Founded | November 6, 2005 |
---|---|
Defunct | November 1, 2021 |
Style | Women's professional wrestling |
Headquarters | Berwyn, Illinois |
Founder(s) | |
Sister | Ring of Honor (ROH) Shine Wrestling WSU Wrestling |
Website | shimmerwrestling |
Shimmer Women Athletes (often referred to and stylized as SHIMMER) was an American, Chicago-based independent women's professional wrestling promotion which held its first event on November 6, 2005. [1] [2] Established by Dave Prazak and run by both him and Allison Danger, the promotion was created to give female wrestling talent from North America and beyond a serious, non-objectifying platform on which to display their skills. [3] On November 1, 2021, the promotion was shut down. [4]
The company took a unique approach to staging its live events: Shimmer ran one large show every three months (on average) at the Eagles Club in Berwyn, Illinois. Two DVDs worth of material were taped at each of these super-shows, and were sold as single volumes (initially through Ring of Honor's online store) before being nationally distributed through retail outlets. Due to Prazak's prior work with Ring of Honor, the two companies were closely affiliated, with ROH promoting Shimmer by periodically featuring its performers on ROH pre- and main-show cards. In September 2008, Shimmer announced it would start its own wrestling school for female athletes.
Ring of Honor previously recognized the Shimmer Championship and the Shimmer Tag Team Championship; both of which were occasionally defended at ROH events. [5] Its former sister promotion Full Impact Pro also recognized the titles and had defenses of them at its events.
Shimmer's sister promotions include Shine Wrestling, a WWNLive brand which debuted on July 20, 2012, and Rise Wrestling, which was originally founded in 2016 as a developmental program. [6]
On November 1, 2021, the company Shimmer Women's Athletes deactivated alongside the company's championship belts. [4]
Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held | Location | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shimmer Championship | Zoey Skye | 1 | October 31, 2021 | 1 | Berwyn, Illinois | Defeated Kimber Lee at Volume 120 . | |
Shimmer Tag Team Championship | Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) | 1 | November 2, 2019 | 730 | Berwyn, Illinois | Defeated Cheerleader Melissa and Mercedes Martinez at Volume 115 . | |
Heart of Shimmer Championship | Nevaeh | 1 | October 31, 2021 | 1 | Berwyn, Illinois | Defeated Hyan at Volume 119 . |
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; when the promotion was sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Cathy Allison Corino is a Canadian retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager, better known by her ring name, Allison Danger.
Emily Sharp is an American former professional wrestler known under the ring name Daizee Haze. She is best known for her time on the independent circuit, where she performed for numerous promotions such as Chikara, Ring of Honor and Shimmer Women Athletes, where she was a one-time Shimmer Tag Team Champion.
Jazmin Benitez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Mercedes Martinez. She also appears for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where she is a former ROH Women's World Champion. She is also known for her time in WWE, primarily on the NXT brand.
Kimberly Dawn Davis is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Amber O’Neal.
Sara Ann Amato is an American professional wrestling trainer and retired professional wrestler, best known by her ring name Sara Del Rey. She was a mainstay for Chikara, Ring of Honor (ROH) and Shimmer, but also appeared for many other independent promotions in the US, including IWA Mid-South and All Pro Wrestling, as well as Mexico's Lucha Libre Femenil. Del Rey also taped several matches, competing under a mask and using the name Nic Grimes, for the MTV promotion Wrestling Society X.
Rachel Frobel is an American professional wrestler who is better known by her ring name MsChif. She has been wrestling since 2001 and in that time has worked for several independent promotions across the United States, with guest matches in England and Japan. She is known for her banshee gimmick, howling at her opponents and referees who stand in her way, as well as her unusually flexible body that allows her to perform, and be subjected to, modified submission holds.
Jenna Grattan is a Canadian former professional wrestler better known by her ring name Portia Perez. Perez teamed with Nicole Matthews as The Canadian NINJAs, and they are former two-time Shimmer Tag Team Champions.
Nicole Raczynski is an American former professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring names Roxxi Laveaux, The Voodoo Queen, and Roxxi. She is also known for her time in Shimmer Women Athletes and various other independent promotions under the ring name Nikki Roxx.
Tiana Ringer is an American professional wrestler who has competed in North American promotions in Ontario and the North Central United States and has appeared in BSE Pro and Shimmer Women Athletes during the early 2000s.
Victoria Owen is a British professional wrestler who wrestles as Jetta. She is best known for her work on the independent circuit in England with various promotions including LDN Wrestling, ChickFight and Real Quality Wrestling where she is the current Women's Champion. She also wrestles in America with Shimmer Women Athletes, where she is part of the alliance The International Home Wrecking Crew.
Rebecca Treston better known by her ring name Rebecca "Becky" Bayless, is an American professional wrestler, currently working for independent promotions such as Women's Extreme Wrestling, Wrestling Superstars Unleashed, Wrestlicious, and Women Superstars Uncensored. In the past she has worked for a number of major independent promotions, primarily Ring of Honor (ROH), Full Impact Pro, and Shimmer Women Athletes. She is also known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Cookie and for ROH and Shimmer as a backstage/in-ring interviewer.
The Shimmer Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship in Shimmer Women Athletes. The title is recognized nationally by Ring of Honor, and also by several independent promotions, including American Luchacore, Insanity Pro Wrestling and Shine Wrestling, where it has also been defended. It has also been defended in Japan at Joshi 4 Hope independent events.
The Shimmer Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship in Shimmer Women Athletes, and has also been defended on shows of sister promotions Ring of Honor and Full Impact Pro. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries. These narratives create feuds between the various competitors, which cast them as villains and heroines.
The International Home Wrecking Crew is a professional wrestling stable that appears primarily in Shimmer Women Athletes but also other independent promotions. As the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew, former enemies and Minnesotans Rain and Lacey teamed up as a tag team in 2003. English wrestler Jetta was later welcomed into the group. Lacey soon retired from professional wrestling and the International Home Wrecking Crew became a tag team, but in May 2009 Lacey reappeared in a managerial capacity for the team. Their last match was in November 2009, after which time Rain mainly wrestled in Mexico and Jetta retired. Their name is an homage to the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.
Alexandra Ford is an Australian professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Madison Eagles. She has wrestled internationally in Australia, the United States, Canada and Japan, and is a former two-time Shimmer Champion. She was ranked by Pro Wrestling Illustrated as the number one female wrestler in the PWI Female 50 in 2011; as of 2022, she is one of two women to win the award without wrestling for WWE or TNA/Impact Wrestling.
Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport. As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestling federations called promotions. Some promotions are exclusively for women, while others have separate divisions for women. Among the nations that have women's professional wrestling are Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Women of Honor is a term used by Ring of Honor (ROH) to refer to its women's division and to the promotion's female talent. The term is applied universally to wrestlers, backstage interviewers, and managers/valets.
Veda Scott is an American professional wrestler and color commentator. She has wrestled for various American promotions, including Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Shimmer Women Athletes, and Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW). She has also wrestled internationally in Canada and Japan.
Dave Prazak is an American professional wrestling promoter and commentator. He was the co-founder of Shimmer Women Athletes, one of the few women-only wrestling promotions in the United States in the 2000s and 2010s.
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