Irish wrestling stars Valkyrie and Debbie Keitel sought to explain their shocking double betrayal of tag partners Katey Harvey and Amy Allonsy in an interview with Aonghus Óg McAnally released today.
The most recent live event from Irish promotion Over the Top Wrestling (OTT), Contenders 12, broke new ground for women’s wrestling in the company. For the first time ever, a women’s match main evented a Contenders show, as OTT Women’s Champion Raven Creed defended her title in a terrific showdown with indie star Jordynne Grace. But the tag match earlier in the card will surely be the most impactful moving forward.
Debbie Keitel turned first when she jumped down from the apron as Allonsy reached desperately for a tag. She knocked Allonsy’s valet, Mr. Unicorn, to the floor with a vicious forearm, then decked Allonsy when she came to ringside.
The more shocking betrayal followed moments later when Harvey left the ring to ask Keitel why she’d attacked her own partner. Valkyrie followed her to ringside a few moments later. When she finished with Keitel, Harvey approached Valkyrie, who almost decapitated her with a vicious enzuigiri. Valkyrie and Keitel then fist-bumped over the prone body of Harvey, though it remains unclear if they coordinated the attack beforehand.
Katey Harvey, known to fans as the Queen of Irish Wrestling, is the mentor of Valkyrie, and each referred to the other as their best friend in a promo earlier this year. Valkyrie is also a long-time member of the Queen’s Court, Harvey’s faction in Pro Wrestling Ulster. She explained in the interview with McAnally that she was sick of people thinking of her as “Katey Harvey’s tag partner” or “Katey Harvey’s student”. “I am better. I’m not bitter,” she added. “And I’m ready to take Katey Harvey’s head off.”
Tensions between the two have simmered throughout the year, starting in April with Defiant, OTT’s first all-women’s show. Valkyrie fought Harvey in a qualifying match for the main event, a four-way elimination match for the OTT Women’s Championship. Harvey defeated Valkyrie, albeit in controversial fashion. Valkyrie managed to get her shoulders up before the count of three, but referee Niall Fox didn’t see it, and Harvey advanced to the main event, where she was eliminated by eventual winner Sammii Jayne. Valkyrie and Harvey later faced off with Jayne in a triple threat for the title at WrestleRama 2. Harvey almost won the title after landing a Gory bomb on Jayne, but Valkyrie pulled the referee out of the ring to break the count, and Jayne ultimately retained.
Keitel’s explanation for betraying Allonsy was less dramatic. She mocked Allonsy for taking a year out of in-ring competition, saying “She got very comfortable behind that merch stand, didn’t she? Watching us do the work for an entire year. Oh, suddenly, she wants to come back?” Keitel and Valkyrie both seemed resentful of Allonsy for getting a huge pop from the audience with her unicorn gimmick while their in-ring talent went “unappreciated, underutilised and overlooked”. “You have literally trained the audience to be idiots,” said Keitel.
Valkyrie and Keitel were vague about what their next step would be, with Keitel saying they would have their moment, while Valkyrie claimed she was “going into business for [herself]”. Both are set to appear at the first OTT show of 2019, Contenders 13, scheduled for January 20th at the Ringside Club in Dublin, though OTT have yet to announce who they’ll be facing.
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