SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 23 – 2nd May 2009
As I’ve repeatedly said, these old SHIMMER reviews are pretty consistently my favourite promotion that I’m working on regularly. Detractors of the product have been emailing me telling me I should be prepared for it to go downhill once they start running more shows in a weekend, packing in more talent and giving matches less and less time. At the moment, however, I’m finding the energy of a group of women busting their asses and giving everything they have for a common cause in a tiny little wooden room in Illinois utterly infections – and I look forward to kicking off the 2009 season, which offers much promise. We are in early May with a weekend of shows which is very much in keeping with modern day SHIMMER formats; i.e. taping four shows over two days. It’s a marathon for the talent involved but some of the matches they have in store look mouth-watering. There’s no trip out of Berwyn in ’09, meaning when we reconvene for the final shows of 2009 in November it’s time for the debut of the great Ayako Hamada, opening the door for all manner of Japanese Joshi talent to start making the pilgrimage to the Eagles Club. V23 here looks particularly strong. The headline act is Serena Deeb’s SHIMMER Title opportunity that she earned by defeating Sara Del Rey at V22; a match that is backed up by one of the stronger undercards we’ve seen. Madison Eagles steps up in quality to face the Death Rey herself, and Eagles has also brought more Australians along for this trip so we have debuts for Kellie Skater and Tenille (WWE’s Emma) to boot. The Ohio Girls put the Tag Titles on the line against the International Home Wreckers (who have Lacey back in a non-wrestling capacity) as well. If that wasn’t enough, the event is rounded out by Nicole Matthews producing her strongest in-ring performance to date with Daizee Haze, Kong and Mercedes Martinez colliding, and the international war between Cheerleader Melissa and Wesna Busic spilling over into a SHIMMER ring for the first time. Dave Prazak calls the action from Berwyn, IL – alongside Portia Perez for the first time (a nice touch having Portia take Allison’s commentary spot).
SIDENOTE – Ring Of Honor have allowed SHIMMER to include the big SHIMMER Title rematch between Del Rey and MsChif – which took place on their Rising Above 2008 pay-per-view and was heavily referenced during Larry Sweeney’s appearance at V22 – to be included in the bonus features on this DVD.
Amber Gertner makes her SHIMMER debut as backstage correspondent, but is actually in the parking lot where she spots Annie Social – who has been issued with a manager license for the tapings.
Cat Power vs Nikki Roxx
This is a huge match to start the weekend for Power. She went 0-2 at the last tapings, with bottom-of-the-card losses to Daffney and Danyah. The pressure is really on her now to deliver something special against an established talent with mainstream TV exposure like Nikki.
It’s been so long since SHIMMER last ran that Nikki, who was shaven-headed at the last tapings, has hair again. The wonderful Berwyn fans toss balls of wool and string onto the ring during Cat’s entrance. It’s not quite Jimmy Rave and toilet paper but it’s really quite entertaining. Roxx is something of a veteran these days and works hard to keep her strong opponent grounded – doing so with such success that Cat actually leaves the ring. Power has worked yet more feline-based offence into her routine which the audience like, but I’m somewhat indifferent on. I much prefer it when she uses her strength to pull Roxx around and dominate her with submission holds. Nikki badly needs to get back to her feet – and when she finally does so instantly uses her speed and striking to hit back on Cat. Cobra clutch legsweep by Power, who then counters the Polish Hammer into a neckbreaker for 2. Roxx survives and retaliates with the Barbie Crusher for the win at 07:54
Rating - ** - Quite a spirited opener, with Power again showing plenty of promise outside of the cat gimmick she seems to have embraced. The Berwyn fans have clearly connected with her, so I understand why she’s running so hard with it…but for me the worst parts of her matches are when she starts doing silly comedy stuff. She looked like a machine when she was effortlessly keeping Roxx grounded with sleepers and half crabs and front facelocks, but periodically stopped that to throw in a couple of back rakes. The finish was sudden and rather harmful to Cat, but was probably a fair assessment of where these two are in their SHIMMER careers at present. Roxx worked hard and helped Power to look as good as she possibly could under the circumstances. A solid opening match…
Amber O’Neal vs Tenille
As mentioned in my introduction, Tenille will be more familiar to most as the WWE’s Emma. She’s another talent who came up through Madison Eagles’ Australian promotion, but has also trained under Lance Storm in Canada so has good pedigree. This is her SHIMMER debut, and she probably has Eagles and Jessie McKay to thank after they made such a strong impression when they debuted during the V21/V22 tapings. O’Neal is another woman who went 0-2 at the last tapings, albeit her weekend was far more impressive than the record suggests as she delivered commendably courageous showings against Wesna Busic and Mercedes Martinez.
Tenille/Emma looks almost unrecognisable, and is giving up a decade of in-ring experience to Amber. She refuses to be intimidated though and drives O’Neal out of the ring with a succession of clotheslines. More toughness shown by Tenille on the floor, as she shrugs off O’Neal’s attempts to ‘teach her something’ to toss the Bullet Babe into the guardrail. Amber goes after the throat – choking Tenille in the ropes then throttling her again with a grounded headscissors. Yet again the Australian wants to mount a plucky comeback…but this time O’Neal is able to shut it down with an eye rake, before grabbing the neck again with a front guillotine. Rolling suplexes find the mark, before the Amber Alert gets a nearfall. The bridging back slide – piling more pressure onto the neck – finally gives O’Neal a much-needed victory at 09:18
Rating - ** - Once again far from perfect, but like the opening match there was plenty to like. The core story of a courageous rookie standing up to a bitter veteran looking to make an example of her was very well executed here. O’Neal barely broke sweat as she worked the crowd, but she very cleverly gave Tenille more than enough to get over as well. My biggest criticism of Emma’s work at this stage is that everything was SO rushed. They had almost ten minutes allocated to them here. That’s not an eternity, but it is enough time for the Australian to take a pause between some of her big moves and let them breathe. There was one point where she heat a seated dropkick on Amber, which the audience really responded to. But Tenille blew the reaction by rushing in to hit it again almost before she’d got the words ‘one more’ out of her mouth. In the end her debut match wound up being quietly enjoyable. My concern is that I’m not sure how much of it was down to her and how much was down to the understated, dependable reliability of O’Neal on SHIMMER’s undercards.
Serena Deeb gets some promo time in a dirty little room with Amber Gertner. She’s spent all winter training for her title shot. She vows to prove herself one of the ‘best in the world’…
Melanie Cruise vs Daffney
Cruise makes her main show debut, which she’d earned by defeating Cherry Bomb in a dark match at the prior tapings. She’s a tall girl so is quite an imposing specimen. Across the ring stands the experienced Daffney, who looks to have quietly dropped the Shark Girl gimmick thankfully. She lost to Rain at V22 so will plan to rebound against the newcomer.
Daffney pinballs around the ring without making much of an impact on Cruise due to her size. ‘My vocal cords are insured’ – Daffney as Melanie aggressively chokes her on the canvas. Annie Social is watching at ringside with pen and paper, supposedly scouting talent. Daff negates the height differential by mounting the turnbuckles for a punch flurry, then lands Daff Knees for the win at 04:02.
Rating - * - Not much of a match to report on in truth. Cruise’s size makes her impressive, but it was hard to assess her skills much when all she did was stand like an immobile planet as the hyperactive Daffney orbited around her goofing off. This seemed like little more than an excuse to progress the Annie Social management angle. Supposedly she’s one of two people granted a management license for these shows – with mystery surrounding the identity of the second.
Social actually assists Melanie to the locker room.
Valerie Malone interviews MsChif. To nobody’s surprise, she doesn’t see the main event going the same way as Deeb does.
Sara Del Rey vs Madison Eagles
She may have only worked a couple of inconsequential ten minute tag bouts, but Eagles made a huge impression at the V21/22 tapings and had the fans clamouring for her return. She is back this weekend, and in considerably higher profile matches this time around. Assignments don’t get much tougher than Del Rey, who is smarting from a number of major losses recently. First she lost the SHIMMER Championship to MsChif (who became only the second person to pin Sara in SHIMMER in the process), then fell to a surprising defeat to Serena Deeb at V22. Her misery was compounded when she lost her SHIMMER Title rematch to MsChif, which her agent Larry Sweeney had ensured took place at a Ring Of Honor show instead of here. Will she make an example of the enormously talented Australian known as ‘The Punisher’, or will Madison dramatically insert herself into the main event picture with a huge upset win?
Del Rey has more colourful gear than the last time we saw her, but has the same cranky attitude. She obviously wants to put Madison on the ground to negate her height, but finds that Eagles is more than capable of trading holds with her on the mat. They spend minutes on the canvas following the same pattern – Sara trying to out-wrestle the Australian only to be thwarted by seemingly endless counters from Eagles. After more than six minutes of intense and captivating chess games on the ground, Del Rey snaps and opts to simply choke out her opponent. That is the cue for the pace to quicken and Sara capitalises with a diving butt splash from the second rope for 2. Strikes rain down next before the irate former SHIMMER Champion simply mounts her opponent to repeatedly bash her skull into the mat. JUMPING HURRICANRANA by Madison! She’s a tall woman to be hitting a spot like that! Del Rey ducks her as she charges in again…but the Royal Butterfly is countered with a northern lights suplex for 2! Hell Bound blocked…DEL REY TILTA-WHIRLS HER INTO THE ROYAL BUTTERFLY! Incredible strength, and Del Rey gets the win at 10:23
Rating - *** - At the last tapings Madison’s performances earned her the opportunity to face SHIMMER’s main event talent. This performance effectively cements her position AS a top tier talent herself. Del Rey won with an amazing finishing sequence…but in truth she wasn’t the story here at all. What we saw here was Madison Eagles out-working her for minute after minute; able to survive the former champ’s attacks and effortlessly counter with stretches and sequences of her own. Sara only got the advantage late in the contest after cheating, and even after that it took one of the most intense Royal Butterfly transitions we’ve seen from the Death Rey to actually put Eagles away. I could easily have lived with this being the main event and watching them go 20/30/40 minutes or longer – the tense and technically flawless ground exchanges between them truly were that good. Prazak must be rubbing his hands with glee at having unearthed someone of Madison’s ability.
A super young-looking Kellie Skater is next through the curtain. She introduces herself as the Rate Tank then issues an open challenge to anyone in the SHIMMER locker room. It’s answered by the Hardcore Anime, LuFisto…
Kellie Skater vs LuFisto
It is fair to say that Skater isn’t the most sizeable of workers. Diminutive in height and slight of build, there is obvious comedic value in calling herself ‘indestructible’ and the ‘Rate Tank’ – and now she faces a SHIMMER baptism of fire in the form of LuFisto. Lu’s last two singles matches in SHIMMER have been absolute wars; losing an MOTYC to Mercedes Martinez at V20 then a war with Wesna Busic at V23 (which she won). Having survived those, is she in danger of underestimating her debuting and impromptu opponent tonight?
Fisto’s gear tonight looks like she hacked up the kind of ‘sexy’ night dress that a woman in her 50’s buys to inject some spice back into her marriage. Skater slaps the sh*t out of her to get things started! LuFisto can’t quite believe that and immediately dispatches the Rate Tank with a Michinoku Driver for 2. A springboard elbow scores for Kellie, followed by an assortment of strikes who do a surprising amount of damage to the Canadian. The cannonball senton flattens Skater again…then tries to rip her arms out of their sockets with a surfboard. BURNING HAMMER! Lu wins at 04:27
Rating - ** - I enjoyed this more than a 2* rating might suggest. Personally I’d have cut the run-time down a little to become a more effective squash match, but they certainly produced an energetic little contest here. Skater is a lot of fun and instantly establishes her ‘Rate Tank’ character with the SHIMMER fans, before putting over an upwardly mobile LuFisto who has really started to establish herself in this promotion now. She is being primed for a run at the belt so needed a strong showing.
Nicole Matthews vs Daizee Haze
With her Canadian NINJA tag team partner Portia Perez on secondment to the announce table for this DVD, Matthews gets a chance to fly solo. She spent 2008 rapidly improving both as a worker and a character, but is still searching for a break-out, career-making moment of her own. A win over Haze, who has been a main event woman since the very first Volume, would certainly provide that. The Haze herself is looking to rebuild after losing her big title shot to MsChif at Volume 21. She defeated Miss Natural at V22 and needs to put a succession of wins together if she is to get back into contention.
Haze wants a respectful handshake…which is predictably shunned by Nicole, who hops out of the ring to stall on the floor. Portia provides some unique insight on commentary by pointing out that Rebecca Knox (Becky Lynch) was involved in training Nicole – with K-NOX being an early SHIMMER rival of Daizee. Perhaps it is this training which leads to Matthews being surprisingly competitive with Haze when they start trading holds. ‘Ninjas kill butterflies’ – Perez on commentary. As the clock ticks past five minutes The Haze quickens the pace, seeking to negate the size advantage of her Canadian adversary. Her lack of experience starts to count against Nicole with Haze slowly turning up the heat and dominating their exchanges. The NINJA needs something drastic – and finds it by using raw power to muscle Daizee into a tilta-whirl backbreaker. She then drops her throat-first over the top rope to really press home that advantage. Matthews is targeting the back and ribs; with an additional focus on making it hard for the SHIMMER veteran to breathe…including shutting down a comeback attempt with a vicious spear for 2. Abdominal stretch locked in, then she drives Haze RIBS-FIRST into the turnbuckles as soon as she finds a way to counter out. We are approaching fifteen minutes, which is longer than Nicole has ever worked in singles action for this promotion, whilst Haze has experience going this deep. Perhaps that might explain why Matthews briefly loses focus – and allows herself to be kicked out of the ring. TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR by Daizee! She looks to scale the ropes again only for Matthews to crotch her by shoving the referee into them. SUPERPLEX ON DAIZEE! The Haze escapes a brainbuster to nail a German suplex…but then collapses trying to hold the bridge! Heart Punch countered to a northern lights suplex for 2. Nicole heads upstairs for a MISSILE F’N DROPKICK TO THE RIBS! FOR 2! One minute left in the time limit! HEART PUNCH! YAKUZA KICK! MATTHEWS KICKS OUT! They frantically rolling cradle through pinfall attempts…as the 20:00 time limit expires!
Rating - **** - Potentially some could see this rating as generous, as it wasn’t until the last few minutes that this got exciting. But, I’m a sucker matches which have room to breathe and tell a decent story, and I’m also a sucker for matches which feature a veteran performer really helping a talented and deserving rising star elevate their status. This match featured both of those, so of course I was a fan. Perhaps the biggest positive from this was that everything they did was so subtle and intelligent. It wasn’t basic, brash or ‘easy’ – they were ambitious with what they were trying to do and pulled it off. Haze was dominant in the opening minutes, without ever really ‘hurting’ Nicole, who was able to continually break up her momentum. Gradually Haze turned the screw, until the Canadian used her size advantage to deliver a decisive strike back. The backbreaker/rope guillotine combo changed the course of the match and ensured that the Canadian NINJA was the aggressor in almost every exchange. She decimated Haze’s ribs and back, which Daizee sold effectively without going overboard or making a huge deal out of it. That missile dropkick spot was so massive that fans legitimately bought it as a nearfall, which is testament to how impressive Nicole’s performance was here. Just like Madison Eagles earlier, this match marks a huge turning point in Nicole’s career. A trajectory that would eventually lead her to SHIMMER’s top prize…
Daizee wants five more minutes, and the referee is willing to grant it to her. Nicole has other plans though, and is happy to leave it at that so walks away…
Amazing Kong vs Mercedes Martinez
Kong’s presence, ability, charisma and TV exposure presumably make her a pretty big draw in SHIMMER terms. However, it would be fair to say that she didn’t make the impact she’d have liked in 2008. Whether it be TNA’s input, Prazak’s decision, or her own desire to ‘protect’ her character...she isn’t in a position to put many people over in this promotion. It means Dave has a problem keeping her fresh and interesting when she can’t lose matches, and he can’t put the belt on her because SHIMMER is miles down her list of priorities. As a result last year she mostly flew in to work squash matches or being hidden in multi-person matches where she didn’t take a fall. One such encounter was at V21, where she and her opponent tonight brawled on the floor whilst their other opponents (Ariel and Cheerleader Melissa) concluded the match without them. Both women missed out on a SHIMMER Championship match by failing to win that match so have a lot of frustration to take out on each other this evening. Presumably the winner is also closer to getting another title shot…
The massive ovation Kong gets for her entrance is an apt demonstration of why SHIMMER still pay to use her even though it presents some creative challenges. Martinez is used to being able to muscle her opponents around so has a challenge of her own trying to adapt her style to Kong here. She looks to wear her down with headlocks and sleepers…only for Kong to reverse two straight minutes of Martinez control with a single clothesline. Mercedes bounces off Amazing K like a spring; landing sporadic flurries of strikes but repeatedly smashed away with a single emphatic hammer blow. Kong misses a Warrior Splash and eats more elbows from the Latina Sensation. IMPLANT BUSTER! Just like at V21 Martinez counters the Amazing Bomb into a facebuster, leaving both women down. Repeated kicks to the face by Martinez…BULL RUN NAILED! KONG KICKS OUT! Fans really bit on that one! Amazing Bomb scores, but the match continues as Mercedes lands in the ropes. Back Fist ducked into the BACK DROP DRIVER! KONG NO SELLS! AMAZING BOMB AGAIN! She wins at 09:33
Rating - *** - Kong has an innate ability to turn short, throwaway midcard matches into these amazingly energetic and enjoyable sprints. Looking at this objectively, these women did little more than run through their usual spots one after another then go home. The hook here was the story they told – Martinez buzzing around Kong like a fly despite being repeatedly and emphatically swatted away – and the sheer quality of Kong’s delivery of her character. She is so on point as this an all-powerful, all-conquering monster. It meant that Martinez’s Bull Run nearfall got the loudest reaction of the entire show so far. It meant that, despite logically ‘knowing’ Prazak has to put Kong over, fans love watching her matches. This won’t even crack the Top 3 Matches by the end of the evening, but as a ten minute strong-style exhibition I really enjoyed it.
Allison Danger has given birth and is back in SHIMMER this weekend. Amber Gertner brings her to the ring to discuss her Street Fight with Portia Perez at V24. Portia is hot on her heels, drawing huge heat for calling Danger’s baby ‘stupid’ and regretting not breaking her neck. She then spits in Danger’s face before they start brawling. A mass of undercard women have to separate them…
Ashley Lane/Nevaeh vs International Home Wrecking Crew – SHIMMER Tag Title 2/3 Falls Match
A video package recaps the highlights of the growing issue between these two teams, and I’d actually forgotten just how much history they have. Lane and Nevaeh were basically made as a tag team at V18 when they defeated the Minnesota version of the Home Wrecking Crew in Lacey’s last match. Jetta joined Rain at V20 for the rematch, which saw the Home Wreckers leave victorious. It appeared that the Ohio Girls were to have the last laugh though – after eliminating Rain and Jetta from the Tag Title Gauntlet at V21 on the way to bringing those belts home for themselves. Having traded wins across multiple shows, it was deemed appropriate to have this title defence be contested under 2/3 Falls rules.
The Home Wreckers, wearing face masks to protect themselves from Swine Flu, spectacularly fail to jump the champions from behind. In the first couple of minutes Nevaeh moves as well as I’ve ever seen her in SHIMMER – delivering her moves with a newfound speed, snap and precision. There is a colossal shock just a few moments later though…as with Jetta distracting Bryce Remsburg, Lacey makes her return to topple a small cradle in Rain’s favour, handing IHWC a 1-0 lead at 03:19! She brandishes her management license (she was the mysterious ‘second manager’) and celebrates with her Home Wrecking colleagues! Portia draws a few genuine laughs from me on commentary as she really persists with the fallacy that she ‘knew’ about Lacey’s return. Dave Prazak points out her pedigree as a manager in ROH as her team cut the ring in half and isolate Lane. It goes without saying that she isn’t above laying in a few cheap shots when the opportunity arises too. Ashley counters Acid Rain as Nevaeh storms the ring to swing an elbow at Lacey. Whilst the ref deals with that Lane rolls up Rain and snatches the equalising pinfall at 09:03. It’s 1-1 and we have a deciding fall! All three Home Wreckers swarm Ashley, beating her down aggressively as Remsburg tries to get Nevaeh out of the ring. Lane’s strength is that she takes a hell of a beating, and she genuinely has me believing she is in absolute agony when Rain starts to seriously rough her up. Jetta is unforgiving as well – smearing her face across the canvas then giving her a camel clutch with added hair-pulling. A lucky neckbreaker drops Rain though, bringing Nevaeh in legally for the first time in several minutes. She dodges Jetta’s Stranglehold Neckbreaker, but things really start to get a little sloppy and uncoordinated. Rain is removed with a German suplex…only for Jetta to clobber her with a chain-wrapped fist. She pins Nevaeh at 14:38. Just when it seemed like we were getting new champions, another official runs out to inform Bryce of his error…and the match is restarted. The Yakuza Kick/STO combo means Nevaeh and Lane retain at 14:49 (total).
Rating - * - It’s not that I don’t like these women, and of course I was delighted to see Lacey show up for a couple more appearances even in a non-wrestling capacity. But the Ohio Girls tag match formula just isn’t very interesting – in that they normally get beaten up for the vast majority of their matches then win either by fortune or by executing their one finishing move. They don’t seem to have much else in their repertoire – and we’ve seen them work variants of this match on a number of occasions now. Nevaeh is improving, but is probably in a position where being a Tag Champion is hindering her as she needs singles matches with better talents in order to develop. This was an almost entirely one-sided carry-job – with a silly finish tacked on too. It came from a well-intentioned place (i.e. protecting the Home Wreckers)…but made the Ohio Girls look even more like total fluke, no-hoper champions. It is also a major pet hate of mine when people book 2/3 Falls Matches then don’t justify the stipulation by either giving them enough time or delivering a story worthy of being told over three decisions instead of just a single fall. SHIMMER has a pedigree of delivering decent quality on 2/3 Falls Matches previously (Danger/Rogers, Del Rey/Stock, Knox/Haze etc) - and this was colossally short of the standard set.
Wesna Busic vs Cheerleader Melissa
This is billed as ‘The Rivalry Comes West’ and is supplemented with footage provided by the ChickFight promotion of a number of their battles in Europe (a couple of which I had the pleasure of witnessing live back in 2007). Even though they haven’t interacted in SHIMMER before, there is an enormous amount of history and animosity between these two. Their feud spills to a new continent and a new promotion this evening – who leaves with the bragging rights? The 45-minute time limit is significant too, as these two have gone that long before.
According to Prazak these two haven’t faced anywhere in around a year, which might explain why both are hesitant and tentative in the early minutes. Melissa makes a play for Busic’s leg, only for the Panther to attempt a counter into a cross armbreaker. What you’ll immediately notice is how f*cking rough with each other they are. With Wesna in control Melissa is straight up punching her trying to escape…before she launches into a barrage of jarring knee strikes. Their mat work is just as intense and when they emerge from the ground we see Wesna aggressively targeting Cheerleader’s arm (a tactic Melissa has used against her in the past). Melissa quickly shakes her off and rattles off a flurry of arm and leg wrenches – as if to intimidate her opponent with her ability to pick on any body part she wants. Busic drives her out of the ring to avoid more limb work…and profits by mashing her back into the metal railings. Cheerleader recovers with a BACK DROP DRIVER for 2! Back to the floor; an environment which Melissa has used to her advantage in multiple previous SHIMMER matches. She tears up a section of railing, hangs Busic over it…then starts sandwiching her between railings remorselessly. ELBOW STRIKE DUEL! You can HEAR how hard they are smacking each other! Unsurprisingly they both go down in a heap after that exchange…as Annie Social slowly makes her way to the ring once again. Melissa and Wesna crawl up from the mat and start THROWING ELBOWS AGAIN! SLAPS! PALM STRIKES! THEY GO DOWN AGAIN! When the come up again they are legit KICKING EACH OTHER IN THE FACE! Air Raid Crash blocked by Busic, so Melissa hits her instead with a Samoan drop for 2. GERMAN SUPLEX! But she hurts the arm that Wesna attacked earlier and can’t bridge on it so only gets a nearfall. Busic dodges a missile dropkick then scoops her up for a FISHERMAN DRIVER! FOR 2! CB4-Driver blocked…BOOT TO THE FACE INSTEAD! Melissa counters the CB4-Driver again into a DDT before hitting her Curb Stomp for 2. CURB STOMP TO THE FACE! But Annie Social has started to become a distraction to Melissa – so much so that she leaves the ring to intimidate her! Wesna has plenty of time to recover as a result, landing a WRIST CLUTCH BACK SUPLEX! CB4-Driver BLOCKED WITH KNEE STRIKES! CB4-DRIVER NAILED! Busic wins at 24:07
Rating - **** - What a match! It’s hard to pitch it against ChickFight matches which I saw live ten years ago and haven’t seen since so I’ll try to avoid direct comparisons if possible. At first I thought this possibly lacked the intensity and urgency of those UK matches…but then again the SHIMMER audience hasn’t had too much exposure to Busic, and this was certainly the biggest opportunity of her tenure in this promotion. What it did do well is recreate the amazing aggression and violence with which these two work together. Even on an indy DVD production budget the sheer SOUND you hear as they waffle each other with strikes is astonishing. Perhaps it didn’t get as crazy as ChickFight, but it was a great standalone wrestling match to introduce the feud to a new company. They spent 25-minutes one-upping each other in every manner – when Busic tried to work a limb, Melissa tried to work all four. When Wesna went outside and used the guardrails for an Irish whip, Melissa tore them out of the ground and smashed her up with them. When one competitor threw an elbow strike, the opponent threw one back twice as hard. It isn’t a secret that I like clean winners and losers so it won’t surprise you that I didn’t particularly enjoy Annie Social’s contributions – but thankfully it didn’t detract too much from what was a major victory for Wesna. She transformed herself from a reliable, credible, upper-midcard foreign star with the quality of her work in this one.
Annie climbs into the ring and raises Wesna’s hand in victory, before grabbing a microphone and promising to block Cheerleader Melissa from ever getting to the SHIMMER Championship.
MsChif vs Serena Deeb – SHIMMER Title Match
We know how hard Deeb had to work to earn this title match. She’s spent the last three shows getting her ass beaten all over the ring by dethroned former champion Sara Del Rey – but tenaciously kept fighting and finally earned a huge win over her in the main event of Volume 22. MsChif promised Serena a title shot if she was able to beat Sara (just like she did to win the SHIMMER Title), and has remained true to her word. Supposedly Serena has had all winter to prepare for this shot, whilst MsChif comes in a little more battle-worn having travelled all over the indies with championship commitments during SHIMMER’s off-season.
Serena is fired up and clings to a tight collar and elbow lock-up in an effort to block MsChif from landing any significant offence early. They actually work to something of a stalemate with Deeb clinging to holds to negate MsChif’s strengths and the champion doing very similar as she realises how pumped up and prepared her challenger is. Deeb needs a quick pace to stay out of the snake-like limbs of Chif…but keeps running into trouble. MsChif wants to work the back – and eventually succeeds by hitting a trio of standing moonsaults to it! Pretty soon Serena can’t even execute a basic body slam due to her injuries. She tries a hopelessly desperate Spear which is easily evaded by Ms, causing the challenger to flop painfully through the ropes to the hard wooden floor. ARM DRAG ON THE FLOOR by Deeb! But she can’t walk afterwards because of her back! They return to the ring each throwing punches, until Serena arm wrenches the champ shoulder-first into the turnbuckles! Monkey flip COUNTERED WITH A SECOND ROPE SPINEBUSTER for 2! More devastating damage to Serena’s back as a result. Deeb blocks the Desecrator a couple of times, eventually into a BACK SELLING electric chair shotshot! SPEAR NAILED…but MsChif falls out of the ring! It is dreadful luck for Deeb who, with a bad back, has to lug her lifeless adversary back inside only to get a sluggish nearfall. A second Spear attempt is blocked. Deeb ROLLS THROUGH THE DESCRATOR…SO MSCHIF ROLLS THROUGH THAT INTO THE DESCRATOR ANYWAY! Amazing finish! MsChif retains in a spirited 12:10
Rating - **** - I believe these are Serena’s last tapings before she inked her WWE deal, and up to this point I must confess I haven’t really seen what made her stand out from so many of her contemporaries on the independent scene. She was reliable enough, and had a commendable series of matches with Sara Del Rey in this organisation – but I came away with the impression that it was Sara’s greatness rather than Deeb’s which drove the quality in their trilogy. In this match, however, I thought she was superb. And critically, she was superb in a way which made a quick sprint match feel memorable and special – a quality which certainly equips her for the confines she’d be working within under the WWE umbrella by the end of 2009. The pace was frenetic, but underneath the speed and rapidity of the action was an enthralling story – of a fired up but ultimately ill-equipped challenger leaving everything she had in the ring against a superior foe. The champion always looked to be a step ahead of her, and was injuring her more and more as the match wore on, but Deeb gamely clung on and came perilously close to inflicting the most dramatic of upsets – only to see MsChif fall out of the ring when she landed her finishing move. Deeb played her character remarkably…and the drama as she sold the back and frantically tried to get the motionless MsChif back into the ring for a pinfall was undeniable. Even at the very end she still found a way to counter the Descerator – producing a truly spectacular sequence to condlude proceedings. I thought this was an incredibly under-rated little match
Sara Del Rey marches out to demand her rematch, and as MsChif turns away from her she is confronted by Amazing Kong who also wants a title shot. Kong and Sara take turns attacking the champion – until tag partner Cheerleader Melissa makes the save with a steel chair. That will set up our V24 tag team main event…
Tape Rating - **** - This is one of my favourite SHIMMER Volumes thus far. The fact that the top of the card contains great wrestling almost goes without saying after 23 shows, but it is an absolute pleasure to watch this organisation continue to develop and evolve itself to remain fresh. The first hour of the show wasn’t filled with epic moments, but watching two future SHIMMER Champions in Madison Eagles and Kellie Skater begin to mould their personas within the company was a real treat (not to mention it also contains the debut of future WWE star Emma). Another future SHIMMER Champion – Nicole Matthews – broke out in a major way on this show too, albeit ably assisted by the ever-reliable (and unrecognisable from her ROH work) Daizee Haze. Following those ladies, the top half of the show is so good that a smash-mouth Kong/Mercedes match is almost forgettable and you can easily look past the significant disappointment that was the Tag Title 2/3 Falls Match. As ever, not everything about the company is perfect. But they continue to avoid stagnation and continue to move forward with every passing show. Matthews/Haze, Busic/Melissa and MsChif/Deeb are individually very different but all packed with quality and entertainment value. Another thoroughly recommendable show from SHIMMER…
Top 3 Matches
3) Nicole Matthews vs Daizee Haze (****)
2) MsChif vs Serena Deeb (****)
1) Wesna Busic vs Cheerleader Melissa (****)