McXal's Reviews

The depth of the SHIMMER roster right now is obscene, and must be costing Dave Prazak an absolute fortune. He still his a pretty stacked deck of high quality SHIMMER originals; i.e. Sara Del Rey, Mercedes Martinez, Daizee Haze, Cheerleader Melissa, MsChif, Nikki Roxx, Allison Danger etc. There is the talented Aussie group, with champion Madison Eagles plus Jessie McKay and Kellie Skater. There’s the Joshi 4 Hope girls; Ayumi Kurihara, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Misaki Ohata and Tomoka Nakagawa. There’s other international talent like the Canadian NINJAs, LuFisto, the Knights or Ayako Hamada. Then he also has some of the fastest rising young domestic talent (and future WWE stars) such as Athena and Mia Yim. These truly are golden days for the SHIMMER promotion, and ones to be savoured. A look back at the roster twenty Volumes or so ago will tell you how far they’ve come, and how important it is for even the most loyal of athletes to keep working hard and staying relevant or else they’ll quickly be replaced. The third show taped this weekend features another jam-packed line-up. Madison Eagles gets her wish of not defending her title, but instead she’ll main event in a tag match featuring the final four from SHIM-vivor Series at V36. Arguably the headline bout of the DVD is the semi-main however, as rivals Jessie McKay and Nicole Matthews try to settle their differences in a 2/3 Falls Match. Elsewhere Portia Perez has a rematch with Serena Deeb, MsChif and Saraya Knight meet in a terrifying clash, Britani Knight (aka the teenage, pre-WWE Paige) steps up to the unenviable task of opposing Mercedes Martinez, the Tag Titles are on the line again…and there’s a potential show-stealer tucked away too as familiar ACW rivals Jessica James and Athena lock horns. Dave Prazak and Portia Perez provide commentary for the action, taped in Berwyn, IL.

Much to the disappointment of some (namely, me) the Rate Tank was rotated off of V38 – but returns for this Volume. She has made a name for herself stepping up to the biggest and baddest that SHIMMER has to offer, so has something of a different challenge awaiting her tonight. Rush is a newcomer to SHIMMER, and someone who needs victories just as much as she does. Having been removed from Volume 38 Skater has received a timely reminder of the consequences of not winning enough matches…

Skater swigs from her protein shake, and has to strenuously deny that there are any illegal substances contained within it. Courtney sneaks over and drinks some too…but apparently finds it disgusting and almost hurls. Kellie doesn’t like that one bit and goes to work with mixed martial arts strikes on the Canadian. Courtney just hasn’t got started in the match, and is stretched out hard as Skater breaks out a SQUATTING torture rack submission. ‘Total Package’ – SHIMMER fans. Rush escapes and lands a fisherman suplex for 2, but Skater isn’t phased and picks up the win with the sliding flip cutter at 05:39

Rating - ** - It certainly wasn’t boring since both women have big personalities, but knowing how much more they were/are capable of means this came off like something of a waste. Kellie getting a rare SHIMMER win was nice to see.

Along with the return of Stephie for the second half of this taping, she’s also brought manager Mademoiselle Rochelle back with her. Stephie has looked extremely competent whenever we’ve seen her, and it was a convincing victory over her which served as a catalyst for Madison Eagles’ rise to championship glory. Now Sassy will feel it’s time to make a name in her own right, so will have designs on upsetting one of the hardest hitting and most popular members of the roster in LuFisto.

Regeneration X aren’t wrestling on this Volume so our cosplay quote is achieved by LuFi dressing as Snow White. Rochelle proves her worth immediately by distracting Fisto and allowing Stephie to get the jump on her. LuFi retorts by giving her a Bronco Buster then…farting in her face? Portia Perez wants to know why she can’t bring a gun to ringside since LuFisto gets to carry Peekaboo around! Rochelle is still trying to distract Lu, with more success this time and Sassy starts choking at her in the ropes. Belly to belly from the Super Hardcore Anime…but in short order Stephie was able to inflict such damage that even LuFisto is slow to recover. When she does she cranks up the pace with spinning heel kicks and a diving elbow from the second rope. Sassy blocks the Mangalizer by raking the eyes and tries to submit her opponent with a Sleeper – following on the rope choke work she carried out earlier in the match. She tries to get Stephie to pass out by singing lullabies…but no dice, and Stephie escapes with a neckbreaker. RAM JAM NAILED BY LUFISTO! But Rochelle stops the ref counting! Mangalizer follows, and this time LuFisto does win – at 07:57.

Rating - ** - This one was a little too heavy on low brow comedy and a little light on good wrestling for my taste, but it got better as it went along. Some of what Stephie does in the ring looks really awkward, but all of her matches in SHIMMER thus far have had a really solid structure and lay-out. Here she took a decent amount of punishment from LuFisto early, but found a way to after her throat and neck (her Kiss My Sass finish targets that body part too)…but found LuFi too much of a challenge to overcome. Dave mentioned on commentary that she had only recently returned from injury, which would perhaps explain why she isn’t already a regular. She’s definitely good enough. Sadly for her, the roster is so packed this weekend that this is her only match.

Amber Gertner gets Jessie McKay’s thoughts ahead of the 2/3 Falls showdown with Nicole Matthews. McKay is not happy at being disrespected, and happy that she’ll finally get to prove herself the better woman in their match tonight. Nicole Matthews trundles in to continue disrespecting her even in her own promo time…calling her a ‘diva’ again. 

Volume 37 marked Mena’s graduation to the SHIMMER main show having exclusively appeared in Sparkle dark matches before that. She looked composed and impressive in scoring a big win over Courtney Rush. Can she follow that with another victory over Summerlyn, who was disappointed to drop a match to Mercedes Martinez yesterday after coming into these tapings with plenty of momentum after her big win over Daffney.

Libra’s bad attitude that we saw in her debut match rears its head again as she attacks Summerlyn before the bell and tries to hit the Ambassador Bridge instantly. Rachel blocks it and tears into her with elbows and boots, only for Mena to deck her again with a diving sidewalk slam. Last Chancery by Summerlyn but she can’t hold the bridge and is socked with a clothesline from the newcomer. Big top rope crossbody by Summerlyn, into the Polish Hammer. They botch something really badly, before Rachel Gory Bomb’s Mena into the Texas Cloverleaf for the win at 04:07

Rating - * - Rightly kept short as there wasn’t a whole lot of interest from anyone in the building to it. The loudest reaction these ladies got was, unfortunately, for that hash-up right before the finish. To her credit, before that mess, I thought Libra had looked decent once again. This is Rachel’s final taped SHIMMER match (to date anyway). After this taping she supposedly gave a couple of weird interviews saying she wasn’t coming back because SHIMMER wasn’t a ‘fun’ place to work, and encouraging her fans not to watch her SHIMMER stuff because it wasn’t her best stuff. I’ve not read the interviews myself so can’t comment on whether she’s been misquoted or not…but in truth, as hard working as she is (and as GREAT as Daffney was in their feud) the roster is so packed right now she isn’t necessarily a catastrophic loss to SHIMMER.

Ariel and Nikki are 2-0 this weekend, with victories over The Knight Dynasty and Regeneration X to their name. It makes them contenders for new champs 3S…and we’ve seen glimpses in both of those matches that they may be legitimate threats to the belts. They showed toughness and resilience to survive the unpredictable and violent approach of the Knights, plus aggression when Ariel used a weapon to punch Saraya Knight’s lights out. That same edge to their work continued into their match with Allison Danger and Leva Bates, when they delivered a pretty comprehensive win. Given that Matsumoto and Ohata have already survived gruelling matches with the Canadian NINJAs and the Knights this weekend…how much do they have left in the tank to fend off still more challengers?

Roxx starts with Ohata, a woman she has previously wrestled (and beaten) on a previous Volume. She makes the mistake of trying to chain-wrestle with Misaki, which is not a successful approach at all. Ohata has a counter and a submission hold for every situation…so it’s quite surprising when Roxx uses her height to deposit her on the top rope then somewhat disrespectfully pats her on the head like a kid. Hiroyo tumbles to her knees and sobs when fans don’t buy into her ‘Ohata…rocks!’ chant in the same way they do for Nikki. When they do lock up again Misaki brilliantly works Nikki into a Calf Killer to continue her mat dominance of the contest. After almost seven minutes of exceptional technical wrestling from those two, we finally get tags to bring in Hiroyo and Ariel. The complex mat wrestling is gone, replaced with thumping shoulder tackles and stiff chops. Tandem basement dropkicks by the champs rattle Ariel, which Ohata then follows up on with a cross armbreaker. Ariel uses raw power to powerbomb her way to freedom and tag Roxx in! Barbie Crusher countered with a German suplex for 2! CUTIE SPECIAL ON HIROYO! Ohata dropkicks Ariel to the floor, before Matsumoto grabs her for the ALLEY OOP SPLASH! BACK DROP DRIVER! Hiroyo pins Roxx at 12:48

Rating - *** - By far my favourite Pretty Bitchin’ tag to date. They ditched a lot of the annoying ‘buddy cop’, best friends act and concentrated on being good wrestlers, and as a result yielded a really good match. The first half of this with Nikki acting like a douche but getting taken to school by the outstanding Misaki Ohata was a joy to watch. Ohata is so under-rated, and has been crazily consistent since coming to SHIMMER. The exchanges between Matsumoto and Ariel were solid gold as well, especially the evenly-matched tackle/chops sequence when they first locked horns. The result never felt in doubt, and Pretty Bitchin’ never really felt like worthy contenders…but the quality of the wrestling was good. 

What a stern test this will be for the English teenage prodigy. She has impressed when teaming with her mother Sweet Saraya thus far this weekend…but now flies solo (sort of, Rebecca Knox is still at ringside) to take on one of the pioneers of SHIMMER Women Athletes. Martinez is still recovering from her title loss to Madison Eagles at V37 and can’t afford losses if she wants to work her way back into the championship picture.

The stall tactics come early and often in Knight’s desperation to avoid an ass kicking from the Latina Sensation. When they do come to blows it’s only because she has poked Mercedes in the eyes and has a free run at putting her into a camel clutch. K-NOX starts choking Martinez in the ropes too before feeding her back into a barrage of strikes to the neck by Britani. Credit to young Britani, she bumps like a crazy person to sell the impact of Mercedes’ strikes…then leaves the ring to be consoled by the animated Becky Knox. Martinez leans out to grab her…and Britani pounces to land a snapping neck guillotine over the top rope. Between constantly being choked in the ropes and a barrage of strikes and slams, Martinez’s neck starts to take a real beating. Knight literally starts hugging and RIDING Bryce Remsburg so that Knox can choke and bite Mercedes! The SHIMMER original manages to grab Knight for long enough to hit a running powerslam, but comes up visibly holding her back and neck. She thinks about the Three Amigas, but is too hurt to pull it off so swaps it out for a straight brainbuster and gets 2. Britani tries some funky European-influenced roll-ups…and gets DUMPED on her face with a gourdbuster. Chops and elbows in the corner leave Britani’s chest covered in welts, but quite amazingly she remains in control and hits back with the Knight Rider (Code Red) for 2. DIVING ELBOW DROP MISSES! BULL RUN! Martinez wins at 08:40

Rating - *** - You have to hand it to the young Paige, she really was a hell of a rising star at this age and demonstrably had a lot of talent. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this match, and I certainly didn’t expect it to be as good as it wound up being. Yes it was heavy in outside interference and other dark arts…but I had no problem with that as it made total sense. It isn’t believable that a little teenage girl could rock up in SHIMMER and convincingly kick Mercedes’ ass. But it is believable that she could be a hugely talented wrestler, capable of exploiting weaknesses and openings created with the help of Rebecca Knox at ringside. It was great psychology to keep working on Mercedes’ neck, and I thought Martinez did a really subtle, effective sell-job on this too.

Outside the building Amber has gathered the four competitors in this afternoon’s main event. Between the gusting wind and the four of them all talking over each other, this is a really challenging interview. Everyone bickers, then Madison and Sara walk out.

As we heard at Volume 38, with SHIMMER’s promise to feature and grow their tag division, Haze and Tomoka have opted to get their team back together. They’ve never been full-time, but have also never lost a 2-vs-2 tag. Tonight they face two of Daizee’s students from the SHIMMER class at the ROH Dojo, although, as we’ve seen with her previous treatment of Jumping Jamilia – being an student of hers is no guarantee of any favourable treatment.

Daizee starts with her prize student Jamilia, giving her a few disrespectful slaps then getting pissed off when Craft dares to toss her around with a few armdrags. The SHIMMER academy graduates put the boots to Nakagawa…until she pokes Craft in the eyes, then trips Yim from the floor. Dark Haze capitalises by raking Craft’s face across the ropes. She and her team-mate legitimately work over Jamilia’s face, making it the focus for all of their offence. Eventually she lives up to her Jumping nickname by hurling her body through both of them and making a hot tag to Mia. She lands a neckbreaker/DDT combo on both opponents for 2. Nakagawa elbows Yim…SO MIA ELBOWS HER RIGHT BACK! Tomoka almost can’t believe it, and promptly puts Yim away with the Perfect-Plex at a time of 06:58

Rating - ** - This certainly won’t win any MOTY awards, but I thought they earned points for having a clear goal, a simple structure and a game-plan that all four participants were capable of executing. The result was that all four women come out of this match looking stronger in my opinion. Firstly it was an entertaining heel team performance by Haze and Nakagawa. They were dicks, plain and simple. They are in the ring with young wrestlers and they came out to bully and intimidate them. Thusly by standing up to this treatment, Jamilia and Mia also look stronger. In particular I thought Yim was excellent here. No botches, some early signs of what would become her signature slick striking style and some really courageous babyface fire in the climactic exchange with Nakagawa. 

Very few newcomers have made their way onto the roster and looked as immediately impressive as the Wrestling Goddess. From debut until now Athena has stood out for her athleticism, poise and apparently effortless natural ability. Last time we saw her she pushed Cheerleader Melissa to the limit in a match which I suspect nailed down her roster spot. Now she squares off against Jessie James. Both of these women work extensively in the Texas area, meaning they will be extremely familiar with each other’s work.

Athena jerks James off the ropes as she poses, but she shows great agility to flip and land on her feet…but then Athena shows similar athleticism to flip and land on her feet on a monkey flip attempt. Jessica’s speed is problematic to Athena, who misses strikes and kicks before getting dragged to the ground. The Wrestling Goddess is the stronger of the two though, as proven when she football tackles James to the deck. Big forearm strikes test JJ’s jaw strength…then they go to ground and trade counters on an anklelock. DIVING SPINEBUSTER by Athena, as she works hard to keep on top of her opponent and her obvious quickness advantage. Handspring elbow…into a HANDSPRING FLIP SLAP! The fun of Athena’s performance is that her exceptional wrestling skill is supplemented by the fact that she loudly narrates her own matches – in this instance calling James a ‘hussy’ so often that it almost sticks as a nickname for her. She tries a powerbomb….but Jessie counters into a hurricanrana! JJ Kick…roundhouse kick…down goes the Goddess! La Petite Morte gets 2 for James. Athena blocks her attempt at a crossbody, converting to a northern lights suplex for 2. BACK HAND SLAP TO ATHENA’S FACE! SUPERKICK BY ATHENA! YAKUZA KICK BY JAMES! JJ wins at 08:15

Rating - *** - This has to be the weekend that convinced everyone that Athena should now be considered a SHIMMER regular. Here she proved that the Melissa match wasn’t a fluke and delivered a similarly strong performance. She is unbelievably fluent and in everything she does, with an unapologetic confidence to her work which makes her a huge personality. These two meshed superbly as opponents. Neither are the tallest, but both are compact and explosive athletes, with Athena’s power contrasting well with James’ speed and illusiveness. I wish they’d gotten a little more time here, if only because the work they were doing was excellent, but they needed a little longer to ‘sell’ the story they were going for. There was some really intricate stuff in here, but fans almost missed it because they were being quickly rushed onto the next cool sequence they had worked out. The downside of Summerlyn leaving SHIMMER after this weekend is that she is taking Jessie James with her. Unlike her partner, Jessica really is starting to get over with this audience (despite never getting the same exposure, storylines or high profile matches). The quality of her work here makes it seem like SHIMMER barely scratched the surface of what they could have done with James…before they lose her after Volume 40.

There can be no doubt that Sweet Saraya has made a significant impression in her SHIMMER debut weekend. The amount of heat she has generated in two tag matches has been quite the spectacle, particularly when you consider that she’s let daughter Britani shoulder the bulk of the work for their team in them. This is her first solo outing, and she is handed a high profile match against the former SHIMMER Champion. MsChif failed to win back the belt in the rematch that she backed Madison Eagles into on Volume 38, and now faces the intimidating British woman needing to win if she is to salvage her main event credentials. She certainly won’t be intimidated though, and in her twenty year career Knight won’t have faced many women like her.

Saraya delivers another hate-filled promo on the mic, prompting fans to remind her it’s a ‘family show’. She then finds a family with a child in the crowd…and threatens to beat up the parents in front of their kids! The match begins with one of MsChif’s signature big screams, so Saraya drags Rebecca Knox into the ring by her hair and orders her to scream back! It doesn’t have the same impact, leading to Chif getting the jump on Knight. The mash-up of MsChif’s flexibility and Saraya’s British style makes for some really interesting early exchanges. It’s fun watching Knight try to pin her foe down in old-school British holds, then get frustrated when Chif counters in unorthodox ways. Knox (who is as terrified of Saraya as everyone else is) distracts the ref on the apron then pins Ms in the corner allowing Knight to briefly reassume control…only for the veteran to miss her basement dropkick spot in the corner and connect with poor K-NOX instead! Panic Attack nailed by MsChif! She starts HEADBUTTING Knight in the corner, then gives her the avalanche Ghana-rea for 2. Alabamaslam by Saraya for 2…then they just stand in the middle of the ring smacking the f*ck out of each other with elbows. DESECRATOR! Huge win for MsChif at 07:15

Rating - *** - There was a LOT going on with this one. It wasn’t long at all but it feels like they packed so much in; from some really interesting mat exchanges where the juxtaposition in styles between the two was really spotlighted, the Saraya/Knox relationship was entertaining, we had plenty of Knight antagonising the fans as well…and they even found time for some pretty stiff strike work at the end. If you were expecting a long, show-stealing match between them (something they are certainly capable of) then you may be disappointed with this…but I thought the match was entirely in keeping with the rest of the Knights’ debut weekend. It was chaotic, unpredictable, violent and drew some of the most intense and passionate responses from the live crowd.

This rivalry continues to escalate. They both made their debuts at Volume 5 (albeit Portia was in a dark match), but whilst Perez remained in SHIMMER, cultivated her reputation and became a core part of the roster Deeb went to WWE and achieved notoriety on a national level. Perez called her a sell-out and resented her being allowed back into SHIMMER. Their first match was blighted by interference by Portia’s fellow Canadian NINJA, Nicole Matthews, who created enough of a distraction that she was able to choke Serena out with the Just Facelock. They met again in a tag match on Volume 38, but things got so intense between them that they brawled to the locker room whilst the match was still going on. Now they contest another singles match – is this where the score is settled?

Serena has gone the Christina Von Eerie route with her hair, sporting a spiked Mohawk. They start with an intense lock-up and don’t let go of each other for several minutes as they counter back and forth. Prazak points out that Portia called Serena’s wrestling skill into question, which perhaps explains why Deeb is so intently trying to demonstrate her technical ability here. She doesn’t like Perez’s big mouth one bit…and gives her a huge slap when the Canadian starts trash-talking. It isn’t long before Portia returns to form and starts bending the rules to gain an advantage, but when she starts choking Serena in the ropes, the irate ex-WWE Superstar counters and chokes her right back. Gutbuster blocked by Perez…into the JUST FACELOCK! This is how Perez won last time! Deeb frantically tries to counter but keeps getting rolled back into the hold (again Portia showing her ‘superior’ wrestling skill). At last Serena frees herself then sprints right at the Canadian, and they simultaneously take each other out with clotheslines. Nicole Matthews literally crawls to the ring (on all fours) and hides a metal baking tray/cookie sheet in Portia’s corner! Deeb starts popping off her trademark jab combo…only for Portia to SPIT IN HER FACE! Gutbuster by Serena! Portia grabs the cookie sheet, and Matthews hops onto the apron trying to distract the referee again. But this time Deeb sees it and punches Nicole in the face! She tries to Spear Portia…AND RUNS INTO THE BAKING SHEET! She is completely knocked out, and Bryce Remsburg has no choice but to disqualify Perez at 09:52

Rating - *** - I thought this was better than their last match. Of course everyone will talk about another interference-laden finish, but before that the actual wrestling portion was really good. I loved the idea that Serena felt that she needed to prove herself as a wrestler. They backed that angle up with some really intense chain-wrestling exchanges too. The sequence with the Just Facelock, referencing their last match, was also extremely well done. The key here is that when it does come to deliver the blow-off to this feud they really need to produce a great match. As over as Perez is, as charismatic as she is, and as essential to the SHIMMER live experience as she is…she’s someone who really hasn’t had a ‘breakout match’ like many of her contemporaries. She is terrific at the character element and the verbals, but from the Canadian NINJA Tag Title reign to her feud with Danger, it’s her promos and interviews which have stood out and gotten over rather than the quality of her in-ring skill. 

This one is as simple as pro-wrestling gets, in the most perfect of ways. Nicole and Jessie have elevated each other with their two break-out matches at Volumes 30 and 33. Before that they were both well-liked members of the roster and had already delivered some really strong matches, but those matches were the two that took them to the next level. They have each won one singles encounter, and now come back for the rubber match under 2/3 Falls rules. The jury is out on who has the upper hand too. At Volume 38 McKay pinned Matthews in a tag match arguably giving her the edge, but it was her who was left lying after Nicole attacked her after the match. The Canadian NINJA has also been throwing around some really personal, nasty insults about McKay’s ability and looks. Both women want to win this match and series very badly.

Nicole comes out selling Deeb’s punch from the previous match which is excellent. As is the level of animosity both women bring to the introductions; they basically argue throughout, then start mocking each other’s poses and mannerisms. When the match starts Matthews looks the more calculated, whilst Jessie seems more aggressive. The Canadian seems keenly aware that she needs to make this a wrestling match, as that is what brought her success across their first two matches. It also plays into her mockery of Jessie as a ‘diva’…and that’s why McKay’s early success in their chain-wrestling exchanges is so significant. It shows both her growth as a performer across the course of the rivalry, and also debunks Nicole’s ‘diva’ theory. Five minutes in and they can’t be separated, having worked the mat extensively with neither woman nailing down an advantage. They start running through a series of pinning predicaments…and since she’s been unable to establish dominance as a technical wrestler this time, Matthews seizes the initiative by grabbing Jessie’s shorts and holding her down for a three-count. She takes a 1-0 lead at 06:29. McKay is pissed at that – sprinting at Nicole and smearing her into the canvas with Thesz Presses. She tries it a third time…but Nicole counters to a hotshot into the top rope. That is a substantive blow to the Australian’s neck and throat, which Matthews quickly looks to capitalise on. 

A couple of minutes of punishment to that neck follow…and when McKay tries to fight back from that Nicole drives a knee into the ribs; the same body part that she worked over so successfully in their first matches. The Canadian Ninja now has two fronts of attack on Jessie and uses strikes to either the neck or ribs to put her back down anytime she threatens a comeback. Nicole NAILS the springboard crossbody – a move she unsuccessfully attempted at V33 – demonstrating how much damage she has done to McKay. But the Aussie is still fighting, absorbing brutal kicks to her ribs before levelling her opponent with the SCHOOL GIRL CRUSH! In a flash it’s 1-1 at 13:17! The third fall begins with Jessie trying to maintain a quick pace and avoid the methodical beatdowns of her rival. Nicole blocks the Boyfriend Stealer though; countering it into an urinage gutbuster! LARIAT TO THE RIBS gets 2! When that doesn’t work she dumps Jessie right onto her aching back again with a northern lights suplex. MutaLock applied, really punishing all of Jessie’s injuries before she eventually makes the ropes. LARIAT ON THE APRON sends McKay to the floor. SUPLEX ON THE WOODEN FLOOR NAILED! Nicole then hauls her broken body up the aisle and leaves her there meaning she has to really work just to get back and avoid a count-out. Matthews tries to grab the tights again…but this time Bryce Remsburg spots it! NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB BY JESSIE! She follows that with the same superplex she hit in the tag match at Volume 38…which does as much damage to her as it does to Matthews. School Girl Crush blocked into a BRAINBUSTER! ROLLED INTO THE VANCOUVER MANOEUVRE! Matthews wins at 21:51!

Rating - **** - Whilst I’m not sure it was necessarily better than their previous two matches, it was certainly bigger and more ambitious which I really appreciated. The 2/3 Falls stipulation and longer time allowance meant they had plenty of room to explore the themes they had laid out in their previous matches…and the structure here was solid. The first fall was tense, even and notable only as a demonstration of McKay’s improvement as a worker over the last ten Volumes. But the manner of Nicole’s victory was crucial; she cheated, further angering the already volatile McKay and causing her to make an error. The repeated Thesz Presses gave Nicole a window of opportunity, and she opened up a dual-fronted assault on both the neck and the ribs she had targeted in the first two bouts. Although Jessie fought valiantly, Matthews always appeared the more rational and strategic and eventually edged her way to victory…and therein lies my reasoning for why I’ve not gone higher on my rating. There was a discernible absence of drama for much of the final fall. Matthews was so dominant and controlling that it felt a little like McKay was a passenger. There didn’t seem to be any tension or possibility of her winning, which I’m not sure is quite right when she is supposed to be the popular babyface. Matthews winning was the right call (in my opinion), but I think they could have been smarter about allowing Jessie a few more plausible nearfall moments. The match was great, and the way they worked in familiar content from the first two matches with brand new ideas (and a decent use of the 2/3 falls rules) was enjoyable. I just think they could have done more to maximise the impact they had and turn this into an MOTYC-level encounter.

Allison Danger heads into the locker room to cut a promo with her tag partner Leva Bates. She encounters her old rival Rebecca Knox and the Knights running in the other direction, then enters the dressing room to find her partner has been assaulted by them. She vows to get even with Knox and the Knights…

This is a rematch of the final four from the SHIM-vivor Series 8-woman Tag that main evented V36. On that evening we saw Hamada pin and eliminate her rival Sara Del Rey, then join forces with Melissa to defeat champion Madison Eagles too. Melissa got the pin on Madison that night and believes that proves her eligibility for a title rematch. Eagles doesn’t agree and sent her back down the card to get some more wins…which she duly did. Now back in the main event, Melissa knows another pin over The Punisher undeniably earns her another SHIMMER Title Match. The same can be said for Hamada too, who has a strong record in SHIMMER competition, and the previous evening at Volume 38 won of the greatest matches in company history against Ayumi Kurihara. There is plenty to gain for Madison though, as she in turn knows a definitive win here would effectively eliminate a potential top challenger from the title picture from the time-being. Del Rey enters as the wildcard. She has never got a rematch for the SHIMMER Title herself, but now finds herself teaming up with the current champ against two women she has defeated in the past. Where does Sara’s incentive lie?

Eagles refuses to start with Melissa, to the annoyance of the latter. It means old Cali-scene rivals Del Rey and Melissa kick off…and absolutely smoke each other with brutal kicks, slaps and chops. Everything they do is of such high quality that it instantly makes me want another singles match between them. Hamada and Eagles land a couple of double-teams on Sara, with Eagles steadfastly refusing to get into the ring whilst Cheerleader is in. Ayako drops Del Rey with a DDT for the first significant nearfall of the match. She goes right for the moonsault…only for Madison to kick her off the top rope. Hamada gets plenty of retribution for that when she peppers the champ with headbutts after her first legal tag of the match. Melissa gets the tag and sprints in to give Eagles a back suplex into the Kondo Clutch! Madison HEADSTANDS out! Del Rey saves her partner from the Curb Stomp too moments later. Eagles and Del Rey isolate Cheerleader with a punishing attack on her back. Cattle Mutilation applied by Eagles, a move popularised by one of Sara’s trainers Bryan Danielson. Melissa constantly tries to squirm and crawl away to her corner…so Del Rey tries to take her mobility with an anklelock submission (assisted by illegal leverage provided by Eagles). Finally Melissa hits the CURB STOMP on Madison…but even then the ref doesn’t see the tag as Sara distracts the referee. Madison breaks out more submissions to stretch the back and wear her foe down – including an awesome modified version of the Koji Clutch to punish the back more than the neck. Samoan Drop nailed by Melissa…and at last Hamada gets a tag. SUPERKICK FLURRY by Hamada! ROPE RUN BACK FLIP DOUBLE LUCHA ARMDRAG! CAPO KICK from Death Rey to Hamada for 2. The heels take turns punting Ayako in the spine...but Melissa saves with a double DDT. DOOMSDAY DROPKICK BOMB by Hamada and Melissa for 2! Eagles and Hamada are left alone, with Hamada blocking Hell Bound (as Del Rey and Melissa eliminate each other on the floor) into a messy version of the AP Cross Diamond…and she pins the champ at 20:00

Rating - **** - Messy finish aside, this was probably the best SHIMMER tag match since the last time Del Rey and Melissa main evented a show in a 2-vs-2 match (Dangerous Angels vs MsChif/Melissa). This delivered pretty much everything I wanted it to. Del Rey looked awesome every time she was involved. They added plenty of heat to the ongoing Melissa/Eagles issue, whilst Hamada was used sparingly with the champ to effectively build anticipation for what would be booked as a title match for Ayako on Volume 40. A fantastic performance from Cheerleader Melissa was the fulcrum for the success of this. The early exchanges with Del Rey were absolutely phenomenal (possibly the highlight of the match), she drew genuine fan support in her quest to get her hands on Eagles, and then busted her ass to sell and put over the heat portion of the contest at her expense too. This went twenty minutes, which at this point in SHIMMER was on the top-end of what matches were being allocated…and it flew past. I feel like they could have gone 40-minutes and not run out of enjoyable content.

Tape Rating - *** - Just like Volume 38, the quality at the top of this show makes this another solid instalment into the SHIMMER DVD series despite a somewhat unremarkable undercard. Matthews/McKay was the highlight for me, as the two great rivals got plenty of time to go into the kind of depth and methodical detail that they couldn’t do in their first bouts. Following that was the great main event tag which served as an excellent standalone match, whilst also setting the table for Eagles/Hamada (and the inevitable Eagles/Melissa rematch too). The undercard was solid with some decent matches therein…but was perhaps most memorable for seeing young talents stepping up and looking to climb the ladder. Britani Knight/Paige’s surprisingly good performance in the ring with Mercedes Martinez was one such instance; belying her youth with a really measured and impressive display of her wrestling skill (something her WWE run isn’t always praised for). Another was the Athena vs Jessica James match; familiar with each other’s work they went toe to toe in a high octane, explosive and genuinely exciting little sprint. This perhaps isn’t as ‘must-see’ as V37/38 as it doesn’t have the consistency of 37 nor an MOTYC like Hamada/Kurihara on 38…but checking out the best bits on StreamSHIMMER or picking up the DVD if you can still find it wouldn’t be a bad decision at all.

3) Jessica James vs Athena (***)

2) Madison Eagles/Sara Del Rey vs Cheerleader Melissa/Ayako Hamada (****)

1) Nicole Matthews vs Jessie McKay (****)