After the first two SHIMMER shows I covered, it’s very nice to see the great wrestlers now actually in the same match and getting to wrestle each other.
It’s an all star tag team match, and everything that they do is good at worst. It’s more “at worst” here than “at best” as the two best in the match (Del Rey and Melissa) largely play background music to build up an Eagles/Hamada title match. That’s hardly a bad thing, but it does result in the match focusing less on being as good as it can be, and more using it to advance something. Which is fine, I guess? I’m not really sure why anyone would buy this individual DVD or really any of these individual shows given the prices of DVDs, but the storytelling is good. The calculation might be that the fans will buy/cheer/accept just about anything because they’re really here for the community or whatever, so you can do just about anything too. It’s not a wrong estimation, based on how long this has been going, but it means that a lot of these matches aren’t really great.
This is better than most of them though, because again, every part of it is GOOD. You could trim five minutes out early on, and there’s still something of a problem where sections don’t feel entirely fleshed out, even if it’s not entirely disjointed. Del Rey and Eagles are a dream team and their control work reflects it. Every new Del Rey match I watch makes her ultimate fate that much more frustrating, and even here where she is deliberately laying down a backing vocal, that shines through. Hamada is wonderful when her hot tag comes, and she and Eagles have a really nice little run together. Saying I wouldn’t pay for this match isn’t totally an insult either, because this is a perfectly competent television or Road To show build up tag. Madison Eagles vs. Ayako Hamada isn’t an especially hard sell but they make a nice little case for themselves here.
Going into their title match on the next volume, Hamada blocks Eagles’ attempt to roll through the AP Cross, and sits down on her prawn hold for the win. Eagles’ slithering sort of maneuverability might finally not be enough against someone as good, smart, and tenacious as Hamada, which is as good of a thread going into a title match as you could ask for.
HANDWERK 