LANCE STORM COMMENTARY ABOUT SHIMMER
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Everyone at SHIMMER would like to thank Lance Storm for his kind words and endorsement of our product in his latest web site commentary. Visit http://www.stormwrestling.com/ for more on Lance’s current thoughts, as well as Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary.
Courtesy of http://www.stormwrestling.com/101709.html
Before I start I want to offer my condolences to the friends and family of Captain Lou Albano who passed away earlier this week. I never had the opportunity to meet Captain Lou during my career so I don’t have any personal stories or insight to offer, but never the less was saddened to hear of his passing. RIP Captain Lou…thank you for your contributions to the business I love.
Not a ton of other stuff to talk about today but I have a few things I want to plug that I think a lot of you would enjoy checking out.
ROH has released the 2 Night “Death before Dishonor VII” DVDs. “Death before Dishonor VII” were the two shows in Toronto, Ontario this past July that I work for Ring of Honor. These two events feature what will probably be the last 2 matches of my career. The July 24th event featured fellow Canadian Kevin Steen and me squaring off against Chris Hero and Davey Richards, and the July 25th event featured a singles bout between Chris Hero and myself. I just watched both matches back for the first time, and can tell you I was very happy with my performance in both matches.
When I wrote about these matches right after doing them I commented that I wasn’t what I once was, but looking back that was only half true. After watching them back I feel the work rate and quality was still there, I just had to work a lot harder to get there. In the past I would have been able to do those matches without effort and had a lot left in the tank when they were done. At 40 I had to give it everything I had to keep up with the younger guys and the tank was definitely on empty when it was over. In some ways though, this actually added to the match, especially the single with Hero. I think the sweat and fatigue added some realism to my selling and the credibility of the match, it helped tell a perfect story. I’m very proud of these matches, I hope you check them out.
If seeing my last two matches isn’t hook enough, there is also the usual GREAT ROH Action on the events, as well as an appearance by Bret Hart on the 24th event and Ric Flair on the 25th. Both DVDs are available at: www.ROHwrestling.com and are priced ridiculously low at $20 each.
The other thing I’d like to plug is “Shimmer”. “Shimmer” is a Women’s only Pro Wrestling organization that features some of the most talented women pro wrestlers on the planet. WWE has their Divas, and TNA has their Knock outs, but my God Shimmer has some women who CAN WRESTLE! To be honest I haven’t seen a ton of Shimmer, but the more I see of it the more I like it.
I first picked up a couple “Shimmer” DVD’s for my SWA Library, but never had the time to sit down and watch any of them. I seldom have time to just sit down and watch DVDs so they just sat on my shelf for students to check out. Earlier this year I was contacted by the Shimmer promoter and told that one of my SWA students, Tenille, was booked on their next set of DVD tapings. I was thrilled “Shimmer” was giving Tenille a shot and I was looking forward to watching her match once the DVD was released.
Well the DVD has been released and Tenille lent me her copy, so I could check out her match. The DVD is “Shimmer Vol. #23” and so far I’ve checked out about half of it and boy was I impressed. I haven’t even gotten to the Main Events yet, and I’ve seen some of the best pro-wrestling I’ve seen in a long time. Yes I purposely didn’t say “Best Women’s Wrestling” I’ve seen, because a couple of these matches are so good they stand up to any matches out there men’s or women’s.
Now I’m not saying every match is a mat classic, but even the worst Shimmer matches I’ve seen are still decent and you have to respect these girls for how hard they work. Tenille wrestled Amber O’Neil on the show and to be honest only had a decent match and she is capable of much better. She is going back for the next set of tapings (November 8th) and will likely be more comfortable her second time out and better show case her talents.
The best match I’ve seen on the DVD, so far, featured Sara Del Rey and Madison Eagles. I’ve met Sara a couple times doing ROH appearances so I’ve seen her work, but Madison Eagles I’d never even heard of before. This match blew me away. This match featured some of the best mat wrestling I’ve seen this side of Bryan Danielson. These girls were AWESOME, these girls can WRESLE. I CAN NOT praise this match or recommend this DVD enough. The DVD is priced absurdly low at $14.95 and this match alone is worth that. Guys in this business could watch these two girls work to improve their mat skills, hell if I was coming back, I’d watch this match again, for s–t to steal.
There are a ton of great women workers on this DVD including Daze Haze, who I’m also a big fan of, Amazing Kong (TNA’s Awesome Kong) and I can’t wait to check out the Main Event featuring Shimmer Champion Mischif defending her title against Serena Deeb. I haven’t had the opportunity to see either of these girls yet but if they are Main Eventing a show already this good, they must be great.
If you miss the days of Trish Stratus, Jazz, Molly Holly, etc. do yourself a favour and check out “Shimmer”, either on DVD or live. The next Shimmer taping is coming up November 8th in Berwyn, IL which is just out side of Chicago, so if you are in the area PLEASE show your support and attend this event. Details on Shimmer, the live taping, or DVDs can all be found at: www.ShimmerWrestling.com
Lance Storm