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Congratulations on your highest-quality show yet. I'm sure that record will keep being broken. I admire your ability to tell a wide variety of match stories, which is particularly handy on a show like this where you need five different cage matches to feel distinct. Even with my limited Canada knowledge, I love the details like "this was an ACPW match" and "DaLay has faced DeColts for 22 years". It really helps with the immersion. The Canadian Championship match and DaLay/Dubois were probably my favourites, both so well written. The Atherton v Beau intro did a great job of transitioning the show from non-cage section to cage and setting a new mood, and the story you told about Jamie being out of his comfort zone made his eventual defeat feel more logical and less disruptive to his momentum. I was swerved by the main event. I thought Whippy had too much momentum with the heel turn, Quibble, my suspicions Faith would be unfaithful and you mentioning physical decline, but Joey did it. And I'm in awe that two 40-somethings held up for 24 minutes. Hardly any of my roster can handle more than 10.

Thanks @AboardTheArk for such a kind comment, I really appreciate it. On reflection, the birthday subplot was probably a bit melodramatic, especially surrounded by barbed wire and rugby badasses, I just wanted to highlight Lori's awkward relationship as booker with The Barracudas and how they seemed to enjoy making her feel uncomfortable, without necessarily being vicious. Part 44: Silent treatment “Happy birthday, you kept that quiet,” Lou Brookmyre greeted me after Chaos Engine, clearly having picked up on Blitz Simpson’s line. “The rugby tackle looked pretty stiff.” “Thanks, where’s the boss? I can’t find him anywhere,” I replied. “He had to leave on the bell. He had a meeting tonight that he couldn’t reschedule.” Something was up. I’d never known The Comedian not to be there at the end of the show. On the contrary, I’d come to believe that telling me everything I’d done wrong as soon as Marv’s emptied out was the highlight of his month. Hadn’t Lou told him I wanted to talk? Or was it the opposite: he’d tipped him off and he wanted to avoid me? Either way, I sensed it wasn’t a good thing. “That Alf Kennedy he toasted last month, did you know he was from Perth?” I asked. Lou just grunted, appearing not to want to engage on the subject. “There wasn’t a single mention of DIW on his social media accounts. He didn’t even follow us. Pretty strange behaviour from our most loyal fan.” “Uh, I wouldn’t know about that,” he stuttered, pausing for a length of time unprecedented for someone who usually had too much to say, before finally adding “that was some performance by Blitz in the main event, huh?” I bumped into Blitz on my way to check on my barbed-wire-branded husband and asked him where the line about my birthday had come from. He innocently insisted that it was just a way to add to my heat and make my comeuppance more enjoyable for the fans. It was plausible enough, but the smirk he wore told me it was primarily a power move. I didn’t hear from The Comedian that night, and he didn’t answer my call the next day either. Like Lou, he was never usually short of something to say, so why the sudden silent treatment? I’d got myself so worked up about the situation that I was considering doing something drastic if he didn’t let me know what the hell was going on by the time War Machine was over. If he left without talking to me again, I was thinking of quitting.

Part 43: Chaos Engine 2022 Death Ref started the show by declaring that Ares Death Cult had beaten the flaming Barracudas before tonight’s six-man showdown had even begun. He said that Blitz Simpson had his nose broken by a kid last month, speculated that Vaughan is nursing arthritis and Chopper Rourke, well, the match will probably be over by the time his five-minute penalty is over. He said he felt bad for Chopper and that’s why he had got him a gift: another opponent for tonight to make up for him missing the main event. Mindful of the beating he took at Blood And Guts, Shawn exited quickly before The Barracudas had a chance to reply. Chopper Rourke v Janus Chopper highlighted what his gang would be missing in the first five minutes of tonight’s main event with a swift and severe dissection of his younger opponent, completed in typical style with an emphatic Spinebuster. Would it be the last one we’d see tonight? Tag Titles: Two Badass MFers (Hendrix Hughes and Seb Shaw) (c) v The Wrecking Crew (Mr. Pink and Wrecker) This was arguably too early in the card for the build and stakes, with the champions bidding to become DIW’s longest-reigning tag champions ever, but I wanted to give both this and the main event space to shine. The Wrecking Crew showed the teamwork that earned them a 5-1 winning record since uniting earlier in the year, constantly cutting the champions down. A hot tag to Seb Shaw appeared to have turned the contest, only for Mr. Pink to hit his Pink Thunder Bomb out of nowhere. 1-2-Hendrix Hughes pulled Tatum out of the ring. Wrecker chased him, but Hughes used his momentum against him to send him crashing head-first into the barricade. While Tatum tried to restore order outside, Shaw took advantage inside, ambushing a distracted Mr. Pink with a Spinning Brainbuster for the history-making win. Two Badass MFers again advised everyone in attendance to put their ciggies in the air for the greatest tag team in DIW history. They were so confident of their superiority that they challenged any team they had never faced for the titles before to step up and take them on next month. Until then though, it was time to party. Rob Edwards v Pat Rigsby This match was like turning back the clock as The Human Weapon, who had been hated since costing Milton Hittlespitz the DIW Title in his first defence in January, found the fans back on his side against malicious troll Rigsby. Edwards stood stoic to his opponent’s mocking about his failed DIW Title challenge last month, repaying him with not one, not two but three Roundhouse Kicks, receiving lots of encouragement from a usually hostile crowd. Edwards asked Milton to come out. He promised no smack talk. He said that for all their differences, Milton and him weren’t gang members, they were fighters who took care of their own business and didn’t need anyone to talk or fight for them. And he knew that after all they’d been through, Milton didn’t want to win the way he did last month, he wanted a clear victory. So his proposal was to let The Barracudas and Ares Death Cult have their gang war tonight, and then next month DIW’s two biggest solo stars could give the fans the main event they wanted to see. No gimmicks, no stablemates, just two fighters going strike for strike until only one man was left standing. The crowd were clearly into the idea, and Milton was too, stepping onto the ramp and nodding his agreement. Australian Title: Kobra Khan (c) v Soul Burner Kobra Khan offered anyone in the locker room the chance to step up and face him for his title, and Soul Burner was the fastest to respond. If a brilliant booker doesn’t repeat their mistakes, this match was the proof that I wasn’t a brilliant booker, as I was again afforded the Australian Champion too long in the ring alongside an opponent lacking the experience to guide him and things got pretty messy. The crowd came up for the finish at least, with Kobra Khan’s Small Package Driver and Ripcord Knee combo vanquishing his challenger. Seconds after the ring had cleared, former Australian Champion Seth Wish appeared. He thanked The Comedian for offering him some time out but said he was ready to return to action, and had hand-picked an opponent for next month. The fans were likely wondering why he didn’t act 15 minutes earlier, at which point he could’ve received a title rematch. I entered alone ahead of the main event, ready to rile the crowd by giving my men a grand introduction. Before I had a chance to say anything, The Barracudas’ music hit and Vaughan and Blitz Simpson made their way through the crowd into the ring. I asked what the hell they thought they were doing and Blitz responded “well, we’re not out here to wish you a happy birthday”. That one genuinely caught me off-guard as I hadn’t told them it was my birthday, so Blitz was clearly goading me by letting on that he knew, and telling the world. I tried to regain my composure quickly, as there wasn’t much alternative, reminding them that no man in DIW could touch me without criminal consequences. If they wanted to risk it, go for it, maybe they’d get to share cells next to one another again. Vaughan said that no man could touch me, but they knew someone who could: New Zealand rugby international Momoe Hamuera. As soon as I heard those words, I tried to make a run for it up the ramp, but she was already there, sending me into the steel with a vicious rugby tackle. I didn’t get a second to recover as she dragged me up, got me in a gorilla press and launched me over the ropes. I could hear Vaughan and Blitz, now outside the ring, pounding the mat in anticipation as Momoe lifted me again, putting me on her shoulders and dropping me face first with the move she calls the Sin Bin. The rest of Ares Death Cult raced to the ring without their special introduction, but it was far too late to help me. Death Ref later revealed Chopper Rourke had trapped them in their room, so they had to force a way out. The Barracudas (Blitz Simpson, Vaughan and, eventually, Chopper Rourke) v Ares Death Cult (Cesar Sionis, Gyula Lakatos and Lloyd Banks) The first 10 minutes went as you might expect: Ares Death Cult dominated for five minutes until Chopper was able to enter and The Barracudas took control once he evened the sides. Blitz appeared to have the match won when he hit Gyula with a Lifting DDT onto the steel chair the Hungarian had introduced, but Death Ref struck him in the head with some brass knuckles. Chopper punished his interference, pulling him back out of the ring and executing a Spinebuster onto the steel steps. Banks slid a barbed wire board into the ring but was locked in Vaughan’s Choke Sleeper before he could get back in there himself. Inside, Cesar saw his chance to strike with Blitz still on the mat, positioning the steel chair against his face and lining up his Running Knee Side-Swipe. Chopper tackled him a split second before he made the devastating contact. He helped Blitz up and Vaughan joined them in the ring, creating an opportunity to send Cesar crashing into the barbed wire board with the Barracuda Sting. Gyula was back on his feet and crawling over to break up the fall, but Vaughan intercepted with another Choke Sleeper so Blitz could keep Cesar down for the count. After the bell, The Barracudas took turns to dump Gyula, Banks and Death Ref onto the barbed wire board to progressively louder cheers. Despite being at a disadvantage both in terms of group numbers and in ring for the first five minutes, The Barracudas – with the earlier assist of Momoe Hamuera on me – had left all five Ares Death Cult members lifeless, and jumped the barricade to soak in the adulation of the fans as they made their exit.

Part 42: The Cryptic Crypto Man Among the many messages I woke up to on the morning of Chaos Engine were two from Tatum. The first was a standard birthday greeting. The second asked if I’d seen this, with a link to an obscure Australian wrestling blog that even I, someone who nowadays regularly sought out the opinions of random fans on the internet, had never heard of. “DIW fans have spent the last month trying to figure out why owner The Comedian closed their Damage Control show with a toast to Alf Kennedy, supposedly one of the company’s most dedicated fans. None of the DIW show-goers we’ve spoken to since the event could offer any insight into who he was, while the only Alf Kennedy death notice we’ve been able to find is that of a 39-year-old Perth cryptocurrency millionaire who suffered a drug overdose in early October.” I’d let my initial scepticism over the strange Alf Kennedy toast drift over the last fortnight while I prioritised planning for Chaos Engine, but this confirmation that even our own fans were confused by it convinced me to catch up with The Comedian about it after the show. But before that was the small matter of The Barracudas and Ares Death Cult’s six-man war.

I’m glad that opening segment got the high rating the writing deserved. Such a fun and fitting line about Atherton already sorting paperwork to vacate the title before he’s won it, and a nice hook for the cage to have Beau talk about finding a weakness. I get an ominous feeling about Faith being at ringside and who her next client could be. Excited to see how that plays out. I thought it was an interesting and probably wise call to have the main event finish involve DaLay and Whitlock, firstly to not have a clear winner between Poison and The Clowns before the show, and also to use the title feud and Dubois’ star power to get some shine on the others. Looking forward to the Chaos.

Part 41: Birthday bumps Chaos Engine was shaping up to be a significant day for DIW, featuring a long-anticipated six-man war between The Barracudas and Ares Death Cult and Two Badass MFers fighting to achieve the longest ever DIW Tag Team Title reign by defeating The Wrecking Crew. It was all going down on the day of my 32nd birthday. Shawn advised me not to draw attention to that fact at the show, believing it would make me a sitting target for ribs, so instead suggested going out for drinks two nights before. Tatum joined us and a few of our non-wrestling friends. Gyula and Cesar were the only other DIW colleagues I invited, but they declined because they didn’t want to disrupt their main event preparation. I both admired the commitment and wondered whether there was a hint of condemnation in their response, as though they didn’t think we should be out then either. One man who didn’t share Gyula and Cesar’s serious approach was DIW Champion Milton Hittlespitz, who at around midnight entered the bar we were in with his friends more than a little worse for wear. In Milton’s defence, he didn’t have a match scheduled this Friday. He kindly introduced me to his friends: “hey, you know how angry you were when I lost the title, this is the woman whose fault it was”. It was said in jest I think, at least that was how his friends seemed to take it, playfully booing me and shouting down my attempts at a defence. He was lost to the dancefloor soon after, while Shawn, Tatum and I were the last of our group standing. She asked at one point if I would be celebrating my birthday by taking any bumps at Chaos Engine. I slipped into my heel persona, bragging about how nobody in DIW can touch me while Shawn smiled across the bar, aware of what I was planning.

Again, loving all the little immersive details: the crowd signs, the WrestleWorld adverts and offering a flavour of what’s to come with the reference to a booking pattern of main event matches mid-show. Strong TV debut. You struck a good balance between heavily highlighting the threat of the reinforced Extreme Agency but still sending the crowd home happy. And plenty crammed in between those segments with the tag split, the Butcher intro, Miss Bliss bumping and Genghis Rahn being despicable. Great stuff.

Ah, that’s rotten timing with the physical decline, but I reckon you can still hit the 60s. Someone who’d been in decline for a while for me massively exceeded my expectations recently in a singles main event, so hopefully you have the same experience. I agree the Whippy turn was really well built. And it’s such a great heel bit to get the fairytale ending for yourself and then pull the ladder up to stop others from receiving the same opportunity, in wrestling and in life. It makes it even easier to get behind Poison.

The dirtsheet(/thread) ratings are in and the verdict is: least successful sudden introduction of a previously unmentioned dead character since Katie Vick 😀 I can at least offer a no-necrophilia guarantee for the Alf Kennedy mystery.

Wow, even though I’d suspected the heel turn was coming, I thought if it happened it would be in the title match, and I definitely didn’t expect it at the start here after the de-escalation at the end of the last show, which gave it maximum impact and shock value. You’ve told this story so well, and now you have another element to play with in Quibble. The fact you could do that as the opening segment safe in the knowledge you didn’t need those two for a successful main event speaks to the growing roster depth. I was pleased Jamie won and like him still treating the title as beneath him and not his primary motivation. It feels consistent with how you’ve presented him so far. And I’m always amused when you take shots at your own booking, like the “booking team remembers he exists” line.

Part 40: Alf Kennedy Damage Control had been our best show of the year and Milton Hittlespitz v Rob Edwards was our match of the year, which felt pretty rewarding given we’d spent 10 months building to it. However, I’d been distracted somewhat by what happened at the end of the show. The Comedian had told me half an hour before the start that he wanted a few minutes in the ring after the main event. He wouldn’t disclose why, he just assured me it wouldn’t interfere with my booking at all. Sure enough, after The Barracudas and Ares Death Cult had brawled out of sight, The Comedian’s music hit and he entered to the surprise of the fans. The boss announced that one of DIW’s most loyal fans passed away earlier in the month, so he wanted to toast him in the ring. With that, he grabbed some tinnies from under the ring, proceeded to throw a dozen or so out to the crowd and then took two of his own between the ropes, downed them with a shout of “to Alf Kennedy”, and left. I didn’t get it. It wasn’t a name I’d heard before, it wasn’t one the crowd seemed to recognise and, as much as I of course sympathised with the fan who passed away, I found the timing odd. It came immediately after a red-hot DIW Title fight and a big brawl between The Barracudas and Ares Death Cult to preview our Chaos Engine main event. I felt like I had to be missing something. I’d been nose-deep in DIW history recently and the name Alf Kennedy hadn’t appeared once. And yet when I said to Lou Brookmyre in our post-show catch-up that I didn’t think the tribute had fitted in, he answered that it was the right thing to do, and that I’d just have to take his word on that.

Part 39: Damage Control 2022 Soul Burner v Lloyd Banks The Barbed Wire Messiah demonstrated that, while he was no longer allowed to use the chokehold that had brought him so much success in recent months, as long as he had his favourite weapon, it was no problem. Soul Burner got some early offence in, but the match turned when Banks introduced a board wrapped in barbed wire, striking his opponent in the face with it and then Piledriving him onto it for a decisive three count. DIW Title challenger Rob Edwards said he’d been given this time to comment on tonight’s main event, he didn’t ask for it. He could easily fire shots, reminding Milton Hittlespitz that he’d ended his fairytale the first time and he was ready to do it again. But just like how he’s the only DIW fighter who doesn’t need to use weapons as his strikes are more powerful than steel, he doesn’t need words to hurt an opponent. The time for talking was over. He’d waited 10 months to get his title back, and even having to wait another hour was unbearable. Australian Title: Kobra Khan (c) v The Anarchist The Anarchist was granted this singles title opportunity in acknowledgement of his recent triple threat victory over Hendrix Hughes and Mr. Pink. He used his size to his advantage for most of the contest, cutting Kobra Khan down every time he built up momentum, and it looked like it was his night when he hoisted the champion up for an A-Bomb. But Kobra Khan reversed into a roll-up and, though The Anarchist was up on two, he acted quickly to send him back down with the Ripcord Knee and retain his title. Former champion Seth Wish had watched the fight at ringside, getting in the ring with the Australian Title after the bell. After a tense pause, Wish gave Kobra Khan the title. He said he was bitter, but he remembered what Kobra Khan once said to him: you may be the first person to have beaten me twice in a row, but nobody will beat me three times, vowing that if he gets another shot, he’ll take it. The masked champion respected the statement. Blitz Simpson v Carl Paris I’m not sure it was intended as such, but I interpreted this match as a nine-minute message from Blitz to me: “you’ve got Milton and Edwards in tonight’s main event, you may think they’re the best fighters in DIW, but I am”. Not even a broken nose from a Paris clothesline a few minutes into the match disrupted his rhythm, and he secured the win with a Lifting DDT. Winner Gets Five-Minute Advantage At Chaos Engine: Chopper Rourke v Cesar Sionis Chopper Rourke came through the crowd alone and sent Blitz Simpson, who was still in the ring, to the back, happy to go it alone. Ares Death Cult entered together, but we decided to reciprocate the move, with Death Ref taking Gyula Lakatos and Lloyd Banks to the back. The decision to fight one-on-one didn’t make things any more respectful or less violent. Chairs and pipes were used and both blokes were bloodied. When Chopper signalled for a Spinebuster, it was time to introduce Cesar’s most dangerous weapon of all: me. I brazenly walked straight into the centre of the ring, goading Chopper to hit me, empowered by the knowledge that he couldn’t do it without risking a return to prison. He seemed to be contemplating it though, until Cesar snuck up behind him with a pipe shot between the legs, following up with a Running Knee Side-Swipe for a win that means Chopper won’t be able to enter next month’s six-man main event until five minutes have elapsed. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that my intervention triggered close to a full-on riot. Vaughan and Blitz came charging through the crowd, with Death Ref emerging at the entrance to send Gyula and Banks into battle. The four men converged on the ramp, quickly being joined by Chopper and Cesar, with the fight spilling beyond the crowd’s view. The Wrecking Crew (Wrecker and Mr. Pink) v Saracens (Cueball and Tank) These two tag teams had the difficult task of following that chaos, but they didn’t outstay their welcome. Mr. Pink used his Pink Thunder Bomb to take down Cueball and achieve The Wrecking Crew’s fifth win in six matches as a team, their only defeat coming against the two men about to compete for the DIW Title. But before that, Two Badass MFers took to the ramp. They said The Wrecking Crew were spreading rumours that they were ducking them instead of being grateful. Grateful they hadn’t left them lying yet, grateful for making them seem like a much bigger deal than they actually are, and for giving them the biggest opportunity of their career. The Wrecking Crew would get their shot next month at Chaos Engine, which just so happened to be the night where Two Badass MFers were equalling the longest DIW Tag Team Title reign ever. So yeah, The Wrecking Crew had a hell of an opportunity… an opportunity to witness Two Badass MFers confirm their status as the best team in Australia. They closed by inviting the crowd to put their ciggies in the air for the greatest tag team in DIW history. DIW Title: Milton Hittlespitz (c) v Rob Edwards This was a moment both men had waited 10 months for, so they didn’t waste any time, immediately throwing hands in what, even by DIW standards, was much more fight than wrestling match. The Human Weapon had an answer for everything Milton threw at him, appearing almost desperate to avoid a repeat of the defeat he suffered last December. Milton was the first to attempt his finisher, but Edwards raised his legs as he came down for the Flying Knee Drop, winding the champion. The challenger sensed his opportunity, measuring Milton for the Roundhouse Kick, but lost focus due to more brawling on the ramp between the resurfacing Barracudas and Ares Death Cult. He turned into a chair shot from Milton, who went back up to the top for a Flying Knee Drop to defeat his nemesis once again. There was no time for Milton, Edwards or the crowd to take stock of what had happened as The Barracudas and Ares Death Cult’s momentum had taken them into the ring, their fight continuing with more windmills than the Netherlands. Neither group got the better of the other here, but there would have to be a winner next month in their six-man showdown.

I wasn’t sure if I should nominate this month as I’m new and haven’t been able to check everything out yet. I look forward to reading more and more, especially with so many cool new concepts launching all the time. But I wanted to shout out the ones I’ve really enjoyed so far, giving me compelling introductions to companies and/or mods I’ve never experienced before: Rookie C-Verse/Fictional CGC: From The Ground by @AboardTheArk DAVE: The Alternative Showcase by @falling_star Veteran C-Verse/Fictional To Build An Empire by @DarK_RaideR

I enjoyed the opener. What would hardcore wrestling be without conveniently placed tables, haha. It seemed like you caught some bad breaks in the second and third matches. Really pleased to see Jamie back, and it felt consistent of his character to complain about fighting for a second-tier title shot after recently challenging for the top prize, so I thought it was good to acknowledge this. Great rating for the tag team match and I loved the Whippy promo (you can tell you’re enjoying writing for him). It’s interesting how his character is evolving as the title run lengthens, and the sign-off line was a blast. It looks like the main event suffered the same curse as those two mid-show matches, but you recovered it with a strong ending. I liked the change of pace in having him de-escalate the tension here, as it wasn’t what I expected.

Thanks a lot @lavelleuk . Rest assured I'm planning on misusing this wonderful roster you assembled for quite a while yet. Part 38: An unsettling discovery My Damage Control planning meeting with Lou Brookmyre continued the surprising recent theme of us agreeing about more than we disagreed on. He seemed content with what I outlined for Milton Hittlespitz v Rob Edwards and Chopper Rourke v Cesar Sionis (the Barracudas and Ares Death Cult members nominated to fight for the five-minute advantage in the six-man showdown at Chaos Engine). I think I also surprised him with my recall of DIW history with an angle I was proposing for the undercard. It annoyed me so much not to have been certain if Milton Hittlespitz v Kobra Khan was our first champion-versus-champion main event last month that I’d been working on my historic note-taking ever since, revisiting results and title reigns from before I became booker. Indeed, the only moment of irritation in my hour with Lou was what he told me at the end: he was meeting The Comedian later to toast the boss' 47th birthday. It wasn’t that I felt left out, it was that I was taking Shawn out that night to celebrate his 47th birthday. How could that snarling old curmudgeon have been born the same day as my wholesome hunky hubby? On the bright side, at least Lou didn’t suggest a double date. We might not be arguing quite as much now as a few months ago, but it was a fragile alliance, and I think three catch-ups a month – one a week before a show, one just before and one after – was plenty for us both.

Thanks so much for these comments. With the minimal formatting and focus on a fairly minor character in a small promotion, I wasn't sure anyone would read it, so I really appreciate it. Part 37: Corrective booking The unusual loser-surrenders-their-chokehold stipulation for Vaughan v Lloyd Banks at Extreme Life had been my idea. The initial moment when Banks joined Ares Death Cult at Havoc in April by appearing behind Blitz Simpson to choke him out with barbed wire and deny him the DIW Title was one of my highlights of the year so far. However, by having him use the move in every match since, rather than saving it for special occasions, I felt like we’d lost what made that first moment so special. The shock factor was also key to that, with him suddenly surfacing behind the turnbuckle and trapping Blitz there. Without spoiling the secrets of what we do, execution was also an issue: we could either perform that move authentically at significant risk to the recipient, or we could gimmick it up and risk our reputation for realness. Instead, the sensible option was to retire the spot, and I was pleased with the way Banks, Vaughan and Lou Brookmyre achieved it, having Vaughan free himself by ripping the wire with his bare, bloody hands. I felt like we’d managed to write off the move in as impactful a way as we’d introduced it, and I hoped that would be what fans remembered, rather than the overkill in between. I’d learnt my lesson too: seeing the damage the finish to that match had done to Vaughan’s hands, I definitely wasn’t going to ask him to recreate that at every show we had left this year. Then again, even if I hadn’t reached that conclusion, I doubt I would have been brave enough to ask him to repeat it.

Thanks. I didn't want to use two huge main events (the 10-months-in-the-waiting Milton v Edwards title rematch and the Barracudas v Ares Death Cult six-man) on the same show, so that stipulation gave me a justification to hold the six-man off until Chaos Engine while still having a high-stakes match between the teams at Damage Control. Part 36: Don't joke with The Comedian “I thought for a second you were screwing Milton over again,” The Comedian told me after the show. “Who would have guessed I’d ever be able to work you, hey?” I joked back. I could instantly tell from his expression that he didn’t like it, as if he thought I was getting too comfortable. “Maybe you got it right tonight, but I’m not sure you can at Damage Control with Milton v Edwards. I don’t think either can afford to lose,” he warned. “Want to know what the plan is?” “Hell no. If you really knew how to work me, you’d know by now that the less you tell me in advance, the better. If I know you’re about to make a mistake, I’ll block it. If I don’t, I’ll just tell you that you messed up after.” “So you’re going to do damage control after Damage Control,” I thought, but thankfully stopped myself from staying it out loud. It got me thinking. I felt like I was developing pretty good instincts for what he hated, but still had no real clue what he liked. Did he like anything?

My first exposure to the CVerse came after DAVE was already gone, and has been almost exclusively in Australia, so I’m really enjoying getting to experience such a special period of CVerse lore for the first time. I love the mood you’ve captured, both of the era and of a hardcore promotion and crowd, not to mention the experience of loading up an ECW live event on the WWE Network. What a stacked show too. I suspected “Use My Sign” guy would get his wish at some point in the dynasty, I just didn’t expect it tonight. I loved the main event finish, both for the huge swerve and the fact it means everyone comes out of it either strong or with a renewed sense of purpose, and I thought the Vengeance foreshadowing earlier in the night before Nemesis’ turn was inspired.

I’m really impressed again that just a few shows in, so many characters have clear identities and motives, and not a single segment feels wasted. Particular highlights were the Ivers progression and not accepting the handshake to solidify his newfound independence, and the smart main event finish to both pay off the contender shot stipulation and give Harrison renewed motivation to go another round with Chase.

The title program taking a week off and DuBois being in the opener gave this show a different feel, but it meant opportunities to heat some other people up. Plus, by hyping a stacked card with special branding for next week, you gave people who tuned in for Whippy and co something to look forward to. I liked the metal knowledge line too.

Part 35: Extreme Life 2022 Carl Paris v Gyula Lakatos The recently dethroned DIW Champion started the show accompanied by the rest of Ares Death Cult against rookie Paris and slowly and violently took out his anger on the 18-year-old, finishing the job with his Choke Bomb. We all entered the ring after the bell with Death Ref demanding that The Barracudas come down and face us. Unlike in last month’s main event, when they ambushed us to cost Gyula the title, the call went unanswered, causing us to retreat moodily up the ramp. Seth Wish v Rob Edwards Both these blokes were furious: Wish for losing the Australian Title and a shot at the DIW Title to Kobra Khan last month, and Edwards because he thought he would finally get his crack at Milton Hittlespitz tonight. The Human Weapon did a far better job channelling his anger though, with Wish too hurried in his offence, leaving himself unprotected against Edwards’ lethal strikes. In a scene we’d seen a few times recently, Wish went for a Senton Splash with his opponent not yet out of contention and, by the time he dragged himself back off the mat, Edwards caught him flush with a Roundhouse Kick for the win. Edwards grabbed the mic for a moan. He’d kept his promise of going unbeaten, he hadn’t lost for over half a year, so where was his title fight? The Comedian made a surprise appearance, telling him he’d face the winner of Milton Hittlespitz and Kobra Khan’s ladder match next month. He wasn’t here for The Human Weapon though. He wanted to talk to Wish. He told Wish the fact Kobra Khan is holding his Australian Title and challenging for the DIW Title tonight must make him feel like a jackass. He would’ve seen the back of Kobra Khan five months ago if he didn’t turn their series into a best of 3. He said he should feel like a jackass, and should use that as motivation to never given an inch to an opponent again. The boss told him to take time off if he needed it, but make sure he learnt from his mistakes. Tag Titles: Two Badass MFers (Hendrix Hughes and Seb Shaw) (c) v The Anarchist and God Of War We thought this would be a three-way with The Wrecking Crew, but Two Badass MFers announced that they’d decided triple threats were beneath them. The fans came to see Two Badass MFers, and it wasn’t fair on them if they didn’t get maximum exposure to Australia’s top tag team. The Wrecking Crew would just have to wait their turn. The question of who The Anarchist, who won a triple threat against Hughes and Mr. Pink last month, would team with now Bile was gone had a curious answer: God Of War. Hadn’t he seen him wrestle this year? The Anarchist tried to keep him out of the ring as much as he could here, but he was forced to tag after blood affected his vision after being tripped into the ring steps. Shaw had an assist from his partner to put God Of War down with a Spinning Brainbuster. Vaughan v Lloyd Banks After a Cold War phase broken by The Barracudas costing Gyula Lakatos the DIW Title last month, this was the first match between them and us in three months, and the loser would retire their choke. Vaughan was unbeaten this year, but with rumours that he’d lost a step, while Banks was on the longest winning run of his DIW career since joining Ares Death Cult in April. Any pretence of this being a one-on-one match was spoiled by the warring factions at ringside intervening the first time that Vaughan and Banks respectively looked to lock in their chokes. Eventually, the onlooking Barracudas and Ares Death Cult engaged in a full brawl. Death Ref tried to capitalise on the distraction, handing Banks his barbed wire but, as he tried to wrap it around Vaughan’s neck, the heavyweight ripped it in two in his bloody hands, lashing The Barbed Wire Messiah with what remained, Powerbomb-ing him and then locking him in the Choke Sleeper. Banks was out, the bell was rung but Vaughan didn’t break the hold until Death Ref went after him with barbed wire. That brought the other Barracudas into the ring, with Cesar Sionis and Gyula following. There was only one man capable of stopping the war, The Comedian, who did so by telling the two teams they would fight in a six-man match in two months at Chaos Engine. Both teams would pick a man for a match next month at Damage Control, with the loser banned from the six-man showdown for the first five minutes. The Wrecking Crew (Wrecker and Mr. Pink) v The Warriors (Mr. Green and Mr. Orange) This was presented as an impromptu match demanded by The Wrecking Crew after their anticipated title match didn’t materialise, and The Warriors certainly performed as if they weren’t prepared. Mr. Pink secured a win for his new team against his old one, sending Mr. Green to the mat with his Pink Thunder Bomb. DIW Title Ladder Match: Milton Hittlespitz (c) v Kobra Khan Australian Champion Kobra Khan made a fast start to his first ever DIW Title match. While both men used the ladder as a weapon and to assist with running and aerial strikes, neither tried to retrieve the title in the first 10 minutes. Instead, it was only when Kobra Khan laid the champion out with his Ripcord Knee that he made the ascent. He focussed so much on the steps that he didn’t spot Hittlespitz drag himself up using the ropes, climb the turnbuckle, jump to join him on the ladder and then send the challenger to the floor with a belly-to-belly throw. Crazy Blue remained on the ladder, but chose to hit his Flying Knee Drop on Kobra Khan, before climbing again to complete his first ever successful DIW Title defence. Just like last month, Rob Edwards made a beeline to the ring after the main event to jump Milton, measuring him for a Roundhouse Kick. But he didn’t see Crazy Blue catch a chair thrown from a fan at ringside, launching it at the unsuspecting Human Weapon and following up with a dropkick. With Edwards now down, Hittlespitz lined him up for a hard chair shot to the face, celebrating with the DIW Title.

Part 34: A historic main event I should have known for certain, having worked for the company throughout its existence, but I wasn’t a thorough chronicler before I got the book. However, I was fairly sure our upcoming DIW Title match between new champ Milton Hittlespitz and new Australian Champion Kobra Khan was the first champion-versus-champion main event in DIW history. I hoped the uniqueness of the occasion would make up for the lack of prior interaction between the two fighters on an Extreme Life card that would feature two undercard matches we’d built up to: Vaughan v Lloyd Banks where the loser would retire their chokehold and a tag title match. We also announced another big fight between two men who had hoped to be in the night’s main event: Seth Wish and Rob Edwards. I was optimistic for the final four months of 2022, believing the main events I had planned for each show were ones that fans would really want to see, and would build anticipation for 2023 too, when I planned to shake things up a bit. My confidence was boosted by an unusually upbeat Extreme Life planning meeting with Lou Brookmyre. We both seemed to agree on the plan for the show*. Things going well and older colleagues being receptive to my ideas was almost unsettling: it felt too good to be true. *Well, Lou did think it was stupid that I was making Milton Hittlespitz v Kobra Khan a ladder match just because there was a ladder on the Extreme Life logo and I thought fans might claim false advertisement if it was a ladder-less show, but you can’t have it all.

Part 33: Revolutionary For the first eight months of my booking career, the main criticism against me was that DIW was losing its identity. It was no longer hardcore enough, and I was tampering with things that didn’t need to be tampered with. By the start of September, I began to notice a new line of attack which completely contradicted the original one: I’d been given the book to shake DIW up but, in reality, I’d changed nothing. The roster hadn’t changed, the list of title holders barely had, and everyone was in pretty much the same position on the card I’d found them in. This one hit me harder than the “she’s not hardcore” silliness because, well, it was kind of true. When I told the roster in January they’d all get a chance to prove themselves, I meant it. If I broke my first promise, I knew I’d never be given the opportunity to make a second one. And, unlike in my own life, I treated financial stability as the top priority. The Comedian told me to fire before I hire and I was confident enough in the roster I inherited and what I wanted to do with them to put that financial improvement ahead of any roster rebuilding. Eight months in, I believed I’d made the right decisions. Crowds were up, income was up, morale was up and our most lucrative matches were still ahead of us. So the criticism that I hadn’t been enough of a revolutionary didn’t concern me hugely in terms of job security, mainly because I’d never heard anything like that from the boss or Lou Brookmyre. But it irritated me because I kind of wanted to be a revolutionary, and revolutionaries probably shouldn’t put financial and locker-room management above changing the world. Revolutionaries probably shouldn’t file away their grand plans for a convenient point in the future either, but I had. I’d known for a long time what the final DIW moment of 2022 would be. Now I was starting to piece together how it would allow me to alter the landscape in 2023.

Ah, that's very nice of you to say. I only apologise for my lack of prior Canadian CVerse knowledge, which causes me to ask dumb questions like QPW's stature that everyone else probably knows instinctively. I guess it gives me a unique perspective though, as I'm discovering these characters and their history for the first time through this dynasty and your interpretations. That's really interesting about the Dunn/QPW dynamic. It's cool that the mod created such hurdles to overcome, and likewise that Dubois is proving such a game-changer. I'm pleased you're enjoying writing for Whippy as it gives you extra motivation to get from show to show. I have a similar thing with two guys I'm booking currently, that I keep jotting down lines for them to fire at one another months ahead of where I'm currently at.

Congratulations on the big viewer jump and best card yet. I enjoyed the description of your new channel’s other output too: funny and it helps brings the game world to life. Are QPW a bigger promotion at this time or was it just that they were offering Technique a bigger push/more money? I really like the direction of the title story over the last few shows. It feels like there are quite a few extra layers with Whippy looking down on Poison a bit but trying to stay respectful and the Faith stuff, so it will be interesting to see how it all pays off. I did wonder if either party would turn heel before it’s all over, but I know you said you’re quite stacked for heels. Reverse DDT into a Dragon Sleeper is a mighty move, I’d want that finisher if I was a wrestler. I like that the submission tied into his post-match promo and promise too. The main event kept me guessing again, as the reminder that you have another top face in waiting again created the doubt that maybe one of Whippy or Poison could yet fully embrace the dark side to keep/win the title.