Shine 11 Review

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Coming into the one year anniversary of Shine, I was genuinely excited for the championship tournament. I thought this was a huge chance for Shine to really showcase its best work and really take the stage as a top indie fed, not just a top “women’s fed.” I cannot imagine how Jazz’s unfortunate injuries affected the booking and in-ring quality, but based on what I saw, this was a significant issue. There were some very good matches on this night but also some questionable booking decisions as well.

Because of the suspension of Allysin Kay and the injury to Jazz, there were two spots in the eight woman tournament to fill. Six women got a second chance to get in while two others got their first chance. This is honestly making the best of a bad situation, and I can’t imagine how complicated putting this show together was given the circumstances. LuFisto won a very entertaining opener by pinning Su Yung with the burning hammer. There was lots of brawling and a very quick pace established. I liked that Su Yung’s continued aggressiveness was addressed on commentary. Because she had to wrestle Saraya Knight in a crazy brawl, Yung herself is a bit more violent. There was some interaction between Nikki Roxx and Mercedes Martinez as well, but their feud was left simmering by the end of the match. I liked the opener significantly better than the second match, which Ivelisse won by pinning Kimberly after a code red. Amazing Kong and Angelina Love were also involved in the match. This was more of a tag match than anything else. I always call matches like “Bore Corner Survival” since the logic is inherently flawed. Why would anyone tag out of a match like this or work with a partner. At least the first match was mostly brawling and four people in the ring at the same time. If you’re going to do a match such as this, I think all four people need to be in the ring at the same time or Lucha rules need to be used. Otherwise, you get a two star match.

Now when we talk about logic gaps, the next match takes the cake. Jessica Havok and Saraya Knight wrestled in the first quarterfinal. They spent minimal time in the ring and brawled literally all over the building. They used chairs, tossed each other off the stage, tossed each other into the stage, and pretty much had one of the more intense matches in Shine’s brief history. Knight using low blows so often is such a bitchy thing to do, but I love it. Knight is a spectacular heel and in trying to get the fans to cheer for Havok, well, you’re not going to find many better opponents. Shine has been tremendously successful putting Havok in with workers who excel at getting people to boo them. At the moment Havok, piledrove Knight on the stage, I was wondering what the finish could possibly be. Then Knight hit Havok with a chair. The bell rang and I rolled my eyes back farther than the Undertaker after he wins at Wrestlemania. Except unlike his undefeated streak being posted on the giant video board, the words “DUMBEST FINISH EVER” flashed on the video board in my head. Given the context of the match, this match made no sense. Having a huge brawl with these two girls killing each other only for it to end in a disqualification was a poor decision. Honestly, Shine could have accomplished the same thing by having Havok roll Knight up (not ideal either but if they’re going to feud and you need a heel beatdown, you at least have a pre-text) and then get her knee destroyed.

After the previous match, I was ready to give up on pro wrestling, but Leva Bates and Mia Yim quickly restored my faith by having a great little match. Their friendship was referenced throughout as a sign they would respect each other and simply deliver good athletic performances. For whatever reason, they were discussed as each dating one half of Los Ben Dejos. Just out of curiosity, I pondered if men’s dating lives would be discussed during a match like this. I seriously doubt it. Bates came out dressed in a black Spider-man costume to symbolize her continuing dark ways in the world of Shine. All I know about the black Spider-man costume is it has something to do with Venom. I know nothing more. This received a lot of time, and they turned in a great effort, even better in hindsight particularly for Yim. Lots of false finishes, which while common on the indies, isn’t nearly as much the case in Shine, so it felt more special and stood out. Yim finally won with a vicious German suplex off the middle rope.

In her second match of the night, LuFisto came up short in a slightly better than okay match with Rain. Action started very quickly with no feeling out process and LuFisto going right to work after having already wrestled once. You can tell these two have wrestled a number of times or at the very least are veterans, because of how smooth the action was and the minimal awkwardness. The action was all right enough, but April Hunter went on the apron again. LuFisto became distracted again and attacked her. Of course, Rain rolled her up, hooked the tights, and won. I’m weary of this finish already.

The other person who had to wrestle a second time actually advanced into the semifinals relatively cleanly. Ivelisse and Santana have been two of the better performers show in and show out. I’ve been impressed with Santana’s improvement while Ivelisse is incorporating MMA pretty darn well into pro wrestling. And I know this is a small thing, but dying her hair and going a bit darker differentiates herself in a positive way from the person who was on Tough Enough a couple years ago. I’m happy there was a clean finish and Valkyrie looked like a threat. Without Jazz and Kay, the booking was a bit wonky since a heel certainly should have been facing Yim, but having Santana lose clean to a heel who’s wrestled once felt odd. Still a good match worth watching.

In reality, there was only one semifinal as Jessica Havok got counted out before even getting in the ring with Rain, meaning the heel essentially got a bye into the finals. Easy way to build drama and Havok now has reason to demand a title shot at the earliest possible date. Havok came off extremely sympathetically in trying to get in the ring and not being able to. The most hilarious part of this segment was Havok shoving Lexie Fife and Lenny Leonard saying Havok would get fined. So Saraya Knight can assault Havok with a chair, cost her a spot in the tournament, and simply be escorted out by an incompetent security staff who couldn’t prevent a second attack, but Havok is getting find despite the fact she can’t walk. Hilarious commentary.

Mia Yim versus Ivelisse has been teased a bit in recent months. Both use a great deal of submissions and are arguably two of the best all-around performers in Shine right now. I very much enjoyed their match as a showcase of what they do best. There were some Shineanigans as both April Hunter and Rain tried to become involved, but Yim got a roll-up win anyway. A bit unnecessary but a tremendous amount of credit to these women for each wrestling three times in such a short amount of time. There were not a lot of breaks during the show as every match was a part of the tournament. Ivelisse was very impressive, and her stock rose in my eyes.

Solo Darling was invited to be a part of Daffney’s babyface faction along with Nikki Roxx. They danced. This literally only served to stall time between the semifinals and finals.

Rain and Mia Yim wrestled in the finals to crown the first ever champion…and something was missing. The crowd heat was all wrong. The finish seemingly came out of nowhere. I understand YIm wrestled three times and Rain wrestled once, but there were a lot of meaningless holds for no reason. This is where Jazz not being involved really hurt the tournament because I feel like the finals were destined to be her wrestling Rain. To me, this would have been a more fitting way to end the tournament and crowd a new champion. I’m happy there was a clean finish, but for whatever reason, this felt flat. Yim is certainly talented enough to be the first Shine champion or make it this far, but I’m not sure if her lack of consistency warranted this booking decision. To me, Leva Bates would have been a much better selection given her huge feud with Kimberly and being on every show. I see the logic behind giving a veteran (and a heel) like Rain the championship, but I don’t think the finals lived up to the potential of what this tournament could have been.

There were certainly some worthwhile matches on this show, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed by some of the in-ring action and the booking decisions. Shine 11 was a huge chance to take a step forward, crown a new champion, and establish a hierarchy. Rain is a solid choice to be the first champion, and while Havok will eventually be a strong challenger, I definitely wish the execution had been better on this night.

Grade: C+

-Taped from Ybor City, Florida

Commentators: Lenny Leonard

Shine Championship Qualfier: LuFisto defeats Su Yung, Nikki Roxx, and Mercedes Martinez. LuFisto pins Yung after a burning hammer. (w/Daffney)/8:42/**3/4

Shine Championship Qualifier: Ivelisse (w/April Hunter) defeats Kimberly, Angelina Love, and Amazing Kong. Ivelisse pins Kimberly with Code Red/7:16/**

Shine Championship Quarterfinal #1: Jessica Havok defeats Saraya Knight by disqualification./14:37/**

Shine Championship Quarterfinal #2: Mia Yim defeats Leva Bates by pinfall after a German suplex off the middle rope/13:37/***1/2

Shine Championship Quarterfinal #3: Rain (w/April Hunter) defeats LuFisto with a roll-up and a hold of the tights/8:25/**3/4

Shine Championship Quarterfinal: Ivelisse (w/April Hunter) defeats Santana (w/Amber O’Neal) with a spinning kick/12:16/***1/4

Shine Championship Semifinal #1: Rain defeats Jessica Havok by forfeit/count-out

Shine Championship Semifinal #2: Mia Yim defeats Ivelisse (w/April Hunter) with a roll-up after Rain hit Ivelisse with a cast./11:34/***1/4

Shine Championship Final: Rain defeats Mia Yim to become the first ever Shine Champion by pinfall after the implant DDT/14:40/**

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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