SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 18 – 26th April 2008
This Volume of the SHIMMER DVD series is something of a watershed moment for the promotion. V18 marks the final in-ring appearances of Lacey (as a regular) and Cindy Rogers – stalwarts since the very first event back in 2005. It is Sarah Stock’s last SHIMMER match for two years (and twelve Volumes) – and that’s a massive loss too considering the huge impact she has had since debuting during the SHIMMER Title Tournament. Speaking of the SHIMMER Title – it’s also a pretty historically significant moment for that belt in our main event (between Sara Del Rey and MsChif) too. I don’t want to jinx anything, but the card for Volume 18 does look particularly strong. Haze vs Jetta, Martinez vs Rogers, Kong vs Busic, Stock vs Melissa, Lane/Nevaeh vs the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew and the aforementioned Del Rey vs MsChif bout make this feel like a really stacked line-up. Dave Prazak and Allison Danger (who was presumably injured at the V17 taping and therefore not working this show) are on commentary. We head to Berwyn, IL…
Amber O’Neal vs Shark Girl
Poor Amber is jerking the curtain again. Shark Girl made her ‘debut’ at V17 defeating Nicole Matthews, and was very obviously Daffney wrestling under a hood. As such, she is clearly quite a character – as is O’Neal. Amber also won her Volume 17 match (versus Lorelei Lee) so now both women have the opportunity to take a 2-0 record from the tapings…
Shark Girl’s weird panpipe entrance theme is so uncomfortably strange. The gimmick itself is so random that even Amber gets some babyface heat since people don’t really like it. Plenty of biting and shark-related comedy populate the opening minutes, knocking O’Neal out of the ring in the process. Amber has her own gimmick to protect of course, and does in responding to the initial onslaught with chokes, cheapshots and shortcuts. To give her credit (and as Allison points out on commentary), her offence is almost entirely targeted on Shark’s back and midsection. Fin-grab X-Factor gets 2 for O’Neal. An attempt at a Stinkface is obviously ill-advised and of course results in her getting bitten in the ass. Shark Girl Stunner gets Sharkie the win at 07:01
Rating - * - I’m not particularly into the Shark Girl gimmick and/or the ‘comedy’ that goes along with it so this really wasn’t suited to my taste at all. If you like Daffney or the Shark gimmick perhaps you’ll enjoy this rather more than I did. As I’ve said before, I do like O’Neal though and her attempt at working the back was pretty much all I took from this one.
Becky Bayless is next to the ring for an interview segment with MsChif. She is insistent that she had Sara Del Rey beaten in the V17 main event, and calls out the Death Rey herself to make a challenge. Sara concedes that MsChif had her beat last time and agrees to defend the belt against her tonight.
Nicole Matthews vs Lorelei Lee
The early adventures of future SHIMMER Champion Nicole Matthews continue – and tonight she is very much at the bottom of the card. She comes into this one on a two-show losing streak and faces Lorelei Lee, a competitor who may very well be the lowest ranked member of the roster. Presumably Matthews’ future in the company is in doubt if she can’t pull out a victory here…
They start by trading headlocks, and whilst that is admittedly basic all of the wrestling is crisp, precise, intense and everything that a Lorelei Lee match usually isn’t. Lee snaps off a few decent armdrags too, but also opts to include a rather sad lucha-inspired springboard armdrag from the second rope which looked completely hapless. Matthews CHOPS THE F*CK out of her! Being truthful Nicole’s execution is no better than Lorelei’s here, with plenty of sloppiness coming from her too. She is far more charismatic in her delivery though. She is so cocky that she actually leaves the ring to pose for photos…and is punished with a suplex back over the ropes into the ring for 2. More ugly miscommunications ensue…before Lee hits a facebuster. Matthews hits the Vancouver Manoeuvre to score the win at 07:35
Rating - * - SHIMMER isn’t just a promotion for established female talents to wrestle feature length matches (as opposed to ten minutes on the undercards of the male indy promotions). It is also here to provide a platform for aspiring young female wrestlers and help sculpt the Sara Del Rey’s, Sarah Stock’s and Lacey’s of the future. Both of these women definitely fall into the latter category. Their enthusiasm is obvious, but both looked limited and this was riddled with very noticeable errors despite being quite a basic bout. Matthews obviously has far greater potential given that she possesses an ability to connect with fans in a way Lorelei never has, and also doesn’t continually attempt moves she isn’t capable of (like Lee) – but she was still seriously green at this point. Unlike Nicole, who is still new to the company, Lorelei has to be coming to the end of her tenure here. She just hasn’t taken the opportunities presented to her, hasn’t improved (like Cindy Rogers, Nikki Roxx, Portia Perez etc) and is still making the same basic errors she was making way back at Volume 3 when she debuted.
Jetta vs Daizee Haze
The history between The Haze and the Home Wrecking Crew stretch all the way back to the very first SHIMMER show. That continues this evening as Daizee faces the newest Home Wrecker – Jetta. The Englishwoman hasn’t been around for long but has made quite the impression. She has already taken her great rival Eden Black’s spot (Eden had already wrestled her last SHIMMER match) and knows a win over a top star like Daizee would undoubtedly elevate her towards bigger paydays and main events
Lacey and Rain are at ringside again, meaning more pre-match antics – this time involving Haze’s big stuffed flowers and Jetta’s hoodie. The match itself begins with Jetta giving a bunch of stuffed flowers a big lariat, as a group of front row fans hold her hoodie hostage. They do get to grappling eventually and spend several minutes contesting wristlocks, headlocks and the like in a somewhat World Of Sport style. It looks pretty decent, other than an awful drop toehold takedown by Daizee and makes for a welcome change of pace to most SHIMMER undercard matches. Haze appears to get the better of her British opponent in that style, but it turns out to be something of a hollow victory as Jetta starts choking her on the ropes and raking her eyes. Insult is added to injury as she bashes Daizee across the chest with her stuffed flowers. Stranglehold Lungblower blocked by a tiring Haze who then jumps out of the corner with a lacklustre missile dropkick. The Haze’s offence is visibly weakened by the extended offensive spells of her opponent. Heart Punch…countered to the Stranglehold…COUNTERED BACK TO THE HEART PUNCH! Yakuza Kick ducked…MIND TRIP INSTEAD! Haze wins at 11:17
Rating - *** - Without stealing any thunder from later matches on the show this was really enjoyable. Jetta has quietly set about becoming a welcome addition to the SHIMMER roster, coupling a big personality with a deceptively impressive array of technical skills. She meshed well with Daizee here, in that she had the charisma and wrestling savvy to hold the mechanics of the match together before Haze’s resilience and big match experience led her to victory when hope was seemingly lost. Daizee was a little sloppy (as is par for the course), but it actually worked here. It made perfect sense that her missile dropkicks and clotheslines would look weak as f*ck – after she’d been stretched and stomped all over the ring by a rampant Jetta. I’m hoping Jetta continues to get chances to impress even after Lacey departs the roster.
Allison Danger comes out for some promo time next, and was clearly injured in the V17 main event as she has her shoulder strapped up. She announces that she broke her collarbone taking Melissa’s Air Raid Crash and will be missing some in-ring time as a result. What a tough woman!
The Experience vs Jennifer Blake/Danyah
Blake and Danyah put forth a commendable effort in their debut at V17 against the International Home Wreckers, but ultimately came up on the losing side of that match. Tonight they face an even tougher challenge, as they take on a duo who have built their entire SHIMMER career on chewing up and spitting out promising youngsters. Fyfe and Hosaka will have seen talent like their opponents tonight hundreds of times. It would be a real upset if they were to lose here…
The Experience try to jump the newcomers, only to wind up on their back in simultaneous Figure 4 Leglocks. Lexie and Malia try to leave but get hauled back with stereo slingshots by the Canadians. TOPE SUICIDA UP THE AISLE BY BLAKE! Danyah floors Fyfe inside the ring with a diving elbow smash for 2. Girl Dynamite (Blake) is living up to her name again; popping back into the ring with a perfect satellite headscissors. The Experience begin manipulating the rules to negate Blake’s skills and isolate her from her partner. Her midsection takes plenty of punishment, but perhaps more newsworthy is Prazak and Danger acknowledging on commentary that it won’t be too long before we see a SHIMMER Tag Team Championship introduced. Danyah gets a tag and roars into the ring screaming uncontrollably as she takes the fight back to The Experience. Hosaka blocks the Dynamite Destroyer by Jennifer, Fyfe joins the fray enabling Experience to hit the double gourdbuster. They win at 09:50
Rating - ** - Pretty much your standard Experience tag, whereby the heat segment was pretty bland and your enjoyment of the match almost entirely hinges on the quality of whom is in the ring with the veterans. In this instance Jennifer Blake made a very strong impression by perfectly executing her high spots, selling the back well and generally looking like one of the most promising up-and-comers we’ve seen in SHIMMER thus far. It’s certainly easy to see how she wound up making a career for herself in Mexico. Fyfe and Hosaka were in auto-pilot throughout here, and weren’t overly engaging – so the fact that the match was this good is really testament to how good Blake looked.
Cat Power vs Ariel
This would be Power’s main-show debut but she had already appeared on a few dark matches by this point. She actually has almost four years of experience working in Canada so would consider this first appearance long-overdue. Ariel is her designated opponent, and although happy and fun-loving has plenty of SHIMMER experience in disposing of young wrestlers trying to take her spot. She is also coming into this on the back of what is technically the biggest win of her SHIMMER career – given that she beat Amazing Kong (via DQ) at Volume 17. She has been a permanent midcard act thus far but could suddenly be a few wins away from SHIMMER Championship contention…
Ariel looks to capitalise on Power’s nerves by trying to pin her repeatedly in the first thirty seconds – and comes perilously close to a super-fast victory. Power responds by attacking the Portuguese Princess from behind, using her superior size to club the smaller athlete to the ground. A sidewalk slam keeps Ariel down and it’s clear Cat wants to keep her adversary on the mat. Ariel refuses to stay grounded and retaliates with the kind of stiff strikes we’ve seen her utilise in these enhancement matches previously – with the likes of Lorelei Lee probably. Dariel gets her the win at 04:08
Rating - * - I presume this was thrown together hastily due to the Allison Danger injury. This was a fairly crushing defeat for Power, and it was difficult to make too much of a judgement on her abilities based upon what we saw here. I liked that she obviously had a strategy (keeping Ariel grounded), but such a resounding loss obviously dents her credibility quite a bit. Ariel has had a great weekend though, and it made sense to give her an impressive victory to follow up on the Kong match. Thankfully this is the last typical ‘SHIMMER filler’ undercard match before we get to the good stuff…
Cindy Rogers vs Mercedes Martinez
I believe I discussed Cindy’s SHIMMER slump during my V17 review. Since her tremendous showing during their 2/3 Falls Match at the Florida show her career has nose-dived. She spurned a great chance to rejuvenate her fortunes at Volume 17 when she lost to Daizee Haze, and after a relatively convincing loss during that one, you could be excused for believing she needs to do something seriously impressive if she is to be taken seriously as a major player in this promotion. Martinez made her return after more than a year out at the last show and emerged victorious from a violent duel with Wesna Busic. She wants a SHIMMER Title shot – therefore needs to win matches like this to push her case.
Martinez seems relaxed and jovially pie-faces her opponent on the mat repeatedly – which is quite an insult considering Cindy proclaims herself to be the ‘Definition of Technician’. She then frustrates further by leaving the ring for a quiet drink as Rogers fumes inside the ropes. Not only does she out-wrestle Cindy, she can also slap the sh*t out of her as well, which is dramatically proven as she aggressively smashes her right across the face! Finally Mercedes gets too confident and rushes in blind towards Rogers as she perches in the corner. Cindy pounces with a second rope bulldog then instantly starts trying to stretch the same shoulder that caused Martinez to miss so much ring-time. CROSSFACE STRIKES BY MARTINEZ! Rogers has no answer for such violent striking and is hauled to the ground with a butterfly submission…which may well be Mercedes’ way of sending a message to Sara Del Rey. Cindy tries to work the legs instead (in theory to evade any more strikes), only to see that strategy roundly crushed as well by an aggressive thrust kick to the chest. Rings Of Saturn applied, again looking to hurt Martinez’s shoulder, but again the Latina Sensation is able to counter. Bull Run blocked! TCB blocked too! BACK DROP DRIVER! Martinez wins at 12:35
Rating - *** - I thought this was somewhat unique, in that you don’t see many clean, non-squash matches where the central plot-point is how much better one wrestler is than the other. Martinez was clearly defined as being massively superior to Rogers in every way. She out-worked her on the mat, could hit harder than her from a standing position, had counters for every Rogers submission and ultimately didn’t even need her main finisher (the Bull Run) to win. Yet despite establishing Mercedes as the dominant force this was not, by any means, a total squash. Part of the charm of this match was watching an out-matched Cindy Rogers frantically probe her adversary for weaknesses; frequently and repeatedly switching tactics in a desperate attempt to get the upper hand. Working the canvas didn’t work, trading submissions didn’t work…even attacking the bad shoulder had little impact. If the long-term plan was for Rogers to become a top contender then this would be detrimental to her for sure, but this was her last SHIMMER show (although we didn’t know it at the time). In the end she goes out the right way – on her back having worked hard to make one of her contemporaries look good. She’s been an entertaining act to watch through the first eighteen SHIMMER events. Rarely a showstealer – although her 2/3 Falls match with Allison Danger came close – but always a solid and competent worker who gave her all and was capable of producing decent matches with the right opponents. Farewell Cindy…
Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew vs Ashley Lane/Nevaeh
From one farewell to the next, since we now have Lacey’s last match as an active member of the roster. She has been a top star in the promotion since main eventing Volume 1, and has consistently been one of SHIMMER’s best in-ring performers (not to mention THE most over heel too). Her team with long-time partner Rain – the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew – is undisputedly one of the top tag teams as well. Lane and Nevaeh are still a relatively new team to the company, but have been putting in some impressive performances and now get a chance to test themselves against two of the very best. Since Dave Prazak is now openly acknowledging the importance of tag team wrestling within SHIMMER, and floated the idea of a SHIMMER Tag Championship in the near future this one has even greater significance. Can the young pretenders cause an upset?
As usual the Home Wrecking trio are riotously entertaining before the bell actually rings, but then spend the opening minutes working as hard as possible to avoid physical contact with their opponents. A full 90-seconds elapse before Lacey lands a hard chop to Nevaeh. Her partner Ashley gets similarly rough treatment…but pops back with a crisp armdrag which has Lacey fleeing in a hurry. The Home Wreckers are intent on bullying their young opponents, and Rain is particularly aggressive with Lane – first by jerking her to the ground by the hair then by taking her outside the ring to bash her into the guardrail. Inside the ring Lacey chokes her as the inexperienced Nevaeh hops around on the apron distracting the ref and unwittingly making it even easier for her opponents. As ever Lacey starts to work on the neck and back – since both she and Rain have neck-centric finishing moves – and that assault goes on and on. The MHWC are the most experienced team on the roster and it is to Ashley’s credit that she refuses to quit and survives long enough to make a not tag to Nevaeh who snaps Lacey to the ground with a neckbreaker. YAKUZA KICK STO COMBO by Lane and Nevaeh! They pin Rain! It’s a huge upset, with the young blonde duo scoring the win at 12:11
Rating - *** - Again I’m not sure whether anyone was actually aware that this was Lacey’s last match, but as with Cindy Rogers previously, this was the perfect way for her to bow out. She spearheaded one last entertaining and wholly competent tag team encounter before bowing out on the losing side to put a duo (for whom Dave Prazak had big plans) over. Sometimes these formula tags can have really tedious ‘heat’ segments, but I thought the work the Home Wreckers put in during that period of the contest was particularly enjoyable. The wrestling was great (particularly the work on the back), but they also busted their butts keeping the crowd engaged and injecting personality into everything they did. I’m yet to see much truly exciting wrestling skill from Lane and Nevaeh (in the way that we have from Jennifer Blake or Portia Perez for instance) but they do make great, believable and sympathetic babyfaces – and Lane sold the back rather well throughout. I’ve made no secret of the fact that Lacey has been my favourite SHIMMER performer, so I will miss her greatly during these retro SHIMMER reviews. Her contributions to the foundation and formative success of this promotion should not be overlooked…
Amazing Kong vs Wesna Busic
Now this could get seriously nasty. Both women lost at the last show (albeit Kong’s was something of a technicality) so need to rebound strongly here at V18. Wesna’s debut at Volume 17 was impressive, but ultimately she wound up on the losing end of her encounter with Mercedes Martinez. Kong was the architect of her own downfall when she got herself DQ’d for attacking an official during her match with Ariel. She still feels cheated out of the SHIMMER Championship she failed to capture at Volume 15, but will be further away from title contention than ever if she goes 0-2 at these tapings with a loss to the Croatian Panther…
Apparently these two are occasional tag partners in Japan…although you wouldn’t have guessed by the way Kong NAILS Busic with an early chop. Wesna tries to retaliate but her strikes appear to inflict only minimal damage before Amazing K drops her again with a facebuster. ELBOW TO THE FACE! Kong is also going out of her way to intimidate the referee, following on from her attack on Laura Mattano last time. Despite her fearsome reputation, and prior relationship with Kong, as the clock reaches five minutes Busic is being entirely dominated. Interestingly, Kong is actually showing some impressive psychology too; attacking Wesna’s legs to negate her kicking ability. The Croatian Panther musters up a flipping neckbreaker for 2 but is obviously slowed following the devastating assault from her Japanese tag partner. SPINNING BACK FIST! IMPLANT BUSTER! AMAZING PRESS MISSES! Wesna somehow hits a Samoan drop! Axe Kick blocks the Amazing Bomb…then Busic does the impossible by landing NECK DROP GERMAN SUPLEX! KONG IS DOWN! Somersault senton off the top…COUNTERED TO THE AMAZING BOMB! Kong wins at 10:20
Rating - *** - This felt oddly flat and lethargic when compared to a lot of Kong’s SHIMMER matches. It had something of a shift in tone as Kong seemed to show a degree of respect for her opponent and actually looked to wrestle a legitimate match with her rather than look to murder her from the opening bell as she does with most foes. The result was certainly interesting, but I suspect most fans wanting to see these two tear strips off of each other might have been a little disappointed. The last few minutes were all kinds of fun though, as Wesna won the Berwyn crowd over with her show of defiance in the face of Kong dominance. The finish was a little sloppy, but in a promotion where Daizee Haze is respected as a main event player you can sort of look past it – I loved the ambition of what they were going for.
Sarah Stock vs Cheerleader Melissa
Few SHIMMER debuts have been more memorable than Sarah Stock’s first appearance at Volume 11. Entering the SHIMMER Title Tournament as an ‘international wildcard’, the Dark Angel surprised everyone by defeating Cheerleader Melissa – one of the favourites to win the tournament itself. Since then Stock has been a formidable foe to all top level SHIMMER competition, with her only defeats coming at the hands of champion Sara Del Rey. This is a huge match for the Cheerleader, as victory would not only avenge that V11 defeat, but also put her towards the very front of the #1 contendership queue. She inflicted the decisive blow in the win she and MsChif scored over the Dangerous Angels at V17 (for which MsChif is receiving a title shot tonight). If she can follow that up by becoming only the second SHIMMER athlete to beat the Dark Angel surely her championship claims would be undeniable
Although thirsty to avenge her prior loss, Melissa is clearly enormously respectful of the threat Stock poses and as such spends the opening minutes looking to grapple and ground her rather than trading bombs or working at pace. Sadly for her the Dark Angel is a fearsome adversary on the canvas as well and consistently gains the upper hand in these formative exchanges. Melissa targets Sarah’s arm which puts her on the back foot for the first time and also seriously impairs her ability to execute the Tiger Driver or La Reienera. In return Stock attacks the leg, similarly to negate her signature finishing moves. Springboard crossbody…COUNTERED WITH A STRAIGHT KICK TO THE RIBS by Melissa! Abdominal stretches and camel clutches follow as work on a body part finally starts to stick. Dark Angel runs into a hurricanrana, only to find her ability to hold a pin has been almost entirely eradicated. OCEAN CYCLONE INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! Cheerleader just crushed Stock, and floats seamlessly into the Kondo Clutch – a HIGH ANGLE variant to work the back rather than the legs. Rather nonsensically Sarah counters to the MutaLock, and you can almost hear fans groaning at how stupid that is. At least she doesn’t hold it for long, which we’ll generously call selling the back. Tiger Driver blocked…Kudo Driver blocked…TIGER SLAM by Stock for 2! Again we’ll assume she didn’t convert that to a suplex to protect her back. Melissa escapes La Reienera…and clubs her down with a shortarm lariat. CURB STOMP! Melissa pummels the ribs and back! Kudo Driver…countered to a victory roll just like V11! BUT MELISSA BLOCKS IT! KUDO DRIVER NAILED! FOR ONLY THE THIRD TIME IN SHIMMER HISTORY! Melissa wins at 20:22
Rating - **** - They were a little sloppy, and at times the work they did was too elaborate and looked very choreographed…but for the most part this was a really awesome back-and-forth wrestling match. Each women probed her opponent for weaknesses, building from what worked and what didn’t during their first encounter. Melissa smashed up the midsection and kept a slow methodical pace, having realised that trying to work at speed with Stock (as she did last time) led to her defeat in less than ten minutes. As the match progressed both women modified their offence to suit the story of the match (i.e. Stock’s back) – and I adored the finish which referenced the V11 clash and added to it with an appearance for Melissa’s ultra-rare (in SHIMMER) Kudo Driver. This was the last time we’d see the Dark Angel in SHIMMER for a long while – she has been a phenomenal addition to the roster over the last few Volumes.
Sara Del Rey vs MsChif – SHIMMER Title Match
We know the history to this as these two women set the match up earlier on this DVD. MsChif feels like she had Del Rey beaten during the Volume 17 main event after successfully hitting the Desecrator on her. To her credit, the Death Rey conceded she probably did and willingly offered her a title shot as a result. These two haven’t done battle in a SHIMMER singles match before, which seems crazy given they’ve not missed a show in eighteen volumes and have been top stars since the company began.
ELBOW TO THE HEAD floors MsChif! What a start by Del Rey! Interestingly, the Berwyn crowd is overwhelmingly in favour of MsChif and a title change here. Quite sensibly Chif drags the champion to the ground to prevent further big strikes from coming her way. She defiantly clings to a side headlock even as Sara pulls her off the mat into a back suplex, further sapping strength from the Death Rey. Sara escapes with a flurry of massive kicks in the corner, then dodges a wild springboard moonsault from MsChif. MASSIVE CHEST KICK gets 2! The champion’s tactic is evidently to be as aggressive as possible, and is actually so violent that even her own tag partner (Danger) on commentary is a little uncomfortable with it. STO backbreaker gets 2 and is followed by a grounded headscissors submission (at a completely ridiculous angle which she could only work with MsChif). The clock ticks past ten minutes and thus far this has been a total demolition job by the reigning SHIMMER Champion. Finally she misses a mafia kick and falls out of the ring…and quick as a flash Ms capitalises with a FLYING CROSSBODY TO THE FLOOR! Back inside the challenger hobbles into the Panic Attack then repeatedly double stomps the jaw into the bottom turnbuckle…but barely gets a 1-count. Desecrator blocked into an AXE KICK to the head. Gory Special COUNTERED TO CODE GREEN! Still Sara blocks the Desecrator…only for Chif to evade the Royal Butterfly in return. Del Rey crashes into her opponent with a diving missile dropkick, then a FOLDING GERMAN SUPLEX for 2! Royal Butterfly COUNTERED TO THE DESECRATOR! NEW CHAMPION! MsChif wins at 16:21!
Rating - **** - I wanted to like this match more than I actually did. I know that sounds odd when I just gave it a 4* rating, but personally I had this at the low-end of my personal 4* spectrum. I understood what they were going for, and I really liked the idea of Del Rey becoming an ultra-aggressive, offensive champion looking to prove herself having been ‘embarrassed’ by MsChif at V17 – but I didn’t feel like the finish worked in context to everything else that happened. Either they needed to go longer, or they needed to do more to make me BELIEVE that MsChif was a credible threat to Sara. I know we are supposed to buy the Desecrator as a devastating finishing move which nobody kicks out from, but visually it just doesn’t look as violent as something like Melissa’s Kudo Driver, Kong’s Amazing Bomb or Martinez’s Bull Run. To me it felt like Del Rey whooped MsChif for 15+ minutes, then lost to a couple of rather flimsy moves. To be clear, I liked the story, and I thought Sara’s individual performance was outstanding – which is why I’ve gone as high as 4* on my rating – but I either needed more from MsChif to become a credible threat, or I needed them to go longer to work in more comeback spots and sequences for her. The sudden finish felt flat, which is far from ideal for your first big title change.
Tape Rating - *** - This was, yet again, a solid and enjoyable SHIMMER event. I actually thought it would be a little better given how strong the card was, and the first hour is something of a slog to get through – but ultimately there is so much solid wrestling to enjoy. Haze/Jetta, Martinez/Rogers, Kong/Busic, Home Wreckers vs Lane/Nevaeh, Melissa/Stock and Del Rey/MsChif were all decent 3*+ bouts. I also enjoyed the amount of focus placed on making new stars here. Lacey, Stock and Rogers all leave us after these tapings – and all three of them went out losing and suitably elevating their opponents. Martinez leaves with a 2-0 record for her comeback tapings, Ashley Lane and Nevaeh become immediate players as we move closer to crowning inaugural SHIMMER Tag Champions, and Cheerleader Melissa is firmly re-established as a top tier contender after laying down to put Stock over back during the title tournament. Maybe I expected more from the likes of Kong/Wesna and the main event, but I certainly still found the show to be an easy recommendation. If I’ve not said it already, I really am having a blast reviewing these old SHIMMER DVD’s…
Top 3 Matches
3) Amazing Kong vs Wesna Busic (***)
2) Sara Del Rey vs MsChif (****)
1) Cheerleader Melissa vs Sarah Stock (****)