SHIMMER Promotion Shines

By:  | Posted: Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 2:14 pm.

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Like most people,
I have always been a fan of the underdog. There is something innately inspiring
about watching someone battle against all conceivable odds, especially if they
can overcome them and ultimately succeed. Perhaps that is why I find such satisfaction
in professional women’s wrestling.

Since Vince
McMahon Jr. began rewriting the wrestling scene in the 80s, women have
seemingly taken a back seat to the men and become wrestling’s proverbial
“underdogs.” They are generally not taken as seriously by fans, largely because
big time federations tend to place more emphasis on the men. Or, if emphasis is
placed on women, it is usually for reasons other than wrestling skill. TNA have
recently bucked this trend, but no promotion has highlighted its female athletes
in the same way that SHIMMER have.

SHIMMER is an
all-female promotion based out of Berwyn,
Illinois. They are still in their
relative infancy, having only been established in late 2005, and so for now the
best way to watch their product (if you are not in the immediate Illinois area) is to
order their DVD online from the official SHIMMER website. This is how I became
familiar with the product and the first DVD I ordered was their Volume 11 DVD,
which featured the first night of a single elimination 16-women knockout
tournament to determine the first ever SHIMMER Champion.

The highlight of
this DVD for me was match #6, which featured a first round match-up between
Cheerleader Melissa and Sarah Stock. Any American wrestling fan will be aware
of Melissa. She has trained in the United States,
Japan, and Europe,
and is currently wrestling for TNA under the ring name Raisha Saeed. Likewise,
any Canadian wrestling fan will be aware of Sarah Stock. Sarah was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but
was soon drawn to Monterrey,
Mexico, where
she perfected her craft. Sarah has also worked in Japan,
Europe, and all across North America. Indeed,
if you are a female wrestling fan then you are probably aware of both. Cheerleader
Melissa and Sarah Stock are arguably two of the top female wrestlers on the
planet today.

Their first round
encounter was worth the price of the DVD alone. It was Sarah Stock’s first
SHIMMER match and she and Melissa told a great story that featured the two top
performers squaring off against each other in early competition, meaning that
one of them would be guaranteed not to make the finals! This dream match was
fast paced and featured amazing athleticism, highlighted by a cannonball off
the ring apron by Stock down onto her opponent on an unprotected hardwood floor
below! Even more impressive was the complete lack of noticeable rest spots
throughout the entire match, meaning that these girls were working at an incredibly
high level. I won’t spoil the outcome but suffice to say this match delivered
on all accounts and was easily the best match on the card.

However, the
Cheerleader Melissa versus Sarah Stock match was surprisingly not the match
that caught my attention the most. That honour befalls Malia Hosaka and Allison
Danger for their bout in match #1 of the DVD. This match also told a great
story. It was Malia Hosaka, the wily veteran, versus Allison Danger, the hot
young upstart, and focused on Hosaka attempting to exploit a knee injury on her
opponent, while Danger tried to overcome the odds as the proverbial underdog.
It was a fantastic match with a well booked ending that left viewers satisfied
and feeling as if they had just watched a perfect story played out before their
very eyes. But what added to my enjoyment of this match was the character that
Allison Danger portrayed. Imagine this; a soft melody starts playing as if
someone has just opened a musical jewellery box with a ballerina on top. The
music picks up after a while and just as it does so, a female competitor walks
out from behind the curtain wearing a porcelain china doll mask. It was like no
female entrance that I had ever seen before and it just screamed to the viewers
at home and in attendance, “Don’t worry, your heroine is here to save the day!”
Danger came across like a mix between The Undertaker, with his mystique, and
Sting, with his more energetic charisma. My only complaint would be that
Allison should present herself as more of an imposing figure (making her
opponents back away scared instead of showing hesitation herself) and come out
through the smoke of a smoke machine to add to her mystique. Perhaps, as one of
the co-operators of SHIMMER, Allison was attempting to hold herself back
somewhat to make the other workers look better, but she shouldn’t sell herself
short because she is a natural star and the potential for her character is massive!
And, as I say, her match against Hosaka was fantastic!

But Allison
Danger, Sarah Stock, and Cheerleader Melissa were not the only competitors
worth watching. SHIMMER has a host of female talent on their roster and this
DVD featured many strong performers, with perhaps the most over being Sara Del
Rey. Del Rey seemed to be the fan favourite from the outset and her theme music
of “Final Countdown” by Europe certainly
captures her all-conquering attitude, done with a permanent smile on her face
and without ever breaking much of a sweat! (Yes, she’s that damn good!).

Another fan
favourite was Nikki Roxx, who TNA fans might know better as Roxxi Laveaux.
Nikki had the crowd in the palm of her hands and is as talented a performer as
she is an actress – the perfect combination for a sports entertainer.

But not all
SHIMMER performers are babyfaces. Alicia caught my attention for being able to
be disliked so naturally (which as I write it, seems like a backhanded
compliment, but really it’s not!). Many of the SHIMMER heels were overtly
antagonizing towards the audience, but Alicia had them in the palm of her hand
as well, yet was able to annoy them by just oozing cockiness and attitude (much
like how Edge does on Smackdown). This made Alicia the best heel on the card because
you just wanted to see her lose and it didn’t matter how or by who!

Another heel
featured on Volume 11 was Canada’s
own Portia Perez. However, at a young 20 years of age and with a smaller
stature, she fit the underdog tag to a tee and so I found it hard to cheer
against her. The fact that her entrance music was the uplifting “Edge Of
Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks didn’t help her cause much either. Still, at so
young of an age the sky is the limit for young Portia, who showed tremendous
potential.

Finally, I can’t
end this synopsis without mentioning Dave Prazak, the SHIMMER play-by-play
announcer and founder. Prazak brought all of the matches on Volume 11 together
and gave them a big time feel with his commentary. It was so refreshing to hear
moves actually being called instead of glossed over by ridiculous storytelling
of events not even currently unfolding. Dave called the action and, perhaps
even more impressively for a wrestling fan’s ears, he called the moves 100% accurately!
For added emphasis Prazak also made connections to ROH stars, perhaps to
highlight the relationship between SHIMMER and ROH, but this did not harm the
product in any way and his expertise knowledge was definitely appreciated for
viewers of the DVD at home.

So, I just want
to recommend to all wrestling fans, and especially fans of the women’s game, to
check out SHIMMER. Their DVDs can be purchased for less than $20 online and it
is worth it to see women athletes who actually know how to wrestle and who have
trained extensively around the globe to perfect their crafts. A refreshing
concept indeed.

CATEGORIES:Wrestling