DarK_RaideR

Great concept, great portraits and stable logos and the usual quality writing. Following along, of course.

That sounds like a diary I would very much enjoy following.

Now this one does the man justice! Excellent work, Bison.

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Gothenburg Submission Fighting recruit Mugur Boc</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> SIGMA and RSC veteran Heavyweight "The Crusher" Mugur Boc announced he has been accepted as a member of Gothenburg Submission Fighting. Already a world class fighter and skilled grappler at 35 years of age, Boc is expected to keep his grappling skills in top form while also using his experience to help train the next generation of MMA fighters.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Snettisham moving to Heavyweight</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> "Jersey" Joe Snettisham saw the writing on the wall with the announcement of the lighter weight divisions as well as his own losing streak and decided to move from Super Heavyweight to being a Heavyweight. Whether he can make weight and perform better in this new division remains to be seen.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">Aljur Paras visiting Tai Sheng Men Society</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p>Tai Sheng Men Society may have lost Pai Cheng but they soon gained another RSC member in Aljur Paras. The Filippino Heavyweight fighter is understood to be on a short term visit to the training camp and their focus on submission wrestling might just prove to be a killer addition to his standing striking power.</p>

Red Star Combat Top 10 Rankings as of April 1st, 2004 Super Heavyweight #1 Hector Jimenez (6-0, 3-0 RSC) ⬆️ #2 Colin J L Capes (8-1, 3-1 RSC) ⬇️ #3 Dwight Witherspoon (9-1, 3-1 RSC) ⬇️ #4 Zsolt Hargitay (11-4, 3-1 RSC) #5 Zydrunas Sigauskas (5-1, 3-1 RSC) #6 Melvin Yeo (6-1, 4-1 RSC) ⬆️ #7 Joe Snettisham (9-6, 0-3 RSC) ⬇️ #8 Vasily Klyushev (5-3, 3-3 RSC) #9 Daugvinas Blekaitis (5-3, 3-3 RSC) #10 Fred Goggins (6-2, 1-2 RSC) Heavyweight #1 Pai Cheng (14-0, 5-0 RSC) #2 Mugur Boc (13-3, 1-1 RSC) #3 Khru Duangjan (20-5, 0-0 RSC) #4 Percy Catcher (14-7, 2-1 RSC) #5 Josef Jankowski (10-1, 1-0 RSC) #6 Roope Kuqi (10-1, 1-1 RSC) ⬆️ #7 Dave Lennon (21-9, 2-1 RSC) ⬇️ #8 Vittorio Pescatelli (8-3, 2-3 RSC) #9 Hanif Hussain (9-3, 3-0 RSC) ⬆️ #10 Glen McBeam (7-0, 0-0 RSC) ⬆️ Light Heavyweight #1 Hyun-Shik Lim (18-3, 2-0 RSC) #2 Carlos dos Santos (18-7, 3-1 RSC) #3 Michael Dali (8-0, 4-0 RSC) #4 Emil Karlsson (9-0, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #5 Leandro Piquet (23-12, 2-1 RSC) ⬇️ #6 Allen LeFleur (13-1, 2-1 RSC) #7 Mahak Kirakosyan (10-3, 3-3 RSC) #8 Tomasz Petrov (4-1, 4-1 RSC) #9 Shane Gilchrist (17-10, 0-2 RSC) ⬆️ #10 Frankie Burgess (8-4, 3-3 RSC) ⬇️ Middleweight #1 Petey Mack (14-6, 0-0 RSC) #2 Bambang Sriyanto (27-11-2, 1-1 RSC) #3 Kojuro Kudo (16-5-1, 0-0 RSC) #4 Carl Ratcliffe (24-8, 1-1 RSC) #5 Esteban Vega (11-1, 1-1 RSC) #6 Emile Rachal (8-0, 1-0 RSC) #7 Drazen Gabelich (12-7, 1-1 RSC) ⬆️ #8 Ramin Rostami (8-0, 4-0 RSC) ⬇️ #9 Osvald Kikkas (11-3, 4-1 RSC) ⬇️ #10 Tomasz Mlakar (5-0, 2-0 RSC) ⬆️ Welterweight #1 Simon Vine (27-11, 1-0 RSC) #2 Dominykas Jankovic (16-7, 3-2 RSC) ⬆️ #3 Hamilton Fonseca Jr (12-3, 3-0 RSC) #4 Kafu Bunya (15-5, 0-1 RSC) ⬇️ #5 Syed Tan (19-7-1, 0-1 RSC) #6 Piotr Dabrowski (22-10, 3-2 RSC) #7 Mauricio de Terreros (11-1, 2-1 RSC) #8 Carmelo Rossi (15-7, 2-01 RSC) #9 Pavel Radulov (9-3, 1-0 RSC) #10 Sebastian Fernandez (11-4, 2-2 RSC) Lightweight #1 Motoki Hojo (23-8, 1-0 RSC) #2 Georges Nouri (18-4, 3-1 RSC) #3 Folke Dalen (11-1, 4-1 RSC) #4 Min-Soo Sik (11-2, 0-1 RSC) #5 Goncalves Cassaro (7-1, 0-0 RSC) ⬆️ #6 Harald Hubner (10-6, 1-1 RSC) ⬆️ #7 Chakrit Mamanee (5-1, 4-1 RSC) ⬆️ #8 Johan Kavli (7-1, 0-1 RSC) ⬇️ #9 Jonas Jankowski (4-0, 2-0 RSC) #10 Dominykas Wojcik (4-0, 2-0) Featherweight #1 Foggy Lee (16-3, 4-0 RSC) ⬆️ #2 Rafael Tavares (19-6, 3-1 RSC) #3 Colm Dee (16-7, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #4 Marco Bernacci (11-3, 0-0 RSC) #5 Jay Dorridge (12-4, 1-1 RSC) ⬆️ #6 Ronaldo Freitas (10-1, 3-1 RSC) ⬆️ #7 Louie Sullivan (10-1, 0-0 RSC) ⬆️ #8 Ryan Fenniman (11-3, 0-1 RSC) ⬇️ #9 Milovan Ajetovic (9-7, 0-0 RSC) ⬆️ #10 Saul Cervantes (6-1, 3-1 RSC) ⬆️ Bantamweight #1 Nadir Mendes Ferreira (10-1, 0-0 RSC) #2 Pipob Jakkuprasat (14-4, 0-0 RSC) #3 Tossapol Puangchan (6-2, 0-0 RSC) #4 Supachai Thamsatchanan (7-2, 0-0 RSC) #5 Ye Ting (6-1, 0-0 RSC) #6 Li Kung (4-0, 0-0 RSC) #7 Sying Tan (3-1, 0-0 RSC) #8 Liang Tsao (4-1, 0-0 RSC) #9 Shing Jen (4-0, 0-0 RSC) #10 Long Kung (3-0, 0-0 RSC) Women’s Featherweight #1 Rachel McGuiness (12-4, 3-0 RSC) #2 Nora Bethlen (7-0, 3-0 RSC) #3 Annika Sjolin (7-1, 5-1 RSC) #4 Regina de Avila (6-2, 4-2 RSC) #5 Rosamaria Correa (9-2, 3-2 RSC) #6 Maja Krawczyk (4-1, 4-1 RSC) ⬆️ #7 Vasya Kaczmarek (9-3, 3-3 RSC) ⬆️ #8 Rugile Wisniewska (4-0, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #9 Diana Wozniak (4-0, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #10 Zofia Ivanov (4-2, 4-2 RSC) ⬇️ Women’s Bantamweight #1 Maya Komagata (12-0, 3-0 RSC) #2 Katie-Jayne Paulson (11-1, 3-0 RSC) #3 Rain Richards (17-1, 1-0 RSC) #4 Katarzyna Wojchiechowska (10-2, 3-1 RSC) #5 Thea Higgins (10-3, 2-0 RSC) #6 Tiiu Kass (12-2, 2-2 RSC) #7 Dorothy Gayle (8-3, 2-1 RSC) #8 Vicki Summers (10-6, 1-2 RSC) #9 Carmen Routhwaite (9-3, 2-3 RSC) #10 Agnieszka Hajek (4-2, 4-2 RC) Women’s Flyweight #1 Daljit Samir (14-2, 4-2 RSC) #2 Rennaya Rives (14-1, 4-1 RSC) #3 Manami Ken (12-2, 2-0 RSC) #4 Trish Biel (11-1, 3-1 RSC) ⬆️ #5 Shannon Palmer (12-3, 3-1 RSC) ⬆️ #6 Helena Broderick (10-2, 3-1 RSC) ⬇️ #7 Chisaki Gojo (10-3, 2-1) #8 Kimie Igarashi (9-3-1, 0-1-1 RSC) #9 Natasha Mellow (10-3, 2-2 RSC) #10 Maria Ferraz (9-4, 1-3 RSC)

RSC 41: Capes vs Jimenez Monday, Week 4, March 2004 – St. Petersburg,Russia Attendance: 459 Preliminary Card <table border="0" bgcolor=#DCDCDC><tr><td align="left" width = "780"> <details><summary></summary>Light Heavyweight: Gavriil Sviridov (CR#16, 9-7, 1-2 RSC) def. Vojtech Prochazka (CR#17, 3-0, 1-0 RSC) via KO (Kick) – Round 1 (1:33) [Good] Middleweight: Dovydas Avetisyan (CR#25, 2-1, 0-1 RSC) def. Sander Pospisil (CR#24, 3-2, 0-2 RSC) via Submission (RNC) – Round 1 (1:00) [Good] Women’s Flyweight: Lora Hayes (CR#15, 9-5, 2-3 RSC) def. Joan Whitehouse (CR#16, 7-3, 0-2 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Good] Women’s Featherweight: Johanna Lagerholm (CR#17, 4-2, 3-2 RSC) def. Aldona Dvorak (CR#11, 3-3, 3-3 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Decent] Welterweight: [/b] Rokas Grabowski (CR#20, 3-1, 0-1 RSC) def. [/b] Nojus Fiala (CR#25, 2-1, 0-1 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (4:18) [Good]</summary></details></details></td></tr></table></details> Main Card Heavyweight: Roope Kuqi (CR#7, 9-1, 0-1 RSC) def. Wally da Cunha (CR#9, 18-11, 1-1 RSC) via Submission (RNC) – Round 1 (2:14) [Great] Welterweight: Dominykas Jankovic (CR#4, 15-7, 2-2 RSC) def. Kafu Bunya (CR#2, 15-4, 0-0 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Good] Featherweight: Colm Dee (CR#4, 15-7, 0-0 RSC) def. Ryan Fenniman (CR#6, 11-2, 0-0 RSC) via KO (Punch) – Round 1 (1:39) [Good] Women’s Featherweight: Rosamaria Correa (CR#5, 8-2, 2-2 RSC) def. Zofia Ivanov (CR#6, 4-1, 4-1 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (0:37) [Good] RSC Super Heavyweight Championship: Hector Jimenez (CR#3, 5-0, 2-0 RSC) def. Colin J. L. Capes (WR#10, CR#1, 8-0, 3-0 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Average] [Capes broke his nose during the fight] - Having finished all 5 of his last opponents, Colin J. L. Capes walked confidently into his first title defense, but Hector Jimenez had done his homework and dodged all three attempts the champion made for a big head kick in the opening round. That was the most exciting part of the fight, to be honest, since both big men aren’t exactly renowned for their stamina. Capes attempted to score points by muscling his challenger against the cage, but the longer fight brought out some surprising takedown skills on Jimenez, who used them for previous ground and pound points. Capes, sporting a broken nose, made one last desperate attempt at a head kick in the final round catching nothing but air and with the match taken to the judges, Jimenez was unanimously declared the winner and new RSC Super Heavyweight champion! - Shocking co-main event, with Brazil’s Rosamaria Correa wrapping it up as soon as it started with a single uppercut! The muay thai fighter caught Ivanov square in the jaw and knocked her flat out, ending the match by pouncing on top to finish her off with more strikes. - A tale of two opposites in the Featherweight division’s double RSC debut: Birmingham’s Ryan Fenniman stepped into the cage having finished 4 of his 5 last opponents, whereas Ireland’s Colm Dee hasn’t won a fight for two and a half years, since September 2001. Odds seem to be on the British youngster’s side, but Dee had something to prove and apparently that drove him to deliver a killer punch just a minute and a half into the match, shutting out the lights for his opponents in a single blow that sent the fans into a frenzy. - Kafu Bunya made his RSC debut, the former ALPHA-1 Welterweight champion going toe to toe with RSC’s former Welterweight champion, Dominykas Jankovic in a fight that was as even as it could get. Bunya dominated round one and the first half of round two with quick strikes, while Jankovic controlled the second half with a total of three takedowns and a 100% takedown success rate. This was where Bunya’s strong point shone, his great defensive skills allowing him to survive on the ground and often escape with some great sprawling. The score of 29-28 reflects how the fight played out, with Jankovic barely edging a win thanks to his ground control game and now perhaps dreaming of another shot at gold. - Great night for Roope Kuqi in the opener as the “Second Generation Star” eliminated Wally da Cunha’s muay thai striking but getting in up close and pressuring him in the grapple, until he was able to take him down and apply the RNC. Kuqi is now back to his winning ways, following his first and only career loss so far to Mugur Boc back in November. Bonus Fight of the Night: Kuqi vs da Cunha KO of the Night: Dee vs Fenniman Submission of the Night: Kuqi vs da Cunha Post-Fight Hector Jimenez: "I think the obvious first challenger would be Dwight Witherspoon. He’s the former champion and a great fighter, I have a lot of respect for him and I think we could put on a great fight for the fans." Rosamaria Correa: ”Big thanks to my fans and sponsors for supporting me. Next fight? I’d love to kick Nora Bethlen’s ass.” Colm Dee: ”Screw this Ireland-UK thing, I got nothing against this kid. My previous fight was in SIGMA against Marco Bernacci. I know he’s on this roster too and I want a chance to reclaim my pride by defeating him next time I enter this cage.” Dominykas Jankovic: ”Thanks to the Mantas Andreyev Fighting team for helping me prepare and to my sponsors for supporting me financially so I could fight tonight. Kafu Bunya has been in the global top 10 and that was not by accident, he has my respect for what I saw tonight.”

RSC 40 Marazzina vs Lee Sunday, Week 2, March 2004 – Germany Attendance: 491 Preliminary Card <table border="0" bgcolor=#DCDCDC><tr><td align="left" width = "780"> <details><summary></summary>Welterweight: Dominykas Ivanov (CR#16, 4-0, 1-0 RSC) def. Petrov Dordevic (CR#23, 2-2, 0-2 RSC) via Submission (Armbar) – Round 1 (4:57) [Great] Light Heavyweight: Emil Karlsson (CR#5, 8-0, 0-0 RSC) def. Markus Jankovic (CR#18, 3-0, 1-0 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (1:58) [Good] Lightweight: Ondrej Nikolic (CR#15, 3-1, 0-1 RSC) def. Johan Kavli (CR#5, 7-0, 0-0 RSC) via Submission (RNC) – Round 1 (1:06) [Good] Super Heavyweight: Melvin Yeo (CR#7, 5-1, 3-1 RSC) def. Joe Snettisham (CR#6, 9-5, 0-2 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Good] Heavyweight: Gennady Lopatin (CR#20, 4-1, 1-1 RSC) def. Jakub Vasilyev (CR#18, 3-1, 0-1 RSC) via Submission (Kimura) – Round 1 (1:08) [Good]</summary></details></details></td></tr></table></details> Main Card Heavyweight: Bast Moulke (CR#16, 6-3, 3-3 RSC) def. Dmitry Gomolov (CR#19, 4-1, 1-1 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Poor] Middleweight: Drazen Gabelich (CR#9, 11-7, 0-1 RSC) def. Leandro Bastos (CR#10, 9-3, 0-1 RSC) via Submission (Armbar) – Round 2 (4:21) [Good] Women’s Flyweight: Rennaya Rives (P4P#11, WR#4, CR#2, 13-1, 3-1 RSC) def. Helena Broderick (P4P#17,WR#8, CR#4, 10-2, 3-1 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 2 (1:23) [Decent] Light Heavyweight: Michael Dali (CR#3, 7-0, 3-0 RSC) def. Frankie Burgess (CR#9, 8-3, 3-2 RSC) via Split Decision – 28:29, 30:27, 30:27 [Good] RSC Featherweight Championship: Foggy Lee (CR#3, 15-3, 3-0 RSC) def. Francesco Marazzina (WR#20, CR#1, 24-10, 1-0 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Good] [Marazzina broke his nose during the fight and announced his retirement afterwards] - An intense and emotional main event, a passing of the torch and changing of the guard as Foggy Lee defeated Francesco Marazzina for the title. Lee came hot out of the gates with long combos that pressured the defending champion but also wore out his stamina, allowing Marazzina to hip toss him, though he ran out of time before he could attempt a submission. Round two was the turning point, with Lee having gotten some much needed rest during the break and a lucky blow that shattered Marazzina’s nose. From that point on, Lee changed his approach to deliver fewer but stronger and more calculated blows while keeping his gas tank in check. Marazzina could only try and survive until the end, his only highlight being another takedown with less than a minute before the finish, mainly thanks to his opponent’s exhaustion but yet again, he could not get him to tap in time. Lee won by unanimous decision and Marazzina, still bleeding, made an emotional speech to announce his retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts. - Fan favorite Michael Dali made his RSC return after a leave of absence to fight for SIGMA. Frankie Burgess was his opponent, who Dali publicly denounced as a worthy former RSC Light Heavyweight champion leading up to this match. The hatred between the two was evident in their blows but neither man seemed to gain a decisive advantage and Dali’s inexperience showed in the fact that while he was able to land some decisive blows, instead of focusing on those he would instead throw himself into wild combinations of blows that Burgess would easily block. That said, the match went the full three rounds and ended up in a contested split decision, with Dali openly expressing his contempt for it during his post fight interview. - Rennaya Rives and Helena Broderick clashed in the Women’s Flyweight division, a fight with implications of a future title shot. Broderick got badly outstruck in the opening round, much to the dismay of her home crowd who was hoping for one of her powerful big right hands to turn the tables in her favor. Rives made good use of her feet for some head kicks during round one and it paid off as the damage piled on and one of these kicks in round two floored Broderick so she could finish her off and get the TKO victory. - Drazen Gabelich made his return after injuring his collar bone during training. The Croatian went into this fight with a patient, defensive strategy, trying to lure his opponent into big swings and a mistake that would allow him to shoot. While that made for a snoozer of an opening round, Bastos finally made the mistake and Gabelich managed to take him down for the armbar and submission, proving his game plan right all along. - Hot start to the show with hometown hero Bast Moulke getting a loud welcome as well as an audible reaction when neither he, nor Dmitry Gomolov touched gloves before the start of the fight. Despite all the trash talk back and forth leading to this fight, the actual outcome was unexciting to say the least, with Moulke mostly being the aggressor. All three rounds were more or less spent in a standing clinch, pushing each other to the cage for some dirty boxing, nothing to set the world ablaze but a clear win on the judges cards, 30-27 for Moulke who was in complete control from start to finish. Bonus Fight of the Night: Lee vs Marazzina KO of the Night: Rives vs Broderick Submission of the Night: Gabelich vs Bastos Post-Fight Foggy Lee: "Thanks to all my fans, sponsors and family at Montreal Fight Sciences. This was a tough fight and I’m excited to be the champion. If I had to pick someone to defend it against, that would be Rafael Tavares, I have huge respect for him and liked what I saw in his fight two weeks ago." Michael Dali: ”Quintrell Dubois, you biased French wanker, I got a 30-27, clean sweep on the other judges’ cards, what the hell is this score? This should have been a unanimous decision, there is no question I kicked this guy’s ass! Next up for an ass kicking is Lim and he better prepare, because I’m coming for him and his title!” Rennaya Rives: ”Yeah, I suffered my first and only loss to Trish Biel in that title match, but I’m making my way back to another shot. Now that Samir holds the gold, I’ll be watching her closely and hoping we meet in the cage soon.” Bast Moulke: ”I hope a fight can be arranged between me and Aljur Paras, I still want to face him inside the cage.”

Red Star Combat Top 10 Rankings as of March 1st, 2004 Super Heavyweight #1 Colin J L Capes (8-0, 3-0 RSC) #2 Dwight Witherspoon (9-1, 3-1 RSC) #3 Hector Jimenez (5-0, 2-0 RSC) #4 Zsolt Hargitay (11-4, 3-1 RSC) #5 Zydrunas Sigauskas (4-1, 2-1 RSC) ⬆️ #6 Joe Snettisham (9-5, 0-2 RSC) ⬇️ #7 Melvin Yeo (5-1, 3-1 RSC) #8 Vasily Klyushev (5-3, 3-3 RSC) ⬆️ #9 Daugvinas Blekaitis (5-3, 3-3 RSC) ⬇️ #10 Fred Goggins (6-2, 1-2 RSC) Heavyweight #1 Pai Cheng (14-0, 5-0 RSC) #2 Mugur Boc (13-3, 1-1 RSC) #3 Khru Duangjan (20-5, 0-0 RSC) #4 Percy Catcher (14-7, 2-1 RSC) #5 Josef Jankowski (10-1, 1-0 RSC) #6 Dave Lennon (21-9, 2-1 RSC) #7 Roope Kuqi (9-1, 0-1 RSC) #8 Vittorio Pescatelli (8-3, 2-3 RSC) #9 Wally da Cunha (18-11, 1-1 RSC) #10 Hanif Hussain (9-3, 3-0 RSC) Light Heavyweight #1 Hyun-Shik Lim (18-3, 2-0 RSC) #2 Carlos dos Santos (18-7, 3-1 RSC) #3 Michael Dali (7-0, 3-0 RSC) #4 Leandro Piquet (23-12, 2-1 RSC) #5 Emil Karlsson (8-0, 0-0 RSC) #6 Allen LeFleur (13-1, 2-1 RSC) #7 Mahak Kirakosyan (10-3, 3-3 RSC) #8 Tomasz Petrov (4-1, 4-1 RSC) #9 Frankie Burgess (8-3, 3-2 RSC) ⬆️ #10 Shane Gilchrist (17-10, 0-2 RSC) ⬆️ Middleweight #1 Petey Mack (14-6, 0-0 RSC) #2 Bambang Sriyanto (27-11-2, 1-1 RSC) #3 Kojuro Kudo (16-5-1, 0-0 RSC) #4 Carl Ratcliffe (24-8, 1-1 RSC) #5 Esteban Vega (11-1, 1-1 RSC) #6 Emile Rachal (8-0, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #7 Ramin Rostami (8-0, 4-0 RSC) ⬇️ #8 Osvald Kikkas (11-3, 4-1 RSC) #9 Drazen Gabelich (11-7, 0-1 RSC) #10 Leandro Bastos (9-3, 0-1 RSC) Welterweight #1 Simon Vine (27-11, 1-0 RSC) #2 Kafu Bunya (15-4, 0-0 RSC) #3 Hamilton Fonseca Jr (12-3, 3-0 RSC) #4 Dominykas Jankovic (15-7, 2-2 RSC) #5 Syed Tan (19-7-1, 0-1 RSC) ⬆️ #6 Piotr Dabrowski (22-10, 3-2 RSC) ⬆️ #7 Mauricio de Terreros (11-1, 2-1 RSC) #8 Carmelo Rossi (15-7, 2-01 RSC) ⬇️ #9 Pavel Radulov (9-3, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #10 Sebastian Fernandez (11-4, 2-2 RSC) ⬆️ Lightweight #1 Motoki Hojo (23-8, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #2 Georges Nouri (18-4, 3-1 RSC) ⬇️ #3 Folke Dalen (11-1, 4-1 RSC) #4 Min-Soo Sik (11-2, 0-1 RSC) #5 Johan Kavli (7-0, 0-0 RSC) #6 Goncalves Cassaro (7-1, 0-0 RSC) #7 Harald Hubner (10-6, 1-1 RSC) #8 Chakrit Mamanee (5-1, 4-1 RSC) #9 Jonas Jankowski (4-0, 2-0 RSC) #10 Dominykas Wojcik (4-0, 2-0) Featherweight #1 Francesco Marazzina (24-10, 1-0 RSC) #2 Rafael Tavares (19-6, 3-1 RSC) ⬆️ #3 Foggy Lee (15-3, 3-0 RSC) ⬇️ #4 Marco Bernacci (11-3, 0-0 RSC) ⬇️ #5 Colm Dee (15-7, 0-0 RSC) #6 Jay Dorridge (12-4, 1-1 RSC) #7 Ryan Fenniman (11-2, 0-0 RSC) #8 Ronaldo Freitas (10-1, 3-1 RSC) #9 Louie Sullivan (10-1, 0-0 RSC) #10 Milovan Ajetovic (9-7, 0-0 RSC) Women’s Featherweight #1 Rachel McGuiness (12-4, 3-0 RSC) #2 Nora Bethlen (7-0, 3-0 RSC) #3 Annika Sjolin (7-1, 5-1 RSC) #4 Regina de Avila (6-2, 4-2 RSC) #5 Rosamaria Correa (8-2, 2-2 RSC) #6 Zofia Ivanov (4-1, 4-1 RSC) #7 Maja Krawczyk (4-1, 4-1 RSC) #8 Vasya Kaczmarek (9-3, 3-3 RSC) #9 Rugile Wisniewska (4-0, 1-0 RSC) #10 Diana Wozniak (4-0, 1-0 RSC) Women’s Bantamweight #1 Maya Komagata (12-0, 3-0 RSC) #2 Katie-Jayne Paulson (11-1, 3-0 RSC) #3 Rain Richards (17-1, 1-0 RSC) ⬆️ #4 Katarzyna Wojchiechowska (10-2, 3-1 RSC) ⬇️ #5 Thea Higgins (10-3, 2-0 RSC) #6 Tiiu Kass (12-2, 2-2 RSC) #7 Dorothy Gayle (8-3, 2-1 RSC) ⬆️ #8 Vicki Summers (10-6, 1-2 RSC) #9 Carmen Routhwaite (9-3, 2-3 RSC) ⬇️ #10 Agnieszka Hajek (4-2, 4-2 RC) Women’s Flyweight #1 Daljit Samir (14-2, 4-2 RSC) #2 Rennaya Rives (13-1, 3-1 RSC) #3 Manami Ken (12-2, 2-0 RSC) #4 Helena Broderick (10-2, 3-1 RSC) #5 Trish Biel (11-1, 3-1 RSC) #6 Shannon Palmer (12-3, 3-1 RSC) #7 Chisaki Gojo (10-3, 2-1) ⬆️ #8 Kimie Igarashi (9-3-1, 0-1-1 RSC) ⬇️ #9 Natasha Mellow (10-3, 2-2 RSC) ⬆️ #10 Maria Ferraz (9-4, 1-3 RSC) ⬆️

RSC 39 Nouri vs Hojo Sunday, Week 4, February 2004 – Moscow, Russia Attendance: 553 Preliminary Card <table border="0" bgcolor=#DCDCDC><tr><td align="left" width = "780"> <details><summary></summary>Featherweight: Marvin Crews (CR#13, 4-1, 1-1 RSC) def. Stanislaw Popov (CR#17, 3-1, 1-1 RSC) via Submission (RNC) – Round 2 (4:44) [Fantastic] Featherweight: Adam Kucera (CR#19, 2-2, 2-2 RSC) def. Benoit LeMarche (CR#15, 5-2, 1-2 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Decent] Women’s Flyweight: Ivana Kaminska (CR#21, 3-1, 0-1 RSC) def. Hazel McClay (CR#17, 9-6, 0-1 RSC) via Knock Out (Kick) – Round 2 (2:41) [Good] [McClay retired after the fight] Super Heavyweight: Zydrunas Sigauskas (CR#7, 4-1, 2-1 RSC) def. Hans Gorner (CR#13, 3-4, 1-4 RSC) via Submission (RNC) – Round 1 (4:57) [Great]</summary></details></details></td></tr></table></details> Main Card Women’s Bantamweight: Dorothy Gayle (WR#25, CR#9, 7-3, 1-1 RSC) def. Evelina Kovacic (CR#11, 3-3, 3-3 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (4:02) [Great] Welterweight: Piotr Dabrowski (CR#8, 21-10, 2-2 RSC) def. Mando Romero (CR#9, 12-1, 2-1 RSC) via Submission (Kimura) – Round 1 (2:45) [Great] Featherweight: Rafael Tavares (CR#4, 18-6, 2-1 RSC) def. Ilya Fedorov (CR#11, 11-2, 2-2 RSC) via Submission (Armbar) – Round 1 (4:03) [Great] Light Heavyweight: Leandro Piquet (CR#4, 22-12, 1-1 RSC) def. Adrian Swall (CR#9, 11-4, 2-3 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Decent] RSC Lightweight Championship: Motoki Hojo (CR#2, 22-8, 0-0 RSC) def. Georges Nouri (P4P#23, WR#5, CR#1, 18-3, 3-0 RSC) via KO (Punch) – Round 3 (4:25) [Good] - Absolute shocker in the main event as “The Wing Chun Superstar” Motoki Hojo was true to his nickname and managed to do what no one else has in RSC, take the Lightweight title off of George Nouri’s hands! Nouri was off to a hot start, suplexing his challenger to the mat and going through four different submission holds, with Hojo defending himself well against all of them before the referee reset the two fighters in the center. Perhaps getting a bit too confident, Nouri angled for a second takedown but got careless in the process, allowing Hojo to connect with a crunching straight right to his jaw that knocked him straight out. - Battle of the old guard in the co-main event as Brazil’s Leandro Piquet returned to the cage since losing to dos Santos by submission at RSC 26: dos Santos vs Piquet. His opponent was former RSC Light Heavyweight champion Adrian Swall at 35 years of age, just one year older than his opponent. The action saw Piquet use his Muay Thai strikes to hold Swall at bay, who would in turn attempt to grapple and muscle the Brazilian against the cage. Piquet would control the first half of each round while Swall dominated the second, however it was the third round that swung the judges’ opinion as Piquet managed to increase his control to nearly three thirds of the round, with Swall making a desperate run for it in the final minute. - Huge night for Simon Vine, who won the vacant RSC Welterweight Championship in his debut for the company. Vine was off to a rough start, taking multiple big rights and failing to trip his opponent, who he kept against the cage for the rest of the opening round in what seemed like a potential upset. The scene seemed to replay itself in the second, but this time Rossi was taken down successfully and hit multiple times with elbow shots, while an attempt to escape only saw him give up his back for the remainder of round two. With both fighters on even ground, round 3 kicked off but Vine seemed like he'd figured out Rossi by this point, immediately taking him down for more elbow shots before once more taking his back after a failed sweep. Rossi fended off the kimura but that exposed his head to several more elbow shots, with referee Martin Mills getting criticized for a potentially slow intervention to jump in and call for the TKO. - Former RSC Featherweight champion Rafael Tavares made his return since losing to Francesco Marazzina by submission at RSC 25: Biel vs Rives. He has tapped out Ilya Fedorov before at RSC 12: Swall vs Burgess in 2002 and he did so again, but for a brief moment it seemed like we would be seeing an upset. Fedorov managed to knock the Brazilian down but couldn’t quite finish him off as Tavares sprawled to safety and attempted a series of trips that Fedorov nicely defended against, until he no longer could. Once on the ground, it was only a matter of time before Tavares would squeeze a tap out of the Russian and he did just that, courtesy of an armbar. - Mando Romero may have won 3 of his 5 last fights via knockout, but it is no secret the Mexican boxer is weakest on the ground and that’s exactly what Piotr Dabrowski exploited. Romero tried to keep his opponent at bay but couldn’t resist throwing some heavy punches as well, the slower strikes creating the opportunity Dabrowski needed to shoot for the takedown that eventually allowed him to apply a kimura and get the tap. - An unexpected striking battle in the opener between Gayle and Kovacic, both of which are primarily wrestlers, it soon became clear why neither wanted to make a move first. Kovacic dedided to shoot first with roughly a minute left in the match, only for Gayle to sprawl and send her down on her knees. Making the best of her dodge, Gayle rained down the punches and got herself an easy TKO while fans needed to see it on replay to realize what had just transpired. Bonus Fight of the Night: Tavares vs Fedorov KO of the Night: Hojo vs Nouri Submission of the Night: Tavares vs Fedorov Post-Fight Motoki Hojo: "Feels great to win this, especially in my debut fight for RSC and in such a way, against such an opponent. Massive thanks to Dojo of Zui Quan for helping me achieve this, my sponsors and all my fans who believed in me." Leandro Piquet: ”Big thanks to my family, friends, supporters, sponsors and everyone at House of Pain. This was a tough fight and Swall has my respect, I really felt like I was in there with a championship caliber opponent.” Dorothy Gayle: ”Tiiu Kass will be the next one to be destroyed by this here hurricane!” Adam Kucera: ”Give me Saul Cervantes and I’ll beat him, under five minutes, I swear!”

RSC expanding on the low end Following their RSC 38 Vine vs Rossi event, Red Star Combat officials announced the addition of two new weight classes for each gender. Men are getting the Bantamweight and Flyweight classes, while Strawweight and Atomweight have been added for women. RSC officials said they will be hiring fighters but fans will have to wait at least until May before they actually see any fights in those categories. Asked whether this might be the beginning of the end for the Super Heavyweight division, officials denied such plans, though the decision itself to focus on lighter weight classes is widely considered to be a response to the disappointing RSC Super Heavyweight fights so far. Pai Cheng joins Wudang Academy RSC's undefeated and longest reigning champion, the Emperor of their Heavyweight division, Pai Cheng, officially joined the Wudang Academy where he will be training for his future fights. Formerly a prominent member of the Singapore-based Tai Sheng Men Society, Cheng recently left the group of submission specialists feeling he had learned all he could from them. A proven master of technical grappling with a penchant for suplexes, Cheng is now out to work on his striking and conditioning, two areas the Wudang Academy and their brutal training regime are known for.

QAW Crowning the Queen XI Date: Fri W3 Jul 2020 Location: Houston, TX Attendance: 603, Viewers: 14.977 Garcia: Ladies and gentlemen, fans of women’s wrestling around the world, welcome to our biggest show of the year live on the Women’s Wrestling Network, QAW Crowning the Queen! I’m Alfonso Garcia flying solo for now, as Farrah Hesketh is in the ring sporting the striped shirt while Boss Man Brayfield will be accompanying one of the teams in the opening match, but they will soon be joining me to call the action for the rest of the show. As always, he have a ton of action packed for you, a great match as Lilly & Rose defend their recently won WWC World Tag Team champions against the QAW veteran team that is Tex-Mex and of course, our grand Queen of the Ring tournament! with with The Rage vs Perez & Torres vs Payback Inc vs Anderson & Snyder Show kicked off with a four corners tag elimination match, a showcase of QAW’s tag team division in a night dominated by a singles tournament. Current and former title holders were in this, alongside the champions’ ongoing rivals Anderson & Snyder and the ever dangerous presence of Ronin 3 in the form of Payback Inc. The action was slow at first, giving fans and Alfonso Garcia alike the time and various matchups to establish the ongoing rivalries in this match. The Rage were the first team to be eliminated, with Marie Punnen taking a combined spinning back fist/leg sweep from Payback Inc for the pin, while Honey Badger was caught up chasing the sleazy Vinny Cruz around the ring. This cleared up the ring a bit, allowing Perez to hit some of her high flying lucha moves and get the fans going, but it ultimately backfired when she missed a dive and came up empty. Snyder jumped on the chance to eliminate the champions as Anderson hit a lariat on Torres on the apron to knock her out to ringside, bringing it down to Payback Inc. versus Anderson & Snyder. Barton and Parissi brought the brawling against their opponents’ technical genius and southern toughness for a pretty exciting finish, the end of which saw Parissi hit a swinging neckbreaker for the pin. Vinny Cruz joined them in the ring and celebrated like they’d just won the WWC World Tag Team titles, though he may not be far off as Parissi and Barton did the universal “title belt” gesture around their waists after the match, signalling they may be gunning for the titles of Perez & Torres after this victory. Winners: Payback Inc. 59 As the teams returned backstage while Hesketh and Brayfield resumed their positions on the announcers’ desk, a pre-taped message from Foxxy LaRue aired. LaRue: Tonight, I enter the Queen of the Ring tournament representing Ronin 3, but make no mistake, this is personal for me. Alina America stole my QAW World title and I’m gonna take it back. Step one is becoming Queen of the Ring tonight and securing a title shot. Once that’s done, I’m cashing in and reclaiming my gold. I got Vinny-man by my side, Ronin 3 to watch my back and I’m in it to win it, ‘cause I’m the baddest bitch in this business, baby! 59 Garcia: Strong words from the leader of Ronin 3 there, she lacks neither the skill nor the confidence, what do you think her odds are for winning the tournament tonight, Farrah? Hesketh: I think it’s going to be a long night of hard work for all participants, the competition is intense and on top of our QAW elites, we have a few wildcards like Catalina Vazquez who has been quite impressive in her short time with us or K.T. Devonshire all the way over from the UK, courtesy of our partners over there, Golden Goddesses of the Ring. Brayfield: I’m rooting for Hellcat Hernandez in this one, I am. She’s tough, she’s rough and, mark my words, she’s a future world champion. Alina America, Ashley Grover & Maria Guest vs Little Miss Perfect, Raquel Alvarado & Millie the Minx Going back to QAW’s lucha roots, this classic trios match was all action and very clear alignments, as three clean cut tecnicos took on three vile rudos. Maria Guest was very consistent from start to finish and Ashley Grover made the best out of her opportunity to be in this show after a loss to Ronin 3 prevented any members of The Line from participating in this year’s tournament. Both proved why Farrah Hesketh decided to mentor them and they even gave her a shout-out by pulling off a few of her signature moves, though Guest especially seemed to strike a chord with the audience, whether it was her happy go lucky antics while on offense or her underdog charm while getting beat up. Alvarado and Millie were quick to exploit that fact, using a mix of cheating, double teams and brutal brawling to garner heat from the fans. Little Miss Perfect looked like a perfect compliment to the duet, her youthful cockiness matching that of her teammates as did her tactics when she blind tagged herself in to score the pin on what she considered easy prey, only for Guest to somehow kick out at two. The QAW Shockwave champion continued to apply pressure on Guest with submission holds, but a rope break close to the tecnico corner allowed a tag to America, setting up a champion versus champion matchup, much to the audience’s roaring approval. Unwilling to square off with the top lady and potentially lose face, Little Miss Perfect retreated to tag in Millie the Minx to a hail of boos, showing a great heel mind by also depriving them of a promised exciting pairing. Millie ran in guns blazing but was easy pickings for the QAW World champion who was rested and unharmed so far, making short work of her opponent before tagging in Grover who hit a series of moves to set up her Chicago Hope finisher for the pin. Winners: Alina America, Ashley Grover & Maria Guest 46 Garcia: Much needed win for Ashley Grover, she must be very frustrated that she can’t be in this year’s Queen of the Ring tournament. Brayfield: Well she lost that right, fair and square. She took a chance and it didn’t pan out. When you gamble, you’re always accepting the risk of a potential loss. Hesketh: I like what I saw from all six luchadoras and I’ll agree with your assessment Alfonso, this does have a redemptive feel to it for Ashley Grover. Another pre-taped promo aired next, this time from the leader of The Furies, Emma May. May: It’s been a couple of months since my last match and that gave me the time to contemplate. Last time I was in a QAW ring, I lost to Pamela Rojo. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great wrestler. She’s been around for a long time. She’s won everything there is to win, except for the World title. I respect her, but I have to be realistic. The only reason she beat me was because I got carried away. I got too caught up chasing a submission. This will not happen again. I am focused and I am coming into the tournament with my eyes set on becoming Queen of the Ring. I know Rojo’s gonna be in it too, so if we meet again, I’ll be happy to even the score. If not, I’ll still shoot for the top regardless. So girls in my bracket, you better watch out! 60 Garcia: Sounds like Emma May learned her lesson, truth is she’ll be one of the fresher competitors in the tournament, she’s had the time to rest and heal up. Brayfield: It’s an exhausting tournament, the finalists end up having wrestled three matches in a single night and the damage will pile up. That’s a big advantage she’s got coming into tonight. Hesketh: You are both correct, she’s rested and she’s upped her smarts, I’m sure she’ll be a very dangerous competitor and even if she doesn’t win, whoever manages to go through her will go on having paid a terrible price, courtesy of her killer MMA style. WWC World Tag Team titles match Lilly & Rose © vs Tex-Mex Wrapping up the first part of the show before the tournament singles matches, Kate Lilly and Debbie Rose put their recently won WWC World Tag Team titles on the line against two time QAW Tag Team champions, Tex-Mex in what turned out to be an early candidate for match of the night, nearly stealing the show outright. With both teams being athletic and well versed in working in tandem, they made the best use of it to deliver some spectacular moments, like the one where Perez hopped off the top turnbuckle, used her bent over partner as a stepping stone and delivered a long range dropkick across the ring square in Rose’s jaw. The champions were no slouches either and the shot of them swan diving over the top rop in a double tope suicida to the outside is bound to feature in magazines, promo shots and video packages for quite some time. There was walking the top rope, there were all the usual lucha flips and rolls and arm drags, a super rana off the turnbuckles from Lilly and after a spectacular ten minute match, Debbie Rose hit the Thorn Cutter on Teresa Perez to score her team’s first successful title defense. Winners: Lilly & Rose (Defenses: 1) 54 Garcia: What a match! Lilly & Rose deliver a true world caliber championship performance but take nothing away from Tex-Mex who were able to keep up like this! Hesketh: I’m just proud to have both teams on the QAW roster and listen to these fans cheering for both these teams, that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. Brayfield: That’s all nice, but the show’s called Queen of the Ring and that’s what we’re here for so let’s get these matches going! Unlike the other tournament competitors earlier, Danielle Sweetheart made her entrance and delivered her promo in person while inside the ring. Sweetheart: I said it last month, I’ll say it again. QAW is full of factions and gangs and alliances of all sorts. It’s a complicated thing to navigate. I’m entering this year’s tournament on my own, with no one to fall back to. No one to watch my back. But that’s fine. And it’s not because I failed at the backstage politics game. It’s because I don’t play that game. I’m a wrestler, not a politician or diplomat. This is a wrestling ring, it’s neither a political convention, nor some back alley for gangs to square off. So I’m playing it straight, but I’m also issuing a challenge to all my fellow participants. Keep your friends out of these matches. Stick to the wrestling. Let’s give these fans the best tournament we can because that’s what they deserve! 65 Garcia: Danielle Sweetheart is in the house! This is her tournament and these are her fans, listen to them chant her name and the match hasn’t even started! Hesketh: She’s not afraid to speak her mind and she’s out here to play it straight. She expects her opponents to do the same. Brayfield: What are you talking about?! This is war! If you have allies, you don’t tell them to keep their troops at home! It’s foolish to not use what you’ve got and I, for one, am seeing right through that woman’s mind games! Queen of the Ring Quarterfinal match Danielle Sweetheart vs K.T. Devonshire Devonshire represented GGOTR and their “All the Queen’s Women” faction in the tournament, but none of it mattered because as soon as she made her entrance, because as soon as her music played and she came out, all the fans could see was a Russian character. Whipped into a frenzy as they were from Sweetheart’s promo earlier, they flew into a “USA” chant, thrusting this match all the way back to how wrestling was in the 80s. Playing it by ear, Sweetheart went with the crowd and hammed up her patriotism as she got to work on her opponent, before Devonshire went full sneaky heel to poke her eye and gain control of the match. Still mostly unknown to the audience, Devonshire did not overstay her welcome and Sweetheart made her comeback to hit a Superkick and wrap this up at just five and a half minutes total. Winner: Danielle Sweetheart 47 Garcia: Well Sweetheart was the favourite to win here, but props to K.T. Devonshire for even getting inside the ring with a legitimate QAW legend! Brayfield: That commie never stood a chance. Hesketh: Danielle Sweetheart advances and she’ll be waiting to find out who her next opponent will be, when Foxxy LaRue faces off against Pamela Rojo but for now, we’ve got Emma May taking on another wildcard in the tournament, CILL’s standout export, Catalina Vazquez! Queen of the Ring Quarterfinal match Catalina Vazquez vs Emma May Vazquez hit the ground running, doing her absolute best to impose a fast pace in this match and keep things moving. Well aware that she had to avoid her opponent’s strikes and mat game, the Mexican star used her graceful lucha libre style for some hit and run tactics as well as some big moves that popped the crowd. May took the blows and seemed to pace herself, looking for an opening in her opponent’s game plan that she could exploit, much like a tiger or leopard patiently waits for the opportune moment to jump at their prey. Vazquez got most of the offense and a cheering approval from the fans, looking good until May made her move, springing like a coiled viper to shoot for her opponent’s leg and take her to the mat. Seconds later, she had the Heel Hook locked in and Vazquez immediately tapped from the intense pain, a quick and frighteningly efficient win for Emma May who advanced to the Semifinal. Winner: Emma May 50 Garcia: That’s all Emma May needed, give her a chance and she’ll tap you out, that was several minutes before the ten minute mark. Hesketh: Seven thirty eight is the official time in this match, swift win for May but kudos to Vazquez for a stunning performance. Brayfield: Stunning or not, it’s May who advances and that’s all that matters: Winning! Queen of the Ring Quarterfinal match Hellcat Hernandez vs Juana Hurricane Given the history between the leaders of The Furies and Storm Front, this was an extremely personal match and it showed in the intensity on display. Hernandez brought her street savvy wild brawling and did not hold back, with Hurricane responding with a mix of stiff strikes. The opening exchange led to a suplex competition, with plenty of counters and standing switches as the two women dropped each other on their necks. The stalemate was broken by the appearance of Felicia Luck, who made her presence known at ringside, initially in an attempt to distract Hernandez while openly raising her hands to claim innocence and deflect the scrutiny of referee Dwight Kumas. Of course, this wasn’t meant to last and as soon as she had a chance, Felicia Luck took it and grabbed Hurricane’s hair to slam her head against the steel ring post. Sonnaz Shah came out to throw herself in the mix and brawl outside the ring with Luck, but it was the shocking return of Alexis Lee Littlefeather that really turned the tide. The Native American veteran, who hadn’t been seen since she passed out in a chokehold by Hellcat Hernandez at American Lucha back in March, got a hero’s return as fans cheered her on with “welcome back” chants. Trying to assert his authority, the referee implored all the non-participants to return backstage but for his troubles, he was rewarded with a superkick to the back of the head by Hellcat Hernandez. Hurricane had numbers on her side now and with the ref out, Littlefeather had her chance at revenge but she opted out of it, garnering more cheers from the fans as she backed away from a helpless Hernandez. Hurricane jumped at the opportunity to slap on the Times-Square Lock and Hernandez tapped out alright, but the ref was still out and the match would go on. Frustrated, Farrah Hesketh jumped in the ring and took over as referee, banning all outsiders from the match and setting up a clean stage for the final exchange, in which Hurricane reversed her opponent’s attempt at a finisher back into the Times-Square Lock. This time Hernanez fought it but couldn’t do so for too long. Hurricane won via submission and Storm Front got their redemption for all the trouble the Clenched Fist had given them. Winner: Juana Hurricane 51 Garcia: Superb match, Hurricane takes this one and advances to the semifinals! Brayfield: That’s cheating! Farrah Hesketh can’t take over as a ref whenever she feels like it! Garcia: Well now we have one pair of the semifinals locked down, it’ll be Juana Hurricane versus Emma May, let’s find out whether Danielle Sweetheart will be facing Pamela Rojo or Foxxy LaRue next! Queen of the Ring Quarterfinal match with Pamela Rojo vs Foxxy LaRue (with Vinny Cruz) Rojo came into this match fresh off a big loss in a title match against Alina America, but as the announcing trio pointed out -and it took them a second to figure this out- LaRue’s last match was back in April, when Ronin 3 beat The Line in a trios match where the losers would not be taking part in the Queen of the Ring tournament. Despite having a clear edge, LaRue fell victim to her own overconfidence, underestimating her opponent and talking trash she would pay by losing control of the match and, more often than not, get suplexed to the mat. Rojo was foaming at the mouth, gunning for a big win that would help her bounce back from her loss to Alina America but Vinny Cruz was yet again there for his trio, distracting the referee or putting LaRue’s foot on the ropes to interrupt a pinning predicament. Eventually, he got under the skin of Rojo who grabbed the lapels of his suit and treated him to a headbutt that popped the crowd, but this only made things easier for LaRue to deliver the Flash Head Kick and steal the match. Winner: Foxxy LaRue 54 Garcia: LaRue advances in typical Ronin 3 fashion… She’s such a great wrestler, I just don’t know why she keeps resorting to such cheap actions. Brayfield: Because they bring her victory, that’s why. Honor is for losers, Alfonso. You wouldn’t know what it takes to make a true champion. Hesketh: Well that ends the quarterfinal stage, LaRue better run back to the locker room and get some rest in light of her clash with Danielle Sweetheart. Meanwhile, the first pair of that phase is up next as Juana Hurricane takes on Emma May! Queen of the Ring Semifinal match Emma May vs Juana Hurricane Both women bore the scars of their earlier battles, so there was little running around or flying about in this match. May’s stiff strikes and submission holds were up against Hurricane’s wide array of slams and suplexes in what turned out to be a pretty exciting contest, a game of chicken between two unyielding personalities. Plenty of chain wrestling on display with holds, counterholds and reversals, including the finish where May attempted another Heel Hook, Hurricane countered in an attempt to set up the Times-Square Lock but eventually ending up trapped in a Triangle Choke she tapped out to, sending Emma May to the tournament finals. Winner: Emma May 55 Garcia: May wins it! She will be in the finals! Hesketh: She has never been crowned Queen of the Ring or won the QAW World title, this is her big chance and imagine what must be going through her head right now. Brayfield: I’ll tell you what’s going through her head, resting and healing up as she prepares for her last match. Whether she faces Sweetheart or LaRue, it’s going to be a tough match and she needs to focus on that instead of daydreaming like you two. Queen of the Ring Semifinal match with Danielle Sweetheart vs Foxxy LaRue (with Vinny Cruz) Probably the longest and best match of the show, this one almost hit the fifteen minute mark as Sweetheart and LaRue squared off in an epic battle. Having clearly seen what transpired earlier, referee Erin Lawrence was quick to eject Vinny Cruz as soon as he made his first move, sending him backstage to keep this clean, something fans wholeheartedly approved judging by their reaction. This removal allowed the match to focus on actual wrestling and highlight both competitors’ skills, although alas, it was not meant to be for too long. Even if Vinny Cruz wasn’t around to help, Becca Barton and Toni Parissi stepped up to assist the leader of Ronin 3, which they did in a pretty creative fashion: one would catch the eye of the ref, allowing the other to interfere with the match undetected. Their plan eventually fell apart though when Sweetheart figured it out and superkicked Barton off the apron. Without her teammate to provide cover, Parissi could not get involved in the match as easily and get away with it. Still, she made the best of her presence to distract Sweetheart, allowing LaRue to pull off a Flash Head Kick, which Sweetheart somehow kicked out of! Shocked, LaRue went twice to the well with a second attempt, but this time Sweetheart burst into action with a surge of adrenaline and was able to intercept the move with a superkick of her own that knocked LaRue out for the three count. Winner: Danielle Sweetheart 62 Garcia: Sweetheart wins against the odds and QAW fans are going absolutely crazy! Brayfield: That was pure luck, if you ask me. Hesketh: And here comes Emma May running to the ring, she wants to get this match started before Sweetheart can pull herself back together! Queen of the Ring Final match Danielle Sweetheart vs Emma May May’s plan actually made sense, since her matches through the night were shorter and she’d taken less damage in comparison. This had her in full control and taking her time to pick Sweetheart apart with clinical precision, using MMA ruthlessness but at a slower, more tormenting pro wrestling pace. Sweetheart screamed her lungs out with every submission and more than once, May was all too happy to shut her up with a stiff kick to the head. It was after blocking one of those kicks and pulling the leg to whip May to the mat that Sweetheart got a comeback. Every move she hit felt urgent as well as desperate, because she also looked like it took a heavy toll on her to do so. Partially true due to her accrued damage, this also helped garner sympathy from the fans who truly wanted to see her push through and pull an upset against the odds. May would, of course, shoot that down as soon as she was able to exploit her opponent’s exhaustion, blocking a superkick and taking her to the mat for the Heel Hook, which Sweetheart barely managed to slide out of before it was locked in for good. The two women reset, May giving a nod of grudging respect to her opponent’s toughness before they locked up again. Sweetheart got control into a side headlock, but her offense was soon reversed and she found herself on the mat, trapped in May’s Triangle Choke. Too spent to escape or reverse it, Sweetheart showed great ring awareness by managing to get a foot on the ropes and force a break. The two reset once more, this time Sweetheart exploding straight into a superkick that nearly knocked out her opponent’s teeth, sending fans into an explosion of sound as the move connected, then counting along for the one two three. Winner: Danielle Sweetheart 59 Garcia: She did it! She did it again! Danielle Sweetheart reclaims the crown and she is now a five time Queen of the Ring! Brayfield: Shame for Emma May, close but no cigar. Hesketh: If you’ll excuse me gentlemen, I’ve got some official business to attend... Leaving the announcers’ table to get in the ring, Farrah Hesketh joined Commissioner Bomb to present the Queen of the Ring trophy to this year’s winner, Danielle Sweetheart. An emotional finish to the show, Sweetheart raised the trophy for the fifth time in her career, last one being 2016, yet again earning her nickname as the Queen of Hearts. 53 Show Rating 59

Thank you very much. FYI I'm away from home (read: the desktop I've got TEW licensed on) for a few weeks so with only the trial version on my laptop I'm trying to space it out and keep a low pace. February show has been done and is already half written. Thank you for your patience.

<div style="padding: 15px; border: 3px solid #000000; margin:10px;background: #2C2A2A; max-width:60%;box-shadow: 0 6px 12px ";"> BCG Survivor 2020 Press Conference Highlights ~ Much to unravel in this Press Conference, but of course the big news was the brand new BCG World champion SUKI and his four potential challengers who will have to go through the four corners match in the main event of the Survivor show in order to get to him. Okamoto will be the smallest man in that match, but after a spectacular -albeit losing- effort against Funakoshi and a recent win over Torii, he seems back in track and on the rise again. He could be the one to pull off an upset victory and winning this year's Survivor match would certainly be a step in the right direction to climbing back up on top of the mountain with a second chance at gold. Matsushita is coming off an impressive performance at this year's Yoshifusa Maeda Grand Prix and a big win over Tanyu Toshusai to earn his spot in the match over him. The other big man is Big Bruiser Findlay, finalist of the Grand Prix looking for a second chance against SUKI, now with the title on the line, after having wrapped up his ongoing rivalry with former teammate, Animal Harker. Last but not least, Mabuchi Furusawa will be heading into that match in what has been an intense year between him and SUKI. Effective teammates at first, the former GCG stars broke up after Furusawa's injury and he had to play catch up. Frustrated with his weakness, SUKI shot forward and the former teammates finally imploded after SUKI's title win with a brawl backstage, meaning that of all four competitors, Furusawa is the one with a more personal story, one that's bound to drive him to put on his best performance for a victory. ~ Speaking of Furusawa, his two proteges, Danjuro Kikuchi and Ginji Kisaka, alongside the latter's usual tag team partner Ikki Hosaka, were officially presented as Furusawa-gun, a group under the mentorship of Mabuchi Furusawa. Though currently consisting of only him and three young lions, it will be interesting to see if any other big names join the faction eventually. ~ Kadonomaro Kamisaka and Kiyotaka also had a spot, with their team officially rebranded as "3K" out of their names' initials. Despite some criticism on the flashiness and sports entertainment feel of the move, it was mostly received well, as it is a much easier word to use instead of repeating the two men's names. ~ Finally, Toshinobu Taku announced that he will be hanging up his wrestling boots by the end of the summer. At 53 years of age, the 35 year old veteran's decision was not surprising and he is expected to remain employed by Black Canvas as a backstage assistant and road agent. </div>

Quick update, to let you know this diary is still alive. I'm away from home (read: the desktop I've got TEW licensed on) for a few weeks so with zero backlog of shows left, I only have the Press Conference for the next tour to do so I'm trying to space it out, keep a low pace till I can run shows again. Thank you.

Ah, and we're finally caught up. Thanks for the shout-out as well. Here are my predictions: 1ST MATCH 30 MINUTE TIME LIMIT Hirokazu Yamanoue, Eien Miyamoto, & Nobuyo Hikichi VS. Magnum Kobe, Toyota Munakata, & Daigo Goya 2ND MATCH 30 MINUTE TIME LIMIT Masaru Ugaki, Ryoma Muruyama, & Gonnohyoe Kada VS. Kazushige Matsuki, Haranobu Kobayashi, & Tsurayuki Kamachi 3RD MATCH 60 MINUTE TIME LIMIT PGHW HISTORICAL JAPAN TITLE MATCH ©Avalanche Takano VS. SATO 4TH MATCH 30 MINUTE TIME LIMIT Kozue Kawashima, Noriyori Sanda, Goeman Komiya, & Mamoru Nagahama VS. Tetsunori Yasuda, William Hayes, Stone Yoshikawa, & Hirobumi Takimoto 5TH MATCH 60 MINUTE TIME LIMIT PGHW INTERNATIONAL TITLE MATCH ©Reaver VS. Danny Cavanagh 6TH MATCH 60 MINUTE TIME LIMIT PGHW GLORY TAG CROWN ©Brute Kikuchi & BISON Yano VS. KitoGuchi (Chojiro Kitoaji & Bussho Makiguchi) 7TH MATCH 60 MINUTE TIME LIMIT PGHW GLORY CROWN ©Seiji Jimbo VS. Akinori Kwakami

Thank you. I am told Dave Grohl was involved in that song (album?) so that might explain the sound. I personally enjoy from their recent (2011) album. Where did you find this old footage of me waiting for the Women's Revolution mod? Welcome, nice to have you around. Hope you enjoy the joshi deathmatch action!

RSC 38 Vine vs Rossi Sunday, Week 2, February 2004 – London, UK Attendance: 283 Preliminary Card <table border="0" bgcolor=#DCDCDC><tr><td align="left" width = "780"> <details><summary></summary>Middleweight: Emile Rachal (CR#7, 7-0, 0-0 RSC) def. Chaim Alexievich (CR#11, 8-3, 1-3 RSC) via Knock Out (Punch) – Round 3 (0:28) [Decent] Welterweight: Jakub Benes (CR#22,2-1, 0-1 RSC) def. Pawel Kowalczyk (CR#19, 3-1, 0-1 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (1:23) [Good] Women’s Bantamweight: Rain Richards (P4P#24, WR#7, CR#4, 16-1, 0-0 RSC) def. Evelina Wozniak (CR#15, 3-0-1, 0-0-1 RSC) via Knock Out (Punch) – Round 2 (2:21) [Good] Women’s Flyweight: Dianne Ellis (CR#18, 8-5, 3-2 RSC) def. Toni Dietrich (WR#17, CR#9, 10-2, 2-1 RSC) via Submission (Armbar) – Round 1 (3:26) [Great] [Dianne Ellis retired after the fight] Light Heavyweight: Big Magic (CR#14, 3-3, 0-0 RSC) def. Rokas Ruzicki (CR#17, 3-0, 1-0 RSC) via Knock Out (Punch) – Round 1 (0:36) [Good]</summary></details></details></td></tr></table></details> Main Card Super Heavyweight: Zsolt Hargitay (CR#4, 10-4, 2-1 RSC) def. Daugvinas Blekaitis (CR#6, 5-2, 3-2 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Average] Women’s Featherweight: Fi Johns (CR#16, 5-2, 1-1 RSC) def. Cathrine Newmar (CR#11, 4-1, 1-1 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Decent] Featherweight: Ronaldo Freitas (CR#8, 9-1, 2-1 RSC) def. Jozef Mikhailov (CR#13, 4-0, 1-0 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1 (3:25) [Good] Women’s Bantamweight: Thea Higgins (WR#13, CR#5, 9-3, 1-0 RSC) def. Carmen Routhwaite (WR#20, CR#7, 9-2, 2-2 RSC) via Unanimous Decision [Great] RSC Welterweight Championship: Simon Vine (CR#1, 26-11, 0-0 RSC) def. Carmello Rossi (CR#5, 15-6, 2-0 RSC) via TKO (Strikes) – Round 3 (4:25) [Good] - Huge night for Simon Vine, who won the vacant RSC Welterweight Championship in his debut for the company. Vine was off to a rough start, taking multiple big rights and failing to trip his opponent, who he kept against the cage for the rest of the opening round in what seemed like a potential upset. The scene seemed to replay itself in the second, but this time Rossi was taken down successfully and hit multiple times with elbow shots, while an attempt to escape only saw him give up his back for the remainder of round two. With both fighters on even ground, round 3 kicked off but Vine seemed like he'd figured out Rossi by this point, immediately taking him down for more elbow shots before once more taking his back after a failed sweep. Rossi fended off the kimura but that exposed his head to several more elbow shots, with referee Martin Mills getting criticized for a potentially slow intervention to jump in and call for the TKO. - Spectacular action in the semi main event with Thea Higgins dominating the first round as she kept her opponent trapped on the mat against the cage for some furious ground and pound. Routhwaite responded with big right hands in the second that kept her compatriot at bay and even landed two big head kicks, the second one rocking Higgins but lacking the power for a KO. Routhwaite wasn't able to zone in for a TKO either and the two fighters were separated by the bell as they were grappling on the ground. With everything to fight for, Higgins immediately shot for the takedown and controlled most of round 3. Routhwaite used constant motion for a great ground defense game but Higgins just wouldn't let go and although she couldn't complete the RNC, she kept the hooks in for most of the second half of the round, convincing the judges to unanimously declare her the winner. - Ronaldo Freitas returned to the cage for the first time since losing his undefeated record to Foggy Lee by submission at RSC 30: Hirano vs Jankovic II. Up against rookie opponent Jozef Mikhailov, Freitas didn't even touch gloves and that seemed to fire up the Russian, who went for a clinch and controlled the Brazilian against the cage until the ref broke it up to reset. Just the wake up call Freitas needed, he made the best of the reset to land some big right hands, eventually dropping his opponent to finish him off and get the win. - Newmar and Johns met once more after Newmar won their first fight in the prelims of RSC 19: Biel vs Broderick via TKO. This time Johns was gunning for the equalizer and she got it, even if it wasn't in such decisive manner. Still, the 30-27 score perfectly reflects the story of the match, with Johns dominating all three rounds and landing several hard knee shots but not managing to finish her resilient nemesis. - Newmar and Johns weren't the only ones facing each other again, as Hargitay and Blekaitis also fought each other before in the prelims of RSC 16: Hayashi vs Nouri, a fight that Hargitay won by TKO. As exciting as your average Super Heavyweight fight in RSC, the opening contest was plodding and went the full three rounds before the judges called it, putting Hargitay at 2-0 against Blekaitis. Bonus Fight of the Night: Higgins vs Routhwaite KO of the Night: Big Magic vs Ruzicki Submission of the Night: Ellis vs Dietrich Post-Fight Simon Vine: "Shout out to the crew at Strike Force. More gold for the team showcase." Thea Higgins: "Carmen Routhaite is tough as nails. She hit me hard and made me work hard for this win, hell, she almost had me in the second. I respect the hell outta her." Ronaldo Freitas: ”I want Ryan Fenniman next. I will destroy him!” Fi Johns: ”Wrapped this one up so now Diana Wozniak better get prepared for me to crush her!”

Congratulations to all winners, some great stuff across the boards.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="CMPunkBubble" data-cite="CMPunkBubble" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47567" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Does anyone have the Haruki Kudo that willr0ck did way back? I’ve lost it and can’t seem to find it on the boards. Cheers.</div></blockquote><p> This one?</p><p> <img alt="Pj1ANY3.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Pj1ANY3.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

Thank you both. I may have forgotten what I was dealing with (too much time with BCG is probably to blame). My enthusiasm (and inevitable disappointment) mirrors that of Mirai Kajahara, so I wrote her as hopeful for this debut show but expect her to get more cynical in the next ones.

Sendai, January 2020 The Death and Resurrection Show Attendance: 452 paying fans I was so hyped. This was finally happening. An all-female deathmatch promotion, in the vein of dad's WEXXV and I was in it. Hell, I was running it! As Killing Joke's theme song for the show was nearing its end, I heard a voice beside me. "It is time, young one. Let's do this" <iframe width="560" height="315" src=" https://www.youtube.com/embed/_Y-a7T7S9eE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> I was accompanied to the ring by Matsudaira Morioka, a legendary WEXXV figure. Former King of Death Matches and five time holder of the Blood Brothers alongside Mamoru Nagahama, before they left to wind down their career with PGHW and one last title run there. I had memorized all his accolades so I could quote them in my opening welcome speech. He was our Road Agent, sure, but I wanted to introduce him to new fans as another link to Warrior Engine, get the whole "spiritual successor" thing across. I tried to avoid thinking that he and Eisaku Shigeki on the broadcast table were way more well known than pretty much any of the active wrestlers on the Warrior Queen roster. I did my part on the mic, welcoming fans and running down the card. Morioka did not speak, but his facial expressions as I spoke of Warrior Queen not just reviving the Warrior Engine spirit but keeping it alive by pushing things even further, were money. We're trying to build this dynamic of me being the flagbearer and him the salty veteran who's not convinced. In essence, he's the personification of all our (predominantly male) doubters. I think we were off to a good start. Not sure how much I'm going to chase this one though, he's well known and we need that badly, but I'm not making him an Authority Figure or anything, especially when he can't cut a half decent promo. Rating: 49 It was all downhill after the opening segment, really. Clearly it's crossing over into this narration, because I laid out the "Warrior Queen rules" during my speech but I forgot to mention them here. No countouts, no disqualifications, falls count anywhere, anything goes. Basically everything's a deathmatch in terms of setup and rules, it's just that some aren't necessarily worked as a deathmatch too. This one certainly was, with Monster Ishimura and Unstoppable Tai doing what they do best: squash girls smaller than themselves. I tried to avoid hiring "branded" 5SSW wrestlers as much as I could, but these two were just too good to pass, plus they're fine with working deathmatches and that's not as frequent a thing as you might think. Tai especially, masks with her facepaint were flying off the merch counter by the end of the show. Their unfortunate opponents were Maneater, the only gaijin to participate in the notorious Five Woman Love Hotel Deathmatch (the outcry over which led to her visa being revoked, but we managed to sort that part out) and Piper Hale, a former US Marine who got the job when she bladed herself on the spot during her "interview" just to prove her point of being willing and able to bleed buckets. Bleed she did too, which brings me to another part of this deathmatch, the introduction of "the rabid ref" Kyoko Okuda. How does one survive as a ref and do their job in a deathmatch, you might ask. By swinging their own damn weapon, Kyoko will tell you. She's not shy about using anything she can get her hands on, either, which in turn opens up a lot of opportunities for ref bumps and wrestlers using a weapon she'd been wielding. There's this running joke of whether she's actually honest or just looking for an excuse to whack somebody and get away with it. Think the smart way is to keep it ambiguous. Anyway, I'm rambling. This was a terrible match. Ishimura and Tai won. Our first ever match and it's certainly not one for the ages. Might actually go down as the worst one we've ever done. Oh wait, there was an even worse one later on. Yeah, big monsters won this. At least nobody got injured. In an abysmal match, Monster Ishimura and Unstoppable Tai defeated Piper Hale and Maneater in a Deathmatch in 10:18 when Unstoppable Tai pinned Piper Hale with a Tai Bomber. Rating: 19 "The Cosplay Queen" Hiroko Iha came out next, pushing an ice cream cart. Yeah, we're that kind of promotion. She sang a bubblegum pop song too, something about your love being sweet as ice cream, or her heart melting for someone like ice cream, can't quite recall. Whether you wanna see it as honouring the joshi tradition or mocking it, up to you. Fans seemed to enjoy it. Dad must have seen something in her to bring her abroad during WEXXV's final days. What I saw was her charisma being way greater than her cartoonish cute gimmick. Like ice cream dripping out of a cone, the container's actually too small for the content. Rating: 44 Etelka the Hun (who's actually Hun-garian) walked out to the most stereotypically racist music and ouftit next. Say what you want, but we ran out of headdresses in the merch stand so she must be doing something right. Her opponent was Naoko Majima, one of the few girls to have gotten hype packages prior to this show. Yes, she's got yakuza tats. I know the rumors about Warrior Engine, I've even heard that Warrior Queen is also backed by yak money, or that it's an attempt to make some money so I can pay off some shady debt dad's got with them. Joke's on them and WLW. Majima looks badass and she's willilng to work deathmatches, as is Etelka who's actually got a reputation for being, imagine this, the safest deathmatch worker in the business. As far as this style goes, it was a pretty enjoyable filler midcard bout and Majima established herself as the badass when she made her larger opponent give up. In a bout that had terrible wrestling and non-existent crowd heat, Naoko Majima defeated Etelka The Hun in a Deathmatch in 8:07 by submission. Rating: 28 But wait, there's more! Actually, there's a bunch of guys in tracksuits that surrounded the ring after the match. Basically, any Russian-looking person we could get to play the part for a few yen. With Majima trapped inside the ring, out comes her arch nemesis... The Mafiya Princess, Tereza Smirnov! Oh yes, I'm pushing the yakuza thing hard and turning it into a mafia turf war storyline. Smirnov introduced herself and cut her promo all in Russian, which fans did not get but sure as hell reacted to. Looks like this could be her thing, speaking in Russian actually adds heat to her mic work. What she said no one understood, but her goons backed down once she was done, so it was probably a taunt or challenge. Or, you know, both. Maybe. Rating: 24 Oh damn, a championship match! Okay, so on one side we had the Chernobyl Generation, two Russians with unpronounceable full names but pretty awesome post apocalyptic outfits. Iryna, the one with the spiky hair, seems really comfortable playing the gimmick and her real life wife, Rayisa, can actually hide her smaller size behind the theatrics to maybe pull off a solid squash match if needed. Their opponents were the Hooligan Sisters. I'm not going to say which one's which, because I immensely enjoyed the "Which one's Hannah? Which one's Helena?" duelling chants from the audience, but I was told they're both dating the Gilberts so that may be where they got their entire schtick from. That's about it, the match played out as an arena-wide brawl in the stands for a change... Rayisa botched blocking a punch and hurt her opponent's wrist... Remember earlier on when I said there was actually a worse match than the opener on the card? Well, this one's it. Whatever, the Chernobyl Generation won and now they got the QW2020 Blood Sisters belts. In an abysmal match, Chernobyl Generation defeated The Hooligan Sisters in a Deathmatch match in 8:24 when Rayisa Volkova submitted YL Helena Hooligan. Chernobyl Generation win the WQ2020 Blood Sisters titles. Rating: 12 After the match, the winners continued to attack their opponents because... evil villains from Mad Max, I guess, with one Hooligan sister trying to fight back and the other selling her hand injury. The save was made by... Angel Takudome and Rika Tsujimura, of all people. Yeah, no idea why they'd do that or work together, but here we are. Clearly that's enough to get them first in line for a shot at the tag titles, no? Rating: 22 Ah, yes, more title matches. Gotta crown all our champions and whatnot. This was probably our most expected and hyped up match after my clash with Mushashibo, which is why it went up there in the semi main event slot. I debated bringing in Kawano at ringside but decided against it. This is Warrior Queen, women should be empowered, not watched over, helped and rescued by men. Having Morioka in the opener beside me was enough already and I only went with it because of the role I want him to play in the grander scheme of things. Anyway, I could tell from their entrances, fans were really into both these ladies and the "sold out" signs on the merch stands were proof. Tell me again how wrestling in Japan doesn't need gimmicks, you puro purists. The story here was Onryo, spirit of vengeance, haunting Dr. Yumaniac, presumably after one of her band's satanic rituals to sell more albums had gone sideways or something. Not that I cared much, because the action in this one was sick. Onryo had an awesome spot where she did a basic eye rake that ended up with her opponent wearing the crimson mask over her corpse paint. You know, because she's a spirit with sharp claws? She basically clawed her opponent's face off! I should remember to ask her how she pulled that off. Probably razor blades under her nails or something. Amazing. Not that the good doctor was a slouch either: she used weapons galore, including some handed to her by the rabid ref, and won the match in death defying fashion when she reversed an attempted superplex off the top rope into a package piledriver, to the outside floor, through a table. How her tailbone is still in one piece or how Onryo isn't crippled for life, I'll never understand, but Dr. Yumaniac got the pin after that one and I'll be damned if I wasn't impressed by both of them. In a terrible match, Dr. Yumaniac defeated Onryo in an Ultimate Deathmatch match in 9:56 by pinfall. Dr. Yumaniac wins the WQ2020 Queen Of The Deathmatch title. Rating: 28 Instead of Dr. Yumaniac's progressive neoclassical jazz-infused black metal theme song (a generous contribution by her band, Gasp, who wrote and recorded it exclusively for Warrior Queen 2020), the speakers came alive with the divisivly cute yet aggressive sounds of J-pop/metalcore group Kawaiicore. That could only mean one thing... Mizucore, a former member of the band, was in the building! Mhm, we are totally doing a feud out of that one, wrestling fanboys can be just as opinionated as metal fanboys, most of the time because they're the same people. Those are exactly the flames Mizucore fanned in her promo, calling Dr. Yumaniac a fraud in both the music and wrestling business before challenging her to a match. The challenge was of course accepted on the spot and it is so going to light the promotion up because Mizucore's merch probably sold more in one night than all of her Kawaiicore albums ever have. Which mainly has to do with the fact that people don't really buy albums anymore, they just listen to stuff on YouTube and Spotify, but I digress. Rating: 45 Yay, main event time! At long last, Mushashibo versus Kajahara for the top prize. Never thought you’d read that sentence, huh? Wait, I can make it even better. Mushashibo, versus Kajahara, for the top title, in a Barb Wire match! Oh yeah, we really upped the ante for this one. Took quite some time to remove the ropes and have them replaced with barb wire, but this one needed to feel special. We went to great lengths to sell the stipulation too, both me and Fujiko, hitting the wire often and grinding against it in a chase for cuts that would look cool and bleed aplenty. I don’t remember much, to be honest, probably due to the blood loss. Sort of remember Fujiko trapping my leg in a chair and slamming it with a sledgehammer, which is how doctors told me I got that nasty bruise near my ankle. They say I’m lucky it wasn’t shattered, I say it gives me some time to write all this while I rest and ice it. Joke was on her though, because she went for a moonsault off the corner and hit herself against a chair. Thing is, that wasn’t meant to happen and the chair hadn’t been set up right, so she landed gut first on its protruding legs and properly ruptured her spleen, from what I’m told. She’ll be taking a few months off to heal, but the income from her goggle replicas selling like hot bao buns should be enough consolation for the wages she’ll be missing. Meanwhile, I got a title to defend. In a bout that had sub-par wrestling and little heat, Mirai Kajahara defeated Fujiko Mushashibo in a Barbed Wire match in 10:27 by submission. Mirai Kajahara wins the WQ2020 Queens Heart title. Rating: 30 Speaking of defending my title, Ai Takami came out to challenge me afterwards and set up our match. What’s a woman like her doing in WQ2020, you might wonder. Well, she’s our straight shooter character, the “this is garbage, I’ll show you real wrestling” type that guys like Morioka would love to have us teach a lesson. She laid down the heat on me and the product, hard, driving fans into a frenzy. Which makes me the company ace an defender of hardcore wrestling, obviously. Rating: 44 After the show was over, I powered through my limping and delivered my speech, thanking everyone and telling them how the dream became a reality: we’d just completed our first ever show! Just as Mushashibo was being rushed to the hospital, I gave her a big hug and thanked her for our awesome bout. Later on, I’d hear she was getting heat with the roster for injuring me with that sledgehammer, so I guess hugging her also showed everyone I was cool with her so they should be too. Dr. Yumaniac and Onryo also had their praises sung by yours truly. Willing to go to great lengths in order to deliver a great deathmatch as well as compelling characters (and sell a ton of merch, but I didn’t mention that out loud) I outright said I wished I had more people in the locker room like them. They’re the kind the others should aspire to become like and all that. “Uhm, boss?” Morioka wanted a chat, in private. This couldn’t be good. Calling me boss, too. “I know you’re excited to be doing this, but jury’s out on our performance already” he said, tapping his phone to show me comments on social media. ‘Underwhelming’. ‘No real draws’. ‘Didn’t quite live up to the hype’. Pro Wrestling Outsider had given us a 28, swearing if we did another show, we wouldn’t be able to draw half as many fans again. Morioka’s expression seemed to share the sentiment, combined perhaps with a worry that we wouldn’t be able to put on a third show and he’d be out of a job once more. I felt like I’d put in my best effort and still gotten slammed for it. Hell, this hurt way more than Mushashibo bashing my foot in with a sledgehammer. But just like outside the curtain, I had to be the fearless leader behind it as well. I couldn’t show any sign of doubt or weakness. “Well, screw them” I concluded. “It’s time for another Kajahara to prove them wrong, again.”

Thank you so very much about those two. Now I can get back to work on something...

Oooh, Tameka Sky... quite the addition, I'll be monitoring her progress with much interest. P.S. Diggin' the new Mr. Grappling portrait

Not to spoil or request anything, but now I'm really curious to see what Maneater and the rabid referee Kyoko Okuda will look like...

Enjoying the concept behind the Pillars faction and Reaver's foul-mouthed badassery. Can't say the same about introducing juniors, but I'll wait to see how the move pans out...