MY CULTURE IS NOT A FUCKING TREND. MY CULTURE IS NOT A FUCKING TREND. MY CULTURE IS NOT A FUCKING TREND. MY CULTURE IS NOT A FUCKING TREND. MY CULTURE IS NOT A FUCKING TREND. MY CULTURE IS NOT A FUCKING TREND.
It's not "cool" or "edgy" and, no, it doesn't fucking matter if the "culture resonates with your spirit" or whatever. Look up cultural appropriation. Day of the Dead is an important tradition in many Latino cultures. It is used to pray for and remember the dead and white folks - because it's almost always non-Latino white folks who do this - who treat it as a "Mexican Halloween" are desecrating this sacred holiday.
(And do I even need to go into colonization and how it relates to cultural appropriation?)
I'm a bit late on reviewing this book as I was having personal problems so here goes! I think this is one of those books where you gotta be a wrestling fan in order to fully appreciate it. The book is about not only the story of Mildred Burke but about the history of women's wrestling in the United States. Author Jeff Leen has done his research on the sport of professional wrestling. I seriously admire his research skills as he has gone out of his way to verify facts by checking IRS records for wrestler's earnings during the 20th century, verifying marriage licenses, birth records, addresses and so on. He talks about the importance of showmanship in professional wrestling, especially in women's wrestling. Mildred Burke wanted to convey the idea that she was a woman first and wrestler second. She dressed glamorously, coming to the ring decked out in diamonds, a fur coat, a manicure, make up and coiffed hair. Leen didn't just write about Burke's wrestling career but about her personal life, as well. These two are intertwined as Burke married her first wrestling manager, Billie Wolfe. These two together were responsible for the creation of women's wrestling as a respectable sport. Billie Wolfe was a savvy businessman who, with Burke, created a thriving business. Their marriage, however, was purely business as Burke had no love or attraction to Wolfe due to his abusive and womanizing ways. Leen then points out how American women's wrestling was the reason why joshi puroresu (Japanese women's pro wrestling) became such a huge thing in Japan following the American tour of women wrestlers that included Burke and Johnnie Mae Young (who studied at Wolfe's wrestling school). Leen also included the FBI investigation of the National Wrestling Alliance and Burke's involvement in that and the seeming decline of not just women's wrestling but pro wrestling as a whole (women's wrestling soared during the Golden Age of Wrestling). This is a book that I would highly recommend to any wrestling fan.
I quite literally just finished reading this book. I obviously know quite a bit about feminism (slut shaming, rape culture, wage gap, gender equality) but I wanted to learn more about it. Specifically, I wanted to learn about the history of feminism, who were/are key players in the movement and important milestones. I admit that when I started reading this book, I thought it was going to focus on mainstream feminism and completely ignore the contributions made by women of color. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they included the likes of Sojourner Truth, Alice Walker and bell hooks (among others). Heck, it mentions the origin of the term "womanist". The book also mentions feminism in developing countries and how it clashes with western feminism (reading this, I thought of the debate surrounding the hijab. Muslim women fighting with Western feminists - specifically, white Western feminists - over the right to cover themselves up). It's a pretty good introduction to feminism. The thing that bugged me, though, is the exclusion of latin@s. Latin@s did play a huge role in feminism. I feel that the book should have at least mentioned Gloria Anzalduas. :/
I just recently finished reading "The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless" by Elinor Burkett. How can I describe this book aside from "I really, really liked it"? This book perfectly describes the discrimination faced by the childless and childfree and how the U.S. Burkett goes into how society slowly changed to accomodate the "needs" - and I do use that term loosely - of upper middle class parents and how companies sought to become more "family-friendly" by accomodating working parents - nay, working mothers - so they can juggle both work and family. She points out how mainstream feminism neglected those who have chosen to not have children by focusing primarily on working mothers and using the terms "women" and "mothers" interchangeably. They are NOT the same thing! Not all women are mothers or want to be mothers. One thing that I loved about this book is that Burkett pointed out that these tax credits and tax cuts only aid upper middle class families and not families that truly need it: the poor. As someone who lives in the third poorest region in the United States, tax cuts for the poor is a major issue for me and my loved ones and it pisses me off that the government is giving all these tax breaks to people who don't really need it (no, yuppie parents, you DON'T need that 4,000 sq. ft. house or that brand new lexus. You'll do just fine in a smaller home and driving a used vehicle). There was something in this book that really stood out to me and that was what Pat Schroeder had said about pregnancy being a voluntary disability that I found ridiculous. She said that pregnancy is like a sports injury or a venereal disease - it's voluntary. I found the comparison completely ridiculous. Nobody chooses to get a venereal disease and athletes don't choose to get a sports injury. Incidentally, not everybody chooses to get pregnant. Pregnancy is only a voluntary disability if the person actually wants to be pregnant. It is in no way comparable to VD or an injury. Those are things NOBODY wants. Burkett closes the book detailing all the things that every CFer is already familiar with: bingoes, preferential treatment shown to parents, and the reactions the CF receive when they make their frustrations known.
I'm starting to listen to more Willow Smith. I really like this song - it's so fun! - and that other song that she received criticism for, "I Am Me". Also, it's unreal how much she looks like her dad.
The anonymity that the internet provides can be a blessing but for a lot of people, it's a curse. People have used this anonymity to harass and stalk others and it has allowed bigots to spew their hate, saying things that they know they can't say offline. The vitriol they spread is bad enough and it definitely doesn't help when social media sites like Facebook, Tumblr and DeviantART not only overlook this bigotry but actually encourage it (Tumblr is a great example of this). Project Offspring was thought up because people were fed up with this. The idea behind Project Offspring is to create a social media website that is a safe space for people to relax, vent, have fun, meet new people, and be creative. Bigots aren't welcome. Now, to get this place off the ground, money is needed. I've already emailed various technology and business websites to get much needed exposure for this project and have tweeted about it. I'm really hoping this thing gets made.
For those who don't know, Jim Cornette is a man who works in professional wrestling as a manager, commentator, promoter and booker. From what I know about him, he's liberal (pro-choice, atheist, adamantly hates Republicans, anti-racist, etc.) who doesn't ID as Democrat. He's 51 - almost 52 - and has never had kids. He has said some things that has made me think he has chosen not to have children, such as stating in a shoot interview that he hates kids (not all CFers hate kids but I figure if you hate kids, you're definitely not gonna have 'em) and joking about how he likes children cooked.
Edit: I found the video where he states he hates kids. Some people have stated that he states that he hates Vince Russo's kids but that's clearly not the case in the video. Between 6:44 and 6:49 he says "I hate kids, anyway. For truth be honest, most of 'em because they're all...you know...misbehavin'...but anyway..."
I've started reading more and more books on childfreedom and decided to start with Madelyn Cain's "The Childless Revolution: What it Means to be Childless Today". I thought it was a pretty interesting book that outlined the three types of childless women: childless by chance (those who are unable to have children), childless by choice (AKA childfree) and childless by environment (those who wanted kids but never had the opportunity). I admit I found it hard to relate to some of these women. I got the CFers but I didn't really get some of the women who wanted to have kids but couldn't for one reason or another. All I kept thinking was "those are the kodak moments you're seeing. That's not the reality". I noticed that only one of these women was told the truth: that parenting is hard work and not all sunshine and rainbows. This book also made me realize just how ingrained the idea "it's different when it's your own!" is in our society. We really need to do away with it. Just because a person gives birth doesn't mean that they'll develop this ~*magical bond*~ with their child or...heck, even if the kid loves the parent doesn't mean it's gonna stay that way forever (when I was a kid I absolutely loved my mom and thought she was the greatest ever and now...I definitely don't think that). Hell, I'm willing to wager that this kind of thinking is partly why so many kids are stuck in the foster system*. With that said, I would recommend the book. Next CF book I'm reading: "The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless" by Elinor Burkett.
*There are a bunch of reasons why this is, mainly having to do with race and sex.
So, I've been hearing all this hoopla about the Hunger Games movie and decided to read the book series to see what it's all about. Well, I just finished the series not too long ago and, honestly, I can see why people love these books. It's not great literature by any means but it's a pretty good series nonetheless. I found the series entertaining (who doesn't love a post-apocalyptic setting?) and, in a way, I can relate to Katniss Everdeen. She's an awesome character who doesn't take shit from people and I like that about her. I was hoping she would remain childfree, though. It just bugged the fuck out of me that Peeta pestered her for years and years until she caved and had kids. Oh, and that's another thing: I preferred Katniss with Gale instead of Peeta. It just made more sense to me. But given what happened in the series, Katniss had no choice but to be with Peeta.
Real name: Janel Horton
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Born: October 15, 1978
Hometown: Long Island, New York (Shinnecock Reservation)
Trained by: Cruel School of Professional Rasslin', Rapid Fire Maldonado
Debut: May 2003
Finishing Moves: Alere Dust (Diamond Dust)
Signature Moves: Tomahawk chops, Hairdog, Northern Lights Suplex, Fugjiwara armbars
Notable Feuds: Alicia, Talia, Mercedes Martinez, Team Blondage, Cindy Rogers, Tina Marina, Amber, Ariel
As a child, Horton was a WWF (World Wrestling Federation) fan and grew up watching "WWF Superstars" and would sometimes attend WWF events. Her interest in pro wrestling waned as a teenager but was then rekindled during the WWF's Attitude Era, becoming a fan of The Rock and D-Generation X. As soon as she became interested in a career in professional wrestling, Horton started researching various wrestling schools wherein she contacted Steve Corino. He was an independent wrestler who promoted wrestling events in Horton's area. They corresponded through email and through this correspondence, Corino told Horton to go to Rapid Fire Maldonado for training. Corino couldn't do it due to his busy schedule traveling between the United States and Japan. Horton began training at Maldonado's Cruel School of Rasslin' in June 2002 where she was assisted by various wrestlers. She also trained with Terry Funk at various wrestling dojos. Horton made her professional debut in May 2003 against "Luscious" Ronnie Stevens. Horton started wrestling for World Xtreme Wrestling later that year by participating in a 10-man tag team match with Traci Brooks, Ariel, April Hunter and Cindy Rogers against Tara Charisma, Sumie Sakai, Ranmaru and Luscious Lilly. Horton would then team with Cindy Rogers in several tag team matches defeating Tara Charisma, Luscious Lilly and BellaDonna. Horton would also feud with Charisma in independent promotions, teaming up with Cindy Rogers to defeat Charisma in various tag team matches. These matches also included 6-women tag team matches. Horton and Rogers also dominated singles matches, including 4- and 6-way matches.
In early 2004, Horton became the United Wrestling Alliance's Women's Champion by defeating Luscious Lilly in a battle royal. This would result in a major feud between the two which ended with Luscious Lilly defeating Horton in July and winning the title, partly due to interference from special guest referee Tammy Lynn Snytch and Chris Candido, who accompanied Tammy to the ring. Horton was granted a rematch on June 26, teaming with Cindy Rogers and Shannon LeVay and Luscious Lilly teaming with The Killer Babes (April Hunter & Nikki Roxx). Rogers turned on her tag team partners right after Lilly pinned Horton. Horton was then invited to take part in CHIKARA's World Tag Grand Prix along with Allison Danger, becoming the only female tag team to compete. The duo were eliminated in the opening rounds by Arik Cannon & Claudio Castagnoli on February 18, 2005. Several months later, Horton participated in a mixed Royal Rumble-style battle royal during the Chris Candido Memorial Tour, which included several male and female pro wrestlers from promotions such as USA Pro and World Xtreme Wrestling. Horton took part in a 8-woman championship tournament on June 5, 2005 to crown the first NECW Women's Championship (it was won by Mercedes Martinez). Horton went on to win the PWF Mayhem Women's Championship only to lose it to NECW Women's Champion Nikki Roxx in Somerville, MA, combining both titles on August 13, 2006 to create the World Women's Wrestling Championship.
Here's a video of Alere Little Feather vs. Cindy Rogers for the WWWA's #1 contenders tournament for the women's title:
Zivile is a former bodybuilder, fitness model and personal trainer who signed on with the WWE. She made her debut in FCW under the ring name "Olga" which she changed a month later to "Aksana". She managed Eli Cottonwood and was involved in a kidnapping storyline with Sweet Papi Sanchez. On January 15, 2010 she defeated Serena Mancini, Naomi Night, Courtney Taylor and Liviana with AJ Lee, Savannah and Eve Torres. She wrestled in several multi-Diva tag team matches and teamed with Hunico and Tito Nieves in a mixed tag team match on April 15, 2010 to defeat The Usos and Tamina Snuka. When it was announced that the FCW was going to create a Divas Championship title, a tournament was created to determine who would be the inaugural champion. Aksana participated in this and was defeated in the first round by Serena on April 29, 2010. Aksana managed Johnny Curtis for two months and began hosting her own in-ring show, The Aksana Show. On February 3rd, 2011, Aksana became the new Queen of FCW by defeating Rosa Mendes. Aksana then joined a heel stable formed by FCW General Manager Maxine, the FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Lucky Cannon, FCW Divas Champion AJ Lee and Damien Sandow. On April 7th, 2011, Aksana became Divas champion after defeating AJ Lee, making her the first to hold the Queen of FCW and FCW Divas Championship titles simultaneously. Aksana then proceeded to lose the Divas Championship to Audrey Marie on September 1st, 2011.
On August 31st, 2010, Aksana joined the third season of WWE's NXT with Goldust as her mentor. On the first episode (Sept. 7th, 2010), she and Goldust participated in a mixed tag team match against AJ Lee and Primo, which they lost. Aksana participated in a singles match the following week against Jamie Keyes and lost. Aksana began to develop a storyline in which she was in danger of facing deportation from the United States. On October 5th, 2010, she defeated Maxine in a singles match after winning a mechanical bull-riding competition. The following week, Goldust proposed to Aksana so she could stay in the country, which Aksana agreed to. On November 2nd, 2010, the wedding took place and just as Goldust was about to kiss his bride, Aksana turned heel by slapping him and walking off. On the following NXT, Goldust confronted Aksana about what had transpired and she said that she never loved him and only married him to stay in the country. Goldust responded to this by putting Aksana in a match against Naomi, which she (Aksana) lost. On November 16th, 2010, Aksana was eliminated from NXT. She returned on November 30th, 2010 for the season finale in which she teamed with Alicia Fox and Maxine against AJ Lee and The Bella Twins. She lost the match.
Aksana made her debut on August 5th as a face and introduced herself to General Manager Theodore Long. She made several backstage segments with him and formed a storyline relationship with him. Aksana joined the Raw roster on October 3rd on giving Triple H a vote of no confidence and walked out with them. On October 31st, Aksana competed in a Divas Halloween Costume battle royal match to become the number one contender for the WWE Divas Championship at the 2011 Survivor Series pay per view. She was eliminated by The Bella Twins. At the PPV itself, Aksana was one of the lumberjills in the WWE Divas Championship match between Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres. On January 27th, 2012, Aksana defeated Natalya Neidhart in a singles match and was subsequently attacked by Natalya (Tamina Snuka saved her). Aksana participated in a tag team match the following week with Tamina Snuka, going up against The Divas of Doom (Natalya and Beth). On February 16th, Aksana defeated Maxine in a pinfall. The week after that, she teamed with Kelly Kelly in a tag team match against The Bella Twins and lost. On March 19th on Raw, Aksana showed up at ringside to support R-Truth and Kofi Kingston in their match against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. She would have a confrontation with Vickie Guerrero and the two would brawl inside the ring, having to be separated by Truth, Kingston, Ziggler and Swagger. In April, Aksana started managing Antonio Cesaro and forming a storyline relationship with him, kissing him passionately in front of Theodore Long, effectively ending their relationship and turning her heel.
Here is a video of Aksana wrestling against Rosa Mendes for the Queen of FCW title:
Billed from: Kitakatsushika (present Yoshikawa City), Japan
Trained by: All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
Debut: May 28, 1985
Finishing Move: Dangerous Queen Bomb
Favorite Moves: Spin Kick, Missile Kick, Strangle Hold Gamma
Notable Feuds: Shinobu Kandori, Madusa
Akira got into professional wrestling following the popularity of the tag team the Crush Gals and was the one responsible for the creation of the Bull Nakano fanclub. She entered the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) dojo after dropping out of high school. She won the AJW Rookie of the Year shortly after her debut and won the AJW Junior Championship the following year. That same year, she participated in the AJW's Match of the Year and then teamed up with Yukari Omari losing against Chigusa Nagayo and Yumiko Hotta in the final of the annual Tag League Tournament. In 1987, Akira won both the AJW's tag team title and the World Women's Wrestling Association (WWWA) Tag Team Championship with Yumiko Hotta only to lose the titles twelve days later to the Red Typhoons in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Akira took a tombstone piledriver off the top rope during the finish of the second fall which caused her to break her neck. She kept wrestling during the whole third fall, holding her head in place with her hands, causing her to gain a reputation for being tough. She then took a year off for recovery and came back with bleach blonde hair and had given herself the moniker "Akira Hokuto" after the wrestler Akira Maeda. She teamed with Suzuka Minami to win the WWWA Tag Team belts twice more.
Akira suffered a severe knee injury in 1990 when she was booked to win the Japan Grand Prix, a tournament that determined who would be the top contender for the WWWA World Heavyweight Championship. The injury occurred during a Grand Prix match against Manami Toyota in which she (Akira) did a plancha and crashed her knee into the ringside metal barrier. Her knee was torn open and she couldn't walk. She tied a bandage around her leg (while crying) and pulled herself into the ring to try and finish the match. She couldn't do it and had to be removed from the tournament. Hokuto went back into singles tournaments in the early 90s, winning the All Pacific Championship in 1991 and 1992, sustaining many more injuries during the process. She earned the nickname "the Mummy" because she often came to the ring wrapped in bandages. In 1993, she feuded with Shinobu Kandori of the LLPW promotion during the inter-promotional period*. The two had a match at Dreamslam I in April 1993 in which Kandori lost. Dave Meltzer rated the match a five and is considered to be the greatest women's match in history. Akira was defeated nine days later by Kandori at Dreamslam II in a tag team match and also in a singles match in December 1993. That same year, she won the Japan Grand Prix and was given another shot at the WWWA Championship against Aja Kong on October 9th. Akira was injured again in August of that year and, thus, requested that the match be changed to a non-title match since she felt that competing in her condition would ruin the prestige of the belt. 1993 is considered to be the best year of Akira's career.
Akira then married Mexican wrestler Antonio Gomez Medina in 1993 and moved to Mexico to live with him. There, she continued her career by adopting the moniker "Reina Jabuki". On July 30, 1994, she won the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) World Women's Championship by defeating La Diabolica and carried the title for over two years. That same year, she divorced Antonio and returned to Japan, where she defeated Aja Kong in the final of the V*Top Woman Tournament at the Big Egg Wrestling Universe event. Akira had one of her last great matches for AJW on September 5th, 1995, losing against Manami Toyota in an exciting 21-minute match. Akira made her U.S. debut at the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) pay per view event WCW World War 3 on November 26, 1995. She teamed with Bull Nakano to defeat wrestlers Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki. The same teams competed in a match the following night on Monday Night Nitro, with Akira and Bull winning again. Her and several other GAEA wrestlers came to the United States to compete in a tournament to crown the first WCW Women's Champion. Using both the "Akira Hokuto" and "Reina Jabuki" gimmicks, Akira managed to participate in the first round of the tournament twice. Akira lost to Madusa Miceli in the first round as Reina, which caused her to be stripped of her CMLL title. As Akira Hokuto, she won the tournament and defeated Madusa in the finals. This occurred at WCW's Starrcade on December 29, 1996. Akira once again defeated Madusa at WCW's Great American Bash on June 15, 1997, causing Madusa to retire. This was Akira's last WCW appearance and the only person to hold the WCW Women's Championship as the title was eventually dropped.
In 1996, Akira left AJW and joined GAEA Japan, a new promotion started by Chigusa Nagayo. During this time, Akira had gotten married (to Kensuke Sasaki) and was starting her family. For most female wrestlers, this would be the time to retire but not for Akira! She came back to the ring in 1999 and in 2000, she won the GAEA's AAAW Tag Team Championship with Mayumi Ozaki. That same year, she was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Hall of Fame in recognition of her skills and contributions as a wrestler. She retired on April 7th, 2002 by teaming up with Meiko Satomura in a tag team match against Ayako Hamada and Chigusa Nagayo. Just as she's done several times before, Akira wrestled with an injury (broken rig) and managed to pin Hamada with a Northern Lights Bomb. During the post-match retirement ceremony, several of Akira's colleagues entered the ring to hug her, give her flowers and bow down to her. She even slapped a few of them as a way to transfer part of her fighting spirit. A ten-gong salute followed and then Akira was showered with streamers before she officially left the building. After retirement, Akira has stayed busy raising her family, helping her husband with his business and has made several media and wrestling-related appearances, including several squash matches and becoming the first female wrestler to appear in a All Japan Pro Wrestling match.
Here's a video of the epic match between Akira Hokuto and Shinobu Kandori at Dreamslam I:
Sudanese Woman Gets Sexual Solicitation from Orthodox Jewish Man
“This one is very serious, guys:
I came upon these two on the sidewalk. They were having a conversation. “Excuse me,” I said, addressing the girl: “I’m sorry to interrupt, but is there anyway I can take your photo?”
“Why would you want my photo?” she asked.
“Because you look beautiful,” I said. And she did. She was Sudanese. There is a very distinct beauty among people from the Sudan, and she was filled up with it. Suddenly the man cut in:
“I was just telling her she was beautiful,” he said.
Naively, I assumed I had just walked up on one stranger giving a compliment to another. I wanted to capture the moment. “Let me take your photograph together,” I said. The man seemed reluctant, he started smiling nervously and inching away. But the girl called him back.
“Come take a picture with me,” she said. Encouraged by her attention, he returned. She put her arm around him, and I took the photo.
As I examined the photos on my camera, the man started whispering to the girl. She answered him in a loud voice: “I told you! I’m not that kind of girl.” She seemed agitated now. Finally sensing that I had misread the situation, I stepped between them. The man began hurrying down the sidewalk.
When the man left, the girl’s demeanor changed completely. She seemed shaken. Her eyes were tearing up. “He just offered me five hundred dollars to go out with him,” she said. “And then when I said ‘no,’ he offered me one thousand. Why does this always happen to me?”
“It happens a lot?” I asked.
“All the time,” she said. “I’m sorry I’m getting emotional. I just can’t go out of my house without this kind of thing happening. I have a son. I’m a mother. I would never degrade myself like that. I just don’t understand why this keeps happening.”
“Do you mind if I tell this story?” I asked.
“Please,” she said. “Tell it.”
Let’s hope this man, and all men, realize the emotional damage they are inflicting on the women they try to buy. In the meantime, feel free to SHARE.*
(posting this here from Tumblr because it keeps getting deleted. The reason? It makes HONY look bad. Me and several other people have backed this up on our computers in case the post gets deleted again. I'm blogging this here.)
San Benito teacher tells classroom she can speak to God: A YouTube video reportedly of a San Benito teacher at Veteran's Academy had parents and students talking about how she can speak to God and is carrying His child.
All I can say to this is "WTF?!"
After being suspended for the second time (which, per the WWE Wellness Policy, is a 60-day suspension) in his WWE career back on January 17, former WWE Tag Team Champion Evan Bourne will be allowed to return to the company any time on or after March 17 (tomorrow). With his suspension up tomorrow, there is speculation abound about Bourne’s future with the WWE. While many are surprised he was not released from his contract during his suspension, Drake Oz of The Bleacher Report is reporting that the WWE may even give the high-flyer a push after he returns.
According to PWInsider.com, the plan was to have Bourne feud with Jack Swagger over the United States Title, but things may go a different direction after the WWE had Santino Marella take the title off of Swagger a couple of weeks ago. It currently appears that WWE plans to take the U.S. Title off of Santino sometime after WrestleMania 28 and, as far as Bourne goes, it is very likely that the WWE will leave Bourne off of the WrestleMania card this year as a way of teaching him a lesson. If Bourne does end up getting a spot on the card, it will be part of Theodore Long’s team on the 12-Man Winner-Takes-All Tag Match.
History has shown that WWE has been uneasy about pushing WWE stars who have twice failed drug tests in the WWE, considering that a third failed drug test results in the Superstar getting released from his WWE contract and, given Evan Bourne’s track record (suspended for smoking fake marijuana on November 1, returned at a live event on December 3 only to be suspended again on January 17), the WWE has a right to be concerned.
Real name: Erika Shishido
Billed height: 5'5"
Billed weight: 220 lbs.
Born: September 25, 1970
Billed from: Tokyo, Japan
Trained by: Jaguar Yokota
Debut: September 16, 1986
Finishing Move: Urken
Favorite Moves: Northern Lights Superplex, Powerbomb, Brainbuster, Backdrop Suplex,
Notable Feuds: Bull Nakano
Shishido was trained by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and made her debut in the summer of 1986. She immediately joined the Atrocious Alliance, a heel stable which included wrestlers Dump Matsumoto and Nobuko Kimura. After Matsumoto retired, the group dissolved and Shishido and Kimura went their separate ways only to reunite in 1990 as Jungle Jack. They now went by the ring names Aja Kong and Bison Kimura and they got into a two-year feud with Bull Nakano and her heel stable Gokumon-to. During this time, Jungle Jack won the World Women's Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship twice and took part in some very memorable matches. Their most famous one was a hair vs. hair match on January 11, 1991. Jungle Jack lost this match and had to have their heads shaved. Kong challenged Nakano for the World Women's Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship several times during the early '90s and failed repeatedly until November 15, 1992 when she won it, thus ending Nakano's three year title reign.
Kong then signed on with the World Wrestling Federation and was the sole survivor of a women's elimination match at Survivor Series 1995, pinning 4 members of the opposing team, including then-WWF Women's Champion, Alundra Blayze. Kong appeared in two episodes of Monday Night Raw, winning both matches. One of those matches was a vicious bout where she broke the nose of Chaparita Asari. Kong was being built up as a challenger for the WWF Women's Championship, which was held by Alundra Blayze. Kong and Blayze were set to go at it at the Royal Rumble in 1996 but Blayze was fired before this could happen. Kong also left.
In 1997, Kong left the AJW and started her own independent promotion called Hyper Visual Fighting ARSION (simply known as ARSION). She led the organization until February 12, 2001 when she announced on television that she was quitting and walked out of a tag team match. She continues to wrestle for various independent promotions in Japan. She recently formed a tag team match with Double Kong (Awesome Kong/Amazing Kong/Kharma) and held tag team championships in AJW, GAEA, and Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling (Japanese women's promotions). On June 6, 2006, the team wrestled as Erika and Margaret against Wataru Sakata and Ryoji Sai and won the HUSTLE Super Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to the American tag team Bubba Ray and Devon in a three-way match which also included the team of Sodom and Gamora. The match took place on October 9, 2006. Currently, Aja is wrestling for Oz Academy, where she has held the championship title and currently leads the Jungle Jack 21 stable, which includes AKINO and Tomoka Nakagawa. In December 2011, Aja participated in Chikara's JoshiMania where she lost to Sara Del Rey in the first night's main event on December 2nd. The next day, Aja defeated Ayako Hamada in the main event and got together with Mio Shirai and Tsubasa Kuragaki to defeat Hanako Nakamori, Manami Toyota and Sawako Shimono in a six woman tag team match on the third and final night of the JoshiMania tour.
Here is a video of Aja Kong wrestling against Awesome Kong:
Real name: April Jeanette Mendez
Billed height: 5'3"
Billed weight: 107 lbs.
Born: March 19, 1987
Billed from: Union City, New Jersey
Trained by: Jay Lethal
Debut: September 29, 2007
Finishing Moves: Shining Wizard and Sliced Bread #2
Favorite Moves: Hurracanrana, Spinning Heel Kick, Head Scissors, Mexican Armdrags
Notable Feuds: Alexa Thatcher
Previous Names: Miss April (Indy), April Jeanette, April Lee (FCW), A.J. Lee (FCW), A.J. (NXT)
A.J. enrolled in wrestling school in 2007 soon after graduating from high school and worked full time to pay for tuition. She made her debut six months later for Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) as Miss April, losing a singles match to Soul Sister Jana. April then teamed with Malia Hosaka to participate in a tournament that would determine the inaugural WSU tag team champions. They advanced to the second round by defeating the Soul Sisters (Jana and Latasha) before losing to the Beatdown Betties (Roxxie Cotton and Annie Social). Later that night, April lost to Hosaka in a singles match. On February 7, 2009, Miss April got together with Brooke Carter to fight against the Beatdown Betties for the WSU tag team championship. They won. They retained the title at a rematch a month later. On April 11, Miss April defeated Roxxie Cotton in the first round of the third J-Cup tournament before losing to Rain in the second round. The next night, Miss April and Jay Lethal defeated Soul Sister Jana and Danny Demanto in the final of the tournament, becoming the 2009 WSU/NWS King and Queen.
On May 5, 2009, Mendez signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, thus assigning her to Florida Championship Wrestling (WWE's developmental territory). She made her FCW debut on August 14, 2009 under the ring name April Lee where she lost a fatal four-way match between her, Serena Mancini, Alicia Fox and Tiffany (Serena won). In September, she changed her name to AJ Lee and began challenging for the Queen of FCW title and on February 4, 2010, she defeated Serena Deeb to win the crown. Lee defeated Tamina Snuka in the first round of a tournament to determine the inaugural FCW Divas
Championship only to be defeated by Deeb in the semi-finals on May 20. She then unsuccessfully challenged Naomi Knight for the FCW Divas Championship. On June 2010, she appeared at WWE Raw house shows acting as the hostess and acted as ring announcer at an FCW show. The following month, Lee and Deeb interrupted a Naomi Knight promo, with Lee watching as Deeb attacked Knight, turning Lee into a heel. Knight defeated Deeb and Lee in a triple threat match, thus retaining her FCW Divas Championship title. Later on, Knight and Lee fought against each other in a double countout match in which both the Queen of FCW title and the FCW Divas Championship titles were on the line. On September 2nd, Lee and Knight's feud ended when Lee lost to Knight in a Lumberjill match. On November 18, Lee lost the Queen of FCW title in a match against Rosa Mendes. Later on December 18, Lee defeated Knight, winning the FCW Divas Championship and, as a result, became the first FCW Diva to have held both the Divas Championship and the Queen of FCW Championship. She held it until April 7, 2011 when she lost it to Aksana.
On August 31, 2010, Lee was moved to WWE NXT where she was paired with Primo (Rookie wrestlers are paired with wrestlers from either the Raw or Smackdown brands). On September 7, she and Primo defeated Rookie Aksana and Pro Goldust in a mixed tag team match. The following week, Lee and Primo lost a match to Rookie Kaitlyn and Pro Dolph Ziggler. Over the next couple of weeks, Lee won three challenges and on October 5, she was tied with Kaitlyn for the number of challenges won. Kaitlyn got immunity in the poll based on crowd reaction while Lee was eliminated from the competition despite winning a competition and a match earlier in the show. She returned to NXT for the season finale where she teamed with the Bella Twins and defeated Alicia Fox, Aksana and Maxine. Lee made an appearance in season four as a model for a "guess the price" challenge and made several appearances in NXT Redemption.
AJ Lee made her main roster debut on WWE Smackdown (May 27, 2011), pairing with Kaitlyn (as The Chickbusters) to fight against Alicia Fox and Tamina Snuka, a match Lee and Kaitlyn lost. A rematch was held the following week which they also lost. Lee's first victory came on June 10, where she went against Snuka in a singles match and won. She repeated the same victory on July 8. Lee, Kaitlyn and Natalya Neidhart (their mentor) feuded with Fox, Snuka, and Rosa Mendes. On August 5, Lee lost a match against Natalya who subsequently turned on Lee by attacking her and declaring war on the "pretty little princesses" that made up the bulk of the Divas division. The following week, Lee and Kaitlyn lost to Natalya and Beth Phoenix before Lee teamed with Kelly Kelly to defeat Natalya and Fox. Over the next several months, Lee and Kaitlyn continued to feud with Phoenix and Neidhart, losing both singles and tag team matches to them. In November, tension began to show between Lee and Kaitlyn because the latter was upset at constantly losing to Phoenix and Neidhart. In that same month, Lee came out in several backstage segments with Daniel Bryan culminating in a romantic storyline when Lee kissed Bryan for good luck on November 29. On January 13, 2012, Lee accompanied Bryan to a World Heavyweight Championship defense match against Big Show in which Lee was (kayfabe) injured when Show accidentally collided with her and Lee had to be taken out on a stretcher. Lee saved Bryan from Show when she returned on February 3rd.
Real Name: Melissa Maughn
Billed height: 5'7"
Billed weight: 135 lbs.
Born: August 27
Billed from: Montreal Quebec, Canada
Resides in: Cambridge, Ontario
Trained by: Sid Summers, Johnny K-9, Elmira the Iron Maiden
Debut: March 2002
Finishing Moves: 21st Century Drop (Sitout slide slam spinebuster or bulldog) and The Foxmission (Standing Guillotine Choke)
Favorite Moves: The Hurricarana, Tilt-A-Whirl Headscissors, Suicide Dives, Forearm Shivers, The Tube Tier Submission
Notable Feuds: Elmira the Iron Maiden, Angel Williams, Misty Haven, Phil Latio, Addy Star
21st Century Fox made her wrestling debut with the Pure Wrestling Association. There, she defeated Misty Haven in the PWA's Women's Elite 8 Cup Tournament finals in 2005. That same year, she won the Elite Women's championship from Cheerleader Melissa for the first time. She dropped the title to Melissa in March 2006 only to regain it in a triple threat match against Melissa and Misty Haven. She defended the title against Maven on July 2006 at PWA's One Year Anniversary Show. Fox retained the title in a match against Tiana Ringer before losing it to Aurora. Title was regained that same night. Fox traded the title with Haven and defended it against challengers like Portia Perez and Miss Danyah. Fox defeated Ivory in a pole match with Molly Holly as special guest referee in September 2006. Fox defended her title against April Hunter in April 2007.
Fox was also involved in other promotions. She took part in the CIWA North's first women's wrestling match in late 2005 and also won a tag team match with Angel Williams against Tracy Brooks and Elmire the Iron Maiden. Fox also held a tryout match with the World Wrestling Entertainment in 2006. A month later, she took part in Great Canadian Wrestling's W.I.L.D. Tournament (she lost to Sirelda, who won it). Fox was defeated in the first round of the 2007 tournament by Portia Perez.
Here's a video of 21st Century Fox defending her title against Misty Haven:
