With that all said, here's the rundown of DDW:

Defiant Diva Wrestling
2/10/07
Naugatuck, CT
Refs: Vinny, Sal, Mikey & The Bearded Guy
Ring Announcer: "Wild" Bill Brown
Commentators for DVD: CC LaSalle & Paulie J
Attendance: 60+

Number 1 Contender Tournament For a Shot at the DDW Womens Title
Round 1
Cindy Rogers d. Ariel
Ariel was here and Cindy was face, but that would change throughout the show, which kinda didn't make too much sense later on.
Both girls did a good job of working the crowd and trying to get the crowd into their match. There was some stalling early on, as the girls started running their mouths at each other, and taking shots at each other's bodies. When the match finally started, both girls traded punches early on, with Cindy getting the better of it. Cindy then put Ariel into some submission holds, but Ariel bailed to the floor for a breather.

When the girls got back in the ring, Ariel pulled off a butterfly suplex and a dropkick for a 2 count. The girls then got up and did a double hair pull, which knocked both girls out until they got to the count of 8. Cindy then rolled up Ariel for the three count at the 9:27 mark.
This was an ok match, as the girls did a good job of working the crowd.

Number 1 Contender Tournament For a Shot at the DDW Womens Title
Round 1
Nikki Roxx d. Talia
I thought this was the best match on the show. Talia has improved tremendously. Their were parts in this match that made you wonder if Talia is being influenced by MMA, as her strikes have gotten alot better and she had tons of new submission moves in her arsenal. In the other corner, Roxx continues to have impressive matches, and looked good here.
Talia was your heel here, and after Nikki took her down after the opening lockup, Talia went on the offensive, choking Nikki Roxx. However, after a toehold, Nikki fired up, but Talia broke up Nikki's momentum by grabbing a break on the floor.

Back in the ring, Nikki hit a sidewalk slam for 2. Talia then hit this awesome combo that I haven't seen before, as she kicked Nikki twice, bringing Nikki to her knees. Talia then DDT'ed Nikki right down. Nice spot. Talia then busted out some choke submissions and some strikes. Talia then did this awesome submission hold, as she put Nikki in an octopus stretch. However, as she had Nikki in the hold, while the ref was checking on Nikki, Talia starting biting Nikki's wrist. The only way to nitpick that hold was that Talia kept pushing her hair behind her ears, so she wouldn't accidentally bite her own hair. I guess without the hair in the way, you could also see Talia biting Nikki's wrist better. Regardless, it was a really cool move that I haven't seen in a womens match before.
However, Nikki wasn't out, as she came back with some furious strikes. This stunned Talia, and Nikki was able to hit a modified brainbuster for the clean 1-2-3 at the 8:15 mark.
Great match from both girls. This might've been the best Talia match I've ever seen. Nikki looked superb here too.

DPW Owner Mike Milano came out to cut a promo. Milano babyfaced the crowd and told the crowd to wake up. He put ove the girl roster and his athletes. He thanked the fans for coming and joked about the show starting an hour late. Being a DPW first timer, you could tell that Milano has a great dynamic & respect for his fans. Mike said he wanted to announce the DDW commissioner, which brought out the perverted Paulie J. Milano brought up his past with Paulie J. for fans who didn't know about their past. Milano then told Paulie he can't be commissioner and then brought out Mandy Mancuso.

Mancuso argued with Paulie J and Paulie J made some sexual jokes about Mancuso. Mancuso then slapped Paulie J and that was that.
I thought the slap could've been harder & more convincing. Paulie just got slapped and took it. I don't know Paulie's DPW past, but I thought it would've meant more if he got slapped harder then fell down like a fish out of water. To each his own.

Number 1 Contender Tournament For a Shot at the DDW Womens Title
Round 2
Cindy Rogers d. Nikki Roxx
All of a sudden, Cindy was heel after being face in the previous match. I guess people in DDW are shades of gray. I also thought this 2nd round match took place too fast, but with only 6 matches on the show, with five of them being tournament matches, I guess there was no other place to put this match.

Roxx hit some clotheslines early and got some nearfalls. Cindy then went on a submission spree, which is fine if you're ROH but it was kinda boring for the live crowd. The crowd just died as Cindy did a bunch of submissions. I understand the pyschology behind it all, but sometimes you gotta work your crowd. Cindy hit a backbreaker and turned it into a clutch submission for the tapout victory at 8:09.
I thought this was one of the weaker tournament matches because it was just the Rogers show, and Nikki didn't get much chance to shine here.

Intermission
15 minute break after taking in the first half of the tourney.

DDW Royal Rumble Match
This match allowed all the people who lost earlier in the show to get a second chance in the tournament. The winner of the rumble met Cindy in the third round to see who's number 1 contender.

Talia won the Rumble
Order of Entry
1- Tonya Lee
2- Lexus
3- Jana
4- Missy Sampson
5- Talia
6- Ariel
7- Nikki Roxx

Order of Elimination
1- Lee
2- Jana
3- Missy
4- Lexus
5- Nikki Roxx
6- Ariel

I thought this was the best womens battle royal I've ever seen. It's hard to recap a battle royal so all I will say was that it was nicely done and put together. I was really impressed with Lexus & Lee in this battle royal. I would've liked to see them have a singles match at this show. Lexus and Lee both were great strikers and I'd like to see them in a match as they showed alot of potential.

The finish saw Talia & Ariel team up and eliminate Nikki. Ariel then tried eliminating Talia, but Talia didn't go to the floor. Ariel then charged Talia and Talia pulled the rope down, letting Ariel take her own bump to the floor. I hate that spot as it always looks so fake whenever you see it, no matter if it's in the WWE or on the indies. However, it was a good battle royal.

Talia cut a promo and was kinda out of breath, as she talked about fighting Cindy later on in the show. However, Cindy ran-in and later on the show was now for Talia.

Number 1 Contender Tournament For a Shot at the DDW Womens Title
Round 3
FINALS
Cindy Rogers d. Talia
Cindy started the match after attacking Talia during Talia's promo. Cindy went through her strikes and submission routine. Talia would get a chance on offense, pulling off the octopus hold that I described earlier. Like most Cindy matches, this match was submission heavy. Cindy won the match via submission in an anticlimatic manner at 9:02.
As a result, Cindy is now the number 1 contender to the DDW Womens Title.
I thought all the first round matches were better than the 2nd & 3rd round matches. I appreciate Cindy's style but sometimes it gets lost in front of non-smart fans, who want more than just restholds. Like anything in wrestling, whenever you do something too much it loses its meaning. The match was great if you're an ROH fan though, but you could see the crowd losing interest.

DPW Womens Champion, Alere Little Feather, was out next. She was wearing a neck brace and said she had a doctor note and was unable to wrestle tonight. ALF did a good job of getting heel heat with the crowd. Mandy Mancuso came out and said if ALF couldn't wrestle, she was getting stripped of the championship. ALF threw a fit, and Mandy brought out Ariel to fight number 1 contender Mercedes Martinez. Maybe something happened at a prior DPW show, but I don't get how Ariel, who lost 2 matches tonight, gets a title shot? Shouldn't have Cindy just got here shot then? It already was the CIndy Rogers show, might've well just went all the way. I guess something happened at a previous show to make Ariel worthy of this spot.

For the DPW Womens Title
Ariel d. Mercedes Martinez to win the Vacant Womens Championship
Mercedes Martinez had her shoulder wrapped up, as the shoulder is injured and Mercedes is getting ready to take a break and get it fixed.

Ariel immediately attacked Mercedes from behind and went right to work on the injured shoulder. Mercedes would fight Ariel off with some fast dropkicks, but Ariel would always go back to the injured shoulder. After some back and forth wrestling, the referee got bumped. Mercedes had Ariel pinned and the title won after a brainbuster, but the ref was still laid out. ALF ran in the ring and hit Mercedes in the shoulder with a steel chair. Mercedes sold the chair shot excellently. Ariel then applied a submission hold on Mercedes damaged shoulder, and the ref conveniently woke up to see Mercedes tapping out.
This didn't really make the title seem too prestigious with all ther ref bumps and interference, but it did set up several angles at least.
POSTMATCH: Ariel & ALF jumped Mercedes, but Cindy Rogers, now a face again as she turned on this show like she was Lex Luger, made the save. Cindy vs Ariel was booked for the next show, and the show closed with Cindy helping Mercedes to the back.

Final McWord
A good start for DDW. Was it perfect? Probably not, but there was much more good than bad on the show. All of the matches were fine. Cindy's style is great for DVD's but for a live crowd, sometimes it's a buzzkill. If there was one thing I could've changed, I would've liked to see the tournament been more diversified, as somem girls wrestled 3 times, while others were only seen once in a battle royal.

As far as the actual in-ring stuff, everything was good. I really enjoyed Talia/Nikki the most. The close of the show was good story telling, although the ref bump/chair shot shit has been so overdone, but then again, this is coming from someone who watches too much wrestling. On the bright side, this show blew out TNA's PPV.

Overall
A fine job by all involved.

This show will be available in the DOIVIDEO.com section soon. Keep checking the DOI for more news on how to purchase the DVD of this solid event.

Stay tuned to the DOI for the DPW mens show review.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com