SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 26 – 3rd May 2009
This has been a rather strange set of tapings for the SHIMMER promotion. Of course, when they run marathon binge taping weekends like this not everything is going to be solid gold – but has felt a little jarring to go from one of my very favourite Volumes at the start (V23) to one of my least (V25). I’d go so far as to consider the MsChif/Wesna title match perhaps THE most disappointing moment in a quarter of a century’s worth of DVD releases. Here’s hoping they finish strong with this release – and the card is certainly promising. MsChif and LuFisto in a SHIMMER Championship main event, Melissa and Wesna settling their feud, the Ohio Girls giving the Canadian NINJAs a Tag Title rematch and a potential undercard war with Del Rey and Kong facing the team of Mercedes Martinez and Serena Deeb – all of which sound extremely promising. Dave Prazak welcomes Allison Danger back to commentary as they close out the weekend from the Eagles Club in Berwyn, IL.
The Experience concede that their opponents this evening – Ariel and Nikki Roxx – are tougher opponents than their last outing, at Volume 24. Regardless, they intend to win and prove themselves top contenders to whomever wins the SHIMMER Tag Title Match later.
Jetta vs Daffney
Well this could be interesting. Two of the most vocal and interactive wrestlers on the entire roster open the show; and they both badly need a victory. Despite being a relatively ‘big name’ in the SHIMMER pond Daff has drifted doing very little any real significance in her time here, whilst Jetta has started to get lost in the Home Wrecker gimmick and letting the quality of her matches slide as a result. This one will be loud and obnoxious – but who will leave it with their hand raised?
Predictably there is very little wrestling content in the early going…but plenty of the way of showmanship, shenanigans and stalling. Jetta spits water in Daffney’s face in an attempt to get serious at last…and with the Scream Queen reeling Lacey appears from the floor to choke her over the ropes. It quickly becomes a handicap match in all but name with Lacey persistently assisting behind the referee’s back. It’s worth pointing out that Prazak and Danger’s sarcastic commentary is every bit as funny as what the two competitors are producing here. Daff lands a few strikes…and is thwarted from earning a win after Lacey yanks Jetta out of the ring following a northern lights suplex. But then she accidentally spits water into her own client’s face! Daffney spits water into Lacey’s face…and in doing so takes her eyes off Jetta. The Stranglehold Lungblower/Clutch combo score, leaving the veteran with no choice but to quit. Jetta wins at 07:07
Rating - ** - I’ve been open about not being into much of Daffney’s SHIMMER work, but as a package deal this was a fun way to start the show. Her, Jetta and Lacey all goofing off was entertaining enough to distract you from the minimalist in-ring content…and it’s hard to criticise an ultimately dominating win for Jetta. She was considerably weakened by putting Tenille over last time so needed this badly, whereas wins and losses are almost irrelevant for what Daffney appears to want from her time inside the SHIMMER ropes.
Amber Gertner catches up with Cheerleader Melissa ahead of her big rematch with Wesna Busic. Melissa blames Annie Social for her loss last time and plans revenge tonight.
Rayna Von Tosh vs Daizee Haze
The premise for this is simple – it’s teacher vs student. Haze has trained Rayna has part of the SHIMMER class within the ROH wrestling school and now tests her pupil as part of her main show debut weekend. We saw her at V24 performing commendably whilst teaming with Tenille against The Experience, but the stakes are always higher in singles action. Haze has survived an extremely gruelling taping herself – including back-to-back encounters with Nicole Matthews then a tough grudge tag against the NINJAs earlier today. How much is left in her tank?
The two women don’t break grip for almost two minutes, chaining back and forth out of a knucklelock sequence in a very decent manner. Von Tosh sensibly wants to use her size to her advantage, and keeps her eyes on the prize by repeatedly dropping into pinning situations looking for victory. RVT goes from strength to strength – battering Daizee in the corner, dragging her out with a bulldog and even finding time to pose to the fans as she lands a big elbow drop for 2. Daizee is a veteran and well aware of Rayna’s strategy, so looks to take it to the mat where she perceives that she has an edge…but just can’t keep her student down and eats a high angle back suplex. STIFF elbow strike duel! Daizee is really rattled…but lands the Heart Punch/Mind Trip combo from nowhere. She wins at 07:05
Rating - *** - Obviously this is generous for such a short and basic match, but I always say I’m a fan of story-telling above all else and I loved what they did with this. We didn’t get a typical teacher squashes student affair – instead Haze was extremely generous and let Von Tosh showcase her skills by basically dominating the whole match. It was so refreshing to watch a ‘rookie’ feel like a genuine and credible threat. Haze initiated a test of strength with her larger opponent, which even Prazak and Danger noted was an odd choice given that she was the smaller and lighter competitor. She paid the price for that overconfidence and took a real beating for several minutes. Ultimately Rayna’s lack of experience did cost her of course, and Haze stays strong by only needing two moves to win – but this took me on a journey and ended with both women looking stronger.
Melanie Cruise vs Kellie Skater vs Jennifer Blake vs Jessie McKay
There’s enough talent in this that it could be decent…but I can’t shake the feeling that Blake has been rather wasted this weekend. She is the most experienced – in SHIMMER terms – in this one so could potentially be considered the favourite here, but all three of the others have some momentum too. Cruise is now managed by Annie Social, so getting to train with Wesna Busic. Skater has looked really crisp in her SHIMMER debut weekend, whilst McKay has been nothing but impressive every time we’ve seen her thus far. There’s an arguable case for each of these women to leave with a win here.
Cruise seems to demand that she starts with both Blake and McKay across the ring from her…and is immediately punished for that cockiness as she eats a double dropkick. Skater seemingly doesn’t want to face her fellow Australian it seems, and goes out of her way to avoid tagging in against her at any point. Jennifer succeeds in getting Cruise down for a number of nearfalls but finds Kellie breaking the pin on every occasion. Eventually Melanie puts Girl Dynamite on her back with a swinging front slam as she starts to use her raw power to dominate. Speaking of raw power – in tags the Rate Tank to muscle Blake into a northern lights suplex. Knees, elbows and chops rain down on Jen…only for her to turn it round in the corner for the Kobashi chop flurry! SUPERKICK…gets 2 before the pin is broken by both Cruise and McKay. Jessie tags in to get her hands on her Aussie rival, as Blake hits a DIVING CROSSBODY OFF THE APRON on Cruise! Multi-revolution headscissors from Jessie to Kellie gets 2! She puts Skater away with the Boyfriend Stealer at 08:25
Rating - ** - Those exchanges between Skater and McKay at the end were the best part about this match by far. Before that it was a rather generic 4CS and didn’t do a whole lot to really stand-out. Cruise is still extremely green and nowhere near as slick as the other three…which meant the first half really suffered as Melanie was involved in all of it. Jessie, Kellie and Madison Eagles are incredible finds for Dave Prazak though. I can't wait to see more of them in future Volumes
The Ohio Girls appear to have a real confidence about them having survived Kong and Del Rey at the last show. They don’t know who their opponents are tonight – but Lane is certain they’ll be leaving with the belts. The Canadian NINJAs interrupt, wanting to ‘take a break from eliminating SHIMMER main eventers’ so they can get the Tag Titles. After a minor scuffle Lane and Nevaeh agree to give them a shot…
The Experience vs Pretty Bitchin’
Fyfe and Hosaka are at their most comfortable when taking rookies to school, but have sometimes struggled when stepping up in quality to face top names in SHIMMER competition. They face opposition of a decent calibre this evening as they take on fellow SHIMMER veterans Nikki Roxx and Ariel. Roxx and Ariel are friends outside the ring and have now decided to start teaming on a more regular basis. Since The Experience have decided to use this match as a vehicle to prove their eligibility for the next SHIMMER Tag Title spot, it’s only fair to presume that the Pretty Bitchin’ ladies can do exactly the same thing?
Ariel and Nikki are smart enough to dodge the traditional Experience attempt at a pre-match attack, forcing the veterans to leave the ring for a revised strategy discussion. Robbed of their usual experience edge they look reticent to engage their opponents; taking an age to agree on who will formally ‘start’ for their team. With tag formalities installed Bitchin’ still do extremely well and take turns working over Lexie’s arm. Hosaka rides to her partner’s aid with some legally questionable striking and spearheads her team’s attempts to isolate Ariel. The back of the Portuguese Princess is the focal point, removing some of her more athletic moves, such as the Ariel-Go-Round, from her repertoire. Ariel finally gets a hot tag after no-selling Hosaka’s spinning heel kick (was she supposed to duck that?), bringing Nikki in to land the Beauty Special on Lexie for 2. Barbie Crusher blocked…Ariel tags…and hits the Dariel instead! Pretty Bitchin’ score the win at 08:45
Rating - ** - What this match did well was bring a unique twist to the standard Experience formula tag. It was enjoyable watching them try their usual bullying routine, only to have a much harder time simply because Ariel and Nikki are better and more seasoned workers than some of the young talent they’ve faced previously. Fyfe and Hosaka were still a far more experienced TEAM however, which came into play as the match wore on…and the match got less and less energetic with them. The finish was a jarring shock and came from absolutely nowhere, which is a rather inexcusable faux pas. In short this match had some interesting thematic ideas but rather resoundingly failed to execute them...
LuFisto is adorably enthusiastic when trying to engage in conversation with MsChif in the locker room. The champ isn’t feeling chatty…and accidentally agrees to give her a title match. What a goofy way to set up a Championship main event…and what’s crazier is I liked it!
Rain vs Tenille
At Volume 25 we saw young Tenille produce something of an upset when she defeated Jetta. Rather than get to celebrate her accomplishment, she was assaulted by all three members of the International Home Wrecking Crew and so will clearly want some payback. Similarly Rain will also have retribution on her mind; wanting to avenge the loss her fellow Home Wrecker suffered last time out.
Tenille sprints out Ultimate Warrior style and steams right into a flurry of fists on Rain. She then makes a f*cking mess of a Russian legsweep to murder all of her momentum. That looked SO bad. Rain rightly destroys her against the guardrails as punishment. I love that after that Rain is a total vet and slows it right down by working cravat sequences and cranking onto the neck. Neckbreaker over the knee gets 2 for the Home Wrecker…and when it doesn’t get the job done Rain simply takes a run up and punts her in the throat. ‘Not too many shenanigans so far’ – Danger, right after an extended period of Lacey choking Tenille in the ropes. Rain Drop countered with a falling knee drop by the future Emma, followed up by some weak clotheslines. Grazing blow on a missile dropkick – but it draws a close enough nearfall to warrant Lacey hopping onto the apron. Rain is annoyed now…and runs in to the same sunset flip spot that beat Jetta at the last show. This time Lacey jerks Rain out of the ring for the save! Acid Rain beats Tenille at 08:30
Rating - * - A well wrestled match from Rain, whom shouldn’t be punished simply because Tenille had a terrible night. And believe me she had an absolute shocker. If you’d have told me that, of this class of Aussie girls coming through SHIMMER, Tenille was the one who’d enjoy most success with WWE (as of writing, Jessie McKay is decent in NXT and Madison Eagles is always rumoured to sign if she can stay healthy) I’d never have believed you. It wasn’t even just that her ring work was bad here, it was her delivery of a ‘pissed off’ babyface looking for revenge was as wooden and uninspired as you could ever imagine too. She is fortunate that Rain and Lacey are pros who saved her, both by carrying her ass and by drawing heat by themselves when she was boring everyone to tears. Definitely a match to forget for the youngster…
Valerie Malone wants Wesna’s thoughts on her showdown with Melissa…but has to settle for hearing from Annie Social. Obviously she thinks her client is going to win, and since she’s a trained wrestler she doesn’t fear the Cheerleader either...
Sara Del Rey/Amazing Kong vs Mercedes Martinez/Serena Deeb
At Volume 25 Kong and Del Rey challenged for the SHIMMER Tag Titles, and despite a dominant performance it all ended in chaos and ultimately left the belts still around the waists of Lane and Nevaeh. The challengers became extremely angry and delivered a devastating beating – which only ceased when Mercedes and Serena made a pity-save. This now becomes a grudge tag match with real heat on it, particularly for Sara who has had lengthy feuds with both opponents.
Del Rey starts with Deeb, and since she’s more than familiar with the threat Serena poses she instantly whips her down to the ground to dominate her on the mat. As we saw in their series of matches however, Deeb is a tenacious competitor and she continually finds ways to frustrate and escape the clutches of the former champion. Kong tags in and is absolutely BRUTAL with Deeb; laying in some positively terrifying strikes. She and Sara delight in isolating her, and it makes perfect sense given that she is, by a distance, the smallest athlete in the contest. Deeb dodges a Warrior Splash eventually though and makes a much-needed tag to Martinez…who sprints in and puts a boot through Amazing K’s face for 2. For some reason she then tags Serena straight back, basically making the hot-tag entirely redundant. What the hell was the point in that? We go right back to Kong and Del Rey beating the sh*t out of Serena – with Kong jerking her down by the hair when she dares to attempt a desperate Spear. RUNNING ASS ATTACK TO THE FACE! Serena makes a second hot tag...and for a second time MARTINEZ TAGS HER BACK A SECOND LATER! This is retarded! Kong tosses Martinez out, Death Rey destroys Serena with the Capo Kick. IMPLANT BUSTER SPLASH wins it for their team at 11:01.
Rating - ** - I’m no expert (and I try not to pretend to be one), but I call it as I see it as a fan…and the lay-out of this match was dreadful. Perhaps it was an oversight, but it was utterly idiotic to run the same hot tag sequence within minutes of each other...and even more brainless to have Mercedes make the same mistake on each occasion by tagging Serena straight back in. It is difficult to suspend your disbelief when wrestlers do things that so obviously defy logic and common sense. Having been destroyed by Kong and Sara (my favourite part of the match was how violent the two heels were with her) Serena was on her last legs. Having fought so hard to make the tag, why on earth would the fresh, stronger, bigger babyface voluntarily remove herself with seconds of entering…TWICE!? This was extremely disappointing given the talent involved and a totally flat way to end Serena’s time in SHIMMER (for now).
Wesna Busic vs Cheerleader Melissa – Knockout Or Submission Match
These two have torn each other apart all over Europe and brought their rivalry to SHIMMER in a hell of a match back at Volume 23. Busic walked out victorious, albeit with a minor assist from her new manager Annie Social. Tonight Melissa plans revenge on both of them, with a special stipulation added as a result of the violence of their previous encounters. No pinfalls, count-outs or DQ’s tonight – a winner is crowned by KO or tap-out only.
The last match started cagily…this one doesn’t. They charge the ring, grab handfuls of hair and start throwing elbows! They quickly spill to the floor and take turns assaulting each other against the guardrails…with Wesna repeatedly drilling Melissa’s arm into the metal fencing. Melissa is seriously wounded, but rallies to toss the Croatian Panther right through the steel ring steps. Busic’s response is to apply a GUARDRAIL KIMURA – with added strikes to the shoulder too. The bad arm now hangs limp by Melissa’s side and she absolutely screams in pain as Busic looks for a shortarm scissors. Even MsChif and Kong didn’t hurt Melissa like this! She desperately fights a cross armbreaker…but is almost in tears as Wesna drives knees into her wounded limb and cranks onto the hold anyway! Melissa throws wild strikes with her good arm; eventually landing an ARM-SELLING CURB STOMP! AND AGAIN! CURB STOMP FLURRY! CURB STOMP TO THE FACE! Wesna beats the ten count and drops Cheerleader again with a hammerlock northern lights! Melissa rolls out of a cross armbreaker AND STARTS PUNCHING WESNA IN THE FACE! Like…visibly punching her lights out! She starts chasing the Croatian around the ring endlessly throwing punches…until Busic shuts her down with a wind-up kick at the arm. But now every time Busic gets close enough to apply an arm submission she has to deal with a flurry of strikes right into her face. PALM STRIKES BY MELISSA! MOUNTED ELBOWS! FRANKENSTEINER! She tries to shake life into her destroyed arm, which is just as well because Busic gets up and goes straight back to kicking it. ELBOW STRIKE FLURRY! NO SOLD! COUNTERED TO AN ARMBAR! PUNCHES TO ESCAPE! AIR RAID CRASH (and she’s still selling the arm)! Annie Social tries to distract the Cheerleader…who bites and chases her around the ring. Arm kicks by Wesna…GERMAN SUPLEX! NO SOLD! KNOCK-OUT PUNCH FLOORS BUSIC! SHE IS DONE!!!!! Melissa takes a knockout victory at 17:46!
Rating - ****1/2 - One of my favourite SHIMMER matches thus far! This had great wrestling, ferocious striking, gripping drama and an amazing finish. This weekend of tapings started with these two going almost twenty five minutes in a hard-hitting but largely respectful, technical battle. It ends with them trying to tear each other apart in one of the most violent matches this promotion has seen! From the very opening bell they were clearly looking to both a) build upon what they delivered at V23 and also b) produce something very different this time. Busic working the arm was a terrific strategy as it nullified Melissa’s strengths and eliminated the Kudo Driver from her arsenal. Melissa, already pissed off at the start of the match, responded by quite simply pulverising her opponent into unconsciousness. After really disappointing in her title match against MsChif this was a timely reminder of Wesna’s talents, whilst Melissa walks away as the undoubted MVP of the weekend. Her body of work across the four shows taped is unbelievable!
Melissa isn’t done! She scoops Social up and destroys her with an Air Raid Crash too!
Ashley Lane/Nevaeh vs Canadian NINJAs – SHIMMER Tag Title Match
The Ohio Girls have already successfully defended their belts against Perez and Matthews, so this will go down as something of an unnecessary title defence for them. Full of confidence after somehow surviving Kong and Del Rey, they allowed themselves to be goaded into agreeing to put the belts up for grabs in this rematch from V22. The Canadian NINJAs are an entertaining double-act, but their record as a team is far from outstanding – and they even lost their last match at V25 to Allison Danger and Daizee Haze. Effectively it means we have underdog champions against big-mouthed, (relatively) inexperienced challengers – which is an interesting dynamic.
Perez and Matthews are two of the most over acts on the whole roster now. Their entrance is almost an event in itself. Nevaeh and Lane profit on the distraction the lively audience cause as it allows them to get the jump on Portia. Ashley does her best to emulate Wesna and Melissa with a couple of snug-looking strikes! Perez retaliates by attacking Nevaeh’s ribs, with able support from Nicole (who showed how well she works a midsection during her 20-minute draw with Daizee earlier in the tapings). Of course the assault on the ribs is supplemented by the signature brand of NINJA hijinx and rule manipulation. After several minutes Nevaeh hits a desperate back suplex on Matthews…but is so beaten up she has to crawl into the hot tag to Lane. DIVING CROSSBODY OFF THE APRON BY NEVAEH! She just sacrificed her own body to take out Nicole! She drags herself back in to take Portia down with a sliding knee strike! Nicole saves Portia from the Yakuza Kick/STO! FUNKY COLD MEDINA! With her ribs destroyed, Nevaeh can’t kick out…and we have new champions at 07:45
Rating - *** - For the most part this was the usual Ohio Girls formula match, I just happened to enjoy it more because the NINJAs are a fun act...and was great to see them rewarded for being consistently entertaining since they debuted as a team by taking home the belts. I understand what Prazak was trying to do by making Lane and Nevaeh the first SHIMMER Tag Champions. He already had great wrestling, and great wrestlers, competing over the SHIMMER singles title. Without being blessed with an ultra-deep tag division, he went for something a little different with the ‘underdog champions’ storyline. It was certainly unique to watch two young, fiery challengers find different ways to survive beatings from supposedly ‘superior’ challengers – and that angle peaked perfectly with their unlikely victory against Kong and Sara. The issue he has is that they are limited in what they can do in the ring, making their matches both noticeably mediocre and increasingly predictable. My own view is that the NINJAs are two of Dave’s most over acts now, his only ‘over’ full-time tag team and the two women who would benefit most from holding them. I personally would have them win the Gauntlet to become inaugural champions…and it remains the right choice to put the belts on them now.
MsChif vs LuFisto – SHIMMER Title Match
LuFisto is possibly the first wrestler ever to ‘irritate’ herself into a championship match. As we saw earlier, she basically annoyed MsChif so much backstage that the champ wound up agreeing to a title match without even realising. Annoying as she may be, Chif will be aware that LuFisto poses an immense threat to her. Her winning record is decent, but the quality of her matches and levels of toughness shown within them is what makes her such a fearsome challenger. It has been a gruelling weekend of tapings for MsChif, who has racked up successful defences against Serena Deeb and Wesna Busic plus participated in a hard-fought 20+ minute tag team main event at V24 too. What does she have left in the tank to fend off the Super Hardcore Anime?
MsChif’s strategy looks to be grappling and working the mat, presumably because she has longer limbs and can’t hit as hard as the challenger. To make that point Fisto muscles her back into the corner and headbutts her like a crazy woman! Many of those headbutts strike the chest, which is a trigger for Lu to start attacking the back and midsection. In return MsChif starts striking at the neck and back…and gradually the exchanges between the two start to increase in intensity. Annoyingly MsChif totally no-sells all of LuFi’s work by doing a random bridging pin for absolutely no reason though. Cannonball senton gets 2 for the challenger! It isn’t outrageously exciting just yet, but this match is doing so much to hold my attention that I hadn’t noticed that there doesn’t appear to be any commentary! The champ clotheslines Lu off the apron…but gets caught sliding under the ropes after her and DUMPED spine-first against the guardrails! Not to be outdone, MsChif repeatedly drives her back into the apron before giving her a suplex up the aisle onto the rock hard wooden floor. Both women are worse for wear it seems…and stumble around hopelessly as they return to the ring, fudging Irish whips and slumping in a heap in the corner. Fisto dodges the champ’s turnbuckle double stomp spot though – to drill her with a German suplex. Diving Star gets 2! LuFi climbs the ropes again…but this time is caught on the second rope by Chif. AVALANCHE GHANA-REA gets 2! Desecrator blocked…Burning Hammer blocked! DESECRATOR! MsChif retains at 14:57
Rating - *** - A little heatless, but this was worlds better than the Wesna title defence if nothing else. These two are strong wrestlers and worked well together, as is evidenced by the fact that I was so absorbed in the action that I didn’t even notice that there wasn’t any commentary. They have complimentary styles and it was enjoyable to watch aesthetic the stocky and powerful LuFisto battle the rangy and flexible MsChif. I would definitely have liked to see a little more substance behind the high quality though. The match felt stuck in the lower gears, and only really got going in the last few minutes. In many ways I feel like saying ‘they needed longer’ (whicih they did), but this was easily enough time to produce a better match. This actually reminded me of the MsChif/Daizee match from the Florida show in that whilst most of the action was technically very commendable and they were both working hard, it never delivered a hook to make me emotionally invest in what they were doing.
Tape Rating - ** - A definite improvement on Volume 25, but this wasn’t much more than a solid middle-of-the-road effort for SHIMMER. Melissa/Wesna was truly outstanding, and coupled with the historic significance of the NINJAs first Tag Title win it makes this DVD relatively easy to recommend. However, there’s not a lot around the top three matches…with a whole heap of filler to sit through before reaching them. Well over 90-minutes into the show the only thing I’d even remotely felt was worth watching was a pretty basic teacher-vs-student battle between Daizee Haze and Rayna…which isn’t particularly indicative of a great top-to-bottom line-up. I’ll single out the two midcard tag bouts (Experience vs Bitchin’ and Kong/Sara vs Martinez/Deeb) as being particularly disappointing. The latter in particular could have been a real showstealer and hugely under-delivered. It is worth remembering though, that taping four DVD's in two days is a MASSIVE effort for this amazing roster, and it is pretty unavoidable that not everything will be a home run whilst they tape in such a format. Melissa stole the show here and produced an amazing body of work across the weekend, leaving it as undoubtedly one of the best American workers in this time period. The NINJAs continue to rise and form one of the most entertaining parts of the SHIMMER ‘package’ so it’s great to see them legitimised as tag champions. And MsChif, although not perfect, works incredibly hard and has busted her ass across four consecutive main events. As I’ve said before, even ‘lesser’ SHIMMER volumes have a lot to like about them…and this one is no exception
Top 3 Matches
3) Daizee Haze vs Rayna Von Tosh (***)
2) MsChif vs LuFisto (***)
1) Cheerleader Melissa vs Wesna Busic (****1/2)