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Intrigued to find out what Elite Era have cooking for War Games, what with Jarrett saying we won't see it coming and Steiner referencing an ace up their sleeve. Forget Austin v Goldberg or Undertaker v Sting, Flair v Chyner is what doing a dynasty in this era is all about. Not exactly a dream match only because it's a pairing that not many people would've even contemplated, and therefore so unique that it feels like a significant attraction.

Ah, that's a shame but at least you found a way to pay the angle off without the editor, and it didn't stop Austin getting in the position you needed him in for WM15.

Love this @Kurtis, especially taking WM14 in a different direction. What did Austin end up doing at WM14, and did he get any retribution on Tyson?

Part 21: To The Extreme #7 Australian Title Contender Tournament Final: Kobra Khan v Con McReady The show started with a match that I thought might main event. Not only would the outcome determine who faced Wrecker at Hardcore Heatwave – would McReady get the first title shot of his DIW career, or would Kobra challenge to become a four-time champion – it was the latest chapter in the Milton Hittlespitz v Seth Wish rivalry set to conclude at Hardcore Heatwave, with both men taking an interest at ringside. The finish saw Wish take a swing at Kobra with his cane, only for Hittlespitz to get in the ring just in time to dispossess him from behind. But when Hittlespitz swung at Wish, he ducked, and it was Kobra who took the shot. Crazy Blue improvised quickly to throw Wish out of the ring and dive on him, but Con McReady had already capitalised, following up with an Iron Fist to win the match and the tournament. I pointed out on commentary that this was the second time Hittlespitz had hit Kobra Khan with a cane when he was supposed to be helping him, arguing the masked man would’ve been better fighting solo. Seb Shaw told Markus Rush it was no secret that Two Badass MFers wanted to get their hands on The Benchmark, but they’d been told they only had to wait nine more days, and to instead pick an opponent for one of their challengers to face next week. Hendrix Hughes said that if they couldn’t do it themselves, there was only one other MFer in DIW up to the job: Wrecker. They decided he’d face Donovan Boon, as they thought he had the more punchable face. They closed with an invitation to put your ciggies in the air for the greatest Australian Champion of all time. Carl Paris v Seth Wish The Wild Things’ celebration of Con McReady’s success continued even after his tournament victory as he stayed at ringside to watch his partner Wish get back on winning form against the rookie Paris. Wish went through his full repertoire here to really show off, sealing the deal with a Dust In The Wind followed by the Suicide Senton, allowing me to highlight on commentary how he’d only just missed out on victory against Milton Hittlespitz at War Machine by the narrowest of margins, but it looked like he was on even better form now. Markus Rush had found The Benchmark to discover their pick to fight one of Two Badass MFers next week. Donovan Boon said their choice might come as a surprise as it was someone they didn’t even like much. Rusty Mills added that the MFers seemed to find it funny that their past opponents knew their way out of a wristlock, so it was time to see if the MFers did by introducing them to submission specialist Dexter Mattell. Boon wished Seb Shaw good luck executing his Spinning Brainbuster at Hardcore Heatwave once he’d failed to counter an STF. Vaughan v Mr. Blitz The Comedian outlined Vaughan’s two motivations for wanting to take out Mr. Blitz: the extent to which he’d gloated about his bogus forfeit victory in the Australian Title Contender Tournament, and his bizarre cosplay as some CEW curtain-jerker. This match was closer than I’m led to believe most Barracudas-Warriors showdowns in years gone by were, in part due to Vaughan selling the effects of his recent staircase assault and main event with Rob Edwards, but he did get a measure of revenge by making Mr. Blitz nap with his Choke Sleeper. DIW Champion Rob Edwards entered next to his loudest ovation yet. He didn’t have much to say, just that this time he was ready for it so he wanted Dexter Mattell to join him in the ring. Raw Sex inevitably resisted the call, but Cesar Sionis didn’t, with the other Hardcore Heatwave challenger pacing to the ring for a slugfest. The Human Weapon was on top but sold some back pain while measuring Sionis for a Roundhouse Kick. The Greek Punisher capitalised, taking his former stablemate down and quickly following up with the Running Knee Side-Swipe. I pointed out that Edwards appeared fixated on Mattell when, in reality, it was unlikely he’d even get to face him at Hardcore Heatwave as, every time he clashed with Sionis, he ended up on the mat. Milton Hittlespitz v Lloyd Banks This was perhaps the first To The Extreme main event that didn’t have a strong story hook to it, which is why I thought the tournament final might headline. The Comedian and I tried to compensate for that by recalling how Ares Death Cult had ended both of Hittlespitz’s DIW Title reigns, and this was his first time getting Banks one-on-one in that time. As in his recent defeats to Rob Edwards and Kobra Khan, Banks was given a decent amount of offence, but he’d arguably been the bloke most affected by Ares Death Cult’s recent loss of stature. I wasn’t a fan of the finish here. Banks had the barbed wire he’d introduced used against him, and Hittlespitz rather stupidly confirmed the win with a Flying Knee Drop onto the barbed wire board, doing as much damage to himself in the process. That questionable finish did perhaps play into what happened next though. Milton Hittlespitz being jumped was never too surprising, but the identity of his attacker on this occasion was as Kobra Khan slid into the ring on the bell to wipe Crazy Blue out with his own chair, following up with a Small Package Driver onto the weapon. I pointed out that while Hittlespitz’s earlier cane attack may have been a mistake, there was nothing accidental about what Kobra had just done.

Part 20: Roster mismanagement Six episodes in, it was fairly clear what the biggest weakness of Lori’s weekly show booking was: the least valuable roster members were getting far too much airtime. Sure, she’d told me that her priority for the show was establishing stars and building stories more than presenting marquee matches. But did Tank, a tag team wrestler who hadn’t won a match in over two years, being the most frequent fighter across the first six episodes with five bouts really align with the mission of establishing stars? The latest taping saw three undercard blokes do double duty – Tank, Demarcus Lee and Mr. Blitz – whereas five of the company’s most popular performers right now didn’t wrestle at all: Donovan Boon, Rusty Mills, Milton Hittlespitz, Chopper Rourke and Dexter Mattell. The Benchmark only had one match in the entire six-show run to date. I found it curious that DIW Title number one contender Cesar Sionis hadn’t fought a singles match on it yet, so imagine my shock at being told by a friend that his last DIW singles match was almost 14 months ago. These issues came from a good place: Lori was trying to keep her biggest names as hot as possible heading into Hardcore Heatwave, which had the potential to be the best card she had put on so far. However, the roster – rather oddly given it had recently lost two former DIW Champions – was almost too top-heavy. There weren’t enough pin eaters around, so blokes like Saracens that the fans truthfully didn’t really care about were being overexposed. I didn’t think it was my place to pass on all this criticism without being directly asked for feedback, but I did use the example of Tank’s double defeat to ask Lori if roster expansion was on the horizon, figuring it was the most logical solution. She noted that it would likely depend on whether weekly programming continued beyond February. She did reveal that nobody would be pulling double duty at the latest taping. The matches promoted for episode seven were Kobra Khan v Con McReady in the Australian Title Contender Tournament final, Vaughan v Mr. Blitz, who claimed a forfeit victory over the heavyweight in the aforementioned tournament, Milton Hittlespitz v Lloyd Banks and Carl Paris v Seth Wish.

I really enjoyed the TAKA-Blackjacks stuff. It felt like a perfect fit for an Attitude Era Raw to have something giving some undercard guys more personality and shine that ran throughout the show. Meanwhile, you managed to keep all your money-making stories hot too.

Part 19: To The Extreme #6 At the start of the show, The Comedian immediately threw to Markus Rush, who was with The Barracudas in the back. Vaughan said tonight was the second time he’d received an invitation to get in the ring with Rob Edwards. He wasn’t interested in the offer to team with him recently, but being his opponent, that was something he could get behind. Rush asked about Crime Wave’s claim that Chopper Rourke pushed Vaughan down the stairs last month. Chopper leaned in on Rush, but Vaughan calmed him, reasoning that if Chopper wanted to put a beating on him, he wouldn’t do it from behind. His focus was on settling an old score with Edwards tonight, but Crime Wave were next, and at Hardcore Heatwave, they’d pay for what they’d done. Demarcus Lee v Mr. Blitz After fluking his way to the Australian Title Contender Tournament semi-finals without winning a match, Mr. Blitz kept the good times going with some more legitimate success here, unusually deploying a surfboard to take Lee off his feet and then dropping him on top of it with a Black Thunder Bomb for the pin. We went back to Markus Rush, who had spotted Kobra Khan and Milton Hittlespitz talking and approached them to congratulate Kobra on reaching next week’s Australian Title Contender Tournament final against Con McReady. Hittlespitz said Seth Wish would be there next week as The Wild Things can’t do anything on their own so, like last week, he’d be there to even the numbers for Kobra. He predicted that they’d both get what they wanted at Hardcore Heatwave: Kobra challenging Wrecker for the Australian Title, and Crazy Blue finally getting Wish out of his business. Incidentally, I believe that’s the full Hardcore Heatwave card outlined now. Rob Edwards v Cesar Sionis for the DIW Title, with the winner defending against Dexter Mattell later that night. Two Badass MFers facing The Benchmark for the Tag Titles. Wrecker defending the Australian Title against next week’s Kobra Khan v Con McReady winner. The Milton Hittlespitz v Seth Wish rematch. And The Barracudas taking on Crime Wave. Wrecker v Tank The Comedian told us that Wrecker wasn’t enjoying the waiting game that the Australian Title Contender Tournament had forced him into, preferring when he defended the title more regularly. So he’d issued a challenge to someone who had missed out on the opportunity to face him for the title in the tournament that was answered by Tank. The heavyweight used his size advantage to push Wrecker around for a few minutes but once he made a mistake, the Australian Champion was able to take control, completing the comeback with a Mighty Bulldog. As The Comedian prepared to send us back to the increasingly omnipresent Markus Rush, I feigned jealousy that he was getting more airtime than me. Rush was with Dexter Mattell, who wanted to wish a happy Valentine’s Day to all the female fans who had flocked to DIW to watch Raw Sex uncensored. He claimed it wouldn’t be a happy Valentine’s Day for Death Ref though because, while he was on retreat with Cesar Sionis and Lloyd Banks listening to sad songs and playing with barbed wire, his wife Lori was on a date with another man. Rush asked him to clarify that, but Mattell disingenuously said he shouldn’t have said anything and it wasn’t his place to speculate on colleagues’ marital difficulties. Two Badass MFers (Hendrix Hughes and Seb Shaw) v Pat Rigsby and Head Goon Pat Rigsby had been having success in his personal life, getting married a few days after his match following a very brief engagement. However, he remained as luckless as ever in a DIW ring, even with someone new in his corner in the shape of Head Goon, who I’m reliably informed was a former Shocking Hardcore Action employee brought in on a one-night-deal. It wasn’t the outsider who took the fall though, with Rigsby instead falling foul of Hendrix Hughes’ Fireman’s Carry Bulldog. Hendrix Hughes said The Benchmark sure did talk a lot of bulldust about DIW’s tag division for a team who had been here a year without holding the titles. He knew they’d been tag champions six times elsewhere, and he was sure they came up against opponents who knew some good wristlock reversals in that time. But Two Badass MFers had taken on prisoners, bank robbers, biker gangs and death cults. Seb Shaw interrupted to tell Hughes not to mention death cults, as The Benchmark boys won’t want to be reminded that the MFers beat a team they couldn’t. Hughes finished by saying he was sure The Benchmark were told the same thing as them: WrestleWorld Australia don’t want them throwing punches before Hardcore Heatwave, saving that first contact for the big match. So if The Benchmark want to keep the partners happy, they better keep their distance until then. No cigarettes were lit: they threw down their mics and left without any catchphrases. Rob Edwards v Vaughan The pace wasn’t quite up there with their DIW Title match last February at Hardcore Heatwave, which I’d watched recently as it was aired on WrestleWorld Australia to generate excitement for this year’s event. Yet this was a fun main event with the crowd taking turns to rally behind both men and Vaughan putting Edwards’ troublesome tailbone to the test with a series of power moves. Crime Wave showed up midway through the match to put some boots in on Vaughan but, in a moment Lori clearly hoped would prove poignant and the fans went along with, Edwards refused to capitalise on the situation, instead helping his opponent remove D.O.A. and Switchblade from the ring, with Chopper Rourke getting involved in the battle from there. Vaughan didn’t relent when one-on-one combat resumed, and was the first to connect with his finisher when locking in his Choke Sleeper. In an impressive show of strength, Edwards was able to fight out and then lift the heavyweight over his head, slamming him to the mat. The strain took The Human Weapon down too, but he was back on his feet a second sooner, using what little energy he had left to connect with a Roundhouse Kick and fall on top for the three. Dexter Mattell snuck in the ring and took Edwards down from behind as he was having his arm raised, before locking in a Boston Crab for over a minute to really exploit the DIW Champion’s tailbone injury while boos rained down. The challenger stopped, saying he could have finished him there and then, but would wait until the main event of Hardcore Heatwave to take the title. He invited referee Tatum Richards to raise his hand, blowing a kiss and gesturing for her to call him when she refused.

I'm not sure there's such a thing as a bad dynasty idea (even the idea of a dynasty challenging that theory sounds fun 😅) especially with the time periods you are looking at. So I'd say the best one will be the one that excites you the most as that's the one you're likely to have the most ideas for and motivation to persevere with, and I think that holds more power in drawing others in than the choice of database, promotion or characters, so trust your instincts. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Good luck.

Welcome. I'm still a relative CVerse novice with less knowledge/experience than most posters, but thought I'd try answering just in case having been in that position myself makes for a helpful perspective. I believe PSW are the most established US hardcore company. They've been around since 2007 and are the spiritual successor to the CVerse's ECW equivalent DAVE (owned by the guy who was DAVE's announcer until its closure). They're small but have a streaming deal so have the potential to be built further (I think they're eight Tri State popularity points off becoming a medium-sized company). That's not to say they'll be a better fit for you than GSW, who I'm less familiar with, just that they seemingly start with more size, money and growth potential. If you're open to looking outside USA, the Australian hardcore company DIW were who I found it easiest to take my first steps into the CVerse with. I found being one of the smallest companies in the lowest-profile region a good way to dip my toes in as you just need to familarise yourself with their 20+ wrestlers and, once you have that starting point and begin to feel more comfortable, you can explore further from there at your own pace. DIW are quite easy to pick up in this mod too: the main event scene is an underdog champion with a groundswell of crowd support, an athletic badass with a good all-round skillset and two small stables with distinct identities. If you're open to looking outside USA but prefer to stay in North America, IWW are one of the most interesting companies in this mod: a Canadian all-female hardcore company. Small starting size but with a streaming deal, lots of money and a young, capable roster and, like PSW, they have a connection to the CVerse's original hardcore promotion DAVE as their Paul Heyman-equivalent Phil Vibert now owns IWW. I won't be offended if you ignore all of that. I hope wherever you end up, you enjoy exploring. It's such an intimidating but exciting time getting started as there's so much CVerse depth and history to immerse yourself in, especially in this mod: every new profile or title history you read gives you fresh information and ideas. I hope you're able to make that breakthrough and really enjoy it.

Part 18: Cheap seats I made a point of congratulating Lori for drawing a bigger crowd for the third To The Extreme taping, and was surprised when she told me it had been achieved by a reduction in ticket prices. She was right that it was a financially sound decision, with the 222 fans paying $6 bringing in $1,332, a fraction above the $1,330 generated a fortnight earlier when 133 people paid $10. Added to that, she was convinced that the more people who saw the shows, the more a buzz would develop around DIW House, the better it would look on WrestleWorld Australia and the faster the company would grow. But my concern was rather about perception. This weekly format had been pitched as an eight-week trial, so to cut ticket prices halfway through that run would be pounced upon by rivals as a desperation move and a sign the experiment was failing, regardless of whether that was the reality. Was it also telling attendees of the first four episodes that they’d overpaid? That the product wasn’t worth quite as much as we’d initially thought? I didn’t get into that with her, as I’m sure she was already having a robust enough dialogue with The Comedian but, without having as intimate a knowledge of the company’s finances as either of them, I took it as a sign that I might not be working Wednesdays from March onwards. Episode six was definitely going ahead though as I’d seen that being taped, so I’ll write about that in the next part once I’ve watched it back on WrestleWorld Australia. I can confirm that every DIW titleholder was in action though to help them prepare for Hardcore Heatwave, with the main event seeing Rob Edwards fight for the first time since suffering his first defeat in 15 months and a cracked tailbone against Cesar Sionis and Lloyd Banks three shows back. I checked the DIW website and social pages and noticed they didn’t announce his opponent, so the promo recorded at the taping revealing that had presumably been saved for the broadcast.

Thanks @HiPlus, I really enjoyed your thoughts and analysis. Also, an apology as I mixed the tag matches in the previous post, so I reckon you scored 3/4 really. Carl Paris is an interesting one: his psychology is ridiculous for a 20-year-old, but the fans don't accept him yet as the rest of his game hasn't caught up, so he's an asset but it feels like there's a limit to how much he can do right now. Part 17: To The Extreme #5 Australian Title Contender Tournament Semi-Final: Mr. Blitz v Con McReady The former Mr. Pink’s gloating over his forfeit victory over Vaughan and rather random rebrand to reference the departed Blitz Simpson had proven surprisingly effective at riling the crowd. The masked man was getting his loudest boos since betraying Wrecker a year ago, so much so that even the usually unpopular McReady was being favoured over him. They got the outcome they wanted when McReady gripped his trusty cane before Mr. Blitz lifted him up for an, erm, Black Thunder Bomb, turning to strike him in the forehead and following up with his Iron Fist for a three count. I pointed out that McReady was now two wins away from his first title in DIW. We then handed over to Markus Rush, who explained that he wasn’t in DIW House as Dexter Mattell asked him to witness the meeting he’d arranged with Death Ref to negotiate who would get their hands on Rob Edwards first. However, Rush had received a video message from the DIW Champion earlier in the day that he cut to, with The Human Weapon saying he’d heard all the speculation about the condition of his tailbone, but if anyone in DIW was stupid enough to want to test it, he’d be in the ring waiting for them next week. Saracens (Cueball and Tank) v Crime Wave (D.O.A. and Switchblade) I thought Crime Wave had been brought in just to eat some losses on the undercard – and perhaps that was the plan before showing out so well in their debut against The Benchmark. However, they’d main evented the previous episode of To The Extreme and celebrated their second successive two-on-two triumph here, laying out Cueball with the Wave Goodbye. Switchblade grabbed a microphone after Crime Wave’s win and said there was a misunderstanding about what happened last month. They didn’t push Vaughan down any stairs, they found him like that, speculating that Chopper Rourke must have got to him before they did. Chopper arrived to either respond or throw fists, but wasn’t able to do either as they were gone before he reached the ring, presenting me with an opportunity to cause mischief on commentary by claiming he let them get away, and maybe they were working together. The Benchmark entered next. I explained that they had been allocated time to address their Hardcore Heatwave match, with Two Badass MFers granted the same opportunity next week. Donovan Boon said he and Rusty Mills liked Two Badass MFers, with Rusty adding “what’s not to like: they’re fun blokes”. But, Boon continued, they’re not on The Benchmark’s level. Hopefully one day, with a lot of hard work and luck, they might be, and he and Rusty would do everything in their power to drag them up to it for the good of DIW. Mills added that the MFers might have the gold right now, but The Benchmark had been tag champions six times, beating far better teams than the MFers did in their reigns. This irritated the crowd, but Boon doubled down. He said they weren’t knocking DIW. The division was good now, but that’s because they raised the standard like they promised they would. The MFers’ first run with the belts was long, but how many of the teams they beat were still around? Now the standard was higher and, unfortunately for the MFers, that meant following the longest ever tag title reign with the shortest. Mills said that if the MFers treat what happens to them at Hardcore Heatwave as a learning experience and come back stronger, it could be the best thing to ever happen to them. Carl Paris and Demarcus Lee v Ares Death Cult (Cesar Sionis and Lloyd Banks) Ares Death Cult’s last surviving fighters went into battle without Death Ref or Lori, but they didn’t need them to dominate the combination of DIW’s youngest and newest wrestlers. If the objective was to show that the unit remain a threat, it was mission accomplished, and they combined to take out Carl Paris with a Blood Sacrifice, Sionis inviting Banks to do the tag move he used to execute with Gyula Lakatos. Markus Rush said it had been made clear to him not to disclose where Dexter Mattell and Death Ref were meeting if he wanted to make it out of there, but the aesthetic was more abandoned warehouse than boutique bar. Mattell told Death Ref the solution was simple. Ares Death Cult’s priority was taking out Rob Edwards. His was winning the DIW Title, regardless of who he beat for it. Therefore, of course Cesar Sionis should get the first crack at The Human Weapon at Hardcore Heatwave. Death Ref was ready to agree, surprised at how easy the negotiation had proven, only for Raw Sex to add that this was on the condition that he faced the winner later that night. Before Death Ref could respond, Mattell cut him off, saying no, that wouldn’t be fair. If Edwards or Sionis were fighting twice at Hardcore Heatwave, he should fight someone of championship calibre that same week on To The Extreme, so that he wasn’t at a disadvantage in terms of ring rust. Death Ref told Mattell he was a fraud but it didn’t matter. He agreed to this meeting with one objective – to ensure that Sionis got Edwards one-on-one – and he would have accepted any terms to make that happen. The chance to make a Blood Sacrifice of Mattell that same night was an unexpected bonus. Despite getting the exact deal he came searching for, Raw Sex’s smug smile dropped at Death Ref’s refusal to sell it. Rush sheepishly interrupted the posturing to tell Mattell and Death Ref that he’d just received a text from Edwards: “it’s on”. Australian Title Contender Tournament Semi-Final: Kobra Khan v Seth Wish I crunched the numbers before this clash of the long-term Australian Title rivals to work out this was their fifth one-on-one showdown since Lori took the book 25 months earlier, the first in a main event, and that they’d each won two of the previous four. One difference this time was the presence of Con McReady at ringside, and it was swaying the contest, with the confirmed finalist twice distracting Kobra Khan when he was on top. His third intervention was the most memorable though. He jumped on the apron and swung at Kobra with his cane, only to be cracked in the back by a Milton Hittlespitz chair shot before he could make contact. Wish’s fury at the sudden appearance of his rivalry saw him lose focus and turn straight into a Ripcord Knee. Kobra followed up with a Small Package Driver to make sure of the win, which was applauded by Hittlespitz as he made his way up the ramp. I accused Kobra of celebrating like he’d already won the tournament, reminding viewers that he still had to face McReady in the final, and he’d be even more fired up after this injustice.

Ah, apologies for the clumsy sped-up comment in that case. I think it can be an advantage to have not followed an era too closely though as it gives you more freedom to execute your own vision, rather than letting historical minutiae handcuff you.

I just read through everything posted so far and am really enjoying what you're doing with this era. The things you've sped up compared to real life like McMahon's match-making, Austin-DX interacting and Undertaker-Kane's first match make sense as it's quite tricky to take over at Survivor Series with most of the Mania plans set and not just mimic real life, but you've found a way to give each feud a different flavour. Austin winning from No1 but in a disputed fashion was an unexpected twist, and I guess might feed into the build-up given HBK's history running through the whole field. The other thing that's working really well and fits the era is the undercard feeling so alive with fun and unique angles like a TAKA-Honky fued or the Goldust-Marlena reunion. I also like that AI WCW are doing the real version proud by botching Bret Hart, having him draw with Raven on his PPV debut and then not fight at the next one.

Part 16: How to build a money match As far as tag team wrestling in DIW went, Two Badass MFers v The Benchmark was the money match. It was arguably even the biggest first time match the DIW roster had to offer at this time. The conundrum Lori faced was how to build to it. It was wise to announce it almost two months in advance to signal how momentous an occasion it was – no other Hardcore Heatwave matches had been confirmed yet. However, both teams were so popular that she seemed to be going down the mutual respect route, which would probably work in any other promotion with any other two teams, but was tricky to pull off with two brash duos and a bloodthirsty fanbase. Despite the high interest in the match, recent crowd reactions for the Rob Edwards, Milton Hittlespitz and Barracudas action had been a little louder, no doubt because more of it was taking place in the ring, either in matches or angles where fists or weapons were being thrown. So that was my worry: a big build-up made sense but, with four more weeks to fill, would the fans would be cooler rather than hotter by the time the date arrived if the hostility wasn’t there? That hostility didn’t seem likely to arrive on episode five of To The Extreme, with four matches announced on the DIW website, none of which involved the two teams. Instead, the line-up was Carl Paris and Demarcus Lee v Ares Death Cult, Saracens v Crime Wave and the semi-finals of the Australian Title Contender Tournament: Mr. Blitz v Con McReady and the match that had defined the title more than any other across its six-year existence: Kobra Khan v Seth Wish.

It's always interesting to get a peek behind the curtain and a few clues as to what's coming up. The line about planning to make something out of the younger guys being pin eaters intrigues me as this is something I always find challenging. I liked how you squeezed in a rant about GCG closing, and how McFly's exit tied into this diary's backstory, as I'd forgotten the significance of that.

Oh yeah, I definitely get that philosophy of not rushing big-name returns or unrealistic signings. And it makes a nice narrative as it's almost the opposite of the approach that almost destroyed the legacy before you took over to save it. Another good show. It's such a fun idea to have Jarrett and Chyner as allies, there's some nice momentum building for Kanyon and you've got me intrigued as to Stasiak's direction: whether he's transitioning to his Invasion full-on laughing stock character or if he can get back on track.

I can't imagine how much time goes into putting it all together, but I'm excited that a 2026 edition is planned, and looking forward to seeing the end product (I'm happy to wait years for it though with so much still to try on the 2022 version 😆).

Thanks @AboardTheArk. Your thoughts on the Tag Title feud are really interesting and timely as that's the subject of tomorrow's post: whether such a build fits DIW and how that match should be built. Part 15: Weapon intact I called Lori the week between the shows for an update on Rob Edwards’ injury – this diary was proving to be a great justification for getting all the latest gossip. Luckily, his tailbone was cracked rather than anything more severe, so the expectation was that he would recover before Hardcore Heatwave, leaving Lori the dilemma of whether to have him wrestle before then or not, which she admitted was a much lesser problem than she might otherwise have been facing. I told her about witnessing a heated argument between Edwards and Cesar Sionis after the tag match, but it was noticeable that she didn’t want to get drawn into discussing it. She mentioned that she might try to get them together before the next show: the kind of meddling that I never engaged in as a booker, but that I’d heard she had prior experience of. She was more open to talking about her booking of Edwards in January, explaining that she felt the fans had to see him suffer the consequences of his actions before they’d fully embrace him. That’s why she had Ares Death Cult inflict a violent beating on him on the first show, then forced him to confront his lack of allies on the second one, with Milton Hittlespitz and The Barracudas not ready to move on. She knew The Comedian would criticise her for the tag main event on the third show as he finds drama around whether tag partners will coexist too soap-opera-like – citing a previous occasion where Edwards and Hittlespitz had aligned to face The Wrecking Crew in 2022. However, she judged it to be worth doing despite the grief she would get as it firmly positioned Edwards as alone with lots of enemies. Not even past nemeses of Ares Death Cult wanted to help him, so any crowd or locker room support would be hard earned. That gave me an opportunity to ask if the next step of his redemption arc would be defending the DIW Title in a triple threat against Cesar Sionis and Dexter Mattell at Hardcore Heatwave, but she just teased that I’d find out soon enough.

Wow, you weren't kidding about enjoying writing false finishes, and the submission one in particular was brilliant (both the idea and how you styled it). The Logan win in the semi-main and the fact Callum hadn't long dropped the title had me expecting a retention, but of course the real foreshadowing was not having Venus in Ernest's corner, and that made this the most interesting outcome to run with.

Part 14: To The Extreme #4 Australian Title Contender Tournament Quarter-Final: Tank v Seth Wish The fifth and third ever Australian Champions got the show off to a fairly lukewarm start, though Wish looked good at least, as I imagine was Lori’s priority. He took no chances making sure his much larger opponent was down for the count, following up a cane strike between the eyes with Dust In The Wind and a Suicide Senton to continue an unbeaten start to 2024. Things heated up after the match, with Wish and Con McReady, who had accompanied him at ringside, still making their way to the entrance as Milton Hittlespitz entered for his match. Wish and Hittlespitz got in one another’s faces but it didn’t escalate, at least not until Crazy Blue continued his path to the ring, at which point Wish jumped him from behind. At the point where Hittlespitz started to take charge, McReady intervened with a Clothesline, before helping Wish to retreat with their enemy grounded. Milton Hittlespitz v Pat Rigsby Rigsby appeared to be resisting his usual temptation to troll at the start of the match, instead pointing at his finger. I explained on commentary that he was in a good mood as he was celebrating a recent engagement. Any pretence at pleasantness didn’t last though as Rigsby followed up by showing Hittlespitz a different finger, and he responded by throwing fists. Crazy Blue let Rigsby have a few openings before securing an inevitable victory with his Flying Knee Drop. Death Ref grabbed a mic before Lloyd Banks’ Australian Title Contender Tournament match and said that, just like last week, Cesar Sionis would pin Rob Edwards again at Hardcore Heatwave and bring the DIW Title back to Ares Death Cult. Australian Title Contender Tournament Quarter-Final: Kobra Khan v Lloyd Banks This match was kept to eight minutes, with Lori probably looking to protect Banks half an hour after he fought in the main event of the previous episode, but that was enough time for us to tell the story of their history with the Australian Title and one another as the last two champions. Death Ref leapt on the apron to ensure there wouldn’t be a three count when Kobra Khan hit Banks with a Small Package Driver, which brought out a limping Rob Edwards, who pulled him down. In the ring, Banks threatened to take control, poking Kobra in the eye when he tried to lift him off the mat, but Edwards intervened further, delivering a Roundhouse Kick to Banks, which a recovering Kobra followed up with a Ripcord Knee for the win. Rob Edwards grabbed Death Ref by the throat and told him to pass on a message to Cesar Sionis: a tailbone for a tailbone. The Comedian and I pitched to Markus Rush for a rundown of the Australian Title Contender Tournament semi-finals, but he was on his mobile as we joined him, telling the person who had called him that he was on air so were they sure they wanted to be put on loudspeaker. We then heard Dexter Mattell warn anyone who was listening that while Rob Edwards and Cesar Sionis seemed to have set their sights set on one another, he’s got a better idea for the future of the DIW Title, insisting that he won’t be seen in a DIW ring again until he’s been granted a shot. Mr. Pink stopped to hand me a note on his way out for the main event, explaining his new look. I say new look, he was still hiding his identity behind a clown mask, but now his nose and hair were black instead of pink. His note revealed that he hated being stuck with his Warriors name, given all those traitors were known for was losing. So now he’d done what they never could and actually beaten The Barracudas – The Comedian chipped in at this point that he’d been awarded a victory over Vaughan without doing any work, but I persevered – now he’d beaten The Barracudas, he was commemorating the occasion by adopting the new name Mr. Blitz. Wrecker and Two Badass MFers (Hendrix Hughes and Seb Shaw) v Mr. Blitz and Crime Wave (D.O.A. and Switchblade) The match was just as chaotic as that skit that came before it. The Benchmark watched their Hardcore Heatwave opponents Two Badass MFers at ringside, the non-champions used a series of dubious tactics to threaten an unexpected victory and The Barracudas came through the crowd making a beeline for Crime Wave and the so-called Mr. Blitz towards the end of the match. A Barracuda Sting to D.O.A. on the outside left Switchblade friendless inside the ring, where Wrecker celebrated another win with his Mighty Bulldog. Mr. Blitz got a few shots in on Wrecker after the bell before backing off as a somewhat weary Hughes and Shaw entered the ring. While that was happening, The Benchmark had slid under the ropes with the Tag Titles and teased jumping the champions, only to ultimately hand them their gold. As the episode ended, I speculated that both teams wanted the other at full strength for next month’s showdown, with The Comedian musing that they should just fight already.

Ah, pleased to hear you have been able to play a bit yourself as I remember you saying before that it's difficult to make time for actually playing in between all the modding. I can see why IWW are a favourite: I bet that schedule was fun to both make and book. It's good to know your Women's Week vision too as when I looked at a save there I was more cautious. I was going to have the Liberated Title on the line every night but just one Empowered match on the final night. The 1/3/5 main events were going to be semis and a final to determine a contender, and 2/4/6 were going to be Ms Olympia taking on B and L before finally being taken out by T as a secondary main event story arc. But if I do get into a full save with them, I'd probably try your marathon idea.

Really nice homage to the era to bring in the Lynn-Waltman match. It feels like the cards are really starting to fill out while still making room for the early ECW staples like Tony Stetson, JT Smith and Tommy Cairo. Being able to use Gilbert in the midcard but with two big main events seemingly on the horizon for him, and likewise having Sandman and Koloff in action too but with something hot in reserve to close the show highlights the surprising depth. The Snuka-Tigra spot was discomforting given some of the allegations around him, but unquestionably authentic to ECW.

Wow, you went all out on the Big Ass Brawl. It was impossible not to root for Ali at the end, which means it was a very effective finish to put him over so hard but still just miss out. Eric Tyler has been on fire on commentary on this show too, with the "wake me up after the bad matches" bit the punchiest/funniest line of all. The Youngman-Angeletti dynamic is also really intriguing.

Yeah, I've seen people on here say that default database APW lack DIW, RAW and ZEN's distinct presence and have lost their way as a bit of a RAW-lite/feeder farm, so what you've done addresses that, and it really feels like Peterson and Williams running the show with Simonson and Devine still near the top of the card fit that direction, rather than it feeling forced. Haha, understandable that you didn't want to trim that BGW event list down to 12. The names really fit the vibe of the company profile. I love the Kid Friendly Wrestling concept too: that's crying out for a dynasty from someone with the comedy chops to pull it off. IWW are another interesting company with great event names/schedule. I discovered them when you mentioned looking to Canada if setting up a DIW women's division. I'm gutted I only loaded Oceania as I like the idea of moving Lori to IWW once her time in DIW is done. But I think if I get to an IWW save, I'd be tempted to do it on the 18CV (yep, I downloaded that one too for extra immersion 😅) just to have a go at getting in on the ground floor.

Wow, a stacked card with a big finale. The Winters-Flame match sounded like a lot of fun and the Vessey-McFly write-up really captured the tension and how both men had their openings. In keeping with the previous shows, you used the few short segments you had to set up a lot with the Johnson development and the surprise at the end, so it should be another hot month ahead.