Shine 4 was a chance to upend the formula slightly thanks to some help from some international stars in town for Shimmer the following week in Berwyn for the quadruple DVD taping. In some ways, the undercard was stronger than the previous, but the main events were what held this event back from being the best show in their brief history. If nothing else, Shine did an excellent job with the month-to-month storytelling. However, they also sold out a bit and sacrificed match quality to do so. This is something that a company, particularly one running on iPPV every month and asking fans for 10-15 dollars must balance.
The show started right away with a Shine regular wrestling an international Shimmer star as Su Yung and Rhia O’Reilly had a fairly pedestrian, if nothing else okay, opener. Nothing bad but nothing where I would say “You need to see this.” I really wish these Shine shows would start off a bit hotter because as a fan, the formula of seeing three or four two matches to start can get a bit repetitive and predictable. My criticism isn’t necessarily directed at these two girls because I think they did what they could with 6 ½ minutes but more a critique of the promotion overall. Yung kept won her second singles match with Aurora Borealis, her version of Soul Food done to an opponent’s back. O’Reilly showed some flashes, but I think some of her Shimmer work is far more representative of her abilities.
Kimberly, despite the fact that she was 0-4 by the end of her match with Brandi Wine, has been impressive in spots. I hadn’t seen much of her work, but I think she’s got a ton of potential and incorporates MMA very well into her moveset, which makes this losing streak angle all the more perplexing. Coming right out of the gate and having someone lose these many matches early is a bit odd, and it gets to a point where you wonder why certain people who’ve won matches, Sojo Bolt winning a three on Shine 2 being a prime example, don’t get booked, but Kimberly keeps getting chances. We as wrestling fans can look at a map and where the talent comes from to see the real reason why, but part of good storytelling should be saying why Kimberly keeps getting on shows. Another issue seemed to be not understanding who was supposed to be heel/babyface. Kimberly has exhibited many heel traits, but here she almost seemed to be getting sympathy from the crowd because they know she’s been losing. The match was okay. Not sure if Vine is someone Shine wants to bring in consistently, but bringing her in to put over other babyfaces wouldn’t be the worst use of her.
It’s funny to think that I’ve enjoyed matches involving Matt Hardy’s girlfriend more than Matt Hardy given how talented he was as a performer. Regardless of how Reby Sky came into wrestling, regardless of whatever she has done in the past it relates to being on Howard Stern or modeling, I’m going to rate and discuss her matches the same as I would for anyone else. The easy thing to do is take pot shots and make jokes at her expense before watching her wrestle. If she was terrible and seemingly had no business in wrestling, I’d lead the charge of snarkiness. However, I think she shows a great deal of aptitude in the ring. She’s certainly not the smoothest at times, but her match with Kellie Skater was good and borderline great. I was a little concerned about no mention of the Havok attack at Shine 2, but this was thankfully addressed later in the show. Skater and Sky had a solid back and forth encounter. Skater played the heel role well and showed why she’s a regular in Japanese women’s promotions. Sky played the spunky babyface and held up her end. No doubt Skater and Havok are good at what they do, but Sky deserves at least some of the credit too. If there is one tweak to be made, it’s not using the Twist of Fate as a finisher. Too much baggage there.
A big part of Shine thus far has been Rain’s cheating ways. I’ve liked her performances a great deal, and she serves the company role well being a veteran. And although I’ve discussed my opposition to interference in a billion matches on ever show (more on that later, I’m okay with Rain creatively cheating by herself and picking up wins. Ultimately, the heat remains with her, and she looks more like a conniving but smart heel as opposed to a coward who can’t win on her own. Christina Von Eerie was a solid opponent as another veteran. I’m sure in a main event, they could really turn it up, but this seemed like more of a set-up for Rain to cheat and win, then have Von Eerie get beat up by Made in Sin. Von Eerie said she wouldn’t be at Shine 5 but vowed to appear at Shine 6 with a partner.
The attack by Allysin Kay and Taylor Made turned into a fine transition for a tag team match involving them against Shazza McKenzie and Davina Rose (perhaps better known now as WWE NXT’s Bayley. Kay started things out very quickly with trying to make Rose tap out to the stretch muffler. McKenzie and Rose badly botched a double team, and Kay responded appropriately by just forearming Rose right in the face. Made in Sin controlled a great deal of the contest and again defeated a team of females who compete for Shimmer. Another great win and I like Shine making their double team look very strong. Whenever someone finally kicks out of it, the pop should be pretty big. The booking of Made in Sin as a team has been excellent thus far as they’re pretty much the top tag team in the promotion.
Speaking of top heels, Mercedes Martinez was given a rebound victory over Santana. Santana is sort of rotating wins and losses at this point, which is fine given she’s relatively unknown and has gotten some of her biggest opportunities in Shine. Martinez was basically humiliated at the last show in losing to Jayme Jameson, and the purpose here was to have her kill someone to get her back in the main event. Strong competent booking here. The match quality was not as good as I thought it could have been because of some sloppiness on Santana’s part, but I think she does a great job getting fans to react for her. I think her personality comes through, she’ll be as pure a babyface in Shine as you could have. Martinez looked like a killer.
Just based on watching the first four Shine shows alone, Jessica Havok is my favorite roster member. Jazz and Made in Sin probably being the others. Leva Bates can be awkward at times, but dressing up like different characters build an instant rapport with the fans. I’m not sure if this would translate on a mainstream level, but she does have an easy hook on the indies. Plus, the majority of fans are probably male. Not everyone likes Walking Dead, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Spider-man, but you can certainly remember her as “that girl who dresses in a costume” every month. Simple but effective. On this night, she can also be remembered for being killed by Havok. I enjoyed this as a giant overdog vs. little underdog battle. Havok again won clean with the Air Raid Crash after struggling to get the hold. Similar to Made in Sin’s finish, once someone kicks out of the Air Raid Crash, it’ll be a big deal. Havoc tried to assault the tiny Bates as she did with Sky months earlier and with Mia Yim. Reby Sky came out for the save and hit some rather weak chair shots. If someone can’t swing a chair well, yes I know Sky attacking Havok was meant to mirror what happened, then I question whether they shouldn’t be using another weapon. Bad chair shots go over like a fart in church, and I would rather see Sky swing a bat, pipe, or belt instead of being laughed at.
Funny story about the main event. I was really looking forward to Jazz wrestling Saraya Knight. I knew I wasn’t going to get a lot of heavy workrate and movez. I was more than okay with that. To me, these two are better than that. They’re also better than the needless crowd brawling they did, which killed half the match. I see the logic behind crowd brawling at times, but this seemed unnecessary given Jazz just had a brawl with Mercedes Martinez two shows prior, and the referee didn’t disqualify the competitors this time around. Why was a no-contest warranted for Martinez being tossed off the stage, but not the Shimmer champion? I also hated the execution of the finish despite understanding the storytelling behind why it happened. Rain comes in and waffles Jazz with a pair of brass knuckles while Martinez distracts the referee, leading to Knight getting the pin. So not only did with get a bunch of crowd brawling where half the action could be easily missed thanks to crappy camera work, but we also get a blah finish. Martinez and Rain certainly have a lot in common in that they want revenge against Jazz, but I think there’s got to be a better way to honor the fact that this is the main event of a show with making sure Knight escapes with the title. I almost would have rather seen this be turned into a tag match or done another way.
The biggest strength for Shine is the feeling that I’m watching is episodic. Certain wrestlers are obviously being pushed and protected while others are being used to put over the bigger stars. Things seem to be building and there is a sense of cohesion which no other company in the WWN universe has, and a lot of other indies lack as well. The continuity and booking in some ways is its greatest strength. What I’m hoping for as issues build is better match quality throughout the card and balancing being an almost three hour episodic iPPV with still serving the desires of independent wrestling fans.
Grade: C+
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-Taped from Ybor City, Florida
-Commentator: Lenny Leonard
-Su Yung defeats Rhia O’Reilly by pinfall after Aurora Borealis /6:30/**
-Brandi Vine defeats Kimberly by pinfall with a roll-up and hold of the tights/9:57/**1/4
– Reby Sky defeats Kellie Skater by pinfall after the Twist of Fate/11:55/***1/4
-Rain defeats Christina Von Eerie by pinfall after a low blow and implant DDT/9:04/**3/4
-Made in Sin (Allysin Kay and Taylor Made w/April Hunter) defeats Davina Rose and Shazza McKenzie with Seven Deadly/12:15/***
-Mercedes Martinez defeats Santana with the Fishermen’s Buster/5:56/*1/2
-Jessica Havok defeats Leva Bates with the Air Raid Crash/10:44/***1/4
-Shimmer Championship: Saraya Knight defends her title successfully over Jazz by pinfall after Rain punches Jazz in the face with brass knuckles/13:39/**1/2
For more information on Shine wrestling, check out their website. You can also buy on-demand streams of all their shows on WWN Live.
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