by Anthony Beckingham, Torch specialist

Volume 21 is the first time Shimmer used static menus with increasingly impressive artwork; the roll call from Volume 1 was becoming dated. And, to start this walk into the new era, Shimmer is going to accompany its singles title with a Tag Team Championship. But, rather than do another knock-out tournament, they’re doing a gauntlet with a mix of old and new teams.

The Experience have the best win-loss record going into it, but Ashley Lane and Nevaeh arguably have momentum in their favor; the only way their momentum was overturned was by the sneaky cheats, the Home Wrecking Crew. The Suicide Blondes, who have appeared individually on Shimmer as LuFisto and Jennifer Blake, have a hard-hitting style and tag experience in Canada. The Pink Ladies are an Australian import little n’ large combination with the cute, “your favorite girlfriend” Jessie McKay being dwarfed by Madison Eagles. The other Canadians, the Ninjas, have some success themselves, but Portia Perez might have a lack of focus amidst her feud with the diet-Canadian Allison Danger. And, with the tag team division in place, let’s get to the show.

And, for the record of completism, MsChif made a successful third Shimmer Championship defense in Full Impact Pro Wrestling (FIP) against Rain.

SHIMMER DVD Review Series
SHIMMER Vol. 21 DVD review
October 19, 2008
Berwyn, Ill.

Serena Deeb, now using the Flashdance theme, cut a passionate in-ring promo about wanting to be Shimmer Champion after missing the tournament. Clips played of her matches, highlighting the spear. She called out Del Rey for a re-match. Del Rey said she didn’t deserve it and is sick of facing “bottom of the barrel wrestlers,” then gave her a massive boot to the chest to prompt a bell.

(1) Sara Del Rey (16-2-1) beat Serena Deeb (5-6) at 9:35. Superb opener. Del Rey kicked Deeb around the ring and vocally mocked her. Deeb tried a monkey flip but Del Rey caught her; she tried a crossbody but Del Rey used a backbreaker. Del Rey focused on her back with knee drops, then a cloverleaf that converted to a bow and arrow. Del Rey missed a second rope senton, which gave Deeb time to build up to some strikes. After a running knee and neckbreaker combo she signaled for the spear but Del Rey sidestepped her so she fell to the apron, but not outside this time. Del Rey caught her on the way back in and won with the Royal Butterfly suplex. (**)

(2) Miss Natural (0-0) beat Lorelei Lee (2-7) at 5:34. Natural, coming to the ring to Tom Jones in a Flair robe, slapped Lee but lost control after an armdrag and a spinning shoulder lock. She caught Lee from a handspring crossbody and threw her with a fall away slam. Natural caught Lee’s kick then spun her round in a fisherman neckbreaker position for the Natural Disaster. (*)

Daffney took the microphone and she the crowd to “shimmer down meow” as she accused Cat Power of attacking her injured knee and having to dig down 20,000 leagues (a nod to Shark Girl) to come back and “demand a rematch, right meow.”

(3) Daffney (0-3) beat Cat Power (1-1) at 5:13. Daffney distracted Power with a ball of yarn but Power took control with a back rake and bodyslam. She was put in a Tree of Woe and had her knee stretched but Daffney kicked her from it, grabbed her head and floated over to land a backbreaker. Daffney threw the yarn at Power’s face and hit the Daff-Knees to win. (*1/2)

(4) Nikki Roxx (9-6) beat Danyah (0-2) at 5:59. After they shook hands, holds were evenly traded and then pinning cradles. Danyah kicked Roxx around then tried to pin her. Roxx kicked her way out of the corner, hit a bodyslam suplex and then a spinebuster. Roxx put her on the top rope, although she dropkicked free she soon took a Barbie Crusher. (**)

(5) Wesna (0-2) beat Amber O’Neal (3-11) at 7:19. O’Neal kept her distance and quickly left the ring only to gain a heelish advantage on the way back in. She kept Wesna crawling in an inverted cloverleaf. After she broke free, Wesna fell into the corner and was kicked meanly by O’Neal. O’Neal even managed to get a firm looking STO, but Wesna kicked out and caught her in the devastating CB4 Driver to win. Wesna, like Kong, has an impressive size and I think she’d be better served as a powerhouse, not a beaten-down babyface. (**)

Senior Referee Bryce Remsburg and official Andy Long paraded the Shimmer Tag Team belts. They are five-plated silver belts with a pink font reading Shimmer on the primary square plate, and a tag team silhouette on the secondary plates. They are very distinct from the ovular all-gold three-plate singles belt.

(6) Ashley Lane and Nevaeh (2-2) beat The Experience (Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka) (8-1), International Home Wrecking Crew (Rain & Jetta) (2-0), The Suicide Blondes (LuFisto & Jennifer Blake) (0-0), The Canadian Ninjas (Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews) (2-1), and The Pink Ladies (Madison Eagles & Jessie McKay) (0-0) at 44:55 in a Tag Team Gauntlet match to win the Shimmer Tag Team Championship.

The Ninjas berated The Pink Ladies before the bell. Some fast paced chain wrestling between both sets of wrestlers led to The Ladies showing off their double team moves like a back breaker and elbow combo, before the Ninjas took control with some referee distraction and isolated McKay. McKay valiantly tried roll up pins but was stomped into place. McKay hit an enziguri and Eagles came in with the hot tag with a series of clotheslines. She hit Hellbound (a DVD across her knee) to Perezbut Matthews broke up the pin. She threw Eagles out and set up the superkick/German combo on McKay to eliminate them at 10:07.

The Suicide Blondes came in and a brawl broke out on the outside until LuFisto took charge of Matthews in the ring. After a series of slaps and a back elbow, she dropped Blake onto her but Perez broke up the pin. Although Blake threw her into the corner, Matthews tripped her face into the turnbuckle and raked her eyes along the rope on the way to a tag. The Ninjas baited LuFisto into keeping the referee distracted while they isolated Blake until she stood out of a chinlock to give Perez a helicopter spin. LuFisto came in to give a dizzy Perez some headbutts and a Royal Butterfly Suplex but Matthews hit her with an enziguri to stop the pin. From outside, Perez tried tripping LuFisto’s feet but was caught and dispatched. Matthews tried to break things up from the top rope, but LuFisto caught her in a powerbomb position into Blake’s super lungblower at 18:51.

The International Home Wrecking Crew came in and whipped the Blondes into each other. The Blondes reversed it but the Home Wreckers realised and did a dosey-doe, then the sprinkler to celebrate. They both were slapped for the dance. Jetta soon went to work on Blake but her and Rain caught each other with a clothesline which saw LuFisto come in and decimate Jetta with a boot and a Michinoku Driver. Rain threw her out of the ring to hit a chinbreaker/stranglehold lungblower on Blake, but Fisto broke up Jetta’s hold so they used a knuckleduster on Blake at 26:31.

Ashley Lane and Nevaeh came in with stereo pin cradles that didn’t work. Nevaeh kept things fast paced on Rain until the Home Wreckers used fast tags to their advantage. Nevaeh flipped Jetta over in a leg-held nelson hold and Lane dropkicked her. Jetta shot Lane into the corner to meet Rain’s boot and take a super lungblower, which she somehow kicked out of. Jetta was knocked off the apron and Rain took the simultaneous Yakuza Kick/STO combination at 32:52.

The Experience were brought in the hardway and took two slingshots. The Ohio girls did their arm twist and dropkick on Fyfe but she kicked out. The Experience tried for their double Gourdbuster too early and Nevaeh broke it up before Lane became the isolated one. Fyfe put her in the pendulum stretch to rock into Hosaka’s kicks. Nevaeh set up the Yakuza Kick/STO on Fyfe but Hosaka tripped Lane, allowing Fyfe to score the TKO. Lane broke up the pin and after Fyfe kicked Hosaka, they did their finisher to become the first champions. (****)

(7) “Portuguese Princess” Ariel (8-5) beat Cheerleader Melissa (9-7), Mercedes Martinez (5-3-1), and Amazing Kong (8-2) at 9:05 in a Four Corner Survival match. I still don’t see why it’s called survival without eliminations, but the corner aspect was ignored early on with an all-out brawl. Kong dominated until Martinez and Melissa put her in the corner and all three did running charges into her. Ariel’s quick moves see Martinez flee, with Melissa coming in to slow down Ariel with a stomp or two. Ariel took on both Martinez and Melissa with strikes and then a forced headbutt. She hit a crossbody to Kong on the outside, thankfully recovering from her slip.

Ariel crawled back inside, then Martinez and Melissa set her up in a superplex only for Kong to powerbomb those two and all four crash down. After recovery time, Kong went to town and hit the Implant Buster on Melissa then tried to use the Amazing Bomb on Martinez but suffered a facebuster. After taking Martinez’s Fisherman Buster, Melissa was pinned by the Dariel giving Ariel a technical second win over Kong. (****)

Highlights were shown of MsChif vs. Daizee Haze from Volume 14: Hot Summer Nights which Haze won with a tilt-a-whirl roll up.

(8) Shimmer Champion MsChif (9-6) beat Daizee Haze (10-8) at 18:56 in her fourth successful defense. A slow boiler that never quite capitalized in the final few minutes. Haze went to MsChif’s arm and they traded hammerlocks. MsChif tried to force a break by putting Haze into pins but Haze held on. After five minutes they traded pins, with Haze channeling Rebecca Knox’s smooth chain wrestling leading to an applauded standoff. Haze forced MsChif into the corner then hit a series of chops before running round to build up a final one. MsChif comically followed her so Haze was left clueless and turned into a knock down chop.

As dueling chants began, MsChif worked one side of Haze with submissions then hit a floatover suplex with mounted punches. Haze flipped out of it and used Chif’s own leg hook seated chinlock Gates of Hell II. After another even standoff, MsChif tried a Super Death Valley Driver, which ended more like an Olympic Slam, only for Haze to save the match with a rope break. MsChif grabbed Haze’s shoulder for the Desecrator but Haze morphed it into a clunky Code Green. She then set up Chif for a Frankensteiner, but MsChif held the ropes and followed with a big splash to Haze’s back to capitalise on earlier submissions.

MsChif attempted the rare and deadly Obliteration but Haze forced a pin to escape. Haze followed with the Heart punch and Yakuza Kick for a near fall so close even the referee looked worried. She went for the Mind Trip but MsChif threw her into the ropes and hit the Desecrator, with Haze rolling over on her head. (****)

Serena Deeb was backstage saying she wouldn’t stop trying for the title, no matter who she had to beat. MsChif walked in and said Deeb impressed her, and she could have a title shot if she beats Del Rey, like MsChif did.

Overall thoughts: 9.0 With the tag team gauntlet match taking up a good portion of this show, and constantly feeling dynamic and refreshing, this is a pretty darn good show, albeit because of a gimmick. Along with that, it started with a storyline-driven match featuring Del Rey and Deeb, who are the perfect foils to each other, then a bit-too-frenetic four-way match, and, finally, a champion-making main event from MsChif. Right now, Shimmer’s really mixing a good dose of titles and angles. The only thing missing is follow-up on Portia and Danger, but Dave Prazak talked it up on commentary and it just built tension for the future, so it wasn't really a problem.

FYI: Vol. 21 can be found, along with all other Shimmer DVDs, at ROHStore.com, with more information for live tapings and discussion available at ShimmerWrestling.com.

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