For the first time in a Flo-less world, SHINE returned to iPPV with another stacked card as all three of their titles were on the line…
We’re going screenshot-free since the WWN player really doesn’t like my PC…
It’s been a while since we saw anything from the Orpheum in Ybor City, and we open with Kid Cadet introducing Trevin Adams for a show-opening promo with Allysin Kay. They don’t turn down Allysin’s music for a while as Trevin talks about how Brandi Lauren cost AK in her SHINE title match two shows ago.
Lauren’s threatened a surprise, but that just led to Kay accusing Brandi of having an STD. Yay for personal attacks? AK says she won’t wrestle until Lauren’s there to face her, but just as Kay goes through the curtain she’s attacked by Dementia D’Rose… and we have a match?
Allysin Kay vs. Dementia D’Rose
D’Rose throws Kay around the building, into the ring post and supporting columns, giving us a nice look at SHINE’s new-ish sparkly turnbuckles. Lenny Leonard pipes up on commentary as D’Rose bites away on Kay, before a charge into her in the ropes led to her getting sent to the outside.
They introduce RJ City on commentary as I got excited for a split second and thought they’d somehow finagled RJ Singh into the role… as for the match, there’s a lot more brawling outside the ring as D’Rose uses her rear to sit on Allysin, but Kay gets back up and somehow legally uses a chair to choke Dementia on the outside.
The throttling continues as I guess this is a no DQ outing, before Dementia hits a whoopee cushion sit-down splash out of the corner as Kay’s left struggling. D’Rose looks to set up for another whoopee cushion, but Kay fires back, pulling her off the top rope into a Samoan drop, before the ref finally disarms D’Rose as she went for a chair. She responds to the inconsistency by shoving down the ref, which is a DQ… as was the following chairshot beatdown afterwards. Eh, this was alright, but I wasn’t too crazy about the finish given the ref allowed chairshots earlier! **
Guess what? All of the FloSlam banners have mysteriously disappeared…
Natalia Markova vs. Amanda Carolina Rodriguez
Markova’s becoming a regular here after impressing during the SHINE NOVA weekender… her music somehow sounds stereotypical AND a contender for Eurovision. ACR’s a little at a loose end since she left Las Sicarias, and she starts on the receiving end of some chain wrestling from Markova, resisting and escaping from an early hammerlock.
Markova trips ACR after an acrobatic escape, as the Russian built up to a nice spinning heel kick in the corner that forces ACR to scurry to the outside. Some Benny Hill chasing leads to Markova getting tripped into the ropes as Rodriguez made a comeback, grounding Markova with a chinlock… which gets broken with a jawbreaker as a roll-up nearly puts ACR away.
A running kick to a downed ACR gets a similar result, as does an axe kick, but ACR escapes an armbar and mounts a comeback, hitting a pair of butterfly suplexes for a near-fall, before pulling her up from a third suplex. Thinking she’s in control, ACR looked to take her foot off the proverbial pedal, allowing Markova to fight back, throwing punches that staggered ACR, who wobbled but didn’t initially fall down, much to the crowd’s displeasure.
Both women beat the ten-count, but Markova gets back into gear quickest, knocking down ACR with bulldogs and suplexes, before the X-Factor almost gets her the win… but out of nowhere ACR grabs a side chinlock, which forces the Russian to drag herself to the ropes. Markova manages to avoid a charge as she low bridges ACR to the outside, then slams into her with a tope.
Back inside, a crossbody lands, but ACR manages to roll through for a near-fall before finishing off Markova out of nowhere with a head kick. This had some bright spots, but the finishing stretch looked a little wonky, particularly the crossbody reversal. Still, both women brought some fire and intensity, which never goes amiss! **¾
Cutie Pie Club (Kiera Hogan & Aria Blake) vs. Aerial Monroe & Aja Perera
Yeah, they’re still going with the Cutie Pie Club… although there’s hints of dissension, they’re really quickly forgotten in the space of, ooh, seconds in the same entrance. Speaking of dissension, Monroe didn’t seem too pleased to be paired up with “Super” Aja here…
Monroe nonchalantly escapes a Blake hammerlock early on, then some headscissors as both women tag out. More headscissors trip Hogan as she became isolated, prompting some shrieking from Candy Cartwright at ringside, who screamed for every bump her girls took. After a shot to the face, Hogan looked to make a comeback, only to run into a Monroe superkick as the well-mane’d Monroe nearly took a win with a Fisherman’s suplex.
We quickly moved into some cheating as Hogan distracts the referee while Blake and Cartwright choked on Monroe in the corner, something that Aria tried to capitalise on with a front facelock… but Aerial just stands up and wanders out for a tag. The hell?! Aja headbutts back into it before hitting a handspring flatliner for a near-fall, thanks to Kiera breaking it up.
A pair of PKs on the outside keep Monroe and Perera ahead, but back inside Hogan and Blake hit duelling Pedigrees for a near-fall as we get a trio of hissy fits out of shock. Aerial Monroe for some reason foes for Aria Blake and Candy Cartwright before hitting the ring with a forearm to Hogan, as Perera grabs the win with the Super Driver (Air Raid Crash). Not too sure what that finish was all about, as it just seemed to be “hey, we need to do this” out of nowhere, but this was pretty solid between the bells. **½
It really gives away who the company wants as the star of a team is when the camera repeatedly cuts away to the one who isn’t wrestling. Then again, that’s not new…
SHINE NOVA Championship: Santana Garrett vs. Priscilla Kelly (c)
Santana’s back for the first time in months (thanks to a certain WWE tournament), and her first match back is a title shot? Fair enough, I guess…
The NOVA title has quickly been established as a midcard belt in SHINE, kind of like the WWE’s Intercontinental/United States belts, but at least they’re using it to build up new acts rather than as a “make do” for a star who isn’t in the mix.
Santana starts by working over the arm as she forces Kelly into the ropes, before Santana forces Kelly to use some sanitiser since she put her hands… somewhere. Yeah, there’s always a way around every problem, eh? They eventually get to the test of strength, which leads to some double pinfalls, before they get back up… and Kelly takes her back down with some lucha-inspired offence.
It’s pretty fast-paced stuff, with neither woman giving the other a chance to breathe as Santana neutralised anything Kelly tried… including some grinding in the ropes, which Santana countered into a sunset flip that angered Kelly into a prolonged period of offence. Some kicks to the back of Garrett led to a PK attempt, but that’s countered as she drags down Priscila… only for the offence to resume once more.
Priscilla declared she has a “foot fetish”, so she bites Santana’s feet… someone needs tougher boots! Second time was the charm for the PK, but Santana gets up, only to get a love bite from Kelly as she sought to remove a headband… and shove it down her tights. Almost like a less sweaty Bastion Booger…
Garrett eventually fires back as she sidesteps a charge before putting on her headband… yeah. Leaping forearms succeed, as does a running kick and a handspring elbow into the corner as Santana worked her way into a Muta Lock… but Priscilla bites her way free. The back-and-forth continues with an STO from Kelly, before countering Sole Food with a half-and-half bridging suplex to keep those near-falls a’coming.
Kelly tries climbing the ropes, but she’s caught and met with a handstand ‘rana attempt… which Kelly blocked before crashing and burning. A Shining Star Press misses too, and Santana’s bid to win quickly ends as Priscilla grabs an inside cradle for the pin. Enjoyable stuff, without any of the clunkiness that we seem to have on these shows… Kelly’s really developing as champion, even if this match felt more like her surviving Santana than beating her. ***
After the match the Cutie Pie Club hit the ring for a 3-on-1 beatdown. Santana doesn’t help out and heads to the back as Aja Perera, Aerial Monroe and Jordynne Grace make the save. Jordynne seems to signal that she wants a NOVA title shot, then heads to the back. That seemed, erm, rushed? We’re not done though! ACR hits the ring and knocks Kelly down with a headkick… and she too wants a title shot. She’s aggrieved that she’s not had a singles title match, so add her name to the list of feuds for the marked woman Priscilla.
They don’t edit out intervals, still, so rather than watch trailers for matches that have already happened, I’m skipping ahead…
Candy Cartwright vs. Jordynne Grace
If they didn’t have an interval, I bet this would have been a WWN special “run on” match from the last segment… Candy Cartwright wants to do the introductions and curiously, there’s no Aria Blake… because she’s out as “Jordynne Grace” with tissue paper shoved everywhere. Christ, the whole “big arse” shtick makes it look like Aria’s wearing a nappy for crying out loud.
This sucked when WWE did it with Molly Holly over a decade ago… that hasn’t changed.
They mock a contest between “Jordynne” and Candy, but thankfully Grace heads out to end this mess. We almost end it in seconds with an O’Connor roll as Jordynne doesn’t seem to be getting paid by the hour… but Candy kicks out before trying a sunset flip. Yeah, good luck with that. A Pounce knocks Candy down, as does a back body drop, but Cartwright rebounds with a bulldog before pulling Grace into a bow-and-arrow hold.
Grace is able to use her power to fire back, with some back suplexes dumping Candy on the mat before Aria and Kiera jump on the apron to distract the ref from doing his job. Worse than Roberts, is this ref… Candy charges Grace into the ropes and follows up with a 619 (which works this time) before a crossbody off the top gets a near-fall… but Jordynne instantly rebounds with a neckbreaker before passing out to a bearhug. Short and sweet, and I thoroughly approve since it made someone look like a killer. None of this interference garbage! **½
Extra bonus points, by the way, to whomever gave Jordynne some classic Japanese-style entrance music. Not the stereotypical stuff either, the rock-inspired tunes. It’s better than the usual WWN chiptune fare.
After the match Aria gives Candy the pillow from her arse as the crowd chant “you suck” at her. Cannot disagree…
SHINE Championship: Vanessa Kraven vs. LuFisto (c)
Since winning the vacated title in January, LuFisto’s been on a bit of a tear, last beating Holidead and Ivelisse at SHINE 45 in a three-way. This time she’s got a bigger challenge, at least in terms of size, in the form of Vanessa Kraven.
Kraven goes straight to the chops after LuFisto stomped on her foot… and the early going was pretty rough for LuFisto, who had no answer to Kraven’s size. A sidewalk slam and a running kick keeps LuFisto down, but a shortcut (pun intended) gets her ahead as a poke to the eye took Vanessa to her knees.
LuFisto corners Kraven for some more chops as the champion started to pick her shots, including one with a fan, before she looked to grab a Boston crab that Kraven punched out of. Instead, LuFisto starts working over Kraven’s knee, stomping on it before driving it into the mat as the Canadian tried to keep Vanessa on the mat.
More strikes from LuFisto peppered the challenger until she countered with a facebuster out of some headscissors… but the knee damage slowed Kraven down as she took her time building up to a cannonball in the corner. A belly-to-belly puts LuFisto back on the defensive, but Kraven gets thrown into the corner for a receipt cannonball, only to waste too much time as Kraven gets another one back in. ALL THE CANNONBALLS!
Kraven tried for a back suplex, but LuFisto’s able to sneak hers in first, before a big boot from Kraven almost ended the match… some spitting from LuFisto saved her from a tree slam, and the champion quickly rolls her into a Trailer Hitch inverted figure four as Kraven eventually clawed her way to the ropes for a break.
All of a sudden, Dementia D’Rose heads out to attack Kraven behind the ref’s back… Vanessa tries to connect with a knee, but only ends up hitting the post as Useless Ref Syndrome strikes again. D’Rose rolls Kraven back inside as LuFisto reapplies the Trailer Hitch for the instant tap-out. They’re clearly building to something with D’Rose, but this was a pretty sound title match with LuFisto again showing that she’ll do anything to retain the title. ***
Afterwards, LuFisto walks away as D’Rose attacks Kraven with the running hip attack in the corner, before going to a conveniently-placed chair to continue the attacks to the knee, finishing with a hip attack to a chair over Vanessa’s knee. That one may have to be explained in the “that should hurt me as much as it hurts you” stakes, unless Dementia’s got a rear like a Samoan head?
SHINE Tag Team Championship: Twisted Sisters (Holidead & Thunder Rosa) vs. Las Sicarias (Mercedes Martinez & Ivelisse) (c)
This is an offshoot of the triple-threat from the last SHINE show, with the losing title challengers bringing their regular tag partners into the mix.
We started with Thunder Rosa and Martinez, with the latter knocking Rosa down to the mat with a right hand shot as the champions comfortably took over on Rosa, with Ivelisse using a series of armdrags to keep her down. Thunder tries some shoulder charges to break free, but Ivelisse resists and keeps the beatdown going.
A cross armbreaker catches out Ivelisse briefly, but she’s able to fight free before lighting up Holidead with chops. Martinez gets in with a blind tag as we get back-and-forth roll-ups until a sidewalk slam from Holidead knocked Mercedes down hard. Holidead spends too much time jawing to Ivelisse, and that allows Martinez back in it as all four women squared off for the inevitable shoving fight.
Which gives way to right hands as the challengers found themselves on top, double-teaming Ivelisse with an assisted senton, prompting a spell where Ivelisse finds herself in the wrong corner. A Japanese stranglehold from Rosa keeps Ivelisse down, but somehow it’s reversed back and forth until a headbutt from Thunder nearly gives us a title change.
Holidead returns to work over Ivelisse’s leg, using a Dragon screw for a near-fall, as the Sisters keep Ivelisse as far away from a tag as they can… but eventually she makes it and in comes a rather fresher Mercedes, who wheelbarrows Ivelisse onto Holidead for a quick two-count. A stalling suplex keeps it going, and Ivelisse is quickly back in as Holidead gets a beatdown, with a short DDT almost ending things.
Mercedes rolls Thunder Rosa into a butterfly lock, but the challenger’s able to escape and fire back with some forearms, only for Martinez to fight back in kind and keep her in the opposite corner. Rosa’s able to sneak in a German suplex to give herself some separation, and finally another tag out as Holidead cleans house on Martinez, but Ivelisse wanders in to try and make a save… to no avail as Holidead lands an Unprettier on Martinez.
It sparks a Parade of Moves, with Ivelisse taking a full nelson facebuster from Holidead, before Martinez cut off a dive with a huge spinebuster. Martinez gets her just desserts as an Angels Wings and a double stomp would have caused a title change… had Ivelisse not wandered in at the count of one!
Ivelisse takes more advantage of a lacklustre referee as she shoved Holidead off the top rope before hitting a roundhouse, which Martinez capitalised on with a surfboard Dragon sleeper for the submission. A fun main event, although the long spell at the end where the referee lost control was a tad unedifying… still, the remainder of Las Sicarias reign supreme, and now the question is: who’s next? ***¼
It’s a little unfortunate that the demise of FloSlam will have eroded interest in SHINE for now – as a return to the era of paying per-show will undoubtedly cost them the casual viewers that Flo would have brought them. Whether the arrival of the Club WWN subscription service will help remains to be seen.
Either way, SHINE 46 was one of the promotion’s better shows of the years – plenty of decent wrestling, and nothing that would drive you away, such as the overbearing Cutie Pie Club shtick from shows past. Well worth hunting out if you have that elusive Club WWN sub!