Welcome to the Celebrity Wrestling League’s Introductory Tournament. 20 women will compete in a “League Play” format to establish a top 16 to face off in a double elimination tournament to crown a Champion for the new Celebrity Wrestling League. Some of the wrestlers from the old league will be joining the new one after the conclusion of the tournament. You may recognize the familiar names: Ali Landry, Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, Nikki Ziering and Brooke Burke, among that list. But participants in the tournament will be celebrities such as Brittney Spears, Jessica Alba, Josie Maran, Victoria Silvestedt and Jessica Biel. The rules are as follows: Each contestant will compete in ten head-to-head matches. In these matches, a submission earns a wrestler 1 point, a pin, 10 points. A wrestler can force her opponent to submit 5 times without ending the match. On the 6th submission, the match is over. A wrestler cannot earn a submission point with the same hold twice. After a submission (point or no) the contestants will have a 15 second break. Wrestlers do not have to go to neutral corners, just no contact in the 15 second period. At the conclusion of the league-play phase of the competition, there will be a 16-woman, double-elimination tournament to crown a champion. In tournament matches, there will be no points. A submission ends the match. League play will be completeted over the course of 4 weeks with 5 matches per night Mon-Fri. Saturdays during league play will offer the competitors a chance for “bonus points” in extra matches (including a tag-team tournament). There will also be matches featuring other league participants not included in this event.

Now that the rules are clear, a little background is in order. Each of these ladies has submitted to a month of hands-on training from wrestling professionals. While some have looked at this as a likely “pet and pony show”, some have really taken the training seriously and there should be some awfully good matches in the coming weeks. The ladies have also gotten the chance to spar a few times and get a feel for the talent level they’ll face and even form some alliances along the way. It’s time now, though, to see just how these ladies put their training to use as league play phase begins tonight….

Match One: Eliza Dushku vs Jessica Biel

We start off with a beauty as two ladies who have really taken to this idea square off to see who gets an early jump in the standings. Both women have trained incredibly hard and immersed themselves in the competitive nature of this event. Biel carries a decided size and strength advantage and will likely try and grind this one out. Dushku, though, has an edge in quickness and has worked overtime on the technical aspects of wrestling. We’ll see who’s work has paid off the most as the two brunettes are getting their instructions from the ref and preparing to launch our Celebrity Wrestling Extravaganza.

The two competitors stretch in their respective corners awaiting the bell to start the match. Biel appears relaxed and well-prepared as she strtches her arms back using the top ropes. She is looks amazing in her dark red, skin-tight shorts and blue bikini top. She has trained hard for this event and it shows. Dushku, in the opposing corner, is bouncing in and out of a squat, wearing black, ankle-long tights with a black sport bra. She hasn’t let her gaze leave Jessica since the two separated from the ref’s meeting.

The bell rings, and away we go. Eliza darts out of her corner with a little spring in her step dancing to her right. Jessica obliges and they circle each other looking for an opening. Biel puts her right hand up, offering a “test of strength” to Dushku, who quickly seizes the opportunity and twists her arm back into a hammer-lock. Jessica doesn’t have time to register the pain in her arm before Eliza trips her up, driving her chest-first into the mat. Maintaining her grip on the hammer lock, Dushku skillfully slides to Jessica’s left side, lifts into a hand-stand and drives her knee into her back. She repeates the move a second, third and forth time, earning cries of agony from Jessica. Keeping hold of the right hand with her left, now, Eliza grabs Biel’s left ankle, presses her feet into the small of her back and wrenches her back into a vicious bow-and-arrow hold. Jessica is really in a lot of pain here and in danger of giving the first point of the match to her fired up competitor. Dushku keeps the pressure on and starts with quick tugs on the ankle and wrist to emphasize the pain. While this adds to Jessica’s torment, she is still refusing to submit. “Take your time, Jessica. The longer you’re in this, the more you’ll hurt. I can do it all night”. With that, Dushku leans back and is almost flat on her back. Finally, Jessica screams her submission. Dushku continues the hold, though through a 4 count from the ref, much to the crowds delight. As the ref is timing the 15 second break, Biel rolls to her side and reaches her right hand around to rub her back. Eliza was right, the hold hurt her badly and she starts to understand that she would have been better-served submitting earlier. Dushku circles around her fallen opponent awaiting the signal from the ref as Biel gets to her hands and knees. The ref signals time and Dushku immediately drops an elbow into Biel’s aching back. She jerks her up by her hair and drives he face first into the nearest corner buckle, dazing Jessica, whose arms fall over the top rope. Dushku starts to fire elbows into her opponents back. It’s clear that she’s out to punish this area and try to limit any power moves Jessica may have had in store for her. Over and over she punishes Biel’s back, driving the elbow in with force. Finally, she grabs Biel by the hair, twisting her out of the corner and lifting her vertically….and down with a suplex. Biel arches and rolls to her right, placing her in the middle of the ring holding her back, face down. Dushku steps over her fallen opponent tucking an ankle under each arm and squatting back into a torturous boston crab. As she leans back, she hears Jessica wail out her submission and again maintains the hold while the ref admonishes her, finally counting 4 before she releases the hold. “Jessica, this is over, girl. You won’t be on your feet again in this match unless I drag your useless ass up off the ground. Face it. I’m better than you”. As Dushku taunts her fallen opponent, she stands over her back, waiting for the ref to signal her to continue the punishment. He does, and immediately she squats down and wrenches Biel back into a camel clutch. As she applies the hold, Eliza skillfully covers her prey’s mouth, cutting off oxygen and hindering her effort to submit. The ref is right down with her, face level as Jessica tries to quit, but can’t. Finally after about 30 seconds of torture, he tells her she can tap a submission, which she promptly does. The ref pops up and starts the count as, just as he suspected, Dushku refuses to break the hold. At 4, she releases and forcefully shoves Biel’s face into the mat. This makes 3 submissions. Dushku stands directly in front of her pained opponent awaiting the signal yet again. Biel is not moving. Upon the signal from the ref, Dushku wraps her hands under her opponent’s chin and flips over, landing on Biel’s back and violently ripping her torso off the mat, again punishing Jessica’s back. Once more unable to speak her submission, Biel taps out. After another 4 count, she is released to collapse onto the mat again. Jessica is angry at being humiliated in such fashion and is trying to sort out an option that might get her back into the match. She decides to try to use the break to get to the corner and get up on her hands and knees, trying to crawl that way. Dushku laughs as she steps in front of her impeding her progress about 5 feet from the corner. Jessica, still triying feebly to crawl to the corner, rests her head on Eliza’s hip and her left hand paws at her tormentor’s right hip and ass. She can’t move Eliza and will certainly not be able to take much more abuse. Jessica brings her knee in toward her chest to try and get some spring, though, and as the ref signals the match to continue, she lunges forward catching Eliza off-guard and driving her into the corner. Over and over, she drives her left shoulder into the midriff of her opponent. After about 10 repetitions, she steps back and Dushku immediately grasps her mid-section with her hands and moans. Jessica forces her foe’s arms over the top ropes and begins lifting her knee into same area. The life is slipping right out of Dushku and she can’t believe the turn this match has taken. After about 10 knee lifts, Biel stands square in front of her adversary and lifts her knee up into her crotch. As Eliza moans her disapproval of the last move, Jessica pulls her out of the corner and places her head between her knees. She grabs Dushku’s arms and jumps and lands the pedigree, effectively putting her opponent’s lights out. She rolls Dushku over, pins her and listens to the ref count 1, 2, 3. A painful match, for sure, but Jessica Biel scores the 10 point pin and gets the win in the first match of league play. Points-wise, a good start, but definitely hard-earned.