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New York City… where choices made, echo through wrestling eternity… Two shows left, and LA Star’s response waiting. Onwards… NYCW Empire Superstars #19 Friday, Week 3, June 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 4,573 TAG TEAM MATCH: The Biggins Boys vs. The Chop Shop In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, The Biggins Boys defeated The Chop Shop in 7:48 when Bart Biggins pinned Eric Mortenson with a B-Dropper. Rating: 65 Another super opener as the general quality of our in-ring product was improving each week. The Biggins were building momentum just in time to roll beyond Summer in the City. ANGLE: Denny King is backstage with Whistler. He’s heard that Honest Frank Jr is looking for new recruits for Honest Enterprises and he’d like to offer his services. He’ll do whatever it takes to win, is tougher than a two dollar steak and is experiencing a Denny King-aissance. And he’ll go out there and prove it. Rating: 51 Love Denny. SINGLES MATCH: Chip Martin vs. Denny King In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, Denny King defeated Chip Martin in 8:25 by pinfall with a Superplex. Rating: 47 #King-aissance ANGLE: Prime Time Jack Pryde is backstage where he is being beaten down by The Fantastic Express. Perfect Pepper Pelton comes running back to make the save, and takes on both Deverell and Sashay by himself. Pryde recovers and goes to help, but makes the mistake of coming from behind Pelton, who thinks he is an approaching enemy and floors him too. In the confusion, The Fantastic Express escape. Rating: 73 These two teams are causing each other all sorts of issues. CRC are struggling as a team for the first time ever. TAG TEAM MATCH: The Powers of Pain vs. Honest Enterprises In a decent match, The Powers of Pain defeated Honest Frank Jr and The Masked Mauler in 8:09 when The Eagle pinned The Masked Mauler with The Pain Train. Rating: 61 Oh my oh my. Another loss for Frank Jr as he appears to be running the stable into the ground. Honest Frank Sr just watched this catastrophe unfold with a look of disappointment on his face. ANGLE: After the match, a visibly angry Frank Jr appears to be blaming Masked Mauler for the defeat and launches into an attack on his partner. Finally Honest Frank steps in between them and gets clobbered by Jr, who looks momentarily shocked and then leaves his dad and team partner down, shouting about how it’s all his dad’s fault. Rating: 61 Is this the end of Honest Enterprises? SINGLES MATCH: Perfect Pepper Pelton vs. Zippy Deverell In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Perfect Pepper Pelton in 7:57 by pinfall with a handful of tights. Rating: 66 Perfect Pepper loses and doesn’t have Prime Time alongside him this time. ANGLE: Davis Wayne Newton is backstage. He was happy to see Hagman lose last week. This week, the little punk can see what a real man looks like in the ring. Rating: 80 Simple and effective. SINGLES MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. David Wayne Newton In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Brutus Milano defeated Davis Wayne Newton in 5:34 by submission with an Italian Backbreaker after DWn was distracted by Renegade playing. Rating: 63 Hagman never actually showed up, and the musical cue was enough to give Milano yet another win. ANGLE: LA Star #1 is in a dark room somewhere backstage. He’s holding his masked face in his hands. “McManus wants the mask. The champion wants me to put up my most valued possession in exchange for a chance at the title. He thinks it’ll be too high a price for me to pay. But this is where he and I are different. He thinks, I’m hiding behind the mask. I’m not. I wear it out of honour of my past. Of my friendship. Something he knows nothing about. He’s the one truly hiding. Because without the title, what is he? Just some guy. A B+ player anywhere else. He doesn’t realise how lucky he is to have the title to cling to. He wants my mask? He can have it. Because I’m The Star and I only needs one shot to make history. Hell, it might be time to take off the mask anyway. Riley McManus, you’re on. But bring it all, because without your valet, without the rules and without your little buddies, it’s just down to me and you. And I don’t like your chances.” Rating: 79 NYCW EMPIRE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Danny Hagman vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus © In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Riley McManus defeated Danny Hagman in 19:47 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex after Fern Hathaway interfered. Riley McManus makes defence number eight of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 67 And just to run salt into the wounds, Riley wins by Fern-aference. OVERALL RATING: 69 0.26 (202,356 viewers) this week, which is a touch disappointing considering the quality of shows we’re pumping out at the moment. With one show left before Summer in the City, most matches were set already, including the main event for the NYCW Empire Title. NYCW Empire Superstars #20 Friday, Week 4, June 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 4,682 TAG TEAM MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. The Biggins Boys In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Vessey Combat Club defeated The Biggins Boys in 7:38 when JP Barnham submitted Brett Biggins with a Golden Scissors. Rating: 63 And despite their momentum shifts, the VCC get a clean win over one of the hotter teams in the company. If ever they were announcing themselves as threats to the titles, this was it. ANGLE: The Masked Mauler is backstage with Whistler. “So Mauler, last week Honest Frank Jr had some choice words and actions for you. Tell the audience how you felt?” “IRON CLAW!” “I’m not sure I know what you mean. Are you saying that Honest Frank Jr is going to ‘get’ the Iron Claw?” “PILEDRIVER!” “He’s going to get a piledriver?” “BIG SWING!?!” “No come on now, you obviously have the words, why don’t you use them?” The Masked Mauler launches into an attack and applies the Iron Claw on Whistler, knocking him out. He then storms off, huffing loudly. Rating: 60 He’s still a heel then. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: The Eagle vs. The Masked Mauler © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, The Masked Mauler defeated The Eagle in 7:35 by IRON CLAW!?! The Masked Mauler makes defence number four of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 59 ANGLE: Fro Sure is backstage, with no one. Because Whistler is being carted off. “Woah man, tough break. Feel better old timer. It’s cool, your buddy Fro don’t need an interviewer. He’ll be his own interviewer. So Fro, you feeling confident of beating Thom Barrowman? Great question Fro. I’d have to say yes. How can I not feel confident. Just look at me. That’s a great answer Fro. And I totally know what you mean. When you look good, you feel good. Exactly. And when you feel good, you wrestle good. Damn straight. And when you wrestle good, you win good. And we both know what happens then. We sure do, when you win good, you get paid good.” Rating: 81 Well, he’s dynamite on the mic. SINGLES MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Sal DiMeo In a decent match, Charlie Corner defeated Sal DiMeo in 7:33 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 57 Nice little win for Charlie, whose been lost a little in the shuffle recently. Perhaps he is too laid back. ANGLE: Honest Frank Jr is out. He’s furious with how things have been going. And he’s finally figured out whose fault it is (crowd chant IT’S YOUR FAULT). It’s Magnum Kobe’s fault. This all started with him. So tonight, Frank Jr is going to beat that Japanese chump and finally take the mantle of Honest Frank. No Junior necessary. Rating: 68 SINGLES MATCH: Magnum Kobe vs. Honest Frank Jr. In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Magnum Kobe defeated Honest Frank Jr. in 7:49 by pinfall with The Glorious Red. Rating: 61 Hah. One day we’ll give him a win. But at the moment, the instant gratification of watching him lose every week was too funny. ANGLE: Angry Gilmore comes down to the ring. He takes a microphone and starts talking to the crowd, before eventually getting interrupted by Bulldozer Brandon Smith. They have a big argument, going back and forth on the microphone, before agreeing to face each other at Summer in the City. Rating: 84 Perfectly cromulent wrestling entertainment right here. TEN-MAN TAG TEAM BATTLE: Angry Gilmore, Danny Hagman, Fro Sure & Cross River Conneciton vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith, Davis Wayne Newton, Thom Barrowman & The Fantastic Express In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Angry Gilmore, Danny Hagman, Fro Sure, Prime Time Jack Pryde and Perfect Pepper Pelton drew with Bulldozer Brandon Smith, Davis Wayne Newton, Thom Barrowman, Rafe Sashay and Zippy Deverell in 19:31 following a double disqualification. Rating: 71 Massive, multi-man match ending in a draw. Yes please. Fantastic match too. ANGLE: LA Star #1 is left in the ring with Riley McManus. Around them is carnage and Riley can’t run away. LA Star attacks and delivers an almighty beating to the champion as the crowd cheers him on. Rating: 77 OVERALL RATING: 74 0.28 (213,587 viewers) for that one. And with that, we were all set. NYCW Summer in the City 2023 Title vs. Mask Match: LA Star #1 vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus © Angry Gilmore vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith Fro Sure vs. Thom Barrowman Danny Hagman vs. Davis Wayne Newton Vessey Combat Club (Kobe, Barnham & Cavalero) vs. Honest Frank Jr & The Chop Shop NYCW & COTT World Tag Team: The Fantastic Express vs. Cross River Connection © NYCW Tri-State Regional: Charlie Corner vs. The Masked Mauler © The Biggins Boys & Powers of Pain vs. Andrew Harper, Denny King, Spike Sylvain & A Mystery Partner Next time… our first trip to Weston Square Garden…

0. NWA WORLD WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP: Thunder Rosa © vs. Hikaru Shida 1. Cody Rhodes vs. Adam Cole 2. Chris Jericho vs. Miro 3. Christian Cage vs. Ricky Starks 4. Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks 5. TNT CHAMPIONSHIP: Eddie Kingston © vs. Lance Archer 6. IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP: Jon Moxley © vs. Wardlow 7. AEW WORLD TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP: Death Triangle © vs. Los Ingobernables 8. AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: FTR © vs. CM Punk & Bryan Danielson 9. AEW WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Britt Baker © vs. Mercedes Martinez 10. AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Hangman Adam Page © vs. MJF BONUS: Who debuts (former WWE and NJPW star): Balor (Prince Devitt)

New York City… where good men go to war and lay it all on the line for the gold… NYCW Empire Superstars #17 Friday, Week 1, June 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 4,143 TAG TEAM MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. Denny King & Spike Sylvain In a decent match, Denny King and Spike Sylvain defeated Vessey Combat Club in 7:44 when Denny King pinned JP Barnham with a Superplex. Rating: 56 The Denny King-aisance continues with a big win over the promising tag team. Whether this is part of a new trend, or just a bad day at the office for VCC is yet to be seen. ANGLE: Honest Enterprises come out. Honest Frank is disappointed at the defeat, but they’re a group of truth-tellers. And if one little hiccup derails them, then what was it all for? Honest Frank Jr grabs the mic. “Yeah dad, what was it all for? Jesus Christ, we’re out here week in and week out, and for what? So that a bunch of no-ones and some Japanese guy whose not fit to lace my boots beat us? It’s not good enough. THIS IS NOT WHAT I WAS PROMISED!” “Calm down Junior, now isn’t the time.” “It is absolutely the time! From now on, we’re going to be running this team properly. From now on, I am going to start making the decisions. You’ve been too soft! And as for you!” and he slaps Andrew Harper across the face. “Get your head in the game. Bully Enforcer, don’t make me laugh. We were better off with Spike on the team. From no on, no more mistakes. If I see any mistakes, you’ll all come to regret it.” Rating: 71 Frank Jr as an entitled, whinging cry baby is an act I can totally get behind. He’s got his dad’s gift for mic work too it seems. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Billy Chase vs. The Masked Mauler © In an extremely short match, The Masked Mauler defeated Billy Chase in 4:56 by pinfall with a Piledriver. The Masked Mauler makes defence number three of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 43 Following the ‘pep talk’ Masked Mauler does as instructed and gets a dominant win to keep hold of the Tri-State Regional Title. ANGLE: After the match Honest Frank Jr pats Mauler on the arm and loudly tells him he did a good job. And then stares at Harper, as if to say ‘this is what I expect.’ Harper does not seem thrilled with the younger member of the Enterprise. Or in fact; Honest Frank Sr’s lack of voice. Frank Jr then introduces the newest tryout member of the team… ‘The Nebraska Stud’ Phil Anders. Rating: 79 At this rate we’ll be removing the Jr from Frank Jr’s name and just christening him Honest Frank. TAG TEAM MATCH: The Biggins Boys vs. Honest Enterprises In a decent match, The Biggins Boys defeated Honest Frank Jr. and Phil Anders in 8:10 when Bart Biggins pinned Phil Anders with a B-Dropper. Rating: 59 Oof! The new voice of the Enterprise comes down to Earth with a thud and his hand-picked teammate takes the pinfall. What does the young welp do now? ANGLE: The Fantastic Express are fired up at their recent loss of World titles to the CRC. They’re sick of the act those two are putting on. Always making stupid remarks and pretending to be stupid. Zippy and Rafe know the truth. The CRC are egomaniacs, obsessed with adulation and they’ll do anything to keep it coming. It’s pathetic and they’re invoking their rematch clause for Summer in the City. One fall to a finish, winner takes both belts. And if the CRC need more help in deciding, just imagine all the praise they’ll get if they can beat The Fantastics again. Rating: 78 Great promo as these two become more and more comfortable as characters and on the mic. SINGLES MATCH: Prime Time Jack Pryde vs. Rafe Sashay In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Rafe Sashay defeated Prime Time Jack Pryde in 7:55 by pinfall after using a foreign object. Rating: 65 They follow-up the dynamite promo with a pinfall win in singles competition too. All four of these guys are getting better and better in the ring. Just need to work on that selling. ANGLE: Thom Barrowman is backstage with Whistler and he has some choice words for Fro Sure. Firstly; dumb name. Secondly; dumb guy. Thirdly; dumb gimmick. Finally; dumb music (this draws ooo’s from the audience). He’s been at the top of his game for twenty-five years and he’ll be damned is some jumped-up popinjay no-one is going to beat him. Rating: 68 Thom Barrowman’s transition from bitter veteran to Angry-Old-Man-Yells-at-Clouds has been fun to watch. SINGLES MATCH: Fro Sure vs. Andrew Harper In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Andrew Harper defeated Fro Sure in 9:46 by pinfall with a Spike Slam following interference from Thom Barrowman. Rating: 66 Andrew Harper didn’t need the interference to win, but I’m not sure Honest Frank Jr sees it that way. Good match between these two as Harper continues to build up his momentum and popularity in very slow and subtle ways. ANGLE: Backstage Bulldozer Brandon Smith and Angry Gilmore are already fighting, surrounded by security guards, road agents and referees. They’re convinced to take to the ring by Sam Keith. Rating: 83 Just a bunch of legends, all together on an NYCW tv show. We’ve come a long way. TAG TEAM MATCH: LA Star #1 & Angry Gilmore vs. Riley McManus & Bulldozer Brandon Smith In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Riley McManus and Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated LA Star #1 and Angry Gilmore in 20:09 when Bulldozer Brandon Smith pinned Angry Gilmore by using underhanded tactics. Rating: 69 Bulldozer gets the pinfall in a great tag team match. LA Star #1 had to put up with Riley taunting him with the title throughout the match. He’s such a fantastic a-hole. OVERALL RATING: 71 0.28 (210,101 viewers) this time, which is a step in the right direction. Backstage, Sam Keith told me that the COTT had decided that American Flash was going to win the vacant COTT United States title. Seemed a decent idea in fairness. It was cool that he cared enough about my opinion to actually tell me things like that. Almost like he was checking for my reaction. NYCW Empire Superstars #18 Friday, Week 2, June 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 4,304 SINGLES MATCH: Magnum Kobe vs. Davis Wayne Newton In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Magnum Kobe defeated Davis Wayne Newton in 7:54 by submission with a Magnum Deathlock. Rating: 67 Hell of an opener there. Sometimes we just want to watch quality in-ring product and this was that. Sure DWN lost, but he could handle that and it was good to ride the wave of momentum Magnum was experiencing since his face turn. ANGLE: Frank and Frank Jr are backstage arguing. Whistler approaches to find out what it’s all about and basically; Frank Jr doesn’t like the fact that Harper needed help to win last week and the Enterprise should move on without him. The discussion gets heated and Andrew Harper joins them. Frank Jr, when Harper’s back is turned assaults his former team-mate before yelling to his dad “That’s how we do stuff in our family, DAD. Don’t you forget it and make sure that chump is cleaned away before I return.” Rating: 48 Deliciously obnoxious. SINGLES MATCH: The Eagle vs. Honest Frank Jr. In a decent match, The Eagle defeated Honest Frank Jr. in 6:30 by pinfall with a Freedom Slam. Rating: 60 And then he goes out and loses again. The universe is very quick to punish poor behaviour. Andrew Harper staggered out midway through the match to laugh and then flipped off the young kid and walked away. Apparently done with the group for good. ANGLE: Cross River Connection are in the ring. “How you doing; Pepper the Champion?” “Pretty good; Prime Time the Champion.” “Did you see what those Fantabulous boys said about us by the way?” “Something about being awesome, and good-looking and well-loved?” “Yeah I thought it sounded like jealousy too. Bless their hearts. They also said, we don’t take stuff seriously,” Prime Time says. “Preposterous. Poppycock,” Perfect Pepper responds with a wink. “Apparently we’re egomaniacs with an obsession for adulation.” “Those are big words PT.” “They sure are Pep,” Prime Time responds with a smile. He then faces the camera, his face serious. “But here’s the thing. You might think we’re silly and we don’t take things seriously. But we’re here, with both tag team championships over our shoulder. Two of the most successful tag team wrestlers in NYCW history. We might joke, but don’t think for second that we don’t see EVERYTHING around here. If you want to call us names, or threaten us with violence, go right ahead. But be careful what you wish for!” “Damn right. If you call the thunder, don’t complain when it kicks your ass. Challenge ACCEPTED!” “You Goddam right it is Pep!” Rating: 82 A sudden and effective shift in character there for the CRC. And the crowd were IN TO IT. Fantastic stuff. NYCW & COTT WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Samoan Wrecking Crew vs. Cross River Connection © In a decent match, Cross River Connection defeated Samoan Wrecking Crew in 7:46 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Loa Afu with a Prime Time Perfection. Cross River Connection make defence number four of the COTT World Tag Team. Cross River Connection make defence number six of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 63 Short, brutal and dominating. Not the typical CRC match, but one which sends a clear message to The Fantastics. SINGLES MATCH: Angry Gilmore vs. Spike Sylvain In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Spike Sylvain defeated Angry Gilmore in 8:20 by pinfall with a Punk-N-Nasty. Rating: 66 A clean win for Spike, over Angry Gilmore. What is going on? Well, turns out that Bulldozer was at ringside distracting Gilmore throughout the match and costing him the win. ANGLE: Davis Wayne Newton is up on his favourite balcony in The Empire Ballroom. He’s up there to get the best view possible of his long-running opponent Danny Hagman. From up there he can see every little move, every little tick. He’s learning everything there is to learn about The Pittsburgh Kid. Plus, from up here, he doesn’t have to put up with the smell of cheesesteak sandwiches. Rating: 80 This guy was properly settling into his character. SINGLES MATCH: Danny Hagman vs. Sal DiMeo In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Sal DiMeo defeated Danny Hagman in 7:36 by pinfall with a Powerbomb after Eric Mortenson interfered. Rating: 61 Another shocking result as Danny succumbs to defeat, in no small part from being distracted by DWN. All the little guys are getting their big wins for the year. ANGLE: LA Star #1 hits the ring. “It’s been a long year New York. Too long. If seen my best friend leave, and my plans torn apart. But I’ve done the best I can to overcome the obstacles put in my way. Through grit and determination I have tried, with everything I have to get to the top of the mountain. But it’s that last ridge that’ll kill you. I could complain about Riley McManus’ behaviour. Or how he gets others to do his dirty work for him. Or how Fern Hathaway sticks her nose where it’s not wanted. But that’s not me. I am not that guy. I’m just a regular guy, doing the best he can. Like you, I don’t want to complain. I believe in fairness. With that in mind, I have a request of The Georgia Bulldog. Our Empire champion. I want one more match. I know you haven’t always been like you are now. You used to believe in the same things I do. And when life got tough, you started to blame other people. Well I won’t do that. I am going to stand here’ as a man. And politely request my shot. No DQs, no count-outs, no Fern Hathaway. Just two men, standing tall. Face-to-face, to see whose the best. Whaddaya say champ? Have you got it in you?” Slaves and Bulldozers plays and here comes Bulldozer Brandon Smith… Rating: 79 Heartfelt promo there and one which could well make the man. LA Star stands at a crossroads. SINGLES MATCH: LA Star #1 vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated LA Star #1 in 17:46 by pinfall with a Backdrop Driver following interference from Fern Hathaway. Rating: 71 What a match. ANGLE: After the match is over, Fern beckons Riley McManus down to ringside. He lays a beating on LA Star before grabbing a microphone. “You such a whiny b*tch, my GOD! You come out here having lost over and over again, and ask me to be a man. Son, this title means I’m all the man I care to be. I don’t need to prove myself to you anymore. You’re a glorified tag team nobody whose lucked his way into my orbit. You’re pathetic. But y’know what, I think more lessons are needed. You say I should put the title up, on the line, with no Fern, or DQ or count-out. You want me to give you something and you’re not willing to offer anything yourself. I know I’m better than you, that’s why I have the title. So if you want this from me, I want something from you. The only thing you have left to give. I want… your mask. Let’s see how keen you are to take a shot at the champ when your entire being is on the line. Without that mask, you’re just little old George. The kid from LA, with no real friends and no prospects. So that’s what it costs. If you want to be the champ, I want it all. Your call little boy.” Rating: 79 I don’t know where the Hell that came from, but Riley just delivered the promo of a lifetime. OVERALL RATING: 74 0.27 (208,625 viewers) tuned in to see that absolute work of art. I really felt like I was on the kind of booking hot-streak which only comes alone once every twenty years of so. History, in the making. I remained buzzing about the show all week. I barely even acknowledged the news that USPW had signed Randy Bumfhole. Next time… LA Star’s response and the final build to Summer in the City…

New York City… Our biggest attendance to date… My previous month’s work was about to come to fruition. I’d been creating the first of it’s kind (for an independent company), all-in-one production house and musical stage. We had increased our live experience to large, our broadcast quality to cutting edge and now used major licensed music on all shows. It was going to cost us a fortune. But that all started next month. For now we had Gang Wars to produce. LA Star #1 having failed twice to beat The Georgia Bulldog, now had to win tonight to get a third chance. Sam Keith approached me backstage at Josh Allen Park in Buffalo. He was interested in plans for this evening and just happened to mention that they’d had to vacate the COTT United States title after Deacon Darkhold signed an exclusive contract with GSW. Taking my opportunity, I asked him about the COTT’s penchant for vacancy and he smiled knowingly. He explained that it’s better to vacate a title and keep everyone happy, than cause dissention. I couldn’t help but push it. I asked if he enjoyed being the chairman. He looked at me calmly and changed the subject to Ray Cavalero (of all people). Keith had an eye for the future and was absolutely convinced he could mould him into something even more special. I wasn’t about to ruin Ray’s chance for some truly invaluable lessons. NYCW Gang Wars 2023 Sunday, Week 4, May 2023 Josh Allen Park, Buffalo, New York Attendance: 20,607 GANG WARS MATCH: Charlie Corner & The Powers of Pain vs. Spike Sylvain & Samoan Wercking Crew In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Charlie Corner and The Powers of Pain defeated Spike Sylvain and Samoan Wrecking Crew in 10:19 when Charlie Corner pinned Loa Afu with a Corner Cutter. Rating: 47 Solid opener with the guys who we don’t have anything else for. It was a shame to see Charlie Corner in this match. But at least he got the win. GANG WARS MATCH: Brutus Milano & The Biggins Boys vs. Denny King & The Chop Shop In a decent match, Denny King and The Chop Shop defeated Brutus Milano and The Biggins Boys in 10:26 when Denny King pinned Brutus Milano with a Superplex. Rating: 57 A rare pinfall win for Denny King here as I felt suddenly nostalgic for 2020 NYCW. We protected the Biggins Boys and made sure that the ‘man who carries this company’ did his fair share of carrying. GANG WARS MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. Honest Enterprises In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Vessey Combat Club (Magnum Kobe, JP Barnham and Ray Cavalero) defeated Honest Enterprises (Honest Frank Jr., Andrew Harper and The Masked Mauler) in 21:51 when Magnum Kobe pinned Honest Frank Jr. with The Glorious Red. Rating: 61 Big win for the newly face Magnum Kobe who looks set to branch out and up the card as a member of the Vessey Combat Club. This is a disastrous result for Honest Enterprises who can’t even claim to be the best stable in the company anymore. GANG WARS MATCH: Danny Hagman & Cross River Connection vs. Davis Wayne Newton & The Fantastic Express In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Danny Hagman and Cross River Connection defeated Davis Wayne Newton and The Fantastic Express in 21:33 when Danny Hagman pinned Rafe Sashay with a Missing Piece. Rating: 67 Great match from six men who can stake a claim to be the future of both the company and maybe one day, the industry. The long-running feuds between Hagman and DWN, and CRC and The Fantastics would make up the key important feuds of this, our biggest year to date. GANG WARS MATCH: LA Star #1, Angry Gilmore & Fro Sure vs. Riley McManus, Bulldozer Brandon Smith & Thom Barrowman In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Riley McManus, Bulldozer Brandon Smith and Thom Barrowman defeated LA Star #1, Angry Gilmore and Fro Sure in 22:21 when Bulldozer Brandon Smith pinned LA Star #1 after interference from Fern Hathaway. Rating: 68 Disaster for LA Star #1 in our main event as The Georgia Bulldog’s main squeeze Fern Hathaway earns her paycheque for the evening by interfering and stealing the upstart hero’s last chance at glory. OVERALL RATING: 67 435,671 viewers tuned in and our final month before the new production costs kicked in brought us $229,813 profit, which made me feel much better about the gamble I’d taken. There was more backstage work to be done, but we were heading into one of the biggest shows of the year so I couldn’t take my eye off the ball just yet. Next time… LA Star #1 gets desperate…

New York City… catching up with ourselves… May passed in a blur of activity, but with limited big news stories. I was feeling more comfortable about how to lay-out the tv show and all of our feuds were bubbling along nicely. My focus was on the technical, backstage operations, so for the first time in my tenure, I handed the book to Larry to let him build up to Gang Wars at the end of the month. NYCW Empire Superstars #13 Friday, Week 1, May 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 3,526 [*]Vessey Combat Club defeated The Chop Shop in 5:40 when Ray Cavalero pinned Sal DiMeo with a Vessey Lock. Rating: 57 [*]Vessey Combat Club cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Honest Enterprises. Rating: 54 [*]The Masked Mauler defeated Charlie Corner in 7:53 by submission with an Iron Claw after interference from Honest Frank. The Masked Mauler makes defence number one of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 59 [*]Honest Frank Jr and Mauler cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Vessey Combat Club. Rating: 81 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated Honest Enterprises in 7:46 when Bart Biggins pinned Honest Frank Jr. with a B-Dropper after Magnum Kobe wiped out Honest Frank Jr by accident. Rating: 70 [*]Honest Frank Jr. and Mauler attack Magnum Kobe in the ring and leave him down and out. Rating: 64 [*]Prime Time Jack Pryde defeated Rafe Sashay in 8:24 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 66 [*]Thom Barrowman cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Fro Sure. Rating: 78 [*]Fro Sure defeated Andrew Harper in 7:43 by pinfall with a Sure Thing. Rating: 66 [*]Bulldozer Brandon Smith cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Angry Gilmore. Rating: 69 [*]Riley McManus and Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated LA Star #1 and Angry Gilmore in 20:24 when Bulldozer Brandon Smith pinned LA Star #1, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 69 [*]OVERALL RATING: 71 - 0.27 (203,129 viewers) NYCW Empire Superstars #14 Friday, Week 2, May 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 3,526 [*]The Masked Mauler defeated Billy Chase in 7:20 by pinfall with a Piledriver. The Masked Mauler makes defence number two of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 39 - Masked Mauler cracked tail bone [*]Honest Frank Jr. cuts a promo explaining that Magnum Kobe had to learn a hard lesson about making mistakes. He’s now learnt his lesson and he’ll grow from this as a member of Honest Enterprises. Rating: 74 [*]Honest Frank Jr defeated The Eagle in 7:48 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. Rating: 56 [*]The Fantastic Express cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Cross River Connection. Rating: 75 [*]Cross River Connection defeated Samoan Wrecking Crew in 6:49 when Perfect Pepper Pelton pinned Loa Afu with a Prime Time Perfection. Cross River Connection make defence number two of the COTT World Tag Team. Cross River Connection make defence number five of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 58 [*]Bulldozer Brandon Smith cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Angry Gilmore. Rating: 74 [*]Angry Gilmore defeated Phil Anders in 8:04 by pinfall with an Anger Management. Rating: 56 [*]Davis Wayne Newton cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Danny Hagman. Rating: 81 [*]Danny Hagman defeated Sal DiMeo in 7:50 by submission with a Steel Curtain. Rating: 59 [*]Riley McManus cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with LA Star #1. Rating: 66 [*]Magnum Kobe defeated LA Star #1 in 20:17 by count out after interference from Riley McManus. Rating: 69 [*]OVERALL RATING: 71 - 0.27 (203,081 viewers) NYCW Empire Superstars #15 Friday, Week 3, May 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 3,713 [*]Vessey Combat Club defeated Spike Sylvain and Sal DiMeo in 6:09 when Ray Cavalero pinned Spike Sylvain with a Vessey Locks. Rating: 56 [*]Denny King is beaten down by The Juggernaut backstage and then summoned to the ring. Rating: 38 [*]The Juggernaut defeated Denny King in 6:10 by pinfall with The Pounce. Rating: 40 [*]Vessey Combat Club cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Harper and Frank Jr. Rating: 60 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated Honest Frank Jr. and Andrew Harper in 7:43 when Brett Biggins pinned Honest Frank Jr. with a B-B-Gun following botched interference from Magnum Kobe. Rating: 64 [*]Following the match, Honest Frank Jr and Magnum Kobe get into a shoving match and have to be calmed down by the rest of Honest Enterprises. Rating: 70 [*]Cross River Connection cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Fantastic Express. Rating: 81 [*]Zippy Deverell defeated Perfect Pepper Pelton in 8:02 by pinfall with a handful of tights. Rating: 66 [*]Danny Hagman cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Davis Wayne Newton. Rating: 65 [*]Davis Wayne Newton defeated Brutus Milano in 6:12 by submission with a STF. Rating: 63 [*]LA Star #1 cuts a promo demanding a rematch with Riley McManus, only this time with no disqualifications or countouts. Rating: 87 [*]Riley McManus defeated Fro Sure in 19:41 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Riley McManus makes defence number seven of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 67 [*]OVERALL RATING: 71 – 0.27 (207,633 viewers) NYCW Empire Superstars #16 Friday, Week 4, May 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 3,913 [*]Charlie Corner defeated Sal DiMeo in 9:59 by pinfall with a Corner Cutter. Rating: 58 [*]Honest Enterprises are tired of the Vessey Combat Club, they want to settle it once and for all. VCC better find a third member to take on their three best. Because they’re ready now. VCC appear and welcome Magnum Kobe to the fold. He seems delighted at the chance of destroying his old stablemates. Rating: 66 [*]Vessey Combat Club (Magnum Kobe, JP Barnham and Ray Cavalero) drew with Honest Enterprises (Honest Frank Jr., Andrew Harper and Phil Anders) in 7:59 following a double count out. Rating: 63 [*]Angry Gilmore cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Bulldozer Brandon Smith. Rating: 84 [*]Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Billy Chase in 7:32 by pinfall with a Backdrop Driver. Rating: 54 [*]Fro Sure cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Thom Barrowman. Rating: 83 [*]Thom Barrowman defeated Chip Martin in 7:33 by pinfall with a Guided Missile. Rating: 50 [*]Riley McManus summons LA Star to the ring. He’s heard his request and would consider giving him one last shot. But he needs to prove himself. If LA Star #1’s team can beat Team Georgia Bulldog at Gang Wars, he’ll give him one last title shot. LA Star looks skeptical, but asks why wait. They can fight right now. Rating: 53 [*]LA Star #1 and Cross River Connection defeated Riley McManus and The Fantastic Express in 20:29 when LA Star #1 pinned Riley McManus, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 69 [*]‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus refuses to accept such a cheating victory. That was just a warm-up. But a reminder that if they can’t do that again this Sunday, then LA Star #1 will be out of chances. Rating: 66 [*]OVERALL RATING: 72 – 0.27 (204,780 viewers) I caught up on all the action on my phone as NYCW was now streaming on mobiles. Isn’t technology wonderful. I started watching highlights of American Machine who had just announced his official retirement from professional wrestling. Next time… Gang Wars 2023; LA Star #1’s last chance…

New York City… paying homage to the man… NYCW The Stomper Memorial Show 2023 Sunday, Week 4, March 2023 Josh Allen Park, Buffalo, New York Attendance: 17,254 STOMPER QUARTER FINAL MATCH: The Biggins Boys vs. Honest Enterprises (Honest Frank Jr & Magnum Kobe) In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Honest Enterprises defeated The Biggins Boys in 10:17 when Magnum Kobe pinned Bart Biggins with The Glorious Red. Rating: 65 Massive surprise upset for Honest Enterprises here as they prove they’re on the same page and eliminate one of the favourites in the quarter-finals. STOMPER CUP QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Cross River Connection vs. Samoan Wrecking Crew In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Samoan Wrecking Crew in 8:19 when Loa Laki was counted out while fighting Prime Time Jack Pryde. Cross River Connection make defence number two of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 47 The Samoans look like killers here, but the champs go through and retain their titles. At this rate every match is going to have massive huge implications. STOMPER CUP QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. The Chop Shop In a decent match, Vessey Combat Club defeated The Chop Shop in 8:21 when Ray Cavalero pinned Eric Mortenson with a Vessey Locks. Rating: 53 VCC force their way through to the semis with a dominant performance of their own. They’ve got eyes on Honest Enterprises who they could meet in the final. STOMPER CUP QUARTER FINAL MATCH: The Powers of Pain vs. The Fantastic Express In a decent match, The Fantastic Express defeated The Powers of Pain in 7:39 when Zippy Deverell pinned The Juggernaut after using a foreign object. Rating: 56 When in doubt; cheat. The Fantastics overcome one of our lower-level, yet impressive tag teams. It makes a difference from last year where we had a lot of makeshift teams. STOMPER CUP SEMI FINAL MATCH: Cross River Connection vs. Honest Enterprises (Honest Frank Jr & Magnum Kobe) In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Honest Enterprises in 9:53 when Honest Frank Jr was disqualified while fighting Larry Vessey on the outside. Cross River Connection make defence number three of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 67 Larry can’t help but interfere and causes Honest Frank Jr to swing a chair and hit Prime Time in view of the referee. Another sketchy finish, but CRC are through to the finals. GANG WARS MATCH: Danny Hagman, For Sure & Charlie Corner vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith, Thom Barrowman & Davis Wayne Newton In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Danny Hagman, Fro Sure and Charlie Corner drew with Davis Wayne Newton, Thom Barrowman and Bulldozer Brandon Smith in 10:05 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. Rating: 65 A good old-fashioned NYCW draw because of chaotic brawling. I loved this sort of matches and I’d train the crowd to love them too. STOMPER CUP SEMI FINAL MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. The Fantastic Express In a decent match, The Fantastic Express defeated Vessey Combat Club in 8:24 when Zippy Deverell pinned JP Barnham with a Fantastic Flashbang. Rating: 58 Clean win for The Fantastic Express. Honest Enterprises were at ringside to distract VCC, but never actually got involved. Big win for the World tag champs as they continue to prove themselves as the true heel team in NYCW, especially refusing to defend their titles throughout the tournament. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: The Masked Mauler vs. Angry Gilmore © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, The Masked Mauler defeated Angry Gilmore in 9:32 by pinfall with a Piledriver. The Masked Mauler wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 66 A massive, MASSIVE, clean win for The Masked Mauler over the former Heavyweight champion. This was the idea Angry Gilmore had suggested to us and he even recommended giving himself a short Tri-State title reign so that Mauler got something other than an unbelievable rub. Now that’s veteran wrestling star behaviour. NYCW EMPIRE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: LA Star #1 vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, LA Star #1 defeated Riley McManus in 21:39 by count out after Fern Hathaway convinced Riley McManus to walk away. Rating: 70 Despicable behaviour from the champion in one of our best ever singles matches. LA Star #1 has twice been robbed of glory by the wily champion. The crowd were livid, but in a good way. ANGLE: The Cross River Connection threaten to withold a shot at the NYCW tag titles, unless The Fantastics put up the COTT World tag team titles too. Fantastics don't seem sure, but when CRC call them cowards, they angrily relent. Rating: 78 STOMPER CUP FINAL, NYCW & COTT WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Cross River Connection © vs. The Fantastic Express © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated The Fantastic Express in 10:26 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Rafe Sashay with a Prime Time Perfection. Cross River Connection win the COTT World Tag Team. Cross River Connection win the Stomper Memorial Tag Team Cup. Cross River Connection make defence number four of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 67 I’m not going to lie. I was expecting something a little better from these two, but apparently there was a lack of selling throughout, which just goes to show why The Biggins Boys are such excellent compliments to both these teams. OVERALL RATING: 66 406,702 viewers tuned in to watch us remember Stomper and we made a healthy $169,210 profit for the month. Now that I realised how important The Biggins Boys were to our matches, we’d have to reintroduce them into the tag team title race. Next time… a slow month… Results: John Lions - 9/10 KyTeran & Theheel - 8/10 Herrbear & eayragt - 4/10 Scottie - 2/10 I should probably apologise for the draw in the Gang Wars match, as it's cheap. But John Lions gets special props for calling every aspect of the show other than that from start to finish. Incredible scenes.

It can be, but realistically if you work on the one defense per month (ish), and being that it's a fictional database, you can rattle through quick enough. Also, I'm happy to do it. In fact, there's plenty of missing title histories (I'm looking at NYCW here), which could technically be filled in too. But I understand if Historian would prefer not to do that. Or any of it in fact.

Historical title reigns read like this: "May 2019 to November 2019" Whereas when a title changes in-game, they read like this: "Wk 1, November 2019 to Wk 4, March 2020, 4 defences." Just an odd difference which makes the title reigns page look a little funny to my eyes.

Awesome. Looking forward to this very much. Couple of questions: 1. Is this going to be post-Covid, historically speaking. Or just ignore it? 2. Are the old title reign histories going to be converted to the same format they have in game? Would happily give this a crack if it isn’t and I can help.

New York City… where a false sense of security can make you say stupid things… Heading into week 3, I was bored in the office and searching the Pro Wrestling Reporter website (I really was up-with-the-times) and read about Rogue signing with SWF, who were putting up a brave fight against USPW. There was also the sad news of Joey Morgan suffering a major concussion and being out for a year. At his age, those sort of injuries could be career-enders. NYCW Empire Superstars #11 Friday, Week 3, April 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 3,339 TAG TEAM MATCH: The Powers of Pain vs. Samoan Wrecking Crew In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, The Powers of Pain drew with Samoan Wrecking Crew in 4:48 following a double count out. Rating: 37 This was a bad match. I was struggling a bit with new teams as they’re so far beneath the majority of workers on my roster in terms of popularity that no one really wanted to lose to them without getting upset and I was keen to threaten the harmony I had backstage. ANGLE: Vessey Combat Club are backstage with Whistler and Larry has the mic. “Don’t you just love it Whistler? Can’t you just smell the chaos in the air? Honest Enterprises are nothing more than a cult and with even the smallest bit of pressure they begin to crack. At this rate they’ll have disbanded in a month. They’ve already lost one of their crew and I don’t think it’s long before Andrew Harper and Magnum Kobe tear each other apart. It’s fantastic. In fact, I’ll go as far as to extend an invitation to both Harper and Kobe to come join the Combat Club. We can teach you methods of violence and pain that Honest Frank can only dream of.” Rating: 45 Larry twisting the knife there. Beautiful. He wasn’t actually that great on the microphone, but we could script some good stuff to get him through. SINGLES MATCH: Ray Cavalero vs. Spike Sylvain In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Ray Cavalero defeated Spike Sylvain in 6:14 by pinfall with a Belly To Back Suplex. Rating: 48 One-half of the VCC dismantles the former member of Honest Enterprises. ANGLE: Honest Frank Jr runs down to confront the VCC alone and starts yelling at them, forcing all the referees to hit the ring and pull him away from the stable; who just laugh in response and invite him to wrestle, right now… Rating: 79 We’ve got something with Frank Jr. He’s still green, but there’s definitely something big. SINGLES MATCH: JP Barnham vs. Honest Frank Jr. In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, JP Barnham defeated Honest Frank Jr. in 7:47 by submission with a Golden Scissors. Rating: 35 Yup, definitely too green for any massive push just yet. ANGLE: The Fantastic Express cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Cross River Connection. They don’t think the Cross River Connection know exactly what they’re getting involved in. They might be the NYCW tag team champs, but what you’re looking at here is the finest from Colorado and Corbin who are the only WORLD tag team champs. They think the CRC act is cute, but they only want real competition from serious tag teams. And the CRC just don’t stack up. Rating: 74 SINGLES MATCH: Perfect Pepper Pelton vs. Rafe Sashay In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Rafe Sashay defeated Perfect Pepper Pelton in 8:04 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 60 Match was fine, but these two don’t click in singles competition and that is a problem for us. I hate to see young stars who are unable to compete at all levels. ANGLE: Davis Wayne Newton is backstage with Whistler. Tonight he’s taking on the son of a has-been. One Chip Martin. He sees a lot of what’s wrong with America in Young Chip. A sense of entitlement, of thinking that they’re better than they are. But that’s ok, he’s used it to and knows exactly how to beat that out of people. Eventually he’ll do the same with the little fella from Pittsburgh, because “I’m DWN from the birthplace of wrestling… Toronto, Ontario, Canada.” Rating: 77 Better each week from this ultra-charismatic future top star. SINGLES MATCH: Chip Martin vs. Davis Wayne Newton In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Davis Wayne Newton defeated Chip Martin in 10:14 by submission with a STF. Rating: 52 Clean win against the rookie. Perfect. ANGLE: Riley McManus is in the ring before his match. He demands that LA Star #1 watches what he’ll do to anyone who threatens his Empire title reign. Rating: 65 Blunt and to the point from the champion. NYCW EMPIRE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Riley McManus defeated Charlie Corner in 19:50 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Riley McManus makes defence number five of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 62 An ok main event, but I was hoping for a little bit more than was given sadly. OVERALL RATING: 65 0.25 (191,527 viewers) and I refused to be one of those books obsessed with the minutiae of ratings. But we were down. I was listening to a call-in wrestling radio show the later that week, which focused on the news that Soul Taker had stepped down as head booker for EILL. That news was, however only the second most shocking thing. As I heard a caller talk and recognised the voice immediately; Brutus Milano had called in to talk about NYCW and how he’s real MVP of the company. He then listed his accomplishments along with a question; “Why am I not the figurehead of this company?” I was going to kill him… NYCW Empire Superstars #12 Friday, Week 4, April 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 3,251 ANGLE: Cross River Connection start the show off, dancing to the ring to Even Flow. They take a spot at the announce table next to me and Ernie. They want to announce that at the Stomper Memorial Show, they’ll be defending their titles in every match and hope that The Fantastic Express aren’t complete cowards and will do the same. Rating: 68 Intrigue! COTT WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Billy Chase & Chip Martin vs. The Fantastic Express © In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Fantastic Express defeated Billy Chase and Chip Martin in 6:16 when Rafe Sashay pinned Billy Chase with a Fantastic Flashbang. The Fantastic Express make defence number four of the COTT World Tag Team. Rating: 50 Poor match as the two rookies were well out their depth. But the addition of CRC on commentary was great. Especially their purposeful mispronunciation of the Fantastics moves. ANGLE: Honest Frank is backstage with Honest Enterprises and he’s here to tell us that all the problems inside their group have been resolved. Andrew Harper and Magnum Kobe have reaffirmed their faith in him and their project. And no amount of an old no-one like Larry Vessey interfering was going to change that. He hopes that Larry has found a third person to fight tonight, because otherwise his little pet projects are going to be destroyed. They’re just lucky he’s loaned Magnum out for the main event. Rating: 64 Doth the lady protest too much. Solid promo from Frank. GANG WARS MATCH: Charlie Corner & Vessey Combat Club vs. Honest Enterprises In a decent match, Charlie Corner and Vessey Combat Club defeated Honest Enterprises (Andrew Harper, Honest Frank Jr and The Masked Mauler) in 6:07 when Charlie Corner pinned Honest Frank Jr with a Corner Cutter. Rating: 57 Tough loss for the Enterprise. ANGLE: Bulldozer Brandon Smith is out with a microphone. “Listen up jabrones. I ain’t here to wow you with my linguistics, or suck up to you about what a great place this is, or what great people you are. That ain’t what the Bulldozer is all about. Want to know what I’m about? I’m about winning. And I see that Angry Gilmore has been hanging around, benefitting from the hard work I put in to build this place up from nothing. GILMORE! I want you to watch what I do to whichever Biggins I’m facing. You’re next.” Rating: 75 Fiery promo and the crowd noise was loud. SINGLES MATCH: Bart Biggins vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Bart Biggins in 9:43 by pinfall with a Backdrop Driver. Rating: 65 He’s as good as his word. SINGLES MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. Thom Barrowman In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Thom Barrowman defeated Brutus Milano in 7:59 by pinfall with a Guided Missile. Rating: 60 Not exactly the winning performance the Figurehead of the company should be putting in is it? GANG WARS MATCH: LA Star #1, Angry Gilmore & Danny Hagman vs. Riley McManus, Magnum Kobe & Davis Wayne Newton In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, LA Star #1, Angry Gilmore and Danny Hagman defeated Riley McManus, Magnum Kobe and Davis Wayne Newton in 19:38 when Danny Hagman pinned Magnum Kobe with a Missing Piece after Larry Vessey interfered. Rating: 68 Oof! Don’t mess with Larry Vessey, because he’s get in the way of a fantastic main event to make sure you lose. A great match, which moves forward a number of our main storis at once. ANGLE: LA Star #1, Gilmore, Bulldozer and McManus start brawling as a host of road agents and staff rush the ring to pull them apart. Rating: 66 Love a schmozz. OVERALL RATING: 69 0.25 (192,455 viewers) not that I care. The Stomper Memorial Show 2023 Cup Final: A vs. B Cup Semi A: 3 vs. 4 Cup Semi B: 1 vs. 2 Cup Quarter 1: The Biggins Boys vs. Honest Enterprises (Frank Jr & Magnum Kobe) Cup Quarter 2: Cross River Connection vs. Samoan Wrecking Crew Cup Quarter 3: Vessey Combat Club vs. The Chop Shop Cup Quarter 4: Powers of Pain vs. The Fantastic Express Empire Title: LA Star #1 vs. 'The Georgia Bulldog' Riley McManus © Tri-State Title: The Masked Mauler vs. Angry Gilmore © Gang Wars: Danny Hagman, Fro Sure & Charlie Corner vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith, Thom Barrowman & Davis Wayne Newton Next time… The Stomper Memorial Show 2023…

New York City… where even cults find it difficult to keep everyone happy… Having scoured through our finances, I realised we were struggling to make decent money off of merchandise. Other companies had tv shirts, dvds, plushies and we had… well nothing worker specific for a start. What had we been doing? I vowed to throw money (saved from the release of workers) at the problem to try and solve it. We had however secured a long-term deal with The Empire Ballroom in downtime Manhattan to host our regular TV tapings. It has a series of wonderful art deco balconies and was just unique enough to stand out from the soulless arenas others were using. One day we hoped it become synonymous with our best feuds and matches. NYCW Empire Superstars #9 Friday, Week 1, April 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,868 TAG TEAM MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. The Chop Shop In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Vessey Combat Club defeated The Chop Shop in 5:50 when JP Barnham submitted Eric Mortenson with a Golden Scissors. Rating: 54 A nice win for our new team as they overcome the NYCW old-timers cleanly. Larry Vessey on the outside in a three-piece suit barking violent instructions to his boys was a fantastic visual. It was nice to have him out there. ANGLE: The Eagle is in our custom backstage interview area and is approached by a tuxedo-wearing Whistler who asks him what he has planned. The Eagle yells and shouts about domination and victory and then introduces his tag team partner The Juggernaut. Together they are going to beat some people and raise a little hell. Rating: 47 Seeing Freedom Eagle without a mask was weird, but he had embraced the new power & paint gimmick well. Juggernaut looked the part too. SINGLES MATCH: Billy Chase vs. Andrew Harper In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Andrew Harper defeated Billy Chase in 5:52 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. Rating: 56 The Bully Enforcer of Honest Enterprises is not above cheating to win and he has to do it here to beat the equally physically impressive Billy Chase. Good match for our rookie even in defeat. ANGLE: Honest Frank gets into the ring after the match joined by Frank Jr, The Masked Mauler and Harper. They’ve seen enough of JP Barnham, Ray Cavalero and Larry Vessey. They’re impressive specimens. But they not fit to join the Enterprise, because they’re obviously getting benefits of teaming with the old has-been Larry. But they’ll be watching the VCC progress with interest. If the new boys step out of line, the Enterprise will step in. With their boots. But for now, they want a shot at bigger fish. Rating: 60 TAG TEAM MATCH: The Biggins Boys vs. Honest Enterprises In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Honest Enterprises defeated The Biggins Boys in 8:08 when Magnum Kobe pinned Brett Biggins, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 64 Big win for the duo of Magnum Kobe and Frank Jr. There on course to elevate themselves into tag team title consideration at this point. ANGLE: Cross River Connection are out and grab mics. They’re happy to be back at the top, where they belong. But they also know they’re not the only champs in the house. They invite The Fantastic Express to a series of singles matches, if the other champs have the stones. “Why would they need stones?” Pepper asks. The Fantastic Express appear before Prime Time can explain what stones are. Rating: 68 SINGLES MATCH: Prime Time Jack Pryde vs. Zippy Deverell In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Prime Time Jack Pryde defeated Zippy Deverell in 7:33 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. Rating: 59 A win is a win is a win. Decent little singles match for both guys here. ANGLE: Up in one of the balconies is Davis Wayne Newton. He’s here to enjoy some mediocre wrestling from some underwhelming performers. The crowd are not impressed with him and go absolutely apoplectic when he says the line “I’m used the finest, I’m DWN from the birthplace of wrestling… Toronto, Ontario, Canada.” Rating: 61 New catchphrase for Newton there and one that the crowd would no doubt learn to love. SINGLES MATCH: Fro Sure vs. Denny King In a decent match, Fro Sure defeated Denny King in 9:59 by pinfall with a Sure Thing. Rating: 60 Incredible that these two have great chemistry. One day I’d get round to giving them a proper feud, but for now they were heading in opposite directions. ANGLE: LA Star #1 is backstage with Whistler. “LA Star, on Sunday you had your shot at the Empire Heavyweight Title and sadly lost, only then to be beaten down by your opponent and his friends. How are you feeling today?” “Well Whiss, I’ve felt better. Every part of me hurts, not least my ego. I know I can beat McManus, I’ve got it in me. Sure I could stand here and complain about him cheating. Or jumping me after the match. But I don’t like to dwell on the negatives. I took the champ to the limit. And if we wants to bring his friends to a fight, well… I’ve got some friends of my own.” Angry Gilmore joins the interview, grabs a microphone and looks into the camera, “and tonight, we’re going to beat those boys within an inch of their lives.” Rating: 80 Don’t tell me LA Star #1 isn’t ready for the main event. He’s absolute gold on the mic. And is starting to carry himself as a proper threat to the Heavyweight Title. Awesome. TAG TEAM MATCH: LA Star #1 & Angry Gilmore vs. Riley McManus & Thom Barrowman In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, LA Star #1 and Angry Gilmore drew with Riley McManus and Thom Barrowman in 20:30 following a double disqualification. Rating: 64 These four had a wild brawl, but the result was a little disappointing. Thom’s lack of stamina was an issue the others couldn’t overcome. OVERALL RATING: 67 0.25 (187,500 viewers) and the only news of note from the week following was Remo winning the SWF World Heavyweight Title. So we ploughed on, aware that our end of month show was The Stomper Memorial Cup. NYCW Empire Superstars #10 Friday, Week 2, April 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 3,048 TAG TEAM MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. Honest Enterprises In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Vessey Combat Club defeated Spike Sylvain and Phil Anders in 6:03 when JP Barnham submitted Spike Sylvain with a Golden Scissors. Rating: 54 VCC kick things off by defeating Spike Sylvain and The Masked Mauler. Decent stuff. ANGLE: After the match, Honest Frank is furious with Spike for losing in such a fashion. The VCC laugh and leave as Honest Enterprises turn on Spike and viciously beat him down; Honest Frank screaming the whole time about how Spike is done. Rating: 67 Absolutely no mercy from Frank there. The mask slips. SINGLES MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. Marco Gonzalez In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Brutus Milano defeated Marco Gonzalez in 6:23 by submission with an Italian Backbreaker. Rating: 51 Nothing will ever stop me having Brutus winning from time-to-time. He’d survived all the purges thus far. We were destined to do our dance for the rest of time. ANGLE: Cross River Connection are backstage to talk about their singles matches with The Fantastic Express. They thought they went ok. To them, The Fantabulous Expies are quite a talented team and they look forward to maybe facing them in the Stomper Memorial Cup. But for this evening, the Cross River Connection have a tough match against their friends The Biggins Boys. They’re confident, but if they lose, that’s cool. The Biggins Boys are pretty awesome. Rating: 69 More gibberish from the kings of it. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Biggins Boys vs. Cross River Connection © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated The Biggins Boys in 8:01 when Perfect Pepper Pelton pinned Bart Biggins with a Prime Time Perfection. Cross River Connection make defence number one of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 70 Clean win and amazing match. The Biggins Boys might just be the reason for these awesome matches. Which meant that we’d keep them on-board for as long as they could keep performing at such a high level. ANGLE: Angry Gilmore is with Whistler and he’s angry. He’s won the Tri-State Title, which is great, but he hasn’t forgotten about Bulldozer Brandon Smith. Coming into his yard and acting like the big man just because he was a big deal around here decades ago. You see, Gilmore doesn’t like bullies. And whenever he sees one, he likes to punch them in the mouth. Bullies only react to standing up to them. Rating: 82 NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Andrew Harper vs. Angry Gilmore © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Angry Gilmore defeated Andrew Harper in 8:30 by pinfall with an Anger Management. Angry Gilmore makes defence number one of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 66 Clean win against the Bully Enforcer right here. Gilmore is as good as his word when it comes to bullies. ANGLE: Danny Hagman is in the ring. He thinks its adorable that a Canadian is so obsessed with running down New York City. He may be from Pittsburgh, but his heart is split between there and here. Davis Wayne Newton better be careful what he wishes for, because he might just have to learn a lesson about how tough Americans actually are. Rating: 63 He needs polish on the mic, but if history has told us anything, Danny can step-up to the plate and improve better than most. SINGLES MATCH: Danny Hagman vs. Sal DiMeo In a decent match, Danny Hagman defeated Sal DiMeo in 8:07 by pinfall with a Missing Piece. Rating: 58 Clean as a whistle and a decent little match. ANGLE: LA Star #1 cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Riley McManus. Rating: 69 Bog standard promo from a man still trying to figure out what his character is outside of a legendary tag team. At the moment he’s an up-and-coming babyface. Which is fine in the short term, but we’re a company of characters and he’ll need to find his own. Hopefully Riley can help bring it out of him, whatever it is. SINGLES MATCH: LA Star #1 vs. Magnum Kobe In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, LA Star #1 defeated Magnum Kobe in 20:03 by pinfall with a Double Stomp following botched interference by Andrew Harper. Rating: 70 We might need to sort out a proper finishing move too. High-flyers generally aren’t considered main stars around here. ANGLE: Magnum Kobe and Andrew Harper are in the ring arguing over who was to blame for that loss. Neither looks happy with the situation, but they put their differences aside and leave together wit Honest Frank. Rating: 70 More issues for the Enterprise. OVERALL RATING: 72 0.26 (200,823 viewers) for this one as we start to realise what we need to be putting on each week to keep the network happy. In the locker room after the show Bulldozer approached me to comment that he doesn’t think Brutus connects with fans and we should release him. I didn’t tell him that I agreed, but couldn’t do it. Because I couldn’t explain why I couldn’t do it. Shortly after, Fro Sure told me that he thinks Loa Laki is great on the mic and should get more time. I enjoyed the fact that everyone felt comfortable enough to comment on other workers, but broadly I knew what was going on. Then I noticed something pretty cool. Sam Keith had carved out time with Phil Anders to teach him about ring psychology; another master/protégé relationship. Next time… Charlie Corner gets a shot at the champ, and Brutus takes to the airwaves to talk himself up…

Thank you for the kind words. This actually brings up a nice point for future shows from 2024 onwards. Which of the following would people prefer for this diary: 1. Recaps as they normally are. 2. The shortened bullet points with normal for big shows. 3. Similar layout to Historian’s No Ordinary Men (with images). 4. Some combination of the above, or another option? I’m basically happy to adapt as is necessary and change any or all elements for peoples enjoyment. Also happy to keep it the same. Any thoughts/opinions welcome. And also any criticisms on what could be improved (except the Bulldozer push ).

Main Event Time Limits are for nerds Des Davids Def Mikey Lau SWF North American Title Match Time Limits are for nerds [b/]ZWB def. John Greed Non Title Tag Team Match Time Limits are NOT for nerds?! The Pain Alliance def. Hawaiian Crush Singles Match Time Limits are for nerds Dominic DeSousa def. Marshall Dillon Opening Singles Match Time Limits are for nerds The Crippler def. Masked Patriot

Basically I got a TV show made, which always come with way less attendance. And I didn't put a month end big show and it meant I spent A LOT of money. So going forward every month will have 4 TV shows and big month end show. The slim-line write-ups were purely to let me catch up with myself (I'm currently up to February 2024 in-game. So I created a narrative reason to speed through some shows. There's a couple of times later in the year where I do the same, but broadly any big shows will have the traditional style. This may change in 2024 dependent on a few things, like an event logo maker and other bits and bobs that I'll get to.

New York City… where the sword of Damocles swings wildly towards some of our talent… NYCW Spring Showdown 2023 Sunday, Week 4, March 2023 Plum Park, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 13,194 COTT WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Fantastic Express vs. Power & Glory © In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Fantastic Express defeated Power & Glory in 8:17 when Zippy Deverell pinned Hudson Drake with a Fantastic Flashbang. The Fantastic Express win the COTT World Tag Team. Rating: 58 Larry had apparently been swinging his influence with the Confederation of the Territories brass to highlight that we can’t have a small-time Canadian company dictating our champions. With Sam Keith now on our payroll too, he apparently agreed. It pays to pay the Chairman. The Fantastic Express are fast becoming the hottest team on the independent scene. GANG BATTLE MATCH: Chip Martin, Billy Chase & The Fabulous Canadiens vs. Marco Gonzalez, Spike Sylvain & Samoan Wrecking Crew In a bout that had little heat and embarrassing wrestling, Marco Gonzalez, Spike Sylvain and Samoan Wrecking Crew defeated Chip Martin, Billy Chase and The Fabulous Canadiens in 10:21 when Loa Laki pinned Kenny Kitao with a Blue Crusher. Rating: 36 We’ve promoted a lot of rookie talent and were considering changes to the way we ran shows now that we had a regular tv slot. To help us avoid burnout of feuds and matches, we’d be slowly introducing squash matches to give our rookies tv experience. This should allow some organic growth from some of them. The Fabulous Canadiens were a decent team, but their sloppiness was a big problem and one we could no longer afford. TAG TEAM MATCH: The Powers of Pain vs. The Chop Shop In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Powers of Pain defeated The Chop Shop in 9:57 when The Juggernaut pinned Eric Mortenson with The Pain Train. Rating: 51 The Powers of Pain are a repackaged Freedom Eagle (no mask) and Juggernaut Jones, a pickup from the free agency pool. They were dressed in studded leather with face paint and were a solid little team with some potential for the future. But for now, we needed to get Juggs more experience, because he looked lost out there. COTT WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Ash Campbell vs. Thom Barrowman © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Ash Campbell defeated Thom Barrowman in 10:09 by pinfall with a Shooting Star Press following interference from Angry Gilmore. Ash Campbell wins the COTT World Heavyweight. Rating: 57 We knew Mitch Naess had issues with the Canadian and Mexican promotions in the COTT, so we’d negotiated his votes on the understanding we helped him out too. Barrowman had seen a sharp decline in his physical attributes, so the time was right. Having the World Champion based in nearby Pittsburgh helped keep him relevant to us should we ever need to use him. TAG TEAM MATCH: Vessey Combat Club vs. Greg Black & Denny King In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, Vessey Combat Club defeated Greg Black and Denny King in 7:42 when JP Barnham submitted Greg Black with a Golden Scissors. Rating: 37 Big win for the new team and likely the final nail in the coffin for Greg Black. He had lost all direction and was getting older, which we felt would become a theme in the year ahead. JP Barnham and Ray Cavalero had incredible technical skills, which made up for their lack of charisma. Much like a new incarnation of The Ring Generals; we’d paired them with Larry to give them a rub and to keep them improving. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Cross River Connection vs. The Biggins Boys © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated The Biggins Boys in 10:26 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Brett Biggins with a PrydeFall. Cross River Connection win the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 70 The aging Biggins Boys had had a solid run with the titles, but the Cross River Connection had been distracted with Honest Enterprises for long enough. The match was amazing as our tag team titles were these days. And it probably wouldn’t be long before we moved the Biggins’ back into the scene again. SINGLES MATCH: American Machine vs. Phil Anders In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Phil Anders defeated American Machine in 6:20 by pinfall with a Hangman's Neckbreaker. Rating: 51 This was it for American Machine. He’d agreed to put over a youngster of our choosing before he left and we’d opted for the ‘Nebraska Stud’ Phil Anders. He had big upside in-ring but lacked popularity. A clean win over a departing legend would hopefully push him into main show contention going forward. American Machine looked terrible out there and it was absolutely the right time for him to go. GANG WARS MATCH: Brutus Milano, Fro Sure & Charlie Corner vs. Honest Enterprises In a decent match, Honest Enterprises (Andrew Harper, The Masked Mauler and Honest Frank Jr) defeated Brutus Milano, Fro Sure and Charlie Corner in 9:52 when The Masked Mauler pinned Charlie Corner with a Piledriver. Rating: 56 Honest Enterprises continue to cause trouble and Frank Harriet has officially taken his dad’s name. There does appear to be some dissention though, with Honest Frank Jr demanding more and more from his stablemates. SINGLES MATCH: Danny Hagman vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Danny Hagman in 10:12 by pinfall with a Backdrop Driver. Rating: 61 The return of a heel version of Bulldozer Brandon Smith was a pleasant moment for long-time fans. He immediately seized on that moment and aligned himself with Riley McManus and Thom Barrowman as a trio of a-hole heels. While his physical skills may be slowly disappearing, he’s still got bags of experience and charisma to keep him as one of our top stars. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Angry Gilmore vs. Magnum Kobe © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Angry Gilmore defeated Magnum Kobe in 10:18 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. Angry Gilmore wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 65 What’s a bigger shock than Magnum Kobe winning the Tri-State Title? Angry Gilmore, former World Champion winning in only a few months after dropping the main title. There was a plan in place; one devised by Gilmore himself. And we were happy to allow it to play out as he suggested. NYCW EMPIRE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: LA Star #1 vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Riley McManus defeated LA Star #1 in 23:08 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. Riley McManus makes defence number four of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 68 Fantastic match which shows that I was right and LA Star #1 is absolutely ready for a singles, main event run. The fact Riley had to cheat to win, helps to slowly build part of a story we hoped would run throughout the majority of the year, provided we don’t get any bad news. But there were other pieces we needed before he could go for it. ANGLE: After the match, Riley McManus delivers a brutal beatdown to La Star #1 along with Thom Barrowman and Bulldozer Brandon Smith. Rating: 70 Bastards! OVERALL RATING: 67 387,305 viewers tuned in for the big show and we made… $172 profit. But you know what, that means the system works. Every month there would be a big show to compliment the tv show. This was great news which would keep Larry sweet for a while. As mentioned, after the show we released a number of talent to bring the overall cost of running our company down. So goodbye to: American Machine Greg Black Kenny Kitao Merlin Poutin Stefan DuBois Texas Hangman The month ended with news that Jose Caballero, a tag team wrestler had won the COTT United States title. And Fern Hathaway wanted a payrise to $80, which was so small, I gave her one to $100. Gotta keep the champ happy. Next time… LA Star finds support and more issues for Honest Enterprises…

Exclusive Written Contracts: Riley McManus Trent Shaffer LA Star #1 Cross River Connection The Fantastic Express Danny Hagman Honest Frank Jr The rest were a mixure of written and handshakes. I slightly misunderstood the variations of contracts. Not made it this far with a company before. The shorter write-ups would return at various points this year and then I plan to change the look to include more images etc from early 2024. Didn't occur to me to be honest. I always think of Touring as exclusively Japanese type thing. The end goal was to drag NYCW into an 80/early 90s throwback. Similar to WWF from Wrestlemania 5 to 8.

New York City… three months later… It was the night of Spring Showdown 2023 and backstage at Plum Park all the production crews, cameramen, road agents and presenters were rushing around. It was our biggest show to date and we had over 13,000 fans already chanting, waiting for the kick-off. Larry and I were walking around discussing the plans and ordering people into their relevant spots. Approaching four of our newest workers, he gave some advice to JP Barnham and Ray Cavalero and added ‘see you later.’ Next he spoke to two big Samoan powerhouses. He told them to keep working hard and it would all come together. Then he stopped for a moment and straightened my tie. “We’ve been haemorrhaging money kid,” he said. “I know,” I replied. “Spending too much on fancy suits?” he said seriously and then broke into a classic Larry laugh. “It’s the TV show. It’s costing us a lot, so we’ll have to run a big show like this each month to break even for the time being.” “I know,” I replied. I’d crunched the numbers too. “Might need to clear out some of the talent too, we’re a bit bloated.” “The Samoan Wrecking Crew?” “No, they’re cheap and have massive upside. I’m thinking some of the higher-paid midcarders. And some of the trouble-makers.” I nodded. “Do you think he’s ready for the main event?” Larry asked. “I do.” “Good, so do I,” he said reassuringly. “You got the book nearby?” I reached into my suitcase and pulled out a leatherbound book filled with notes. “Good,” he said. “If I were you, I’d go through and make sure you have missed anything.” “Will do.” I took myself off to the meeting room of the arena and sat down in one of the corporate chairs. I plugged my headphones in and started listening to some classical music and opened book. It wasn’t just the results and future plans in here, I’d been using it as a sort-of diary too. To make a note of all the changes. And to say that life had stepped up a notch in the last three months would be an understatement. I turned to page one; January kicked off with Larry taking the myself and the newly hired backstage workers to our new official headquarters, a shiny, modern office building inside the historic Flatiron Building. Outside was historic, inside modern. The perfect encapsulation of New York City Wrestling. We had half a floor to ourselves where me, Larry, Bryan, Whistler, Honest Frank and the newly hired production and camera crews and our internal procedure teams could regularly work. Having recently lost Richie ‘The Body’ Riggins to USPW, one of the key focuses of the increase in our size was new contracts. We wanted to try and make sure that we could never be poached from again and started to sign key workers to exclusive and written contracts. But even this couldn’t pass without incident as the moment we offered new contracts, other companies started to get into bidding wars with the best of them. This combined with Larry’s reticence to pay even a dime over meant we were about to lose some workers. LA Star #2 immediately signed with CWA, a move he’d clearly had on his mind for months now. LA Star #1 however was not offered a contract by the Canadian mega-company and we snatched him up. It was a shame to have to break-up the dominant team, but we were happy to be keeping hold of the far better talent of the two. LA Star #2 wasn’t the only loss; Animal Harker had finally signed a written contract with BCG and moved to Japan permanently, crushing our plans for a long-running tag team with Freedom Eagle. Arnie Plummer too, was gone. He’d signed a written contract with CZCW, which had caused a huge amount of tension at the COTT. It was one thing to share talent without asking. It was another to steal them. I’m not sure Larry had forgiven them for that. But Sam Keith, aware of the issues had agreed to work for both CZCW and us to help ease the tension. I was glad to have him, his road agent skill was almost unsurpassed. I checked the notes before the results of Rush Hour 2023 and noticed that Aldous Blackfriar had actually rejected TCW and signed long-term with CZCW too. USPW meanwhile had signed both Eddie Chandler and Rocky Golden in a daring double-steal. Deuce Deadline meanwhile had claimed his first Rip Chord Invitational. NYCW Rush Hour 2023 Saturday, Week 4, January 2023 Yonkers Underdome, New York City, New York Attendance: 11,425 [*]Spike Sylvain defeated Billy Chase in 8:21 by pinfall with a Punk-N-Nasty Rating: 45 [*]Greg Black defeated Machine Gun Marino in 9:42 by pinfall with a Fade To Black. Rating: 42 [*]The Chop Shop defeated Animal Harker and Freedom Eagle in 9:42 when Eric Mortenson pinned Animal Harker with a Tree-Feller. Rating: 56 [*]Chuck Casey defeated Denny King in 7:34 by disqualification. Rating: 47 [*]Honest Enterprises (Honest Frank Jr and Andrew Harper) defeated Fro Sure and Brutus Milano in 10:30 when Honest Frank Jr pinned Brutus Milano while using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 65 [*]Charlie Corner defeated Davis Wayne Newton in 10:04 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 59 [*]Cross River Connection defeated The Fantastic Express in 10:03 when Perfect Pepper Pelton pinned Zippy Deverell with a Prime Time Perfection. Rating: 68 [*]The Masked Mauler defeated American Machine in 6:08 by submission with an Iron Claw. Rating: 50 [*]Magnum Kobe defeated Danny Hagman in 9:41 by pinfall with The Glorious Red following botched interference by Brutus Milano. Magnum Kobe wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 62 [*]Riley McManus defeated Angry Gilmore in 22:51 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Riley McManus makes defence number one of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 67 [*]The LA Stars cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Biggins Boys and get into a slanging match with Riley McManus Rating: 72 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated The LA Stars in 10:30 when Brett Biggins pinned LA Star #2 with a B-B-Gun. The Biggins Boys make defence number two of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 78 [*]Riley McManus attacks the LA Stars after the match. Rating: 68 [*]OVERALL RATING: 76 The notes tell me that we got 137,033 viewers for that one and a nice $97,705 profit. That would be the last I’d written the word profit anywhere in the book. It also highlighted that choosing the tag team title match for main event was inspired as it was our best match ever. The next page highlights notes from a meeting with East Coast Today,; the resepcted local television station who had decided to step into the world of wrestling. Thus was born NYCW Empire Superstars. We negotiated 25% revenue to us and sorted a 6-month contract with them. We needed to hit 59 as a show average and were placed in the Late Night slot. To coincide with this announcement, we signed a deal to move our events from WrestleWorld to OnDem streaming. The next few pages of the book had my nervous ramblings about producing a show for air on television. Looking back on this period, I was worrying about the wrong things. TV is different to events as you need far more angles and interviews. We were still finding our feet in that regard. I had not kept my normally in-depth notes for the first two months of shows, mainly because I so busy running so many aspects of the business. NYCW Empire Superstars #1 Friday, Week 1, February 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,506 [*]Honest Enterprises (Andrew Harper, The Masked Mauler and Spike Sylvain) defeated Fro Sure, Brutus Milano and Charlie Corner in 9:50 when The Masked Mauler pinned Fro Sure, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 61 [*]Honest Frank Jr cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Fro Sure. Rating: 74 [*]Honest Frank Jr defeated The Animal in 9:46 by pinfall with a Roll The Dice. Rating: 52 [*]Danny Hagman, Prime Time Jack Pryde and Perfect Pepper Pelton cut a promo hyping their upcoming six man match with Thom Barrowman, Sal DiMeo and Eric Mortenson. Rating: 73 [*]Thom Barrowman and The Chop Shop defeated Danny Hagman and Cross River Connection in 9:44 when Eric Mortenson pinned Prime Time Jack Pryde by using underhanded tactics. Rating: 58 [*]The Fantastic Express cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Biggins Boys. Rating: 70 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated The Fantastic Express in 9:49 when Bart Biggins pinned Rafe Sashay with a B-Dropper. The Biggins Boys make defence number three of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 65 [*]Riley McManus cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with LA Star #2. Rating: 66 [*]Riley McManus defeated LA Star #2 in 10:14 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Riley McManus makes defence number two of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 74 [*]LA Star #2 is enjoying the standing ovation in the ring. Riley McManus attacks, beating LA Star #2 down into the mat. Rating: 64 [*]OVERALL RATING: 73 - 0.23 rating (173,972 viewers) NYCW Empire Superstars #2 Friday, Week 2, February 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,669 [*]Cross River Connection cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Fantastic Express. Rating: 74 [*]Davis Wayne Newton defeated Prime Time Jack Pryde in 9:43 by pinfall after using a foreign object. Rating: 57 [*]Fantastic Express cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Biggins Boys. Rating: 72 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated The Chop Shop in 10:07 when Bart Biggins pinned Eric Mortenson with a B-Dropper. The Biggins Boys make defence number four of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 65 [*]Fro Sure cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Andrew Harper. Rating: 67 [*]Fro Sure defeated Andrew Harper in 9:53 by pinfall after using a foreign object. Rating: 65 [*]LA Star #1 cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Riley McManus. Rating: 78 [*]LA Star #1 and Danny Hagman defeated Riley McManus and Greg Black in 21:53 when LA Star #1 pinned Greg Black with a Double Stomp. Rating: 65 [*]Angry Gilmore cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Thom Barrowman. Rating: 79 [*]Angry Gilmore drew with Thom Barrowman in 9:56 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. Rating: 70 [*]OVERALL RATING: 57 - 0.20 (150,370 viewers) After this show read a note, underlined in red: Poor! Network were furious. NYCW Empire Superstars #3 Friday, Week 3, February 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,669 [*]Fro Sure defeated The Masked Mauler in 6:39 by count out. Rating: 64 [*]Honest Frank, Honest Frank Jr and The Masked Mauler cut a promo hyping their upcoming six man match with Brutus Milano, Fro Sure and American Machine. Rating: 60 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated Spike Sylvain and Andrew Harper in 10:12 when Spike Sylvain was counted out while fighting Bart Biggins. The Biggins Boys make defence number five of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 63 [*]Cross River Connection cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Fantastic Express. Rating: 74 [*]Rafe Sashay defeated Prime Time Jack Pryde in 9:44 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 65 [*]The Fantastic Express cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Cross River Connection. Rating: 73 [*]Zippy Deverell defeated Perfect Pepper Pelton in 10:03 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 65 [*]Riley McManus cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with LA Star #1. Rating: 60 [*]Angry Gilmore, LA Star #1 and Danny Hagman defeated Riley McManus, Thom Barrowman and Magnum Kobe in 21:54 when LA Star #1 pinned Magnum Kobe with a Double Stomp. Rating: 61 [*]The match is over and LA Star #1 looks angry, and jumps Riely McManus from behind, beating him down. Rating: 71 [*]OVERALL RATING: 64 - 0.20 (156,710 viewers) NYCW Empire Superstars #4 Friday, Week 4, February 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,621 [*]Phil Anders defeated Chuck Casey in 7:40 by pinfall with a Hangman's Neckbreaker. Rating: 30 [*]Fro Sure cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Honest Frank Jr. Rating: 59 [*]Brutus Milano, Fro Sure and Charlie Corner defeated Honest Enterprises (Andrew Harper, Spike Sylvain and Honest Frank Jr.) in 7:35 when Fro Sure pinned Honest Frank Jr. with a Sure Thing. Rating: 62 [*]Cross River Connection cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Fantastic Express. Rating: 71 [*]Cross River Connection defeated The Chop Shop in 7:32 when Perfect Pepper Pelton pinned Eric Mortenson with a Prime Time Perfection. Rating: 63 [*]Honest Frank, Honest Frank Jr and Andrew Harper cut a promo hyping their upcoming six man match with Brutus Milano, Fro Sure and Charlie Corner. Rating: 56 [*]Magnum Kobe defeated Crockett Tubbs in 9:37 by submission with a Magnum Deathlock. Magnum Kobe makes defence number one of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 59 [*]Angry Gilmore cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Riley McManus. Rating: 73 [*]Thom Barrowman and The Fantastic Express defeated Angry Gilmore and The Biggins Boys in 10:03 when Zippy Deverell pinned Bart Biggins after using a foreign object. Rating: 62 [*]Riley McManus cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with LA Star #1. Rating: 66 [*]Riley McManus defeated Danny Hagman in 10:11 by pinfall with a handful of tights. Riley McManus makes defence number three of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 60 [*]OVERALL RATING: 63 - 0.20 (155,096 viewers) Notes: Honest Frank Jr new power spot in that match. We lost $143,183!!! NYCW Empire Superstars #5 Friday, Week 1, March 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,627 [*]Phil Anders defeated Chuck Casey in 6:05 by pinfall with a Hangman's Neckbreaker. Rating: 24 [*]Both Riley McManus and Thom Barrowman are in the locker room unconscious. Rating: 52 [*]The Masked Mauler defeated Charlie Corner in 9:38 by pinfall with a handful of tights. Rating: 54 [*]Cross River Connection cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Fantastic Express. Rating: 72 [*]Cross River Connection defeated Andrew Harper and Honest Frank Jr. in 9:37 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Honest Frank Jr. by using underhanded tactics. Rating: 59 [*]Fro Sure cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Magnum Kobe. Rating: 68 [*]Magnum Kobe defeated Fro Sure in 9:59 by submission with a Magnum Deathlock after interference from Honest Frank. Magnum Kobe makes defence number two of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 62 [*]LA Star #1 cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Riley McManus. Rating: 75 [*]Angry Gilmore, Danny Hagman and LA Star #1 defeated Greg Black and The Chop Shop in 9:44 when LA Star #1 pinned Greg Black with a Double Stomp. Rating: 65 [*]The Fantastic Express cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Cross River Connection. Rating: 76 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated The Fantastic Express in 9:42 when Rafe Sashay was disqualified while fighting Bart Biggins. The Biggins Boys make defence number six of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 59 [*]OVERALL RATING: 63 - 0.20 (154,637 viewers) Notes: Had to rebook show after Davis Wayne Newton sprained his ankle in a pre-show match. Re-signed Bulldozer Brandon Smith – he looks older. NYCW Empire Superstars #6 Friday, Week 2, March 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,705 [*]Bulldozer Brandon Smith cuts a promo hyping up his return and his upcoming match with Riley McManus. Rating: 66 [*]Honest Frank Jr defeated Curtis Shaw in 3:24 by pinfall with a Roll The Dice. Rating: 32 [*]Eric Mortenson and Marco Gonzalez defeated The Dirty White Boys in 4:42 when Marco Gonzalez submitted Lead Belly with a Latino Crab. Rating: 28 [*]Chip Martin defeated Greg Black in 5:14 by pinfall with a Super Kick. Rating: 28 [*]New team of rookies debut (JP Barnham & Ray Cavalero), managed by Larry Vessey. They call themselves the Vessey Combat Club and they cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Biggins Boys. Rating: 29 [*]Vessey Combat Club defeated Happy Elwood and Denny King in 5:57 when Ray Cavalero pinned Denny King with a Vessey Locks. Rating: 33 [*]Samoan Wrecking Crew (Loa Afu & Loa Aki) defeated Crockett Tubbs and Geoff Borne in 5:08 when Loa Afu pinned Geoff Borne with a Samoan Splash. Rating: 8 [*]Davis Wayne Newton cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Charlie Corner. Rating: 51 [*]Phil Anders and The Fantastic Express defeated Danny Hagman and The Biggins Boys in 9:53 when Phil Anders pinned Bart Biggins after using a foreign object. Rating: 62 [*]LA Star #1 drew with Magnum Kobe in 9:51 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. Rating: 70 [*]Angry Gilmore cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Bulldozer Brandon Smith. Rating: 74 [*]Riley McManus and Thom Barrowman defeated Angry Gilmore and Bulldozer Brandon Smith in 10:10 when Riley McManus pinned Angry Gilmore with a Slingshot Suplex after Bulldozer Brandon Smith accidentally struck Angry Gilmore. During the match we also had Bulldozer Brandon Smith turn on Gilmore. Rating: 50 [*]After the match Bulldozer, McManus and Barrowman beat down Angry Gilmore. Rating: 54 [*]OVERALL RATING: 54 - 0.18 (141,402 viewers) Notes: East Coast Today unhappy again. I don’t blame them. Debut of our two rookie teams a disaster, especially our two new, young Samoans. Worst match in NYCW history I think. NYCW Empire Superstars #7 Friday, Week 3, March 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,553 [*]Honest Enterprises (Honest Frank Jr., The Masked Mauler and Andrew Harper) defeated Charlie Corner, Chip Martin and Brutus Milano in 6:12 when Honest Frank Jr pinned Charlie Corner with a Roll The Dice. Rating: 59 [*]Vessey Combat Club cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Black and Spike. Rating: 34 [*]Vessey Combat Club defeated Greg Black and Spike Sylvain in 6:17 when JP Barnham submitted Greg Black with a Golden Scissors. Rating: 38 [*]Denny King is in the ring. Out of nowhere, Juggernaut Jones hits the ring and attacks. The assault is quick and brutal, and leaves King completely destroyed. Rating: 36 [*]Juggernaut Jones defeated Denny King in 3:27 by pinfall with The Pounce. Rating: 31 [*]The Biggins Boys cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Fantastic Express. Rating: 63 [*]The Biggins Boys defeated The Chop Shop in 8:14 when Bart Biggins pinned Sal DiMeo with a B-Dropper. The Biggins Boys make defence number seven of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 68 [*]Fro Sure cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Magnum Kobe. Rating: 76 [*]Magnum Kobe defeated Fro Sure in 7:58 by submission with a Magnum Deathlock after interference from Honest Frank. Magnum Kobe makes defence number four of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 68 [*]Danny Hagman, Prime Time Jack Pryde and Perfect Pepper Pelton cut a promo hyping their upcoming six man match with Riley McManus, Rafe Sashay and Zippy Deverell. Rating: 69 [*]Riley McManus, Thom Barrowman and Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Danny Hagman and Cross River Connection in 10:06 when Bulldozer Brandon Smith pinned Danny Hagman with a Tombstone Piledriver. Rating: 55 [*]LA Star #1 cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Angry Gilmore. Rating: 82 [*]LA Star #1 defeated Angry Gilmore in 9:54 by pinfall with a Double Stomp. Rating: 63 [*]OVERALL RATING: 67 - 0.24 (185,781 viewers) NYCW Empire Superstars #8 Friday, Week 4, March 2023 The Empire Ballroom, New York City, New York Attendance: 2,669 [*]Vessey Combat Club cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Black and Anders. Rating: 39 [*]Vessey Combat Club defeated Phil Anders and Greg Black in 8:22 when JP Barnham submitted Greg Black with a Golden Scissors. Rating: 31 [*]Brutus Milano cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with The Masked Mauler. Rating: 56 [*]Samoan Wrecking Crew defeated The Eagle and Brutus Milano in 6:29 when Loa Afu pinned The Eagle with an Archer Demolisher. Rating: 46 [*]The Fantastic Express cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Cross River Connection. Rating: 76 [*]Fro Sure and The Biggins Boys defeated Davis Wayne Newton and The Fantastic Express in 8:08 when Bart Biggins pinned Zippy Deverell, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 67 [*]Cross River Connection cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with The Fantastic Express. Rating: 72 [*]Danny Hagman, LA Star #1 and Cross River Connection drew with Bulldozer Brandon Smith, Riley McManus and Honest Enterprises in 21:41 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. Rating: 65 [*]Angry Gilmore cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Thom Barrowman. Rating: 73 [*]Angry Gilmore defeated Thom Barrowman in 10:29 by count out. Rating: 60 [*]OVERALL RATING: 64 - 0.23 (176,952 viewers) Beyond those notes, were a series of title updates: David Stone wins the CWA World Title Deacon Darkhold wins COTT United States title Power & Glory (Hudson Drake & Shiva) win the COTT Tag Team Titles Even with our world changing, nothing stops the COTT from making terrible decisions when it comes to the titles. I’d got my head straight though. Everything was in place and I was confident of a good show in front of a record crowd. One last rundown of the event and it was time to go. Next time… Spring Showdown 2023 and LA Star #1’s big shot…

New York City… Year End Awards 2022… Wrestler of the Year: Mainstream Hernandez (SWF) Young Wrestler of the Year: David Stone (CWA) Female Wrestler of the Year: Brooke Tyler (CWA) Tag Team of the Year: The Amazing Bumfholes (SWF) Independent Wrestler of the Year: Yuma Maruya (5SSW) Veteran Wrestler of the Year: Enygma (SWF) Promotion of the Year: TCW Most Improved Promotion: CILL Show of the Year: TCW Threatening Behaviour (Wolf Hawkins vs. Aaron Andrews) Match of the Year: Robbie Retro vs. Jay Chord (SWF Elite – October 2022) Announcer of the Year: Mitch Naess (PSW) Colour Commentator of the Year: Emma Chase (SWF) Manager of the Year: Krissy Angelle (SWF) Top 10 Workers in the World: 1. Mainstream Hernandez (SWF) 2. Mikey Lau (SWF) 3. Rocky Golden (USPW) 4. Aaron Andrews (TCW) 5. Remo Richardson (SWF) 6. Multimillonario (EILL) 7. El Heroe Mexicano (EILL) 8. Mighty Mo (SWF) 9. Des David (SWF) 10. Greg Gauge (TCW) NYCW Workers and People of Note in Top 500: 10. Greg Gauge (Sam Keith’s son) 48. Matthew Keith (Sam Keith’s son) 53. Atom Smasher (Nevada Nuclear – NYCW Alumni) 90. Monty Trescarde (NYCW Alumni) 102. Dazzling Dave Diamond (Larry’s Most Hated Rival) 137. Sammy Smoke (Sammy the Shark – NYCW Alumni) 146. Bulldozer Brandon Smith (Former NYCW Empire Champion) 156. Joey Morgan (Joey Minnesota – Former NYCW Empire Champion) 158. Whitehorse Whittaker (NYCW Alumni) 182. Roger Cage (Former NYCW Empire Champion) 194. Hawkeye Calhoun (NYCW Alumni) 207. Masked Stranger (NYCW Alumni) 245. Tennessee William (Former NYCW Empire Champion) 319. Brett Biggins 322. James Diaz (NYCW Alumni) 387. Dean Waldorf (NYCW Alumni) 388. Marv Statler (NYCW Alumni) 389. Fro Sure 400. Petr Novak (The Big Problem – NYCW Alumni) 479. Magnum Kobe Title Prestige NYCW Empire: Riley McManus – 51 Prestige (+13) NYCW King of New York: Riley McManus – 56 Prestige (+8) NYCW Tag Team: The Biggins Boys – 47 Prestige (+12) NYCW Tri-State Regional: Danny Hagman – 44 Prestige (+11) NYCW Stomper Memorial Cup: The LA Stars – 53 Prestige COTT World Heavyweight: Thom Barrowman (NYCW) – 60 Prestige (+7) COTT World Tag Team: The Lunatic Fringe (MAW) – 54 Prestige (+7) COTT United States: Topher Smith (ACPW) – 57 Prestige (+9) COTT World Women’s: Celeste Moon (OLLIE) – 55 Prestige (+6) COTT World Six-Man Tag Team: The United (PSW) – 48 Prestige (+7) Top 10 Matches 1. The Fantastic Express defeated The LA Stars (NYCW King of New York 2022, October) - 75 2. The Fantastic Express defeated The LA Stars by DQ (NYCW Welcome to New York 9, October 2022) – 74 3. Angry Gilmore defeated Thom Barrowman (NYCW Fights on Braodway, April 2022) – 72 4. Thom Barrowman defeated Troy Tornado (NYCW Knockout in Queens, September 2021) – 71 5. Thom Barrowman & Riley McManus defeated Angry Gilmore & Bart Biggins (NYCW Old School Wrestling, July 2022) – 70 6. The Biggins Boys defeated The Fantastic Express (NYCW New York City Showdown 2022, December 2022) – 70 7. Angry Gilmore & Bart Biggins defeated Riley McManus & Thom Barrowman (NYCW Old School Wrestling, August 2022) – 69 8. Riley McManus, Richie Riggins & Thom Barrowman defeated Angry Gilmore, American Machine & Bart Biggins (NYCW Old School Wrestling, April 2022) – 69 9. The LA Stars defeated Thom Barrowman & Riley McManus (NYCW Welcome to New York 8, September 2022) – 69 10. Riley McManus defeated Angry Gilmore (NYCW New York City Showdown 2022, December 2022) – 69 Top 10 Events 1. NYCW Fights on Broadway (April 2022) – 70 2. NYCW Knockout in Queens (September 2021) – 69 3. NYCW Old School Wrestling (July 2022) – 68 4. NYCW New York City Showdown 2022 (December 2022) – 68 5. NYCW Old School Wrestling (September 2022) – 68 6. NYCW Old School Wrestling (April 2022) – 68 7. NYCW Old School Wrestling (August 2022) – 67 8. NYCW Welcome to New York 7 (August 2022) – 67 9. NYCW Christmas in a Cage (December 2022) – 66 10. NYCW Welcome to New York 10 (November 2022) – 66 NEW YORK CITY WRESTLING Champions ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus NYCW Empire Champion Entrance Music: Southern Flavor by Versatyle tha Wildchyld Finally completing his years long journey to the top of NYCW, ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus defeated ultra-popular champion Angry Gilmore to claim the main title in New York. In 2022 he also added the King of New York crown and only needs the Stomper Memorial Cup to become the first true Grand Slam winner in the company’s history. A vicious, collegiate athlete with the beautiful and deadly Fern Hathaway on his arm, Riley is the top dog in the company. The Biggins Boys Bart Biggins & Brett Biggins NYCW Tag Team Champions Entrance Music: Rock and Roll is King by ELO The legendary tag team who revolutionised hot young tag teams in SWF have reunited after an extended break and taken NYCW by storm. Bart arrived first and had a number of excellent singles feuds, but was joined by his brother Brett when the latter was attacked by Thom Barrowman and Riley McManus. Now that they are back together and having closed out the year on a high, these two are in place to defend their titles against the top-quality tag opponents NYCW has to offer. Danny Hagman NYCW Tri-State Regional Champion Entrance Music: Renegade by Styx When the men and women of Pittsburgh were called to create the steel to power the machines, to fight against evil in Europe, they stepped up. It is from the fires of those factories, on the banks of the three rivers that a man was born. A man of grit and steel. Originally debuting under a mask as War Piece, he was convinced by Larry Vessey to drop the name and mask and go by his actual name. Thus was born Danny Hagman; The Pittsburgh Kid. Roster Thom Barrowman Entrance Music: Fortunate Son by Creedance Clearwater Revival The One Man Army, the bitter veteran and the current COTT World Heavyweight Champion; Thom Barrowman has been a part of the main event for years now and is as much a New York institution as the Statue of Liberty and the Guggenheim. Despite an up-and-down year, he capped it brilliantly capturing the biggest title of his career after defeating Aldous Blackfriar. His on-and-off partial alliance with Riley McManus could well continue into 2023. His body may be starting to betray him, but he’s got plenty of life left in him. Angry Gilmore Entrance Music: Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit Former Canadian superstar and former holder of both the Burning Junior title and the NYCW Empire Heavyweight Title, Angry Gilmore is the de facto top face in the company. Despite having lost the title at the biggest show of the year he will no doubt be looking to cash in his rematch clause. Powered by fury and rage, he has successfully changed to a down and dirty brawler since joining NYCW. LA Star #1 Entrance Music: Los Angeles by Blink-182 Former multiple-time NYCW Tag Team, Stomper Memorial Cup and COTT World Tag Team champion. LA Star #1 remains in New York even after losing his long-time partner (LA Star #2) to CWA. Quite what the future brings for this soon-to-be singles competitor, but he has shown so much growth and improvement in two years that the only thing stopping him from the main event proper is his will to succeed. The Fantastic Express Rafe Sashay & Zippy Deverell Entrance Music: Industry Baby by Lil Nas X With one of the most impactful debuts in NYCW history; The Fantastic Express have seen their values sore with multiple tag team titles, match of the year contenders and a constant improving in-ring skill. The two unbearable douchebags look set to continue to their improvement and dominance in the year ahead as a feud with The Biggins Boys beckons. The sky is the limit for these two young performers. Cross River Connection Prime Time Jack Pryde & Perfect Pepper Pelton Entrance Music: Even Flow by Pearl Jam The former tag team champions and consistently awesome dudes, the Cross River Connection may have seen their stock plateau after their feud with Honest Enterprises, but they also add a COTT World Six-Man championship reign to their already impressive achievements. With a few titles still to claim, there’s no reason to think the CRC won’t be a key part of the NYCW roster for years to come. American Machine Entrance Music: Real American by Rick Derringer The GODDAM AMERICAN HERO is accompanied to the ring by Cheerleader Nicki and stands for truth, justice and the American Way. An ultra-patriot, his body is disintergrating, but he has a few months left before retirement and NYCW officials intend to send him out in style. Greg Black Entrance Music: Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones The leader of the oft-forgotten FREEDOM Fighters stable has seen his career stutter following his loss in the unification title match. A series of matches (and losses) against Brutus Milano appear to be have helped finish off his usefulness as a top-level star. Quite where he goes from here is unknown. Brutus Milano Entrance Music: Saturdays by Mitch Murder The stalwart of NYCW. The man who remains when all else around him suffer and fluctuate. At this point The Italian Heartthrob has established himself as one of the pillars of the company. Always there, winning some and losing some, but never running out of steam. It’s quite an incredible career for someone who doesn’t appear to have the stamina to be a top star. Charlie Corner Entrance Music: California Love by Tupac Best known for his feuds with The Masked Mauler and latterly Honest Enterprises. The laid back California Cool Charlie Corner has seen his stock rise in recent months. Aside from a short stint as COTT World Six-Man champion alongside the Cross River Connection, he is quite the star in the making with plenty of support backstage from veterans and main eventers alike. 2023 could be the year that he steps up and actually starts to fulfil some of the promise of his potential. Davis Wayne Newton Entrance Music: Symphony No. 40 by Mozart Initially part of the defunct FREEDOM Fighters, Davis Wayne Newton avoided the purge by showing just how tenacious he can be. Absolutely refusing to let anything cost him anything of value, his combination of entertainment skills and in-ring talent make him a potential superstar of the future. It’s been like this his whole career and he’s never quite taken that final step. But that could change under a booking team who are very high on him. Denny King Entrance Music: Surprise! You’re Dead by Faith No More A continued presence in the mdicard and a reliable hand when you need a decent match with basically any star, it seems unlikely that Denny will ever reach the heights of his feud with Riley McManus, which sent his opponent over-the-top and Denny back to the middle. A well-liked and respected veteran, he has a job with NYCW for as long as he wants it. Fro Sure Entrance Music: You Sure by Fro-Zen Funk and the Rainbow Collective Aside from his propensity to go off on tour with his band, Fro Sure has all the skills required to be a megastar in the business. The touring is what’s held management back from a sustained push, but he’s still relatively young and the sky really is the limit for the popular star. Freedom Eagle Entrance Music: Iron Man by AC/DC Midway through a substantial career change, Freedom Eagle’s future is as mysterious as his masked face. Initially thought to be teaming with Animal Harker going forward, things have conspired to remove that option. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. And Freedom Eagle has more will than most. The Chop Shop Sal DiMeo & Eric Mortenson Entrance Music: Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano A thrown together team of former mainstays of the company, the newly-formed Chop Shop have a surprising amount of chemistry to them. It’s unlikely that they’ll achieve much as they are, but stranger things have happened. The main thing working against them is the sheer volume of great teams in their way. Honest Enterprises Honest Frank, Andrew Harper, Magnum Kobe, Honest Frank Jr & The Masked Mauler Entrance Music: Perfect Strangers by Deep Purple The dominant stable in NYCW, Honest Frank has assembled a collection of veterans and young stars into his cult-like clutches. The group is likely too big already and changes will no doubt come in the months ahead, but for now they are proving themselves a continuous nuisance to others on the roster. Next time… the chaos begins…

New York City… where we see out 2022 with two explosive events… NYCW New York City Showdown 2022 Saturday, Week 1, December 2022 Evanovich Riverside, New York City, New York Attendance: 9,799 SINGLES MATCH: Honest Frank Jr. vs. Spike Sylvain In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Honest Frank Jr. defeated Spike Sylvain in 7:42 by pinfall with a Roll The Dice. Rating: 51 Our rookie sensation returns to some singles action and picks up the win over Spike. We had some big plans for Frank Jr in 2023 and it all starts here. TAG TEAM MATCH: Animal Harker & Freedom Eagle vs. The Chop Shop In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Animal Harker and Freedom Eagle defeated The Chop Shop in 7:33 when Animal Harker pinned Eric Mortenson with a Stump Piledriver. Rating: 51 There’s some nice chemistry between Animal Harker and Freedom Eagle and we intended to use them as a team in the New Year. We just needed a suitable gimmick. Things would hopefully get better for The Chop Shop next year, but for now they were we needed them to be. SINGLES MATCH: Fro Sure vs. The Masked Mauler In a good match, Fro Sure defeated The Masked Mauler in 10:21 by pinfall with a Sure Thing. Rating: 53 After a breakout year, the Mauler falls to rising star Fro Sure. We’d forgiven him for touring with his band and were looking forward to what he could bring to us now that he was committed. COTT WORLD SIX-MAN TITLE MATCH: The United (Jack Marlowe, ZomBoy & Xavier Wreckless) vs. Charlie Corner & Cross River Connection © In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Jack Marlowe, Xavier Reckless and ZomBoy defeated Charlie Corner and Cross River Connection in 10:02 when Jack Marlowe pinned Perfect Pepper Pelton with a Jungle Jack-Jammer following interference from Andrew Harper. Jack Marlowe, Xavier Reckless and ZomBoy win the COTT World Six-Man. Rating: 55 Honest Enterprises couldn’t help but interfere to get the belts off the youngsters. It may seem odd not have had them drop it to the Enterprise, but in Larry we trust. SINGLES MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. Greg Black In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Brutus Milano defeated Greg Black in 7:35 by submission with an Italian Backbreaker. Rating: 56 At this rate I’d have to put Brutus into the main event again. He was building momentum and racking up wins like no ones business. Why oh why did I keep doing it to myself? NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Biggins Boys vs. The Fantastic Express © In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, The Biggins Boys defeated The Fantastic Express in 10:08 when Brett Biggins pinned Zippy Deverell with a B-B-Gun. The Biggins Boys win the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 70 Upset of the night, but I had a good feeling that this was the right way to go. The match was superb and meant possibly incredible things ahead. SINGLES MATCH: American Machine vs. Richie Riggins In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, American Machine defeated Richie Riggins in 6:26 by pinfall with an Old Glory. Rating: 61 In arguably an even bigger shock, Richie ‘The Body’ Riggins loses clean to the American Machine, who we’d been told was soon to retire. Turns out he’d agreed to stay on for a few more months to help us cover for the loss of Richie Riggins who had selfishly signed with USPW. This was typical. We’d been working on his push for a year and at the point when we’re ready to move him up again, he leaves. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: David Wayne Newton vs. Danny Hagman © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Danny Hagman defeated Davis Wayne Newton in 9:34 by pinfall with a Missing Piece. Danny Hagman makes defence number two of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 55 Danny Hagman wins in the blood feud between these two. The match suffered having followed the shocking last two matches. Hagman getting the win was the right call for now as we had new plans for the title and moving it to DWN would get in the way of that. TAG TEAM MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Honest Enterprises (Andrew Harper & Magnum Kobe) In a bout that had superb wrestling and great heat, Andrew Harper and Magnum Kobe defeated The LA Stars in 10:30 when Magnum Kobe submitted LA Star #2 with a Magnum Deathlock. Rating: 69 Another great match for including the LA Stars here and I was suddenly overcome with melancholy. Honest Enterprises move up the card and become more of a realistic threat… for now. COTT WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Thom Barrowman vs. Aldous Blackfriar © In a superb match, Thom Barrowman defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 9:43 by pinfall with a Guided Missile. Thom Barrowman wins the COTT World Heavyweight. Rating: 65 And another shocking match sees Thom Barrowman step into the World Title sphere. This match was booked by Larry as he’d clearly got the all-clear from the COTT after news of TCW offering a contract to Aldous leaked. Barrowman was seen as a solid hand to keep hold of the title in the time being. Who was I to argue. NYCW EMPIRE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus vs. Angry Gilmore © In a classic half an hour matchup Angry Gilmore and ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus battled it out in front of a raucous New York crowd. With McManus locked into a Boston Crab, it looks like it was all over before he made the ropes for the break. Gilmore set his opponent up for the Sky High Elbow only to be caught on the way down into an Exploder Bulldog for the 1… 2… 3. In an exceptional match, Riley McManus defeated Angry Gilmore in 22:30 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Riley McManus wins the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 69 OVERALL RATING: 68 121,499 viewers for the big show with the great main event. And, as per Larry’s instructions we rolled straight into a Christmas Special. Results: Herrbear - 7/11 Theheel - 6/11 John Lions - 6/11 KyTeran - 4/11 NYCW Christmas in a Cage Saturday, Week 3, December 2022 Evanovich Riverside, New York City, New York Attendance: 10,000 (SOLD OUT!?!) SINGLES MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. Richie Riggins In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Brutus Milano defeated Richie Riggins in 8:03 by submission with an Italian Backbreaker. Rating: 56 Job Richie out before he leaves passes through, as it always does, Milano Junction. I liked the idea of Brutus as the patron saint of NYCW. TAG TEAM MATCH: The LA Stars vs. The Chop Shop In a superb match, The LA Stars defeated The Chop Shop in 9:55 when LA Star #1 pinned Sal DiMeo with a Double Stomp. Rating: 63 A win for the most dominant tag team in the history of NYCW? That might sound crazy, but I think it’s probably right. Perhaps Coyote Dynamite, but realistically they weren’t a patch on the Stars in the ring. SINGLES MATCH: Fro Sure vs. Denny King In a good match, Fro Sure defeated Denny King in 9:59 by pinfall with a Sure Thing. Rating: 60 Great match tanks in part to these twos great chemistry. Fro Sure is picking up momentum and we’d need him to have it for the year ahead. TAG TEAM MATCH: Animal Harker & Freedom Eagle vs. The Fantastic Express In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Animal Harker & Freedom Eagle defeated The Fantastic Express in 9:39 when Animal Harker pinned Rafe Sashay by using underhanded tactics. Rating: 59 Big win for the new team as we were starting to develop their characters. Animal had started wearing facepaint to the ring, which matched the design on Eagle’s mask. I was wondering if the mask was holding him back a bit, but that was a thought for another time. Disappointing end to the year for the Fantastics. But Christmas was always a time for good to prevail over evil. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: American Machine vs. Danny Hagman © In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Danny Hagman defeated American Machine in 6:04 by submission with a Steel Curtain. Danny Hagman makes defence number three of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 53 These two don’t click and that meant Hagman couldn’t carry the inanimate object that was American Machine to anything even remotely passable as a good match in the current company. GANG WARS MATCH: Charlie Corner & Cross River Connection vs. Honest Enterprises In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Charlie Corner and Cross River Connection defeated Andrew Harper, The Masked Mauler and Spike Sylvain in 10:25 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Spike Sylvain with a PrydeFall. Rating: 57 Good defeats evil remember. SINGLES MATCH: Angry Gilmore vs. Greg Black In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Angry Gilmore defeated Greg Black in 21:33 by pinfall with an Anger Management. Rating: 66 A good match and a solid win for Gilmore. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE CAGE MATCH: The Biggins Boys © vs. Riley McManus & Thom Barrowman In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, The Biggins Boys defeated Riley McManus and Thom Barrowman in a Cage match in 9:44 when Bart Biggins escaped the cage. The Biggins Boys make defence number one of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 67 The Biggins finally get their revenge over McManus & Barrowman, the two champions. Sadly the match didn’t quite live up to expectations. But it was fine. OVERALL RATING: 66 And with that the year drew to a close, but things would never be the same again. The next month would go by in a blur. We knew we were losing Richie Riggins to USPW. But there was more to come. Life was about to get a lot more interesting. With higher stakes, bigger losses and a complete revamp of how we ran things. For the Christmas Special had done exactly what Larry thought it would. It took us to Medium. Next time… Year End Review and Roster Review…

New York City… where plans are meant to be changed… The month started with news that Sammy Bach had joined TCW, and closer to home we’d made $168,228 profit. Celeste Moon won the COTT World Women’s Title for her first title reign and we gave pay rises to Richie Riggins ($1,030) and Charlie Corner ($650). With the main event for New York City Showdown set, along with a no doubt inevitable revenge match between DWN and Danny Hagman, we now had to figure out where everyone else fit in, including The Biggins Boys. NYCW Welcome to New York 9 Sunday, Week 1, November 2022 McGraw Arena, New York City, New York Attendance: 9,088 TAG TEAM MATCH: The Biggins Boys vs. Spike Sylvain & Denny King In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Quadruple B defeated Spike Sylvain and Denny King in 9:56 when Brett Biggins pinned Denny King with a B-B-Gun. Rating: 63 We start where we ended. The Biggins have lost none of their innate tag team specialism and make short work of the NYCW originals in an amazing opening match. That sort of rating, cold, is truly something to behold. And gave us a bit of a headache with what to do with them for the big show. It was a good problem to have of course. SINGLES MATCH: Freedom Eagle vs. The Masked Mauler In a good match, The Masked Mauler defeated Freedom Eagle in 9:41 by pinfall with a Piledriver. Rating: 54 Honest Enterprises are now taking to picking off friends of the CRC. Masked Mauler’s success rate was one of the best of the year, thanks in no small part to the incredible support he had backstage. SINGLES MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. David Wayne Newton In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Davis Wayne Newton defeated Charlie Corner in 9:59 by submission with a STF after blatantly cheating. Rating: 55 DWN back to his old winning ways. And does it by cheating as poor Charlie loses heading towards the big show. He’s likely be defending the COTT World Six-Man titles with CRC, but still. Loses were a big deal for his character. TAG TEAM MATCH: Brutus Milano & Fro Sure vs. The Chop Shop In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, The Chop Shop defeated Brutus Milano and Fro Sure in 9:33 when Eric Mortenson pinned Brutus Milano while using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 54 Finally The Chop Shop get a big win. I was maybe a bit bitter about Fro Sure leaving months ago. SINGLES MATCH: American Machine vs. Andrew Harper In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, American Machine defeated Andrew Harper in 6:02 by pinfall with an Old Glory. Rating: 58 American Machine was barely able to move here and it made me sad. He got the win, but the match was entirely because of the hard work of Andrew Harper. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Cross River Connection vs. The Fantastic Express © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, The Fantastic Express defeated Cross River Connection in 10:25 when Zippy Deverell pinned Prime Time Jack Pryde, illegally using the ropes for leverage. The Fantastic Express make defence number one of the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 60 CRC take the loss in their chance to become double champions. This was the last match-up between these two teams for a while and it was a good one. But plans for them both were becoming clearer with each match. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Danny Hagman vs. Greg Black © In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Danny Hagman defeated Greg Black in 21:47 by submission with a Steel Curtain. Danny Hagman wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 59 We finally right the wrong from months ago as Hagman steps back into the title picture in time for the big show and his grudge match with DWN. This was a good match. GANG WARS MATCH: Angry Gilmore & The LA Stars vs. Riley McManus, Thom Barrowman & Richie Riggins In an exceptional match, Riley McManus, Thom Barrowman and Richie Riggins defeated Angry Gilmore and The LA Stars in 22:48 when Riley McManus pinned Angry Gilmore with a Slingshot Suplex after Fern Hathaway interfered. Rating: 67 Moving the LA Stars towards the main event and they brought it. The heel team get the big win, but the fact our former tag team champions can hang in this sort of match was hugely positive. OVERALL RATING: 66 Good show, but we’re still hovering around the same place. 96,292 viewers and one show to go to wrap up the build. NYCW Old School Wrestling Sunday, Week 2, November 2022 McGraw Arena, New York City, New York Attendance: 9,577 FATAL FOURWAY: Animal Harker vs. Brutus Milano vs. Fro Sure vs. Greg Black In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Fro Sure defeated Animal Harker, Brutus Milano and Greg Black in 10:17 when Fro Sure pinned Animal Harker with a Sure Thing. Rating: 55 A rare multi-man singles match and one to get Fro Sure back on the winning route. COTT WORLD SIX-MAN TITLE MATCH: Honest Enterprises vs. Charlie Corner & Cross River Connection © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Charlie Corner and Cross River Connection defeated Honest Enterprises (Andrew Harper, The Masked Mauler and Magnum Kobe) in 9:53 when Charlie Corner pinned Magnum Kobe while using the ropes for leverage. Charlie Corner and Cross River Connection make defence number eight of the COTT World Six-Man. Rating: 59 Larry had insisted that I should change the planned booking for the big show and wouldn’t explain why. But I’d learnt to trust the old man, especially when it came to things like this. So we moved the title defense up to the build-up show and kept the titles on the champs. SINGLES MATCH: American Machine vs. Eric Mortenson In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, American Machine defeated Eric Mortenson in 5:35 by pinfall with an Old Glory. Rating: 52 Potentially one last win for the former champion who set us on the path to success we were now on. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Sal DiMeo vs. Danny Hagman © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Danny Hagman defeated Sal DiMeo in 9:49 by pinfall with a Missing Piece. Danny Hagman makes defence number one of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 55 The Chop Shop were a useful team, because no one expected them to win and we could always split them up like tonight… and have them lose too. GANG BATTLE MATCH: The LA Stars & The Biggins Boys vs. Thom Barrowman, Richie Riggins & The Fantastic Express In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, The LA Stars and Quadruple B drew with Thom Barrowman, Richie Riggins and The Fantastic Express in 22:09 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. Rating: 68 A great match and a good old fashioned schmozz finish before the big show. All of these guys had important futures in our company and I couldn’t be happier. SINGLES MATCH: Freedom Eagle vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Riley McManus defeated Freedom Eagle in 22:52 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Rating: 58 One last clean win for the challenger. NYCW EMPIRE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Denny King vs. Angry Gilmore © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Angry Gilmore defeated Denny King in 21:49 by pinfall with a Sky High Elbow. Angry Gilmore makes defence number eleven of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 61 And one last clean win for the champion. OVERALL RATING: 61 94,602 viewers is about where we expected for this one. After the show Larry told me that the COTT United States Title was won by Topher Smith in ACPW, who I’d never heard of, but was a good worker. We gave Sweet Sal a pay rise ($600) and watched the highlights of Steve Frehley winning the USPW World Title and Marc Speed winning the King of Kings tournament. As November ended, we checked our finances and we’d made $168,416 profit. And with that, our eyes turned forward. NYCW New York City Showdown 2022 NYCW Empire Heavyweight: Riley McManus vs. Angry Gilmore © COTT World: Thom Barrowman vs. Aldous Blackfriar © The LA Stars vs. Honest Enterprises (Andrew Harper & Magnum Kobe) NYCW Tri-State Regional: Davis Wayne Newton vs. Danny Hagman © American Machine vs. Richie Riggins NYCW Tag Team Titles: The Biggins Boys vs. The Fantastic Express © Brutus Milano vs. Greg Black COTT World Six-Man Titles: The United (Jack Marlowe, Xavier Wreckless & ZomBoy) vs. Charlie Corner & Cross River Connection © Fro Sure vs. The Masked Mauler Animal Harker & Freedom Eagle vs. The Chop Shop Spike Sylvain vs. Honest Frank Jr Next time… New York City Showdown 2022 and a bonus show for Christmas…

New York City… where we play a game of thrones… NYCW King of New York 2022 Sunday, Week 4, October 2022 Weston College Amphitheatre, New York City, New York Attendance: 9,000 KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Danny Hagman vs. Davis Wayne Newton In a good match, Danny Hagman defeated Davis Wayne Newton in 7:38 by disqualification. Rating: 57 We kick-off with these two beating each other senseless, but Hagman getting the edge, causing DWN to go low. He thought the ref was out, but got caught out and DQ’s, much to his annoyance. KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. Thom Barrowman In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Thom Barrowman defeated Brutus Milano in 8:21 by pinfall with a Guided Missile. Rating: 54 The former king loses to the potential future king in a decent little match. There’s only so much Barrowman can do in a one-on-one and the right man goes through. KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Bart Biggins vs. Richie Riggins In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bart Biggins defeated Richie Riggins in 7:33 by pinfall with a B-Dropper. Rating: 61 A clean win for Bart puts pay to the incredible streak Richie has been on all year. A great match, but a result that can definitely be classed as an upset. KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: American Machine vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Riley McManus defeated American Machine in 6:20 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Rating: 63 We kept this short for the sake of American Machine’s heart. But in a rematch of last year’s final and my-oh-my how things have changed. Machine is slower and less focused; McManus looks like a completely different competitor. Chiselled, hungry and with controlled aggression. This was a fantastic short match which encapsulated their long-running feud. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Fantastic Express vs. The LA Stars © In an exceptional match, The Fantastic Express defeated The LA Stars in 10:28 when Zippy Deverell pinned LA Star #1 after using a foreign object. The Fantastic Express win the NYCW Tag Team. Rating: 75 And there it is. The best match in our history once again. These two teams have been on a tear for months and this is the final full stop. What an astounding match and yet another one with a tainted finish. Not that The Fantastic Express will care as they finally climb the mountain and complete a journey that started almost a year ago. NYCW EMPIRE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Andrew Harper vs. Angry Gilmore © In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Angry Gilmore defeated Andrew Harper in 10:15 by pinfall with an Anger Management. Angry Gilmore makes defence number ten of the NYCW Empire Heavyweight. Rating: 61 Angry Gilmore continues giving title shots to competitors who might always get one. Harper shows that he’s still got it in terms of talent and popularity. But Gilmore is on a role and heading straight into the main event of New York City Showdown (barring any nasty surprises). KONY SEMI FINAL MATCH: Danny Hagman vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Riley McManus defeated Danny Hagman in 7:43 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex following interference from Davis Wayne Newton. Rating: 55 McManus spoke about luck and then got the biggest stroke of luck as DWN returns to cost his enemy a shot at the crown. This was a solid little match, but was too short to properly get going. The important thing for Riley and Fern is that they’re into the finals for the second year running. KONY SEMI FINAL MATCH: Bart Biggins vs. Thom Barrowman In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bart Biggins defeated Thom Barrowman in 10:02 by pinfall with a B-Dropper. Rating: 58 And the fairytale run continues in an amazing underdog victory for Biggins. Thom Barrowman, the former champion and the perennial main event star loses clean in the biggest match he’s had since his abomination of a title shot against Gilmore. Biggins however came into this event as a B+ player and is now on the verge of main event stardom. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Fro Sure vs. Greg Black © In a good match, Greg Black defeated Fro Sure in 10:08 by pinfall with a Fade To Black. Greg Black makes defence number three of the NYCW Tri-State Regional. Rating: 55 The accidental title win has now extended for another month as Greg Black desperately tries to create a name for himself as champion like so many before him. This match was fine, but didn’t blow anyone away. TAG TEAM MATCH: Honest Enterprises vs. Cross River Connection In a good match, Cross River Connection defeated Magnum Kobe and The Masked Mauler in 10:07 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Magnum Kobe with a handful of tights. Rating: 58 A smidge of revenge for the CRC as they beat the Enterprise and re-establish themselves as a team to watch. KING OF NEW YORK TITLE MATCH: Bart Biggins vs. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Riley McManus defeated Bart Biggins in 23:19 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. Riley McManus wins the NYCW King Of New York. Rating: 62 Despite having the crowd against him and riding his luck to reach the finals, The Georgia Bulldog finally gets the big win he needed and is now heading into New York City Showdown as the challenger for the title he believes he should’ve won a year ago. ANGLE: After the match, Biggins is lapping up the respectful applause of the crowd and Riley loses his temper. They should be cheering him, so he attacks and along with Fern beats Bart to the ground. Bart’s music (Jump by Van Halen) starts playing and from the entrance, running to save Bart is… Brett Biggins. Having chased off the Bulldog, The Biggins Boys celebrate to the crowd. Rating: 69 Booyah. OVERALL RATING: 62 96,605 viewers watched the big show and the surprise debut of Brett Biggins as our already awesome tag team ranks swell further with one of the more well-known teams of the last fifteen years. Results: KyTeran - 8/11 Theheel - 7/11 Herrbear - 2/11 Next time… the build to Showdown continues…

Questions I could do with help with from people who no doubt know better? 1. Is the only way to lose the 'Match deserved better colour commentary/announcing' note, can it only go away with people with 100 rating in those skills? 2. What's better East Coast Today (Medium in 4 key ares) or OnDem (Small everywhere)? 3. At what level can I start to see individual wrestlers merchandise results?

I've just realised I've put two Gilmore matches in there. It's just the one match against Andrew Harper. Not Magnum.

It's easy when you get into the flow. You shoudl try it, this type can be really satisfying. Well you've got at least another year coming up. Plus I'm still very much enjoying it and have the time, so I'll keep it rolling. Just maybe less 'big dump of text in one go' type. But thank you for the kind words.

Understood. My problem is free-time is limited and I'm so far ahead with write-ups (December 2023) that I thought I'd dump some in this week to try and keep it within manageable bounds, also never sure how many are actually reading. But I plan to change the formatting heading into 2024, so that'll slow things back down. Until then, I'll limit it to a post a day barring any crazy changes.