BG Says: SHIMMER Women Athletes – Volume 6

Commentary is being provided by Dave Prazak & Allison Danger.

Allison Danger starts us off with some words for Rebecca Knox. They meet for the second time tonight in a Pure Wrestling Rules match. It’s so weird how much she sounds and kind of looks like Steve Corino. She’s upset that Knox faked a knee injury in their last match to cheat her way to a victory. She’s happy that Daizee Haze beat her on Volume 4 but she’s also upset that Knox cheated to beat Haze on Volume 5. That’s why she challenged her to the match tonight. She talks about how Haze and herself are members of the ROH roster, and in ROH there is the Pure Wrestling Title. So she and then Pure champ Nigel McGuinness got together and got her strategy together for the match.

VS.
We see a replay of O’Neal’s cheap win over Serena on Volume 5. They lock up and Serena powers O’Neal to the mat. O’Neal turns Serena over for 2. She puts on a headlock but Serena trips her up and puts on a front facelock. O’Neal goes to the corner and chops Serena down. Serena comes back with a back elbow and a backslide for 2. O’Neal shoves her to the mat by her hair and chokes her on the middle rope. Serena gets a sunset flip for 2. O’Neal goes to the eyes and slams Serena’s face to the mat. She puts on a chinlock and slams Serena to the mat by her hair. She chokes Serena on the top rope and pins her for 2. Serena hits a spear and they trade chops. Serena hits a back elbow and a northern lights suplex for 2. O’Neal counters a neckbreaker to a suplex but Serena catches her in a cradle for the win at 7:27. A couple of WWE Divas told to have a match without any gaga could have pulled this off with the same precision. O’Neal isn’t impressive at all.
Rating: *½

VS.

Kong brings a coat hanger out to the ring and is the most over lady on the show so far despite being a heel. She and Ariel start. Kong casually knocks Ariel down so she quickly tags to Rogers. They go for a double shoulder tackle but Kong stands firm. Josie goes for a dropkick and gets nothing. She goes for a crossbody and gets help from both teammates to knock Kong down. Ariel gets back in the ring and gets tossed around by Kong. Kong hits a standing avalanche and a giant swing. Hosaka tags in and puts on a wristlock. She puts on a cross armbreaker but Ariel counters to a hammerlock. Rogers tags in and puts on a chinlock. Hosaka gets to the ropes so Rogers tags to Josie. Josie stays on Hosaka’s arm and tags to Rogers. Hosaka hits a leaping chop and tags to Fyfe. Fyfe puts on a surfboard stretch but Rogers counters to a neckbreaker. Ariel tags in and goes for a pin for 2. She hits a clothesline and tags to Josie. Josie and Ariel hit a horribly ugly double back elbow for 2. Fyfe goes to the eyes and chokes Josie on the top rope. Hosaka comes in and they hit a double clothesline. Hosaka puts on a camel clutch and tags to Kong. Kong hits an avalanche and a legdrop. She hits a bodyslam and a big splash for 2. She hits a big clothesline and tags to Fyfe. I wish Kong would never tag out. Fyfe puts on a Boston crab but Josie powers out. Hosaka tags in and stands on Josie’s hair. She puts on a chinlock and makes an illegal tag to Fyfe. Fyfe works in a hammerlock and then puts on a modified STF. Hosaka tags in and chops Josie down. She hits Mongolian chops and then unloads with kicks in the corner. Kong and Hosaka double-team Josie in the corner for 2. Josie comes back with a sunset flip for 2. Hosaka hits a vertical suplex for 2. Josie sneaks away from Hosaka and tags to Rogers. Rogers cleans house and gets help from her teammates. Hosaka dumps Ariel to the floor where Kong attacks her. The referee gets knocked down just before Hosaka and Fyfe hit a double gourdbuster on Josie. Kong hits a second rope splash on Josie for the win at 16:40. That referee bump was completely unnecessary and didn’t even really make sense within the context of the match. Like many women in this promotion, and really in wrestling in general Rogers, Fyfe, Hosaka and Ariel have horrible striking offense. For the most part they kept that weakness to a minimum here and the match benefited. I could have always used more Kong though.
Rating: **¾

VS.
Lee gets a roll up for 2 to start. Roxx comes back with a small package for 2. Lee puts on an armbar but Roxx reverses to one of her own. Lee counters to a hammerlock. Roxx comes back with a wristlock. Lee hits a hiptoss and a bodyslam with plenty of help from Roxx. She rams Roxx’s head into the turnbuckle for 2. She goes for an ugly handspring elbow but Roxx avoids it. Roxx tosses her across the ring by her hair for 2. She hits a clothesline and a back elbow. She hits a side slam for 2. She hits a standing falcon arrow for 2. Lee comes back with a clothesline for 2. Roxx hits a back elbow for 2. Lee hits a legsweep, I think, after a catastrophe of an Irish whip segment for 2. She hits an ugly clothesline for 2. She hits a bodyslam for 2. She puts on the body scissors and rolls Roxx over for 2. Roxx rolls back for 2. She hits a northern lights suplex for 2 as the commentators shill Lee’s fitness website. Lee hits a Japanese armdrag for 2. Roxx comes back with the Barbie Crusher for the win at 8:48. Lee’s inexperience really showed here and the entire thing was just move-pin attempt-move-pin attempt.
Rating: *¾

VS.
They lock up and Haze puts on a hammerlock. Nikita grabs a wristlock but Haze counters to a headlock. Nikita slams Haze to the mat and puts on a headlock. Haze reverses to a headlock takeover. Nikita puts on the head scissors but Haze rolls her up for 2. Nikita attacks Haze from behind and chokes her on the bottom rope. She hits a stiff kick to the back and puts on a seated abdominal stretch. She hits a snap suplex for 2. She hits a clothesline and counters a crossbody to the uranage backbreaker for 2. She puts on a camel clutch and then sets Haze in the Tree of Woe. She dropkicks her out of it and chokes Haze in the corner. She hits a hiptoss and works over the back. She hits another hiptoss but Haze comes back with a sunset flip for 2. Haze hits a head scissors takedown but Nikita counters a hurricanrana to a Boston crab. Nikita hits the Curb Stomp for 2. She goes for a delayed vertical suplex but Haze counters to a facebuster. Haze hits a running forearm and a dropkick. She hits a clothesline for 2. Haze misses the heart punch and Nikita hits a northern lights suplex for 2. She hits a tornado Daizee Cutter for 2. Nikita hits a big boot but Haze counters the uranage backbreaker to a roll up for the win at 11:39. Haze’s big offense tends to look a little weak and sloppy but this match was executed very well for the most part and for the first time on this show (there’s always one match on these SHIMMER DVDs when I say this) the offense actually looked like it could hurt someone.
Rating: ***

A clip package is shown of Rebecca Knox cheating Allison Danger out of a win on Volume 3 and then doing the same to Haze on Volume 5. Danger challenged Knox to the Pure Wrestling Rules match after her cheap victory over Haze. Also at this point Daffney, formerly known as Lucy in ROH, takes Danger’s place in the commentary booth.

VS. [Pure Wrestling Rules]
For those who don’t know the Pure Wrestling Rules are as follows; each wrestler can only use a rope break to stop a pin or submission three times during the match. After that the ropes are in play for their opponents. Closed fists will draw a warning and two warnings equal a rope break. If you have no rope breaks and you use a closed fist you are disqualified. There is also a 20-count on the floor. Knox stalls to start. Danger gets under her skin by blowing her nose with the Irish flag. The action gets going with a wristlock by Knox. Knox puts on a cross armbreaker but Danger rolls her up for 2 to escape. Knox puts on a full nelson but Danger rolls her up for 2. Danger puts on a headlock and gets another roll up for 2. Knox puts on a front facelock and then kicks at Danger’s leg. She puts on a leglock but releases to grab a wristlock. She goes for a headlock but Danger counters to a wristlock. The hold trading continues in impressive fashion until Knox grabs a headlock and uses closed fists behind the referee’s back. She slugs Danger again behind the referee’s back. Danger tries to return the favor but the referee sees it and gives her a warning. As the referee talks to the ring announcer Knox slugs Danger again, who stupidly responds the same way and loses a rope break. Danger unloads with forearms and puts on an armbar. Knox uses her first rope break to escape. Knox sweeps the leg and then zeroes in on it. Danger refrains from using her second rope break so Knox chops her in the corner. Danger chops back so Knox goes back to the leg. Knox hits a dragon screw and puts on a leglock. She drops a series of knees on the leg and then kicks her indiscriminately. She puts another leglock on and Danger uses her second rope break to escape. Knox hits a T-bone suplex for 2. She hits a legdrop for 2. She hits an elbowdrop for 2. Danger hits a facebuster and a neckbreaker for 2. She hits the STO for 2 when Knox uses her second rope break to stop the count. They fight to the floor where Knox stays in control. Danger returns fire by ramming Knox’s face into the Irish flag on the mat. She rolls Knox back into the ring but her bad leg causes her to reenter slowly and Knox catches her with a back suplex for 2. Awesome stuff there. Knox puts on an octopus stretch and then goes for a cross armbreaker. Danger blocks it so Knox goes back to the leg with a Mutalock. Danger uses her last rope break to escape. Knox puts on an armbar/leglock combo with rope assistance and then hits a pumphandle suplex for 2 with her feet on the ropes. Danger puts on the Stretch Plum but Knox uses her last rope break to escape. Knox hits a leaping forearm but walks into a boot. Danger hits an ugly crossbody that Knox is able to roll through for the win at 25:46. The mat wrestling in this match was very precise and entertaining. Danger brought her A-game and Knox was her usual great self. This was actually better than a lot of the Pure Title matches in ROH. The only drawback was the ugly finish that came completely out of nowhere.
Rating: ***½

They replay the segment from the end of Volume 5 where Mercedes Martinez accepts Sara Del Ray’s challenge for another match but is interrupted by a tag challenge from Lacey as part of the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew. Del Ray agrees to be Martinez’s partner.

VS.
Rain and Del Ray start with a lock up. Del Ray hits a hiptoss and a bodyslam. Lacey tags in and walks into an armbar. Martinez tags in and they hit a double clothesline. Martinez hits a brainbuster for 2. Del Ray tags in and hits a back elbow. Martinez tags in and they hit a double vertical suplex for 2. Martinez slugs Lacey down and tags to Del Ray. Del Ray hits a series of kneedrops for 2. She hits a dropkick to the back so Lacey tags out. Rain walks into a forearm. Lacey hits a cheap shot giving her team the advantage for the first time in the match. Rain hits a dropkick in the corner for 2. Lacey tags in and puts on a full nelson. Rain runs in and hits a dropkick for 2. Lacey opens up with kicks to the back for 2. Del Ray comes back with headbutts but Lacey tags to Rain. The Crew hit a legsweep/neckbreaker combo for 2. Lacey tags in and chokes Del Ray on the middle rope. She misses a blind charge but hits a spinning kick for 2. She goes to the eyes and kicks Del Ray’s back. She hits a backbreaker for 2. Rain tags in and hits a knee to the back. Lacey follows suit and Rain slams Del Ray down by her hair for 2. Lacey tags in and gets elbowed down. Rain tags in and they hit a double Japanese armdrag and a double STO for 2. Lacey tags in and puts on a butterfly hold. Martinez makes the tag but Rain had the referee distracted and he doesn’t allow it. Rain hits a dropkick to the back for 2. Lacey tags in and tosses Del Ray across the ring by her hair for 2. Rain tags in and gets hit with a desperation powerbomb. Martinez gets the tag and cleans house. She hits a powerslam on Lacey and a spinebuster on Rain. Lacey pulls Del Ray to the floor. Rain hits an inverted lungblower on Martinez and Lacey follows up with a regular lungblower for 2. Martinez runs into the ring and accidentally boots Martinez in the gut. Rain sends Del Ray to the floor and Lacey hits the implant DDT on Martinez for the win at 15:47. Unlike the six-woman tag match the long face-in-peril segment here never got dull. Not a bad effort from the four veterans.
Rating: ***

After the match Martinez gets on the microphone and aggressively accepts Del Ray’s rematch challenge from Volume 5.

A clip package shows MsChif’s win over Cheerleader Melissa from Volume 1, Melissa’s interference from Volume 3 that cost her a match against Lexie Fyfe, and Melissa’s win over MsChif in a Falls Count Anywhere match from Volume 4. They show the exchanges between the two from ROH’s Supercard of Honor (which may have been a mistake as the huge production difference between ROH and SHIMMER becomes apparent), and MsChif’s interference in Melissa’s match from Volume 5 that cost her a match against Allison Danger. The feud has been 50/50 so far, so something has to give here.

VS. [Last Woman Standing]
Melissa attacks MsChif during her entrance. She dumps MsChif to the floor but MsChif returns fire by ramming her into the barricade. Melissa returns the favor and the fight goes into the crowd. Melissa gets knocked down for 5 but she pops up and forearms MsChif down. Melissa bends MsChif around a chair Chicago crab style. The house lights go on just as I started thinking about how I couldn’t see anything. Melissa opens up with knees to the face and then works over the stomach against a wall. She hits a bodyslam on the floor but MsChif comes back with knees to the gut. MsChif dumps Melissa back into the ringside area but Melissa gets up at 5. Back in the ring MsChif hits the Code Green, keeping Melissa down for 9. Melissa hits a Samoan drop and both women get back up at 7. Melissa hits a bodyslam and goes for the inverted cloverleaf but MsChif fights her off. Melissa puts on a Boston crab and sits down on the mat. Sick. Melissa dumps MsChif to the floor and waits for the count. MsChif starts getting up so Melissa goes after her with a forearm. MsChif shoves Melissa under the guardrail with a baseball slide. She hits a double stomp to the back and then uses a chair to stretch Melissa out. Melissa fires back and uses a chair to apply a camel clutch to MsChif. She lets go and sits in a chair to let the referee count. It’s called Last Woman Standing Melissa, not Last Woman Sitting. Back in the ring Melissa introduces a steel chair to the match. MsChif hits the Desecrator but Melissa gets up at 8. MsChif double stomps Melissa’s back and hits the Panic Attack after calling out Delirious’s name. Melissa gets up at 9. Melissa sets MsChif up top and hits a hanging neckbreaker. Melissa gets up at 8 but MsChif gets up at 9. MsChif counters the Kudo Driver to the Desecrator on the chair and Melissa stays down for the count at 20:23. This didn’t have the silly spots their last match had but the action was hard to see a lot of the time and the brawling was a little plodding. If you liked their Falls Count Anywhere match you’ll like this. I hated that match and thought this one was decent.
Rating: **¾

Nikki Roxx wants the SHIMMER fans to know that her goal is to get to the main event and give the top talent a run for their money. She didn’t beat Amazing Kong on Volume 5 but she gave her some competition. She put Lorelei Lee behind her and now she wants to move up the card.

The rematch between Mercedes Martinez and Sara Del Ray will have to wait because in breaking news we find out that Del Ray will take on Nattie Neidhart on Volume 7 and Martinez will be wresting LuFisto. Matches to get acquainted with both SHIMMER newcomers are featured as a bonus on this DVD.

Rebecca Knox taunts Danger for losing in her own Pure Wrestling Rules match. Knox cuts the most hilarious promos. She claims she never cheated against Daizee Haze and that she’ll beat any woman in a match with any stipulation.