SHIMMER Championship
I will finally get to see Melissa as a true heel live this taping and I’m excited. One of the most talented women on the roster, she is a heel through and through. Even as a face in SHIMMER, she was still very heel-ish…..which I think is why I started to find her a little stale.
Thinking about potential challengers, there is on person
that I think will get a title shot for sure: Ayako Hamada. Hamada has
continuously been one of the top performing women in SHIMMER for several years
and you can always count on her to be a match of the volume contender. After the confrontation between Hamada and
Melissa at the end of the Danger retirement match on Volume 57, I think it is
pretty safe to say we will see these in the ring. I think Hamada should be the next champion,
but I think Melissa will take this one.
It is too early for her to drop the title.
Another woman that I expect to get a title shot is
Kana. Since her debut at Volume 41, she
has taken the SHIMMER world by storm.
Her no-nonsense style is very unique and she has proven time and again
that she is one of the toughest on the roster.
With impressive wins over the likes of Sara Del Rey, Lufisto, Athena,
and Kalamity, she has proven that she is worthy of her first title shot.
My next thought for a title defense is former champion
Madison Eagles. Although this would be a
heel/heel match, it would be interesting to see the two clash since Melissa has
turned to the dark side. Madison dropped
the title to Melissa on Volume 44 and was injured shortly thereafter. Since returning on volume 53, she racked up 4
wins in 5 matches. Not yet given her
rematch, I would love to see the two square off again.
I have had a difficult time trying to figure out who a good challenger for her fourth defense of the weekend. I considered it possibly being more of a surprise person like Christina Von Eerie, Leva Bates, or Santana Garrett. All are good workers, but aren’t main event level women. The best I could come up with was former Champion MsChif. We haven’t seen ‘Chif and Melissa in the ring against each other since Volume 6. Volumes 1, 4 and 6 saw the pair hash out a pretty nice feud with ‘Chif going 2-1 over Melissa. With the fact that MsChif has been on and off the injured list more frequently over the last couple of years, I am not sure how much longer she will be an active competitor. So it would be nice to see these two go at it again.
SHIMMER Tag Team Championship
Going into 3G’s first taping as Tag Team Champions, Kellie
Skater and Tomoka Nakagawa will inevitably have their hands full for at least
one match of the weekend. The tandem
beat the Canadian Ninjas on Volume 57 to become the 8th team to hold
the belts. However, Portia Perez and
Nicole Matthews would love nothing more than to beat 3G to regain the belts for
their 3rd reign.
Other than the Canadian Ninjas, I would expect to see a title defense against the teams of Made in Sin (Allysin Kay & Taylor Made), LuKana (Lufisto and Kana), and MSEERIE (MsChif and Christina Von Eerie). Made in Sin and LuKana have both had unsuccessful title shots in the past, but this would be the first chance for the goth/punk rock team of MSEEIRE. In the end, I would expect 3G to retain through the weekend. They are already booked to defend the belts at the next SHINE iPPV against Valykrie (Allysin Kay and Ivelisse Velez). I think Allysin Kay has a very bright future in wrestling, so I would love to see her win the Tag belts at some point. I wasn’t a fan of Taylor Made before teaming with Kay, but this team worked for her big time. I wouldn’t mind seeing the belts go to Made In Sin…..but only after they have been in SHIMMER for a while and establish themselves as a solid team.
Debuts
Two women have been announced to debut for this set of
tapings: Nikki Storm and Hikaru Shida. I
am not very familiar with Hikaru Shida other than being able to recognize her
name. I have seen a few of her matches and
she seems to do really well. Given that
there have been extremely few joshi’s that SHIMMER has brought over that I have
not become a fan of, I am sure Shida will do well.
Nikki Storm, on the other hand, I am more familiar
with. One of the best heels in Europe,
Nikki is in her inaugural US tour. With
SHINE, AIW: Girls Night Out under her belt, she has WSU this weekend then the
big SHIMMER debut. I cannot wait. Nikki oozes charisma and is incredible on the
mic. In the ring, she is crazy good and
can be relied on to have a very solid match.
I don’t think I have been this excited for a debut since The Knight
Dynasty was announced for Volume 37.
Sparkle Debuts: Savannah Summers, Crazy Mary Dobson
Notable Absences
Injuries: First, we learn about Athena’s shoulder injury at the WSU show. Then we learn about Angelus Layne’s concussion. Then it is Courtney Rush’s broken collarbone. Now, we learn that Xandra Bale was booked to appear at SHIMMER, but she has broken her fibula. Athena and Courtney have been riding a big wave of popularity over the past several tapings, so it is going to be a hit to their momentum. But, I predict these two will be able to pick up where they left off in the spring. Angelus Layne and Xandra Bale are two of the more recent additions to the roster. Both have shown a lot of potential, so to see them out with an injury is disappointing. But here’s to a speedy recovery to all 4 women.
MIA: Serena Deeb, Jessie McKay, Shazza McKenzie, Evie, and Rhia O’Reilly have all been confirmed as missing this taping. I think I saw where Evie was booked for a show in New Zealand, but I haven’t seen anything concrete on the others. I was disappointed when I saw that Evie would not be there as her debut this spring was great. Shazza and Rhia have been here for a couple of tapings and Serena and Jessie have been SHIMMER staples for several years. It won’t be the first time that we’ve gone through a weekend with holes like this, but it will be nice to see all of them back in the future.
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