva Layla has told NBC Miami that she is training for her in-ring return to WWE following an ACL and MCL tear last year, however, there is a chance that she may not be back by WrestleMania 28 on April 1st. The event is set to take place in her hometown of Miami.

Layla, who was injured in May last year, has been rehabbing and recently began wrestling training to prepare for her return. The former Women’s Champion didn’t reveal when she’d be returning to TV, but “hopes to return soon”, says NBC Miami.

The website adds, however: “There’s still a chance, however, that Layla may not be able to compete in the annual extravaganza”, referring to ‘Mania in Miami.

Additionally, the British star commented on her eventual return: “I’m going to bring excitement and entertainment, and I want people to want to watch the divas wrestle. And I’ll be back stronger than ever, and ready to take over the diva’s division.”

Thoughts: With an injury as serious as this, Layla shouldn’t come back too early just for the sake of it, but make sure she is fully healed and ready to return to the ring. In the past, WWE has rushed other Divas who’ve suffered ACL tears into returning sooner than they should have and it doesn’t help anyone. It would be sad if Layla missed ‘Mania in her hometown, but her being 100% healed is what is most important.

As always, our best wishes to Layla during her recovery.

Vote below:

What did you vote for and why?

Gutenhagen, and welcome to a recap of that one show where the Divas aren’t shafted on ring time (sorry NXT, you’re starting to slip), Superstars! After months of no female action, WWE has seen the light and begun offering us weekly showing from the ladies. First it was Brie and Kelly, then Beth and Brie, and now it’s Brie and her sister Nikki against Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox! I guess you could say the influx of Divas to this show can be represented fully by Brie Bella of all people, but nonetheless, after two solid outings, will this be third times the charm? Let’s check it out below:

All the girls in the club say who, as the blond beauty herself, Kelly Kelly, steps out from the back and high fives the fans on her way to the ring. She poses on the turnbuckle, as I’m sure everyone in the crowd starts to pa-pa-pa-partay at the sound of our favorite Fox’s theme. Alicia steps out in her Fancy Fox Hood, which does not fall over her face when she climbs to the second rope and saddens me as I’ve now come to expect it following this week’s NXT. She and Kelly exchange smiles and hugs like a good face team, as they are cut off by the vivacious duo of Brie and Nikki Bella. Following a Bella booty shake, they flip inside the ring as we get this “half a rematch” started.

Kelly and Brie start to circle the ring, before the latter slides outside and taunts Kelly with her sister. She slowly climbs back inside the ring, before running out the other side as they slap their booties at the duo. This sparks Kelly and Alicia to baseball slide the twins into the barricade, and then give them a little spank to simply annoy them. Alicia slides Brie back inside the ring and goes to town on her with some punches and a sick dropkick. Foxy is sent into the corner, but she fires back with a nice elbow. Nikki tries to chime in from the corner, but Alicia tells her she better mind her business, which gives me some mad “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” vibes and also provides distraction, allowing Brie to snap her neck off the ropes.

Brie slides back into the ring and slams Fox’s face on the canvas before tagging out to Nikki. Nikki B proceeds to choke her on the ropes, as Brie kicks her from the corner. Quick tag back out to Brie, and they slam Alicia’s head into the corner. Brie uses her boot to choke her for a brief count, before snapmaring Fox over and locking in a submission. Kelly tries to get the crowd behind Fox, but Brie and Nikki just continue to take control. Double Booty Shake by the two, and as Brie tries to leave, Fox kicks Nikki into her and takes her out. Nikki then BARELY stops the tag as she punches Kelly off the turnbuckle and drags Fox back to their corner.

Kelly is PISSED, but manages to calm herself down enough to cheer Alicia on as Nikki has her in a submission. Fox finally is able to break the hold as she executes a nice split arm drag and tags in Kelly Kelly! K2 ascends to the top rope and leaps off with a Thesz Press onto Nikki B. Running facebuster follows it up, continuing with her whirlybird headscissors to fire the crowd up! Nikki falls into that deadly spot in the corner where a stink face connects, but as Kelly goes for a bulldog, Nikki breaks it and tries for a clothesline. Kelly manages to duck it though, and drops her with the K2 out of nowhere! The referee counts, which sparks Alicia Fox to hilariously leap in air onto Brie as if she was a in a slow motion action scene to keep her away for the win! Kelly and Alicia celebrate, as we view a replay of the highlights from the bout.

Thoughts: This was a pretty fun match overall. I thought there were some creative spots such as the baseball slide into a spank over the barricade, and it’s a bummer these four can’t put on this type of match when the show is televised due to time constraints. If Superstars is the only way for these matches to happen, I say bring the entire division here and start some storylines because I’d rather get good action weekly than see thirty second matches all the time. Nonetheless, Kelly, Alicia, and the Bellas work well together and I really want to see what more these ladies can offer. We’ve seen Kelly face both of them in singles matches before, but It’d be fun to see what Alicia can do alone with them when there’s a solid amount of time given.