Championships VACATED, Champion SUED?! - WhereCulture Wrestling Report

[Quartz]

April 29th, 2023

 

As is typical in the wild world of professional wrestling, it seems we cannot go more than a couple of days without learning of a new scandal or controversy.

 

This weekend, WhereCulture learned that Deborah Soto has been stripped of at least two of her championships following her controversial appearance on OCW's 'RIOT 601' on Friday.

 

The world of professional wrestling was set ablaze over the last 3 months, as the independent scene was taken over by the dominant Deborah Soto.

 

Soto, formerly known in OCWFed as "Debbie D.", recently resigned with the company after what she called "absurd" negotiations when her contract expired in December of 2022.

 

While the contract issues quietly flew under the radar, Deborah wasted no time taking to social media to explain her situation. In January, Soto tweeted she was "No longer with OCWFed" and that "the ball is in their court". Seemingly, the officials in OCWFed were not comfortable with Deborah's requests and wanted to take more time to decide.

 

Instead, Soto opted to remove herself from negotiations and appeared out of nowhere in Los Angeles' largest independent promotion LAPW in late January, calling out then champion Tonya Termuch. The appearance was a fun surprise for many in the pro wrestling world at the time, but after Tonya was easily dismantled at the hands of Soto, many close to the West Coast independent scene were vocal on social media about how they felt about Deborah Soto.

 

Soto was brought up in the OCW Combat Center starting back in 2015, eventually making her debut on Ambition against Lotus FloJo (Black Cherry) in 2019. It is considered unusual for someone with no prior experience on the independents to receive such a spot on the card in their first match, but Soto clearly had bet on herself.

 

It appears the tensions between the independent scene's most loyal fans and competitors and the "mainstream" Deborah Soto have finally come to a breaking point.

 

During OCWFed's weekly TV program, Deborah Soto returned for the first time since her contract expired. Soto interrupted Marisa Welch-Mac's segment and completely ignored her, but what stood out the most was Soto opting to carry the Rio Grande Pro Wrestling Women's Championship and the Los Angeles Pro Wrestling Women's Championship to the ring.

 

From what we know, Soto had spoken with each organization she currently held championships with to disclose to them that she would be returning to OCWFed in April. OCWFed wrestlers are not explicitly prohibited from competing in other promotions while under contract, but are generally not seen often due to the demanding schedule that comes with being a part of OCWFed.

 

Soto and the organizations agreed to a compromise that would allow her to promote her return as champions of their promotions, provided she would return to defend them when she could.

 

It seems that plan is now out the window, as both Rio Grande Pro Wrestling and Los Angeles Pro Wrestling have officially announced via their Twitter accounts that Deborah Soto will be stripped of her titles immediately following her appearance on RIOT 601. According to sources, Deborah never disclosed her intention to carry the belts on OCWFed television, which understandably upset the promotions. While LAPW has decided to simply strip the champion and move on with an upcoming tournament, Rio Grande has decided to serve Deborah Soto with court papers as well.

 

Soto is being accused of breach of contract due to her actions and will face litigation in the coming months.

 

As of this post, we have not yet heard from Club UK or the revived XPW promotion, of which Deborah Soto still holds championships in. It is expected that both promotions will follow suit and strip Deborah, though there is no indication whether she will face lawsuits from any other promotion.

 

The 6'1 OCWFed star was resigned in early April after taking over the independent scene, but unfortunately will likely not be appearing with any of her championships on the weekly TV program going forward. When reached for comments, Soto had this to say.

 

Deborah Soto: These little cretins should be thanking me, hun. I put each of them on the map the second I stepped in their tacky little ring and I did the same when I walked out with their titles on RIOT.

 

Deborah Soto: If they wanna get all hurt because I didn't tell them every detail, that's fine. I know the score, so they can keep their titles... Because I know I have my eyes on even bigger titles anyways.

 

Deborah Soto: It just so happens the current champion here in the big leagues is an old "friend" of mine, so take them. I am the biggest star this company has ever seen and soon enough, you will all see that, and that's one hunnid.

 

Soto is schedule to take on Kasstianity's Alexa Hayes when she makes her in-ring return on Turmoil 296 on May 5th on twitch.tv/ocwfed.

 

Though she may not appear with the championships going forward, Deborah has clearly proven herself as the "Queen of the Indies" in such a remarkably short time, and outlets across the world of pro wrestling anxiously await her first match back in the company since losing to the current world champion Jasmin Kaffee at the Clash 2022.

 

We will continue to cover this story as it unfolds and will be sure to post any updates as we learn them.

Edited April 29, 2023 by Quartz

[Christian Garcia]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer gal.