Shimmer Volume 5

Shimmer Volumes 5 and 6 took place three months since the previous show and as was the case last after the first taping the WWE have again scooped up another Shimmer member this time one of our two Canadians Shantelle Taylor. As it turns out the other Canadian wrestler Tiana Ringer is also absent from these tapings as she was touring Mexico at the time. This means that aside from half-Canuck Allison Danger and a dark match from Portia Perez there are no Canadians on the next two shows and were it not for Rebecca Knox and a debuting Brit the whole roster would be American. It also means that out of our eighteen Shimmer originals we are just down to ten. However have no fear as this volume has some five debuts with some rather important wrestlers in Shimmer’s future. And Josie.

Dark Match

Portia Perez vs Daizee Haze

I’m going to start with this bonus feature for two reasons. One because the end of it furthers the Haze/Knox feud and two because it’s our first look at Portia, Frickin’, Perez! Well not quite as this Portia is a million miles from the one we know and hate today. She looks very young (yep, even younger!) and doesn’t even have ‘Edge of Seventeen’ as her entrance music yet. It’s very strange seeing her as a babyface too as I keep expecting her to bail to the floor or rake the eyes of Haze. Also she wrestles here far more than she usually does. I don’t mean that as a knock against later-day Perez at all, but she’s wisely learnt that due to how good her heel character is she can quite often rely on classic heel shenanigans and be equally as entertaining as she could if she just wrestled normally. Her actual grappling skills aren’t as good as they are these days as a scary looking headscissors that almost spikes Haze on her head shows. Perez does sell a Mind Trip very well on the other hand and it’s with that move that Daizee gets the quick win.

As Haze checks up on Perez to see if she’s okay Rebecca runs into the ring and hits an incredible release German suplex on her rival. Knox grabs the mic and says she’s “not too Irish to kick the bejesus out of you!” Sadly the rest of the promo is inaudible as the fans will not shut up and let her talk, but they tell her to “watch your language” at something and she retorts that the crowd smell like ugly people. The match was nothing of note were it not for it being Portia’s debut and for the Knox attack after the bell.

The actual show starts with a Daizee Haze promo and I’m liking these more and more. She’s not the most charismatic but she is believable and comes across as nice as she’s supposed to be. We see the attack from Knox again, but this time we are shown different camera angles of it, which is such a small thing but I love they gave us the different footage for the dark match. (Is a taped dark match still dark?). We have a red ring mat this time which I think is the first time we’ve had that. They alternate between black and red a fair bit but black is my preferred colour for it. I’m surprised they’ve never had a purple ring mat actually given that’s Shimmer’s colour. That might be a cool idea for Shimmer 100 or something. Including Portia Perez who isn’t on the main two shows we have 21 women for this set of tapings which is the largest we’ve had so far. Also if we count Perez (who’s the only Canadian here, though Allison Danger might claim otherwise) we have four nationalities represented- Canada, the USA, Ireland and Great Britain which is the most so far too.

Rain vs Lorelei Lee

I haven’t mentioned yet that Lorelei Lee has a cowgirl gimmick. At Volume 3 gave a young girl in the crowd her cowboy hat, which was nice, but she clearly only had the one as for both matches since she’s been hatless which makes me laugh for some reason. Maybe if she wins here she’ll be able to afford a new one? Lee starts off the brighter of the two, but she does seemingly botch a pinning crucifix attempt and does not properly have Rain’s shoulders down on the mat, but Rain smartly leaves the ring and in-character tries to regain her composure which rescues the minor botch. Upon entering the ring Rain is able to hit a lovely inverted lung blower to the face of Lorelei. Rain chokes Lee and receives “Rain’s a jerk!” chorus from the crowd. Dave informs us that later tonight a returning Ariel will take on the Experience with a mystery partner as her choice. Hmmmm.

Both women hit an impressive double crossbody and the fact I’ve recalled that as impressive might be because I think Lorelei Lee doesn’t have any exciting moves at all. I know she’s still a rookie, but she doesn’t appear to have anything more than dropkicks or the simplest of rollups or suplexes. The end comes when Lee tries climbing the turnbuckles, but Rain catches her from behind and takes her down with the Acid Rain. I really hope we get to see Rain wrestle some higher calibre talent again soon as she’s impressed me in most of her matches. This was a bit dull however, but I’m putting that on Lee’s inexperience as Rain did all she could.

We see highlights of an excellent six women’s dance match from ROH between Allison Danger, Cheerleader Melissa, Daizee Haze, Lacey, MsChif & Rain. MsChif hits an incredible dive to the outside (MsChif’s dives are always a thing of beauty as she arches her back so much) and was able to win with the Desecrator by pinning Rain, naturally, poor Rain.

Cindy Rogers vs MsChif

Cindy Rogers is undefeated in singles competition so far in Shimmer whereas MsChif won on Volume 1, but has lost the previous three matches since. It is at this point where I realised Shimmer has a curtain at last! It looks so much better having a curtain rather than just a door. It’d look even better if the curtain was at the bottom of the stairs, but baby steps! We also have the debut of the Shimmertron too. Also of note is that MsChif is now wearing her classic chain collar entrance gear which looks fantastic. MsChif gets a great reaction as she walks to the ring, definitely louder than the one Cindy gets. Someone chants out a hilarious “Cindy’s gonna kill you!” which elicits a chuckle from everyone. Rogers replies with a curious “You wish!” Ummmm, burn??? Danger says that even though MsChif has never done anything towards her she’s nervous when she’s around her. I like that little character moment as the idea of everyone being scared of MsChif backstage just adds to her mystique.

MsChif finally gets back on winning ways with the Desecrator. This didn’t do anything for me. Cindy Rogers just bores me more each time I see her sadly and she seriously needs to do something to make herself seem interesting or stand out.

New girl Nikita, the Queen of Chaos, gets a promo where she says that Lacey’s been running her mouth about how tough the American girls are, but there are some tough bitches in Europe too and she’s one step ahead of them all. Nikita says that she’s wrestled all across the UK, in France, Germany and even Japan and now the US. She’s glad that Lacey is one of the best in Shimmer as she likes a good challenge and that she’s going to show Lacey that you do not mess with the English girl. Nikita sounds so very posh (she’s billed from Chelsea after all) and bloody sexy too. I like her already.

Amber O’Neal vs Serena Deeb

Our second debut of the evening is another future big name, and future member of CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society, Serena Deeb. I don’t want to get too much into her aesthetics so I’ll just say that she looks very different here than she does now. I don’t know what her music is but it’s atrocious. Allison Danger says that Serena has spunk… which always makes me laugh whenever that word is used given what it also means in the UK. Amber has new ring gear (still pink of course) but she loudly says that she doesn’t appreciate Serena, who has her own pink attire, stealing her look. Perhaps it’s because of this perceived slight that we see a whole new angry side of Amber in this match.

It all begins innocently enough with Amber proposing a test of strength but when Deeb raises her hands up O’Neal slaps her in the face instead. Amber then lays into Serena with some vicious looking kicks and then takes Deeb to the outside and smacks her face into the apron while the crowd chant “Walmart Barbie. Amber then locks on a full nelson with her legs and does sit-ups at the same time and when Dee breaks out O’Neal is furious that Serena interrupted her workout. Amber rakes the eyes of Serena and Danger says the eyes are very important to a wrestler “which is why Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles never became wrestlers”. Wow, just wow.

There is a very odd moment when Serena tries a running crossbody on Amber’s back but O’Neal simply gets an elbow up and stops it. I honestly don’t know what Deeb was thinking there and even Amber shrugs it off in a “what the hell?” way. Dave again speculates on who Ariel’s mystery partner can be. Spear by Serena but Amber gets to the ropes. It looked like Serena was using the spear, which became her finisher later, as a transitional move here. Deeb tries rolling-up Amber, but O’Neal reversers it in a very ugly looking pin and holds the tights for extra leverage as she picks up the three.

Wow, that ending looked awful. Serena was very poor here, which is something I don’t feel too bad saying as she becomes great in a few years’ time. I really liked Amber in this match however. I loved how mean and vicious she was and would like to see her face someone higher up the card now if she can keep this intensity.

The Experience vs Ariel & Josie

Lexie Fyfe says to the camera during their entrance that they are the best team ever and I’m thinking “You’ve only wrestled once as a team!” and then realise that I’m getting worked so I stop being annoyed by it! Ariel after missing the last taping and has had her hair cut shorter. Ariel stops her music before the chorus (booo!) and out comes her mystery partner and it’s, it’s, it’s…. Josie?! Who? Josie, better known by some as Sojourner Bolt from TNA. Yeah, I have no idea why they even hyped that up as a surprise as if we were meant to know who she is before she came out. I will say this however that although I’ve insulted a lot of entrance themes in my five reviews this far Josie’s is without question the worst of them all. The lyrics to the song go “Booty booty booty booty booty everywhere! Booty booty booty booty booty everywhere!” *Shudders*. Those of you in the UK who grew up with Noel’s House Party in the 90’s might find it more tolerable if you sing it as “Blobby blobby blobby blobby blobby everywhere!” in the style of Mr Blobby like I do. Josie is a local girl coming from Chicago however and thus she gets a great reception when her hometown is announced.

Ariel starts the match with lightning quick pinning attempts and then after a leg sweep Malia backs to her corner, tags in Lexie, and claims that Ariel had her hair AND her rights. Really funny. The fans chant “Stop your whining!” Ariel backslides Lexie for two and Malia again claims that Ariel had the hair and tights. I’ve got to admit that Malia is winning me over. Hosaka tags in and says to Ariel that she wants to fight Josie and Allison gets excited and starts singing Josie’s theme. Ugh, pleases stop. Danger says she likes Josie already, before Josie had even done a single move! Hosaka hits her nice martial arts kick and yeah, I am starting to enjoy her work now. Ariel tags in and Allison suggests that maybe she’d had her hair cut short so the Experience couldn’t pull on it, but if that was her plan then it wasn’t short enough as that’s exactly what Malia does. Hosaka puts Ariel into a body scissors and when Ariel’s headband falls off Malia chokes her with it. Excellent improvisation there by the veteran. Hosaka tags out and Lexie comes in and slaps Josie on the apron which made me laugh and prompts Josie to do the usual idiot face thing of entering the ring and distracting the ref while her partner gets double teamed.

It’s Josie doing the same thing later on too that allow the Experience to hit the Double Goadbuster for their second victory. Lexie and Malia then walk to the back offering an open challenges to anybody. This was better than the Volume 4 tag match, but still not one that I’d watch again. I’m starting to like Malia however so there’s that.

Cheerleader Melissa vs Allison Danger

We see Melissa’s victory of MsChif from Volume 4 again before Melissa comes through the curtain and THIS is the Cheerleader Melissa I’ve been waiting for as she comes out wearing what becomes her usual look complete with choker and yes the pom-poms make their much anticipated debut and she still has the duster too so this is probably my favourite attire of hers. She just looks like such a star now with this look. It’s noticeable too that Melissa is getting a few cheers with the fans most likely being won over by her string of impressive matches. There’s a beautiful shot of Melissa standing in the ring silently glaring at the curtain waiting for Danger’s arrival and I don’t think her nickname of the Female Terminator as ever seemed more appropriate as it did in that very moment. It occurs to me watching this that Melissa’s character on these early shows is kind of like an emotionless machine just dishing out punishment and yet by doing nothing more than glare at the curtain she seems to have so much personality which Cindy Rogers, despite all her hopping and running round ringside, doesn’t possess. I guess some people have star power and others don’t.

The fans chant “You’re in Danger” which I thought to myself could be misconstrued into something rude and I smiled when Danger also thought the same thing and told the fans that it’s a family show. Good to see she’s as dirty minded as I am! I would mention here that referee Brian Gorie has now had a haircut and looks like more like the Brian Gorie I now from the later tapings, but at this rate this becoming more of a fashion blog than a wrestling one! We have a great exchange of punches in this contest which Melissa wins before she continues to punch her grounded opponent to the back of the head which looks brilliantly nasty. It’s also an eerie foreshadowing to a future angle between these two which we’ll come to much later.

Melissa once again tries to hit the Kudo Driver, but Danger prevents this with a nice rollup pin for a two count which is much more original than simply landing on their feet which has been done every other time so far. I was enjoying this match but the end was disappointing as MsChif comes out and distracts Melissa which allows Allison to small cradle her for the three count. The aftermath was pretty cool though as we have our first pull-apart brawl where the referees and then later the lower card talent (Portia Perez, Amber O’Neil, Lexie Fyfe, Cindy Rogers & Lorelei Lee) have to separate them. This feud between Melissa and MsChif is going to continue on and I’m okay with it as they are great foils for each other and the matches have delivered in spades so far.

Amazing Kong vs Nikki Roxx

Yes! Amazing Kong has arrived! Obviously Amazing Kong is TNA’s Awesome Kong and later the WWE’s Kharma. Nikki Roxx continues her ever changing look and has straight her again this time light brown, but of more concern is her seemingly impending doom. The fans chant “Kong is gonna kill you” which is a really stupid thing to chant to a babyface but they redeem themselves a little with “Please don’t die!” which I love. As soon as the bell rings Kong screams at Roxx which makes her fall over in a humorous moment. Showing either no-fear or a death wish Nikki slaps Kong and I audibly gasped at that! Kong fights back with knife edge chops and oh my God do they sound painful! Nikki admirably doesn’t give in and manages to lock in a figure four leglock and I’m almost expecting Danger to say something like “if you can’t stand up you can’t wrestler which is why Stephan Hawkins never became a wrestler” but sadly not. Roxx climbs the turnbuckles and connects with a lovely looking dropkick which knocks Kong down, but she just rolls backwards to her feet and floors Nikki with a clothesline.

Roxx ducks a charge to the corner and Kong falls out of the ring. Nikki again climbs up top and hits a diving crossbody to the outside. She rolls her opponent back into the ring and takes to the air once again, this time going for a diving huricanrana but that is slightly botched I think and it ends up with Kong powerbombing her which might actually have been cooler than if she had hit the correct move. Kong picks up Nikki and delivers the Implant Buster, but Roxx is able to kick out. Unfazed however Kong now climbs the turnbuckles and lands on Nikki with the Amazing Press splash. The match looks over, but Kong isn’t done yet and breaks her own pinfall. Kong goes for the spinning backfist but Roxx is able to duck it and schoolgirl her for another two. A wheelbarrow roll-up shortly after also gives Roxx a near fall once more but then Kong succeeds in hitting the spinning backfist and then a sit-down powerbomb for the win. After the match we get a standing ovation for both wrestlers and we see replays of the best parts of this contest, the first time highlights have been shown immediately following a match and it is well deserved.

This was brilliant.  I love Amazing Kong and think her style of match might actually be my favourite as I always like the David vs Goliath match when it’s done well and hers almost always are. Nikki comes out of this having had her best Shimmer match to date and a Shimmer star was born.

Lacey vs Nikita

Lacey’s back after a missing the last tapings and the crowd are now clapping in time to her entrance music which always got me pumped for her matches. Lacey says to the ref that there are perverts taking photos of her, but only seems annoyed by this because she usually charges them for photos instead. That’s hilarious. I miss her so much now she’s retired. The crowd just hate Lacey and chanting that she sucks is the most vocal they’ve been so far on this show. Lacey does a snapmare to Nikita and then kicks her back but the impressed fans chant “You still suck!” That is one of the best parts of indie shows- the interaction between wrestler and fan. Nikita hits Lacey with a curbstomp and that is the 3^rd one we’ve seen so far in Shimmer and only one has been done by Melissa! Lacey works on the arm of Nikita during this match and even hits a modified version of her the tag partner Rain’s Rain Drop so that Nikita lands on her arm. Just beautiful psychology there. The end comes when Nikita blocks the Implant DDT and connects with an Uranage Backbreaker for the pin. Nikita celebrates, but still remembers to sell the arm afterwards which makes me happy. I didn’t write a lot down about this because I was engrossed in the match. I love Lacey and Nikita’s debut here was very impressive too. Great stuff.

2/3Falls

Rebecca Knox vs Daizee Haze

Knox comes out rather full of herself and dances her way to the ring in hilarious fashion. She screams at Joey Eastman who jumps back in surprise which also made me chuckle. The fans really don’t like Knox and I was trying to decide who they hate more her or Lacey and then dreamed about how good a match that’d would have been. Daizee comes out with her customary novelty flower which she bends as if it were an iron bar. During Knox’s introduction when Eastman says her weight Knox tells him to add “all muscle!” and she might be right! Knox says something which prompts the crowd to chant “mind your language again” and Daizee looks amused by it, but sadly I could not make out what was said. A “Daizee” chant breaks out and Knox is confused and says to the ref “But my name is Becky?” which is again made me laugh. A “USA” chant begins too which always pisses me off when it’s chanted in a match or angle that has nothing to do with nationalities, but thankfully these will quiet down as the roster becomes more international. Knox says she’s “as clean as a whistle and sharp as a thistle” before the two women engage in a dance off which Haze wins and the fans tell Rebecca that she got served.

The first ten minutes of this match is a technical showcase and Dave points out that the women haven’t even hit the ropes since the bell rang. I’m constantly amazed at how Knox knows so many submission moves. Knox has a sick armdrag in her arsenal too which she uses against Haze. Eventually Knox retreats to the outside and Haze dives through the ropes to take her out. Daizee connects with a flurry of slaps and chops and it’s awesome, but then Knox retaliates with a series of Kobashi chops and then whips Haze stomach first into the guard rail. This is fantastic! Haze is rolled back into the ring but Knox misses a top rope leg drop which allows Daizee to climb the turnbuckles but she too misses on a missile dropkick. Both women tease and block each other’s finishers until Haze hits the Heart Punch/Yakuza Kick combo to take the first fall at around 18 minutes.

Rebecca Knox is up almost as soon as the three count has happened which was a bit annoying as I think she should have sold it a little longer to be honest. The women are brought out water by a really pretty camerawoman who looks a little like Daizee (who is she?) and Haze drinks out of it first before the referee hands it to Knox who claims the bottle know has germs on it from Daizee. The second fall begins with a series of shoves and right hands and I really get the impression from this that these girls kayfabe hate each other. After a superb angry flurry of strikes by both women Knox rolls Daizee up and grabs hold of the ropes to get a cheap pinfall to square this match at the 24 minute mark.

Danger on commentary says she wants Knox dead. Wow. She only used the ropes, calm down! Haze starts off the quickest in the 3^rd fall, but Knox takes her down with a double springboard dropkick. Rebecca locks in a leglock submission moves and uses the ropes, again, for extra leverage and as Haze tries to fight out of it her shoulders are pinned to the mat. Knox wins a phenomenal contest. It’s still one of the five longest matches in Shimmer history and for my money has to be one of the very best. My favourite match so far in my rewatch.

Allison Danger didn’t enjoy the match as much as I did and comes out and says that Haze has beaten Knox clean twice, but Rebecca’s cheated both times, though the Irish woman screams that they were as clean as a whistle once again. Danger tells her to shut up and says that if Knox likes using the ropes so much then at Volume 6 she challenges Rebecca to a ROH Style Pure Wrestling match where punches aren’t allowed and both women are given three rope breaks after which the ropes are legal. Knox seems to agree to the stipulation before screaming that she’s a winner.

No Time Limit

Sara Del Rey vs Mercedes Martinez

Del Rey’s out first which surprised me as usually the bigger face enters last and Del Rey is being pushed, along with Haze, in that position. Speaking of Haze her novelty flower is still in the turnbuckle which must be very confusing for people that might have bought this match on Clickwrestle and wonder why there’s a giant flower in the corner.  The stipulation for the match is now shown on the screen in purple font which looks so much better than the red ones of previous volumes. We begin with a handshake and after an even first five minutes Del Rey locks in an Indian Death Lock and it seems like she’s going to work the leg. Mercedes then applies a submission of her own, a figure four, but when it’s broken up Mercedes starts limping, still showing the ill effects of the Indian Death Lock.

Del Rey goes on her usual big boot offence, but Martinez ducks the third kick and then boots Sara with one of her own, clearly having given up on selling the leg injury. Sara gets up and slowly climbs the turnbuckles and tries a diving crossbody, but Mercedes kicks her out of the air with a dropkick and her leg is fully recovered now I guess. Martinez tries a Fisherman Buster, but SDR reverses it into a small package for two. Del Rey then goes for the Royal Butterfly, but Mercedes backbody drops her instead. Mercedes then connects with an inverted brainbuster which looks so very dangerous and she then appears to whisper to Sara before covering her for a two, I guess asking if she was okay. Del Rey then connects with a scary looking German suplex and then a superplex for two.

Sara tries to finish off Martinez with the Royal Butterfly, but Mercedes blocks and hits the Saito Suplex for the first time in Shimmer, but is too tired to cover Del Rey. Sara knocks Martinez to the outside and then dives through the ropes in her first Shimmer dive to take out her opponent. Mercedes blocks the Royal Butterfly again and locks in a headscissors, but Sara is able to roll her up for the three count at the 24 minute mark.

A rather anti-climactic finish there and to be honest I wasn’t really feeling this match. It might just be me, but for this match the crowd were much quieter than the previous one and I can’t really blame them as while this was good there wasn’t any story here at all. There’s nothing at stake and with both of them being babyface I can’t really get invested in it. I actually think the last two matches should have been switched around.

Sara takes the mic and says that Mercedes can have a rematch whenever she wants as Dave and Allison both say they can’t wait for a third one between these two. Both wrestlers hug and the crowd sing “Do do do doo, do do do do” in tune to the Final Countdown as the show finishes.

Before we go we have a promo backstage with the Experience where they claim they are the perfect tag team and that they are offering an open challenge to anyone saying if their old school, new school it doesn’t matter the Experience will win. Alright promo, not the best, but I do like seeing the midcard getting promos too. It’s also announced that during the main event MsChif and Melissa have agreed to a Last Woman Standing match, which is the second time they’ve been negotiating matches during the main event which I find hilarious for some reason. They just do not care about any of the other big matches besides their own! Unlike the Mercedes/Del Rey III match they are hinting at I really want to see Melissa and MsChif fight for a final time.

Lastly Mercedes Martinez then begins a promo saying she accepts Sara’s challenge for a match at Volume 6 before Lacey interrupts and says “what is this the 10,000^th time you are gonna wrestle her? Do you know how bored I am of that?” I hate to say it but I kind of agree with her. Lacey says that although she knows that Mercedes pinned her at Volume 2 in the main event everyone was ganging up against her and that she works best as a tag team wrestler with Rain and she challenges Mercedes to find herself a tag partner and take them on. Sara Del Rey overhears this and says she’ll be Martinez partner and they all agree to the match. Aside from Lacey saying she’s better as a tag team wrestler, in essence putting her own singles skills down, I loved this segment and like that although Lacey is a heel and the other two are faces they have this friendly challenge which is nice as after all Lacey, while annoying, hasn’t really done anything bad to them so it’s cool that they can just hang out it segments like this without it coming to blows and with that match booked we’re out of here.

Overall Show:

This wasn’t the most solid of shows and as is often the case with Shimmer the first half isn’t very good whereas the last half rescues it and that’s kind of the case here. While I didn’t enjoy the main event as much as most people I really liked Kong vs Roxx, and Lacey vs Nikita while completely being blown away by Rebecca Knox vs Daizee Haze. One thing I do love about these early shows is how much time the matches were given. I understand why the matches are much shorter now as the roster is so much larger these days but here we have two matches over twenty minutes, one of which is almost half an hour, and a couple over ten minutes and it’s a shame that matches aren’t given as long anymore.

Best Match: Rebecca Knox vs Daizee Haze. Superb match. The best so far in Shimmer!

MVP: Amazing Kong. I was torn between giving it to Rebecca Knox again or awarding it to Nikki Roxx for her star making turn, but Amazing Kong’s debut was just great and I simply cannot wait to see her take on the main eventers of Shimmer at a later date!

So that’s Volume 5 in the can, but with Danger/Knox II and Melissa/MsChif III along with that big tag match pitting Lacey & Ran against Del Rey & Mercedes Volume 6 looks like it could be a cracking show. I'll leave you with the taped dark match between Portia Perez and Daizee Haze via Shimmer's official Youtube account, enjoy!