SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 16 – 13th October 2007
You know you’re old when you’re sat thinking 2007 doesn’t feel like it was that long ago, when suddenly someone emails you asking why you’re stuck reviewing ‘ten year old women’s indy shows’. That happened to me this week! I’m not sure if I was more offended by the slightly sexist undertone of the question, or the fact that in a single sentence it made me keenly aware of how ancient I am getting. ‘Ten year old’ or not, the last couple of SHIMMER shows have really impressed me – particularly Sara Del Rey pulling out a couple of stunning SHIMMER Title Matches. She has another tough defence lined up for this show as she accepts the challenge of Sarah Stock in a 2/3 Falls rematch of their title tournament semi-final. We also have what is sure to be an extremely violent clash between Amazing Kong and Cheerleader Melissa and an international expansion of Lacey and Rain’s Home Wrecking Crew to look forward to. Dave Prazak and Allison Danger commentate from Berwyn, IL.
Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews declare Volume 15, and the debut of their team, as a momentous and historic event for Canadian wrestling. They go on to point out they are on a ‘friggin awesome’ undefeated streak and should be considered future legends. These ladies definitely ARE ‘friggin awesome’…
Amber O’Neal vs Lorelei Lee
As I’ve pointed out previously, ‘The Bullet Babe’ finds herself in the opening match on quite a number of SHIMMER events. She is an easy sell and a relatable character as the diva-esque performer on a roster of ‘women athletes’. The gimmick is something of a façade though as she’s proven to be a surprisingly tough and resilient fighter in her own right – and at this point should be considered a far more imposing challenge than her opponent for the evening. Prazak and Danger have always gone to great lengths to point out Lee’s potential and enthusiasm, but she loses a lot of matches (and wrestles particularly poorly in most of them) so really needs to start improving if she wants to keep her spot.
Prazak does a great job using the records of both women thus far to emphasise the importance of winning even low key singles matches like this. O’Neal controls the opening exchanges and dictates the pace of the entire match – from basic rule breaking to gain an advantage in holds to walking away from the ring just to piss her naïve young opponent off. She then uses Lorelei’s hair to jerk her to the canvas when she threatens to mount a comeback. Lee does finally get some offence in – an atrocious handspring crossbody – but yet again has her momentum thwarted by a well-placed finger nail rake! Amber’s underhanded tactics get so devious she actually delivers a ‘double chop’ to the exposed inner thighs of Lorelei after she kicks out of a pinfall. Lee hits some forearm strikes, followed by a MUCH better handspring elbow smash for 2! Urgh…just when I thought she was improving she botches O’Neal’s ‘A-Factor’ in horrendous fashion. The two women flubber around a little bit, clearly thrown off by that screw-up, before Lee hits the Oklahoma Roll for the win at 09:42
Rating - * - The wrong person went over here. I can see where they are trying to take Lorelei’s character, but fans don’t appear to be getting behind her and she is quite comfortably the least capable worker on the SHIMMER roster. This match was carried entirely by the entertaining antics of Amber O’Neal (who is such a solid, dependable athlete) and became terrible anytime Lee had to contribute ANYTHING. Although booking Lorelei to go over makes for a ‘nicer story’, she wasn’t good enough and didn’t deserve her victory. Amber is better and wound up sticking around for much longer, so could really have used the rub of a convincing victory over a competitor so clearly out of her depth.
Canadian NINJAs vs Ariel/Josie
Perez and Matthews debuted as a team at V15, with a brief but impressive victory over Lorelei Lee and Ashley Lane. It was an inconspicuous opening salvo for a duo that would go on to become two of the most important performers in SHIMMER history – but a fun one nevertheless. Portia in particular has been a dynamic little presence every time we’ve seen her and appears to have found a match in her equally precocious fellow-Canadian Nicole Matthews. Ariel and Josie are quite possibly more experienced, and have teamed up more often in SHIMMER too I believe. This would be quite a win – and quite a boost for the ‘undefeated streak’ – if the NINJAs could pull it off.
The NINJAs don’t like the ‘USA’ chants coming from the crowd so try to stage a walkout – and have to be retrieved from the aisle by Josie and Ariel. HEAD DROP SLAM by Ariel! That was completely unintentional, looked absolutely brutal…and miraculously didn’t permanently injure Matthews. Nicole looks shaken by that and endures a flurry of armdrags from Josie…but then lures the Portuguese Princess into her corner so Perez can illegally knee her in the face. The Canadians isolate Ariel, and quickly Matthews’ personality starts to eclipse her relative lack of experience and in-ring finesse. Such is the effectiveness of their work that even the happy-go-lucky Ariel loses her temper and lays in some FIERCE chops to Portia. The NINJAs retain their control with a sweet northern lights suplex by Matthews though. Big elbows by Ariel…who then CATCHES MATTHEWS going for a crossbody and plants her with a diving front slam! Josie gets the tag and makes a beeline for Perez – drilling her with a spinebuster! Nicole rescues her partner from a Hart Attack, then dives into Ariel’s face with an elbow strike. DOOMSDAY BLOCKBUSTER by Josie and Ariel! Matthews is pinned at 10:04
Rating - ** - It was obvious, even at this early stage, just how entertaining Perez and Matthews were as a twosome. They drew heat, their offence was credible even though neither of them are particularly sizeable – and crucially their act was so believable that audiences could see past Nicole’s mistakes in a way which they couldn’t with ladies like Lorelei. Yes Matthews was sloppy at times here, but it really didn’t impact or define the match at all. The NINJAs still delivered a killer heat segment on Ariel, and all four rocked through a really vicious and hard-fought climactic sequence which the crowd were very audibly into. It would be easy for me to complain about the wrong team going over here, just like in the opening match…but in this instance I don’t think that’s fair. At this stage there is no way Prazak could have predicted Portia and Nicole would go on to be as successful as they were. Ariel and Josie were established, the two young Canadians leave the weekend having enhanced their reputations even in defeat....
SIDENOTE – This appears to have been Josie’s last SHIMMER match. I know she signed with TNA in 2008 sometime so that might explain it. She departs without having made much of an impression, and certainly wasn’t worth dealing with TNA’s politics to keep booking her…
Becky Bayless catches up with the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew…and asks them if they’ve been watching ‘sex tapes’ to scout for a partner in their 6-man tag tonight. They introduce their new ‘honorary Home Wrecker’ Jetta, and are pleased to have her since her great rival Eden Black is on the opposing team so far. The three of them goofing off and cracking jokes is actually quite fun.
Ashley Lane vs Alexa Thatcher
Thatcher comes into this one on the back of her strongest SHIMMER performance to date – putting up a hell of a fight against Cheerleader Melissa at Volume 15. Can she follow up a career-best match with a career-enhancing victory?
Thatcher gets a much bigger pop for the second taping of the day, such was the impression she made with that Melissa match. Dave puts over how young both of these women are as they pop off some high-intensity armdrags…a sequence which Lane breaks with a jawbreaker. Thatcher retorts with a couple of harsh kicks to the spine, before both women collide in the middle of the ring. Ashley goes to the top to miss a flying crossbody…and Thatcher hits the Heart Kick for the win at 04:54
Rating - * - Too short to mean much, although both women had commendable snap and poise in their delivery making this the most error-free match on the show so far. It was clear that DP had bigger plans for Alexa based on her showing at this weekend’s tapings, and she looked to have some raw ability so it’s a shame she didn’t get to return and continue that growth. The last two matches have showcased some seriously young talent (Thatcher, Lane, Perez and Matthews) with plenty of potential, and SHIMMER deserve credit for really trying to nurture and develop young and promising individuals.
The Experience vs Allison Danger/Serena Deeb
Danger revealed at Volume 15 that she wants to move into contention for a SHIMMER Title shot, so she needs all the victories she can get – even in tag team competition. At V15 Fyfe and Hosaka scored a big win over MsChif and Daffney. As veterans of the roster they will have their sights set on beating respect into newcomers like Deeb. It is also worth pointing out that the last time Danger stood across the ring from The Experience she got an absolute ass-kicking thanks to her former friend Cindy Rogers. Is this an opportunity for some payback?
There appears to be some begrudging respect for Danger on the part of The Experience, as both of them openly stall on locking up with her. Allison backs that respect up by comprehensively outwrestling Fyfe. The veterans sensibly opt to target the perceived weaker link so instead go to work on Deeb’s leg. Comedy moment of the evening comes as fans chant ‘USA’ at Hosaka…who is from Hawaii – as in one of the ‘United States’ and all. Lexie, meanwhile, keeps Deeb on the ground with an impressive double kneebreaker for 2. On the other side of the ring Allison is making things worse for her partner by continually distracting the referee and giving The Experience plenty of opportunity to bend the rules. Finally Serena blocks a flying splash from Malia…but does so using her knees so she can barely walk afterwards. Danger gets the hot tag and lands the Lovelace Choker on Fyfe! The Experience attempt the double gourdbuster…only for Deeb to run in to counter with a double suplex! Double Gourdbuster on Deeb instead! Her bad leg got crushed! Experience win at 11:56
Rating - ** - It was never going to be in doubt that this would be a pretty solid encounter. The Experience aren’t flashy or exciting, but they have their routine formula tag match and they work it well. Getting someone with Danger’s quality across the ring from them (partnered by Deeb who sold her ass-kicking rather well) all but ensured this was going to be very watchable. The drawback was that it was never very exciting. Fyfe and Hosaka have worked this exact match at basically every SHIMMER show – so really rely on their opponents to bring some diversity to what they do. And whilst Serena made an effective whipping girl neither she nor Allison really sold the importance of this match. As a result, whilst the match was perfectly sound, it also never shook off the impression that it was only there to take up a spot.
Cindy Rogers vs Daffney
It feels like something of a changing of the guard watching SHIMMER shows at the moment. Women that have been staples on the roster for the majority of the promotion’s run thus far (like Josie, Lacey or Cindy) are fast approaching the end of their runs – although we didn’t know it at the time. At this point Rogers seemed upwardly mobile after her huge win over Allison Danger in Florida at V14. Admittedly she lost some of that momentum by dropping a loss straight back to Allison at V15, but remains an ambitious woman and will be keen to score a victory over one of the bigger ‘names’ in SHIMMER.
These two are a fun contrast, with Daffney joking around in her usual eccentric manner as Cindy takes things very seriously. Eventually Rogers attacks Daff from behind whilst she cracks jokes with the referee. Once again Daffney’s knee gives out on her – a serious problem to carry against a wrestler who calls herself the ‘Definition Of Technician’. Strangely Rogers starts working arm submissions…so Daff gives up selling the knee and starts tossing kicks around. TCB wins for Cindy at 05:36 (shown)
Rating - DUD - Not an enjoyable match, and I feel like the live experience went so badly wrong they actually have clipped a segment out of the middle too. What we got here wasn’t enjoyable at all, and it’s also no fun watching all of the momentum Cindy had two volumes ago burned away at this taping.
Lacey/Rain/Jetta vs Daizee Haze/MsChif/Eden Black
Just the ring entrance of Lacey, Rain and Jetta (informally dubbed the ‘International Home Wrecking Crew’) is wildly entertaining. Jetta, the newest member of the roster in the match, has been recruited by the original Home Wreckers because she is the ‘only good thing’ to come out of the UK – and also because she has a long history of beating Eden Black. Relying on her to negate the Jezebel it leaves Lacey and Rain to do battle with Haze and MsChif. They are four of SHIMMER’s top stars and will all want victories to move up the queue of contenders to challenge Death Rey for the SHIMMER Title.
Rain is wearing goggles to protect her from MsChif’s mist, although that doesn’t stop her or her Home Wrecking colleagues from taking an age to start the match (their delay tactics are a genuine joy to watch). The bell does finally ring…at which point the Home Wreckers start rapidly tagging in and out, swapping who gets to wear the goggles, and do everything possible to stay away from MsChif. TRIPLE SCREAM BY THE HOME WRECKERS! NO SOLD! MsChif scares them out of the ring again with a scream of her own! We are almost at the five minute mark before the first lock up…and Chif instantly rips the goggles off of Lacey’s face. For all her bravado we know that Lacey is a great wrestler though – and she soon has MsChif on the mat to be bent on all kinds of angles. Haze invades for a dragon sleeper! ANKLELOCK from MsChif to Jetta at the same time! BRIDGING ARMBAR from Black to Jetta! KNEEBAR from Rain to Haze! SIX WOMAN SUBMISSION MAYHEM! Jetta comes out on top after a massive elbow smash to Daizee’s face then leads the Home Wreckers in an attempt to cut her off from her partners. Eden tags in and is so hyperactive one can only assume she injected copious amounts of melted down Skittles directly into her bloodstream before the match. She briefly locks in the Garden Of Eden on Rain – which Jetta quickly spots and breaks up. Jetta looks totally at home with her new partners; helping them counter any of Eden’s signature spots and joining in a series of triple team spots which put the Jezebel in serious trouble. They all try to rough up Eden’s back, mostly with high impact manoeuvres but also occasionally by being assholes…such as when Rain climbs to the top for a FLYING BACK RAKE! Rain Drop blocked by Eden, before she hits a northern lights suplex and makes a vital tag to The Haze! GERMAN SUPLEX on Jetta gets 2! Lacey blocks the Heart Punch with a TKO! MsChif blocks the Rain Drop and knocks all three Home Wreckers outside! TOP ROPE FLOWER POWER CROSSBODY TO THE FLOOR BY DAIZEE! DIVING ELBOW OFF THE APRON BY EDEN! Stranglehold Lungblower COUNTERED TO THE HEART PUNCH! YAKUZA KICK! Daizee pins Jetta at 23:00
Rating - **** - One of the most entertaining matches in SHIMMER history, but what they won’t get enough credit for is how smartly they worked the match amongst the comedy spots and big personalities. The way the Home Wreckers used Jetta as ‘kryptonite’ for Eden was fantastic. The heat segment on Black was really solid (and also helped reign her in since her erratic spotty tendencies could have taken the whole match down) and the last few minutes with dives, counters and high spots had the crowd off their seats. Jetta in particular deserves credit for an outstanding debut weekend. She doesn’t have the outrageous moveset of her great rival Eden Black, but she is a far more charismatic presence and obviously an extremely solid and dependable worker. I’m certain we’ll see her again, and if I was Eden I’d start worrying about whether Prazak can afford two plane tickets from the UK to Chicago each taping. There hasn’t been a match like this before in SHIMMER, so this one is a real selling point for this Volume.
Amazing Kong vs Cheerleader Melissa
As she repeatedly states during her entrance – Kong is ‘mad’. She thought she’d be entering this event as SHIMMER Champion, but instead lost to Sara Del Rey after an extremely controversial finish. It was her first SHIMMER loss, and Kong feels extremely harshly treated. She will surely want back into the title picture at the earliest opportunity, and so has accepted a match against a top-ranked competitor in Melissa to get there. Of course, Melissa will have her own championship aspirations and will be well aware that beating Kong for the second time this weekend makes her arguably the #1 contender…
Kong is super pissed off, and looks completely outraged as Melissa flies at her with elbows and dropkicks. KONG STANDS ON MELISSA’S HEAD! That looked horrific and she crushes her again moments later with a nasty camel clutch. Still the Cheerleader flails away at Kong, and still her strikes have no impact – with Amazing K laughing in her face as she uses two hands to throttle her. The beating is so devastating Melissa gets knocked out of the ring. Amazing Bomb on the floor blocked! CLUBBING LARIAT NAILED INSTEAD! Is Melissa alive!? Kong tries to put the nail in her coffin with a chair shot…which thankfully Cheerleader ducks and retreats back into the ring. Implant Buster gets 2! AMAZING PRESS COUNTERED WITH A FRANKENSTEINER! Missile dropkick NO SOLD! BANZAI SPLASH BY KONG gets 2! And still Melissa won’t stop fighting! SHE POWERBOMBS KONG! BOTH WOMEN DOWN! Is Melissa crazy? Kudo Driver COUNTERED WITH THE SPINNING BACK FIST! LARIATOOOOO! FOR 2! AMAZING BOMB! AMAZING PRESS! THAT BROKE THE RING! Kong wins at 08:55
Rating - **** - Less than nine minutes long, but this was fantastic from the opening bell. Normally Kong is just a violent destroyer in her matches, so seeing her dial that up even further to sell the storyline of her being pissed off at the controversial finish to her last match was really awesome. And it was so unique to see Melissa in the role of underdog. We are so used to seeing her as the aggressive ass-kicker – so it felt completely alien to see her adopting defensive strategies and generally fighting for her life. She was decimated for the vast majority of this match – but still came out of it with her reputation enhanced and a standing ovation from the audience. That speaks volumes for the quality of her performance here. They beat the hell out of each other and may well have just stolen the show…
Sara Del Rey vs Sarah Stock – SHIMMER Title 2/3 Falls Match
Stock had a sensational SHIMMER debut weekend during the tournament to crown the inaugural SHIMMER Champion. However, her run in the tournament ended at the semi-final stage when she suffered a defeat to eventual-winner Sara Del Rey. That loss remains the sole blemish on her SHIMMER record thus far, and after defeating Daizee Haze for a second consecutive time at V15 Stock’s status as #1 contender to the belt was made official. Clearly SHIMMER officials believe these two seasoned professionals are so evenly split that a 2/3 Fall stipulation has been added to ensure we get a decisive winner. Can Stock avenge her sole SHIMMER defeat? Can Death Rey repeat her V12 victory? Perhaps crucially – how is Del Rey physically after surviving a real beating at the hands of Kong in her previous title defence?
With potentially three falls to play with, it doesn’t surprise anyone when the initial pace is tentative. Prazak and Danger ponder whether Stock is the favourite because she was successfully able to counter the Royal Butterfly last time – and Dark Angel’s mat wrestling fluency is already causing the champion some problems. Stock makes all the aggressive moves in the first five minutes, negating Del Rey’s power to such an extent that Sara has to leave the ring to regroup. Upon her return Del Rey is visibly more aggressive; using her power to muscle Stock around on the ground and lock in a few stretches. ROPE RUN LUCHA ARMDRAG by Stock….and a hurricanrana to follow! She isn’t done either – springboarding off the ropes to hit a bulldog for 2! She tries the same spot again, but this time gets COUNTERED to an ocean cyclone suplex! Despite dominating the first fall Dark Angel goes 1-0 down at 08:58! The challenger is winded and slumps to the floor, perhaps in disbelief that she is losing after performing so well. Del Rey pounces on her as soon as she returns – hammering her with powerful strikes before she can start rattling off lucha libre high spots or endless chain-wrestling sequences. Even when she does hit a rana this time Sara is on her feet to NAIL a running boot to the chest. Regal Stretch applied…and such is Death Rey’s aggression now that she starts raking the eyes and nose to gain even more of an advantage. Desperate kicks from Sarah, only for American Angel to sock her with a tackle to put her right back on the ground where she started. Her body starts letting her down, with apparent neck and shoulder problems hurting her…and it gets worse when Del Rey cobra clutches her into a BACK DROP DRIVER for 2! Dark Angel hits a DROPKICK TO THE STOMACH! CRAZY FLYING CROSSBODY! THREE COUNT! At 17:22 the scores are level – and just like last time the aggressor for the entire fall has wound up on the losing side. That’s actually only the second time Del Rey has been pinned in SHIMMER history too! Just like Stock after Fall 1, Del Rey looks devastated at that loss! She tries to vent her anger by running straight at the challenger…but finds herself ensnared in another of Dark Angel’s funky pinning combinations. Royal Butterfly COUNTERED to the cross armbreaker! SARA LIFTS HER WITH ONE-ARM…SO STOCK COUNTERS AGAIN TO A VICTORY ROLL FOR 2! Both women trade frantic pinfall attempts, covered in sweat and increasingly ragged in their pursuit of the SHIMMER Championship. Headscissors scores for Stock, but she runs into a MUSCULAR roll-up…and Del Rey snatches the 2-1 victory at 21:08! Stock is up right afterwards to dispute the fall – making this a second rather controversial finish to a Del Rey title match in as many shows.
Rating - **** - Whilst this may have lacked the spectacle of Del Rey/Kong and the precision story-telling of Del Rey/Lacey II, this was still another awesome title match for Sara (and, for the record, better than their V12 initial contest). I really liked the story they told over three falls – with Stock’s CMLL trickery allowing her to boss the first fall only to lose, before Del Rey’s power and aggression saw her dominate Fall 2 only to lose that one in return. It all culminated in the manic third fall, where both women went for constant pinfalls in a fervent, frenzied rush to win the match. For a second time Del Rey was unable to execute the Royal Butterfly on the Dark Angel, but once again her strength and ingenuity saw her come up with something to eek out the victory. Given that I don’t think Stock worked many more shows after this I’d be surprised if we get a rematch – but the door was definitely left open for one here. This never became insane or outrageously exciting – but it emphasised the strengths of both performers extremely well, and I really like it when a gimmick match (such as this) enhances the in-ring action.
Tape Rating - *** - Obviously this is another top-heavy SHIMMER card, but those top three matches really deliver. Sarah Stock’s SHIMMER career didn’t amount to many appearances, so watching her and Sara Del Rey go back and forth in a 20+ minute chess match of a main event is really worth checking out. Beneath that the International Home Wreckers vs MsChif/Daizee/Eden trios tag was both entertaining and completely unique within the SHIMMER DVD series thus far…and I can’t praise the violent Kong/Melissa sprint highly enough. It would be easy to see that they only got nine minutes and be disappointed – but they took that time allowance, beat the hell out of each other and stole the show in the process. As usual there is a bit of filler on the undercard, but for the most part it’s brief and painless to sit through – and the tag matches from The Experience and the Canadian NINJAs aren’t bad at all. Another highly recommended SHIMMER release if you can track it down…
Top 3 Matches
3) Daizee Haze/MsChif/Eden Black vs Lacey/Rain/Jetta (****)
2) Sara Del Rey vs Sarah Stock (****)
1) Amazing Kong vs Cheerleader Melissa (****)