After a proper amount of time to rest up, it was time for me to focus on the problems that came from our trip...
"Okay...most of the girls don't like me as much...what do we do?"
Steve: "Well, we'll just have to hope that your gifts will work...what did you get them?"
"Um...uh...hey, it's not my fault HBK took us shopping in the 'Dead Cat and a String to Swing it Around With' district, okay?"
Steve: "Um...I think you'll need to get better gifts...I'll check around for what they want, and meet you back when I get the information. Remember, you're working on a relatively fixed income, so you'll have to BUDGET, Tom!"
(Money for Gifts: One month of Tom Goddard's wOw Salary 7,000 plus 10 percent of his merchandise sales 4 of 400,000- 16,000 per month for Goddard- 8,600 total.)
Friday, December 19.
As I was heading into the armory for that night's show, Steve came up to me.
"I've checked what the girls you know want..."
Adriana Belli- "Why would I want something from him? I barely know him!
High-cost
gift (1,000)
Medium-cost gift (500)
Low-cost gift (100)
Give
her a Dead Cat and a String to swing it with
Alicia- "Why? Is he my Secret Santa? Oh, I'm fine with something small...
High-cost
Medium-cost
Low-cost
Dead
Cat
Alura- "I don't think I'd need anything from him..."
High
Medium
Low
Dead
Jamie Kogyaru- "After his escapades, he'll need to do something really nice for me..."
High
Medium
Low
Dead
Jocelyn Richter- "If he doesn't know what I want, he shouldn't get me something..."
High
Medium
Low
Dead
Kari-Chan- "Whatever Tommy-kun gets me is just perfect..."
High
Medium
Low
Dead
Lori Angel- "He'll really need to come through with the cool stuff!"
High
Medium
Low
Dead
Final tally spent: 3600
wOw Flagship
"Welcome to wOw Flagship! I am Madison Carter, and with me as always is Gristleizer! We're back after a week's hiatus, and we are ready to rock as whacked Out wrestling continues its rise!"
Jay Matthews v. Chris Cassidy
This is a problematic matchup to call- I had had really good hopes for this one. I've heard great things about Jay Matthews, and Chris Cassidy usually comes through in the clutch. However, the crowd was loaded with indifference from this matchup, and for good reason: It stunk. The wrestlers didn't have any chemistry together, and the crowd wasn't interested in the stuff given. Mercifully, Matthews pulled out a top-rope Powerbomb into a Face-Crusher (which the announcers called the Hype Factor) for the win.
22, 76, 49
After the break, Everyone in wOw's Favorite Overexposed tag team, the Bishie Boys, were WALKING! as Kakihara and Naruse attacked them. Suddenly, Amy Action came into the scene and began to attack the two as well! As they ended, Kakihara and Naruse spoke some Japanese, which Action translated:
"My clients say that just because you're from this area doesn't mean you're the best tag team here, and that they're going to prove to you just how out of your league you are!"
48
Evolution v. The Bishie Boys
I'm actually surprised that they're using Nova in a tag team situation, especially as the Transcontinental Champion. As long as it's an easy way to introduce Frankie Kazarian to the fans here, I don't see too much of a problem with it...The Bishie Boys kept selling the attack they had just gotten, which was both a nice touch and a helper to get Evolution into the matchup. Evolution took the advantage, until Jocelyn Richter headed to the outside and took Kazarian out of the matchup. Meanwhile, Nova was able to handle both Bishies in the ring, until Joey Idol came to the ring and attacked him, allowing the Bishie Boys to get a rollup for the win. Afterwards, the attack continued, until Kakihara and Naruse came to the ring and we officially become OVERBOOKED! Not as bad as it could have been, not as good as I hoped it would be.
56, 81, 68
The Predator v. Shane Goddard (for the Extreme Title.)
The announcers sell the fact that this match came about because of Shane Goddard's help in The Predator's upset victory last week to gain the belt (yeah, like Kintaro Kanemura's comments on that radio station out there didn't help matters along...) On the one hand, this was a decent brawl for the most part. On the other, more serious hand, these Hardcore title matches don't work- the fans just don't buy Shane Goddard as a hardcore god. Look, he made his name as a pretty-boy type, the fans buy him as a pretty-boy- just own up to that and head up to a division you'd be more successful at instead of beating the hell out of yourself. The match was nearly won by Goddard until Kanemura came out and started distracting the bookerman, allowing The Predator to roll him up for the win!
52, 76, 64
Gary Steele v. B-Boy (Title v. Title)
This was pretty much the same style clash we saw last week, albeit with two less people in it. Steele's great technical wrestling just doesn't work with B-Boy's unique style. Luckily, the match was fairly quick, as Steele locked in a Steele Leglock Submission to end another of UPW's titles. Hopefully now, we'll get matches more their speed.
41, 82, 61
Big Vito v. Gedo
I'm still not sure why they've been giving Gedo and Jado more singles matches recently- in a top-heavy federation like wOw, they need to keep some people held down while they do this. Sure, people might request singles matches with them, but use caution in it. Of course, when they're against people like Big Vito, all bets are off, as he proves once more why wOw's surge in popularity is being done basically on his back. I'm not sure how they found him, why they signed him, or why a bigger federation's not knocking down his door with all the matches he's put on in wOw. This was no exception, with a great show climaxing with another Big Vito win.
68, 91, 79
After the break, Pamela Paulshock was backstage with Joey Idol...
Paulshock: "Joey Idol, people have been wondering why you've been attacking Nova the past few weeks. Can you give us any reasoning for this?"
Idol: "Well, Pamela, it should be very simple to anyone with half a brain- so I assume you Rhode Island fans couldn't get it. Nova's got the Transcontinental Title, and I want it! I'm too good a talent to waste here, and it's high time I start getting myself the titles to prove it! I'm going to take Nova's Transcontinental Title belt, and then once I have that around my waste, I'm going after that second-rate thing Dave Menne calls a World Title to add to this!"
64
Sonny Siaki v. Samoa Joe (for the UPW Heavyweight Title)
I'm actually surprised that they're defending the UPW Heavyweight belt separately here. Siaki and Samoa Joe went through a typical style clash throughout the matchup. Just as Samoa Joe started to take the advantage, Dave Menne ran down the ramp and distracted the referee while Vitor Belfort came to the ring to attack Sonny Siaki. However, Siaki Irish-Whipped Belfort into Samoa Joe, allowing him to get a cover as the referee turned around! After the match, Siaki ran off with the belt as Dave Menne followed close behind!
Winner (NEW UPW Heavyweight Champ): Sonny Siaki
53, 82, 67
63
(Re-Release Notes- This is probably the true sign of when I felt I had it working on all 8 cylinders, namely the first installment I felt like I could put in the King of the Dome. It didn't take, but it still remains a telling story that I had finally found my niche as less the humor diary it started as and more of just a quirky/serious diary. This really helped me fine-tune my style, and as a result, the whole of this has got a style that is really all its own.)
Ah, Christmas Eve. Usually for me, this turns out very boring, for the most part. Me and my sibs have always had to do a little stuff for our father's birthday, which apparently meant that we would be landlocked at home (as we are all the other years.) Imagine then the surprise when Shane took me aside:
Shane: "Come on, Tom- we've got to go to Jared's party..."
"Are you kidding? How did Dad give the approval for that?"
Shane: "You'll see..."
"Excellent- but what about Sharon?"
Shane: "Come on- we couldn't let him have all his kids leave him. Now let's go, and...oh yeah...take your bag..." This was good- I got to see all of my friends for it, then just relax as it went through. Jared Steele usually threw great parties in school. I got my gear and all the presents I was going to give, and we got into the car to head over to the party. Once we got there, it seemed like it was already going as we headed to Jared's estate...
Shane: "I was just wondering...how did your friend get the money for all of this stuff?"
"From what Jared told me, he took Bradshaw's stock market advice- he bought WWE stock at 7.00, then resold it when it went up to 8.00."
Shane: "How could that give him enough for this?"
"Well, he bought a LOT of WWE stock..."
Shane: "But still- HOW'D HE GET THE MONEY FOR THAT?"
"I believe he used Arsenic to get it."
Shane: "Okay- that's what I was looking for..." Just then, Robbie headed over to Shane...
Robbie: "Thank goodness you're here! We need some help very soon- while you were on your way here, Nova got a little drunk and tried to do a Shooting Star Press into the indoor pool, but missed it entirely..."
Shane: "That sounds pretty bad- how serious is it?"
Robbie: "They say he apparently broke his arm- he'll be out until February..."
Shane: "FUCK! He's got a title, too! Well, get Joey Idol, tell him we're making some changes to the plan tonight..."
"Wait...tonight?"
Shane: "Oh, I wanted to keep it as a surprise, but we're doing tapings for the TV show from the party..." Yeesh- and he couldn't have told me earlier? I headed over to my friends as this went through...
Steve: "Hey, Tom! Glad you made it!"
"Yeah- I was surprised my dad was willing to let me come, but luckily, his 'Work Uber Alles' mentality got through..."
Steve: "Awesome, man!" Just then, Jared Steele came over to join us.
Jared: "Hey, there's the guy I wanted to see! What's going on, bro?"
"Not too much, man."
Jared: "You guys might want to get inside- the matches and the real party's going on in there..." We headed inside, and the place was just rocking. I saw what looked to be the entirety of whacked Out wrestling's roster in the place, highlighted by a ring...
Steve: "You might want to wait until the right time to give some of your gifts out..." I put the gifts for many of them on the table, as Steve suggested I give the ones that were needed out in person. I was going to give Jamie her gift, when Shane headed over to me...
Shane: "You know, you might want to give your gift to Jamie at least before the cameras start rolling- I know it's all wOwfed people here tonight, but we don't want to risk any accidental footage out there of a face and a heel fraternizing..."
"When did you become Bill Watts? It does seem like a good idea, though..." I headed over to Jamie and passed her the gift...
Jamie: "Thanks, Tom! This is just what I wanted! You're the best!"
Love-Love Power Increased
wOw Flagship Coverage
Okay, I really have to give some credit to whacked Out wrestling. It seems that someone in the brass liked what I was doing so much, they actually invited me to an exclusive Christmas party for the wOw wrestlers and staff, which also included the tapings for Friday's show. This is incredibly cool, and I have to give props to wOw for this. We're live from the mansion of Jared Steele (don't ask me how he afforded the place...) Your hosts, as usual, are Madison and Grist.
Steve: "7 Girls you know are in this. Who'd you like to cheer for?"
Amy
Action
Lori Angel
Jocelyn Richter
Brittany
Summers
Kari-Chan
Alicia
Jamie Kogyaru
10 Woman Battle Royale (for the Women's Title.)
Okay- I get
to see this untaped, and the first thing I see is a Women's matchup?
Well, at least the girls are pretty and mostly coming in after doing
some serious partying, so that's always a plus...
The order of
elimination:
1) Belle Lovitz eliminated by Adara James
2)
Amy Action eliminated by Jocelyn Richter
3) Lori Angel eliminated
by Brittany Summers
4) Barbara Vixen eliminated by Brittany
Summers
5) Kari-Chan eliminated by Adara James
6) Alicia
eliminated by Jocelyn Richter
7) Adara James eliminated by Jamie
Kogyaru
8) Brittany Summers eliminated by Jamie Kogyaru
9)
Jocelyn Richter eliminated by Jamie Kogyaru
This was short but painful. At least one of these girls should definitely get on doing whatever it takes to take the pain away from this (and basically Every wOw Women's match)...
32, 36, 34
After the match...
Alicia- "I should probably be mad at you for not cheering me, but you did give me a really nice gift, so you're off the hook!" Love-Love Increase
Amy Action- "Oh- I attack you with my clients just once and you can't cheer me? Come on, last week was SO...last week..."
Lori Angel- "So- you won't cheer me...I guess we'll have to see what you managed to give me before I decide to get mad or not..."
Jocelyn Richter- "Oh, sure. You don't cheer me...Fine. Be that way...at least you still can redeem yourself..."
Brittany Summers- "I don't care if you didn't cheer me, you gave me an Awesome gift! Thanks a lot!" Love-Love Increase
Kari-Chan- "You didn't cheer! Why are you so mean, Tommy-kun? Hopefully, your gift will make up for it..."
Jamie Kogyaru- "You didn't cheer me, but at the very least, you did give me a nice gift before- you're off the hook! Thanks again!"
(Re-Release Notes: In the original version of this, I kept numerical symbols of how much love-love power each girl had for our hero. However, I took that out of this one to add a little more challenge to it- IRL, you're not supposed to know exactly how much a person likes you, so why should he get that advantage in the game?)
Hardcore Kidd v. Kangor
Before the match, Kangor took the mic...
Kangor: "GROWL FUCK FUCK YOU FUCKING FUCKERS FROM FUCKING UPW SHOULD TAKE FUCKING NOTICE WHEN I FUCKING KILL AND FUCKING EAT FUCKING HARDCORE KIDD BEFORE FUCKING SHITTING OUT HIS FUCKING CORPSE AND FUCKING THE FUCKING SHIT THAT I FUCKING SHIT OUT WITH HIS FUCKING REMAINS IN IT! GROWL!" (See? Kangor gets character development- he said "Shit" this time, too...)
Grist: "The HellBeast! The Rookie Monster! Second-ever wOw Champion!"
MMV: "Will you stop?"
I was interested in seeing this matchup, if only because Kangor's really a decent brawler and I had heard great things about Hardcore Kidd. However, the reports of Hardcore Kidd being good were GREATLY exaggerated. This was a weak brawl by Kangor's style. I might give a little to the partying they had done before, but it didn't work. Kangor quickly got a win, but I couldn't hear what the finisher's called due to the announcers in front of me:
Grist: "KAN-GORE! KAN-GORE!"
MMV: "Are you kidding? It's a simple SPEAR! SPEAR!"
Tony Schiavone: "SIDEWALK SLAM! SIDEWALK SLAM!"
Grist: "What are you doing here?"
Tony Schiavone: "I'm drunk off my ass on the Greatest alcohol in the History of Fermentation, celebrating the Greatest Christmas in the History of the World at the Greatest Christmas Party in the history of Partying!"
All in all, a subpar outing.
16, 75, 45
While watching the matches, I happened to see Lori over by herself.
Steve: "Dude, this is the perfect time to give her her gift..." I quickly grabbed the gift I had bought her and headed over.
"Um, I bought this for you...Merry Christmas..."
Lori unwrapped the gift...
"Wow! Thanks, Tom! It's just what I wanted!" Lori hugged me as she left to go put it away.
IN GAME RATING: 63 Converted into: Love-Love Power Dramatic Increase
Meanwhile...
Lori: "It's perfect...I didn't know how much Tom cared about me..." Suddenly, Lori's eyes grew starry as she looked at Tom leaving towards his seat... "So cute..."
Jared Steele v. Forest Yuhas
Okay, kids- this is occuring in Jared Steele's own house. Three guesses who's going to win. The match, however, was surprising, as Steele is a great worker, and Forest Yuhas is supposedly a great brawler. However, the two didn't click at all. It's more surprising since Steele's a good brawler and could easily mesh with Yuhas. However, I think the reasoning is because of no-selling. I didn't see Forest Yuhas before the show, so I have to assume he Hulked Up out of sight to everyone, because the guy didn't sell anything except the Emerald Fusion that was at least an 0.6 on the Misawa scale Jared Steele used to end the match (which the announcers called the Done Deal). It's a shame- I would have liked to see this match without the no-selling.
25, 61, 43
Shane Goddard v. Kintaro Kanemura (for Number One Contender, Extreme Title)
Well, this looks special- you take a pretty-boy you're trying to build as a Hardcore God and a legendary Deathmatch wrestler, and put them in a straight-up match...Not a bad little brawl, for the most part. The two have talent, and were able to put on a fairly decent show. The match basically went back-and forth. However, just as there was supposed to be an end to the battle, Adriana Belli and Alura came running into the ring and attacked the two of them! The announcers looked surprised, as if this wasn't scripted (and to be fair, both of them looked like they finished playing a game of Quarters with Scott Hall and Jake Roberts when they did it.) The two legitimately tried to stop them, but Belli took the mic...
Belli:"Hey, don't touch me! These people, and all the ones at home, need to know that your brother's a complete and utter freak!"
Alura: "Yeah, the guy sent us each a dead cat for a Christmas present! What the fuck has to be going through your mind to do THAT?"
BOMBS DROPPED BY: Adriana Belli, Alura
After that, Kanemura and Goddard each took one of the girls and restrained them, sending them out of the ring (and ending the match.) Yeah, this will be clipped from the show...
50, 83, 66
Adriana Belli now Dislikes Tom
Goddard
Alura now Dislikes Tom Goddard
After the match, Joey Idol came down to the ring and took a mic...
"Hey, fans out there! I thought you all should know that your hero, Nova, is SO afraid of me that he went and broke his own arm just so he wouldn't have to face me in the ring! I believe that this, if nothing else, proves that I am the top man in wOw today! I'm more than that belt he has, much more worldwide...hence, as of today, I'm declaring myself the wOw International Champion!"
Just then, Robbie Richter came down...
"Hold up...if you're going to declare yourself a titleholder, you need someone in charge of wOw to okay the move...and I'll only do it if you take on a challenger for the belt TONIGHT!"
Idol: "Okay- who do you want?" Just then, Carly Colon came down the ramp and started attacking Idol!
Joey Idol v. Carly Colon
This should be good- for a little while, Colon's been able to bring people like the Tough Enough kids to good matches, so seeing what he can do against a worker a little more esteemed like Joey Idol could be a nice change. The match was actually halfway decent, with both of the two managing to put on a show for the workers (and me.) Match went nice, finishing when Joey Idol CHEATS TO WIN! This wasn't a bad match, and if they need a mini-feud until Nova gets back, it'll be a good one.
After that match finished, Steve came over to talk to me...
Steve: "You know- Kari-Chan told me she's ready to leave, you might want to go give her her gift..." Taking his advice, I grabbed the gift I was going to give her and headed out to find her...
"Kari...I got you this. Merry Christmas..." Kari-Chan took the gift...
Kari: "WAI! ARIGATO GOZAIMASU, Tommy-sempai! It's just what I wanted, though, nothing could be bad coming from you...Darling..." Hmmm...
Love Love Dramatic Increase
After I got back to my seat, Sonny Siaki was in the ring...
"I'm not here to try anything. I mean, I don't need to prove anything more to you wOw fans! Last week, I won the UPW Heavyweight Title. This is a title worthy of respect: The title from the federation that gave you Sting, The Ultimate Warrior, John Cena...um, Joe Millionaire...anyway, it has some prestige to it! Who of any importance held that wOw World Title? No one! That is why, come Sunday, it is my necessity to give that title some meaning, in the form of having the Ace in the Hole, Sonny Siaki, hold the belt if only to inject some prestige to it!"
82
Vampiro v. Steve Blackman
Oh goody, a Christmas present for me...in case you've been living under a rock, Vampiro and Blackman have managed to actually put on amazing matches over the last few months in wOw that have served to make them wrestlers to watch again in the ring. This was no exception, with the two managing to put on a show that I'm surprised they didn't do in the big federations. Were they handcuffed, or can these two just work together in the ring? Who knows- it's just good. Vampiro won this one with the Nail in the Coffin, but this won't be over...
76, 93, 84
After this match ended, Jocelyn came up to me.
Jocelyn: "So, Tom...when are you going to give me my present?"
"Um...oh, sorry...I almost forgot to!" I quickly grabbed the present I had given her. "Merry Christmas..."
Jocelyn opened it...
Jocelyn: "Oh, wow...how did you afford this? This must have cost you most of your salary this month!"
"No, just one-seventh..."
Jocelyn: "Dammit- now my gift won't look as good..." I opened the gift...
"Um...framed, autographed pictures of all the Mr. Universe winners?"
Jocelyn: "Well, your friends told me that you'd like it..."
"I see...and did it cross your mind that it might be a joke?" Jocelyn started to blush...
Jocelyn: "Well...but...but Triple H liked it when Stephanie gave these to him..." Wait a minute...what...what could she mean by that?
IN GAME: 73 Dramatic Love-Love Increase
Dave Menne and Vitor Belfort v. Sonny Siaki and Jimmy Snuka Jr.
Well, this was a styles clash, to say the least...Menne and Belfort's shoot-fighting skill, Siaki's pseudo-high flying, and Snuka's...being in the way led to problems. For the most part, this didn't work as well- something that could fare badly on the Siaki/Menne match. Luckily, there were talented workers in the match, so it all seemed fine until the end. Siaki managed to pin Belfort, giving the win to his team- and likely saying (by WWE rules) Menne wins Sunday.
69, 83, 76
Overall: 65
After the show ended, Jared Steele took me aside...
Jared: "Man, this party was great. Listen, some girls were asking about you, and they wanted me to introduce you to them..."
"Well, Jared, you know me- I'm always interested in giving fans a bit of me..."
Jared: "Excellent. This is my friend Veronica Diamond..."
Veronica: "Hello..."
"...my friend Barbara Vixen..."
Missy: "...Nice to meet you..."
Jared: "...and my friend, Brandi Alexander..."
"(yeesh...she looks like she fell off the ugly tree and hit every branch...) Charmed..."
Jared: "Well, I'll let you go- they've just needed to meet you..."
"Hey, no problem man- we can go all night!" The party continued on well onto Christmas morning.
That Sunday, when I got to the arena where they were holding the event, my brother told me about the great news...
Shane: "I can't believe this- it's like a late Christmas present!"
"What's the deal?"
Shane: "I just got word from Gary- it seems that the TV station's agreed to put Flagship on in prime time starting next year! This rules!"
"Awesome!" I quickly headed through to get to the dressing room to prepare for the match tonight.
Steve: "I'm glad you got here- some people have been asking for you all day...me, Masahito, and Masayuki were barely able to start planning out the matchup with those girls running around..."
"Excuse me?"
Steve: "Yeah, your little Working Rat Brigade...Steve started talking in falsetto... 'Oh, Stevie! Have you seen Tom around? I was SO wanting him to teach me what American VAAAHHHLENCE was like at my apartment...', 'Stevie! I really want Mamoru-kun and Tiga to get in an angle with you and Tom...I'd like to roll around on the mat with him until he makes me submit...' Honestly, would it kill you to spread the wealth around, man?"
"What do you mean there?"
Steve: "Come on, dude! Make like Spice Girls: tell Lori and Kari, 'If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends!'"
"Did Manny give you some of his happy pills or something, man?"
Steve: "Fine, man...I'll have you know, all the best tag teams shared girls all the time..."
"Okay, that just sounds weird, dude...besides, you know you can get you some. We'll just go out there, do what we do best, and then you'll have your pick of any ring rat or rats you want! how does that sound?"
Steve: "Oh, all right..."
wOw Strange Days
"Welcome to wOw Strange Days! I am your host, Jonathan Coachman, and with me is Tony Schiavone!"
"WELCOME TO wOw! THIS IS THE GREATEST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR GREAT SPORT!"
"Um, I just said that..."
Steve: "2 girls you know are competing. Who do you want to cheer for?"
Jamie Kogyaru
Brandi Alexander
Brandi Alexander v. Jamie Kogyaru
And the apparent "feeding" continues for the Women's Champion. I don't care seeing most of this stuff, Kogyaru is great in the ring, and to wholly gloat- I got her IM addy at the wOw party- yeah, you wOw fans wish you were me... Despite most of wOw's style of "overrated women's wrestling", this was actually good. Brandi Alexander's more talented that I had originally seen, and the match was surprisingly decent as wOw Women's matches go. A similar ending to most, with Kogyaru hitting the Japanese Schoolgirl Pin for the victory. It didn't matter- this was a decent matchup, and I'd like to see these two go at it again.
38, 72, 55
After the match...
Jamie: "Aww- you cheered for me! I knew you cared..." (Love Love increased)
Race Steele v. Jado
I am still surprised why wOw gives Gedo and Jado singles pushes. I mean, they're tailor-made for the tag team division, and all their draw comes from the team. Despite this, the match was awesome. These two meshed extremely well, and the match was better as a result of it. Steele finally took the advantage, hitting a MAIN EVENT 'PINEBUSTER! before following it up with a Steele Cutter for the victory here. Not a bad match- I'd like to see them go at it again.
58,89, 73
The Predator v. Kintaro Kanemura v. Shane Goddard
I don't understand the logic, but this is a basically non-hardcore elimination match...for their hardcore title. Yeah, indy feds have SUCH great continuity...they also have SLOBBERKNOCKERS!, as this match was. All three managed to put on a great brawl, just attacking each other. Kintaro Kanemura got the advantage on The Predator, and managed to score the pinfall on him to assure a new champion. As Kanemura celebrated, Shane Goddard grabbed him and launched him into an Angle Slam into a DVD-type move (that the announcers called the Goddardsmack) for the big win! It's official, Shane Goddard has booked himself to hold a hardcore title! Now, if he only books wrestlers to have transgender gimmicks, then I'll be happy...
47, 81, 64
Mikey Henderson v. Gary Steele
Possibly the card's 'disappointment' matchup. I was expecting Steele and Henderson to be really evenly matched, just from what I've seen from the two of them. However, it didn't seem like the two clicked. Apparently, UPW guys can't hang with wOw wrestlers- a similar action occurred at the Kangor/Hardcore Kidd matchup. Blah match: The two try hitting spots to pop the crowd, 'Boring' chant raises in the stands, Eric Gracie puts the fans out of their misery by helping Steele retain. I guess a lot of these guys don't like the East Coast...
31, 79, 55
The Bishie Boys v. Kakihara and Naruse
Ah, here we go- a truly good tag team matchup between one of wOw's best homegrown teams (if a little overexposed) and a great puro tag team. (If I seem to be a little nicer towards the Bishie Boys than usual, it's mostly due to Steve Evans being a major factor in the action I said at the top of the show...) Great high-flying matchup for both teams, which really helped on it. The two had gotten the crowd a little more pumped than you'd expect for an indy show (i.e. Adequately Prepared to Rock!) when Amy Action came in to distract Tom Goddard, leading to Naruse hitting the Crazy Cyclone for the win. After that, the three attacked, when Jocelyn Richter came in and evened the tide. (Gee, it seems like so long ago that Richter and Goddard were fighting their siblings mostly- does wOw have WWE-memory?)
51, 87, 69
Mike Rotundo v. Carly Colon
Just out of curiosity to the fans: Was Carly Colon even born when Rotundo was in the WWE for the first time? All kidding aside, Colon looked more like a seasoned veteran, while Rotundo actually brought the A-Game of a much younger wrestler than the norm. Fairly decent match, ending with Rotundo putting over Colon as the result of an Inverted Figure Four. Not a bad matchup, if a tad overrated (much like all of Carly Colon's wOw matches.)
64, 82, 73
Joey Idol v. Gedo
Okay, this is just painfully obvious for the winner: A tag team wrestler (albeit one who is being pushed as a singles star) versus a guy who just got the belt basically awarded last show. Let me just say, I knew who would win from those things, but by damn, it was a good show to say the least! It's matches like this that make me want to mark out more often: Just because it was obvious Joey Idol would win (which he did, the result of an I haven't changed the name of my finisher despite the fact that I don't play Kaos anymore), it didn't change the fact that it was a match of the night candidate. All in all, a great matchup.
43, 92, 67
Big Vito v. Vampiro
Well, at least wOw knows how to keep its matches coming at the fans, bringing in a great "MVP battle" for them after a match like the last one. I'm surprised that the fans didn't buy into the last match, but they were ELECTRIC for this one. I guess XPW wasn't as popular as people thought...Great match all the way through, with Vampiro picking up the big win. Awesome match- I'll be surprised if the main event matches it...
81, 95, 88
Dave Menne v. Sonny Siaki (Title v.Title)
...which, as wOw is wont to do, they did! I can't believe the amount of great matches they gave for this show. Apparently, the reports of Menne and Siaki not gelling together were greatly exaggerated, because they brought the house down in this matchup. The styles mixed, until Siaki then CHEATS TO WIN!, and we had a new champion! I did NOT expect that to occur! The two then brawled to the back- it looks like this isn't over (Thank God!)
88, 95, 91
Overall: 74
I headed to get my latest paycheck, when I happened to be brought over by my brother...
Shane: "There he is, the best indy wrestler in the world! What's going on, little bro?"
"Oh, come on, Shane, I am nowhere near the best indy wrestler in the world..."
Shane: "That's not what says..."
"Where?"
Shane: "Take a look..." Shane passed me a link to where I checked out the main page:
2003 Awards:
Top 100 Wrestlers in the World, 2003
Rank- Name- Promotions worked for at last check
1) Kurt Angle
(WWE)
2) Chris Jericho (WWE)
3) Chris Benoit (WWE)
4) Eddie
Guerrero (WWE)
5) Lance Storm (WWE)
6) Christopher Daniels
(NWATNA/WWA/MLW)
7) Tom Goddard (wOw)
8) Juventud Guerrera
(NWATNA)
9) Brock Lesnar (WWE)
10) Rob Van Dam (WWE)
11)
Tajiri (WWE)
12) Shawn Michaels (WWE)
13) AJ Styles
(NWATNA/WWA/FLI)
14) Chavo Guerrero Jr (Free Agent)
15)
Christian (WWE)
16) Jerry Lynn (WWE)
17) The Hurricane
(WWE)
18) Rey Mysterio Jr. (WWE)
19) Sonny Siaki
(NWATNA/wOw)
20) Matt Hardy (WWE)
21) TAKA Michinoku
(FLI/CZW)
22) Jamie Noble (WWE)
23) Psychosis (XPW/WWA)
24)
Edge (Free Agent)
25) Al Snow (WWE)
26) Randy Orton (WWE)
27)
Nunzio (WWE)
28) Vampiro (wOw)
29) Nova (wOw)
30) Booker T
(WWE)
31) Ken Shamrock (Free Agent)
32) Low-Ki
(NWATNA/ROH/WWA)
33) Steve Corino (MLW/ROH/WWA)
34) Ron
Killings (NWATNA/FLI/WWA)
35) Steve Austin (WWE)
36) Masato
Tanaka (NWATNA)
37) Donovan Morgan (PWI/ROH/WWA)
38) Charlie
Haas (WWE)
39) D'Lo Brown (NWATNA/WWA/MLW)
40) Super Crazy
(MLW/CZW/XPW)
41) Devon Storm (XPW/PCW/WWA)
42) Shelton
Benjamin (WWE)
43) EZ Money (ROH/CZW)
44) Scotty 2 Hotty
(WWA)
45) Scoot Andrews (IPW/CZW/PWI)
46) Kid Kash (NWATNA/3PW/
BCW)
47) CM Punk (NWATNA/ROH/MLW)
48) Bryan Danielson
(ROH/PWI/FLI)
49) Syxx-Pac (NWATNA/MLW)
50) La Parka
(MLW/WWA)
51) Chris Candido (WWA/MLW/PTW
52) Funaki (WLW)
53)
John Cena (WWE)
54) Mikey Whipwreck (MLW/ROH/3PW)
55) Jeff
Hardy (Free Agent)
56) Chris Kanyon (WWE)
57) The Messiah
(CZW/BCW/WWA)
58) Tito Ortiz (Free Agent)
59) Jody Fleisch
(ROH/FLI/WWA)
60) Jushin Liger (NWATNA)
61) Johnny Stamboli
(Free Agent)
62) Joey Idol (APW/wOw)
63) Keiji Mutoh (Free
Agent)
64) Sean O'Haire (WWE)
65) Nick Dinsmore
(PWI/3PW/BCW)
66) Trent Acid (CZW/BCW/ROH)
67) Stevie Fabulous
(FLI)
68) Gedo (wOw)
69) Perry Saturn (NWATNA)
70) The
Amazing Red (NWATNA/FLI/MLW)
71) Kevin Martel (FLI)
72) Frank
Shamrock (Free Agent)
73) The Rock (WWE)
74) Rico (WWE)
75)
Johnny B. Badd (Free Agent)
76) Big Vito (wOw)
77) Vanderlei
Silva (XPW)
78) Vitor Belfort (XPW/wOw)
79) Michael Modest
(PWI/wOw)
80) Christian York (CZW/XPW/PTW)
81) Xavier (ROH)
82)
James Storm (NWATNA)
83) Johnny Kashmere (CZW/WWC/ROH)
84)
Kazushi Sakuraba (XPW)
85) Simon Diamond (MLW/PWI/NWATNA)
86)
Elix Skipper (NWATNA/WWA/3PW)
87) Spanky (CZW/WXW)
88) Steve
Blackman (wOw)
89) Matt Stryker (HWA/IWA-MS/ROH)
90) Jeff
Jarrett (WWE)
91) Triple H (WWE)
92) Paul London
(PCW/CZW/FLI)
93) Shane McMahon (WWE)
94) Bret Hart (WWA)
95)
Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (NWATNA)
96) Chris Harris (NWATNA)
97)
Joey Matthews (BCW/PCW/ROH)
98) Frankie Kazarian
(PCW/wOw/NWATNA)
99) Ruckus (CZW/JAPW/CWF)
100) Billy Kidman
(WWE)
Awards:
WWE Wrestler of the Year: Kurt
Angle
NWATNA Wrestler of the Year: Christopher Daniels (6)
WWE
Tag Team of the Year: World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas
38/Shelton Benjamin 42)
NWATNA Tag Team of the Year: Triple X
(Christopher Daniels 6/Low-Ki 32)
King of the Indies: Tom
Goddard (7)
Rookie of the Year: Tom Goddard (7)
For More Info, go to was shocked- I knew I was getting a fanbase on the indies, but I never dreamed it was that large...
"Okay...so maybe I am- what's the big deal?"
Shane: "The big Deal? The big deal? You're considered as of today basically the best in the world! Can you fathom this? It was a big deal when Reckless Youth cracked the top 50 as an indy wrestler, but he didn't get this far! You managed to crack the top 10, you did it at 20 years old, and you did it without even wrestling a match for a Big Two federation! That's possibly the biggest upset in the history of those polls!"
"Okay...now you're sounding like Schiavone..."
Shane: "I'm just trying to warn you, man- now that you're officially the 'It Boy' in indy wrestling, people are going to be looking at your matches through a microscope. Wrestlers are going to try to come here from all around to wrestle you, or try to injure you just to make themselves look good..."
"Well, I'm just glad I have people to keep me grounded..."
Shane: "Hey, don't look at me- I never ranked higher than 225 on their polls..."
"Okay. Thanks for the compliments..."
Shane: "You're welcome. Oh, and Tom- you might want to work your magic- WMF's tapped one of our boys..."
"Awesome- who?"
Shane: "That Fighter guy- you might want to check on him to make sure he doesn't do like Finale did..." I proceeded to head over to the office.
"So, happy to be going to Japan?"
Fighter: "I like swords..."
"I see...well, you have no problems needing to confess or anything, right?"
Fighter: "I like swords..."
"Okay- then I don't need to give you any help?"
Fighter: "I like swords..."
("Well, this seems pointless"...) Somehow, I expect Fighter will be a good fit for the federation springing from the ashes of Kodo Fuyuki's masterpiece... since I'd have a little time, I decided to check that same site- apparently, one of their new articles was about me...
Tom Goddard: The Best Wrestler You've Never Heard Of?
In Top 100 lists, there's usually bound to be a few surprises. The discussion usually rages on throughout the year for who really deserves each spot. This year, Top 100 poll seems to have what may be the biggest upset in the polls.
We bring to you the curious case of Tom Goddard. A somewhat well-acclaimed New England- based wrestler, Goddard truly broke out over the last few months of 2003 in whacked Out wrestling, proving to be a catalyst in that federation's rise. Combined with amazing work (in our views), this seemed to be enough to vault Goddard over such Rookie of the Year Candidates for 2003 as Kevin Martel and Stevie Fabulous, scoring the first Rookie of the Year to come out of whacked Out wrestling. The surprise, however, occurred when our writers finished out their voting: This was enough to give Goddard the upset victory of King of the Indies (over such luminaries as Chavo Guerrero Jr., TAKA Michinoku, and Psychosis), and when the smoke cleared, placed Goddard at number 7 in the top 100 of the year: the first of 11 wOw superstars to place in the top 100 this year- a watershed mark for the quickly-rising Rhode Island federation to keep this in mind, the last time a whacked Out wrestling superstar had made it into the top 100 was Robbie Richter, placing in at number 92 back in 1987. This leads to a question: Was tampering involved? To the detractors, we would simply suggest finding a way to pick up some of Goddard's work- in our view, it speaks enough for itself to prove us right in our view...
I continued reading- it looked pretty normal...well, until I got to the end...
(Editor's Note: If you really are interested in finding some of this work, it will be a lot easier to: In a surprising announcement this January 1, DirectTV has announced agreements with several top indy federations to reform the "American Wrestling Alliance" for PPVs starting very soon, with the first show scheduled in a couple weeks. Our sources have learned that whacked Out wrestling has been confirmed as one of the indy federations DirectTV contacted for this, in effect guaranteeing that Tom Goddard will be an inaugurial part of the AWA roster...)
Okay...for future reference...finding that you've been signed to another federation on the Internet... just is not fun.
I was still shocked by this info, and decided to look through the Internet to see if they were telling the truth. First, I tried going to then looked through their recent press releases...
DIRECTTV TO ENTER WRESTLING BUSINESS; NEW "AWA" To Be Birthed
- In what has been seen as a shocker to many insiders, the announcement came today that DirectTV has added an additional Pay Per View wrestling alliance to the mixture.
The intended plan sprung from the success of AWA reruns on Pay Per View from the company, and led DirectTV to be willing to fund a new American Wrestling Alliance. Starting this week, the company reportedly is involving a series of eight of the top independent federations in North America today in forming this group (including a "Best of the Indies" feel for its first 8 shows) consisting of the following:
East Coast Wrestling Alliance- a group that has had a small following in the wrestling world, but was nearly going under. The "AWA" will use the name of their premiere event, the "Super 8" for their Eighth show, which they are claiming will be huge...
Yankee Pro Wrestling- a small federation out of New England. Was reportedly entering bankruptcy proceedings until they were bought by the AWA outright.
Canadian Wrestling Federation- a small federation in Canada.
Pro Wrestling Iron- a federation out of California which had a decent cult following.
IWA Mid-South- One of the world's foremost hardcore wrestling federations.
AAA- One of the most popular lucha libre federations in Mexico.
Major League Wrestling- One of the more popular federations in the country, this federation is considered to be the lynchpin of the AWA.
whacked Out wrestling- One of the hottest federations in North America right now, this federation has been gaining steam steadily on the backs of a renowned women's division and arguably the best home-grown talent in the world...
Okay...this isn't good. I still don't believe it-if we were doing it, Shane would have told me. I'm not believing this until our own website comes and says it's so... News: IT'S SO- whacked Out wrestling to join the umbrella of the American Wrestling Alliance
-In a surprising turn of events, whacked Out wrestling has agreed to join the eight-federation group that is giving birth to a new "AWA." Under this plan, DirectTV is sponsoring Pay-Per-View events for whacked Out wrestling, in exchange for wOw joining the group to be one of the lynchpins (along with Major League Wrestling.)
Said wOw Owner Robbie Richter, "We feel this is the best option for our federation at this point in time. Our wrestlers are finally getting a huge buzz around the United States, and we believe that the Pay-Per-View exposure for wOw will help prove what people in Rhode Island have known for years- that whacked Out wrestling is the finest independent wrestling federation in the country..."
Okay, that does it- I'm officially pissed. I stormed out of the office and looked for my brother...
"When the hell were you going to tell us you went into the AWA?"
Shane: "Hey, Robbie just told me this morning that the deal went through, and I was going to tell you as soon as you finished with Fighter..."
"I see...but come on. I know you couldn't say something about UPW- you wanted to keep WWE from making a move. But not giving me a heads-up that you were trying to work with this? Honestly, I think I deserved to know about that ASAP, considering, you know, all of these articles saying that I was being SOLD as one of the main reasons to add wOw to the mix...
Shane: "Okay. I'll level with you here: DirectTV forced us to not tell you until the moment it went through. They say that melding all 8 of those feds there could possibly lead to a sectioned off grouping that could be on par with WWE or NWATNA. I mean, think about this: You get great luchadores, hardcore workers, hybrid wrestling, and add that to our women's division- that's golden right there."
"It doesn't change the fact you kept me in the dark..."
Shane: "I'm getting to it. They liked the idea of going through with a big-ticket move to get indy cred: they had their own TV deal, but if they could say 'WWE has the huge names, and TNA has the following all set, but WE have the number one worker on the independent scene today confirmed for our broadcasts', they could walk in and have street cred. That's why they didn't want to let people know- according to their view, they were worried that if you knew that you'd be pushed as a major player in the AWA, you'd take the knowledge and use it as leverage to sign a huge deal with WWE or NWATNA, taking one of their biggest marketing tools to the hardcore fan."
"Okay...but what about Youthanazia- with the AWA roster, both of those will be coming in from MLW. They would love to end me and Steve's careers..."
Shane: "Oh, come on...they start something, you do the same thing again..."
"Okay..."
Shane: "Okay. Get ready- the first PPV's Tuesday- I heard wOw's not going to have a big part on it, but since you're such a big name in the indy world, you might be on the show..."
wOw Flagship Recap!
Welcome back to AWA, er, wOw Flagship as I make my first recap of this new era. Luckily they didn't force wOw to get rid of their announcers...yet, as Madison Carter and Gristleizer still welcome us to the show (glossing over the "strategic alliance".) Jayce Simmons was already in the ring to start, as a video came on over wOw (one good thing about "THE SELLOUT", at least they've given them better quality than public access fare...)
"Hi, my name is Adam Knoxville, and tonight, we're wrestling!" Adam Knoxville then came out, which I suppose would be a surprise if he didn't after that claim...
Adam Knoxville v. Jayce Simmons
Very nice high-flying matchup; the two seemed to mesh well together. No surprise; two decent high-flyers with generic movesets will tend to do that...The match seemed to go pretty normally, until Jay Matthews came down the ramp and started to attack Jayce Simmons! IT'S A SWERVE...oh, I just had a WCW 2000 moment. Knoxville went up top and hit a Bad Idea (Diving Headbutt with a chair on top of the opponent) for the big win. Afterwards, Matthews and Knoxville attacked Simmons. Decent match- this should improve everyone's status in the new era...
31, 88, 59
After the break, Sonny Siaki was in the ring and took the mic...
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's official: The 'Ace in the Hole' ALWAYS keeps his promises! I told all of you fans that I would do the right thing and inject some prestige in the wOw Title, and at Strange Days, I did just that! This title, and you fans, have someone you can be PROUD of as champion- someone who can lead you into the American Wrestling Alliance with your heads held high! That Dave Menne fellow couldn't do that, because, well, he's nowhere near my level! If he ever wants more proof of that- well, step in the ring; I'll be happy to kick your ass again!"
92
Brandon Downard v. Finale (Hardcore bout)
THIS...was just what Hardcore is MEANT to be. Two psychotic freaks just tearing into each other with everything they had for a good long period of time. I was almost becoming a gore-mark for a minute there as I tried to fathom the carnage. Finale finally got the win, the result of an Innocence Abused (modified Stratusphere). Just..get a copy of this.
44, 100, 72
After that, Kakihara and Naruse were backstage with their translator Amy Action, saying something...
"What Kakihara-san said was, The Bishie Boys, anguished by their defeat, are not here tonight, apparently in order to stay at home crying like the little BITCHES they are..."
Naruse then said something...
"What's that, Naruse-san? They did not stay at home crying? You mean, all three of them are on the first plane to Minneapolis right now? But...but I thought that they were supposed to be the 'local heroes' of this crummy state! But apparently not- as soon as wOw signed with the AWA, they're obviously the first three to head there for their first Pay-Per-View!
Kakihara then spoke...
"No, I don't blame them either- I would want to get as far away from wOw as possible too..."
Naruse then spoke...
"Why would you want to do that? At least give them a MATCH before you head to AWA..."
46
Steve: "Two girls you know are in this match. What team would you like to cheer for?"
Storm
and Goddard
Kogyaru and Vixen
Amanda Storm and Sharon Goddard v. Jamie Kogyaru and Barbara Vixen
No, I don't buy this matchup either, but if it puts four halfway decent workers in the ring, why ask why? Storm and Goddard had some halfway decent moves together, much more than Kogyaru and Vixen. I wouldn't doubt the teamwork, from the rumors I heard about Storm and Goddard behind the scenes... Anyway, to the match- Sharon Goddard CHEATED TO WIN! and get one on Jamie Kogyaru, leading to a brawl. It looks like they're going with Goddard/Kogyaru, which isn't a bad thing...
33, 73, 53
After the match...
Jamie: "Aww- you cheered for us over your own sister! You're so sweet..." Love-Love Increase
Shane Goddard then came to the ring, presumably to shoot on the synergy...at least, I hoped he was going to, because Kintaro Kanemura came out to attack. Just as Goddard started to fight back, the Ballard Brothers came out for some reason to help Kanemura! The three then proceeded to drive Goddard groin-first into the ringpost...I guess that with one interested in her own gender and now this, that means repopulating wOw with decent-if-overexposed wrestlers falls on Tom now...
49
Shane Goddard v. The Ballard Brothers
...until this impromptu match started, apparently serving to work better than one of wOw's many divas coming to kiss Shane Goddard's boo-boo to make it all better. I'm serious, once the bell rung, Goddard almost completely stopped selling that injury. I hope someone got fired for that blunder... Anyway, at least it apparently did hurt Goddard, because he gasp JOBBED! Of course, it was to two people...and through additional interference from Kanemura, but still...
43, 77, 60
Gary Steele and Eric Gracie v. The Cannonball Commission
This was apparently for the stipulation that the winner of the pinfall would recieve a shot at Gary Steele's Cruiserweight Title- almost assuring Gary Steele would lose. Surprisingly good, as Roche and Jared Steele (no relation) managed to put on a decent matchup with the champion and his sidekick. J.Steele managed to hit a Done Deal on G.Steele, thus making him YOUR number one contender (gotta love having friends in high places, huh?) Great matchup, for the most part.
37, 88, 62
Tom Howard v. Harley Lewis
The show's biggest disappointment- I was expecting two great brawlers like this to put on an amazing show for it. On paper, these two would be good, but in action, there was too much of a style clash. Howard ended it with a powerbomb, ending this experiment with a matchup.
49, 81, 65
Vampiro v. Vitor Belfort
Fairly decent matchup, though not as good as Vampiro's more legendary matches in wOw. Still a proof that he's revitalized himself here, which is nothing but a good thing. Vampiro got the win with his Nail in the Coffin-Somewhat good match, though not as good as his stuff with Blackman...
75, 84, 79
Big Vito v. Sonny Siaki (for the wOw World Title)
This is what got wOw so big- two of wOw's MVPs of their run to respectability doing what they do best. The two actually meshed really well, despite their somewhat different style. Siaki hit the Siakalypse Now, but Dave Menne ran into the ring and attacked Siaki, drawing the DQ! Seeing this, Big Vito attacked Menne, and we had a brawl to end the show!
83, 95, 89
Overall: 67
Tuesday, January 6.
AWA: Kings of the Indies- Week 1.
Hi, everyone- this is Peter Ramon for I haven't gotten to do much recently, so I've been put in charge of reviewing the newest Pay-Per-View series, AWA's Kings of the Indies one. The early buzz on this federation is that it's got the stuff, and with a lot of nice stuff in there (including MLW and wOw signing on), this is bound to rule...(Re-Release Notes: Sometimes, when you're trying to go for some semblance of realism in these things, it's nice having friends in high places. In this instance, the base fed that wOw Memorial comes from sprung from the message board ran by this particular writer for leading to the fun part of having linking to part of our original stuff... When I needed a name for our PPVs, this caused absolutely no problem, adding some more realistic views for it...)
at least, until we get to the hosts, Dave Meltzer (a.k.a. Mr.Pop-up) and Josh Matthews (a.k.a. The only Tough Enough 1 guy too lousy to make the roster...)
10 Man Battle Royal
Background: We're starting off with a match from Yankee Pro Wrestling in a 10 man battle royal. I haven't heard that much about YPW, except that they're supposedly a distant third in the race for New England supremacy, and they nearly went bankrupt due to this...
...And I can see why, from the match. The crowd (like me) was loaded with indifference, and the match wasn't that great. I didn't know one wrestler in the match, so I had to guess the following (from the announcers and the graphics on-screen)...
1) Joe Rules
eliminated by Johnny Angel
2) Tremor eliminated by Dave Powers
3)
GQ Smooth eliminated by Lance Silva
4) Tex McCoy eliminated by
Johnny Angel
5) Gino Giovanni eliminated by Mike Majors
6) Mike
Majors eliminated by Mike Stryker
7) Mike Stryker eliminated by
Dave Powers
8) Dave Powers eliminated by Johnny Angel
9) Johnny
Angel eliminated by Lance Silva
Final tally: Well, some of them have potential, but potential means nothing on Pay-Per-View...
13, 48, 30
After the match, we cut to Minneapolis, where Larry Zybszko is standing in the ring. He claims that as the last major star in the old AWA (yeah, where he ruined it like Triple H is ruining the WWE today), he was a natural (read: The only one who'd do it) to be commissioner of the new AWA. He also made a claim that was pretty intriguing...
"I think all the fans should know- there's an additional motive for this one. You see, all these federations are fighting for one cause. That battle royal you just saw, and the one that's next, are part of a seven-week goal for only one federation to stand! Each week, a federation will either have a battle royal or a one-night tournament to decide their champion. These champions will then battle 2 months from now in the Super 8: a one-night, all shoot-fighting tournament to determine the AWA World Champion...oh, and the winner's federation will get our weekly PPV slot, and the right to call themselves the new form of the American Wrestling Alliance! Oh, and one more thing- NO SHOOTFIGHTERS ALLOWED!"
What the hell was that? Did he just say full control goes to the winner of this?
69
20 Man Battle Royal
This is going from AAA, and is to determine their champion to go to the Super 8...mmm...Luchadores...Luchadores are always good for a match where the crowd will be DEAD, but at least the action will be cool...
1) Leatherface eliminated by Alan
Barrio
2) Alan Barrio eliminated by Heavy Metal
3) Billy Boy
Barrio eliminated by Mr.Aguila
4) Headhunter A eliminated by La
Parka II
5) Electro Shock eliminated by Cybernetico
6) La Parka
II eliminated by Damien 666
7) El Texano eliminated by Dos
Caras
8) Decniss Barrio eliminated by Pirata Morgan
9) Mosco de
la Merced eliminated by Histeria II
10) Abismo Negro eliminated by
Pirata Morgan
11) Damien 666 eliminated by Psicosis
12) El
Zorro eliminated by Mr. Aguila
13) Histeria II eliminated by
Pirata Morgan
14) Dos Caras eliminated by Pirata Morgan
15)
Heavy Metal eliminated by Psicosis
16) Latin Lover eliminated by
Pirata Morgan
17) Pirata Morgan eliminated by Mr.Aguila
18)
Cibernetico eliminated by Mr.Aguila
19) Mr.Aguila eliminated by
Psicosis (Re-Release Notice: One of the biggest disparities
I've noticed in my booking v. match writing: I like booking battle
royals, yet I'm not good with writing out a battle royale much as I
tried, I couldn't get how to really work a bunch of high schoolers
killing each other...wait, wrong Battle Royale...my bad...)
34, 73, 53
After the break, The Power Company of YPW non-fame (because all us fans LOVE the Power Company) were WALKING! All of a sudden, two masked people came up from behind them and just laid them out, then took the mics...
Masked Man #1: "Dreadfully sorry, you two, but you know- business is business, and anyways...why would these AWA fans want to see two no-names like you from a no-name New England federation like YPW in the ring..."
Masked Man #2: "...when the 'Eight Sisters' allows all these Midwest fans could instead get to see just why all of New England has a SERIOUS case of SHONEN-AI..." the two took off their masks to reveal The Bishie Boys! Holy shit! This could turn the tide in this show's favor- I've heard great things about Steve Evans, and I can finally get to see if Tom Goddard's really as good as GrappleFanatics says he is...
39
AWA Tag Team Title Match: Kakihara and Naruse (representing: wOw) v. The Flying Elvis' (representing: MLW) v. Deadly Impact (representing: CWF) v. The Bishie Boys (representing: wOw)
I'm surprised they put two wOw teams in this match, but at least there's reportedly a background (Kakihara and Naruse and The Bishie Boys are feuding there), so that's a plus. The three teams, if nothing else, proved one thing: Deadly Impact are neither. The two were so out of their element it was insane, almost adding a comedy aspect to the match. When Jimmy Yang finally pinned Brian Jewel, it was almost like a mercy killing. Once that ended, there was actually a nice high-flying matchup for itself. Yang and Estrada looked better than they did in NWATNA together, and the wOw representatives were in that skill brought by a feud. Unfortunately, the feud caused the Flying Elvises' to go downwards, the result of a Masahito Kakihara pin. Then, we got our first real taste of the wOw style. The Bishies proved why there's such a great buzz on them in the indies, while Kakihara and Naruse looked a little sluggish (I've heard the two had a serious falling-out recently, which caused them to apparently lose some of their FIGHTING SPIRIT!) Just as the two went for the win, a girl (apparently, from the announcer's claims, wOw representative/Bishie Boys manager Jocelyn Richter) headed down to ringside to distract Naruse, allowing Steve Evans to hit a Shooting Star Press on him before loading Tom Goddard up for the My Final Heaven (a NICE Tiger Driver from the top rope) to make the Bishie Boys AWA Tag Team Champions. At least it's nice to know they're using these two...
48, 82, 65
(IWA-MS v. MLW) Colt Cabana v. CM Punk
NICE pick for their first show- I've heard great things about these two. They didn't disappoint me, either, as the two put on a great show for the buck. You know, crappy YPW guys and luchadores aside, there is some definite promise for an X-Division here...Anyway, if you've seen a Cabana-Punk match, you don't need me to tell you how great it was; all you need to know is that CM Punk picked up the win here. Awesome, awesome match.
51, 94, 72
MLW match: Bryan Danielson v. The Amazing Red.
And the hits just keep on coming from this place...you know, I'm not sure why they didn't just have MLW and wOw be the only two in this- they've proven themselves to be the MVF's of the night. In this case, the two put on a nice spotfest, which was more of what the FakeRazor ordered.Awesome moves, from the first bell to the final victory (when Danielson locked Red in a move he called the Cattle Mutilation for some reason...)
50, 99, 74
wOw Match: Steve Blackman v. Vampiro
Okay, despite the rumors that these two have been stealing shows all around New England, I couldn't really buy the fact that Blackman and Vampiro (two marginal wrestlers in the Big Two) were this good in the ring together. Then, I finally watched one of their matches...and BOY, were they right! Vampiro's good all-round skill meshed perfectly with Blackman's ability, and the match ended up being an awesome performance for it. This was good for all involved- anyone can bring in some unheralded talent and have them be great; for them to be well-known is a big coup for you. Blackman won this round, but hopefully there'll be more to come.
78, 94, 86
MLW Match: Raven v. Terry Funk
Okay, just give this show to MLW and wOw now...please? These two put on a very good brawl to go with the other stuff shown on this PPV. The brawling was a little old, and it didn't do as well as most of the other stuff, but if nothing else, it proved that the AWA alliance here has some more high-quality stuff than just its cruiserweights...Raven got the win (as a younger talent should in this case), but the fans cheered both as the first show went off the air...
79, 83, 81
(Re-Release Notes: This is a more spotty spot in the first volume of wOw Memorial, mostly because it's a point where I was starting to leave behind more of the "form" that I had had. There were, IMO, too many updates that were solely "shows" and no story with them. These parts of it were left out of the current one, mostly because the main reason Volume 1 of this one is being reposted is due to the extra tidbits in the way of story that are important in the author's view to get an optimum view when the whole story keeps going on.
Assistant: "Besides- when you consider how mediocre Reflecto's matches are, is it really a loss to lose that stuff?"
"HEY! You know I'm more of a story-over-match details writer..."
Assistant: "Yeah, yeah- I get it, Mr. Auteur of the E-Fed..."
"For the last time, we're an 'Ongoing Wrestling Fiction Series', dammit!"
Assistant: "Okay...you know, pretentiousness doesn't suit you..."
"Just for that, I'm going to have your boy job out to A Keg of Coors next show..."
Assistant: "Promises, promises..." We're sorry...we seem to be having some technical difficulties...let's get on with the show...
Assistant: "THE MODERN-DAY COMPOSER REFUSES TO DIE!")
January 19, 2004.
After the plane touched down in Minneapolis, I was somewhat tired. Maybe it was the workload of two feds, maybe it was losing a good two weeks of my memory...FROM ALL THE POT I SMOKE... waits for pop that doesn't come... Oh, sure, RVD says something like that, and you all give him pops...rassafrassin' smarks...oh, but I digress. Probably the worst thing about the new nature of this "strategic alliance" bullshit is the rampant flights needed in order to get everyone to the shows while still leaving some semblance of autonomy. (I don't know how HBK did it so long- commuting between Rhode Island and California...) When I headed to the airport, Kari-Chan stopped me.
Kari-Chan: "WAI! Tommy-kun! Wait up..."
"Oh, hi- sorry, I need to rest up for tomorrow's matchup..."
Kari-Chan: "Sorry, Tom...I was just wondering...you know, the food on the plane was terrible, so if you'd want to- would you like to go get something to eat? My treat..." Just then, two voices came up on each shoulder...
Jared: "Dude, she's totally digging you- go for it..."
Steve: "Damn straight, Tommy Guns! Hit that like a home run in the ninth inning, man!" Just as that finished, I saw some hands right under these two...
Kari: "WAI! Did you see the new merchandise wOw's putting out? wOw wrestler Action Figures! Here's the ones for Jared Steele and Steve Evans, and...where did I put that one of you... ohhhh...wait...um, I don't... have...your figure yet...yeah, that's the ticket... "
"Don't worry- they usually give the wrestler pictured a copy of their own figure. Let's just head to my rental car and go get something, okay?"
Kari: "Um, Tommy-kun, why not take my rental?"
"Come on- the AWA pays my car fees. You have to take yours out of pocket. It's only gentlemanly for me to save you from having to..." I headed over to the car provided, and Kari gave me the directions to the place...
"So, is this place any good?"
Kari: "I haven't really been there, but I've been told it's good..." After the directions finished, we ended up in front...
"Um...Hotel BCW? Why does BCW own its own hotel?" Just then, a bellhop came over to me...
Bellhop: "I'm sorry- this is not involved with the wrestling promotion...we've been going against them for the web domain..."
"Oh...I see. Then what does it stand for...?" Suddenly, the bellhop began chanting...
Bellhop: "BOWM-CHICKA-WOW WOW- CHICKA WOW WOW..." Okay...this is a nice thing...I had to get the answer from her...
"Awww...Kari-Chan, did you spring for us to enter a love hotel? How sweet..."
Kari: "Hey, I'm just the messenger...I didn't know what this was...(NO! BAD ME! I could've gotten him...sniffle Sometimes I hate how slow I am on my own uptake...)" We headed into the 'restaurant...', only to get the rather disappointing knowledge of why I was really here as I heard the noises from the sides...
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Instantly, I saw most of the wOw wrestlers come towards me.
"What the...? I can't believe you guys remembered!" My brother and sister came over...
Shane: "Oh, come on. You don't think I'd forget my baby brother's birthday, did you?"
"I probably should have guessed it...but why here, Shane?"
Shane: "Well, we wanted to have your party at a more normal restaurant, but...they...demanded it..." Instantly, I saw a large amount of the fellow wOw prospects come towards me. "Happy 21st birthday, man! Now, as your present...here's some money! Now use it to buy the booze!" Hey, who am I to go against the circle of teenage life? I proceeded to buy a few of the finest at the bar, and me and my boys proceeded to enjoy this.
"Okay, on the count of three...1...2...3..."
Nico/Stavros: "HOPA!"
Domon Kasshu: "KAMPAI!"
Everyone else: "SHOTS!" The party raged on for hours, with most of us forgetting that we were set to wrestle the next day...or that we were in Minnesota...or that we were clothed...about that time, though, things began to become a blur...
January 20, 2004...
"Oog..." I woke up in a hotel room bed around 1:00 p.m. with a huge hangover. I didn't know exactly how I got there, so I did the only possible option and chalked it off to magic. I tried to take stock of the situation: I'm completely hung over, I have to be at the arena very soon for the show where I'd be wrestling tonight, and I didn't know if I'd be at my peak. These led to possible panic. I moved around a little bit before doing this, and proceeded to move to get out of bed.
That's about the time I noticed there was a girl underneath the covers...
(Re-Release Notes: This was originally meant to give people some interactive chance in order to, as I quote, 'cynically try and generate some interest in a clearly flailing diary.' However, I forgot that in order to do this stuff, you have to, you know, actually have a fanbase...)
Heartbroken Reflecto Day: How to change your EWR game's Style!
(Re-Release Notes: The title for this one came because it's almost a fun extra for whacked Out wrestling Memorial: in particular, allowing the fans to pinpoint the exact moment when Reflecto nearly suffered a nervous breakdown following this diary's in his view failure. Of course, there were other circumstances around that getting my heart broken by multiple girls in one fell swoop one of which proved to be false, having my car broken into at my college, and a bunch of other little things cause the problems. Looking back, I see the possible biggest problem was trying to be like everybody else on the Dome too much instead of being true to whatever I felt like doing, and I feel like I've managed to do that. Also looking back, I saw that I was this despondent over only getting what, upon learning what decent reply-to-hit ratios are, was actually not half bad- putting huge egg on my face.)
"Hello, wOwfed fans! I'm Shane Goddard. A lot of you know me as the booker and wOw Extreme Champion. Because of this, the author asked me how to help you the fans be able to recreate the style of whacked Out wrestling Memorial in your very own game!
Ingredients:
To begin with, you're going to need the following things:
EWR 4.0 (the relationships
stat is a must-have for this...)
Arsenic (I know, but non-cheaters
could really use this for the style change.)
Preparation:
First off, you take the relate file in your game and delete everything from it. It is possible to blank it without harming the game- I prefer to open it with Wordpad or Notepad and go to town with it.
After you do this, you start out a game with the federation of your choice. As it goes through, you simply play through the game. If you want to,make sure to cultivate a women's division in your game, valuing quantity over quality.
Now, here's where the Arsenic comes into play...every month, check the save file and see which relationships have changed. If anyone who's in your federation has a new relationship, then you'll need to make some additions to their stats. (The Japanese call it the FIGHTING SPIRIT!, and that sounds like a good name for it here.)
My preferred style for it:
Dislike1 point for all stats (except+1
Stiffness)
Hate3 for all stats (except+3
Stiffness)
Friendship- +1 point all stats (except: -1
Stiffness)
Loyalty - +3 all stats (except: -3 Stiffness)
Love-
The big one+5 all stats
Now, there are some questions, namely: "But how does this 'Love-Love' power thing come into play?" To put it simply: The author has WAY too much free time. This is basically the sanest way to keep track of how much each girl cares about our protagonist (my brother's becoming a little Hefner...I'm so proud...) with the least amount of problems. In addition, it allows the author the freedom to have our protagonist love without a problem as to whether the girl in question is a heel or a face, which EWR's romance angles would not allow. (It's also much easier to book more matches per card by doing it like this...)
So, there you have it. You have now recieved the ability to turn Adam Ryland's great wrestling simulator into a cheesy Japanese-style dating sim if you are so inclined (or insane.) You won't see THAT in those "other" "innovative" diaries, now will you?
(Re-Release Notes: At the very least, this gives the reader an idea on how to do this for themselves. I sincerely doubt anyone would, since the average Diary Dome writer's idea of being "innovative" apparently seems to be taking a bunch of wrestlers, voting them out at random intervals, then being innovative with how they name it call it "Battle Royale", call it "Survivor", I just call it "lame ripoff of Plankton's work... I don't mean to grandstand but hey, this is my diary, and I can do it if I want to..., but from what I've seen, I have more creativity in my little finger than almost every other diary writer on the Dome has in their entire body. It may seem a little arrogant, but hey- you think you're more innovative than I am- bring it...
The following may or may not be the actual views of Reflecto and/or the other members of Team whacked Out wrestling Memorial.
Sophie: "Reflecto has completed his heel turn. Reflecto has debuted his new gimmick Pretentious Artist."
January 20.
Sometimes, what could be seen as good fortune one day could possibly be something bad. Apparently, I just lost my virginity...but how? Who with? Was I any good? This could be a question. I had to unroll the bedsheet a little bit just to make sure who it was...
"uggg...don't do that, ya wanker...Minnesota's bloody cold in winter..."
I recognized the voice- luckily. It's just Lori...wait...I just lost it to her, and I'm thinking 'just Lori'? Dammit...I quickly had to make up something. Hopefully, I can get out of here undetected, hopefully talk this over later on in the day when my hangover goes away... I quickly walked out of the room, only to see all the wOw guys head over...
"COMMENCE THE WALK OF SHAME..." The crowd started chanting, until Ironwood noticed...
Ironwood: "Wait, Tom? Sorry...FALSE ALARM!" The others waited as Steve headed over. "Dude, what's going on?"
"No idea, bud- what the hell did I get up to last night?"
Ironwood: "I'm glad you asked..." I'm not sure if this was because of the aftermath or not, but Ironwood suddenly appeared to become a Super-Deformed version of himself...
SD Ironwood: "After Jayce started the dance party, you were totally wild, man! You whipped it out, smeared ketchup all over it, and asked all the girls to have a bite man! Then you bought one of the Cubans the owner kept stashed for the customers, and tried to see if that Kari girl would play Monica Lewinsky for you there! I'm not even sure what shit went down next, dude...I was out like Patterson after a little too much..."
"Great...I'm a total pervert..."
Ironwood: "Oh, don't worry about it, man! Everyone's a little wild- it's good for us! Enjoy this shite, dude- these are the best years for everyone..." Just then, Lori headed out of my room clad in just the complimentary bathrobe... "COMMENCE WALK OF SHAME!"
Ironwood: "...but if you do it that way, KEEP YER BLOODY MITTS OFF ME COUSIN, YA PUNK!" Seeing as the chances that I would get my ass kicked by one of the stiffest brawlers in wOw was highly likely, I did what any sane person would do, hung over or not- RUN. After a chase that seemed to my still slightly addled mind as quite similar to your average Benny Hill sketch for some reason, I was pulled into a nearby room.
Shane: "Ah- luckily, I was able to get to you first..."
"Ah- I'm happy to see you...I think I'm in trouble..."
Shane: "Let me guess- you slept with the relative of one of your friends and now that friend is going to kick your ass, right?"
"How'd you know?"
Shane: "We've all been there...anyway, you're going to have to sober up quick..."
" I see...what did I drink, anyway?"
Shane: "Oh, normal stuff...a few beers, a couple shots of Rum, a lot of Tequila, Some 151, a Prozac to double the alcohol, some absinthe, this rank brown liquid that I'm not even sure has a name, just a pinch of rubbing alcohol, and...I think that's it..."
"Yeesh..."
Shane: "Don't worry- I'm going to give you a lesson that will definitely help you for a little bit here..." Shane passed me over a small package showing some little sunglasses.
"I take it my new gimmick is that of a gay vampire, is it?"
Shane: "Of course not- wear those while at the show. You're young- I know you made an error last night, but you don't need the reputation of being a drunk. Hide these, try to keep it going, you'll be less likely to show it..."
"I see."
Shane: "Well, that and the fact that- come on. You rarely wear your glasses in the ring when sober, I don't want to be in the ring with you when you're drunk and with poor eyesight..." Ouch, a low blow...does he forget that he wears glasses outside the ring, too?
"Okay...I take it you're in the WarGames cage?"
Shane: "You know it. Me, you, Steve, Jared, and...oh yeah, that Ironwood guy..."
"FUCK...I'm gonna get killed..."
Shane: "So, you hit Lori, did you? I'll have to get the details later...but I digress. Don't you know anything? He may want to kick your ass for this now, but in the ring, when he's on your team, kayfabe demands that he can't touch you. Since you're teaming with him, worst thing he can do is not go with a double-team spot to make you look stupid."
"Ah...that's a plus..."
Shane: "Excellent. Now, let's get to the arena...you've got to get ready. I let you sleep it off a little, but the show's in 6 hours..."
"YIKES!" This is bad...how do I manage to pull myself through a big match like this...?
AWA: Kings of the Indies- Week 3
Hi, everybody. I'm Peter Ramon once again for and we're up to week 3 of AWA: Kings of the Indies. Meltzer and Matthews are back to call all of the action, as we're still doing this!
Pentagon v. Psicosis
Background: This is billed as an AAA matchup. Psicosis is the AAA representative for the Super 8- so chances are, he's going over tonight.
Match: What is with the AWA and billing these second-rate federations? Everyone knows they come to watch two things: wOw and MLW. Give the fans wOw matches and MLW matches, and you'll succeed! The crowd was DEAD tonight, as crowds usually are for luchadores. To add to this, the action wasn't good enough to get past the fact that they have almost no heat. Fairly blah match, to the point where I was almost pleased when Psicosis hit a Tope Suicida with almost no knowledge of the word 'transition' to get the win. Not worth the time it took.
11, 77, 44
Battle Royal to Determine CWF Representative in the Super 8
Okay- I smell a ringer here...Mr.Aguila never wrestled in the Canadian Wrestling Federation, as far as I know... Anyway, this match should suck, so I just paid attention to the eliminations:
1) Brian
Jewel eliminated by Frank Murdoch
2) Mickey Miracle eliminated by
Bobby Jay
3) Dillion Robson eliminated by Frank Murdoch
4) Gene
Swan eliminated by Mr.Aguila
5) Frank Murdoch eliminated by
Mr.Aguila
6) The Big Machine eliminated by Mr.Aguila
7) Bobby
Jay eliminated by Mr.Aguila
8) The Big Kahuna eliminated by Zack
Mercury
9) Zack Mercury eliminated by Mr.Aguila! Celebrate, CWF!
Someone who's never wrestled for you will represent you in the Super
8!
21, 42, 31
Chris Hero v. Colt Cabana
All right, who the hell told IWA-Mid South they could put on good matches? This is supposed to be the wOw and MLW show, dangit! Yet here goes Chris Hero, putting on great matches for IWA-MS, first with CM Punk and now with Colt Cabana! If this keeps up, who's to say IWA-MS can't pull off an upset here and take a PPV slot for this? The match kept its excitement level up until Colt Cabana fought his way out of a grapple, then hit a Colt 45 on Chris Hero to get the win! Another great match for IWA-Mid South- I'm looking forward to seeing who they make their representative...
53, 100, 76
After the match, we headed into the War Games cage, getting ready for our match. I saw the team wOw had to oppose us (the three they announced, plus Big Vito and Steve Blackman.) This shouldn't have been a problem- at least, save for the fact that we were still obviously still feeling the effects. Massive amounts of stumbling followed, as we were unfortunately unable to work to our best. Luckily, Big Vito then tagged Masayuki Naruse in, as we took the advantage and I got the tag from Jared. This was a good move, as we had been working matches enough to do them in our sleep (or drunk, or stoned, or whatever.)The crowd seemed to hate me. I heard a huge "YOU SUCK DICK!" chant going- I assumed it was just heel heat...until I saw Ironwood in the corner of my eye leading the chant...(Ironwood will pay...oh yes, he will pay...) I was basically bottlefed until the moment we had to win, when I tagged my brother in so he could hit the Goddardsmack enough times on Naruse to give our team the victory. (I was supposed to do it myself, but I didn't feel like doing a move requiring a backflip while feeling it...)
58, 86, 72
Cibernetico v. Damien 666
Another AAA matchup? On AWA TV? Well, at least these two are over enough to merit a matchup on a grand scale...These two put on one of those general luchadore matches, but the fans actually cared about these two. Perhaps it was Damien's experience in the US, but the match actually went well, both in quality and fan reaction. Once Damien got the win following a nice moonsault on Cibernetico, the fans actually cheered, and not in a "you guys were awesome, though we don't know who you are!" way. Not bad at all.
53, 86, 69
Carly Colon v. Joey Idol
Let me just say that I have no idea why Carly Colon is so over in wOw right now. His matches, which many have been saying were awesome, seem to just be average WWE-style affairs. This was no exception, as he and Joey Idol fought for wOw's International Title. The entire match was basically just a punch-kick styled affair, as Colon's 'I apparently want back in WWE, and won't stop until they see my skill at the WWE style!' era continued. Only Joey Idol's late comeback stopped the monotony, peaking when he hit the Kaostrify for the big victory.
67, 86, 76
The Great Sasuke v. Tony Mamaluke
Hey, I have no problem with heatless matches, as long as they put on shows like this...This was billed as an MLW matchup, and the crowd was not that into this. A shame, because the two put on an amazing matchup. The two's styles meshed very well, putting on a nice high-flying display that the wOw War Games match should have been. The air show ended almost too abruptly when Sasuke hit a Northern Lights Bomb on Mamaluke for the big win. Awesome show- put them on again.
52, 90, 71
D'Lo Brown v. Steve Corino
Ooh...we finally get a really big matchup. I've heard this match has went on for Corino's WWA World Title many times around the world recently (though they couldn't say that it was for this belt to AWA fans), and this should be a good show to add to this. For some reason, the two really mesh well together- I was surprised, as they don't seem to be two who'd go well. This time, Corino got the win as the result of an Old School Expulsion. This was awesome, and I'd like to see more of it!
73, 95, 84
Overall: 70
January 22.
