If all goes well, Daizee Haze should help lift women’s wrestling out of the fog in Ring of Honor.
After spending most of the past six years in a complementary role for male performers, Haze is getting the chance to spearhead what the Philadelphia-based company is touting as the Women of Honor. Haze and Sara Del Rey fought to a well-worked 10-minute draw on this week’s ROH telecast (10 p.m. Mondays, HDNet). They also are set for a Dec. 18 rematch with mystery tag-team partners on the “Final Battle” Internet pay-per-view show emanating from New York City.
“When I started in Ring of Honor, it was rare to see any type of women’s match on the show,” Haze recently said in a telephone interview. “I’m really excited to see it get pumped up again. Sara’s been around a long time and we’ve had tons and tons of matches. I’m also excited to see what new talent is going to be brought in to work.”
Whichever females are added, don’t expect the kind of watered-down athletic product that World Wrestling Entertainment and TNA Wrestling usually present. Haze and Del Rey work a more hard-hitting style that resembles matches by their male peers. The high-flying Haze also is technically sound enough to serve as a top trainer at Shimmer, the all-female company that is ROH’s sister promotion.
“A lot of wrestling companies people see are full of storylines and hokey-pokey stuff,” Haze said. “Shimmer is pretty much match-by-match wrestling and not a lot in between. We take it seriously and want others to take it seriously.”
That quest for respect drives Haze, whose natural hippie-style looks and muscular five-foot-four, 117-pound physique don’t fit the stereotypical mold of surgically enhanced WWE and TNA femme fatales. Because of her commitment to the craft, Haze is frustrated by how both those companies tend to push females first and foremost as eye candy.
“WWE has done a lot better job the past couple years putting women out to do matches, but the girls aren’t necessarily wrestlers,” said Haze, who made her pro debut in 2002. “They’re trained to do certain things wrestlers do. That doesn’t really impress me. WWE could take any of the very talented women on the independent circuit today and make them look gorgeous. Instead, they’d rather take bikini models.”
Haze believes that the sexually charged presentation of women’s wrestling also has prevented an all-female promotion from taking flight in the U.S.
“I just think people have preconceived notions about women’s wrestling, especially women,” Haze said. “... I also think there are fans who do want that kind of stripper chick/catfight/roll-around thing.
“You see women’s (mixed martial arts) getting a following because people appreciate the dedication it takes for women to train and fight. I don’t think people realize that in wrestling you have to do the same thing. A lot of people think wrestling is a choreographed dance. It’s not. I have to know what I’m doing. I train every day so I don’t get hurt and I don’t hurt somebody else.”
Thanks to her steady work in Ring of Honor, Haze is one of the few female wrestlers who can make a respectable living on the independent circuit. She also augments her income by making ring outfits for other performers and Shimmer students.
The 27-year-old Haze, who showcases her colourful clothing creations during her bouts, hopes future bookings continue to rise in prominence on Ring of Honor shows. She admits, though, that it’s going to take patience from ROH’s hard-core fan base to make the genre successful.
“It’s going to take a while to build to anything where people are going to be like, ‘We’ve got to go see this women’s match.’ You have to have some story behind it. You can’t just throw a group out there and expect people to accept it and be open to it.”
For more information on “Final Battle” and Ring of Honor, visit www.rohwrestling.com
Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marvAaol.com or follow him via Twitter at http://twitter.com/alexmarvez.)