Both of SHINE’s championships were defended yesterday at A Wrestling Odyssey, as the women of the independent scene made their first contribution to the WWNLive Experience weekender in remarkable fashion.
Three matches involving women took place on the show, the most important of which saw SHINE Champion Ivelisse defend her title against Jazz, in a rematch from their SHINE Championship tournament qualifier almost a year ago at SHINE 9. Expressing the utmost respect for each other, they began the match with some beautiful chain wrestling before picking up the pace and pulling out the big strikes and power moves. Although Ivelisse made one slight slip-up during the match while attempting a springboard crossbody (which she’s more than entitled to have, given how flawless her matches have been recently), she pulled through and picked up the win, kicking out of Jazz’s sitout front powerslam and landing the Vertigo kick for the three-count to retain the title. Following the match, Jazz was gracious in defeat, raising the champion’s hand and the pair embracing.
The SHINE Tag Team Championships were also defended for the first time, as inaugural champions The Lucha Sisters (Mia Yim and Leva Bates) faced two-thirds of the S-N-S Express, Sassy Stephie and Nevaeh. The match started off slowly before the S-N-S Express gained control of the match, keeping Leva in their corner, landing sneak attacks while the referee was distracted and frustrating Yim on the apron. The hot tag was finally made to Yim, triggering a fun sequence where she hit a release German suplex to Stephie, only for Nevaeh to run in and respond with a Death Valley Driver, which was then followed by a Superhero kick from Leva to Nevaeh and a Kiss My Sass from Stephie to Leva resulting in all four women being down. The match came to an end when Mia and Leva countered their opponents’ double suplex, responding with a double dropkick, an assisted Sliced Bread from Leva and a Quebrada from Yim to Stephie for the victory, ensuring that the Lucha Sisters’ run as champions is not short-lived.
Elsewhere, Candice LeRae was involved in a highly entertaining match which saw her and Joey Ryan go up against The Bravado Brothers. With all of the funny, wacky and sometimes uncomfortably sleazy spots you expect from a Candice and Joey match, it ended after a distraction from one of the Bravados allowing the other to clothesline Candice from behind, and them both hitting the Gentleman’s Agreement for the win.
Also, it was announced later on that Ivelisse will be making her SHIMMER debut today, replacing the withdrawing Barbi Hayden at SHIMMER 62, which will be live on iPPV as the WWNLive Experience continues.
What did you think of the show?
