Exit on Top: Why Sara del Rey Was a Winner This Weekend Regardless of Results

The Queen left on top even if she didn't win a match
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

In wrestling, there's a thing called the "time-honored tradition," referring to a time when a wrestler was about to leave the territory he was in to leave for the next one. On his way out, the competitor would put over at least one guy pretty huge in an attempt to use whatever star power he could use before leaving to help put a shine on another wrestler who would be staying in the territory after his departure. The point was that no one ever goes out on top except in rare situations, but they leave the way they came in in an attempt to make sure that the cycle of life in that promotion continues.

With the death of the territory system and the almost homogeneity of independent wrestling rosters across North America, there are a scant few instances where this tradition would come into play anymore. It only seems to happen when someone from an independent promotion gets signed to WWE or Impact Wrestling. They go on their tour of putting people over and then they get the heartfelt goodbye, either in the ring or backstage out of the public eye. We saw it with Claudio Castagnoli putting everyone he could over in the 12 Large Summit before becoming Antonio Cesaro, and this weekend, we saw it with Sara del Rey.

The Queen of Wrestling is on her way to WWE. Whether it is to reinvent the Divas into an actual wrestling troupe who happens to be all-female, flame out like many other indie superstars before her or, as Brandon Stroud wishes, to become an elder stateswoman, trainer and agent for change behind the scenes rather than on camera, she's reached her stated goal as a wrestler. This weekend was presumably her final set of dates for Chikara, a company that she's been identifiable with as much as any wrestler in the last two years save Eddie Kingston and Mike Quackenbush. Just like Castagnoli before her and just like Kingston would if he ever got an offer to go to televised wrestling on a full-time basis, del Rey lost her final two matches. Saturday was her shot for the Grand Championship against Kingston. Sunday, she had her piledriver attempt blocked and countered by Icarus for the 1-2-3. The cynic would look at this weekend and wonder why del Rey, arguably the most important wrestler of the last two years (and that includes CM Punk, because Sara del Rey never wore Triple H's jacket), didn't get a heroine's sendoff.

I argue that she did. Think about it; how many times has a woman gotten a legitimate shot at the top Championship in a company where only men previously competed for it? Discounting the substantially more progressive wrestling scene in Austin, TX (Where Cheerleader Melissa and Portia Perez have not only gotten shots but actually held top titles in River City Wrestling and Anarchy Championship Wrestling respectively), the answer to that is zero, at least in a company the size and scope of Chikara, that is. That fact alone speaks volumes at the strides she's made, especially the fact that none of it was charity either.

We should send a lot of kudos to Chikara for pulling this off, but the fact that it's taken so long for any company on the East Coast, where wrestling is most visible on any level, to recognize that women wrestlers can be as good as males on the top level is pretty sad. Also consider the fact that Chikara's Grand Championship is very young and they've had intergender competition since before I even started following them, and it could be argued that the company is exempt from such criticism. Still, del Rey in the time she's been active has become one of the most popular performers on the scene. The reactions she got against Icarus in Chicago and Castagnoli in Philly last year were no mistakes. She earned that goodwill through excellence in the ring.

If del Rey had not gotten her WWE deal, one could argue that the match would not have happened Saturday, that her shot at the title would have come at the end of a story where she would have conquered whoever the Champion would have been (how delicious would it have been if it ended up being Kevin Steen?) and taken her moment in the sun. Life has a funny way of timing the things it throws at people though. The matches she participated in were no accidents either.

The Kingston match was by and large her reward for what she did for the company. Yeah, she didn't win, but what were you going to do, have her win, hold the title up and then start over again with a title so young? Besides, if we've learned anything, it's that wrestling is often more about wins and losses than it is story. This title match was a testament to her legacy. It was Chikara saying that yes, Sara del Rey earned this title shot and that in the future, you can earn one too, no matter what your gender is.

So, what about the loss to Icarus? I actually see symmetry there. It was Icarus against whom del Rey became the phenomenon that took the company by storm. He's also one of the most underappreciated wrestlers on the scene in total, a guy who can get a crowd to hate him just by growing a moustache. By losing to him, she gives back to the one guy who was most instrumental not in making her a star, but more accurately, showing everyone in charge how much of a supernova she could be. It was appropriate payback.

So, how does the idea of payback fit into the narrative that del Rey went out on top? Well, again, wrestling has the "time honored tradition". Very rarely do people buck that trend, and very rarely should they even. For the Queen to truly give back to Chikara, she had to lose this weekend. But it was in the way she lost, making history in the process, that made it her weekend. It's not about wins and losses; it's about story.

Sara del Rey making history and having one last go around with the kayfabe most hated man in wrestling is a great story. This weekend was all about the Queen, even if it wasn't about her triumphing. That is much more of a sign that she went out of Chikara on top than getting to get a preordained win over one or both her opponents by far.