Preview: Shine 53 (9/8/2018)

Shine Wrestling returns to Queens, NY on September 8th to kick off a doubleheader with EVOLVE. The bulk of Shine 53 action will be dedicated to a one-night tournament. On June 26th the longest reigning Shine Champion, LuFisto, announced she had to vacate the title due to health reasons. In July, WWN officials announced that a new champion would be crowned at Shine 53 via a tournament. The competitors are Shine Nova Champion Candy Cartwright, Mercedes Martinez, Ivelisse, Allysin Kay, Brandi Lauren, Stormie Lee, Santana Garrett and Priscilla Kelly.

Shine Tag Team Championship Match: Twisted Sisterz (Thunder Rosa & Holidead) (c) vs. The Cutie Pie Club (Kiera Hogan & Dementia D’Rose)

#tagteamtuesday @sisterz_twisted your @WWNSHINE tag champs are back in action next Saturday 9/8 in a double header with @WWNEVOLVE at La Boom in New York. Watch the Live Stream&Video-on-Demand at:https://t.co/14Rbqc2mw1https://t.co/EZArYWZ8Jb@WWNLive@FiteTV@thunderrosa22 pic.twitter.com/tWNx3iyvKp

— Holidead (@holidead) August 28, 2018

Aside from the tournament, the Shine Tag Team Championship will be defended. Following their huge win at Shine 52, Thunder Rosa and Holidead will have their first title defense. They will take on one of the teams that they bested, the Cutie Pie Club. Kiera Hogan and Dementia D’Rose want another chance to bring more Shine gold to the Cutie Pie Club. Candy Cartwright will probably not be far from her stablemates, even though she’ll be busy herself.

Shine Championship Tournament – First Round Matches

Candy Cartwright (Shine Nova Champion) vs. Ivelisse

Speaking of the Shine Nova Champion, she is set to face off against Ivelisse. Ivelisse is a 2x former Shine Champion and a former Shine Tag Team Champion. The impertinent Ms. Cartwright claims to not be intimidated or afraid of her veteran opponent. Whether or not that is the case remains to be seen. Ivelisse is determined to become a three-time Shine Champion; while Candy would like to become a double champion. If either woman is successful in winning the tournament, each would be the first in Shine history.

Mercedes Martinez vs. Stormie Lee

Ivelisse’s tag team partner, Mercedes Martinez also enters the mix. A two-time SHIMMER Champion and a former Shine Tag Team Champion, she looks to add yet another title to her long resume. Stormie Lee, on the other hand, is still on the hunt for the first championship of her career. Both ladies are coming off losses at Shine 52, so they are hungry to taste victory again.

Santana Garrett vs. Priscilla Kelly

The rivalry between Santana and Priscilla goes back to Shine 46. There they warred over the Shine Nova Championship. At Shine 51, Santana challenged again for the Shine Nova Championship. Kiera Hogan and Dementia D’Rose came out near the end of this match to help their leader, Candy, only to have that blow up in their face. The referee was distracted, and Kiera cleaned Candy’s clock with the belt.

Priscilla Kelly emerged from the back to even the odds against the Cutie Pie Club. However, she was caught by the referee, holding the belt over a fallen Candy. This caused Santana to be disqualified and Candy Cartwright to retain her title. Santana and Priscilla brawled over this misunderstanding. The Shine locker room and officials attempted to keep the warring women apart. It was to no avail, as they continued to try and get to one another. This gave officials no choice but to suspend both Santana and Priscilla for Shine 52. Now the renewed rivals must go through each other en route to the Shine Championship.

Brandi Lauren vs. Allysin Kay

This is Allysin Kay (aka Sienna)’s return to Shine following a lengthy absence due to health problems. Brandi Lauren is an up and comer in Shine, who has lost to Allysin in the past. At Shine 43 Allysin, under the pseudonym of Maria Maria, beat Brandi, Daisy, Natalia Markova and Dementia D’Rose. This match was to determine the number one contender to the Shine Championship. Brandi has never forgotten this, and now Allysin Kay stands in her way once again. She vows to not let AK derail her title hopes and to become the classiest champion in Shine history.

AK, as she will tell you, don’t play. On the sidelines for most of 2018, she is itching to return to dominance. She doesn’t care whose asses she has to whoop to reach the top of the mountain. She just knows that Brandi Lauren’s is one of those asses.

Also scheduled for Shine 53 are the semi-finals and finals of the Shine Championship tournament. Shine 53 will start at 3:00 PM Eastern time and tickets are still available. If you aren’t in the New York area, you can still tune in via FITE.TV, WWNLive.com, and Club WWN.