SHIMMER 5/2

Here's the Day 2 report I sent to PWInsider, although admittly I'm not the best with details.

Volume 25:

1. Tenille defeated Jetta (with Lacey). Rain and Jetta now came out wearing pajamas. Apparently they had just waken up from a nap, as they didn't need to prepare for their opponents. Jetta was her usual self, and Tenille was OK. Tenille hit a surprise rollup for the win, but then suffered a beatdown from all three members of the IHWC.

2. Cat Power won a four-corner survival match over Rachel Summerlynn, Kelly Skater, and Ariel, when she made Rachel submit to a type of leg submission. The rules were that it was one-on-one only, with two wrestlers in corners, with tags needed to come in, and victory came with the first fall. A very nice outing from all three. This was Rachel's best match yet, Kelly hit a couple nice top rope moves, and Ariel was her usual reliable self. And Cat Power, I'd say she's WWE or TNA bound in the next two years.

3. Nikki Roxx defeated Melanie Cruise (with Annie Social) with the Barbie Crusher. Melanie has a lot of potential as a power wrestler, being about six-feet tall. Decent. There was a lot of interference from Annie, but it didn't matter in the end.

4. Rain (with Lacy) defeated "Girl Dynamite" Jennifer Blake with the Rain Drop (electric chair into a pin). More pajamas. Fun match. Now I'll admit, Blake's corner chops aren't as hard as Kenta Kobashi, but it's still fun to watch.

5. Cheerleader Melissa defeated Jessie McKay with the Kudo Driver. This was to originally feature Madison Eagles before her illness. Whether it was Melissa carying, and/or Jessie holding her end, this was one of my favorite matches of the weekend. Just great stuff.

6. LuFisto defeated Amber O'Neal with an armbar submission. Andy Long was the referee, and there was quite a bit of interaction between him and LuFisto, before and after the match. Amber used a small box of glitter at one point, which the ref missed, drawing even more boos. Outside of that, the same stuff you'd see from both wrestlers.

7. Daizee Haze and Allison Danger defeated the Canadian Ninjas of Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews. Haze and Danger were announced with the "pre-pregnency weight", which I found hilarious. A decent first half, with Daizee getting worked on, but once Allison came in, it was all downhill, and this is coming from a fan of her work. Getting the street fight in was one thing, but she should have not been wrestling. Her moves were just too slow and unbelievable, and on top of that, I believe Danger got the pin! Thankfully, the Ninjas laid her out, using a belt once again.

8. Serena Deeb defeated Mercedes Martinez. A great main-event style match. High impact moves and counters a plenty. My concerns of Serena going back to the midcard were thankfully dashed.

9. Ashley Lane and Nevaeh defeated Sara Del Rey and Amazing Kong by DQ. Nearly a total squash. Sadly, it's something you'd see in WWE, with the two single stars defeating the tag team champions. So besides that, the action was intense, and the crowd were really hoping for a pinfall upset. However, a chair was used, and the referee was pushed, causing the weak, but expected DQ. A beatdown would have continued, but Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez stopped it.

10. MsChif defeated Wesna Busic (with Annie Social) with the desecrator to retain the SHIMMER Championship. Wesna and Annie go together perfectly as two foul mouthed wenches. A lot of technical wrestling and submissions, with an occasional hard shot by Wesna.

Intermission.... BUY BUY BUY AGAIN! I want to point out that Ariel's children's coloring book was one of the more creative independent wrestler's merchandise I've seen in a long time, so props to her.

Volume 26:

1. Jetta (with Lacey) defeated Daffney with the lungblower. More pajamas. Total comedy, with some solid wrestling thrown in.

2. Daizee Haze defeated Rayna Von Tosh. This was billed as teacher vs. student. Even with the teacher in there, Von Tosh was still terrible. She spent way too much time dancing around before nearly every move. She looks good, but wrestling wise needs a lot of work.

3. Jessie McKay defeated Kelly Slater, Jennifer Blake, and Melanie Cruise (with Annie Social) in a four-corner survival match. The usual from all involved. Madison's absense has led to Jessie's stock rising that day.

4. "Pretty Bitchin'" of Nikki Roxx and Ariel defeated the Experience of Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka with Ariel pinned Lexie after a Dariel (stunner). This new team seemed to be a play off Nikki's redneck look. When their weightt was nnounced, the two pointed as their butts. Solid match. Malia is just awesome with his comments to the fans and the referee.

Backstage segment with Cheerleader Melissa, announcing the Knockout/Submission match later with Wesna Busic. She planned to knock Wesna out, as well as Annie Social.

5. Rain (with Lacey) defeated Tenelle with the Rain Drop. Not much to it. Tenelle had another victory, but Lacey interfered, leading to another Rain victory. With three straight wins, I can see Rain getting the next title shot at the next SHIMMER taping, whenever that may be.

Backstage segment with Ashley Lane and Nevaeh. They point out how they survived as champions. The Canadian Ninjas demanded a title shot, but the champs blew them off, saying they already beat them (which came on Volume 22). However, the Ninjas then knocked them into a wall, and Ashley said the match is happening.

6. Sare Del Rey and Amazing Kong defeated Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez with an Implant Buster combo. Solid action from all four. Serena played the face in parel. Kong showing a wicked hair style today as well, and even throwing in a few Rikishi moves in a humiliating manner.

Backstage segment with LuFisto and MsChif. PROMO OF THE YEAR! It must be seen to be appreciated. It leads to the main event.

7. Cheerleader Melissa defeated Wesna Busic (with Annie Social) in a Knockout/Submission match with a knockout punch. Match of the night, and match of the whole weekend! Stiff shots, brutal submissions, and hard floor brawling. It's what a Melissa/Wesna match should be.

8. The Canadian Ninjas or Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews defeated Ashley Lane and Nevaeh to win the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship. A fine outing from all involved. With Ashley Lane now in TNA, and thus preventing her from being in Ring of Honor, the writing was on the wall. A pretty good sized roar from the crowd. I hope we see the Ninja act in HDNet in the near future.

9. MsChif defeated LuFisto to retain the SHIMMER Championship. Another submission type match, with a good amount of hard hitting action. A solid match to end a great night of wrestling.

Not sure if this was a sign, but the music that played after the show was way too somber for me. The afterparty was a lot more active, but still surprisingly laid back. It was still a lot of fun.

Volume 26 is a must buy for Melissa/Busic II alone, but it also has the tag title change, the MsChif/LuFisto segment and the match itself. Volume 25 should be considered for Del Rey and Kong's destruction of the tag champs, Serena/Mercedes and Melissa/McKay. Both shows feature mostly solid wrestling with only a couple duds here and there.