Post by SHIMMER office on Mar 14, 2006 15:36:01 GMT -6
WORLD OF WRESTLING LOOKS AT SHIMMER
by Josh Neimand @ 12:38:00 PM on 3/9/2006
“SHIMMER SHIMMER through the break of dawn,” or “Kidney stones suck, but at least I got to sit at home and watch a lot of wrestling…”
Wow.
Sorry it’s been a while since my last column. Word to the wise? Don’t get kidney stones. Do whatever you can to avoid them, because they mess you up bad. They hurt and the world is all up in your business in places you really don’t want everyone to be all up in. And once you get them, the chances of getting them again increase dramatically. This is my life. Effin’ great.
Anyway, I’m back. I was KO’ed for a bit, but I did make the best of my time while laid up on the couch in Chateau Neimand. I got a lot accomplished. I washed dishes. Cleaned the bathroom. Dusted the house.
Oh wait. That must be someone else. I don’t even do that when I’m healthy. Nah, I got to catch up on a bunch of wrestling DVDs I’ve been meaning to watch, from ROH to OVW to SHIMMER. And now, maybe, Allison Danger can leave me the freak alone, and stop threatening to kick my ass if I didn’t watch SHIMMER.
I mean, come on Allison, can you blame me for avoiding it!??! I don’t watch Japanese wrestling, so my exposure to women’s wrestling consists of GLOW and old video tapes of the Missy Hyatt-Sunshine mud matches.
But, thankfully I did watch, because SHIMMER, Vol. 1, is some pretty damned good wrestling. No, it’s not the best wrestling I’ve ever seen. I won’t sugarcoat it. But it’s definitely a DVD worth owning, as there several really strong matches on their, plus a fun little Easter Egg.
I won’t re-hash all the matches. There are plenty of reviews out there for that. I will say that several of the women involved – most notably MsChif, Sara Del Rey, Mercedes Martinez, Lacey, and Daizee Haze, are a joy to watch. They are a throwback to the days when women wrestled – when people like the Fabulous Moolah and Johnnie Mae Young went out there and kicked ass.
In a lot of ways, SHIMMER reminded me of Lipstick & Dynamite, the movie that came out last year about women’s wrestlers in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It’s about hitting a wrestling ring IN RING GEAR and trying to beat your opponent silly. It’s not about wearing nurse outfits or trying to strip your opponent down to her bra and panties; it’s about beating the piss out of them.
If you want the nurse outfits and the bra and panties, you know where to go to watch that. Me? I like my porn and wrestling separate. If I want to see scantily clad women act slutty and make out, well, that’s what porn is for. Women’s wrestling should be about wrestling – sure, throw in a little bit of eye candy, because even men’s wrestling does that – but for the most part, if I want to watch wrestling, I want to see people kicking ass, not taking off their clothes.
SHIMMER does that. At one point, Danger talks about SHIMMER being the start of American joshi. Yes, I know I don’t watch Japanese wrestling. But I do know how to use Google, and I have heard terms like joshi – women’s wrestling – before. I think if it builds itself slowly, has a little patience, and most importantly has realistic expectations, SHIMMER absolutely could succeed as the American joshi company.
Everyone who has seen this talks about the Sara Del Rey/Mercedes Martinez match. No bones about it, this match kicks four kinds of ass (whatever that means)…it’s stiff, it’s exciting, and really is what wrestling is all about. But with all the praise heaped on this particular match, I think some of the other really fun matches on the card are being overlooked.
While I’m not advocating fast forwarding past the first matches, the second half of the card is the strongest. But you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you started there, so watch the thing through and through. But things do get kicked off to another level with the Cheerleader Melissa/MsChif kind of match.
MsChif is my kind of wrestler. She’s got a bit of a gimmick, which to me helps. She yells a lot, she’s got some crazy green hair, and her body bends in ways that a body isn’t supposed to bend. Anytime one wrestler makes his or her opponent’s foot kick the back of their own head, you know you’re in for a fun match.
Allison Danger against Beth Phoenix was one of those matches that mixes solid wrestling with good comedy. Danger brought the wrestling, Phoenix brought the comedy, and the combination of the two made for a fun match.
The two Lacey matches on the card also shouldn’t be overlooked. The “bonus match” against Del Rey from a Ring of Honor card back in November was pretty stiff, and her Main Event match on this first volume of Shimmer, against Daizee Haze, was outstanding. Stiff, bruising, high-flying, risk-taking, bump-making. Whatever you like in wrestling, this match had it. Every time I look at Daizee I think she’s going to break in half – she really needs to eat a sandwich with extra mayo *and* extra cheese – but man, she can bring it.
It was a refreshing change to see them both get to wrestle a real match. Yes, Lacey’s screech is annoying. But at least in SHIMMER, she gets to wrestle, so that compensates for it. Being as she’s in Ring of Honor regularly, I’d love to see her get more chances to wrestle – heck, put her in the ring with some of the ROH Students, and let her go nuts on them.
I know there are currently four volumes of SHIMMER that have been taped. I’ve been lucky enough to see a few advance clips, and it appears as if SHIMMER will be the real deal – not just matches, but storylines and angles as well. And Rebecca Knox is going to be a star. Mark my words.
I’m hopeful we get some Title action too, because I’m a mark for a good title tournament.
I’m sure I’ll revisit SHIMMER at some point and talk about it a bit more. Hopefully I’ll even make it to some live matches, because it really does look fun, and anyone who knows me knows that’s my bottom line when it comes to wrestling – how much fun am I having?
If you want porn, go somewhere else. But if you are a serious wrestling fan, and you want to watch women who can fight, and who can wrestle, and who can do the kind of moves that made you a wrestling fan in the first place, then get yourself a copy of SHIMMER, Vol. 1, and don’t hesitate.
If you’ve got comments, questions, or information regarding good painkillers to deal with these kidney stones, email me at pwinsiderjosh@gmail.com.
by Josh Neimand @ 12:38:00 PM on 3/9/2006
“SHIMMER SHIMMER through the break of dawn,” or “Kidney stones suck, but at least I got to sit at home and watch a lot of wrestling…”
Wow.
Sorry it’s been a while since my last column. Word to the wise? Don’t get kidney stones. Do whatever you can to avoid them, because they mess you up bad. They hurt and the world is all up in your business in places you really don’t want everyone to be all up in. And once you get them, the chances of getting them again increase dramatically. This is my life. Effin’ great.
Anyway, I’m back. I was KO’ed for a bit, but I did make the best of my time while laid up on the couch in Chateau Neimand. I got a lot accomplished. I washed dishes. Cleaned the bathroom. Dusted the house.
Oh wait. That must be someone else. I don’t even do that when I’m healthy. Nah, I got to catch up on a bunch of wrestling DVDs I’ve been meaning to watch, from ROH to OVW to SHIMMER. And now, maybe, Allison Danger can leave me the freak alone, and stop threatening to kick my ass if I didn’t watch SHIMMER.
I mean, come on Allison, can you blame me for avoiding it!??! I don’t watch Japanese wrestling, so my exposure to women’s wrestling consists of GLOW and old video tapes of the Missy Hyatt-Sunshine mud matches.
But, thankfully I did watch, because SHIMMER, Vol. 1, is some pretty damned good wrestling. No, it’s not the best wrestling I’ve ever seen. I won’t sugarcoat it. But it’s definitely a DVD worth owning, as there several really strong matches on their, plus a fun little Easter Egg.
I won’t re-hash all the matches. There are plenty of reviews out there for that. I will say that several of the women involved – most notably MsChif, Sara Del Rey, Mercedes Martinez, Lacey, and Daizee Haze, are a joy to watch. They are a throwback to the days when women wrestled – when people like the Fabulous Moolah and Johnnie Mae Young went out there and kicked ass.
In a lot of ways, SHIMMER reminded me of Lipstick & Dynamite, the movie that came out last year about women’s wrestlers in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It’s about hitting a wrestling ring IN RING GEAR and trying to beat your opponent silly. It’s not about wearing nurse outfits or trying to strip your opponent down to her bra and panties; it’s about beating the piss out of them.
If you want the nurse outfits and the bra and panties, you know where to go to watch that. Me? I like my porn and wrestling separate. If I want to see scantily clad women act slutty and make out, well, that’s what porn is for. Women’s wrestling should be about wrestling – sure, throw in a little bit of eye candy, because even men’s wrestling does that – but for the most part, if I want to watch wrestling, I want to see people kicking ass, not taking off their clothes.
SHIMMER does that. At one point, Danger talks about SHIMMER being the start of American joshi. Yes, I know I don’t watch Japanese wrestling. But I do know how to use Google, and I have heard terms like joshi – women’s wrestling – before. I think if it builds itself slowly, has a little patience, and most importantly has realistic expectations, SHIMMER absolutely could succeed as the American joshi company.
Everyone who has seen this talks about the Sara Del Rey/Mercedes Martinez match. No bones about it, this match kicks four kinds of ass (whatever that means)…it’s stiff, it’s exciting, and really is what wrestling is all about. But with all the praise heaped on this particular match, I think some of the other really fun matches on the card are being overlooked.
While I’m not advocating fast forwarding past the first matches, the second half of the card is the strongest. But you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you started there, so watch the thing through and through. But things do get kicked off to another level with the Cheerleader Melissa/MsChif kind of match.
MsChif is my kind of wrestler. She’s got a bit of a gimmick, which to me helps. She yells a lot, she’s got some crazy green hair, and her body bends in ways that a body isn’t supposed to bend. Anytime one wrestler makes his or her opponent’s foot kick the back of their own head, you know you’re in for a fun match.
Allison Danger against Beth Phoenix was one of those matches that mixes solid wrestling with good comedy. Danger brought the wrestling, Phoenix brought the comedy, and the combination of the two made for a fun match.
The two Lacey matches on the card also shouldn’t be overlooked. The “bonus match” against Del Rey from a Ring of Honor card back in November was pretty stiff, and her Main Event match on this first volume of Shimmer, against Daizee Haze, was outstanding. Stiff, bruising, high-flying, risk-taking, bump-making. Whatever you like in wrestling, this match had it. Every time I look at Daizee I think she’s going to break in half – she really needs to eat a sandwich with extra mayo *and* extra cheese – but man, she can bring it.
It was a refreshing change to see them both get to wrestle a real match. Yes, Lacey’s screech is annoying. But at least in SHIMMER, she gets to wrestle, so that compensates for it. Being as she’s in Ring of Honor regularly, I’d love to see her get more chances to wrestle – heck, put her in the ring with some of the ROH Students, and let her go nuts on them.
I know there are currently four volumes of SHIMMER that have been taped. I’ve been lucky enough to see a few advance clips, and it appears as if SHIMMER will be the real deal – not just matches, but storylines and angles as well. And Rebecca Knox is going to be a star. Mark my words.
I’m hopeful we get some Title action too, because I’m a mark for a good title tournament.
I’m sure I’ll revisit SHIMMER at some point and talk about it a bit more. Hopefully I’ll even make it to some live matches, because it really does look fun, and anyone who knows me knows that’s my bottom line when it comes to wrestling – how much fun am I having?
If you want porn, go somewhere else. But if you are a serious wrestling fan, and you want to watch women who can fight, and who can wrestle, and who can do the kind of moves that made you a wrestling fan in the first place, then get yourself a copy of SHIMMER, Vol. 1, and don’t hesitate.
If you’ve got comments, questions, or information regarding good painkillers to deal with these kidney stones, email me at pwinsiderjosh@gmail.com.
