It’s been a tough week for Dana Brooke. After the passing of her partner took place on the 26th of August, she’s been getting through it like a trooper. And with this being her first televised match since the tragedy, it’s a pretty important one to watch. Let’s check out what happened!
Alicia Fox makes her way to the ring and readies herself for her opponent. Brooke soon follows and we see her pointing at the ceiling during her entrance, indicating that this match is for her boyfriend Dallas McCarver.
The match begins with an aggressive lock-up and Foxy ends up taking the lead for a little while. We see a few pin attempts from Brooke, but to her dismay they prove to be unsuccessful.
At one point the Fox is in the corner and Brooke attempts to spear her in the mid-section. But unfortunately for Dana the veteran jumps to the top rope, leading to Alicia punching Brooke in the head. Foxy then takes control and inserts a wonderful axe kick to her opponent’s back.
With Dana’s back now hurt, the veteran decides to take advantage by inserting her knee to it and applying a few stretch-holds. A Bridging Northern Lights Suplex is also inserted but to the disappointment of the former Divas champion, Dana kicks out. So, back to the stretch holds!
As the crowd is beginning to notice the brutal attack on Dana, they begin to cheer her on. A few claps became louder and louder and then with that momentum she tosses Foxy to the other side of the ring. And with a few punches, a clothesline, Handspring back elbow smash in the corner, and a Rounding Splash, Dana takes home the pinfall victory!
Brooke, looking ecstatic from her win, looks up to the sky at her boyfriend. This one’s for you, Dallas!
Thoughts: Dana and Alicia typically have great chemistry. And although this may not be their best match, it wasn’t a terrible performance.
The story being told here is that of redemption. Brooke is constantly being overlooked, and with the recent passing of McCarver, she needed to score a victory to feel that smile shining down from him. And despite Foxy’s best efforts to stop this, Brooke stood tall and made her boyfriend proud.
Watching this gave me a different perspective of Dana. After having just recently gone through such a traumatic experience, she still walked out to the ring with a smile and delivered a good performance. Nobody expected her to serve us a Match of the Year candidate, in fact I didn’t expect her to even show up for a good while. Yet, she came into the ring and delivered a decent match.
There were a few awkward moments that were pretty noticeable, but as a whole, the match did its job. It allowed Dana to prove that she was a fighter, and through her best efforts, she held her own.
Fox also deserves her credit here as she gave a good performance alongside her opponent. She gave us some comedic relief with her one-liners, and delivered some aggression that allowed Brooke to work off of. We needed to see Brooke attempt to gain this through a hard-fought battle. So with Alicia offering consistent hurdle after hurdle – with her signature belligerence showcased throughout – Dana was able to achieve that goal.
It’s also pretty interesting that Dana constantly goes for pin after pin, almost as if this win was something she needed. Going back to the recent events in her life, it all makes sense. Dana so badly wanted to make her boyfriend proud that she aimed to put an end to the match as quickly as possible. And although her quick attempts prove unsuccessful, the harder fought journey of taking Alicia Fox down ends up being a sweeter prize. Dana fought for this win. She fought to make McCarver proud. And she did it.
I hope that Brooke is given a longer programme in the near future as she definitely deserves it. She has star potential and although this match isn’t her best, it is an example of what she’s capable of!
On a somewhat related note, Dana recently launched the ‘Dallas McCarver Foundation’, a charity formed to help underprivileged children (something Dallas is extremely passionate about). All donations would be more than appreciated by Brooke and McCarver’s family.
What did you think of the match? Do you see a bright future for either woman? Let us know your views in the comments below!
