Favorite Blowoff Match

[mlb]

Hey, fellow SHIMMER fans! With the promotion's 10th Anniversary closely approaching, I thought it would be a good time as any to look back on the ten years of SHIMMER, and its feuds. Though SHIMMER's feuds are not serialized as the main promotions are, there have been more than a handful of them in the promotion's history. And as great as feuds are, they come to an end, which is known as the "blowoff." So, out of all the feuds in SHIMMER's ten years, what is your favorite blowoff match?

[mrblacksheep]

Athena Vs Mercedes at 45.

[Woo]

Very good question. To be honest sometimes the feud goes on so long that I've lost interest in it by the final blow off match. So I'd say my favourite one is....

Madison Eagles (c) vs Cheerleader Melissa.

[Stevie]

Tied between the Danger vs. Portia LWS and the Ninjas vs. 3G title change.

[Woo]

I've been giving this more thought and will highlight the main contenders.

* MsChif vs Melissa- Volume 6. Good match, but Volume 4 was better and more memorable, so this really can't win.

* Sara Del Rey vs Mercedes Martinez- Volume 8. Their most memorable match was the draw from Volume 1 and this just squared it at 1-1 anyway so shouldn't count.

* Lacey vs Sara Del Rey- Volume 14. Excellent match. It did prove in kayfabe that Del Rey was better once and for all, but it was never really a feud.

* Alison Danger vs Cindy Rogers- Volume 15. Sadly this feud just bored me and it's all down to Cindy Rogers. She just didn't have what it took really to be star despite Danger doing all she could to try and get Rogers over. This went on too long and none of the matches were especially great.

* Serena Deeb vs Sara Del Rey- Volume 22. Excellent series of matches. Volume 20 is my favourite but this one ended with Deeb finally getting the win over Sara in a feel good moment. A real contender this.

* Cheerleader Melissa vs Wesna Busic/Annie Social- Volume 26. This feud was too short (just 2 matches) to compete but they were great foils for Melissa and I would have loved to have had Social become a regular antagonist for Melissa.

* Alison Danger vs Portia Perez- Volume 30. Decent match where Danger finally bested Perez, but it's not been one I've gone back to since to watch again.

* Daffney vs Rachel Summerlyn- Volume 36. Really fun stuff. Had Rachel Summerlyn continued to improve at the rate she was going at and gone on to be a big Shimmer star this could have meant much more.

* Nicole Matthews vs Jessie McKay- Volume 39. This really is a contender. Both women were such natural rivals and really helped elevate eachother to the next level and all their matches were great.

* Cheerleader Melissa/Ayako Hamada vs Sara Del Rey/Madison Eagles- Volume 39. Okay this a bit of a cheat as this was the continuation of Eagles/Meliss and the start of Hamada/Eagles, but this is the last time that Melissa and Del Rey fought. They had wrestled way back at Volume 9 then had two of the greatest tag matches against eachother at Volume 17 and 24 and been on opposite sides during the original Shimivour Series Match. At this point they were the two latest Shimmer originals with 100% attendence records too!

* Serena Deeb vs Portia Perez- Volume 43. This was one of the best booked feuds in Shimmer, as most feuds with Perez are. It started off with a fantastic promo interruption and only grew more heated from there on out. I loved how this feud included Nicole Matthews and with that Nicole Matthews' rival Jessie McKay and then later Serena Deeb's trainee Davina Rose. It just grew naturally and had all this other facets orbiting the central battle. This pay-off was satisfying too with Perez literally being taken down.

* Britani Knight vs Saraya Knight- Volume 44. A feud with only 1 match? Well yes, but this was built up as well as it could be and the angle paid off the entire weekend of storylines.

* Cheerleader Melissa vs Madison Eagles- Volume 44. The obvious and correct end too a superb title chase. The final stretch of this match was gripping stuff and the elation you feel when Melissa pulls it off is outstanding. Whether Matthews attack at the end ruins it for you is a matter of opinion.

* Athena vs Mercedes Martinez- Volume 45. Atena pulls of the victory of her career here. I would say this was good, but the feud itself wasn't as good as say Perex/Deen or Melissa/Eagles. Also it seems like Athena was constantly winning the big one, before finding herself in another feud where she had to do it again.

* Queens of Winning vs Ninjas vs Hamada/Kurihara vs Re-Generation X- Volume 48. Okay so not so much a 'blow-off' as it was a 'pay-off' but this was the glorious and sadly final end to the superb Queens of Winning storyline that was amongst the best stuff Shimmer's ever done. Sadly I don't feel Courtney Rush has done anything this good since and has reached that point that so many upper-midcarders have done where after losing their title shot they just sort of float around top of the cards not doing a great deal. Hopefully the heel turn changes all of that.

* Saraya Knight vs Cheerleader Melissa- Volume 53- Melissa wins back the title in a cage match at Shimmer's first PPV. I don't know why, but I don't love this match as well as I might and was slightly sad to see the belt go to Melissa again so soon.

* 3G vs The Canadian Ninjas- Volume 57. Perfect feud ender... If you count it. They didn't interact again for another year and a half after this, but then were drawn back to eachother once more.

* Christina Von Eerie vs Saraya Knight- Volume 61. I've written a lot about why I didn't enjoy this match, but it really didn't work out well at all. This should have been CVE's glass-ceiling breaking moment, but it just didn't happen and this confusing match was one of the main causes.

* Lufisto (& Kana) vs Cheerleader Melissa & Mercedes Martinez- Volume 63. The ending match to an exhuasting storyline for Lufisto where she came so close to winning the belt. By this point she had wrestled both of her opponents three times each and had been robbed of the championship by them both. But this wasn't a satisfying end to the feud. It may have been obvious had they done it, but I still think Lufisto should have won the Shimmer championship during this feud. By this point I just found Melissa boring and some of her matches, with the exception of the Lufisto and Matsumoto contets, underwhelming. I think you could have had Lufisto in Melissa's place as champion when Matthews took the belt from her and you would have then had both Lufisto and Madison Eagles gunning for Nicole Matthews setting up an interesting dynamic, with could have eventually turned to Eagles vs Lufisto at last. Instead Lufi went onto a confusing faux heel-turn angle and this exciting blood feud ended in a strange tag team whimper.

* 3G, Eagles & Havok vs Canadian Ninjas & Kimber Bombs- Volume 70. A match I have to admit I haven't seen, but it was a great match to book as it played off the existing storylines and characters rather well. The Havok/Perez feud, the Eagles/Matthews feud, 3G's hatred of the Ninjas and the Cherry Bombs quest to dethrone 3G.

* 3G vs The Canadian Ninjas- Volume 75. Well if you didn't agree that their previous main event wasn't a blow-off, then you might want to choose this one. Tomoka's final match.


So if I had to say a top 5:
1) Eagles vs Melissa
2) 3G vs Ninjas- Tag Title Match
3) Deeb vs Perez
4) Deeb vs Del Rey
5) McKay vs Matthews
Honorable Mention- Kight vs Knight

[Deleted]

Ninjas vs. 3G. One of my absolute favorite matches I've watched live. We were on Cloud 9 after that one.

[mlb]

Aug 26, 2015 14:04:15 GMT -6 Woo said:

I've been giving this more thought and will highlight the main contenders.

* MsChif vs Melissa- Volume 6. Good match, but Volume 4 was better and more memorable, so this really can't win.

* Sara Del Rey vs Mercedes Martinez- Volume 8. Their most memorable match was the draw from Volume 1 and this just squared it at 1-1 anyway so shouldn't count.

* Lacey vs Sara Del Rey- Volume 14. Excellent match. It did prove in kayfabe that Del Rey was better once and for all, but it was never really a feud.

* Alison Danger vs Cindy Rogers- Volume 15. Sadly this feud just bored me and it's all down to Cindy Rogers. She just didn't have what it took really to be star despite Danger doing all she could to try and get Rogers over. This went on too long and none of the matches were especially great.

* Serena Deeb vs Sara Del Rey- Volume 22. Excellent series of matches. Volume 20 is my favourite but this one ended with Deeb finally getting the win over Sara in a feel good moment. A real contender this.

* Cheerleader Melissa vs Wesna Busic/Annie Social- Volume 26. This feud was too short (just 2 matches) to compete but they were great foils for Melissa and I would have loved to have had Social become a regular antagonist for Melissa.

* Alison Danger vs Portia Perez- Volume 30. Decent match where Danger finally bested Perez, but it's not been one I've gone back to since to watch again.

* Daffney vs Rachel Summerlyn- Volume 36. Really fun stuff. Had Rachel Summerlyn continued to improve at the rate she was going at and gone on to be a big Shimmer star this could have meant much more.

* Nicole Matthews vs Jessie McKay- Volume 39. This really is a contender. Both women were such natural rivals and really helped elevate eachother to the next level and all their matches were great.

* Cheerleader Melissa/Ayako Hamada vs Sara Del Rey/Madison Eagles- Volume 39. Okay this a bit of a cheat as this was the continuation of Eagles/Meliss and the start of Hamada/Eagles, but this is the last time that Melissa and Del Rey fought. They had wrestled way back at Volume 9 then had two of the greatest tag matches against eachother at Volume 17 and 24 and been on opposite sides during the original Shimivour Series Match. At this point they were the two latest Shimmer originals with 100% attendence records too!

* Serena Deeb vs Portia Perez- Volume 43. This was one of the best booked feuds in Shimmer, as most feuds with Perez are. It started off with a fantastic promo interruption and only grew more heated from there on out. I loved how this feud included Nicole Matthews and with that Nicole Matthews' rival Jessie McKay and then later Serena Deeb's trainee Davina Rose. It just grew naturally and had all this other facets orbiting the central battle. This pay-off was satisfying too with Perez literally being taken down.

* Britani Knight vs Saraya Knight- Volume 44. A feud with only 1 match? Well yes, but this was built up as well as it could be and the angle paid off the entire weekend of storylines.

* Cheerleader Melissa vs Madison Eagles- Volume 44. The obvious and correct end too a superb title chase. The final stretch of this match was gripping stuff and the elation you feel when Melissa pulls it off is outstanding. Whether Matthews attack at the end ruins it for you is a matter of opinion.

* Athena vs Mercedes Martinez- Volume 45. Atena pulls of the victory of her career here. I would say this was good, but the feud itself wasn't as good as say Perex/Deen or Melissa/Eagles. Also it seems like Athena was constantly winning the big one, before finding herself in another feud where she had to do it again.

* Queens of Winning vs Ninjas vs Hamada/Kurihara vs Re-Generation X- Volume 48. Okay so not so much a 'blow-off' as it was a 'pay-off' but this was the glorious and sadly final end to the superb Queens of Winning storyline that was amongst the best stuff Shimmer's ever done. Sadly I don't feel Courtney Rush has done anything this good since and has reached that point that so many upper-midcarders have done where after losing their title shot they just sort of float around top of the cards not doing a great deal. Hopefully the heel turn changes all of that.

* Saraya Knight vs Cheerleader Melissa- Volume 53- Melissa wins back the title in a cage match at Shimmer's first PPV. I don't know why, but I don't love this match as well as I might and was slightly sad to see the belt go to Melissa again so soon.

* 3G vs The Canadian Ninjas- Volume 57. Perfect feud ender... If you count it. They didn't interact again for another year and a half after this, but then were drawn back to eachother once more.

* Christina Von Eerie vs Saraya Knight- Volume 61. I've written a lot about why I didn't enjoy this match, but it really didn't work out well at all. This should have been CVE's glass-ceiling breaking moment, but it just didn't happen and this confusing match was one of the main causes.

* Lufisto (& Kana) vs Cheerleader Melissa & Mercedes Martinez- Volume 63. The ending match to an exhuasting storyline for Lufisto where she came so close to winning the belt. By this point she had wrestled both of her opponents three times each and had been robbed of the championship by them both. But this wasn't a satisfying end to the feud. It may have been obvious had they done it, but I still think Lufisto should have won the Shimmer championship during this feud. By this point I just found Melissa boring and some of her matches, with the exception of the Lufisto and Matsumoto contets, underwhelming. I think you could have had Lufisto in Melissa's place as champion when Matthews took the belt from her and you would have then had both Lufisto and Madison Eagles gunning for Nicole Matthews setting up an interesting dynamic, with could have eventually turned to Eagles vs Lufisto at last. Instead Lufi went onto a confusing faux heel-turn angle and this exciting blood feud ended in a strange tag team whimper.

* 3G, Eagles & Havok vs Canadian Ninjas & Kimber Bombs- Volume 70. A match I have to admit I haven't seen, but it was a great match to book as it played off the existing storylines and characters rather well. The Havok/Perez feud, the Eagles/Matthews feud, 3G's hatred of the Ninjas and the Cherry Bombs quest to dethrone 3G.

* 3G vs The Canadian Ninjas- Volume 75. Well if you didn't agree that their previous main event wasn't a blow-off, then you might want to choose this one. Tomoka's final match.

Thanks, Woo for going through mostly all the feuds and giving your thoughts on them too. I still have a lot of catching up to do in my DVD collection but I do know what took place after the last DVD of my collection, vol.42. I'm with you on SDR-Deeb; Vol 20 was Serena's breakthrough match and a showcase of her great selling and Del Rey's mercilessness. But, Vol. 22 is one of my faves, always put it on repeat. The Knockout or Submission match between Wesna and Melissa was brutal, especially how Wesna worked on Melissa's arm beyond repair. I like the blowoff of Danger-Perez; as always, Portia does a great job in wanting to see her get her comeuppance. McKay-Matthews was natural, even though I wasn't expecting a series that came after their Vol. 30. match. And, every time I watch Daffney-Rachel from Vol 36. it makes me a bit sad since you saw the improvement of Rachel from there before she left.

However, I would argue that when it came down to MsChif and Kong in the Triple Threat at Volume 28, that was the blowoff to their feud since MsChif finally defeated her and a payoff to Kong's unpinned-unsubmitted streak.

[Demonic Eeyore]

IMO the most memorable one as far as having true meaning was Serena vs. Sara. It's a basic formula of veteran heel building up the young babyface but it worked so well especially on an emotional level. Case in point myself, a diehard Death Rey fan, by the middle of the 3rd match screaming my lungs out for Serena to beat her. People talk, rightfully so, about how great Sara is a wrestler but also note how awesome she was, heel or face, at getting others over. Between her and Danger I don't know anyone else in their league as far as Shimmer history goes.

[Woo]

Aug 28, 2015 8:20:55 GMT -6 Demonic Eeyore said:

IMO the most memorable one as far as having true meaning was Serena vs. Sara. It's a basic formula of veteran heel building up the young babyface but it worked so well especially on an emotional level. Case in point myself, a diehard Death Rey fan, by the middle of the 3rd match screaming my lungs out for Serena to beat her. People talk, rightfully so, about how great Sara is a wrestler but also note how awesome she was, heel or face, at getting others over. Between her and Danger I don't know anyone else in their league as far as Shimmer history goes.

I think Kong is another one. Her match with Nikki made Roxx in Shimmer and she not faced off aginst MsChif in that classic match then I'm not sure MsChif would then go on to win the title. Wesna's match with Kong helped her a lot too.


You're right about Del Rey getting Deeb over. I didn't care about Deeb at all until Volume 20 then I was a big fan of hers after Vol 22. Danger was also completely sefless in her Shimmer run. As far as I know I think she never faced Del Rey, Eagles, Kong, Mercedes, MsChif, Hamada, Kana, Deeb and lots more big names in one on on matches because she was either feuding with newcomers like Rogers, Perez, Vice or teaming with them- Blake & Bates- spending her whole run trying to get them over and not herself.

[mlb]

Another example of Del Rey's awesomeness was her match against Tenille. She did not beat Death Rey, but when she executed the bridging Indian deathlock, it was good enough moment to believe that she could've.

[Woo]

Aug 29, 2015 0:09:29 GMT -6 mlb said:

Another example of Del Rey's awesomeness was her match against Tenille. She did not beat Death Rey, but when she executed the bridging Indian deathlock, it was good enough moment to believe that she could've.

Oh yeah, that was Emma's best match in Shimmer by far. I thought she made here right there.