When she first began training to be a female wrestler, Evie had nothing to fight for. Now, five years on, the 24-year-old is in the thick of two women’s championship tournaments.
After reigning PWWA champion Madison Eagles suffered an injury late last year, Evie was one of eight women invited to take part in a tournament to crown an interim champion.
Evie overcame BFF Megan-Kate in the first round of the tournament, held in Sydney, before meeting “Rate Tank” Kellie Skater in a semi-final matchup—perhaps her biggest match to date—earlier this month.
Evie first wrestled Skater in her PWWA debut last September, defeating the woman ranked 37th on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Female 50 for 2011 with her fireman’s carry shin kick, TTYL.
On July 15, Evie proved she still had Skater’s number, finishing her with TTYL for a second straight time.
“The semi-final matchup was brutal, and I knew that going into it,” Evie told NZPWI.
“We both gave as good as we got, and by then end of it my chest was mincemeat, bruises covered my shins from my kicks—my kick pads couldn’t even help me here!—and the flight home was super uncomfortable as my back was being a bitch.”
Despite her battle scars, Evie considers herself lucky to have worked with Skater, a mainstay of SHIMMER in the United States. As someone looking to take her talents abroad too, Evie was grateful for the opportunity to pick her opponent’s brain.
“I was super lucky to be able to work with Skater a second time, especially as I caught her quite recently after her tour of America and Japan. She is definitely someone I look up to and respect, as she has so much knowledge to share. I learned a lot from her in September last year, and even more so in our battle this month. I’d love to be able to travel with wrestling soon as well, so she is great to talk to and hear her experiences.”
Evie’s next international outing will be on August 25, when she heads back to Sydney for the PWWA interim championship tournament finals. She will wrestle Jessie McKay, another SHIMMER veteran, who took out Shazza McKenzie in the tournament semi-finals.
First on the horizon, though, is IPW Destiny, where the first IPW women’s champion will be crowned. Evie hopes to wrestle for that title as well if she can make it past Olivia Shaw in Pakuranga this Saturday.
“To be suddenly offered the opportunity to compete for the PWWA title as well as the brand new IPW women’s title; it’s been a long time coming to actually have something to fight for,” Evie said.
“I’m training extremely hard to be able to give 110 per cent within both tournaments, as I believe I do have what it takes to go all the way.”
Each championship means something different to Evie. Holding the PWWA title is an opportunity to become part of the championship’s lineage and have her name recorded alongside the likes of Madison Eagles, Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s top female wrestler in the world for 2011.
“The PWWA title shot alone has given me such drive and determination to go head to head with the best of them,” she said.
“It’s currently held by Madison until the final on August 25th, so the interim title holder has some very big boots to fill. To be half the champ that Madison is would be amazing, and I would love that chance to prove myself. I would also love to be able to wrestle Madison in the future … she’s on my wrestling opponents bucket list, so fingers crossed all goes well with her healing process.”
Winning the IPW women’s championship represents a chance to set the bar as the first ever holder of the title. Much in the same way The Machine set the benchmark for all future IPW champions, and Pirates and Ninjas Are Totally Awesome defined what it means to hold IPW’s tag team belts, being IPW women’s champion would allow Evie to set the standard for women’s wrestling in the promotion.
“The IPW women’s championship represents my home fed, something that I’ve been committed to and passionate about for a long time,” she said.
“It has always been my dream to be the first IPW women’s champ, and I will do everything within my power to do so. The IPW girls, as small a group as we are at the moment, truly are setting the bar with New Zealand women’s wrestling. That belt represents not only IPW, but some of the best in the country.”
It’s not a case of having to choose which title to go after though. Topping the NZPWI Female Five for 2011, and taking out the People’s Choice Award for Best Female has made Evie confident of her ability to get the job done as one of New Zealand’s foremost female wrestlers.
“The ultimate goal would be to capture both titles,” she said, “so I’m going to make it happen!”
