Worst in the World: Candice LeRae vs. Christina Von Eerie-PWG DIO!

(Special thanks to an anonymous user for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.)

On July 3, 2022, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla held their Nineteen event. Among the six-match card was a match pitting Masha Slamovich against Yuka Sakazaki. At first glance, this doesn't seem too out of place on an independent show, as Slamovich is one of the most popular women in the scene right now, and Sakazaki's work in Japan makes her an excellent fit for the company. For PWG, however, this match was highly significant, as it was the first straight-up women's match to take place in the company in over 12 years. Founded in 2003 by a group of Southern California-based independent wrestlers Super Dragon, current AEW commentator Excalibur, Disco Machine, Scott Lost, Top Gun Talwar, and nobody else, PWG was way ahead of the times, as the high work-rate style of the company would become the norm throughout the independent scene, a style that even WWE would begin to adapt in NXT. However, in regard to women's wrestling, the opposite happened, as even as women's wrestling was becoming more prominent on the independent scene, promotions like World Wonder Ring Stardom and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling forming in Japan, and even WWE's attitude towards it changing significantly and giving it more respect in the mainstream, PWG stayed behind the times. What caused women's wrestling to become pretty much non-existent in PWG? One match, apparently.

Rewind back to June 11, 2010, and PWG held DIO!, which featured a match between Candice LeRae and Christina Von Eerie, the last all-women's match in PWG for over 12 years. LeRae is seven years into her career at this point, and is just a few years away from becoming one of the most prominent women in the independents, leading to her eventually joining the WWE in 2018. Von Eerie debuted in 2006, and is a few months away from signing with TNA and debuting the following year as Toxxin, the tattoo artist & valet of tag team Ink Inc. (Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal.) LeRae & Von Eerie had shared the ring multiple times since 2009 in both singles and tag matches, and DIO! would be the blowoff to their feud. However, the match seems to have disappointed, so much so that it apparently soured Super Dragon (who is now the booker & co-owner of the company with Excalibur) on women's wrestling for over a decade. Interestingly, this match clearly didn't sour the company on LeRae, who would continue to work in PWG for years after this match, even winning the PWG World Tag Team Championships from the Young Bucks by herself.

Let's get into this.

LeRae extends a hand to Von Eerie at the start of the match, but Von Eerie rebuffs it...only to immediately shake her hand right after. Off to a weird start. The opening lock-up sees Von Eerie take LeRae down to the mat, but LeRae rolls over and takes advantage, mounting Von Eerie and hitting her with forearms. The two get back to their feet, where Von Eerie takes it back to the mat with a waistlock takedown. Von Eerie locks in a front facelock, but LeRae fights to her feet and counters it into a wristlock. Von Eerie reverses it, flipping around to lock in a wristlock of her own. Von Eerie continues working the arm until LeRae breaks the hold with an arm drag followed by some forearms that don't look great. However, Von Eerie keeps control when LeRae throws a forearm so high that she doesn't even have to duck before hitting an atomic drop.

Von Eerie follows up with a step-up enziguri, sending LeRae out of the ring to sit on top of a fan. LeRae quickly gets back in the ring for another lock-up. The two trade wristlocks before Von Eerie runs up the ropes and hits a diving arm drag, sending LeRae back out of the ring. Von Eerie then catches her with a baseball slide, which sends LeRae back into the same fan from before. Von Eerie follows her out to get her back in the ring, but LeRae grabs onto the fan to stop that. I was not expecting this random man to be such a central part of this match early on. LeRae catches Von Eerie with a back elbow, but Von Eerie keeps control with a forearm followed by a chop and a headbutt. Von Eerie rolls LeRae back in the ring and goes to the top rope, but LeRae knocks her and puts her in the Tree of Woe, following up with a dropkick for a two count. LeRae goes for a double underhook move, but Von Eerie blocks it, only for LeRae to catch her with a knee. LeRae locks in a chinlock, but Von Eerie breaks it with a jawbreaker. Von Eerie then picks LeRae up in sidewalk slam style, lifts her onto her shoulders, and hits Snake Eyes in a cool little sequence.

Unfortunately, that's followed up by Von Eerie going for a springboard clothesline, which LeRae counters and throws Von Eerie down to the mat in a clunky sequence. LeRae follows up with a senton for a two count before going for a suplex. Von Eerie blocks it twice, but LeRae completes in on the third attempt for another two count. LeRae goes for another suplex, but Von Eerie slips out and rolls up LeRae for a two-count of her own. LeRae slaps on a waistlock, but Von Eerie runs towards the ropes and ducks, sending LeRae flying out of the ring. Von Eerie follows her out, but LeRae takes control by shoulder blocking Von Eerie in the gut. LeRae instructs a group of fans to move, freeing up a group of chairs, and goes to whip Von Eerie into them, but Von Eerie counters and drop toe-holds LeRae, sending her face first into a chair. Von Eerie follows up with an uppercut before throwing LeRae back into the ring. LeRae, however, rushes her as she steps between the ropes before hitting a neckbreaker, pulling Von Eerie into the ropes and sending her back down to ringside. LeRae follows up with a big suicide dive, sending both women into the front row of chairs.

LeRae throws Von Eerie back into the ring for a two-count before going for a swinging neckbreaker, but Von Eerie counters and throws LeRae down with a nice wristlock slam. Von Eerie follows back with a boot to the face and a facebuster, but LeRae kicks out. Von Eerie follows up with a forearm and a chop before both women go down on a double crossbody. Von Eerie keeps control with forearms until LeRae fires back with a cool wheelbarrow stunner, but Von Eerie kicks out. LeRae tries to follow up with a backslide, but Von Eerie rolls over, lands on her feet, and hits a Pedigree (they call it that on commentary), but LeRae kicks out. Von Eerie drags LeRae towards the corner and goes to the second rope, but LeRae pops up and hits the Balls-plex (a German suplex where she lifts her opponent from below the belt and yes, that's what it's called.) LeRae follows up with a top rope moonsault for the three and the win.

The Verdict

There are some undeniably clunky moments, but overall I don't think this match is all that bad. The first half is pretty forgettable, but the second half is a pretty fun watch. In short, this is going pretty high on the list.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Sgt. Slaughter vs Colonel DeBeers-AWA SuperClash III
2. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
3. Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco vs The Perfect Event-Halloween Havoc 2000
4. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
5. Wrath vs Glacier-World War 3 1998
6. The Rock's 25th Anniversary Battle Royal-Survivor Series 2021
7. Wendi Richter & The Top Gunns vs The Diamond Exchange-AWA SuperClash III
8. Wahoo McDaniel vs Manny Fernandez-AWA SuperClash III
9. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
10. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
11. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
12. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
13. The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
14. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
15. Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
16. Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
17. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
18. The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
19. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
20. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
21. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
22. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
23. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff-WCW Thunder (4/26/2000)
24. Tyson Fury vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2019
25. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
26. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
27. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
28. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
29. Candice LeRae vs Christina Von Eerie-PWG DIO!
30. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
31. The Rock 'n' Roll Express vs The Stud Stable-AWA SuperClash III
32. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
33. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
34. General Rection vs Lance Storm & Jim Duggan-Halloween Havoc 2000
35. Chyna vs Ivory-WrestleMania X-Seven
36. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
37. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
38. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
39. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
40. Gunner vs Garett Bischoff-Against All Odds 2012
41. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
42. EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
43. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
44. Toru Yano vs Great O-Khan-New Japan Cup 2021 (Day 6)
45. Glacier vs Wrath-The Great American Bash 1997
46. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
47. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
48. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
49. Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle-Mae Young Classic (Episode 2)
50. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
51. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
52. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-AWA WrestleRock
53. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
54. The Undertaker vs King Mabel-In Your House 5: Season's Beatings
55. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
56. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
57. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
58. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
59. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
60. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
61. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
62. Greg Gagne vs Ron Garvin-AWA SuperClash III
63. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
64. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
65. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
66. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
67. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
68. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
69. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
70. The First Blood DNA Match-Halloween Havoc 2000
71. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
72. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
73. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
74. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
75. The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
76. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
77. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
78. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
79. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
80. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
81. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
82. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
83. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
84. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
85. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
86. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
87. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
88. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
89. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
90. Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
91. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
92. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
93. Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
94. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
95. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
96. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
97. Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
98. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
99. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
100. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
101. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
102. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
103. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
104. Diesel vs King Mabel-SummerSlam 1995
105. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
106. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
107. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
108. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
109. Goldberg vs KroniK-Halloween Havoc 2000
110. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
111. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
112. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
113. Jimmy Valiant vs Wayne Bloom-AWA SuperClash III
114. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
115. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
116. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
117. Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
118. Glacier vs Mortis-Slamboree 1997
119. Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
120. The 1997 World War 3 Match
121. The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
122. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
123. Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
124. The 1998 World War 3
125. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
126. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
127. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
128. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
129. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
130. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
131. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
132. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
133. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
134. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
135. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
136. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
137. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
138. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
139. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
140. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
141. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
142. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
143. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
144. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
145. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
146. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
147. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
148. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
149. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
150. Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
151. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
152. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
153.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
154. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
155. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
156. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
157. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
158. Mabel vs Savio Vega-King of the Ring 1995
159. Monty Brown vs Trytan-Destination X 2005
160. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
161. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
162. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
163. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
164. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
165. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
166. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
167. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
168. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
169. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
170. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
171. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
172. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
173. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
174. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
175. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
176. Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
177. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
178. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
179. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
180. Mike Sanders vs Ernest Miller-Halloween Havoc 2000
181. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
182. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
183. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
184. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
185. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
186. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
187. The Countdown to Armageddon Match-WCW Thunder (10/18/2000)
188. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
189. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
190. Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
191. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
192. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
193. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
194. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
195. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
196. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
197. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
198. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
199. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
200. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
201. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
202. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
203. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
204. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
205. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
206. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
207. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
208. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
209. Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
210. Konnan & Tygress vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson-Halloween Havoc 2000
211. The Fabulous Moolah vs Ivory-No Mercy 1999
212. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-Living Dangerously 2000
213. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
214. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
215. Eddy Steinblock vs One Warrior Nation-DWA Wrestling Legends Tour 2010 (Day 2)
216. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
217. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
218. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
219. "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
220. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
221. Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
222. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
223. Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
224. The Evening Gown Pool Match-Armageddon 1999
225. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
226. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
227. The 1996 World War 3 Match
228. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
229. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
230. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
231. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
232. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
233. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
234. The Shark Cage Match-Big Time Wrestling (1976)
235. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
236. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
237. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
238. The Lingerie Street Fight Battle Royal-AWA SuperClash III
239. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
240. The 1995 World War 3 Match
241. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-XPW Freefall

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. In two weeks, I'll be taking a look at TNA's Destination X 2007, and a match that took the already silly casket match and made it even sillier. Stay tuned.