Detailed Review: Shimmer Vol. 2

[chrisv]

DVD review: Shimmer “Volume 2,” Nov. 6, 2005

By Chris Vetter

Shimmer women’s wrestling released “Volume 2” last week. I thoroughly enjoyed Volume 1, and I attended the taping for volumes 3 & 4, so I quickly purchased this DVD when it went on sale.

The Chicago-based promotion is definitely off to a good start. Volume 1 has been a top-seller, and the top two matches of Sara Del Ray vs. Mercedes Martinez and Lacey vs. Daizee Haze have generated some Internet buzz. Does Volume 2 match the quality of in-ring action of Volume 1? No, it doesn’t. The action is good, but not quite as good as Volume 1.

The tapings were done back-to-back, same day, so the building is the same, the lighting is good, and the crowd, despite only being 70 fans, are in to the show. On commentary is Shimmer promoter Dave Prazak along with Allison Danger. These two have good chemistry in the booth.

The DVD opened with a backstage promo with Lacey. Lacey said she has beaten Daizee more times than Daizee has beaten her, and she then proclaimed that Daizee cheated to score the pin on Volume 1.

* A clip played of Team Blondage scoring a victory in a tag match from Volume 1.

(1) Cindy Rogers defeats Krissy Vaine at 7:58. Solid match. Rogers wore a white top and black pants. Vaine, the Torrie Wilson lookalike, wore her pink #69 football jersey. They traded quick nearfalls, and Rogers applied an anklelock. Vaine hit some chops, and rode Rogers horsey-style, and she stood on Rogers’ hair. Vaine hit a guillotine legdrop for a nearfall at 4:30, then a side suplex.

Rogers came back with a bulldog, and they traded punches. Rogers applied a nice double armbar, then she hit a Russian Legsweep for a nearfall. Rogers hit a mid-ring buttbump, then a Rumpshaker in the corner. Rogers applied a Dragon Sleeper, and Vaine tapped out. *3/4

(2) Nikki Roxx defeats Lexxi Fyfe at 9:03. Ok match. Nikki wore a lime green top & bottom. Fyfe is the oldest woman here, and she wore a black & gold outfit, and she’s a good heel. Fyfe immediately hit some blocks to the back. Roxx hit a dropkick, and Fyfe stalled. Roxx worked on Fyfe’s left arm. Fyfe hit a body slam, choked Roxx, tossed her around by the hair, and hit a spine kick. Fyfe stayed on top with a Camel Clutch, and she fishhooked Roxx’ mouth.

They traded chops, and Fyfe hit a facebuster for a nearfall at 7:30. Roxx hit a spear and several forearms. Fyfe missed a second-rope guillotine legdrop. Roxx hit an inverted Bubba Bomb/Touchdown for the pin. *1/2

(3) Cheerleader Melissa & Tiana Ringer defeat Ariel & Shantelle Taylor at 10:41. Good match. Melissa wore her pink outfit, and Ringer wore purple. Ariel is in all black, and Shantelle, the blonde, wore a yellow/green outfit. Melissa and Shantelle started, and Taylor hit four dropkicks, and she dominated early. Ariel and Ringer entered, and Ringer hit some nice armdrags. Shantelle entered, and she chopped Ringer. Melissa grabbed Shantelle’s hair, and the heels hit a team faceplant at 4:30.

The heels placed Shantelle in the Tree of Woe, and Ringer hit a dropkick on Shantelle’s stomach. Melissa hit some chops and a bodyslam. Shantelle tried to make the hot tag, but Ringer cut her off and hit an Alabama Slam at 8:00. Shantelle hit a clothesline, and both women were down. Ariel made the hot tag, and she chopped Melissa, then hit a backbody drop and a headscissors takedown. They did a tower spot out of the corner, with all four crashing to the mat. Melissa nailed the Air Raid Crash/Kryptonite Krunch on Ariel to score the pin. **1/4

* There were several clips of the Martinez-Del Ray match from Volume 1, which ended in a time-limit draw. From there, it’s a backstage promo with Sara Del Ray. “You’re lucky time ran out, because I’m the most dominant female today,” Del Ray said. Mercedes walked up to Del Ray, and they jawed for a bit. Del Ray left, and Mercedes cut a promo, saying she has wrestled women, and men too. “You earned my respect.”

NOTE: I don’t think these women are really used to promo time, but I like what I’m seeing. They will only get better over time.

(4) Christie Ricci defeats Amber O’Neal at 7:15. Ok match. Ricci wore a pink top & bottom, and she has brown hair. Amber, like her teammate Vaine, wore her pink #69 football jersey, and she’s the heel. Amber stalled immediately and Ricci overpowered her. Ricci hit a back suplex, and O’Neill immediately asked for a timeout. Amber dropped Ricci on the turnbuckle, and she choked Ricci in the ropes and hit some blows to the back. O’Neal dominated, as she applied a Camel Clutch and hit a bulldog, then a Russian Legsweep for a nearfall.

Amber applied a Boston Crab at 5:00, but Ricci powered out. (At this point, Danger left the announcing booth to go prepare for her match.) Ricci hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a nearfall, then a bodyslam. Ricci nailed a Northern Lights suplex for the pin. After the match, O’Neal threw a hilarious temper tantrum, pounding the mat, and the fans taunted her with a “crybaby” chant. *1/2

[chrisv]

(5) Allison Danger defeats Rain at 13:16. Very good match. Rain wore a black top & bottom. Danger wore a black top & pink skirt. Prazak said this is the first-ever singles meeting between these women. They traded armbars for a few minutes, and Rain bit Danger’s head. Rain choked Danger and pulled her hair. Rain hit a dropkick to Danger’s back as Danger was tied in the ropes for a nearfall at 4:30. Rain hit a running knee to the back, and she yelled at the referee. Rain applied a chinlock and she ripped at Danger’s nose.

Rain applied a Boston Crab, sitting down on Danger’s back at 7:30, but Danger made it to the ropes. The action spilled to the floor, where Rain applied a bearhug, then slammed Danger’s back into the ringpost. In the ring, Danger fought back with some chops and a running knee to the side of the head, and both women were down. They traded stiff forearms, and Danger hit some hard clotheslines and rolling suplexes for a nearfall.

Rain hit a neckbreaker over her knee. Danger applied a half crab, and she focused on Rain’s right leg. Rain nailed the Raindrop/inverted DDT for a nearfall at 13:00. Danger hit the Shimmering Warlock/step-up enziguri for the pin. Good action. **3/4

* There were several clips of Lacey vs. Haze from Volume 1. Haze cut a promo, saying that four of the best women wrestlers will all be in the same ring in the main event. “Dynamite comes in small packages,” Haze said. Best promo of the bunch.

(6) Beth Phoenix defeats MsChif at 8:26. Above-average women’s match. Phoenix is blonde in a single-piece outfit, and she is TERRIFIED of MsChif. MsChif has long black hair with green streaks, and has an angry Goth look. Beth hid behind the referee as MsChif entered the ring. Beth stalled on the floor, not wanting to get in the ring with MsChif. The match finally began, and MsChif tied up her arm & leg. However, MsChif missed a spear in the corner, and she crashed to the floor. Phoenix took over, hitting a bodyslam on the floor, and she ran in the ring, encouraging the referee to count quickly, in an attempt to get a count out victory!

MsChif got back in the ring, and the match continued, with Phoenix hitting a gutwrench suplex at 3:30 for a nearfall. MsChif hit a Reverse Rana for a nearfall. Phoenix choked MsChif, hit a legdrop, and a backbreaker over her knee. MsChif applied a headscissorslock. Beth hit some chops, and MsChif GROWLED at her. Funny. MsChif hit a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall at 7:30, then a nice standing moonsault for another nearfall. Beth avoided the Desecrator, and she hit a Death Valley Driver for the pin. I consider that an upset. Fun match, as Beth convinced me she didn’t want to be anywhere near her opponent. **1/4

(7) Sara Del Ray defeats Lacey and Mercedes Martinez and Daizee Haze in an elimination match at 17:13. Good match, but I hoped it was longer than this. Lacey wore a red top & bottom, and she barked at fans who tried to shake her hand. Mercedes wore a red top & black pants. Sara wore her red & white & blue outfit. Daizee is in black & red. There is no time limit to this match (which again made me think this match was going to be longer than it was.)

Sara and Lacey went to start, but Lacey immediately tagged in Mercedes. The crowd was hot as Mercedes and Sara had an intense lockup. Lacey worked on Daizee’s left arm. Sara hit kneeshots to Lacey’s head. Lacey hit a running knee to Sara’s back, then a Lungblower for a nearfall at 4:00. Haze hit an enziguri on Sara’s back. Daizee dove to the floor on Sara. Sara and Mercedes traded some quick offense and had a standoff. Mercedes planted her foot in Haze’s throat at 9:00.

Sara hit a Samoa Drop on Haze for a nearfall. Lacey stomped Haze and hit a nice standing neckbreaker for a nearfall. Haze came back with a headscissors takedown on Lacey. Lacey and Sara began taking turns working over Haze. Haze nailed a Yakuza kick to the side of Lacey’s head! Mercedes tagged in, and she nailed a Fisherman’s Buster to pin Lacey at 12:53.

The match continued immediately, with Mercedes and Sara trading some HARD chops. Haze hit a missile dropkick on Mercedes, then a Heart Punch and a Yakuza Kick, and Haze pinned Mercedes at 15:03. It’s now just Haze vs. Sara Del Ray. Sara blocked a hurricanrana, and turned the move into a powerbomb for a nearfall. The crowd was hot, cheering for Daizee.

Daizee hit another Yakuza Kick with Sara in the ropes. Sara applied a Front Guillotine Choke, and she flipped Haze over in a suplex to score the pin. Very good match, even though it was shorter than I expected. ***

NOTE: Not once in this match did a woman attempt to break up a pinfall attempt. If you’ve read my reviews before, you know I hate it when that happens in an elimination match!

* Cheerleader Melissa cut a backstage promo. “MsChif, you got lucky,” she said. Melissa touted that she’s toured the world, and she thinks MsChif is ducking her.

* Bonus segment: two minutes of clips of Lexie Fyfe vs. Lorelei Lee from a recent Full Impact Pro show. They traded rollups, and Lee hit some chops, a top-rope crossbody block, and a handspring elbow. Fyfe hit a TKO for the pin.

* Allison Danger promo to close the show. Danger said that Rebecca Knox will debut at Volume 3. “I want the opportunity to test my skills against her skills,” Danger said.

Final thoughts: The DVD runs two hours even. The main event four-way is the best match, just ahead of Danger-Rain. Good action in both those matches. I’ll give MsChif-Phoenix third-best, just because I enjoyed Phoenix being so terrified of MsChif.

The undercard was solid. Nothing was terrible, but nothing really stood out, either. In several matches, the faces barely got in any offense, which was a bit of a surprise to me.

If you only buy one Shimmer DVD, it should be Volume 1, as I thought the top two matches on Volume 1 were better than the best match here. I liked that this DVD has several backstage promos to get over the personalities of these women.

The crowd here was only 70. I’m excited to see how well Volumes 3 & 4 look on DVD, with a bigger and hotter crowd. The next Shimmer taping is set for May 21, and you should learn more about this promotion at www.shimmerwrestling.com. Purchase this DVD at www.rohwrestling.com for $15.


Chris

[brimoral]

"NOTE: Not once in this match did a woman attempt to break up a pinfall attempt. If you’ve read my reviews before, you know I hate it when that happens in an elimination match!"

Eh? Why? If the match stipulation deems it unnecessary, then why should the participants care who gets pinned as long as it isn't them? If the main goal is winning the match, then keeping a girl(an OPPONENT, rather) in by breaking up pinfall after pinfall is pretty counter productive to their goal.

[chrisv]

Exactly my point, brimoral. My point is that I hate it when pinfalls DO get broken up in an elimination match. (This happened during the Volume 3 taping, and I was critical of it.)

My point was that I was PLEASED there were no pinfalls broken up.

Chris

[Hail Sabin]

It makes sense if two people are working together to break up pinfalls to save there partner. Also sometimes you really want to be the one to pin someone so you break it up because you want to be the one to pin them.

Like Joe at Genesis.

[daizeehazeisgod]

sounds good