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The DVD opens with the announcer introducing all the girls on the SHIMMER roster, who come out to the ring where Allison Danger introduces the company and talks about their goals in the way they plan on presenting women's wrestling and thanks the fans for being a part of the debut show.
Okay, time for the first match in SHIMMER history...
Tiana Ringer vs Shantelle Taylor
You might know Shantelle Taylor better as Taylor Wilde of TNA. Taylor gets an arm wringer to start snapmares Ringer out of it and covers for a 2 count. Ringer recovers and takes Taylor down with a waistlock, but Taylor regains her feet and cartwheels out and into a waistlock of her own. Ringer tries a couple of times to cartwheel out of the hold as Taylor had, but Taylor cartwheels through with Ringer and keeps the hold. Ringer sends Taylor into the ropes, but Taylor takes her down with a shoulderblock and covers for 2. Ringer takes Taylor to the corner and catches her with a back elbow, then gets a side suplex for 2. Ringer starts dropping knees on Taylor's back and goes for a cover, but only gets 2. Ringer stands on Taylor's back and yanks up on her hair, then releases the hair and gives Taylor a curb stomp instead, covering for 2. Talor starts to fight back with chops and kicks and dropkicks Ringer's knee out from under her and rolls her up for 2. Taylor gets a front facelock, but Ringer does one of the most amazing things I've ever seen by kicking backwards, over her own head, and booting Taylor in the face. THAT was impressive. Ringer covers Taylor and gets 2, then gets a side backbreaker and holds Taylor over the knee. Taylor fights her way out but Ringer gets her with another backbreaker, this time of the windmill variety, and covers for another 2. Taylor starts another comeback, lighting Ringer up with stiff chops in the corner, but Ringer reverses Taylor into the corner and lays in a series of stiff boots to the gut, then snapmares Taylor and gets a stiff kick to the back. Ringer with a camel clutch, but Taylor slips out and kills Ringer with a clothesline and then gets a flying headscissors. Taylor with a chinbreaker and a leg lariat for 2, but Ringer recovers and they go chop for chop in the middle of the ring. Ringer with a snap vertical suplex for 2, then a big boot to the face for 2. Ringer puts Taylor on the top rope, but Taylor kicks her off and comes off the top with a missile dropkick for the win.
Winner: Shantelle Taylor
Good solid match to get SHIMMER off to a great start and show, right off the bat, what the competitive nature of SHIMMER is all about.
Team Blondage vs Cindy Rogers & Nikki Roxx
Team Blondage are sort of a prototypical version of the Beautiful People and Team LayCool in that they're two stuck up blond chicks who think they're the greatest, hottest thing in the world and are endlessly snotty to anyone they think is below them. Team Blondage gets the mic before the match and talks about how cute their outfits are. Nice. Blondage stalls endlessly for time on the floor before finally getting in the ring and wrestling. Amber O'Neal and Nikki start, Nikki gets a wristlock and Amber escapes, so Nikki gets a series of leg sweeps before Amber backs off into a corner to recoup. They tie up again and Amber gets a go behind, but Nikki reverses to a go behind of her own and takes Amber down with a waistlock and floats over to a front facelock. Amber slips out and catches Nikki in a hammerlock, but Nikki escapes and reverses to a hammerlock of her own. They keep exchanging hammerlocks until Amber takes Nikki down with a side headlock. Nikki escapes and goes back to the wristlock before tagging out to Cindy Rogers, who chain wrestles her way around Amber like a blur and rolling her up for a 2 count. Rogers with a short armscissors and gets a 2 count out of it, and Amber tags out to Krissy Vaine, who comes in and immediately finds herself in the wrong corner and getting double teamed by Nikki and Cindy. Nikki gets a clothesline for 2, but Amber yanks Nikki's hair from the outside, allowing Krissy to cheapshot her and take the advantage. Krissy with a legdrop for 2, and then she HITS THE CHINLOCK! Nikki tries to escape so Krissy yanks her down by the hair and starts blatantly choking her right in front of the referee. Krissy rams Nikki into Amber's boot and then tags out, and they hit a double Russian legsweep for 2. Amber goes to the choke and then gets a face vice on Nikki, slamming her head backward to the mat and covering for 2. Amber mocks Cindy by holding Nikki's hand out to her, then yanks Nikki headfirst to the mat and wipes her out with a clothesline for 2. Team Blondage put Nikki on the middle rope and both kneel on her back, then Amber gets a snapmare and an indy kick to the back, then it's back to the neck vice. Amber puts her boot on Nikki's chest for a cover, but only gets 1, and then it's BACK TO THE CHINLOCK! Amber yanks Nikki down by the hair yet again, then rams Nikki into the Team Blondage corner where she and Krissy double team Nikki as the ref is distracted trying to get Cindy out of the ring. Krissy with a side suplex that gets 2 and then goes to an armbar. Tag out to Amber, who chops Nikki in the abs and then rams her face first into the mat and starts stomping away on her, and then it's BACK TO THE CHINLOCK! You know, Krissy Vaine got signed by WWE after these tapings, and it's pretty easy to see why she got a contract and Amber didn't. Speaking of Amber, she comes in and tries to put Nikki out with a sleeperhold, but Nikki stays alive and gets a chinbreaker and then comes off the ropes and hits head to head with Amber to lay them both out. Nikki makes the hot tag and Cindy Rogers comes in and cleans house on Team Blondage. Cindy ends up getting dumped out to the floor, but gets back to the apron and tries to sunset flip her way in, but Amber runs over and holds Krissy's hands as she sits down on Cindy and gets a cheap win.
Winners: Team Blondage
Good match, Team Blondage was important to establish early as the opposite of what SHIMMER was trying to portray, making them instant heels. Cindy and Nikki would both go on to become major players in SHIMMER, but weren't quite there yet.
Rain vs Ariel
Rain goes for a Greco Roman knucklelock to start and stands on her toes so the height-challenged Ariel can't quite reach her hands, so Ariel smacks her in the face and sends her to the floor. Ariel goes out after her and slams her facefirst into the ring apron a couple of times, and then a couple more times, and then finally rolls her back in the ring. Rain catches her with a boot coming in and gets a slam, but Ariel comes back with chops and a clothesline. Ariel with a back elbow and then a slam of her own and covers for 2. Rain with another boot and a series of clubbing forearms to the back drives Ariel to the mat, then Rain chokes her over the second rope before tossing her back out to the floor. Rain goes out after her and continues pounding Ariel with forearms before rolling her back in and covering for 2. Rain with a sweet neckbreaker over the knee and covers for 2, but Ariel comes back with a snapmare and a diving dropkick to the face for 2. Rain comes back with a running forearm that drives Ariel to the mat, then kneels on her back and yanks up on her hair. Now that's not very nice. Rain whips Ariel to the corner and follows her in with a pair of elbows to the back, but Ariel reverses Rain into the corner and unloads with chops. Rain with another boot to the breadbasket and whips Ariel facefirst into the corner and charges in with a high knee to the back and then another, then puts the boots to Ariel in the corner. Rain with a diving dropkick in the corner and covers for 2. Rain goes for a German Suplex but Ariel elbows her way out. Rain goes for Acid Rain but Ariel shifts her weight forward and gets a victory roll for 2. Rain catches her with a clothesline for 2 and then takes her to the corner for more chops and whips her across the ring, but Ariel gets the boot up on a charge and gets a tornado DDT and they're both down. They both make it to their knees and exchange blows, but Ariel gets the upper hand and gets a series of rolling snap suplexes for 2. Ariel with a Northern Lights Suplex for 2, but Rain reverses another move to the Raindrop for 2. Rain goes for Acid Rain again but Ariel mulekicks her way out and gets the Dariel for the win.
Winner: Ariel
Not a very good match. It picked up a bit at the end but was mostly kick-punch-kick-punch through the whole thing. I really hate to say it because she tries hard, but Rain always seems kind of lost when she doesn't have Lacey out there to lead her. Ariel gets a great crowd reaction and would become a regular favorite with the SHIMMER fans.
Lexie Fyfe vs Christie Ricci
Lexie, at this point, had about 14 years of experience, which I believe made her the most experienced on the roster, and as I type that Dave Prazak confirms it on commentary. Christie Ricci is relatively new by comparison, and is really tall. They exchange wristlocks to start, then decide exchange hammerlocks instead. Ricci drop toeholds her way out of the hammerlock and floats to a front facelock, but Lexie sits out and goes back to a hammerlock. Ricci regains her feet and snapmares Lexie into a chinlock, so Lexie gets a chinbreaker to escape. Lexie goes to a side headlock and Ricci powers out into a top wristlock and then changes it up to a headlock of her own. Lexie elbows out and sends Ricci to the ropes and Ricci leapfrogs her and gets a series of armdrags, and then one of those Lucha armdrag things off the ropes. Ricci takes Lexie down and goes for a cross armbreaker, but Lexie smartly locks her hands to prevent full extension on the hold, and she tries to shift her weight to put Ricci's shoulders down, but Ricci reverses back, so Lexie goes to the eyes instead. She sends Ricci to the corner and lays in some chops and chokes her, Ricci comes back with chops of her own so Lexie goes to the eyes and then locks Ricci in a surfboard. Lexie releases that and goes to a camel clutch instead, and gouges at Ricci's face while she had her locked in the hold. The unmitigated cruelty of Lexie Fyfe astounds me. Lexie with a couple of snap suplexes gets 2 and then chokes Ricci on the ropes. Lexie with a slam and then she goes up top, but takes too long and Ricci is able to recover and shake the ropes, crotching Lexie on the top rope. Ricci goes up and tries to superplex Lexie, and gets it! The momentum has swung in Ricci's direction, and she keeps it going with a flying clothesline, then a flying elbow, and a dropkick in succession for 2. Ricci goes for a big splash but hits knees, and Lexie quickly hits the TKO for the win.
Winner: Lexie Fyfe
Much better than the previous match. You could tell Lexie's been around for a while because she did a great job with the pacing of the match, and was able to mix up her stuff and tell a story better than the kick-punch stuff we saw in the previous match. Ricci didn't end up sticking around SHIMMER for long, but she definitely showed some potential and could really move for such a tall girl.
Cheerleader Melissa vs MsChif
This is the match that ended up setting off a really brutal feud between these two. Melissa started by just destroying MsChif with elbows, and MsChif just stood there screaming at her so Melissa continued throwing elbows. MsChif no-sold again and wiped Melissa out with a clothesline, then got on top of her and started raining down punches. MsChif goes to a half nelson, then snapmares Melissa and changes it to a hammerlock and then ties Melissa up in a weird stretch where she Okies the leg while choking Melissa with her own arm. She releases Melissa and rolls her up for 2, but Melissa goes to the eyes and then rakes MsChif's eyes across the top rope and gets a back suplex. Melissa stomps MsChif in the ribs and starts smacking her around. Melissa rams MsChif into the corner and rams shoulderblocks into her ribs, then gets a vertical suplex and MsChif is in a bad way. Melissa casually shin kicks MsChif in the face and then stands on her throat. MsChif tries to cover up, so Melissa just stands on her head with all her weight instead. Melissa ties MsChif up in the Condo Clutch and bends MsChif so far backwards that she makes MsChif kick herself in the back of the head over and over. And I thought Lexie Fyfe was bad! Melissa keeps stomping on MsChif and goes for a spinebuster, but MsChif gets a weird bodyscissors/Frankensteiner, then keeps rolling through into a bridging Muta Lock-esque move. MsChif constantly amazes me with the kinds of stuff she can do. Melissa makes the ropes and starts kicking MsChif in the legs, then ties her leg around the ropes and pulls up on the heel. Melissa with a running dropkick to the knee as it's still tied around the rope, then trips MsChif and snaps the leg down onto the mat. Melissa wraps MsChif around the ropes and chops at her wide-open chest, then pulls her to the middle of the ring and just clocks MsChif in the jaw with an elbow. MsChif fires back with a spinning backfist, but that just pisses off Melissa, who tosses MsChif to the floor and follows her out with a double axhandle off the apron. Melissa rams MsChif into the guardrail and bends her backward over the rail. She releases to go break the count, then comes back out and picks MsChif up, rams her into the rail, rams her into the post twice, and then just drops her on the floor. Melissa breaks the count again, then goes back over for more abuse. Melissa rams MsChif into the apron, but then it turns into the two girls going toe to toe on the floor and Melissa gets the upper hand, pausing briefly to break the count again, and then folds MsChif backwards over the guardrail, pulling MsChif's arms through the guardrail to do almost a Boston Crab type effect over the guardrail. You really gotta see that to believe it. Melissa finally rolls MsChif back in the ring and continues the assault on the back, going for the Kudoh Driver but MsChif rolls through so Melissa whips her into the ropes but MsChif hit a Lionsault (almost slipping and landing on her head) for 2. MsChif continues firing away with forearms, backing Melissa to the corner and hitting the Neverending Story clotheslines like Delirious. Melissa reversed a whip to the corner and folows her in with a nasty running dropkick in the corner and then follows up with another. She goes for a third but MsChif gets a drop toehold and Melissa crashes facefirst into the turnbuckle. MsChif places Melissa face down on the bottom turnbuckle and then repeatedly jumps and stomps on Melissa's back and then drags her out to the middle of the ring and covers for 2. MsChif measures Melissa and goes for a Frankensteiner, but Melissa drops down into a powerbomb and gets a very close 2. Melissa goes for the Kudoh Driver again, but MsChif rolls through and reverses to the Desecrator for the upset win.
Winner: MsChif
This match was AWESOME. Both girls are such talented workers and even though they have completely different styles, they work really well together and it produced a really physical, hard hitting match that set the tone for future matches they'd have down the line. These are easily two of the best female wrestlers in North America right now and if TNA ever decides to turn the Knockouts division back into a serious women's wrestling division, I'd seriously consider trying to get these two.
Beth Phoenix vs Allison Danger
This was before Beth Phoenix popped up on the main roster in WWE, and it's so funny to watch because instead of portraying the serious, dominant powerhouse she is presented as in WWE, she shows a LOT more personality here, playing to the crowd and doing the whiny heel schtick. Allison Danger, on the other hand, was core to the SHIMMER product early on and was really involved in the company outside of just being a wrestler, doing commentary on the DVDs, promoting the product at ROH and anywhere else she could, and probably a ton of other stuff behind the scenes that I'm not aware of. Even though we knew she COULD wrestle, most fans really just thought of her as Christopher Daniels' manager and not much else, but she had worked really hard and become a terrific worker. Frankly, I think she's a better worker than her brother is. Anyway, the match starts and Danger sends Phoenix to the ropes and they do a criss-cross to start and Danger hangs onto the ropes, but Phoenix doesn't realize it and keeps running back and forth until she blows herself up and Danger is able to simply walk over and put her in an armbar. They do a reversal sequence until Phoenix takes Danger down with a pull of the hair, but Danger kips up and reverses to a wristlock and takes Phoenix down with it. Phoenix tries to kip up but can't quite manage it, so she scurries ot the ropes for the break instead. Phoenix is mad now and tries a charge at Danger, but Danger gets a drop toehold and goes to a side headlock. Phoenix elbows out and sends Danger to the ropes but Danger takes her down with a shoulderblock. Yeah right! Danger goes back to the arm and takes her down with a wristlock and puts Beth's shoulders down for a couple of two counts. Phoenix regains her feet and takes Danger to the corner and gets a couple of chops to the chest, but Danger blocks the third and fires back with chops of her own. Phoenix goes to the eyes and gets a vertical suplex for 2 and then starts choking Danger. Referee Bryce Remsburg tries to get her to break, so Phoenix kisses him, and then goes back to work with a snapmare and a chinlock. Danger elbows out of the hold and gets a double leg takedown and a rolling cradle for 2, but Phoenix quickly recovers and fires several forearms to the head of Danger and covers for 2. Phoenix tries to choke Danger with her wrist tape, but the ref takes it away, so while his back is turned he takes the tape off his other wrist and chokes Danger anyway, then covers for 2. Phoenix goes for another suplex but Danger counters to an inside cradle for 2, and this just infuriates Phoenix, who chokes Danger over the ropes. They head out to the floor where Phoenix rams Danger's head into the ring apron, then rams her backfirst into the apron. They head back in and Danger fires back on Phoenix and kicks her leg out, then gets a rolling cradle for 2, but Phoenix regains control with a version of the Tazmission. Danger fights her way out and gets a swinging jawbreaker and a clothesline and both girls are down. Beth gets up first and picks Danger up, but Danger lays in a series of forearms to the jaw, a clothesline, and the Lovelace Choker for 2. Danger chops Phoenix and goes for a whip but Phoenix reverses to a Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Phoenix goes for the Beth Valley Driver but Danger slips out the back and Phoenix gets a go behind and a schoolgirl rollup for 2, but Danger reverses to a cradle of her own for the win.
Winner: Allison Danger
Solid match, and it's really too bad that Beth Phoenix didn't stick around SHIMMER for long. She's obviously a great talent and has gone on to do great things in WWE, but it was real loss for SHIMMER because I would have loved to see her work a lot of the other girls who have come through SHIMMER. As for Danger, she would be around SHIMMER for a good long time and became the unofficial spokesperson and cheerleader for the group in much the same way Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson were for ROH.
Sara Del Rey vs Mercedes Martinez
This was billed a a dream match pitting the best from the west coast (Sara Del Rey) against the best from the east coast (Mercedes Martinez). If Danger was for SHIMMER what Samoa Joe was for ROH as a spokesperson, then Sara Del Rey was to SHIMMER what Joe was for ROH as a wrestler. She went on to basically dominate her opponents through the first several volumes and became the first SHIMMER Champion, and a dominant champion at that. Her toughest opponent up to the point when she won the title was Mercedes Martinez, mostly because they were so even in the ring, and a legit injury that took Mercedes out of action for nearly a year left Sara standing alone as the only real top dog in SHIMMER and the clear favorite when the title tournament finally started on Volume 11.
So this match was the start of that rivalry, and they circled one another briefly before locking up. Del Rey backed Mercedes to the corner but broke clean. Mercedes feinted with a leg sweep, then tied up again with Mercedes backing Sara to the ropes this time, and another clean break. Another tie up and this time Sara with a go behind, but Mercedes switches and goes behind, but Sara reverses to a hammerlock. Mercedes counters out with a firewoman's carry into an armbar, but Sara picks the ankle and gets a heel hook. Mercedes sits out and briefly gets control, but Sara reversed right out of it into a combination hammerlock/half nelson. Mercedes sat out of that and got a double chickenwing, then floats over to a front facelock. Sara regains her feet and backs Mercedes to the corner, but this time snapmares Mercedes out of the corner and catches her in a short armscissors. Mercedes tries to roll out a couple of times before escaping and getting Sara in a side headlock. Sara sends Mercedes to the ropes but Mercedes knocks Sara down with a shoulderblock. They're back at a stalemate so they go to a Greco Roman knucklelock and Sara starts to overpower Mercedes, so Mercedes rolls through into a wristlock. Sara finally says screw it and fires a stiff forearm to the jaw of Martinez, and they exchange blows until Sara gets a snapmare and a stomp to the back. Sara gets a vertical suplex but Mercedes fires herself up, snapmares Sara, and stomps her in the back. Mercedes goes for a vertical suplex but Sara lowers her base and gets a savate kick to the jaw and a butterfly suplex for 2. Sara picks Mercedes up and balances her on the second rope, then jumps up and drops double knees into Mercedes' midsection. Ouch. Sara with a back elbow for 2, then goes for a whip but Mercedes reverses to a firewoman's carry into a neckbreaker over the knee for 2. Mercedes starts opening up with boots in the corner and a vertical suplex that almost became a brainbuster for 2. Mercedes gets a chinlock, then whips Sara to the ropes but put her head down too soon and Sara with a series of hip attacks and then goes for a powerbomb but Mercedes does the Billy Kidman counter so Sara just takes her head off with a clothesline instead. A wise man once said that YOU CAN'T POWERBOMB KIDMAN, but you sure can decapitate him with a clothesline. Sara with a modified abdominal stretch and rolls it forward into a crucifix for 1, then goes for a powerbomb again but Mercedes backdropped out and got a spinebuster for 2. Mercedes with a dogsled, but Sara breaks out of the hold so Mercedes sits on her back and just kills her with crossfaces. Back to their feet, Mercedes peppers Sara with rights and whips her into the ropes, Sara misses a big boot coming back but drops Mercedes with a double axhandle. Now Sara comes off the ropes with repeated big boots to the chest and covers for 2. Sara goes for the powerbomb again and finally gets it, and does so with gusto, literally driving Mercedes into the mat and folding her over for the cover but only gets 2. Sara with a headbutt and then whips Mercedes to the corner, but misses a charge and Mercedes gets a nasty German Suplex that drops Sara on her shoulder. Mercedes covers but only gets 2, then ties Sara's arm and legs up and leaves her in a helpless package in the middle of the ring and sits in the corner to try and catch a breather for a moment. She regains her wind and comes over and dropkicks Sara and covers for 2. Mercedes goes for the fisherwoman's buster but Sara with an inside cradle for 2, then an O'Connor Roll with a bridge for a very close 2. Sara with a German Suplex for 2 and then wears Mercedes out with more forearms. Sara goes for a clothesline but Mercedes counters to a backslide for 2. Inside cradle gets 2, and a leg cradle suplex gets 2. Mercedes with a Dragon Clutch, but Sara won't give it up so Mercedes starts gouging the face until the referee forces the break. Mercedes covers and gets 2, then gets a nasty chop in the corner, butterflies the arms, and rolls backwards into a version of the End Time with a double underhook instead of a front choke. Whatever that move's called (it escapes me at the moment), Sara makes the ropes, so they make it to their knees and exchange vicious forearms. They get to their feet and turn to exchanging chops until Mercedes blasts Sara with a forearm and kicks her in the chest. Mercedes goes for a big boot but Sara ducks past it and gets the hanging Butterfly but Mercedes won't give it up and slips out. They go back to exchanging blows and Mercedes gets the fisherwoman's buster and covers but Sara is saved by the bell at 2 as the time limit expires.
Time Limit Draw
Great match, both girls came out of it looking like a million bucks and it definitely left you wanting to see more. Even though Lacey and Daizee Haze went on last, to me this was the real main event and it set the tone for what we'd see from these two as their careers in SHIMMER progressed. Now don't misinterpret that to mean that I thought Lacey and Daizee suck or didn't deserve the main event, they're both great wrestlers and it was a wise move to take the two girls with the most name value with the ROH audience (to whom the SHIMMER product was primarily marketed to), I just feel that since Sara was the one who was going to be pushed as the centerpiece of the promotion, having her go on second from the top seemed a little strange unless it was just a matter of Prazak not wanting to close the show with a draw.
Speaking of Lacey and Daizee...
Lacey vs Daizee Haze
Lacey cheapshots Daizee right away with a knee to the midsection, then takes her down with a shoulderblock and an armdrag and then stops to play to the crowd. Daizee returns the favor with an armdrag of her own and then a hammerlock, but Lacey reverses to a wristlock and kicks Daizee in the chest. Daizee rolls through and reverses to a wristlock which she then converts to a cross armbreaker. Lacey tries to roll Daizee to her back but Daizee maintains her balance and changes it up to a top wristlock. Lacey uses a handful of hair to pull Daizee to her back, but the referee sees it and forces the break so Lacey throws a fit and then bails to the floor for a water break. She spits some water on some guy at ringside who was probably making unsavory remarks, takes a nice long nine count, and then gets back in the ring. She flexes at Daizee, so Daizee flexes back. Lacey continues to stall by going for a Greco Roman knucklelock, and she does the standing on her toes thing like Rain did earlier. They finally get into the knucklelock and Daizee breaks it and rolls Lacey into a short armscissors/hammerlock combination, which she then rolls through into an armbar. Lacey tries to make the ropes but Daizee pulls her back so Lacey fires several forearms at Daizee. Daizee ducks the last one and counters to an armdrag and follows that up with a hiptoss, but misses a charge and crashes into the turnbuckle. Lacey takes advantage by draping Daizee in the corner and firing kicks to the back before just blatantly choking her right in front of the referee. Then does it again. And again. Then she whips Daizee to the corner and follows in with a clothesline, but then whips Daizee to the ropes and she catches Lacey with a flying headscissors and a clothesline, and Lacey rolls to the floor to recover and break the momentum. Daizee goes to the top to try and dive on Lacey, but Lacey pops up to the apron and shoves Daizee off the top rope and Daizee falls backwards into the ring and Lacey quickly scurries in and covers for 2. Lacey with a slam and starts stomping the back before covering for 2. Another slam and another cover that only gets 2. Lacey takes another swig from her water bottle and then tries another slam but Daizee catches her in a cradle for 2. Lacey quickly regains control with a forearm to the face and stands on Daizee's throat to choke her. Lacey whips Daizee to the ropes and catches her coming off with a side suplex for 2, then traps Daizee in a surfboard. Lacey picks Daizee up and whips her to the corner, but eats elbow on a charge, Daizee tries a sunset flip but Lacey rolls through on her and winds up on top, ramming forearms to the head of Daizee and covering for 2. Lacey drags Daizee out to the middle of the ring and gets a Boston Crab (wouldn't it be a Minneapolis Crab? Ah, old joke.) but Daizee rolls through and cradles Lacey for 2. Lacey with more choking and then starts putting the boots to Daizee. Lacey rams Daizee's face into the top turnbuckle and runs in with a leaping knee to the back as she mocks the crowd for cheering for Daizee. Lacey goes for another running knee but Daizee moves and Lacey crashes into the turnbuckle, so Daizee lays in several chops, whips Lacey across the ring and charges, but Lacey gets the boot up and then gives Daizee a Russian legsweep into the turnbuckle and covers, but Daizee gets her foot on the ropes at 2. Lacey slides out of the ring and pulls Daizee into the corner and stretches her backwards over the ringpost, which is a really cool visual. Lacey drags Daizee out to the middle of the ring and covers for 2 and then starts firing forearms into Daizee's back and gets a slick spinkick for 2. Lacey with a bow & arrow but Daizee breaks free and rolls on top of Lacey for 2. Lacey keeps the punishment going by firing more forearms to the back of Daizee and then whips her to the ropes, and Daizee ducks the clothesline and tries a crossbody, but Lacey catches her and hangs her upside down in the corner, then slides out to the floor and pulls backwards on Daizee's chin, stretching her backwards again. Lacey gets back in the ring and takes another water break, officially making her the best hydrated girl on the SHIMMER roster, but she wasted too much time in doing so, and when she comes back to dole out more punishment to Daizee, she catches her coming in and delivers a Daizee Cutter and both girls are down. They regain their feet and start exchanging forearms in the middle of the ring and Daizee gets the upper hand and then comes off the ropes with a running forearm to wipe Lacey out, and then follows that up with a running Yakuza kick for a VERY close 2. Daizee goes to the second rope and comes off with a flying clothesline for another 2. Daizee slowly goes to the top but Lacey has time to recover and nails her, then delivers a swinging neckbreaker off the top rope and gets 2, then tries to cover again and gets another 2. Lacey picks Daizee up in a firewoman's carry but Daizee slips out and gets a sunset flip for 2. Daizee goes for the heart punch but Lacey escapes and gets a TKO for 2. This is a great match! Lacey goes for the Implant DDT but Daizee picks the legs and gets a rolling cradle for 2. Daizee goes right for the heart punch and gets the Mindtrip for the win.
Winner: Daizee Haze
Excellent match to close the show. Thes two work great together and this was probably the best match I've seen between them. They weren't restricted to the 20 minute time limit that Sara and Mercedes were, so they had more time to build their story and they put together a really strong main event.
Allison Danger cuts a show closing, backstage promo talking about how all the girls went out there and gave it all they had and proved that women's wrestling is possible in North America. She drove home the point that they all take wrestling very seriously and are not a joke.
* * *
Very strong first outing by SHIMMER. The undercard got a bit slow at times, but Melissa-MsChif, Sara-Mercedes, and Lacey-Daizee were all excellent matches. They set a strong standard for themselves to follow, and I think they did a great job of establishing all the characters and setting the bar for their vision of women's wrestling going forward. Definite thumbs up for SHIMMER's debut event.
