Joseph and Colette Discuss Madison Eagles vs. Cheerleader Melissa

What makes a match better than 6/4/94?

SHIMMER

This week, SHIMMER month visited one of the promotion’s most satisfying arcs, Cheerleader Melissa vs. Madison Eagles. And instead of checking in on the feud in the middle, we witnessed the thrilling conclusion, Cheerleader Melissa’s SHIMMER Championship victory.

Before we get to the conversation, be sure to check out Joseph’s recent video essay about the long-running (and perhaps soon to conclude) feud between Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli, which is live on Ring of Honor’s YouTube page! You can (and should!) also follow Joseph on his own page. Then you should read our essays, below:

Joseph: Madison Eagles vs. Cheerleader Melissa Is SHIMMER at Its Finest
Colette: Against Madison Eagles, Cheerleader Melissa Bides Her Time

Next Week: To close off SHIMMER month, we end with a match and a feud that helped make one of the hottest women's wrestlers in the world today who she is. We're bringing back SHIMMER icon Mercedes Martinez as she takes on an up and coming wrestler looking to break through to the next level in the company: Athena!

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Colette Arrand
We've talked about our process a little before, but for those who are new to BIG EGG, I try not to read your essay before writing mine. I was surprised (and happy) to see how closely our sense of this match's flow and ambition mapped out. It made me like it a little more, in fact, because it speaks to its clarity of purpose. Cheerleader Melissa vs. Madison Eagles really is a classic wrestling match, in the sense that what it accomplishes would be legible in any era. Have you done any additional thinking on this aspect of what we saw?

Joseph Anthony Montecillo
I think a part of what I love about SHIMMER is it's so rare for them to cross over into the realm of overindulgence. SHIMMER Title matches are always advertised to have a 60 minute time limit yet the company has so far avoided the temptation of running a broadway. It's the same thing here where Melissa and Madison could easily have done something with a million nearfalls and a lengthy runtime but they decided that the best course was just a fun crowd brawl mixed with a decent finishing stretch that ends on a callback to a previous match. Madison gets her asswhooped and then outsmarted in the same match, perfect end to her reign.