April Hunter's Wrestling Farewell
Part two of G.L.O.R.Y. Girl April Hunter's farewell to the wrestling ring! Today, a recap of April's final match in North America...most likely her last match ever. Today's POD pictures are courtesy of The Family & Mrs. Id. The entire description and report of the event is courtesy of Gordo, The Wizard Of Id. Thanks, Gordo!
Note to G.L.O.R.Y. fans: After reading Gordo's write-up, make sure you scroll all the way down to see the mega-bonus of POD shots provided by Mrs. Id!
November 18, 2007. Tillsonburg, Ontario: It's about two hours before April Hunter steps into the ring for what will be her final match. If she's nervous or aprehensive, the Ultimate Prize sure isn't showing it as she chats easily with PWX workers and staff and visits with a few lucky fans who have entered the venue early. When her tag partner Jennifer Blake arrives, there are hugs, smiles and laughter all around.
And why wouldn't there be? Fresh off a victory over Danyah and Amy Victory the night before in St Thomas, Hunter and Blake were confident enough to issue an open challenge for the Tillsonburg show. Perhaps Blake's rookie enthusiasm and Hunter's emotions about her final match caused them to forget something they both knew from personal experience...there is always trouble in Tillsonburg.
Almost 200 fans greeted Blake with cheers when she appeared in the ring after the opening match. In addition to thrilling fans as a wrestler, Jennifer is also the acting PWX Tillsonburg Commissioner and formally welcoming fans is a regular welcome duty. But on this day, trouble arrived in the form of male wrestler PD Skillz who stormed the ring and grabbed the mic.
What followed was a petulant tirade about how Blake had been kicking his butt most of the year. (It's true! At the last Tillsonburg show Jennifer defeated Skillz in a "Loser Wears a Diaper Match"!) Skillz said the reason he hadn't beaten her was because he had "a problem hitting on girls". Skillz declared that he had found someone who "had no problem slapping around a little girl" and called the hated Reck to the ring. Jennifer was quick to call Big Red out to even the odds.
Fans popped huge when April stepped from the stage and made her way to the ring, but their joy turned to shock when Reck and Skillz attacked the ladies from behind while they acknowledged the cheers. Hunter and Blake withstood the initial assault and sent the guys scurrying from the ring with simultaneous hip tosses and kicks! Jennifer asked fans if they wanted to see her and April "kick these guy's asses" and the deafening cheer in response meant only one thing...the match was ON!
Jennifer locked up with Reck to start and quickly put the overconfident heel in a couple of pinning predicaments. Reck was angered and started delivering powerful strikes that had Blake reeling. It was the beginning of an extended beatdown that saw Jennifer endure extreme amounts of abuse at the hands of the two men.
Reck and Skillz used quick tags, ref distractions, double teams and cheats to augment their barrage of hard hitting blows, high impact slams and torturous submissions. April could only watch as Jennifer struggled again and again to make the tag. When Blake did rally strong enough to tag April, fans exploded in cheers and she exploded into action with a wicked punch to Skillz head!
Suddenly, the official was dragging Hunter off Skillz and sending her back to the apron! Apparently, the referee was the only person in the building who didn't see the tag. April was seething as Blake was dragged back across the ring to suffer more pain. When Reck and Skillz began blatantly ignoring the ref's five count to double-team Jennifer, it looked like April's final match could end in defeat without her even officially getting in the ring!
Luck came in an errant overhead throw by Skillz who tossed Blake skyward and back without noticing his partner was soon to be an unwitting landing pad. Jennifer crashed down on Reck's head, driving him to the mat. That was enough to give her time to finally make the tag and April immediately seized control of the situation.
Skillz and Reck must have been wondering how something that looked so good could hurt so much as April pounded them both from one side of the ring to the other. Reck rolled to the outside to escape but Skillz was not so lucky. He was helpless to avoid being grabbed and locked in a painful Boston Crab by The Ultimate Prize. To add to his agony, Girl Dynamite locked on a Camel Clutch at the same time!
The match might have ended right there had Reck not gathered the courage to re-enter the ring and save his partner from the devastating hold. The referee had lost all control of the bout by this point and just stood back to let all four combatants fight it out. Blake battled Reck inside the ring as Hunter and Skillz took their fight out to the floor. April whipped Skillz face first into the ring post and re-entered the ring just as Jennifer nailed Reck with a Code Red to win the match.
The applause lasted long after the beaten bad guys had dragged themselves to the back. Jennifer gave an emotional tribute to April's contributions to women's wrestling and spoke of the personal inspiration and strength April's example had given to her.
It was a teary-eyed April who then spoke about how fitting it was that she ended her career in front of her Canadian fans, wrestling an inter-gender tag match with Jennifer Blake as her partner. She thanked the fans for all their love and support and took her final bows. It was an emotional moment for many in attendance as the realization that this was April Hunter's final North American match sank in.
The Family Id wishes Big Red nothing but success wherever her future lies. May it always be filled with love, luck and laughter.
Once again, a great job by Gordo and Mrs. Id for making us feel like we were right there to witness April's final North American match. G.L.O.R.Y. fans can catch more of Gordo's and Mrs. Id's work at their website: www.OntarioWrestlingsIndyElite.com.
Note to G.L.O.R.Y. Fans: Even though April has decided to end her great career inside the wrestling ring, she will continue to be active on the indy circuit in a managerial capacity at select wrestling events. Make sure you catch April Hunter at a ringside near you soon!
While everyone here at G.L.O.R.Y. Wrestling is sorry to see April retire from competition, we wish her the best in her managing career and everything else the future holds for her. April has been one of the friendliest and most supportive ladies to work with since the very early days of the G.L.O.R.Y. site and we thank her for all her support, help and understanding during good times and challenging times. Stay in touch April!
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