SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 04 – 12th February 2006


Welcome to more all-female pro-wrestling courtesy of the fourth volume of the SHIMMER DVD series. Like Volume 3 this was taped on 02/12/06 meaning that there’s no Lacey, Mercedes Martinez or Ariel, but the card is pretty solid. The main event features Daizee Haze (who has main evented every show thus far) taking on Rebecca Knox. There’s also a Falls Count Anywhere grudge match between MsChif and the awesome Cheerleader Melissa and a solid undercard as well. I’m sure SHIMMER will add to their already-impressive body of work with this latest release. We’re in Berwyn IL, and Allison Danger returns to commentary alongside Dave Prazak.


Nikki Roxx vs Amber O’Neal

This is the second release in a row where Nikki has worked opening match duty. She fell to Rain in a competitive opening bout last time, and will be looking to return to winning ways over Amber O’Neal. This is Amber’s first set of tapings without her former Team Blondage partner so she also needs a victory to prove she is capable of being a solo competitor in SHIMMER.


Nikki overcomes a few dirty tactics from O’Neal and forces the self-proclaimed diva out to the floor. Amber evades further physicality from Roxx then uses a cheap boot to the stomach to gain an advantage. Nikki hits an awesome flying forearm smash then a stalling sidewalk slam for 2. She tries to chase Amber on the floor though, and that’s a real mistake as Amber rolls back in and takes a cheap shot as Nikki tries to re-enter. She starts choking on Roxx and totally slows the pace down (which Danger pretty effectively explains on commentary) with a chinlock. Stranglehold locked in to continue to wear down Roxx, but she battles up to her feet. O’Neal goes to the eyes then starts raking the face on the canvas. You can’t argue Amber’s tactics aren’t effective, even if she isn’t the most talented worker. Nikki connects with a dropkick followed up with a spinebuster for 2. O’Neal hits an inverted DDT but Roxx gets a shoulder up too. Swinging neckbreaker nailed too but Nikki doesn’t stay down. BARBIE CRUSHER! Nikki wins at 09:21.


Rating - ** - In many ways that was probably the best both women have produced thus far in SHIMMER and demonstrated why they’re on the roster. Amber is an effective undercard heel. She is by no means the best worker but works her gimmick well (although I thought Krissy Vaine was better) and generates good heat from the crowd. Nikki is pretty good at working the babyface role, as shown by this one and her match with Lexie Fyfe on Volume 2. She still needs some work though.


Shantelle Taylor vs Ann Brookstone

Brookstone makes her debut here, which is somewhat strange considering she wasn’t on the Volume 3 taping. Perhaps she had some transport issues. She needs some new gear though. She looks like some woman in the crowd jumped the rail and is now in a match. Anyway, Taylor has lost two matches in a row now but on the positive side she’s worked Cheerleader Melissa both times so they’ve both been good matches. Can she put on a good match with someone else?


She’s a man’ – crowd at Brookstone. She really dwarfs little Shantelle Taylor that’s for sure. Taylor manages to use kicks to chop Brookstone down but Ann recovers with a backbreaker and promptly engulfs her smaller opponent. Pendulum applied and she starts swinging Shantelle’s head into the bottom turnbuckle for extra punishment. Taylor tries to fight back and gets flattened with a lariat. If I had a pound for every sloppy roll-up spot these women have done in this match I’d have at least a fiver by now. Brookstone gets 2 with a flipping necksnap. Taylor manages more thigh-slapping kicks then a running dropkick. She tries a flying crossbody but Ann effortlessly catches her for a body slam. Out of nowhere Taylor comes up with a bridging pumphandle roll-up and wins at 05:53.


Rating – DUD – That really wasn’t very good…which is shame because in fairness to both women, I think they both have something to offer. We saw against Melissa that Taylor can work a match – but maybe she needs better opponents in order to do that. Her moveset also seems rather limited. Brookstone meanwhile was pretty fun with her heavyweight-styled offence. Perhaps she’ll struggle to fit onto a roster which already contains Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka working a very similar style though. The problem was these two didn’t mesh all that well, and just kept looking sloppy in more complex situations. I’m not sure


The Experience vs Cindy Rogers/Lorelei Lee

The Experience’ is apparently what Hosaka and Fyfe are calling their new team. This match was set up on Volume 3. After the youngster Lorelei Lee was able to surprise Hosaka by pinning her in both women’s debut match, Hosaka attacked Lee and was joined by Lexie Fyfe as they formed to make a tag team. Cindy Rogers made the save for Lorelei and that leads to this.


Hosaka and Fyfe attack their opponents before the bell, but the babyfaces soon get control with a double rowboat on their more experienced opponents. Cindy and Hosaka are legal first with Rogers dishing out more offence. Both her and Lee seem to target Hosaka’s arm in the early going. Finally Malia is able to force Lee back into her corner though and tags Fyfe in for the first time. Rogers tries to work her arm as well, but Lexie’s power ultimately proves too much and Cindy ends up isolated from her partner. Hosaka works a bodyscissors but Cindy manages to stand up out of it and drive her into the turnbuckles. Boston crab by Rogers but she just isn’t worn down enough to tap out. Fyfe gets the tag and looks to ground Cindy who has more than held her own thus far in the match. The Experience are using all the tricks at their disposal now, such as switching without tags with the referee, illegal double teams, chokes, hair pulls and so on. Camel clutch with hair pulling by Lexie following by a falling headbutt by Malia. Rogers lifts Fyfe over in a vertical suplex and drags herself across the ring to a fresh Lorelei Lee. Stereo sunset flips by the babyface team for dual two counts. Lee starts dragging Hosaka around by the hair but The Experience seize the advantage again as Fyfe whips LL into a reverse heel kick. A double gourdbuster finishes Lee off at 16:02.


Rating - ** - A solid match, with Fyfe and Hosaka looking like a really good team. Personally I thought the match went a little long and started to drag though. Lorelei was kept out of the match for long periods, and judging by how green she looked during her hot tag sequence, that was probably a wise decision. However, I’d have had Rogers taking the fall here, not Lee. It was Cindy who was weakened and worked over for the bulk of the contest, by her not taking the fall it makes the majority of the match a little less relevant and makes Lee look weak too. Still, that was a promising debut match from The Experience.


Tiana Ringer vs Allison Danger

I thought that Ringer looked pretty good during her first match with Shantelle Taylor on Volume 1, but was then tucked away in a tag and a triple threat match on Volumes 2 and 3 so wasn’t able to capitalise on that initial promising performance in singles action. This is her highest profile match to date and an opportunity to prove she has the skills to match some of SHIMMER’s top performers. Danger is looking to recover after losing her undefeated record to that dastardly Rebecca Knox at the last show.


Ringer is hesitant to lock-up with Danger, then when she does so winds up pulling Allison’s hair to escape a hold she becomes entrapped in. The majority of the opening portion seems to be Tiana battling to stave off Allison’s mat attack. Finally Ringer skips out of the ring to reassess her situation. Danger tries to drag her back in only for Ringer to guillotine her on the top rope. Allison goes shoulder-first into the ringpost and that gives Tiana her first extended period of offence. She peppers her opponent with dropkicks to the head and continues with a crisp kick to the spine. Crowd are right behind Allison with some pretty unique chanting. Ringer gets 2 with possibly the ugliest suplex in the history of wrestling. She applies a horizontal bow and arrow stretch but it doesn’t work and she releases the hold. That turns out to be a mistake as Danger scores with a facebuster then a running kick to the head. She wins with a small package at 11:08.


Rating - ** - What the hell? That finish was as random and sudden as any I can remember. It felt like they were going for a match a good 3-4 minutes longer than that. Before that it was decent, if unspectacular stuff. Tiana looked a hint out of her depth at times but held it together enough to drive the match forward in front of a lively audience. The problem was you never felt like Ringer was really in Allison’s league, you never felt like the result of the match was in question and consequentially it was far less dramatic than either woman would’ve wanted.


Rebecca Knox cuts a super-Irish promo (which I assume was taped after the show because she looks HAMMERED) in which she calls herself the best female wrestler in the world. It seems the most of the SHIMMER roster thinks that. She says Daizee must be high to think she can go hold-for-hold with her.


Rain vs Sara Del Rey

After another impressive showing with Nikki Roxx at Volume 3 I called for Rain to be given some higher profile matches so it’s nice to see an almost immediate response as she’s booked against the unbeaten and outstanding Sara Del Rey. She’ll elevate herself to main event level in SHIMMER if she can end Sara’s undefeated streak.


Del Rey tries to overcome Rain using her wrestling prowess but despite some initial success Rain manages to hang in there. She takes a cheap kick and tries to pull the hair but Sara finds a way to regain control and continue her dominance of the opening five minutes. She busts out an awesome stranglehold variant of the Crippler Crossface and keeps twisting on Rain’s arm after that. Rain’s next approach is to try and out-strike Del Rey, but she gets obliterated with a headbutt. Eventually she catches Sara on the top rope and yanks her off by the leg. That hurt the back and Rain capitalises by tying Del Rey in the ropes and dropkicking her from behind. Sara tries to climb the ropes once more but Rain catches her again and pulls her down with a press slam. A jumping double knee strike goes deep into Del Rey’s back but it only draws a 2 count for Rain. She attempts a tornado DDT but Sara counters into a northern lights in RVD/Lynn style. Sleeper by Rain but Sara doesn’t go down so she simply hauls her down into a backbreaker. They collide mid-ring going for clotheslines and both take their time recovering. B*TCH SLAP DUEL! DEL REY BOOTS RAIN IN THE FACE! She gets 2 with a gutwrench suplex. Incredibly Rain comes back for more. TORNADO LUNGBLOWER for 2! Raindrop blocked into a HEAD DROP GERMAN SUPLEX! That’s how Del Rey beat Daizee but this time her back means she can’t hold the bridge. ROYAL BUTTERFLY! Del Rey wins at 14:06.


Rating - *** - I absolutely loved that and only wish it could’ve gone longer to bump up the rating. Sara is awesome and Rain totally delivered in her biggest SHIMMER match to date too. Solid wrestling to start things off with Del Rey in control, then Rain in the ascendancy by working the back - which Sara was pretty neat about selling - leading to an explosive and exciting finale. Great work.


Cheerleader Melissa vs MsChif – Falls Count Anywhere Match

This match has created a bit of buzz around the internet (in similar fashion to Martinez/Sara from the first show) so I’m eager to check it out. At Volume 1 MsChif overcame Melissa in a ferocious, hotly contested battle and Cheerleader immediately made it known she wanted a rematch. She came out during MsChif’s match with Lexie Fyfe and ended up distracting her nemesis leading to Fyfe scoring the win. This rematch was then signed under falls count anywhere rules.


MsChif cracks Melissa in the ribs and launches into a vicious attack. Cheerleader comes back strong with strikes of her own then they stare down. MsChif goes for a Dragon Clutch but it’s way too early for any kind of submission. Melissa starts chopping MsChif in the THROAT. She then tries to snap her arms off in a surfboard. MsChif’s next move is a hammerlock/dragon sleeper hybrid. Sit-out atomic drop by Melissa before she almost bends MsChif in half with the weirdest looking submission ever. MsChif may actually be more flexible than Jack Evans. Or Dhalsim from Street Fighter. She probably doesn’t have stretchy legs though. PENDULUM STRETCH IN THE TURNBUCKLES! Prazak and Danger are pretty good at pointing out what body part Melissa is working on. Chif looks for some quick pins but a bad back means she’s a little sluggish. She tries to squirm away from Melissa’s inverted cloverleaf only to be dragged back into a CURB STOMP! She still fights the inverted cloverleaf though, and kicks Cheerleader out of the ring. Melissa crawls into the front row but it’s falls count anywhere so MsChif simply pursues her out there and chokes her with a chair. Melissa is equally adept at chair offence though and bashes Chif with one before ramming her into the wall – busting her open by doing so. They brawl out the front door for Melissa to hit a body slam ON THE CONCRETE! MsChif launches her opponent into a metal pole as blood continues to pour down her face. We come back into the building where MsChif gets some revenge as she now tries to bend Melissa in half by stretching her over another chair. Melissa tries to do the guardrail surfboard she used on Volume 1 but this time MsChif blocks it. She finds a big wooden board with wheels on it and uses it to lock MsChif under the hard camera stage. That’s just insulting…until MsChif disappears and crawls out from elsewhere. Melissa swings a chair…GREEN MIST BLOCKED BY THE CHAIR! MsChif sets up for the Desecrator on the floor but Melissa is, rather understandably, unwilling to cooperate. She slams Chif on the wheelie-board and SLIDES HER INTO THE RING APRON! She did that with so much force that the board rolled all the way under the ring and hit the railing on the other side. Incredibly MsChif isn’t dead and she continues to fight back. They go to a platform/table stack near the entrance and just batter each other with forearms. INVERTED CLOVERLEAF LOCKED IN! Melissa makes MsChif KICK A CHAIR INTO HER OWN HEAD! MsChif taps out at 26:14.


Rating - **** - That was an intriguing brawl which felt wonderfully different to anything else presented by SHIMMER thus far. At 25+ minutes it maybe dragged a little but it never felt dull, and they continually found new and innovative ways to beat each other up – be it with inhumane stretches, blood loss, fighting out of the building or the spots with that wheelie-board thing. The finish was also set up well with Melissa going for the inverted cloverleaf continually in the early going to get over that she wanted to finish MsChif off with the hold. We saw her make MsChif kick herself in the head on Volume 1 so bringing that back and adding a twist on it with a steel chair was an intelligent finish too. I’m betting Dave Prazak wants to get another match out of this feud.


Rebecca Knox vs Daizee Haze

These women have a tough task with this main event. They’ve got to follow that wild Melissa/MsChif brawl, on top of the fact that this is the final match of a double-taping meaning the fans have already sat through 4+ hours of wrestling. Knox (or, as she refers to herself- K-NOX) debuted on Volume 3 and defeated Allison Danger in controversial fashion. She faked a leg injury then took advantage when Danger tried to help her out of the ring. In truth Allison never really recovered and Rebecca ended up getting the win with a Michinoku Driver (which is apparently supposed to be a falcon arrow). Daizee wasn’t too impressed with her antics, but has heard lots about her skills as a wrestler and challenged her to pit those kills against the Haze. Daizee lost a competitive match with Sara Del Rey on Volume 3.


The crowd is pretty firmly behind Daizee after Rebecca’s antics at the last show. Knox shrieks like crazy because people aren’t cheering for her. The early going is Daizee doing much as she said she’d do during the challenge for this match by going hold for hold with Knox. Danger provides good insight and points out Rebecca is pulling hair to give her an unfair advantage. She also argues with Prazak over whose idea it was to book her in the first place. Knox uses the ropes for additional leverage on a leglock, proving that she intends to use more of the tactics that secured her victory in her debut. ‘If she chokes to death would that be SHIMMER’S first deathmatch? – Danger as Haze tries a headscissors on Knox. Rebecca shows her flexibility with a bridging hammerlock as the fans again try to rally behind the Haze. The match is almost 10 minutes old now and they’ve basically been seamlessly chaining for the whole match which is really impressive. Daizee tries to increase the pace and Knox immediately bails to break her momentum. She entertains me further by stalling on the floor to do some stretches. But in the end Haze has had enough. TOP ROPE PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR MISSES! That was a really rough landing. K-nox wastes no time in bringing the match back inside to do more damage to a wounded Daizee. PUMPHANDLE SUPLEX scores but she opts to be cocky and choke her opponent rather than go for any serious pinfall. She appears to attempt her Michinoku Driver but Haze counters with a small package. Knox kicks out and drops her with a backbreaker to put any comeback hopes to bed. She has Haze slumped in a heap in the corner but pulls her to her feet for a back suplex that gets 2. A fisherman neckbreaker draws another nearfall and Knox keeps the punishment coming by repeatedly kicking at the spine. The Haze valiantly forearms Rebecca in the back to apply a headscissors crossface. K-nox doesn’t tap. HEART PUNCH DUCKED FOR A HEAD DROP GERMAN SUPLEX! That’s how Daizee lost to Del Rey but this time she kicks out at 2. Michinoku Driver blocked once more but Rebecca hits a CAPTURE SUPLEX instead! DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD LEG DROP MISSES! Haze nails a missile dropkick. HEART PUNCH! MIND TRIP! She wins at 20:13.


Rating - **** - Another great SHIMMER main event, and after another terrific effort, Daizee Haze is slowly winning me over and making me a fan. I still dislike stoners though! And I definitely remain far more of a K-NOX fan. Rebecca is seriously awesome, both from a wrestling standpoint and from a hilariously fun to watch character perspective. I’m not going to tell you this match was perfect or flawlessly executed, but I really enjoyed it and wanted a rating that reflected that.


Allison Danger remains unhappy at her only SHIMMER loss to date but seems pleased to have returned to winning ways by beating Ringer tonight. She challenges Cheerleader Melissa to a match on Volume 5.


The DVD ends with the announcement that Volume 5 also has the big Del Rey/Martinez rematch.


Tape Rating - *** - This is basically the same show as Volume 3, so obviously it gets the same rating. Much like the other 02/12/06 taping the undercard is largely solid but totally forgettable but the top three matches are all really good and worth checking out. I’d say Volume 4 probably just has the edge due to the unique Melissa/MsChif match and the technical soundness of Haze/Knox being a marginally better headlining combo than Knox/Danger and Del Rey/Haze. If you’re expecting top to bottom awesomeness SHIMMER isn’t quite there yet. But I find myself drawn to the incredible work ethic of the entire roster (having the stamina to record TWO shows in one day is an extraordinary feat in itself), and with women like Sara Del Rey, Cheerleader Melissa, Rebecca Knox, Daizee Haze and so on you’re usually guaranteed a few good matches as well. See you for Volume 5.


Top 3 Matches

3) Sara Del Rey vs Rain (***)

2) Daizee Haze vs Rebecca Knox (****)

1) Cheerleader Melissa vs MsChif (****)

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