Commentators: Dave Prazak and Amber Gertner
Heart of Shimmer 1st Round: Cheerleader Melissa vs. Leva Bates
Bates had never held a title in this promotion while Melissa is a two time SHIMMER champion. Gertner is at least sober this time around. Bates sucks up to the fans and calls them the heart of SHIMMER. Melissa takes control of the bout early. Bates with a kick and dropkick to the side of the head. Whip to the corner. Bates ducks and goes to the apron. Spear. Melissa tears Bates down. Pair of axe kicks. Melissa spits on Bates. Can we please stop with the spitting. Melissa plants Bates with a slam and hits an elbow drop. Melissa ties the legs and applies a Condo Clutch. She pulls on the hair and the official counts. Bates grabs the bottom rope. Bates counters an air raid crash into a sunset flip for two. Series of chops. Melissa with a Polish hammer. Kicks from Bates. Running knee. Northern lights suplex and a bridge leads to a two count. Melissa hits a samoan drop. Punches to the midsection in the corner. Blind charge misses. Springboard knees. Double stomp. Two count. Bates goes for the Pepsi Plunge. I bet CM Punk would be thrilled. Bates misses something off the top rope. Melissa hits the Kudo Driver RIGHT ON BATES’S NECK! Done. Melissa advances. This was okay. Melissa is tremendous in the ring, and her offense looked as crisp as ever. Bates is not a strong in-ring worker, and her offense could not compare to Melissa. The right person absolutely won even if she shouldn’t win the whole tournament.
Winner Cheerleader Melissa
Heart of Shimmer 1st Round: Cherry Bomb (SHIMMER Tag Team Champion) vs. Candice LaRae
CB is one half of the tag team champions while LaRae has been in and out of SHIMMER competition due to being one of the most active female wrestlers in the world right now. CB attacks right away. LaRae sent into the top turnbuckle. Choking in the corner. LaRae has a violence party in the corner. Running back elbow. Running dropkick. CB powders. LaRae hits a tope suicida. Spinning kick. LaRae climbs to the top rope. CB crotcher her. Superkick. Diving forearm. Series of forearms to the top of the head. LaRae bridges out. Both of these women, as it’s pointed out by Prazak, lost in the first round of the ChickFight tournament. CB’s screaming is both annoying and amazing at the same time. Fishermen’s suplex blocked. LaRae small packages CB. CB hits a running clothesline. LaRae sends CB into the top turnbuckle. Again and again to each corner. Crowd is split between these two. Jawbreaker by Larae. Knucklelock. CB swats her away and sends LaRae to the floor. LaRae hits the spear back in the ring (looks familiar) and gets two. LaRae ducks the clothesline and hits a series of her own. Vaginaplex blocked. O’Connor roll blocked. Rolling kick. 1-2-NO! CB sends LaRae into the middle turnbuckle again. Dropkick to the backside. LaRae goes head first into the buckle. Running DVD hits. Vaginaplex hits. CB blocks a moustache ride. Running death valley driver. 1-2-NO! LaRae crucifixes the arms and gets three. Solid underdog win for LaRae as she played her role to perfection. Some good fire and intensity throughout the course of the match. This was much better than the previous contest based on the skillsets of both women. Cherry Bomb is someone who improves every time I see her, and LaRae is as solid as it comes.
Winner Candice LaRae
Heart of Shimmer 1st Round: Nicole Savoy vs. LuFisto
Savoy broke out around this same time last year. LuFisto is a veteran of the women and intergender game. Face-off before the bell rings. HEAT! Slapfest. IT’S ON! Forearm by LuFisto. Hard spin kick by Savoy. Running knee. Charge misses. LuFisto hits a cannonball. Running knee. Series of forearms. Savoy goes to the eyes. KICK TO THE HEAD! Running kick to the chest. Series of forearms. LuFisto waves her off. Savoy applies the armbar. Savoy kicks the arm and wrenches it down on the middle rope. Boot placed in the back of the head. Savoy holds the arm against the medal post. Cross armbreaker across the apron. LuFisto runs in with a kick. She pulls her out by the hair. DDT. Camel clutch. Crossfaces. Kick to the head. Boot placed in the face. Butterfly suplex. Gutwrench suplex. Northern lights suplex but Savoy applies a cross armbreaker in the middle of the ring. LuFisto gets to the bottom rope. Choking on the middle rope. LuFisto uses her left arm for some backfists. Savoy gets draped on the middle rope. Running knee to the back. Dropkick to the jaw gets two. Choking on the middle rope. Savoy goes to the eyes. Butterfly suplex. She floats over for another. LuFisto blocks a third attempt. Burning hammer countered. Savoy applies the cross armbreaker. LuFisto locks the arms and kicks out of the hold. Clothesline ducked. Boot. Jumping Jaydriller only gets two. Burning hammer countered. Savoy back elbow. LuFisto goes shoulder first into the post. Salvo lock. LuFisto submits. Tremendous match with the with the right person winning. Savoy is somone to build on and she should probably be the eventual winner. I loved the arm work throughout, and it paying off made me very happy. Tremendous fire shown by both wrestlers.
Winner Nicole Savoy
Heart of Shimmer 1st Round: Kimber Lee (SHIMMER Tag Team Champion) vs. Jessicka Havok
Havok is guilty by association, and her performance in last year’s ChickFight left me very cold. Kimber has been incredibly impressive across multiple promotions. Lock-up and Kimber quickly exits the ring. Havok misses a blind charge. Kicks swatted away. Armdrag by Lee. Lee ducks. Havok ends up on the floor. Running kick to the chest. Second one gets blocked. Havok dumps Lee face first into the ring frame. Havok tosses Lee into the barricade. Yakuza kick. Havok misses a leg drop. Lee comes back with a series of kicks. Havok boots Lee down. Stretch muffler. Lee gets to the middle rope quickly. Havok beels Lee out by the hair. Charge misses. Lee applies a submission hold in the ropes. Bulldog. 1-2-NO! Chokeslam blocked. Lee goes for the cross armbreaker and locks it in. Backbreaker…I guess. Forearm. Lee sent head first into the turnbuckle. Running boot. Doing Sami Callihan’s moveset does not help her. Another running kick. Third time blocked by a Lee kick. Running clothesline. Basement dropkick and double knees. Sitdown powerbomb only gets two. Stretch muffler. Cherry Bomb comes out and distracts Havok Roll-up gets three. I wasn’t ever into this match. Havok’s performances were once good, but her ripping off Callihan doesn’t help her cause and she seemed to have some pretty awkward movements. At least the right person won.
Winner Kimber Lee
Heart of Shimmer 1st Round: Heidi Lovelace vs. Veda Scott
I think it should be obvious who I want to win this one. If you follow my Twitter, you know how much of a fan of Heidi I am. Scott takes the early advantage. Forearm and leg kicks. One more to the head. Awful looking spear gets two. Scott sends Lovelace into the mat head first. Choking along the middle rope and then in the corner. Inside cradle leads to a two count. Snapmare into a crucifix pin. Exchange. Rings of Saturn applied by Lovelace. Scott guillotines Lovelace on the top rope. Stiff slap to the face. Lovelace delivers some hard strikes of her own. Right hand from Lovelace. Big clothesline. 1-2-NO! Jawbreaker by Scott. Combo kick. Scott with some chops in the corner. Whip to the corner. Lovelace sends Scott face first into the turnbuckle. Running kick to the side of the head. A second one. A third also connects. STO. 1-2-NO! Scott heads outside. Kick to the side. Scott climbs on the medal barricade. Lovelace pulls Scott down and kicks her hard in the chest. Crowd is split. Lovelace is brought in head first into the post. Back in the ring. Springboard bulldog. That was actually nice. Lovelace with some leg kicks. Scott with a forearm. Leg cradle suplex sends Lovelace down on her head. 1-2-NO! Saito suplex blocked. Elbow and enziguri by Lovelace. To the top rope. Scott slaps her. Headbutt by Lovelace. Senton. 1-2-3! This was alright. Scott looked better than usual and even executed some nice offense. This was relatively basic. A good showcase for Lovelace.
Winner Heidi Lovelace
Heart of Shimmer 1st Round: Nicole Mathews vs. Mary Dobson
Feeling out process. They keep things on the mat for the first little bit. Hard running knee by Dobson leads to a two count. Running dropkick. Split legged moonsault but Mathews positions herself for a series of kicks to the back. Dobson goes on top for a series of forearms. Lariat by Mathews. Series of kicks to the chest. Sliding lariat. Dobson comes up striking. Dobson goes to the apron. Knee to the midsection. Cross body. Brainbuster countered. Mathews sent into the middle. Headstand into a knee strike across the head. Vancouver Maneuver gets turned into a fishermen’s suplex. Kick blocked. Strike to the neck. Vancouver Maneuver ends Dobson’s night in a solid but unspectacular match. Right person won all six of these matches so that’s a plus. Dobson was much smoother here than in a recent NXT appearance. Mathews is better in a tag team, but she’s perfect for the purposes of putting someone over in the finals of this tournament.
Winner Nicole Mathews
Heart of Shimmer Semifinals: Cheerleader Melissa vs. Candice LaRae
LaRae hits a tope on Melissa right away. She continues to control. Melissa then knees LaRae to the outside and takes off her robe. Slam on the floor. Head first into the apron goes Melissa. Melissa sends LaRae into the medal a number of times. All across the medal. Holy crap. I’m having streaming and buffering issues throughout the rest of the match. Candice LaRae won with three vaginaplexes in a row. Maybe this was a good match, but I wouldn’t know because WWN completely screwed the pooch on this entire weekend.
Winner Candice LaRae
Heart of Shimmer Semifinals: Nicole Savoy vs. Kimber Lee
Cherry Bomb gets ejected as the stream seems to have settled down. This is a heel versus heel match, so Savoy is the default babyface. They begin by pulling each other’s hair because they’re both heels. Continued feeling out process. Lee with a kick to the midsection as she establishes herself as a heel. She sends Savoy down by the hair multiple times. Into the middle turnbuckle. Lee quiets the crowd and delivers a big chop. Savoy comes back with one of her own. Running clothesline. They take turns chopping each other. Wow. Lee snap suplexes Savoy and goes for the cover. Two count. Waistlock exchange. German suplex by Lee. Savoy hits one of her own and folds Lee down on her neck. Back and forth with forearms. Savoy blocks Lee’s kicks and connects on a number of her own. One to the side of the head gets two. Cross armbreaker. Lee then taps. Really good back and forth match. Savoy looked strong in getting her second straight submission victory. I’d love to see a rematch between these two when it’s their only match of a show. This was still solid and worth watching.
Winner Nicole Savoy
Heart of Shimmer Semifinals: Heidi Lovelace vs. Nicole Mathews
They keep things basic to start. Some solid grappling exchanges. Matthews focuses on the arms and deposits Lovelace out of the ring. Into the barricade. Lovelace watches herself so as not to hurt a young girl in the front row. Chop by Matthews. Back in the ring. Kick to the ribs. Lovelace knees Matthews into the middle turnbuckle. Charge misses. Crowd gets behind Lovelace. Choking on the middle rope by Matthews. Series of elbows to the side of the head. Simple kick to the back. Chinlock. Matthews pulls Lovelace down by the hair. Kicks to the midsection. Surfboard. Clearly, Matthews has been watching her Bryan Danielson tapes. Matthews grabs the chinlock and bends Lovelace in half. Hard kick across the chest. Lovelace ducks and hits a back drop driver. Charge misses. Lovelace has a boot blocked. Knee strike to the head. Two kicks to the corner. Matthews plants Lovelace on the mat face first. Fallaway slam. Lariat. Brainbuster blocked. Lovelace gordbuster. Kick to the side of the head. 1-2-NO! Matthews blocks another suplex. German suplex with a bridge gets two. This has been tremendous. Best match of the tournament so far. Lovelace does a great job wrestling as an underdog. Reverse DDT to counter out of the Vancouver Maneuver. Matthews with a short lariat. Brainbuster. Matthews only gets two! Matthews goes back to the kicks. Lovelace hits an STO. To the top rope. Senton hits. 1-2-3! That was awesome. Go out of your way to see this one. The best of women’s wrestling could be seen here. You cannot book a tournament better than what Shimmer has done thus far. The right person has won evert match. Lovelace beating a former SHIMMER champion is a huge step in her development.
Winner Heidi Lovelace
Shayna Baszler, who is a current/former MMA fighter, comes out for an interview. She talks about educating the fans on catch wrestling and ends by announcing she’ll debut at Shimmer 81.
Heart of Shimmer Finals: Heidi Lovelace vs. Nicole Savoy vs. Candice LaRae
This is an elimination match, so we will see two pinfalls. Some of the crowd is behind Savoy based on her previous victories. This crowd seems to be with all three women. Savoy won’t shake either opponent’s hand. LaRae forces the code of honor. Savoy then takes control with a number of kicks. Heidi is tossed out of the ring. Savoy chokes LaRae back in the ring. Tope on Lovelace. LaRae dives as well. Knee strike to the head. LaRae sent head first into the turnbuckle. Knees sends LaRae into the middle buckle. Folding press gets a two count. Lovelace applies a modified Rings of Saturn. LaRae gets to the bottom rope. Sick kick by LaRae. Savoy crawls in the ring. Violence party from LaRae. Running hip attack. LaRae wipes out Lovelace on the floor. Shoulder block on Savoy. Roll-up. Kick blocked. Savoy applies an ankle lock. Half crab. LaRae taps.
Crowd boos. Heidicanrana. 1-2-NO! Crowd is somewhat split. Boot to the midsection and a butterfly suplexes. Into a butterfly submission. STO. Lovelace climbs to the top rope. Savoy rises to her feet and kicks Lovelace in the side of the head. Dragon suplex. 1-2-NO! Kick connects. Tiger suplex. 1-2-NO! Back and forth with strikes. Savoy connects with knockout kicks. Lovelace ducks. Back drop driver. Lovelace climbs up to the top rope. Senton. 1-2-NO! Savoy gets up and grabs Lovelace. To the submission, the same one that eliminated LuFisto. Lovelace gets to the bottom rope! Series of kicks by Lovelace. Savoy with rolling butterfly suplexes. Cross armbreaker. Lovelace taps.
This was an unbelievable match and would be on a short list of best matches of the weekend. Lovelace had two four star matches in a row with little rest and was in it until the end. I have to believe a rematch is happening and Lovelace will find success with this championship at some point. This might be the best women’s triple threat of the weekend. Savoy has established herself as a tremendous worker with lots of moves and an ability to work with anyone.
Winner (s)/Rating: NEW Heart of SHIMMER Champion
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