Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up: NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament Begins, Queen Of The Mountain, Nicole Savoy Retires

NXT officially begins its Women’s Breakout Tournament. IMPACT Wrestling announces their first-ever Queen of the Mountain match. XPW Wrestling will crown their first-ever women’s champion, and more. Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!

NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament Begins

Last week on NXT 2.0, the inaugural NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament officially began, with four competitors colliding in two first-round matchups.

Firstly, newcomer Sloane Jacobs locked with Fallon Henley in the first of two quarterfinals matchups. In the end, Henley secured the victory with a shining wizard to Jacobs. Henley now moves on to the semi-finals in the tournament.

Later on, the powerful Nikkita Lyons took on the debuting Arianna Grace. Grace entered the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament making her debut on NXT 2.0 as a second-generation superstar. Now, she collided with Nikkita Lyons, who has proven dominant since arriving on the WWE landscape. In the end, Lyons picked up the win with a spin kick and thus, moves on to face Fallon Henley in the semi-finals.

As of this writing, two more first-round matchups have yet to take place: Roxanne Perez vs. Kiana James and Lash Legend vs. Tatum Paxley. The winners of those matches will go on to face each other in the semi-finals. The winner of this NXT Women’s Breakup tournament will earn a title opportunity for NXT Women’s Championship down the line.

In the main event of the evening, former Smackdown Women’s Champion Natalya challenged NXT standout Cora Jade in arguably of the night.

A brief recap of the match can be read below, courtesy of WrestleZone:

Jade takes an early advantage. Natalya cuts her off and works her over to set up the sharpshooter. Jade fires up and locks Natalya in the Sharpshooter. Natalya escapes and traps Jade in the Sharpshooter. Jade tries to get to the ropes but Natalya pulls her back to the middle of the ring. Jade passes out. Winner – Natalya

RELATED: NXT In Your House Set For June 4, Pair Of Matches Made Official

IMPACT Wrestling Announces Inaugural Queen of the Mountain Match

The IMPACT Knockouts are about to embark on another first in the IMPACT Zone. In the midst of IMPACT Wrestling’s 20-year celebration, a major announcement was unveiled last week by seven-time Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim.

For the first time ever, IMPACT will host the Queen of the Mountain match. On June 19th at Slammiversary in Nashville, five women will compete in the inaugural Queen of the Mountain match for the Knockouts Championship. Current champion Tasha Steelz will defend her championship against some fierce competition: Deonna Purrazzo, Chelsea Green, Jordynne Grace, and Mia Yim.

If following the rules of a traditional King of the Mountain match, this high-stakes Knockouts Championship match will indeed be unpredictable. Each competitor must first score a pinfall or submission on a fellow wrestler in the match in order to qualify as “eligible” to win. However, the competitor who falls to pinfall or submission is briefly taken out of the match–sitting out two minutes in cage, similar to a penalty box in hockey.

Once competitors earn eligibility, they must retrieve the designated championship belt or prize from a match official–in this case the Knockouts Championship. Once retrieved, that competitor must climb a ladder and hook the Knockouts Championship onto the suspending line hanging above the ring. Multiple eligible competitors may vie for possession for the championship at once, either stealing it from a fellow competitor or hanging it themselves. However, if the championship is dropped or becomes unmoved, the match official will regain possession of it until another eligible competitor retrieves it.

IMPACT Wrestling released the following statement on the history-making Queen of the Mountain match:

It’s time for the Knockouts of IMPACT Wrestling to make history once again. For the first time ever, five Knockouts will compete in a Queen of the Mountain match as Tasha Steelz defends her title in one of the most unique match types in professional wrestling. As revealed by IMPACT Hall of Famer Gail Kim, challenging her will be a lineup of former Knockouts World Champions: Chelsea Green, Jordynne Grace, Deonna Purrazzo and Mia Yim, who made her shocking IMPACT return at Under Siege. Who will climb the ladder and hang the title to leave IMPACT Wrestling’s 20th anniversary celebration as the Knockouts World Champion? Find out at Slammiversary.

IMPACT Wrestling celebrates its 20th anniversary at Slammiversary LIVE June 19th on pay-per-view from Nashville, TN! Tickets are on-sale now at Eventbrite.com.

RELATED: IMPACT Wrestling Results (5/12/22)

XPW Wrestling To Crown First Ever XPW Women’s Champion

XPW Wrestling recently announced they will be making history on June 25th by crowning their inaugural XPW Women’s Champion.

In a highly competitive tournament, eight women will battle to be crowned XPW Women’s Champion. Included in the tournament is many notable names from the National Wrestling Alliance, IMPACT Wrestling, and NXT.
The following talent have officially entered the tournament:

• Taya Valkyrie
• Kamille
• Chelsea Green
• Sage Sinn Supreme
• Steph De Lander
• Deonna Purrazzo
• Lindsay Snow
• Ludark Shaitan

So far, two first-round matchups have been confirmed. NWA Women’s Champion Kamille will collide with “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo on June 25th at XPW’s Beautiful Disaster event. Additionally, Taya Valkyrie will face Steph De Lander (fka Persia Pirotta) in their respective quarterfinals bout.

As of this writing, the other two opening round matches have yet to be confirmed.

Nicole Savoy Announces Retirement

Former SHIMMER Champion Nicole Savoy revealed that she will be retiring from professional wrestling. After competing in a tag team match with Dark Sheik against Brittany Wonder and Juice Lee at Hoodslam, Savoy made the announcement that she will officially be stepping back from the squared circle.

Savoy began her wrestling career in 2011, and has made a name for herself ever since. A former SHIMMER Champion, Nicole Savoy appeared in many big promotions like WWE, AEW, ROH, MLW, and Stardom before hanging it up in 2022.

Savoy released the following tweet regarding her announcement:

INTERVIEWS

Former NXT Superstar Jessica Elaban spoke with MuscleManMalcolm about her WWE release, not everyone had a personal relationship with Triple H, and the locker room’s reaction to the NXT 2.0 brand and WWE hiring college athletes.

“Dark Angel” Sarah Stock appeared on WrestleTea to discuss what led to her back to the ring, coaching at the WWE Performance Center amidst the Women’s Revolution, what her future plans are in wrestling, offers some veteran advice to aspiring wrestlers, and more.

Former PWA Women’s Champion Gigi Rey chatted with A Wrestling Gal about traveling to Iceland, her move to Texas, her recent homecoming back in Alberta, animal flow yoga, and more.

Media personality Renee Paquette spoke with NBC Sports Boston about her WWE career, being married to Jon Moxley, how she got into wrestling, and more.

Former Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo appeared on Sports Guys Talking Wrestling to discuss her upcoming wedding, her dogs, her career, appearing in the PWI Women’s 150, and more.

RESULTS:

Mission Pro Wrestling: Don’t Stop Me Now – May 14th

• Mighty Mayra defeated Ruthie Jay
• JP Harlow defeated David Ali
• La Rosa Negra defeated Edith Surreal
• Triple Threat: Jennacide defeated KiLynn King and Natalia Markova
• Willow Nightingale defeated Shazza McKenzie
• Jazmin Allure defeated Billie Starkz
• MPW Championship: Holidead (c) defeated Delilah Doom
• MPW Tag Team Championships (No Disqualification Match(: Bougie Reality (Madi Wrenkowski & Rache Chanel) defeat The Renegade Twins (Charlette Renegade & Robyn Renegade) (c)