Last Sunday saw the biggest women’s only wrestling show in European history with Wrestle Queendom 8 taking place at the O2 Indigo. It was an incredible achievement from Pro Wrestling Eve to sell out a venue this size. A far cry from the early ResGal days but keeping a lot of the same energy as the earlier years of the promotion.

The show stated with the Sudden Death 16 – a match which could only end in pinfall but where a competitor could be eliminated if they were thrown over the top rope. Competitors one and two in the rumble style entry system were Miyu Yamashita and Jamie Hayter. As expected these two tore the house down with their initial exchanges and ultimately they ended up eliminating each other.

Other highlights from the match included when we had a four way face off between the most powerful competitors in the match – Nightshade, Molly Spartan, Yuu and Nyla Rose.

The underdog in the match Abi Cartwright eliminated DASH but in turn was then quickly eliminated by the returning Charlie Morgan – with a little bit of help from DASH who was outside of the ring. DASH then took her frustration out on Abi by setting up a table and ladder on the stage. DASH proceeded to do a frog splash on Abi to drive her through the table.

The match ended when the dastardly Alexxis Falcon pinned Morgan to win the match and earn herself a future opportunity at any of the Eve championships.

Next we had a hard hitting match between two of the best young wrestlers in the world. Both in their early twenties, AZM and Safire Read really enhanced their reputations with a match that had the crowd gripped. AZM was ultimately victorious following a Canadian Destroyer but big things are ahead for both.

The number one contender-ship for the tag team titles was up for grabs in the next contest between NyteSkye, Dani Mo & Melissa Fierce, Aliss Ink & Chantal Jordan and French Art. This was a fun four team bout with French Art in particular looking impressive being accompanied by the 1, 2, Simplement Deux chants for their pinfall attempts.

There were some enjoyable high risk manoeuvrers, particularly from Dani Mo but the super heels of NyteSkye obtained the 1, 2, 3 after a double team manoeuvre and pin on Fierce.

Next up we had one of my highlights of the show, the battle of the former British Prime Minister namesakes as (Amira) Blair took on (Harley) Cameron.

Amira came to ringside with a large cardboard cut-out of her tag team partner Zoe Lucas and was accompanied by Cassius. The singalong started with a suspicion of lip-syncing as Amira did something naughty to a large spider (I know it sounds ridiculous!). Several half naked men were part of Amira’s dance routine.

Harley responded with a song of her own, showing off her incredible singing talent. A potential cancellation of the match was teased as instead of fighting, Harley suggested the two of them could team up.

Harley had the crowd signing a rendition of Sweet Caroline before Amira attacked her from behind. This lead to a short match which involved both bringing out puppets with Amira attacking Harley with her Amira doll before the mini Harley doll got involved – at one point helping Harley get to the ropes. Harley made a quick comeback and gained the victory.

Following the decision, there was a sing-a-long to Careless Whisper which was incredible. Hopefully we will see future interactions between these super entertaining wrestlers. Sixteen stars!

The AEW TBS title was on the line in the next bout as Willow Nightingale defended against the lady with the tiny hat Nina Samuels.

Willow’s entrance is infectious and this was a great match with Nina getting close to victory on more than one occasion. One such point saw Nina deliver an athletic 450 from the top rope. As expected though, Willow gained the pinfall following a Doctor Bomb to retain the AEW TBS title.

New Japan Strong gold was being defended in the next match as the champion Syuri took on the challenger Alex Windsor. Windsor is someone whose career I have closely followed. She is from my home city and I watched a lot of her earlier matches in Bellatrix and WAW when she wrestled as Liberty.

Windsor’s entrance music was performed by an incredibly talented guitarist. Syuri is one of the best wrestlers in the world and was a favourite to retain the title having only recently won it. At several points, Syuri was on top but Windsor kept fighting back. Windsor hit her Made in Japan move and this was enough to get the victory. A new champion was crowned in front of a shocked but jubilant crowd.

The Eve tag team titles were on the line next. The challengers Charlie Evans and Jessica Troy only arrived on a flight from Australia earlier in the afternoon. The champions were ‘Hotstuff’, the team of Lana Austin and Hollie Barlow. They are the very, very, very, very, very best friends known as Lallie.

This was a really enjoyable match featuring a great dual single leg crab spot and a great dual dive by Evans and Troy. Lallie retained following a discus forearm by Lana on Troy – who was then pinned by both members of Lallie.

After the match, Lana finally admitted that she loves the annoying Hollie before the champions were attacked on the stage by the number one contenders Skye Smitson and Violet Nyte.

Charlie (the former Dakota Kai) was wrestling in her first match in almost a year following her release by WWE. It was evident that this release was a big mistake as she was part of an incredible match challenging for the Eve International title. Her opponent was Kris Statlander who had recently lost the AEW world title.

Both Statlander and Charlie showed great speed and athleticism at start of match which garnered a loud ‘this is awesome’ chant towards the end. Statlander eventually retained following multiple tombstone piledrivers in a match which demonstrated the talents of both competitors.

Before the main event was one of the best video packages I have seen in years. Set to Running up That Hill it told the story of Session Moth Martina’s challenges and journey to get into the main event. The Jager-bombshell Martina then made her entrance following a performance by a dance troupe. Glowsticks were throughout the crowd as Martina danced to Everytime We Touch by Cascada.

It was a hard entrance to follow by Rhio’s was almost as good as she entered to a live rap performance of her theme with her body language full of attitude.

Rhio introduced a trashcan into the match early and Martina was bleeding heavily. Baseball bats covered in tacks were next and the sound of them hitting Martina’s body made me wince.

More traditional thumb tacks followed a number of which were lodged in Rhio’s flesh. The brutal match continued with Rhio package piledriving Martina through a table onto the concrete. A ref bump was followed by Martina gaining the ascendency only for there to be no-one to count the one, two, three.

Alexxis Falcon came down with a chair to assist Rhio. Nightshade came to the ring to try and even things up only for a group of heels to beat down her and Martina.

The Eve ‘Avengers’ then started to assemble on the entrance ramp. Jamie Hayter, Alex Windsor, the Wrestle Friends – Erin Angel and Jetta, Kasey Owens, Charlie Morgan and finally the emotional return of Millie McKenzie. The group stormed the ring to clear out the heels with Millie hitting a trademark suplex on Lucy Sky.

With the ring cleared of interference Martina hit a top rope codebreaker followed by a Jagerbomb for the win. A massive celebration followed and I’ll always remember dancing with my wife at ringside to Cascada with us both waiving glowsticks to celebrate. Martina showed genuine emotion as did the rest of the roster in the ring before she was presented with a brand new title belt.

This was the best show I have seen this year so far. Everyone involved made this a special International Women’s Day. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would recommend watching it on You Tube. Also make sure you listen to and download Amira’s Wrestle Queendom moment song on all major streaming platforms.