Of the four championships on the line this Saturday at The Summit, a coproduction between RISE, SHIMMER, Femmes Fatales and Smash Wrestling, two stand in stark contrast to each other: the SHIMMER Championship, held by Nicole Savoy, and the Phoenix of RISE Championship, held by Zoe Lucas. Though both are being defended against familiar opponents, the titles themselves have been on very different journeys.
Savoy is closing in on the two year mark of her reign, which is already the second longest in SHIMMER history. The record, set by MsChif at 715 days, has stood for over nine years. By comparison, Lucas’s four month run with the RISE Title looks downright short. However, when you consider the frequency with which that particular title changes hands (already seven times in its two year life, compared to the 12 times SHIMMER’s Title has done so in over 12 years), Lucas isn’t doing too bad for herself. In a way, it’s like comparing long distance and short distance racing: it takes different skill sets to succeed at each.
By that token, SHIMMER Champion Nicole Savoy is a veritable marathoner. She’s successfully defended her title 15 times, besting the likes of Cheederleader Melissa, Mercedes Martinez, LuFisto and Hiroyo Matsumoto while twice successfully taking on challengers for STARDOM in Japan. She’s as unstoppable as any SHIMMER Champion has ever been.
Her challenger this Saturday, Nicole Matthews, is no stranger to championships, nor the champ herself. Matthews is a former SHIMMER Champion and currently holds the ECCW Women’s Championship, which she has successfully defended against Savoy twice this year. They’ve also met one other time in 2019, at Femmes Fatales 21, where Savoy got the better of Matthews in a non-title match. “Some” would say a suspiciously stolen contact lens put Matthews at a disadvantage, but the hard-fought 16 minute match left no one looking bad.
If anyone could put an end to Savoy’s 600+ day reign, it’s the woman who’s already beaten her twice this year, right?
Hopefully, though, this time it won’t take a fireball for Matthews to win the gold.
Meanwhile, Phoenix of RISE champion Zoe Lucas will be making her return from a summer stint in Japan for STARDOM primed to take on “Big Swole” herself, Aerial Monroe. This is a rematch from May’s RISE 14, where Lucas successfully defended the title against Monroe under decidedly shady circumstances, ensuring that the referee did not see a rope break made by Monroe in the match’s closing seconds.
August 10 at The Summit in Toronto, @ZoeLucasPro defends The Phoenix of RISE against Big Swole @aerialmonroe! Join us as @SHIMMERwomen, @FemmesFatales21, @smashwrestling and RISE present the ultimate collaboration in Women’s Wrestling! Tickets: https://t.co/28dzUtsaSg pic.twitter.com/3bGULRFmGb
— RISE Wrestling (@RISEdtwa) June 10, 2019
Surely, Monroe’s been steaming about that for months. In fact, since neither Monroe nor Lucas competed at the last RISE show, Pride and Joy, their feud is picking up right where it left off, with tensions shooting through the roof. In fact, Aerial is counting the seconds until they meet again.
Tick tock, @ZoeLucasPro. Big Swole knows it is almost time for @SHIMMERwomen, @smashwrestling, @FemmesFatales21 and RISE to present The Summit August 10 in Toronto, and she has her eyes on The Phoenix! Tickets: https://t.co/DLtdU81hOS VOD: https://t.co/DA7RwvN6Q8. pic.twitter.com/epcsPbPVeX
— RISE Wrestling (@RISEdtwa) August 4, 2019
As much as she is a fast-rising star, Monroe has yet to win a championship. With what she learned in her losing effort last time, she might have all she needs to succeed. Will she finally win gold this Saturday?
Certainly, Zoe’s not planning on it:
Thanks for the research… ? https://t.co/0xTikyOXnK
— Zoe Lucas ???????? (@ZoeLucasPro) July 31, 2019
The full Summit card includes:
SHIMMER Championship match: Nicole Savoy (c) vs. Nicole Matthews
Phoenix of RISE Championship Match: Zoe Lucas (c) vs. Aerial Monroe
Femmes Fatales International Championship Match: Mercedes Martinez (c) vs. Jordynne Grace
Match Crowning the first Smash Women’s Champion (Special Referee: Xandra Bale): Rosemary vs. KC Spinelli
Fatal Four-Way: LuFisto vs. Allysin Kay vs. Cheerleader Melissa vs. Priscilla Kelly
Shotzi Blackheart vs. Delilah Doom
Ashley Vox vs. Veda Scott
Dust vs. Delmi Exo
Experience it all at The Summit, presented by Femmes Fatales, RISE, SHIMMER and Smash Wrestling at Midtown Event Theatre in Toronto, ON on August 10th, starting at 11 am ET. See it in person by buying tickets to the show and pre-show Meet & Greet or watch it same day on VOD. Every match will also be sold individually on ClickWrestle.com.
