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Welcome to New York… Where saying goodbye is such sweet sorrow… It’s true, Richie Riggins was leaving NYCW once he’d served his one month’s notice. Terrible news. But could be worse and we wondered if we’d be punished for making fun of the whole process. Weirdest part was he didn’t have another job to go to. He just didn’t want to be here. NYCW Welcome to New York Sunday, Week 2, September, 2020 The Ministry, Queens, New York Attendance: 1,000 (SOLD OUT) SINGLES MATCH: Hawkeye vs. Nelson Callum In a decent match, Nelson Callum defeated Hawkeye in 10:25 by disqualification. Rating: 61 Well hello our first singles great chemistry note. My oh my, how can we possibly exploit this for all it’s worth? Hawkeye has all the tools as a singles star too. Interesting. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Animal Harker vs. Bradley Blaze © In a decent match, Bradley Blaze defeated Animal Harker in 9:55 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Bradley Blaze makes defence number two of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 47 Blaze begins his first defense as Tennessee tried his best to get all the gold for the Southern Superstars. But Animal doesn’t have what it takes to beat the Dirty Cowboy. And we get out second singles chemistry not and this time they’re ‘pretty good.’ Perhaps we simply have had too many tag team matches to date. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Valedictorians vs. Generation Wrecked © In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, Generation Wrecked defeated The Valedictorians in 12:28 when Marco Gonzalez pinned Perfect Parker Pelton with a DAVEs of Thunder Drop after Honest Frank interfered. Generation Wrecked make defence number one of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 32 And so the Valeys finally get their title shot, but can’t make it count. The feud has legs, but for now, they take the loss like heroes. And in the process Parker Pelton cracked his tailbone. Dammit! ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine comes out to a smattering of cheers. But he quickly dispels them by saying that last week he owed Youngman a save from some history they’ve got. But they’re square now and this week he’s facing some nobody from the West Coast. Rating: 55 SINGLES MATCH: Fro Sure vs. Logan Wolfsbaine In a bout that had decent wrestling but didn't have much heat, Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Fro Sure in 11:55 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex. Rating: 50 Fro Sure is still settling in, so Logan gets the W. But these two did pretty well. Still need to think of a storyline for Fro Sure and Papa Swoll. ANGLE: Tennessee William is out to complain about Larry Vessey setting up tonight’s main event. But it’s fine, because the King overcomes all the odds. Rating: 68 NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Riley McManus vs. Tennessee William © In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Tennessee William defeated Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus in 23:35 when Tennessee William pinned Riley McManus while using the ropes for leverage. Tennessee William makes defence number twelve of the NYCW Empire title. Rating: 64 So while the match was one of better ones, Riley was completely out of his depth with these two, which is a real shame. But he’s had his moment, but it was likely we’d move him on to new things. Angle: After the match Youngman and McManus beatdown the champ viciously. Months of built-up frustration have lead to this and oddly; the Southern Superstars are nowhere to be seen. Rating: 55 Hey, what can I say? Sometimes the champ has to take his licks like a man. OVERALL RATING: 58 82,106 viewers. It was awesome how we were rising and even Parker’s injury would only last a month and he could, technically work through it. Although we’d have to keep an eye on that. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… We bring back a classic gimmick from the summer…

Welcome to New York… Where Fat Elvis rules supreme… With only one active referee on the books, we decide to headhunt Francis Long, the former head referee of CGC. He was awesome, for a ref. In August we’d accumulated an impressive $33,693 in profits which took us over the $40,000 starting balance and hopefully turned around Larry’s fury at us. With that in mind it was time to start working on the production side again, only this time we’d do it bit at a time. Based on our current schedule: To increase our production values to ‘Professional’ would set us back $12,000 a month. Live Event Experience up to ‘Small’ would cost us $10,000 a month. Broadcast quality up to ‘In House’ would cost us a cool $20,000 a month. Music up to ‘Minor Licensed’ would result in an extra $15,00 a month. So we opted to first increase our Broadcast Quality at the cost of $10,000 on the understanding that we were running at least 3 shows a month and therefore were forking out the same amount as In House costs monthly. Then we’d actually pay people to help with the live show. And finally we’d make a decision next month if we could increase anything else. Larry gave me the stink-eye when I suggested it, but I changed the subject onto Wild Red Stallion quickly. We then changed the subject on me too and told me that TCW had raided us. I looked shocked. “They’ve taken Michael Bull.” Well, it could be worse. At least we had a referee ready to take his place already. Life is weird sometimes. He went on to say his nephew, one; Cameron Vessey had left Canada and signed a written contract with SWF. That, I believe, counts as a major move. We’d keep an eye on that as time moved on. Before the show, Larry called BRUTUS MILANO before the wrestlers court and ordered him to buy drinks for the boys. Oh Brutus, how does that feel? NYCW Old School Wrestling Sunday, Week 1, September, 2020 The Ministry, Queens, New York Attendance: 978 ANGLE: The Southern Superstars are out without Animal Harker (working elsewhere). Tonight William is fighting against McManus and Youngman and needs a partner. He likes the look of this Callum guy, but you can’t go wrong with Logan Wolfsbaine. Decisions, decisions. Rating: 66 TAG TEAM MATCH: Fro Sure & Papa Swoll vs. The Outriders In a terrible match, The Outriders defeated Fro Sure and Papa Swoll in 9:35 when Zippy Deverell pinned Papa Swoll while using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 35 Wanted more exposure for the new guys, but needed more victories for the slow-climbing Outriders. Job done. ANGLE: The DiMeo Family are out and looking for a fun time. Because what is family without a good fight to get it all out their system. He poses that as a question to Dreadnought who slowly puts a thumb up. Rating: 43 EIGHT-MAN TAG MATCH: Brooklyn Wrecking Crew & The Valedictorians vs. The DiMeo Family In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew and The Valedictorians defeated Sal DiMeo, Dreadnought and Generation Wrecked in 10:10 when Perfect Parker Pelton pinned Marco Gonzalez with a Fisherman's Suplex. Rating: 31 A throwback to the DiMeo family’s past and a look ahead to their new conquest. Lots going on here, but good to give the nod to the faces to make Parker and Gregg true threats ahead of their tag title shot. But Eagle and Dreadnought were off their game. Oof. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Logan Wolfsbaine vs. Bradley Blaze © In a decent match, Bradley Blaze defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 11:37 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop following botched interference by Tennessee William. Bradley Blaze makes defence number one of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 49 Well, well, well. Logan didn’t get the win back because of Tennessee who was only trying to help but failed. Oh dear, oh dear. ANGLE: Tennessee William apologises profusely, but Wolfsbaine looks angry. Like he might snap. But he’s able to control himself. William asks if he’ll join him tonight and Wolfsbaine just walks away. Callum it is, William adds. Rating: 69 TAG TEAM MATCH: Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus vs. Tennessee William and Nelson Callum In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus drew with Tennessee William and Nelson Callum in 23:44 following a double disqualification. Rating: 61 A misstep from the Superstars, but not a fatal one. And a misstep from me as Callum and William have zero chemistry. ANGLE: The Southern Superstars and Callum are beating down Youngman and McManus when Logan Wolfsbaine clears the ring of them all, including McManus until just he and Youngman remain. He helps Youngman up and… nods at him before leaving. Rating: 51 WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Tune in next week to find out. OVERALL RATING: 56 78,221 in viewership as we continue to climb up. Running multiple shows is risky, but my word is it paying off as we try to become a viable underground alternative to the big guys. And then we received some truly staggering, heartbreaking news. The sort of thing that can destroy a fledgling revolution in a wrestling company. We were losing someone. Michael Bull was bad enough, but now we were losing… Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Where do we go from here…

Welcome to New York… Where being Larry Vessey’s protégé is not always good news… We went to talk to Larry about it, but walked in on him and Wild Red Stallion have a private training session. It seems he’d moved on from Brutus Milano and now the Lakota Indian was his protégé. Dammit. NYCW Titans of Wrestling 8: McManus’ Last Shot Sunday, Week 3, August, 2020 The Ministry, Queens, New York Attendance: 1,000 (SOLD OUT) 15-MAN BATTLE ROYAL: In a terrible match, Dreadnought won a battle royal in 9:57. The other members of the 'final four' were Sal DiMeo, Denny King and Cobra, with Sal DiMeo being the final elimination. Denny King got the most eliminations over the course of the match. Rating: 38 ANGLE: After the battle royal, Dreadnought is still fired up and Sweet Sal orders him to attack the new kids from the West Coast. Doing as he’s told he destroys Fro Sure and Papa Swoll. Rating: 19 It’s a right of passage here in NYCW to be destroyed by Dreadnought. Welcome to the team Fro Sure and Papa Swoll. Crowd didn’t really care though. It’s too soon. TAG TEAM TURMOIL: The Heartbreak Express vs. The Outriders vs. The Valedictorians vs. The Young Jets In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, The Valedictorians defeated The Heartbreak Express, The Outriders and The Young Jets in 10:30; the order of elimination was The Heartbreak Express first, then The Young Jets, and finally The Outriders. Rating: 36 Technically a number one contenders match that sees The Valedictorians, whose luck hasn’t been in, thrust themselves back into the conversation for the tag titles. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Logan Wolfsbaine © In a decent match, Bradley Blaze defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 9:46 by pinfall after using a cow bell. Bradley Blaze wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 44 That’s right, it was time to pull the trigger. It serves the double purpose of being a great match, getting Blaze the ‘big win’ he so desperately needed, and frees up Logan for, hopefully, bigger things. ANGLE: Sweet Sal and Dreadnought are out to run down their old enemies the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew. Tonight, Generation Wrecked reclaim their rightful place atop the mountain of NYCW. Rating: 44 Need to get Sal more involved. The Family have taken something of a backseat recently due to injury and circumstance, but they are still the stable of the company. Time to remind everyone why. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: Generation Wrecked vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew © In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Generation Wrecked defeated Brooklyn Wrecking Crew in 12:05 when Marco Gonzalez submitted Eagle with a Latino Crab after interference from Dreadnought. Generation Wrecked win the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 46 That’s right, we set things back a few months with the second generation stars finally getting what the props they deserve. It also opens up the tag team ranks a little bit. ANGLE: Tennessee William is out to talk about Riley McManus. The kid had his shot, and he failed. As good old Tennessee knew he would. But being the ‘fightin champ’ he is, he’s willing to give him one last shot at Beryl. But he also feels bad for his main man Animal who has been sidelined of late. So tonight we’ll have a triple threat match for the gold. Rating: 69 Nothing like stacking the deck in you favour and making it appear like generosity. NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Riley McManus vs. Animal Harker vs. Tennessee William © In a decent match, Riley McManus drew with Animal Harker and Tennessee William in 12:00 when the referee was forced to rule a no contest when all hell broke loose. Rating: 58 He had to give Riley some kind of rub, so a draw was the perfect result. Nobody looks weak and it helps us tell stories leading into the King of New York tournament sometime next month. ANGLE: Ernest Youngman has the mic, he laughs that Tennessee couldn’t beat Riley even with the deck stacked in his favour. But tonight is the rubber match between him and that loser Nelson Callum. Winner gets a shot at the champ and he’s not about to let that pass him by. After all, he’s The Second City Saint. Rating: 65 New nickname for Ernest as we makes his way back into the main event. SINGLES MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Nelson Callum In a bout that had great wrestling and good heat, Ernest Youngman drew with Nelson Callum in 23:33 following a double disqualification. Rating: 61 Boom. Main event in turmoil with no proper challenger and draws happening all the time. But my word are the matches solid gold. ANGLE: Tennessee William attacks Ernest after the bell with the help of Nelson Callum, but Riley McManus makes the save. Rating: 60 HEAT! OVERALL RATING: 54 Hawkeye thinks Parker Pelton is a future star, Michael Bull is fired by FREEDOM and our show did a viewership of 73,314. So good-ish news all round. Riley McManus asked for a payrise, but only of $40, so we said yes quicker than normal. Over in USPW Steve Frehley won the USPW World Title against Rich Money. It’s a pretty big deal I’m told. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Shaking up the main event scene in the most obvious way possible…

Welcome to New York… Where we’re still standing… Right so stripping things back to basics has left us with a profit of $12,285 in the month of July. Which is great. Moving to The Ministry helped us massively, as did running a reduced roster show. With that in mind we’d look to increase the smaller shows and keeping Titans of Wrestling as our monthly showcase. So other than NYCW Old School Wrestling, we’d add Welcome to New York in week 2. This would give us three events a month and four in the months when we had a big event. Depending on our finances at the end of the month we’d then make more changes. One day we were sure it would all work out. Aside from this our next big push would be towards The King of New York tournament and on to Empire City Showdown I. But for August and the early part of September we’d tie up some smaller bubbling stories and basically hold the line. Around the wrestling world; Nathan Coleman, Rhino Umaga, John Greed, Karen Bilous and Java all retired, Rich & Famous won the PSW tag team titles and they had also teamed Ernest Youngman with Logan Wolfsbaine as The Steel Circle tag team. And frankly, that was a great name and obviously fantastic team. But we weren’t ready to turn Youngman heel as we needed top babyfaces outside of Riley McManus and Logan was too good as The Glorious One heel. Annoying. Eagle and Bradley Blaze requested pay rises and they were both great workers and so got what they required. At this point the small increases were hardly going to cripple us. Although I’ve definitely said that before and been wrong. It was also time for a bit of roster churn. We had a good idea about who was good and who wasn’t, so we’d like to branch out and get some fresh blood in ready for the King of New York. Before Old School Wrestling we noticed Wild Red Stallion bought pizza for everyone backstage and one of our new signings was taken before wrestlers court for making a mess. Hardly a sterling start, but everyone thought it was funny. NYCW Old School Wrestling Sunday, Week 1, August, 2020 The Ministry, Queens, New York Attendance: 978 NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Logan Wolfsbaine © In a decent match, Bradley Blaze drew with Logan Wolfsbaine in 11:50 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. Rating: 48 A nice brawl between two of our finest performers as we realise Blaze has been spinning his wheels and it was time to step up. ANGLE: Ernest Youngman is in the ring awaiting the arrival of his opponent when Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar blares over the speakers. And to the surprise and delight of the crowd out walks Nelson Callum with a huge grin on his face. He flips off the front row as he struts to the ring. Rating: 66 Now that’s an entrance. Nelson Callum comes highly regarded and his gimmick is Legendary off the bat. And judging by that rating he’s going to be a star. Let’s see if he can hold his own against NYCW’s Gatekeeper of talent. SINGLES MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Nelson Callum In a good match, Nelson Callum defeated Ernest Youngman in 12:23 by disqualification. Rating: 59 Yup. Callum is an instant star. Boom. ANGLE: With the match lost after his assault, Callum shrugs and continues to destroy Youngman and leaves to the boos of the crowd, grinning all the way. Rating: 56 He’s a wildcard for sure. This is going to give us plenty of leeway in the future as I see him more like our version of Hot Rod. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Outriders vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew © In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Outriders defeated Brooklyn Wrecking Crew in 11:53 when Hawkeye was disqualified while fighting Zippy Deverell. Rating: 45 We wanted to give The Outriders some semblance of a chance against our top team, so a DQ win worked perfectly as we try to build up the energy between the two. ANGLE: Tennessee William is out. Firstly he welcomes Nelson Callum to NYCW and congratulates him on putting the boot into Ernest Youngman. “He’s the best stepping stone to get to the top kid.” Then he turns his sights to tonight’s main event. Riley McManus is getting his shot, but remember “When you shoot for the king, you better make sure you hit.” Rating: 70 Hah, awesome. NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Riley McManus vs. Tennessee William © In a decent match, Riley McManus defeated Tennessee William in 22:02 when Tennessee William was disqualified when Animal Harker ran in and attacked Riley McManus. Rating: 61 Woah! What a main event. Way to go Riley as he repays our faith in him with a star-making performance. I had intended on breezing through this mini-feud in a month, but after that it might be worth extended it a bit. ANGLE: With the Southern Stars beating down McManus for daring to challenge The King, Denny King surprises everyone by running down to chase them off. Rating: 50 That’s right. With Callum joining we had way too many heels, so Denny would join the light side for the time being. OVERALL RATING: 55 Big jump in viewership as our shows increase in quality and heat. 67,764 tuned in this time, which should hopefully repay the faith WrestleWorld has in signing that big contract. Texas Hangman asked for a pay rise, and once again we agreed. No point irritating our quality wrestlers over such small amounts. NYCW Welcome to New York Sunday, Week 2, August, 2020 The Ministry, Queens, New York Attendance: 978 ANGLE: Mask Off by Future rings out through The Ministry and two new faces head to the ring. Fro Sure and Papa Swoll are here! Rating: 35 The newcomers both have ‘great’ gimmicks. We wanted some of that West Coast flavour and these two looked like the best options available being that they were young and obviously talented. Time to move them to East Coast and let them settle in. Super start from the Boys from the West Side. CoTT WORLD TAG TITLE MATCH: Fro Sure and Papa Swoll vs. Generation Wrecked © In a bout that had terrible wrestling and non-existent crowd heat, Generation Wrecked defeated Fro Sure and Papa Swoll in 11:35 when James Diaz pinned Papa Swoll after using a foreign object. Generation Wrecked make defence number two of the COTT World Tag Team titles. Rating: 29 This was more about getting the crowd used to Sure and Swoll, but I kept them strong throughout and it ended with some good old fashioned cheating. Hopefully as they became better known the ratings would go up. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Young Jets vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated The Young Jets in 10:25 when Eagle pinned Charlie Corner with a Brooklyn Bridger. During the match we also saw Texas Hangman run in and attack Eagle, and Zippy Deverell also attack Hawkeye. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew make defence number six of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 41 Needed to get the Wrecking Crew on the card, but didn’t want them to face The Outriders again. So Jets were the perfect option. SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Davis Wayne Newton In a bout that had sub-par wrestling and little heat, Davis Wayne Newton defeated Bradley Blaze in 10:30 by disqualification after Logan Wolfsbaine attacked. Rating: 36 A solid starting win for DWN, and Logan costing Blaze the match edged their story forward beautifully. ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine grabs a microphone after beating down Blaze. “You see what happens cowboy? Don’t mess with the Glorious One. Now I need an opponent. Get someone out here who I can batter. Rating: 50 Oh my. He can talk too. Time to let him off the chain a bit I think. NYCW TRI STATE TITLE MATCH: Denny King vs. Logan Wolfsbaine © In a decent match, Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Denny King in 11:48 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex. Logan Wolfsbaine makes defence number five of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 49 King immediately steps in as jobber to the stars. He’s good enough to fill that roll without being good enough to push. SINGLES MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Nelson Callum In a good match, Ernest Youngman drew with Nelson Callum in 11:33 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. Rating: 63 Even better than last time. The return match continues the trend of quality matches with screwy finishes. It feels odd not having Ernest in the main event, but it was only for a few shows. ANGLE: Tennessee William is out with the rest of the Southern Superstars. He’s got to give it to McManus, he’s tougher to flush than the toilet after Ernest has been. But never let it be said he’s not a gracious King, so he should strap on his big boy boots and come get some. Rating: 69 NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Riley McManus vs. Tennessee William © In a decent match, Tennessee William defeated Riley McManus in 24:46 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad after Zippy Deverell interfered. Tennessee William makes defence number ten of the NYCW Empire title. Rating: 53 OVERALL RATING: 47 63,563 viewers on that show and Ernest Youngman is of the belief that Bradley Blaze is a star in the making. He had to agree with the big man. We heard through the grapevine that Dazzling Dave Diamond broke his leg. And by grapevine we mean Larry Vessey laughing his head off at The Ministry. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Larry finds a new favourite…

Welcome to New York... Summer, summer, summer ti-ime... NYCW Summer in the City 2020 Sunday, Week 4, July, 2020 The Ministry!?! Queens, New York Attendance: 902 STOMPER CLASSIC SEMIS: The Young Jets vs. The Southern Stars In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Southern Stars defeated The Young Jets in 10:28 when Tennessee William pinned Charlie Corner with a Texas Meat-Grinder. Rating: 48 Now that’s how you kick off a show. Is there anything Tennessee can’t do? 10-MAN BATTLE ROYAL: In a terrible match, Dreadnought won a battle royal in 10:18. The other members of the 'final four' were Brutus Milano, Ralph Liotta and Johnny Needham, with Brutus Milano being the final elimination. Johnny Needham got the most eliminations over the course of the match. Rating: 31 Get everyone on the card Battle Royal with Dreadnought winning. It’s a staple of what we do. ANGLE: Following the battle royal a dazed and confused Brutus Milano walks into a celebrating Dreadnought who destroys him for fun. Rating: 21 Because beating up Brutus is also what we do. FATAL FOURWAY MATCH: Cobra vs. Denny King. Jack Pryde vs. Bradley Blaze In a terrible match, Bradley Blaze defeated Cobra, Denny King and Prime Time Jack Pryde in 7:58 when Bradley Blaze pinned Prime Time Jack Pryde with a Dallas Drop. Rating: 34 ANGLE: The Valedictorians are out with Parker on the mic. He flirts with women in the crowd and high-fives people in the front row. He’s here to celebrate with Gracious Geoff. They’ve been all over the country defending the CoTT World Tag Team Titles. They’re pretty sure there isn’t a team they haven’t beaten. The theme to the Godfather begins to play… and out come James Diaz and a returning Marco Gonzalez… Rating: 33 Heeeeeee’s baaaaaack! COTT WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Generation Wrecked vs. The Valedictorians © In a terrible match, Generation Wrecked defeated The Valedictorians in 11:55 when Marco Gonzalez pinned Gracious Geoff Borne with a DAVEs of Thunder Drop. Generation Wrecked win the COTT World Tag Team titles. Rating: 35 I was concerned the Valeys had won too many matches that some other company would have them lose. So I made the switch myself. Plus Generation Wrecked need to start building their momentum back up. STOMPER CLASSIC SEMIS: Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. The Outriders In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated The Outriders in 9:38 when Texas Hangman was counted out while fighting Eagle. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew make defence number three of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 44 Booyah! Now that’s a good result considering Brooklyn are carrying things from an overness POV. SINGLES MATCH: Riley McManus vs. Sal DiMeo In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Riley McManus defeated Sal DiMeo in 9:37 by pinfall after using a foreign object. Rating: 39 Important to keep one of the challengers hot. But sadly these two didn’t click. What a shame. NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Logan Wolfsbaine © In a decent match, Ernest Youngman drew with Logan Wolfsbaine in 12:43 following a double count out. Rating: 61 Truth is, I wanted a good match to fill some gaps and it turns out these two are so so good that they deliver an out-and-out classic. One of our top matches ever. This changed things somewhat. ANGLE: Tennessee William is out to congratulate Riley McManus on his victory and commiserate with Ernest about his draw. He then others them front row seats to watch The Southern Stars become the Stomper Classic champions and the NYCW Tag Team Champions. Rating: 67 STOMPER CLASSIC FINALS (NYCW Tag Team Titles): The Southern Stars vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew © In a decent match, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated The Southern Stars in 24:14 when Hawkeye pinned Animal Harker with a Brooklyn Bridger. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew make defence number four of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Eagle and Hawkeye win the The Stomper Invitational Classic. Rating: 54 Because sometimes the good guys should win. Southern Stars swallow the loss because they can afford it and we wanted to celebrate Brooklyn Wrecking Crew’s ascent to the top of the tag team mountain in style. ANGLE: The Southern Stars go berserk and start attacking the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew when Youngman and McManus leap the front row and dive in for the save. Rating: 50 OVERALL RATING: 48 It deserved higher, but we couldn’t afford to pay for the production costs so there we go. But I enjoyed it and the crowd seemed to too. 58,254 to be precise. We also managed to extend our contract with WrestleWorld by two years with an extra 5% of the profit coming our way. But the big question was, how were our finances and would further drastic action be needed?

Welcome to New York… Where we’re broke… Sooo, it turns out bumping up all the production costs had cost us dear. To the turn of around $43,393 for the month. This left us with £1,345 in the bank. Larry, after he’d calmed down told me to fix it. He also said that both he and I would be working for free until it was sorted, which seemed reasonable. We cut as many costs as possible in production and we’d have to look to increase revenue from tickets or using less workers per show. Longer matches seemed the answer. We’d also release Whistler. He was great, but expensive and we didn’t need him and Frank for the time being. We cut Old School Wrestling and decided that the next Titans show would only have the quarter-finals of the tournament on. We’d increase ticket costs and switch to our favourite venue in NYC; The Ministry. If I was going broke and losing my job, I was doing it in the best venue we could afford. NYCW Titans of Wrestling 6: Going for Broke Sunday, Week 3, July, 2020 The Ministry!?! Queens, New York Attendance: 862 STOMPER CLASSIC QUARTER: The Heartbreak Express vs. The Young Jets In a terrible match, The Young Jets defeated The Heartbreak Express in 12:04 when Austin Smooth submitted Ralph Liotta with a Smooth Hold. Rating: 35 Had to give the duke to the Jets. They needed it more and progress to the semi finals. STOMPER CLASSIC QUARTER: The Valedictorians vs. The Outriders In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, The Outriders defeated The Valedictorians in 11:42 when Perfect Parker Pelton was counted out while fighting Texas Hangman. Rating: 36 With the CoTT World Tag Team Titles on the line too. But it was a count out victory, thus protecting the champs but having the team with more momentum progressing. Simple booking for a financial difficult time. STOMPER CLASSIC QUARTER: Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. Wolfsbaine and Diaz In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated Logan Wolfsbaine and James Diaz in 11:50 when Hawkeye pinned Logan Wolfsbaine with a Brooklyn Bridger. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew make defence number two of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 44 That’s right, Logan Wolfsbaine has been pinned ladies and gentlemen. Sure it was in a tag match, but it remains significant. The Brooklyn Wrecking Crew continue to dominate as they rise. ANGLE: Tennessee William promises not only a victory, but that he’d pin that snot-nosed weasel kid McManus. Rating: 70 As reliable as my finances aren’t. STOMPER CLASSIC QUARTER: Youngman and McManus vs. The Southern Stars In a decent match, The Southern Stars defeated Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus in 21:51 when Animal Harker pinned Riley McManus, illegally using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 58 He lies, he cheats and he steals, but my word is Tennessee William the absolute MAN of this promotion. OVERALL RATING: 51 Lots of red notes and an apparent markdown because of how cheap we looked compared to rivals. But that was fine. It grew our popularity and hopefully our bank balance too. Our viewing figures held firm so we could roll into Summer in the City with something to prove. Then we got some good news and some bad news. The bad news… Arnie Plummer had decided enough was enough and he’d be moving on. Arnie Plummer our referee. Ok then. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Summer time and weather’s breezy…

Welcome to New York… Where even the bagels are expensive… With 30 wrestlers (Masked Mauler and Marco Gonzalez still injured) on our roster we opted for a ridiculous 32-man tag team tournament. To counter the lack of wrestlers; The Brooklyn Wrecking Crew and The Southern Stars would get a bye in the first round; one as Champions, the other by ‘luck’ of the draw. The brackets therefore, looked like this: The Southern Stars – BYE Youngman/McManus vs. Harper/Cobra Milano/Stranger vs. The Young Jets The Heartbreak Express vs. King/Riggins Blaze/Outlaw vs. The Outriders The Valedictorians vs. Sweet Sal/Dreadnought Stallion/Pryde vs. Wolfsbaine/Diaz Brooklyn Wrecking Crew – BYE We were ready to kick-off the tournament at the next Titans of Wrestling Show. As we awaited that day we heard that Man Mountain Cahill, another former NYCWer had hung up his boots too. Perfect Parker Pelton signed another one-night deal with OLLIE and was jobbed out. As was Tennessee William in FREEDOM. Was that shots fired? Would they dare? In other news Heidi Brooks passed away, DC Rayne also broke his jaw. Then over in CZCW they had Tennessee William go over Pablo Rodriguez and California Love Machine. Then they booked The Valedictorians to beat The Wild cats. What a time to be alive. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Tag Teams Take Centre Stage… Welcome to New York… Where Tag Team Rule the Roost… So judging by our growth and continued success Tennessee William requested a pay rise from the measly $30 we’d been giving him to $130. Tough to say no really as he’s our top drawer, double-champion and was still slightly irritated that we’d fired Ernie Turner. NYCW Titans of Wrestling 5: Tag Team Turmoil Sunday, Week 3, June, 2020 Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!) STOMPER CLASSIC ROUND 1: Wild Red Stallion/Jack Pryde vs. Logan Wolfsbaine/James Diaz In a terrible match, Logan Wolfsbaine and James Diaz defeated Wild Red Stallion and Prime Time Jack Pryde in 8:12 when James Diaz pinned Wild Red Stallion with an Asian Thumb Spike. Rating: 31 Well it’s not the start we were going for. But there we are. It is, what it is. STOMPER CLASSIC ROUND 1: The Valedictorians vs. The DiMeo Family (Sal and Dreadnought) In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, The Valedictorians defeated Sal DiMeo and Dreadnought in 8:11 when Perfect Parker Pelton pinned Sal DiMeo with a Summa Cum Laude. The Valedictorians make defence number two of the COTT World Tag Team titles. Rating: 36 Retained the titles and progress in the tournament. A good day for the Valeys. And Dreadnought seemed unsure about losing, but we made sure Sweet Sal took the pin. STOMPER CLASSIC ROUND 1: Brutus Milano/Masked Stranger vs. The Young Jets In a terrible match, The Young Jets defeated Brutus Milano and Masked Stranger in 10:12 when Austin Smooth submitted Brutus Milano with a Smooth Hold. Rating: 33 Clearly moving to small means the crowd expect better matches. This could well be a problem as our roster is so top heavy. Hmmm. STOMPER CLASSIC ROUND 1: Blaze and the Outlaw vs. The Outriders In a terrible match, The Outriders defeated Bradley Blaze and Outlaw Wes Revell in 10:28 when Zippy Deverell pinned Outlaw Wes Revell while using the ropes for leverage. Rating: 35 Yup, the fact we’re told all these matches are terrible, when they’re pretty good for us tells me that we have a touch of cognitive dissonance. Changes would need to be made. STOMPER CLASSIC ROUND 1: The Heartbreak Express vs. King and Riggins In a terrible match, The Heartbreak Express defeated Denny King and Richie Riggins in 8:30 when Ralph Liotta pinned Richie Riggins with The Score. Rating: 36 The constant reference to how terrible we are was starting to really get me down. SINGLES MATCH: Eagle vs. Animal Harker In a poor match, Animal Harker defeated Eagle in 8:25 by pinfall with a Stump Piledriver after Texas Hangman interfered. Rating: 42 Well it’s not terrible, so that’s a start. I’ve decided to test the Wrecking Crew in singles competition. To me this is a good start. ANGLE: Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus are out for their match, but they take some time to mock Fat Elvis and his nutcase girlfriend Harker. Rating: 58 STOMPER CLASSIC ROUND 1: Youngman & McManus vs. Harper & Cobra In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus defeated Andrew Harper and Cobra in 10:08 when Riley McManus pinned Cobra with a Slingshot Suplex. Rating: 50 That’s a 50 rating and the word on the internet is ‘decent reaction but sub-par wrestling.’ Good lord almighty, what was happening? ANGLE: Tennessee William is out with the rest of the Southern Superstars and his guitar; Cheryl. The Empire Title; Beryl. And The CoTT World Title; Errol. He thinks its adorable that Youngman is still chasing him when he’s shown he’s nothing but a choker. Back of the line for you Young Man. Rating: 70 Worth the extra $100 on his own. Look at that rating. EMPIRE & COTT WORLD TITLE MATCH: Hawkeye vs. Tennessee William © In a decent match, Tennessee William defeated Hawkeye in 11:51 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad after Zippy Deverell interfered. Tennessee William makes defence number six of the COTT World Heavyweight title. Tennessee William makes defence number eight of the NYCW Empire title. Rating: 58 A decent match. At last a decent match. Tennessee is far and away our best worker right now. He’s getting awesome matches out of everyone and I love him. OVERALL RATING: 56 Well that main event sure saved our backsides. And the tournament seemed to start well. Lots of juicy Quarter Finals matches ahead. June drew to a close and we checked out how we were doing. 58,303 viewers was a step in the right direction. I sat back in the broom cupboard with a coffee and had a quiet toast to myself. So our shows weren’t as good as they had been, we were rising and doing it fast. Life was good. Larry booted the door to cupboard open and threw a load of paper at me. “What’s up boss?” I asked tentatively. “What did I say to you?” he yelled. “What was the most important thing not to do?” “Errr.” “Don’t fall below $20k in the bank. Ever!” “How badly have we fallen?” I asked. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Oh dear…

Welcome to New York… Gearing up for our Old School Wrestling show, the quiet Johnny Needham made a mess backstage and Larry sentenced him to buying drinks for everyone after the show. Seemed fair. NYCW Old School Wrestling Friday, Week 1, June, 2020 Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!) ANGLE: Whistler is out to start the show and he’s here to talk about his friend, his former tag team partner and a Hall of Famer around here; The Stomper. Turns out Stomper and he had a dream about building this place from the ground up and look at it now. In honour of the man who used to run the show, NYCW is proud to announce the first Annual Stomper Invitational Classic Tag Team Tournament, which will start at the next Titans of Wrestling and will culminate at Summer in the City in July. So get your partners and get in training. Rating: 42 How could we resist? Summer in the City was a new show starting in July and The King of New York tournament was pushed back to October. OPENING GANG WARS MATCH: Masked Stranger, Wild Red Stallion & Brutus Milano vs. The DiMeo Family In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Sal DiMeo, James Diaz and Dreadnought defeated Masked Stranger, Wild Red Stallion and Brutus Milano in 9:41 when Dreadnought pinned Wild Red Stallion with a Dread Bomb. Rating: 32 Sometimes you just got to start a show with a simple match. The DiMeo Family are building towards a new story, so they get the win. Poor Brutus though; from Empire Champ to losing in the opener in 6 months. ANGLE: Tennesse William is out with Animal Harker. They taunt Ernest Youngman for his loss at Gang Wars, but are happy to give him a shot at redemption. If he can find a tag team partner, he can take on The Southern Stars later tonight. If they can win, they can have another shot at Beryl. Rating: 69 (nice!) TAG TEAM MATCH: King Cobra vs. The Valedictorians In a decent match, The Valedictorians defeated Cobra and Denny King in 8:09 when Perfect Parker Pelton pinned Cobra with a Summa Cum Laude. Rating: 36 OLLIE borrowed the CoTT World Tag Team Titles, but The Valedictorians chose to work with us. King Cobra have a cool name, but there’s no way we’re sacrificing one of our champs to them. At least not yet. ANGLE: After their victory, The Valedictorians are celebrating in the ring when the DiMeo Family strike, beating them down and motioning for the gold. Rating: 26 And a new story is born. Tired of feuding with Brooklyn Wrecking Crew who were moving onto bigger things, the DiMeo’s turn their sights to the CoTT Gold instead. Plus it’s tough with Marco still injured to have them in a top level feud. So they’d wait. FATAL FOURWAY MATCH: Andrew Harper vs. Bradley Blaze vs. Outlaw Wes Revell vs. Richie Riggins In a decent match, Bradley Blaze defeated Andrew Harper, Outlaw Wes Revell and Richie Riggins in 8:23 when Bradley Blaze pinned Richie Riggins with a Dallas Drop. Rating: 37 Once again we weren’t really sure what to do with Blaze for the time being, but we wanted him to be able to ‘come in hot’ on whatever story we choose. TAG TEAM MATCH: The Heartbreak Express vs. Texas Hangman and Zippy Deverell (The Outriders) In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Outriders defeated The Heartbreak Express in 9:51 when Texas Hangman pinned Johnny Needham with a Hangman's Noose following interference from Austin Smooth. During the match we also had Eagle run in and attack Hangman. Rating: 30 Well hello there. Turns out Hangman and Deverell had great chemistry, which was absolutely perfect for future plans. The Heartbreaks are currently churning ground with the Young Jets in a feud which is as cold as ice. Would it stop us running it? No. No it would not. ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine is out with the Tri-State Regional Title over his ‘glorious’ shoulder. He’s bored of having no competition and offers an open challenge. The challenge is answered by newcomer Prime Time Jack Pryde. Rating: 28 That’s right, Prime Time had all the tools to succeed. So we’d put him with Logan for the time being to help build up his popularity. NYCW TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE MATCH: Prime Time Jack Pryde vs. Logan Wolfsbaine © In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Prime Time Jack Pryde in 10:04 by submission with a Boston Crab after blatantly cheating. Logan Wolfsbaine makes defence number two of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 33 We wanted the rookie to have a great showing in defeat, thus keeping Logan strong but making it appear that Prime Time was on his level. Mission accomplished. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Young Jets vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew © In a decent match, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated The Young Jets in 9:54 when Eagle pinned Charlie Corner with a Brooklyn Bridger after Whistler interfered. During the match we also saw Ralph Liotta run in and attack Smooth, and Texas Hangman also attack Eagle. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew make defence number one of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Charlie Corner was the weak link, struggling to keep up with everyone else's in-ring performance. Rating: 40 Progressing multiple stories, establishing everything ready for the upcoming tournament and above all else; keep Brooklyn Wrecking Crew’s momentum as hot as possible. ANGLE: The Southern Stars are already in the ring. Ernest Youngman walks to the entrance with a mic. He’s found a tag team partner and together they’ll stop The Southern Stars before they get started. Come on down… Riley McManus. Rating: 50 That’s right. Now that he’s finished with Andrew Harper, we’d be moving McManus up to see what he can bring higher up the card. Turns out McManus needs a script. But my word was Youngman good at free-styling on the microphone. TAG TEAM MATCH: Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus vs. The Southern Stars In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus defeated The Southern Stars in 12:20 when Riley McManus pinned Tennessee William with a Slingshot Suplex. Animal Harker was the weak link, struggling to keep up with everyone else's in-ring performance. Rating: 55 Well would you look at that. White Hot Tennessee William is finally pinned and it’s by Riley McManus. Good work kid, now let’s see you do it in singles action. Shame that Harker was both off his game and worse than everyone else. But job done and we’d try and avoid that in future. ANGLE: Furious at their loss; The Southern Superstars deal a vicious beatdown to Ernest Youngman and Riley McManus. Rating: 40 OVERALL RATING: 55 SUCCESS! We have risen to REGIO… wait, small? We’ve risen *to* small. Huh. Did not know we were so tiny. Well it’s still success. Blimey, what was Larry doing before I arrived. Our viewership on Wrestleworld was 51,041. So pretty good too. So what did the step up to Small mean exactly? It seemed our production values were too low. So we’d need to invest in upping them, which sounded good, but expensive. So we moved up in all categories to: Production Values: Professional Live Event Experience: Medium Broadcast Quality: In House Music: Minor Licensed We’d also need a minimum of twenty workers on our roster. We had thirty so no problems there. Was I mad or was this an expense monthly cost. I’d have to sit down and calculate now. Fortunately I’d made the change after our first show, so we’d need to try and recoup potential losses and then make a decision. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Stomper Classic starts and we try not to go broke…

Welcome to New York... Where we settle vicious blood feuds in teams of three with stringent rules... Let's not stand on ceremony. NYCW GANG WARS 2020 Sunday, Week 4, May, 2020 Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!) ANGLE: Zippy Deverell is out with a microphone: “Alright, alright, alright. Seems to me, that it seems to be, that you can’t get anywhere around here unless you’re in a gang? Well Zip the Lip doesn’t need no gang, he don’t want no gang, he just wants to win. And let me tell, the winning starts here.” Rating: 46 SINGLES MATCH: Masked Stranger vs. Zippy Deverell In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Masked Stranger in 7:37 by pinfall with a Spinning Bulldog. Rating: 29 TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Andrew Harper vs. Brutus Milano vs. Texas Hangman In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Texas Hangman defeated Andrew Harper and Brutus Milano in 7:45 when Texas Hangman pinned Andrew Harper with a Choke Slam. Rating: 32 Texas Hangman gets himself a much needed victory against established stars. There’s something about this guy. Some kind of x-factor and I’d find it, even if it took me sacrificing others. COTT WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Valedictorians vs. The Foundation © In matching gold Letterman jackets, Gracious Geoff Borne and Perfect Parker Pelton head to the ring to take on the dominant Mexican team of The Foundation; the current reigning, defending CoTT World Tag Team Champions. In what was expected to be a relatively short match for the champions to retain, this turns into a ten minute brawl ending with a roll-up and a flash pin to give the newcomer team to NYCW the coveted straps. The shock is palpable beneath the masks of the former champions. Although where this leaves the status quo in the NYCW is up in the air as we now have two Tag Team Champions. Rating: 33 GANG WARS MATCH: Blaze, Outlaw and Stallion vs. Riggins, King and Cobra In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Bradley Blaze, Outlaw Wes Revell and Wild Red Stallion defeated Richie Riggins, Denny King and Cobra in 9:59 when Bradley Blaze pinned Cobra with a Dallas Drop. Rating: 34 In a classic filler match we put over the newcomers once again and wonder how far we could de-push the original NYCWers before they snapped. GANG WARS MATCH: Logan Wolsbaine & The Young Jets vs. Riley McManus & The Heartbreak Express In a decent match, Logan Wolfsbaine and The Young Jets defeated Riley McManus and The Heartbreak Express in 10:15 when Logan Wolfsbaine pinned Ralph Liotta with a Belly To Belly Suplex. Rating: 40 Actually difficult to decide who to give the victory to here, but I think an extended Wolfsbaine/McManus feud might be good for both men. ANGLE: Sal DiMeo is out with Honest Frank, James Diaz, Marco Gonzalez on crutches and the Monster Dreadnought. The leader of the DiMeo Family grabs a microphone and he looks fired up; “My fellow New Yorkers. Tonight we, the DiMeo Family take on the patriotic trio of the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew. Patriotic is a funny word ain’t it? Makes you think of bald eagles, old glory and warm apple pie. It’s funny though, cos just because you wrap yourself in the stars and stripes don’t make you more American than people like us. We’re every bit as American as the chumps we’re facing tonight and every bit as you bunch of canolis. Only difference is, we don’t brag about it, see? Like true Americans we work hard. We grift and save and when push comes to shove, we take what we want. Those three little piggies hurt my man Marco a few weeks ago, then they stole our titles and now they walking around like their true champions, when they ain’t. And you people cheer and applaud them. They make us sick. You make us sick. And tonight we fight back; not for you, or America or even New York. But for us. Cos at the end of the day, all that’s left standing when everything else falls, is family.” Rating: 43 I had heard through the grapevine that DiMeo can be tricky to handle backstage. I have found him nothing but a delight and he is now riding a wave of red hot momentum, despite the fact he’s lost his Tri-State Title. The injury to Gonzalez is a real irritation, but only a couple of months to go until he returns now. GANG WARS MATCH: Animal Harker & Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. The DiMeo Family (Sal DiMeo, Dreadnought and James Diaz) In a match which more than lives up to it’s billing, this most fiery encounter brings with it weeks of build-up and two of the hottest groups in NYCW (and Animal Harker). On the outside, old-time enemies Honest Frank and Whistler make their presence known leading to multiple showdowns between the two which pop the crowd. Dreadnought is dominant in following DiMeo’s orders. But the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew are more than up to the task. Power moves galore, with solid brawling keep the crowd firing and then the finish. With Dreadnought on the outside of the ring delivering a beatdown to Whistler and Hawkeye and Diaz brawling on the other side of the ring, DiMeo finds himself outnumbered by Eagle and Harker. The crowd are chanting for blood and Eagle does his familiar roar, normally followed by a spear. He charges across the ring, and is intercepted by Animal Harker who delivers an almighty lariat. The crowd are stunned. DiMeo is stunned too. Harker then scoops up his partner and delivers a Stump Piledriver. Dreadnought slides back into the ring and pins the destroyed Eagle for the 1-2-3. Rating: 37 Why Animal, why? ANGLE: With the match over, Animal Harker continues his vicious attack on Eagle. Hawkeye and Whistler try to get in to help, but they’re intercepted by the DiMeo Family who happily join in the attack themselves. Marco Gonzalez even delivers some stiff shots with his crutch. With their opponents downed, Sweet Sal approaches Animal Harker to congratulate him, but Harker shrugs him off, pushes him down and leaves the ring. DiMeo looks confused, but then stomps on Hawkeye a bit more to the sound of booing from the crowd. Rating: 31 Harker turns on his partners, but not to help the DiMeo Family it seems. INTRIGUE! NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Tennessee William © With the introductions finished, the two opponents square off against one another. Youngman is a seething ball of rage; William an odd see of calm in the face of his most potent challenger. The bell rings and they’re off. The action is back and forth with neither man giving an inch. For almost 20 minutes they trade power moves and vicious assaults which visible drain them both. Then the crescendo. With William giving it his all, Youngman takes it and uses his physical superiority to overwhelm the Empire Champion. With William wavering, Ernest Youngman lines him up for The Hit and plants him, making sure to hook both legs for the 1-2… Out of nowhere a small figure leaps onto the challenger, delivering a top rope elbow. Staggering to his feet, Youngman sees Zippy Deverell. He’s angry at the interference and moves towards the smaller foe, unaware that behind him are Texas Hangman and a returning Animal Harker. They jump Youngman and deliver a swift beatdown while referee Michael Bull calls for the bell and gives Youngman the victory by DQ. Rating: 59 ANGLE: After kicking Youngman out of the ring, Tennessee William grabs a microphone. “No time for a song tonight my little hound dogs. I’ve been watching for weeks, for months as team after team came through here. Old School Principals, The Ring Generals, The Boys from the Lumberjack Yard, The LA Masked Whose, the Brooklyn Whatevers, The Heartbreak Children, Generation Wrecked, or should that be Generation Wrecked-Their-Knee. And everyone talking about who the best team in New York history is. Quoting this and that, but you know what they never say? Do you know who they never mention? Us!” Tennessee William points at Animal Harker and himself. “The Southern Stars. The premiere team in NYCW history. And being overlooked, and disregarded; well it’s not nice is it? So we thought; why not get the band back together? So here we are. But if you want to be a success again after all this time, you can’t do the same thing. You’ve got to go bigger! So we saw these young kids, both from the South and they impressed us. Let me tell you; this kid Zippy, he’s so fast. Quicker than a hiccup. So fast he makes his opponents look like they’re running in molasses. And then there’s the big fella. Texas born and bred. A destroyer who calls himself the Hangman. Well he is perfect, a star in the making and who better to help him, and nurture him but us? And the four of us, well let me tell you, we’re going bigger than before. Not just the Southern Stars, but… The Southern Superstars. And y’all backstage, are on notice.” Rating: 47 OVERALL RATING: 55 Boom goes the dynamite. Our best show ever delivered our best ratings ever with a solid 53,147. The next day we learned that OLLIE had taken Tennessee William and the Valedictorians on loan. William beat Silver King in a barnstormer, while the Valeys teamed with Mr Lucha III to beat Amo Del Gato and the Freedom Family. Both matches were better than anything we’d ever put on. And that made me jealous. As the month drew to a close we realised we’d lost $2,223, which was fine. Larry was a little irritated with us for leaving him off a show, which was a complete oversight and finally, long-time NYCW old guard Land Mass had announced he was retiring. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… We have an idea for a big tournament…

Welcome to New York… Where we discover the extent of a torn meniscus… “11 months!! 11… months?” “I’m afraid so,” replied Doctor Eayragt. “But with surgery we could maybe get it down to 2 months. Or we could permanently cripple him.” I thought for a moment. “Do it!” Poor Mr Gonzalez. Surgery was normally a last resort, but he was one half of the tag team champions. Although we’d have to sort that out. At least his crippled backside could appear in angles. That was something at least. We’d have to look to change our long-term plans. Then a thought dawned on us. Was it a silly idea? Maybe. Would it stop us doing it? Almost certainly not. NYCW Titans of Wrestling 4: Road to Gang Wars 2020 Sunday, Week 3, May, 2020 Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!) OPENING SINGLES MATCH: Andrew Harper vs. Animal Harker Animal Harker defeated Andrew Harper in 8:22 by pinfall with a Stump Piledriver. Rating: 33 God bless Harker. He needed direction, and momentum. We weren’t sure what to do, but winning a match was a start. SINGLES MATCH: Outlaw Wes Revell vs. Dreadnought In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Outlaw Wes Revell in 5:32 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Rating: 28 I like Revell and can see a potential future team with Blaze on the horizon, but until that point he was fodder for the BEAST. SINGLES MATCH: Zippy Deverell vs. Masked Stranger In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Masked Stranger in 5:59 by pinfall with a Spinning Bulldog. Rating: 30 Young kid, good on the mic and apparently decent in the ring. What can we say, we love a cocky young punk. Stranger was as directionless as anyone, but while he continued to be a solid jobber we’d keep him around. COTT WORLD TAG TEAM QUALIFYING MATCH: The Heartbreak Express vs. The Valedictorians vs. The Young Jets vs. Wild Red Stallion & Cobra In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, The Valedictorians defeated The Heartbreak Express, The Young Jets and Wild Red Stallion and Cobra in 9:56; the order of elimination was Wild Red Stallion and Cobra first, then The Heartbreak Express, and finally The Young Jets. Rating: 29 That’s right, we were going to borrow a team from CoTT to test them out in our, already heavy tag division. We also thought it was time to elevate the Valedictorians from mere chatty jobbers to something more. It was a test for them at least and we’d see how they coped. ANGLE: The Valedictorians cut a promo hyping up their upcoming match with the CoTT World Tag Team Champions at Gang Wars. Rating: 22 Parker is ALWAYS gold on the mic. Borne less so, but he could be carried. SINGLES MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. Texas Hangman In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Texas Hangman defeated Brutus Milano in 6:08 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. Rating: 26 Anyone solid and decisive singles victory for a new guy. I’d been messing around for too long with too many talented workers and it was time to phase out the less talented. Plus Brutus losing is good value for everyone. The plucky babyface who never wins, was a gimmick with a limited shelf-life. SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Denny King In a decent match, Bradley Blaze defeated Denny King in 8:24 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. Rating: 38 I knew Blaze from previous incarnations of the timeline and he almost always became a stalwart ring general for us and it was time to give him a chance to do the same in 2020. Denny King had Hot momentum somehow so could afford the L. NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Riley McManus vs. Logan Wolfsbaine © In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Riley McManus in 7:55 by submission with a Boston Crab. During the match we also had Andrew Harper run in and attack McManus. Logan Wolfsbaine makes defence number one of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 45 All Hail Logan. Please sir can I weave gold from your belly-button fluff? His finishers needed work, who was he, The Masked Mauler? SINGLES MATCH: Richie Riggins vs. Ernest Youngman In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Ernest Youngman defeated Richie Riggins in 7:45 by pinfall with The Hit. Rating: 51 With us pleasure-delaying Youngman/William III we needed to give the challenger the win and Riggins was the guy. Great match, down mainly, but not entirely, to Ernest. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES MATCH: Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. The DiMeo Family © In a decent match, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated James Diaz and Sal DiMeo in 10:28 when Eagle pinned Sal DiMeo with a Brooklyn Bridger. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew win the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 42 Yup, we had to do it. Well. We didn’t have to, but with both members of the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew rocking Red Hot momentum and an injury on the champs we’d job them out on a B-Show to get the titles on to the hot hand. I’m still reeling from the turnaround in the former Brooklyn’s Finest since 2016. Fair play to them. ANGLE: The DiMeo Family, devastated at their loss; attack and beatdown the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew. Four-on-one the assault is vicious until Animal Harker and Whistler make the save and then celebrate with the new champions. Rating: 27 That’s right folks, we’re pre-booking ahead of Gang Wars; who were we, Allen Packer? NYCW EMPIRE & COTT WORLD TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © vs. Pablo Rodriguez © In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Tennessee William defeated Pablo Rodriguez in 10:11 by pinfall with a handful of tights. Tennessee William wins the COTT World Heavyweight title. Tennessee William makes defence number six of the NYCW Empire title. Rating: 50 Oof! Pablo Rodriguez can GO in the ring. Obviously we’re going out of our way to promote our own champions, but my word. He’d have to keep an eye on him. He might be worth a signing. ANGLE: With both belts in tow, Tennessee William is preparing to sing a song when Ernest Youngman slides into the ring and delivers an almighty Hit, leaving the champ reeling. Rating: 48 OVERALL RATING: 48 A solid lead-up considering and a good 43,360 viewers on WrestleWorld. After the show Steve Flash pulls me aside and tells me he thinks Dreadnought is going to be a star. In other news; sky is blue, birds sing songs and rain is wet. Gonzalez's surgery went well. So only two months now. So we were ready for a first big show since Rush Hour. Stories we’d started were bubbling away and despite some injury setbacks we felt confident enough to shatter people’s expectations. Next time on Titans of Wrestling… Gang Wars 2020… Predictions: SINGLES: Masked Stranger vs. Zippy Deverell TRIPLE THREAT: Andrew Harper vs. Brutus Milano vs. Texas Hangman COTT TAG TITLES: The Valedictorians vs. The Foundation © (from OLLIE) GANG WARS MATCH: Blaze/Stallion/Outlaw vs. King/Cobra/Riggins GANG WARS MATCH: McManus & Heartbreak Express vs. Wolfsbaine & Young Jets GANG WARS MATCH: Harker & Wrecking Crew (w/Whistler) vs. DiMeo Family (w/Honest Frank) EMPIRE TITLE: Ernest Youngman vs. Tennessee William ©

<p><strong>Somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region…</strong></p><p> </p><p> God I hated these Alliance meetings. Bunch of old school, small-minded fools all chattering their nonsense while the big boys pillaged their rosters whenever they pleased. And at their head was Sam Keith; the most dangerous of them all. A man with the talent and resources to actually mount a charge, who seemed reluctant to take any of the risks his in-ring career demanded.</p><p> </p><p> “I don’t see what the point would be?” he said calmly.</p><p> </p><p> “The point,” Larry railed. “Is that we should be investing everything into this Wrestleworld thingy. The size of the audience could be enormous for all of us, we should look to strengthen the alliance.”</p><p> </p><p> “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” Keith responded.</p><p> </p><p> “Oh, then you’re not going to like what happens next.”</p><p> </p><p> The doors opened and the owners of PSW, RIPW, FREEDOM, ACPW, CILL and EMLL all entered and said their hellos. Keith was fuming, but ever-the-diplomat he adapted quickly and welcomed them all; occasionally glaring at Larry who simply smiled back.</p><p> </p><p> “We reckon life here in the fringe is tough as it is without us all tearing lumps out of each other. GSW won’t join and frankly they’ve caused too much trouble anyway,” said Larry. I had never remembered him so frank in these meetings. He normally sat and let Keith take control, but not this time. “WrestleWorld is the future and the more of us on it, the more content and therefore the more eyes. The more eyes on my stuff means a higher chance of more eyes on your stuff. And vice versa.”</p><p> </p><p> The room sat in shocked silence. When did Larry become so coherent? And so calm? And so technical?</p><p> </p><p> After a moment there was a murmur of agreement.</p><p> </p><p> “Good, well I reckon we all meet again in a few months and make sure everything is working,” he said and stood up. “Good luck.”</p><p> </p><p> As we left in haste I turned to Larry who, for the first time ever, had a look of childlike glee.</p><p> </p><p> “Want to tell me what that’s about?” I asked.</p><p> </p><p> “Keith’ll have his hands full now. I think it’s time we took the CoTT for all it’s worth.”</p><p> </p><p> “Whatever you say boss.”</p><p> </p><p> Next time on Titans of Wrestling… We’ll take all the gold please…</p>

<p>Welcome to New York… Where the risk of injury is greater than the boon of chemistry…</p><p> </p><p> Well, there’s no point messing around after that intro, let’s get to it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>NYCW Old School</strong></p><p> Thursday, Week 1, April, 2020</p><p> Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York</p><p> Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!)</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong>15-MAN BATTLE ROYAL:</strong> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Dreadnought won a battle royal in 9:31. The other members of the 'final four' were Gracious Geoff Borne, Denny King and Austin Smooth, with Gracious Geoff Borne being the final elimination. Dreadnought got the most eliminations over the course of the match.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 36</strong></p><p> Once again I was booking the show and forgot that I’d designed this one as an hour-long taster. So we bring back the old staple, a battle royal. Once again Dreadnought comes out looking like an unstoppable monster. Can’t argue with that. I can argue with the bruised tailbone that Animal Harker suffered during the match though.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH:</strong> Brutus Milano vs. Sal DiMeo ©</p><p> In a decent match, Sal DiMeo defeated Brutus Milano in 7:22 by pinfall with a Powerbomb after Dreadnought interference. Sal DiMeo makes defence number three of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 37</strong></p><p> Poor Brutus; he started the year as the franchise player. Now he’s struggling to win our secondary title against a man who might be better as a manager than a wrestler. Dreadnought, who now accompanies DiMeo to the ring did good work at ringside. I’m not surprised, he’s probably taller than the top rope from the outside.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Sal thanks Dreadnought for always having his back.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 37</strong></p><p> Bromance!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES:</strong> The Heartbreak Express vs. Generation Wrecked ©</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Generation Wrecked defeated The Heartbreak Express in 11:49 when James Diaz pinned Johnny Needham with a DAVEs of Thunder Drop. Generation Wrecked make defence number one of the NYCW Tag Team titles.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 23</strong></p><p> Got to allow the former champs to invoke their rematch clause, plus it allows us to drain the last of their momentum and pass it to the new team. And then, of course we receive word from road agent Whistler that Marco Gonzalez had torn his meniscus. Well, I mean, of course he has. Why not? Annoyingly, without a doctor available, I had no idea how long he’d be out and nobody seemed to be able to point me in the right direction.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Brooklyn Wrecking Crew hit the ring after the match and begin brawling with Generation Wrecked (well Diaz at least while Gonzalez watches like a limp fish). It takes the locker room emptying to pull them apart.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 35</strong></p><p> Eurgh, it’s amazing what an annoying injury can do to your enjoyment of a feud.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH:</strong> Riley McManus vs. Tennessee William ©</p><p> In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Tennessee William defeated Riley McManus in 7:41 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad. During the match we also had Andrew Harper run in and attack McManus. Tennessee William makes defence number four of the NYCW Empire title.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 44</strong></p><p> Keep Tennessee prominent, and victorious. Plus it elevates the never-ending Harper and McManus storyline. Oddly it’s still a hot story, so we’d ride it all the way to the fictional bank, or until we had something better for either man to do.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Tennessee William sees an opportunity and helps Harper put McManus through a table, but Ernest Youngman makes the save. Tennessee and Harper escape before either of them can be put through a table in revenge.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 44</strong></p><p> Nice interweaving of two stories if I do say so myself. Hopeful that McManus and Harper get a bit of a rub from even associating with our two top stars.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>TAG TEAM MATCH:</strong> Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. Ernest Youngman & Logan Wolfsbaine</p><p> In a good match, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated Ernest Youngman and Logan Wolfsbaine in 11:50 when Logan Wolfsbaine got disqualified after going into a rage and refusing to stop assaulting the other three participants in the match.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 45</strong></p><p> Decent main event which establishes Logan Wolsbaine as a man with some serious anger issues. This would hopefully be a good stepping stone for him onto a new path and bigger success.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> William returns from backstage to laugh at Youngman and the Wrecking Crew as Wolfsbaine continues to beat them down.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 55</strong></p><p> He’s such an a-hole. Love it.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>OVERALL RATING: 45</strong></p><p> </p><p> Decent overall show with two injuries, neither of which I knew for how long. Our viewership increased to 38,027, which tells us not to run gimmicky shows for a while. And in a nice touch Steve Flash thinks Corner is going to be a star. Awesome, I’d agree, providing he stopped bruising his opponents tailbones.</p><p> </p><p> With a few months under our belt, we thought we’d checkout the prestige of our… belts.</p><p> </p><p> Title Prestige:</p><p> NYCW Empire Title: 31 (up 2)</p><p> NYCW Tag Team Title: 31 (up 4)</p><p> NYCW Tri-State Title: 25 (down 2)</p><p> </p><p> So to be clear:</p><p> Tennessee William = Better champion than Brutus Milano.</p><p> Generation Wrecked and Heartbreak Express = Better champions than Boys from the Yukon.</p><p> Sal DiMeo = Worse champion than the Jobbertron; Masked Stranger.</p><p> </p><p> Hmmm. Never let it be said that when I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>NYCW Titans of Wrestling 4: Tennessee vs. Youngman II</strong></p><p> Sunday, Week 3, April, 2020</p><p> Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York</p><p> Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!)</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong>OPENING TAG TEAM MATCH:</strong> The Heartbreak Express vs. The Young Jets</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Heartbreak Express defeated The Young Jets in 7:39 when Ralph Liotta pinned Austin Smooth after using a foreign object.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 32</strong></p><p> Time to kickstart a feud we had big and long-running plans for. The Heartbreak Express, complete with their throwback 80s ring gear and music, take on the bonafide a-hole punk team of the Jets. I could taste the money, in about 3 years when anyone knew who these guys were.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:</strong> Denny King vs. Outlaw Wes Revell vs. Texas Hangman</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Denny King defeated Outlaw Wes Revell and Texas Hangman in 8:14 when Denny King pinned Outlaw Wes Revell with a Superplex. Denny King carried the match in terms of in-ring performance.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 35</strong></p><p> Three workers stuck in a rut. So I allowed Larry to pick a winner for this to guide me in what he was after. He picked King and I vowed to never let him choose a result again.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>TRIPLE THREAT TAG MATCH:</strong> Bradley Blaze & Wild Red Stallion vs. Richie Riggins & Cobra vs. The Valedictorians</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Valedictorians defeated Wild Red Stallion and Bradley Blaze and Richie Riggins and Cobra in 7:34; the order of elimination was Wild Red Stallion and Bradley Blaze first, and then Richie Riggins and Cobra.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 33</strong></p><p> We continue to search for more natural tag teams. Was secretly hoping Blaze and Stallion had it so we could run a Cowboys and Indians themed one. Alas, the search continues. I really needed to work on my midcard too. So many just spinning their wheels.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>SINGLES MATCH:</strong> Andrew Harper vs. Masked Stranger</p><p> In a decent match, Andrew Harper defeated Masked Stranger in 10:14 by pinfall with a Spike Slam.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 34</strong></p><p> Speaking of struggling. Just thought it good to give him a non-storyline victory.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Andrew Harper destroys Stranger down into the mat and puts him through a table.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 22</strong></p><p> Awww Harper. Never change. Hah!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>GANG WARS MATCH:</strong> The DiMeo Family & Masked Mauler vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew and Animal Harker</p><p> In a decent match, Animal Harker and Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated Dreadnought, James Diaz and The Masked Mauler VII in 9:50 when Eagle pinned The Masked Mauler VII with a Freedom Slam.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 32</strong></p><p> That’s right, in an attempt to book on the fly, we replace Gonzalez with the Masked Mauler. And he suffers a medium concussion. Because of course he does. The problem with this is the planned post-match destruction of Mauler for causing the loss. We were forced to book on the fly again.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Dreadnought destroys Brutus Milano</p><p> <strong>Rating: 28</strong></p><p> That’s right. Brutus came out to save Mauler, for reasons not really apparent. And Dreadnought destroyed him. Backstage Larry’s blood pressure was reaching explosion point.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH:</strong> Logan Wolfsbaine vs. Brutus Milano vs. Riley McManus vs. Sal DiMeo © </p><p> In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Brutus Milano, Sal DiMeo and Riley McManus in 9:36 when Logan Wolfsbaine submitted Brutus Milano with a Boston Crab. Logan Wolfsbaine wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional title.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 47</strong></p><p> Hahahahaha. Brutus gets destroyed pre-match and then loses clean to lose Sal DiMeo his title. I made this a dominant performance by Wolfsbaine and elevated him and hopefully the title to something more meaningful. </p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Tennessee William comes out with Cheryl and the Empire Title, which he’s dubbed Beryl. He sings for Youngman to come out. He obliges, bandaged up and limping. Tennessee smiles.</p><p> “Now that I can see you’re fighting fit, I am happy to put Beryl on the line in a match right now.”</p><p> Ernest accepts and then takes off the bandaging and strides to the ring with no limp, grinning that his rouse has worked. </p><p> Tennessee looks a little shocked, but quickly rallies and the moment Ernest slides into the ring, Tennessee blasts him over the head with Cheryl.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 59</strong></p><p> Tennessee William is such a consummate heel and Youngman is perfect as his honourable and noble foil. We may not always get things right here in NYCW, but these two as our top program is awesome.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH:</strong> Ernest Youngman vs. Tennessee William ©</p><p> In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Tennessee William drew with Ernest Youngman in 11:38 following a double count out after a vicious brawl.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 58</strong></p><p> And they both deliver too. Red hot crowd + good in-ring product + high stakes = great match. If only all booking were this easy.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>OVERALL RATING: 55</strong></p><p> </p><p> Much better result and our viewership agreed rising to a solid 46,883. Plus we only lost $2,328 for the month. We’re close to moving to a bigger venue too and if that’s sustainable then we’ll run more shows a month to boot.</p><p> </p><p> Now it’s fair to say that with us finding our feet, the CoTT has fallen by the wayside a bit. So we looked to address that issue. Next we checked on the state of the CoTT titles:</p><p> World – Pablo Rodriguez</p><p> Tag Team – Phoenix IV & Laberinto Jr</p><p> </p><p> I think it’s time to start using our growing clout in the alliance to help push us further. A sort of insidious power grab with the hopes that no one would notice us feathering our own nest.</p><p> </p><p> Next time on Titans on Wrestling… The Confederation of the Territories…</p>

<p>Welcome to New York… Where we ask you, to pick your poison… </p><p> </p><p> The only news of note between Old School Wrestling and Titans 3 was that Ralph Liotta left MAW after an argument. He knew we liked the kid. Screw you Keith. </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>NYCW Titans of Wrestling 3: Pick Your Poison Tag Tournament</strong></p><p> Sunday, Week 3, March, 2020</p><p> Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York</p><p> Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!)</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong>PICK YOUR POISON QUALIFIER:</strong> Masked Stranger/Mauler vs. Outlaw/Stallion vs. DiMeo/McManus</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Riley McManus and Sal DiMeo defeated Masked Stranger and The Masked Mauler VII and Outlaw Wes Revell and Wild Red Stallion in 9:33; the order of elimination was Outlaw Wes Revell and Wild Red Stallion first, and then Masked Stranger and The Masked Mauler VII. Wild Red Stallion was the weak link, struggling to keep up with everyone else's in-ring performance.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 32</strong></p><p> Our Lakota tribesman had a great gimmick, but was struggling in-ring. He would’ve been a star back in the day on gimmick along. But under the new regime he was in trouble. McManus and DiMeo is the kind of ‘wacky tag team partners who hate each other’ vibe that I wanted from this show.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> The Valedictorians cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Brooklyn Wrecking Crew.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 30</strong></p><p> So we have the odd problem now where Parker is dynamite a freestyling, but Borne is terrible without a script and they both suffer if we do half-and-half. Damn you Borne.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>PICK YOUR POISON QUALIFIER:</strong> The Valedictorians vs. The Young Jets (Smooth and Corner) vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated The Valedictorians and The Young Jets in 10:24; the order of elimination was The Young Jets first, and then The Valedictorians.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 33</strong></p><p> Could’ve had Wrecking Crew lose here, but realistically I wanted to test them out in the main event. Plus the younger teams are still finding their feet. Really what they needed was a fued to get their teeth stuck into. I also wondered if I had too many teams and not enough singles stars?</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES MATCH</strong>: Generation Wrecked vs. The Heartbreak Express ©</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Generation Wrecked defeated The Heartbreak Express in 10:12 when James Diaz pinned Ralph Liotta with a DAVEs of Thunder Drop following interference from Sal DiMeo. Generation Wrecked win the NYCW Tag Team titles.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 28</strong></p><p> That’s right. One win from Generation Wrecked and they get the title shot and make it count. Heartbreak Express served as good torchbearers for a bit, but most of our tag teams are faces, which meant having a strong heel team to chase made sense. Plus now we could move on to Wrecking Crew vs. DiMeo Family for the Gold. Beautiful.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> The match is over and Generation Wrecked are celebrating. Eagle and Hawkeye charge the ring and beat them down.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 23</strong></p><p> Getting some of that delicious heat back.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>PICK YOUR POISON QUALIFIER:</strong> King/Cobra vs. Dreadnought/Youngman vs. Wolfsbaine/Tennessee</p><p> In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought and Ernest Youngman defeated Cobra and Denny King and Logan Wolfsbaine and Tennessee William in 9:47; the order of elimination was Cobra and Denny King first, and then Logan Wolfsbaine and Tennessee William. In terms of in-ring work, Ernest Youngman was head and shoulders above everyone else.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 43</strong></p><p> Yes so maybe I hoping that the team of Denny King and Cobra would have chemistry so that I could use the King Cobra tag team name. Alas it wasn’t to be. Also may have been a mistake having two of our most over stars eliminated before the finals, but the story of Youngman and Dreadnought hating each other but teaming together was too good.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Dreadnought is celebrating in the ring, when Sal DiMeo tells him to destroy Youngman, which he does. Now, according to DiMeo, they’re ready for the finals.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 34</strong></p><p> Poor Youngman gets a hiding. But can you imagine somewhere down the line when these two hook it up in the ring? Gonna be off the charts heat for that one if I play it right.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>PICK YOUR POISON QUALIFIER:</strong> Harker/Harper vs. Milano/Riggins vs. Blaze/Hangman</p><p> In a decent match, Bradley Blaze and Texas Hangman defeated Animal Harker and Andrew Harper and Brutus Milano and Richie Riggins in 10:23; the order of elimination was Brutus Milano and Richie Riggins first, and then Animal Harker and Andrew Harper.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 34</strong></p><p> Dammit, I was really hoping Hangman and Blaze had chemistry. But then again their gimmicks work so perfectly together, it might be worth keeping them as a team anyway. God knows they need something to do.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Generation Wrecked cut a promo telling the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew if they want the first title shot, they got it..</p><p> Rating: 22</p><p> Marco not good off-script, Diaz very good. It’s the Valedictorian problem all over again. Although I gotta say, I never thought of Diaz as a freestyling microphone champion. Hmmm, I wonder if I’d underestimated his overall talent? That would be worth keeping an eye on.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>PICK YOUR POISON FINALS:</strong> Dreadnought/Youngman vs. DiMeo/McManus vs. Blaze/Hangman vs. Brooklyn Wrecking Crew</p><p> In a decent match, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated Sal DiMeo and Riley McManus, Bradley Blaze and Texas Hangman and Dreadnought and Ernest Youngman in 9:58; the order of elimination was Bradley Blaze and Texas Hangman first, then Sal DiMeo and Riley McManus, and finally Dreadnought and Ernest Youngman. As Youngman mounted a heroic comeback, Dreadnought absolutely destroyed him at the request of DiMeo, leaving Eagle to pin the current number one contender for the Empire Title. In terms of in-ring work, Ernest Youngman was head and shoulders above everyone else.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 39</strong></p><p> Slightly disappointing main event. But Dreadnought comes out looking like a star. The Wrecking Crew regain some momentum and we sow the seeds of a DiMeo and Youngman feud for later on. So storyline wise it was great.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>OVERALL RATING: 38</strong></p><p> </p><p> Yup, disappointing ratings as only 29,229 viewed it on WrestleWorld. Perhaps people didn’t want too much gimmick and, God forbid, preferred our normal shows. We’d take note.</p><p> </p><p> As March ended, the increased cost of shows and production, combined with multiple shows mean we’d lost $6,587 in overall funds. Not the end of the world of course, although we would have to keep an eye. The key for now was the push towards regional with hopes that increased size and exposure could allow us to bring in an NYCW legend who never was.</p><p> </p><p> Next time on Titans of Wrestling… With youth comes inexperience, and with laziness, comes injury…</p>

<p>Welcome to New York… Where a critical error means restarting the game and trying to rebook exactly as it was before, but failing causing a shift in the quantum time/space field…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>[OOC: Yup we lost the chemistry notes for The Valedictorians, but decided to put the title on Tennessee instead of Youngman from the start because I had no idea about momentum. I’ve gone back and edited the recaps and hopefully we won’t have any more problems. However, as you’ll see we’ll replace awesome chemistry notes with another common occurrence instead. On with the show.]</strong></p><p> </p><p> Two months in from taking over the book and things, while similar to before were not the same. Most notably was the launch of the streaming service WrestleWorld. An opportunity for us lower companies to try and compete with Allen Packer and his unstoppable juggernaut. We’d run all events on this new service and attempt to gain as much traction as possible. Even better we were able to get a 55% cut of the profits from this new-fangled option. We even heard that MAW, GSW and ACPW had signed up with them too.</p><p> </p><p> In order to get signed up however, we had to drastically increase our production values, which was expensive, but also meant the wrestlers now had entrance themes.</p><p> </p><p> Tennessee William – Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley)</p><p> Ernest Youngman – Surprise! You’re Dead (Faith No More)</p><p> Logan Wolfsbaine – Glorious Domination (NYCW in-house band)</p><p> Brutus Milano – Saturdays (Mitch Murder)</p><p> The DiMeo Family – The Godfather Theme</p><p> Brooklyn Wrecking Crew – Hell Patrol (Judas Priest)</p><p> The Valedictorians – Pomp and Circumstance (Elgar)</p><p> The Heartbreak Express – Power Rush (A Space Love Adventure)</p><p> Animal Harker – Metal Movie Marijuana Massacre Meltdown (Acid Watch)</p><p> Richie Riggins – Lady of the Darkest Night (Lee Aaron)</p><p> Riley McManus – X Japan (X)</p><p> Andrew Harper – Mean Man (Wasp)</p><p> </p><p> With that in place it was time to run two shows this month to test out the costs of the new subscription service, so we’d introduce a new semi-monthly show called Old School. Only an hour in length for the time being with a view to making it a show which moves to different regions providing we could build up our popularity in Tri-State.</p><p> </p><p> New show: Old School Wrestling</p><p> Wrestleworld</p><p> Increase Production Values, broadcast quality Hired Pro and music levels House.</p><p> 55% revenue to NYCW no cost</p><p> Wrestleworld – GSW, MAW, ACPW, </p><p> The Force – Broken Leg</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>NYCW Old School</strong></p><p> Thursday, Week 1, March, 2020</p><p> Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York</p><p> Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!)</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong>OPENING NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE TURMOIL:</strong> Bradley Blaze & Outlaw Wes Revell vs. Masked Mauler & Denny King vs. Austin Smooth & Charlie Corner vs. The Heartbreak Express ©</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Heartbreak Express defeated Austin Smooth and Charlie Corner, Bradley Blaze and Outlaw Wes Revell and The Masked Mauler VII and Denny King in 9:51; the order of elimination was Bradley Blaze and Outlaw Wes Revell first, then The Masked Mauler VII and Denny King, and finally Austin Smooth and Charlie Corner. The Heartbreak Express make defence number three of the NYCW Tag Team titles.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 33</strong></p><p> Well, well, well, we finally got a great chemistry note and it was for newcomers Charlie Corner and Austin Smooth. With that in mind, we’d dub them the The Young Jets and give them the theme song; Feel the Shake (JetBoy). We’d also eye a long-running feud with The Heartbreak Express. After all tag team wrestling had a long history of pretty boys vs. punks.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>10-MAN BATTLE ROYAL:</strong> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Dreadnought won a battle royal in 9:59. The other members of the 'final four' were Andrew Harper, Perfect Parker Pelton and Riley McManus, with Andrew Harper being the final elimination. Andrew Harper got the most eliminations over the course of the match.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 36</strong></p><p> A get everyone on the card match. Plus it gave us an opportunity to have Dreadnought be dominant without costing anyone else too much. Crowd responded well.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Sweet Sal DiMeo is out to say that he’s had time to think about family and what it means. The Italian Americans are old news. He’s moving in a new direction. He and Frank have looked at the ‘family’ of professional wrestling greats and he’s pleased to announce Dreadnought as his personal monster, while James Diaz and Marco Gonzalez, also known as Generation Wrecked, are his new ‘family.’ And as a starter, Generation Wrecked would take on those irritants the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew, right now!</p><p> <strong>Rating: 34</strong></p><p> If we’re going to have a traditional stable, you better believe we’re going to fill it with awesome wrestlers. It was a nice way to get a lot of new people exposure while still providing DiMeo an outlet for his heel persona on the microphone.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>TAG TEAM MATCH:</strong> Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. Generation Wrecked</p><p> In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Generation Wrecked defeated Brooklyn Wrecking Crew in 6:17 when Eagle was disqualified while fighting Marco Gonzalez.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 34</strong></p><p> Decent match from our established team and our new one. Wanted to give the new guys a victory as he Wrecking Crew are building some insane momentum. But at the same time I wanted the victory to be shady to protect what is fast becoming our top team. It’s amazing that last time I just released Brooklyn’s Finest and now I just love them. What a difference 4 years and a timewarp can do to a guy.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> The match is over and Brooklyn Wrecking Crew are left down. The DiMeo Family are celebrating, but then stop and see that their opponents are still on the ground. They attack, and beat both Eagle and Hawkeye into the canvas.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 22</strong></p><p> Just for a little extra heely goodness.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH:</strong> Animal Harker vs. Sal DiMeo ©</p><p> In a decent match, Sal DiMeo defeated Animal Harker in 7:40 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. Sal DiMeo makes defence number two of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 38</strong></p><p> Animal Harker is an odd one. He’s a solid worker who fits in perfectly, but his momentum is tanked because I almost never have him win. But as long as he remains happy, I’m happy. Sal remains a sneaky sleeper pick as favourite worker.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>SINGLES MATCH:</strong> Logan Wolfsbaine vs. Ernest Youngman</p><p> In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Ernest Youngman defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 7:51 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage following a botched Tennessee William run in.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 54</strong></p><p> Booyah! These two are just superb workers and I feel a bit bad that Logan is being used as a support character in the Youngman/Tennessee feud. But I asked them to deliver, and that’s exactly what they did.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>ANGLE:</strong> Tennessee William with Cheryl in one hand and the title in the other, comes out to congratulate Youngman on beating some rookie no one. Then sets about singing a song about his opponent tonight, Brutus Milano.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 57</strong></p><p> Never misses a chance to insult Bruno. And I love it.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH:</strong> Brutus Milano vs. Tennessee William ©</p><p> In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Tennessee William defeated Brutus Milano in 6:25 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad. Tennessee William makes defence number three of the NYCW Empire title.</p><p> <strong>Rating: 45</strong></p><p> Clean as a whistle, because… well, Brutus. One day I’d probably stop bullying our former champion, but it was too fun watching Larry Vessey’s blood pressure rise at the treatment of his protégé.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>OVERALL RATING: 45</strong></p><p> </p><p> A decent show which increased our popularity in no less than 18 regions. Plus we had 29,981 view the show on WrestleWorld. The people behind this streaming service might just be on to something. We thought about all the people around the USA now being exposed to our product and decided to do a themed show. The idea was to highlight our tag teams with a ‘pick your poison’ tourney. Four triple threat tag team matches, with the winner of each progressing to a Fatal Fourway tag team match. Tell me one other promotion to deliver quality like that?</p><p> </p><p> Next time on Titans of Wrestling… There’s no I in team, but there’s two in disappointment…</p>

Hero. Thank you.

Sorry for stupid question: But how do you find out how long a wrestler is out injured? I can’t seem to find that body image with the info.

Welcome to New York… Where tinkering is what it’s all about… So we had a clear view ahead for the future slowly forming in our minds. A big part of which was roster churn. NYCW had a reputation for holding onto older guys for too long and giving a shot to anyone with ‘heart.’ I didn’t need heart. I needed talent. So Rush Hour would be used as a marker of the year ahead. We’d send off some with a bang, other with a whimper. Then we’d check finances and start introducing some new names. Young names with a marketable way to sell themselves. Elsewhere GSW ran their first show while being attacked by everyone. GSW Anarchy got a 50 rating from the dirt sheets and was main-evented by Deaf Touch beating Boneyard to retain the GSW American Title. Meanwhile Tommy Cornell and Leigh Burton put on a Match of the Year candidate for 21CW’s World War 13. MAW had brought in Tennessee William to job him out to Miller Fforde. Noted. He then told me that he loved Perfect Parker Pelton and that his charisma was top notch. Double noted. Before Rush Hour began Ralph Liotta pulled a rib which got the whole lockerroom laughing. Poor Ernest Youngman never realised that peanut butter sandwich was filled with… anyone, on with the show. NYCW Rush Hour 2020 Sunday, Week 4, February, 2020 Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!) OPENING ROOKIE TAG TEAM TURMOIL MATCH: The Heartbreak Express © vs. Crockett Tubbs & Wild Red Stallion vs. Cobra & Charlie Corner vs. James Diaz & Marco Gonzalez In a bout that didn't have much heat and terrible wrestling, The Heartbreak Express defeated Crockett Tubbs and Wild Red Stallion, Cobra and Charlie Corner and James Diaz and Marco Gonzalez in 9:54; the order of elimination was Cobra and Charlie Corner first, then James Diaz and Marco Gonzalez, and finally Crockett Tubbs and Wild Red Stallion. The Heartbreak Express make defence number two of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 25 That’s right. It’s the classic ‘throw a load of teams together and see what happens’ match. And you know what, this wasn’t at all bad. The Heartbreaks kept it all together and it allowed us to introduce this year’s newest rookies. And in a case of fate overtaking booking talent; Diaz and Gonzalez have great chemistry too. That feels like a HUGE deal, especially considering their both the sons of wrestling legends. GANG WARS MATCH: Denny King, Texas Hangman and Dreadnought vs. Masked Stranger & The Casey Brothers In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Denny King, Texas Hangman and Dreadnought defeated Masked Stranger and The Casey Brothers in 6:24 when Dreadnought pinned Tully Casey with a Dread Bomb. Rating: 30 Progressing the Stranger and King story, while dragging along Hangman and Dreadnought for the ride. I wish I’d then what I know now, because a new story was percolating in my mind. But the crowd were gaining in heat. ANGLE: Sal DiMeo is out to talk about ‘family’ and some ‘No-name punk’ from the Mid-Atlantic region. New York is his family and he’ll be damned if they’ll be disrespected. Speaking of respect. His ‘boys’ better get the job done later, or they’ll be some ‘DiMeo justice’ to serve. Rating: 43 Good chat, although he may need a script going forward. But he can talk for sure and who doesn’t love foreshadowing. TRI-STATE REGIONAL TITLE MATCH: Sal DiMeo © vs. Miller Fforde In an extremely short match, Sal DiMeo defeated Miller Fforde in 5:24 by pinfall with a Powerbomb. Sal DiMeo makes defence number one of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 28 That’s right Keith. You squash my guy. I’ll squash yours. Fforde would be promptly fired immediately after the match. ANGLE: Perfect Parker Pelton enters the arena in his Letterman jacket. He’s here to talk about intelligence and hard work and success. He never thought he’d find anyone else like him, but then he met an equal. Someone with the brains, talent and hard work to match his own. Gracious Geoff Borne. They’d be teaming together going forward and to honour this new team, they are to be known as The Valedictorians. Rating: 24 Never let it be said I can’t pivot when opportunity arises. These guys have got the talent and the chemistry and Borne can help Pelton gain much-needed experience while covering his rookie flaws. TAG TEAM MATCH: The Valedictorians vs. Masked Mauler and New York Doll In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Valedictorians defeated The Masked Mauler VII and The New York Doll in 5:52 when Perfect Parker Pelton pinned The Masked Mauler VII with a Summa Cum Laude. Rating: 34 Decent match to boot. Mauler is still looking for some chemistry, but in the meantime he is helping progress other stories. The crowd is reaching a fever pitch though and I’m starting to worry they’ll burn out before the bigger matches. SINGLES MATCH: Animal Harker vs. Richie Riggins In a decent match, Animal Harker defeated Richie Riggins in 8:12 by pinfall with a Stump Piledriver. Rating: 34 Richie Riggins is vexing me. On paper he is everything I dislike, but he seems to be holding his own. I’d keep him for a while as solid midcard hand. But I dunno. TAG TEAM MATCH: Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. The Italian Americans In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated The Italian Americans in 6:10 when Eagle pinned Vito Pirelli with a Brooklyn Bridger. Rating: 32 The blow off of the feud I think. The Italian Americans are so green and so poor that they really affect their matches. Hawkeye and Eagle however are keepers. Their new look and new power moves are really getting over with the crowd. ANGLE: After celebrating their win, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew leave the Italian Americans on the mat. Sal DiMeo and Honest Frank come out to check on them. And then after a chat, they beat them down mercilessly. Rating: 21 If you’re going to have a stable, you better make sure they aren’t losers. Sweet Sal would be looking to rebuild his family in the weeks to come. SINGLES MATCH: Brutus Milano vs. Logan Wolfsbaine In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Brutus Milano in 8:26 by submission with a Boston Crab. Rating: 45 Damn that hard-working Brutus. He’s got absolutely no stamina and should be dreadful, but he keeps delivering entertaining matches. At least he didn’t win though. The Glorious One is too early in his NYCW to lose just yet. SINGLES MATCH: Andrew Harper vs. Riley McManus In a decent match, Andrew Harper defeated Riley McManus in 8:17 by pinfall with a Spike Slam. Rating: 39 Another storyline blow-off. Both these guys were decent midcard hands, but focusing a story in them seemed a little too much. But they’re jobs were safe for sure. Plus I have a soft spot for Harper, the big table-smashing lug. ANGLE: Tennessee William is out with his guitar Cheryl to sing a song about Youngman and how he’s never going to wrestle the Empire Title off him. Rating: 54 Yup, he’s great. Love, love, love everything about him. A true success story from Larry here and I’d admit when I’ve been wrong before. NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Tennessee William © In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Ernest Youngman defeated Tennessee William in 11:35 by count out. Rating: 54 Boom! Remove Brutus from a match; gain points in rating. These two are the biggest draws in the company and I am going to ride their feud until the wheels fall off. How could I not? Plus a cowardly and charismatic Elvis impersonator winning by count-out; that is surely gold. OVERALL RATING: 51 A much better show for us as all the various threads begin to pull together. We were building something special here and nothing would stop us from our goal of sustained growth. No missteps in hiring that I could see, but it was time to check on our finances and make some more personal changes. Over in TCW The War to Settle the Score ended with Aaron Andrews defeating Wolf Hawkins in a 92 match. Yeesh. One day. As for us February brought with it a large profit and our total funds are now sitting at $53,486. Interesting. With that in mind, we bid farewell to: The Italian Americans – Not showing enough. The Casey Brothers – One was good, one wasn’t, but it didn’t seem fair to keep one. Plus what brother tag team has bad chemistry? Crockett Tubbs – Terrible name and no charisma The New York Doll – See above Next time on New York Titans… Bring me your tired and huddled rookies…

Welcome to New York… Where loyalty means you’re weak… As requested by Larry, we began to trim the roster. He was impressed with our company-wide make-over, so now it was time to say goodbye. We had to be ruthless. It’s the nature of the business, so goodbye: The Boys from the Yukon – We didn’t want any more comedy than necessary. Super Massive Destroyer – Again, don’t come to me with a mask unless you’re the son of a legend. Machine Gun Marino – There’s too many members of the DiMeo Family. So we lose the loser. I’d hold off on the next round of cuts depending on finances. Meanwhile PSW are the latest to declare war on GSW. Let them. I’d pick off the scraps when they were finished with each other. Over in MAW Miller Fforde defeated The Architect to claim the Rip Chord Invitational XV. Finally Skip Beau is a hero who gives a lot to charity it seems. Good for him. Our finances at month end showed us with $48,761. So a slight loss, but nothing we wouldn’t overcome with the various cuts to our roster. If it did get worse, we’d just fire more people and just put on 6 consecutive Ernest Youngman matches or something. February brought with it two shows. Titans of Wrestling 2 and Rush Hour 2020. We’d use the first to prime people for the second. Although we were already selling out Weston Gym, so there wasn’t a big necessity to advertise in advance. Tennessee William, who was still angry about the Ernie Turner firing, would go out on loan this month to MAW. Who knew why, but more exposure for our stars could only be a good thing. NYCW Titans of Wrestling 2: Table for One Thursday, Week 3, February, 2020 Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!) OPENING TAG TEAM MATCH: Denny King & New York Doll vs. Perfect Parker Pelton & Geoff Borne In a decent match, Geoff Borne and Perfect Parker Pelton defeated Denny King and The New York Doll in 5:50 when Perfect Pepper Parker pinned The New York Doll by using underhanded tactics. Perfect Pepper Parker was the weak link, struggling to keep up with everyone else's in-ring performance. Rating: 34 Decent match considering, but my thinking is I protect Pelton in these sort of matches while we learns the ropes and hopefully progresses. TAG TEAM MATCH: The Casey Brothers vs. Dreadnought & Texas Hangman In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Dreadnought and Texas Hangman defeated The Casey Brothers in 6:20 when Texas Hangman pinned Chuck Casey with a Choke Slam. Rating: 16 Tough position here because characters like Hangman and Dreadnought rely on victories to create an image of unstoppable monsters, but I don’t particularly want to feed my whole roster to them. The Casey Brothers I could sacrifice though. SINGLES MATCH: Crockett Tubbs vs. James Diaz In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, James Diaz defeated Crockett Tubbs in 5:41 by pinfall with an Asian Thumb Spike. Rating: 24 So the wrestling was terrible, which is all Diaz. BUT, the reaction was there. Charisma overwhelming lack of talent. Ideally Diaz would learn fast. Do I have too many monsters on my roster? TRIPLE THREAT TAG TEAM MATCH: Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. Masked Mauler & Richie Riggins vs. Cobra & Brutus Milano In a decent match, Brooklyn Wrecking Crew defeated The Masked Mauler VII and Richie Riggins and Cobra and Brutus Milano in 10:03; the order of elimination was The Masked Mauler VII and Richie Riggins first, and then Cobra and Brutus Milano. Rating: 30 Good performances all round. Although Masked Mauler continues to search for the perfect partner. It’s not Riggins. ANGLE: The DiMeo Family are out to run down Brooklyn Wrecking Crew and promise a victory to claim the Tag Team Titles tonight. Rating: 31 Ok so these guys need a script to follow. PPP they are not. Noted for the future. NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Heartbreak Express © vs. The Italian Americans In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, The Heartbreak Express defeated The Italian Americans in 8:22 when Ralph Liotta pinned Vito Pirelli with The Score following interference from Eagle. During the match we also had Hawkeye run in and attack Lucky Luca. The Heartbreak Express make defence number one of the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 25 Ok, so that’s not a good performance from the DiMeo family. Is it possible they aren’t good enough to go the distance? Should I look to replace some members? NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Sal DiMeo vs. Masked Stranger © In a decent match, Sal DiMeo defeated Masked Stranger in 7:52 by pinfall after using a foreign object. Sal DiMeo wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Rating: 34 That’s better. So now we know DiMeo himself has the charisma and in-ring talent. He’s sticking around for the time being. Masked Stranger is a good worker, but he doesn’t bring enough to the Tri-State title. SINGLES MATCH: Logan Wolfsbaine vs. Animal Harker In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Animal Harker in 8:26 by submission with a Boston Crab. Rating: 44 Decent little midcard match as Logan continues to shine. ANGLE: Tennessee William is out with Cheryl the Guitar. He sings a song about Riley McManus and then Ernest Youngman before one final dig at Brutus Milano. Rating: 52 There we go. He’s a star with a talent for improvisation AND a catchy catchphrase “Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.” NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Riley McManus vs. Tennessee William © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Tennessee William defeated Riley McManus in 9:54 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. Tennessee William makes defence number one of the NYCW Empire title. Rating: 44 ‘Fat Elvis’ can go in the ring too. A bonafide main event star. ANGLE: Ernest Youngman makes an elaborate entrance. Rating: 34 No. 1 CONTENDERS SINGLES MATCH: Andrew Harper vs. Ernest Youngman © In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Ernest Youngman defeated Andrew Harper in 12:05 by pinfall with The Hit following interference from Riley McManus. During the match we also had Tennessee William run in and attack Youngman. Rating: 53 Boom. Ernest delivers in the main event. Next up for him is Tennessee as I look to bleed them for every drop of goodness for as long as possible. Harper did OK here. He’s certainly popular enough and not terrible in the ring. ANGLE: Ernest Youngman is celebrating his victory in the ring. Andrew Harper attacks, beating Youngman down into the mat before putting him through a table with the help of William. Rating: 38 Hey, he’s still Andrew Harper. OVERALL RATING: 50 Next time on New York Titans… Rush Hour 2020

The night of my first official show. It had been a mental two weeks, but it was finally time to start presenting the new NYCW to the world. We’d sold out the gym. 300 people, wearing lots of USPW merchandise filled the place. The atmosphere was good. “It’s so good to be back. You ready for this?” said Honest Frank. He was a no-brainer hire covering three jobs or colour commentator, manager and road agent if needed. “I am, are you?” “Always,” he said with a wink. “Ok then. Let’s do this.” NYCW Titans of Wrestling 1: Changing of the Guard Thursday, Week 3, January, 2020 Weston Gymnasium, New Jersey, New York Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!) Before the show started we received word that GSW and IPW were at war. We didn’t have time to deal with that right now. OPENING FOUR CORNERS TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Super Massive Destroyer & New York Doll vs. The Heartbreak Express vs. The Boys from the Yukon © vs. Masked Mauler & Cobra In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The Heartbreak Express defeated Super Massive Destroyer and The New York Doll, The Boys From The Yukon and The Masked Mauler VII and Cobra in 10:10; the order of elimination was The Masked Mauler VII and Cobra first, then Super Massive Destroyer and The New York Doll, and finally The Boys From The Yukon. The Heartbreak Express win the NYCW Tag Team titles. Rating: 31 That’s right, we’ve made lots of signings and immediately put our tag team titles on a team of them. Heartbreak Express are decent, young and full of potential. Boys from the Yukon are the past; the former NYCW. Alas The Express gimmicks were considered ‘awful’ by our crowd. Dammit. SINGLES MATCH: Dreadnought vs. Crockett Tubbs In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Crockett Tubbs in 5:23 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Rating: 12 Oof, not the best start for our new monster. He was off his game too and dragged the action down horribly. Still, we remained hopeful. He was just green. Right? TAG TEAM MATCH: James Diaz and Logan Wolfsbaine vs. The Casey Brothers In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, James Diaz and Logan Wolfsbaine defeated The Casey Brothers in 5:56 when Logan Wolfsbaine pinned Chuck Casey with a Belly To Belly Suplex. Logan Wolfsbaine carried the match in terms of in-ring performance. Rating: 25 Yup, Logan Wolfsbaine is every bit the hero he always was. Diaz is a bit of disappointment. In an odd moment we discover that the Casey Brothers have zero chemistry and neithr do Logan and Diaz. Hmmm. But the revolution continues. TRIPLE THREAT TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Denny King vs. Masked Stranger © vs. The Texas Hangman In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Masked Stranger defeated Denny King and Texas Hangman in 7:50 when Masked Stranger submitted Denny King with a Cobra Clutch. Masked Stranger makes defence number four of the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. Texas Hangman was the weak link, struggling to keep up with everyone else's in-ring performance. Rating: 28 Another disappointment for another big man. Could it be they’re too green? Perhaps a new team is in order? Or we just push them relentlessly until the crowd learn who they are. TAG TEAM MATCH: Andrew Harper & Richie Riggins vs. Riley McManus & Geoff Borne In a decent match, Riley McManus and Geoff Borne defeated Andrew Harper and Richie Riggins in 7:31 when Riley McManus pinned Andrew Harper with a Slingshot Suplex. Rating: 30 A solid midcard match. Well done to all involved. ANGLE: Out from the back struts a man wearing a letterman jacket and a million dollar smile. He flirts with a girl at ringside before grabbing a microphone. “Sup New York, your new hero has arrived. The name is Parker Pelton, but my mum calls me Perfect. Because I am.” Despite the heelish arrogance, the crowd are lapping up his schtick and he’s obviously enjoying going off script. Apparently he’s heard a lot about NYCW and thought he’d see what the fuss was about. So he requests the presence of one of the sweat hogs from backstage so he can teach them a lesson. Rating: 31 Well that’s a great start and his gimmick was obviously well received. But now the big question; can he go in the ring? SINGLES MATCH: Perfect Parker Pelton vs. Machine Gun Marino In a bout that had little heat and embarrassing wrestling, Perfect Parker Pelton defeated Machine Gun Marino in 2:46 by pinfall with a Perfectplex. Rating: 9 Oh my… ANGLE: Freedom Eagle comes out to the ring and calls out the DiMeo family. On cure the Italian-American Foursome hit the ring, but it’s a trap and from behind them charges Hawkeye Calhoun wielding his baseball bat and Animal Harker with wild face paint. Sadly the numbers game proves too much. Having overwhelmed Brooklyn’s Finest, they do the unthinkable and rip off their masks. To their surprise though; under the masks are war face paint. Finest seem possessed with energy and they scream that we're to call them Eagel and Hawkeye; the Brooklyn Wrecking Crew. They then call for a referee. Rating: 35 That’s right. No more silly masks, the former Brooklyn’s Finest are going for the badass tag team gimmick. And the crowd seem to be lapping it up. TAG TEAM MATCH: Animal Harker & Brooklyn Wrecking Crew vs. The DiMeo Family In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, The DiMeo Family (Vito Pirelli, Luca Sacramoni and Sal DiMeo) defeated Animal Harker and Brooklyn's Finest in 9:55 when Sal DiMeo pinned Animal Harker with a Powerbomb after Honest Frank interfered. Rating: 28 Should have let the newly-named team get the win, but there was one more surprise after the match as Honest Frank, our new Colour Commentator reveals that his name is actually Frank DiMeo. INTRIGUE! ANGLE: Tennesse William is out to sing a song about Brutus Milano. Mid-lyrics, Brutus appears in the entrance and he’s ready to fight. Then to everyone’s surprise a tall, good-looking man strides past Brutus. He slides into the ring and grabs the microphone and addresses William. “Brace yourself Fat Elvis, Ernest Youngman is here and he’s going for gold. So get on board or get out of the way. Rating: 53 True heroes take what they want and thus the main event becomes a triple threat match. I LOVE YOUNGMAN. MAIN EVENT TRIPLE THREAT EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Earnest Youngman vs. Brutus Milano © In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Tennessee William defeated Ernest Youngman and Brutus Milano in 8:28 when Tennessee William pinned Brutus Milano after hitting him with a guitar. Tennessee William wins the NYCW Empire title. In terms of in-ring work, Ernest Youngman was head and shoulders above everyone else. Brutus Milano was the weak link, struggling to keep up with everyone else's in-ring performance. Rating: 45 Boom! And just like that Milano is gone from the main event and we have a wrestler who can go over 10 minutes without blowing up and botching a move. Decent start for Youngman too, but we need a star to build around and what we had wasn’t cutting it. OVERALL RATING: 43 After the show Honest Frank congratulated me on our success and mentioned he thought Dreadnought was going to be a star. Interesting. While it was nice to hear positive news from Frank, it was Larry I wanted to speak to. I needed to know what he thought. Backstage, he looked at and called out “The roster’s too big. Cut em.” Then, I could swear, he smiled. Next time on New York Titans... We chop away the deadwood...

Somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region… I was ushered into a room by the strong grip of Larry Vesey and was sat down in a comfortable chair. I was about to ask where we were, but I remembered this place from the last time. Or the dream or whatever. This was the Confederation of the Territories HQ. “Let’s get this over with,” Larry growled. “Whose the rookie?” said a gruff voice from elsewhere in the room. Along with Larry and myself there were five important-looking men and five other not so important sat around a big circular desk. When I say important, I don’t mean in the global, political or social sense, but in the ‘look at me and how important I am’ type of way. These were wrestling promoters. The sort of hard-nosed, carnival-inspired lunatics who presented oiled-up men in pants hitting each other with chairs as an art form. I’d read all about them in the ‘book.’ The alliance; designed as a way of keeping their names relevant in a business which had basically passed them by. Each had a noble reason for running an unsuccessful business, whether it was to train the next generation, present something alternative for true fans or to help buoy the failing economy in their respective area. Whatever reason they gave; the uncomfortable truth was that they wanted to be powerful, successful and influential. They wanted to be stopped in the street by strangers and applauded for their business acumen, their financial clout and above all else they wanted to be the owners of the top wrestling promotion in the world. The powerhouses of SWF, TCW and the new champions USPW dominate global wrestling and a bunch of near-to-the-top promotions are hot on their heels. But for the smaller fish, they needed to work together for now in order to survive and perhaps one day, thrive. This must’ve been the yearly meetup. It was December after all. The notes in the ‘book’ simply said, ‘Waste of time, don’t care, just a chance for a drink and reminisce about the good old days. Idiots.’ Only, those notes didn’t seem to ring true. Especially not for this particular meeting, they looked tense and as they discussed their various promotions, plans for the titles and who should run what shows on what days, I could tell there was something playing on their minds. Larry told me to sit down, shut up and don’t make a fool of myself. And other than spilling coffee over myself, I did ok. Rich plumes of smoke danced through the air and seeped into the custom-made suits of these important men and they all laughed maniacally. Definitely villains. Even though my heart was pounding in my chest, it really was fascinating to have a seat at the table. Literally, in this case. Sam Keith, owner of Mid Atlantic Wrestling and de facto head of CoTT was winding down proceedings when there was a single knock at the door. The others looked at one another in surprise. Presumably nobody else knew about this meeting. “Come in,” said Keith. I knew who was entering before they did. It was so weird living my life again. The door burst open. In walked a suited man. This was a man not suited to events like this. He wore a suit that was more at home in the boardroom of a multinational promotion. He was tanned, but not orange, his teeth were white, but not glistening white and his shoes were pristine and shiny. This man was everything the others in the room wished they were. Allen Packer, owner of USPW. The ‘big boys’ of pro wrestling in the States. “So it’s true,” Packer said and walked to the head of the table. “The little people are working together. I always thought it was some running gag. Amazing.” “Who in the blazes are you?” shouted Larry and he nearly knocked me over as he stood. “I’m Allen Packer,” he said confidently. “I own Reverie. And USPW, and hopefully soon, you lot.” He pulled five envelopes from his pocket and slid one to each of the big boys at the table. “It’s 2020 and it’s all about online content,” he said. “You’ve got some, I want it. Here’s a pay cheque for you to go home and stop playing at promoting.” Sam opened up the envelope and pulled out a cheque. He looked at it and then screwed it up and tossed it on the floor. Allen Packer laughed. “Not enough old man?” he said. “How about I double it?” “I’ve got plenty of money already,” said Keith. Larry didn’t even open the envelope, he just screwed it up and shoved it in his mouth. He then tried to speak, but his mouth was full of paper. So he raised his middle finger to the newcomer instead and let out a little choked cough. “OK,” said Packer. “Have it your way. I’ll run you all out of business and then buy your tape libraries for $1 when I’m finished.” “Not this time douchebag,” I said. The room fell silent and all eyes fixed on me. This was new. I hadn’t done this before. But I was wet-behind the ears last time. “I don’t know you,” Packer said with interest. “You will.” There are rare moments in life when you pull off the incredible. Those one-liners that normally only have a place in movies. Packer looked a little shocked, but rallied quickly and with a shrug, he spun on his heels and strolled out of the dark room. “How the hell did he find us here?” asked Sam. “Who flapped their gums?” Nobody responded. “Wha’re we gonna do about zis man? Kill im?” saida masked Luchador. The bookers suddenly looked nervous, but the owners barely looked fazed. “We’ll expand,” grinned Keith. “We’ll get as many promotions in the COTT as possible, unfiy, absorb and eventually force him out the industry. Old school. You can have all the technology you like, but nothing beats good old fashioned wrestling knowledge.” The others looked at him like he was mad, but nobody presented any other idea. It wouldn’t work of course. I knew that. I’d seen it in fact. But this time I kept quiet. If knowledge is power, then I was God. The meeting ended abruptly after that. “We need to discuss WrestleWorld sooner rather than later,” Keith added as we left. Hours later, once I was sure it was just me and Larry, he swore loudly. “Everything alright?” I said, knowing exactly what his brain was churning over. This was actually a lot of fun. “Plans have moved up,” he said. “We’ll need to be very careful now.” “You’re tired of presenting Stomper’s vision of what NYCW is. We’re at war. And you want to win!” I said to a shocked, open-mouthed response. “That’s why I hired you kid,” Larry said. But more like he was reading from a script than talking as he thought. “You want to take them all done,” I added. “Reshape the wrestling world, and you’re going to need me to help me. It’s time to go to work, oh and Welcome to New York City.” “Not quite,” said Vessey. “Everyone is using that ‘Welcome to’ line these days. We need something new.” “Leave it with me Boss,” I said. *** The next day and I was in the Weston Gymnasium in New Jersey. Which didn’t feel quite like The Ministry in New York City, but that never stopped us before. Larry had arranged a meet and greet, so I could get to know the workers and genuinely what we had to work with. It was weird, I’d known these guys 4 years ago, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. I asked them to stand in their respective card positions of main event, upper midcarder etc. They looked at me confused. “Yeah we don’t do that anymore,” Larry said. “Cool, cool cool cool,” I replied. “Alphabetical order please or by team.” Singles Roster: Andrew Harper (Heel) Animal Harker (Face) Brutus Milano (Face) Crockett Tubbs (Face) Denny King (Heel) Devastating Don (Heel) Geoff Borne (Face) Machine Gun Marino (Heel) Masked Stranger (Face) Ray Snow (Heel) Richie Riggins (Heel) Riley McManus (Face) Sal DiMeo (Heel) Super Massive Destroyer (Heel) Tennessee William (Heel) The New York Doll (Heel) It wasn’t exactly dripping with talent. I suddenly missed Bulldozer Brandon Smith, Roger Cage and even Sammy the Shark. But times had clearly moved on, and so should I. The sight of the useless lump Brutus Milano made me smirk. Larry had always had a soft spot for him and even four years later, here he was. Gorgeous and useless. Tag Teams: Brooklyn’s Finest – Hawkeye Calhoun and Freedom Eagle (Face) The Boys from the Yukon – Whitehorse Whittaker and Howlin Mad Mort (Heel) The Casey Brothers – Tully Casey and Chuck Casey (Face) The Italian Americans – Vito Pirelli and Luca Sacramoni (Heel) The LA Stars – LA Star 1 and LA Star 2 (Face) This was more promising. A good set of tag teams, each bringing something different. The LA Stars had clearly taken the jobber role from Brooklyn’s Finest, who themselves looked better somehow. More confident maybe? They’d be worth a good look at. Other Talent: Larry Vessey (Owner and Road Agent) Steve Flash (Road Agent and former Head Booker) Michael Bull (Head Referee) Arnie Plumber (Referee) Rock Downpour (Lead Announcer) Ron South (Colour Commentator) Ernie Turner (Colour Commentator) Fern Hathaway (Valet) Cheerleader Nicki (Valet) Steve Flash, who I’d known for years, eyed me suspiciously. Luckily he was a workhorse when he was wrestling, I’d imagine he’d be the same now in backstage role. The commentary team had a new guy, Ron South. But I knew I could do most of their jobs. Ernie Turner remained too, still best friends with Tennessee William, and still overpriced. Stables: The DiMeo Family (Sal DiMeo, Luca Sacramoni, Vito Pirelli and Machine Gun Marino) I thought back to my original idea for the Milano Family. It wasn’t quite as impressive as that had been, but it could work if carried right. Sal DiMeo was a cocky sort, but boy could he talk. He reminded me of an old school NYCWer, which gave me an idea. “So, come on, whose holding the gold?” I asked. This was always a fun exercise. Titles: NYCW Tag Team: The Boys from the Yukon (27 prestige) NYCW Tri-State Regional: Masked Stranger (23 prestige) NYCW King of New York: Steve Flash (33 prestige) NYCW Empire: Brutus Milano (29 prestige) He’d actually done it. Larry, the mad old fool with a terrible eye for talent had put the strap on Brutus Effing Milano. Good God, what was he thinking? Brutus introduced himself to me with a firm handshake. Oh, brilliant. He’s respectful and an obviously popular backstage personality. What was going on?!? Not only had Larry done that, and split up the Southern Stars, but he’d taken the King of New York title and turned it into a Battle Royal. Nobody liked Battle Royals. I’d be looking to change that pretty sharpish. Having met and greeted everyone, I already had a good idea of who was good backstage and who was bad. Devastating Don, Luca Sacramoni and Ray Snow were bringing everyone else down. A toxic backstage environment is more trouble than it’s worth. So I overruled Larry on some rules, offering to pay for peoples transport and insisting they didn’t have to stay to the end of the show. Next step was ‘the book’ which had all the storylines and events currently running. Fair play to Flash, he had more creativity than Larry. Then again my left sock had more creativity than Larry. Storylines: Cage Clash Fallout: Brutus Milano vs Tennessee William (Hot – How? How was Brutus in a ‘hot’ storyline as the Empire freakin Champion) Freedom or Family: Freedom Eagle being hunted by the DiMeo Family (Not hot) McManus vs Harper: Blood Feud over being put through tables (Hot – Nice to see Harper hasn’t changed his gimmick at all in four years) Masked Stranger vs Denny King: (Hot – Denny King, who I knew as Dermot O’Logical, had clearly completely revamped himself. I quite liked his new attitude to be honest) Company Positon: 17th in the world of wrestling 24% Prestige 22% Momentum Work needed to be done, and fast. Retiring to my office, or the broom cupboard as I knew it, I looked at the books. Books was an overstatement. It was a ziplock bag of receipts and hand-written post-it notes. We had $50,000 in the bank, which was… fine. I guess. We’d need to work on that seeing as we’d apparently got smaller and less relevant since 2016. Looking at the various handshake deals and non-exclusive contracts, the familiar faces stood out. Top Earners: Ernie Turner: $400 Rock Downpour: $400 Steve Flash: $400 Ron South: $200 So firstly, I cancelled all shows except what I’d consider the key ones, and added a centrepiece event. Calendar February – Rush Hour May – Gang Wars (3 vs. 3 matches) September – The Kind of New York (cancelled the current title and created a yearly tournament title) December – Empire City Showdown I Every month would have a show to boost and grow our popularity in the Tri-State area, which was, in my mind, the key. I’d promised not to re-use the Welcome to New York title for the monthly show. So I needed something else. Something which showed our old school roots, but with a modern twist for new fans. Something cool and edgy, but not pretentious or too niche. Meanwhile Larry gave us a list of goals: 1. NYCW must have gained popularity. 2. Must not fall below $20,000. 3. No Hiring of workers with trouble with the law. 4. No Strikers. 5. No Luchadors. While I let my creative juices flow, I made marks next to various names. I’d get Larry to fire them. Releases Ernie Turner (too expensive and I had a better idea, although this affected Tennessee William’s morale) Rock Downpour and Ron South (I’d do their jobs) Fern Hathaway and Cheerleader Nikki (We didn’t need valets at this stage. Music first, valets later) Devastating Don (Bad attitude, bad wrestler) Ray Snow (Bad attitude, decent wrestler) LA Stars (too many tag teams, especially with my plans) So, I’d cut away enough deadwood to free up plenty of cash for new signings. Time to revamp this entire organisation. Then it occurred to me. The one person I needed to sign up immediately. The centrepiece of the organisation last time. “Yo,” said the voice at the end of the phone. “Ross Henry, you sonofabitch, it’s me Mr Patrick from NYCW. I wanna bring you in and relive the glory days.” There was a pause and I realised my mistake. “Who?” said the former NFL player. “Listen, don’t call me again.” The line went dead. Ok, so no Ross Henry. Add that to no Roger Cage, no Sammy the Shark, no Cameron Vessey, Greg Gauge, Matthew Keith or Casey Valentine. “Larry!” I called. “How old is your nephew?” “What?” he growled from the next room. “Your nephew, Chuck Vessey,” I said. “I ain’t got no nephew,” he replied. “Stop being weird.” Alright, so not everything was the same this time. Dammit. I flicked through the latest copy of Powerslam magazine and saw some names I did recognise and got on the phone immediately. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a great start. “See you soon boss,” said Brutus Milano as he left the gym later than the others, covered in sweat but with a smile on his face. Oh he was such a nice guy. I hated him. “Go away Milano.” I sat back on my desk and picked up the New York Times. Huh, apparently there was a nasty flu-like virus in China called Covid-19. Luckily President Kaisch had it all under control. Thank God for effective leadership.

This is a Cornellverse dynasty, inspired by the original dynasty by BriFidelity all those years ago and by the irrepressible InfinityWPI’s Welcome to the Zone series. Seems wrong not to mention them both. Previously, on Welcome to New York… Saturday, Week 1, January 2021 Rain lashed against my car windscreen as I drove away from Larry Vessey’s funeral. Away from the company I’d help grow. The company which now belonged to Allen Packer’s unstoppable juggernaut USPW. As I left the city limits, I saw a sign. The sign which served as inspiration back in 2016. I took a photo as I passed. Larry’s face appeared in my mind and scowled. We did good kid, he said. I looked back at the sign one last time as it got smaller and smaller before disappearing. And as it disappeared, the words written on it, ‘Welcome to New York’ disappeared too. The end… Of the road. A burping sound, a flash of wobbly green light and then darkness. When I next peeled my eyes open, they were met with the fluorescent lights of a hospital. “You idiot,” said a familiar gruff voice. “You could’ve killed yourself. And us with you.” I turned my head and sat by my hospital bed was Larry Vessey. “Larry?” I said “What the Hell is going on?” “What’s going on is, you were drunk, you crashed your car and you’ll be no good to me dead. The CoTT are crumbling, USPW are threatening to buy our business and our attendances are tanking. I need you up and ready to go. It’s not very impressive that on day one of being my booker you try and kill yourself.” He threw a half-eaten box of chocolates at me. “But, you’re dead,” I said. “You died and NYCW got sold to USPW.” “Never,” he yelled. “I’d never sell. And while I may be old, I’m not dead. Yet. So stop talking crazy, get your sh*t together and let’s go.” I looked around the room and the calendar showed January 2020. But that couldn’t be right. I’d joined in 2016. Was this a dream? Or a twist of fate? Or time travel? I didn’t know, but suddenly I had another shot. A chance to right what once went wrong. The wrestling god had given me one last chance. But could I face it again? Another look around the hospital room and I saw a flyer advertising a wrestling show in two weeks’ time. I saw the header and it dawned on me. A do-over. A second chance. Welcome to New York… Wrestling Gods, you son of a bitch… I’m in.

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541249 Welcome to New York... An NYCW Diary (Cverse)

Don't suppose there's a Harry Chadwick re-render knocking around somewhere is there? He's the owner of my new New Orleans-voodoo-inspired company.

While I'm on the scrounge. Could I have: White Skull face Paint on this one: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/TCPinho/Donte%20Dunn.jpg A leopard-pring headband on this one (like a Strong Man style): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/TCPinho/Ernest%20Youngman.jpg American flag bandana? Or perhaps blond hair? Something to make him look a bit more like an American pretty boy hero: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/TCPinho/Logan%20Wolfsbaine.jpg Thanks again.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hitman74" data-cite="Hitman74" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41231" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><a href="http://s1137.photobucket.com/user/hitman74/media/Alts/Amiri20Ngala_zpsyx4nkikf.jpg.html" rel="external nofollow"><span>http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n511/hitman74/Alts/Amiri20Ngala_zpsyx4nkikf.jpg</span></a></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> You hero, thanks very much.</p>