A new kind of A.S.H.? Maybe not.

 I don't watch as much professional wrestling as I once did, but I still enjoy a good storyline or a good gimmick when it comes to my attention. And with the WWE's Monday Night RAW hitting its usual Twitter spots tonight, my interest was piqued by a newly super-heroic masked wrestler named Nikki A.S.H.

A.S.H. -- Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, right?

Those ladies (and later gentlemen, but c'mon, we know they're just being nice to us) who have been adding serious fun to the Sherlockian hobby since the sixties, those are the A.S.H. we know.  And while I don't know if the self-proclaimed Nikki A.S.H. , formerly Scottish wrestler Nikki Cross a.k.a. Nicola Glencross, is a prime candidate for our version of A.S.H., it still tickles my Sherlockian fancy that she's using those three initials in the ring.

It's now short for "Almost a Super Hero" in the WWE, but I'd give that meaning to our own A.S.H. as well, especially those who had to keep their Sherlockian enthusiasm buoyed against the tides of male Sherlockian judgement over the decades. Keeping your hand in the game when the elder societies of some of our elder cities, especially one in which you lived, firmly held on to "boys only" far longer than anyone should have, well, that takes fortitude that not every male Sherlockian could lay claim to.

And in the last decade, we've seen some real Almost Super-Heroics upon the part of certain ladies of the A.S.H., long before they were recognized by established Sherlockiana. Some held up established structures with a mighty strength, some flew into uncharted terrain with courage of their convictions. All without the little cultural boost of being all boy, old boy, or the good boy. (Yes, it's harder to admit it's there when we fail, fellas, but you know it's there.)

We have a lot of Almost Super Heroes of Sherlockiana, and a lot of Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, too. And I really hope Nikki A.S.H. does well in the wrestling world, where injuries and just "turning heel" come far too easily. I like seeing those letters out there.