PARKS’S SHIMMER VOLUME 113 REPORT 4/5: Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Nicole Savoy for the SHIMMER Championship, Heart of SHIMMER and Tag Titles defended

PARKS’S SHIMMER 113 REPORT
APRIL 5, 2019
QUEENS, NY
AIRED LIVE ON FITE TV

(1) Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Nicole Savoy, SHIMMER Championship

The ring was not well lit, as when wrestlers would go to a corner it was like they were in the complete darkness. Savoy got a hurricanrana into a pin for two within the first two minutes. The fight went outside where Savoy was whipped into the guardrail. Matsumoto played well to the crowd. Savoy landed a powerslam then a butterfly suplex. The champ showed off a variety of arm-bars. Matsumoto countered a submission into a Boston crab. Double-knees from the second rope earned Matsumoto a two-count at 8:15. At about 11:00, they screwed up a spot and did it again, screwing it up again. Savoy pinned Matsumoto with a dragon suplex, though Matsumoto kicked out right after the three-count.

WINNER: Savoy, at 12:26. I liked the idea of the title match going on first, just for something different. This was hard-fought with some hesitation from both women at times, but largely well-worked.

(2) SHIMMER SCRAMBLE MATCH

Rules were one-on-one in the ring, but Lucha rules in that no tags are necessary. Participants included Veda Scott, Brittany Blake, Brandi Lauren, Allie Recks, Hyan, Shotzi Blackheart, Indi Hartwell, and Leva Bates. Shotzi hit a 619 on Hyan. Leva hit a stunner but was controlled by Scott’s Indian death lock. Lauren and Recks went after each other as they have an issue in SHINE. Scott dove onto the competitors on the floor, followed after by Shotzi. Recks and Blake hit stereo topes on the rest. Multiple submissions were applied by six of the women to each other. Too much action and too many big moves to describe it in too much detail. Hyan won with a 450 splash landing her knees on Recks. I’m not sure if that’s what she intended as it looked like she checked on Recks after the fall.

WINNER: Hyan, at 8:10. All action and a lot of fun but ultimately too much going on for any one person or sequence to stand out.

(3) Allysin Kay vs. Kris Statlander

Kay came out to Gangsta’s Paradise by Coolio, taking my memory back to the fifth grade. This was Statlander’s first SHIMMER appearance. They did the rolling cradles spot. Statlander is supposed to have some unorthodox offense as she’s billed as hailing from Area 51. Statlander missed a top-rope moonsault. Big boot by Kay got her two after Statlander’s high-risk move went awry. Moonsault finally hit at 7:15 after Statlander forced Kay to give herself a wet willie. Kay ducked a spin kick and hit a discus lariat for the win.

WINNER: Kay, at 8:30. Impressive showing for Statlander. These two worked well together.

(4) Su Yung vs. Shazza McKenzie

Shazza used kicks to get the advantage until Yung used the apron as a back-breaker. She set Shazza up on a chair then hit a senton dive off the apron onto her. Yung delivered a neckbreaker to Shazza while McKenzie was in the tree of woe. Shazza came back with a running knee and both were down at the 7:30 mark. Yung tried to use a cane but the ref took it away. They battled on the top rope where Shazza hit a stunner for the win.

WINNER: McKenzie, at 11:07. This may be the best Su Yung match I’ve seen, which is more of an indictment of her Impact work than a high compliment of this bout.

(5) The Twisted Sisterz (Holidead & Thunder Rosa) vs. Cheerleader Melissa & Mercedes Martinez, SHIMMER Tag Team Championship

The Sisterz are entertaining with their gimmick. Back-and-forth action early on which the crowd was into. The two teams did a lot to try to get under each other’s skin. Holidead got a hot tag at 8:41 and cleaned house. Martinez hit a suplex off the second rope into a Three Amigos. “Both these teams” chant as all four were down trying to regroup at one point. The match broke down with tags all but non-existent for the second half of the match. Martinez brought the tag titles into the ring and Melissa dropped Holidead back-first onto one of them. Curb stomp off the top rope by Melissa ended it.

WINNERS: Martinez and Melissa, at 14:43. The last few minutes were rough at times but overall this was really good.

(6) Tessa Blanchard vs. Dr. Britt Baker, DMD

Quick, crisp start to this one. Tessa laid in some hard forearms to the back of Baker. Tessa was getting frustrated she couldn’t put Baker away early. That frustration grew as the match progressed. Cutter out of nowhere by Tessa, who then went to the top. A senton got her a two-count. The ref paused the match to check on Baker after that move. Code Red delivered by Baker. She hit Blanchard with Tessa’s own Magnum maneuver. After a discus elbow, Tessa won with a Buzzsaw DDT.

WINNER: Blanchard, at 12:35. Super tightly worked and at a fast pace. Sometimes work can get sloppy when urgency increases, but that didn’t happen here. A really tremendous match.

(7) Blue Nation (Charli Evans & Jessica Troy) & Zoe Lucas & Steph De Lander vs. Sea Stars (Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo) & Solo Darling & Kris Wolf

Wolf was the most over babyface. Lucas was an early victim of Darling’s kicks. Wolf was a ball of energy when she tagged in. Vox fought her way out of the heel corner and took De Lander down with a headscissors. Troy worked over Vox’s arm. Vox was beaten down for an extended heat segment. Darling had a Boston crab locked in but the heels broke it up. Darling was not intimidated being in there with the much taller De Lander. Exo fish-hooked De Lander, then Exo was fish-hooked, and it went on like this until everyone had a finger in someone else’s mouth. Each woman hit a move then was taken out by someone else, so you knew the finish was coming. Sure enough, Wolf finished off Evans with a meteora.

WINNERS: Vox, Exo, Darling, and Wolf, at 20:08. This actually functioned as a legit eight-woman tag before inevitably breaking down late. Long match, but some really nice segments contained within.

(8) Samantha Heights vs. Dust, Heart of SHIMMER Championship

This was Dust’s eighth title defense. A big story here was that Rosemary was not at ringside with Dust. The women fought at ringside and Heights booted Dust into the crowd. She then dove over the railing onto her foe. They made some risky choices out there that didn’t always pay off. Heights missed a top-rope cross-body. Three topes in a row by Heights into Dust at ringside. They exchanged blows on the apron. Heights ended up getting DDT’d on the apron. Blockbuster off the top for only two, the first time that move had been kicked out of in two years. Heights won with a move that looked messed up as she had grabbed Dust by the hand and walked the top rope, then just sort-of fell onto Dust.

WINNER: Heights, at 13:54. I didn’t think this was of the quality of some of the other matches on the card. If it hadn’t been the main event, that would’ve been more acceptable.