Just watched my first Shimmer DVD

I don't know what it is but ever since I started wrestling myself I've just had a real desire to watch more indie stuff and naturally it's a lot different from what you see in WWE and TNA. For women's wrestling it obviously wasn't enough to just watch the one or two matches they got at our shows so I started looking for more. I started watching WILD which is pretty good for those who are interested but then I decided to take a look at Shimmer. I said I'd buy two DVDs so I bought Volumes 26 and 40. I just watched 26 and due to my new insane need to rate things out of ten, here's my review of it

First of all I was really impressed with the production values. The camera work and the overall set up looked very professional and you can tell they put a lot of effort into creating it. I like the venue they used, I'm assuming they use the same one for all their tapings? It's a bit on the small side but I like the overall look of it. I was surprised that there weren't more women in the crowd but go figure. As an aside Allison Danger sounds a lot like Melina. I kept thinking it was her doing commentary.

Jetta vs Daffney:
Watching this has made me realise how much I miss seeing Daffney in TNA and it's strange to see her as a face but she made it fit her character which was fine. I lol'd at the two girls coming out in their pyjamas and that Lacey girl is hott. Does she compete in the ring as well? As an opener, this was pretty basic. I thought the action was good but it was a bit slow. The antics the heels were playing with the water bottles were a nice touch but I think Daffney works better in the ring as a heel. She is better suited to dominating and adding a lot of extra with her character. I was kind of hoping for a bit more but it was fine for what it was. 5.5/10

Rayna Von Tash vs Daizee Haze:
I like that Rayna girl, she has a really interesting gimmick. I'm surprised WWE or TNA have never really given one of their girls a gimmick like that (I don't think Rosie Lottalove quite counts). Daizee seems a bit of a tweener in terms of character, she reminds me of Jacqueline in her later WWE days. This one was really good to watch, some nice technical stuff going on. Rayna did look a bit shaky in there but that's to be expected from someone I'm guessing wasn't that experienced at the time. The submissions Daizee used looked very good and this match had a nice little flow to it. 7/10

Melanie Cruise vs Jessie McKay vs Kellie Slater vs Jennifer Blake (Four Corner Survival Match):
The two faces in this were really impressive and caught my eye. I was most looking forward to seeing them have an exchange but that didn't really happen. Standard four corners match but still pretty enjoyable though I was a bit annoyed that Kellie wasn't selling Jennifer's chops at all in the corner. Jennifer was probably my favourite to watch in the match but Jessie and Melanie were quite good as well. The finish was nice and decisive but good lord Kellie is pale. I know it was probably the lights bouncing off her but still...6.5/10

Nikki Roxx & Ariel vs "The Experience" Malia Hosaka & Lexxi Fyfe:
Is it me or do The Experience look like a pair of soccer moms? Just wondering if either of them have kids because they do have that mom look to them. It was good to see Nikki/Roxxi out there and when I saw the name Ariel on the DVD cover I assumed it was Shelly Martinez. Oh how wrong I was. Match was a bit slow starting off but it got better as it went on and the two heels were entertaining with their antics. Fun little match towards the end and a nice stunner by Ariel. It genuinely looked like it hurt. 7/10

Rain vs Tenille:
Obviously I'd heard a lot about Tenille for ages but never really gotten a chance to see her wrestle properly so it was good to finally see her in the ring. She lives up to the hype anyway and delivered a fun and enjoyable match. Rain stuck out as well. She's a good heel and controlled the match very well. This match probably flowed the best of all the matches that night and was a nice pure wrestling match. Lacey seems like a really good manager too. I find it funny that she called her finisher the Rain Drop when that's what Madison Rayne calls hers now in TNA. 7/10

Sara Del Ray & Amazing Kong vs Serena & Mercedes Martinez:
Naturally Sara Del Ray is another name I've been hearing a lot about but never got the chance to check her out so this was a good opportunity. I've seen pictures of her and I can say they don't do her justice as she looks much prettier here. And let me just say that with her hair Serena is smoking. She's another one I haven't seen that much of, apart from her Smackdown match and some of her stuff in OVW and FCW. This was a really entertaining and action-packed tag match. It seems Kong didn't really get to show off that much of her technical skills in TNA, mostly just being a big powerhouse, but she showed some nice technical wrestling here to go along with her power moves. Sara Del Ray is a beast as well (I mean that in a good way) and I liked that kick she did towards the end. Not much to say about Mercedes except she did well although I was more excited to see Serena. The end combo with Kong Implant Busting Del Ray onto Serena was really cool. 8/10

Cheerleader Melissa vs Wesna Busic (Knockout/Submission Match):
I felt the stipulation was a bit hokey, mostly because I can't stand last man standing matches and it should really be either or, but the two women took the strange stipulation and ran with it. For a few minutes I was wondering why Wesna was wearing a WrestleMania t-shirt before I copped on it said "Wesna-Mania" instead. Still wrestling in a t-shirt just looks unprofessional and I hope she doesn't do it regularly. I'm mostly used to seeing Melissa as a heel so to see her play the face was interesting though to me she just seemed like a heel the fans were cheering for. Really intense and solid match which I've come to expect whenever I see Melissa wrestle. Definitely the stiffest match of the night and it was all the better for it. There was great psychology and some eye popping submissions. Even if I don't like last man standing matches the ending was really satisfying, even if I'm a little annoyed at Melissa not selling the German suplex straight away. Still a really physical and intense match up. Really vocal too. 8.5/10

Ashley Lane & Neveah* vs The Canadian Ninjas (Shimmer Tag Team Championships):
This was one I really wanted to see because of you know who. It's so jarring seeing Madison/Ashley as a face since I'm so used to her as the uber heel in TNA. Two minutes of watching this was enough to tell me that she's just as entertaining in the ring as a face so that will put my mind at ease if TNA ever decides to turn her face. I do miss her blonde hair as well. Anyway one of the best matches that night with both teams showing some great chemistry with each other and their opponents. The two heels were really funny with how they were mouthing off to the crowd at the start. I'm told that this was one of Madison's last matches before she signed with TNA so she sure went out on a high note. Excellent match. 8/10

MsChif* vs LuFisto (Shimmer Championship):
The segment that set this up was hilarious. And LuFisto, what an outfit. MsChif has a really unique look to her as well, which I liked. I wonder how she gets on with Daffney? Anyway I really loved this one as well. It had some great technical spots as well as some nice submissions. LuFisto's Lotus Hold looked especially interesting. Definitely main-event calibre action. The rest of the match had some really nice hard-hitting action like that suplex onto the floor. That was a suplex onto proper hard wood, not the crash mats that they have outside the rings in WWE and TNA. Both of MsChif's finishers were awesome, especially that one which I can only describe as an octopus DDT. Great way to end the night. 9/10

So it was certainly an interesting experience. I'm looking forward to watching Volume 40 anyway. It wasn't quite what I expected in terms of wrestling but I do appreciate that there are so many unique characters and diversity on the roster. I finally got to see a few of the famous names doing their thing so yeah it was worth the money. One or two matches are probably going on my list of "Wrestling Matches To See Before You Die"

Congrats and busting your shimmer cherry lol. Oh and Rayna Von Tash is fucking awesome!

Welcome to the tiny SHIMMER club

yeah it definitely seems like something i could get into. i've been thinking of picking up a WSU DVD as well