SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 22 – 19th October 2008
This is one of those unpredictable SHIMMER tapings where you’re just not sure what you’re going to see. All of the women we’ve seen established as main event players on the roster are largely kept apart, instead opposing – and therefore giving opportunities to – some of the rising stars of SHIMMER. Ariel has her biggest match to date as she challenges MsChif for the SHIMMER Championship. Serena Deeb has another rematch with Sara Del Rey, knowing that a win effectively makes her #1 contender. Lower down the card we have Jennifer Blake stepping up to Cheerleader Melissa, Jetta trying to prove her worth against Nikki Roxx, The Pink Ladies working The Experience, Amber O’Neal ready to prove her toughness yet again in a match with Mercedes Martinez…plus the first defence of the SHIMMER Tag Titles as new champs Ashley Lane and Nevaeh meet the challenge of the Canadian NINJAs. Dave Prazak is still on his own for commentary from Berwyn, IL.
Rain vs Daffney
Has Rain got new entrance music again? This is a big match for her, as V22
marks ten Volumes since she last scored a singles victory. She’s enjoyed mixed
success with her two Home Wrecking partners in the shows since then, but her
solo aspirations have definitely suffered as a result. After she and Jetta
failed to become Tag Champions yesterday, does she now refocus on climbing
towards the singles belt instead? Daffney only ‘returned’ (from playing Shark
Girl) a couple of shows ago, and has some momentum after picking up a win over
Cat Power on V21.
It doesn’t come off as well on DVD as I presume it does live, but it is rather interesting to watch these two women keep the live crowd in the palm of their hands whilst wrestling the most basic of matches – simply by shouting and shrieking over every move. Daff is the first to pick up the pace with a flipping neckbreaker…but is then yanked to the canvas via a running hair grab from Rain. Not a lot of what Rain does is legal from that point; attacking Daffney with an assortment of chokes and closed-fists which persistently require the intervention of Bryce Remsburg to break. She does eventually get a nearfall with a knee strike flurry in cravat position, but hasn’t done enough damage to execute Acid Rain. The Scream Queen intercepts Rain going upstairs with an Iconoclasm, though is so beaten up she struggles to get back to her feet to capitalise. STRIKE FLURRY by Daffney! Rain survives and hits a lungblower for 2. Rain Drop blocked…into Daff’s new submission ‘Leggo My Eggo’s. It looks about as silly as the name suggests and doesn’t force a victory. ACID RAIN! Rain wins at 11:07
Rating - ** - These tapings have easily been my favourite two Daffney matches in SHIMMER so far. She was actually comical and entertaining against Cat Power on the last show, and this time held her own in a competitive wrestling match without resorting to as many silly theatrics which I find so grating. Rain may well have been the driving force behind much of what I enjoyed about this one, but Daffney was no slouch and is enough of a personality to draw the crowd into proceedings. Without going overboard they delivered a solid opener to the second half of the tapings.
Cat Power vs Danyah
This is definitely a big match for both women. Neither have been able to put a
string of wins together, and as a result are floundering at the bottom of the
card. Power did score a big win over Daffney a couple of shows ago, although at
that same event Danyah did her reputation no harm by putting in a commendable
performance against Amazing Kong. Who gets a much-needed career-boost by
picking up a victory here?
Danyah’s feline-based comedy is not a patch on Daffney’s…and she finds Power so sizeable that she struggles to elevate her for a Japanese armdrag. Cat looks far more impressive, scoring a nearfall with a double knee strike/bulldog combo. REPEATED cat scratches to the exposed abs of Danyah in a tree of woe position! What an odd spot! The eyes are raked next, but somehow Danyah survives that to hit the D-Bomb. She gets her first SHIMMER win at 04:36
Rating - * - I like Cat Power, although I can’t put my finger on why. There’s something about her height, muscular build and powerful execution that I really enjoy watching though…and massively preferred her act when she wasn’t doing weird cat-based comedy spots. In hindsight she’d have been a much better choice to go over here too, since this wound up being Danyah’s last appearance. The match itself was brief and inoffensive, although my impression was that Danyah was a little sloppier than usual.
Rachel Summerlyn vs Amazing Kong
This is a main show debut for Summerlyn, although I believe she’d appeared on a
couple of ‘Sparkle’ pre-show matches before this. If she’s a glass-half-full
girl she’ll see that debuting against Kong is a massive opportunity for her, as
few workers get to work the biggest draw in the promotion on their first night.
The bad news is that Kong has been flattening opponents in singles matches,
including a total knockout of the unfortunate Lorelei Lee a few shows ago.
Kong cuts a relaxed figure as she easily backs Rachel to the ropes for a massive overhand chop. Her smile gets broader as Summerlyn frantically tries to throw some offence back her way…before punishing her with an aggressive choke. She even finds time to taunt referee Laura Matano, booked to officiate her for the first time since Kong attacker her at V17. Summerlyn dodges a Warrior Splash and actually manages to take Kong down with a running clothesline. It’s not enough, and Amazing K easily steps away from her Peroxide Plunge finishing attempt. Amazing Press wins it at 05:57
Rating - * - It remains entertaining to watch Kong squash SHIMMER enhancement talents, but this was significantly less engaging than her matches with Danyah or Lorelei so I needed my rating to reflect that. My favourite thing about this one was actually Kong messing with Laura Matano, rather than anything Summerlyn contributed.
SHIMMER appear to have replaced Becky Bayless, which is sad. Valerie Malone has replaced her, and is in the ring to introduce a pregnant Allison Danger to the live crowd. Danger is upset at missing more time after fighting back from the collarbone injuries inflicted by Melissa and Portia Perez, but reassures everyone she’ll be back in 2009. Portia herself interrupts, making fat jokes and once again proclaiming herself to be a ‘superior Canadian’. She then tries to JUMP the pregnant Danger, but is thankfully tackled to the ground by the referees before she can do any damage. This segment was among the most heated and shocking moments in SHIMMER history to this point and, although somewhat morally dubious, gets even more heat on Perez (who is getting better with each show that passes).
The Experience vs Pink Ladies
Madison Eagles and Jessie McKay debuted during the SHIMMER Tag Title Gauntlet,
and made quite an impression before succumbing to the Canadian NINJAs. Madison
looked to be an amazing talent, and her student/protégé Jessie put in a hell of
a display for someone so young and relatively inexperienced. Can the Australian
duo end their first SHIMMER taping with a shock win over the team that have
dominated the undercard of this company since its inception? How frustrated
will Fyfe and Hosaka be that they fell to the inexperienced Ohio Girls in the
finale of the Gauntlet?
Neither Fyfe nor Hosaka want to start with Eagles, such is her stature and the quality of her showing yesterday. Lexie is the unlucky starter for her team, and Madison completely out-works her in the opening minutes. Even more impressively, she’s actually visibly tutoring and coaching McKay whilst working a hell of a match herself. The Pink Ladies are totally dominant for more than five minutes and it’s only when Hosaka starts dragging young Jessie around by the hair that The Experience finally exert some control. They bully McKay; keeping her from her corner with an assortment of chops, chokes and hair drags. Malia rams her leg into the apron then applies a Figure 4 – of course with Fyfe in position to provide additional leverage on the hold. Jessie gets her knees up to block a splash, which of course does masses of damage to the leg. Hot tag to Eagles, who hits the Soaring Eagle moonsault for 2! Jessie runs in hitting one-legged dropkicks (which we’ll generously consider selling the leg) before hitting the Schoolgirl Crush (Yakuza Kick) for a fatigued nearfall. The Experience dump her on her bad leg again with the double gourdbuster…and pick up the win at 11:21
Rating - *** - Definitely right at the bottom end of the 3* spectrum, but there was so much to like about the two Aussies that I wanted to reward their efforts. Madison is obviously a hell of a worker. I’m quite sure Dave Prazak saw dollar signs in both of her performances this weekend, and it’s no surprise that when we reconvene in 2009 for the next tapings in she isn’t slumming it in lower card tags but instead working top tier women like Del Rey and Martinez. She barely broke a sweat and was the top performer in this one, but once again Jessie McKay looked a strong prospect too. She was extremely young and lacks some polish, but her selling is extremely good and she more than held her own. Both of them are welcome additions to the SHIMMER roster…and were actually so good here The Experience, staples of that roster, were pretty much afterthoughts.
Amber O’Neal vs Mercedes Martinez
Perhaps the most remarkable individual performance at Volume 21 came from
Amber, when she went toe-to-toe and strike-for-strike with Wesna Busic. She may
seem like she is all gimmick, but she has proven she can go on multiple shows
now, and should be respected as something of a threat to the Latina Sensation
here. Mercedes is looking to get back into the title picture, and is back in
the lower reaches of the card looking to regain momentum…
O’Neal has obviously watched her tapes, as the first thing she does is cover her chest in the corner to block any chop attempts from Martinez. It is actually Amber that dishes out the first strikes – kicking and choking Mercedes into the turnbuckles. That only serves to provoke Martinez, who explodes out of the corner with some huge chops and mounted forearms. Just like the Wesna match though, O’Neal doesn’t know when she’s beaten and she gets up off the mat to throw forearms back at her opponent. Amber is actually getting more confident now, proclaiming her wrestling prowess to the live crowd as she pursues Mercedes around the ring choking her at various points. Martinez keeps trying to fire back, but keeps getting thwarted by more clever wrestling from her opponent. This time O’Neal hides in the ropes to stop getting kicked…then tosses Mercedes outside to give her a beating on the floor. By the time Martinez is able to hit a spinebuster she has taken such a beating that she is physically incapable of covering the ‘Bullet Babe’. ELBOW STRIKE DUEL! Just like with Busic, O’Neal just won’t stay down! The Bull Run does finally put her down, giving Mercedes the win at 10:39
Rating - *** - I’ve said that I’m a fan of O’Neal quite a few times during my SHIMMER review series. She took a while to grow on me, but she really does prove her worth to this promotion time after time. Her gimmick, charisma and in-ring ability is more than enough to make her matches way down the card somewhat interesting…and on the occasions she gets thrown in with some of the bigger names on the roster she always holds her own. I loved her strategy here; that being to piss off and wear down Martinez, and continually take evasive action whenever the Latina Sensation threatened a hard-hitting comeback. Martinez leaves the weekend with a much-needed win, but even with an 0-2 record it is O’Neal who exits the tapings with her stock significantly boosted.
Jennifer Blake vs Cheerleader Melissa
Girl Dynamite is someone who has made the best out of every opportunity SHIMMER
have thrown her way thus far. Her winning percentage probably isn’t the best,
but she always delivers a strong performance and has absolutely earned a chance
to work one of the top names in a singles match. That is what she has been
awarded here, with the imposing Cheerleader Melissa standing before her.
Melissa, like Mercedes Martinez, is another woman who will be frustrated at her
failure to earn a title shot back at V21…but her last singles match was a
stunning, MOTYC-level encounter with LuFisto (which she won).
Melissa marches forward and looks to bully Blake like she did LuFisto, but Jennifer is too quick for her and drives her out of the ring with her athletic antics. TOPE SUICIDA NAILED by Blake! That was impressive…but sadly for her, the only reward is getting whipped ON HER HEAD into the rails! TWICE! Cheerleader Melissa is a monster, and she isn’t finished! She rips up a portion of railing, drapes Blake over it…THEN STARTS SLAMMING THE OTHER HALF OF THE RAIL INTO HER! Girl Dynamite barely survives that and it isn’t surprising that when she returns to the ring she frantically reels off a series of pinning attempts; trying to salvage a flash victory. Cheerleader evades them easily though and cranks on her again with the Kondo Clutch. Double stomp to the back next as this savage assault on Jennifer’s back continues. We’re back outside, with a steel chair ominously positioned. Blake escapes with chops…then a superkick into the chair! RUNNING DROPKICK THROUGH THE CHAIR! It’s Melissa scrambling back to the safety of the ring this time, with Blake hot on a her tail to hit a bulldog. Superkick blocked with shots to the back…only for Blake to bust out a BURNING SWORD to counter the Kudo Driver. Samoan drop by Melissa…into the AIR RAID CRASH! Melissa gets the win in 09:06
Rating - **** - There may have been some clever editing to cover a minor botch from Blake at the end there, but this was still a seriously intense match! It had everything we enjoy from both women – i.e. Melissa’s brutality and Blake’s athleticism. They meshed superbly, delivering what was probably the most outright exciting match of the entire taping thus far. It didn’t go long, but these two women left everything they had in the ring in a really memorable encounter…
Miss Natural vs Daizee Haze
I don’t think it is unfair to say that Natural didn’t get much of a chance to
show what she could do in her debut match. Lorelei Lee tanked through another
match and wasn’t even booked for the second show of the day. Miss N did get the
win though, and will now get a much sterner test in the form of The Haze.
Daizee is coming off a tough SHIMMER Title loss to MsChif, so obviously needs
wins before she can get near the belt again…
Daizee looks exhausted during her entrance, such was the effort she put forth at the V21 taping. Miss Natural obviously spots that too and attacks her during the ring introductions to get the match started. She also shows some real strength to counter Haze’s signature monkey flip by tossing her over the top rope. Going outside works against her though, with Daizee sending her chest-first into the steps. More nice wrestling from Natural however; catching Haze going for a headscissors and dropping her with a sidewalk slam instead. She wants to throttle the life from her speedy opponent and hauls her to the mat with a sleeper hold. Falling neckbreaker from Haze to escape, but Miss N dodges the Yakuza Kick and gets 2 with a running knee. Natural Disaster countered to the Heart Punch/Mind Trip combo! Haze wins at 05:55
Rating - ** - A hugely improved showing by Miss Natural, who looked much happier in the ring with a more competent opponent than Lorelei Lee. Both women worked insanely hard considering how brief this one was, throwing around plenty of counters, big bumps on the floor and busting their asses from opening to closing bell. Natural did more than enough her to earn another booking or two.
Sara Del Rey death marches to the ring next, ranting about being a main event talent and having someone to look after her main event interests. Of course, it’s the magnificent Larry Sweeney, since she is part Sweet’n’Sour Inc. He pulls Sara from the show this evening, and announces that they will pursue MsChif for the SHIMMER Championship in Ring Of Honor rather than in Berwyn.
SIDENOTE – Bringing Sweeney in was a great call by Prazak. He was at his best here, effortlessly slotting into the SHIMMER product without missing a beat. He would have been a great special attraction for SHIMMER, coming in periodically alongside Sara as an extension of the Sweet’n’Sour Inc. gimmick. Unfortunately he’d be out of ROH and on a hiatus from wrestling by the end of 2009, and we know how his story tragically came to an untimely end. This cameo is just another reminder of what a fantastically entertaining guy he was…
Jetta vs Nikki Roxx
As I’ve said a couple of times now, Roxx has become a real scalp for the women
of SHIMMER. She is the first ‘homegrown star’ having risen from the bottom of
the card to main events, and she is now a TV star with TNA as well. Jetta is a
prominent member of the roster herself these days, but having lost a title
match to MsChif a few Volumes ago will be eyeing up a win over Nikki as a way
of re-establishing her own credentials as a singles talent. Roxx, of course,
has contested memorable battles with Jetta’s Home Wrecking partner Lacey in the
past.
Jetta refuses to wrestle until the fans tell her she rocks…and gets no happier when Nikki grabs her arm and forces her to high five everyone in the front row. Roxx plays poor Jetta for an absolute fool, bating her into an ill-fated criss-cross. Soon the lip Jetta cut open during the Tag Title Gauntlet is bleeding again, although that’s actually the cue for her best period of the match so far as she scores with a succession of suplexes on the TNA star. Her focus is on the head and neck of rival, and she isn’t afraid to take a few shortcuts in doing so. Nikki escapes a sleeper with the Polish Hammer, then hits a STONE COLD STUNNER for 2! Jetta hits the lungblower and elbows at the neck to escape the Barbie Crusher. She rakes the eyes before rolling through into a pinfall to score a big win over Roxx at 09:47
Rating - ** - There was some decent comedic content in here, and some solid wrestling too. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough of either, meaning the match ultimately lapsed into something of a forgettable, awkward middle ground. I like both women, and they certainly have better matches within them. However, this just wasn’t their best work.
Ashley Lane/Nevaeh vs Canadian NINJAs –
SHIMMER Tag Title Match
Having won the belts just a Volume previously, this is a huge first title
defence for the Ohio Girls. Perez and Matthews were unlucky to draw #1 in the
Gauntlet, but still performed admirably. Portia is becoming increasingly
notorious as she rebels against her baby-faced image to perform escalating acts
of violence against SHIMMER matriarch Allison Danger. How much more out of
control would she and Nicole Matthews become if they got their hands on some
SHIMMER gold?
Nevaeh starts strongly and puts in a strong showing to wear Matthews down. Ashley performs equally admirably against Perez, eventually booting her right in the face! LARIAT BY NICOLE! I mean like, she just went all Stan Hansen on Nevaeh! She then walks off to allow Portia plenty of opportunity to choke her in the ropes behind the referee’s back. The NINJAs isolate Nevaeh, roughing her up and making it as hard as possible for her to catch her breath. Of course it helps that every time the official turns around they swap places without a tag meaning they are both ultra-fresh. Lane eventually does get a tag…only to be whipped straight down with a PERFECT northern lights suplex by Matthews. Standing Shiranui by Ashley gets 2! Nevaeh dodges the Funky Cold Medina…meaning Portia accidentally superkicks her own partner. Yakuza Kick/STO combo sees the champs retain at 09:35
Rating - ** - Just like the preceding Jetta/Roxx match, there was some decent stuff in here…but just not enough to make this particularly memorable. The Canadian NINJAs are insanely fun to watch, and they provided all the entertainment value here with some classic heel chicanery (plus that lariat from Nicole). Lane and Nevaeh were strong whipping girls (yet again) and made their opponents look great, but as usual their lack of plausible offence made them difficult to buy as credible champions. They have something about them, but badly need a defining breakout match to really earn a connection with the SHIMMER audience.
Wesna Busic vs LuFisto
I think we are still waiting for SHIMMER to really set Wesna loose. She’s had
three decent matches, including her first ever win in the promotion on V21, but
probably hasn’t shown her full range yet. LuFisto was probably in the same boat
until Volume 20 when she and Cheerleader Melissa delivered an absolute classic.
Is she the one to bring Wesna out of her shell?
Busic demonstrates why she is nicknamed the Panther, as she scores a couple of early nearfalls with some smooth pinning combinations. LuFisto is giving up a lot of height so sensibly tries to ground the European. It doesn’t take long for strikes to come into play and they take turns delivering some sickening kicks to each other’s spines. Fisto has had documented problems with her back in the past so it isn’t a surprise that Busic wants to go after it here…but once again Lu finds a way to negate her skill-set and keep her grounded. SEATED ELBOW DUEL! THEN THEY START KICKING EACH OTHER IN THE FACE! Shotei from Busic, into a northern lights suplex for 2. She tries to give Lu an electric chair drop but the diminutive Canadian counters to a REVERSE RANA! Back to the ground again with a camel clutch on Wesna. A graphic double facewash knocks the Croatian Panther to the floor…but she returns to the ring with a mafia kick to the head! GERMAN BY LUFISTO! NO SOLD! ELBOWS! SIMULTANEOUS ELBOWS! HEADBUTTS! EMERALD FUSION gets 2 for Fisto! Busic blocks the Back Drop Driver with a heel kick then drops her opponent hard on her neck with the Michinoku Driver. CB4-Driver COUNTERED TO THE BURNING HAMMER! Lufisto wins! 12:23 is your time. The replays of that Burning Hammer look totally insane!
Rating - **** - There certainly wasn’t a lot of selling to be found here, but as an exhibition match showcasing the toughness and strong-style skills of two extraordinarily impressive wrestlers this was such a blast. LuFisto is so good in matches like this where she gets to play a spitfire underdog against a bigger, bullying opponent. Here we saw Wesna try to boss her around, but never really got to build any momentum thanks to Lu always finding ways to drag her to the canvas for a submission hold. Having negated the height of her rival, effectively it became a hard-hitting race to see who could hit their much-feared finishing move first…and since Lu won that race she emerged victorious. Great stuff from both women.
MsChif vs Ariel – SHIMMER Title Match
When you consider the fact that the #1 contendership match Ariel won to earn
this title shot also featured Mercedes Martinez, Cheerleader Melissa and
Amazing Kong you could be forgiven for thinking that the Portuguese Princess is
somewhat fortuitous to be here. That may be true, but as a video package points
out – across recent volumes she has scored wins over established main event
talent like Kong, Melissa and Nikki Roxx. She is cute and fun-loving, but is a
tough competitor in her own right. If MsChif isn’t at the top of her game then
her championship may be in jeopardy here.
Ariel instructs MsChif not to scream during their match, and seems so fearful of that particular MsChif mannerism that the mere threat of it has her hiding in the ropes. She then ELBOWS HER IN THE THROAT to stop Chif from screaming. That’s different! She survives some strikes from the champion then returns fire with such a forceful dropkick that MsChif visibly rockets backwards. MsChif actually has to camel clutch the challenger in the ropes just to get a foothold in the contest. Ariel badly wants to go home with the belt it seems – going for endless pinning combinations trying to snatch a win rather than waste time fighting MsChif any further. That is until Ms almost knocks her out cold with a single elbow strike. Code Green blocked with a Taz/Bigelow backwards dive though, showing again how much Ariel wants to win. Dariel countered to a facecrusher, before the Desecrator finishes things at 10:06. MsChif retains.
Rating - ** - I expected more from this, mostly because I thought they had some awesome ideas but just went absolutely nowhere with any of them. Ariel hitting MsChif in the throat to stop her screaming was an ingenius little spot…but other than a fleeting bit of fun didn’t amount to anything. How much better would it have been if they’d have found ways for Ariel to craftily counter more of MsChif’s key spots and mannerisms? Likewise, I really enjoyed Ariel’s tenacity in continually going for pins. It really put over the importance of the SHIMMER Championship, and also the dangerousness of her opponent. But not enough else about Ariel’s act changed. This was the ‘main event’ of the show, Ariel’s first ever SHIMMER main event, and for the title too. But she was still smiling, cheerful, high-fiving, providing cutesy little narration to her wrestling…basically all the things that make her adorable on the undercard. Much as with Jetta’s goofy comedy, Ariel’s goody two-shoes act felt out of place in a championship main event. Why wasn’t she more fired up to win the title? Why was she pouting and not FURIOUS after MsChif blocked the Dariel? This wasn’t an overtly bad wrestling match, but they had a number of great ideas which really could have made it something special…only to fluff all their lines and leave us with something a little disappointing.
Sara Del Rey attacks MsChif, so of course out comes Serena Deeb to the aid of the champion. And since Bryce Remsburg apparently has booking power in SHIMMER, he orders a bell to ring!
Sara Del Rey vs Serena Deeb
This is the third consecutive SHIMMER Volume that has seen Deeb and Del Rey do
battle. Sara is 2-0, having delivered two impressive and dominating
performances over her rival. But in both matches Serena has shown her pluck and
determination…and now has extra motivation because MsChif has promised her a
title shot if she can beat Sara. Can she finally get that big win over the
former champion?
Deeb is sporting some truly hideous ring gear. She spends a minute on the front foot, driving Sara around the ring with chops. She fails to hit a second consecutive monkey flip though, and Del Rey capitalises to boot her in the face. Just like the previous matches Sara wants to work the mat, but this time Deeb has plenty of counters and actually starts taking the fight to her opponent! Gradually the Death Rey starts to exert some control though, grinding down onto Serena’s arm and opening up an injury just as she has done in their other encounters. She runs through arm submissions, armbreakers, and even some straight-forward kicks and headbutts to the bad arm in an effort to neutralise Deeb. The killer blow may well come moments later as Del Rey evades the Spear and watches as Serena crunches her bad arm right into the ringpost. Deeb runs for cover on the floor but has her arm stomped into the steps then smashed into the railings. Things look bleak as Del Rey runs at her again, except this time she counters with a back body drop INTO THE CROWD! Annoyingly she starts using her bad arm to punch Del Rey (although she does throw in a few token attempts at selling the injury too). Victory roll gets 2…and now she’s completely abandoned selling the arm. CAPO KICK by Del Rey! Cross armbreaker blocked! Sara gives her another emphatic kick…but Serena simply won’t stay down! SHE NAILS THE SPEAR! Serena wins! She gets one of the biggest pops in SHIMMER history for that! Her championship opportunity is booked at 13:52
Rating - *** - That pop for Serena’s win is genuinely one of the loudest responses I’ve seen from the Eagles Club audience thus far. Her pugnacious defiance to Del Rey’s SHIMMER dominance has really won her favour with the Berwyn fans. They’ve had great chemistry as opponents, and this mini-feud has done wonders to elevate Deeb. I won’t pretend I loved everything about this one, particularly Serena abandoning selling the arm which had previously been the focal point of the match, but there was much to enjoy as well. Sara’s heel turn has been extremely well done. She is still the ‘ace’ of the company but this character shift is seeing her generate legitimate heel heat from a ‘smart’ crowd which is quite an accomplishment. She paced her performance here brilliantly, conveying just enough disrespect to get the crowd into Serena but then dialling that back and showcasing desperation and vulnerability to put over Deeb’s credentials as a worker too.
Del Rey snaps again after the match, flooring both Deeb and Bryce Remsburg in a rage. MsChif comes to the aid of Serena…bringing Larry Sweeney to rescue his client. He drags Sara away, whilst promising MsChif that they’ll get her in Ring Of Honor.
SIDENOTE – The SHIMMER Title match between MsChif and Del Rey would eventually take place at ROH’s Rising Above 2008 – and wasn’t overly memorable which is a shame. It definitely wasn’t reflective of the great work they were doing in this promotion.
Tape Rating - *** - SHIMMER V22 was something of a mixed bag. It’s a long show with a lot of matches, and as usual contains of a mish-mash of some really outstanding wrestling and some disappointments. As a result it isn't the easiest SHIMMER DVD to sit through. The Blake/Melissa match was a clear highlight; a real adrenaline rush of a match that stole the show, and the LuFisto/Wesna match was an enjoyable strong-style contest too. There are plenty of solid 3* matches elsewhere, including more promise from the Pink Ladies (in particular Madison Eagles), Amber O’Neal taking the fight to another big name and the big upset in the main event of Del Rey/Deeb. There are also some really memorable in-ring segments too, with Larry Sweeney’s appearance and that extremely heated confrontation between Allison Danger and Portia Perez. But there are some downsides too, with Kong wasted way down the card, both title matches falling flat and the Jetta/Roxx match lacking in identity. There are stronger SHIMMER shows out there for the selective buyer…even though it’s hard to argue you aren’t getting your money’s worth here with 3+ hours of hard working athletes and some really strong wrestling dotted around.
Top 3 Matches
3) Serena Deeb vs Sara Del Rey (***)
2) LuFisto vs Wesna Busic (****)
1) Cheerleader Melissa vs Jennifer Blake (****)