SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 11 – 1st June 2007
After almost two years of existence, this weekend SHIMMER finally crowns their first ever champion. We have a 16-woman, two day tournament ahead of us, with the last woman standing winning the title. As stacked as the line-up is, you can’t help but feel a little bit of sympathy for Dave Prazak as he prepared to book this. I’m sure in his mind he would have liked to have made a real impact but putting together the highest standard tournament field he possibly could…but he has been seriously handicapped by what talent he has (or more specifically, HASN’T) got available this weekend. Clearly he would have liked Amazing Kong to be here – but she isn’t. Clearly he’d like it if LuFisto, Rebecca Knox and Mercedes Martinez (the latter two being two of SHIMMER’s biggest stars thus far) weren’t on the injured list. I’m sure he’d have liked to have access to the likes of Nattie Neidhart or Nikita (or even Beth Phoenix) who all had cameo appearances at a taping before being snapped up by the WWE. And below women of that standard, it really would have helped him if a car accident hadn’t meant Serena Deeb missed this show…or if Tiana Ringer hadn’t decided to take a hiatus from wrestling. Sadly for poor DP – the line-up of who’s NOT here this weekend is almost stronger than his tournament, which is a real shame. BUT, lets focus on the positives – as there are plenty of high quality competitors…and for the first time, SHIMMER trials a two day taping, whereby we tape Volume 11 tonight, then Volumes 12 & 13 (including the conclusion of the tournament) tomorrow. Plenty of SHIMMER stalwarts are involved – with Sara Del Rey, MsChif, Allison Danger, Daizee Haze, Lacey, Cheerleader Melissa, Rain and Nikki Roxx among the biggest names. And despite all the drop-outs there is still the ‘international mystery wildcard’ making her SHIMMER debut which plenty are excited about – and she is definitely worth the wait. After finding it almost impossible to get my hands on anything out of print after Volume 10 (which I already owned), I’ve waited a LONG time to check this tournament out. I’m hoping it’s well worth it! Dave Prazak and Allison Danger will call all the action, taped in Berwyn, IL.
SIDENOTE – Every match tonight is a tournament match, with the first round and quarter finals taking place tonight, followed by the semi-finals and final tomorrow at Volume 12.
Malia Hosaka vs Allison Danger
Why on earth did they send Malia through the curtain first? Danger has killer entrance music and is basically the face of SHIMMER anyway, so would be the perfect woman to send out at the very start of the weekend when they crown their first champion. Although she may be the more popular of the two, Allison is far from guaranteed a spot in the next round as Hosaka is one of the toughest women on the roster and has a pretty formidable record over the first ten shows.
As usual, Hosaka is hyped up by Prazak as having over twenty years of experience…and tries to use that to her advantage by trying to pick on Danger’s leg. Alli tries to throw some chops in the corner but is already hobbling and actually runs straight into Malia’s lethal spinning heel kick. Her attack on the leg is nothing fancy but it works well – and Danger helps her out by selling it with the most extreme limp in wrestling history. She also uses her knee for a number of her signature moves so Hosaka is also negating a number of the biggest weapons in her arsenal with this approach. At last she makes an error as she misses an attempted springboard crossbody block and for the first time Allison is able to land a few strikes (even though she can barely walk). She hits the Lovelace Choker, but collapses holding her bad knee. Shimmering Warlock attempted…BUT THE KNEE GIVES WAY! That looked amazing! Malia capitalises with a Figure 4 Leglock, and as Danger collapses to the mat in pain her shoulders are counted down for three. The crowd HATES that decision, but it’s Hosaka that advances at 09:21
Rating - ** - The standard match one has come to expect out of a member of The Experience. I mildly prefer Hosaka to Fyfe, and they are both much better when they get to wrestle some of the bigger hitters on the roster rather than getting stuck with the inexperienced dregs. Danger’s sell on her leg injury was insanely good and pretty much made this opening contest. The finish was a really flat way to get the tournament started though. I don’t even mind Allison jobbing in the first round – but she shouldn’t be using clean to Malia Hosaka. At least have her enemy Cindy Rogers cost her the match or something.
Rebecca Bayless is brought to the ring, perhaps to cheer everyone up after Danger’s elimination. She introduces SHIMMER debutant Alicia to the audience. Her gimmick is that she is a Jersey girl, and it’s quickly apparent that this segment is only here to stall for time in the vein hope that Serena Deeb might make it out of her wrecked car and to the building in time to compete (she didn’t). Alicia’s contribution is to complain about not being booked on the first ten SHIMMER shows…
Portia Perez vs Daizee Haze
This is a major opportunity for Portia in this battle between two of the more diminutive figures on the roster. She has shown with her ring work and also revealed a pronounced mean streak by using an illegal weapon to win her match at Volume 9. Can she make the step up to Daizee Haze, who is one SHIMMER’s top stars and will have aspirations of winning the whole tournament…assuming she has recovered from the utter beating she took from Amazing Kong at V10.
Perez is more interested in promoting herself than in shaking Haze’s hand. She is aware enough to block an early Heart Punch attempt but doesn’t look particularly equipped to trade holds with her. Deciding striking is a better bet, she blasts Daizee with a knee strike in the corner and follows it with a crunching dropkick for 2. These two have quite a neat dynamic with the Haze looking a more complete wrestler, but Portia continually putting herself in the ascendancy almost entirely through aggression and tenacity. Heart Punch countered to a snug elbow strike, followed by the School’s Out for 2! Daizee recovers with the Heart Punch/Mind Trip combo to advance at 05:45
Rating - ** - A fun, snappy little match that didn’t outstay its welcome and actually could have gone longer without losing the crowd at all. Portia is growing on me with every show. I really like her pluck, she has a big personality and plenty of natural physical charisma which helps her connect with the audience. Obviously this tournament wasn’t her time but it’s becoming increasingly clear that she has a bright future. Daizee didn’t get out of first gear here, but kept plenty in the tank for the latter stages of the tournament. She faces Malia Hosaka in the next round.
Cindy Rogers vs Sara Del Rey
I’d argue that this one is the pick of the First Round matches. With only one singles loss in SHIMMER so far, and in the absence of the likes of Amazing Kong and Mercedes Martinez, Del Rey is clearly the red hot favourite to win the whole thing. But her first opponent is extremely dangerous, and comes in with momentum having both screwed over, then beaten, Allison Danger at the last set of tapings. Rogers is a talented and rapidly-improving athlete who will push Sara to the limit…
A fan gives Sara an actual ‘Death Rey’ on her way to the ring which is awesome. As you might expect, both ladies are intent on working the mat from the outset. For Rogers it is a point of principle since she wants to prove she is on the same level as Sara, so it’s her that makes most of the offensive running. It visibly works since Del Rey abandons the mat work and instead tries to kick Cindy’s head off. Just when the American Angel looks set to establish dominance against her tag partner (Allison Danger)’s main rival Rogers rakes an eye…and delivers a savage kick to the arm as SDR gropes blindly in the aftermath. She clutches onto a shortarm scissors and clings on with such ferocity that Sara has to literally muscle her off the mat and into a powerbomb just to break it. Her only reward for that is a Rings Of Saturn instead! More power from Del Rey who muscles up from the mat and doles out a flurry of running mafia kicks. She tries a bridging fallaway slam, but can’t maintain it because her arm is in rough shape. Cindy retaliates by lunging off the second rope into a bulldog – which also sees her land flush on Del Rey’s shoulder too. STRAIGHT JACKET GERMAN BY SARA! Even as she struggles with her grip thanks to the bad arm, she still manages to cling on and win the match at 10:44
Rating - *** - Cindy should be really proud of her last two SHIMMER matches. Neither have been show-stealing classics, but they’ve both been robust, solid, competitive, believable and absolutely perfect for their spot on the card. These two have greatly compatible styles and I could have watched them work for much longer. Rogers looked superb trying to out-wrestle the apparent favourite for the title, Del Rey’s subtle selling on her arm was great too. The downside of booking this tournament right after Cindy’s big turn is that jobbing here immediately stunts some of the momentum she gained from the last two volumes. That’s really my only negative comment…
Ariel vs Alicia
Originally this was going to be Serena Deeb’s spot in the tournament, but she didn’t make it in time so the opportunistic Alicia (who had been flown in to debut at the 12/13 tapings tomorrow) pounces to snatch her spot. Obviously Alicia is something of an unknown to many SHIMMER fans, but has proclaimed to be one of the most dominant female performers on the east coast. She will have designs on making a big splash in her first match at the expense of the Portuguese Princess.
Alicia jumps Ariel before the bell. Without wanting to be rude, it doesn’t immediately look like Alicia is going to add any real quality to the roster – her strikes look like ass. I’m not sure she is impressing Prazak or Danger much either, since they have spent the whole match talking about Serena Deeb instead. I look down at my stopwatch and realise that we are almost four minutes into this match and I’m struggling to remember a single offensive move Alicia has actually done. She does deliver a couple of Yakuza Kick’s in the corner which look even more like a human anus than those earlier strikes I was talking about did. Alicia eventually gets the upset after an A-Bomb and a handful of tights at 06:14
Rating - DUD - I’m not sure I’m giving this the DUD treatment because it was all that terrible (it wasn’t great)…but more because it was just so utterly dull to get through. Compare the lethargy, lack of energy and lack of FIGHT in this match compared to the Daizee/Portia match from earlier. Both got similar time allowances, but they couldn’t have been more different. Ariel is in her comfort zone filling out SHIMMER undercards, and is just fine in that role. I don’t quite see what Alicia brings to the table, other than being another blonde, ‘diva’ style cheating heel…except she doesn’t appear to be able to work at all. I’ll reserve judgment but this wasn’t a strong first impression.
Lexie Fyfe vs MsChif
This is a rematch from Volume 3, where we saw Lexie get a rare win over MsChif – albeit with an ample amount of help from MsChif’s then-rival Cheerleader Melissa. Fyfe is experienced campaigner and will be well prepared for the screaming, intensity and flexibility of her opponent this evening. Will that be enough to get her a repeat win, or can MsChif avenge that loss and advance to the quarters?
Daffney is in MsChif’s corner once again. Is it just me that doesn’t get what she is supposed to add to MsChif’s act? It turns out that, even with years of experience, Fyfe is still thrown off her game by Chif’s deranged screams…but does eventually impose herself on proceedings by countering an octopus stretch into an emphatic sidewalk slam. She tries to snap Ms’ rubber spine – bending her almost in half with a Mexican surfboard then a Boston crab. I’ll go ahead and say it: Daffney is kind of annoying. Since we’ve had almost five minutes of utter dominance by Lexie, Daff has had plenty of time to shriek her encouragement. MsChif goes for a baseball slide, only for Fyfe to block it with forearms to the bad back…before she swings her CHEST FIRST over the guardrails! Attitude Adjuster almost finishes Chif off but she counters it at the last with the Gateway To Annihilation to leave them both on the canvas. Standing moonsault missed by Ms, further injuring her midsection. It leaves her clinging to the ropes to desperately block the AA again. DESECRATOR! MsChif gets a hard-fought win at 08:22
Rating - ** - If you can ignore Daffney, this was actually a pretty decent match. None of these first round matches have had enough time to become particularly significant, but Fyfe did a proficient job working the back, MsChif sold it well and the sudden nature of the finish meant both women leave the match looking pretty decent. Interestingly, we now have two of the front runners (Del Rey and MsChif) carrying potential injuries into the next round later tonight…
Cheerleader Melissa vs Sarah Stock
Stock, also known as ‘Dark Angel’, is the ‘international mystery wildcard’ entrant into the tournament, making her debut at these tapings. Canadian by birth, she now lives in Mexico and is a regular for the CMLL promotion. You might also recognise her as Sarita of the TNA Knockouts division too. She is a big name import and a welcome boost to the roster considering it’s rather depleted state for these shows. Melissa actually volunteered to face the ‘international wildcard’ for the record. She backs herself as one of the top female workers in the world and wanted to test herself against a much-hyped debutant without even knowing who she’d actually be facing.
Melissa doesn’t back down from a major international star…and Stock doesn’t back down either as she pounds her with a flurry of slaps. It takes less than thirty seconds for the fans to realise that Sarah is on another level to Alicia as a debuting talent and that this oozes quality. SLINGSHOT SOMERSAULT lucha armdrag by Stock! PALM STRIKES BY MELISSA! It seems like Cheerleader’s tactic is to bully and intimidate her opponent – and backs that up by grinding her face against the canvas. It’s too early for the Air Raid Crash though and Dark Angel clocks her with a shortarm clothesline then an explosive running dropkick. RUNNING CANNONBALL OFF THE APRON! GERMAN SUPLEX BY MELISSA for 2! They trade kicks and neither back down! Kudoh Driver COUNTERED TO A VICTORY ROLL! STOCK WINS! Melissa is eliminated, Sarah advances at 08:22
Rating - *** - A hell of a debut for Stock. It was clear in mere seconds that this woman was an elite level performer and very much at home amongst the very best workers in SHIMMER. On the one hand, it is a shame that they cut a great worker like Melissa from the tournament in the first round (when the likes of Alicia and Malia Hosaka advanced)…but on the other she was the perfect opponent for Sarah. These two had amazing chemistry, with Melissa experienced and sturdy enough to enable Stock to bust out some of her big spots – and of course totally at home beating the piss out of an opponent. This was a step up from everything else on the show so far. Had they had a couple more minutes just to build up a little more drama I could easily have gone up to 4* on my ranking. Had they got 15-20, maybe even 20+ minutes I feel like these two could have had one of the best matches in the company so far…the quality was THAT high.
SIDENOTE – When Hosaka eliminated Danger and when Alicia got past Ariel there were audible groans of disappointment from the Berwyn fans. Both results would be considered upsets, and the crowd were audibly disappointed that their favourites hadn’t advanced. Given her history in the promotion you do have to consider Melissa’s first round elimination an upset – but the response was drastically different here. The audience knew they’d seen something extremely good, so showed respect and applauded both women. That was the strength of Sarah's performance...
Lacey vs Eden Black
Our next first round match is again something of an international challenge, as Lacey squares off with British competitor Eden Black. It could also be considered a bit of a grudge match given that Black marked her debut in SHIMMER with a victory over Lacey’s fellow Minnesota Home Wrecker, Rain. Having seen what Eden can do in that one, Lacey will be well aware of the threat the English woman poses and will know she has to be at her best if she wants to advance.
Although she still looks like she downed an entire crate of Red Bull before her match, Black already looks more focused than she did at the last tapings. Her initial takedowns and lock-ups with Lacey are crisp, on point and entirely free of the sloppiness that riddled her first couple of matches. Jezebel ignores all of Lacey’s usual antics to take the fight to her at every turn – even absorbing a monkey flip from the SHIMMER veteran to get back up and pound on her with elbows and kicks. HEAD DROP satellite headscissors (yeah, back to being sort of sloppy) nearly cripples Lacey…and also proves too much for the Minnesotan to take. She tries to slow the pace and keep Black grounded, and starting to focus on the back as she likes to do. A wheelbarrow gourdbuster thwarts one of Eden’s signature high octane moves in its tracks, and a few moments after that we see an example of just how much damage Lacey has done as Black hits a northern lights suplex but collapses as she tries to maintain a bridge. She does follow it with a running dropkick to the exposed back and neck of Lacey for 2 though! Blaxploitation blocked! Garden Of Eden blocked too! An awesome counter/counter sequence there, and it ends with Black at last locking in the GARDEN OF EDEN! Lacey escapes by putting her opponent onto her shoulders for a pin. Bajingo Driver blocked…Implant DDT blocked…BAJINGO DRIVER! She can’t follow up and Lacey wins with the Implant DDT at 10:56
Rating - *** - Black’s best match so far in SHIMMER by quite a distance. I’ll give her all the credit for that as well. It would be easy for me to write it off as Lacey carrying her but Eden really held up her end of the deal. It felt like she’d analysed what she did right and what she did wrong at Volumes 9 and 10 – and came back this time with a markedly improved showing. Her energy and passion were still there but she stopped trying so much, reigned in some of her more ambitious spots and just stock to a crisp and well-executed back and forth wrestling match with one of the most entertaining wrestlers in SHIMMER. Lacey, as ever, had the crowd in the palm of her hand and she marshalled this one well. For me Eden’s improvement was the real story here however.
Nikki Roxx vs Rain
The first round of the tournament is nearly complete, with just this one left to complete the Quarter Final field. Interestingly, after Lacey’s victory, it means that a win for Rain here would mean we get to see the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew collide in the Quarters. Nikki will have something to say about that of course. She was on a formidable winning streak which took her from the undercards into the Volume 10 main event where she put in a spirited performance despite eventually losing to Sara Del Rey. Can she put that disappointment behind her, rebound strongly and prove once again that she belongs amongst the very best in SHIMMER with a push into the latter stages of the title tournament?
Rain appears particularly feisty this evening, and definitely looks to have dropped a little weight (as she makes a point of emphasising to ring announcer Joey Eastman). Despite that, she is soon left clutching the ropes for sanctuary after Roxx hits an early Samoan drop. Dave Prazak points out that Rain/Nikki was the first match on Volume 3 to further make the point that Nikki has really climbed from the bottom to become an accepted top level female competitor. Rain uses a variety of knee strikes (along with a few chokes and shortcuts along the way) to fight back into contention…then dials up the cheating on the canvas as she works a camel clutch which also features fish hooking, nose raking, eye gouges and hair pulling! Roxx is so disorientated she doesn’t get anywhere near her opponent in an attempted crossbody block and barely has enough in her locker to block the Acid Rain. TORNADO LUNGBLOWER gets Rain a 2! Still Nikki blocks the Rain Drop…BARBIE CRUSHER! It’s a popular victory for Roxx – who advances to the Quarter Finals at 08:09
Rating - ** - Although far from the best match in the tournament so far, I thought this did a sound job of entertaining the crowd whilst still allowing Nikki to keep plenty in the tank for another match later tonight. Rain also produced one of her more eye-catching SHIMMER singles performances to date too.
The QF’s are set now – with Hosaka/Haze, Del Rey/Alicia, MsChif/Stock and Lacey/Roxx still to come in the show this evening.
INTERMISSION – Rebecca Bayless interviews Serena Deeb in the middle of the ring, having now made it to the building after being in a car wreck earlier in the day. She confirms she isn’t injured and will be in action at the tapings tomorrow.
Malia Hosaka vs Daizee Haze
It is tough to ever really consider Daizee the ‘favourite’ in a match due to her diminutive stature, and it’s even harder when you consider the extensive experience Hosaka boasts. But Haze remains one of the premier athletes in the company, and in dusting off Portia Perez earlier this evening in less than six minutes she is considerably fresher than Malia (who had a much tougher match against Allison Danger). Will the youth and freshness of Daizee be enough to overcome Hosaka’s wisdom and ingenuity – on a night when Malia has already caused one major upset?
Hosaka gets more heat than usual, presumably because people are pissed off that she eliminated Allison. Looking to repeat her success from Round One, she takes Daizee straight to the mat but is surprised to find her smaller opponent perfectly equipped to duel with her down there. I like that everything Haze does is geared around winning; every a hold a submission and every impact manoeuvre followed up with a pinfall attempt. Malia has no choice but to dig her fingers into Daizee’s eyes to suppress her flower powered fire. She concentrates on making it as hard as possible for Haze to breathe, then goes back to the Figure 4 which took her to victory over Danger earlier in the night. It means that the Haze walks with a pronounced limp and looks permanently winded after taking countless blows to her throat and chest. Weirdly she tries to make her comeback with a Greco-Roman knucklelock, which makes no sense at all and serves only as an overly-contrived way to get into her typical mounted facebuster spot. The Heart Punch finishes it and gives Daizee a win at 09:00
Rating - * - This felt rather flat. Fan fatigue had started to set in, with the audience being as disruptive in this as I’ve ever seen a SHIMMER audience. Most of it was still channelled in an anti-Hosaka direction so it wasn’t the end of the world, but there were points when it became quite distracting. There also wasn’t a whole lot of substance to this either. Malia Hosaka’s performance made a lot of sense – she used a strategy which saw her to victory in the first round, combined with bullying tactics to expose Haze’s lack of size. Unfortunately the logic of her work didn’t translate to anything exciting, and there wasn’t a whole lot coming back her way. She basically dominated the match for seven minutes, then lost to one of the worst babyface comeback sequences I’ve ever seen. I also couldn’t escape the feeling that I’d much rather have been watching Haze/Danger – a battle of the frontline Women Of Honor would really have added some prestige that this tournament is a little lacking in.
Alicia vs Sara Del Rey
I know poor Prazak was forced into a corner with Serena’s accident, but this audience really isn’t interested in seeing Alicia for a third time this evening. She forced her way into the tournament at the eleventh hour and caused a significant upset in her debut match by overcoming Ariel. Without wishing to demean the Portuguese Princess, Sara Del Rey will be an entirely different kettle of fish. Does Alicia have the tools in her locker to threaten the formidable American Angel?
Alicia goes someway towards winning the Berwyn crowd back by bumping and selling for an imaginary blast from Sara’s new toy Death Rey. MAFIA KICK BY SARA! That was so emphatic Alicia actually tries to hide under the guardrails to prevent any further damage. It’s a mauling, with Del Rey ignoring Alicia’s offence and beating her all over ringside. It’s so one-sided that Allison Danger ponders whether we might witness an actual, quite literal, ‘death match’ – in that Alicia is going to die. Sara even has time to politely ask fans not to do the ‘you’re gonna get your f*cking head kicked in’ chant because this is a ‘family show’. Alicia definitely is getting her f*cking head kicked in though. She looks thoroughly miserable as SDR drills her into the canvas with a Samoan drop for 2. She gets in pretty much nothing for eight minutes before popping from nowhere to hit the Bergen County Driver, right into the A-Bomb. Hitting both her finishes in succession almost works…but Sara essentially muscles her right into the Royal Butterfly anyway. Alicia is put out of her misery at 08:59
Rating - ** - This was far too long, but after a long night of wrestling and a whole lot of matches starting to blur together – it did at least feel fresh and different. Alicia was a sport and took a hell of a beating; in fact receiving such an ass kicking that it almost became a comedy match. Del Rey looked as charismatic and entertaining as she has done at any point throughout her SHIMMER career thus far here too. I certainly enjoyed it more than the Haze/Hosaka QF.
Sarah Stock vs MsChif
The Dark Angel has made a bigger impact than anyone else in this tournament thus far. She looked superb in her debut and took out a top tier competitor (Cheerleader Melissa) in Round One. It only gets tougher for her as now, just an hour or so later, she faces Melissa’s rival-turned-tag-partner MsChif. Chif’s first round encounter with Lexie Fyfe probably wasn’t as draining as Stock/Melissa and, unlike Melissa, MsChif does at least have the benefit of knowing who her opponent is. Can Sarah pull off another win and complete the most stunning of debut nights?
Sarah tries to control MsChif from the bell, but is dismissed by Chif who grounds her with a spectacular hurricanrana then dives on top with a standing moonsault. Stock targets the braced left knee of MsChif. That clearly shakes Ms up as she violently fights up from the mat, double stomping Sarah into the turnbuckles with Daffney hopping around on the floor screaming in delight. It’s quite an intimidating sight but doesn’t shake the Dark Angel who dusts it off, gives Chif a backbreaker before going right back to her attack on the knee. Inverted Crab applied, and it’s nearly all over for the wounded SHIMMER stalwart. ROPE RUN FLYING CROSSBODY BY STOCK! But MsChif rolls through the impact and nearly steals a win! LA REIENERA…countered to a roll-up…TIGER DRIVER BY STOCK! She defeats another SHIMMER main event star at 09:09
Rating - *** - Stock/Melissa was a better match, but I thought this one packed in some real moments of drama. Sarah continues to make an incredible impression with her abilities, albeit even she struggled at times to get to grips with the unorthodox style of MsChif. I thought the way Sarah controlled proceedings, leaving Chif to get increasingly injured/aggravated was really cool. MsChif is over enough in SHIMMER and if the plan wasn’t to put the belt on her this weekend, this was the perfect use for her. She’ll still have credibility, but taking a beating like this from Stock immediately establishes the Dark Angel as an elite athlete. Round One was about debuting Sarah in spectacular fashion, and this one was about making sure the fans are aware how big a deal she is. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow night when she is let off the leash and allowed to go full throttle with Sara Del Rey in their semi-final.
Lacey vs Nikki Roxx
This is our main event and concluding QF round match, with the winner advancing to face Daizee Haze tomorrow afternoon. It is also a rematch from Volume 7, which was a hell of a match and saw Roxx score something of an upset over Lacey – her SHIMMER win to date. Lacey will be desperate to avenge that loss, keen to avenge Rain’s loss to Nikki earlier in the show, and motivated to assume her place amongst the very best workers in the company. At Volume 10 we saw Roxx compete in her first ever SHIMMER main event. Now here she is competing in a second main event in succession and she’ll be looking to eradicate any of the naïve errors and hiccups that cost her so dearly against the Death Rey at V10.
The ‘Nikki…ROXX’ thing is so over now that Joey Eastman doesn’t even need to finish introducing her because the crowd do it for him. Even Lacey seems rattled by the popularity of her opponent. Usually one would expect her to dominate an opponent of lesser experience but she finds herself on the receiving end of some heavy duty Roxx offence. She eventually has to take the match to the floor to kill Nikki’s momentum – roughing her back up against the side of the ring. This is possibly the worst SHIMMER crowd thus far, with a big portion yelling absolute sh*t and totally ignoring Lacey’s work on Roxx’s back. We don’t get much fancy offence from her, instead she opts to punish Nikki with some sick kicks to the ribs and spine…before applying a camel clutch with plenty of extra hair pulling and fish hooking. BUBBA BOMB nailed and she holds onto it as well to lock in a grounded full nelson. If anything Roxx is taking more of a beating in her second main event than she did in her first. Her futile attempt at a comeback is literally throttled out of her as Lacey drags her down with a cobra clutch backbreaker for 2. This is a clinic from Lacey now as she picks apart her opponent with ease. Not everything is legal but it is extremely punishing, leaving Roxx clinging on for dear life in the contest. She hits a stranglehold neckbreaker, floating it straight into a modified version of Austin Aries’ Last Chancery. Nikki refuses to quit and battles out of the hold with a spinebuster. Barbie Crusher locked…BIMBO PLANT INSTEAD! Lacey kicks out! Still the Barbie Crusher is blocked, then countered into the IMPLANT DDT! Lacey advances to the semi-finals at 15:11
Rating - *** - One of my favourite matches of the evening, but I felt fatigue and a poor crowd both contributed to making this one inferior to their first match. I know I praise her often, but it has to be said that Lacey was pretty terrific here. She ignored the crowd and delivered a masterful demonstration in how to work a body part, and that story stayed relevant for the duration of the match as it left Roxx unable to execute the Barbie Crusher then additionally vulnerable to Lacey’s Implant DDT. I felt that they really needed another five minutes or so to flesh out this story though. Where were Nikki’s hope spots? In fact, where was her babyface comeback too? The middle portion of this match was pretty strong, but ultimately hampered by a slow start and a conclusion which came far too suddenly.
Tape Rating - ** - To focus on the positives, the tournament format meant we got to see all of SHIMMER’s big guns work twice tonight, and it meant that the amount of time the inferior talents got was significantly reduced. This is certainly another SHIMMER show which could be accused of having a skippable undercard but on the whole the quality is pretty consistent. Del Rey/Rogers, Stock Melissa, Lacey/Black, Stock/MsChif and Lacey/Roxx were all extremely solid matches well worth checking out. In particular, Sarah Stock’s explosive entrance into SHIMMER was a lot of fun. She didn’t look out of place at all and immediately assumed a spot amongst the premier talents on the roster. The show is, however, missing a real hook, outstanding match or signature moment. With plenty of people having to work twice tonight, plus two shows to work tomorrow as well, you always got the sense that most of the girls were working with the handbrake on and holding back for another day of taping. Nevertheless, I’d still consider this a solid night of wrestling and worth digging out if you are a SHIMMER aficionado. It’s probably worth having your remote handy to skip a few chapters (i.e. any time Alicia is on screen). Fingers crossed that these talented women go all out for Volumes 12 & 13 tomorrow.
Top 3 Matches
3) Sara Del Rey vs Cindy Rogers (***)
2) Lacey vs Nikki Roxx (***)
1) Sarah Stock vs Cheerleader Melissa (***)