McXal's Reviews

Night two of the autumn 2012 SHIMMER tapings commences with Volume 51, less than 24 hours removed from the big 50th show festivities that saw Kana and Ayako Hamada tear each other to pieces and ten of SHIMMER's biggest names go to war in a double main event spectacular. The race for the SHIMMER Title is very much on here with Saraya Knight - who lost the 10-woman elimination tag at V50 but sustained almost no damage in the process - defends her championship against three top challengers; Joshi 'Lady Destroyer' Hiroyo Matsumoto, Australian 'Rate Tank' Kellie Skater and former champion MsChif. The undercard is highlighted by a number of Joshi vs SHIMMER native clashes; all of which have the potential to steal the show. Athena meets 'World Famous' Kana, Portia Perez squares off with Ayako Hamada, LuFisto and Ryo Mizunami battle it out, whilst Nicole Matthews locks horns with Yumi Ohka. Dave Prazak and Portia Perez are on commentary for all the action, taped in Berwyn, IL.

Davina Rose has requested a rematch against Rhia O'Reilly after the Irishwoman cheated to beat her at V50, but as Rhia tells Amber Gertner - she declines because she's already beaten her. Davina has given her a huge black eye though! 

Cruise delivered one of her best SHIMMER matches to date at the last show, pushing Hiroyo Matsumoto to the limit in a bruising encounter. It was a real boost to her career which has stalled several times, but she'll know she needs wins if she wants to keep her spot on the roster. Santana is debuting at this taping, falling to Shazza McKenzie at V50.

Melanie DECKS Garrett at the bell, then starts bouncing her skull off the canvas in violent fashion. Santana uses her fast feet to fight back; staying out of Cruise's clutches and kicking her all around the ring. They don't inflict enough damage though and soon Cruise begins bludgeoning her again, as well as throttling her in the ropes. A sidewalk slam drives the air out of her lungs, leaving Garrett looking increasingly bedraggled. She locks into a crucifix pin for 2...only for Melanie to crush her again with an emphatic double axehandle. Santana counters another sidewalk slam into a spinning headscissors, and after struggling to move the bigger woman around, Garrett comes off the ropes with a satellite headscissors as well - finally stringing some offence together. Melanie catches her in the air though, drilling her with 'Melanie's Spine Splitter' (a sit-out Alabamaslam) to win at 05:54

Rating - ** - Nothing we haven't seen out of Cruise before; emphatic wins over lower ranked, smaller competitors at the bottom of the card has been her bread and butter for much of her SHIMMER run. But this felt like a necessarily dominant display, giving her a strong victory to capitalise on the momentum she gained in defeat against Matsumoto last time out. Garrett is athletic, took a real beating her and remained sympathetic throughout. She has done nothing to disgrace herself during her debut weekend.

Veda Scott calls her match against Tomoka Nakagawa the biggest match of her SHIMMER career. She asked for Tomoka, since she is a former tag partner of Veda's mentor/trainer Daizee Haze. 

As we heard earlier, Rose comes into this after losing to Rhia O'Reilly in controversial circumstances at the previous show. Davina hasn't won too many matches recently and will want to halt that slide quickly when she takes on Cherry (who is another talent making her main-show debut at this taping). Cherry (the future Allie or 'The Bunny') has been working SHIMMER dark matches for a couple of years but finally cracked the main roster on V50. Already an experienced hand with time in Japan and on multiple independents; she will have her eyes firmly set on defeating the hotly-ranked, much-talked about rising star Davina tonight...

Rose is too fast for Cherry in the opening exchanges and tosses her around with ease. Her early offence targets Bomb's arm. Even when Cherry tries to escape, Davina thwarts her with repeated strikes to the injured arm. Cherry leaves the ring for some respite, and delivers a dropkick from the floor to the apron as Rose sticks her head through the ropes to retrieve her. Prazak and Perez point out that an arm injury makes it incredibly difficult for Cherry to utilise her submission finisher the 'Anger As Beauty'. She starts bashing Davina's face into the mat and stomps her down into the corner where she can choke her at will. She hits a running dropkick to the ass, driving Davina's neck into the turnbuckles too. Davina dodges Bomb as she charges again, causing her to ram her injured arm into the corner. A diving elbow off the second rope gets 2, albeit Rose has been visibly slowed by Bomb's offence. Armbar DDT nailed, meaning Bomb doesn't have enough power in the arm to hit a German suplex. BUCKLE BOMB by Rose! Cherry is still reeling from that and Davina hits a slightly messy running neckbreaker to win at 07:52

Rating - *** - Sloppy finish aside, this was good. Both women were relative unknowns at this point and would go on to have incredibly successful pro-wrestling careers, but even at this stage it was clear that they both had serious potential. Rose has been super solid and dependable throughout her SHIMMER run. She has rarely been put in a position to steal the show but almost produces a sound, hard-working babyface performance and this was no exception. She looked equally comfortable on offence and selling for Cherry, was a deserved winner and it really isn't a surprise that WWE would scoop her up soon after this. Cherry Bomb played her part in this one too and after cracking the main roster at this taping she is pretty much a regular - when healthy and available - for the next five years...

Veda issued the challenge to Nakagawa for this match, looking to test herself not only against one of the Joshi contingent but also a former partner of Daizee Haze (who trained Scott). It is a huge match for the youngster, and the magnitude of it seemed to be weighing on her when interviewed by Amber Gertner earlier. Tomoka is 1-1 in her SHIMMER comeback weekend, losing a classic to Athena at the last show, but beating Davina Rose on V49. She knows it would be a serious upset if she were to lose to Veda here...

Nakagawa has a smirk on her face as they lock up, and in their early grappling exchanges on the mat it is clear that Scott is having to work substantially harder than her opponent just to stay on an even keel. Veda endures a bow and arrow stretch and manages to kick Nakagawa to the floor...but she doesn't see Tomoka take a swig of water whilst out there. The Joshi villain duly spits the water into Veda's face and quickly quashes any momentum she had been able to build. Next Nakagawa starts choking Scott with the belt of her ring-gear (after loosening the ref's shoelaces to momentarily distract him). Scott lands a diving elbow out of the corner...but from the canvas is trapped again, this time in a grounded headscissors. To her credit, Veda refuses to quit and keeps charging at her opponent. A flying crossbody gets 2, but Tomoka blocks the Back Drop Driver and floors Scott again with a missile dropkick. Bridging Saito Suplex gets 2 for Veda! She misses another crossbody attempt though, and gets her head taken off with an enziguri. ROLLING Fisherman suplexes by Nakagawa - giving her the win at 07:39

Rating - ** - Conceptually this was a little different from the usual SHIMMER squash where a higher ranked member of the roster crushes someone near the bottom. I liked the idea that Veda requested this match and was looking to challenge herself, even though she knew she was outmatched. They wrestled within that premise REALLY well. Everything looked so easy for Tomoka, and yet so much of a struggle for Veda. Nakagawa was bundles of fun as she ran through her bag of nefarious tricks, and even in defeat Scott enhances her reputation because of how bravely she fought against the odds and how resilient she was in the face of relentless cheating on the part of her opponent. It was more substantive than your usual squash and a whole lot more fun as a result.

Tag team action next, with Allison Danger and Leva Bates in hot pursuit of a SHIMMER Tag Title shot. Having defeated champions the Canadian NINJAs during the V50 elimination tag main event they will feel they are at the front of the queue, but cannot let that spot slip with a defeat here. Made In Sin debuted as a team on V49 and looked hugely impressive. Despite their relative lack of exposure as a team in SHIMMER, they'll know a victory over an established duo like Danger and Bates immediately marks them as championship contenders too.

Allison and Allysin start, with Danger cracking a few jokes at Kay's expense which really agitates her less-experienced adversary. Kay tries to use her power on Danger, but finds that the SHIMMER veteran has a trick or a counter at every turn to thwart her. Taylor has to tag her partner out, but soon absorbs a leaping kick into the small of her back from Bates. Leva keeps working over the back of her opponent...until Made crawls away; luring Danger into the Made In Sin corner where she is ambushed by a charging Kay. Immediately they attack Allison 2-on-1 and turn the tide of the match in their favour. Now Allysin is able to make her size and power count; standing dominantly over Danger and wearing her down with a stranglehold. She also spits in Leva's face, causing her to distract the official so Made In Sin can once again double-team the helpless Danger. Allison manages to charge into a big knee strike on Made which leaves them both reeling to recover on the canvas...before at last Bates gets a hot tag. Kay takes a couple of big hits from Leva, but again her size comes to the fore as she shakes those off and hoists her into the AK47 for 2! Superkick from Bates gets 2 in response, with Taylor flying in to make the save. Danger is in as well, saving her partner from the Seven Deadlies before Leva rolls Allysin into an anklelock! COUNTERED to a triangle choke by Kay! Made tries to save...ANKLELOCK BY DANGER! In the end all the submissions are broken because all four women are basically in a heap. Lovelace Choker from Danger to Kay, setting up a DOUBLE STOMP/INVERTED DDT COMBO! Regeneration-X win at 13:19

Rating - *** - I was a little surprised at how much time they were given, but they really did a good job with it. This started slowly and wasn't flawless in its execution by any means, yet once things got going they had a great energy to go along with an undeniably strong babyface/heel chemistry. And at the core here felt like a shared purpose to elevate all the up and coming talent. Made In Sin are still fresh to SHIMMER, but they were excellent as the villainous team. Even the least experienced SHIMMER competitor in Kay was made to look like a serious powerhouse at various points. And on the Regeneration-X side we weren't seeing the veteran Danger constantly rescuing her precocious younger partner. It was Danger getting worked over, Danger getting the beating, Danger needing Leva to save her on a couple of occasions...and Leva getting the decisive pinfall too. A solid thirteen bout with a laser focus on promoting some of the nest generation of SHIMMER talent - there was a lot to like here.

Saraya Knight suggests that she took a dive in the Volume 50 main event, opting to throw the match to avoid having to fight Melissa and MsChif on her own in a non-title match where she'd sustained almost no damage. The champ goes on to reveal that she thinks Hiroyo Matsumoto and Kellie Skater are worthy challengers, as is MsChif - who is a former champion and beat two legitimate opponents in the V50 main event, unlike Melissa. 

'The Fighting Irish' Rhia O'Reilly's stock has been rising in SHIMMER as of late. A strong showing against former champion Melissa on V49 was followed by a victory over Davina Rose on the last show; she'll be looking to back that up tonight. Her opponent is looking to rebound after a defeat to Miss Natural on V49.

O'Reilly is fighting with the huge shiner we saw earlier, so requests that Spinelli stay away from the face - and quickly retreats to the floor after an early flurry of offence from her opponent. KC tries to baseball slide her in the face whilst she's out there...so O'Reilly smartly counters by trapping her in the ring skirt and battering her in the back of the head, neck and back. Rhia keeps working over the midsection and snuffs out a spirited comeback attempt from Spinelli with a thudding STO to crunch the core yet again. Finlay Roll gets 2, but KC refuses to stay down and clobbers O'Reilly with a lariat. She peppers the injured face with forearm strikes, then hooks her up for a SKULLF*CK - absolutely brutalising Rhia's injury! RHI-ADJUSTMENT! O'Reilly emphatically puts Spinelli away at 07:03

Rating - *** - I thought this was a terrific little match. O'Reilly looked excellent, drawing significant reactions from the Eagles Club crowd with her physical performance and generally coming off like a smart, tough and dangerous wrestler throughout. And across the ring from her, Spinelli bumped and bounced around like a champ to put her over - and that little flurry of offence based around attacking O'Reilly's eye injury at the end was brilliant fun. They went unexpectedly hard, turning something which could have been seven minutes of filler into an altogether more snappy affair.

In her own promo, Cheerleader Melissa defiantly insists that 'one day' she'll get her hands on Saraya Knight

This should be a hell of a fight. Throughout her SHIMMER career LuFisto has continually proven herself to be one of the most tough and tenacious competitors on the roster. Mizunami is making her debut at these tapings, but in her two matches thus far has shown a similar skillset and looks a terrific match-up for LuFisto here. Ryo is already 1-0 in singles competition as well after beating Courtney Rush two shows ago.

The watch doesn't even make it to five seconds before the two women have reached the middle of the ring and started clocking each other with elbows. They miss big drops on the mat in turn, then Miz counters some of Fisto's kicks into an anklelock. With those kicks momentarily nullified Mizunami is now able to dominate her opponent; landing strikes and tackles without resistance from the Super Hardcore Anime. That is until Lu counters another tackle with a turnbuckle flatliner! She batters Ryo with strikes in the corner with such force that it briefly seems like she may have even KO'd the Joshi visitor. It leaves Mizunami fighting for breath and time; clinging to a front facelock only for LuFisto to dump her again with a northern lights suplex. Next she ties Ryo in the ropes...then climbs up next to her to deliver a flurry of face kicks. PALM STRIKES by Miz! She damages Lu's shoulder in the aftermath of those and quickly exacerbates the situation by hitting a shoulderbreaker into a flurry of leg drops high across the neck and shoulders too. Still they keep swinging like crazy, eventually simultaneously connecting with forearm smashes that cause them both to collapse. TIGER SUPLEX by LuFisto gets 2! Perhaps if Ryo hadn't worked that shoulder earlier she'd have been able to hold on for three. Burning Hammer COUNTERED TO A FUJIWARA ARMBAR on the bad arm! SPEAR NAILED as soon as Fisto gets to the ropes as well. FLYING SHOULDER TACKLE gets 2! Mizunami sets up for her top rope guillotine leg drop...but LuFisto moves! BURNING HAMMER! LuFisto wins at 09:17

Rating - **** - Nine minutes of big strikes, big bumps and hard-hitting violence fought at a ferocious pace from the outset. Perhaps in another setting on another show they could have a totally different kind of match, but their job here was to deliver a kick-ass brawl and they clearly delivered. There was some smarts behind this too with LuFisto seemingly trying to KO her foe at every turn, and Mizunami in response trying to negate her threat by targeting the shoulder. Those were central premises that remained relevant throughout and directly played into the finish too. This is one of those matches that made this era of SHIMMER so special. There are less 15-20 minute (or longer) epics to really sink your teeth into than we got in the early days, but when you get two women of this quality just tearing into each other with the gloves off and just a short span of time to fill sometimes the results are frenzied and spectacular - just like this.

So despite pinning the SHIMMER Champion at the last show, Melissa remains boxed out of the title picture and relegated to the undercard. But if she keeps picking up wins then she can't be denied a rematch with Saraya indefinitely so the stakes are high for the former champion here. This weekend has seen an impressive return to the SHIMMER fold for 'Miss Natural' Heather Patera; already racking up consecutive wins over KC Spinelli and Veda Scott. 

Prazak points out that these two first wrestled each other more than a decade earlier to emphasise how much experience both are bringing to the table here. Melissa moves to target Patera's arm, then switches to the legs as she locks in the Kondo Clutch early; forcing Miss Natural to use that arm to drag herself to the ropes. Natural retaliates by smashing Melissa's face into the canvas and turnbuckles and continues to hammer away on the former champion with strikes. It is an impressive display from Patera against an opponent who has a long history of bludgeoning and out-striking adversaries in a SHIMMER ring. Crucially though, Melissa blocks Natural's attempts to target her neck (setting up the Natural Disaster) - launching herself out of the corner into a missile dropkick for 2. Air Raid Crash blocked with more strikes though, once again demonstrating Patera's power even in the face of a former SHIMMER Champion. Natural Disaster blocked...into the Air Raid Crash! Melissa wins at 07:36

Rating - ** - They kept it brief, understandably so given that other matches like Made In Sin vs Regeneration-X have gotten more time and there are still some high profile main event level matches to come. But for the spot on the card this was solid. Melissa is given an imposing victory, keeping her undefeated at these tapings and right in the hunt for a rematch with Saraya Knight. And yet she wasn't so dominant that Miss Natural was entirely crushed in defeat. Patera has been one of the surprise success stories of this weekend and she was given some opportunity to shine even here; allowed to brawl and strike on an even footing with Melissa - one of the most formidable proponents of that style in all of SHIMMER history. Melissa countering every time Miss Natural tried to work the neck or hit her Natural Disaster finisher was a neat little touch too.

Courtney Rush is pumped to pit her skills against the 'baddest SHIMMER original' Mercedes Martinez tonight...

The reigning SHIMMER Tag Champions are in singles action on this Volume, starting with a huge match for Portia as she takes on the legendary Hamada. Given that Hamada herself is a former Tag Champion (and her partner Ayumi Kurihara is due to return in 2013) a win could even set Ayako up for another title opportunity in future.

The fans chant 'don't kill Portia' to Hamada before the bell, causing her to break into a huge grin. Perez seems to let the fans get into her head momentarily, but channels that productively by stomping on Hamada's feet to stop her rattling off big strikes. The respite is only fleeting however and soon Ayako is beating the Tag Champion all around the ring with headbutts and throws. She then gets some payback for the foot-stomp earlier by stamping on Portia's fingers. Perez has to fight back in stages; first with an armdrag which Hamada shakes off relatively easily. Then she slithers out of more attacks from the veteran before finally levelling her with a belting kick to the side of the head. It drops Hamada to the ground and instantly Portia climbs on top of her; recognising that the gap in experience, size and power is far smaller if she can keep her opponent on the canvas. And sure enough...as soon as Ayako does fight back up she BLASTS Portia with a superkick. MOONSAULT gets 2! Perez showed real resilience to survive that, and returns with another staggered comeback which sees her hit a jawbreaker, and later apply the Just Facelock which visibly troubles Hamada for a time. But it isn't terminal for the veteran and she levels Portia once again with a spinning heel kick. Missile dropkick gets 2, with Perez still fighting against the odds gamely. Pyramid Driver countered by Perez into a sunset flip for 2! AP CROSS! Hamada wins at 09:36

Rating - *** - This was such a deceptively smart bout. It started off entirely as you'd expect; Perez playing the cowardly villain to the imposing veteran force of Hamada. Indeed, the opening stages were wholly camp and theatrical - played for laughs and jokes as Perez was mocked by the crowd and bounced around by Hamada. But that segment was setting the stage to demonstrate how tough and courageous (not words you always associate with Portia) she really is. She lacks the size, power, experience - and probably even agility - of her opponent. Yet despite being completely out-matched she didn't resort to duplicitous tactics, she went toe-to-toe with Hamada and fought her. Every piece of Perez offence in this match was earned; comebacks came in staggered layers (and were almost always snuffed out with just a single move from Hamada). She survived the Moonsault, countered the Pyramid Driver...and even though she finally succumbed to Hamada's might, she leaves having delivered a timely reminder that she is much more than just a brash, outspoken heel caricature.

Amber Gertner is backstage with Davina Rose. She once again challenges Rhia O'Reilly to a rematch, which Rhia gatecrashes the promo to accept...

Rebounding from the disappointment of losing the SHIMMER Tag Championships has been Courtney Rush's driving focus throughout this taping. A pep-talk from Regeneration-X at Volume 49 has helped her rediscover herself, and she now looks to test her skills against one of the baddest women in SHIMMER history. Martinez is one of Courtney's idol Sara Del Rey's toughest opponents too. Mercedes has publicly vented that she dislikes this role of being a 'veteran' that the next generation of SHIMMER wrestler wants to step on to make their own reputations. The Latina Sensation feels she is still a top contender for the top prize in SHIMMER and won't want to allow one of the newer roster members to move ahead of her in the pecking order.

Rush tries to take out Mercedes' legs, but is swatted aside by her opponent - albeit Martinez seems as interested in arguing with fans in the audience as she does wrestling tonight. She PUNCHES Courtney in the face when returning to the ring then brutalises her with chops and forearms in a clear display of dominance. Martinez continually pushes the referee's five-count, flirting with disqualification on multiple occasions as she tries to impose her will on Rush...and yet Courtney takes all of those shots and still storms out of the corner with a big suplex. Martinez tries to leave the ring again, but this time Courtney hits a baseball slide and propels her into the guardrails! ANOTHER PUNCH by Mercedes to block a tope suicida though! She mercilessly kicks Rush's exposed face and head as she hangs limp in the ropes after that too. Once again Martinez treads dangerously close to a DQ as she repeatedly chokes her opponent. She is outright bullying Rush here...and yet Courtney continues to defiantly get back up. She stares a hole through Martinez before angrily trapping her in a Sharpshooter - going after the legs again! Russian Legsweep lands when Martinez escapes that too. She hits a flying crossbody...but is now so wild and reckless in her attempts to beat on Martinez that the veteran rolls through it and almost beats her. Mercedes then starts smashing the neck and head with more strikes in the corner. T-Bone suplex by Rush gets 2! Spear dodged by Martinez, into a DVD for a nearfall of her own. Bull Run blocked...INTO THE SPEAR! Skyward Suplex countered into the Three Amigas by Martinez! Bull Run COUNTERED TO A SMALL PACKAGE! RUSH WINS! 11:51 is the time

Rating - **** - I adored this match. It was GREAT when viewed in isolation, but even better when viewed in context of what both women have been going through in their recent SHIMMER careers. On the one hand you had Martinez - scarred by her losses to rising young stars like Athena and her continued failure to win the SHIMMER Title - bitterly trying to bully and put down another up and comer whilst being antagonised and berated by the SHIMMER audience she feels should respect her more for her accomplishments since the very beginning of the company. On the other hand you had Rush trying to find herself after losing the Tag Titles and failing to win the respect of her hero Sara Del Rey - by defeating a SHIMMER original and one of Del Rey's greatest foes. Each performer embodied and emoted those individual struggles superbly. You FELT the demons they were fighting with each minute of the match that passed. Some of the facial expressions in this match were impeccable; the disdain that Mercedes gave the crowd at various points, or the defiant look of fury that Rush shot to Martinez after being relentlessly choked in the ropes. This reminded me of Mercedes' under-rated match with MsChif a couple of Volumes ago in that it wasn't loaded with action (like LuFisto/Mizunami earlier for example) - but told such a compelling story. The ending, with Rush sneaking a win, was perfect too and leaves me keen to see where each competitor goes next. Courtney surely moves into SHIMMER Title contention if she sticks around in 2013, Martinez suffers another loss to a young up and comer and another set-back in her own quest to follow in the footsteps of other originals like Del Rey, MsChif and Melissa in becoming champion.

Regeneration-X remind the Canadian NINJAs that they each possess a pinfall win over one of the champions (Leva beat Portia in SHINE) and demand their title shot at Volume 52.

Although she is one half of the Tag Champions, Matthews is also one of the fast rising singles wrestlers on the SHIMMER roster too and has an impressive back catalogue of top level matches against a variety of opponents to prove it. She squares off with one of the Joshi contingent here, and in Ohka she'll find an adversary with serious motivation after she was defeated by Kellie Skater on V50.

Ohka looks incredibly focused after losing last time out, and sets her stall out early by driving Matthews into the ropes with the quality of her work. Nicole looks fired up herself, and responds well by nearly capturing Yumi in a pin. She lands the first serious strike as well, rocking Ohka in the corner with a big forearm across the jaw. Indeed, Ohka is still reeling from those when she captures the arm and starts hitting Danielson-esque capture elbow strikes! Even when Yumi makes the ropes, Matthews simply clambers on top of her with a dragon sleeper in the ropes. Ohka needs to create some space and she does just that - judo throwing her opponent to the ground then delivering a series of YAKUZA KICKS in the corner! In turn Nicole realises she needs to shut Ohka down; clinging to her before delivering a northern lights suplex. Vancouver Manoeuvre COUNTERED to a lungblower by Yumi! She hits a springboard elbow into the lower back, followed by a Dragon Clutch to inflict more damage. LARIAT by Nicole to curtail Ohka's momentum. She looks for some payback with a Yakuza Kick in the corner, but Ohka dodges and nails another of her own. Nicole goes to the top...but eats ANOTHER YAKUZA KICK! Superplex by Yumi, further damaging the back...and rolled into a Crossface as Matthews kicks out! Nicole escapes and lands a missile dropkick - but is now so wounded she is unable to get up immediately to capitalise on it. Her back prevents her from hitting a German suplex as well, allowing Ohka to roll through into a double underhook suplex for 2. Tiger Suplex blocked...BRAINBUSTER by Nicole for 2! Boston Crab applied, with Ohka sustaining real damage before crawling to the ropes. She still recovers sufficiently to hit a YAKUZA KICK! ROLLING ELBOW BY NICOLE! YAKUZA KICK VS ROLLING ELBOW DUEL! Matthews wins out by capturing the leg on an Ohka kick attempt and delivering another elbow right into the jaw. Wearily they work their way back up, still battering each other with elbows! Nicole floors her with another rolling elbow, but Ohka KICKS OUT AT ONE then sprints into another kick! GERMAN SUPLEX by Matthews gets 2! She tries to set up the Vancouver Manoevre again, but Ohka kicks her in the head once more before landing the TIGER SUPLEX! Yumi wins at 14:58

Rating - **** - Another in the growing list of Nicole Matthews SHIMMER bangers. I think Prazak seems to recognise he has something special with Nicole in singles action. She doesn't wrestle singles matches all the time (he even referenced on commentary how long it has been since her singles win over Athena), but almost every time she does its in a high profile, featured match like this one. And she always seems to deliver. The intensity from both competitors from the very first seconds of the match was clear. Both had serious, laser-focused expressions. We weren't seeing lots of smiles and waves from Yumi, nor were we seeing lots of brash, playing to the crowd from Matthews. They were here to wrestle and for fifteen minutes they tore lumps off each other. Nicole was composed and tried to work a methodical pace, but could never really slow Yumi down. The Joshi star continually broke free and gradually wore the Canadian down with her barrage of kicks and suplexes. This was one of the stand-out bouts from this entire taping and well worth checking out.

The Wrestling Goddess has stormed up the ranks in SHIMMER over the last year, overcoming Mercedes Martinez in their feud and going all the way to the main event of Volume 48 where she came perilously close to taking the SHIMMER Title from Saraya Knight in her very first defence. Now she faces 'World Famous' Kana, the fearsome Joshi superstar who boasts an impressive record in SHIMMER and a nonchalant, violent style which has seen her dominate all manner of adversary. This is very much a dream match between one of SHIMMER's hottest native stars and one of their biggest name international imports.

Kana refuses to shake Athena's hand before the bell, which is absolutely true to form as she has only ever shaken hands with people who have earned her respect in SHIMMER. The opening minutes make it clear that they are very evenly matched...until Athena tries to trade kicks with Kana. The Japanese star blasts through Athena there, before taking her down with a running neckbreaker. She continues to target Athena's neck and head, and continues to counter the Wrestling Goddess every time she tries to throw strikes. Fujiwara armbar applied as a counter to a wild elbow attempt by Athena, leaving her with a bad arm and shoulder to go along with a sore neck. Kana is outright bullying her opponent now; refusing to even let her get up out of the corner and peppering her with disrespectful kicks. An enraged Athena lands a ragged enziguri, then a handspring roundhouse kick. But she comes up feeling her arm after that handspring, and as a result is slow climbing the ropes looking for the O-Face...and eats a spinning heel kick to the head from Kana. STOMP to the head by Athena in response! It isn't pretty, but she is doing everything she can to take the fight to her World Famous opponent. Kimura applied, weakening Kana sufficiently that now Athena can absolutely BLAST her with kicks. Until Kana counters to a LEG CAPTURE GERMAN! NO SOLD! Side Effect by Athena for 2! CROSS ARMBREAKER by Kana! Athena eventually breaks that by dragging Kana into the corner and ramming her into the turnbuckles. Slap by Kana...KICKS BY ATHENA! Both women collapse...and even then continue throwing slaps at each other from their knees. Athena floors Kana with a bicycle kick, but then gets levelled with a DDT seconds later as Kana capitalises on the bad arm once more. CROSS ARMBREAKER AGAIN! Athena taps at 12:00

Rating - **** - They were in a tough spot having to follow the excellent Martinez vs Rush and Ohka vs Matthews matches, but they were more than capable of living up to their semi-main event billing. I really liked that this brought out a different side to Athena; the kind of pugnacious fighter that we've only perhaps seen in her battles with Mercedes. Kana was so skilled that she didn't leave much room for Athena to deliver many of her gorgeous, athletic high spots and there was barely even a hint of the O-Face in sight. Without those, Athena had no choice but to get dirty and fight with her opponent. Kana was trying to kick her head off her shoulders and snap her arm out of it's socket...but using all the skills we've seen on her rapid journey up the card in SHIMMER, she pushed the 'World Famous' Joshi import to the limit. As the match reached it's crescendo it was even Athena came desperately close to actually knocking Kana - the Japanese star famous for her vicious kicks - out cold. A hell of a fight, showcasing the best of Kana and bringing something stylistically different out of Athena. It is actually a pretty remarkable match considering what punishing schedules both women worked at the V48/49 tapings the day before too.

In the main event of Volume 50 we saw the SHIMMER Champion Saraya Knight beaten, only for her to subsequently reveal she effectively took a dive in a non-title match where she'd been left alone to fight two rivals. Serious business resumes tonight, as she is booked into championship action under elimination rules, against three challengers whom she earlier confessed her respect and admiration for. Matsumoto has been an imposing competitor ever since she debuted, a former Tag Champion and receiving her second shot at the title. Skater has scrapped her way into her first ever SHIMMER main event the hard way. She has fought up from the very bottom of the card, taking beatings from some of the biggest names in SHIMMER (Melissa, Kong, LuFisto, Martinez, Deeb, Kana and more) and finally earning one of the biggest wins over her career at V50 when she defeated Yumi Ohka. Knight was given the chance to select her final opponent, and gave MsChif the spot (a former SHIMMER Champion who earned two eliminations in the main event of the last show) rather than her arch rival Cheerleader Melissa. We know Melissa will be watching and waiting in the wings for whomever wins this...

Everyone jumps Saraya, preventing her from walking to the apron and watching her challengers try to take each other out. It means our first legal pairing sees Matsumoto hammering on Knight, then picking up Skater to add her body weight for extra impact on a jumping knee drop. They take turns working the champion over, with Hiroyo adding insult to injury by giving her the Stinkface as well. Boston Crab/tandem armbar triple submission hold by the three challengers...and that's the final straw for Saraya. She rolls out to the floor and refuses to compete any further, eventually tagging MsChif to take on Hiroyo. Chif's screaming disorientates Matsumoto so much that she leaves to tag Kellie in. MsChif can't build up any momentum though because Knight keeps taking cheap shots at her...eventually hauling her out of the ring and replacing her to hit a running sidewalk slam on the Australian. Another flashpoint between MsChif and Saraya comes later, but they work as an unwilling team to isolate Skater. DOUBLE BACK SUPLEX from Matsumoto to Skater and MsChif! BACK DROP DRIVER! Hiroyo eliminates MsChif at 09:39! Saraya once again orchestrates it so that she is able to leave the ring before taking too much punishment, and watches as Matsumoto and Skater pulverise each other with strikes. Hiroyo is such a powerful athlete that she overwhelms the Rate Tank there, leaving her on the ground and gasping for air. Portia reminds us that Kellie suffered broken ribs in a recent tour of Japan so Matsumoto's sustained assault on her midsection is particularly damaging. The Aussie forcibly tags Knight in so she can take a break...so Saraya SLAPS HER IN THE FACE! Second rope knee drop from Hiroyo to Saraya gets 2...and so immediately Knight tags out again. Skater got almost no time to recover and is struggling to stand up, and yet still almost pins Matsumoto after Knight antagonistically decides she wants to pull Hiroyo's hair for no reason. SKATE & DESTROY! KELLIE PINS HIROYO! She is eliminated at 15:12! The crowd pop for that and are pumped that it is now Skater vs Saraya for the title! Kellie rushes the champion and goes for a flurry of pinning combinations without success. SARAYA PUNTS HER IN THE HEAD! She then puts the boots to Kellie's already injured midsection before dumping her final challenger into the ropes. HANGING DDT FROM THE APRON TO THE FLOOR! Skater is already limp, but still she gets dragged up and launched repeatedly into the metal guardrails. The crowd are roaring their support for her now and she responds by dragging herself back into the ring and putting Knight in a camel clutch. Punches to the ribs and a poke to the eyes from Saraya to break it. LIGERBOMB by the champ...but Kellie rolls through into a pin for 2! Alabamaslam by Knight next, crushing those injured ribs again and yet still finding the Rate Tank refuses to be pinned afterwards! Saraya drags Skater chest-first from the top rope to the mat and starts looking for the Bridal Rocking Horse. Skater blocks but Knight dodges Skate & Destroy! BRIDAL ROCKING HORSE! Skater submits at 24:01

Rating - **** - Sometimes matches like this don't work. The eliminations break up momentum and curtail stories just as they get interesting, effectively reducing the match to a series of only-minimally connected individual segments. What this match did well was give us two tight narrative threads that held everything together. The first of those had Saraya positioned as the consummate villain and a complete asshole throughout. She approached the match with malice and cunning, and was so outright nasty that she became a unifying force which joined together the other challengers on multiple occasions. In some nice continuity from the V50 main event she minimised her time in the ring when it didn't count, she would take cheap shots at opponents from the apron for literally no reason and even when in the ring she used continual low kicks or pokes to the eyes to stay ahead. The second thread was the continued rise of the Rate Tank. Her big personality and scrappy tenacity has seen her become a cult favourite with the SHIMMER audience, compounded by the joy of seeing her win her first 'major' match on the last show. In this match she got more time in the ring than anyone and made a hugely sympathetic babyface as she defied injury and a huge experience gap to keep fighting the SHIMMER Champion to the bitter end. MsChif and Hiroyo were fun albeit ultimately somewhat superfluous participants; Knight and Skater did the majority of the heavy lifting here and were superb. An undeniable breakout performance for Kellie.

Saraya smiles and nods at Skater; even the perpetually angry SHIMMER Champion cannot help but show respect for the courage of her fallen challenger after that...

Senior Referee Bryce Remsburg enters the ring to address Saraya Knight's confession that she effectively threw the match in the V50 main event. He says that conduct isn't becoming of the SHIMMER Championship, but since her shoulders were pinned by Melissa, that is enough to earn a title shot. The Volume 52 main event will be Saraya vs Melissa with the title on the line one more time!

Tape Rating - **** - SHIMMER has been on a roll recently. Plenty of solid shows, and it has to be said that Volumes 48, 50 and now 51 have all been excellent. Of that recent trio show this might even be the best of the lot. Whilst nothing reaches the heights of Hamada/Kana on V50 this is just a tremendously consistent card throughout. On the undercard we see some punchy little bouts which really over-deliver on expectations like O'Reilly vs Spinelli or Cherry vs Davina, a solid tag team encounter, LuFisto & Mizunami beating the sh*t out of each other and one of Portia Perez's finest singles performances to date. That all comes before an incredible four-strong main event streak to end the show where high quality encounters are fired at you one after the other. If you only dip in and out of SHIMMER selectively, not having a 'must-see' top tier match like Kana/Hamada might hurt this - but in terms of bang for your buck value for money this is one of the most entertaining SHIMMER Volumes ever.

3) Saraya Knight vs Kellie Skater vs Hiroyo Matsumoto vs MsChif (****)

2) Courtney Rush vs Mercedes Martinez

1) Yumi Ohka vs Nicole Matthews (****)