SHIMMER VOLUME 30 NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD!

[386mc]

I never usually put any negatives in a Mercedes match, but I'm sorry Kelly Skater got Neutered (i don't care if that's politically incorrect) , it was shades of John Cena/Miz from the Bash Last year except not nearly as long or drawn out in the finish (Cena hitting the 5 moves of doom including taking forever to do the 5 knuckle shuffle and still hitting it on Miz). Compared to other heels that Martinez has worked with whom have gotten some sort of rub in the end, Rate Tank was schlubbed in this one, maybe it was the Potato-style chops in the finish (The story of the match to me was "Rate Tank's Chops" vs "The Queen of Stiff Shots" in Martinez) that made Kelly's chest look like chopmeat (no pun intended). I don't care if she showed it off at the afterparty, IMO she lost some heat, I don't know if she regained it in 31 or 32, sooner or later DP on the commentary is probably gonna poke fun at Kelly over the "Bloody chest" from this when she's doing commentary. How can you take the "Rate Tank" seriously as a heel after this. I know AD has touched on "everybody can't be Goldberg" but some or a majority of the talent need to stay convincing and from what i see, Skater was garnering some momentum as a heel, but now backslides. This is why SHIMMER Needs a midcarders title so if at some point if Skater has a run with that strap and then is somewhat ready to go up the card to work Martinez or Melissa or Hamada or Chif, she doesn't get cut off so hard and fast.

My 2 Cents

PS Better yet I think i should go look for my Midcarder thread I made a year ago under the RFury name and kinda update it to 2010.

[Jhonmarco]

I think that will be the announcement next month thst shimmer will make a mid card title maybe called the shimmer international title.

[Evergrey06]

I find it interesting that people thought it was great and hilarious for Melissa to completely destroy Skater, but when Mercedes does it, it was bad on everyone involved.

[NSC]

However Mercedes Martinez didn't destroy Kellie Skater. Kellie put on some impressive offensive against Mercedes going strike for strike. I tought that match was pretty good

[Evergrey06]

It was indeed a good match.

[royaldc]

I liked the match. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought the Rate Tank gimmick is supposed to be that she believes she is indestructible when she actually is not, and half of the fun of her matches is when she bites off more than she can chew against main eventers. She kept fighting, chopping back, and kicking out the entire match until the barrage at the end, which I thought helped give Skater more credibility.

[freaky]

The weird thing about all these beatings is that Skater's becoming dangerously sympathetic. Turning her babyface would be so easy.

[MC LevaMark]

I know I'm the only one, but I'm still not completely sold on Kelly Skater yet. imo, the best thing about her is her introduction by Joey. Other than that, I just don't get the hype.

[sangre]

I would actually like to see her turn face because of the aforementioned sympathy. She could be a good face but on the other hand, her 'indestructible' heel gimmick is cool too. I'd also like Jessie McKay to turn heel and remain allies with Madison since some people expect them to feud.

[royaldc]

Turn one of the most over babyfaces in the promotion (the whole building seems to chant her name lately) heel, because she was in 2 tag team matches in 2008 with someone who is now heel?

[Verse]

Aug 8, 2010 22:55:06 GMT -6 freaky said:

The weird thing about all these beatings is that Skater's becoming dangerously sympathetic. Turning her babyface would be so easy.

I'd kinda like to see that. Those beatings would be so much better if she could have a babyface comeback afterwards. The Rate Tank gimmick is already played for comedy and a delusional face could garner lots of sympathy.

Aug 9, 2010 3:16:34 GMT -6 @royaldc said:

Turn one of the most over babyfaces in the promotion (the whole building seems to chant her name lately) heel, because she was in 2 tag team matches in 2008 with someone who is now heel?

Jessie is a great heel, but I think she should stay face in Shimmer.

[John Hyperion]

I'd rather Skater stay heel, because she's damn scary at it.

[LardWarriorELPS]

Melissa vs Madison was SOOOO Much better on dvd than it was live for some reason. I dunno if it was how badly I had to go to the restroom or what, but live it was just ok. But on dvd it's one of my new favorite matches ever. They just bullied the **** out of each other. It was absolutely amazing and a great throwback to the volume 17 main event in many ways.

[themib]

I liked the Mercedes/Rate Tank match - as said, the whole deal is that Skater claims she's indestructable when she clearly isn't. The fact she kept fighting after Mercedes chopped her to death made me a fan.

[SHIMMER office]

Ari Berenstein did an in depth writeup on Vol. 30 in his column at www.411mania.com/wrestling this week. He called it the best DVD we ever produced (I wouldn't agree with that, but hey everyone is entitled to their opinion).


=SHIMMER Volume 30 DVD Thoughts=

SHIMMER Volume 30 is a must-buy for any fan of women's professional wrestling. After three-matches (Leva Bates vs. Malia Hosaka, Rachel Summerlynn & Jessica James vs. Melanie Cruise & Annie Social, LuFisto vs. Cat Power) I was impressed already by the effort given from the undercard. Five matches in (Mercedes Martinez vs. Kellie Skater, Ayumi Kurihara vs. Nikki Roxx) and it was on pace to have a fantastic show. Eight matches in (Misaki Ohata & Jamilia Craft vs. Tomoka Nakagawa & Daizee Haze, Jessie McKay vs. Nicole Matthews, Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Sara Del Rey) and it was already there. By the conclusion of the feature bouts and main event (Last Woman Standing: Allison Danger vs. Portia Perez, a number one contender's bout between Cheerleader Melissa and Madison Eagles, SHIMMER Title match: MsChif vs. Sara Stock a.k.a. Sarita) this was the best top-to-bottom and all-around SHIMMER volume in the four-year history of the promotion. Now, the show didn't have the very best of match from any SHIMMER show that I've seen in the past year (Sara Del Rey vs. Ayako Hamada from SHIMMER Volume 28, which took place at the end of 2009 but which I didn't see until 2010), but without a doubt it had the greatest consistent level-of-quality per match for a SHIMMER show, going all the way back to probably the SHIMMER Title tournament shows (Volumes 12 & 13).

There are quite a few new names on this DVD, some of them from Japan, but even if one doesn't know who these women are by name recognition, by the end of the DVD it will be hard to forget them. The three Joshi wrestlers (the lanky and athletic Kurihama, the cute and charming Ohata and the short but bruising Nakagawa) who performed on the last DVD are back and are now beginning to be incorporated more thoroughly into feuds and angles. They are joined by the tough and imposing Hiroyo Matsumoto, who is portrayed and proves to be quite the match for SHIMMER's powerhouse heel in Del Rey. All four wrestlers bring a higher quality of effort and performance that is well beyond their experience level in Japan. Interestingly enough, I think their presence actually motivates those who they match up against to wrestle a higher-quality, more marquee-worthy bout. To be fair though, the higher level of effort seen by all on the roster for this show starts right with the first bout, which featured the main-show bout of Leva Bates who really brings it against longtime veteran Malia Hosaka. From there it's an increasing line of quality straight through to the main event, with everyone on the roster trying to better the previous matches….and succeeding.

The two major stories of this DVD are setting up Madison Eagles as a major player in the SHIMMER promotion (and MsChif's next challenger for the SHIMMER Title) as well as concluding the near two-year long issue between Allison Danger and Portia Perez. The latter complete a very intense and palpably personal issue that was based on Portia's lack of respect for Danger. Portia even went so far as to insult Danger when she was pregnant about her yet-to-be-born child, not to mention attacking her while still carrying. The insults and violence only escalated, with Danger mostly on the losing end of the equation. Perez did her best to avoid any official matches against Danger after returning to action in the months after giving birth, putting her tag partner and co-champion Nicole Matthews in the way and going so far as to claim she was a victim of Swine Flu. Finally it was down to just her and Danger in this match, which was as physical and as dramatic as expected. Danger dragged Portia and beat her up all over the building and Portia did her best to steal the win out from under Danger. However, Allison would not be denied, as Jennifer Blake returning to SHIMMER to stop an attack from Matthews gave her a window of opportunity. Danger used her powerful trademark moves like the STO and the Old School Expulsion on Perez, the back of her head and neck landing on a chair inside the ring. It was enough to gain the three-count.

The crowd came to their feet in support of Danger, who was crying in cathartic expression of relief and satisfaction. It was an emotional outpouring that was very much understood after being haunted by Perez's antagonism for so long. Danger finally had her measure of justice.

As for Madison Eagles, this DVD went a long way towards making me buy into her as a (future) champion. Eagles has been in the business for eight years plus, which certainly means she's proven herself, but I had plenty of doubts as to whether or not she should unseat MsChif at this time. I just didn't see her as being built up enough on the last DVD for her return that she could so easily and so quickly work her way to the top of the promotion. However, the trick was in her change in personality from a sporting and competitive performer to a sarcastic and condescending cheat who would do anything to win. That change began subtly on the last DVD but here was more overt and plainly visible. Therefore, I was able to more easily digest the knowledge of her climbing to the top. What sealed it for me was her mocking of the SHIMMER fans around ringside and the way she cheated to win the match against Melissa (which was actually the best I had seen of Eagles in a match on any SHIMMER show). I think she can be a fine heel SHIMMER Champion.

Other Volume 30 Highlights: Leva Bates nearly left me snow-blind with her New-Wave inspired checkerboard outfit. Her steampunk style goggles are also a nice accoutrement. It all adds to a perky, happy-go-lucky character (at least I think that's her character, to be honest I can't be sure). I like what I saw of that and of her in-ring abilities. Jessica James is both a generic name and unfortunately close to the nomenclature for an "adult film star", which does the wrestler a disservice. This was also my first time seeing James and she provided a fun and complementary pairing with Rachel Summerlynn, who is improving and more enjoyable to watch with every show. I'm not sure why the issue with Daffney from previous DVDs wasn't followed up on (note: I checked and in fact, they have a match on Volume 31), but she serves her purpose well here as the face foil to the heel tandem of Cruise and Social. Lufisto and Cat Power have a real good back-and-forth battle and Cat gets to show some smarts by avoiding the Burning Hammer several times before ultimately falling to it. There's something to be done with Cat Power given her unique character and continual efforts at working and improving herself. Kellie Skater had her best match in SHIMMER thus far. I haven't been all too into her, but that was a hell of an effort (and a butt kicking she took) against Martinez, who chopped her chest until it was raw and red. I mean, some of these chops were comparable to the power of Roderick Strong's barrages. Martinez showed no let-up, to the delight of the fans in attendance. The Rate-Tank may have very well proven her indestructibility on this night. Well, except that she lost thanks to an onslaught of offense from Martinez. Kurihara and Roxx is a good face versus face battle with lots of technical exchanges in the early going and then Ayumi overwhelming Roxx with her offense (she has an awesome codebreaker variant and a nice northern lights). She takes a variation of the Barbie Crusher for two and maneuvering out of another one late in the match, eventually winning with a tight roll-up too well-executed to kick-out. Daizee Haze's heel turn was immediate but completely convincing, with a quite understandable outrage as to her own student (Craft) telling her what to do. Well, except that Craft was asking her to stop attacking Ohata out of being a spoiled sport. What I like about Haze's heel act here and in SHIMMER is that it has been multi-faceted: she can play the "don't hit me, I'm a girl" card against the males of CHIKARA, while being the outrageous and vicious villain here. Ohata and Craft were the quite the sympathetic babyface team, until the end of the match where Craft gets the hot tag and summarily loses to a Tiger Suplex from Haze. The student has NOT surpassed the teacher in this example. Jessie McKay continues to win me over with her cuteness and by being able to stand up to more imposing opponents and keep on fighting. Nicole Matthews is also super impressive and once again shines in a singles match. In some ways she reminds me of Lacey when she was really starting to cook with her heel act. Though Matsumoto is not as physically imposing as Awesome Kong, she is able to withstand Del Rey's offense and return fire. They also match up evenly in the strength department. That immediately legitimizes her in front of a new audience. MsChif gets the her next defense of the title against Sara Stock and while they were a bit sloppy in the early going they turned it around and really amped up the drama with the nearfalls. Viewers were shown clips of their match several years ago where Sara Stock had her number and here she almost did it again. However, MsChif was able to survive and adapt, slipping into the Desecrator DDT and getting a well-deserved win. This was a well-done main event title match to close the DVD. Of course, that means MsChif defends her title against Madison Eagles on the next show.


Volume 30 Lowlights: Unfortunately, as much as I admire and appreciate her efforts in the ring (and have called for ROH to book her on shows), this DVD featured an exceedingly poor promo from Cheerleader Melissa (which also included less than stellar support from Eagles, Stock and MsChif) that helped to set up the show's two main events. She was quiet and stumbling over words, almost lost in the "performance" of being Cheerleader Melissa and tripping up on what she wanted to say. It was a very simple promo as well, as all she really had to say was that she wanted a title shot, but it just came out as a mess. MsChif did what she could to explain what was going to happen. This is the second show in a row with a horrible backstage interview from Melissa and it's difficult to explain why that is the case. During her time in TNA as Raeesha Saeed she cut fair to solid promos in that character. It has to be said that talking as "Cheerleader Melissa" is her weak spot. She is a monster in that ring and I'd watch any of her matches in a heartbeat, but she needs to improve her promos.

Overall Decision: Once in a while there is a SHIMMER show that needs to be seen not just by the niche fans who regularly purchase these shows but by the larger ROH and independent fan base. This is one of those shows. Anyone who enjoys wrestling in the style done by the current top male-oriented indies such as ROH and PWG will enjoy this show as a sterling example of great wrestling. I'll repeat again what I wrote to begin this review: SHIMMER Volume 30 is the best all-around show in the promotion's history. There is just no way that anyone who buys this DVD won't be satisfied with their purchase by the end of the show.