Easily Influenced But Not Easily Persuaded

Posted in Opinion by Nikki

I’m sure this title is going to confuse most.

Remember back in the day when all of the 90s kids were in their teens and all the fads came along (if you need a reminder of these fads, allow me to redirect you to this). The people that know me the best know that I am particularly unfazed by anything that becomes “cool” in popular culture. When guys grew their fringes out and bought womens skinny jeans from Supre, I had a fro and wore pink t-shirts. When people decided to “drop it” to dubstep music, I took my clothes off to country.

In summary, I have never really been phased by phases.

In saying that, I am putty in certain people’s hands; by certain people, I mean admired celebrities. People think I have adapted my own sense of style and sass but what it really comes down to is how my highly-adored celebrities dressed and behaved. One of my most trademark things to wear is fur, most notably, fluffy leg warmers that you’d usually see at a rave. It wasn’t as if one day I woke up and decided it’d be cool to look like a walking polar bear. Instead, this trend that has turned my wardrobe into a PETA enthusiasts nightmare if the fur was real, was inspired by a seven minute wrestling match at Survivor Series 2005 between Trish Stratus and Melina, the latter of which came out looking fierce and foxy in white fluffy leg warmers.

After seeing this, as if you wouldn’t want to wear white fluffy leg warmers. (SOURCE: WWE.com)

One time late last year I thought it’d be a jolly idea to dye my hair red, as in bright OMG MY EYES red. Everybody knows that someone with my skin complexion has a 2% chance of pulling off bright red hair. Why did I chance such a daring move then? Because Eva Marie has red hair, of course. If that woman jumped off a cliff wearing a burlap sack, I would join her and ask if she wanted a glass of water at the same time. One lovely hair dyeing session later with my fabulous hairdresser friend Kallie, and my hair was officially bright red. Some people liked it, some didn’t, and I was on the fence about it. But it didn’t matter, because I was one step closer to Eva Marie.

#allredeverything (SOURCE: Eva Marie Instagram)

Let’s not even talk about my fascination with split-leg jeans or hot pants matched with Chuck Taylors and ripped punky shirts, because AJ Lee is clearly my inspiration for that.

I imagine I wouldn’t look this skinny if I wore this outfit. (SOURCE: WWE.com)

I think this paints one clear picture about the type of person I am – I secretly want to be a WWE Diva. While I am very happy and content with being a man, I wouldn’t say no to being AJ Lee for a day. Oh, and if you’re a fabulous celebrity that specialises in wrestling, country music, Doctor Who or pole dancing, I am pretty much yours.

– by The Black Widow

3Apr2014

AJ Lee vs. the World

Posted in Sports by Nikki

Inspired by a recent comment made by the longest reigning Divas Champion AJ Lee, I decided to take a look at the potential rivalries that AJ could be a part of that could be huge. Like, Trish vs. Lita huge. Hopefully.

Whether you like her or not, AJ Lee’s presence in the WWE Divas division today has been a breath of fresh air (click here for extra reference). It’s been a while since a character like hers has been seen in WWE’s women’s division, and her success has been shown in her lengthy tenure as Divas Champion. So far, no one has been able to dethrone the Divas Champ, but here’s me thinking that she hasn’t quite gone through all the Divas yet…

She knows they’re after her… look at that fear in her eyes. (SOURCE: Sean Kimmel’s Flickr photostream)

Idea #1: vs. Paige
Also known as the IWC’s women’s wrestling wet dream, every wrestling fan is waiting for NXT Women’s Champion Paige to be called up to put CrayJ in her place. Besides Natalya who’s already had several shots for AJ’s title, the only other woman signed by WWE currently who could put on a wrestling clinic as well as AJ is Paige (as well as Emma, but more about that later). Paige was born and raised in the wrestling business and, if not made apparent by her flawless Scorpion Cross Lock, is a wrestling sensation. Her intensity is shown both in the ring and on the mic and while some claim her to be “stale” as a person, I disagree; she’s one of my favourite talents in WWE and I’m usually the type to like the Summer Rae’s in wrestling. Paige could make her main roster debut as the Anti-Diva who will finally put AJ in her place by capturing the Divas title.

Idea #2: vs. Summer Rae
Yes, AJ Lee has run through every Total Diva… except Summer Rae. Okay, so technically she hasn’t beaten Eva Marie or Jojo in a one-on-one environment, but I don’t think the E are too confident in putting either one in a singles match. Regardless, Summer Rae’s recent inclusion to the hit reality series has no doubt put her on AJ’s radar. Even if both of them are heel at the moment, a smart baby face turn for AJ (since she’s cheered out of the building all the time anyway) could work well against super heel Summer, who plays her bitchy role on NXT to perfection. Face AJ vs. Heel Summer could be taken in a Kelly vs. Beth kind of way, except the serious wrestler would be face and the model would be heel. If any of the “newbie” Divas have shown that they can work in the ring, it’s Summer bloody Rae. The thought of this rivalry is just… fantastic.

Idea #3: vs. Emma
Now, if AJ were to stay heel, then why not go against the new main roster babyface in Emma? AJ has steamrolled through most if not all of the face Divas on the main roster except for Emma. Emma’s infectious personality and character could definitely get the fans behind her, and AJ’s crazy prima donna personality would clash against Emma’s bubbly Strayan character. Like I said before with Paige, Emma is one of the Divas who could put on a clinic with the likes of Resthold Lee. Her wrestling move set is phenomenal and clearly inspired by the handsome Lance Storm. If you ignore all her Emma dance gestures in between her moves, she’s a solid wrestler. Put her and AJ Lee in a singles match together, and the greatness that was Paige vs. Emma at NXT aRrival or however you spell it could be re-created on the main stage.

Idea #4: vs. Tamina
The storyline that they’ve been teasing for the past few weeks and keep dropping because all of a sudden they’re friends again, Tamina turning on AJ Lee is inevitable; the deciding factor on how well it’s received, however, depends on how the ‘E make it. As much as I love Tamina as a person, character and wrestler, I don’t see wrestling fans getting behind her if she was to become the babyface of the tandem, so like #2, AJ Lee would have to turn babyface for this idea to work well. Tamina could get sick of all the crap she’s had to deal with regarding AJ and could brutally attack her, thus creating sympathy for AJ and effectively making her the face. Tamina has shown that she can put on a good match and with AJ Lee guiding her, the storyline and result of this could be fantastic.

Well, there are my predictions for your crazy-ass Divas Champion. If someone could do me a solid and message WWE Creative and be like “You should check out SolSat’s latest post. LOL.”, that would be great.

– by The Black Widow

18Dec2013

The Black Widow’s Bite of Life

Posted in Opinion, Sports by Nikki

Don’t let the heading fool you – this isn’t about the actual spider black widow (or me, for that matter). No, this is in reference to the Black Widow of the WWE, AKA AJ Lee.

Don’t get caught in the Black Widow’s web…

Many wrestling critics have praised the crazy-ass woman for resurrecting the WWE women’s division and, to an extent, I have to agree with them; AJ Lee is probably the most over Diva since, I’d say, Kelly Kelly, and both women were popular with the crowd for two very different reasons. Kelly was the beautiful girl-next-door underdog that you couldn’t help but to root for (unless you’re an IWC troll) while AJ is just great at her craft and no matter heel or face, she will always be appreciated. It doesn’t hurt that she’s so down-to-earth and lovely out-of-character.

Women’s wrestling, especially in WWE, had been in a period of stale for a while. The fans were sick of seeing Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix at every PPV and it seemed as if creative had no fresh ideas for the smart, sexy and powerful women. And then AJ was knocked out cold by the Big Show. This was, in my opinion, when the Rise of AJ begun.

AJ began to show personality and flare when tensions between her and then on-screen boyfriend Daniel Bryan began to rise. Nekk minnit, she’s steamrolled over him, CM Punk, Kane, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big E Langston and is now the Divas Champion and will probably break Maryse’s previous record for longest title reign with the Divas Championship.

Throughout her course of failed relationships and bad slut puns courtesy of Jerry Lawler, AJ was pushed to the stars, and she took the ball and ran with it. She has pulled off what would be a difficult character for your every day woman to successfully capture and made it almost a second skin to herself, and she’s shown that she is a damn good wrestler at the same time, creating some solid storylines and matches with the likes of Kaitlyn and Natalya.

Oh, and do you hear the pops she gets when she simply tags into a match? Incredible.

AJ is definitely the Diva of today, but is she the “sole” reason why the Divas division of today is as great as it is?

Yes and no.

With all due respect to Miss Lee, if WWE focused all of the attention they gave to her as they did to, say, Aksana, I’d guess that even Aksana would be as over as AJ Lee is. Aksana has a great character going for her at the moment and she has shown that she has enough charisma and personality to make it on her own, but what she didn’t have to push her to that next Diva level is the amount of push and air time that AJ had. So, in a sense, the success of AJ was bound to happen.

However, the Divas of WWE have been getting a lot more attention and a lot less ignorant “piss break” comments because of the hype the name “AJ Lee” carries. She is probably one of the few women in the WWE today that have a firmly established character that isn’t “happy babyface gal” or “snobby bitch heel”. That reason alone is why Miss AJ will probably hold the record for longest reign as Divas Champion. People tune in to see AJ and, dare I say, a lot less would tune in to see the Funkadactyls.

AJ Lee is currently sitting atop the mountain that is the WWE’s womens division, yes, but with new young and upcoming Divas like Paige and Summer Rae, I’d like to see her try and keep her throne away from the claws of these hungry Divas.

If I may say; AJ, watch out for Summer Rae. She’s over as hell and she hasn’t even hit her peak in WWE yet.

– by The Black Widow

11Nov2013

Tap Out! The Top 10 Submission Moves

Posted in Sports by Nikki

I’ve been sitting at college talking with my friend Jack about wrestling and I was trying to convince him to let me put him in the Black Widow, a modified octopus stretch-style submission move made famous by the current crazy-ass Divas Champion, AJ Lee. This led me to thinking… “what are some of the great submission moves in wrasslin’ history?”

Alas, here I am listing them. Nothing more SolSat than a top list! NOTE: For all the wrestling purists that may read this, if I am not listing the “original” user of the submission, don’t shoot me. I am just naming the first person or people that comes to my head.

10. Inverted Muta lock by Melina, Emma, AJ Styles, etc.

The first time I saw this baby was when Melina debuted it in a match against Maria as a new finisher in 2007. I’m always wowed with Melina’s offense but this one took the cake. In what is, basically, a flashier-looking STF, when one executes this submission perfectly, the opponent’s legs cannot move, making it even more effective. I would know, I put this one on my friends all the time.

9. Anaconda Vice by CM Punk

I’m one of “those” CM Punk fans who think that anything he does is gold, but even with my bias aside, the Anaconda Vice is one sick submission hold. Originally a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Judo compression choke, Punk has used this baby as his primary finisher in the beginnings of his WWE career before using it sparingly after the introduction of the GTS.

8. Black Widow by AJ Lee

I don’t know makes this submission more exciting (and deadly) to watch: the way AJ transitions into it with a headscissor whirlybird, the crazy-white-girl face she makes when she’s sinched it in, or the fact that she’s screaming “TAAAPP OOOOUUTT” when it’s in. Either way, I am not a big AJ fan but I am definitely a big Black Widow fan.

7. The Von Erich Claw by the Von Erich Family

The Iron claw was perhaps made most famous by the Fritz Von Erich and his children (and grandchildren). What looks like just a simple head-squeeze, if done by someone with hands as large as the late Kerry Von Erich, this hold could possibly harm you to a very grievous extent. My favourite version of the claw? Lacey’s, of course.

6. Texas Cloverleaf by Dean Malenko

Dean Malenko is probably my favourite wrestling technician, and the Texas Cloverleaf is one of the reasons why. Originally just called the “cloverleaf” hold, innovated by Dory Funk Jr., it was Mr. Malenko who popularised the submission move before passing it down to the likes of Sheamus and ODB. It’s also noteworthy to mention that Malenko is a favourite because he was featured a bit in one of my most favourite WWE feuds ever – Terri Runnels vs. the Kat.

5. Pin Up Strong by Natalya and Beth Phoenix

I can’t even begin to explain what this submission technically is. It’s like a modified surfboard type submission but with the legs locked kind of thing… either way, this nifty little move which I am assuming was invented by Natalya was used by the Divas of Doom for a short period of time. It hasn’t been since since the era of DOD and I am assuming it’s because it “looked too deadly for a Diva to do.”

4. LeBell Lock (Yes!/No! Lock) by Daniel Bryan

Popularised by a famous wrestler whose name I am legitimately terrified to say or write, it is now the trademark finisher submission move for Daniel Bryan, or Bryan Danielson, as it were. Let’s face it, though, anything Daniel Bryan does looks amazing. so it’s no surprise that the Yes/No/Maybe Lock looks as deadly as it does.

3. Figure Four Leg Lock by Ric Flair and the Miz

Made famous by the legendary Ric Flair, I will always remember how painful this leg lock is when my brother put it on me when I was about 7 and I screamed at him to get off because it was legitimately killing. In an effort to gain sympathy for the natural-heel-turning-face Miz, Ric Flair passed down his signature submission to the brash Cleveland native and thus, the legend of the Figure Four Leg Lock remains!

2. Lion Tamer (Walls of Jericho) by Chris Jericho

A simple yet effective submission move, the Lion Tamer is probably coloquially described as a “more intense version of the Boston crab.” Chris Jericho has a way of contorting his opponent’s bodies in such gruesome ways that even I, a flexible ex-dancer, cringe. When he puts his knee on the back of his opponent’s head when locking in the Walls of Jericho, tap out. It’s game over.

1. Sharpshooter by everyone who has ever trained in the Hart Dungeon, The Rock, etc.

As synonymous as the Von Erich Claw is to the Von Erichs, the Sharpshooter is synonymous with the other most popular wrestling family, the Harts. It acts as an heirloom of sorts as it has been passed down the generations and is currently used by Natalya Neidhart and her husband, Tyson Kidd. This is my favourite submission mainly because of the reaction it gets when locked in – as soon as those legs are crossed, the crowd goes wild.Aaaaaand Bobsuruncle. My back hurts just looking at those pictures. I need to go lie down. If you ever find yourself in a sticky situation, just lock in one of these bad boys and you’ll be sweet. Take care!– by The Black Widow

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Tag Archives: AJ Lee

Easily Influenced But Not Easily Persuaded

AJ Lee vs. the World

The Black Widow’s Bite of Life

Tap Out! The Top 10 Submission Moves