2023 Semi-Finals Preview #1

The group of 16 Women has been narrowed down to just 4 remaining, and the stakes continue to get higher and higher. 

Yvonne is no stranger to big stakes.

FBB Tournament Champ; Check.

Hall of Fame; Check.

She’s won 10 in a row and it’s hard to see what can stop her. Yvonne is arguably the biggest and strongest around, and thus far she’s shown that her reputation is well deserved. Even the vengeful rage of Candace was converted into a humble servant of her highness, the Queen of King Street, and the Queen of wrestling around here.

Yvonne has masterfully merged a fitness career into a wrestling career and turned both into her own brand that seems to be on its way to becoming an empire of its own. Standing at 6’2″, she’s got a pair of long toned legs and she knows how to use them. Just ask Uma, who went out in a flash between them in Round 1.

Yvonne has more than just headscissors at her disposal — she’s shown a vast array of holds capable of finishing opponents off, ranging from stretch muffler submissions, to backbreakers, breast smothers and calf chokes. Candace found herself subjected to quite a few of these in Round 2, before eventually being tied into a pretzel, submitted, knocked out and forced to vouch for the Queen, with the taste of her foot fresh on her lips.

All of that and she’s just one single win away from securing herself a spot on the banner. Yet, we’ve all figured out by now that it’s her brand which she really wants on the banner… But will her brand be featured in a positive light, or a negative one? That remains to be seen.

So, who stands in her way?

Shalene.

Shalene came into the tournament with an impressive win, but an overall modest record. When she met Mazie in Round 1, it looked like the newcomer would take the match, but Shalene’s plump thighs proved too much for the fitness expert to handle, and she was embarrassingly crushed out of the tournament.

If that wasn’t enough to take Shalene seriously, then her second round victory should be.

Rochelle was looking like a force to be reckoned with after taking out Hall of Famer Shay; Until she ran into Shalene. Rochelle wasn’t just beaten by Shalene, she was overpowered and overwhelmed. Rochelle was so certain that her legs would win out against Shalene, that she was out-scissored and knocked right out of the tournament before she knew what was going on. If that doesn’t convince you of Shalene’s lower body power, then nothing will… Or perhaps there is something that might…

If there was anything that could affirm Shalene’s place at the top of the roster, it would be a victory over Yvonne. But how likely is that?

Yvonne is hard to bet against.

That brings us to the Match Rules Meeting.

As mentioned in the Round 3 Preview, both semi-finals matches will feature the woman with the better record challenging their opponent to a custom match of their own choosing.

When it came time for the meeting, Yvonne was another no-show. Sure, she’d warned us about a scheduling conflict — but the rules are the rules, and that meant that the match rules switch over to her opponent’s choice. Shalene was in attendance and happy to oblige. 

Shalene has challenged Yvonne to a..

FACESITTING MATCH

Per Shalene’s description, submissions in a Facesitting Match are scored only from a properly squared up and secured facesitting position. Submissions or knockouts in any other position or hold will not count towards the score. The winner will be decided when one loser has taken too many facesittings and verbally admits they’ve had enough of it.

Although we stand by everything we’ve said about Yvonne, one must admit that this changes things…

Shalene’s match against Uma is a great example of how a facesitting can be used to demoralize and demolish an opponent. Not only that, but she sat Uma to tears while she was fighting back against the facesitting the whole way. Shalene’s body has an unusually low center of gravity, and she’s shown excellent technique in using it to stay on top of her opponent. 

You don’t have to look back as far as Uma to see an example of why Shalene chose this match. Even the mighty Rochelle was forced to admit Shalene’s superiority once she was faced with the choice of being stuck under Shalene’s rear end.

Yvonne has a powerful backside of her own, but her spectacular facesittings have taken place as post-match displays, with her opponent already finished off. Yvonne hasn’t had to use the facesit pin as a weapon in the same way Shalene has.

So…. Could this actually make Yvonne the underdog for the first time in the tournament? For the first time in her life perhaps? 

We’ll find out soon whether Yvonne made a mistake in giving Shalene the chance to choose the match type when they face off in Round 3 of the 2023 Banner Tournament!

One thing is for sure — there’s no way to get out of this match with any dignity left for the loser.