US Indies #1: Good To Have Internet Buddies
Match: Blonde Force Trauma (Heather Monroe & Ray Lyn) © vs. Stunning Law (Journey Burke, Esquire & Emily Jaye)
Company: BriiCombination Wrestling [BCW]
Year: 2024
Prize: BCW Tag Team Championships
Event: BCW Anniversary 7
From what I can recall, many wrestlers start their wrestling journey through the independent scene. Some of the biggest stars in the industry today have come from the independent wrestling scene. You can develop many skills in terms of character, your persona and your in-ring skills. Many wrestlers may have become big stars in major promotions, some aren’t so lucky and that’s why having an independent wrestling scene can be very crucial. It can be a launching pad for those unlucky wrestlers to reinvent themselves and change their professional wrestling careers. I feel like many people, particularly online and some people who trash it on podcasts don’t understand that side of the indies.
The chatter over the past few years is that the United States Independent Wrestling scene has been dying. That is an interesting point when it comes to the independence scene not being as popular as it was in the 2000s to the late 2010s. However, I think that people saying it’s dead is kind of a stretch, because there are so many fun wrestlers in the US today. We have wrestlers like Titus Alexander, Adam Priest, Brittnie Brooks, Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini), Calvin Tankman, Bojack, Airica Demia, Diego Hill, Marti Belle, Allysin Kay, Maya World, Raychell Rose and the list goes on. The scene may be not as popular as a few years ago, but I wouldn’t call it dead.
Today, we are going to be talking about one of the most unintentionally funniest matches I’ve ever seen. This match nearly brought me to tears and I mean it. It was Heather Monroe & Ray Lyn of Blonde Force Trauma versus Journey Burke & Emily Jaye of Stunning Law for the BCW Tag Team Championships at BCW’s 7th Anniversary event. It’s one of those matches where I just have to write for you to understand.
You might be wondering, how did I discover this match? Well my friends, I have an interesting story to tell you.
Before The Match
This all started on X/Twitter before I found BlueSky and started writing for SickosClub. I know, you can laugh at me. I was trying some people I can interact with since I don’t really have friends or at least people I don’t have connections with in my IRL life. I have met some fun people on the app and seen some of the tribalistic things, which I do my best to ignore. I have also seen many wild and racist shit on there, but I digress.
I met someone who is known as @dakotaisabum on X (and also on BlueSky, but I don't know if the account is still on the platform). I like to call him DB. He is a very fun person to interact with and he is a very big fan of one of the four wrestlers. Since he has been encouraging me to watch matches of his favourite wrestler, it led me to this particular tag team match. Honestly, I have to thank him for this one.
Now that I mentioned the backstory of finding this match, let’s dive into the background of the wrestlers.
Blonde Force Trauma
Heather Monroe:
Heather Monroe has a career that spans 10 years. She started her wrestling training at California-based promotion, Santino Bros. Wrestling. That is where she also made her wrestling debut on October 10, 2015. She went on to wrestle in several promotions in the California area, and made many appearances in major promotions. The first of these was in SHIMMER: Women Athletes although being in dark matches. In 2017, Monroe would make her WWE debut under the name of Sarah Pierce (no relation) against Nia Jax. Jax would annihilate her (no pun intended).
In 2018, Monroe would make two appearances in IMPACT! Wrestling, now reverting back to the name of Total Nonstop Action (TNA). She would lose to Su Yung and future AEW wrestler, Allie aka The Bunny. On the August 12, 2020 edition of AEW Dynamite, Monroe would make her AEW debut against the then (& longest) AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida. Shida would defeat her in time of 2:25. Monroe is now a mainstay in the promotion, Hurricane Pro Wrestling.
Ray Lyn:
Ray Lyn has been in the business for 12 years, making her the most experienced wrestler out of the four. She was a fan of professional wrestling in her childhood and her trainers are Al Snow & Nick Dinsmore fka Eugene. Her debut match was technically in Ohio Valley Wrestling. I put the emphasis on technically, because in an interview, Ray Lyn described that her first match is a mixed tag team match, but there are no confirmed match records I can find of this specific match.
Lyn has been competing in a lot of promotions in the independence scene and made appearances in RISE, SHIMMER and Ring Of Honor. She would even have an appearance on the January 23, 2017 edition of Monday Night RAW. Guess who she faced? You guessed it! Nia Jax. This is literally the exact same thing with TAJIRI, but I digress. The last thing I found about Ray Lyn is that she is signed to Women Of Wrestling (WOW).
Stunning Law
Journey Burke, Esquire:
This is where my research gets tricky, because I have to rely on my own knowledge since online forums ain’t helping. Journey Burke or Journey Burke Esquire has been wrestling for 2 and ½ years. Burke was trained by The Wrestle Factory and AEW wrestler “Speedball” Mike Bailey and made her debut on October 26, 2022 on the Excellence Student Show. Funny enough, she actually won in her first match. She is a lawyer by day and a wrestler by night which is nothing unusual given that being an independent wrestler is not the most financial thing, so some wrestlers have day jobs.
Two of the most infamous ones I can remember are Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Hangman Adam Page. Britt Baker is a dentist and an AEW wrestler. Before Hangman Adam Page became a full time wrestler, Adam Page was a full-time High School teacher for five years. There is a picture of him in a class with kids and he had his Ring Of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with him.
Emily Jaye:
This is the wrestler that my pal DB is a very big fan of. Emily Jaye is also fairly new as she has been a wrestler for 2 years. She trained with Flatbacks Wrestling School (Tyler Breeze & Shawn Spears) and made her debut on TitleMatchNetwork.com’s Ladies Night Out 12 in 2022. The moniker that she has is “The Stunner” and her finishing move… is a Stunner. After watching some of her matches, I’ve had one saying, “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON OLD MAN?! FOCUS!!!”
The Match
With that being said, from the Ridgefield Park Knights of Columbus in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. In the 4th match of the show, it’s Blonde Force Trauma defending the BCW Tag Team Championships against Stunning Law. Let’s roll with it.
The special guest referee came out to officiate this match and his name is AJ Pan. He is the Governor of BCW and also has a corporation called Pan Corp Agency. WHAT. The play-by-play commentator, Anthony Cole, was absolutely hilarious on this show. I mean the hate for AJ is real. I can’t blame him.
During the announcements, Stunning Law (Journey Burke Esquire & Emily Jaye) is representing Pan Corp Agency and Blonde Force Trauma (Heather Monroe & Ray Lyn) is representing… Pan Corp Agency.
So you already know where this is going. And when Blonde Force Trauma was announced, Ray Lyn had the biggest smile on her face. It’s like when you are taking school pictures. The commentary team had an argument and I honestly laughed away.
Both teams started tugging at AJ’s arms and whispered in his ear. Call me a prude, but I would never want to be in his position. Imagine dealing with these four women in this type of industry, I would turn in my resignation letter. Unlike DB… for obvious reasons. Pan finally rings the bell. When he was trying to get the teams in their corner, they started slap boxing each other. The funny bit is that Pan is in between them and eventually falls down. It got me chuckling.
Both teams had the same idea and went for a kick to the gut. That obviously didn’t work as they held each other’s legs. Both teams collaborated in putting each other’s legs down. Monroe & Lyn tried to poke their eyes. Burke & Jaye block their hands, push them to the ropes & boot them as they rebound back. Lyn & Burke were the only ones in the ring. Burke immediately tried to go for the Deadly Disposition (Shellshock). Lyn gets out and goes for a clothesline. Burke ducks underneath then whips Lyn with a Mexican Arm Drag and cracks her with a dropkick. Monroe & Jaye are now legal.
They begin with a Test Of Strength with Monroe being the clear stronger one. Also Jaye’s back bends like she has squirrels in her pants. Wait. Hang on!
Jaye gets out of it, goes off the ropes and hits a shoulder tackle. Since Monroe is a brick wall, she didn't even move. Lyn who is on the apron said, “Did you really think that was gonna work?”. Jaye responded, “I’m still new!” I won’t lie, my ribs tickled. Jaye tried the shoulder tackle again and failed. Jaye runs to the ropes. Monroe drops down, but Jaye jumps over her. Jaye ducks a clothesline and goes for J-DB Cross (Crossbody). Monroe caught her midair, but Jaye got out. Jaye scales up the ropes and catches Monroe into a Hurricanrana.
Jaye cuts off Monroe’s misdirection attempt with a shoulder tackle. Monroe reverses the Irish Whip and stands in front of AJ Pan, so Lyn can pull her down by the hair. Lyn gets tagged in and they both hit Jaye with a series of moves in the corner. Lyn hits Jaye in the jaw with a knee strike. After a pin attempt and a snap suplex, Lyn tags in Monroe. I just say directly, Monroe… chops the shit out of her. Monroe tags Lyn back in the match. Lyn essentially chopped Jaye like death. Monroe gets tagged in and slows down the pace. Monroe forearm strikes Burke who is on the apron.
Monroe tags in Lynn, so let me try to explain. Monroe snaps Jaye with a sitting neckbreaker, then Lyn follows up with a Ring-Around Meteroa. Monroe ends with a senton for a two count. Anthony Cole (the lead commentator) called out Pan for his lazy count. It did catch me off guard which is kinda funny. The commentators had an argument once again and Blonde Trauma kept slowing down the pace. Jaye hits Normal Milk (Codebreaker) and finally gets the HOT tag to Burke. Burke clotheslines and elbows both of them. Burke throws them both in the corner. She clearly missed the boot, but I can’t help it. There are human beings after all.
Burke ends her comeback with the Rolling Kick. From Burke’s pin attempt, Lyn became Sonic and immediately reached the ropes. Monroe gets in and knee strikes Burke. Both women hit the Blonde Idolisation (Dropkick / Flatliner combo). When it was only a two count, Monroe shouted, “WHAT!” because the count was kinda slow. Jaye eventually comes back and throws Lyn out of the ring. Jaye hits the Stunner-II and Burke followed up with the Deadly Disposition on Monroe. Even though Pan had one of the slowest counts ever, it was gonna be a three. The reason that it wasn’t the case is that Ray Lyn grabs Pan’s hand and talks to him… like a child.
She actually says, “No! AJ. No. No.” Question: Is he a dog? Both teams start arguing again, but Lyn cuts Burke off with a chop. Both teams engaged in a slug fest and then funniest ending I’ve ever seen in a wrestling match.
Blonde Force Trauma tried to do a Low Blow, but since these are women, that does nothing. So both women tried… The Most Devastating Move In All Of Sport Entertainment, the Surprise Rollup. Stunning Law reversed it into… The Most Devastating Move In All Of Sport Entertainment, the Surprise Rollup and got the three. The funniest bit is AJ Pan. This man did not want to count three. The instant regret on his face is incredible. What makes this funnier? When Emily Jaye and Journey Burke were handed their titles, they reacted like kids. I was on the floor dying.
Monroe & Lyn were on Anthony Cole’s ass and I’m thinking why. What the hell does he have to do this? In an interview afterwards, Pan was speaking to the interviewer, who is the woman that the commentators mentioned before the match happened. Pan straight away says that Anthony Cole is her boyfriend. Honestly I never thought I would relate to that accusation. Jaye & Burke ran it in and honestly they are like kids at birthdays. They are so happy.
This is one of the most funniest matches I’ve ever seen. It is definitely a recommendation from me. It’s absolutely the most unintentional Goofy Wrestling For Life and I love it.
Art by Neon Ghost