In many ways, Shine 6 felt like an official to the company with a clear storyline now coming into focus based on the ending. Shines 1-5 certainly had their pluses and minuses, but Shine 6 seemed to bring everything together in a really solid way. For those who like heels getting heat, this was definitely the show for you as they dominated in all of the important matches. Coming into 2013, Shine needed to find a way to both separate themselves from other women’s federations while also retaining a simila quality. The first show of 2013 got them off to a solid start.
Much of the problem with the undercard persists as many of the matches feel inconsequential. I appreciate the traditional aspects of the way Shine books their shows and don’t necessarily need to see PWG level action every time out, but one could essentially throw away the first three or four matches of every card as an under ten minute two to three star match. The pattern was disturbed a bit at Shine 5, but the formula came back for this show. Mia Yim and Tina San Antonio kicked the show off in much the way I described two sentences ago. Yim had been in Japan for the previous two shows and showed some improvement by breaking in some new offense and smoothing out a tad from her previous American run. Yim won quickly with a German suplex.
Santana continued her winning ways by debuting Leah Von Dutch with the Shining Star Press. I’ve not been impressed with Von Dutch’s work, but she was perfectly acceptable here. Von Dutch even showed some nice heelish tendencies while Santana can almost never be anything but a smiley, bubbly babyface. After an epic match at Shine 1 with Rain and a very good solid effort with Jessica Havok at Shine 5, she slid down the card a bit and pretty much squashed Kimber Lee with a Barbie Killer to get her first win. I’m hoping her presence on the undercard defeating someone like Lee means she’s staying around for the long haul because her presence makes for a better company.
The fourth match felt like the first piece of consequential business on the card as we saw a grudge continue. Made in Sin of Allysin Kay and Taylor were undefeated in singles and tag action going into a Shine 2 rematch with Misery of MsChif and Christina Von Eerie. Kay and Made can pretty much carry their half of a match with personality alone. There was a brief heat segment on MsChif, which makes sense since the primary focus of the feud has been on Von Eerie. Fittingly, she got the hot tag and was able to get the pin after a doomsday device. To keep the feud going, Kay, Made, and April Hunter beat Von Eerie down in ring. MsChif had been posted on the outside by Kay. I liked Von Eerie getting a measure of revenge only to then be beaten down after the win. It’s a logical way to keep the feud going, especially since Made in Sin still has a ton of heat from being previously undefeated, so they can still run future singles and tag matches if they wanted. Solid angle after a decent match.
Similar to Nikki Roxx, I got the impression that Ivelisse was being rebooted a bit in a singles match with Su Yung. Ivelisse’s Tough Enough background and nickname, the anti-Diva, were emphasized a bit more. More importantly, Ivelisse picked up a clean win against someone who’s been successful within the promotion in multiple ways. These two got time to develop a match and Ivelisse eventually won with a move called the Guillotina. It’s essentially a guillotine turned into a DDT. Very much worth nothing that Ivelisse picked up the win clean here, Made in Sin executed a successful heel beatdown, and Rain cut a promo prior to this match mentioning revenge toward Jazz after not being given a Shimmer title shot despite being an original of the company.
Jessica Havok and Reby Sky had the second of three really important grudge matches on this show. The fact that Matt Hardy was not only mentioned but shown frequently was a giant sign post he would become involved in some way. Havok worked over the shoulder and arm, the same body parts she wore out with a chair on a previous event and eventually locked on a modified Rings of Saturn. Sky was seemingly not going to give despite being trapped and unable to get anywhere close to the ropes. Hardy saw a towel, grabbed it, and threw it in the ring. I’m honestly surprised a finish like this isn’t used more often in pro wrestling because it’s so easy and smart. The heel looks like a monster for breaking an unbreakable submission move while the babyface still comes away a triumphant hero and a non-quitter. I wasn’t as thrilled with Hardy intimidating Havok in the ring since this is after all a women’s show, but I think both girls came away looking good. Havok is the most talented performer in the company, and Sky portrays an underdog well.
I’m on the record as having buried the losing streak angle of Kimberly since these things really never go anywhere and make the wrestler look like a fool. Well, I guess Shine made me look like a fool. Don’t worry guys. It’s the one time anything in the WWN universe ever has. Kimberly snapped at Shine 5 on Leva Bates after losing a tag team match. In grudge match number three of the show, Kimberly finally picked up her first win by submission in definitive fashion with a version of the Texas Cloverleaf. Bates attacked Kimberly from the crowd, and I didn’t notice a costume at first. I believe she had some make-up on to look like The Crow. If she had worn a t-shirt and refused to job to Kimberly, then I would have assumed she was tributing Sting. This was a strong effort from both girls with good action and intensity throughout. I was happy to see Kimberly finally get a win and be proven wrong.
You may have noticed I referred to three grudge matches. It’s tough for me to really consider Amazing Kong versus Mercedes Martinez a grudge match in the strictest sense of the word since the issue is moreso with the former and Jazz. Unfortunately, due to an injury, Jazz was unable to perform on this show. Kong and Martinez did their best to make up for the missing Jazz with some solid back and forth action. Kong even managed to hit her middle rope splash but could not get the victory, Then all hell broke loose as Rain came down to distract the official. April Hunter used her mini bat to hit Kong in the back of the knee. Martinez got a pinfall victory and backed away. Rain, April Hunter, Allysin Kay, Taylor Made, and Ivelisse continued with an old-fashioned Horsemen beatdown on Kong. The rest of the locker room, including both wrestlers and officials, tried to make the save, but were turned away. Pretty compelling stuff. Rain then got on the microphone and proclaimed them as Valkerye. Show over.
Given the last three results, Shine 6 did not exactly end things on a happy. Undoubtedly one of the darker shows you’ll ever see, it was effective in getting multiple heels over and really making me want to see the babyfaces make an eventual comeback. Angle wise, a crucial show. Maybe this could even be a good starting place for a new fan. This was a dark, but ultimately very important show.
Grade: C+
**********************************************************************************************************************
-Taped from Ybor City, Florida
-Commentators: Lenny Leonard and Daffney
-Mia Yim defeats Tina San Antonio by pinfall after a German suplex/6:30/**
-Santana defeats Leah Von Dutch by pinfall with the Shining Star Press/7:08/*1/2
-Nikki Roxx defeats Kimber Lee by pinfall after a Barbie Killer/7:31/**
-Misery (MsChif and Christina Von Eerie) defeats –Made in Sin(Allysin Kay and Taylor Made w/April Hunter by pinfall after a doomsday device/8:55/**3/4
-Ivelisse defeats Su Yung with the Guillotina/9:23/**1/2
-Jessica Havok defeats Reby Sky after Matt Hardy threw in the towel/10:27/***1/4
-Kimberly defeats Leva Bates by submission with the Texas Cloverleaf/10:13/***
-Mercedes Martinez defeats Amazing Kong by pinfall after April Hunter nails Kong in the back of the knee/12:12/***1/4
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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