RiSE Wrestling has partnered with Pro Wrestling Tees to present Pride & Joy! On June 30th to help close out Pride Month in style, we have a party full of incredible wrestling to enjoy. The party will be hosted by Nyla Rose and Sonny Kiss. Both Nyla and Sonny are members of the roster of All Elite Wrestling and proud members of the LGBTQ community. They present themselves with dignity, grace, and are unabashedly proud of who they are. Nyla and Sonny also represent that wrestling is meant to be inclusive of everyone. This event is a celebration of love, pride, joy, inclusiveness, and pro wrestling.
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Joey Ryan vs. Double D Rose
This match is a riff on the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. Joey Ryan is infamous for the power of his penis. It rose to prominence in the Japanese promotion Dramatic Dream Team or DDT. At first it was simply a light-hearted moment in matches, however, it quickly went viral and took on a life of its own. Now whenever an opponent attempts to injure him in that area, they find themselves hurting for their trouble.
This is very similar to Double D Rose and the Weapon of Ass Destruction. Rose’s ample curves are part of her very essence, and her ass has become her not-so-secret weapon. When an opponent attempts to attack this part of Rose’s body, the results are the same as those who attack Ryan’s penis. Now in this epic battle of the King of Dong Style versus the Weapon of Ass Destruction, we will find out which is truly superior.
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Kimber Lee vs. AQA
Also set for Pride & Joy is a showcase match. We have the Crown Jewel, Kimber Lee, taking on the up and coming prospect AQA. Kimber Lee has been a staple on the women’s independent scene for eight years. Princess Palmstrike is a performer of extremely high caliber, she is well regarded among fans and peers alike. Kimber has ascended to the very top of the industry when she won the CHIKARA Grand Championship from Hallowicked in 2015. In 2017, she took place in the inaugural WWE Mae Young Classic as Abbey Laith. She would spend some time with WWE before being released and returning to the indie scene once again.
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AQA is a student of WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and the Reality of Wrestling. Just over a year into her career, AQA has begun a blazing trail. She is the current ROW Diamonds Champion, in her second reign that has now stretched over 100 days. She debuted with RiSE 12: ROW on the RiSE, a co-branded ROW and RiSE event. AQA then returned for RiSE 13: Legendary and Early to RiSE. She’s also featured on several episodes of RiSE Ascent.
Miranda Alize vs. Candy Lee
Miranda Alize is also a ROW graduate and she too has blazed her own trail. Miranda made her RiSE debut at RiSE 5: Rising Sun. Since then, she has toured the world and grown into a very capable wrestler. Miranda has competed for World Wonder Ring Stardom in Japan, as well as DTU and The Crash in Mexico. Her opponent for Pride & Joy also has an international flavor. The striking beauty Candy Lee is making her United States debut. Candidly Candy Lee was trained by the Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW) training school in her native New Zealand. She’s also a former IPW Women’s Champion and has competed in neighboring Australia. And like party host Nyla Rose, she is a transgender woman. Candy does not shy away from her identity and candidly is herself 24/7.
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Shotzi Blackheart Global Open Challenge for Sabotage Wrestling War of Genders Championship
The Ballsy Badass Shotzi Blackheart will be in the house for Pride & Joy. She’s laying out a special open challenge for her War of the Genders Championship. Anyone of any gender, any identity, any color can challenge her if they dare!
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Table for 6 Elimination Match: Jake Atlas vs. Priscilla Kelly vs. Jamie Senegal vs. Big Mama vs. 2 Mystery Opponents
This one is another special match for Pride & Joy. This is a table for 6 match, or one involving 6 people. It was scheduled to be a table match as well, but RiSE posted that their table order was unable to be fulfilled in time. We’ll have to wait and see what kind of twist they will put in to bump this match up a notch. There are four announced competitors so far involved in this contest. Jake Atlas is making his RiSE debut; he is a product of the Santino Bros Wrestling Academy in Southern California. The former gymnast and cheerleader uses the skills he’s learned from those disciplines in his wrestling. Jake is also another proud member of the LGBTQ community, as he is a gay man.
Jake is a rising star, no pun intended, having worked for prominent promotions such as PCW ULTRA, DEFY Wrestling, PWG, Over the Top Wrestling, and Fight Club: PRO. Another rising star is Priscilla Kelly, who returned to RiSE at RiSE 13: Legendary. Gaining viral status based on some of her in-ring antics has not slowed down the Georgia native at all. Hell’s Favorite Harlot continues to tour the country and work internationally in Japan. Jamie Senegal is another proud LGBTQ athlete in this contest. He recently made his RiSE debut at an episode of RiSE Ascent. He was victorious over Amber Nova, Hawlee Cromwell, and Robyn Reid. Last but not least of the known competitors is Big Mama. She made her debut at RiSE 12: ROW on the RiSE. At RiSE 14: Luminous she defeated fellow powerhouse Ruby Raze. In any sort of fight environment, Big Mama is a big threat. Who are the other two participants? You’ll have to tune in to Pride & Joy to find out!
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Guardians of RiSE Tag Team Championship: Killer Death Machines (Jessicka Havoc & Neveah) (c) vs. Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exos) vs. Almost Paradise (Zoey Skye & Courtney Rush)
At Pride & Joy, the Killer Death Machines will defend the Guardians of RiSE Championships for the first time. They won them from Paradise Lost, Dust and Raven’s Ash, at RiSE 13: Legendary. They are not to be confused with Almost Paradise who is in this match. Almost Paradise is the team of Zoey Skye and Courtney Rush, they are both making their respective debuts for RiSE. The third ingredient in this mix is the sister duo of Delmi Exo and Ashley Vox, Team Sea Stars.
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Both the Killer Death Machines and Team Sea Stars have been teammates for a number of years in addition to being very close to each other personally. The team of Almost Paradise is well, different. If you follow the multiverse that involves Courtney Rush, Rosemary, Allie, and Cherry Bomb you would know that Courtney and Rosemary share the same meat suit. The same might also be true for Zoey Skye, sharing with Dust. It may get confusing, but the characters are completely different from each other and their in-ring styles vary as well.
Cassandro El Exotico vs. Mercedes Martinez
For the main event of Pride & Joy, we have two pioneers facing off for the first time. Cassandro, as his full ring name implies, is an exotico. An exotico in lucha libre is a male wrestler who performs in a style of drag. The attire and mannerisms are feminized and makeup may be worn as well. The idea of exoticos is to challenge the ideal of the hyper-masculinity or “machismo” found in Mexico and around the world.
Cassandro is not merely a comedic character; he was trained by Rey Misterio Sr. and Victor Ojeda. He is a native of El Paso, Texas and began his career in 1988. Cassandro was first known under a mask as Mister Romano. He became an exotico character after being encouraged to make the change by his friend, Baby Sharon. He lost a lucha de apuestas match to Johnny Vannessa and lost his mask, and was able to change his character. Cassandro is also a gay man, even though exoticos are usually straight men.
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Cassandro experienced hard times in his career, including dealing with alcohol and drug addiction and depression. Through his faith and resolve he has been able to overcome and blossom as a premier luchador, not just an exotico. His opponent is also a pioneer of Latin descent, the Latina Sensation, Mercedes Martinez. Martinez is an 18 year veteran of wrestling, a standard bearer for women’s wrestling. She has competed across the globe, filling her trophy case with titles and tournament appearances. Most notably, she has participated in both of the WWE Mae Young Classics. When these two veterans dance in the middle of the ring, it will be a performance like no other.
If you can’t make it out to the Chicago area to participate in Pride & Joy in person, it will be available for purchase on FITE.TV.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
