Wrestling Observer Newsletter June 10, 2026 CBWL – Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia Live Event Report
The Celebrity Bitches Wrestling League ran what will likely go down as one of their most memorable shows of the year on Friday night, though not for the reasons they probably wanted. With an announced attendance of just 5,187 in a building that holds over 12,000, the show had a sparse, half-empty feel from the start. The energy in the crowd was low for long stretches, and the show itself felt disjointed until the main event completely derailed in the final minutes.
One of the biggest talking points coming out of the show was the decision to run the entire event without a ring. The official explanation given to the fans was that Sterling Marlin had been involved in a serious accident weeks earlier while transporting the ring, and that was why it wasn’t available. Whether that story holds up internally remains to be seen, but from a presentation standpoint, the lack of a ring fundamentally changed the feel of the show. Most of the action took place inside a large spray-painted circle on plywood that had been laid over the ice. For the main event, a section of the plywood was removed to expose the ice underneath, which was then hit with dry ice to create smoke. It looked raw and thrown together, which may have been the intention, but it also made the show feel cheaper and more disorganized than usual.
Here is the show broken down segment by segment:
The show opened with a tribute to Sterling Marlin and an explanation as to why there was no ring. Taylor Swift came out in a tight white latex jumpsuit with “DRIVE ME STERLING” written across the back and delivered a short speech about Sterling being in the hospital. She was then instructed to stretch the segment, which led to her performing “The Locomotion” live in the middle of the circle. The crowd was quiet during the initial tribute, but once she started dancing and performing the song, they warmed up and clapped along. It wasn’t a strong wrestling-style opening, but it did get some reaction and helped mask the fact that the show was starting without the usual production elements that come with a ring entrance.
After that, Mariska Hargitay called the four women who had shown up unbooked (Boxxy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jennette McCurdy, and Miranda Cosgrove) into her office and informed them that they would be wrestling in a tag match inside the handicap bathroom stall later that night. The segment was short and one-sided, with Mariska doing most of the talking while the four women mostly stood there and took it. It got the point across that showing up without being booked would have consequences, but it lacked any real tension or back-and-forth.
The bathroom tag match itself was one of the most talked-about segments of the night. Jennette and Miranda started the match by attacking their opponents immediately. Anya managed to climb out of the stall first, but the bell did not ring. Jennette and Miranda then turned on Boxxy, shoving her head into the toilet and holding her underwater until she stopped moving. Medical staff had to rush in, at which point Jennette and Miranda casually walked out of the bathroom. The bell rang once they were clear.
The spot got a very strong reaction from the live crowd, with heavy booing and shocked yelling. However, there is significant heat backstage over how the spot was handled. Multiple sources confirmed that the toilet had been used earlier in the day and was not flushed, and that members of the referee crew were aware of this and treated it as an inside joke. Boxxy had no idea what was in the water until one of the girls lifted the toilet seat during the brawl. The fact that nobody informed production or the agents working the match has created real tension within the company.
Next was a short backstage conversation between Emma Watson and Hilary Duff, where both women said they wanted to have a real match and weren’t going to hold back. It was calm and professional, with a slight edge from Hilary. The segment did its job in giving the main event some credibility going in, though it wasn’t particularly memorable on its own.
After that came a light backstage interview with Florence Pugh and Wendy Williams. Florence was eating a large brick of cheese while Wendy questioned why she was stress-eating dairy the night before what was supposed to be an important appearance. It got some laughs and positioned Florence as unprepared and a little lost, but it didn’t feel particularly important. Several people backstage felt it made her look too soft and cartoonish.
The concession stand brawl between Mila Kunis and Laura was easily the best segment of the undercard. Mila came in aggressive from the start, slapping Laura immediately and never letting up. She dragged her around the concession area, threw her into boxes and counters, dumped nacho cheese over her head and back, and eventually ripped her pants down to expose a pair of plain granny panties. The visual of Laura covered in cheese with her pants around her ankles was brutal and effective. Mila finished her with a stiff spinning heel kick and stood over her with clear disdain.
Mila looked like a star in this match. She was mean, dominant, and made Laura look completely out of her depth. The granny panties spot killed whatever sympathy Laura might have had and turned the crowd against her hard. From a performance and story standpoint, this was the clearest highlight of the night.
A short pre-taped update from JoJo Siwa followed, letting fans know she was still dealing with personal issues and wasn’t ready to return yet. It was sincere but ultimately didn’t move anything forward. The crowd reaction was mixed, with some polite applause and a noticeable amount of indifference.
A quick backstage bit with the referees followed, where Larry David, Jack Black, Sarah Silverman, and Urkel did rock-paper-scissors to decide who would referee the main event. Urkel ended up losing and freaking out about it. It was a harmless, light segment that got a few laughs and did its job in setting up the referee without taking up too much time.
The main event between Emma Watson and Hilary Duff is what everyone will be talking about for weeks.
The match itself was stiff, ugly, and very much in line with what you would expect from two untrained women fighting on a hard plywood surface with a patch of exposed dry ice in the center. Both women looked like they were fighting for real rather than working a match. They started off careful, avoiding the ice as much as possible, but as the match went on and fatigue set in, they started getting desperate and began using the ice against each other. The crowd was quiet for most of the first half, but once the ice started coming into play and the action became more desperate and violent, people finally started reacting.
After a botched over-the-head press attempt by Hilary that sent both women crashing onto the ice, Emma Watson won the match with a sit-out powerbomb. What happened next was not the planned finish. Watson, after getting her hand raised, initially started to leave but then turned around, grabbed a microphone, and cut an unplanned shoot promo on Hilary. Hilary, still down and clearly in pain, responded by spitting in Emma’s face. Watson then locked in The Watson Wall (a Boston Crab-style submission) directly on the ice and held it well after the match had ended.
Hilary was stretchered out after the show with significant chemical burns on her lower back, ass, and thighs, along with lower back strain. Multiple sources described the spot as excessive and said Watson “completely lost it” after the bell. Backstage reaction was mostly negative toward Watson’s decision to go off-script, though some felt Hilary had it coming after spitting in her face. The general consensus seems to be that Watson took things too far, especially by keeping the hold on after the match was already over.
Main Event Rating: ★★ (for the wrestling itself) Finish Rating: DUD (from a worked standpoint)
Overall Show Thoughts
This was a messy show that will be remembered almost entirely for the main event and the fallout from Emma Watson’s decision to go into business for herself. While some in the back believe there could be something worth building with Watson’s new aggressive direction, others are concerned that the company is losing control of its finishes and that the line between worked and shoot is becoming dangerously blurred.
The decision to run the entire show without a ring created a raw, disorganized feel that hurt the presentation. The undercard was mostly functional, with the concession stand brawl standing out as the clear high point. Everything else ranged from average to actively problematic, particularly the bathroom tag match and the rib that surrounded it.
The low attendance was also a major talking point backstage. Running this building at less than half capacity is becoming a recurring issue, and several people expressed concern about how much longer they can continue operating like this without drawing better numbers.
What happens next with Emma Watson and how the promotion handles Hilary Duff’s injury will likely dominate discussions in the coming weeks. For now, CBWL has once again shown that when things go wrong here, they tend to go very wrong — and very publicly.
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