Athena Gets Past the Gatekeeper of SHIMMER
Athena Gets Past the Gatekeeper of SHIMMER
It’s weird to think that Mercedes Martinez hadn’t been SHIMMER Champion yet at this point. Given how big a role she played early in SHIMMER’s run, one would think she’d have been in that lineage by now. Instead, her consistent veteran presence through the years made her much more of a gatekeeper figure within the company. No one really sees any continued success in SHIMMER at this time without getting past Mercedes Martinez.
That makes her a perfect opponent for a young up and comer like Athena. Much of Athena’s work in SHIMMER at this point saw her as a loud mouthed heel, smugly denouncing her opponents as “hussies.” Mercedes Martinez was not someone so easily bullied however. That being said, Mercedes holding back Athena’s efforts to get past her in a three-match series, and resorting to non-finishes made her an easy antagonist to help get Athena into the crowd’s good graces at the time.
It’s the kind of rock solid, classic booking that SHIMMER does so well here. The end to a three-match series, promising a conclusive end to the trilogy after two non-finishes. It’s all about Athena trying to get past Mercedes to enter the upper tier of SHIMMER talents, and Mercedes trying very hard to keep her down.
As good as Athena was at the time, this match succeeds primarily off the back of a wonderful performance from Mercedes. She starts things by jumping Athena at the entranceway, and then never really relents from that point forward. In a match all about Athena breaking through the obstacle in her way, Mercedes makes the younger woman earn every single bit off shine and offense.
It’s not just that Mercedes hits hard (and boy, does she), it’s how oppressive she is while in control. Athena gets a few shots in at various points throughout the match, but Mercedes absolutely refuses to stay down for anything less than Athena’s best. At this point in her career, Athena’s not exactly throwing the heaters that she’s known for today, and Mercedes is cognizant enough of her own value to not let Athena’s weaker strikes dictate her comebacks here.
Instead, Athena’s forced to rely on a strength she’s always had: her agility. There’s a wonderful counter where Athena front flips out of a snapmare attempt and that’s what allows her to create the distance to start mounting a comeback. At another point, Athena turns an attempted backdrop into a headscissors takedown. It’s the delightful athletic wunderkind style wrestling that’s so easy to get behind. This is what defines this particular performance from Athena, but there’s hints of the brutality to come from her. Mercedes takes some great bumps into the barricades for Athena, and Athena even nails a sweet hangman DDT off the barricade too.
For Athena though, it’s more a matter of space and positioning. Her finisher, after all, is the O Face, which requires her to be at an elevated position from Mercedes. Smartly, the match gives her a moment of hope and lets her hit one to the floor, which still provides room for her to hit it flush in the ring for the big win. There’s a great emphasis when Athena finally does too. Before getting into the final pin, Athena just has this shocked look on her face, a simple glee that just reads as, “I can’t believe I fucking did it.” Doesn’t even matter that she hesitates before the cover, she hit the killshot and that’s all it took.
It’s a great match, the kind of rock solid stuff that makes SHIMMER such a special promotion. Not exactly a supernova starmaker, but a great little nudge into the upper reaches of the card. Athena never would win the SHIMMER Championship, but this match’s best quality is making us think about how odd that is in retrospect to begin with.
IS IT BETTER THAN 6/3/94? Sadly not but would gladly watch either of these two against 90s Kawada any day of the week.
Rating: ****