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DVD REVIEW: SHIMMER VOLUME 13

Shimmer Volume 13

By Michael Campbell

Welcome back to “The Cynical DVD View”. This time out, it’s Shimmer Volume 13. Last time I looked at the Shimmer Ladies, Sara Del Rey became the inaugural Shimmer Champion, following a flawless title tournament. Sarah Stock made a huge impression in her first appearances for the promotion, and Cindy Rogers really upped her game. That brings us to Volume 13!

The DVD starts right off with this opening match. Serena’s done little of note in recent times, but is still over with the crowd in this match, which is a nice follow-up from Serena missing the Shimmer title tournament, and being replaced by the opportunistic Alicia.

Basic, but effective opening match. Deeb comes across more aggressive than I can remember her before, and is surprisingly dominant, working the arm and shoulder. Alicia wrestles in a classic heel fashion, the like of which Raven would surely love, and she’s growing on me for sure. Serena’s also a much more sympathetic opponent for her than her previous Shimmer enemies, which helps this one maintain interest. Serena picks up the victory with a really awesome spear, ensuring Alicia is going to remain an opening match attraction. Good opener. Serena’s punches were especially well-executed.

-Highlights are shown of Shimmer Volume 10, in which Josie and Malia Hosaka engaged in a four-way, which got of hand, leading to a post-match brawl.

Still hate Josie’s music, but it suits her, and I guess it’s appropriate. She’s lost a lot of weight by the looks of things, and moves really well, aggressively taking Hosaka down at the outset. Malia is forced to retire to the outside early, to get the breather. Josie totally outwrestles her heel opponent here, before falling prey to a neat side-kick. Josie comes back into it, but hit’s a weak spear/mid-clothesline type spot, that takes the crowd out of the match. Matters probably aren’t helped, because Josie then steadies the pace with a bear-hug, which sucks up Malia’s heat. As this goes on, Josie seems to get frustrated that she can’t put her foe away, which is noted by Prazak as I jot the thought down. Hosaka then surprises Josie with a big Frankensteiner for the victory!

I really enjoyed the finish of this, and the overall story. Josie was the less experienced, rash babyface, opposed to Hosaka’s usually sturdy heel demeanour. But Hosaka was rocked by Josie’s dominance, and even with her experience, had to squeak a sudden finish. Decent match, which leaves room to follow this up, and is probably the first time I’ve found Josie intriguing. This could be a good step for her character.

“The Jezebel” Eden Black vs. Lexie Fyfe

On commentary, Black is again mocked by Prazak and Danger. It’s light-hearted of course. She controls her larger foe oddly with headlocks and other holds in the early stages of this encounter. Fyfe doesn’t get a look in, until “Indy-riffic” Eden Black makes a mistake and is caught with a clothesline. Fyfe looks good beating down her victim here, using her weight to suppress Black’s speed advantage. The fans are into this, as Fyfe resorts to back-rakes and choke holds, but her beat-down doesn’t last too long, as she’s caught out by a head scissors, then a cross body. As Black picks up some momentum, she’s caught in a really devastating power bomb, but while on the mat, is able to lock on a triangle choke, to which Fyfe taps!

Another really good finish is what distinguishes this bout. The bulk of the match was nothing exceptional, but it was never boring either. But the finish almost played off the last match, with Fyfe’s experience actually proving to be her outdoing, as she underestimated her opponent. I’m not a fan of Black’s gimmick, which sad to say, I think is a little old-hat. But, to her credit, she does seem to connect with the fans, and played off well here against Fyfe.

God, I hope this match is quieter than the MsChif tag match on the last show. They open with a test of strength, and Daffney jumps in to oppose MsChif, but instead tickles her. Portia throws a hissy fit. I get the impression she’s gonna be destroyed here. On the outside, Perez is frightened by a sign that has a light-up eyes image of MsChif. Admittedly it is pretty terrifying. Once back inside the ring, Perez’s quick feet earn her the advantage with a variety of kicks. It doesn’t last long, as she’s dumped with a big power bomb, before having her ass handed to her by the super-aggressive Mschif, who finishes her with a slightly awkward version of Obliteration.

Pretty much a nothing match. I like both of these ladies, and think MsChif is easily among the elite on the roster, but this was just a mere squash to put over her character.

-In the centre of the ring, Becky Bayless introduces Alexa Thatcher, who limps towards the ring. It appears that she has fractured her foot, and is unable to wrestle. Ol’ Alicia walks to the ring though, with clearly dubious intentions. She cuts a false babyface promo which is obviously a set up for an attack. Yup, she attacks the foot on the way out of the ring. Pretty well-executed, and will give Alicia a nice little under-card feud.

It occurs to me that Melissa’s solo entrance music no longer suits her as she’s affiliated with Daffney and MsChif. Ariel’s music of course wouldn’t suit anyone with any degree of sanity who has functioning ears. Ugh. Good response to both girls from the crowd. Starts out as a striking orientated bout, with Melissa being extremely intense, and Prazak talking up how easily she was eliminated from the Shimmer title tournament. Good intensity actually from both girls. I find myself rallying behind Ariel, who is easily the more likeable. Apart from being really angry, Melissa still seems to struggle to convey much personality in the ring, and would definitely be much better as a full-blown heel. There are some nice hints of this, following a Curb-stomp that Ariel only escapes pinfall from by grabbing the ropes. Melissa cockily swots her arm away, which is nice, and continues the aggressiveness. The action here is really stiff and nicely authentic. Melissa picks up the win with the Air Raid Crash.

Good match, with a real sense of competitiveness between the two ladies. Melissa’s character needs a ton of work in my opinion. But still, t’was nice to see both ladies in such effective performances.

A few highlights are shown of Amazing Kong, hyping her return on the next show.

Dark Angel Sarah Stock vs. Daizee Haze

Daizee continues to be a ridiculously likeable, but absolutely horrible role model. Sarah’s outfit is another hot number for someone who has already seriously impressed in Shimmer competition. The fans are really into this at the outset, and this is the first time these two have met anywhere. They jostle back and forth with some excellent grappling, throwing in a whole array of swell counters, and crisp exchanged. This could be a great match. Although Daizee can generally hang with anyone, and is talented, she pulls a lot out of the hat here, that I didn’t know she was capable of. She looks really impressive. Both girls attempt leg submissions, but neither is substantially weakened, and they both evade the holds. Lots of really fluid roll-ups too. Eventually Stock is able to control her opponent with some cool leg-work, and wears her down with a headlock. Great stuff. Every time Haze escapes her, is with her brain, calling on all her counter-wrestling ability. Daizee comes back for long enough to hit a couple of her trademark spots, but is caught in a wheelbarrow, which is converted into a tough German Suplex. As this all goes on, Sarah pulls out increasingly impressive submissions. These provide the structure of the match, but are peppered throughout with some really nice, unpredictable highspots. At one point, Sarah locks on a great torture rack, then converts it into a running erm, Samoan Drop type spot. Eventually Sarah picks up the win with the Tiger Driver!

This match probably warranted much more note-taking, as it was absolutely chock -full of stuff. However I simply couldn’t- the action was so good, one didn’t wish to divert one’s attention. This was an excellent match, and my favourite of the Haze’s, perhaps ever. The two blended superbly, and threw together an exciting, unpredictable ride. The counter wrestling on display here was really fantastic, and didn’t just hold people’s attention, it really drew the fans in, despite being largely based on mat-wrestling. Really great match with only one tiny, teeny little irritancy. After the bout, Sarah leaves far too easily, and with far too little celebration. She just beat one of Shimmer’s Main eventers! Daizee is left to bask in crowd cheering, and it comes across as strange in this circumstance.

-Footage of Alison Danger and Cindy Roger’s post-match fight involving the chain is shown, followed by Alison issuing the challenge for a chain match.

Cindy’s confidence has definitely grown, and if she wins this, I’d put her in line for a title shot. Before the match starts, Rogers tells Danger to keep her Kabuki mask on, as “it’s much better that way”! Great heat for Cindy. They tug at the chain to begin, but Danger goes for the turnbuckles really quickly. Needless to say, she doesn’t reach them. The action quickly degenerates into a brawl, with Rogers getting the advantage. Using her smarts, she ties up Alison’s feet, and goes for the corners, but isn’t able to touch all four. Part of me hopes for blood here. The other part of me is disgusted with myself. The one complaint I really have, is that Danger seems overly determined to simply finish the match and touch all four turnbuckles. Didn’t she throw out the challenge to have this gimmick stipulation so she could brutalize her petulant foe? Ah well.

The action picks up a gear when they take it to the outside, as Roger’s rakes her opponents’ head and face across the steel steps with the chain, dragging Danger around the floor. The fans aren’t anywhere close to be being as excited by this as they were by the Street Fight on Volume 12. It isn’t really helped when Alison blades, as the fans clearly expected blood, as the feud has escalated to the point where it’s necessary. But she cuts so highly into her hairline (Understandably so… who wants Alison Danger to support the Abdullah the Butcher grooves?) , that only a faint trickle is visible. The small contingent of fans in attendance don’t seem impressed, and Rogers, wisely, uses the chain to attempt to draw a little more juicy fun. They do almost a dog-collar, extended hope-spot, where Danger desperately dashes towards each turnbuckle, but frustratingly, just doesn’t have enough strength to gain the extra give needed to pull herself to the fourth. The blood is really apparent now on Alison’s face, and it makes me feel bad for ever wishing for it. The finish comes quickly- and it’s a doozy. Cindy scoops Alison onto her shoulders, and carries her around the ring, touching each corner as she goes. But unbeknownst to her, Alison touches each pad behind her pack. The prior to reaching the fourth, Danger hops onto her feet, choking Cindy, then dumps her into the corner with an STO, before touching the turnbuckle. The only problem is that Cindy’s hand slaps it on the way down! Seriously great finish.

Once again, this was an impressive outing from both ladies. Perhaps the technical greatness of the match prior killed the crowd somewhat for their old-fashioned brawl, but it deserved better. The feud between these ladies has been a fine slow-burner, and following their previous street-fight, I really looked forward to this. It wasn’t quite of the same standard, but still delivered the goods, and once more, was a first for Shimmer, and a brave, adventurous effort from the wrestlers involved. No classic, but worth seeing. The only trouble is, where to from here? The fans expected blood and guts here, but it was already improbable that they could outdo the No DQ brutality of prior. It seems they’ll revert to a more technical route to finish the feud, as throughout this bout Prazak goes nuts on commentary highlighting that Rogers is “the Definition of Technician”, and building up her technical credentials. Thus Danger has the opportunity to end the feud by beating the heel at their game.

-They show clips of Nikki Roxx carting Rain from ringside, allowing Del Rey the chance to beat Lacey for the Shimmer title, without outside interference. Where are the promos on this show?

En route to the ring, Rain is presented with some cash by some shameless dorks at ringside, which she gleefully takes from them and rips in half. Rain is my new favourite person in the world. Sara comes to the ring again toting a water pistol. The fans irritate me when they make noise about the “one-hour time limit”, which to me, is ridiculous. If the thought of a women’s wrestling , main event going to an hour is that horrific, go and watch something else (not that anyone would seriously expect a tag match to do so, especially as it features two non-tag wrestlers).

The Home wreckers jump Nikki, but she soon establishes her superiority. The bout settles, with Roxx and Rain starting off. Rain takes a shortcut, and the Wrecking Crew turn the tide. This is a back and forth, exciting opening. Lacey and Rain nefariously con the referee and manage to cheat, controlling Nikki. There’s going to be a long build up to Del Rey getting a hot tag… As they work over their opponent, Lacey applies her Bridging Surfboard, which is a thing of absolute beauty. This is a beautifully thought out match in fact. As with their match against MsChif and Melissa, Rain and Lacey know how to push all buttons when it comes to working as a heel tandem, and do so brilliantly, taking every shortcut imaginable, and always staying true their characters. In short, they’re pure heels.

I don’t think the faces really capitalize on the big hot tag, as it arrives perhaps too abruptly, but nonetheless, Del Rey comes in fired up like a rabid beast. At one point, she traps both Rain and Lacey in the Royal Butterfly at the same time, which is mightily impressive. Roxx then lifts Lacey into the move herself and Barbie Crushers her, and Sara is left to power slam and pin Rain, for the anticlimactic victory.

Bit of a let-down really. The finish was a little sudden, and followed a half comeback, that had Del Rey make two luke-warm tags, rather than one really hot one. I also felt that given the level of talent of four of these ladies have, we would have seen more of them. That said, The Home Wrecking Crew were fantastic as usual, showing a ridiculously great level of discipline when it comes to playing the heel, and generally being great professionals.

Enjoyable, straight-forward match.

Oh yeah, and there's a couple of nice easter eggs, including a touching tribute to Sherri Martel, which is a classy touch.

So…………..?

Tough one this. It’s the first Shimmer show in a while that comes across as skippable but at the same time, if you’ve been following the show, there’s stuff here you won’t want to miss. The match of the night was clearly Sarah Stock versus Haze, which featured Stock’s ahem, stock on the rise, but was also an absolutely superb effort from Daizee. Already that is one of my favourite Shimmer matches, almost being as good as Stock’s title tournament efforts. She’s certainly one to watch in 08. Elsewhere, if you’ve enjoyed the Danger/Rogers feud, this was another satisfying instalment in that story, though it may prove to lead them into a different direction. The Main Event was fun, without being especially satisfying, although The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew were good value as always. Otherwise, there wasn’t a great deal to this. Nothing was bad at all, and in fact, the finishes of the majority of the bouts (ironically, except the main event), were the highlight of the show. The one major, major flaw, was the lack of promos and interviews. Where were they? Surely there should have been choice words to say for everyone following the title tournament, and the crowning of the first champion? Disappointing.

Basically, it you’re a fan of Shimmer, there’s plenty to enjoy on the show, and probably little that will disappoint. But it only gets a very cautious recommendation from me, especially to those who don’t have the previous volumes (the last few of which are far superior to this). Additionally, the follow-up, Volume 14, also looks like a safer purchase. An enjoyable show, but aside from one great match, not a memorable one.

Lacey moves into the top spot because she was easily the star of the main event, and is still easily the best, most convincing character on the Shimmer roster. Her heel work throughout her match was fabulous, as she continues to shine.

Despite being the champion, is knocked off the top spot thanks to having very little to actually do in the main event. Seriously, she did so little. Possibly carrying a minor injury? Regardless, she deserves a break from her string of great main events, and I’m now looking forward to the Lacey/Del Rey rematch.

A fine outing from Rogers, and a big win too. She continues to impress with her heel performances, as she’s carried her end in a feud in which she could easily have looked lost.

Continues her run of flawless performances within the company. Is catapulted so highly not just because she’s so over, and her match was so excellent, but because she didn’t just beat anyone, she beat arguably the number two babyface in Shimmer, and is surely going to enjoy a main event feud.

The Haze’s likeability shined through what I maintain is a poor babyface character. But she entered an outstanding effort on this volume, and showed previously hidden depths.

Moves up a spot thanks to being in the main event, and in fact, working the majority of the match as a sympathetic good guy. Really classy performer who’s next match, against Amazing Kong, could see her leap up the ranks.

Rain was unranked before, because her role last time out made it clear that she’s a tag wrestler first and foremost. But this show proved that her tag team role with Lacey is perhaps Shimmer’s most entertaining act. She was fantastic throughout this, and it seems is becoming as confident as her partner. The two work seamlessly together.

Danger’s feud with Rogers has taken an interesting twist, and will now have to shift focus, but I still think the outcome will be Rogers going over to win the rivalry. Danger continues to show great bravado and guts in her role, and is willing to buck the trend and take the falls if necessary.

Drops a whole bunch of spots because her match was essentially a squash and no storylines or development was really offered here. But sometimes, that’s all that is required.

Drops down the list because she once more wasn’t featured on the show. Ordinarily, that would probably mean being absent entirely, however footage of this talent was included to hype her big return on the next show, which will undoubtedly result in a reshuffling of the ratings.

I’ll be back soon with Volume 14, which looks like an absolute doozy! 

Thanks for taking the time to read this wacky review/rant/gibberish. I would hope it had at least as much depth as Aldo Montoya’s jockstrap, and the entertainment value of Shawn Michaels‘ hairline. If you have any comments, I welcome and encourage all feedback. please get in touch at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com Until bell-time, thanks again.