Rachel Apache vs. Lady Jasmine for the OPW World Title. 3rd and final fall: Hell In A Cell.
We laugh
We cry
We sigh
We fly
We live
We die… together.
Off the cage they fall. A little more than twenty feet of nothing but air and opportunity between the two sisters and the hard concrete floor. This is now officially the longest match in OPW history. At 2 hours and 17 minutes, it has passed the barbed wire match between Siena and Jasmine and passed the Last Woman Standing match between Marie B. and Kayla Rankin. Watching this match, most of the crowd is blind to the seriousness; they live in the madness, they came for the blood. But some of us, well, we realize that this is a death match. This is a nightmare come true. These two women represent so much to us; they are so important and have inspired so many. And now, they are killing each other and we don’t believe that either of them will come out of this unchanged.
Rachel Apache is more than a wrestler; she’s the essence of a woman. She’s the ultimate winner and the ultimate fighter; she’s as close to perfection as anything to ever walk into a ring. Standing at 5’11” and weighing a fit, strong, but shapely 150 lbs, Rachel can affect you without even knowing it because she is so beautiful, from her long wavy black hair, to her blues eyes, to her Persian brown skin, on down to her most desirable stomach… Rachel is a goddess. Looking at her is falling in love with her, that’s why I’ve always tried not to make eye contact. But see her now… her right eye blackened, her cheek cut, her hair covered in blood from a gash in the top of her head, and her purple wrestling gear wet with sweat and blood from her bruised stomach on down to her white shoes, which are now pink. Rachel is hurting but she’s still winning, she’s still dominating, and she‘s still perfection. This is the essence of a woman. Her calm gone, only moments ago, she faced her sister atop the Hell In A Cell.
Lady Jasmine is more than a wrestler; she’s the essence of a woman. Since the beginning of time, sexism has existed. The world has been a place of male dominance and a place of female oppression, but women have fought and bled and suffered for their right to equality. And no matter how bad the beating or how rough the stipulations, the woman is still here, the woman is still strength. Standing at 5’9” and weighing right at 140 lbs, Jasmine is the personification of sexuality and toughness, from her pony tailed black hair, to her green eyes to her Angelina Jolie ruby red lips to her long legs, she is so entrancing. But this is not the image we are used to seeing of Jasmine, is it? This is not the image of Jasmine we see now. We see the image of Jasmine covered in blood, her aqua green eyes still focused on her task, her face unyielding, and her body wobbling, but still standing. No matter what abuse she takes, she never surrenders, she never submits, and she makes sure to preserve her opponent. This is the essence of a woman. Her calm gone, only moments ago, she faced her sister atop the Hell In A Cell.
So you see why, when these two women fall from the cage to the floor, I shed a tear. Oh the third fall began with Rachel and Jasmine only a few feet apart on top of the cage. From my seat, I could see Rachel saying something and pointing her finger at Jasmine; Rachel’s stance was firm and strong. Jasmine had her back to me, but her stance was more relaxed, as if she was unaffected. Rachel moved in on Jasmine and threw a right hand that Jasmine ducked, a left hook that Jasmine sidestepped. Rachel feinted a kick at Jasmine’s left side and Jasmine moved right into a right handed back fist that staggered her. I was too far away to be able to hear a groan, but Jasmine’s body shook as if she had the chills and she fell backwards, but Rachel hit her solar plexus with multiple sidekicks and Jasmine’s body left the ground, as if she was being juggled by Rachel’s lightening fast right leg. When Rachel ceased kicking her sister, Jasmine nearly fell off the edge of the cage, but Rachel grabbed her and pulled her. The two sisters’ heads collided and Jasmine fell off the cage but was able to grip the side. Everyone in the arena blew out air at that point, and I said a silent prayer as Rachel grabbed for Jasmine’s hair and her hand. Jasmine crawled up and as Rachel knelt down, Jasmine put her in a front facelock, hooking Rachel’s head under her arm and choking her throat with her bicep. I saw Rachel at first, try to struggle out of it, then I saw her stop and lower her head, as if her body was relaxing. Then I saw her grab Jasmine and try to pull her up onto the roof of the cage, and that’s when Jasmine lost her footing and both women fell off.
Sometimes I’m able to see things in slow motion, or at least I think I can. Rachel was going down head first, but I believe I saw Jasmine wrap herself around Rachel in a scissor sleeper position and spin Rachel’s body to where Rachel was on top and Jasmine was on the bottom. Jasmine wasn’t choking Rachel, she was just about to take the impact for Rachel. But as they fell, I could see Rachel’s mouth open and hear something that sounded like a high pitched scream, and see her trying to reverse the position and get under Jasmine, but Jasmine wouldn’t let go. I saw Rachel finally break the hold and push Jasmine at an announce table, and Jasmine pushed Rachel towards the crowd. But Jasmine missed the table and hit the concrete… hard. At that moment, I saw Rachel, only a second away from hitting the ground herself, and I have never seen her make the face that she made when Jasmine landed. I have watched the great Rachel for many years and I have seen her fall off ladders and fall off tables and fall off scaffolds, and most of the time, she has landed on her feet. Well, she didn’t land on her feet this time; the fans caught her. Jasmine wasn’t moving; I stood and looked down as Rachel stepped over the barricade and back to ringside where her sister’s body lay. She was facing me, but her hair was covering her face and I couldn’t see her expression, but her body was shaking and her hands were balled into fists. I looked around and saw Isis Jones, the eighteen year old English wrestler, born to two Jamaican parents and having won a gold medal for Canada, and I saw her covering her gaping mouth. I saw Brianna Lee, the granddaughter of a very famous kung fu master who has the same last name, the twenty year old Brianna the movie star who wants to try her hand at this sort of action, and her face was as serious as if she was meditating. I saw Kimberly Chaucer and the other wrestlers in street clothes, watching from behind the curtain. We were all standing, we were all in awe. This is where were are now.
The EMTs rush to Jasmine’s side and roll out the stretcher. They give them room, the cage is lifted a bit. Rachel approaches, but the EMTs block her path. They attempt to place Jasmine on a stretcher, but Jasmine comes back to life and struggles to get free. Jasmine has only been taken out on a stretcher once in her career, ironically enough, it was almost nine years ago… the last time she fought Rachel. Rachel has her back to Jasmine, but Jasmine rams her knees into Rachel from behind, and Rachel goes torso first into the side of the cell. Jasmine ducks under the cell and enters the ring… Rachel stands and follows and the cell is lowered. The crowd begins to stomp and I am frozen in the madness. Rachel attacks in the same fashion she would if this were 1997; she cartwheels and flips forward, launching a lightening fast combination of punches and kicks. While Jasmine blocks the shots, she’s backed up in the corner and Rachel delivers a vicious straight punch to the throat. Rachel lowers her head and rams her shoulder into Jasmine’s stomach over and over and over again, each thrust, I can see the anguish on her face and see her body soften and her mouth open. Rachel suplexes Jasmine up and sits her on the top turnbuckle. Rachel joins Jasmine and superplexes her off the top rope and to the mat! Rachel stays down for only a second, and then pins Jasmine, 1,2, no! Jasmine not only kicks out, but rolls Rachel on her stomach, rolls herself onto Rachel, locks her legs around Rachel’s neck and arches herself back, grabbing Rachel’s ankles and pulling her legs in some sort of freakish neck scissors meets Boston crab looking submission hold! If Rachel were to use her legs to power out, she would pull Jasmine and by pulling Jasmine, she’d be pulling her own neck. Rachel bends her legs further back and crosses her ankles on Jasmine’s throat, bending Jasmine back even further; this maneuver also traps Jasmine’s arms around her own neck as they are holding Rachel’s ankles. Jasmine releases the neck scissors and stands up; Jasmine yanks hard on Rachel’s ankles, pulling Rachel’s torso and head off the mat completely and then Jasmine drops down, slamming Rachel’s face and torso in some sort of variation of a face-buster sitdown power bomb!!
Jasmine knocks Rachel’s legs off of her and sits on her back, placing Rachel in a full nelson camel clutch. You have to appreciate the irony of this match, despite the horrible feeling I get watching it; this is the move that Rachel placed Jasmine in when they fought years ago. Jasmine dislocated both of her shoulders to escape. The hold is agony for Rachel, her hair is covering her face still, but I can tell her blood is pumping because her bleeding picks up. The crowd is silent; they aren’t stomping their encouragement for Bret Hart’s favorite female wrestler because we are all affected by what we are seeing. Rachel gets to knees, then she forces herself to her feet as Jasmine is forced to stand as well. I’ve watched enough wrestling to know that Rachel can get out of a simple full nelson, and apparently, Jasmine knows this too, because she locks her leg around Rachel’s waist, her other leg around Rachel’s left leg, hooks her right arm in a hammerlock and hooks her head back and against her forearm in an Eastern stretch… this is another variation on Jasmine’s octopus hold. But Rachel doesn’t stand in this agony for long, with her ever-dangerous right leg and ever-flexible body, Rachel kicks up and back, her leg is even with her own body and her foot peeks over her right shoulder and hits Jasmine in the face, stunning her enough for Rachel to angle and hoist Jasmine onto her shoulders in a Death Valley Driver position (or an F-U position, since that’s what John Cena calls his version of the Death Valley Driver). Rachel spins Jasmine’s body off of her and slams her throat across the shoulder in a stone cold stunner (this DVD/SCStunner move is called a Somoan Neckbreaker and it‘s a move that Rachel has used as a finisher)!!
Rachel doesn’t go for a pin; she mounts Jasmine and begins to punch her in the face. The blows are fast and furious and hard and blood is spraying. I can see Rachel’s expression and it’s a very bland one, but I see desperation in her eyes. For five minutes, she hammers away as the ref asked the still awake Jasmine if she submits, but never a reaction from the lady in green. She wraps her legs around Rachel’s shoulders and neck and pulls Rachel’s arm… triangle hold. Rachel’s body appears to be like that of a dying fish, her mouth is open and her chest heaves up and down, but you can tell she is getting no air. After another ten minutes of silent prayers, I can tell that Rachel is slowly passing out, her face is blue and her body is hunching over… but she rises to her feet. She lifts Jasmine and prepares to drive her sister down on the back of her neck to break the hold, but Jasmine releases it and stands, Rachel grabs Jasmine, hooks her right leg with Jasmine’s left leg and hooks her arms around Jasmine’s neck, then throws herself backwards… the Downward Spiral! Jasmine doesn’t shoot up in the air as other opponents have, she stays lying there. Rachel rolls Jasmine over and pins her, 1,2, no! Rachel slowly stands, both women’s skins are red, not just from dried blood or their Persian heritages, but from the lack of oxygen they have been getting while they have traded holds. Rachel says something and I read her lips as she approaches Jasmine and her hands are pale white and shaking from the lack of blood she has gotten to her fingers. She says “sharpshooter.” Rachel grabs Jasmine’s legs and pulls them apart as the crowd once again comes to life. Rachel steps between Jasmine’s legs and crosses them… but Jasmine counters Rachel’s finisher. Jasmine forces her legs forward, kicking Rachel hard in the stomach with both feet; I can see Rachel’s cheeks fill with air as she falls backwards but steadies herself and tries to turn Jasmine over. But Jasmine tightens her crossed legs around Rachel’s leg and brings Rachel down on her back. Jasmine adjusts her position to where she’s bending Rachel’s leg at the knee in the reverse direction. Rachel lets out a cry of pain and we can all hear it, but she doesn’t submit.
Jasmine rolls Rachel’s leg across her own body and places her other knee across Rachel’s neck. Then she punches Rachel in the stomach and Rachel’s whole body seems to calm as it seems as though Jasmine’s fist disappeared in Rachel’s lower abdomen. We think this is a submission hold, and Rachel tries to do a backwards somersault to throw Jasmine off or reverse the position, but once Rachel is on her own shoulders, Jasmine punches the stomach again and pins Rachel, 1,2,3! Lady Jasmine has defeated her older sister Rachel Apache and has retained the OPW World Title in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Jasmine stands, but falls back down to her knees as the cell is slowly being lifted. Rachel is lying motionless with her arms draped across her stomach. We as fans, cannot believe what we have just seen. Jasmine rises to her feet and we give her and her opponent, no, her sister, a standing ovation. Rachel gets to her feet and looks at Jasmine standing there with the world title. Jasmine turns away and raises her belt and Rachel exits the ring and quickly limps her way to the back with her hands on her hips, her head down, and her shin-long wavy black hair still hiding her facial expression. As I leave my seat and head for the lockerroom, I see Rachel walk passed the wrestlers who were watching without saying a word; everyone gives her space and I watch as superstars like Samantha, Jolene, Justine Credible, Vixxxen, Tito Blaze, and even Serenity leave the locker room to give Rachel privacy while she gets her things. I follow her into the lockerroom, but she looks at me and I am frozen. For a moment, I don’t know what to do; Rachel is just so…. She looks at me and she says two words; her voice is supernatural and soft. I don’t know if she’s sad or calm or angry or happy, but those two words are direct and short in the real world, but last an eternity in my mind. Rachel Apache spoke to me.
“Get out.”
I do as she says, and moments later, I see her dressed in a black button up shirt, navy blue jeans and black boots with sunglasses on to hide the cuts and scrapes and swellings on her deep midnight blue eyes. The doctor is in the hallway, but Rachel walks right passed him and heads for the parking lot. Jasmine is applauded by the wrestlers present as she enters the hallway and the locker room fills up as she takes off her mask and shares a shy smile. Jasmine has become the first woman to beat Siena Blaze, Glory, Alicia Christmas, and Rachel Apache… the group referred to as OPW’s fab four, because they represent the four “phases” of OPW‘s growth and four of the greatest champions. Really, in chronological order by when they first won the title, it‘s Alicia, then Siena, then Rachel, and then Glory. If there ever was a fifth member, Jasmine is that member and is regarded as one of the greatest fighters in female fighting history. But she will tell you this herself, she is known as OPW’s greatest loser, because she’s lost in far more spectacular fashion than she’s won, and she’s always protected her opponent. Jasmine sees the doctor and her ribs aren’t broken; they just need adjustment, as does her neck. She doesn’t have any major injuries. How fitting is it that Rachel, who is regarded as the greatest winner, loses to Jasmine, who is regarded as the greatest loser? Jasmine shares a great teary eyed hug with her younger sister Sage, Sage’s best friend Angela Love, and Glory. I take a picture as they pose for me and then Jasmine sits down and nurses her wounds… she’s a mess, a bloody mess. Despite that Rachel did not give her a major injury, Jasmine lays on the locker room bench and passes out. We wonder if she is okay, but we are told that she is just tired. Well, aren’t we all. I have watched these wrestlers compete; I have helped set up the ring, I have taken photographs for OPW Magazine, I have done it all. But moments like these are the moments I dread and enjoy all at the same time. See you in London.