Mid 20th Century
102-562: Nicole Raczynski (born April 19, 1979) is an American former professional wrestler . She is best known for her tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring names Roxxi Laveaux , The Voodoo Queen , and Roxxi . She is also known for her time in Shimmer Women Athletes and various other independent promotions under the ring name Nikki Roxx . Growing up, Raczynski attended professional wrestling events at
204-408: A Six Woman Tag Team match . From August Roxxi began to phase into a new gimmick : that of a Hardcore Knockout as emphasized by a series of TNA Rough Cut segments. She later participated in several hardcore matches, often getting bloodied during them. She also developed a punk like attitude during interviews, often swearing excessively. On September 25, 2008, she disguised herself as Raisha Saeed ,
306-568: A babyface when she resisted their attempts to change her, and in response the duo attacked her and called her a freak, sparking a feud between them. She defeated Love on the April 10, 2008, edition of Impact! by debuting her new finisher, the Voodoo Drop. She then went on to win the first-ever Queen of the Cage match at Lockdown , ultimately pinning Love after a Voodoo Drop, and as a result of winning, she
408-479: A three-way match for the SuperGirls Championship . She defended the championship against Vice and Aurora in the following weeks. Vice, however, defeated Matthews for the title on April 21, 2007. During this time, Matthews also formed a partnership with Sid Sylum, wrestling with him in mixed tag team matches and occasionally acting as his valet . Matthews continued to feud with Vice for the remainder of
510-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
612-706: A 2CW show in Syracuse, New York ), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling contacted her and signed Raczynski to a contract in the summer of 2007. Raczynski debuted in TNA on July 15, 2007, at the Victory Road pay-per-view . Identified as "The Voodoo Queen" Roxxi Laveaux, she was introduced as the valet of the Voodoo Kin Mafia . Following a match between the Voodoo Kin Mafia and Basham and Damaja , Roxxi brawled with Christy Hemme ,
714-599: A 60-day suspension following a backstage altercation with Rhaka Khan . On August 29, 2009, Jeremy Borash announced that Raczynski would be returning to the company at the August 31 and September 1 Impact! tapings for an apparent one-shot deal. On the September 10 edition of Impact! she returned to team with Madison Rayne in the tournament for the Knockout Tag Team Championship . They were, however, eliminated in
816-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
918-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1020-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1122-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
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#17328834595301224-671: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Nicole Matthews Lindsay Miller (born January 15, 1987) is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by her ring name Nicole Matthews . Matthews regularly wrestles for Shimmer Women Athletes and Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling among other independent promotions . She regularly teamed with fellow Canadian wrestler
1326-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1428-558: A four-way elimination tag team match, but were the final team eliminated by Courtney Rush and Sara Del Rey , who won the Shimmer Tag Team Championship. On July 7, The NINJAs defeated Rush and Del Rey at an NCW Femmes Fatales (NCW FF) event to win the Shimmer Tag Team Championship for the second time. They lost the title to the Global Green Gangsters ( Kellie Skater and Tomoka Nakagawa ) on April 14, 2013, at
1530-498: A four-way match between herself, Kim, ODB , and Angel Williams for the TNA Women's Championship. Roxxi had the advantage when she spit Asian mist into ODB's face, but Kim her took down long enough to pin ODB and retain her title. Roxxi competed in a tag team match at Turning Point , teaming up with ODB to take on Angelina Love (Angel Williams) and Velvet Sky . However, Roxxi and ODB lost
1632-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
1734-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
1836-702: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
1938-552: A match to Sara Del Rey . Raczynski made her debut for Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) in México on August 21, 2009, in the Verano de Escándalo show, where she, as Roxxi, was presented by Konnan as the newest member of La Legión Extranjera along with Teddy Hart , Jennifer Blake , Rain and Nicole. Despite being advertised for later shows, she has not appeared for the company since her debut. In May 2011, Raczynski began working under
2040-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2142-645: A new stable known as The Riot in ECCW, alongside Ravenous Randy Myers, Alex Plexis and Andy "The Dreadful" Bird. Matthews sent a demo tape to Shimmer Women Athletes in December 2006, but was not signed to the promotion. In October 2007, however, Matthews was called to join the company when Portia Perez needed a tag team partner. Matthews teamed with Perez in Shimmer Volumes 15 and 16. After three singles matches with Shimmer, Matthews once again began teaming with Perez as
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#17328834595302244-437: A non-title match, earning herself a shot at the title at Slammiversary VIII in the process. Two weeks later, Roxxi got a victory over the debuting Rosie Lottalove , rolling her up after she refused to take advantage of an interference from Madison Rayne. At Slammiversary VIII Roxxi agreed to put her TNA career on the line against Rayne and her Women's Knockout Championship. Rayne retained her title, ending Roxxi's TNA career in
2346-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
2448-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
2550-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
2652-573: The Boston Garden with her parents. She trained as a wrestler under Killer Kowalski at the urging of April Hunter who was already training there. Raczynski was allowed to train at the school for free, according to her, because of Kowalski's "soft spot for the women that were trying to get into the business" (other women, such as Chyna , are known to have paid, possibly because one of Kowalski's own students urged her to train). She debuted in March 2002 under
2754-644: The Canadian NINJAs (National International Nation of Jalapeño Awesomeness). On October 19, 2008, on Volume 22, the NINJAs challenged Ashley Lane and Nevaeh for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship , but were unsuccessful. On Volume 23, taped on May 2, 2009, she fought Daizee Haze to a 20-minute time limit draw, before losing to her in a rematch on Volume 24. On May 3, at the tapings of Volume 26, Matthews and Perez defeated Ashley Lane and Nevaeh to win
2856-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
2958-762: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
3060-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
3162-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
Roxxi Laveaux - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
3366-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
3468-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
3570-530: The Beautiful People and Sharmell at Final Resolution . Roxxi and Wilde eventually moved into a regular tag team and feud with the Beautiful People, even hiring a Sarah Palin impersonator to embarrass them. Her last match was at Destination X where she teamed with Wilde and the Governor to defeat the Beautiful People and Madison Rayne . On April 30, 2009, Roxxi was released from her TNA contract while serving
3672-425: The January 31, 2008, edition of Impact! , because she accidentally threw white powder in the eyes of Kip and cost him the match against Hernandez . On the March 6 edition of Impact! Roxxi was shown in a backstage promo with Angelina Love and Velvet Sky who insisted on giving her a makeover the next week, so they could make her into one of the " beautiful people ". On the following episode of Impact! , Roxxi became
3774-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
3876-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
3978-473: The Shimmer Tag Team Championship. On November 8, Matthews came back as a singles competitor by losing to Cheerleader Melissa as part of Volume 27, but winning against Allison Danger as part of Volume 28. After a reign of 692 days, Matthews and Perez lost the Shimmer Tag Team Championship to Hiroyo Matsumoto and Misaki Ohata on March 26, 2011. On October 2, 2011, the Ninjas failed in their attempt to win back
4080-512: The Volume 69 tapings, and retained the championship by disqualification against Tomoka Nakagawa at Volume 70 when Perez interfered. On October 10, 2015, on Volume 77, Matthews lost the Shimmer Championship to Madison Eagles in a No Disqualification match. In early 2009 Matthews took part in the first season tapings of Wrestlicious , which began airing in March 2010. In the promotion she uses
4182-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
Roxxi Laveaux - Misplaced Pages Continue
4284-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
4386-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
4488-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
4590-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
4692-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
4794-485: The championship, losing to Ayumi Kurihara and Ayako Hamada , but later that evening, Matthews attacked Cheerleader Melissa from behind after Melissa had won the Shimmer Championship from Madison Eagles . As a result, Matthews received a championship match against Melissa on March 17, 2012, at the Volume 45 tapings but was unsuccessful. The following night, at the tapings of Volume 48, The NINJAs participated in
4896-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
4998-508: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
5100-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
5202-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
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#17328834595305304-417: The duo facing opponents including Hiroyo Matsumoto and Saya. On July 30, 2018, WWE announced that Matthews would compete in the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament. She defeated Isla Dawn in the first round, but was eliminated by Tegan Nox in the second. On September 27, 2018, Matthews was caught using a travel visa instead of a work visa to book independent shows and has been banned from working within
5406-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
5508-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
5610-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
5712-605: The first round by Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. On the September 17 edition of Impact! she was one of the lumberjacks for the match between Alissa Flash and Cody Deaner . Once again as Nikki Roxx, she became the fourth woman to hold the Women Superstars Uncensored 's WSU Championship , defeating then champion Tammy Lynn Sytch and Alexa Thatcher in a three-way match. This match took place on March 21, 2008, in Bergenfield, New Jersey . Roxx pinned Thatcher to capture
5814-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
5916-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
6018-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
6120-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
6222-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
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#17328834595306324-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
6426-630: The injured Kacey Diamond in a match against Cheerleader Melissa . Matthews, however, wasn't able to get the win in her debut on June 5, and Melissa advanced to the semi-finals. She continued to compete for NCW FF, facing wrestlers including Mercedes Martinez in singles competition, while continuing to team with Perez. Matthews has wrestled in both Australia and Japan. In Australia she faced competitors including Madison Eagles and Jessie McKay in Pro Wrestling Women's Alliance . She toured Japan with her Canadian NINJAs partner Portia Perez, with
6528-697: The manager of Awesome Kong, when Kong was facing Mercedes Steele . After the match, Roxxi removed her disguise and attacked Kong with a steel chair. Because of this stunt, she was granted a three-way dance match between herself, Taylor Wilde , and Awesome Kong at Bound for Glory IV for the Knockouts Championship, which Wilde won. Roxxi and Wilde attacked Kong and Saeed on the October 30 episode of Impact! , continuing their feud. At Turning Point , Roxxi and Wilde teamed up and defeated Kong and Saeed. Roxxi and Wilde teamed up again, this time with ODB, and defeated
6630-456: The match, with Roxxi being pinned after the double-team Russian legsweep from Sky and a big boot from Love. On the January 3, 2008, edition of Impact! , Roxxi participated in a Gauntlet match that would help determine the 2008 rankings of the TNA Knockouts division. She made it to the final two, facing off against ODB, but was pinned. She was fired from the Voodoo Kin Mafia by Kip James on
6732-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
6834-488: The name Nikki Corleone , playing the role as Marco Corleone 's sister for MTV2 's Lucha Libre USA . She made her debut for the promotion on the May 28, defeating Chrissy Cialis . Raczynski returned to TNA as Roxxi on the December 17 edition of Impact! , defeating TNA Women's Knockout Champion ODB in a non-title match. Afterwards, Roxxi was assaulted by ODB, with her signature flask, before being saved by Tara . On December 21 at
6936-423: The name Nikki Roxx at the promotion's first ever tapings. On Volume 1 she teamed up with Cindy Rogers in a losing effort against Krissy Vaine and Amber O'Neal and on Volume 2 , taped that same night, she defeated Lexie Fyfe . She returned to the promotion on February 12, 2006, for the tapings of Volumes 3 and 4 , during which she lost to Rain and defeated Amber O'Neal in singles matches. On May 21 at
7038-587: The now retired Portia Perez as the Canadian NINJAs , and the pair former two-time Shimmer Tag Team Champions . Matthews was originally convinced to try a career in professional wrestling by her friend, male wrestler Sid Sylum. She made her professional wrestling debut in February 2006 alongside fellow trainee Veronika Vice. In March and September 2006, Matthews began wrestling for SuperGirls Wrestling , part of NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling . On October 27, 2007, she defeated Nattie Neidhart and Vice in
7140-402: The one to have her head shaved). Roxxi was shaved bald on the spot with the other Knockouts watching. She received a standing ovation from the face Knockouts and fans after the shaving. On the following Impact! , the "Laveaux" portion of her name was dropped and she was now being billed as simply Roxxi. At Slammiversary , she teamed with ODB and Kim to defeat The Beautiful People and Moose in
7242-512: The premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
7344-529: The process. On February 24, 2011, at the tapings of the March 10 edition of Impact! , Roxxi made a one night return to TNA, when she answered TNA Women's Knockout Champion Madison Rayne's open challenge and was then defeated by her in a title match. In March 2013, Raczynski turned down an offer to take part in a special all-Knockouts pay-per-view held by TNA. In October 2013, Raczynski announced her retirement from professional wrestling in order to concentrate on her fitness career and company. Her retirement match
7446-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
7548-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
7650-737: The ring name Nikki Roxx and later formed a tag team with Hunter called The Killer Babes . Raczynski wrestled in numerous North American independent promotions such as Shimmer Women Athletes , Squared Circle Wrestling, Women's Extreme Wrestling (WEW), Professional Girl Wrestling Association , New England Championship Wrestling , Defiant Pro Wrestling, MXW Pro Wrestling, World Women's Wrestling , Chaotic Wrestling and Ring of Honor (ROH). She has also wrestled in Mexico for promotions such as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Lucha Libre Femenil and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA). On November 6, 2005, Raczynski made her Shimmer Women Athletes debut under
7752-431: The ring name Hope and forms the tag team The Naughty Girls with partner Faith, played by Portia Perez. She debuted on the fifth episode on March 31, teaming with Faith in a losing effort against the team of Charlotte and Paige Webb . On May 30, 2010 it was announced that Matthews was to make her debut for NCW Femmes Fatales (NCW FF) as a participant in the tournament to declare the first ever NCW FF Champion, replacing
7854-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
7956-444: The tapings of Volume 14 Roxx had a rematch with Amazing Kong, but was once again defeated. This would mark Roxx's final Shimmer appearance in over a year, as after the event she signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and was forced to leave the promotion. On July 5, 2008, at the tapings of Volume 19 Roxx made her return and defeated Nicole Matthews in a singles match. Later that same night on Volume 20 , she
8058-529: The tapings of Volume 27 Roxx competed in her biggest match in Shimmer Women Athletes, unsuccessfully challenging MsChif for the Shimmer Championship. On Volume 28 , taped that same night, Roxx bounced back by defeating Wesna Busic . On April 10, 2010, at the tapings of Volume 29 , Roxx and Ariel defeated the team of Melanie Cruise and Annie Social to earn a match for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship . On Volume 30 , taped that same day, Roxx
8160-436: The tapings of Volume 5 , she had a breakout performance in a losing effort against Amazing Kong . After a series of victories over Lorelei Lee , Lacey , Malia Hosaka and Tiana Ringer on the following four Volumes, Roxx had worked her way from opening matches to main eventing her first Shimmer event, Volume 10 , which was taped on April 7, 2007. At the event Roxx was defeated by Sara Del Rey . In June Roxx took part in
8262-401: The tapings of Impact! Raczynski broke her ankle in two places in a match against Hamada . She was expected to miss 6 weeks due to injury She was once again let go from the company on March 4, 2010. On May 17, 2010, at the tapings of the May 20 edition of Impact! , Raczynski, once again using the ring name Roxxi, made another return to TNA, defeating Women's Knockout Champion Madison Rayne in
8364-409: The tapings of Volume 57. After drawing with Madison Eagles in a number one contender's match at Voume 67, both progressed to a four-way championship match at Volume 68 also involving Cheerleader Melissa and Athena . On October 18, Matthews won the match to become the new Shimmer Champion, making her the first Canadian to have held the title. She successfully defended the championship against Evie at
8466-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
8568-588: The title as Sytch was distracted by Becky Bayless . On May 31, in Rahway, New Jersey , Roxx lost the title to Angel Orsini in a Jersey All Pro Wrestling event. As Roxxi, she became the first Eastern Pro Wrestling Women's Champion at an event in Fall River, Massachusetts , on August 1, 2008. She is also a regular competitor for Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) based out of Upstate New York. On September 28, 2009, Roxx appeared on Ring of Honor's weekly HDNet program , losing in
8670-502: The tournament to determinate the first ever Shimmer Champion . She defeated Rain to advance to the second round, where she was defeated by Lacey. On Volume 12 she won a four corner survival match against Ariel , Portia Perez and Eden Black . In the main event of Volume 13 she teamed up with Sara Del Rey in a tag team match, where they defeated the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew of Lacey and Rain. On July 1, 2007, at
8772-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
8874-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
8976-433: The valet of Basham and Damaja. On the September 27, 2007, episode of Impact! , Roxxi defeated Hemme, Gail Kim , Jackie Moore and Ms. Brooks in a Bound for Glory preview match to claim the 10th and final spot in the TNA Women's Championship Gauntlet. Roxxi made it to the final two, although Kim ultimately won to become the first TNA Women's Knockout Champion . On the following pay-per-view, Genesis , Roxxi competed in
9078-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
9180-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
9282-399: The winner would become the new #1 contender while the loser would have to have her head shaved bald . Roxxi survived the battle royal part of the match, but was defeated in the ladder match by Gail Kim after Angelina Love and Velvet Sky interfered in the match (Kim had won an immunity match in a previous episode of Impact! , which meant that had Roxxi won the ladder match, Love would have been
9384-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
9486-476: The year. In March 2008, Matthews regained the SuperGirls Championship in a match against Penni Lane. She, however, lost the title to Veronika Vice on February 7, 2009. On October 29, 2010, Matthews defeated Tenille Tayla in a Tables match to win the SuperGirls Championship for the third time. She lost the title nearly a year later, on October 28, 2011, to KC Spinelli. In early 2012, Matthews formed
9588-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
9690-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
9792-500: Was defeated by Ayumi Kurihara in a singles match. The following day, on Volume 31 , Roxx and Ariel received their shot at the Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the defending champions, the Canadian NINJAs (Nicole Matthews and Portia Perez). Roxx and Ariel continued teaming together until October 2011, when they both left Shimmer. According to an interview, thanks to a push made for her by Abyss (whom she met on
9894-455: Was defeated by Ariel. At the October 19 tapings of Volumes 21 and 22 Roxx defeated Danyah and lost to Jetta . The next four Volumes were taped in May 2009, during which she defeated Cat Power and Melanie Cruise in singles matches and formed the tag team Pretty Bitchin' with Ariel and lost to The International Home Wrecking Crew (Rain and Jetta) and defeated The Experience (Lexi Fyfe and Malia Hosaka) in tag team matches. On November 8 at
9996-399: Was granted a Knockouts Title match. The title match occurred on the following Impact! , where she was pinned by then-champion Awesome Kong . On May 11, 2008, at Sacrifice , Roxxi competed in a TNA Knockout Makeover Battle Royal , a two part match where the first part was contested under normal battle royal rules. The last two women in the ring would then compete in a ladder match where
10098-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
10200-474: Was promoted by Lucky Pro Wrestling (LPW) on December 6 in Clinton, Massachusetts . On December 6, Roxx defeated Alexxis in her retirement match. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with
10302-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
10404-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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