Well, SHINE 16 is in the books! Even though were are just a hair away from February, it was a brand new year for the women of Shine Wrestling, and their last show this past Friday brought new beginnings to the promotion.
The event started with a 10-bell salute to Mae Young, which included a kayfabe brawl between Nevaeh and Leva Bates to further hype up their match later in the evening. The event officially got underway with Kimberly (with Daffney in her corner) defeating Sojo Bolt in the opening match, while Amber O'Neal won her first post-American Sweethearts match against La Rosa Negra. Su Yung actually had a singles match of her own, losing to Mercedes Martinez. Serena Deeb's debut came afterward, expectedly defeating Santana Garrett in a terrific match. I find it interesting that Amber won her match and Santana lost hers after they split. I'm hoping for a match between the two former partners, and based on the results alone, Amber could be the villainess if this happens. As for Serena, much more on her later.
After Amazing Kong soundly defeated Taylor Made (with April Hunter in her corner), Daffney brought out her newly announced tag team, consisting of Solo Darling and Heidi Lovelace. Now known as "The Buddy System," the duo defeated The S-N-S Express (Sassy Stephie and Jessie Belle), handing the duo their first defeat since they formed back in September. Now on the the main matches.
The contentious rematch between Jessicka Havok and Allysin Kay ended the same way that their first match ended: in a stalemate. Last month's battle resulted in a double disqualification, so they decided to throw out DQ's. Apparently, they forgot to throw out countouts, because that's exactly what happened: a double countout. Clearly, this thing's not over. I expect at least one or two more matches between Havok and Kay in future Shine shows.
Nevaeh defeated Leva Bates in a straight-up one-on-one match, and that was a result I didn't see coming. With the way each woman delivered their promos, I expected Leva to emerge victorious. It was Nevaeh who demanded a no-gimmick match, claiming that she is an actual wrestler, unlike Leva. Leva gave a passionate response defending the numerous times she thinks outside the box and wears her costumes, so with that, I thought she would get her redemption and defeat "the real wrestler." Sadly, she didn't, but this saga may not be over. The final match before the main event saw Angelina Love defeat Leah Von Dutch, but LVD would get the last word and attack Angelina from behind after the match. I'm still stunned that LVD is a villain in Shine, mainly because I didn't think she could pull it off. Not only is she doing a good job in her heel role in Shine, but from what I just saw on the NCW Femmes Fatales XIII DVD, LVD could be unleashing her evil side in front of the Quebec crowd.
And now for the main event! Before the match, a video package was shown detailing how Valkyrie was formed last January, and Rain's road to becoming the first ever SHINE Champion in July. Also included was Lexie Fyfe announcing last month that Ivelisse will be the #1 Contender for the title, and the promos featuring her Valkyrie cohorts telling her not to accept. After talking to Lexie, Ivelisse eventually accepted, and the match was on!
We were teased with a pair of cheap finishes, the first being the infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom," made famous in WCW. The second was Rain actually laying down for Ivelisse, but after the champion countered with an actual cover of her own, the fight was on. No BS, no shenanigans, the two top women (in my estimation) in Valkyrie were in a dogfight for the SHINE Championship. To say that this was a terrific match would be an understatement. Both women really delivered, as I and pretty much everyone else expected. I loved how Ivelisse seemed to be frustrating Rain, to the point where the champion gave these outlandish expressions that made her look a lot like Victoria/Tara. Ivelisse was unsuccessful in defeating her with one finisher, Distain, but her Code Red finisher would be the one that made her the new SHINE Champion!
So after Ivelisse's big victory, I became anxious as to what would follow. Rain took the microphone and congratulated Ivelisse for her win, and stated that as long as it's in Valkyrie, it's OK. Just one thing. As Rain venomously stated to Ivelisse, she's not in Valkyrie anymore, and she unleashed her cohorts on her in a vicious attack. The group was run off by a number of babyfaces, including Angelina Love, Amber O'Neal, Jessicka Havok, and Serena Deeb, and that's where things got even more twisted. At that moment, Serena turned into a villainess and struck Ivelisse with her newly won SHINE Championship, and she later stood smiling evilly as Valkyrie resurfaced and attacked the babyfaces in and out of the ring. Serena later removed her SHIMMER sweatshirt and revealed a Valkyrie t-shirt, establishing herself as the newest member of the group, replacing Ivelisse.
And some sad news for fans of Rain, such as myself: she has officially retired from wrestling. Rain originally targeted December 2013 as her retirement date, but she stuck around for one more Shine show. At least her last match was an instant classic, but from what I've seen, a lot of her matches are instant classics. I had been familiar with Rain for a number of years, but it was the news of her retirement that was the reason why I started watching the Shine shows last year; so I can watch her last run.
So to recap, Ivelisse is the new SHINE Champion, Serena Deeb is now in Valkyrie, and Valkyrie's leader, Rain, has hung up her wrestling boots for good. With that, it appears that the evil Serena is now the new leader of Valkyrie, which now only consists of herself, Allysin Kay, Taylor Made, and April Hunter. Oh, and there's more. During the SHINE 16 IPPV, Lenny Leonard announced that SHINE 17 will take place on February 28, and it will be a huge event, as the first-ever SHINE Tag Team Champions will be crowned. I can't wait for that! Shine has a few established teams in Valkyrie's Made In Sin, The S-N-S Express, The West Coast Connection, and the newly formed The Buddy System, and it was announced that the champions will be crowned in a one-night eight-team tournament. So a few make-shift teams should be formed for the tourney. I hope I see current SHIMMER Tag Team Champions Kellie Skater and Tomoka Nakagawa at the event, as well as former two time champions The Canadian Ninjas (Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews). What sucks is that this news comes right after The American Sweethearts had to split.
As for the big one-on-one issues, only time will tell if Shine Wrestling will squeeze in any of the main singles bouts in an event that is mainly about the tag team division. With the way the event ended, one would assume that Serena has her eyes on Ivelisse's SHINE Championship, and of course there's the Havok/Kay issue. Though I think Kay will be busy with Taylor Made in the tournament, but time will tell if the SHINE Championship becomes part of the SHINE 17 event.