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Welcome back to “The Cynical View”, following a completely ridiculously lengthy absence. I’ve missed you guys. But I’m back, and this time looking at Shimmer Volume 19. Much has transpired since the previous Volume making this show a very intriguing one indeed. Sara Del Rey was unseated on the last release, dropping the Shimmer Title to MsChif, in hard-fought effort. Following the losing effort, and the less than positive response the fans gave her, Del Rey turned heel on the fans, berating their lack of respect. What to expect from her new attitude on this volume?

Meanwhile, LuFisto, Nikki Roxx and Alison Danger are back in action which stacks the card further. Sadly, the wonderful Lacey is no longer with Shimmer, having decided to leave the wrestling business to concentrate on college. I do hope that whatever she’ll grace us with her presence in the ring again one day, because she’s undoubtedly one of the most versatile and charismatic female workers around. For the bulk of the first era of Shimmer, she was at the top of the card, and the standout star. It will be interesting to see who can fill her boots.

On with the review! 

The show immediately starts out, with this Royal Rumble rules match, to determine the Number One contender for the Shimmer Title, for tonight’s main event. Good way to go, as we certainly haven’t had this before… and besides, how often do we get to see 21 female workers of this quality in one ring at the same time?

Serena Deeb and Portia Perez are the first two participants. The pace of this one is fairly hectic, with competitors being eliminated as others are making their entrance. Hard to keep track of on occasion, but never dull. Portia is great here. Cheerleader Melissa and Amazing Kong get the biggest pops thus far, and the fans react with shock to Sara Del Rey, sporting her new look, and heel gimmick. Good stuff. Kong eliminates most of the roster, with Perez taking the big Gorilla Press to the outside, in a groovy spot. The faces team up to oust Kong, Nikki Roxx makes her return, as the final participant, does not make it to the end, and Ariel manages to eliminate Death Rey. This leaves Jetta and Ariel, who loses out, when Del Rey attacks her from the outside. Jetta wins without even eliminating the other woman- her reaction is excellent and typical.

This was a hugely entertaining opener. They built up to the last couple of minutes really, really well, with Melissa, Kong, and Del Rey the favourites. The way in which the match was laid out, seemed to be designed to give Portia the sneaky heel win. That would have been great, but Jetta’s an equally good opponent for MsChif. There were several great exchanges, including a rather stiff tussle between Melissa and Lufisto. Deeb looked fantastic here, and Jetta was appropriately cowardly. I really enjoyed this.

-Becky Bayless calls Daizee Haze to the ring for an Interview. Daizee explains that she’s unable to wrestle at this set of tapings, because of an injury she sustained following another show, just days prior. But she does vow to be back for Volume 21, and is looking to go for the Shimmer title. Tasteful segment.

Lots of heat for Portia starting out. I love Daffney, but this Shark Girl gimmick really bores the pants of me. They indulge in some comedy, with Shark Girl doing the whole biting routine. Pretty good action. Portia oozes confidence these days. They work a short, snappy match that keeps the crowd involved, with some surprisingly good sequences. Portia picks up the win with a Powerbomb, followed by a pinfall, with her feet on the ropes.

Good match, this card is off to a flying start.

I honestly expected very little from this, but was pleasantly surprised. Serena is still playing the baby face, and getting the appropriate response from the Shimmer faithful, but there’s something different about her. Her gestures are more subdued… and she looks like she could play a convincing heel now. In action, she certainly seems more aggressive, and it’s convincing. Lots of neat arm-drag sequences, with Danyah clearly the underdog, taking advantage on simple exchanges, but being one-step behind Serena. Three-quarters of the way through, they go into some cool exchanges of pinfalls and roll-ups.

Serena eventually avoids Danyah’s finisher, and nails her with a sickening spear, to earn the three count. That was a mighty hefty spot right there. Serena looked tip-tastic here, and I hope she’s due a big storyline in upcoming shows.

This starts out really energetically, with the baby faces looking good against their larger foes. Cat Power in particular, is an impressive looking lady. Both girls get their shine, but eventually, Ashley succumbs, and is beat down by her opponents. Straightforward, old-school tag action this, with all four building up to Nevaeh getting the hot tag. Once it happens though, the match is over rather quickly. The baby faces combine for their really cool Yakuza/STO finisher, which earns them the three-count on Veronika. The only problem here, is that you can clearly see Cat Power could have broken it up!

The last minute or so was sloppy, but prior to that, it was a decent match. Ashley and Nevaeh will no doubt become a really, really good team, and here the fans are behind them.

The fans suggest that Lee just gets out of the ring at the start… and chant “please don’t die” to her. You can see where they think this one will go… Kong gets a star reaction from the crowd, who patiently await whatever horrors she will unleash.

Kong shows off her power from the outset, heellishly beating down Lorelei. Lorelei comes back, and goes for a Handspring, but misses, and is then smacked in the face a few times. Really, really nasty. She definitely connected with a couple of back-fists.

Basically a five minute squash, but okay while it lasted. It adds to Kong’s storyline of needing to pick up wins, rather than just beat her opponents up, in order to move back into title contention.

Maybe it’s the lighting… but Nicole looks paler on every Shimmer release. She jaws with the regulars on her way to the ring. Big pop for Nikki…. ROCKS! The fans are genuinely happy to have her back in Shimmer. Nikki’s work is a bit cleaner and more smooth now, surely a benefit from her TV work in TNA.

Nicole controls the match, working over Roxx with basic heel spots, and some nice forearms. Her high knee is especially sweet. Nicole gets A LOT of offence in, and beats her more experienced opponent for several minutes. Towards the end of her dominance, she nails a perfect Northern Lights Suplex, but nearly is pinned with a Small Package. Roxx’s comeback is really good, polished, and stiff. She struggles to put Nicole away though- for whom this is a really great showing. Nikki gets the pin with the Barbie-Crusher though.

Easily the best match of volume 19 thus far. T’was a good comeback win for Nikki, who hasn’t missed a beat in Shimmer. Meanwhile, Nicole is rapidly improving- this was easily the best I’ve seen from her thus far. Her strikes are really impressive, and she knows how to mix it u, and keep the crowd interested. Great outing .I wonder though if she’ll stick with Portia for long- as a singles wrestler she’ll need a little something extra to help differentiate between them.

The fans are very Pro-Danger, who looks fantastic on this release. They make novel use of the top-turnbuckle during a Collar-and-elbow-tie-up right at the outset. Lot’s of methodical, slow-paced chain wrestling here. The way her hair’s done here, Jenifer reminds me of her namesake, erm, Brookside’s Jennifer Ellison. Umm…

Blake is way, way in control after a couple of minutes, totally causing Alison to back off. They fight to the outside, and Blake attempts her Joe style Running Dropkick, but is met with a rough Clothesline to the throat. Good action this. When Danger has her opponent at a dis-advantage, she continually slows it down ,and works submissions, but these two genuinely work them, rather than slapping on a hold, and lying on the mat. Blake fights back, and goes Kobashi on Alison’s chest, nice! Alison slams her with a sick Neckbreaker though, in a hugely impressive spot, but can’t hit the Old School Expulsion. Blake rolls her up, but Alison counters for the win.

Nice match indeed. Good change of pace from the last bout, with a mix of really well conceived Submissions, and a little hint of Strong Style. I’d like to see these two in a proper feud down the line, when Danger returns. Blake has tons of potential.

-In the ring, Alison helps Jenifer to her feet, and then grabs a microphone. She cuts a shoot/promo putting over Jenifer Blake, before being interrupted by Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews. Portia is actually eating a cookie. Great heat there. We’re in a Canadian turf war here, as Portia labels Alison a “Diet Canadian”. A tag match is set for the next volume. Good angle.

Rain sports a t-shirt that has a picture of a Milk Carton, with Lacey on the front, and she asks fans repeatedly, “where is she?”

The fans are pumped for LuFisto’s return match, especially following that quality segment. The first few moments are a bit awkward, with both ladies seeming unfamiliar with each others spots. They keep calm, and get into a bitchy bite-fest, yum. Rain pulls out her awesome… “Yeeeeaaaaaerrrhhhh” noises. Lufisto dominates this one, with a variety of strikes, until Rain targets her foes known back problems. This is entertaining stuff, and some of the best actual grappling I’ve seen from Rain. She rolls through into a neat Underhook Choke-hold, and even in doing this, retains her quirky mannerisms.

Lufisto surprises Rain with a slick Death Valley Driver, but goes up top, which doesn’t pay off. Rain builds up to the Acid Rain Drop, but ends up in a Strike-fest which of course, Lufisto gets the better off. She nails a few big spots, then traps her opponent in a Camel Clutch , showboating during the sequence. The ladies then build up a great finish, where Lufisto sets up the Diving Headbutt, misses, Rain goes for her finisher, but it’s blocked and turned into a Burning Hammer. OUCH. That’s enough for the three.

Rain’s such a slimy, sleazy character, and her antics always help her bouts stand out adding to their entertainment value. Just check out her nutty expression as she walks to the back after this. She always seems to lose in singles matches- but that’s not a problem, unless the fans start getting behind her. Lufisto looked great here, and she should be headed for a couple of big feuds. Her Burning Hammer was convincingly superior to the old Dan Maff career-ender of a move.

Thank the lords Sara has changed her entrance music now that she’s a heel. She looks nasty (not in the skanky sense mind) with that make-over. Ariel eats a boot to the gut as she comes down the aisle, which is the correct response to anyone who uses “B’witched” as their entrance music. Anyways, Sara completely pulverises Ariel on the outside, with liberal use of the Ring post, and guardrails.

Back in the ring, it’s more of the same, with stiff Headbutts, and a lot of nasty kicks. Ariel counters with a few Roll-ups and Backslides, but it clearly just aggravates Del Rey. She beats the tar out of her, while Danger on commentary, emphasise her focus on kicks. Ariel capitalises on a mistake, and fights back, eventually taking her off her feet. Ariel gets a two-count off a Tornado Bulldog, but is caught in the Royal Butterfly when she attempts a Crossbody.

This was a good match. Kind of similar to an extended squash, but Del Rey Ariel was allowed to show her resilience and survived far too long for it to be so basic.

Sara’s style hasn’t’ that much- she always was aggressive and methodical, but she carries herself with much more malice and intent, making her attacks appear more vicious.

Clearly, this is the match on the card most anticipated by the hardcore fans of women’s wrestling. Slightly tame reaction to Mercedes as she makes her entrance. I’m guessing it’s because the crowd are awaiting Melissa, who is way over.

They kick off with a feeling out process, and trade a bunch of holds, in baby v baby style. Nice work two, they’re both as smooth as ever. Eventually, Melissa grabs the opportunity to pick apart Mercedes’ arm. Mercedes is the first to go for a pinfall attempt though, following a Powerslam. This is solid, no-frills wrestling, which is especially appropriate following the one-sided nature of the last contest, and the likely gimmick value the Main Event will carry. The action spills to the outside briefly, which I think is a mistake, given how the previous bout went. Back in the ring, they trade German Suplexes, which I’m not too keen on because they summon “fighting Spirit” along the way. There just wasn’t a long enough exchange prior to the spot for it to be convincing, and they risk it being ineffective should they go down that route later in the match. Martinez punishes Melissa with a Brainbuster, but only gets a Two- while Melissa keep dodging the Fisherman Buster. In Shimmer, they do a terrific job of building up most of the finishers I must say, even if they are moves that are sometimes over-used in the Indy Wrestling world. Melissa shoots for her finish, but comes up short, and is caught in a Fisherman Buster and is soon staring at the ceiling.

Good match. The build-up to the finishers for both girls was absolutely terrific. Melissa looked desperate to escape the Fisherman Buster, and succeeded on numerous occasions, but went for the Kudo Driver before she had Mercedes sufficiently knackered. But both women were at the stage where they knew that if they were caught, they were done. It was well-paced too. I could have done without the brief brawling on the outside, which changed the pace up a little- but I felt that it would have been great to have this purely take place in the ring. And I hated the Fighting Spirit moment- it’s something that’s been done to death in Ring of Honor, and around the country, and it makes it extremely difficult to pull it off. I wouldn’t expect to wait too long before we get a rematch. As much as the fans love Melissa, I could forsee a heel turn.

-Backstage, Becky interviews Sara, who goes off on a rant about how she deserves to be Champion, and feels wronged, having “carried” the company throughout it’s first couple of years. Pretty good segment, and it felt necessary to have some sort of promo from Sara to add a little depth to her turn, which mat may have seemed odd to those who say, hadn’t watched the past four or five shows, and don’t follow ROH. As much as I like Becky though, one thing that I always notice with her, is that she never seems particularly intimidated by the wrestlers she interviews, especially heels- shouldn’t she appear more afraid of someone clearly bonkers like Del Rey?

Jetta gets on the mic immediately, and dedicates the “following title win to Lacey and Rain”. MsChif comes out to probably the biggest pop of the night. She looks to be in great shape and her appearance effectively feels she’s the biggest star on the card. There’s lots of stalling before the action takes place, with MsChif squealing at the challenger, to the point where Jetta is like, backing off, in fear, and complains to the referee that it should be illegal. In true Home Wrecking Crew fashion, the challenger from Coventry goes to the eyes for a moment’s rest bite. The Champ’s all over Jetta here, who retreats to her bottle of water on the outside. MsChif follows her, working the arm whilst on the outside, at one point nailing her with the water. Nasty! On commentary, Danger and Prazak do a great job of pointing out just how many challengers there are on the horizon, underlining the importance of this title within the promotion.

Jetta makes use of the hair ,but is still being outwrestled. MsChif gathers her in bizarre Submission while she’s standing on foot. Jetta looks seconds from crying. She survives though, and dumps a running MsChif to the outside. They scrap a little, before MsChif takes a Suplex on the wooden floor. Good stuff this, with Jetta doing a great job of selling the arm. She manages a Superplex but can’t get the three count, then attempts to use the ropes, the tights, whatever is at her disposal. As in the previous contest, they do a nice job of building to the finish, with Jetta feeling the time is right, but having it frantically reversed, before MsChif nails her with the Desecrator.

Maybe a slightly abrupt finish to a solid main event, although maybe that’s just me getting overly familiar with extended finishing stretches. Jetta never seemed like a genuine threat during the match though, and it was obvious she wasn’t taking the belt. That didn’t prevent it being an enjoyable showcase for the new champion though, while solidifying the challenger as a key member of the roster. Throughout the entire show, Prazak and Danger mentioned the likelihood of Rain interfering, so I had a funny feeling that wouldn’t happen. It could be interesting how they deal with that- I would guess something flippant, such as.. She was looking for Lacey. They could maybe go down the route where she’s constantly distracted and a weak link in tag competition.

So…?

By no means an essential volume, this nonetheless would serve as a great starting point for newcomers. The Battle Royal is an ideal introduction, while the matches that follow flesh out the characters. And if there’s one thing that Prazak and company do, on a frequent basis, more successfully than ROH, it’s produce a card that builds nicely from start to finish- almost in WWE style. We kicked off with a entertaining, attention-catching opener, that served the dual purpose of setting up two of the top matches of the night. Then we had a comedy match, before flipping between more exhibition-orientated material, and matches that were very much character-based. I also felt that this volume neatly laid down much of the groundwork for future volumes.

Most would probably plump for Mercedes versus Melissa for the Match of the Night Honors, but personally I’d say it’s a tie between Nicole Matthews/Nikki Roxx, and the Danger/Blake clash. Both were fresh, and felt like logical, simple stories wherein the participants all had clear, simple goals, and delivered bloody good action.

If you haven’t checked out Shimmer yet, now’s the time. It’s an alternative to the dopey “Divas” nonsense you see in the WWE every week, a treasure trove for those who appreciate TNA’s Knockouts, but don’t see enough of them on a show crammed with a lot of gibberish. With a new Champion on board in MsChif, a rake of challengers (Mercedes next, but Del Rey, Kong, Melissa, and down the line, Nikki Roxx and LuFisto) , and the introduction of their Tag Team titles (In Volume 21, which has is soon to be released alongside Volume 22) there’s a lot happening. Shimmer do a fine job as well of recapping feuds and stories with highlights from previous bouts, before the matches, ensuring you aren’t left behind. You could do far worse than Pick up Volumes19 ( and 18 too actually- the start of MsChif’s reign).

Shimmer Volume 19 is available now from

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