Stewart Allen
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The SHIMMER revolution is slowly gaining momentum. Vol 1 was the most enjoyable top to bottom wrestling show I’ve seen in months, and Vol 2 retained the same charm and enthusiasm and delivered another home run. This is doubly impressive since Vol 2 was taped later on the same day as Vol 1, so the girls were working their second match of the night – and for those of you who haven’t seen the promotion, the physical aspect of SHIMMER matches is on a different plane entirely to the WWE Women’s division.

Sara Del Ray stretches Daizee Haze (ROHphotos.com)

SHIMMER’s “tape two DVD releases back to back” concept certainly cuts running costs significantly, but it can also have its drawbacks – as was evidenced by the weather conditions on the day of the taping of Vols 3 & 4 in February. Blizzard conditions in the North East resulted in neither Lacey, Ariel nor Mercedes Martinez being able to make the show due to cancelled plane flights, and some of those who did make it managed to make it only by the skin of their teeth. The absence of three of the top advertised talents resulted in the show being re-jigged – including the cancellation of what was promised to be an open tag team challenge from Lacey & Rain, The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew. The good news was that the weakened roster was bolstered by the addition of longtime indy veteran Malia Hosaka, Irish phenomenon Rebecca Knox and newcomer Lorelei Lee who were taking the spots of Christie Ricci and the WWE bound Krissy Vaine and Beth Phoenix. Despite the absences, the top matches on Vol 3 look good on paper… so let’s see whether the show delivers.

Rain vs Nikki Roxx

Rain is 0-2 in SHIMMER so far, but she’s actually been one of the top performers in my opinion. Her chewing out of every fan in the audience on Vol 1 left an indelible impression on me, and her match with Allison Danger on Vol 2 was my pick for best match on the Volume. Sadly, we’re robbed of Rain’s entrance in this one as the match begins with both competitors already in the ring. I’d like to think that this was because Rain actually slapped the piss out of several ringsiders and they can’t show the footage due to legal reasons. Initial impressions of the familiar Eagles Club venue suggest that the crowd has increased from the initial tapings, and also that the hall is slightly more darkened and the lighting is more prominent. One enthusiastic punter screams “Rain RULES!” – he’s right, of course. Nikki Roxx is her opponent tonight, and she is starting to make an impression on me too. Dave Prazak announces that he’s flying solo on commentary as Allison Danger “has the night off” from commentary duties. This is not a good thing. Don’t get me wrong – Dave’s more than competent enough to do the gig by himself, but I already miss the interplay with he and Danger. Note to SHIMMER – this must never happen again. The match starts off fairly ordinarily, still a step above what you’d see on Monday nights, but a step below my expectations for SHIMMER. I don’t know how often these two have met in the past, but I think they just needed a little time to get their timing right, because by the end of the match they’d managed to construct a tidy little match. Rain’s mannerisms are impeccable, and Roxx makes a very likeable babyface when she goes on offence. The end of the match sees Rain block an attempt at The Cruncher and reverse it into a very dodgy looking Acid Rain (Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex) for the uncontested three count. Above average opener. Roxx was as impressive as I’ve seen her in SHIMMER, and it was great to see Rain pick up the victory as she continues to prove herself one of SHIMMER’s most valuable assets.

Cindy Rogers vs Amber O’Neal vs Tiana Ringer (Three Way Dance)

I guess the fact that they’ve ended up with an odd number of competitors means that these three got thrown into a three way, and whether it’s by damn luck or not, there are an interesting number of stories in this match. Cindy Rogers is looking to build on her impressive showing on Vol 2 against Krissy Vaine, Amber O’Neal is formerly one half of the now inactive Team Blondage, and is also looking to establish herself on her own merits. Tiana Ringer is the one with most potential, in my opinion, and I look forward to seeing her work a match that doesn’t also include regular foe Shantelle Taylor. Ring entrances are back in this one, by the way, with Amber O’Neal debuting “Material Girl” as her entrance music. Perfect – just perfect. SHIMMER is all about changing people’s long standing beliefs about women in wrestling, and funnily enough, looking back to Vol 1 I had originally pegged Cindy Rogers as being a good wrestler, but lacking personality – and that couldn’t be further from the truth now. Amber O’Neal obviously shines from a character point of view in this match, but Cindy is so full of fire and full of vigour that I can’t help but support her – especially as she gets beaten by two heels in the opening portion of this match. Tiana bails to the outside after eating Cindy’s knee, as Amber squeals “You can’t leave me in here!!” before being hit by a facebuster for the three count. It looked like Tiana had the chance to come in to save Amber, but didn’t. Oh well. Prazak refers to Cindy as “The Definition Of Technician”, and true enough Rogers is very assured in the final segment of the match against Tiana, eventually wrapping up proceedings with the TCB (Dragon Sleeper). With clean wins over Krissy Vaine, Amber O’Neal and Tiana Ringer under her belt, it’s clear that Rogers is being primed to go places in SHIMMER. Where exactly she goes to next is anyone’s guess, but she’s done a fantastic job over the last couple of shows of showcasing herself. It’s a shame Tiana lost, but she didn’t really impress me as much in this one as she has in the last couple of Volumes. I’ll call it an off night for her.

Malia Hosaka vs Lorelei Lee

Next up is a match between two newcomers from different ends of the experience scale. Tennessee cowgirl Lorelei seems absolutely delighted to be here, whereas nineteen year veteran Malia appears to be agitated and hates everything with a screaming vengeance. This should make for a really good dynamic, I feel. Sure enough, Malia proceeds to school young Lorelei with a number of techniques, and liberally cheats both behind the referee’s back and right there in his face. Now that’s confidence. The humbling of Lorelei continues in a Camel Clutch, which allows Malia to check her nails in a really nice spot. The match is mostly about Hosaka being evil and punishing the youngster, but Lee gets intermittent comebacks, where interestingly enough she eschews the traditional “house of fire” stuff to instead go all technical, breaking down Hosaka’s legs and going for the Figure Four. On the second Figure Four attempt, the crowd start chanting “Tap! Tap! Tap!”, which is a testament to how hard these two girls were working in front of a new audience. Malia works a long bodyscissors spot, before Lorelei gets an Oklahoma Roll to pick up the shock three count. Both newcomers look like welcome additions to the SHIMMER roster, with Malia in particular looking like an absolute grade “A” bitch throughout. Malia, as you might have gathered, didn’t take the loss well and stomped young Lorelei to the mat, before calling out fellow veteran Lexie Fyfe who joined in the beatdown until Cindy Rogers made the save to set up a tag team match on Vol 4. This match was a masterclass in being a bitch heel, and I now want to see more Malia Hosaka matches ASAP as she came off like a total star.

Lexie Fyfe vs MsChif

Lexie stays out from the end of the last match to cut an in-ring promo, inviting out her opponent. Her opponent is one of – if not the most striking member of the SHIMMER roster, MsChif – who screams her lungs out as usual as part of her entrance. I would love to hear MsChif talk… just to hear if her vocal chords are ruined by that screaming or not. MsChif even freaks out the bully Fyfe, who as befits a bully, doesn’t like it when someone stand up to her. Prazak spends a fair bit of this match putting over the MsChif vs Melissa match from Vol 1, making specific mention of THAT cloverleaf spot. Lexie was dominant on Vol 2 against Nikki Roxx, but this match is far more even. MsChif’s big thing is that she’s ultra flexible, so most of the match plays off that fact, with MsChif contorting her body both while on offence or while being stretched by the old school Fyfe. All of a sudden, Cheerleader Melissa is ringside, and despite not doing a lot distracts MsChif from hitting a Desecrator. MsChif tries hitting the ropes but has her leg pulled by Melissa, leaving her easy pickings for Fyfe’s Attitude Adjuster (TKO). Fyfe looked good, even if she has had her thunder stolen as resident “youngster killer” by Malia in the previous match, and MsChif looked her usual excellent self. Melissa apparently made good her escape, as she is nowhere to be found as the beaten MsChif leaves the ring.

Melissa comes out rocking the blue and white outfit tonight. Despite her fantastically dismissive attitude to the fans, she still gets some claps of appreciation. Damn straight. I’m picking up a vibe with Melissa similar to the reaction Samoa Joe gets in TNA in that yes, she’s a heel (she even gets a brief “Jerk” chant from the crowd), but she’s got the aura about her that the fans know she’s awesome and would welcome the chance to jump on the Melissa bandwagon. I’m already on said bandwagon as Melissa is my favourite woman on the roster, so I’ll get this out of the way immediately – I loved this match. It was actually a fair bit different to what I had expected though, as it was far more competitive than I had imagined it being. Shantelle dominated the early action, working a side headlock to some success. I know that Melissa is technically sound, but I was very impressed that Shantelle kept up with her admirably throughout, as the two exchanged wristlocks like old pros. An armdrag sent Melissa to the outside, selling her arm like it had been ripped out of the socket – and Melissa even ended up RUNNING AWAY from Shantelle, although it was all a set up for Melissa to stomp Shantelle as she came back into the ring. Melissa got really aggressive during the match, prompting the fans to rally in support of the smaller Shantelle. Melissa tries the Kudo Driver on several occasions, but can’t hit it – and Prazak goes so far as to mention on commentary the fact that she hasn’t managed to hit it on anyone in SHIMMER yet. I’m not sure whether that’s building up to something or not. Speaking of dangerous moves, Melissa absolutely dumps Shantelle with a backdrop suplex, which drew a yell from me – really. The ending of the match sees Melissa attempt a superplex but get thrown off the middle rope, then as Shantelle was presumably looking to hit the missile dropkick, Melissa knocks her off balance and pulls her off the top rope into position for the Air Raid Crash for the win. I was very surprised that we didn’t see MsChif make an appearance in this one to build up the angle further for their rematch which is due to take place on Vol 4, but at the same time I’m just happy that Melissa won this good, hard fought match.

Allison Danger vs Rebecca Knox

This is Dublin native Rebecca Knox’s debut in SHIMMER, going up against the unbeaten Allison Danger. I was expecting the heel Knox that I have watched and loved in Canada’s ECCW, but surprisingly enough we get babyface Rebecca, slapping the hands of everyone in the front row and generally charming the entire building with her zest and spunkiness. Once the bell rings, however, she and Danger put on an absolute clinic in technical wrestling, full of holds, counters and submission attempts. You may balk at this suggestion, but this seriously came off as the SHIMMER equivalent of Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit – it was just that good. Everything had an air of legitimate competition, and the fans were eating it up – until Rebecca landed awkwardly on a leapfrog and apparently injured her ankle. Referees and the ring announcer swarmed to her aid, Danger stood back and the fans in attendance started Shhhh-ing the people around them. A long time passes as Rebecca attempts to get back to her feet. Allison opens the ropes for her to leave… and Rebecca unceremoniously STOMPS her to the floor~! Yes, it was the old Fit Finlay injury spot, and it worked an absolute treat. The fans are outraged, and Rebecca rubs it in their faces by doing a JIG~! in the ring. This woman is phenomenal. The rest of the match is Rebecca slowly working over the injured Danger and jawing with the crowd and referee like the greatest heel you ever saw, while all the time Prazak is appalled on commentary. Danger got the odd spot of hope here and there, but Rebecca eventually finished it with a sweet Falcon Arrow for the three count. If I had a criticism of this match it is just that the post injury phase went on a bit too long, but other than that this was as damn near perfect as you’d ever want from a wrestling match. Truly impressive technical wrestling, a superbly booked turn that no-one apparently saw coming, and two competitors who appeal to the crowd and can play their roles admirably. I’ve read Dave Prazak say that he thought that this match was the best match of Allison Danger’s career, and I’d be hard pressed to disagree. Her match with Rain on Vol 2 impressed me no end, but for the cumulative effect of everything coming together in a nice little package of awesomeness, this beats it hands down. It’s hard to think how Rebecca Knox could have made a more effective debut, and it’s not difficult to see why she’s immediately been positioned right at the top of the card. In fact, Rebecca was a far more effective top-line heel in the space of half a match here than Lacey was in the entire first two Volumes. A fine, fine match and an enthusiastic thumbs up to everyone concerned.

Daizee Haze vs Sara Del Rey

Well, these two are going to have a hell of a job following that last match, which I think they realise since they do a lot of audience participation spots to start off, including Sara encouraging duelling chants (and Daizee looking touched at the gesture) and a comedy spot where Sara swears to the audience she can do a nip up. As you’d expect, someone shouts “Prove it!”… which she just about does. They then challenge the referee Bryce Remsburg to try a nip up, which believe it or not he manages without too much hassle. Sara is so disappointed that Bryce showed her up that she leaves the ring in a huff. I am genuinely laughing like a loon at this stuff, which is not unlike something you’d see Ebessan do in Japan. Sara gets persuaded to come back to the ring and they get down to the serious job of main eventing the show. That opening five minutes of comedy was the perfect buffer to just relax the audience after the Knox/Danger bout and get them in a mood for this well contested bout with an intensity that grows and grows throughout. Del Rey throws in one or two subtle heelish mannerisms and a section of the crowd start chanting “Sara sucks”. They’ve got the audience in the palms of their hands, and it’s a joy to behold. As the near falls and big moves start to crank up, half the fans are cheering Sara and half the fans are chanting Daizee – and this isn’t your contrived “Let’s go Sara, let’s go Daizee” turnabout stuff either… this is real emotion from a group of fans who want to see their favourite competitor win a wrestling match. Eventually Sara managed to wrap up proceedings with a bridging German suplex to pick up the climactic win and finish off Volume 3 of SHIMMER with a fantastic main event that far surpassed my expectations considering what they had to follow. Both girls deservedly got a hugely positive reaction.

The DVD wraps up with a promo from Del Rey challenging Mercedes Martinez to a no time limit rematch (which happened on the recent taping of Vol 5), a voice over from Prazak informing us that the MsChif vs Melissa rematch is signed for Vol 4 and will be contested with Falls Count Anywhere stipulations, and a promo from Daizee challenging Rebecca Knox to a match in the main event of Vol 4. The lineup for Vol 4 is looking stacked, since apart from the Haze/Knox and Melissa/MsChif matches hyped on this disc, we’ve also got Sara Del Rey vs Rain and Tiana Ringer stepping up a level to face Allison Danger. I’m counting the days already!

Well, I wondered whether SHIMMER would miss Mercedes, Ariel and Lacey for these tapings and the honest answer was that they didn’t miss them for a solitary second. Even the losses of Vaine, Phoenix and the apparent dropping of Ricci didn’t matter, as Lorelei Lee, Malia Hosaka and especially Rebecca Knox offered a breath of fresh air, shaking up both the undercard and main event scenes and in all of their cases earned their spots on the roster. The bully team of Fyfe and Hosaka should be really effective in the mid-card, and are far more of a threat than Team Blondage ever could have been, and in Rebecca Knox they’ve got someone who can really be an impact player in the main event scene and have enough charisma and personality to bring some top drawing feuds to the company. For my money, Melissa is still underused in the midcard, but her grudge with MsChif should hopefully bring them both to the top of the card soon enough. There’s nothing I can really criticize on this DVD at all, as even the worst match is still at least good. The only thing that I’d like to see emphasized a little more on future volumes would be more promo time and backstage stuff. This is currently the weakest part of the product, but if (with a little coaching) we can start hearing these girls cut money drawing promos and allowing us to see some more of their personality, well then the product would actually *be* perfect.

I started this review with a baseball analogy by describing Vol 2 of SHIMMER as a home run. By that comparison, Vol 3 hits it out of the park. Get this. Get it now. Get two if you have to!

As a post script – for those who may be in the area, ROH are running a rematch of the Daizee Haze vs Sara Del Rey match on their June 3rd “Destiny” show in East Windsor, CT. In fact, that show will also feature a pre-show match between Allison Danger and Lacey which will be taped for ROHVideos.com. Tickets are available online from Ring Of Honor.

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