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Showing posts with label SHIMMER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SHIMMER. Show all posts

February 23, 2023

SHIMMER Original Cheerleader Melissa To Be Inducted Into Indie Wrestling Hall Of Fame

Last year marked the inaugural class of the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame. GCW found relative success with the concept and has begun assembling the Class of 2023 for this year's induction over WrestleMania weekend. Previously, Christopher Daniels was announced as being up for the prestigious honor, and it looks like he'll be joined by some solid company.  Yesterday, GCW announced the Cheerleader Melissa, one of the pioneers of modern-day women's wrestling in the United States, would be a part of this year's class.  

Trained by Daniels, Bryan Danielson, and Robert Thompson, Cheerleader Melissa broke into the Southern California wrestling scene in 2001. However, it wouldn't be until late 2006 that she really began gaining notoriety. That's when she began working for the all-women's promotion SHIMMER, run by both Prazak and Allison Danger. For the next 13 years, Melissa would serve as one of the promotion's most significant stars, winning the SHIMMER Championship twice and the SHIMMER Tag Team Championships once with Mercedes Martinez.

Her success in SHIMMER led to her signing with TNA in 2008, where she portrayed both Raisha Saeed, a Syrian wrestler who wore a niqāb to disguise her appearance, and Alissa Flash. She requested her release from the promotion in 2010 and continued to wrestle independently before joining Lucha Underground in 2015 as the sister to Marty "The Moth" Martinez, Mariposa. She would remain with LU till its final season concluded in 2018.

Though she hasn't officially retired, Melissa hasn't wrestled since November 2019. Fittingly, her last match to date was in SHIMMER, where she wrestled Shazza McKenzie, Elayna Black, Kris Statlander, Nevaeh, and Skylar in a Scramble match

March 5, 2016

The Golden Age of Independent Wrestling Is Right Now: Don't Be Left Behind


There is an awakening. Can you feel it?

Last weekend, there were four independent wrestling promotions running within 45 minutes of each other in New York City - CHIKARA, SWA, House of Glory and NYWC. All four featured good live crowds and in the case of at least three of the events, they sold out. NYWC and House of Glory had so many fans, there weren't enough chairs with a number of fans choosing to pay to stand and watch the shows. In The Carolinas, there were multiple events with upwards of 1,700-2,000 fans showing up to see The Rock N' Roll Express battle the Powers of Pain in a Steel Cage for Big Time Wrestling while CWF Mid-Atlantic presented a 105 minute bout that everyone is raving about featuring Trevor Lee and Roy Wilkins. Multiple shows in California for promotions APW and Revolution Pro were sold out. Beyond Wrestling sold out two back to back shows in Rhode Island that received great reviews.

This weekend, Northeast Wrestling is expected to have close to 2,000 fans at their Wrestlefest event in Newburgh, NY. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla will present their latest big events, All Star Extravaganza in Reseda, CA that will undoubtedly draw raves and a sellout crowd. MCW in Baltimore will have another big house in Joppa, MD. There are countless other promotions running this weekend as well.

Wrestlemania weekend, there will be no less than TEN independent wrestling events with everyone from SHIMMER to EVOLVE to CZW to the NWA to VIP Wrestling to Queens of Combat to Kaiju Big Battel presenting shows. That number, by the way, does not include Ring of Honor. Most of these events, if not all, will be packed and will feature a lot of great in-ring wrestling. The biggest wrestling event of the year and ten events will be there as the alternative for the 100,000 fans in Dallas.

Mind you, none of what I wrote about mentions other promotions that are currently trying to build their foundation and brand name. AAW in Illinois. AIW in Cleveland. FIP in Florida. Tier 1 in NYC. WrestlePro in New Jersey. Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment in Georgia. Wildkat Sports in New Orleans. There are more quality independent wrestling promotions right now, at the same time, in the United States than at any point before this era.

Nor am I talking about promotions that can be seen in some vein, nationally, on cable. Championship Wrestling Hollywood. Paragon Pro Wrestling....or the countless ones that can be found on Youtube. Just this week, On Point Wrestling in New Jersey launched their own series online.

Now, let's open our scope to include Europe. WXW in Germany. OTT in Ireland. IPW-UK, Revolution Pro, PROGRESS in Great Britain. [Note from Mike: Or ICW, which many fans wrote me about after I neglected to list them here. Sorry!] The level of wrestling and the sheer amount of stuff out there is staggering, even for someone like me, who loves to follow as much as he can.

Holy sh**!

Don't say it's a revolution. Don't say it's aberration. There is no doubt about it. We are living in the golden age of independent professional wrestling, and it's pretty awesome.

So, why is it happening now? There's always been an independent, undercurrent to what mainstream professional wrestling is. Independent wrestling used to be a dirty word. Back in the territory era, anyone who didn't run without permission were considered "outlaw" shows and if those shows crossed the wrong promoter, The National Wrestling Alliance members would team up to trounce them.

When the WWF national expansion took place, suddenly the rules had changed. One, the territory rules no longer applied. Two, many of the smaller towns and venues that had previously been home to spot shows from the larger companies or now-defunct promoters were available. The era of the independents had begun.

Independents used to be, for the most part small, fly by night promotions. They ran shows that were pretty much the equivalent of the circus coming to town for a day. There would be a few names that fans recognized - The Jimmy Snukas, The Terry Funks, The Big Bossmans, The Abdullah The Butchers - either former nationally known names or renowned wild men who were their own men - responsible for drawing the house. Underneath would be a litany of locals, some talented, some not. Most of the locals never made it past that level. The promotions would come in, put on a show and be done. The shows might be good, they might be bad but most often, unless it was a specific promoters, it was likely a haphazard show. How haphazard? I once witnessed Terry Funk beat Abdullah the Butcher in a Texas Death Match...by DQ. These were shows designed to get money and get out. There was no foundation.

Now, following on the blueprint that promotions like ECW, IWA Mid-South and Ring of Honor created, we have independent promotions running regularly in the same venues, with the same talents, telling storylines that exist over multiple months. Some of them are still running and promoting the old grass-roots style and having great success with it. Big Time Wrestling and Wildkat Sports routinely draw good crowds without seeking online audiences. There are also companies building their momentum on DVD sales, digital downloads and streaming websites. We are seeing promotions making good money with multiple revenue streams. They aren't anywhere close to destroying WWE's place as the top wrestling company in the world, but they are making money for themselves and in many cases, thanks to t-shirt companies like ProWrestlingTees.com, the wrestlers have regular additional income coming in for themselves.

So, why are things so hot again? A cross-sectional check-in with independent promoters and personalities show that there's a number of different reasons that all seem to be hitting at just the right time.

October 24, 2012

Video: SHIMMER Women's Wrestling - Cheerleader Melissa vs. Sweet Saraya Knight Feud Recap


SHIMMER Women Athletes has uploaded a video looking at the long-standing rivalry between Cheerleader Melissa & "Sweet" Saraya Knight, which culminated in Saraya defeating Melissa at SHIMMER Volume 48 to become the new SHIMMER champion.

March 8, 2011

WWE Signs SHIMMER Diva to a Developmental Deal


From Dve Prazak:

Everyone at SHIMMER - WOMEN ATHLETES would like to congratulate Tenille on signing a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

The Melbourne, Australia native relocated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to train under Lance Storm at Storm Wrestling Academy prior to expanding her schedule to include competing regularly for both SHIMMER and ECCW in the Vancouver area in 2009.

Tenille will also be featured on the reality television series "World of Hurt" which completed filming prior to her signing with WWE.

Best of luck to Tenille on her future in professional wrestling!

October 22, 2010

SHIMMER Wrestler MsChif's "Secret Life" Featured By PBS


MsChif (a/k/a Rachel Collins) is featured on PBS's "The Secret Lie of Scientists & Engineers." Her career as a pro wrestler is dubbed as her "secret life." You can watch a video and read stories about her career as a microbiologist at PBS.org.

source: prowrestling.net

October 18, 2010

Interview with Daizee Haze

April 7, 2010

Interview with SHIMMER's Dave Prazak

November 9, 2009

Photos: The Lovely Ladies of SHIMMER

September 10, 2009

Femmes Fatales Debut Hot in Montreal

In a city known for beautiful women, Saturday's NCW Femmes Fatales gala was something altogether different. The gathering of top female wrestlers was a riotous affair, featuring some of the top names in the business and some great matches. At the conclusion, one pundit called it "the best all-women's show ever in Canada."

The line-up included three big-name imports -- TNA's Alyssa Flash, working under her indy name of Cheerleader Melissa, Sara Del Rey, and SHIMMER champion MsChif, along with Ontarioans Cherry Bomb, Misty Haven, and SLAM! Wrestling's infrequent columnist Portia Perez. Rounding out the show were local stars like Kacey Diamond and LuFisto, who is without a doubt the best female wrestler in Quebec for the past 10 years...More?

source: slam wrestling

May 28, 2009

Nikki Matthews Vaulting to the Top

Nicole Matthews has enjoyed a very quick rise through the pro ranks and her contemporaries believe a great deal more awaits this talented relative newcomer. The wrestler better known as Nikki Matthews reached the prestigious SHIMMER Women Athletes promotion less than two years after her early 2006 debut...More?

source: slam wrestling

October 20, 2008

The Amazing Women of SHIMMER


Awesone Kong, Jennifer Blake, Cheerleader Melissa, Sara Del Ray, and Serena Deeb at the SHIMMER taping at the Berwyn Eagles Club, in Berwyn, IL, Sunday, October 19, 2008...More?

source: slam wrestling

photos by Ricky Havlik, TopRopePhotography.com

September 22, 2008

More on the PWI Female 50

Of the the 50 women listed on the PWI Female 50, 22 have wrestled for the SHIMMER promotion. Those names include Awesome Kong, Beth Phoenix, MsChif, Sara Del Ray, Roxxi Laveaux, Mercedes Martinez, Taylor Wilde, Daizee Haze, Natalya (Neidhart), Allison Danger, Sarah Stock, Cheerleader Melissa (a.k.a. Raisha Saeed), Amber O'Neal, Lexie Fyfe, Cindy Rogers, Malia Hosaka, Christie Ricci, Lufisto, Jennifer Blake, Danyah, Daffney, and Portia Perez.

source: rajah.com

September 16, 2008

SHIMMER announces wrestling school

In the nearly three years SHIMMER - WOMEN ATHLETES has been in operation, we have received many inquiries from women who aspire to be professional wrestlers, asking if we operate our own training program and wrestling school.

We are pleased to announce that the first ever SHIMMER training course will be starting October 27, 2008 with SHIMMER Athlete and Trainer, DAIZEE HAZE...More?

source: indywrestlingnews.com

April 28, 2008

SHIMMER Update

Celebrate Independence Day weekend with the Women Athletes of SHIMMER! Saturday, July 5th!

November 6, 2007

SHIMMER Women Athletes

SHIMMER is celebating their second year of production. Check them out.

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