The Original Site For Disneyland.
When we last left you, Cheerleader Melissa was still reigning supreme as Shimmer champion, Jessicka Havok and Serena Deeb were deeply entrenched in a war, and the Global Green Gangsters were hot in pursuit of those dastardly Canadian Ninjas. All of these things will see a dramatic new chapter in the last two volumes of our recap, but first let's focus on Volume 56, the first show of the Sunday tapings. I would say that it is the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of the world, but that would make it really hard to convince you to come back for Volume 4, so just read on already!
SPRAKLE
Cewsh: This is a picture of the camera guy in front of us wearing a Shimmer Tag Team Championship belt. This is information that needs to be shared.
Angelus Layne beat Marti Belle with a TKO.
Cewsh: I mentioned previously that these two are great talents with a ton of potential. Shockingly, that remains true here. Belle was actually a face here, which may be the first time since I've been watching that someone Sparkled as both a heel and a face, and she excelled at both. I really can't say enough about Belle, and while I do feel that Layne isn't a finished product yet, you can tell that she is going to be a very special talent down the road.
Marti Belle and Angeus Layne
Xandra Bale & Pink Flash Kira defeated Angie Skye & December. Bale pinned Skye with a flying bodypress.
Cewsh: I'm going to echo my thoughts from the last Shimmer tapings here. Angie Skye is absolutely amazing, December is hugely popular, Bale and Kira didn't quite click. Though Mrs. Cewsh is a pretty big Pink Flash Kira fan and there's clearly something there to be brought out. That's why Sparkle exists.
SHIMMER Volume 56
Kimber Lee pinned Shazza McKenzie following a released German Suplex.
Cewsh: Shazza McKenzie doesn't have singles matches in Shimmer very often due to her tag team with Veda Scott, but when she does I always find her charming and effective in her role as an underdog babyface that can surprise you with how talented she actually is. Here, she does her best to keep up with Kimber Lee, even though she's ultimately out of her league. It makes for a fun match, and again, Kimber looks more and more like a breakout star. If it weren't for Evie, she'd definitely be the best new debut of the tapings, and any other weekend, she'd almost certainly have been the best.
Shazza and Kimber
Leva Bates defeated Miss Natural with a crucifix.
Cewsh: This is one of the smartest put together matchups of the entire weekend. Re-Generation X is ending after Volume 57 and Leva needs to be equipped to make it on her own. She's come a long way in the past few years, (see her work in Shine for examples of that,) but the Shimmer audience hasn't seen her look very credible against serious opponents. Here, she gets the opportunity to look great in beating Miss Natural and makes the most of it.
And while that's all well and good, by far the best part of this match was the exchange before the two when Leva, (who is dressed like a Vulcan from Star Trek,) facepalms severely after Miss Natural attempts to force choke her. Seriously now. Somebody give Miss Natural a trophy for Best Midcarder or something.
The Woman Can Lapse Through Time. Let's Up It To A Plaque.
Rhia O’Reilly beat Leah Von Dutch with the Rhiajustment.
Cewsh: Apparently the powers that be in Shimmer, (and I believe all of those powers are named Dave Prazak,) saw something in Leah Von Dutch that I didn't, because she graduated from Sparkle with her first main roster match here. And while I mentioned before that she didn't seem entirely ready, and didn't stand out, here she...well she didn't do a ton to disprove that. This was a pretty by the books number, but Rhia looked good and she actually got to do her finisher, which she has done so infrequently that Mrs. Cewsh didn't even know what it was.
Leah Von Dutch and Rhia O'Reilly
Kellie Skater pinned Nicole Matthews with the International Incident.
Cewsh: This was a great match and a big win for Skater to forward the storyline between 3G and the Canadian Ninjas. But easily the highlight is Matthews pretending to fall asleep during Skater's ridiculously long, (and ridiculously awesome,) introduction.
Aww, She Looks So Peaceful.
It is also during this match that we realized that TNA Knockout Tara was sitting up on the stage watching the show. She just opened a wrestling-themed sports bar in the Chicago area and dropped in to check things out.
Thus far while attending Shimmer I have seen Tara, Colt Cabana and Jimmy Jacobs sitting at that table and no one has gone through it. I don't even know how to feel about tables anymore.
Saraya Knight made Jessie McKay tap out to the Bridal Rocking Horse.
Cewsh: This match was born out of events from Volume 47. Saraya is going through a list of people who have wronged her, and right at the top was Jessie McKay, who refused to do as Saraya told her and betray Cheerleader Melissa during their match on Volume 47. Jessie puts up the best fight she can here, but Saraya is on the warpath, and rolls through our dear Jessie like a bulldozer. And let it be said here that I have no idea how to describe Saraya's submission finisher, but it is one of the nastiest looking moves in the business right now. Yikes. Poor Jessie.
From Now On, We Should All Just Probably Do What Saraya Says.
Mia Yim beat Evie with a gutwrench suplex.
Cewsh: This is not going to make me popular, but I've had trouble understand the extent of the hype that Mia Yim has received over the years. I think a lot of it has to do with her reputation for being an incredibly kind and gracious person, and her clear desire to work hard to be the best that she can possibly be. But when I watch her, I see someone who is still trying to do a lot of moves that make me cringe because of how dangerous they could be, in a way that is frighteningly sloppy. Here in this match, she showed that her time in Japan has given her a great chance to improve, as this is by far the best match I've seen her in. But it's like watching a Low Ki match where you're not sure if Low Ki is in control of all of his kicks. And that is goddamn terrifying.
I look forward to seeing what she becomes down the road, and she may well be much better than I'm giving her any credit for. But considering that she may be the single most heralded young wrestler on the independent scene, I could help but feel like Evie out-shined her every step of the way.
I look forward to seeing what she becomes down the road, and she may well be much better than I'm giving her any credit for. But considering that she may be the single most heralded young wrestler on the independent scene, I could help but feel like Evie out-shined her every step of the way.
Specifically These Steps.
Made in Sin (Allysin Kay & Taylor Made) defeated MsEerie (MsChif & Christina Von Eerie). Kay pinned Von Eerie after interference from Saraya Knight. Shazza McKenzie & Veda Scott made the save.
Cewsh: First of all, it was great to see MsEerie, (Misery,) team up again, because they're completely adorable together. And the "Trailor Made" chants were in full effect all match long. So this one was great fun from the start.
Well, For Us Anyway.
Ultimately, Saraya showed back up to go after the next name on her hit list, Christina Von Eerie. She hit Von Eerie with her foreign object, and Made in Sin scooped up the victory. An uneasy alliance between Saraya and Made in Sin formed from this, with Allysin Kay asking us, "she's okay, right?" It's smart on her part, though. People on Saraya's team are the safest from Saraya's wrath. Most of the time.
The other story here was that Saraya went to beat down on Eerie further, and Veda Scott and Shazza McKenzie ran out for the save, carrying chairs almost as big as they are.
Those Chairs Are Not Huge. Those Women Are Just Very Small.
Portia Perez v Tomoka Nakagawa ended in a double DQ.
Cewsh: Tomoka Nakagawa is a badass.
But You Know This.
Portia Perez is amazing at NOT being a badass. So this match was a good combination. Though it didn't last overly long, what was here was very good. The finish was Portia ducking when Nakagawa tried to spit water in her face, and it getting Bryce Remsberg full on instead.
It Don't Pay To Be The Referee.
That gave Nicole Matthews to run in with a chair, which brought Kellie Skater out with a chair, which brought out half the locker room to break the two teams up before they killed each other. Finally Bryce decides to put an end to this and books them in a match on Volume 57 for the Tag Team Championships, to blow this feud off once and for all. This got the pop of the night, because yeah, obviously.
Kana beat Ayako Hamada, Mercedes Martinez & Yuu Yamagata in a 4 way.
Cewsh: Aaaaaaand this is the match that you'll be buying this show for. If you've seen me hyping it up thus far, you'll know that this combination of performers was so exciting that Joey Eastman actually came out before the match and whispered to us, "This is gonna be GOOD." I'm not even going to try to explain all the twists and turns and fun spots and hard hitting greatness from this match. I'll just tell you that it may be Kana's most fun performance in an American ring, and the fan's chanted "That was awesome" until the next match started. Here are some pictures, but you truly need to buy this the second you can. Wrestling is taken seriously in Shimmer, but this match is a great example of how great wrestling can be when the best of the best just have fun.
Allison Danger revealed her final match on the next volume will be with Leva Bates against Ayako Hamada & Cheerleader Melissa.
Cewsh: Following that fourway is no small feat, and even Allison Danger on her own retirement weekend admitted that she was begging not to have to be the one who followed it. But come out she did, to tell her who her opponent would be for her final match. Now, it had long been known that Danger was a huuuuuuge fan of Ayako Hamada and basically worshiped the ground that she walked on. So we all assumed it would be that. But Danger said that she didn't think she had what it took to give Hamada a singles match worthy of her, so instead she wanted a tag match. Danger and her partner Leva Bates, against Ayako Hamada and CHEERLEADER FUCKING MELISSA. Set phasers to stunned, because jaws were dropped all over the Eagles Club with that news.
The match was set for Volume 57, and for the rest of the night, people were talking about little else.
Madison Eagles defeated Athena with the Hellbound.
Cewsh: So now it's up to Madison Eagles and Athena to follow an emotional segment and the funnest match of the whole weekend. And boy do they ever. This may be the finest match of Athena's young career, and Madison takes her entire game up a notch for this absolutely fantastic match. And with each new match of this weekend, Madison continues to stake her claim as one of the finest wrestlers on the planet Earth. It may be strange to hear, but in this indie promotion in a ballroom in a Chicago suburb you can find one of the top 5 best main event style wrestlers that are working today, for my money. When Madison Eagles gets 15 minutes, you get a great match, period.
And A Win Apparently. Because She's Undefeated In Singles Competition Since Her Return.
Serena Deeb pinned Jessicka Havok with a spear.
Cewsh: While all of the other feuds seem to be build to a climactic end on Volume 57, this feud is wrapping up right here and right now. And while Serena Deeb has been hit or miss for me at times in the past, she is an absolute revelation here. Hey fighting spirit in this match is off the charts as she fires up on a woman nearly twice her size and puts genuine fear into the eyes of Jessicka Havok, even as Havok does her best to send her back on the injury list.
She's Does A Pretty Damn Fine Job At It Too.
It can't be said enough just how great this feud was for both Havok and Deeb. Havok got to come into Shimmer with an instantly hot feud and she how become a power player off the bat, while Deeb got to work with someone that she could run her amazing underdog routine on, and she looks better than ever in winning the feud. I couldn't find any fault in the way this all went down if I tried, and Deeb's Goldberg like spear to end was the perfect cherry on the cake.
Cheerleader Melissa defeated Kalamity with an Air Raid Crash to retain the SHIMMER Championship.
Cewsh: Now this match is interesting. I told you yesterday that Kalamity was very impressive in her matches thus far, and that Melissa had acted strangely aggressive in her match with Courtney Rush. Well, both of those things continue here today, as Kalamity continues to turn in some really compelling performances, and Cheerleader Melissa BEATS HER THE FUCK UP.
And Down. And All Around.
Like, so much so that a rabid pro-Melissa crowd started to get behind Kalamity a bit just because they wanted to see her actually make it out in one piece. And Melissa does win, but not before Kalamity gives her all she can handle. So yeah, another taping, another good Melissa main event.
What else is new?
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Cewsh's Conclusion:
Cewsh: FEED ME MORE. FEED ME MORE. FEED ME MORE. FEED ME MORE.
ONWARDS TO VOLUME 57! Tomorrow will mark the final installment in our recap of this SHimmer weekend. A legend's retirement! A huge tag team title match! And someone on the roster is going to turn heel! This shit is bananas ya'll! I've already seen it and even I can't wait! AHHHHH
2 comments:
I disagree with the comment about LVD. She's only been wrestling for a year and has debuted for Shine, Sparkle, Chikara, Evolve, Femme Fatales, Alpha 1, Japanese promotion Reina and is going to the UK for a while. Shes pretty damn entertaining for only being in a year and is super approachable and nice to everyone. She's going to be a big time star.
I'm glad to hear that about her. I only had these few matches to go on, but she's impressive for only having 1 year of experience. I look forward to seeing her fulfill her potential.
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