ECWA Resurrects Women’s Championship
Gabby Ortiz defends against Rebecca Scott at the ECWA 54th Anniversary Show.
Women’s wrestling is all the rage right now.
The NWA recently held its first all-women’s pay-per-view to critical acclaim. Ring of Honor crowned its first Women’s World Champion last Sunday at Death Before Dishonor. And this Saturday, the ECWA Women’s Championship will be defended for the first time since March 2019.
However, the resurrection of the ECWA Women’s Championship comes with controversy. Quinn McKay won the title in the finals of the 2019 Women’s Super 8, but shortly thereafter was signed by Ring of Honor and thus, unable to defend the belt. Meanwhile, the small business went on hiatus, returning in the fall of 2019 before new ownership took over in December. Then, of course, the COVID-19 crisis began and shows didn’t resume until fall 2020. Unfortunately, the ECWA Women’s Championship got lost in the shuffle.
It’s not surprising, though, considering that women’s wrestling wasn’t valued by the longest-running independent wrestling promotion in the United States until the mid-2010s. That’s not an indictment on ECWA founder Jim Kettner – there simply weren’t many women involved in the sport because, for the most part, women’s wrestling wasn’t taken seriously in the U.S. until the turn of the century. His predecessor Mike Tartaglia preferred variety on the cards, so, in 2013, ECWA crowned its first Women’s Champion in Jessie Kaye (now WWE referee Jessika Karr).
The following year, the company launched the Super 8 Chickfight (now known as the Women’s Super 8) – a spin-off of the most prestigious and longest-running tournament in professional wrestling. The crop of talent included indie standouts, such as Renee Michelle, Candy Cartwright, Nikki Addams and Tina San Antonio, and featured a rookie Tessa Blanchard going the distance to claim the trophy and ECWA Women’s Championship.
“Tessa was only four months in and we thought she’d be good for the spot,” Joe Zanolle, current ECWA figurehead, told The Wrestling Estate. “From her training videos, you could see she was a natural and only going to get better.”
Former ECWA Women’s Champions also include Deonna Purrazzo, Scarlett Bordeaux and Renee Michelle. With well-known names like those, it’s easy to understand why the belt has been vacated a handful of times over the past eight years. Obviously, you want your most talented performers to be your champion, but the risk is they get scooped up by the big leagues, leaving you high and dry. McKay was simply the latest champion to be signed, but this time, Zanolle came up with a backup plan straight out of Raw 2002.
Gabby Ortiz, who lost to McKay in the finals in 2019, was awarded the resurrected ECWA Women’s Championship following her valiant effort in this year’s Women’s Super 8. Now Ortiz is certainly worthy of reigniting the division; she’s a local favorite who happened to beat Bordeaux for the title the same night she lost to McKay.
But this feels more like a participation trophy. If we’re rewarding competitors for just showing up, surely Megan Bayne – the winner of this year’s Women’s Super 8 – should be the new champion. If not her, maybe Ashley D’Amboise, this year’s runner up. Hell, a case can be made for Erica Leigh, who was the most popular entrant in this year’s tournament.
With Zanolle’s decision being final, the pressure is now on Ortiz to silence her critics. She’ll have the opportunity to do just that this Saturday at the ECWA 54th Anniversary Show when she defends against Rebecca Scott, who recently faced Tay Conti on AEW Dark: Elevation.
Despite the controversy, the end justifies the means. Whether Ortiz or Scott emerges victorious this weekend, at least women’s wrestling is back in ECWA.
The ECWA 54th Anniversary Show takes place Sept. 18 at The Jersey Dugout in Morganville, NJ.
For tickets and more information, visit ecwaprowrestling.com.
You can also join the ECWA Pro Wrestling Facebook group for the latest news, match announcements, promos and more.
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