Shimmer Tapings - 2 & 3 May - (Volumes 23, 24, 25 & 26)

[TheWho87]

Night One
During the SPARKLE pre-show, we had an AAW match, as Silas Young and Dan Lawrence defeated Jordan McEntyre and Knight Wagner. Also, Rachel Summerlynn and Rayna Von Toss, the first graduate of the SHIMMER Wrestling School, defeated Kimberly Kash and Sassy Stephie. To be blunt, Rayna still needs A LOT of work, and while the other three were respectable, you knew why there were on the pre-show.

Volume 23:

A parking lot report saw the arrival of Annie Social, who said she had some scouting to do, basically confirming her as one of two to receive a manager's license.

1. Nikki Roxx defeated Cat Power with the Barbie Crusher (Voodoo Drop). During the ring introduction, several fans threw yard into the ring, like one would do with streamers, as was planned on the SHIMMER forum. A decent opener, nothing of note really happened.

2. Amber O'Neal defeated Tenille with the trademark backslide. Tenille is an Australian who was the second female to graduate from Lance Storm's academy. Amber was her usual underated self, playing the diva character to a T. By the way, she's now billed from "heaven". Tenille didn't do anything to really stand out, and actually botched the backslide finish, leading to her getting several hard slaps on the stomach from Amber.

3. Daffney defeated Melanie Cruise. A decent outing. During the match, Annie Social came out to take notes, and after Cruise lost, she helped her to the back, confirming her alligence.

4. Sara Del Rey defeated Madison Eagles with the Royal Butterfly Slam. A very nice competive match, which saw Eagles hold up her end against the more powerful Del Rey.

5. LuFisto defeated Kellie Skater with a burning hammer. Skater is another Australian who more or less had a big mouth. I felt she looked good tonight. However, she was basically squashed here by LuFisto, who now has black hair.

6. Nicole Matthews and Daizee Haze fought to a 20-minute time-limit draw. Another match worth seeing. Good wrestling, several high risk spots .The ending saw the two continuly reverse the small package, rolling around in a circle, until the bell rang. The ref offered a five-minute overtime, but Nicole didn't want to do it.

7. Amazing Kong defeated Mercedes Martinez with an Amazing Bomb. A somewhat different Kong match, as Martinez was able to knock Kong down reltively quickly. Martinez also has some of the toughest chops I've ever seen, making this one incredibly stiff match.

Next was an Allison Danger interview, promoting the Street Fight with Portia Perez for Volume 24. Pretty good promo, which was obviously interupted by Perez, who of course was eating a cookie. The two had a brawl that caused the lockerroom to empty out in order to seperate them.

8. Ashley Lane and Nevaeh defeated the International Home Wrecking Crew of Rain and Jetta two falls to one to retain the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship. Rain and Jetta wore facemasks all weekend, hoping they wouldn't catch the swine flu. The IWHC won the first fall early on when Lacey came out to make her return and reversed a small package in the ring. She had the second of two new manager cards. Lacey was her usual self this weekend, talking loudly and screaming. I believe the champs hit a quick roll up for the second fall. In the end, the IWHC knocked out Nevaeh with a gold necklace, getting the pin, and briefly winning the titles. However, others referees came out, explained what happened, and ordered a restart, which the Ohio Girls instantly won with I believe their finisher.

9. Wesna Busic defeated Cheerleader Melissa with the CB4 Driver. This was billed as "The Rivlary comes to Berwyn." These two have beat the holy hell out of each other throughout the world. I admit that I was a little disappointed with this match at first, as it wasn't the hardcore brawl I had come to expect. That said, it was a good match with a lot of hard hits, submissions, and counters. Annie Social came out again and seemingly distracted Melissa at times, which I think eventually led to her getting beat. Afterward, Wesna turned heel, officially aligning with Annie, and mouthed off to the fans, including a one-finger salute.

10. MsChif defeated Serena Deeb with the Desecrator to retain the SHIMMER Championship. Deeb had an extended introduction, as we saw highlights of her becoming a main eventer, which directly lead to her coming out. Once again, so good wrestling, and a couple brawls on the outside. And while I feel the loss was never in doubt, Deeb showed enough to firmly establish herself as a main eventer.

Post-match is where things got interesting. Del Rey and Kong both came out, saying they wanted their title shot, and took out MsChif together, until she was saved by her friend and occasional partner, Cheerleader Melissa.

Intermission was what it normally was.... BUY BUY BUY! Most notably, Daffney was selling the hair that Ashley Lane cut off her from a recent episode of Impact for $15. Someone bought it for $10.

Volume 24:

An opening backstage promo saw the new alliance of Sara Del Rey and Amazing Kong. They still want their title match, and annoucned their bond over a common enemy of MsChif. The main event will be a tag team match of Del Rey/Kong vs. MsChif/Melissa.

1. Kellie Skater defeated Jessie McKay. Allright match, nothing much. Jessie was very over with the crowd, getting several Jessie chants throughout the night.

2. The Experience (Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka) defeated Rayna Von Tosh & Tenille. Yikes, this ended up being bowling shoe ugly. Blown spots a plently, and the two rookies got mentally lost several times. Not good at all.

3. Jennifer Blake defeated Amber O'Neal. As I've said, Blake's explosive presence will hopefully make her a top performer once she gets a few more years in. Solid match.

I forgot the exact moment it occured, but a backstage promo with the Canadian Ninjas was shown. Portia was initially threatening Allison with a plastic bat, which Nicole pointed out, but then brought out a hockey stick. Good promo.

4. Mercedes Martinez defeated Madison Eagles with the fisherman buster. Another good showing. Afterward, Mercedes put over Madison as a future top star, and thanking SHIMMER for all the international talent she's had the chance to compete against.

5. International Home Wrecking Crew at Rain and Jetta (with Lacey) defeated "Pretty Bitchin'" of Nikki Roxx and Ariel. Solid, solid work from all five. Jetta made Ariel submit to her finisher, a Backstaber into submission.

6. Serena Deeb defeated Cat Power with a spear. I was quite disappointed to see Deeb so far back down the card, but with most of the main event talent already in, or announced for matches, there was no one else to work with. Another good match.

Inring interview with Ashley Lane and Nevaeh. It was announced that the winning team in the main event tonight would face them for the tag team titles on Volume 25. The two basically played up their underdog characters, saying they didn't fear either of them.

7. Daizee Haze defeated Nicole Matthews. Very disappointing. They worked hard, but they just didn't click this time around, as there were several blown spots. Portiz Perez ran out to double team Daizee, which was followed by Allison Danger coming out, leading to our next match.

8. Portia Perez defeated Allison Danger in a street fight. Both were in street clothes. Weapons were primarly used, including a cookie pan with KILL spraypainted on it, a hockey stick, and a chair. Portia's offense was great, but Allison should have stayed at home. I understand they wanted to get this match in before another extended taping break, but Allison should not have wrestled this weekend, as she was rusty, and was carrying some extra weight from the pregency. Portia caused Allison to tap or passout from a choke with a belt. Afterward, Nicole returned for a double team, until another save from Daizee.

9. Wesna Busic (with Annie Social) defeated LuFisto CB4 driver. A rematch from the October taping. I don't think it was as good as that one, but solid nonetheless. There was an interesting spot where LuFisto was going to dive to Wesna on the floor, but due to some miscommunication, referee Andy Long got in the way, messing up the dive. It didn't lead to the finish, but he became one of the more hated men in Berwyn on Sunday, jokingly of course.

10. Sara Del Rey and Amazing Kong defeated MsChif and Cheerleader Melissa. As mentioned, this was the number one contendership to the tag team championship. A good matchup. The thought of Del Rey and Kong as a team just scares me. We saw what would become the team's finisher: Kong's Impant Buster on Del Rey, onto an opponent. MsChif was pinned cleanly following an Amazing Bomb, her first pinfall loss in SHIMMER since winning the title. Wesna Busic came out for a three on two beatdown. Ashley Lane and Neveah came out for support, but were also destroyed. MsChif was down for a while, almost to the point of tears. It came to the point that Promoter Dave Prazak came out to check on her.

I felt that 23 was the better show compared to 24, but each have matches worth checking. Match of the night, I'm gonna say Matthews/Haze from 23, just barely.

The afterparty was pretty laid back, as most didn't want to overdo the drinking (except for Amber) so they could have quality performances the next day. My friends and I had a good conversation with Dave. The great thing about him is that he's completely honest regarding any general question, with no BSing. Sadly, he said the economy has hit them hard, and there could have been an extra $3,000 if the shows had sold out. There are no shows scheduled after this weekend, as it's basically a waiting game for the bank account to grow to a point where running a show would be financially responsible, while still maintaining a high-level roster.

Night Two
The doors opened quite late. There was no AAW match, and Kimberly Kash beat Sassy Stephie.

Ring announcer Joey Eastman, who I want to point out is one of the better personalities out there in whatever he does, announced that Madison Eagles would be unable to compete, as the flight from Australia and the two intense matches from yesterday had put her a bit under the weather.

Volume 25:

1. Tenille defeated Jetta (with Lacey). Rain and Jetta now came out wearing pajamas. Apparently they had just waken up from a nap, as they didn't need to prepare for their opponents. Jetta was her usual self, and Tenille was OK. Tenille hit a surprise rollup for the win, but then suffered a beatdown from all three members of the IHWC.

2. Cat Power won a four-corner survival match over Rachel Summerlynn, Kelly Skater, and Ariel, when she made Rachel submit to a type of leg submission. The rules were that it was one-on-one only, with two wrestlers in corners, with tags needed to come in, and victory came with the first fall. A very nice outing from all three. This was Rachel's best match yet, Kelly hit a couple nice top rope moves, and Ariel was her usual reliable self. And Cat Power, I'd say she's WWE or TNA bound in the next two years.

3. Nikki Roxx defeated Melanie Cruise (with Annie Social) with the Barbie Crusher. Melanie has a lot of potential as a power wrestler, being about six-feet tall. Decent. There was a lot of interference from Annie, but it didn't matter in the end.

4. Rain (with Lacy) defeated "Girl Dynamite" Jennifer Blake with the Rain Drop (electric chair into a pin). More pajamas. Fun match. Now I'll admit, Blake's corner chops aren't as hard as Kenta Kobashi, but it's still fun to watch.

5. Cheerleader Melissa defeated Jessie McKay with the Kudo Driver. This was to originally feature Madison Eagles before her illness. Whether it was Melissa carying, and/or Jessie holding her end, this was one of my favorite matches of the weekend. Just great stuff.

6. LuFisto defeated Amber O'Neal with an armbar submission. Andy Long was the referee, and there was quite a bit of interaction between him and LuFisto, before and after the match. Amber used a small box of glitter at one point, which the ref missed, drawing even more boos. Outside of that, the same stuff you'd see from both wrestlers.

7. Daizee Haze and Allison Danger defeated the Canadian Ninjas of Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews. Haze and Danger were announced with the "pre-pregnency weight", which I found hilarious. A decent first half, with Daizee getting worked on, but once Allison came in, it was all downhill, and this is coming from a fan of her work. Getting the street fight in was one thing, but she should have not been wrestling. Her moves were just too slow and unbelievable, and on top of that, I believe Danger got the pin! Thankfully, the Ninjas laid her out, using a belt once again.

8. Serena Deeb defeated Mercedes Martinez. A great main-event style match. High impact moves and counters a plenty. My concerns of Serena going back to the midcard were thankfully dashed.

9. Ashley Lane and Nevaeh defeated Sara Del Rey and Amazing Kong by DQ. Nearly a total squash. Sadly, it's something you'd see in WWE, with the two single stars defeating the tag team champions. So besides that, the action was intense, and the crowd were really hoping for a pinfall upset. However, a chair was used, and the referee was pushed, causing the weak, but expected DQ. A beatdown would have continued, but Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez stopped it.

10. MsChif defeated Wesna Busic (with Annie Social) with the desecrator to retain the SHIMMER Championship. Wesna and Annie go together perfectly as two foul mouthed wenches. A lot of technical wrestling and submissions, with an occasional hard shot by Wesna.

Intermission.... BUY BUY BUY AGAIN! I want to point out that Ariel's children's coloring book was one of the more creative independent wrestler's merchandise I've seen in a long time, so props to her.

Volume 26:

1. Jetta (with Lacey) defeated Daffney with the lungblower. More pajamas. Total comedy, with some solid wrestling thrown in.

2. Daizee Haze defeated Rayna Von Tosh. This was billed as teacher vs. student. Even with the teacher in there, Von Tosh was still terrible. She spent way too much time dancing around before nearly every move. She looks good, but wrestling wise needs a lot of work.

3. Jessie McKay defeated Kelly Slater, Jennifer Blake, and Melanie Cruise (with Annie Social) in a four-corner survival match. The usual from all involved. Madison's absense has led to Jessie's stock rising that day.

4. "Pretty Bitchin'" of Nikki Roxx and Ariel defeated the Experience of Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka with Ariel pinned Lexie after a Dariel (stunner). This new team seemed to be a play off Nikki's redneck look. When their weightt was nnounced, the two pointed as their butts. Solid match. Malia is just awesome with his comments to the fans and the referee.

Backstage segment with Cheerleader Melissa, announcing the Knockout/Submission match later with Wesna Busic. She planned to knock Wesna out, as well as Annie Social.

5. Rain (with Lacey) defeated Tenelle with the Rain Drop. Not much to it. Tenelle had another victory, but Lacey interfered, leading to another Rain victory. With three straight wins, I can see Rain getting the next title shot at the next SHIMMER taping, whenever that may be.

Backstage segment with Ashley Lane and Nevaeh. They point out how they survived as champions. The Canadian Ninjas demanded a title shot, but the champs blew them off, saying they already beat them (which came on Volume 22). However, the Ninjas then knocked them into a wall, and Ashley said the match is happening.

6. Sare Del Rey and Amazing Kong defeated Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez with an Implant Buster combo. Solid action from all four. Serena played the face in parel. Kong showing a wicked hair style today as well, and even throwing in a few Rikishi moves in a humiliating manner.

Backstage segment with LuFisto and MsChif. PROMO OF THE YEAR! It must be seen to be appreciated. It leads to the main event.

7. Cheerleader Melissa defeated Wesna Busic (with Annie Social) in a Knockout/Submission match with a knockout punch. Match of the night, and match of the whole weekend! Stiff shots, brutal submissions, and hard floor brawling. It's what a Melissa/Wesna match should be.

8. The Canadian Ninjas or Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews defeated Ashley Lane and Nevaeh to win the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship. A fine outing from all involved. With Ashley Lane now in TNA, and thus preventing her from being in Ring of Honor, the writing was on the wall. A pretty good sized roar from the crowd. I hope we see the Ninja act in HDNet in the near future.

9. MsChif defeated LuFisto to retain the SHIMMER Championship. Another submission type match, with a good amount of hard hitting action. A solid match to end a great night of wrestling.

Not sure if this was a sign, but the music that played after the show was way too somber for me. The afterparty was a lot more active, but still surprisingly laid back. It was still a lot of fun.

Volume 26 is a must buy for Melissa/Busic II alone, but it also has the tag title change, the MsChif/LuFisto segment and the match itself. Volume 25 should be considered for Del Rey and Kong's destruction of the tag champs, Serena/Mercedes and Melissa/McKay. Both shows feature mostly solid wrestling with only a couple duds here and there.