SHIMMER - Vol. 1

I borrowed this DVD from Tim a long time ago (years now) and stumbled upon it while searching for some discs the other day. I’ve never seen a SHIMMER DVD and the closest I’ve come to this promotion is when I witnessed Tim getting beat up at the ROH merchandise table by Allison Danger. Wonder if this will be anything like that?

1) Tiana Ringer vs. Shantelle Taylor – 4
Decent little match here and pretty much what you would expect from the first bout on the promotion’s first show. Both girls looked good. Ringer had a nice set of submissions she used during the bout but Taylor’s selling left a bit to be desired. I’m guessing Ringer was supposed to be the heel but I’m not sure. The spot where Ringer was supposed to set Taylor up on the top turnbuckle was botched, probably because Ringer didn’t have enough strength to get her up there. Taylor presented everything you’ve seen from her as Taylor Wilde in TNA. Nice top-rope dropkick at the end from Taylor.

2) Team Blondage (Krissy Vain & Amber O’Neal) vs. Cindy Rogers & Nikki Roxx – 3
Team Blondage is the indy equivalent to TNA’s Beautiful People. The first few minutes are pulled straight from the book “Heel Stalling for Dummies” which I understand was written by Larry Zbyszko. For what they lack in in-ring skills, they make up for in character. Rogers seemed rather bland to me but threw some stiff clotheslines off the hot tag. Roxx, known as Roxxi in TNA, didn’t really show me much during the bout. Basic tag formula here and nothing to get excited about.

3) Rain vs. Ariel – 4
I remember the first time I saw Rain. It was on that terrible Vince Russo abortion called Ring of Glory and she was horrid. I’m still not a fan of her work but I dig her vocals in the ring. Ariel’s spunkiness reminds me of this religious chick I took out on a date one time in high school. Rain controlled the majority of this bout with her simplistic offense. Ariel had a nice victory roll and a tornado DDT. I liked the spot where they were briefly exchanging elbows. Wasn’t expecting much out of this but Ariel managed to get a good match out of Rain so I applaud her for that.

4) Lexie Fyfe vs. Christie Ricci – 3
Ricci tried to do a springboard arm drag but nearly slipped and failed miserably. Fyfe looks like a mean old broad that you wouldn’t want to mess with. Prazak on commentary says that she debuted in 1995. Never heard of her before. Ricci did some nice selling to the back but I happened to have liked her work in Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow” better. Oh, wait … that was Christina Ricci. Fyfe hits a shitty looking TKO which Prazak calls an Attitude Adjustment. Worst match thus far.

5) Cheerleader Melissa vs. MsChif – 6
The inverted Texas Cloverleaf from Melissa was fucking amazing. MsChif was literally bent it half. How does MsChif follow that up? By botching a spot where she was supposed to slide under Melissa and in the same motion bridge into a submission move. Well, she got the submission part of the move off but messed up on the slide under portion. MsChif tired a spinning backfist that would make Aja Kong cry it was so bad. Melissa bent MsChif over the railing similar to the way Jericho bent Benoit over a ladder at Royal Rumble ’01 and pulled her arms through the gaps in a pretty cool spot. Melissa hit a sit-out powerbomb that made Prazak wet his pants. Really good match here, very physical with Melissa busting out a few innovative moves and MsChif holding her own after an early miscue.

6) Beth Phoenix vs. Allison Danger – 4
Yes, this is the WWE Beth Phoenix and yes, Bryce Remsburg is the referee. Criss-cross spot made Beth look like an idiot. Phoenix looked goofy too many times for my liking here, at one point kissing Bryce after appyling a hold to Danger. Danger’s offense looked decent but really didn’t have the same fire that the offense in the last bout did. To Beth’s credit, her heel tactics such as using wrist tape to choke Allison and telling the crowd to shut up while they were clapping, were acceptable for a small show like this. After the ten-minute mark, I had the feeling they were working towards a draw finish but shortly after that, Allison pinned Beth with a sloppy reversal of a roll-up. Very bland match.

7) Sara Del Ray vs. Mercedes Martinez – 5
Things stayed pretty simple to start off with, exchanging mat holds and what not. After that, stiff ass forearms and chops were on the menu. Good move by Martinez dropping her opponent’s head on her knee out of a death valley driver. Big spinebuster by Martinez. Some good selling by both parties on submission moves. Martinez took a bunch of kicks from Del Ray and just collapsed like a sack of flour. Damn good powerbomb by Del Ray. Martinez dropped Sara straight on her shoulder on a German suplex. Prazak said this was east coast vs. west coast to which Allison Danger countered “It’s like a rap feud.” Seriously? Tell me she didn’t just say that. Big submission attempts at the end but all for naught since the match went the time limit. Prazak and Allison were selling this as an epic on commentary. While this was a good match, it was far, far from “epic” territory.

8) Lacey vs. Daizee Haze – 6
Really? This is the main event? Lacey playing heel here and doing some great vocal selling of a simple hammerlock. I chuckled at the spot where Lacey spit a giant loogey on one of the virgin basement dwellers in attendance. Noticed Lacey blatantly calling spots. Daizee took a crazy backwards bump off the top rope. Lacey’s boston crab sucks. Sit down on that shit, yo! Daizee’s selling got better as the match went on. Damn! Spin kick knocks Daizee all the way into Wisconsin! This seemed to suffer from the main issue plaguing a lot of ROH undercard matches at this time with a ton of nearfalls off of big moves. Finish was good with Daizee hitting the heart punch and the Mind Trip. Suprisingly good match. I can’t believe my words here, but I’m actually going to recommend this match. Yep, you read it right. I’m actually recommending that you seek out a Lacey match.