There was a lot of wrestling and a lot of drinking. And a lot of chewing gum and a lot of Saraya Knight.

I was originally only going to fly over to Chicago for one weekend of SHIMMER action just to say I did it. That was for Volumes 41-44. The fact I’m writing about Volumes 45-48 shows you just how addictive SHIMMER Weekend truly is. It’s an experience that not even WrestleMania Weekend can match for fan interactivity and truly awesome wrestling over two days.

I could fill an entire article about the SHIMnanigans at the afterparty alone (highlights include Ayako Hamada discussing flashing for chains, everyone, including myself, trying to run away with Kellie Skater’s cap, Leva Bates being told to get off a table by the manager and Athena dancing to the Backstreet Boys), but you want the wrestling, so I’ll give you the wrestling.

As SHIMMER Weekend is so long, and so much happened, I won’t describe everything that happened. Here, I’ll give you my Top 5 matches, my 5 notable wrestlers, and some other great observations you should look out for when the DVDs are released on shimmerwrestling.com.

TOP FIVE MATCHES

HAILEY HATRED & KALAMITY vs. KANA & LUFISTO (VOLUME 45)
Before the weekend, dream matches were discussed, and one of the top suggestions was Hailey Hatred vs. Kana – the top gaijin in Joshi wrestling vs. Joshi wrestling’s most talked about and controversial talent. They had met once before in 2009, so anticipation was high over what they’d be able to do this time around.

As it turned out, we only got a taste of it, in tag team action, as each wrestler teamed up with their Quebec citizens of choice, Kana with Super Hardcore Anime LuFisto (who had formed a bond after Kana defeated her on Volume 44), and Hatred with “The Oncoming Storm” Kalamity (“The Oncoming Hatred”, if you will). What we got was hard hitting intense Joshi/Montreal hybrid wrestling that works well anywhere, never mind the Berwyn Eagles Club. LuFisto brought the humour, Kalamity the pain, Hatred the fighting spirit, and Kana the hard savage kicks. If you want a match that molds two or three different styles together perfectly, this one’s for you.

ATHENA vs. MERCEDES MARTINEZ (VOLUME 45)
The Wrestling Goddess had the breakout weekend of her career, with three ****+ matches, and this is the first of two of them I’ll discuss here (also look out for the match with Ray on Volume 48). This was the third match in as many volumes, after a double count out on Volume 43 (where Martinez refused to restart the match), and a DQ victory for Athena on Volume 44 (where Martinez attacked her with a steel chair). This time, fans wanted a conclusive finish, and there was only one finish they wanted… and they got it, big time. Before that, we got some fantastic grudge match style wrestling, with Mercedes furthering her reputation as one of the best in the world, and Athena looking every bit her equal. Athena was a rising star before this match took place, but once the match took place, and once the O Face was hit, Athena left it as a main eventer, undeniably.

 

 

 

ATHENA vs. NICOLE MATTHEWS (VOLUME 46)
And this was what Athena did next. Following on from that star making performance against Martinez, she had a Canadian Ninja to deal with. One who had just come off a narrow loss to then-SHIMMER Champion Cheerleader Melissa. If Jim Cornette and Delirious called me to help them restart the Women of Honor division in Ring of Honor, Athena and Nicole Matthews would be the backbone of it. They’re both young, they’re both very consistent workers, and they’re both “TV friendly” if I say so myself.

This was another test for The Wrestling Goddess, if she is able to hang with the main event, she had to match up well with someone who just challenged for the belt, and she did more than just that. Athena proved in the space of one day how to make herself as a star with a win, and then how to make herself a star with a loss. Matthews proved here that despite losing to Melissa, she has the skills that if given another title shot, she can very easily become champion. A great match to watch to see two of the best young talents in North America going at it, and doing it flawlessly.

AYAKO HAMADA & AYUMI KURIHARA vs. LEON & RAY (VOLUME 47)
The greatest match in SHIMMER history.

OK, I’ll say more about it than just that. You want to know why it’s the greatest match in SHIMMER history, don’t you? I’ll tell you why. It was nearly 20 minutes of full-on, crazy, insane Lucharesu that was non-stop and had the fans chanting “THIS IS AWESOME” for a good five minutes after the match finished. Joey Eastman was taken aback by all this. Nothing like this had been seen in North America since THAT Dragon Gate match in Ring of Honor in 2006. To recount every spot that happened in it would make this the longest article in this site’s history, but the masked duo of Leon and Ray gave the champions everything they could handle and then some, and Kurihara & Hamada had to dig very deep in order to hang on to their titles. Just think crazy dives, fast paced action, submission holds, very close near falls and an insane finish, and you’ve got what is so far my Match of the Year in any promotion. That good.

AYAKO HAMADA & AYUMI KURIHARA vs. THE QUEENS OF WINNING vs. REGENERATION X vs. THE CANADIAN NINJAS (VOLUME 48)
From the best match in SHIMMER history, we finish with probably the most fun and feelgood match in SHIMMER history. I’ll tell you more about the whole “Queens of Winning” thing later, but their story was a major part of what made this match so special. To say that the incumbent champions probably played the smallest part of the match says a lot about all that went down in it. And I watched this with a wet T-Shirt after Allison Danger sprayed me with water whilst dressed as The Joker.

I got a double benefit whilst watching this match – with all the awesome action going on, I was sitting in front of the Canadian Ninjas corner, so as a result, for 75% of the match, Nicole Matthews was wiggling her arse in my face. I’m still wondering how I remember the match. Portia Perez was real fun in the corner too. The real drama took place once Re-X and the champs were eliminated, and we came down to the Ninjas vs. Rush and Del Rey… or was it the Ninjas and Del Rey vs. Rush? Everyone in the Eagles Club loves Courtney Rush, and she may well be one of my favourite wrestlers now, and to see her with the deck stacked against her here was pretty damn intriguing. How would she cope with this? Turned out not the way Sara Del Rey liked it, but it was definitely the way the Eagles Club liked it. Long live the Queens of Winning. So much fun.

 

5 NOTABLE WRESTLERS

SARAYA KNIGHT
Proof that SHIMMER has the worst security in the world. Heck, there’s even a policeman who attends the show, and when we asked him to arrest Saraya, he just stood there.

The whole weekend was based around the matriarch of the Knight Dynasty. She’s all anti-America, claiming that America stole her daughter from her (for “America”, read “Vince McMahon”). She snapped at everyone who made a comment towards her, and even on a couple of occassions, went into the crowd and hit fans. Anyone in the locker room who tried to restrain her was put away instantly. She destroyed three undercard talents and got disqualified twice for refusing to break holds. Oh, and she put a bounty on Cheerleader Melissa’s head.

Five years ago, in a match that took place in Colchester, which is an hour away from my home, Melissa injured Saraya’s knee so badly, her knee cap was torn off. There were even fears at one point that Saraya’s leg would have to be amputated. So when Melissa became the champion on Volume 44, Saraya saw her chance for revenge, and started by paying Nicole Matthews to take her out. When that didn’t work, she paid Portia Perez. That didn’t work either. The next step didn’t involve money – she used intimidating tactics to get Jessie McKay to injure Melissa, and when McKay refused to cheat, Saraya had to do it by herself. After a brawl to close Volume 47, and then a sneak attack backstage during Volume 48, Saraya had the hobbling Melissa right where she wanted her.

Despite a heroic effort to fight through the pain, it proved too much, and Melissa tapped out. No-one in the Berwyn Eagles Club could believe it. The evil Saraya Knight, who people originally thought was only in SHIMMER to help out her daughter Britani on the rise to fame, was now the SHIMMER Champion. And things will never be the same. Dave Prazak had better hire an army next time to keep order.

COURTNEY RUSH
It all seemed to start so normally for the fun loving Winnipegger. Two routine wins over Rhia O’Reilly and Sassy Stephie on the undercard, we thought Rush was just going to have her normal solid undercard matches. She wasn’t even officially announced, but we knew she’d be there. Then something happened. After Sara Del Rey defeated Leva Bates on Volume 46, and then attacked her after the match, Allison Danger stood up to her former Dangerous Angels partner and challenged her to a tag team match, thinking that Del Rey didn’t have any friends in the back, and would find it difficult to find a partner.

Death Rey looked all over the place for a partner, asking Cheerleader Melissa (too busy being champion), Nicole Matthews (already in a tag team), and even the retired Lacey to be her partner, and turned down every time. But every time Del Rey asked someone, Courtney Rush trailed behind offering her services. “Anyone but her,” thought Del Rey, but after the Lacey offer, Rush offered her some chewing gum. Death Rey accepted the gum… and somehow this was taken as acceptance of the team. Before Del Rey knew it, the match was made official, and there was nothing more she could do. The Queens of Winning (aka Death Rush) were born.

47 got off to a great start (not for Death Rey), as the QoW defeated Regeneration X, with Rush stealing the win after Death Rey tried to tank the match. Despite taking part in only one match together, the QoW were put in the four way elimination match for the Tag Team Titles, and as described earlier, it came down to them and the Canadian Ninjas. Rush wanted them to stand together as a team, but Del Rey wanted to side with the Ninjas. After the Ninjas got tired of this act, they jumped Del Rey, and it looked for a while as those the Queens of Winning would have harmony after all… until Del Rey broke up a Rush pin attempt and walked off. It seemed the Ninjas would become the first ever two time SHIMMER Tag Team Champions… that was until Rush somehow got a flash pin on Portia Perez. The celebrations were epic, as Rush ran into a leaping hug on Death Rey, who would have rather had the ground swallow her up at that point. Del Rey left with both belts, but Rush was just giddy that she was a co-champion, and that all the fans loved her.

KELLIE SKATER
By far the most improved wrestler over the weekend… not that she wasn’t awesome before. For some time, the “Rate Tank” had a reputation of being a comedy Jobber to the Stars, only picking up wins over new talent and losing in near humiliating fashion to big names. That reputation has now been thrown away.

A good part of the reason for this was her recent three month tour of Japan. Nearly every day, the Rate Tank was in the ring with pretty much every big Joshi star you could name – she even had one or two matches with the greatest female wrestler of all time, Manami Toyota. If you come away from that and haven’t improved, then you must suck. So the Rate Tank we got this weekend is now someone who is better technically, and can now have close matches with big stars. Sure her two wins were still over smaller names in KC Spinelli and Veda Scott, but her two defeats were amongst her best matches ever. She provided the perfect introduction to Ray’s high flying skills, and then we had the match with Kana, which was Skater’s best ever SHIMMER match, and probably one that Kana really enjoyed as well. Where big name opponents in the past have destroyed Skater (Mercedes Martinez infamously destroyed Skater’s chest with chops), the Rate Tank was somehow able to hang with someone as vicious as the Queen of Poison, and even very nearly defeated her, before falling victim to the Kana Lock.

All Kellie Skater needs to do now is work on her hat defence at the afterparty, and she’s all set.

MERCEDES MARTINEZ
Going into this weekend, fans were wondering how Martinez’s heel character would develop after attacking Athena with a steel chair on Volume 44. As it turned out, Martinez settled more into a tweener role, still killing opponents in the same way, just not with a smile as before. The epic matches remained, however.

After dropping the deciding match to Athena as mentioned earlier, Mercedes rebounded in a big way. On Volume 46, she was across the ring from Kana, and in what some people (very strange people) would call an upset, defeated her with the Fisherman Buster. It was a spectacular match as you would expect, and on any other weekend, on any other promotion’s show, would be the match of the evening. Mercedes then followed this up with another huge win on Volume 47 against Hailey Hatred in what was probably one of the stiffest and vicious matches in SHIMMER history. It came at a price, however, as Mercedes picked up an injury in that match, and was taken off the Volume 48 card as a precaution. Still though, Mercedes gave us three of the best matches of the weekend, and I felt special mention needed to be made of her contribution to the weekend.

ATHENA
The Stone Cold Steve Austin of women’s wrestling. By Volume 47, nearly everyone was wearing her shirt. The Hussy Buster from Chicago/St. Louis/Dallas, Texas/Anywhere she damn pleases (“You’re not allowed to be from four places!!!” – Nicole Matthews) tore the Eagles Club up on three straight days – the AAW show on Friday night saw her steal the show with a phenomenal O Face on Matthews.

Saturday was truly epic. If there was ever a star making match, Athena vs. Mercedes Martinez on Volume 45 was it. The anticipation for an O Face (her top rope Stone Cold Stunner) was incredible, and when she hit it, everyone went crazy. Not everyone in the indies has a standout “OMFG” finisher quite like that one, so that’s a huge plus in getting Athena over with the masses. Despite losing to Nicole Matthews on Volume 46, Athena still put on another incredible performance that showed her versatility.

Volume 47 saw a comfortable win over Sassy Stephie, before her closing performance – a near 20 minute epic on Volume 48 against Ray, who had just come off the greatest match in SHIMMER history. If the masked Joshi from “Parts Unknown” thought she’d have it easy after that, she was wrong. So many close falls, so many reversals, and an O Face ended it. That performance may well have earned Athena a Japanese tour, and if anyone’s deserving of one, it’s her. Many Hussies were busted, and everyone left the Eagles Club with an O Face… just not the one that involves them getting Stunnered from Above.

 

OTHER MENTIONS

Joey Eastman is a glorious party host, just thought I’d throw that one out there. Hopefully one day he’ll learn how to protect himself from Saraya Knight.

Gotta love the newer talent. Rhia O’Reilly is someone I’ve seen grow over the past couple of years in Europe, and I’m delighted she’s getting a worldwide platform to showcase her skills. Veda Scott shows great potential, considering she only started wrestling last year, where she’s got to now is incredible. A lot of people know about Mia Yim, but her and Davina Rose got their first SHIMMER win together on Volume 48, and they’ll be big players in SHIMMER down the line. Shazza McKenzie is a fun Australian export as well, and already has two wins under her belt… well, the first one was due to being overkilled by Saraya Knight.

Big fan of MsChif’s tag team with Christina von Eerie – “The Goth and Punk Connection”, if you will. A lot of green. Also worth checking out is MsChif’s “A Clockwork Orange” (or should that be Green) inspired gear she wore on Volume 46 against Jessie McKay.

Staying with MsChif, why are people guilty of wearing green against her? Tomoka Nakagawa was guilty of this at the last tapings, and so was Hailey Hatred on Volume 48.

If it wasn’t for a music snafu, we would have had the string quartet Bond provide the themes for two wrestlers in the same match on Volume 45. Ray uses “Viva!”, and Kellie Skater uses “Explosive”, but the music guy queued up her old theme by Children of Bodom instead.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Jessie McKay has worked heel in Australia before, the moment where she considered using weapons on Cheerleader Melissa would have been completely shocking. Our sweet little Jessie turning to the dark side? Thankfully it didn’t happen.

Speaking of Melissa, probably the only real disappointment of the entire weekend was the way she seemed to dispatch of the Canadian Ninjas without too much effort. Considering the hype of the SHIMMER off-season was the Melissa/Matthews match, the fact we got it early and Melissa won clean was a bit anticlimatic. And once the brawl finished, Melissa didn’t take too long in disposing of Portia Perez. But as it turned out, this was all part of a bigger plan, which made sense by the end with the whole Saraya Knight storyline.

My final note is for two videos that were shown during the weekend. On Saturday, we got a message from former SHIMMER Champion Madison Eagles, who missed this taping with various injuries that have threatened her career, but she vowed to return and cause more suffering and pain than ever before. After Saturday’s show, people complained about why Eagles sent a video and Serena Deeb didn’t… but that was rectified on Sunday, as Deeb opened the show with an emotional message about what SHIMMER has meant to her career. It’s up on YouTube right now if you want to see it. Both Eagles and Deeb were sorely missed over the weekend, and hopefully both of them will be back next time.

SHIMMER Weekend is an amazing experience, from the AAW show that kicks it off on the Friday, to the final after-party on the Sunday. I maintain that no other promotion anywhere in the world puts together a package of interactivity and fun quite like SHIMMER, and you must put it on your bucket list at least once. Once was my plan too, but you find yourself wanting to come back again and again, it’s that damn addictive. It brings together fans and wrestlers from different continents – to think that on Sunday, I was standing right next to Kellie Skater ordering drinks, and now as I write this, we’re half a world away. That’s the magic of SHIMMER.

*Our Shimmer correspondent is Martin Bentley who can found on Twitter @themib Photo credits to “eromitlab” at the SHIMMER Forum

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