SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 8 – 22nd October 2006

Every time I’ve dipped into the SHIMMER back catalogue I’ve really enjoyed myself. Sadly they aren’t a promotion I have enough time to watch and review regularly enough for my liking though. It’s been several months since I checked out the excellent Volume 7 DVD – which I ranked as the best SHIMMER event up to that point – and have had Volume 8 sat on my desk ever since, but never gotten round to checking it out. I can’t put it off any longer however, and a cursory glance at the card has me cautiously excited. SHIMMER’s taping schedule (two shows in a day at this point) inevitably means that fatigue becomes a factor and some matches that look great ‘on paper’ may not turn out as good as you’d hoped, but there is a lot of quality in this line-up. The headliner is the long awaited third match in the trilogy between Mercedes Martinez and Sara Del Rey, which is almost enough to sell this DVD by itself. We also have enemies forming an unlikely team against a mutual enemy as Cheerleader Melissa and MsChif join forces to battle the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew. LuFisto continues her debut weekend against Allison Danger, and Nattie Neidhart says an all-to-soon farewell as she steps into the ring with Ariel. Dave Prazak and Allison Danger are in Berwyn, IL.

Sara Del Rey blames Mercedes Martinez for losing to the Minnesota Home Wrecking crew at Volume 6, and points out that she’s already beaten her once (back at Volume 5). Apparently she’s only agreed to another rematch because she is ‘feeling feisty’.

Lexie Fyfe vs Lorelei Lee
Having emphasised the positives of this card during my introduction, this is quite an unappealing way to start the night. I don’t say that in a negative way towards Lexie, who isn’t the most exciting of wrestlers but is perfectly capable and has carved out a solid spot as a bitter veteran alongside her regular tag partner Malia Hosaka. The problem is that her opponent is horrible. Lee always brings plenty of effort, but has contested some truly appalling matches in her short SHIMMER career thus far. She has crossed paths with The Experience before and is exactly the kind of pretty, undeserving young talent that Fyfe would like to squash under her boot…

Allison Danger points out that Lee’s spot on the SHIMMER roster is under threat. Keen to make an instant impact she attempts an early handspring elbow…but gets comically splattered into the canvas via a Lexie knee strike. Fyfe isn’t in the mood to take prisoners and sets about repeatedly stretching her hapless adversary. It’s not just on the mat she wants to do that either – she is equally happy bending Lorelei’s body in the ropes, yanking on her hair for extra leverage too. Lee hits a Russian legsweep with a degree of competency…and instantly spoils it with a sloppy ass standing moonsault which is rightly blocked by Fyfe’s knees. Lexie wins with the Attitude Adjuster (her version of a TKO, not Cena’s finisher in case you were wondering) at 06:23

Rating - * - One of the more preferable Lorelei Lee matches thus far in SHIMMER history, although that is largely because she spent so little of it on offence. Lexie stuck to what she knows, which is being a crabby veteran and stretching the younger workers mercilessly. She was fine in her role but was handicapped from the start by an opponent who is really struggling to make an impression. In this match Lee only got three or four offensive moves in throughout the entire match, and even then less than 50% of them were done particularly well. She has to be close to getting cut.

Cindy Rogers vs Serena Deeb
This isn’t particularly high on the card but both of these women would go on to have pretty significant SHIMMER careers. Rogers hasn’t had much of an opportunity so far but has lurked on the undercard looking extremely technically proficient and ready to step up. Deeb hasn’t looked quite as skilful, but would go on to have an extremely successful career across multiple promotions so clearly has a lot to offer that we’ve not seen yet.

Rogers is happy to trade holds with Serena, but in turn Deeb shows the strength of her schooling in the OVW system by holding her own every step of the way. Cindy showed some heel tendencies back at Volume 7, and does so again by refusing a clean break and throwing a cheap closed fist shot at her opponent. Serena misses a knee drop which Rogers immediately looks to exploit. There is a smile on her face as she cranks onto an Indian deathlock. A cross-legged bow and arrow stretch comes next, followed by several vicious stomps on the exposed knee as Deeb desperately tries to crawl away. Serena hobbles around the ring trying to make any kind of comeback, only to be snared in the TCB. She has no choice but to tap out at 08:12

Rating - ** - I like what I’ve seen of Cindy so far, and am definitely ready to see what she can do in a match of real significance. I like the new heel-ish edge to her character, and I liked some of the innovative submission holds she broke out to work Serena’s leg. This did feel a little too long to be a squash, too one-sided to be a strong match, and having submission finish which didn’t use the leg after she’d worked it all match was idiotic…but ultimately it made a statement that Cindy is ready to be moved up the card so should be considered a minor success.

Cindy takes another cheap shot at Serena Deeb after the match, prompting Allison Danger to remark on commentary that she needs to ‘have a chat’ with her…

In the locker room MsChif tosses some strange ring gear to her confused partner Melissa…

LuFisto vs Allison Danger
At Volume 7 we saw the long-awaited debut of LuFisto, someone who SHIMMER fans had been waiting to see since the promotion opened its doors. Impressive as her first match was, she did ultimately succumb to defeat against Mercedes Martinez and will be looking to make up for that tonight. It won’t be easy though, as she faces the leader of the SHIMMER locker room in Allison.

LuFisto’s schoolgirl outfit is certainly an odd choice of ring gear. Danger looks like she knows how tough this is going to be, and is left in no doubt after LuFisto lands a couple of crisp early strikes. She full on PUNTS Allison in the head soon after, then zones in on the arm to wear her down. Danger has had a tough start to the match, but starts to mount a comeback by landing the Curb Kick. She peels some taping from LuFisto’s back then starts working on the midsection. ELBOWS BY LUFISTO! She really doesn’t like having her injured back targeted! Interestingly, she tries for a bridging fisherman suplex but has to abandon it as her injury means she can’t bridge properly. A grounded full nelson comes next from Danger, coupled with some nasty close-range knee strikes to the spine. Once again Fist tries to use her striking to save her…but this time Danger KNEES HER RIGHT IN THE F*CKING FACE! That looked brutal and she follows it right away with some mounted bootscrapes! LuFisto’s response – swinging chops, kicks, knees and stomps like a maniac – is equally violent. The First Lady Of Hardcore tries to force a submission, only for Allison to once again attack the back to escape. They take turns booting the SH*T out of each other’s backs Low Ki-style. LuFisto’s Law chokes Allison into submission at 13:40

Rating - *** - On the one hand I want to complain that LuFisto didn’t do enough to sell the back or how that finish felt totally rushed, but on the other I want to get up and applaud both women for how damn hard-fought this match was. It wasn’t always pretty or perfectly executed, but you were left in no doubt whatsoever that they were beating the sh*t out of each other. Matches like this are why I always love coming back and checking out SHIMMER DVD’s. The wrestling isn’t always perfect but all of these female athletes are working themselves into the ground trying to entertain you. Both Allison and LuFisto had seriously tough matches at Volume 7 (taped earlier in the day) – so to come back through the curtain and do this is seriously commendable. Danger spent this weekend reminding everyone that, as well as being the face of SHIMMER, she is a really solid worker…and whilst this was a strong debut taping for LuFisto you know she has a LOT more still to show the fans of this company.

Amber O’Neal vs Josie
Before the Volume 7 DVD I really wouldn’t have been looking forward to this one. Josie, whilst not quite on a Lorelei Lee level, is another talent who hasn’t really delivered too much thus far…and Amber seemed to be all gimmick and no substance. But at Volume 7 we saw how much more O’Neal has to offer after a really tough contest against Allison Danger. It was a coming out party for Amber, who now needs to back up her first truly decent SHIMMER match with a credible victory against an opponent who, on paper at least, should be inferior.

Amber wastes no time in pointing out that after pushing Allison Danger to the limit, Josie poses little threat to her. Josie duly spends the first two minutes proving that, in fact, she very much IS a threat by comprehensively out-wrestling O’Neal. It’s not until almost five minutes in that Amber points some offence and even then it’s as the result of a cheap shot and a choke. Most of O’Neal’s offence consists of choking and shrieking, making the next few minutes rather tedious viewing until Josie damn near breaks her in half with a hanging lungblower out of the corner. She shakes off a flurry of elbow strikes from O’Neal to fly off the top into a blockbuster for 2. CHOP DUEL! And they are flogging the tar out of each other! Josie has her spinebuster countered to an STO, giving O’Neal the win at 10:29

Rating - * - I thought this was a pretty poor match. It wasn’t necessarily through a lack of effort, but it felt like they didn’t go out there with an awful lot prepared and didn’t have a lot in the locker to improvise with either. With ten minutes to play with this felt like an awfully long time to watch them trade pretty basic and generic spots. Amber really showed something in her match with Danger at V7, and she is pretty over as a heel with the SHIMMER audience. However, she is nowhere near ready to carry a lesser talent like Josie through a match of this length – particularly when she was visibly ailing and fatigued after her previous match earlier the same day.

Cindy Rogers smirks about her win over Serena Deeb, and is confronted by Allison Danger about her conduct. Rogers says she is doing whatever it takes to get noticed and is warned to ‘do it the right way’ by Allison. That reeks of hypocrisy considering Danger happily exploited LuFisto’s injury in her match

Malia Hosaka vs Nikki Roxx
Much like the Fyfe/Lorelei match earlier, this match again features a member of The Experience looking to bully and beatdown one of the younger, least-experienced members of the SHIMMER roster. Roxx has produced a couple of really strong performances on recent shows and comes into this match hot off the biggest win of her career, having defeated Lacey at Volume 7 in a hell of a match. She’d love to back up that victory by overcoming the most experienced woman on the roster.

Hosaka’s histrionics at the crowd’s love of Nikki is quite entertaining. She tries to bully Roxx, reaching into the same heel box of tricks we’ve seen several workers go to already on this event – including chokes, eye rakes and utilising the ropes. At least Malia brings an additional air of legitimacy by working in a number of submission holds on the mat to demonstrate her superior experience. It also helps that when Nikki does try to mount a comeback she can damn near decapitate her with martial arts inspired spinning heel kicks. Roxx’s left arm starts to become the focal point for Hosaka’s offence but, as Amazing Kong found out on Volume 5, Nikki can be as resilient as anyone on the roster. She survives a bodyscissors and a rolling cradle before somehow countering Malia into a surfboard. Another counter comes moments later as she converts Hosaka’s frankensteiner into a powerbomb, then jack-knife’s over for a pinfall victory at 11:22

Rating - ** - Not the most exciting match to watch (other than Danger/LuFisto this whole undercard hasn’t been particularly outstanding), but it was at least very well focused. Nikki Roxx leaves with another strong victory to back up her win over Lacey, and Hosaka demonstrated that she is a solid, reliable villain which is what earned her a spot on the roster in the first place. I’m not sure they needed more than ten minutes to do this, but I liked the idea that Nikki needed the resilience and toughness she showed against Kong, and the wrestling skill she produced against Lacey in order to grab a win here. She genuinely is improving quickly and it was no wonder that TNA would pick her up by 2007.

Nattie Neidhart vs Ariel
This should be a lot of fun. Nattie debuted in a hell of a match against Sara Del Rey at Volume 7, but came up on the losing side against the thus far undefeated American Angel. Ariel started at the bottom but has slowly worked her way up the card and will know that this is a major opportunity for her to impress against a big name competing at her first set of SHIMMER tapings. Will the experience and pedigree of Neidhart win out over the youthful enthusiasm of the Portuguese Princess?

Nattie makes everything look so easy. Even during her entrance she has more poise and charisma than the vast majority of the roster. Ariel has to work seriously hard just to keep up with her as they exchange some early pleasantries on the canvas. The Hart/Neidhart influence is so obvious with Natalya, who is so crisp and solid with everything she does. Her counters, escapes and transitions are a joy to watch, as are her crisp forearm strikes. Impressively Ariel doesn’t back up an inch and actually knocks her opponent out of the ring with a barrage of firm strikes back in her direction. She even dives into the arms of referee Brian Gory as she seeks sanctuary from Ariel’s onslaught. Sharpshooter blocked by the Portuguese Princess, but she is back on the defensive after being choked against the ropes and repeatedly hammered with elbows. A Michinoku Driver lands, but still Ariel refuses to succumb to the Sharpshooter. Tornado DDT from Ariel, who has taken so much punishment she slumps to the ground alongside her fallen rival. She throws everything she has at Nattie and breaks up every single offensive move with a pinfall to convey her desperation to score a win over such a big name. Dariel COUNTERED TO A GERMAN SUPLEX by Nattie! Sharpshooter locked in! Ariel fights for all she is worth but has no choice but to tap out at 14:32

Rating - *** - The gulf in quality between this and everything else (bar Danger/LuFisto) on this card was striking. Had Nattie stuck around she would quickly have established herself as one the very best workers on the entire roster. It was no surprise that WWE signed her within a few months – everything she’s done across Volumes 7 and 8 has had a slickness and polish that very few of her contemporaries on these shows can manage. Ariel worked hard and held up her end of the bargain, but for the most part this match felt like an exhibition in how Neidhart could get a good match out of just about anyone in SHIMMER. It’s such a shame that it took until Volume 7 to get her through the door.

Tiana Ringer vs Daizee Haze
Like Ariel and Cindy Rogers, Tiana is another woman who has lurked on SHIMMER undercards delivering decent performances and seemingly waiting for her chance to be given something more substantial to do. This is her chance as she steps into the ring with one of SHIMMER’s top stars in Daizee Haze. The Haze has consistently produced top quality bouts during her time in the promotion thus far and will be aware she needs to be defeating women like Ringer if she is to maintain her spot amongst the likes of Del Rey, Martinez, MsChif and Melissa at the top of SHIMMER Women Athletes

Haze was in a war against Cheerleader Melissa at the Volume 7 taping and still looks absolutely exhausted as she comes back through the curtain for this one. Despite this Tiana appears to let her opponent’s popularity get to her, and spends the best part of two minutes arguing with the fans and evading Daizee’s clutches. She even tries running away from Haze, who is surprisingly crisp in her execution of a few lucha sequences when she finally does catch up. DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD lucha armdrag by Ringer! She follows that with a spinebuster for 2 and has left the pro-Daizee crowd audibly stunned with that offensive flurry. A tilta-whirl backbreaker finds the mark as well, and she has Daizee on the mat, dripping in sweat and very much looking like someone who got the hell beaten out of her for more than twenty minutes earlier in the day. Tiana, who had a much easier match against Lorelei Lee, is dominant and looking determined to make a statement at the Haze’s expense. Grounded chickenwing applied, making it hard for her fatigued opponent to catch her breath or build any kind of momentum. Daizee’s desperation is becoming apparent as she goes for flash pins any time she gets a glimmer of hope…but every comeback attempt is roundly squashed by the rampant Tiana. Somehow Haze lands a satellite headscissors and a couple of dropkicks in the corner…but when she tries one more lucha-inspired move she gets COUNTERED TO A FULL NELSON FACEBUSTER! South Palm Beach Driver blocked into an urinage slam by Daizee! She is too slow and too injured to try one of her signature top rope moves…but somehow escapes the clutches of Tiana to land the HEART PUNCH! YAKUZA KICK! Daizee wins! Against improbable odds Haze leaves triumphant at 13:53

Rating - *** - MOTN thus far, and a breakout performance for Tiana Ringer. She looked great here, and needed to as she had to carry a lot of this as Daizee Haze was running on empty before the bell even rang. Haze deserves enormous credit for working a match of this quality considering what she’d already gone through with Melissa and actually, being so tired meant she reigned in some of her spottier and more ambitious tendencies to concentrate on delivering a crisp, solid performance to put her opponent over. Ringer tried to dominate her smaller opponent and used her tiredness to her advantage with a sustained assault on the midsection, making it increasingly difficult for poor Daizee to catch her breath. Tiana dominanted for long periods and ultimately only lost the match because she took her eye off the ball for mere seconds. Haze is established as a main eventer in SHIMMER, and showed her quality to capitalise on one opportunity to hit a finisher and escape with her hand raised.

Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew vs MsChif/Cheerleader Melissa
The big question here is whether Melissa and MsChif are even remotely capable of coexisting as a tag team. They have a mutual enemy in the form of Lacey and Rain, but having only just finished their extremely violent rivalry nobody is sure whether they can get along – even if Melissa has agreed to dress in green, black and chains at her partner’s request. Cheerleader was actually at ringside taunting MsChif during her match with Rain on Volume 7 when Lacey got involved, leading to Chif getting attacked with a chain. Later in the night the Home Wreckers tried to beat down Melissa too – prompting MsChif to make an unlikely save. Do the unlikely partners hate each other or the Home Wreckers more? And are their individual skills considerable enough to overcome the wealth of experience Lacey and Rain have as a duo?

Bryce Remsburg is barely able to keep Melissa away from the Home Wreckers during the intros. Rain tries to jump MsChif from behind but turns and flees as she screams in her face. Lacey slaps Melissa, who B*TCHSLAPS HER RIGHT BACK! She applies a Trailer Hitch and we get some early teamwork between MsChif and Melissa as Chif helps pull Lacey back to the middle of the ring as Rain argues with the official. The MHWC team up on MsChif – taking cheap shots at her and starting to target her back and neck to negate her flexibility. Melissa is forced to watch as the Home Wreckers take turns trying to break Chif in half and at points makes it worse by trying to force her way in giving Lacey and Rain plenty of opportunities to cheat. Her frustration almost boils over as MsChif finally does make a tag, only for the ref to miss it as he is embroiled in an argument with Rain. AVALANCHE DVD BY MSCHIF! That came out of nowhere! Hot tag to Melissa who hits a vicious Curb Stomp on Lacey for 2. LUNGBLOWER COMBO by the Home Wreckers! Implant DDT countered to a back drop driver by Cheerleader! MsChif hangs Lacey in the corner for OBLITERATION! ACID RAIN! RUNNING AIR RAID CRASH BY MELISSA! Lacey nearly steals the win by grabbing MsChif’s tights…pissing Chif off so much she tries to spit Green Mist in Rain’s direction. She ducks it and lifts MsChif into a SPIKE TOMIKAZE COMBO! FOR 2! IMPLANT DDT BY LACEY! MHWC get the win at 15:06

Rating - **** - A pretty generous 4* rating, but I really enjoyed watching this match from start to finish so wanted a rating that reflected that. Although Rain looked a step down in quality from the other three, I thought there was so much to enjoy. Nothing about their act is particularly complex, but watching the Home Wreckers do their thing is such a blast. Lacey is so over as a heel in this company, and their heat segment on MsChif was a lot of fun. Melissa was a malignant, imposing, brooding force – spending most of the time stuck on the apron but occasionally breezing into the ring and mowing down all in her path. They slowly went through the gears, leading to a hell of a final act as all four got to hit some big spots which had the small crowd rocking even after five plus hours of taping. Ultimately I thought this was better than the MHWC vs Del Rey/Martinez tag so rated it accordingly.

Unlike Mercedes Martinez and Sara Del Rey, Melissa and MsChif avoid coming to blows and continue to show begrudging respect towards each other.

Mercedes Martinez vs Sara Del Rey
These two women put SHIMMER on the map with their outstanding time limit draw back at Volume 1. They fought for (almost) twenty minutes and couldn’t be separated in a match which is still considered amongst SHIMMER’s very best. A rematch was inevitable, and was eventually signed for Volume 5. With no time limits to hold them back, the battle raged for almost twenty five minutes before Del Rey was able to score a victory. Sara remains undefeated in SHIMMER singles competition, but does have a blemish on her record. At Volume 6 she and Martinez formed a team to take on the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew – sustaining a loss which each blamed the other for, before coming to blows. Mercedes has been desperate for one last match to prove she can defeat the American Angel and gets her wish in the main event here tonight, almost a year removed from their historic first encounter.

Martinez is so fired up for this…going so far as to attack Del Rey during her entrance! The bell hasn’t even rung yet and these two rivals are engaged in a chaotic brawl on the floor! Both take some rough bumps into the guardrails, and Mercedes also takes a hard spill off the apron following a mafia kick from her opponent. Even once they make it into the ring the competition is still fierce with stiff strikes and snug stretches coming at pace. Sara is more comfortable wrestling than brawling, so controls proceedings on the canvas…prompting Martinez to go strong style on her with some MOUNTED CROSSFACES! Del Rey starts grabbing at the arms of her opponent, partially to start working them in preparation for the Royal Butterfly and partially just to protect herself from the barrage of elbows and punches she is having to endure. PALM STRIKE DUEL ON THE MAT! ELBOW TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD by Sara! Some of these strikes are insane! Martinez utilises a Mexican surfboard as a transition to throttle her opponent in a dragon sleeper then goes back to punishing her with kicks and chops. CRAVAT SUPLEX by Del Rey! SUPERKICK by Mercedes! Del Rey tries something off the top rope, but is caught by Martinez for an ELEVATED NECK DROP GERMAN SUPLEX! The American Angel tries to leave the ring to recover but gets Mercedes in her lap after a rather uncontrolled tope suicida! She rams Del Rey’s ribs into the guardrails repeatedly, going to increasingly desperate lengths to defeat her. Sara is still too strong for the Bull Run and she makes Martinez pay for attempting it – shoving her down and cranking on the arm and shoulder with a modified STF. Martinez takes her turn to attempt a top rope move, and like her opponent before her pays a heavy price for it. Del Rey climbs after her and delivers a top rope fallaway slam RIGHT ONTO HER SHOULDER! Drenched in sweat and barely able to stand, both women stagger out of opposing corners throwing elbows at each other. Running knee by Martinez, into a spinebuster for 2! CAPTURE SUPLEX by Del Rey, dropping her on the shoulder again. KAWADA FOLDING POWERBOMB…MARTINEZ KICKS OUT! Royal Butterfly blocked with a LOW kick! BACK DROP DRIVER BY MERCEDES! NO SOLD! BACK DROP DRIVER AGAIN! SARA WON’T STAY DOWN! A THIRD BACK DROP DRIVER! FOUR BACK DROP DRIVERS! MERCEDES WINS! It’s over at 18:49

Rating - **** - Right up there with the very best SHIMMER matches across the first eight volumes of the series, and even better than their first match in my opinion. From start to finish this was a total war that kept you on the edge of your seat, on a twisting and turning journey where you never felt sure who was going to emerge victorious. Martinez is a strong wrestler but sometimes lacks a little personality. Tonight she was ON, delivering a focused performance – and from the moment she stepped through the curtain left you in no doubt that she was here to end Sara’s undefeated streak. Although Del Rey fought valiantly you always felt the urgency and desire to win was coming from the Latina Sensation. Martinez was the aggressor, the one willing to break the occasional rule, the one willing to do whatever it took (including a potential low blow) to make sure she was leaving with a win. Sara tried to play to her strengths; she wanted to wrestle Martinez, looking to work a body part and keep her rampaging strike assaults to a minimum…but eventually she fell to defeat because she wasn’t able to slow down or injure Mercedes sufficiently before she was beaten senseless herself. If I have ¼ stars I’d probably have bumped up my rating for this even higher. Considering how hard these women worked in their Volume 7 matches, this is nothing short of miraculous.

Neither woman is able to stand for several minutes after the bell. Martinez leaves the victor, but Dave Prazak points out that they are still 1-1 and neither have been able to hit their respective finishers on each other as yet. Could we see Martinez/Del Rey IV somewhere down the line?

Tape Rating - *** - Volume 7 was a far better show for top to bottom consistency. The undercard was, at times, pretty tough to watch on this DVD. The problem with these early SHIMMER shows is that the gap between the top names and the undercard workers is MASSIVE. The likes of Nattie Neidhart, Lacey, Cheerleader Melissa and Sara Del Rey make things look so easy, whilst the likes of Lorelei Lee, Josie (and quite a few others) seem on the brink of botching things almost constantly. Thankfully once you get through the lesser workers (broken up with a decent Danger/LuFisto brawl) the top half of this card is really good. Natalya said goodbye with a performance so finely honed you were in no doubt that she was ready for the WWE deal which would soon be coming her way. Daizee Haze and Tiana Ringer had a cracking little wrestling match which will surprise a lot of people…and the two main events are well worth seeing. Del Rey/Martinez III was the best of their trilogy and easily a Top 10 Match in SHIMMER history thus far. I believe Roku users have access to these early SHIMMER Volumes, and whilst I won’t say that this is the best one available, or the one you should be checking out first – the final 90 minutes of this DVD really tell you what this promotion is all about. Tough, talented women working insanely hard to present women’s professional wrestling as an entertaining, credible and viable product. As usual with SHIMMER it wasn’t all perfect, but you don’t half come away respecting these amazing performers.

Top 3 Matches
3) Daizee Haze vs Tiana Ringer (***)
2) Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew vs MsChif/Cheerleader Melissa (****)
1) Mercedes Martinez vs Sara Del Rey (****)

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