Perry’s Perspective: SHINE 38 Review

This is my first time watching SHINE, heck this will only be my second all-women’s show ever. The first was the inaugural SHIMMER show years ago. Surprisingly enough to myself I actually recognize more talent than I was expecting; including all the ladies from the big 4 matches except Kraven. This is the debut broadcast of the WWNLive family on FloSlam.

SHINE 38
Location: Ybor City, Florida

Quick Results
Anything Goes Match: Mercedes Martinez pinned Andrea @ 10:47 (***)
Chelsea Diamond pinned Priscilla Kelly @ 7:00 (Approximately) (**1/2)
Tracy Taylor pinned Miss Rachel @ 7:48 (3/4*)
ACW Women’s Title: Aria Blake (c) vs. Brandi Lauren went to a NO CONTEST @ 7:00 (**)
Rhia O’Reilly pinned Rachael Ellering @ 8:37 (***)
Leva pinned Jessie Belle Smothers @ 8:39 (***)
Raquel pinned Tessa Blanchard @ 10:03 (1/2*)
Amanda Carolina Rodriguez & Shayna Baszler d. C4 by submission @ 7:57 (*)
Su Young d. Saraya Knight by COUNT OUT @ 10:35 (*1/2)
SHINE Title #1 Contender’s Match: LuFisto d. Allysin Kay by submission @ 16:02 (***1/4)
SHINE Title: Ivelisse (c) d. Vanessa Kraven by submission @ 11:28 (***1/2)

Anything Goes Match: Andrea vs. Mercedes Martinez
Andrea was formerly known as Rosie Lotta Love during a brief stint in TNA; man does she look different now! Martinez started out the show by saying she wanted to get the fight started now. Andrea came to the ring wielding a baseball bat and the first match was under way. Match starts with a lot of brawling outside of the ring. Andres threw Martinez into the chairs and beat her with them. Once the match made its way to the ring Andrea was sure to have some chairs in the ring first. The brawl quickly found its way back to the outside with Andrea controlling most of the offense, including spitting beer in Martinez’s face.

Back in the ring Andrea swung the bat full throttle at Martinez. Martinez ducked and hit a German to take control. Once Martinez had control she laid in a few shots to Andrea on the mat. Andrea would miss a top rope splash and then be laid out by a fisherman buster by Martinez for the win.

RESULT: Mercedes Martinez pinned Andrea @ 10:47 (***)
Good choice of an opener here as SHINE had to know they’d have some new viewers who would want to see something good. Both women showed good brawling and selling and made me care as a new viewer.

Chelsea Diamond vs. Priscilla Kelly
Diamond appears to be the baby face here as she enters throwing some treats to the crowd. Lots of grappling by the two to start out which is something we didn’t see at all in the first match. Kelly hit a series of impressive looking kicks. The match goes at a furious pace with both ladies hitting kicks, slams and snap mares. Kelly hit Diamond with a penalty kick but it was only good for 2. Diamond hit a cross body off the top for 3 to win her SHINE debut.

RESULT: Chelsea Diamond pinned Priscilla Kelly @ 7:00 (Approximately) (**1/2)
Solid match, with a bit of sloppiness from both sides. However the match was never boring and I wouldn’t mind seeing either lady again.

Miss Rachel vs. Tracy Taylor
Taylor had a hula girl gimmick, it’s interesting. Lots of alow lockups to start. This was followed by both taking turns with different awkward running sequences. Taylor starts to do some leg work with a modified surfboard. Rachel is on the larger and appears to be older side, shows a lot with her pacing. Rachel worked the dreaded bear hug for about a minute. Rachel tried to hit a big splash in the corner. Taylor moved, rolled up Rachel and thankfully it’s over.

RESULT: Tracy Taylor pinned Miss Rachel @ 7:48 (3/4*)
This was boring, plodding and often sloppy. No thanks on seeing Miss Rachel again.

ACW Women’s Title: Aria Blake (c) vs. Brandi Lauren
ACW is another promotion in the WWN family. I’ve seen some of their men on EVOLVE showcase matches and will likely checkout Dangerous Intentions in 2 weeks. I’m instantly rooting for Blake here as she came to the ring wearing a Charizard shirt. Both ladies were trained by Jay Lethal. Good brawling by both ladies on the outside early. Lauren tried to go for a fisherman buster, Blake countered with knees and I awkward impaler ddt. Lauren hit a modified stunner but only got 2. Blake had a submission locked in when a lady named Jenna hit the ring and took out both ladies.

RESULT: Aria Blake (c) vs. Brandi Lauren went to a NO CONTEST @ 7:00 (**)
Nothing too good or bad here. I was most impressed by Jenna honestly.

Rachael Ellering vs. Rhia O’Reilly
Ellering is very over with the fans and of course the daughter of Paul Ellering. Both ladies trained by Lance Storm. Good chain wrestling to start. Finlay Roll into a senton by O’Reilly gets a 2 count early. O’Reilly controlled a lot of the match with brute power. Great series of rolling elbows by Ellering as she tried to take control of the match. Ellering hit a TKO but Tessa Blanchard had the referee distracted. O’Reilly recovered to hit The Readjustment.

RESULT: Rhia O’Reilly pinned Rachael Ellering @ 8:37 (***)
This was good. O’Reilly had some good offense and Ellering’s selling helped the match.

Jessie Belle Smothers vs. Leva
I’ve seen more than enough Leva. I despised the Blue Pants gimmick in NXT, let’s hope this is more enjoyable for me. Leva has a totally different gimmick here than I’m used to seeing as she appears to be an anime character. I would say Leva is the most over lady so far. Leva spent a good minute before the bell taking off her hair and extensions and putting them on her teddy bear. She then put the wig on Jessie, this match is strange. The bear works his way in as a gimmick for Leva. Jess slams Leva’s ankle into the ring post and followed that up with some good ankle work. Leva with a great dragon sleeper in the ropes, followed by a nasty looking punch by Jessie. Leva went for a superhero kick but her bad ankle gave out. Jessie went for a gory bomb but Leva countered into a jack knife roll up for three.

RESULT: Leva pinned Jessie Belle Smothers @ 8:39 (***)
The crowd was hugely into Leva the whole match as took the beat down. I was glad the ankle work came into play for the finish. Good stuff.

Raquel vs Tessa Blanchard
Blanchard is replacing Jayme Jameson who could not make the show. Crowd is definitely going for Blanchard tonight despite her heel tactics earlier in the night. Raquel took selfies with the referee and Blanchard before the match began. Tessa works the ground game early. Raquel with some very tame looking offense, including one of the weakest kick I’ve ever seen. Tessa hit a flurry of forearms. A sequence of attempted Irish whips by Tessa that Raquel kept stopping led to Raquel hitting a Russian leg sweep. Raquel is using her rear end for a lot of offense, which I even stronger than usual as a doesn’t have much. Ellering returned to distract Tessa. Once Tessa finally turned around Raquel had a HORRIBLE botch attempt at a flatliner ddt. On her third attempt she hit it for the win.

RESULT: Raquel pinned Tessa Blanchard @ 10:03 (1/2*)
That was sloppy and not very enjoyable. Tessa seemed fine but Raquel’s offense was so sloppy.

Amanda Carolina Rodriguez & Shayna Baszler vs. C4 (Amber Gallows & Kennadi Brink)
ACR was supposed to team with Thea Trinidad, but Trinidad had four cut tires and couldn’t make the show. Baszler is also an MMA fighter and looks tough as nails. Baszler and Brink work a tight mat game, reminiscent of an MMA fight to start. C4 gained control once Gallows an ACR were tagged in. ACR showed struggle hitting a lot of transition moves, including sliding under Gallows. Baszler made a tag but the referee was distracted with Gallows. ACR hit a top rope ddt to Gallows which gave her enough time to make the hot tag to Baszler. Baszler locked into a cross armbresker on Brink after a power bomb would end the match.

RESULT: Amanda Carolina Rodriguez & Shayna Baszler d. C4 by submission @ 7:57 (*)
This was not good. Lots of sloppiness from everyone.

Saraya Knight vs. Su Yung
Knight is a legend in England and the mother of current headline grabber Paige. Young’s gimmick is phenomenal, she comes to the ring in a bloody, torn dress and looks like she’s come from AHS. The match becomes a brawl in the fans right away. Knight kicked Su straight in the groin three consecutive times. Somewhere between the last match the audio has become unsynced and it’s very distracting as calls are being made 3 seconds after they should be. Su puts on a glove, shoves it down Knight’s throat and begins shoving her around the crowd. Knight took control back by wrapping a cable around Su and hanging her from a platform.

The fight makes its way to the bar where Knight has a few drinks as she beats down Su. Su gets a plastic bag of tacks and lays them across the bar. Su hits a ddt on the bar top right into the thumbtacks. Su then goes back to the ring and the referee counts out Knight…

RESULT: Su Young d. Saraya Knight by COUNT OUT @ 10:35 (*1/2)
So the referee was okay with them brawling out of the ring for 10 minutes, but then decides to go with a count out? Fights through the crowd are frustrating as they are hard to see and this was no exception. The brawling was okay but this could have been a lot better.

SHINE Title #1 Contender’s Match: Allysin Kay vs. LuFisto
These last two matches really need to deliver as this show has been really underwhelming. Thankfully the audio issues seem to have resolved them self. Another match that quickly goes . The outside. After the last one I would think they would try to avoid that. Thankfully they get back to the ring with Kay in control pretty fast. LuFisto wore Kay down with a camel clutch. The fans were behind Kay in a great way and led her on a quick comeback. That ended when Kay got her foot stuck in the ropes and LuFisto went back to the beat down. LuFisto took off Kay’s knee brace and worked over the right knee with the help of the ring post. LuFisto continued the knee work with kicks and body slams. Kay attempted a comeback but the right knee kept slowing her down. LuFisto with a fantastic fisherman from the second rope to Kay is only good for 2. C4 has come to ringside and is distracting Kay and the referee as Kay tries to mount a comeback. Kay hits the pounce but Brink puts LuFisto’s foot in the rope. LuFisto locks in a reverse figure four and that causes the submission.

RESULT: LuFisto d. Allysin Kay by submission @ 16:02 (***1/4)
Best match of the night so far but I C4 distraction was frustrating. That’s the third match of the night with a distraction finish. Both ladies worked hard and told a great story with the knee, but C4 was not needed. With a different finish this match would have been rated higher.

SHINE Title: Ivelisse (c) vs. Vanessa Kraven
I’ve only seen Ivelisse in LU and am excited to see her in a different environment here. I’ve never seen Kraven, but she is one tall lady so we have quite the size difference here. Kraven tries to use her power early, while Ivelisse uses her speed. Ivelisse dove onto Kraven on the outside but was caught. Kraven then delivered a pair of back breakers and was tossed back in the ring. Kraven continued to use her power to slam Ivelisse all around the ring. LuFisto has come to ringside to scout her future opponent. While on the mat, Ivelisse tried kicking Kraven down to her level to little effect. Kraven continued to work the back with slams, back breakers and submissions. Every comeback attempt from Ivelisse was thwarted rather quickly. Ivelisse is able to counter a spinning back breaker into a ddt to start a comeback. Kraven went for a spear but Ivelisse countered into a guillotine choke. Kraven punched her way out however. Ivelisse would lock the choke back in and get the pin.

Post match a huge brawl broke out between at least a dozen women.

RESULT: Ivelisse (c) d. Vanessa Kraven by submission @ 11:28 (***1/2)
This was the match of the night. 12 minutes of great story telling with a great finish. This reminded me of Bayley vs Jax from London last year. Ivelisse took the beat down like a champ and I able to prevail.

4.5

The final score: review Poor

The 411

I used the word sloppy a lot in this review, and that is the biggest takeaway I feel like I have. There were 11 matches on this three hour show and it just felt like way too much for me. Taking out several of the mid-show matches that were filled with sloppiness and botches would have been the show a lot stronger. The brother company of SHINE, EVOLVE often runs 2-2.5 hour shows with 6-7 matches and that formula works really well for them. Taking just the seven strongest matches from this show we would have had a pretty fun show. The opener and main were both a lot of fun, which is always a huge plus. The run-in finishes became very old and really was a bummer for the semi-main. I don't know if I can see myself wanting to watch an entire SHINE show anytime soon, but I certainly found a few ladies I would pick and choose matches from.