by Anthony Beckingham, Torch specialist

SHIMMER DVD Review Series
SHIMMER Vol. 25 DVD review
May 3, 2009
Berwyn, Ill.

(1) Tenille (0-1) beat Jetta (w/ Lacey) (2-2) at 6:54. Tenille has potential, but hopefully she’s evolved by the time of her WWE debut. The Home Wreckers were in pajamas; they need not prepare. Rain left with Jetta’s PJs, as she had no manager’s license. Tenille’s technical control was stymied by a thumb to the eye. She ducked a clothesline and won with a sunset flip in the corner. (*1/2)

“Earlier today” in an empty Eagles Club, Annie Social explained that Wesna and Melanie Cruise were going places. Wesna performed a move on a goon, showing Cruise how to improve (Sassy Stephie appeared to be one of them). Social said her team was going to the top and getting fat paychecks from title wins. Terrific, yet simple segment, reinforcing the value of Wesna, titles and training.

(2) Cat Power (1-3) beat Kellie Skater (1-1), Rachel Summerlyn (0-1), Ariel (9-6) at 7:01 in a Four Corners match. Ariel and Summerlyn, the babyfaces, had an even trade of moves, some of which were sloppy perhaps due to their sizes, before tagging out. Power refused to tag and Skater hit Summerlyn from behind. She then reversed a sideslam into an inverted DDT. She also hit a springboard huracanrana on Ariel, and the pin was broken up by Power. After Power came in, it all broke down until she submitted Summerlyn. (*)

(3) Nikki Roxx (11-7) beat Melanie Cruise (w/Annie Social) (0-1) at 6:46. Roxx toyed with chants of “Nikki Roxx” and “Melanie sucks” from the crowd. After mustering strength, Roxx took the 6’1" Cruise off her feet and kept her there with dropkicks. Social swiped Roxx’s feet and dominated her. Roxx fought back, working the crowd until Cruise slammed her down then complained of a slow count. Roxx took the opportunity to hit the Barbie Crusher; so much for Social’s management skills. (**)

(4) Rain (w/Lacey) (5-8) beat Jennifer Blake (1-2) at 10:09. Jetta explained she was wearing a facemask so as not to contract swine flu from the crowd. Rain stalled, taking off her PJs, so Blake dropkicked her, then ran a lunge kick along the apron. Rain went for Blake’s neck, but set up the Acid Rain prematurely and Blake kicked free. She hit landed moves fast and the first believable Kobashi chops I’ve seen. She followed with a Gory Special but Lacey distracted her to let Rain set up the Acid Rain pin. (**1/2)

Backstage, Sara Del Rey said that tonight is gold for her again, even if it’s not quite the singles championship she wanted. Kong, with a Christie Von Eerie (Toxine) hairdo, stayed silent.

(5) Cheerleader Melissa (10-9) beat Jessie McKay (0-1) at 8:56. On commentary, Portia Perez buried McKay’s “everybody’s favorite girlfriend” nickname: These fans can’t get one girlfriend, let alone enough to have a favorite. Melissa’s wrist hold led to a trade of reversals. Melissa went outside to catch her breath before she pulled McKay out to wheelbarrow whip her against the barrier. She broke up the railings to use it as a vice, but McKay hopped up and used a kick-assisted huracanrana. Back inside, McKay hit a magnificent big boot but Melissa blocked further strikes and built to a Kudo Driver. McKay tried to reverse it but Melissa went back for a second Driver and won. The crowd was so into the believable nearfalls. (***)

(6) LuFisto (4-3) beat Amber O’Neal (4-14) via submission at 7:40. O’Neal is a solid heel, but very stale and needed to go shows ago. After insulting LuFisto’s Hello Kitty dress, she took ten turnbuckle butts and a chop, yet one chop back gave her loads of heat. She blew make up into LuFist’s eyes and hit quick neck-snaps. After a DVD to O’Neal, they traded yay/boo chops. O’Neal tried to swipe, but LuFisto took her arm into an arm bar and made her tap. (**1/2)

Clips aired of Portia Perez using a chain to win her street fight over Allison Danger. Also, how Daizee Haze came to rescue Danger from a beat down by Nicole Matthews after Matthews and Haze’s two matches.

(7) Allison Danger & Daizee Haze (0-0) beat The Canadian Ninjas (Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews) (2-3) at 10:20. The Ninjas tried surrounding Danger, but she didn’t fall for it. Haze was tagged in and isolated by the Ninjas frequent tags. Perez threw Haze by her hair, staring provocatively at Danger between every move. Matthews trapped Haze’s arm and hit a stylish Northern Lights suplex. Haze hit a desperation Frankensteiner and slowly crawled for the tag. Danger threw some chops and a chinbreaker to dispatch Matthews. She then brought Perez in “the hard way” before curb kicking her against the bottom rope. Haze set Perez up for Danger’s Old School Expulsion to win. (***)

After some replays, Danger went back in the ring to gain some revenge. She stripped the referee’s belt, but Matthews became involved and threw Haze out, allowing Perez to choke Danger with the belt and against the ropes as referees spilled out.

(8) Serena Deeb (6-8) beat Mercedes Martinez (7-5-1) at 11:40. They shook hands and traded chain holds before a test of strength put Deeb down on the mat. She recovered by jumping out the corner to deliver her trademark arm drags, but was stopped with an uppercut. Martinez sidestepped the spear and hit sidekicks. Deeb struck back with a low dropkick but her monkey flip attempt saw her mounted to the top turnbuckle. She blocked a superplex and tried a victory roll but was dumped face first onto the mat. Deeb reversed a European uppercut into a backslide before securing a victory roll pin for the shock win. (***1/2)

(9) Shimmer Tag Team Champions Ashley Lane & Nevaeh (5-2) beat Sara Del Rey & Amazing Kong (1-0) at 8:23 by DQ in their fifth defense. Rey jumped Nevaeh as she was high-fiving the crowd and attacked her arm in the ring. Kong struck her down while Rey gutwrenched her. After six minutes, Nevaeh ducked Kong’s avalanche. Any hot tag from Lane was quickly put paid to by Kong who clotheslined them both down. She did the Implant Buster to Rey onto Nevaeh but the latter rolled away so Rey took the move. Kong took Nevaeh to the back and came back with a chair. She threw the referee down and was disqualified, just as the match was building real steam. Deeb and Martinez spilled out to protect the champions from a beat down. (***)

(10) Shimmer Champion MsChif (12-6) beat Wesna (w/Annie Social) (3-3) at 14:14 in her tenth defense. Wesna’s wins from Vols. 21, 23, and 24 were shown to emphasize Social’s influence from 23. MsChif’s scream didn’t budge Wesna and she kept rope breaking Chif’s holds, even a test of strength. She then took a break outside which made her extra cowardly given her 5’10 frame. She guillotined MsChif from the apron and held her in a bodyscissors. MsChif tried a roll up but Wesna went back to a scoop slam and worked MsChif’s neck and leg. While she complained about the referee’s slow count, MsChif sprang an Octopus Stretch on Wesna. She soon found her way back into power with a Torture Rack into Snake Eyes. MsChif tripped Wesna into the turnbuckle then tried her Desecrator finisher but Wesna picked this up to a Samoan Drop. MsChif reversed the CB4 Driver into her Code Green powerbomb but it wasn’t enough. She hit another Code Green before successfully landing the Desecrator DDT to win. (***)

Overall rating: 7.5 This was a bit of an odd one for Shimmer, whereas the matches tend to build in quality and are always main-evented by the best match, this card had a bit of a show-stealer from Deeb and Martinez – the former showing why WWE originally signed her, being both attractive but also a plucky underdog they seem to like to cast as female babyfaces. The two title matches were both credible, but having seen more from Wesna in the past I was a little disappointed; also the tag team match fell flat because of how it finished so abruptly after it had gained steam. I’m not as frustrated by DQ finishes as others, if only it had it come 5-10 minutes later. Amber O’Neal had a terrific send-off match, while the Danger-Perez feud continues to grow and evolve way beyond the original issue. So definitely not anything bad, just lacking that sizzle to the steak.

FYI: DVDs, tickets and more information can be found at http://shimmerwrestling.blogspot.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

RADICAN'S Beyond Wrestling "Greatest Rivals Round Robin" review 9/26 - incredible show of the year contender, Busick-Edwards top-flight MOTYC, more!

RADICAN'S "The Pull List" (Vol. 5) "Young Bucks Too Sweet Journey" doc review, The Flash season 1 Blu-Ray, Top Ten MOTYC for 2015

RADICAN'S "THE PULL LIST" (Vol. 4) - step by step guide to social media and conduct, "Madden NFL 16" review, "Furious 7" Blu-ray w/The Rock & Ronda Rousey, more!