By Anthony Beckingham, Women's Wrestling Specialist

SHIMMER Vol. 2 DVD review
November 6, 2005
Berwyn, Ill.

With only one volume behind them, Shimmer already set up a number of storylines, some of which were addressed here and some later down the line. It wasn't quite the benchmark for female wrestling in North America yet, but you could already see the intent to keep striving for the best.

The show opened with a backstage promo with Lacey talking about her history with Daizee Haze. She announced a four-way main event (Lacey, Haze, Sara Del Rey, and Mercedes Martinez) and predicts she’ll walk out with her hand raised in victory to prove she’s the best women’s wrestler in America today.

(1) Cindy Rogers (0-0) beat Krissy Vaine (0-0) at 8:00. Before the entrances, there was a quick replay of their Vol. 1 tag match that ended when Team Blondage illegally double teamed Rogers for the pin. This was was a basic singles match - Vaine worked the arm while Rogers worked the leg. After some corner to corner wrestling, Rogers locked on her TCB rear naked choke for the win. (**)

(2) Nikki Roxx (0-0) beat Lexie Fyfe (1-0) at 8:58. Good, interesting action in this match, but it was slow in places. While Roxx postured to the crowd, Fyfe jumped the gun and attacked her back. They traded wrist holds while announcer Dave Prazak noted Roxx’s training by Killer Kowalski. Fyfe put a double hammerlock on Roxx then an impressive pendulum. Fyfe, during a camel clutch, utilized the five-count with fishhooks and hair pulls. She came undone missing a second rope leg drop, letting Roxx attack her with the Barbie Crusher hammerlock guillotine drop. (**)

(3) Cheerleader Melissa & Tiana Ringer (0-0) beat “Portuguese Princess” Ariel & Shantelle Taylor (0-0) at 10:42. Future TNA Knockouts Melissa (Raisha Saeed/Alissa Flash) and Taylor (Wilde) started things off; Melissa took three dropkicks to be knocked over. Both tagged out and Ariel took advantage. With Taylor in, Melissa tripped her from the outside and she was isolated with a butterfly hammerlock hold and faceplant. Taylor got a second wind, but Ringer held her over the shoulder to stop the tag leading to double clothesline and a double hot tag. Ariel set Ringer up on the rope and called Taylor for a double superplex. Melissa ran underneath and semi-powerbombed both Taylor and Ariel who superplex Ringer. Melissa hit the Air Raid Crash (a belly to back side piledriver I mistakenly called the Kudo Driver last time) and picked up the win. (**1/2)

Highlights of Martinez vs. Del Rey from Vol 1 are shown. Del Rey is shown backstage in a lamp-lit room saying she’ll take Martinez out in the four-way main event and called herself the best female wrestler in the world. Martinez walked in and reminded Del Rey she doesn’t just wrestle women, she wrestles men too. Del Rey left and Martinez put herself over to the camera.

(4) Christie Ricci (0-1) beat Amber O’Neal (0-0) at 7:17. O’Neal fled the ring at the bell, clutching the rope selling fear. Ricci’s strength overpowered O’Neal, so she used the ropes to choke Ricci, slamming her face around. O’Neal locked in a Boston crab, Ricci cradled in for the pin but the two rolled around the ring in the cradle. After they break O’Neal stumbled around dizzy, Riccie took control with a sloppy tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. More sloppiness led to a Northern Lights suplex pin for Ricci. (*1/2)

(5) Allison Danger (1-0) beat Rain (0-1) at 13:16. Chain wrestling to begin with before Rain started choking and biting Danger, going for an early cover. Rain stretched Danger with a Camel Clutch and then a really tight sit-down Boston crab; more people should make it look like that. Danger went outside for a break, Rain baseball slid her, and then bear-hugged her into the ring apparatus. The match was reset, after which Danger did clotheslines and suplexes. Danger went for a roll-up, but was too tired to hold it, so instead, she worked Rain’s knee with kicks and a rolling leg lock. The damaged knee stopped Rain getting an electric chair and helped Danger hit a Shimmering Warlock for the pin. (***)

Highlights of Lacey vs. Haze from Vol. 1 aired, though not as long as before. In a quick promo, Haze named the main-eventers as the four best women's wrestlers in the world: the Latina sensation Martinez, the all-round Del Rey, and the straight-up cheater Lacey. Haze may be small but dynamite comes in small packages and she’s gonna “smoke ‘em up to the dome,” which I guess is some drug talk I’m no longer down with.

(6) Beth Phoenix (0-1) beat MsChif (1-0) at 8:28. A bit of an upset here, though Phoenix left for WWE before the storyline could progress. The ditzy, precious barbie gimmick of Phoenix (honestly, the same Beth Phoenix) hilariously contrasted with MsChif’s banshee gimmick here. Chif went after Phoenix outside, Beth bodyslammed her, then begged the referee to count her out, helping him with the numbers. After two attempts, Phoenix hit a gutwrench suplex and stretched Chif, who still looking terrified. Chif roared in the hold and Phoenix asked the referee, “Was that a yes? I think it was.” Solid grappling emerged, as both exchanged throws and slams with Phoenix reversing the Devestator into the Beth Valley Driver. The match built well, but the ending came from nowhere. (**1/2)

(7) Sara Del Rey (0-0-1) beat Lacey (0-1), Mercedes Martinez (0-0-1), and Daizee Haze (1-0) at 17:13 in a Four Corners Elimination match. It started with Del Rey vs. Lacey in the ring and, with Lacey being the only heel, she had to force tags to escape. Lacey hit the lungblower on Del Rey, but only for a two count. Lacey then controlled Haze for a while, forcing Del Rey in who took an enziguiri kick, but Haze continued to take punishment, staying mostly in. Eventually Haze built some steam and hit a Yakuza kick, but Martinez blind tagged-in and eliminated Lacey with a fisherman buster at 12:54.

Del Rey stepped in to take on Martinez, and tried to get a return win by really taking it to her. Haze sneaked a blind tag in and heart punch/yakuza kicked Martinez to eliminate her at 15:02. Del Rey was angry and ducked a headkick, lifting Haze into an electric chair, but could only get a two count. Haze tried a monkey flip, Del Rey caught her but Haze flipped out into a faceplant. Second monkey flip attempt and Del Rey held on for her Butterfly hold. Haze refused to tap out and Del Rey Butterfly suplexed her for the win. (***1/2)

Melissa was then shown backstage still angry about MsChif’s upset victory on Volume 1. She didn’t wrestle in Japan, Germany, Canada, and Mexico to come to Shimmer and be pinned by MsChif.

The DVD also has extended highlights from a Shimmer attraction match from Full Impact Pro between Lexie Fyfe and tryout Lorelei Lee, from January 20, 2006. After this, Allison Danger announced an exciting signing for Shimmer Vol. 3 from Ireland in the form of Rebecca Knoxx. She assured us that Knoxx is a great athlete (very true) and laid down the gauntlet to test her own mettle against her.

Overall rating: 7.0 Almost on par with the first volume ,but with a lot of eggs in one basket for the main event, the show was dragged down. Conversely, the main event was really fast-paced and exciting. The introduction of backstage segments also built some tension. For me, though, only Haze’s promo worked well because it was brief and the others were undercut by everyone saying basically the same thing. Melissa’s closing promo to MsChif was much better because it was more specific.

Vol. 2 built for the future better than the first DVD, but the in-ring performances were a little samey and fell more flat. However, there was still a good array of mat work and the wrestlers who will later be Shimmer mainstays are already showing their stripes.

FYI: Volume 2 sold out long ago but was recently re-released in its original format in a Collector’s Edition with Volume 1 available at ROHStore.com - keep an eye out for sales on ROHWrestling.com. For more information visit ShimmerWrestling.com




[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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