It’s easy like Sunday morning at SHIMMER 116 today. I have made it to the venue and just bought a turnbuckle pad from The Summit, signed by all the wrestlers here who were there. I’ll put that in the 117 piece once I can pick it up after the show. That might have to be the last of my merch, though. SHIMMER weekend is a great way to lighten your wallet. I have to say, the SHIMMER Title situation is the most interesting part of the day for me here. I smell a title change in the air. Maybe two, if they send Shotzi Blackheart off on a high note with 116.
RISE Dark match: Jamie Senegal vs. Candy Lee
Jamie starts the match by attacking Candy during her entrance. It’s a short match with two segments. First Jamie gets heat on Candy, then Candy makes her comeback and wins with the splits leg drop from the top rope.
RISE Dark match: Elayna Black vs. Sophie King
Elayna is very goth and that’s very appealing to me in wrestlers. Elayna offers a card from her tarot deck to Sophie. It’s the death card. Elayna is a heel, using her cards to gain an advantage by stuffing one in Sophie’s mouth (I think that’s what she did). It’s another short match, but some good action and Elayna wins with a final cut.
RISE Dark match: Valentina Loca vs. Zan Phoenix
I remember seeing Valentina Loca for the first time at Scott County Pro Wrestling’s Hawkamania and thinking “Chola AJ Lee.” I even told her as much. She’s quite endeared herself to the Berwyn crowd, despite pretty much only ever getting squashed here. She puts up a good fight against Phoenix though. Valentina wins with a 619 and a DDT. Happy she finally won one here.
Match 1: Veda Scott vs. Holidead
Holidead checks the referee for weapons during the announcements. This is a fun opener. Nothing flashy, but Holidead’s weirdness is always endearing and gets the crowd going. Holidead gets the win with a double under hook facebuster. It was a good match, and the crowd showed appreciation to Veda afterward, which seemed to confuse her a lot.
Match 2: Top Dogs (Skylar and Davienne) vs. The Bird and the Bee (Solo Darling and Willow Nightingale)
Solo and Willow dominate early, and it’s the heels who need a hot tag to save themselves first. Once they do, things turn around for them due to a combo of heel tactics as they isolate Willow. I’ll confess to a small soft spot for the Top Dogs since they are from Massachusetts and they do heel tag work well. Solo gets the hot tag and makes a big comeback for her team. Davienne nails Willow with an apron powerbomb and then slams Solo into the floor. It’s only a two count, but the viciousness is appreciated. While standing, Davienne tells the ref Solo tore her quad. It’s a ploy, but it doesn’t pay off and Willow tags in to hit a moonsault for the victory.
Match 3: Su Yung vs. Thunderkitty
They start with a Greco-Roman knuckle lock that lasts a surprisingly long time as they even roll out of the ring while maintaining it. Thunderkitty calls Su a godless heathen. Then Su bites Thunderkitty’s wrist. Su pulls out the glove and puts Thunderkitty in a Mandible Claw while Thunderkitty uses the Iron Claw. Thunderkitty demands a cigarette and puts it out on Su’s forehead, then Su brings the kendo stick in. The referee takes it away, so Su mists Thunderkitty and, from my vantage, looks like she chokes her unconscious for three-arm drops and the victory.
Match 4: Marti Belle vs. Shazza McKenzie
This one is kind of boring at points, to be honest. I think Marti’s heelwork was more engaging when playing against Kris Statlander. Shazza’s comeback brings some life to the match, but that is cut short with Marti hitting a pedigree to win.
Something got spilled in the entrance way so while the ring crew cleaned that up, Josh Shibata hyped the big title matches.
Match 5: Zoe Skye vs. Kellyanne
Good grappling to start off. Lots of good stuff with Kellyanne holding a slight advantage due to her tactics. She tells the referee his mum’s in the crowd so he’ll look and she can poke Zoe in the eye. Zoe hits a codebreaker but Kellyanne keeps her feet. Zoe kicks out of a top rope gutbuster and soon after kicks out of a dragon suplex and cannonball. She dodged another cannonbal and double stomps Kellyanne on the collarbone from the top to win.
Match 6: Ruby Raze vs. Jessicka Havok
Okay, so from here I lost my original notes due to my phone disconnecting from the wi-fi, so everything after this for 116 is pure recollection. This is an awesome match. Havok and Raze just have a wild brawl of a hoss match, and it was so fun. One of the best matches of the weekend. I’m not kidding at all.
Match 7: Hyan vs. Kris Statlander vs. Rhia O’Reilly in a three-way elimination match for the Interim Heart of SHIMMER Championship
This is a strong match. All three did good work, although there were just a couple of awkward spots early on. Statlander was the first eliminated, which is a shame because I was hoping for her to win it. A lot of good heel work from Hyan. She winds up pinning Rhia in the end to become interim Heart of SHIMMER champion.
Match 8: Mercedes Martinez with Cheerleader Melissa vs. Big Swole
Melissa is not a huge factor in this match, but she does interfere a little. Mercedes and Big Swole have really excellent chemistry, and Mercedes declares herself Sensational Swole. She does some Hulk Hogan poses and everything’s awesome about this. Swole looks like an absolute beast here, as she just toughs her way through everything Mercedes can throw at her. She even seems to be on the point of surviving the surfboard dragon sleeper, but Mercedes levels that up. Mercedes adds on top of it a hammerlock, and that’s the clincher. Mercedes wins by submission.
Match 9: Sea Stars (Delmi Exo and Ashley Vox) (c) vs. Blue Nation (Jessica Troy and Charli Evans) for the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship
Blue Nation is so good at being heels it’s just completely endearing. One thing I absolutely love about Sea Stars is there’s no real formula to them. Either sister could be the target of heat in any given match with the other being the hot tag, rather than letting Delmi’s size be the sole factor. Ashley plays the role of cheerleader and hot tag here to Delmi’s heat sponge. This is spectacular tag teamwork, and in the end, the Sea Stars win although there were several moments near the end where it looked like they might be one-volume champions.
Match 10: Nicole Savoy (c) vs. Priscilla Kelly vs. Shotzi Blackheart vs. Kimber Lee in a four-corner elimination match for the SHIMMER Championship
This is an absolutely fantastic match. The heels tag out early so it’ll be Shotzi and Savoy taking each other on at the beginning, making a harder path forward for either of the faces. Nicole Savoy is able to eliminate Priscilla Kelly first, but then Kimber and Shotzi both zero in on Savoy. They know that the only way either of them can become champ is if they take Savoy out, so they put in the work. Savoy is the second eliminated, and the crowd is absolutely whipped up by this. A new champ is guaranteed, and we’ve just seen the end of the most dominant reign in SHIMMER history. Shotzi and Kimber have an absolutely fantastic back and forth, but Kimber’s grown fond of her foreign object and uses it to hit Shotzi and secure the victory. Kimber Lee is now the SHIMMER champion.
Final thoughts
This was a really excellent volume all around. I think I have to give the final match the match of the volume nod, but the Havok vs. Raze match was so good and will be a fondly-remembered sleeper match in the future. Tremendous work all around, and one of the best SHIMMER volumes I’ve had the pleasure of being in attendance for.
