By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S “SHINE 1” DVD REVIEW
JULY 20, 2012
YBOR CITY, FLA.

The show began with Christina Von Eerie cutting a promo backstage. She put over her opponent Cherry Bomb and predicated their match would be a clash of styles.

Meanwhile, Mercedes Martinez was shown in another area backstage. She said she had been watching comic books and movies to get ready for Leva Bates. Bates then dropped down from the ceiling dressed as Spider Man and disappeared.

Daffney introduced the show in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The setup is nice with a huge sign in the entranceway and a pink ring with white ring ropes along with a nice apron setup. Lenny Leonard is handling the commentary on his own.

(1) Veda Scott beat Kimberly. This was a little clunky at times as both women seemed to be a little loose with their offense. Scott ended up getting the win with the snap mare driver, which Leonard noted was a tribute to her trainer, Daizee Haze. It didn’t help that the crowd was dead most of the match and wouldn’t get behind Scott, who took a lot of punishment during the match before winning. (*1/2)

(2) Santana beat Tina San Antonio. The work in this match was clunky at times during the early stages of the match. San Antonio worked over Garrett for several minutes. Santana ended up firing back and eventually pinned San Antonio with a pinning combination. (*1/4)

(3) Allysin Kay & Taylor Made beat Tracy Taylor & Su Yung. Taylor and Yung tagged in and out to work over Made during the early stages of the match. Taylor got cut off and Kay began working her over. Leonard announced Kay would debut in Shimmer in October. Taylor cut off Kay and tagged in Yung. Kay bit Yung’s shoulder while applying an arm submission. Yung fired back and tagged in Taylor for a combination of moves. Yung went for a dive on Made, but Kay cut her off. Kay drove Yung into the ringpost behind the ref’s back and the crowd gasped. The crowd tried to rally behind Yung, but Kay nailed her with a big lariat for a 2 count. Yung finally hit a chinbreaker on Kay and made the tag to Taylor, but the ref was distracted and he forced Yung to stay in the ring.

Yung finally made the hot tag and Taylor ran wild on Kay and Made. Yung tagged in and hit a missile dropkick on Kay for a nearfall. She quickly got cut off and was pinned after a sloppy combination ace crusher. The crowd just wasn’t into the match, but the action was solid. (**)

Daffney interviewed Kay & Made after the match. Kay got on the mic and said her and Made were a match made in heaven. Made then asked if they were made in Sin. Made called all the fans pathetic losers to end the segment.

(4) Christina Von Eerie beat Cherry Bomb. After an initial feeling out period, Von Eerie gained some momentum, but slipped going for a springboard. Cherry went to the floor a short time later and hit a running dropkick on Von Eerie, was slumped in the corner of the ring. Von Eerie fired back and hit a light kick to Cherry’s head after tripping. Cherry fired back and hit a chop in the corner. Cherry hit another chop and the crowd gasped. Von Eerie fired back and nailed Cherry with a series of chops in the corner. After a big exchange of blows in the middle of the ring Von Eerie nailed Cherry with an enzuguri for a 2 count. Cherry fired back and hit a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Cherry locked in the cattle mutilation, but Von Eerie eventually slipped out of the hold. After an exchange Von Eerie hit the 138 slam for the pin. They had some sloppy exchanges, but overall this was solid. (**1/4)

Von Eerie raised Cherry’s hand after the match and they left the ring together.

(5) Reby Sky beat Jayme Jameson. Jameson backed Sky into the corner and groped her. Sky fired up and nailed her with a big dropkick. Reby took Jameson down with a kick and followed up with a leg drop, as Leonard mentioned that Sky had been training with Matt and Jeff Hardy. Sky went for the twist of fate, but Jameson drove her into the corner. Sky fired back and came off the top, but Jameson caught her and hit a fall away slam that drew a small ovation. Jameson worked over Reby’s back for a while. Reby fired back and went for a slam, but Reby’s back went out on her and Jameson went back to work on her back. At one point Jameson hit the three amigos suplexes for a 2 count.

Reby finally hit a chinbreaker, but was unable to follow up on it. Sky caught Jameson with a headscissors takedown and went to work on Jameson. She tried to get the crowd fired up as she nailed Jameson with a leg lariat and a bulldog for a 2 count. Sky went for the twist of fate again, but Jameson countered it into a backslide for a 2 count. Jameson then hit the double D drop, but Sky kicked out at the last second. The crowd began chanting for Sky, who fired back and hit the twist of fate for the pin. This was a really good showing for both women, but the crowd didn’t really get into the match until the end. (**3/4)

Lenny Leonard and Daffney introduced a special presentation in the ring. Leonard thanked Ring Belles and Diva Dirt for their help. Daffney then presented the Diva Dirt Legacy award to Jazz. Jazz got a nice ovation coming out. She thanked Shine for letting her be on the show. Jazz then thanked Diva Dirt for the award. Jazz talked about the sacrifice she puts into the business. Jazz says sometime she doesn’t feel appreciated, but this award shows how much Diva Dirt appreciates women wrestling. Jazz put over the women in the business. She said she had been told this was a man’s sport, but they had proven them wrong.

Mercedes Martinez came out and yelled at Jazz. She told Jazz to go to the back and take her award with her. Daffney tried to hold her back. She eventually convinced Jazz to leave the ring. If someone interrupted my award ceremony like that I certainly wouldn’t just leave the ring, but maybe that’s just me.

(6) Mercedes Martinez beat Leva Bates. Bates came out dressed like Spider Man and tried to get the ref to kiss her while she hung upside down in the corner. Martinez eventually just dropkicked her while she was hanging upside down. Bates fired back and hit a hurricanrana, but Martinez ended up dumping her to the floor. Bates grabbed some string from under the ring and shot it at Martinez. This was totally legal by the way. Martinez eventually fired back on Bates and nailed her with a kick to the face. Martinez put a beating on Bates. Bates fired some string at Martinez again, but she recovered and nailed Bates with another blow in the corner. Martinez hit a big delayed vertical suplex, but only got a 2 count. Bates fired back hit and sliced bread #2 on Martinez for a nearfall. Martinez countered Bates a short time later with a wheel barrow German, but only got a 2 count.

Bates countered Martinez up top and hit a sunset bomb. Bates followed up with a doublestomp off the top to Martinez’s back, but only got a 2 count. The crowd fired up a little as Bates set up for a kick, but Martinez blocked it and hit a big spinebuster. Martinez then hit the fisherman’s buster for the win. This was a fun match and Bates had a good show, but some of the silly stuff Leva using the string during the match was a distraction. (**1/2)

(7) Rain beat Nikki Roxx. The crowd was behind Rain, who heeled on Roxx during the early stages of the match. Rain did a good job of getting heat and working the crowd to get them involved in the match while she had the advantage. She held Roxx in an abdominal stretch at one point and mocked the fans chant for Roxx. Rain held the advantage for a long period of time and cut off several of Roxx’s comeback attempts until Roxx finally dropped her with a suplex and both women were down on the mat. They went to a big strike exchange with Roxx getting the better of Rain with a big axe handle. Rain eventually ended up raking Roxx’s eyes and then she rolled her up for the win. (***1/2)

Daffney interviewed Rain at ringside after the match and asked her about her actions. Rain said she had made an example of Roxx and promised to make an example of others. Roxx ended up recovering and chased Rain to the back.

They aired a very good video package focusing on the build to Del Ray-Jazz in the main event.

(8) Jazz beat Sara Del Rey. After a feeling out period, Jazz got the upper hand on the mat. Del Rey worked heel during the early stages of the match and jawed with a fan while holding Jazz in a headscissors on the mat. They went to a nice exchange where Jazz had the advantage, but Del Rey whipped her into the corner and nailed her with a nice rolling kick to the head. The crowd got behind Jazz who fired back and began tagging Del Rey with a series of jabs and sent her down with a big right hand.

Del Rey began working over Jazz’s arms on the mat and got a cross-arm breaker, but Jazz got the rope. Del Rey then gut the Fujiwara arm bar, but Jazz got the ropes again. After some back and forth action, Del Rey got the royal butterfly and then turned it into a suplex, but Jazz kicked out at the last second and the crowd popped. Jazz got an STF and both women sold the hold well. Del Rey struggled, but finally got the ropes. Jazz dragged Del Rey back to the middle of the ring and applied the STF again, but Del Ray was able to get the ropes. After another exchange of strikes, Jazz hit the Jazz stinger and covered Del Rey for the pin. (***3/4)

After the match, both women hugged as the crowd applauded.

Yung and Taylor were shown sitting backstage. Yung was sad because they lost on the first Shine show and didn’t make an impact. Taylor said people haven’t seen the best of them yet.

Von Eerie and Cherry Bomb were shown backstage asking each other if they were alright. They ended up saying they love each other and hugged.

Kay and Made were shown outside bragging about their win. Made said they win all of their matches in the future.

Jazz ended the show cutting a promo on Martinez for interrupting her ceremony. She challenged Martinez to a match at the next show and flexed for the camera.

Overall thoughts: (6.5) The undercard on this show was weak. Shine is a feeder system for Shimmer and some of the women on the undercard had sloppy exchanges. The lack of crowd heat for the undercard put a damper on things as well. The second half of the card was stronger, as Reby Sky had a solid match with Jameson and showed she has some potential in the ring, despite her limited amount of experience. The last two matches were very good and are worth a look if you want to see what good women’s wrestling is all about.

I enjoyed the production on this DVD. I haven’t seen many of the recent Shimmer shows, but the bright graphics, entrance sign, and pink ring and ring ropes stood out from what you see from most independent promotions. The sound and picture quality were also very good on the level of what you would expect from a well-produced DGUSA DVD. The DVD packaging and menus were both very well done and look professional, so kudos to the people at WWN for packing some punch in the production department to make the promotion stand out.

I enjoy Daffney as a performer, but she didn’t seem like a good fit as a ring announcer/interviewer here. She didn’t seem comfortable in the role and her interaction with the audience and the performers was awkward at times.

On the other hand, Lenny Leonard did a really good job announcing the show on his own. You can tell he did his homework and he told me almost everything I would want to know about each performer on the show if I hadn’t seen them before. His calls of all the matches were entertaining and he is an underappreciated talent on the independent scene.

Rain vs. Roxx was a very good semi-main event. I think they set a good example for the younger talent on the card showcasing how to get a crowd that is dead involved in a show. Rain heeled on the crowd and got them to rally behind Roxx. The pacing of this match was well-done and both women are polished performers at this stage of their career as veterans on the independent scene.

Shine did a nice job of building up the main event of Jazz vs. Del Rey and making it seem important, despite having very little to play off of given this was their debut show. The highlight package that aired before the main event was well-produced and gave this encounter a big match feel.

The crowd was hot during the main event and these women delivered in a big way with a hard-hitting mat based match that went back and forth until the end. I hadn’t seen Jazz on the independent scene before and she impressed me in a big way with how she carried herself in the ring. She has a real presence and is someone the promotion can build around. It’s a shame this was Del Rey’s first and only appearance in Shine, as she signed with WWE to be a trainer and began there a short time after this show was filmed.

I would recommend checking out this release if you want to see two really strong women’s matches at the top of the card. Rain-Roxx and Del Rey-Jazz are both worth checking out, especially if all you’ve been exposed to is women’s wrestling in TNA and WWE. Both matches were very good. The rest of the card wasn’t very exciting and most of the matches weren’t worth going out of your way to see. For a debut show, this was a good effort and set the stage for some storylines to unfold in the coming months.

You can purchase “Shine 1” at ShineWrestling.com.

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