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Interesting role for Big Mac as the network's enforcer. Like @newbiezness, I was surprised you got your best match rating yet just on account of what you said previously about Landon Mallory's perception rising quite slowly, but it suggests you've timed his ascent to facing Edison Silva really well. I'm still really enjoying everything the Heartbreaks, Frisby and Dangermouth are up to. Is Joey Beauchamp still on the roster and just being rested or has The Breeze passed through NWF now?

I love this topic. Different things work for different people, so this might be useless for others, but here are six things I find helpful: Start small If you know you struggle to stay invested then having 80+ wrestlers, multiple brands and several shows a week increase your chances of burning out fast. With smaller companies, you can still do weekly TV if it's the model you're most familiar with, but with 20-30 wrestlers, you can put together an event card fairly quickly, and from there book four one-hour TV shows building those matches up. Then once you see how quickly you can get through a month of shows, it hopefully increases your motivation to tackle the next one. Give the starting roster a chance If you hire all your favourites at the start, you've got nowhere to go when burnout arrives. I find it more fun to see how much I can get out of what I've inherited. Why's this average wrestler got hot momentum and how do I capitalise on it? Someone may have awful stats, but a line in their bio could spark a fresh story idea. Then once you've exhausted all your initial inspiration, that's when you can start to bring people in to breathe new life, but they're moving into a company that's alive with its own flavour, rather than having an identikit company completely shaped by your usual hires. Make one change to canon and play it out This might sound contradictory to the above point, but I find that making one key change to a company's starting state can give you a narrative hook to sink your teeth into, setting in motion a butterfly effect. This is particularly useful if it's a company you like playing a lot. It could be giving someone new the book and exploring who they'd favour and sideline, having your champion out injured for a year so you need to quickly establish a new top guy or having a former favourite return. Let the past guide the way forward In keeping with the second point about always to trying to play each promotion on its own merits rather than book the same people in the same way where you go, I love getting immersed in the title histories, starting storylines, stables, relationships, etc. There's always something to inspire a storyline or match idea: the first grand slam champion, the first to five world titles, the longest reigning champion, the 20-year wait for a first career title, someone who lost every title they ever won to the same heel stable, etc. Then, as you get further in, you get to play with your own history as alliances and rivalries evolve over time and you get to find new ways to play off the dynamics you've established. Have checkpoints and side missions Maybe your main objective is to be the top company or reach a certain size, but I find it's important to have story/character-driven goals to break it down. Picking a midcarder you want to headline your season finale and working out the path to get them there (with the bonus challenge of having to adapt if it's not working out). Reacting when someone gets over more than their stats or your plans for them had you anticipating and testing how high their ceiling is. Taking a story you enjoyed outside of wrestling and seeing if you can apply it to wrestling. Having your Santino/R-Truth/Toru Yano figure (doesn't have to be a comedy character, those were just the first to come to mind) who you know isn't going to be a star game-mechanic-wise but always has something going on to give you an extra element to explore from show to show. Log as much as possible before burnout strikes It used to be the case for me that once I burnt out and took a break from a save, I could never get back into it again and had to start over (which in itself is the hardest part of the process for me). However, twice recently I've been able to feel my way back in due to having sufficient notes to piece together enough of what I had planned. One was a dynasty save so reading back the last five or so parts I'd drafted helped bring it all back, while the other I had my next two PPV cards outlined, and the combination of that and going through my show history did the trick. I think writing a dynasty can also help you stay invested as the interaction is motivating, but it also increases your time investment and can slow your rate of progress, so isn't for everyone. Likewise, I haven't tried it myself but suspect that if your biggest obstacle is you've already figured out everything you want to do and lose motivation plugging your plans into the game, putting injuries, deaths, randomness and relationship on the highest frequency could keep you stimulated by throwing curveballs that always give you something new to think about.

Thanks so much for catching up and sharing such insightful feedback @HiPlus . I think I'd still take the SZW tag division over ours for depth and variety of characters, but I agree we're in a much better position now than in February when Two Badass MFers and Crime Wave went down. That's interesting what you wrote about Seth Wish as I was hoping that with the Barracuda beatdown and fortnight off, it would seem like he'd been sidelined, to make his involvement more unexpected. You're right that it was probably a bit too convenient to target Dexter Mattell first. The thinking was that Mattell interfered against him at Damage Control (though admittedly Death Ref landed the decisive blow), and that once Mattell had lost his rematch, it would clear the way for him, but perhaps laying everyone out at once would've been a more realistic reaction. It's true that Kobra should really be asserting his status as The Pros' last champion standing more, and also that APW's hiring strategy needs some work. I agree Milton Hittlespitz to APW would be interesting. I've also been shocked at CEW leaving us alone after having us on the ropes. I figure the free agents thrown up by AE's collapse distracted them, but I can't rationalise them not moving for Rob Edwards. Part 125: Streak wrecker From a match quality perspective, To The Extreme episode 44 had been DIW’s best weekly effort so far. Bryant Hall v Dexter Mattell was arguably the strongest main event to date, Wrecker, Hack The Hunter and Hendrix Hughes v Donovan Boon, Rusty Mills and Kobra The Conqueror was certainly the best opener and Milton Hittlespitz v Lorenzo Oliverio and Rick Horn v Pat Rigsby both left a mark too. I still questioned why the six-man match was added to a show that already had a lot going on, regardless of how entertaining it had been. I guess Lori thought it would be a good teaser for the upcoming Class of 98 v The Benchmark Tag Title Contender Tournament final. Stranger than having that match as an underhyped opener was the finish: blowing off the near-two-year story of Mills never taking a pinfall or submission in such anticlimactic and inconsequential fashion. Perhaps Lori decided that as she had Bryant Hall’s unbeaten start in DIW and Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards’ perfect record as a team, Mills’ statistic didn’t matter as much as he’d still lost matches, so it was something unexpected to throw early in an episode to show anything can happen. It wasn’t what I would have done, but I was pleased at least that Wrecker was given the accolade. He was a popular and dependable roster member, but hadn’t held a title in over nine months, sometimes being perceived as an odd one out as he himself referenced in a recent promo. So it was good to encourage his fans that he could beat anyone, even someone that five-time DIW Champion Vaughan and four-time champ Edwards had taken losses to, on his day. Would To The Extreme episode 45 be his day? Wrecker and Hack The Hunter were facing The Benchmark in the Tag Title Contender Tournament final, with the winners advancing to face Hittlespitz and Edwards at War Machine. That was provided The Dream Team overcame OLD Tag Team Champions The Inmates earlier in the same episode.

Part 124: To The Extreme #44 The Comedian and I introduced what we suggested might be the most action-packed hour in DIW history, headlined by a first time ever match for the DIW Title between Bryant Hall and Dexter Mattell. To support our claims about the card, the show was starting with a six-man match that would probably main event most other weeks. Wrecker, Hack The Hunter and Hendrix Hughes v The Pros (Donovan Boon, Rusty Mills and Kobra The Conqueror) It felt unnecessary to have such a star-heavy match on a card that already featured a first-time DIW Title bout. However, Lori clearly wanted to keep focus on next week’s Tag Title Contender Tournament final between the Class of 98 and The Benchmark. With these six given a licence to go all out, they put on the best opener in To The Extreme history. As Hughes and Kobra fought outside, the finish saw Boon try to lift Wrecker up for the Double Down, only to be caught from behind by Hack The Hunter’s Hack Attack. Wrecker reacted quickly to catch Mills with the Bulldozer Elbow, becoming the first person to pin or submit him across his 26 matches in DIW. Markus Rush asked Lorenzo Oliverio about his upcoming match with Milton Hittlespitz. The hothead was angry about The Street Stallions being overlooked as Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards prepared to face The Inmates next week and the Tag Title Contender Tournament winners at War Machine, warning that he should never be treated as an afterthought. We’d been sent a video from The Barracudas telling Con McReady he had to pay for screwing them out of their War Machine Tag Title rematch but, seeing as his mate Seth Wish hadn’t been seen since they got their hands on him, they’d let him decide his punishment. Singles match? Tag match? Handicap match? The choice was McReady’s, but the outcome would be the same. Milton Hittlespitz v Lorenzo Oliverio Oliverio’s hot-headedness caught Hittlespitz off guard early in this contest, with Crazy Blue initially unable to match his aggression. He was eventually able to use it to his advantage though, forcing The Italian Stallion into a few costly mistakes, most crucially ducking a chair that Oliverio swung so ferociously that it deflected off the top rope back into his face. A Flying Knee Drop later and Hittlespitz had the win in a little over eight minutes. Markus Rush had caught sight of a discussion between The Pros while that match was in progress. Dexter Mattell fed into the foul mood that Donovan Boon, Rusty Mills and Kobra The Conqueror were in after losing to Wrecker, Hack The Hunter and Hendrix Hughes by telling them that those three and the rest of the amateurs in this hellhole were laughing at them right now. The only way to put what happened earlier tonight right and stop the laughter was to make sure that he ended the show with the DIW Title back in his hands and, by extension, theirs. We didn’t get to see if the others were on board as Boon spotted the camera and cut it off. We were next shown some pre-recorded comments from Death Ref. He noted that The Apocalypse were a relic of DIW’s past that had no place in its present. When he saw them last week, he was ready to offer them spots in Ares Death Cult and the chance to belong again. However, they threw that offer back in his face and in doing so sealed their fate. If they dared show up again at War Machine, The Barbarians would make them extinct. Rick Horn v Pat Rigsby I’d made no secret of the fact the recent Rigsby story arc wasn’t for me, but I couldn’t deny that both of these wrestlers had improved as performers and aroused more interest from the crowd since the previous time they met in March on Horn’s debut with the company. Any lingering sympathy for Rigsby after his recent wars with Ares Death Cult evaporated over these six minutes which he started by goading Horn “you want to kiss my wife? You can kiss my backside” and then using every cheap tactic in his repertoire to frustrate his opponent. He had no answer once Farm Tough fought back though, and his singles winning streak (even I’d caught myself misguidedly promoting it as that on commentary) was ended by a John Deere Destroyer. Ahead of the main event, Markus Rush spoke to Milton Hittlespitz in an interview that came across fairly nakedly as a sales pitch for the next episode of To The Extreme rather than an insight into his motivations. Crazy Blue looked forward to taking on another pair of Tag Team Champions in The Inmates and continuing his and Rob Edwards’ perfect record, and finding out whether Class of 98 or The Benchmark would challenge them at War Machine, vowing to be ready for either challenge. DIW Title: Bryant Hall (c) v Dexter Mattell Despite both belonging to stables, this was allowed to be a one-on-one match for at least seven-and-a-half minutes, with Hall’s power and Mattell’s technical prowess earning both periods on top. However, when The Final Boss connected with the S.T.O., The Pros arrived to make a nuisance of themselves before he could go for the cover. Kobra hit him with his snakeskin belt and The Benchmark followed up with the Double Down. This brought out Lloyd Banks and Psych Ward who, alongside Death Ref, fought the other Pros off down the ramp, but the damage was done as Mattell locked in the STF and Hall couldn’t escape. It was coming up to a minute and his resistance appeared to be fading when someone else emerged through the crowd and repeatedly hit Mattell in the back with a cane, forcing him to break the hold. It was Seth Wish, who retreated back outside as Hall finished the job with his S.T.O. to complete his first defence. Seth Wish quickly made it clear that he wasn’t there to help Bryant Hall after the bell, catching him with the cane as he celebrated and quickly following up with Dust In The Wind and the Suicide Senton. Briefly picking up the DIW Title while Hall and Dexter Mattell were grounded, Wish screamed that he hadn’t forgotten those two stole it from him and he’d keep getting in their way until he had his chance to take it back.

I loved the introduction to Reed Buckfield trying to capture Vortex's cosmic energy. You're really good at writing the more eccentric characters, so I have high hopes for him. Great work too capitalising on reaching 2023 for crossover between The Golden Grapplers and the writers strike. Your first big card of 2023 looks great: three title matches with credible challengers and a nice blend of top contenders and strong personalities left over to make the rumble as big an attraction as ever. Thanks too for the breakdown of what your competitors are up too.

Part 123: Two in, one out, one staying So, as suspected, The Apocalypse’s appearance at DIW’s 15-year anniversary celebration wasn’t a one off. They followed their interruption of The Benchmark there by attacking Ares Death Cult on To The Extreme episode 43, laying the groundwork for another potential match. The rumour was that, a decade on from leaving DIW for APW, Hatemonger and Warmonger had agreed to an initial six-month part-time deal, which could be extended further if all parties are satisfied. As for the latest chapter in my least favourite DIW story arc between Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan, in which he ordered his “wife” to stay at home, it appeared that was in fact her last appearance for a while. She’d only been brought in for three months to set up that Damage Control mixed tag match and was still based in Tasmania, while her poor in-ring chemistry with Rigsby didn’t lend itself too easily to a follow up. However, I got the impression that Lori enjoyed working with Bogan, and that whoever had her ear had told her good things about the 28-year-old’s potential, so I’d say there was a fair chance of her resurfacing in future. The other gossip I heard at this particular To The Extreme taping, because the person telling their story wasn’t particularly discreet, was that Dexter Mattell had been approached about returning to APW. I knew Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills had knocked back similar offers in the past, though this was the first time APW had made a move that I was aware of since gaining the WrestleWorld Australia exposure, making them a more attractive proposition. It hadn’t made much difference, if taking Mattell at face value, as he indicated that they weren’t willing to match what DIW paid him and that he wasn’t yet fully sold on the APW revival, suggesting he thought they’d be back in a hole as soon as George Wolfe returned to North America. They were getting the most of their investment in the 33-year-old until then, with him putting on another Commonwealth Title clinic with Fuyuhiko Wakabayashi at Longest Night. Still, Mattell’s apparent refusal to entertain an immediate return to APW made life easier for Lori ahead of To The Extreme episode 44, in which he was getting his DIW Title rematch against new champion Bryant Hall. DIW announced all four matches in advance, understandably as it was a fuller line-up than the average To The Extreme card. In a preview of the upcoming Tag Title Contender Tournament final, Wrecker and Hack The Hunter were partnering Hendrix Hughes against The Benchmark and Kobra The Conqueror. Elsewhere, Milton Hittlespitz was facing Lorenzo Oliverio in the reverse of last week’s Rob Edwards v D.O.A. match and Rigsby had challenged Rick Horn. ---------- Really sorry @John Lions. Bonnie Bogan was initially signed on a three-month deal specifically for the Damage Control story. When you made your post highlighting how she was a valuable long-term prospect, the window to re-sign had already passed, but I'll make sure this wasn't her last appearance.

Part 122: To The Extreme #43 Tag Title Contender Tournament Semi-Final: Class of 98 (Wrecker and Hack The Hunter) v The Barracudas (Chopper Rourke and Vaughan) The show got off to a hot start with the main event winners of the previous episode opening this one. With all four men riding a lot of momentum, it was no surprise to see offence split pretty evenly between each of them and an unclean finish. Vaughan was struggling to lock his Choke Sleeper on Hack The Hunter outside the ring when he felt the snap of a cane on his back from Con McReady, looking to avenge The Barracudas’ attack on Seth Wish last week that led to him fighting them alone and The Wild Things being eliminated. As McReady got a few more shots in on Vaughan, Rourke looked to intervene but was met on the apron by Hack. His punch stopped Rourke exiting the ring and instead knocked him into Wrecker’s Bulldozer Elbow, which was followed by a Hack Attack, the finisher combo proving enough for Wrecker to keep Rourke down for a three count. I introduced my first pre-taped interview of the evening by explaining that I’d gone to the location I’d been directed to but was greeted by Death Ref, with no Bryant Hall in sight. Death Ref explained that I didn’t need to talk to Hall, and in fact he had much more relevant information than The Final Boss when it came to Dexter Mattell. He said that Mattell had been in DIW for nearly two years now and made enemies of almost everyone without fearing the consequences, except Ares Death Cult. Even when he had the DIW Title and his own army assembled, he was always too afraid to take on that battle. Now Mattell was desperate and had started playing with fire and picking fights he couldn’t win. However, Ares Death Cult could see he was still scared, and he was right to be scared as he’d never fought anyone like The Final Boss before, and it would be game over for him when he lost next week. Markus Rush had caught Pat Rigsby in discussion with his wife Bonnie Bogan. He was furious that Rick Horn had dared to make a move on her while he was healing at home from injuries he suffered keeping her safe from another Spike Piledriver at Damage Control and couldn’t wait to get him in the ring next week. She tried to correct him that Horn wasn’t flirting but for once even her shrill voice couldn’t be heard as Rigsby powered on that she shouldn’t have even been there. DIW House was his workplace, not hers, and he only stomached it to take money home to her. She had no business there and was affecting his performance. When she stayed back home after being attacked by The Barbarians, he had a 100% winning record which had dropped to 0% since she returned (he neglected to mention that the sample size on both occasions was one match). He loved her, but he needed her to go back home and stay there so he could concentrate on making her money and she could prepare for motherhood. Brains and Brawn (Carl Paris and Demarcus Lee) v The Inmates (Bile and The Anarchist) I got what was going on here: The Inmates were getting a win over an existing DIW team firstly as a thank you to OLD for freeing Mayhem Mulhoney and others for the anniversary, and partly to imply they were worthy of a Tag Title shot. The problem was that Paris and Lee weren’t that established, so it just meant having four people in the ring the crowd weren’t that invested in. Bile scored a win for the outsiders with his Mind Trip, but I doubt it did much for their standing. Rob Edwards applauded The Inmates’ victory and said he and Milton Hittlespitz were happy to make it official for two weeks’ time: DIW Tag Team Champions v OLD Tag Team Champions. He warned them that they’d already beaten the likes of The Benchmark and The Barracudas, so Bile and The Anarchist needed the performance of their careers to reclaim the titles they once held. Rob Edwards v D.O.A. The story we told on commentary was that this match was a response to the events at last month’s anniversary when Edwards beat Lorenzo Oliverio but later found himself frustrated by The Street Stallions when he tried to save Milton Hittlespitz from a Barracuda beating. I had my suspicions that the reality was that Lori realised she was in danger of running an all-tag-match card, knew that was another Australian company’s trademark and switched course accordingly. Whatever the reason, it was a shrewd addition in the sense that it was the match of the night, with Edwards allowing D.O.A. a few moments of strength over the course of nine minutes before inevitably putting him away with the Roundhouse Kick for his eighth straight victory since uniting with Crazy Blue in Canberra. Dexter Mattell was dismissive when I told him Death Ref’s theory that he had always run scared of Ares Death Cult, saying that staying out of one another’s way had been a mutually beneficial arrangement, up until now. He noted that the non-aggression had worked out better for The Pros than them as they’d held titles for the entirety of their existence, whereas the Cult were becoming irrelevant until they capitalised on Seth Wish’s freakish cameo as DIW Champion. Mattell added that the one time they did both have the same goal at Hardcore Heatwave, it was him not them who ended the show as DIW Champion, and he’d do it again. I pointed out Bryant Hall’s unbeaten record, but Mattell had an answer as always. Not only had he beaten everyone he’d faced in DIW, but he’d never lost his first match against anyone. Hall was good, but Mattell was better, and he was going to make things final for this boss next week. Markus Rush was interviewing Wrecker, asking how he was finding being in another new team. Wrecker knew what Rush was getting at. He’d been hearing this criticism recently that he was meant to be DIW’s odd man out but, in reality, he was the MVP. Nobody else in this locker room or this industry could team up with three completely different partners in the space of a few months and win with all of them, winning almost every singles match in that time too. Hack The Hunter and him had never teamed together until last week and they’d beaten two established duos already. Now they hoped for what they were looking for all along: a match with The Benchmark. Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills took away maybe the biggest match of his career in Sydney. Now, it was his turn to take from them. Tag Title Contender Tournament Semi-Final: The Barbarians (Lloyd Banks and Psych Ward) v The Benchmark (Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills) For the second time in three weeks, The Benchmark were headlining against another villainous team, and a week before their fellow Pro Dexter Mattell challenged The Barbarians’ stablemate Bryant Hall for the DIW Title. November 2024 was clearly the month of the heel. This main event was better than the teams’ Tag Title clash back in June, I think because it was played more to The Barbarians’ strengths: more weapons and brawling, less technical moves. It also felt notable that Mattell and Kobra The Conqueror didn’t show up, whereas I thought they might screw over The Barbarians to get one over Ares Death Cult ahead of the upcoming DIW Title bout. Instead, with the contest fairly gridlocked at the eight-minute mark, the lights went out and those famous words were heard once again before they returned: THE END IS NIGH. Death Ref had made his way to the entranceway in the darkness to greet The Apocalypse and guide them to The Benchmark, who they’d interrupted on their return appearance last month. They appeared to follow his lead before stopping halfway down the ramp, with Warmonger grabbing Death Ref and the duo planting him on the ramp with Apocalypse Nowish. Ward jumped off the apron to confront them and Banks attempted to follow, only to be spun around by The Benchmark, who connected with the Double Down to advance to face Class of 98 in the final. The Benchmark didn’t hang around, exiting through the crowd, leaving Psych Ward to try to take the fight to The Apocalypse. He got Hatemonger in position for the Psycho Slam, but Warmonger clubbed him in the back and, a few seconds later, it was Ward going for the ride instead as he suffered Apocalypse Nowish. The returning DIW legends posed for the crowd as they stood tall over The Barbarians and Death Ref as we tried to figure out on commentary why they’d decided to target Ares Death Cult.

Oh my, the Bret Heartbreak angle is booking brilliance. The idea of putting him in the Cruiserweight Title picture was interesting enough, but the Frisby crossover is the perfect merging of their two stories. I liked Holly's March Madness line too. And then you gave us a shock Big Mac debut in the main event: you're spoiling us. Another really good show, with positive progression for Mallory, Byron and Dangermouth too.

Welcome back. And back with a bang with the roster and competitor rundown and the first show of 2023. The roster is looking stacked, showing how far you've come, but to your credit, the first Eclipse episode didn't feel cluttered. Everything had space to breathe. I enjoyed the Gareth Case reveal and his interesting dynamic with Lone Rider. That was a big win for Lifeline with an out for the GGs, while the Sydney Championship scene looks as hot as ever with Dizzy G lining up behind Blackwell Bush. Apologies if it was covered before and I've forgotten, but where abouts are you currently in the company hierarchy. Has the streaming deal and weekly model pushed you past the likes of DIW?

Part 121: In with the OLD I thought it was a little naïve of Lori to tease Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards defending their Tag Titles against an outsider team before War Machine. Fans would jump to the conclusion it was The Apocalypse, whereas I was fairly confident that if they were returning full time after their recent anniversary cameo and that was to be their first match back, it wouldn’t occur on a random To The Extreme episode. Perhaps that potential misunderstanding was why the angle was advanced as early as the next day. A video was posted on the Original Legends Deathmatches social pages in which their Tag Team Champions The Inmates, Bile and The Anarchist, who once held DIW’s gold, expressed interest in what their fellow champions had said. They offered to show their credentials against any current DIW duo on the next episode of To The Extreme. It was unlike DIW to work with other promotions but, from what I could tell, this was a mutually beneficial short-term arrangement. DIW were thanking OLD for freeing up Mayhem Mulhoney for their two recent anniversary episodes by giving them and their titles some exposure. This was fairly low risk as OLD were a much smaller company based in Victoria, and gave Hittlespitz and Edwards something to do while their War Machine challengers were being crowned. The Inmates’ challenge was likely to be answered by one of the less established teams as To The Extreme episode 43 already had the two Tag Title Contender Tournament semi-finals: Class of 98 v The Barracudas and The Barbarians v The Benchmark. I was also due to conduct pre-taped interviews with Dexter Mattell and Bryant Hall ahead of episode 44’s DIW Title match.

Part 120: To The Extreme #42 Hendrix Hughes made the first entrance of the episode for his match with Rick Horn, getting on the microphone to tell the fans that he didn’t have anything against Farm Tough, he just hit him because he was in his way. He was used to the tag team mentality but, to become a singles champion, he had to be more selfish and charge through anyone who stood between him and giving this crowd an opportunity to put their ciggies in the air for the next Australian Champion. Hendrix Hughes v Rick Horn This match saw shades of grey applied to two fan favourites, with Horn starting aggressively in his frustration at having been taken down unprovoked by Hughes at Damage Control, and the Badass MFer reacting viciously to turn the tide. With Horn on top of him in the corner, Hughes pulled him down into the turnbuckle and then proceeded to drive his head into it a further two times – I pointed out on commentary that he knew how dangerous that could be given the injury to his partner Seb Shaw – before following up with the Triple H for the win. Rick Horn was walking up the ramp nursing a sore head when Pat Rigsby came from the other direction, picked up a microphone from the commentary desk and drove it into Farm Tough’s head. He continued to strike him in the face once he was grounded, screaming about what kind of man he was to hit on another man’s wife when that husband was absent due to injuries he’d suffered trying to keep her safe. There was me hoping this saga had ended at Damage Control. Still, at least the DIW Champion’s stable weren’t wrapped up in it for the moment at least. Markus Rush was with Wrecker and Hack The Hunter, who were facing Saracens in the Tag Title Contender Tournament under the name Class of 98. Hack explained that they weren’t bitter enemies or best friends, they were just two blokes who owed The Benchmark a beating for what happened in Sydney, and this Tag Title Contender Tournament was the easiest way of doing it. Wrecker said Class of 98 was because they found out they were both born the same year. They didn’t put any more thought into it than that because all they were thinking about was getting their hands on The Benchmark. Simple stuff, if you ignore that they could’ve just kept jumping Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills like last week, without entering the tournament as a team. Deceiver v Dexter Mattell Mattell prepared for his DIW Title match with Bryant Hall in two weeks by facing the most Ares Death Cult-looking Australian not actually in Ares Death Cult. What was happening outside the ring came to take on almost as much significance as what was going on inside as Death Ref and The Barbarians arrived at ringside to watch Mattell, prompting Kobra The Conqueror and The Benchmark to emerge to neutralise their presence. It remained a Cold War for now though, with neither stable making a move on the other as Mattell forced Deceiver to submit to the STF. It was Milton Hittlespitz’s turn to be interviewed by Markus Rush next, supporting what Rob Edwards said last week. He didn’t want to wait until War Machine for their next Tag Title defence so, if every team in DIW was going to be occupied until then with this tournament, perhaps there was a team outside the company who were brave enough to step up. Tag Title Contender Tournament Quarter-Final: Class of 98 (Wrecker and Hack The Hunter) v Saracens (Cueball and Tank) Cueball and Tank got a bit more offence than usual in this meat feast with a heavyweight and light heavyweight on each side to put over their advantage as the established team. However, it’s been almost three years since they last won a match, so it was no great shock that Wrecker and Hack quickly overcame their setbacks. They even introduced a collaborative finisher, with Wrecker hitting his Bulldozer Elbow on Cueball who fell back into the Hack Attack Side Suplex. Markus Rush’s third and final interview of the episode was with Australian Champion Kobra The Conqueror, who was asked about Hendrix Hughes beating his most recent challenger Rick Horn earlier in the show. Kobra feigned not even being aware, asking if that was correct and emphasising that Hughes hadn’t done anything to grab his attention yet. Tag Title Contender Tournament Quarter-Final: The Wild Things (Con McReady) v The Barracudas (Chopper Rourke and Vaughan) It turned out Markus Rush’s night wasn’t quite over as there was no sign of The Barracudas entering through the crowd when their music hit, so we had to go to the back where they had Seth Wish tied to some lockers and were both working him over with lead pipes until McReady arrived with a cane. They did then make their entrance while McReady tried to find help for his partner. He insisted that he wasn’t forfeiting though and made his way to the ring to fight them two on one. McReady landed some early blows with his cane, but every time he threatened to make a breakthrough, the numbers overwhelmed him. His biggest hope spot was turning a Spinebuster attempt into a cover, but Rourke escaped at the last minute. Wish then appeared with his cane on the entranceway, bringing Vaughan into the ring in readiness, but he collapsed halfway down the ramp, and The Barracudas acted quickly to take McReady down with the Barracuda Sting for a three count. I noted on commentary that every team left in the tournament would be dreading facing The Barracudas in this ruthless form, and that Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards might not be lucky enough to survive next time.

Nice card. A big win for Dangermouth, with Byron having an out in being suited and unprepared, while his son had more good character development in defeat. I was rooting for Frisby just because he's such a great character but, based on the comment about his lack in in-ring ability, it seems the right man won. Likewise, Manchester getting a big show win to bounce back from his title match losses made sense. I'm intrigued to see over the next few shows if Mallory is over enough for the title feud yet, and what direction you go down instead if not.

Part 119: Part-time champion There was a reasonable amount happening on To The Extreme episode 41, with the Tag Title Contender Tournament kicking off, the next DIW Title challenger being named and The Wild Things and The Barracudas moving past their Damage Control defeats. It also appeared as though new DIW Champion Bryant Hall would start appearing and wrestling at least a little more regularly than he had been to date, with The Comedian confirming that Dexter Mattell will face him on episode 44. Still, it didn’t feel right to have no appearance from Hall on the first episode after he won the title, or at the very least to have a taped interview from the Sydney show or another Ares Death Cult representative comment on the victory on his behalf. I’ll give it time, but the early indications are that having a part-time champion is going to prove problematic. While Hall wasn’t scheduled for To The Extreme episode 42, quite a lot had been announced. The final two Tag Title Contender Tournament quarter-finals would see Wrecker and Hack The Hunter’s debut as Class of 98 against Saracens, and The Wild Things fighting The Barracudas. Rick Horn had challenged Hendrix Hughes and Dexter Mattell would be in action a fortnight before his DIW Title match.

Part 118: To The Extreme #41 The show opened with The Comedian in the ring. He said he wanted to keep this short as he felt like he’d spoken too much recently, and he’d much rather just let people fight. The Tag Title Contender Tournament he announced at Damage Control was starting tonight with Brains and Brawn v The Barbarians and The Street Stallions v The Benchmark. He intended to give The Benchmark a bye as previous champions, but an eighth team called Class of 98 asked to be entered over the weekend. They fight Saracens in the other half of the draw next week, with The Wild Things facing The Barracudas. The Comedian wanted to congratulate Bryant Hall on becoming the 15th DIW Champion, but also to warn Ares Death Cult that they didn’t get to hide him away until War Machine. The DIW Title would be defended every month, so if he wasn’t here in three weeks to take on his first challenger, he’d be stripped of the title. This brought out Dexter Mattell to state his candidacy having been “robbed” of the title and denied an opportunity to reclaim it, and won every match since, beating some of DIW’s leading amateurs in Wrecker and Con McReady. He got that The Comedian didn’t like him but, as champion, he’d turned up every week and beaten every challenger, concluding that he may not be the champion The Comedian wanted, but he was the one he needed. The DIW owner said Mattell may think he’s a master manipulator, but he really didn’t need the sales pitch: he was happy to see Mattell and Hall kick the crap out of one another. He was on but, like The Benchmark, he’d better make his opportunity count. Tag Title Contender Tournament Quarter-Final: Brains and Brawn (Carl Paris and Demarcus Lee) v The Barbarians (Lloyd Banks and Psych Ward) Though Banks scored the win at Damage Control, I felt like even being involved with the Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan stuff had diminished The Barbarians, especially Ward in breaking Rigsby’s losing streak. I was therefore pleased that one of the first things to happen back at DIW House was to put a bit of momentum back behind them by becoming the first team to advance to the semi-finals of this tournament. Ward scored the pinfall for a change too, following up with a Psycho Slam on Lee after he’d been downed by a Spike Piledriver. Markus Rush introduced The Wild Things, echoing The Comedian’s announcement that they would face The Barracudas in the quarter-finals of the Tag Title Contender Tournament next week. Con McReady said that they both had a rough night in Sydney, so he was glad they had the opportunity to work through that frustration together. Rush suggested to Wish that McReady putting them forward for the tournament might have been what led The Comedian to pick Dexter Mattell instead of him as Bryant Hall’s first challenger, but Wish shut down that line of questioning. He said he hadn’t forgotten about The Final Boss who took the DIW Title from him last Friday, but that didn’t have to stop him and McReady from going cane-swinging together. Rob Edwards noted that he was still hurting from the war with The Barracudas, and he liked the idea of him and Milton Hittlespitz’s War Machine opponents having to win a tournament to get that opportunity. However, he wasn’t someone like Bryant Hall who turned up when he felt like it – this got an ooh from the DIW House faithful, with it being the first time The Human Weapon had ever acknowledged the new DIW Champion – so, while he couldn’t speak for Hittlespitz, he wasn’t waiting that long for a fight. That was why he’d approached The Comedian with a suggestion: Menace To Sobriety was denied one last match in front of the DIW crowd at the anniversary show by The Benchmark, so he’d arranged that opportunity for him tonight. Rob Edwards v Menace To Sobriety Edwards sold the rib damage he suffered at the hands of The Barracudas at Damage Control, giving Menace an early opening to pop the fans with a few crowd-pleasing throwback spots. He tried for the Hangman’s Neckbreaker much too early though and that was his downfall. Edwards kicked his way out of it, overwhelmed Menace with a series of strikes and then, the second he got back to his feet, he cleaned him out for good with the Roundhouse Kick for the win. Markus Rush was with an angrier-than-usual-looking Barracudas. Vaughan corrected the claim that Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards had beaten them, claiming that they didn’t defeat The Barracudas, they survived The Barracudas, but they won’t be so lucky next time. He followed up with a warning to The Wild Things that they are willing to do whatever it takes to advance. After that interview, Markus Rush shared some footage that had been captured before the start of the show of Rick Horn and Bonnie Bogan waiting outside a room for a chance to talk to The Comedian. Horn congratulated Bogan on the fight she put up against Ares Death Cult at Damage Control and asked what she needed to talk to him about, the answer being that Pat Rigsby’s neck was in a bad way so he couldn’t make it to tonight’s show. Horn’s reason was to ask for a match against Hendrix Hughes next week after being hit with a Triple H after his Australian Title bout. Tag Title Contender Tournament Quarter-Final: The Street Stallions (D.O.A. and Lorenzo Oliverio) v The Benchmark (Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills) From a story perspective, this was arguably a weaker main event than Rick Horn v Rusty Mills coming out of Hardcore Hallelujah, with neither team fan favourites or having any overlapping history or rivalries. Still, if you put The Benchmark in the ring for 14 minutes with two capable workers, you’re guaranteed good results. Boon and Mills made The Street Stallions look like more of a threat than their booking post-Oliverio’s injury, but ultimately managed to out-heel them. Boon made Oliverio lose his temper, lured him into a premature Back Stabber attempt, moved before the contact and then caught him with a Donovan Driver to secure victory. The Benchmark’s celebrations were disrupted by the two men they attacked unprovoked at Damage Control, Wrecker and Hack The Hunter, who were almost certainly tournament entrants Class of 98. They were putting a beating on Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills until Dexter Mattell and Kobra The Conqueror arrived to give The Pros their usual numbers advantage. The Wild Things were next out to close the show on some four-on-four brawling as I noted that we’d see if Class of 98 and The Wild Things could join The Benchmark in the semi-finals next week.

Nice variety on the card with the multi-man matches and gimmicks like the ladder, Disc of Death and Mayhem at the Morgue on the undercard then two straight-up matches for the top two titles to close. I liked what you did with the morgue in having The Texas Hangman get a win without spoiling Deacon Darkhold's aura, while The Texas Outlaws' debut was great. I feel like really emphasising new tag contenders being crowned earlier in the show enhanced the shock value of another team emerging. Plenty more great commentary lines too: Martyr's parents, curse-free broadcast, the pillow fight streaming.

Part 117: What next for The Barracudas? One of the things I was most intrigued by in the fallout of Damage Control was the fate of The Barracudas. In Lori’s first two years with the book, they featured in major year-long storylines. In 2022, they went to war with Ares Death Cult, while 2023 saw their hunger for the DIW Title tear them apart, resulting in Chopper Rourke and Vaughan driving Blitz Simpson out of DIW and distrusting one another in the aftermath. Since realigning as a tag team at the start of 2024, they hadn’t featured quite as prominently, being overtaken towards the top of the card by younger acts like Dexter Mattell, The Benchmark, Seth Wish and Bryant Hall. They won rivalries with The Street Stallions and The Barbarians, but they failed to take the Tag Titles off The Benchmark at Havoc and failed to stop the rise of The Pros, a future of midcard nostalgia pops appearing to await them. That had all changed this spring with Lori using DIW’s 15-year anniversary and Sydney debut close to where they served time in Long Bay to reestablish them in the heel roles they thrived in during DIW’s first decade. They targeted Tag Team Champions Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards, enacting several violent beatings, before being presented as a serious threat in defeat at Damage Control. Was it one last push to coincide with the anniversary and Sydney show and they’d go back to beating down acts the fans didn’t like lower down the card, or was there more mileage in this run as a more dangerous malevolent force? It won’t have helped their cause that the initial response to them targeting the champions had been negative: the crowd didn’t seem receptive to them being used in a more prominent role. That damage had been controlled a little in the remaining build to Damage Control as Lori persevered with presenting them on that level, but I suspect from the posters and build that the Tag Title match was intended to headline in Sydney, only for the muted response to put Lori off. However, perhaps it should’ve closed the show as Seth Wish v Bryant Hall underperformed. The success of the Tag Title match owed a lot to Hittlespitz and Edwards’ performance levels, but it showed The Barracudas could still be featured in such a spot with the right opponents. The problem was there weren’t any better than the current champions and The Benchmark, who they’d already danced with this year, and it was noticeable how Lori no longer trusted them to go longer than six or seven minutes, which wasn’t sustainable for a main event act. The first few November episodes would likely reveal a lot about The Barracudas’ future. Would they enter the contender tournament and earn a Tag Title rematch? Would they drop back to the midcard? Would they continue as villains or be paired with a more dislikable duo? Would they even continue as a team or get more singles opportunities given that both had flirted with the Australian Title at different points this year? Rourke got the louder reactions in 2024, yet Vaughan was still the better wrestler and talker with all the singles accolades, which is why I think she preferred using them together to play to one another’s strengths. Only the first half of the tag tournament had been announced so far, with two quarter-final matches confirmed for To The Extreme episode 41: Carl Paris and Demarcus Lee v The Barbarians and The Street Stallions v The Benchmark. ---------- @John Lions This was the part inspired by your question about The Barracudas' trajectories, but I thought I'd add a bit more mechanical information separate to that to answer as fully as possible. At the start of the save in January 2022, Vaughan was the most popular roster member in New South Wales on 32, with Chopper Rourke joint-second with Blitz Simpson on 30. However, both hit time decline pretty much straight away. I've tried to continue presenting them as a big deal throughout (perhaps falling off a bit in 2024) as it feels like the right thing to do, and they're still assets in terms of size, menace, psychology and hardcore skill (moreso Vaughan than Chopper on the last two). However, presumably due to the time decline, neither really grow in popularity whereas people who started off beneath them like Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards, or signings like Dexter Mattell and The Benchmark, have made huge growth they can't get near to. Perhaps it was deciding to do an anniversary celebration that reminded me that they deserve to be treated as a bigger deal than they perhaps were when fueding with D.O.A. and his various partners, so that was the thinking behind having them get more vicious and programming them with The Dream Team, which was well received in the comments, showing it was probably overdue. Remarkably, both Vaughan and Chopper lost a handful of popularity points each in the immediate aftermath of their initial attack on The Dream Team. It was nothing to do with the angle flopping as it scored fine, so I figure just coincidental timing related to the time decline as I've never had anyone else take a similar hit in one go, but pretty astonishing in making the whole story feel cursed. I already had everything planned out and it felt like such a good fit for the anniversary and the Sydney show so I wasn't switching course, which worked out okay as most of the popularity damage was undone along the way with them featuring in good segments and the Tag Title match got a 63, making it the joint-best of the night.

Thanks @AboardTheArk. It's true that Bryant Hall didn't have to work as hard to defeat other formidable opponents like Wrecker, Milton Hittlespitz and Hack The Hunter, and Seth Wish hadn't exactly been built as invincible prior to this, so I think you're right that there's a strong case that a near-squash would've been more impactful and really established him as The Final Boss. Part 116: Filling seats in Sydney Lori wasn’t exaggerating when she said after Hardcore Hallelujah that there was enough demand for tickets to exceed DIW House’s 1,000 capacity: DIW drew 1,491 fans for their Sydney debut to beat their previous best attendance by over 49%. It appeared as though any DIW House regulars who didn’t travel took out DIWO subscriptions instead as 20,572 viewers marked a 1,765 increase on the company’s previous record viewership. DIW announced the next day that work was underway to expand DIW House to create space for 1,680 fans, though this wouldn’t be complete until the week of War Machine, the final show of the year. The upper tier would be inaccessible while that was being conducted, though this was unlikely to prove too problematic as To The Extreme’s attendance hadn’t yet exceeded 489 fans. Back to Damage Control, my pre-show analysis had proven pretty accurate. This card didn’t quite hit the heights of Havoc, Massacre and Hardcore Hallelujah before it, the crowd size and sound in a new location helped DIW feel hotter than ever regardless and the battle to be match of the night had proven very open. So much so that I’d struggle to make a call between The Dream Team v The Barracudas and Con McReady v Dexter Mattell. The only downside was that the Seth Wish v Bryant Hall main event didn’t really deliver. I’d even put Wrecker and Hack The Hunter’s non-finish ahead of it in third place, which isn’t what you want when you’re crowning a new first-time DIW Champion. While acknowledging that my past issues with Hall may impact my analysis, I feel like he really needed to shine in that spot to justify being awarded the DIW Title while working limited dates. Lori’s hope will be that he grows into the role like Mattell did after feeling out of place at first. However, if he disappears with the title after a fairly lukewarm showing, other top performers who may already resent his low-work-high-pay setup are likely to become more frustrated. Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan’s tag match was the sole one that felt like it didn’t belong on the card and dragged the standard down, but my hope was that Lori would’ve got her desire to tell that story out of her system now and it would soon be wrapped up. At the very least, I hoped I’d stop being dragged into it by being asked to host interview segments with the “couple”.

As per the comments above, I always enjoy how you share the weekly main event spotlight around for how it makes your monthly show undercards feel more prestigious. It felt like you managed to make everyone who needs to look good heading into Out With The Old look good on this episode.

Credit: @John Lions Part 115: Damage Control 2024 The show opened with footage of fans arriving at Roundhouse. An exact attendance wasn’t known yet, but it was definitely clear that DIW had attracted a record crowd for their Sydney debut. We saw a compilation of some interviews Markus Rush conducted as wrestlers arrived. Dexter Mattell said he didn’t feel like he needed anyone at ringside when he faced Con McReady tonight, but if The Wild Things needed to hold one another’s hands, that was up to them. Rush asked Hack The Hunter if it bothered him that Wrecker was included in the looking forward section of DIW’s 15-year anniversary montage and he wasn’t and he just laughed, saying that unless everyone who featured got paid a bonus, he couldn’t care less. The Wild Things responded to Rush relaying Mattell’s comments by confirming they were going it alone tonight, but the other would be on standby if anyone else got involved in either man’s match. Credit: @HiPlus Australian Title: Rick Horn v Kobra The Conqueror (c) What a feeling for Horn as not only was he performing in front of by far the biggest crowd of his career, he was trusted to make the first Roundhouse entrance of the night. This match felt more choreographed than anything I’d seen before in DIW, as though neither man was trusted enough to lead the other, so their road agent had taken charge, but the result was a hot opener. The ending called back to two days ago as Kobra went for Horn with his snakeskin belt but ended up in the John Deere Destroyer position. He wasn’t getting caught twice though, biting Horn on the thigh – a venomous snake bite as I sold it on commentary – taking the challenger’s legs down as he tried to recover and then connecting with a Ripcord Knee for his fifth successful title defence. Kobra The Conqueror declined to simply celebrate his victory, instead retrieving his snakeskin belt and proceeding to whip Rick Horn with it. This brought out Hendrix Hughes to a loud reaction. He deflected Kobra’s attempted belt shot back into the Australian Champion’s face and then dropped him with the Triple H. Hughes helped Horn to his feet before thinking better of it, Lou Brookmyre’s recent words perhaps ringing in his ears, and hitting him with a Triple H too, standing over both of our opening match competitors. Wrecker v Hack The Hunter The selling left a bit to be desired, but these rising stars were trusted to perform at the highest pace of the night and both grabbed their opportunity. It was building up to a really hot finish with Hack ducking a Bulldozer Elbow, catching Wrecker for the Hack Attack, having that turned into a Mighty Bulldog but powering out of that, with both men springing off the ropes with running attacks in mind and colliding in the middle of the ring. I predicted that whoever got to their feet first would go on to win, but the problem was that neither did. Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills ran to the ring and started putting boots to both men, before taking turns to lift Wrecker and then the larger Hack up for a Double Down, continuing the attack until neither man was responsive. I claimed it was genius on commentary: The Comedian had threatened them about interrupting the Tag Title match, but they’d found another way to leave their mark on the show. Less genius was positioning this finish – the first non-finish I can ever recalling Lori booking – to immediately follow Hendrix Hughes attacking both competitors from the prior match, taking away the novelty somewhat. Markus Rush showed us some footage of Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards preparing to defend the Tag Titles against The Barracudas. Hittlespitz told his partner that he respected the whole Human Weapon mentality and working for a hardcore promotion without using weapons, but The Barracudas were going to fight dirtier than they ever had before tonight. And if the furniture started flying, his hands and feet alone might not be enough. Edwards told his partner that he wouldn’t initiate any tool-swinging but anything their opponents introduced was fair game. Con McReady v Dexter Mattell Mattell was in no way a hardcore wrestler, but his psychology was on such a level that he knew how to really build a story around his one element of weapon-based offence. Having grown frustrated by McReady’s refusal to submit to the STF or pass out to the pain, he retrieved some lighter fluid from under the ring and again set fight to his opponent’s cane. McReady was ready this time with a second cane that he struck Mattell with on multiple occasions until his grip on the flaming cane he held loosened enough for The Wild One to take possession. Raw Sex begged off into the corner and McReady milked the crowd reaction as he slowly lifted the weapon over his head to strike Mattell with. He didn’t account for Kobra The Conqueror to emerge from under the ring with a fire extinguisher that he sprayed in his face, suffocating the fire and blinding McReady. As promised earlier, Seth Wish raced to the ring upon someone interfering against his partner, following Kobra into the crowd, but Mattell recovered enough to pick up the fire extinguisher and charge it into McReady’s head as he struggled to find his bearings, knocking him out for a three count. Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan were out first for the husband-and-wife tag match, before Lori entered alone. She told them that Death Ref hadn’t made it to Sydney due to a family emergency. She knew they wouldn’t want to call off the match, so she’d found the best available option to replace him. With that The Barbarians entered, with Lloyd Banks stepping in for his leader. Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan v Lloyd Banks and Lori There was a bit more support for Rigsby than usual as a lesser evil than Ares Death Cult, but Bogan was the match’s only true babyface, much as Banks was the only real worker, doing his best to keep this watchable. There were two short intergender sections. Bogan tagged herself in with Rigsby being outfought by Banks and lunged at The Barbed Wire Messiah, taking him down and raining down with fists. Rigsby quickly tagged back in when Banks overcame the initial shock to Clothesline her to the mat, and Lori persuaded Banks to tag her in. Rigsby declined to engage initially, feeling it beneath him, but she goaded him into a test of strength then kicked him between the legs as they started to grapple. That stirred Bogan to defend her husband and it stayed like-for-like from that point onwards. The ending saw Bogan get the better of Lori on the outside, sending her crashing to the hard floor with Greetings From Hobart. She couldn’t get back in the ring quickly enough to disrupt what went down there though, with Rigsby lining up Banks for a Stuff Piledriver onto the barbed wire board he introduced, only for Psych Ward to hit him in the back with a chair. One Spike Piledriver later, Banks had won it for his team. We heard briefly from Markus Rush with The Street Stallions. Lorenzo Oliverio denied that they were working with The Barracudas when recently blocking Rob Edwards from stopping a two-on-one beatdown on Milton Hittlespitz, clarifying that they didn’t like either team and were protecting their own interests. When asked who they’d rather see win, he again refused to pick a side, saying The Street Stallions could beat either if given an opportunity. I don’t think there was much substance here. It seemed like just a way to get them both on the show and buy a bit of time for staff to populate the ringside area with weapons ahead of the next match. Tag Titles: The Dream Team (Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards) (c) v The Barracudas (Chopper Rourke and Vaughan) I got the impression this match was originally going to have a specific prison-themed gimmick given the background around The Barracudas returning to the area they were incarcerated. However, perhaps because they couldn’t afford a special set or weren’t sure of the logistics, it was instead a typical DIW hardcore match but with extra weapons scattered everywhere and tornado rules. The result was something short, as it had to be at this stage in The Barracudas’ career and with how hard everyone was hitting, but explosive. The Barracudas ruthlessly put all the weapons at their disposal to good use – lead pipes, chairs, bins, electrical cable – and looked to have it won when Vaughan covered Hittlespitz after the Barracuda Sting onto a bin, only for Edwards to make the save. Rourke and Vaughan tried using the cable to choke out Edwards and Hittlespitz inside and outside the ring respectively, but Edwards powered out and Hittlespitz found a nearby chair to swing back into Vaughan’s face. Crazy Blue used his cable to apply a choke to Vaughan, while Edwards tied Rourke to the ropes with the one used on him. Hittlespitz rested the groggy Vaughan on a table outside the ring and climbed the turnbuckle to send him crashing through it with the Flying Knee Drop while Edwards unloaded on the trapped Rourke with a series of strikes and kicks before finishing the assault with the Roundhouse Kick, releasing him from the ropes to cover for a three count and another successful title defence. In the aftermath, The Comedian mentioned what good health the tag division was in. He’d hoped to include a contender match on this card but, as that wasn’t possible and there were so many potential challengers, there would be a tournament on To The Extreme over the coming weeks to decide which team would go on to face The Dream Team at War Machine, 2024’s final show. DIW Title: Seth Wish (c) v Bryant Hall Wish made a hot start to his third title defence, fired up by waiting over a month to avenge Hall’s post-ladder-match attack on him. However, operating at such a pace meant making mistakes, and The Final Boss had the speed and power to ruthlessly punish these and take control. The middle part of the match was all Hall, with it looking like a matter of time before the title changed hands, but Wish regained momentum by reversing a Powerbomb to Headscissor the challenger into the turnbuckle. He quickly capitalised with Dust In The Wind, but the cover was disrupted on two when Dexter Mattell, having retrieved the DIW Title from ringside, smashed him in the back of the head with it. Con McReady raced down with his cane to chase Mattell off, getting a few shots in to avenge his defeat earlier in the night, but the damage was done as Hall took Wish down with the S.T.O. – one, two, last second kick-out, barely lifting his shoulder off the canvas. The Comedian questioned if Hall would freeze like Hack The Hunter did against him at Hardcore Hallelujah when his best move wasn’t enough, but The Final Boss was unrattled, picking Hall up for another S.T.O., only for him to reverse it into Dust In The Wind at the last moment. Sensing that wouldn’t be enough, Wish went for the all-or-nothing risk of the Suicide Senton, but got blasted in the back of the head for the second time in a few minutes, this time by a chain swung by Death Ref, who wasn’t supposed to be in Sydney. As the Ares Death Cult leader barked on instructions, Hall took Wish down with a second S.T.O. and this time Wish couldn’t fight back. After a run where there were only two DIW Champions in 20 months, Damage Control ended with a second new DIW Champion in two months standing tall. ---------- Thanks all for the predictions. Apologies for the slightly misleading card with one match having a non-finish and the other a replacement partner. On account of that, I'll only score the four matches that went ahead as advertised, which I believe means 4/4 for @AboardTheArk, 3/4 for @KyTeran, @John Lions and @Satyr24 and 2/4 for @HiPlus because Farm Tough was robbed. I can actually think of a "prize" if you want it @AboardTheArk in that Dexter Mattell has a hot new catchphrase, and I'm terrible at catchphrases as you may have noticed from Rusty Mills' "heal your head" nonsense so, if you want to put something forward, I'll run with it. I've already written into December, so it would be a unique challenge to try to retroactively fit in whatever you come up with. But this isn't much of a prize, and I haven't offered anything previously (apologies to the previous winners), so don't feel like you have to provide anything, only if you want to. I think those who commented that not having Seth Wish win here passed up the opportunity to cement him as the main man are right. I tried to give him plenty with the two high-profile To The Extreme defences, the first ever S.T.O. kick out and two people interfering against him, but ultimately a two-month reign is a two-month reign. I was fairly oblivious until I think @AboardTheArk pointed it out recently just how much of a heel territory it's been with Gyula Lakatos stealing Milton Hittlespitz's thunder in 2022, Rob Edwards' 2023-long reign ending in early 2024 after the face turn and now Bryant Hall following on so soon after Dexter Mattell's six months on top. I loved the idea of The Barracudas recruiting while in the area @John Lions, that was a missed opportunity for sure.

Interesting excerpt playing East Side Assassin's refusal to put Aaron Knight over into the new booking situation. X Factor looks pretty tasty for a second show with all the titles on the line, Bradley Blaze's debut and Knight and Christian Price in a six-man. I'm looking forward to Kobra-Wish and hope the chemistry is there for you. In fairness, they don't have any specific chemistry in my save, but it's there in my head canon because they've been trading titles with one another on both hemispheres.

Part 114: Roundhouse rundown I arrived in Sydney the day before Damage Control and I hadn’t heard anything from Lori or read anything online to suggest any late changes to the card for the Roundhouse show. Based on past form, it appeared fairly certain the DIW Title match between Seth Wish and Bryant Hall would main event, despite the build perhaps being most affected by the timing of the reunion show, not to mention Hall’s limited availability. He’d put a heavy beating on the champion a month ago but hadn’t been seen since besides a short online promo, leaving Wish to work through his frustrations with the rest of Ares Death Cult, costing Psych Ward a match with Pat Rigsby and teaming with Con McReady to defeat The Barbarians. The best-built bout was the Tag Title match between The Dream Team of Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards and The Barracudas. In addition to playing into the quartet’s rich history together, the build had also touched on Chopper Rourke and Vaughan’s legitimate spell in Long Bay Correctional Centre, very close to where Damage Control was being held. The return to their roots, DIW’s anniversary and their resentment of The Dream Team had seen The Barracudas back to their most violent. Meanwhile, previous Tag Team Champions The Benchmark had been warned that if they interfered, they would never receive another shot at the titles: would they do what they were told or risk calling The Comedian’s bluff? The show’s final title match saw Rick Horn challenge Australian Champion Kobra The Conqueror, earning his first ever opportunity on a major show by pinning Kobra in a six-man match in which he, Hittlespitz and Edwards beat Kobra and The Benchmark. The most-hyped non-title fight on the card was Dexter Mattell’s first major show non-title match of 2024 against former ally Con McReady. Mattell blamed The Wild One for his DIW Title loss to Seth Wish and struck him with a flaming cane on his return just over a month ago. I was probably most intrigued by Wrecker v Hack The Hunter. It had been a slightly unorthodox build with them interacting regularly over the previous six weeks without any real hostility, not even when Hack The Hunter inadvertently cost Wrecker his chance to finally beat Mattell. Both 26-year-olds felt like potential main eventers, and it was nice to see Wrecker in a singles match at a major event again after recent short-lived partnerships with Edwards and Hendrix Hughes. That leaves us with the husband-and-wife tag match pitting Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan against Death Ref and Lori. You’ve probably sensed me getting more exasperated by this angle with each passing week, so I won’t go into too much detail. I get that you can be a bit more experimental with your undercard, and that cooldown matches can be convenient, but it didn’t sit right with me that these four were on the card when Rusty Mills, Donovan Boon, Hendrix Hughes and Lloyd Banks were not. My overall instinct was that this card would struggle to hit the same heights as the hot recent Havoc-Massacre-Hardcore Hallelujah trilogy. However, the fresh location and quite open battle to deliver the match of the night were novelty factors that gave it a chance of overachieving. ---------- Thanks @John Lions for this brilliant Damage Control artwork: DIW Title: Seth Wish (c) v Bryant Hall Tag Titles: The Dream Team (Milton Hittlespitz and Rob Edwards) (c) v The Barracudas (Chopper Rourke and Vaughan) Australian Title: Rick Horn v Kobra The Conqueror (c) Con McReady v Dexter Mattell Wrecker v Hack The Hunter Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan v Death Ref and Lori

Agree with @newbiezness, the reaction test segment was a delight. Classic heel attacks face when he's about to be shown up angle, but with a unique Chuck Frisby twist. I could picture those obnoxious celebrations. Dangermouth having to choose between music and wrestling is a fun story: you're great at bringing out the characteristics that make each character unique. I was thinking that Manchester-Byron felt like a fresh main event, so I liked the detail about it being a first-time match between two veterans. The DQ finish made sense for that reason, so we can look forward to a decisive winner in future.

@AboardTheArk Thanks, though arguably the added depth makes having the Tag Titles on two singles wrestlers even more of a booking sin 😆 @John Lions Thanks for more incredible artwork. I love how it's even got the context of the Sydney debut. I'll post the card up with it tomorrow. @knkmaster69 That's such a kind post, thanks. I'm grateful just to have a few returning readers, but I never thought there would be new ones this far in, so I really appreciate it. Part 113: The end is nigh The Apocalypse hadn’t been announced for Damage Control or as permanent additions to the DIW roster, but my instinct was that if it was a one-off return, they would’ve done more with it like hitting Apocalypse Nowish on someone, rather than being used as a cliffhanger. The tease of a potential match with The Benchmark was a little uncomfortable for me as one of the top criticisms of me from APW’s smart fans was that I never properly executed that rivalry. They’d only squared off twice in almost three years together in the company in throwaway non-title matches, which I realise now was an oversight given their combined 16 Tag Title reigns across various promotions (nine for The Apocalypse, seven for The Benchmark). Still, The Duo was a better name than The Benchmark so at least that’s one win for me. I’d say the 15-year anniversary shows were broadly a success. There was no noticeable drop off in quality from regular To The Extreme episodes, though it probably had disrupted the Damage Control build slightly in distracting attention away and leaving less time for the regulars. Still, I think everyone on the existing roster except Carl Paris, Demarcus Lee and Saracens appeared. Eight DIW alumni returned across the two hours – Lou Brookmyre, Mayhem Mulhoney, Menace To Sobriety, Bile, The Gladiator, East Side Assassin, Hatemonger and Warmonger – with Mulhoney, Bile and The Gladiator putting their boots on to put over the current stars. I think the most notable names who might have been available but didn’t receive the call on this occasion were former booker Big Jim Teasdale and former DIW Champion Scottie Hamstead, but I hadn’t discussed their status with Lori or The Comedian to get a definitive read on that.

Part 112: To The Extreme #40 (15-Year Anniversary Celebration) The second anniversary episode started with a montage centred on crowds and locations, tracking the journey from the first show at Marv’s in 2009 in front of a few dozen fans, showing it get fuller and fuller leading up to the first sellout at Massacre 2022. A similar montage of DIW House opening with 142 fans and reaching 1,000 for Massacre and Hardcore Hallelujah 2024 showed, as did clips of Canberra crowds throughout the years, before ending with hype for DIW making their Sydney debut at Roundhouse in two days. Wrecker v The Gladiator The former DIW wrestler and Hack The Hunter tag partner who Hack suggested Wrecker could warm up for facing him against was revealed as The Gladiator, who was in DIW between May 2017 and January 2021 before moving to Athletic Empire, where he linked up with Hack. This match was played similarly to Bile’s match on the previous episode, only with more power moves, as The Gladiator got a lot of shine early on to show off some of the moves that used to pop the Marv’s crowd, before Wrecker took charge, securing victory with a Bulldozer Elbow. Markus Rush found Menace To Sobriety bloodied and barely conscious, reportedly the victim of a Pros beatdown. My alternative explanation that he might just have had another heavy drinking session wasn’t received too well by The Comedian, who responded to the development by announcing that Mayhem Mulhoney would have to face Rusty Mills one-on-one instead. The Wild Things were out to face The Barbarians, who wanted the match after Seth Wish caused Psych Ward to lose to Pat Rigsby a fortnight ago. Seth Wish told Bryant Hall that seeing as The Final Boss wasn’t ready to fight the DIW Champion face to face yet, he’d have to send a message through The Barbarians instead, before handing over to Con McReady. The Wild One said he’d heard everything Dexter Mattell had to say, too much in fact. Mattell took DIW fans for idiots, constantly talking about how irrelevant and unworthy The Wild Things were like The Pros carried them, as if people don’t notice that when The Wild Things were in The Pros, The Pros held all the gold. Since they left, The Pros travelled a lot lighter. He said Wish had told him how sweet a major show victory over Mattell tasted, and he was ready to get some of that for himself. He closed by referencing the former DIW Champion recently scolding him with a flaming cane, warning him that he needed to bring the fire to Damage Control to avoid getting burnt. The Wild Things (Con McReady and Seth Wish) v The Barbarians (Lloyd Banks and Psych Ward) This was quite a fresh match-up: McReady had never been in a DIW ring with Banks or Ward and Wish last faced either in an Australian Title match with Banks in February 2022 when both were worlds away from what they’d since become. These hardcore specialists didn’t go easy on one another so close to a major show: we had canes, blocks of wood and barbed wire (okay, the latter was rationed to a single spot). Lori clearly felt The Wild Things needed the win more with both booked for Damage Control, and they achieved it by catching Ward in a cane sandwich. Dexter Mattell attacked Con McReady after the match. Seth Wish stepped in to knock him down, but The Barbarians sensed the opportunity to avenge their defeat and inflict further pain on Wish ahead of facing Bryant Hall at Damage Control, so decided to work with Mattell. Things looked ominous for The Wild Things until two words echoed throughout the building… EAST SIDE. East Side Assassin’s video appearance had been a ruse: he was in Australia and heading to the ring, where he threw fists at Psych Ward and Lloyd Banks but couldn’t get to Mattell before he backed off. He dapped up McReady and Wish and took in the cheers of the crowd. To strike a contrast between East Side Assassin travelling over from Canada for the anniversary and Bryant Hall not showing up, we aired a short video Ares Death Cult had sent over earlier in the day. The Final Boss had been invited to tonight’s show but had no interest in celebrating DIW’s past. The only thing that happened in the last 15 years that mattered to him was the foundation of Ares Death Cult. His sole focus was on DIW’s future after he took the DIW Title from around Seth Wish’s skinny waist on Friday and brought it back to the Cult. Rick Horn v Chopper Rourke Horn had two motivations for picking this fight: looking to avenge The Barracudas’ vicious attack on Milton Hittlespitz during the previous episode and trying to prove his Australian Title credentials against someone Kobra The Conqueror defended against last month. He looked on course for the upset as he positioned Rourke for the John Deere Destroyer, only for Vaughan to enter the ring behind him and lock him in the Choke Sleeper. This brought out Rob Edwards to fight Vaughan off, but the damage was done to Horn, with Rourke able to drag him off the mat and plant him back on it with the Spinebuster for a three count. As Chopper Rourke made a hasty exit in pursuit of Rob Edwards and Vaughan, Australian Champion Kobra The Conqueror came to pick the bones of Rick Horn, brandishing his snakeskin belt. However, when he went to strike the grounded Horn, Farm Tough caught the belt in his hand and used Kobra’s momentum to flip him to the mat, before following up with a John Deere Destroyer. He picked up the Australian Title and teased posing with it, before instead putting it on top of Kobra and saying he could wait until Damage Control. I’d been sent to interview Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan at their marital home, the set being the couch of a cluttered living room with empty tinnies littering the table and floor besides Bogan, a distasteful big portrait of the two of them above where they were sitting and a fertility self-help book to the side of Rigsby that he tried to obscure mid-interview*. Bogan didn’t even wait for a question to launch into a stream of excited words about getting her hands on that no-good Lori Cooper at Damage Control. I tried enquiring about her fight history and preparation and she said the only training she needed was imagining these tinnies were Cooper’s neck, before picking two up off the floor and crushing them in her hands. Rigsby didn’t share her enthusiasm, saying the DIW ring was no place for a woman; he even feared for Lori’s safety having to stand opposite him. He said he never commented on her and Death Ref’s marriage. He incredulously claimed that he didn’t like bringing his personal life to work. When I pushed back, he said maybe his marriage had come up in passing, but if it did it was only because he tried to inspire life’s losers. He again noted his fear for his wife’s wellbeing, even if they were getting in the ring with two idiots, as there was a very important job he wanted her to do for them both over the next year (this was when he was mindful to hide his book). But he was on a winning streak (I tried to interrupt to note that streak was one match, but he fought on) and he would strive to use that momentum to carry his team and his marriage to victory and get his wife back home safely. And that was that. Lori was trying to untangle a set of knots entirely of her own creation in searching for a way to stay consistent to Rigsby’s long-term presentation as a deluded misogynistic troll with few redeeming qualities but depict him as the lesser of two evils at Damage Control, or at the very least get people behind his seemingly unsuited, fearless, no-filter wife. You can decide if she succeeded. All I’ll say is I wasn’t thrilled to be given this assignment and saw no place for it on a 15th anniversary show, unless the goal was to ensure there was no 16th anniversary. Mayhem Mulhoney v Rusty Mills The show switched from two people who were inexplicably on the Damage Control card to two who inexplicably weren’t (counting Donovan Boon being at ringside). Mulhoney was definitely a fading force, but the nostalgia of seeing him throwing haymakers and swinging a cricket bat popped me almost as much as the Marv’s crowd, taking me back to Aussie Rules Wrestling and being in Debonair David Peterson’s corner as the two went at it. The onlooking Boon didn’t factor into a surprisingly simplistic finish, which saw Mills rake an eye while Mulhoney had him up for the Cradle Powerslam, capitalising on his opponent’s obscured vision to reverse it into a Cutter and quickly following up with his Northern Lights Suplex. Inevitably, The Benchmark declined to leave it there, with Donovan Boon entering the ring to help Rusty Mills hit the Double Down on Mayhem Mulhoney. Mills gestured to Boon to retrieve a weapon from outside when the lights went out, with DIW House cloaked in darkness for at least 10 seconds, interrupted by the broken-up scream “THE END. IS. NIGH”. The crowd hadn’t heard that sound for a decade, but they immediately recognised it and went wild as the lights sprung back and The Apocalypse were on the entranceway. The Benchmark looked like they’d seen two ghosts as Hatemonger and Warmonger slowly approached the ring, conferring with one another before ultimately deciding to retreat into the baying crowd as the three-time DIW Tag Team Champions reached the ropes. The returning team didn’t seem too bothered, settling for performing their signature poses to fans who appeared to have forgiven their defection to APW. The ending sent the crowd home happy, but it didn’t make for an easy commentary transition to promote Damage Control. I was pretty pleased with what I came up with, noting that both The Apocalypse and The Benchmark would surely be keeping a close eye on Friday’s Tag Title match at Damage Control in Sydney between The Dream Team and The Barracudas. I followed up by highlighting Seth Wish v Bryant Hall for the DIW Title and Con McReady v Dexter Mattell too. ---------- *Apologies for the crass depiction of a sensitive subject like infertility. I occasionally try to reflect my sense that promotions with this kind of product often handle complex issues in a puerile way, as well as looking to capture Pat Rigsby's projection in picking away at other's insecurities while masking his own, but will remove that extract if anyone feels it has crossed a line or is triggering.

@AboardTheArk Haha, I love your justified incredulity about Bile. The initial format had him appearing earlier in the card, then I realised that would make him the payoff to nobody ever returning after leaving in 15 years, so I made sure we used Mayhem, Menace and Brookmyre first. @HiPlus You definitely played a part in getting Rick Horn into this spot with mentioning that he'd been unlucky to be left off previous major shows. And with Pat Rigsby on the Damage Control card too, your lobbying has been really effective this month 😆 @John Lions Haha, Pat Rigsby has looked pretty unbeatable recently (well, in his last match), so anything's possible. Part 111: Putting yourself over The Benchmark Five former DIW stars had reappeared for the first To The Extreme anniversary episode: Lou Brookmyre, Mayhem Mulhoney, Menace To Sobriety, Bile and (via video) East Side Assassin. Despite that, the biggest talking point to me was rooted very much in the present: the indication that The Benchmark, two of DIW’s most popular and dependable performers, were being left off the Damage Control card. More to the point, Lori – having been far more subdued so far in 2024 in terms of booking herself – had put herself on the card in their place in a gimmicky husband-and-wife tag match in which she was partnering Death Ref against Pat Rigsby and Bonnie Bogan. I got that this was mostly storyline: The Comedian sticking it to The Pros by demoting them at Rigsby’s extent, and that they were still being featured prominently in carrying the story that was crossing over both 15-year anniversary shows, main eventing the second episode. Still, I found it self-defeating to exclude the team who delivered the best match in the company’s history at the previous major show, especially at the expense of a fairly nonsense intergender tag match that also arguably undermined Ares Death Cult on a night Bryant Hall challenged for the DIW Title. But bookers had a tendency to think things they were involved in were better or more meaningful than they were, so Lori certainly wasn’t alone in experiencing this blind spot. I was more receptive to Wrecker v Hack The Hunter being added to the Damage Control card as both 26-year-olds showed plenty of upside and their interaction stood out from what most of the others on the roster were doing, so it felt like there were quite a lot of ways to take things. Between the 15-year anniversary episodes, The Comedian invited Mayhem Mulhoney and Menace To Sobriety to the ring to pay tribute to their efforts in getting DIW off the ground. This worked in a few ways, giving context to why he’d been in the ring when confronted by The Benchmark on the last episode, and Mayhem and Menace were there ready to run in, and DIW not wanting to show The Comedian being too human and considerate to the wider audience. He referenced that he’d taken Mulhoney out of DIW in 2020 for his own safety to let him enjoy his retirement but, if he was still going to fight everywhere anyway, he might as well have one last match on his home turf. I had a brief chance to talk to Lori before the second episode started, primarily to find out if there was any more story behind The Benchmark being left off Damage Control. She mentioned initially having them down for a triple threat with The Dream Team and The Barracudas, before deciding once the Sydney venue was confirmed that what she had planned would work better as a two-on-two given those teams’ history and the anniversary tie-in. She thought keeping The Benchmark off the card would create more intrigue than a short angle feeding someone to them, and meant being able to put together a separate attraction for the 15-year anniversary celebration so that both October spectacles felt special in their own right. Her final revelation was that she initially intended for Roadhouse Radford to be the DIW original partnering Mayhem Mulhoney, believing he was in better condition than Menace To Sobriety in 2024 even if he’d made less of an initial impact in the company. However, upon learning that Rusty Mills didn’t get on with Radford, she switched plans, which I guess showed that she was mindful of keeping The Benchmark happy despite the Damage Control snub.