Travicity
11-18-2010, 06:34 AM
It's time to move on to the next volume in the SHIMMER DVD series, and when we last left off, Rebecca Knox had made her SHIMMER debut and presented herself as a sportswomanlike wrestler who wrestled clean matches until she faked a leg injury in order to cheapshot Allison Danger and then proceed to take every shortcut in the book en route to victory. Now that Knox had revealed her true self, Daizee Haze would know what she was up against when she faced Knox in the main event of this DVD. Cheerleader Melissa had caused MsChif to lose her match to Lexie Fyfe, leading to their rematch in a Falls Count Anywhere Match on this event.
Now we head into Volume 4, which was taped the same day as Volume 3 and was therefore subject to the effects of the snowstorm which prevented several talents, including Lacey and Mercedes Martinez, from making it to the Chicago area to be a part of these tapings. That didn't stop Sara Del Rey from calling out Martinez and challenging her to a no time limit rematch of their bout on Volume 1. But Sara would have to wait for that match as Mercedes wasn't at this event, so let's go ahead and get started with my review of...
SHIMMER Volume 4: 2/12/2006 in Berwyn, Illinois
We go right to our first match as Nikki Roxx took on Amber O'Neal, and both girls were in a bit of a tough spot at this point in their SHIMMER careers. O'Neal's partner Krissy Vaine had signed a contract with WWE and had left SHIMMER behind, forcing O'Neal to go it alone and leaving her unable to score a singles victory as of yet. Roxx had managed to defeat Lexie Fyfe, but hadn't won a match since and was having trouble breaking through to the next level of the SHIMMER hierarchy. Amber may not be the best worker on the SHIMMER roster, but she does have the heel act down pat, knowing how to get heat by stalling for time and mouthing off to the fans at ringside. You're never going to see Amber O'Neal chain wrestle for 45 minutes, but she's great at being the cheating, hair pulling, eye raking, feet on the ropes heel. Pretty standard opener, Amber did all kinds of dastardly cheating until Nikkie came back and hit her with the Barbie Crusher for the win.+
Next up, Shantelle Taylor takes on...ANN BROOKSTONE. Now, I understand SHIMMER's position here: people missed the show and they needed bodies to fill out the card, and I can't think of any other reason Ann Brookstone would have made it onto this show. I can't think of any other way to say it: she stinks. Her timing was way off, she blew nearly every spot in the match, and she even looked and dressed like that fat, angry bus driver you had in elementary school. After six minutes of sheer misery, Shantelle finally put us out of our misery by pinning Brookstone with a bridging cradle (which Brookstone also screwed up), ending the one appearance by far and away the worst worker in SHIMMER history. Poor Shantelle Taylor was so embarrassed by even being involved in this match that she left SHIMMER and never showed her face there again.
Thankfully, we move on from that to three people who absolutely know how to work, and also one impressive rookie, as Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka (otherwise known as The Experience) take on Cindy Rogers and Lorelai Lee. Hosaka and Fyfe call themselves The Experience because at this point they had over 30 years of experience between them, and this stemmed from a match on Volume 3 where Lorelai defeated Malia Hosaka, and then Hosaka and Fyfe attacked Lee until Cindy ran in to make the save. Cindy's as solid a worker as you're going to find anywhere, I really enjoy watching her wrestle, and even though Lorelai doesn't have the same amount of ring time as the rest of the folks in this match, she's got some great athleticism and a ton of enthusiasm for what she does. Cindy wrestled circles around The Experience, tying them up in all kinds of knots, but ended up playing babyface-in-peril for several minutes until making the hot tag to Lorelai and then a Pier Six brawl broke out until the Experience hit a double team gourdbuster on Lorelai for the win.
The next match saw Allison Danger taking on Tiana Ringer, and again, nothing to write home about as it's just something to fill time on a show that was without main eventers they were planning on having on hand. Danger was much higher up the SHIMMER ladder than Tiana, so there was absolutely no mystery about what was going to happen here. Danger put Tiana away with an inside cradle, and that was that. Just to save myself a paragraph, we go to a pizza place near the Eagles Club as Rebecca Knox, in her unique Irish way, glaots about beating Allison Danger and then says that she doesn't know what makes Daizee Haze think she can beat her, but she'll be leaving in a bo jangle when she learns from the school of the K-Nox. We move on to our next foregone conclusion match, as Sara Del Rey took on Rain. Let's see, Sara went to a draw with Mercedes, won a four way with the top stars in SHIMMER, and then beat Daizee Haze in the main event of Volume 3. And Rain has done what? Yeah, you know where this is going: Rain got a lot more offense than I would have expected, but Sara puts her away with the Butterfly Suplex to remain undefeated yet again.
We go to a video package detailing the history of the Cheerleader Melissa-MsChif feud, and then we head into one of our feature matches of the evening, as those same two women face off in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. MsChif had defeated Melissa in what was a huge upset at the time, and Melissa had not let that loss go, and has had MsChif in her sights ever since, leading into this bout. This match was awesome, it started out as both of them having a normal wrestling match in the ring, but quickly broke down into Melissa brutalizing MsChif as badly as she could, bending her backwards around the corner turnbuckles before the match spilled out to the floor, and then the real fun started. MsChif choked Melissa with a chair, but Melissa escaped and used chairs to beat MsChif down before ramming MsChif into a wall, busting her open. They continued fighting around ringside, outside the building (where Melissa got a two count off a slam on the sidewalk), and back into the building where Melissa pulled a big dolly out from under the stage and slammed MsChif on it, then slid her back under the stage and slammed the door behind her. That seems like a strange move since MsChif couldn't be pinned or submitted under there, but MsChif found another exit and escaped from under the stage, and the fight continued. Melissa slammed MsChif back onto the dolly and slid it at the ring, ramming MsChif's face into the ring apron as she passed under the ring, and then briefly fought back into the ring before spilling back out to the floor. Finally Melissa slammed MsChif onto a stack of tables and placed a chair on top of MsChif's head, then trapped MsChif in the Condo Clutch (an inverted Texas Cloverleaf) and repeatedly kicked MsChif in the back of the head with her own foot until MsChif was finally forced to tap out. This match was AWESOME, both girls worked their asses off here and there was some brutal, brutal stuff going on up to an including the unique finish that only MsChif was flexible enough to pull off.
Finally we head into our main event, as Rebecca Knox, fresh off her debut win over Allison Danger on Volume 3, faced Daizee Haze, who was not happy with the way Knox defeated Danger on Volume 3 and wanted to teach Knox a thing or two about the way respect works in SHIMMER. While Daizee has not been the most dominant wrestler in SHIMMER, she has main evented every SHIMMER event so far, and that experience makes her the ideal person to try and take K-Nox down a peg or two. Even though Knox had opened up a bit more by this point and was relying more on technical wrestling, she was still showing herself to be a terrific technical wrestler who is able to chain wrestle on the same level as someone like a Daizee Haze. Another great match with Knox dominating until Daizee got the heart punch and Mindtrip out of nowhere to score the win and hand Knox her first loss in SHIMMER.
The show closes with a backstage promo as Allison Danger talks about how she's still upset about suffering her only loss to Rebecca Knox, but is moving on and wants to challenge Cheerleader Melissa on Volume 5.
* * *
The Great Snowstorm Incident of 2006 was over, and SHIMMER had gotten through the cancelled flights and shuffled cards as best they could. When they came back on Volume 5, the full roster was on hand and they'd get back to business as usual. Still, they did a great job compensating for what they were up against and put on two solid, if unspectacular DVDs. I'll come right out and say it, the undercard on both Volumes 3 and 4 were boring as hell, but they did have some great matches to close both DVDs. In Volume 4's case, Knox-Haze was really good, and MsChif-Melissa was awesome, this was probably the better of the two Snowstorm Incident DVDs but both were a step down from what you normally saw in SHIMMER.
Next time: Sara Del Rey vs Mercedes Martinez with no time limit, Allison Danger vs Cheerleader Melissa, and the debut of the Amazing Kong!
PWI
Now we head into Volume 4, which was taped the same day as Volume 3 and was therefore subject to the effects of the snowstorm which prevented several talents, including Lacey and Mercedes Martinez, from making it to the Chicago area to be a part of these tapings. That didn't stop Sara Del Rey from calling out Martinez and challenging her to a no time limit rematch of their bout on Volume 1. But Sara would have to wait for that match as Mercedes wasn't at this event, so let's go ahead and get started with my review of...
SHIMMER Volume 4: 2/12/2006 in Berwyn, Illinois
We go right to our first match as Nikki Roxx took on Amber O'Neal, and both girls were in a bit of a tough spot at this point in their SHIMMER careers. O'Neal's partner Krissy Vaine had signed a contract with WWE and had left SHIMMER behind, forcing O'Neal to go it alone and leaving her unable to score a singles victory as of yet. Roxx had managed to defeat Lexie Fyfe, but hadn't won a match since and was having trouble breaking through to the next level of the SHIMMER hierarchy. Amber may not be the best worker on the SHIMMER roster, but she does have the heel act down pat, knowing how to get heat by stalling for time and mouthing off to the fans at ringside. You're never going to see Amber O'Neal chain wrestle for 45 minutes, but she's great at being the cheating, hair pulling, eye raking, feet on the ropes heel. Pretty standard opener, Amber did all kinds of dastardly cheating until Nikkie came back and hit her with the Barbie Crusher for the win.+
Next up, Shantelle Taylor takes on...ANN BROOKSTONE. Now, I understand SHIMMER's position here: people missed the show and they needed bodies to fill out the card, and I can't think of any other reason Ann Brookstone would have made it onto this show. I can't think of any other way to say it: she stinks. Her timing was way off, she blew nearly every spot in the match, and she even looked and dressed like that fat, angry bus driver you had in elementary school. After six minutes of sheer misery, Shantelle finally put us out of our misery by pinning Brookstone with a bridging cradle (which Brookstone also screwed up), ending the one appearance by far and away the worst worker in SHIMMER history. Poor Shantelle Taylor was so embarrassed by even being involved in this match that she left SHIMMER and never showed her face there again.
Thankfully, we move on from that to three people who absolutely know how to work, and also one impressive rookie, as Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka (otherwise known as The Experience) take on Cindy Rogers and Lorelai Lee. Hosaka and Fyfe call themselves The Experience because at this point they had over 30 years of experience between them, and this stemmed from a match on Volume 3 where Lorelai defeated Malia Hosaka, and then Hosaka and Fyfe attacked Lee until Cindy ran in to make the save. Cindy's as solid a worker as you're going to find anywhere, I really enjoy watching her wrestle, and even though Lorelai doesn't have the same amount of ring time as the rest of the folks in this match, she's got some great athleticism and a ton of enthusiasm for what she does. Cindy wrestled circles around The Experience, tying them up in all kinds of knots, but ended up playing babyface-in-peril for several minutes until making the hot tag to Lorelai and then a Pier Six brawl broke out until the Experience hit a double team gourdbuster on Lorelai for the win.
The next match saw Allison Danger taking on Tiana Ringer, and again, nothing to write home about as it's just something to fill time on a show that was without main eventers they were planning on having on hand. Danger was much higher up the SHIMMER ladder than Tiana, so there was absolutely no mystery about what was going to happen here. Danger put Tiana away with an inside cradle, and that was that. Just to save myself a paragraph, we go to a pizza place near the Eagles Club as Rebecca Knox, in her unique Irish way, glaots about beating Allison Danger and then says that she doesn't know what makes Daizee Haze think she can beat her, but she'll be leaving in a bo jangle when she learns from the school of the K-Nox. We move on to our next foregone conclusion match, as Sara Del Rey took on Rain. Let's see, Sara went to a draw with Mercedes, won a four way with the top stars in SHIMMER, and then beat Daizee Haze in the main event of Volume 3. And Rain has done what? Yeah, you know where this is going: Rain got a lot more offense than I would have expected, but Sara puts her away with the Butterfly Suplex to remain undefeated yet again.
We go to a video package detailing the history of the Cheerleader Melissa-MsChif feud, and then we head into one of our feature matches of the evening, as those same two women face off in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. MsChif had defeated Melissa in what was a huge upset at the time, and Melissa had not let that loss go, and has had MsChif in her sights ever since, leading into this bout. This match was awesome, it started out as both of them having a normal wrestling match in the ring, but quickly broke down into Melissa brutalizing MsChif as badly as she could, bending her backwards around the corner turnbuckles before the match spilled out to the floor, and then the real fun started. MsChif choked Melissa with a chair, but Melissa escaped and used chairs to beat MsChif down before ramming MsChif into a wall, busting her open. They continued fighting around ringside, outside the building (where Melissa got a two count off a slam on the sidewalk), and back into the building where Melissa pulled a big dolly out from under the stage and slammed MsChif on it, then slid her back under the stage and slammed the door behind her. That seems like a strange move since MsChif couldn't be pinned or submitted under there, but MsChif found another exit and escaped from under the stage, and the fight continued. Melissa slammed MsChif back onto the dolly and slid it at the ring, ramming MsChif's face into the ring apron as she passed under the ring, and then briefly fought back into the ring before spilling back out to the floor. Finally Melissa slammed MsChif onto a stack of tables and placed a chair on top of MsChif's head, then trapped MsChif in the Condo Clutch (an inverted Texas Cloverleaf) and repeatedly kicked MsChif in the back of the head with her own foot until MsChif was finally forced to tap out. This match was AWESOME, both girls worked their asses off here and there was some brutal, brutal stuff going on up to an including the unique finish that only MsChif was flexible enough to pull off.
Finally we head into our main event, as Rebecca Knox, fresh off her debut win over Allison Danger on Volume 3, faced Daizee Haze, who was not happy with the way Knox defeated Danger on Volume 3 and wanted to teach Knox a thing or two about the way respect works in SHIMMER. While Daizee has not been the most dominant wrestler in SHIMMER, she has main evented every SHIMMER event so far, and that experience makes her the ideal person to try and take K-Nox down a peg or two. Even though Knox had opened up a bit more by this point and was relying more on technical wrestling, she was still showing herself to be a terrific technical wrestler who is able to chain wrestle on the same level as someone like a Daizee Haze. Another great match with Knox dominating until Daizee got the heart punch and Mindtrip out of nowhere to score the win and hand Knox her first loss in SHIMMER.
The show closes with a backstage promo as Allison Danger talks about how she's still upset about suffering her only loss to Rebecca Knox, but is moving on and wants to challenge Cheerleader Melissa on Volume 5.
* * *
The Great Snowstorm Incident of 2006 was over, and SHIMMER had gotten through the cancelled flights and shuffled cards as best they could. When they came back on Volume 5, the full roster was on hand and they'd get back to business as usual. Still, they did a great job compensating for what they were up against and put on two solid, if unspectacular DVDs. I'll come right out and say it, the undercard on both Volumes 3 and 4 were boring as hell, but they did have some great matches to close both DVDs. In Volume 4's case, Knox-Haze was really good, and MsChif-Melissa was awesome, this was probably the better of the two Snowstorm Incident DVDs but both were a step down from what you normally saw in SHIMMER.
Next time: Sara Del Rey vs Mercedes Martinez with no time limit, Allison Danger vs Cheerleader Melissa, and the debut of the Amazing Kong!
PWI