 Eagles in June 2011 during her first reign asSHIMMER Champion | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexandra Ford[1][2][3] (1984-06-05)5 June 1984 (age 41)[4][1][8] |
Spouse | Michael Spencer |
| Children | 4 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Madison Eagles[1][2][3] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2][4][5] |
| Billed weight | 155 lb (70 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Sydney,Australia[6] |
| Trained by | International Wrestling Australia[6] Claudio Castagnoli Mike Quackenbush[7] |
| Debut | 2001[1][5] |
Alexandra Ford (born 5 June 1984) is an Australianprofessional wrestler, better known by herring nameMadison Eagles. She has wrestled internationally inAustralia, theUnited States,Canada andJapan, and is a former two-timeShimmer Champion. She was ranked byPro Wrestling Illustrated as the number one female wrestler in thePWI Female 50 in 2011; as of 2022, she is one of two women to win the award without ever competing for a majorpromotion (WWE,Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA),New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) orAll Elite Wrestling (AEW)).
Ford's father, Graham, is the head ofSurf Life Saving Australia.[2] She attendedSt Catherine's School, Waverley, where she participated inathletics,gymnastics, anddiving.[2]
At the age of 17, Eagles began her professional wrestling training atInternational Wrestling Australia (IWA), at their training school in mid-2001.[1][2]
Eagles debuted soon thereafter as the bodyguard forA.J. Freeley in IWA.[9] Eagles had her first official match in November that year, against Katherine Nixxon. Eagles is a former four-time IWA Women's Champion.[6] In 2003, Eagles traveled to the United States with trainer and owner of IWA,Mark Mercedes. She competed in a try out atOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a former developmental territory forWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).[6] In her time in OVW, Eagles trained alongside such wrestlers asChristopher Daniels,Elijah Burke, andJillian Hall. While in the U.S., Eagles wrestled forHeartland Wrestling Association (HWA), Cleveland All Pro Wrestling (CAPW), and USA Pro.[6] At different points in her career, Eagles trained at theChikaraWrestle Factory in Philadelphia, theRing of Honor (ROH) school, and PWA school in Sydney, Australia.[10]
In 2007, Eagles and her husband Ryan Eagles founded Pro Wrestling Alliance Elite, which later became Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia (known as PWA), and an all-women's wrestling promotion, Pro Wrestling Women's Alliance (PWWA).[2][8] The promotions were created on the back of Eagles opening aprofessional wrestling school, and were intended to encourage Australian wrestlers to travel between states in the country.[8] She has held the PWWA Championship.[5][11]
PWWA ran from 2007 until around 2013 when the last recorded all women's event was held. It was the only all women's wrestling promotion in Australia.
From 2008 to 2011, Eagles wrestled in several otherwrestling promotions, including the American promotionsRing of Honor,[12]Chikara,[13]Combat Zone Wrestling andNew England Championship Wrestling.[6] She has also wrestled in Canada forNCW Femmes Fatales,[14] and in Japan for the Joshi 4 Hope event.[15]
Eagles started wrestling for the American all-female promotionShimmer Women Athletes in October 2008, where she made her debut atVolume 21 together withJessie McKay as "The Pink Ladies";[16] they participated in a gauntlet match to crown the firstShimmer Tag Team Champions but were the first team eliminated.[17] Eagles' first singles match in Shimmer saw her lose toSara Del Rey onVolume 23.[18]
AtVolume 30, Eagles defeatedCheerleader Melissa to become number one contender for theShimmer Championship[19] and went on to defeat championMsChif to capture the title on 11 April 2010 atVolume 31.[1][20][21] Eagles went on to rack up nine successful title defenses against several wrestlers including Cheerleader Melissa,Ayumi Kurihara,Jessie McKay,Mercedes Martinez,Ayako Hamada,Serena Deeb andHiroyo Matsumoto, as well as defending the title for the first time ever in PWWA and successfully retaining against McKay andNicole Matthews in atriple–threat match.[1][22] On 2 October 2011 atVolume 43, Eagles teamed withSara Del Rey in an unsuccessful attempt against Hamada and Kurihara for theShimmer Tag Team Championship. Later that night, onVolume 44, Eagles faced Melissa in a rematch for the Shimmer Championship, which Melissa won, ending Eagles' reign at 539 days.[21][23]
After theShimmer tapings, Eagles wrestled a match that same month and suffered a career-threatening knee injury from a bad landing after jumping off the ropes.[2] Eagles was later awarded the top spot inPro Wrestling Illustrated magazine's ranking of thetop 50 female wrestlers in 2011, despite Eagles not wrestling for the largest American wrestling promotions such asWorld Wrestling Entertainment orTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling.[2]
In January 2013, Eagles returned to the ring after being absent due to injury and delivering her third child.[3] Three months later, on 6 April atVolume 53 inNew Jersey, in her return toShimmer, Eagles defeated herprotégé and former tag team partner,Jessie McKay.[24][25] OnVolume 54, Eagles competed in afatal–four way number one contender's match for theSHIMMER Championship againstAthena,Courtney Rush andSaraya Knight, which was won by Courtney Rush.[26] ThroughoutVolume 55 andVolume 61, Eagles scored victories over wrestlers includingKana,[26] Athena,[27] Courtney Rush,[28]Mia Yim,[29]Jessicka Havok[30] andHikaru Shida,[30] before being put in a tag team match withNicole Matthews againstKellie Skater andTomoka Nakagawa for theShimmer Tag Team Championship, which they lost due to miscommunication.[31] Week later at theVolume 63, Eagles broke her wrist during a match againstHeidi Lovelace, which she won, but continued to compete throughout the night onVolume 64 in a fatal–four way match against Courtney Rush,Evie and Nicole Matthews, which Rush won.[32]
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On 18 October 2014, atVolume 67, Eagles, this time working as aface, returned after sustaining an arm injury and foughtNicole Matthews in ano countouts and no disqualifications match which ended in a draw.[33] Later that night, atVolume 68, Eagles competed in afatal four–way elimination match againstAthena,Cheerleader Melissa and Nicole Matthews for theShimmer Championship, which Mathews won with lastly eliminating Eagles, after a distraction provided by Matthews'tag team partner,Portia Perez, helped her hit Eagles with afireball and win the title.[34] Thefeud between the two continued onVolume 69, where Eagles attacked Matthews after her match withEvie.[35] On 11 April 2015, atVolume 73, after a confrontion between Eagles andThe Canadian NINJAs, Eagles defeated Perez in a number one contender's match,[36] but went on to lose to Matthews in a title match on the next day atVolume 74.[37]
A few months later, on 10 October, during the tapings ofVolume 76, Eagles unsuccessfully competed in a number one contender'sbattle royal when Matthews and Perez interfered. As a result, Eagles and Matthews faced off in ano disqualification match atVolume 77, with Eagles defeating Matthews to win the Shimmer Championship for the record–setting second time.[38] The next night, atVolume 78, Eagles successfully retained her championship against Nicole Savoy.[39] On 26 June 2016, Eagles lost the title to the returning Mercedes Martinez.[40]
Eagles also made sporadic appearances and participated in theShine series[41] with her debut being held in mid-April 2013 onShine 9 losing toJessicka Havok in a tournament match for theShine Championship.[42] Few months later, in October, Eagles returned competing in the promotion in a match againstAmazing Kong, which Kong won.[43] OnShine 22, Eagles unsuccessfully challengedIvelisse for the Shine Championship.[44] After missing a few shows, Eagles returned toShine and racked up victories overLa Rosa Negra atShine 26[45] and Su Yung atShine 30.[46]
After returning to wrestling, Eagles went on to compete for the PWA championship[47] as well as competing in thePacific Pro Wrestling promotion in her home country ofAustralia, where she became their inaugural Women's Champion,[48] after a victory overStorm in mid-March. Eagles retained the championship against Shazza McKenzie[49] and Storm,[50] before losing it toKellie Skater in September, ending her reign at 189 days.[51] In 2014, Eagles again wrestled in Japan atWorld Wonder Ring Stardom, losing to Takumi Iroha.[52]
Ford was married to fellow professional wrestler Douglas Ryan (better known under the ring name Ryan Eagles),[2][53] with whom she has three children. She is now married to fellow professional wrestler Michael Spencer, with whom she has one child, making it her fourth overall.
Ford is a fan of the American rock bandAFI, and frequently uses their song "Prelude 12/21" as her entrance theme.[54]
The best female wrestlers in the world come to Montreal for Femmes Fatales. Among those were ... Madison Eagles
