Sara del Rey and Amazing Kong Don't Need Pinfalls
Sara del Rey and Amazing Kong Don't Need Pinfalls
A masterclass in making a non-traditional finish feel earned.
It’s a classic piece of booking on display here.
On one side of the ring, there’s Sara del Rey. At this point, Sara del Rey is now the inaugural SHIMMER Champion, distinguishing herself as the best professional wrestler on the American indies. Not only does she have the in-ring prowess to back that up, but she’s also got the song to prove it too. Yes, the use of “The Final Countdown” speaks more to Del Rey paying homage to her trainer Bryan Danielson, but it also can’t help but trigger a near Pavlovian response in the fans of this time. One hears Europe belting on a major indie show in the late 2000s, and chants of “Best in the world!” are sure to follow.
Across from her, it’s Amazing Kong. Kong is at a key transition point in her career at this time. The very week of these tapings, she made her first appearance on TNA Impact, a fact that likely plays some role in how this match goes. Importantly though, Kong has made a name for herself in Japan and there’s no one in the States that can really quite match up to her power and strength. She’s also undefeated at SHIMMER coming into this, making it a classic match up of taking two forces that have been gaining strength and crashing them into each other.
The atmosphere is heated in the Berwyn Eagles Club for this match. As the two women make their entrances, there’s a real big fight feel in the air, where there’s really no telling who might come out the victor.
The match stays true to those ideas as well. Although Kong has the size advantage, the action is careful to not paint Del Rey as an underdog. In fact, Del Rey gets in early burst of offense that allows her to knock Kong down to the floor and nail her with a big suicida right out of the gate. Of course, Kong is able to use her power to cut off Del Rey and gain control over her, but she’s not a perfect competitor. When the action comes down to the mat, Del Rey’s able to finesse her way into positions of control.
Kong really shines throughout this match, even in there against someone as great as Del Rey. One thing I’d forgotten about Kong in the time since I last watched her is how charismatic she is. She’s not some dull brute in this, there’s an arrogance and a malice in her that really brings the action to life. It’s the difference between someone who’s dangerous, and someone who enjoys being dangerous.
She toes a thin line here, both reveling in the adoration given her, but also finding ways to be despicable to ensure the shine can remain on Del Rey. Aside from being such an imposing force, she also finds ways to take shortcuts like biting at Del Rey’s arm to escape a hold.
Kong’s heel performance is so strong that the viewer naturally gets sucked in to wanting to see Del Rey succeed. As in the Martinez match, that’s accomplished through the simple method of denial. Del Rey goes for a German suplex at multiple points, but gets cut off each time, until it matters the most. She absorbs a pair of spinning backfists, but just keeps her wits about her long enough to finally nail the climactic German.
It’s a a beautiful moment. In the camera shot, one even sees fans driven to their feet from the joy of it. It kind of needed to be a stunning feat, and Del Rey and Kong work the match perfectly to make the crowd desperately want to see it. More importantly, it’s the emotional climax of the match, given how it’s set to end.
A neat little bonus to the German is Del Rey actually getting Kong up for the Royal Butterfly. The German’s so breathtaking on its own, then it’s a rush to see Del Rey repeat the feat of strength, and transition into a big butterfly brainbuster. From her daze on the mat though, Kong has just enough left in her to swipe at Del Rey with another backfist to knock the champion down.
The match ends with Del Rey making it to her feet to beat the ten count just a hair quicker than Kong can. It’s not the most decisive win possible for the books, but the match at least makes it feel earned in this instance. The real victorious moment comes from Del Rey finding the strength to overcome Kong physically. That finishing stretch does a lot to soothe the bitterness of not having a decisive pinfall or submission.
Even with Kong up and about, arguing the decision, it still feels like Sara del Rey won the day though. That might just be more impressive than getting Kong up for the suplex.
IS IT BETTER THAN 6/3/94? Nope.
Rating: ***3/4