One of the big questions I was curious going into these Shine events was, “When are they going to crown a champion?” I understand the loose affiliation with Shimmer, but the odds of bringing in Cheerleader Melissa every month are pretty slim. They need someone to represent the company who can be in Ybor City month after month. I’m glad Shine waited a few shows before crowning a champion to establish a roster and let things settle. Overall, this show felt about as good as Shine 8 with a couple notable disappointments.
The most pleasant surprise was seeing this show opening with a match that got time and showcased two wrestlers instead of turning into a borderline squash. Allysin Kay defeated Courtney Rush in a competitive and good quality match to kick off the show. This was a pretty physical match, and Rush was able to establish a good babyface rapport with the fans right away against the hated Valkyrie. Of course, there were Shineanigans as April Hunter went on the apron while Kay tapped. Rush jumped after her. Kay hit the cutthroat Saito suplex for the win. Hope we can see Rush back in the future and it was good to see Kay get some well deserved singles action.
The first championship qualifier saw Saraya Knight take on Su Yung. Given the latter is a regular of the promotion, I would have thought “Yung goes over,” even with Knight’s world renowned name and ability. Knight made fun of Yung for being a Barbie doll and not that tough. They started out slapping from the get go. Knight frequently kicked Yung low to get the advantage, something which the referees in Shine apparently don’t care about. Doesn’t kicking a girl in the vagina still hurt? This isn’t exactly something I want to experiment and find out about. As I digress, Yung went for her submission finisher, and even though she locked it in, was still unable to get the victory. The match deloved into a very physical battle. We got a ridiculous slap exchange in the waning moments of the match. Knight finally hit one more low blow, hit Yung with a sitdown powerbomb, and advanced into the tournament. Good effort from both women. I think this played to both girl’s strengths with Knight not having to be such a workrate machine like she would for Shimmer. I very much enjoyed the story told.
Next up was “Jerome Pet Peeve #5- The Random Three Way.” Tonight’s lucky contestants were Rhia O’Reilly, Brittney Savage, and Solo Darling. I thought this was just a pretext to have O’Reilly on the show and not job, but she ended up defeating the debuting Darling with a samoan drop. This was a disorganized mess with an out of nowhere finish that made little sense. That’s what happens when you book a match like this. Darling could have been used in a singles match and probably come away much stronger. I’m not saying she should have won, but there’s a way to present her in a better light than this.
I’m not sure how many singles matches Angelina Love has had since being released from TNA, but wrestling for six minutes against Rain doesn’t meet the somewhat lowered expectations in the ring. It was a Shine qualifier that went six minutes and felt very insignificant. I know Love is capable of more than this, but this was a huge disappointment. Furthermore, we got more interference in this match. Love actually hit the Botox Injection and took waaaaaaaaaaay too long after knocking April Hunter off the apron and going for the cover. Pretty telegraphed from there as Rain raked the eyes and hit the implant DDT for three. Based on the talent, this should have been a main event level match.
A six woman tag featuring three Aussie women taking on three of Shine’s regulars took place next. Jessie McKay, Shazza McKenzie, and Kellie Skater went slightly heel here, but this match was definitely meant to be more of a good match on the card than anything with a storyline. I appreciated having this here. The previous two matches were not very good, and this raised the bar. Mia Yim, Santana, and Nikki Roxx have all done well in the company, so they were the perfect match-up. Also, given the rest of the Shine qualifiers were to take place at Shine 10, this was a productive use of Roxx and Yim. McKay won with the Boyfriend Stealer over Santana. Because of the nature of the match, I didn’t see much damage done to Santana. She’s still done very well in singles action and was still allowed to very competitive against the Aussies in the match.
Of the eight qualifying matches, I think Jessica Havok versus Madison Eagles was the match I wanted to see most based on how talented the performers are. Lots of pedigree with Eagles as a former Shimmer champion and Havok the current WSU champion. The idea is that Havok was dealing with confidence issues after losing to Reby Sky. Havok wrestled like a babyface as she got more cheers than anyone should expect given her behavior in Shine. If you like kicks, this was certainly the match for you as there were a ton of them toward the end of the match. After a series of exchanges and near hits, Havok hit the Air Raid Crash to get the win and advance into the tournament. Good match and I would imagine a Shimmer would be even better given the higher in-ring intensity.
Evie made her American debut at Shimmer 53. After a full weekend in Berwyn, she made a trip to Shine before heading back to New Zealand. Essentially, she got killed by Mercedes Martinez for ten minutes. Evie ate tons of chops and strikes. Any time Evie did get on offense had to do with using speed, including a missile dropkick. Martinez killed Evie with a back drop driver and then a fishermen buster to pick up a win. I can only assume they’re saving a championship qualifier for the next show since she clearly should be involved.
In the final qualifier of the night, Jazz overcame Valkyrie at last to defeat Ivelisse. She had missed the three previous shows with an injury but was able to come back and put together a fun match. Jazz came off as a top babyface with her ability to ignore all and come away with a win. Ivelisse using the number of submissions she did made total sense as she desperately tried to come away with the win. It also made sense that Rain would be the one to distract the referee and try to make sure Jazz didn’t advance given their rivalry.
A brief angle came before the main event. The Shine roster tried to give Nikki Roxx a birthday cake. You all should know the rule about cakes in wrestling. Roxx got it tossed in her face by Martinez. They’ve split two matches, and a third was clearly set up by these actions. I’ve seen matches set up on much weaker contexts.
The main event was the climax of a feud that has been going on for the last five shows. Leva Bates, dressed like the Joker, ended the feud in grand fashion during an Arkham Asylum Steel Cage match where the object was to tie up your opponent in a straightjacket. This was a good brawl. These two have had a excellent chemistry the whole way, and the storytelling had really enhanced the shows overall. I feel like both women are better off for being in this feud. It gave them a chance to show off their personalities and their in-ring abilities. They had multiple matches and ran the gambit. Very fun feud to watch and develop. I know I’m a bigger fan of both after having watched these two.
The main event was a strong end to the show. Other than a couple disappointments in the middle of the show, this was another very good Shine event. I’m not saying these shows contain great match after great match, but there’s some genuinely good things happening throughout the show. I appreciate that there are feuds going on and we’re building to a big championship tournament.
Grade: B
**********************************************************************************************************************
-Taped from Ybor City, Florida
-Commentators: Lenny Leonard and Daffney
-Allysin Kay (w/April Hunter) defeats Courtney Rush with a cutthroat Saito suplex/11:34/***
–Shine Championship Qualifier: Saraya Knight defeats Su Yung by pinfall after a sitdown powerbomb/9:45/***
-Rhia O’Reilly defeats Brittney Savage and Solo Darling. O’Reilly pins Darling after a samoan drop/6:56/*1/2
-Shine Championship Qualifer: Rain (w/April Hunter) defeats Angelina Love with the implant Buster/6:00/**1/4
– Kellie Skater, Shazza McKenzie, and Jessie McKay defeats Mia Yim, Santana, and Nikki Roxx. McKay pins Santana after the Boyfriend Stealer/12:46/***1/4
-Shine Championship Qualifer: Jessica Havok defeats Madison Eagles by pinfall after the Air Raid Crash/13:06/***1/4
-Mercedes Martinez defeats Evie by pinfall after a fishermen suplex/10:36/***
-Shine Championship Qualifier: Jazz defeats Ivelisse by pinfall after the Jazz Stinger/12:42/***
-Arkham Asylum Steel Cage: Leva Bates defeats Kimberly by putting the straightjacket on/13:55/***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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