Barrycuda11

Rafael Ruiz — Phoenix III RR: "Yeah, I got the fax with the booking sheet. Again, I just wanna say thanks for this opportunity." P3: "Don't mention it, Raf. ...I can call you that here, right?" RR: "Yeah. Outside of Kayfabe, it's all good." P3: "Perfect. Sorry I couldn't get you anything on the main show." RR: "Hey, I'm just stoked you got me agenting at all. Don't worry about it being pre-show. I already worked my way up the card once, you know?" P3: "Glad you understand. Hey, I gotta go. Good luck with the match. Don't worry about keeping the kids strong, just make sure they get a fair amount of experience with the other boys. Other than that, it's a 4 v 4 on the pre-show. Bit unorthodox, but plenty of room for you to have fun with it." RR: "Get the kids experience. Got it. See you tomorrow." After the phone call, I decided to turn on the TEW news radio, listen to whatever trouble in paradise is going on in the European indies – something about the talent trading agreement between VWA and EWA breaking down – and get some rest before the show tomorrow. Marcos Flores — Fuego Fantastico As the show in Toluca was being set up, I saw Marcos Flores talking with Fuego Fantastico. Always wanting to know the state of my locker room, I approached the two. P3: "Fuego, Flores, good to see you two. What're you boys up to?" MF: "Oh, I was just giving him some tips on the fundamentals of wrestling. He's a good kid, loads of potential, so I was just thinking about teaching him a thing or two now that he's doing this professionally." I couldn't help but let out a bit of a chuckle. P3: "My school not enough for you, eh Fuego?" FF: "What? No, I mean..." P3: "I'm teasing, kid. I don't mind. Marcos forgot more about Lucha Libre than most of the roster has ever learned, you'll learn plenty working with him." MF: "Besides, you're never too old to learn. Even I've been learning a thing or two from the new guys you've been bringing in. Like that Phobia kid I've been in a program with." FF: "Well, I guess if you're okay with it..." P3: "That's really good to hear. Flores, I'm sure you can teach the kid plenty more than he already knows." MF: "I'm glad you trust me with this, boss." P3: "Well, I've got a show to run. You two take care!" MF: "Any time, boss! Okay, so when you're selling, you need to put some body language into it. Remember, you're wearing a mask. A grimace and a yell isn't gonna cut it..." I couldn't help but smile to myself as I was walking away. I knew Fuego could learn plenty from a man like Marcos Flores, and I know Flores is more than willing to share whatever he could with any young up-and-comer. I've always fancied myself as a great teacher, but not even I learned everything I know from just one guy. Fuego Fantastico has a lot of potential this early in his career. With teachers like myself and now The King of Leon, I have no doubts that Fuego Fantastico can reach that potential if he puts his mind and body into it. Dragón Americano — Kamikaze With about an hour and a half before showtime, we had the whole roster here. That means it's time for the agents to go over their matches with the luchadors. During my search for Dragón Americano, I found him and Kamikaze together in the back of the backstage area. No sign of drugs, at least. K: "Yeah, this one's a vibe, man..." P3: "What's going on over here?" DA: "Oh, Mr. Phoenix! Kamikaze and I were just showing each other some of the songs on our playlists. Crazy how we're both into the same stuff..." P3: "Good to see everyone getting along, but it's agent time. Americano, you're with Ruiz." DA: "Wait, Ruiz is an agent now?" P3: "First time doing it for OLLIE." I briefly switched to English so Kamikaze could understand. "Kamikaze, we're meeting with agents. You and Jayson are with me." K: "Right away, Mr. Phoenix." He turned to Americano. "Hey, it was great hanging out with you. Wanna get something to eat after the show?" DA: "Sure thing. We've been to Toluca a few times before, I know a great place around here. See you after the show, Kamikaze." K: "Oh, call me Christian." DA: "Alright then. See you after the show, Christian..." Real name basis. That doesn't happen often in this business. Not even I'm on a real name basis with the other Phoenix masks. These guys must be getting pretty close. I'll be sure to keep it in mind. PRESHOW TEW Notes: Standard pre-show fodder. A lot of the wrestling was sub-par, there wasn't much heat as most of the fans were busy finding their seats and buying concessions/merchandise to really care much about the in-ring action. The three LLdP kids are noticably weaker workers than the people they're wrestling with, though I guess it's better that they stink up the pre-show than the main card. Not so bad that it leaves an impression, not good enough to really enjoy myself either. Caída 1: Super Diestro pins Laberinto Jr with a Northern Lights Suplex, Hellech pins Astro with a Flying Double Stomp Caída 2: Astro pins Super Diestro with a Tumbleweed Legdrop, Fuego Fantastico pins Pierrot with a 450° Splash Caída 3: Pierrot pins Fuego Fantastico with a Send In The Clowns, Dragón Americano submits El Pavo Real with a Sleeper Americano Final Result: Dragón Americano, Super Diestro, and Coulrophobia def. El Pavo Real, Laberinto Jr, Fuego Fantastico and Astro in 16 min. 26 sec. El Pavo Real Rating: 43 Laberinto Jr Rating: 46 Fuego Fantastico Rating: 26 Astro Rating: 21 Dragón Americano Rating: 51 Super Diestro Rating: 25 Hellech Rating: 42 Pierrot Rating: 43 Overall Rating: 43 Phoenix III Notes: Rafael Ruiz's first time agenting a match did pretty well. The undercard doesn't quite let you tell tales of epic feuds that people are going to remember for life, but he succeeded in taking what he was given and making the matchup work. He wasn't as beneficial to the matchups as Prieto, Uno, or even myself, but he was still beneficial, and that means he's probably going to be permitted to work the midcard bouts with me and (to a lesser extent) Uno. As for the match himself, Dragón Americano had a good showing compared to the rest, maybe because a submission specialist like Ruiz agenting for him was exactly what someone with Americano's technical prowess needed. I'll be sure to keep both of these in mind. When I finished going over the matches I had assigned myself, I made my way over to the commentary table and did a sound check. However, staring out into the gathering crowd, I couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be another row of fans coming in. I wasn't alone in this, as Humberto leaned in. HT: "Hey, do you think we're gonna crack 700 today?" RR: "Starting to look like it..." Once it hit me, I completely froze for a second. They're right. We're already past the 600 mark and even though the influx was starting to die down, this was already more than I ever anticipated. I know that Toluca's just a short drive from the capital, but having better turnout than the Puebla show? If we break 700 on this show, it'll be the first time since LuchaSlam 24... My train of thought was interrupted when the voice in my headset let me know we were going live in 10 seconds. Quickly as I could, I got myself settled in for color commentary in front of the biggest crowd in almost a year. Already, one of the clips from the intro video from last week's show was replaced by a clip from that exact show. Specifically, the Springboard Senton from the main event's second caída. Good call, to be honest, that was a nice looking spot. Rafael Ruiz – Humberto Tortega – Phoenix III HT: "Welcome to Relámpago, live from Torino! I'm Humberto Tortega, joined by 'The Mexican Pit Bull' Rafael Ruiz, and the Hall of Famer Phoenix III!" P3: "We're a little over two weeks away from Lucha Libre Battle, but the event is already shaping up to be quite the spectacl—" The song that accompanied the Relámpago intro video is replaced by a loud, demonic cackling and morose church organs, as Hijo Del Mephisto makes his way to the ring flanked by Evil Intent – the team of Slayyer and Hellspawn 666 – with Phobia in tow. HT: "And coming to the ring now, someone who's master plan for Lucha Libre Battle may have gone up in smoke just last week: Hijo Del Mephisto and the Council of Decay!" RR: "Keep your voice down, Humberto! The last thing you wanna do is make these guys any angrier! Besides, you know Mephisto has a plan B all the way to Z up his sleeve!" Evil Intent held the middle and top ropes open for the robed son of Mephisto to step through, as Phobia was the one to retrieve a microphone for the Council's leader. When their theme stopped playing, the trio of followers solemnly bowed their heads so Mephisto could speak. The OLLIE crowd, however, was less respectful to the demon king, booing and jeering before he spoke. HdM: "Mortals, SINNERS! Heed the words of your master!" The crowd began to boo immediately, Hijo Del Mephisto cackling as they did. The rest of the council didn't budge. "Yes, your anger and hatred fuels the Council! And there are three men that have been marked for decay! Three insignificant little worms craven enough to defy the Council. That's right, craven. Because suicide is the coward's way out. "Let us start with The Freedom Family..." Naturally, the crowd popped slightly. "Luis Montero Jr, and Tricolor Jr. Two leeches draining the life out of the legacy of their fathers, hoping that they can achieve even a fraction of the accolades that their predecessors. Unfortunately for you two, talent is not passed down through a mask or a name. You struggle every time you step between those ropes, winning from lucky flukes. But just because this luck has brought you to Evil Intent, do not presume that this same luck will result in you unseating The Council from their seat of power. When you face Evil Intent in just over two weeks, you will be brought to your knees, crying out for us to end your suffering! "But the suffering we have in store for you? That is NOTHING compared to the fate that awaits the sniveling little maggot, Marcos Flores!" An even bigger pop for one of OLLIE's Eternal Kings. "So you managed to wriggle your way into the Lucha Libre Battle after all. Good for you, gooooood for you. All you have accomplished is allowing myself to crush your puny hopes and dreams once again. Since you insist on your crusade to destroy the Council, it appears I have no choice. I will face you at Lucha Libre Battle, and I will take distinct glee in devouring your hope and turning the great Marcos Flores into one of 19 nameless souls cast into the pits of Hell to deca—" Just as Mephisto was finishing his sentence, the theme of Marcos Flores hit and the crowd erupted into cheers. Even the rest of the Council, who've been quietly allowing their master to speak, can't help but slowly turn their heads to the entrance stage. But Flores didn't come alone; standing by his sides were the other two daring to face the Council: Tricolor Jr and Luis Montero Jr. MF: "I think I speak for the entirety of OLLIE when I say that we're sick of hearing you run your mouth about how everyone's a bunch of insects to the oh-so-mighty Council!" LM: "Ever since we've become Number One Contenders, you've made it your mission to compare Tricolor and I to our fathers. But all I hear is the pot calling the kettle black, as he rides high on the coattails of a dead man! We're our own men, and at Lucha Libre Battle, we'll be happy to show you just how much you've been underestimating us!" HdM: "You must think you're so clever, thinking you've found a hypocrisy in the words I preach. But I assure you, for every feat my father's ever done in this company, I've accomplished twice over. Can you say the same about yourself?" T: "Come Lucha Libre Battle, we'll have accomplished something no one ever has: dismantled the Council of Decay!" MF: "And if you have even half the guts you pretend to have, you'll accept our challenge. The Council of Decay, against The Freedom Family and Marcos Flores, classic Tríos style, in the main event of Relámpago!" HdM: "So eager to meet your demise, I see? Very well. You have little over an hour to make peace with your makers. But when the time comes, The Council will crush what little vigor you've mustered, and the final thoughts to run through your minds will be how you have no one to blame but yourselves for your own decay." The Council's music played once more, the final shots being the two groups staring each other down; one on the entrance ramp, the other in the ring. HT: "There you have it, folks; Marcos Flores and The Freedom Family will take on The Council of Decay in the main event, and what a spectacle that match is sure to be!" P3: "But we have a stacked card to get through before then, Humberto. Starting with Luchadora action, as Mystery Pink returns to in-ring competition for the first time since her dreaded arm injury at Venganza! You won't want to miss it!" TEW Review: Strong opening promo to start the show. Trying to avoid wearing Nicolas Lopez out before Lucha Libre Battle, it looks like Marcos Flores and Hijo Del Mephisto will have the pressure of stealing the show in the main event. Smart move to make it a Tríos match; while you don't want to give away your show's biggest matchups on free TV, the hectic nature of an OLLIE tríos means that it won't exclusively be Flores vs. Mephisto or Freedom Family vs. Evil Intent. As for the promo itself, good mic work from Flores and the Freedom Family, but when you're in a promo battle with the best, you're guaranteed to get outshone and might even drag Mephisto's segment down somewhat. Rating: 63 Phoenix III Notes: I knew having Marcos Flores cut his promo fresh was a good idea. He was able to improvise much better this go around, though having three other men to help lead him where he needs to go (including the single best talker on OLLIE) certainly helped as well. Regardless, everyone improvised well and the segment got Relámpago off to a hot start. MATCH 1 Mystery Pink vs. Purple Viper Relámpago action came back just as Purple Viper's entrance began. Humberto Tortega could only manage to say "Welcome back to OLLIE Relámpago, Luchadora action set to get underway!" before the ring announcer began introducing the live audience to the Luchadora making her way to the ring. RR: "Imagine making your return to in-ring action after a devastating arm injury, and management picks out PURPLE VIPER as your opponent! It's like they're trying to end Mystery Pink's career!" HT: "One of the most cunning and ruthless individuals on the OLLIE roster. A former Campeón de las Muertes." P3: "Turn your back on Purple Viper for even a second, and you've already lost the caída." When Viper made it to the ring, Mystery Pink's music hit and the Number One Contender came out. Her right arm was heavily taped up, but her body language suggested that it wasn't bothering her. HT: "And here she is, making her long-awaited in-ring return: Mystery Pink! RR: "Look at all that tape on her arm! I can't believe she was cleared to compete tonight!" P3: "This is the only Luchadora to win a men's title in OLLIE history. With a fighting spirit like hers, I doubt all the doctor's warnings in the world could've stopped her from getting into the ring the second she could move her arm again!" RR: "I'm very aware of how stubborn she can be about competition, Phoenix. I just don't think it's a wise decision, that's all!" HT: "Well, once our referee finishes checking our competitors, we'll all get to see just how wise this choice was in real ti—" Celeste Moon Interrupting Humberto Tortega mid-sentence, Celeste Moon's music hit and the Campeón de las Mujeres made her way through the entrance stage's curtain, much to Mystery Pink's outrage. Celeste grabbed a steel chair from the timekeeper's table and set it up next to the announcer's desk, apparently here to scout the competition personally. HT: "Well...it appears we have an unannounced special guest joining us today! Pleasure to have you here, Ms. Moo—" CM: "Do not speak to me, unless I speak to you first. All of you." HT: "...Okay then." RR: "Don't take it personally, Tortega. I didn't like it when people distracted me from my scouting either!" P3: "Speaking of things people don't like...from the looks of things, Mystery Pink doesn't seem too happy with the newest addition to her audience!" RR: "Our campeón has every right to be out here as anyone else. It's not interference unless she gets physically involved, and I doubt there's any chance of that from up here!" HT: "Referee Domingo Castillo seems to be trying to bring Pink's focus back to the match...and there's the whistle for the start of the match!" On offense, Mystery Pink seemed to be perfectly capable of using both of her arms for chain wrestling. On defense, Purple Viper seemed to be honing in on Pink's injured right arm early, and if it's somehow not taking a toll already then it's only a matter of time. That said, while both of Pink's arms were working, she's a better technician than Purple Viper and is able to counter every wrist lock and hammerlock the rudo could throw at her. And that's exactly what the masked martial artist did, outwrestling Viper every time they locked up and working the leg every time Viper was brought to the mat. Purple Viper had to change tactics, making sure to turn to the referee's blindside and nail Pink with an illegal closed-fist shot whenever she could lock in a candado headlock. Sure, it was enough to get bursts of momentum, but it was never a guarantee that these opportunities would present themselves. After landing a few sharp kicks to Viper's thigh, Mystery Pink locked up with her opponent before quickly and fluidly dropping and rolling forward, catching the rudo in a leglock as she did; a perfectly applied Judo Rolling Leglock by the only Luchadora on the OLLIE roster with a (kayfabe) martial arts background. HT: "Beautiful rolling leglock and Purple Viper taps immediately! Mystery Pink goes up 1-0!" P3: "Purple Viper surrenders the caída, she knew there was no getting out of that leglock and got it over with!" RR: "The advantage of tapping so quickly in the first caída is that the hold doesn't get to cause any lasting damage, so you can stay fresh for the rest of the match." P3: "But the downside is that Viper no longer has any breathing room. Even if she gets caught with a lucky flash cradle, she loses the matc—" CM: "You. The fat one. Ask me something stupid." HT: "I'm not that f—" He clears his throat, then does as the campeón requested. "From the looks of things, that injured arm doesn't seem to be bothering Mystery Pink all that much. Does that concern you at all heading into your championship defense at Lucha Libre Battle?" CM: "...That's on me, I shouldn't have specified 'stupid'. My 'challenger' – if you can even call her that – has barely taken any arm damage this early into the match. Anyone can power through an injury if it isn't getting worse. So no, I have no reason to be 'worried' about anything." HT: "No lack of confidence from our campeón. So if you're not worried, wh—" CM: "ONE. Question. Only." HT: "...Clearly no shortage of manners, either. ...What're you smiling for, Ruiz?" RR: "She- She called you 'the fat one'..!" HT: "AND THE SECOND CAÍDA IS NOW UNDERWAY!" Although it was the second caída, the energy that both luchadoras had as they locked up again was just the same as the first. The gameplan from Purple Viper, however, was very different. Clearly, the small-scale attacks on the arm and small-scale cheating wasn't cutting it. It was time to amp things up. The first step was to get the fight closer to the ropes, which Viper got to work with by trying to whip Pink into the corner. Pink reversed this, sending Viper into the turnbuckle instead, but the sneaky rudo was quick to notice Pink charging in after her and ducked out of the way of the corner clothesline. With Mystery Pink now in the corner, Purple Viper placed the bandaged part of Pink's arm on the outer side of the top rope, then pulled as hard as she could, the rudo even placing her own foot on the second rope to gain pore leverage in her pulling. She was only able to keep the attack up until Referee Domingo Castillo's count of four before she had to release the hold, but those four seconds felt like four hours to Mystery Pink. And that was only the first attack of many that would target Mystery Pink's injured arm in the second caída. Arm wringers that lead to kicks in the bandages. Baseball slides to the arm in place of suicide dives. Arm-first rams into the ring post. Where the first caída was just small attacks that Pink could tough out, the second was vicious assaults that truly tested the perseverence of Mystery Pink. Pink tried to tough the damage out, fighting back with everything she had, but the tecnico was clearly in a lot of pain, only able to fight back with one arm and her legs. But fight back Pink did, and did so valiantly; as soon as the action returned to the ring, Pink rallied back with a roundhouse kick that cracked the head of Purple Viper and dropped her. Pink kept up the assault, rebounding off the ropes and nailing the grounded rudo with a running knee drop. Into the cover, kickout just after two. After that impressive burst, Mystery Pink lifted Purple Viper up, making the unfortunate mistake of looking and pointing at Celeste Moon all the way up by the commentary table at the entrance stage before whipped the rudo into the ropes. Pink leapfrogged over the first rebound, dropped down under the second, and tried to take Viper down with a huracanrana on the third. But Viper, thinking and acting fast, stopped in her tracks and held Pink up in that powerbomb position and prevented the tecnico from completing the headscissors. Suddenly, Purple Viper popped Mystery Pink up and off Viper's shoulders, and as Pink was landing on her feet, Viper lept up and pulled Pink in for the Viper Bite – Purple Viper's devastating Double Knee Facebreaker finisher. HT: "Viper Bite from outta nowhere! Into the cover, hooks the leg, Viper takes the second caída just like that!" RR: "Even down a caída, you can never count Purple Viper out! Great on-the-fly thinking there!" P3: "Love her or hate her, that was quite the innovative display! Let's take a look at the repla—" CM: "You in the mask. One question. Make it quick." P3: "Alright, um...are you really here just to scout, or is this an attempt at psychological warfare against Mystery Pink to distract her from her match?" CM: "I didn't specify 'stupid' this time. No excuse for a question like that. I'm here to scout my opponent. Nothing more. If the 'challenger' can't handle working in front of people who don't like her, perhaps Lucha Libre was the wrong career choice." HT: "Referee Domingo Castillo's checking on Mystery Pink, seeing if she's still capable of finishing this match...and it look like she's good! There's the whistle, and the third and final caída is underway!" Since she'd be stupid not to, Purple Viper started by once again going after Mystery Pink's arm. However, whatever Viper planned to do after the arm wringer was quickly disposed of when Pink began an intricate counter, first sommersaulting to untwist her arm, rolling again – this time with a kip-up – and whipping Viper across the ring via an arm drag. Viper was back up to her feet and rushed in, only for Pink to catch her with a snap powerslam. 1, 2, shoulder up. An both luchadoras made it to their feet, Pink threw a roundhouse to Viper's body, but the rudo caught the leg and nailed the martial artist with a kick to the underside of her thigh. As Pink was selling, Viper seized the opportunity to grab Pink's arm and DDT it into the ground, nearly seperating the martial artist's shoulder. Into the cover, hooks the leg, somehow Mystery Pink kicks out at the last moment. After some time, Purple Viper starts to run low on options that specifically target the arm, and begins to just hope Pink's arm has been debilitated enough to get the rudo the win. Starting with the lucha bump for separation, Purple Viper rebounded off the ropes and leaped into Mystery Pink, putting herself in the wheelbarrow position. Viper then flipped up, grabs Mystery Pink's injured arm, and dropped forward to hit an arm drag across the ring. As Pink was getting up, clutching her injured arm and with her back unwisely turned away from Viper, the rudo ran up behind the tecnico and nailed Pink with a high knee into Pink's upper back, sending the tecnico tumbling through the second and top ropes. Seeing the chance for something big, Viper goes up top and waits for Pink to get to her feet and turn. And when Mystery Pink's in position, Purple Viper leaps up for a diving double axe handl— HT: "SUPER KICK FROM OUT OF NOWHERE!!" Despite landing the counter superkick that might've knocked Viper out cold, Mystery Pink collapses from the pain and exhaustion as well, and the referee begins to count both of them out. At the count of four, Pink is the first to show signs of life, needing to use the apron to pull herself back to her feet just in time for the ref to reach six. With only one arm to work with, Pink somehow finds the strength to roll both herself and Purple Viper's barely conscious body into the ring at nine; sure, she could've won with a countout, but with a championship match on the horizon, it's best to prepare as though the campeón's advantage is in effect here as well. With the luchadoras finally back in the ring, it was time to go home. Pink pulled herself to her feet once again, stamping her foot against the canvas to get the crowd clapping before climbing the turnbuckle. As she did, Purple Viper finally began to stagger to her feet, turning towards the turnbuckle just in time for Pink to leap off the top rope into her finisher: the flying cross body press. Pink hooked the leg with her good arm, 1, 2, 3. HT: "And that's the match, Mystery Pink wins her first match back from that debilitating arm injury!" P3: "So if I'm right about there being a pattern, then that must mean..." CM: "Last question of the night, baldie. This one better be good." RR: "Alright you dorks, this is how you do it. Celeste Moon, when I knew I was going up against an opponent I knew wouldn't be at 100% for our match, I'd spend every training session practicing submissions that targeted their injured limb. So, knowing that an intellect like yours is undoubtedly doing the same, my question is: what sort of new arm submissions are we likely to see at your upcoming title defense?" CM: "If you think I'm going to just disclose that information on free internet television for my so-called challenger to hear when she watches this back, either you've taken a few too many unprotected chair shots to the head or you don't think I'm as smart as your brown-nosing suggested. I knew I should've just scouted without the interview..." P3: "Yeah, you really showed us how it's done, Ruiz. Celeste, thank you so much for being here." CM: "This was one of the worst experiences of my life." P3: "Worst experience of your life so far. Celeste Moon, everybody!" As the match ended, Mystery Pink pointed at Celeste Moon on the entrance stage before motioning around her waist, predicting a title victory come the end of the month. TEW Review: It's very rare to see Purple Viper have to get carried in a match, but that's just the skill of Mystery Pink. Even when Pink has to sell an arm injury, she's just so much better at OLLIE's opening "chain wrestling/mat work" match that gets a crowd warmed up than Purple Viper is. That said, Purple Viper is no broomstick and was perfectly capable of pulling her own weight to make this match as good as it was. Decent crowd reaction, good selling of the kayfabe-injured arm, and a memorable finish. Now the fans in attendance are clearly ready for more. Caída 1: Mystery Pink submits with a Judo Rolling Leglock Caída 2: Purple Viper pins with a Viper Bite Caída 3: Mystery Pink pins with a Flying Cross Body Press Final Result: Mystery Pink def. Purple Viper in 14 min. 34 sec. Mystery Pink Rating: 61 Purple Viper Rating: 44 Overall Match Rating: 58 Phoenix III Notes: There's only two rudo luchadoras on the roster that could truly match Mystery Pink's technical prowess. One is nowhere near important enough to drop into a 15-minute technical masterclass without irritating the fans, and the other is set to face her in a PPV match that I'm not giving away on free TV...assuming that we're able to nab that Seleccion Mexico deal, of course. So, I had to use someone who was both good enough and at least somewhat recognisable. Purple Viper was that someone. Mystery Pink carried the match, of course, but Viper was still good enough to carry her own weight. I can barely wait to finally put Pink in the ring with Celeste, though. That match is guaranteed to be better. Electric Dreamer — Rosita Perez The tron cut to live footage of Electric Dreamer and Rosita Perez backstage, apparently hitting it off backstage. ED: "...and this is Emilio Toledo, our backstage cameraman." RP: "Oh, it's...nice to meet you, too. Wow, you get along with almost everybody back here, don't you?" ED: "I try to. It's always a good idea to make as many friends as you can. You never know who you'll need to rely on when the going gets tough." QA: "When the 'going gets tough', Dreamer..." Queen Amazon walked into view as she spoke. "...the only one you can rely on is yourself. Now one would think that you of all people would've learned after being stabbed in the back by her best friend Celeste, but then I remembered: this is the cartoon Barbie doll who makes friends with camera men and luchador molero that we're talking about!" RP: "Molero?!" ED: "Easy, Perez..." RP: "No no, I think I might've kicked Her Majesty in the head a little too hard last week! Last time I checked, the only reason you beat me is because you got lucky and grabbed hold of my leg with only one minute left on the clock!" QA: "Last time I checked, the only reason you didn't leave our TV pilot in a gurney is because Cloud Cuckoolander over here thinks she can stick her nose where it doesn't belong! Now stop following her example and shut up, because Dreamer? It's about time you and I have a little talk about last week." ED: "You already won the match, you didn't need to keep powerbombing away after the whistle. Talk over." QA: "What I do before and after my matches doesn't concern you, Dreamer. Especially when I'm teaching cocky rookies like her some manners." RP: "I've been doing this for 10 years—" QA: "Right there, talking out of line. See what your actions did, Dreamer? Her attitude problems are all your fault!" ED: "So who's at fault for your attitude problems, then? If you have a problem with me, how about you and I settle it in the six-by-six?" QA: "I guess you weren't paying attention to the show during your little backstage tour, but the Council of Decay and the punks they've been feuding with booked themselves the last of the TV time the second we went on air. So how about this: first thing next week, I'll step in the ring before anyone else, call you out, and if you're still stupid enough to step up to the Queen, then we'll figure out how we're gonna solve this ourselves." ED: "You and I've been at it for a long time, Amazon. You know I'll never back down from a challenge. Deal." TEW Review: The metaphorical balls on Queen Amazon to call Pinky Perez a luchador molero... For the 90%+ of our users that live in the Anglosphere, that term roughly means "a luchador with next to no name value who's willing to work for food". Needless to say, CILL diehards were probably calling for the Queen's head over that one; Perez is their idol, renamed or no, and CILL is far from a molero promotion. It's nice to see Perez in the mix with Dreamer and Amazon right off the bat, but it's important that Perez is never outright buried at any point in the angle. So far, a close defeat and a promo where she doesn't lose all that much face aren't necessarily red flags, but Perez is one of those workers where you absolutely need to be careful with, because she's capable of supporting not just a women's division, but even a whole company. For evidence, I present CILL. As for the promo, some back and forth between the main tecnico and rudo of the women's division. Dreamer's a great talker, arguably better than both other women, but this whole promo was closer to a ground rule double than a dead-center bomb hit out of the park. We did get a little teaser into how the next show will open, though. That should be good. Rating: 55 Phoenix III Review: As good as Electric Dreamer was in this promo, she didn't get enough speaking time between Amazon and Perez to make too big of a difference. For a company in our state, however, this was a good promo. Rosita Perez is good on the mic, but the OLLIE audience just doesn't see her as a big enough deal to care about what she says. Once she's as over in the capital as she is on the coast, I guarantee people will start clinging to her every word. Queen Amazon, on the other hand? She's only a solid talker, better-suited to the ring where her fists can do the talking. Next week, Electric Dreamer will have another chance at talking with more time to work with and less people to share the spotlight with. I know that'll turn out better. MATCH 2 The Canadian Daredevils vs. The American Cobras (with Emilia Reyes) CAPTAINS: Jayson Van Pelt, Storm Spillane HT: "Welcome back to Relámpago, Parejas action just moments away from the starting whistle!" RR: "The American Cobras came up just short last week against The Freedom Family. But now they're facing The Canadian Daredevils, this should be an easier challenge for them." P3: "On paper they may look better, but keep in mind: Jayson Van Pelt and Kamikaze are two thirds of the reigning Campeóns de Tríos. They're no pushover in the slightest. The Cobras need to be on their A-Game no matter who they're facing; losing last week was disappointing, but losing here will be embarrassing." HT: "Jayson Van Pelt's your captain for the Canadians, Storm Spillane for the Americans. And there's the whistle, caída 1 is underway!" Storm Spillane came out of the gate nailing Van Pelt with a flurry of punches, eventually taking the Canadian down and wrapping his hands around his opponent's neck. Already, the ref was having to threaten disqualification against the American Cobras, but Spillane released the choke at 4. JVP instinctively rolled towards the ropes as he clutched his throat, and Spillane responded by placing one foot on the second rope while grabbing the top rope with his hands, and using them to spring upwards and land with a Knee Drop on JVP's face. Van Pelt rolled out of the ring and allowed Kamikaze tag himself in. Kamikaze tried to start fast and strong with a Top Rope Double Axe Handle as the very first move he performed, but Spillane rolled out of the way of Kamikaze's follow-up legdrop. Spillane kept rolling until he was out of the ring, and Malloy responded by tagging himself in, locking the recovering Kamikaze in a front facelock, and suplexing the Canadian back to the center of the ring. From there, the American Cobras spent the rest of the caída bullying Kamikaze, keeping the young Canadian in the center of the ring at all costs and abusing the rollout-tag rule for all they could, sometimes not even being all the way out of the ring by the time their partner started smacking Kamikaze around. Above all else, however, they made sure to target Kamikaze's back as much as they could. By the time Van Pelt figured enough was enough and tried to rescue his partner, Malloy immediately took his attention off of Kamikaze to drill JVP with a sharp clothesline. As JVP returned to his feet and charged Malloy, Malloy was quick to catch Van Pelt and drop the Canadian throat-first onto the top rope just as Spillane was locking in the Medio Cangrejo, the Spanish name for Storm Spillane's devastating Kneeling Boston Crab. Malloy wasn't going to leave Van Pelt out of this finisher party, hoisting the Canadian up by his hair and lifting him into the Standing Fireman's Carry position, dropping JVP with the Marvel Breaker just as Kamikaze tapped to the Kneeling Boston Crab. Spillane rolled under the bottom rope only for long enough for Malloy to get the 1-2-3, immediately rolling back in to celebrate the caída win. RR: "Have you ever seen a caída as dominant as that, fellas?!" HT: "The American Cobras get the fall after completely dominating Kamikaze, never letting the kid roll out once they got him in the ring!" P3: "Maybe the American Wolves is a better team name, they just swarmed him like a pack of animals that whole caída!" Kamikaze still needed the assistance of the ropes to stay on his feet by the time the second caída was underway, leaving team captain Jayson Van Pelt virtually without a partner for the opening minute of the caída. Luckily, JVP was able to get the upper hand this time, catching Spillane's punch and reversing with a top wrist lock. From there, JVP transitioned to a hammerlock, and securely behind his opponent, the Canadian dropkicked the American in the back and sent Spillane tumbling to the outside. Malloy tried to rush in but JVP caught the American in a sleeper hold, slowing the action down just enough for a recovered Kamikaze to climb the turnbuckle and land a cross body to the outside on Storm Spillane. Just like that, the caída had become one-on-one between JVP and Marvel Malloy. Malloy starts by breaking out of the sleeper, and does so by grabbing the back of JVP's head and dropping down for a sit-out jawbreaker. With some separation, Malloy grabbed hold of Van Pelt's waist from behind while JVP was recovering, and tried to nail the Canadian with a German Suplex...only for Van Pelt to slip out with a backflip. Jayson fought back with an Open Palm Chop straight out of Puroresu, sending the American reeling into the corner. JVP kept up the attack by climbing to the second row and nailing Malloy with punches – ten of them, in fact; the crowd counted along – before backing away to avoid a disqualification. Van Pelt tried to keep up the pressure by whipping Malloy into the opposite corner and charging in, but Malloy was quick to respond and lifted his knees so that JVP crashed into them chest-first. With the Canadian staggering back and Malloy already almost there, the American seated himself on the top turnbuckle, waiting for JVP to be in the perfect position before standing up on the second rope and leaping into a flying rana that sent JVP rolling under the bottom rope and out of the ring. Kamikaze had recovered from that high spot sooner than expected, having slid in the ring to become the legal man for his team, and nailed Malloy with a running wheel kick just as the American was turning around. With Malloy laid out in the middle of the ring, Kamikaze ran towards the ropes, springboarding off for a beautiful Springboard Moonsault. Into the cover, hooks the leg, Malloy barely kicked out in time. Storm Spillane had now recovered, rushing into the ring despite Malloy having not rolled out yet, locking Kamikaze in an inverted headlock before dropping to one knee and driving the back of the daredevil's skull into Spillane's outstretched knee. As luck would have it, JVP had ALSO recovered, rushing into the ring and running up behind Spillane to deliver a running bulldog. JVP revived his partner as Spillane was getting up, and by the time Spillane was charging in, Van Pelt caught the American with a drop toe hold just as Kamikaze was rebounding off the ropes, giving Kamikaze the perfect opportunity to land a leg drop on the back of Spillane's head. Malloy was finally recovering, but JVP was quick to turn his attention to the other legal man. Van Pelt nailed Malloy with a kick to the gut, leaving the American doubled over, before rebounding off the ropes and cracking the back of Malloy's head with an axe kick. 1, 2, 3. JVP rolled out of the ring as Kamikaze bodyslammed Spillane near the corner, leaving the last remaining Cobra in perfect position for a top rope dive. After playing to the crowd to get them hyped, Kamikaze climbed onto the top rope in a single bound, then leaped off in a visually-stunning Reverse 450 Splash. 1, 2, 3. HT: "And that's the caída, The Canadian Daredevils even things up 1-1!" P3: "Bit of a chaotic series of events to bring us to this point, but you can't deny the results!" After the replay and ring girl, the final caída was underway and the two captains locked up once again. Van Pelt managed to lock in a side headlock, but Storm Spillane was able to muscle JVP into the ropes and use them to whip the Canadian out of the hold. Spillane leapfrogged over a rebounding JVP to send him off the ropes again, then dropped down to his stomach to force Van Pelt to jump over and keep running to avoid getting tripped. On the third rebound, Spillane scooped up JVP from the side as the Canadian ran in, then drove him down into the mat with a leaping side suplex. Into the cover, count of two, kickout just as the ref's hand was coming down for three. Lifting Van Pelt up, Spillane dragged the Canadian into his team's corner to make a traditional tag, then executed a double-leg trip as Marvel Malloy climbed to the top rope. Then, in unison, the American Cobras landed dual legdrops: Spillane to JVP's groin, Malloy from the top to Van Pelt's neck and chest. Kamikaze ran in to try and save, but only succeeded in having Marvel Malloy nail Kamikaze with an inverted atomic drop which set him up for a big boot from Storm Spillane. With JVP finally rolled out of the ring and the referee finally getting Spillane onto the apron, Malloy took his chance to capitalize by bounding off the ropes and leaping up for a half senton, but Kamikaze was just able to roll out of the way in time. Kamikaze's turn, and the daredevil rebounded off the ropes before performing a handspring, landing with his back to the opponent, and using the momentum to perform a standing moonsault onto the American. 1, 2, kickout. Seeing little other option, Kamikaze dragged Malloy into position and pointed to the top rope, letting everyone know he was going up top once again. Like last time, Kamikaze reached the top rope in a single bound, but as he was getting primed for his finisher, Storm Spillane – from the apron – shook the ropes and crotched the Canadian, before pushing him downwards into the tree of woe. Spillane stepped in, reviving his partner just enough to tell him to roll under the rope, before heading over to the other corner for a running start. With Malloy out of harm's way and being tended to by manager Emilia Reyes, Spillane charged towards the still-hanging Kamikaze and nailed the Canadian with a dropkick to the face. JVP had recovered, sliding into the ring only to get caught with a Hot Shot that dropped the Canadian. With Marvel Malloy fully recovered, he stepped into the ring and the American Cobras brought Van Pelt to his feet and, together, nailed the Canadian with a Cobra Strike. As Spillane went for the pin, Kamikaze tried to make the save, but Emilia Reyes on the outside held onto the Canadian's ankle as the ref counted 1, 2, 3. RR: "And that's the match, the American Cobras win and they win big!" P3: "With no small help from Emilia Reyes! If she wasn't out there, Kamikaze would've broken the pin!" RR: "Maybe you're right, Phoenix, but Reyes was out here, doing her job to ensure her clients have the best career possible!" P3: "A career of relying on outside help to win. What a way to be remembered." HT: "Gentlemen, please! Watching the replay, you can see the Cobras working like a well-oiled machine here on their patented Cobra Strike." RR: "They just might be the most in-sync tag team in all of OLLIE!" TEW Rating: Noticeable focus on high spots this match. Last week, Marvel Malloy had a really bad off-day, but today was a much better showing of what he can do in the ring, arguably being the star of the match. That's not to say his partner Storm Spillane was bad by any means, they really stole the show as American bullies pushing aroung their opponents. As for JVP and Kamikaze, it's a little sad knowing what they're capable of doing in Montreal and comparing that to how the crowd just doesn't connect with them nearly as much. There was a clear attempt to change that with this match, showcasing that they can really fly when they want to, but they're just not over in Mexico yet. Caída 1: Storm Spillane submits Kamikaze with a Kneeling Boston Crab, Marvel Malloy pins Jayson Van Pelt with a Marvel Breaker Caída 2: Jayson Van Pelt pins Marvel Malloy with an Axe Kick, Kamikaze pins Storm Spillane with a Reverse 450 Degree Splash Caída 3: Storm Spillane pins Jayson Van Pelt with a Cobra Strike Final Result: The American Cobras def. The Canadian Daredevils in 10 min. 39 sec. Jayson Van Pelt Rating: 44 Kamikaze Rating: 39 Storm Spillane Rating: 51 Marvel Malloy Rating: 56 Overall Match Rating: 52 Phoenix III Notes: Kamikaze's spot monkey tendencies were showing, which hurt his performance. JVP was somewhat better, but until the crowd perceives him as even the slightest bit important, he's always going to be overshadowed by his opponents. I had hoped to show off what the Canadian Daredevils are capable of while also regaining the American Cobras' lost heat from last week. I seem to have only accomplished the latter. Although I have the plans for the shows leading up to LLB planned out and an idea of who needs to be pushed first and foremost, I'll be sure to work on JVP and Kamikaze's overness problem once they're next. I'm unsure if I'll push them as two thirds of a trio, but if I do, it'll most likely be a fellow Canadian as opposed to El Pavo Real. Disturbed, though on the opposite side of the Tecnico-Rudo disposition, is my only on-roster option. Perhaps free agency may have other options? I'll have to check. Storm Spillane – Emilia Reyes – Marvel Malloy As the final caída's replay was playing, the American Cobras cleared the ring of the Canadian Daredevils – Kamikaze by throwing him over the top rope, JVP by rolling him under the bottom rope and out of the ring – as Emilia Reyes climbed the steps up the elevated ring ramp and entered the ring with the COTT World Tag Team titles and a microphone. By the time the replay finished playing, each of the Cobras had their respective title belt over their shoulder and Emilia Reyes had instructed the sound crew to "Cut the music, I'm talking!" The promo hadn't even really begun and already the crowd started booing the rudo manager. ER: "Last week, my boys may have come up short in a Parejas match on this show's pilot. But one single loss does not break a career. Tricolor, Montero, and the Council can kill themselves over those belts for all I care! What does an OLLIE Campeonato represent, anyways? Being the top of one promotion? Well, newsflash to all you idiots in attendance: wrestling is more than one promotion! And my clients, well...they're in possession of a much better prize... On cue, The American Cobras hoisted their COTT championship belts high above their head for all to see. ER: "From the bright lights of New York City, to the sunny beaches of Los Angeles, there's never been a more prized commodity in North American Parejas wrestling than the Confederation of the Territories' Tag Team Championships. And no team in the history of this industry is more synonymous with these championships than the team of Marvel Malloy and Storm Spillane, The American Cobras! Hell, between that one loss and today, my clients successfully defended these titles across the border in California! In case you inbred morons haven't figured it out yet, these titles mean that The American Cobras are the most sought-after duos in the entire world! Even Japan wants a piece of what they have to offer! So let me repeat myself: all you other boys can go have fun fighting over who's the best parejas in one tiny promotion. But if you want to try your luck against the best tag team across the continent? We're right here, willing to take on all comers, and more than happy to show the parejas in this backwater country just how many leagues behind us you really are!" HT: "Strong words from Emilia Reyes." RR: "Not just strong words, true words! Being OLLIE Campeóns de Parejas is something special, no doubt about it. But the COTT spans the entire continent, and being THEIR champions is a much greater responsibility with a much more grueling touring schedule!" P3: "A huge responsibility, one that involves doing battle with the toughest teams in America. Throwing the best teams in Mexico on top of that is nothing short of reign-threatening, and I hope the Cobras know just how dangerous it was to let Reyes goad them like that!" HT: "Coming up after the break, Lucha Relámpago action as Amo Del Gato and North Star Jr have just 10 minutes to defeat the other in a single caída match! You don't want to miss it!" TEW Review: The Cobras might be great in-ring competitors, but they aren't the best at promos even in their native tongue of English. That's probably the key as to why Emilia Reyes cut this promo on their behalf. Reyes has been the manager for the Cobras since they became a regular act for OLLIE in late 2016, and even before that she has played the role of 'bitch' quite well since the days of being the valet of Silver Tiger. She wasn't able to do much besides look pretty and sneer at fans when she worked with Tiger, so her role with the Cobras has seen her far more involved than she has ever been. Unfortunately, that's not 100% a good thing. This promo felt more unnatural compared to what we've seen from OLLIE. I wouldn't say it was downright awful by any means, but it definitely wasn't the best promo you'll see. Rating: 48 Phoenix III Notes: The American Cobras don't speak Spanish. For this reason, I had to ensure that Emilia Reyes cut a scripted promo so that Malloy and Spillane could listen for a cue in a language they don't speak and know when to raise their titles. Unfortunately, this meant that Reyes's promo didn't have that natural flow that I like my angles to have. That said, everyone set out to do what I had wanted them to do, the Cobras didn't miss their cue, and we have another storyline heading into LLB. Now all I have to do is find a suitable first opponents for the duo. I think I already know who I'm going to use... —————————— When I started this diary over Spring Break, I had assumed I'd maybe have maybe a dozen or so lurkers looking at my diary. Not once did I imagine I'd hit 1k views by the end of the month! Thank you all so much for the continued support! Spring Break is long gone by now, so finding the time to work on this has been a bit more challenging. Nevertheless, I'll be sure to upload the second half of this week as soon as I can. And when I say the second half, I mean the second half as it was intended to be viewed. Not the raw data after venting about my problems. Seriously. I learned my lesson from trusting this site to retain my progress overnight.

I don't just like it, I love it. Thank you so much.

If it's perfectly okay with you (and lavelleuk), may I ask for a version of Dark Imperium's logo that says The Council of Decay? I always thought their current logo doesn't quite fit their aesthetic. You wouldn't have to change anything else. Please, and thank you in advance.

I appreciate the support. I'll add the rest of the raw results to my post above. Maybe in time I'll go back and fill in the matches with all the color and presentation they deserve, but you have to understand that there's only so many times you can type the same paragraphs over and over again before it you just want to throw in the towel and move on to the next week. Rest assured, quitting the diary was never a consideration. Not after the fantastic reception I got from the very beginning. You all have been so supportive, easily the best community I've ever been a part of. I'm keeping this journey going for as long as I possibly can. With that said... —————————— January 2020 – Week 1 – Friday 24 hours after the OLLIE Relámpago pilot Phoenix III 91,076 views in 24 hours. TV rating of 0.12. Considering we've been struggling to pull 600 people to our shows as of late, knowing that we had 91K people watching our show last night...I had to take a seat and wipe the tears from my eyes. People cared so much more than I thought. Granted, some of this could've just been the honeymoon phase and future shows may not pull the same viewership. But still...Ninety-one thousand. And mostly positive reviews, to boot! A 68 on TEW.com, that's a pretty good score for a company like modern OLLIE and a scoring system like TEW's, and I really can't thank Nicolas Lopez and Silver Tiger enough for what they did yesterday. These were pretty good numbers, at least I thought so. Granted, the best way to know when we're back is to compare our scores to EILL's. When they're close, I'll know we're a big dog in the world of Lucha Libre agai— EILL LUCHA LIBRE Show Rating: 78 Attendance: 12,800 in Plaza Monumental (Mexico City) Viewers: 1,157,670 TV Rating: 1.54 ¡Válgame Dios! Talk about a reality check! I know a 78 for them isn't the home run bomb that a 68 would be for us, but the rest of those numbers...we've clearly got a long way to go before we can even consider ourselves at their level. Thank goodness I was wise enough to get that On Demand deal, because numbers like those would've blown Relámpago out of the water and sent the rest of us sinking if I dared try to challenge the former SOTBPW's flagship show. Regardless, this still gives me a clear picture on how far we have to go before we've made it. I'll admit that it's got me nervous. But bravery has never been the lack of fear, but rather the willpower to proceed in spite of fear. As it turns out, one of the highlights of their show was the Rudo turn of Rock God Alvarez. When Champagne Lover decided to move on to Hollywood full-time in 2018, they repackaged El Alborotador Confiado as a cool Rock Star tecnico in an attempt to have one more option as a potential new figurehead to replace the greatest Luchador of the 21st century. I suppose this rudo turn is a sign that the Rock God Alvarez experiment was a bust, though oddly enough they appear to be keeping the new name. I always knew he wasn't going to be the star as a tecnico that he was as El Alborotador Confiado. The man just radiates that "I'm better than you" aura of a natural rudo, and if you don't believe me, then follow him on social media and you will soon enough. In actuality, the loss of Champagne Lover and SOTBPW's limbo of trying to find their next figurehead was half of the reason I even made these plans to mount a comeback. The other half, as grim as it sounds, was the sudden passing of Jorge Ibanez Sr, the original owner of SOTBPW. With that one-two combo, I knew that SOTBPW was going to take a long time to recover. So, the first thing I did in 2019 was pitch the idea of a new television show to Phoenix I to try and capitalize as soon as possible. ...I was immediately shot down. At first I worried that my friend thought it was too cutthroat to capitalize on a man's death, but the reason he gave as to why we shouldn't was completely different. We couldn't afford it, and Phoenix I wasn't even half a year into his new role as the owner, so his priority was steadying the ship before making any changes in course. I never let up, of course. Every chance I got, I'd have 'make a new television show' as one of the suggestions for what we should do next. Until finally, two days after our Día De Los Muertos special, the idea that would eventually become OLLIE Relámpago was finally greenlit by Phoenix I. I absolutely would've preferred to have started our show a year ago. The conditions were ideal back then. Since that day, SOTBPW had begun to find its identity under Ibanez Jr. The name change to EILL was a genius idea that made the company feel legitimate, like it was its own entity as opposed to something in the shadow of the United States. But by that same token, Ibanez Jr felt content to focus their attention on Mexico and make no attempts to encroach into the United States, which is an utterly foolish idea. I'm patriotic too, don't get me wrong, but you can't just ignore the non-Mexican markets. In the 90's we sent two luchadors touring the world with a series of matches all across the globe, and just look what happened. The North American indie scene is full of people emulating the acrobatics of Luchadors. Lucha Libre was such a hit in Japan that World Level Wrestling exists solely to blend our style with their Puroresu. Diablo Duvak in Canada, Hijo Del Relampago and Chess Maniac in BHOTWG, Pablo Rodriguez in America. Foreigners LOVE the tastes of Lucha Libre that Mexico has given them. Why stop at a taste? Why not establish a full cult following in America, and let that following grow? Granted, OLLIE today needs to focus first and foremost on reestablishing our footing at home before going on a wild crusade into the States. But once we're "back", however long that'll take, that's how we overtake EILL and become better than we ever have been, and La Red De La Lucha's online coverage is how we get our foot in the door for when we're ready. January 2020 – Week 1 – Saturday Three weeks before OLLIE Lucha Libre Battle CILL Redención Show Rating: 58 Attendance: 423 This show was not broadcast CILL held their January event last night. A lot of experts have slated this company as the promotion that would one day overtake us as kings of the Mexican independent scene. Of course, those predictions took place BEFORE the announcement of OLLIE Relámpago, so now their future is less certain. And after CILL Redención, maybe the next big thing in Mexico...might not be the next big thing in Mexico. I feel bad for saying that, since CILL and OLLIE have a talent trading agreement...but their event scored a 58, 10 whole points lower than our TV show. Yikes. Taking a look at their card, they probably could've scored a lot higher if they had swapped their main event with the women's championship. While I do admit that it must be exhausting for Pinky Perez to be wrestling her butt off in Puebla one day, then travelling all the way to Mazatlan for a Women's Championship match just 24 hours later, the fact that she completely overshadowed the main event of that show proves that there's money in luchadoras wrestling and I'm making a smart choice by wanting to legitimize it. Although she didn't win the title, the TEW reporter did think she outperformed the champion. Then again, the champ's reign just started, so I know she wasn't just gonna hot-potato the belt... January 2020 – Week 2 – Monday Phoenix I — ??? "...So you won't be available for work until after Lucha Libre Battle?" ... "No no, I understand. Family comes first, after all..." ... "It's fine. Really, it is. So when ARE you going to be available?" ... "Can you work the Thursday after that? That's when we hold our new weekly show..." ... "Perfect! I'll be sure to slot you in then." ... "Of course I'll have a program ready for you right out of the gate." ... "Excellent. It's a pleasure doing business with you." On the bright side, we did manage to sign him at all. It would've been ideal to have him ready to work before our big event, and boy was it more expensive than all of my other signings combined, but a man of his caliber needs to be on the OLLIE roster if no one else is going to pick him up. He's not exactly an EILL-quality megastar, but he can definitely work like one, and that's what I need on my roster for when we can rival EILL. I know it'll take a while, but I'm in it for the long haul. Following the phone call, I decided to turn on the 24/7 news radio on TotalExtremeWrestling.com, just to see what's going on in the wrestling worl— I hurt my hand on my desk from slamming my fist against it. More competition from north of the Río Grande. While I never exactly planned to have SWF as an "enemy" to "conquer" (USPW's making life hell for them as it is), having them take up a slot for Demand-TV Mexico is concerning. With EILL already hosting PPVs through Demand-TV, SWF means that there's two wrestling companies holding PPV events on Mexico's largest satellite television broadcaster. Obviously, we aren't big enough for Demand-TV. But we will be. And when we are, I'd like there to be a bit of room for us. I don't know how many wrestling companies Demand-TV are willing to host at a time. But I do know that if it's limited, I've got to hurry if I'm going to make it on the list. The plan can't afford a delay because the broadcaster slots are all taken up by American Sports Entertainment... January 2020 – Week 2 – Tuesday Phoenix I — Phoenix III P3: "You wanted to see me about the card for tomorrow?" P1: "Yes, we're gonna have to make some changes. The card as-is goes over the maximum time we're allotted." P3: "Wait, I thought we were given a bit more leeway than this. Isn't the rule 25% over or under?" P1: "That's the rule for regular events, yes. Our TV deal is a lot more strict, we can only go over by 5 minutes total. Your card goes over by 7." P3: "Sorry about the mistake, boss." P1: "It's fine. It's why I have you send them in as early as I do, so we have time to go over them." P3: "So we need to cut two minutes? I guess we can shorten the Lucha Relámpago match, then. They're supposed to be faster and more hectic, anyways." P1: "Right, that's another thing I wanted to bring up. You had Rafael Ruiz as the road agent for the Relámpago match?" P3: "Yes, boss. He wanted to try his hand at agenting a match." P1: "Well, he definitely has the experience and psychology for the job. But I still want to see how he does before we let him do anything televised. Have him do the undercard match and you do the Relámpago match." P3: "If that's what you want. Anything else?" P1: "That's about it. Fax that out to the agents and get ready to head to Toluca." P3: "Right away, boss." MATCH CARD OLLIE RELÁMPAGO - JAN. WK2 MAIN EVENT Marcos Flores & The Freedom Family (with Agueda Alonso) vs. The Council of Decay CAPTAINS: Marcos Flores, Hijo Del Mephisto CO-MAIN Nicolas Lopez & Mystery Partner vs. Space Invaders (with Extraordinario Jr) CAPTAINS: Nicolas Lopez, Cosmic Rider LUCHA RELÁMPAGO North Star Jr vs. Amo Del Gato MATCH 2 The Canadian Daredevils vs. The American Cobras (with Emilia Reyes) CAPTAINS: Jayson Van Pelt, Storm Spillane OPENING MATCH Mystery Pink vs. Purple Viper UNDERCARD El Pavo Real & Laberinto Jr & Fuego Fantastico & Astro vs. Dragón Americano & Super Diestro & Coulrophobia (Hellech & Pierrot) Optional: Guess Nicolas Lopez's Mystery Partner (Hint: Already on the OLLIE roster)

I've lost everything I've written, like, four times now. Even when I save, it's still gone. I don't know if I can write these matches a fifth time. I'm so sick of it. Should I just post the results without the presentation and move on? EDIT: Gonna post the raw data here. If I'm feeling up to it, maybe I'll try writing out the matches later. But for now you couldn't get me to retype this stuff if my life depended on it. —————————— Match 3 Rosita Perez (49) v *Queen Amazon (52), Lucha Relámpago Time: 9:51 Rating: 56 Finish: Queen Amazon pins with two Amazonian Powerbombs (Running Powerbomb) P3 Notes: Question: How do you take one of the best luchadoras that the casual OLLIE fans don't know and make them feel like a big deal in one match? Answer: Have her nearly go the distance against your top rudo in a Lucha Relámpago match. Bonus points if the match is good, which Perez vs. Amazon most certainly was. From the opening bell, this match subverted any and all expectations of being a squash match, as the unknown underdog pushed the rudo behemoth to trying her hardest just to get some hits in, and even when Amazon got to manhandle Perez for a bit, the plucky luchadora bounced back and kept the fight up. The casual fans figure out she's a big deal after all. The smarks figure out OLLIE's treating the CILL icon with the respect she deserves. Sadly, there's no way to have Perez win without hurting Queen Amazon's reputation as the final boss of the Luchadora division, so the dream has to die in the final minute and Queen Amazon has to make sure she twists the knife. But if you thought the drama ended there... Angle Queen Amazon is about to hit Rosita Perez with a THIRD Amazonian Powerbomb, when Electric Dreamer rushes into the ring, fights Amazon off, and helps Rosita up. Rating: 56 P3 Notes: There will be no bullying on Electric Dreamer's watch. I managed to tie the previous match into the ongoing Dreamer vs Amazon feud, made sure there was a bit of sweetness to the bitter rudo victory, and ended the angle with the two best luchadoras today shaking hands in the middle of the ring. The overness of Amazon and Dreamer carried this angle, sure, but it won't be too long before Rosita can put butts in the seat herself. Match 4 *Marcos Flores (48) v Phobia (41) Time: 10:36 Rating: 51 Caída 1: Marcos Flores pins with a Crucifix Powerbomb Caída 2: Phobia pins with a Fear Itself (Top Rope Corkscrew Leg Lariat) Caída 3: Marcos Flores pins with a Flores Heaven Elbow P3 Notes: Marcos Flores is a saint for shining up Phobia on his own free will, making the Council of Decay's newest member look like a credible threat in the 10 1/2 minutes they had together. Phobia has all the potential to be the next big rudo threat if he hones his craft, and if getting the approval of a legend of the company like Marcos Flores doesn't motivate you, nothing will. Even still, it was still just barely the worst match on the main card, barring anything catastrophic in the main event. Flores is declining, Phobia isn't on the same level as the people he's teaming and feuding with, and if I wasn't so confident in Flores's name value I probably would've swapped this match's placement with the Parejas #1 Contender's match. Luckily for me the bright side is very bright, because I'm sure I still would've surpassed expectations if this was the best card on the show. Angle After his victory, Flores grabs a mic to call out Hijo Del Mephisto for "cowardly" hiding behind minions like Phobia and declares "all the minions in the world won't save you from me" Rating: 55 P3 Notes: Okay, so in hindsight...cutting a promo with a guideline script immediately after your match probably isn't the best idea. Flores was still catching his breath as he was trying to call out his rival, and delivered this promo with all the cadence and coherence of...well, an athlete who just got done with a match and just wants to rest more than anything else. Authentic to real sports? Perhaps. Up to the standards of Lucha Libre? Definitely not. Especially not on the same card where Nicolas Lopez, Extraordinario Jr, and Hijo Del Mephisto all had EILL-quality promos earlier in the card. I should've had Flores cut the promo first and then do the match, and maybe it would've gone better. Main Event *Nicolas Lopez (55) v Silver Tiger (64) Time: 15:28 Rating: 68 Caída 1: Silver Tiger pins with a Cobra Clutch Slam Caída 2: Nicolas Lopez pins with a Springboard Senton Caída 3: Nicolas Lopez pins with a Lopez Buster (Sit-Out Face First Suplex) P3 Notes: This may not be the feud going into Lucha Libre Battle, but "First-Ballot OLLIE Hall Of Famer vs First-Ballot OLLIE Hall Of Famer" is a damn good headliner for the pilot of a TV program. And I let these guys know that a match like this needs to live up to the hype, especially on this stage. Consider the show successfully stolen. I let them call it in the ring because I know they can do it themselves, and they did not let me down. Nico Lopez pulled out a Springboard Senton to win the second caída, I haven't seen him pull that trick out in a while. Sure, we added just a smidge of LLB build-up, but not so much that it ever really detracted from Lopez and Tiger going all out for 15 minutes straight. And even though the general feeling was always going to be "Nicolas Lopez is obviously winning", the beauty of the Lopez Buster and the Silver Tiger Driver both having vertical suplex setups meant that the match will always have that "maybe, just maybe" drama even in the final seconds. That crowd went home buzzing with excitement and I know I will too. Bravo, you two. Bravo. Overall Show Rating: 68 Attendance: 632

January 2020 – Week 1 – Tuesday Two days before the OLLIE Relámpago pilot Phoenix III — ??? Perez Perez: "You wanted to see me, sir?" P3: "Yes, please, have a seat. To start, I just want to say my thanks for agreeing to work with us. I can't stress enough how grateful I am that you decided to add a spot for OLLIE in your undoubtedly busy schedule." Perez: "Well, I should be thanking you. Getting women's lucha libre on TV is a vital step towards the legitimacy of luchadoras like myself." P3: "I agree completely. The Luchadora division is a relatively new part of the OLLIE family, having been established in 2011, but under my booking I aim to see it become every bit as significant as the rest of the roster. But that's also why I've brought you in today..." I could see the attentive look in her eyes as I spoke. I wasn't sure how closely she followed OLLIE's recent history, but this was an issue that needed to be tackled before her debut in two days. P3: "You see, Perez, one of the founding members of the division is a woman named Mystery Pink. She's a firmly-established character on our roster, being the only woman to hold a men's championship in the company history. And with a name like 'Pinky Perez'... the casual audience is going to assume there's a connection." Perez: "'Pinky Perez' has been the name I've gone by my entire career. It's how I'm known in CILL, it's how I'm known in America..." P3: "I fully understand, and that's why I wanted you here. I wanted to receive your full permission for how you're branded on OLLIE programming." Perez: "If we absolutely have to change my name, then fine." P3: "All I'm proposing is a very minor change to differentiate yourself from our established talent. Something like 'Rosita Perez'. The same name in all but language. Or another suggestion we could go with: 'Lady Rosa', something English-friendly to try and capture the American audience." Perez: "I just know I'm gonna miss the alliteration, but I also want to establish myself as my own luchadora as soon as I can. If I have to change it to stay out of someone else's shadow, let's go with Rosita Perez. That way there's some sort of connection with my other work." P3: "That's great to hear. I'll let everyone know we have our decision. You're going to do great things with us." Perez: "Thank you, sir. I really hope so." P3: "I mean it. The sky's the limit with talent like yours. And don't worry about the name issue. After all, a Rosita by any other name..." RP: *smiles and exhales sharply* "That's probably the goofiest thing I've heard all week." P3: "But it made you smile, didn't it? Just relax. If you're still unhappy with creative after a while, you can always walk out. You're here because you want to." With the name issue finally resolved, I can get back to Phoenix I about the final decision. This has been a stressful couple of months on all of us and it's absolutely sink or swim at this point. January 2020 – Week 1 – Wednesday Seventeen hours before the OLLIE Relámpago pilot I'm finally in my hotel room in Puebla, getting ready for the last sleep I'll get before the biggest afternoon in my career so far. Sometimes when I'm musing for ideas, I tend to have the Total Extreme Wrestling online newscast playing in the background. I know it's only in English so I can't exactly share it with everyone I know, but sometimes it's good to listen in to the world around you so you can get an idea of what you should be doing. And no other broadcast covers as much of the world as TEW. Seriously, they even cover companies that I had never heard of, and probably never would've heard of if I didn't tune in regularly. This may come as a surprise, but the Australian independent circuit doesn't exactly get much coverage in Mexico. But, thanks to this site, I can hear all about the corporate war between Australian Pro Wrestling and Deep Impact Wrestling that became official earlier today, for example. Plus, when OLLIE was at its lowest, TEW was still covering each and every one of our matches on each and every one of our events, even when no one else seemed to care. So in a way, I feel like I owe them a small place in my daily life. They weren't as blindly loyal as La Red De La Lucha since we struck that deal, of course; if a match that I wrestled back in the day or booked nowadays was awful, then they'd rip me a new one, but they'd also properly praise my triumphs as well. So I know I can trust in their honesty above all else. Now that we're in a new decade, it seems like plenty of companies began working on their new year's resolutions. It felt like every company in Japan were revamping their doubles divisions, with new pairings left, right, and center. Even on this side of the Pacific, SWF were getting in on the action, and undoubtedly more should be following suit. Just in case I would ever be in need, I quickly grabbed a napkin and pen and started jotting down a couple of potential parejas names. No full-on units, just unofficial, maybe later-official names for a couple of individuals that are likely to team up in the near future. Phoenix II & IV? Obviously Dos Phoenix Nuevo. P2 and myself were the original Dos Phoenix, and with P4 as the heir to the mask and name, he gets my blessing to the old team's name for as long as P2 wants to wrestle, though I can't imagine it'll be too much longer until we're all reunited backstage. Astro and Fuego Fantastico? They'll probably be a more regular pairing once they've earned their stripes. They do come from the same place, after all. My place, the Lucha Libre de Phoenix wrestling school... I've got plenty of time to pick a name, and for all I know I might have to turn one of them rudo and pair them with Super Diestro instead. That's the beauty of booking, you never know how things are really going to go. But if I had to pair them up right this instant and pick a name? I think I'd go with Estrellas Ardientes, The Burning Stars. Not the most creative name for a guy in a fire mask and a guy in a star mask, but I did put myself on the spot. I guess if I was really desperate, I could probably bring back Golden Silver. Silver Tiger and El Critico are still rudos, and they both still compete, although one of them wrestles far more than the other. I might be able to get a couple of reunion matches out of them before El Critico's formal retirement... My train of thought was interrupted when I heard a new breaking news story about the new show. Which was odd, because I know any updates about OLLIE would make it to me before they make it to TEW, but I kept listening. And as I kept listening, I quickly learned that it wasn't about Relámpago or OLLIE at all. Apparently, live on USPW American Wrestling, Reverie had just announced a new B-level TV show called USPW Stars. ...Now I don't want to take the credit for the idea, but it hasn't even been a full week and other new wrestling shows are already getting announced. I'm not the only one to make this comparison, the host even briefly mentioned the Relámpago announcement alongside some other American streaming service called WrestleWorld to ask if a new wave of televised wrestling is upon the world of professional wrestling. ...Truth be told, I know I didn't actually inspire anyone at USPW. I doubt I can find a corporate suit at Reverie who have even heard of OLLIE. Still, the subconscious thought of little ol' OLLIE having their ideas ripped off by the largest company in the entire world still makes me smile. And I'll need those good vibes heading into the pilot. I can't afford to have anything cursing my biggest gamble yet. January 2020 – Week 1 – Thursday Three hours before OLLIE Relámpago Phoenix III — Rafael Ruiz The outdoor stage and ring is just about all set up: professional ramp and ring barriers with a pair of small entrance trons and four quality ring aprons, two branded with OLLIE and two branded with La Red De La Lucha and other sponsor logos. We've also got traffic blocks set up around the perimeter so no one tries to drive a car through the show and a city permit for the occasion. It's actually a beautiful day out today, perfect for the luchadors. The final match card has been posted for all backstage talent to see...when they get here, at least. The backstage rules around here aren't professionally strict, all we really enforce is a ban on drugs for...obvious reasons. If we were too strict, we'd start having morale problems since we can't afford extra goodies like proper catering to balance it all out. Some workers came here this early on their own volition: Blue Phantom, Phoenix IV, Super Diestro, Rosita Perez. The truest of professionals. During this lull, I was approached by Rafael Ruiz – the Emma Chase to my Duane Fry, the Emily McQueen to my Belle Bryden. Or I guess if you're a fan of obscure, text-based booking simulators, the Jerry Lawler to my Jim Ross. It was all kayfabe, obviously. He and I have been getting along behind the scenes ever since our in-ring careers, but it was actually our in-ring careers where this little on-screen rivalry of ours started; we've actually been in a handful of matches against one another back in the late 00's and early 10's, though you'd get very different answers on which of us won most of the time depending on which of us you asked. RR: "Hey Tres, can I ask you for a favor?" P3: "Oh, uh...sure. What did you need from me?" RR: "I was just wondering if you could start letting me agent a match or two after this show. I'm pretty sure I have the skill for it, and there's plenty that these kids could learn from the Mexican Pit Bull himself..." P3: "Oh! I, uh...never knew you were interested. Thing is, it's not 100% my choice to make..." RR: "I see, it's a Phoenix I issue, yeah. No worries. But if you could put in a word, well...both of you know that I'm no stranger to in-ring psychology." P3: "Oh of course. I mean, we've called so many spots in the ring together. I think you'd do great, I'll see what I can do." RR: "Thanks, man. You're the best." By about an hour before we go live, everyone on the roster was finally here and the agents were starting to go over the card with the talent. That included me, of course, as I assigned myself one of the pre-show matches as well as the Lucha Relámpago match in the middle of the card. Going over the pre-show match first, I wanted to make sure that the veterans worked with Astro to try and build his skills. I knew he was as green as they come, just 19 years old and six months out of wrestling school, so his work on the undercard is essentially going to be an extension of the classes he took under me. Laberinto, Amo Del Gato, Hellech & Pierrot all had plenty to teach the kid, and even though Blue Phantom was in this middle ground between not being able to teach and not needing to learn, I still wanted him on the card just to keep him warmed up for what was to come. Once I was certain the boys had a general idea of what they needed to do and the first of the fans began finding their seats, I got ready to send them out while I went over Rosita Perez's debut match. Nothing was being broadcast, and anything we film on these matches was more intended for review purposes than anything else, so I wasn't needed on commentary. PRESHOW Laberinto Jr & Blue Phantom & Astro vs. Amo Del Gato & Coulrophobia (Hellech & Pierrot) CAPTAINS: Laberinto Jr, Amo Del Gato TEW Review: Warming up the early bird crowd today was six lowercard workers with not much place in the major OLLIE storylines. Most of the workers put on decent performances despite the nonexistent heat from the few dozen fans that bothered to show up half an hour early and not order concessions first. The weak link of the match was Astro, who clearly struggled to keep up with the in-ring performances of his peers. Being 19 years old and still fresh from wrestling school, he never stood a chance of matching the work of his more experienced performers, and his great gimmick and eye-catching finisher did little to disguise this fact. Blue Phantom got the pin over the captain of the former tríos champions in the final caída, likely a sign that OLLIE still hasn't given up entirely on the failed push of Blue Phantom. I'll be expecting a second attempt at getting him over in the coming months, but other than that I probably won't remember this match tomorrow. Caída 1: Pierrot pins Astro with a Send In The Clowns double team, Amo Del Gato pins Laberinto Jr with a Ninth Life (Second Rope Moonsault) Caída 2: Astro Pins Hellech with a Tumbleweed Legdrop, Laberinto Jr pins Pierrot with Laberinto Roll (Wheelbarrow Victory Roll) Caída 3: Blue Phantom pins Amo Del Gato with Phantom Cradle (Camel Clutch Cradle) Final Result: Laberinto Jr & Blue Phantom & Astro def. Amo Del Gato & Coulrophobia (Hellech & Pierrot) in 14 min. 53 sec. Laberinto Jr Rating: 49 Blue Phantom Rating: 50 Astro Rating: 21 Amo Del Gato Rating: 56 Hellech Rating: 41 Pierrot Rating: 46 Overall Match Rating: 49 Phoenix III Notes: Astro made his debut. People really like his self-made "Star Man" persona and it should make him seem more charismatic than he already is. His in-ring showing was noticeably weaker than everyone else, but he's 19 years old and has only been wrestling for six months; I have no doubts that he'll be improving far better than this over time. Especially if I keep him wrestling like this on a regular basis. PRESHOW Dos Phoenix Nuevo (Phoenix II & Phoenix IV) & Fuego Fantastico vs. El Critico & Dragón Americano & Super Diestro CAPTAINS: Phoenix II, El Critico TEW Review: With most of the crowd finally in, the final appetizer match was the new Phoenix duo teaming with a rookie named Fuego Fantastico against El Critico, Americano and another rookie named Super Diestro. Including Astro in the last match, all three of the rookies this evening came from the Lucha Libre de Phoenix school in Mexico City, run by who else but head booker Phoenix III. It's highly doubtful that this is a coincidence. The one positive thing I can say about these rookies is that they're all being placed safely on the preshow, because their performances – while good for complete rookies – really aren't up to the standard of a televised wrestling show. Phoenix II looked old out there, he should really join the rest of his legendary trio in the backstage area before he tarnishes his OLLIE Hall Of Fame legacy, or worse: causes OLLIE to go under before he can even accept a place in the Hall Of Fame. The flow of this match was extremely weird, with the captain taking the pin in the first caída but not being involved in the final caída, and the whole match ending with one rookie pinning the other. Phoenix IV, Critico, and Americano were the only ones to put in good work. A sub-par match, but somehow not so bad that it's unbearable. Caída 1: Phoenix IV pins El Critico with a Phoenix Sault (Slingshot Moonsault) Caída 2: Super Diestro pins Fuego Fantastico with a Schoolboy after grabbing the tights, El Critico Pins Phoenix II with a Critical Mass (Double Underhook Powerbomb) Caída 3: Phoenix II pins Dragón Americano with a Northern Lights Suplex, Fuego Fantastico pins Super Diestro with a 450 Degree Splash Final Result: Dos Phoenix Nuevo (Phoenix II & Phoenix IV) & Fuego Fantastico def. El Critico & Dragón Americano & Super Diestro in 14 min. 49 sec. Phoenix II Rating: 40 Phoenix IV Rating: 50 Fuego Fantastico Rating: 21 El Critico Rating: 53 Dragón Americano Rating: 51 Super Diestro Rating: 24 Overall Match Rating: 46 Phoenix III Notes: El Critico was surprisingly hard to work with, getting extremely unhappy at the thought of taking the final fall for either of the Phoenix. I'd understand a reaction like that if I said he'd take the fall from Fuego, but over getting pinned by a Hall Of Famer's son in Cuatro, or an ACTUAL Hall Of Famer in Dos? It's not like Critico has all that much time left in his career to be worried about a push getting ruined! His insistence forced me to change the fall order entirely, with the captain going down in caída 1 and the other members taking the fall in caída 3. Regardless, Fuego and Diestro made their respective debuts on opposite sides of the ring, each getting a pin on the other. I've trained them both over the past couple of years and I know Fuego wasn't at his best this afternoon, which is probably why people only thought of his Fiery Tecnico gimmick as 'adequate'. Still, the character should help him cut a passionate promo if I ever put a microphone in his hands. On the other hand, Super Diestro's conniving, old school rudo mannerisms are suiting him well, and I think his antics will get over just fine with the audience. Again, the kids' lack of experience has made them the weak links, but you can't have experience without getting it first. As the last pre-show match entered its final caída, Tortega, Ruiz and I got seated at our commentary table at the top of the stage, ran some sound checks, and watched the match's closing moments. We managed to crack 600 people on this crowd, maybe even a little more than what we got for Venganza last week. When the last of the pre-show guys made it to the back, our larger (by comparison) LED entrance tron began playing the intro video for the new show, involving blending highlights from the glory days of OLLIE with moments from the past couple of years. I can be glad that, as far as OLLIE fell, we never had to lay off our professional video editors. We stopped using pyro a while ago, unfortunately, but being able to bring it back is definitely on my checklist before I can say we're "back". Humberto Tortega kicked us off... OLLIE RELÁMPAGO – JAN WEEK 1 Rafael Ruiz – Humberto Tortega – Phoenix III HT: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the very first edition of OLLIE Relámpago! I'm Humberto Tortega, with me as always Phoenix III and Rafael Ruiz! We're here in Puebla de Zaragoza, México, for what should be an action-packed afternoon!" P3: "I can feel it in my core, Humberto! The sun is shining, the air is electrifying, today is a beautiful day for some Lucha Libre!" Nicolas Lopez Very soon after the introduction, Nicolas Lopez's music hit and he emerged onto the stage in a dark navy blue suit, with the jacket open to reveal the Campeonato de Universal around his waist. The small yet passionate crowd cheered for their champion as he made his way to the the ring. HT: "It's a special occasion for all of us, but especially so for this man: "The Untouchable" Nicolas Lopez, our reigning, defending, record-setting 8-time Campeonato de Universal OLLIE!" RR: "This is a man who fought the odds at OLLIE Venganza just five days ago, facing off against TWO hungry challengers for his title and still emerged victorious at the end of the night!" P3: "And if you missed that match, then you can watch it after the show for FREE, only on La Red De La Lucha!" A stagehand gave Lopez a microphone once he made it to the ring. Lopez held it towards the crowd as they started up an 'OLLIE' chant, the crowd bringing a smile to the Campeón's face. When the crowd died down, Lopez began to cut his promo. NL: "I just wanted to come out here tonight and say from the bottom of my heart: Thank you all SO MUCH for coming out her to support us tonight! Give yourselves a round of applause!" The crowd did just that, and Lopez gave them all the time they needed before he kept going. NL: "I can't even remember the last time OLLIE was on TV, you guys; it's no exaggeration when I say that this is the most important moment in this company's history. But more important than that, this is the most important day of my life! You see, unless you count the absolute havoc that resulted in El Dia Del Cambio, then I've been loyal to OLLIE for almost 17 years straight now. SEVENTEEN YEARS, you guys! And through all the hardships, all the turmoil that we've gone through over those 17 years, not once did the thought of abandoning ship, taking my bags, and leaving for greener pastures cross my mind. And you know why I stayed? I stayed, because of each and every one of you. No, I'm serious-" The crowd popped again, and Lopez couldn't help but crack a smile and start chuckling. NL: "I'm serious, you guys! Yeah, I could've taken the biggest paydays of my life, wrestling in front of crowds of ten thousand people every week, but I didn't. Didn't want to, never have. Because each and every one of you have enough passion in your hearts for a hundred thousand fans! It didn't matter who left, because you stayed! And you stayed! And YOU stayed! ALL OF YOU! And now here we are. Against the odds, against all the talent poaching, against all the naysayers who swore on their lives that OLLIE wasn't going to make it to the 75th anniversary, we turned this ship around, and now The People's Promotion is back in the people's homes! OLLIE's back, baby!" Yet another pop. This time, Nicolas took the moment he was given to unfasten the title belt and hold it in his hand, starting the next part of his promo staring at its centerpiece. NL: "And after 17 years of watching what felt like the end of the world, standing here in front of all of you in attendance, and all of you at home... I can say it loud, proud, and with absolute confidence: I don't regret a single day of the long, hard journey it took to get here. IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!" Cosmic Rider – Extraordinario Jr – Extranjero Loco The crowd erupted into cheers as Nicolas Lopez hoisted the Campeonato de Universal high above his head for the hard camera, you could see it in his eyes that his promo came from the heart. However, without giving the crowd any chance to soak in the feel good moment, the Galactic Force's music hit and the crowd immediately began to boo as the trío that have been making Nicolas Lopez's life a living hell for the past few months enters the stage. But more than that, Nicolas Lopez himself looks genuinely pissed off that his enemies would sink to ruining this moment. Extraordinario Jr's holding a microphone, Cosmic Rider's holding a steel chair. Extraordinario begins his promo at the top of the ramp, slowly walking to the ring as he talks. EJ: "Alright, ALRIGHT! Enough already! Hey, we get it: we're back, big deal, whoop-de-do. But if I remember correctly, these people are here for LUCHA LIBRE. Not 'midlife crisis in a suit yapping our ears off'." NL: "You guys have about three seconds to turn around and walk right back behind that curtain before I shove that microphone down your throat. Okay? Read the room." EJ: "Oh, I've read the room, Lopez, and that's exactly why I had to come down here. I could see it on each and every one of their faces, all this 'I stayed because of you' crap was making them sick, and they were all gonna get up and leave unless I did something! I should've come out here sooner, but MY GOD does your 'I love the people!' suck-up schtick make me gag! But you know something, Lopez? I think I'd be able to bear what you say out here – maybe even admire it, who knows, but I'd certainly be able to bear it...if it wasn't just so FAKE!" Extraordinario finally made it to the ring and stepped between the ropes. The Space Invaders – Cosmic Rider & Extranjero Loco – opted to instead circle around the ring, chair still in Rider's hand. Lopez made sure to keep an eye on the henchman as he kept up the banter, staying weary of sneak attacks. NL: "Leave it to the man who's never been appreciated in his life to think that thanking people for all their support is 'fake'. These fans had every reason in the world to abandon OLLIE and they didn't. And I'm truly grateful for that. You should be too, but you seem like the type to never be grateful for anything." EJ: "Oh, I'm grateful for plenty of things. Grateful for those guys right there, the ones ominously circling the ring. Don't mind them...they're just insurance. I mean, if you wanted to shove this down my throat when all I did was show up, you're REALLY gonna hate what I have to say. Because yeah, these people stuck around. But most of them didn't. Most of them DID move on to other promotions. And in your 17 years of parading around, acting like a man of the people, did you even ONCE stop to ask yourself why everyone's leaving? Because I know why they left. It's because of you, Nick. I mean, do you think anyone actually wants to see the same guy in the main event for over a decade? You're boring, Nick. Ever since you came around, OLLIE's been the same show over and over again for so long that the people who started watching when you won your first title are completely different people down to the last cell in their body. The people you 'love' so much want new luchadors competing in the main event." NL: "Stars like you, right? That's where you're going with this? Yeah, that'll sell tickets. 'Hey, wanna come to this wrestling show? The main character's a jerk who has his lackeys fight his battles for him and calls us stupid for watching.' If you want to be the face of this company, or the guy who's on all of the merch, or the guy who headlines all of the major events, then you're going to need a serious attitude adjustment. If you think for even one moment that I'm going to just hand this title, this company, THESE PEOPLE... hand them all off to the first guy who can wrestle a half-decent match, then you're delusional. OLLIE is my life's work. You haven't earned it." EJ: "...You know, I thought you might say something like that. So let me remind you that I am THE single most exciting talent in the company. Yeah, I run my mouth a lot, but when it comes to walking the walk, I'm not just half-decent. I steal the show every time I come out here. So if you don't wanna 'give' it all to me, then at Lucha Libre Battle, I'm gonna do what I do best and pry it out of your hands myself. The Campeonato de Universal will FINALLY be where it's always belonged: in the hands of the Alliance From Beyond the Stars. But before we get there...there's something in your eyes that just screams 'I don't believe you'. So I'm gonna make a believer out of you. In just a couple short minutes, I'm going to win the very first televised OLLIE match in well over a decade, and I want you to watch me do it. In fact, I insist that you watch it. I've even had the boys prepare you a seat, right there in front of the barricade." Extraordinario motions to the hard-cam side of the barricade, where the chair Cosmic Rider was carrying is set up right in front of the barricade. Both sides are flanked by a member of the Space Invaders. Rafael Ruiz can be heard lightly chuckling into his mic. Nicolas Lopez doesn't look amused. EJ: "I was thinking 'hey, maybe all this guy needs is to watch what a REAL lucha megastar can do'. So now you get the best seat in the house, my treat. ...What, not good enough for you? How typical. Alright, I'll sweeten the deal. If you take up this offer, no member of the Galactic Force will show up at your match later in the afternoon. No Extraordinario, no Space Invaders. Just you and Tiger, one on one. Just watch the match. What do you say, Nico? Wanna see a real luchador in action?" Lopez gave Extraordinario a side-eye. There's a catch to this deal and everyone knows it. With caution, Nico stepped out of the ring, walked up to the chair as the Space Invaders stepped back...then Lopez tipped the chair aside and hopped the barricade. NL: "If I'm watching you perform, I'm watching you from here. With the people." It was hard to gauge Extraordinario's reaction with the mask, but from how he was brushing the act off and disrobing for his match, he seemed to be allowing it. The Space Invaders stuck around, perhaps making sure Lopez doesn't do anything funny, but for now he seemed content with interacting with the fans, who just got the chance to hang out with the Campeonato de Universal for 20 minutes. P3: "Telling LOPEZ to 'watch a real lucha megastar'? I can't believe Lopez is even going along with this!" RR: "Are you kidding? Extraordinario just offered the best seat in the house to one of his matches AND the promise that he won't interfere later on! There's no downside!" P3: "Don't tell me you actually BELIEVE this guy! When has Extraordinario ever been completely honest? ESPECIALLY after aligning with the Space Invaders!" HT: "Well, we'll just have to see if he holds his end of the deal. For now, Extraordinario Jr goes up against North Star Jr in the FIRST EVER match on OLLIE Relámpago!" TEW Review: OLLIE knew what it was doing by opening their first show with the two best talkers on their roster going ham on the mic for a few minutes. Nicolas Lopez came out first and gave a pretty passionate speech about how he's stuck around OLLIE all these years and why he did it, ending by saying it was all worth it. Extraordinario came out and got some good heat by interrupting the feel-good moment, and the two shared a bit of banter that almost felt like real beef between the two. Extraordinario blamed Lopez being the figurehead for over a decade as the problem that almost killed the company, Lopez told Extraordinario that a rudo wouldn't work in a figurehead role. There was one moment at the end which was a bit weird, Extraordinario promising to not interfere in the main event if Lopez watches his match, but it was in character for Extraordinario Jr's cocky attitude and tendency to show off, so it somewhat worked out. Plus everything else was high-quality in comparison. Rating: 70 Phoenix III Notes: Nicolas Lopez did a fine job welcoming the 600+ in attendance to the first ever episode of Relámpago and emphasizing how important this is to the promotion. He clearly enjoyed the fact that I let him go out and just be Nicolas Lopez the man for a couple of minutes. This was just as much his promotion as mine or Uno's, and you could feel that in his voice. He only knew about Relámpago for less than a week, but he was nearly in tears talking about how good it is to be on an OLLIE television show again. ...Enter Extraordinario Jr, and this guy is a MASTER at crowd manipulation. His interruption was just supposed to be cheap heat from abruptly ending a feel-good moment, but he made it so much more. Extraordinario laid into Lopez, blaming The Untouchable for making OLLIE a one-man show and blocking anyone but himself and Flores from ever making a permanent residence in the main event scene, and Lopez rallied back by calling out Extraordinario's insistence on being a rudo as the reason why he could never be "the guy" even if Lopez was gone. The confrontation ends as Extraordinario points out that, for every boast he's made he's backed it up in the ring, and personally invites Lopez to a front-row seat so he can see a "TRUE lucha megastar" win the first televised OLLIE match in years. MATCH 1 North Star Jr vs Extraordinario Jr (with Space Invaders) With Extraordinario Jr and the Space Invaders already at the ring, all that was left was for North Star Jr to make his own entrance to the ring. HT: "North Star Jr, finally wrestling for OLLIE in a nationally televised match just like in the days of his grandfather!" P3: "You have to think this is a big deal for this young man. He can't let the pressure of following in his legendary grandfather's footsteps get to him." RR: "Especially not in this match. Extraordinario Jr's one of the toughest opponents anyone could be going up against!" The match opened with some back and forth chain wrestling, though the only reason it seemed back and forth was because every time Extraordinario got the upper hand, he would pause to play to the crowd – or more specifically: Nicolas Lopez, who was IN the crowd. After about five minutes, Extraordinario got the better of a chain of events that ended in him cracking North Star with an Enzuigiri, but when he looked to Nicolas Lopez, the fan favorite campeón was signing a fan's souvenir cup. Outraged at being ignored, Extraordinario rushed to the ropes and began pointing and shouting. "HEY! LOPEZ! YOU BETTER BE WATCHING THIS!" It wasn't until Lopez finished signing that Extraordinario turned his attention back to the match at hand, but by that point North Star Jr had already recovered and made sure to let Extraordinario know with a kick to the gut. With Extraordinario now doubled over, North Star grabbed the sides of the rudo's mask, and pulled him in for a devastating face crusher. One pinfall later, North Star Jr had taken the first caída, going up 1-0. HT: "Unbelievable! North Star Jr just snuck away with the first caída! He's now up 1-0 against Extraordinario Jr!" RR: "That wasn't fair at all! Restart the match! Nicolas Lopez was distracting Extraordinario, he couldn't focus!" P3: "Distracting him by giving a fan an autograph? Do you hear yourself right now?! Extraordinario needs to be less focused on our campeón and more focused on his opponent. Down 1-0, he can't afford to give North Star Jr any more opportunities!" HT: "Taking a look at the replay, just look at the height North Star got on that leap, and then driving Extraordinario's face right into the canvas!" P3: "Shades of North Star Sr back in the golden era of OLLIE. That could've gotten the pin over anyone!" As the ring girl circled the ring with a "Caída 2" card, Extraordinario was furiously pacing back and forth in his corner waiting for the whistle. And when it blew, Extraordinario rushed North Star, landing punch after punch after punch on North Star until the tecnico was trapped in the corner, and still kept them raining until referee Domingo Castillo finally pulled Extraordinario away. There was only a second to breathe before Extraordinario rushed in again, but a second was all North Star needed as he got his knees up to block the wild rush in. Even better, Extraordinario's stagger backwards created just enough separation for a middle rope cross body. 1, 2, kickout right at 2. The two went back and forth some more, trading chain wrestling with submissions being reversed into other submissions; a real showcase of technical wrestling on display. Finally, to end the caída, Extraordinario Jr transitioned out of a standing armbar via a snapmare with enough velocity to send North Star back onto his feet, and when North Star rushed back in Extraordinario caught him with a powerslam. Extraordinario Jr went up top and the fans prepared their cameras. North Star Jr was still out of place when Extraordinario made it to the top turnbuckle, making the rudo wait a couple of seconds before he could perform a flying clothesline. 1-2-3, Extraordinario evens it up at 1-1. HT: "And now we see Extraordinario back in full form! Losing the first caída must've been just the wake-up he needed!" RR: "Did you see the hangtime on that clothesline?! Extraordinario Jr might just be the best high-flyer in OLLIE!" P3: "Don't worry, Extraordinario told us. He always does." RR: "Don't snub the man for being honest! Watch the replay: here's the powerslam that gives him time to climb..." HT: "...And here we see the dive itself. Perfect form, OLLIE Luchadors are something special." As the ring girl held the caída 3 sign, North Star Jr was still selling the effects of the diving clothesline while Extraordinario Jr was back to bragging at Nicolas Lopez at ringside. Lopez was brushing it off as best he could, instead opting to take selfies with the fans instead of give his rival attention, and even though Extraordinario was visibly frustrated with being ignored he was quick to keep his attention on North Star instead. At the third whistle, the duo began trading reversals now, though they were doing their best to hide the fact that Extraordinario simply knows more move reversals than North Star does. As the match reached the 14-minute mark, North Star slipped out the back of a Siempre Peleando and countered with a poison-rana. With a golden opportunity to finish Extraordinario off, North Star hopped onto the apron and began climbing the turnbuckle. HT: "North Star going up top, you know he's thinking Sky Twister Press...!" Unfortunately for North Star, shenanigans ensued. In the corner opposite of the one North Star was climbing, Extranjero Loco climbed onto the apron and began to untie the turnbuckle padding, catching the attention of the referee. Determined to prevent any outside interference, Nicolas Lopez jumped over the barricade and yanked Extranjero off the apron by his ankles, causing the alien's head to bounce off the apron. But, with Lopez taking out Extranjero and the ref re-tying the turnbuckle pad, no one was left to prevent Cosmic Rider, the wily veteran, from pulling the leg out from under North Star Jr and sending North Star groin first into the top turnbuckle just as Extraordinario was coming to. Rider pushed North Star back into the ring, Extraordinario recovered and pulled North Star to his feet, and just as the referee turned back to the in-ring action, Extraordinario planted North Star with the Siempre Peleando. 1, 2, 3. HT: "And Extraordinario wins, thanks to the help of the Space Invaders!" RR: "Thanks to their help?! Nicolas Lopez jumped over the barricade and got involved in the match! The way I see it, all The Space Invaders did was even the odds!" P3: "Were you even watching the same match?! Lopez jumped the barrier because the Space Invaders were interfering!" RR: "Believe whatever you wanna tell yourself, Phoenix. It won't change the fact that Extraordinario Jr is the winner of the very first televised OLLIE match in nearly two decades!" HT: "Surely a marquee match for Extraordinario. We'll be hearing about this for quite some time." P3: "Oh, we certainly will..." The entire Galactic Force was celebrating in the ring, while all Lopez could do is stand outside the ring, hands on his hips, shaking his head. It wasn't long before Extraordinario stepped forward, motioning around his waist. The message was clear: Extraordinario Jr was gunning for Nicolas Lopez's campeonato. TEW Review: Strong match to open the card, good wrestling and good heat. A lot of technical wrestling between the spots that lead to the falls in this match, it's to be expected of an OLLIE card to have at least one match like this. Extraordinario's technical wrestling has improved quite a bit, but he's still a high-flyer first and foremost. North Star Jr just isn't a technician and it showed near the end, but there's very few people whom OLLIE could've paired with Extraordinario that I'd also want to see for an extended period of time. Extraordinario Jr carried the match and, luckily for us, he carried it well. They had a creative way of showing just how impactful the numbers game favors the Galactic Force in this match, having Nicolas Lopez on stand-by to stop one of the outsiders from interfering but no one left to stop the other. They didn't outright say that anything Lopez did nullified the stipulation, so I'm excited to see a straight match between Lopez and Silver Tiger later. Caída 1: North Star Jr pins with a Face Crusher Caída 2: Extraordinario Jr pins with a Top Rope Flying Clothesline Caída 3: Extraordinario pins with Siempre Peleando (Arrow Suplex) Final Result: Extraordinario Jr (with Space Invaders) def. North Star Jr in 14 min. 39 sec. North Star Jr Rating: 47 Extraordinario Jr Rating: 60 Overall Match Rating: 58 Phoenix III Notes: This was a perfect first match: good enough to get you excited, but still leaving you feeling that the best is yet to come. I didn't have any tecnicos that could truly keep up with Extraordinario that weren't already occupied with other matches or storylines, but North Star played his role well enough and it made for a match that was plenty more than just "watchable", especially for the standards people may have for a promotion that was "dying" one week ago. That said, the problem I brought up about Extraordinario "breaking the formula" seemed to come up here; while the head of the Galactic Force could help set up North Star's high spots, North Star struggled to do the same for Extraordinario, and that's no fault of North Star's because that's not supposed to be what a tecnico does. I may have to end the Lopez/Extraordinario feud at Lucha Libre Battle in order to take us into a storyline where I can fix this dilemma. HT: "I'm told we can now go backstage with ringside reporter Gabriela Ortega. What have you got for us, Gabriela?" Celeste Moon — Gabriela Ortega GO: "Thanks guys. My guest tonight is the reigning Campeonato de las Mujeres, Celeste Moon. Celeste, let's talk about what happened at Venganza. After Mystery Pink's hard-fought victory to become number one contender for your title, you viciously attacked her during the celebration, trapping her arm in a steel chair and ramming it into the ringpost. So, my question for you on behalf of all of OLLIE: How do you justify such a vicious attack on a luchadora who had already competed in a match?" CM: "I don't have to 'justify' anything I do, Ortega. But if you really need an answer, it's a matter of respect. Mystery Pink, the so-called 'challenger' for my title at Lucha Libre Battle, had disrespected me leading up to her match last Saturday. Saying that I-- that she, could beat me with 'one arm behind her back'. So I took it upon myself to make her put her money where her mouth is. Come our title match, Mystery Pink is going to have to beat me with only one arm, just like she says she could. But considering that she wasn't medically cleared to compete on our return to TV, I guess we all know just how fragile she really was..." MP: "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Celeste..." Mystery Pink Mystery Pink crashes the interview from the right side of the set-up. She's wearing street clothes and a sling on her right arm, but her mannerisms suggest that she's in no less of a mood to fight. CM: "Pink, I'm so glad you could make it to the big day! ...Gee, you look terrible. What happened?" MP: "Can it. The doctors said I couldn't compete in a sanctioned match tonight. They didn't say anything about kicking your ass back here." CM: "You're not exactly in any condition to be making threats like that. I nearly ended your career just five days ago, I can finish the job just as easily." MP: "See, that's the thing, Águila. You should've killed me. You won't get another shot like that now that I know you like to take cheap shots when no one's looking." CM: "Call me that again and see what happens to you, Pink. I don't need another shot at you. I broke you at Venganza. And now that we've made the move to weekly TV, you won't get the chance to heal. Our match at Lucha Libre Battle will be the very last of your career. Mark. My. Words." The interview-turned-argument ended with a staredown, and in typical Lucha Libre fashion the two were forehead to forehead as the show cut back to commentary. HT: "Very promising words from our Campeonato de las Mujeres." RR: "Promising words that Mystery Pink better heed. Celeste Moon has a vicious streak a mile long." HT: "After the break, we've got Parejas action as The Freedom Family, Tricolor Jr and Luis Montero Jr, The American Cobras, Marvel Malloy and Storm Spillane, compete to become number one contenders for the Campeonatos de Parejas. Stay tuned!" TEW Review: "I don't have to tell you anything. But I'm gonna go ahead and tell you anyways." What a way to start the interview, Celeste. I also managed to catch a stumble of words somewhere in the middle of her part of the segment. When Mystery Pink made her appearance in a sling, Celeste's slipups had ended and the segment went more smoothly. It felt like Celeste Moon knew where she wanted to take this, but wasn't too sure on how to get there. I've seen worse on the mic from people with less skill and a greater push, but I've also seen much better on this show alone. Gabriela sold the surprise appearance well, Pink was solid on her end of the promo. Not much else to comment on. Rating: 52 Phoenix III Notes: Celeste Moon struggled a bit with the guideline script, you could almost see the cogs in her head trying to figure out where her interview was supposed to go. That said, not even the pauses in Moon's promo made this unbearable to watch. In fact, one could argue that having more eyes on the show elevates the angles somewhat, because people are starting to care a little bit more about this feud. #1 CONTENDER'S MATCH The Freedom Family (with Agueda Alonso) vs. The American Cobras (with Emilia Reyes) CAPTAINS: Tricolor Jr, Marvel Malloy HT: "Welcome back to OLLIE Relámpago, Parejas action set to kick off between two very decorated teams." RR: "The American Cobras. Three-time Coastal Zone Tag Team champions in Los Angeles, winner of the 2017 Sam Keith Classic in Mid Atlantic Wrestling, the only multi-time COTT Tag Team champions ever – currently on their third reign. They've even held the Campeonatos de Parejas here in OLLIE on one occasion, looking to make it two with this number one contender's match." P3: "And they face the recently-reunited Freedom Family. Former Campeonatos de Parejas from 2007 to 2008. Two thirds of the Campeonatos de Tríos from 2009 to 2010. And even without each other, both men were part of OTHER campeonato-winning Tríos, and Luis Montero Jr has held OLLIE Parejas gold on three other occasions!" Just don't mention who Montero Jr's partner was those three times... HT: "There's the whistle and the first caída has begun! Tricolor Jr is the captain for The Freedom Family, Marvel Malloy for The American Cobras." The two captains began with a forehead-to-forehead staredown, until Tricolor shoved Malloy in the chest, Malloy responded back with a shove to the mask, and the two locked up. They exchange chain grapples and flashy arm drags for about 90 seconds before Tricolor creates separation with a lucha chest bump, then rebounds off the ropes and attempts a running crossbody, only to be caught by Malloy who sends Tricolor crashing down with a Quebradora, or "Backbreaker" as the Cobras would call it in English. Tricolor rolls out of the ring, and as per Lucha Libre rules that means Luis Montero Jr can (and does) tag himself in as the legal man. Marvel Malloy hesitantly opts to tag out the traditional way, and now it was Luis Montero Jr's turn to tango with Storm Spillane. Luis Montero Jr can brawl pretty solidly for a luchador, but Storm Spillane's lucharesu style is too much for the eldest son of the MPWF legend and the American just bullies the tecnico for about a minute. Luis tries to fight back, but his roundhouse bodykick attempt gets caught and allows Spillane to counter with a painful capture suplex to the middle of the ring. Spillane rolls out to let Marvel Malloy tag himself in, and Emilia Reyes enthusiastically encourages her client to go in for the kill. Malloy steps in the ring, pulls Luis up to his feet by his hair and hits him with that Fireman's Carry Driver he's dubbed the Marvel Breaker. 1-2-3, Montero's eliminated for the caída. Both Tricolor Jr and Storm Spillane rush the ring as Malloy rolls both himself and Montero Jr's limp body under the bottom rope, and Storm quickly nails Tricolor with a snap overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Tricolor rolls onto his stomach as he sells his back, perfectly setting himself up for Spillane's devastating Single-Leg Boston Crab, known in Mexico as the Medio Cangrejo. With nowhere to go and Spillane's knee digging into his lower back, Tricolor Jr is forced to tap and the American Cobras take the first caída. As Agueda Alonso revives Luis Montero Jr, Marvel Malloy mockingly says something to her. RR: "And the American Cobras take the first caída in convincing fashion!" HT: "Marvel Malloy...taunting Agueda Alonso, it looks like. Either of you speak English?" P3: "Yeah, I do. 'Is that your boyfriend? You should dump him and hook up with a real man.'" RR: "Well, it's good advice." P3: "No it isn't, Ruiz. Let's look at the replay. Just a devastating drop from the shoulders of Malloy here. Lucha rings don't have the same give as the cushy Sports Entertainment rings from where the Cobras come from, so a slam like that can end your whole night." HT: "And here we see the Medio Cangrejo that ended the caída. You can see in Tricolor's body language just how badly this hurts, no wonder he had to tap." RR: "Beautiful submission, you'd think I taught these kids how to wrestle." Everyone returned to their corners and the whistle signaled the start of the second caída. With the warm-up out of the way, the two captains began trading flashier, less-grounded moves. One minute in, and Malloy tries to whip Tricolor into the ropes only for the luchador to duck under the attempted clothesline, springboard off the ropes on the other side and nail Malloy with a beautiful-looking springboard dropkick. Malloy rolls out of the ring a bit slowly even though Spillane was already taking on Tricolor. Much like Malloy before him, Storm Spillane incorporate more flashy spots in his sequences with Tricolor. While Malloy and Spillane's lucharesu style meant they dominate in the area of striking and slams, The Freedom Family can match them in the aerial assault game, maybe even surpass them seeing as they specialize instead of generalize. The gameplan in caída 2 seems to be "don't fight their fight, fight your fight". Tricolor Jr even managed to get himself a 2-count off a schoolboy. However, The American Cobras are still dangerous on the occasions they can get their hands on them, which Tricolor learned after Emilia Reyes tripped him off an Irish Whip rebound and Spillane capitalized via a devastating gutwrench backbreaker, knee right where Spillane had dug into at the end of the first caída. Naturally, Tricolor had to roll out of the ring and let Montero Jr tag himself in, but this was a matchup Spillane had won for Malloy in the previous caída. With Montero Jr trying to utilize the same strategy as his partner, the dynamic went from 'Spillane outclasses Luis' to 'they're evenly matched' and stayed like that until the 3 minutes into the 2nd caída. And then...Montero Jr made a similar mistake to the one from last time; instead of a roundhouse, Spillane caught Luis's dropkick, and turned it into the same Single-Leg crab that made Tricolor tap in caída 1. It was in deep, if Luis Montero Jr taps then the Parejas becomes 1 on 2 and the Cobras could sweep. It looked like Montero was gonna give...then Tricolor Jr made the save! Luis Montero Jr rolled out as quickly as his back would let him, letting Tricolor become the legal man, and Tricolor went to town on Spillane, hammering him with right hands until the American's back was against the ropes. Tricolor whipped Spillane into the ropes, and on the rebound, Tricolor sent his opponent flying over the top rope and onto the floor below. Marvel Malloy COULD tag himself in, but until he did, Storm Spillane was still the legal man, and referee Pat Marcos could count Spillane out. 1. Tricolor was motioning for Malloy to bring it on. Emilia Reyes was giving encouragement in the corner, telling Malloy that he's 'got this chump'. 2. Whatever butterflies were in Malloy's stomach finally went away and he stepped through the ropes, becoming the legal man for his team. He rushed in and hit a shoulder bump. He rebounded off the ropes, leaped over Tricolor as he rolled in to try and trip him up and bounded off the other side of the ring, rushed in and Malloy caught him with a knee breaker. Tricolor kept hold of the leg, leaving Malloy hopping on one foot as the masked luchador repositioned so that Malloy was in the center of the ring when Tricolor landed a dragon screw leg whip. But Tricolor STILL wasn't done with the leg, stretching it out against the mat to deliver a crushing knee drop to the...well, knee of Marvel Mallow. To end this sequence of working the leg, Tricolor stepped over and locked in the Cruceta – the Figure Four Leglock – that Tricolor has put many opponents away with, and Malloy is no exception, tapping out. HT: "And the captain taps! That's gonna send us into Caída 3!" P3: "No chance of getting out of that one, no chance of a partner save. My legs hurt just watching that!" RR: "Personal feelings aside, even I have to respect a quality submission. Let's check the replay, and just look at the torque on the knee!" P3: "And this was a knee that went through torture in a rapid-fire sequence of attacks, too. Tricolor Jr saw a chance to win quickly, and pounced!" As the ring girl was making the rounds with the Caída 3 match card, Marvel Malloy had a look of mixed frustration and disappointment. Selling the knee, Malloy whispered something to Storm Spillane on the apron, and suddenly the two switched places: Spillane in the ring, Malloy on the apron. HT: "Now, here's an interesting strategy by The American Cobras, changing up the starting man here in the final caída." P3: "Do you think that perhaps his knee is still feeling the effects of the Cruceta?" RR: "I like this strategy. Like you saw at the end of the last caída, if the captain falls in a Parejas match, the team takes a fall. But the partner is expendable!" P3: "There was probably a nicer way to explain that...and the final caída begins!" Spillane and Tricolor started off by circling the ring a bit, until Spillane landed a snapmare and locked in a rear chinlock. There was a few seconds of the rest hold before Tricolor started clapping to try and get the crowd behind him, with Agueda Alonso and Luis Montero Jr following suit and Emilia Reyes yelling at the crowd to sit down and shut up. As the crowd's clapping picked up momentum, Tricolor Jr began to show signs of life again and fight through the pain back to his feet. Tricolor landed an elbow right below the ribs of Spillane, then another that made Spillane release the hold. Tricolor rebounds off the ropes and nails Spillane with a shoulder tackle. Off the ropes again, Spillane rolls to trip but Tricolor leaps over to rebound again, Spillane throws an elbow of his own that gets ducked, a third rebound in a row, and Tricolor Jr finally bounds over Spillane for the Sunset Flip. 1, 2, shoulders up at two and a half. Both wrestlers make it to their feet and Storm Spillane nails Tricolor with a nasty clothesline that makes Tricolor roll out of the ring for the Lucha tag. Luis Montero Jr comes in ready to fight, nailing Spillaine with a dropkicksault. Both get up quickly, and another dropkicksault. Both up again, Luis rushes in and Spillane tries to throw him over the top rope, but Montero Jr hangs on. Storm Spillane tries to regain his composure, but when he turns to face Montero Jr, the son of the MPWF legend springboards off the top rope and nails Spillane flush with a Flying Forearm. 1, 2, 3 and a kickout at roughly the same time...but the ref is saying Spillane's out! Emilia Reyes furiously jumps onto the apron to yell at referee Pat Marcos for screwy officiating, but while the ref has his back turned to the action, the eliminated Storm Spillane takes the opportunity to nail Luis Montero Jr with a low blow which looks so crushing that we may not see a Luis Montero III. Marvel Malloy joins his partner in the ring, and The American Cobras land a double-team Cobra Strike finisher just as Reyes conveniently gets over her frustration with the referee. Spillane leaves the ring to join his manager, Malloy goes for the cover, 1-2-3. This Parejas match comes down to captain versus captain, one-on-one. Tricolor Jr, having only just recovered from the toll that this fast-paced, highly-competitive match has taken on him, wearily slides into the ring, and they both stand up at roughly the same time. The final staredown takes them forehead to forehead, just like the match began 11 minutes (plus breaks between caídas) ago. Mirroring the intro, Tricolor Jr makes the first move by shoving Marvel Malloy away. Shattering this deja vu, Malloy opts to use a closed fist to nail Tricolor in the head with instead of an open palm. Tricolor responds with an open-palm chop to the chest of Malloy. Malloy answers back with an open-palm chop of his own. Tricolor. Malloy. Tricolor. Malloy. Tricolor! Malloy! Tricolor finally ends the repetition with an Enzuigiri that leaves Malloy reeling, but standing. Malloy responds by grabbing Tricolor with a front facelock and blasting Tricolor in the chest with a knee. ...But Tricolor Jr hangs on to the leg! Malloy tries to pry his leg free, but can't...Tricolor Jr hooks Malloy's head with his free arm and whips the American bully up and over for the second of Tricolor's two go-to finishers: the Fisherman's Suplex with a bridging pin that his father popularized in Mexico the 70's. 1...2...3! HT: "It's over! Freedom Family's done it! The Freedom Family are your new #1 contenders!" P3: "I almost forgot we were crowning a contender here, this match could've just as easily passed for a championship match!" HT: "Let's head to the replay. Here we see the controversial elimination of Spillane, and as we slow it down..." P3: "Two...Three, and then the kickout. Pat Marcos got it right!" RR: "It absolutely warranted a review, that was such a close call and I would've been rioting if Storm Spillane got screwed. But, I guess the footage doesn't lie, and it DID lead to this!" P3: "Right, the Cobra Strike while the referee's back was turned. Spillane was eliminated, he had no right to be helping with the attack. Especially not with how he set it up!" HT: "And it all led to captain versus captain, where Tricolor Jr caught this knee and turned it into a beautiful Fisherman's Suplex, just like the original El Tricolor used to do it!" P3: "You won't find anyone doing it better, Humberto!" TEW Review: I gotta say, that was a very convincing Marvel Malloy body double that OLLIE found for this match, but personally I prefer the real Marvel Malloy since he can actually wrestle. Hope he can show up at the next American Cobras match. The other three competitors seemed to be themselves. Luis Jr is simply not as good as his brother Gino is, and absolutely not as their father Luis Sr was. It's an ugly truth, but it's the truth. Tricolor Jr and Storm Spillane were great in this match, at least. Even though I never once thought the title match at Lucha Libre Battle could possibly be rudo vs. rudo, they kept the drama up from the start of caída 1 to the end of caída 3 and that makes for some good lucha libre and a reminder that OLLIE was never outright bad. Caída 1: Marvel Malloy pins Luis Montero Jr with a Marvel Breaker (Fireman's Carry Driver), Storm Spillane submits Tricolor Jr with a Medio Cangrejo (Single-Leg Boston Crab) Caída 2: Tricolor Jr submits Marvel Malloy with a Figure Four Leglock Caída 3: Luis Montero Jr pins Storm Spillane with a Flying Forearm, Marvel Malloy pins Luis Montero Jr with a Cobra Strike Following Emilia Reyes Ref Distraction, Tricolor Jr pins Marvel Malloy with a Fisherman Suplex Final Result: The Freedom Family (with Agueda Alonso) def. The American Cobras (with Emilia Reyes) in 12 min. 15 sec. Tricolor Jr Rating: 52 Luis Montero Jr Rating: 47 Marvel Malloy Rating: 46 Storm Spillane Rating: 56 Overall Match Rating: 52 Phoenix III Notes: Marvel Malloy had a bad day out there. I'm not sure what was wrong; maybe it was the pressure of being the team captain, maybe he didn't like taking the falls, it could be anything. But things just weren't clicking for him in particular, he was really off his game and you could tell. That said, this was a match with a LOT of positive chemistry. Luis Jr and Alonso play off each other so well, you'd think they were an item in real life. Malloy and Spillane have a legit best friends chemistry that you can't just fake. And Even though Malloy wasn't at his best today, his manager Emilia Reyes worked her butt off to boost his performance enough to still be solid. All in all, this was an even match that came down to captain vs captain in the third caída and Tricolor got the final fall. I hope that Tricolor's got a bit of momentum back after his cold streak at the end of 2019, and that the COTT Tag Team champions still feel like a credible threat who could've just as easily won. But if either of these aren't the case, I've still got three weeks to fix it. Luis Montero Jr and Agueda Alonso joined Tricolor Jr in the ring for the celebration, helping the masked luchador to his feet. Together, The Freedom Family had emerged from their number one contender's match battered, bruised, but above all else victorious. Now they've secured a spot on the Lucha Libre Battle card and will go on to face Evil Intent at Lucha Libre Ba— Slayyer – Hijo Del Mephisto – Hellspawn 666 The Freedom Family's entrance theme is immediately cut off, replaced by the sound of an organ playing minor chords. An evil, booming laughter echoes out of every speaker in the outdoor arena. Out walks the Campeonatos de Parejas, Slayyer and Hellspawn 666. But between them is the leader of the most sinister stable OLLIE has ever seen: Hijo Del Mephisto. The Council of Decay is here. HdM: "What a touching performance. The triumph of valiant heroes over an evenly-matched opponent, finding that last morsel of power inside themselves to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and win the toughest battle they've ever fought. Doesn't it just bring a tear to your eye? Why, watching it backstage almost made me...forget that the adversity they had overcome was the easy part! Because no matter what challenges you may face, NONE could even come close to the pain and suffering that the Council of Decay will bring you at Lucha Libre Battle! Tricolor Jr and Luis Montero Jr. The Freedom Family. Two whelps trying to imitate their fathers' legacy, and let's be honest: you guys aren't exactly doing a very good job. But even if you worms had the skill your fathers did... Tricolor, I seem to recall rejoicing as my father dismantled yours in the 70's, and Luis, I still own the campeonato that your father made famous, displayed above my throne in the darkest pit of hell. Even their skill would be hardly a challenge for Slayyer and Hellspawn 6...6...6..! But neither of you could hold a candle to the legacies you've inherited, can you? You struggle to even become contenders. Evil Intent took these titles from MARCOS FLORES AND NICOLAS LOPEZ! The question you must be asking yourselves is 'if OLLIE's greatest heroes couldn't do it, what chance do we have?' But allow me to ease your minds from this conundrum: Abandon your hope. You DON'T have a chance. At Lucha Libre Battle, Evil Intent – on behalf of The Council – will demolish you, feed your souls to the hounds of hell, and there's nothing you can do to stop your own decay." Mephisto cackled on his way back behind the curtain as the Council's music played once again. Evil Intent stuck around just a bit longer to lift the title belts above their heads. Tricolor and Luis Montero Jr were still selling the effects of their battles, trying to stand tall against the Council. Montero Jr was even making sure Alonso stood behind him, and the poor non-fighter looked utterly terrified of the Council and especially Hijo Del Mephisto. HT: "Certainly not an enviable predicament that The Freedom Family finds themselves in." RR: "Being number one contenders was billed as a prize for winning on the buildup to this afternoon. Now the Family realizes it was a punishment. Hijo Del Mephisto is right, these two have no chance of winning!" P3: "The situation is dire indeed. But they won here tonight. I'm sure that if they just dig down deep enough, they'll find the strength they need to overcome." HT: "We'll just have to wait until Lucha Libre Battle in four weeks. But for now, we have LUCHA RELÁMPAGO action next on the card, featuring the powerhouse Queen Amazon! We'll be back after the break!" TEW Review: Hijo Del Mephisto might be one of the most intimidating luchadors period. Listening to him deliver a promo just rocks you to your core, it's like he's orgasming on every word he says when he talks about casting his opponents' souls into the pits of hell. I doubt there's a single thing he could cut a promo on that he couldn't make into the most intimidating thing in the world. I know this is supposed to be a feud between Evil Intent and the new #1 contenders and Mephisto has his own program with Marcos Flores, but letting the Big Bad of the Council of Decay cut the promo on his henchmen's behalf was a strong move. Not only are they all part of the same stable, but Hijo Del Mephisto is probably a better talker than Slayyer and Hellspawn 666 combined; they're not bad, but Mephisto's demonspawn is just that good. Plus, making the convoluted world of a wrestling promotion feel like one big, connected story isn't a bad idea. Rating: 70 Phoenix III Notes: For a moment there, I forgot this was Mephisto's nephew and not the legendary rudo from the 60's and 70's himself. Even though Hijo Del Mephisto has his own uppercard feud with Flores, I couldn't see a reason why he shouldn't step down and help his stable members out with building their match. And what a way to make me feel absolutely justified in my decision. Agueda Alonso looked properly terrified by the most evil being in lucha libre, and even though the Freedom Family might've been too tired to match her acting, the new in-house camera crew knew that the main focus was the man on the mic. (Stay tuned for Part 2 of the OLLIE Relámpago Pilot Episode!) —————————— Again, thank you all for the continued support! I never expected so many eyes on my dynasty when I first posted! I wanted to get this out as a reminder that I didn't abandon the project already. I know that this is only half the card, but real life has been keeping me away from my keyboard as of late. Hopefully the first half of the show can keep you sated until I can finish the rest of the project. Second half coming soon!

Darn right it does! Thanks for the best wishes! Thank you so much for the compliment! I'll be giving your LAP diary a read tonight. I'll try to avoid borrowing too much from it since I don't want to plagiarize, but it's always nice to see what everyone else can do with the CornellVerse. I'm trying to keep OLLIE's traditions rooted while borrowing a couple elements from the real life CMLL, such as the Lightning Match (Lucha Relámpago in my save). We're not big enough for CMLL's heavy Trío focus (yet) and I sure as heck won't have OLLIE's title count match CMLL's 28(!), and I might do what CMLL has openly declared little-to-no interest in and try to establish at least some semblance of an American audience, but other than that I'll certainly do my best to align OLLIE with its original inspiration. Or at least, a gringo like myself's best understanding of CMLL; they don't have an English announce team and I forgot 90% of the Spanish I learned in high school, so it's been mostly online guides to Lucha Libre and watching matches on mute...

December 2019 – Week 4 – Sunday New Year's Eve, Four days before the OLLIE Relámpago pilot episode Phoenix III OLLIE had gotten more coverage over the evening than it had all year. I suppose it can't be helped. Spending years in a downward spiral of poached stars, money down the drain, and lost credibility...then suddenly announcing "Hey, we have a TV Show again!" is a good way to get people talking. Nobody expected this out of us. The most notable things we did all year was have Gino Montero and La Sombra Jr get poached by EILL. The former of whom is a bigger star now than he ever could've been with today's OLLIE, and I know from experience that the latter can be just as good with a little build-up. Both of those losses hurt us, and they hurt bad. Who knows what OLLIE luchadors the former SOTBPW has their sights on now? Mr Lucha III? Extraordinario Jr? Hijo Del Mephisto?! Losing even one of those guys is going to hurt, and all three of them have EILL Headliner potential. Call me crazy, but they might even have the potential to be a trío of rudo Champagne Lovers! I knew I only had one chance at keeping OLLIE afloat, and that was to make sure I could keep my big-name guys around for as long as I could. I don't need everyone under written, Iron-Clad contracts, only the guys we can't afford to lose. But to afford those contracts that EILL couldn't just buy out, we need to have some real income. That's where La Red De La Lucha comes in. They say it's harder to make money on an internet channel than on a television channel, and if we're looking at pure numbers, they're right. But more people are using the web now than ever before, and that number just keeps going up and up. Look at what Reverie did to USPW. The American Big Three quickly became the Big One, and you could argue that they might be the ones to dethrone EILL in Mexico before we even get the chance. We'll never get Reverie to back us as well, and La Red doesn't even come close to the sheer magnitude of Reverie. But the internet is absolutely the future, if not the present. Even if the people per peso isn't quite up to par with good ol' cable, the sheer number of people is bound to make up for that. We've generated buzz from our shock announcement. La Red, always a general Lucha Libre channel that hasn't shied away from news, is obviously covering us with almost every show they've got. Perhaps unsurprisingly, every show on their network is treating this as a major positive. But even I can't pretend that the shows on La Red that are talking about us aren't contractually obligated to treat OLLIE Relámpago – now a part of the La Red De La Lucha family – in a positive light. And this feeling was reinforced by how OLLIE was being talked about elsewhere: with two-sided debates and general uncertainty. On TotalExtremeWrestling.com, the poll on whether Relámpago will save OLLIE is 50.4% in favor of "no" compared to the 49.6% saying "yes" and those numbers change by about 0.1% with every refresh. On Los Deportes Hoy, a skeptic took a hand-recorded clip of my "shining brighter than ever before" quote to retort that "stars burn their brightest when they're near death". On the radio this morning as I was driving to my office, the two co-hosts were arguing over whether Relámpago was OLLIE's second wind or their dying gasp. I couldn't let the uncertainty deter me. Instead, I opted to look on the bright side: people are talking about OLLIE for the first time in what feels like forever. But to keep them looking, we need to show them that OLLIE is still good. This pilot has to be a success. But I also don't wanna just give away a top event's headline, either; weekly TV might be a different beast than I've ever had to book, but even I know it's best used as a tool to sell larger pay-per-views. I might have gotten myself familiar with every one of these guys over the past 18 months as new head booker, but I felt that – just before my biggest test yet – I needed one last refresher on my roster just before the new decade. THE ETERNAL KINGS "The Untouchable" Nicolas Lopez and "The King of Leon" Marcos Flores. They don't call these guys the Eternal Kings for nothing, both of these guys have been doing their thing about as long as I have, and they're still going strong while I'm now in a suit booking their matches. Marcos Flores has been having consistency issues as of late, just like I did in the twilight of my own career. But when Flores isn't having an off day, he's still a good performer, and the height he can still get on his Flores Heaven Elbow makes me worry about what will happen if we ever hold an indoors event. And Lopez? As much as I can't stand that prickly attitude of his sometimes, the guy won't even job to Father Time; performing at the level he does at 44 years old, he really is Untouchable. Sure, there are guys who are better than him in certain areas, but nobody outright eclipses him. Hijo Del Mephisto can out-talk him, but Lopez still wrestles better. Extraordinario is a better high-flyer, but Lopez is a better technical wrestler. Electric Dreamer can wow an audience, but Lopez can tell a better in-ring story. My only problem with him is that he'd rather die as the champ than lose the belt, and even then, you know Death wouldn't win that match clean. That's problematic when you're a booker who wants a champion under the age of 40, because we all know he can't be at the top forever and no smart fan of this sport likes a 'one top guy' booking mentality. Even Flores knows that, and has told me before that, for the sake of the company's future, he's fine with ultimately losing to these next guys... THE COUNCIL OF DECAY Hijo Del Mephisto, nephew of one of the greatest talkers to ever wear a mask, flanked by the two guys who managed to take the Parejas belts off of the Eternal Kings back in July: Slayyer and Hellspawn 666, the team known as Evil Intent. The three of these guys were integral parts in keeping MPWF – those dirty backstabbers – alive for as long as they lasted; Evil Intent was the single most successful tag team in the promotion's history and Mephisto Jr was a MPWF grand slam champion as well as their very last World Heritage Champion. Right now, I see no reason for these guys to be anything short of the biggest rudos in OLLIE. Phobia, while he's more of a lackey than anything else right now and only technically an MPWF guy like the rest of them, has a lot of potential that I feel can be tapped by slotting him in with more experienced veterans. Putting him in the Council like I did last night will get him in matches where he could team with any combination of the three against opponents of his partners' quality, and hopefully all that skill rubs off on him. Evil Intent have been dominant as the parejas champs, riding the wave of beating Lopez and Flores for almost half a year now. And even though OLLIE storylines involving the (nephew of the) most evil being in lucha libre tend to lead into Flores/Mephisto feuds more often than my boss and I would like to admit, it's a feud that just works. Plus...Lopez wasn't willing to lose clean at any point in the feud, and Flores was. So, I have to play the hand I've been dealt. THE GALACTIC FORCE The other big bad rudo stable in OLLIE, comprised of Extraordinario Jr and the Space Invaders: Cosmic Rider and Extranjero Loco. Rider is a tried and true veteran who's very likely to make the OLLIE Hall Of Fame on midcard titles alone; a six-time Parejas champion, three-time Tríos champion, formerly known as Swarm III and boy did he give Tres Phoenix a run for our money as part of THAT stable. Extranjero Loco's entire career was saved by OLLIE almost a decade ago, he was going to hang up the boots for good until we brought him aboard as a legitimate rudo threat despite how gimmicky "extraterrestrial luchador" is as a character. And my goodness, is Extraordinario Jr capable of stealing the whole show if we let him call his own spots. Together, these three make up one of the flashiest tríos on the OLLIE roster...which makes it all the more strange to my old-fashioned self that we have these guys as rudos. Sure, there's almost certainly no good way to twist "alien invaders" as tecnicos, but Lucha Libre has maintained a fairly-specific formula since its earliest days: typically, the rudos need to be more grounded luchadors in charge of controlling the pace and telling the story, while the tecnicos do most of the high spots that make Mexican audiences pop and American audiences mistake us for spot monkeys. But ALL of the Galactic Force members are much better at high spots than storytelling, completely flipping this formula on its head and forcing the tecnicos to take the role of the grounded luchadors who set up the rudos' high spots. Since I'm the booker, this leaves me with a tough dilemma: do I embrace this shattering of the century-strong formula and let the rudos get the pop of performing flashy moves, or do I try to find a way to turn the trío of alien invaders tecnico? Given the fact that we have far more rudos than tecnicos at the moment, I think I'm leaning towards the latter. I just hope that the Space Invaders' gimmick change goes over with the fans, because if it flops, our tríos division is even more screwed than it already is. THE NEXT BIG THINGS These kids have it in them to be the pillars that make up OLLIE's foundation. Phoenix IV, the boss's son and every bit as talented as Uno was in his prime. Of course, there's the nepotism stigma that plagues so many next generation stars of established legends, and that stigma gets infinitely worse when your real father and figurative uncle are the owner and head booker respectively. But even when I take off my rose-tinted Uncle Tres glasses, this kid is the real deal. Great chain wrestling, strong fundamentals, and shades of prime Marcos Flores in terms of high-flying ability. If I had to mention a negative, it's that he might've taken the aforementioned Lucha Libre formula a bit too literally, as he can't really tell an in-ring story to save his life. If I can get him in the ring with some veterans who can teach him a thing or two in that regard, he'll have all the tools to be our next top tecnico. Blue Phantom was supposed to be pushed to the moon, and he's certainly got some of the skills to be in a better spot than he is. He can fly like a tecnico or dictate a pace like a rudo, he's got that ever-illusive X-Factor about him, and for just 25 years old he's got amazing in-ring psychology, way better than I did at his age. But he can't cut a promo to save his life. If he's going to get a push, he needs a mouthpiece to do the talking while he stands behind them and look like the star he's supposed to be. I mostly brought in Gabriela Ortega to be the ringside reporter, but I might be able to transition her into a managerial role on Blue Phantom's behalf if I opt to keep him tecnico. But the immediate future of this company is Mr Lucha III. The true heir to the mask, Lucha III is the nephew of the original (who's actually still working for us as our top road agent) and has been with us for over a decade now. Not giving this guy the mask the first time around was such a huge mistake that I can rest easy knowing I couldn't possibly make a blunder THAT bad no matter how long I work as a booker. If I put a microphone in this incarnation of Mr Lucha's hands, he could get eskimoes to buy ice cream, so getting lucha libre fans excited about a lucha libre match is a walk in the park for him. He's by far the most brilliantly exciting worker on our roster, even moreso than Extraordinario Jr if you can believe that, and the only two things stopping me from turning him tecnico and making him OLLIE's figurehead right this second are just how good he is at drawing heat on the mic, and the fact that the current Campeonato de Universal is a tecnico as well. If I can get OLLIE big enough to afford written, iron clad contracts that EILL can't break and have to wait out, Mr Lucha III is the first person to get one, because I can build an entire promotion to rival EILL around this guy in particular. THE UPPER MIDCARD I really want to give these guys something to do, and soon. El Hijo de Espada Roja is a rudo that we scooped up from EILL back when it was called SOTBPW, and he's been a big fish in our small pond ever since. It feels wrong to treat him as a midcarder after being a midcarder's what drove him out of that company in the first place, especially because he's a talented worker. More notably, Swarm II repackaged himself as Silver Tiger in 2011, two months after the Phoenix/Swarm feud ended, and that might be the greatest career move in his life. He's held the Campeonato de Universal twice, had an epic feud with Nicolas Lopez a few years ago, and he's practically guaranteed his spot in the OLLIE Hall Of Fame. So being four months away from LuchaSlam without a proper storyline for him to be the centerpiece of feels like a cardinal sin. I know they've both got potential, but the problem is...all of our top tecnicos are occupied at the moment. I could always use their name value to elevate one of the younger guys, but that comes with the risk of lessening their perception in the eyes of the audience, and neither of them are in the torch-passing stage of their careers... THE CAMPEONATOS Our current midcard and lowercard champions. Disturbed is our Campeonato de Mexico, a cult anti-hero with a cool Rorschach Test design on his mask who gets cheered no matter how rudo he acts and doesn't seem to lose all that much popularity and momentum whenever he loses. He's one of our better chain wrestlers and I know he can be useful for propping up the guys I've been wanting to push. Right now, the only problem I have is whether the feud going into LuchaSlam should be Disturbed/Phoenix IV or Disturbed/Blue Phantom. The other three is a clear picture of what's wrong with the modern-day Tríos division. Don't get me wrong, all three of them are great workers, it's just...why is a peacock teaming up with a pair of Canadians? And they won the belts off of the guy in the cat-themed mask and two evil clowns. These aren't tríos, these are random singles luchadors partnering with random Parejas pairings. But, to stop dwelling on the negative: El Pavo Real is a CILL original, one of their top rudos but working tecnico in OLLIE. He's not as big in the capital as he is in the Mexican West Coast, and as he gets closer and closer to 40 he might not ever be more than a midcarder for us unless there's something about him that I'm missing. That said, he should do a fine job in the never-glamorous but always-important role of getting the next generation over. Speaking of the next generation: Hello, Jayson Van Pelt. Hello, Kamikaze. Jayson might not be "The Sensation" in OLLIE that he is in Canada, but there's no denying that natural talent he has. Our move to weekly TV is going to be hellacious on his schedule, seeing as he's a major part of ACPW in his home country and SAISHO in Japan on top of his work here, but hopefully he can handle the constant moving around. OLLIE hiring Kamikaze was actually JVP's idea, and after this first year I've had him, I can see why he was a top recommendation. He's a gymnastic dream-come-true, able to flip and dive better than so many others on the roster. Right now the two Canadians are a Parejas group, which feels like a good fit for now. The only two problems with the Canadian Daredevils are that there's already so many tecnicos I want to push and trying to push all of them at once means nobody gets over, and that neither of them speak Spanish – not a big problem in Mexico City, lots of us have to deal with tourists, but now that we're broadcasting to ALL of Mexico? Something's going to get lost in translation sooner or later unless they start brushing up on our language; El Pavo Real can't cut their promos forever, especially not after I revamp the tríos division... THE BOYS Fuego Fantastico, Astro, and Super Diestro. I trained these kids myself, and even though every one of them is still green as grass, I brought them aboard OLLIE because I feel like my job with them isn't done until they're established luchadores. Deep down, I really want to package these kids as a trío if only for the sake of padding out our current tríos division; that signature 3-on-3 style is the lifeblood of Lucha Libre, so the fact that our lifeblood is a bunch of makeshift teams who defend the belts around twice a year is all the answer you need as to why things even got as bad as they are. The easy answer is to retire the belt and bring back something new and better. But those are the belts I held with my two greatest friends in the world. I'm not letting those titles die. It'll be a long journey to make Tríos a staple of OLLIE again and these boys might not even see those belts for years if they even stick together at all; Diestro's a natural rudo and the other two are as tecnico as they come. But while they all have practically zero name value, I think I can get away with teaming them up at least once... THE AMERICAN COBRAS Who doesn't love to hate a good Americano rudo? Not only are Marvel Malloy and Storm Spillane a pair of REALLY good Americano rudos, but they're also a reminder that we always have access to great talent from all across the continent. The Confederation of the Territories was Sam Keith's trading alliance that allowed smaller promotions access to workers from all across the United States, but when the alliance expanded north and south of the American borders, OLLIE became the alliance's Mexican representative. While The American Cobras are under direct employment with us, their status as COTT Tag Team Champions means they're going to be getting little bits of exposure all across America, which is going to help us out ever so slightly if and when we begin our slow creep into American culture. On top of this, should we ever be in need of a temporary luchador or two for, say, a multi-man battle royal at the end of January, companies such as MAW, CZCW, IPW, and NYCW are always just an email away thanks to the COTT. THE LUCHADORAS There are many in this company that feel like the Luchadora division is an 'extra' part of this company. I, on the other hand, like to think of the Luchadora division as a vital part of this company. The big, looming monster we now call EILL loves to devour our hopes and dreams by poaching the most vital luchadors in our promotion, like Gino Montero. Whenever I decide to push any talented male worker, there's always the major risk that EILL reaches for their wallet and pulls out the fattest, juiciest contract that no sane person could ever take one look at and still say 'no thanks'. ...EILL does not have a Luchadora division. The likes of Electric Dreamer and Queen Amazon can get as popular as I want and EILL will need to make a drastic and expensive change in their product if they want to do anything about it. Which is perfect, because there's so much talent to work with here. Electric Dreamer is an ultra-charismatic tecnico with some of the best merch sales of all OLLIE talent and an uncanny connection with the young female demographic. Queen Amazon is Dreamer's dominant rudo foil and the two perform together at a level that blows so many of my male luchadors' best work out of the water. Mystery Pink incorporates plenty of martial arts strikes into her style and has the honor of being the only woman to ever hold the Campeonato de Mexico. Celeste Moon, formerly Águila Azul Celeste and currently Campeonato de las Mujeres, is one of the most consistent workers on the OLLIE roster and her 2017 rudo turn ensured that her technical work gets put into perfect use. Ursula Saez tips the scales at an utterly massive 114 kg, or 251 lbs, making her one of the top five heaviest active luchadors on our roster of any gender. Purple Viper is a ring general who could wrestle a broomstick to a five star clinic. And our most recent edition to the roster, Pinky Perez (name change pending), is one of the best all-around luchadoras on the planet who's only fault at the moment is her lack of name value, and a fault like that is my job to fix. That certainly isn't everyone on the roster, but at the moment, those are the people I envision having some sort of role to play in the coming months. Of course, in my 27 years in the business, I know that nothing ever goes according to Plan A, so if someone surprises me or someone else gets hurt, I need to be ready to work around whatever this business throws at me. I'll also be keeping tabs on the other luchadors just in case they do something to stand out. Regardless, the meeting with the rest of creative went smoothly. We have the gimmicks for our new signings figured out, there was one new idea someone suggested for the show that everyone seemed to think was a good idea, and best of all: I think I've got a good card for the Relámpago pilot lined up, as well as a general plan for the build-up to Lucha Libre Battle. All I need now is the go-ahead from Phoenix I. January 2020 – Week 1 – Monday New Year's Day, Three days before the OLLIE Relámpago pilot Phoenix I — Phoenix III P3: "Here's that card you wanted. Not the final draft, but I've got plenty of ways to go about this." P1: "Okay, let's see here...a lot more angles on this than normal..." P3: "It's TV, boss. We use the angles here to build the matches and then we won't need to use as many on PPV. Might even get away with none at all on PPV." P1: "Let's not call it PPV just yet, the deals with the bands aren't final yet. ...Everything seems to be in good working order...hang on." P3: "Something wrong?" P1: "What in the name of El Patron is a 'Lucha Relámpago' Match...?" P3: "OH! That's just something the boys in creative came up with. Instead of the usual 2/3 falls of Lucha Libre, it's first to one fall with a 10-minute time limit, and if time expires then the contest is a draw. The idea is that it promotes fast-paced action that should appeal to casual audiences AND create stories of frantic dashes to win as soon as possible." P1: "Always with the mainstream on the mind with you, isn't it?" P3: "That's how you grow in this business. Appeal to the masses." P1: "Well, if that's what the masses are into nowadays. Just don't completely abandon our roots, okay?" P3: "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. The fans here would have my head if I turned OLLIE into straight-up sports entertainment." P1: "Good. ...Does...Queen Amazon not have an opponent yet?" P3: "She does. We're still working on the Perez name issue. Now that she's signed a deal, we can get her thoughts on the matter and maybe the whole ordeal can finally make some real progress." P1: "I wanted that issue solved much sooner than this." P3: "I know, boss. My apologies. We can still market this as a mystery opponent, though. Even if the signing made it into news sites, it still makes kayfabe sense that 'it could be anyone'..." P1: "Get the name figured out. Now." P3: "Right away, sir." P1: "Everything else about the card is fine. Lopez as the headliner, no major event matches being given away for free. Have this faxed to Manuel Prieto as soon as you can." MATCH CARD OLLIE RELÁMPAGO - JAN. WK1 MAIN EVENT Nicolas Lopez vs. Silver Tiger Non-Title Match LUCHA LIBRE BATTLE QUALIFYING MATCH Marcos Flores vs. Phobia LUCHA RELÁMPAGO ??? vs. Queen Amazon CAMPEONATO de PAREJAS #1 CONTENDER'S MATCH The Freedom Family (with Agueda Alonso) vs. The American Cobras (with Emilia Reyes) OPENING MATCH North Star Jr vs. Extraordinario Jr (with Space Invaders) UNDERCARD Dos Phoenix Nuevo (Phoenix II & Phoenix IV) & Fuego Fantastico vs. El Critico & Dragón Americano & Super Diestro Laberinto Jr & Blue Phantom & Astro vs. Amo Del Gato & Coulrophobia (Hellech & Pierrot) Optional: Choose a name for the new luchadora: Keep as "Pinky Perez", Rename to "Rosa Perez", or Write-In Suggestion —————————— Thank you all for the wonderful support! I never imagined this would crack 150 views in the first 24 hours!

November 2019 – Week 1 – Wednesday Two months before the start of Phoenix III's secret project Phoenix I — Phoenix III P1: "Are you 100% sure this is going to work? You know you're asking a lot from me, right?" P3: "I know what's going to happen if we don't do this. We're bleeding money, we're losing talent. I don't remember the last time we sold out an arena." P1: "We crunched the numbers together, remember? Just setting this up is gonna burn a tenth of our remaining budget. And there's no guarantee that this is even going to achieve half of what you say it will. We're gambling our careers on this. We're gambling the careers of dozens of people. Including my own son..." P3: "Yes, it's a gamble. But think of the reward, Uno. Don't you want OLLIE to reach that 75th anniversary? To reclaim our spot as the top promotion in Mexico? This is our last chance to turn things around. Besides, I've never let you down before by going high-risk..." P1: "That was in the ring, Tres. Predetermined matches. Our luchador days are over. We're businessmen now. A risk here has a bit more at stake than getting injured or losing a kayfabe match, and nothing's predetermined. I'm not going down as the man who killed OLLIE by flying too close to the sun." P3: "Worst-case scenario, we'll go down as the guys that couldn't save OLLIE. No one expects us to anyways. But best-case scenario? We'll prove to the world that Trío Phoenix ALWAYS rises from the ashes, even in the most dire circumstances." P1: *chuckles* "I guess you really are the man I knew in the ring, amigo. ...Alright. You win. I'll post some ads for an in-house camera crew and get our marketing team on this. If all goes well, we might be able to make the official at Venganza. But I'm sticking my neck out for you, Tres." P3: "I'll start looking for a broadcaster willing to take a chance on us, some extra talent to bring aboard, and start getting a first card put together. This is going to work. Believe me. Believe us." November 2019 – Week 4 – Monday 5 weeks before the start of Phoenix III's secret project, now dubbed Project Eternal P3: "Good news, Uno, I think I've found a broadcaster! You're familiar with La Red De La Lucha, right?" P1: "The website with all the phone-in shows? Can't we get something people can watch on regular TV? Smart TVs aren't exactly something you see in every home around here, especially not in this economy." P3: "Well, there's Canal Tres, but...let's face it, nobody watches Canal Tres. Loads of people log on to La Red for Lucha news, it even gets traffic from America and Puerto Rico. I got in touch with some execs and they'd be more than willing to strike a deal to host their own a weekly Lucha Libre show. It'll be on-demand, too, so people can tune in whenever they want, and even pause in the middle and pick it back up later! We're still a decent size in Mexico City, so we'll get plenty of eyes on our show compared to what could happen if we only aired during the afternoon, and we're still getting income from playing ads on our shows." P1: "Okay...I see the appeal. A little new-school for my tastes, but seeing OLLIE fall from its glory days is all the proof I need that the times are changing. I managed to hire a camera crew willing to get started after the new year, these guys should have a better idea of how Lucha Libre should be filmed. They specifically said AFTER New Year's, so we're still gonna have to hire a crew for Venganza next month. It'll be the last show we need to do this." P3: "Great to hear, boss. If we're gonna be running 4-5 shows a month, an in-house camera crew should actually be the cheaper alternative." P1: "How about our major events? It doesn't feel right giving away LuchaSlam for just commercials..." P3: "I'm still looking for a solution there. But it's coming, don't you worry." P1: "Alright. How about the talent search?" P3: "The creative team and I have found a few people. The first person we all agreed on was her..." P3: "Name's Pinky Perez. Easily the best luchadora that we don't have yet. Naturally charismatic, extremely talented. Amazing tecnico, we've been short on that front. Sure, she's already working in both CILL and QAW, but national TV's one hell of a hook to have her prioritize us, and if we get to work on pushing her right away I don't see how she couldn't be one of our top luchadoras." P1: "You really have a lot of faith in the Luchadora division, don't you...?" P3: "If there's anything we can use to show OLLIE's still better than EILL, then we need to use that as much as possible. EILL doesn't have a Luchadora division. So we need a strong Luchadora division. Look at Electric Dreamer's merch sales; she's one of the main reasons we haven't completely sunk yet. The 'young female' demographic clearly isn't nothing." P1: "Not sure about the name, though. We've already got a 'pink' on our roster in Mystery Pink. Unless we make them a Parejas, I'm worried some of our viewers might get confused, and we're not big enough for a proper Parejas de la Mujeres division yet..." P3: "I thought of that too. Worst-case scenario, we just have to change it. Someone suggested Rosa Perez, thinking the Spanish and English difference would be enough. Might not even be necessary, though. We'll see what happens, but grabbing her's a must." P1: "Alright, who else have you got?" P3: "Well, I've been getting in touch with the kids who've graduated from the wrestling school I've been running..." P3: "Fuego Fantastico, Astro, and Super Diestro. After spending so much time with these kids, I don't think I can stand letting them toil away for just one job every couple of months. I ran it by creative and they think it'd be fine to build them up on the preshow to our new show until they're ready for the big time. But I should run it by you first..." P1: "Yeah, you've introduced me to these kids while they were still in training. Nothing wrong with a bit of young blood on the undercard, it's just..." P3: "...Just what...?" P1: "That Diestro kid. He's a natural rudo. Feels counter-intuitive to bring in another when we've already got such a disparity on that front, don't you think?" P3: "Oh, these boys won't be the only signings on the hombre's side. Plus, I still wanted to turn some of our existing talents tecnico; this new project isn't gonna derail that plan. If anything, it'll let us condense the process from almost a year down to just a couple of months..." P1: "Anyone else?" P3: "Well, yes, but I've been trying to keep this one secret. So if you promise to try not to let this leak..." ... P1: "...Wait, are you serious? He's a free agent?!" P3: "I was surprised, too! I thought he was still under contract for Burning Hammer in Japan, but...no. He's completely unsigned right now, just sitting in his home out in San Luis!" P1: "Well you NEED to sign him, before anyone else notices. Tecnico-Rudo disparity be damned. I'll try not to let word get out, we need his talent." P3: "Well, my job isn't done. Still got the last of the gaps to fill and some cards to book. Thanks for the approvals, boss." P1: "Oh, one last thing – we need an official name to put on all the marketing. And for what we're planning, 'Eternal' isn't gonna cut it." P3: "Right, I'll have creative hold a meeting on this as soon as I can." December 2019 – Week 1 – Tuesday One month before Project Eternal P1: "Any word on what we can do for events?" P3: "I just got a response from Selección Mexico." P1: "And...?" P3: "They said they 'don't feel as though OLLIE's production is up to their professionalism standards'." P1: "And that's all they said?" P3: "Well, they DID like our move to upgrade our broadcast quality to maintain an in-house camera crew, saying it's 'a step in the right direction'. And despite all the downwards trajectory, we still hold just enough name value that we apparently wouldn't be considered 'harmful' to their brand." P1: "Thank God for our company's legacy, I suppose. But elaborate on their issue with our audio department." P3: "Keep in mind, this is just what they were willing to tell me. They said our department's 'audio production and selection in musical artists doesn't meet the standards of professionalism expected of a Selección Mexico pay-per-view event.' Whatever that means..." P1: "It means they want us to start licensing some songs instead of relying on our in-house crew." *sigh* "This little 'master plan' just got a lot more expensive." P3: "Unless you feel THAT STRONGLY about keeping our events behind a paywall, we don't HAVE to pull out the company billfold..." P1: "If we're going to make money off of this move, we have to fully commit. I'll start looking to make deals with some smaller bands, hopefully they won't charge too much. And that it'll be enough for Selección Mexico..." P3: "Haha, I knew I could get you to trust the plan!" P1: "Less 'trust', more 'no other choice'. Any news on your end of the plan?" P3: "Plenty. Just got word back from La Red De La Lucha: they agreed to air a 90 minute episode of our show on their site every Thursday. People can opt to watch it live in the afternoon or watch the whole thing at their own pace later. We'll get 40% of the revenue for every ad that plays during each view. P1: "Thursday? Feels aggressive going right after EILL's flagship show. We're not winning any Thursday Night Wars you know..." P3: "That's the best part, we're technically NOT in a viewership war with them! We go live in the afternoon and they don't go live until late in the evening! Plus, On-Demand shows like ours can be watched whenever, so the choice our fans have to make isn't EILL or OLLIE, it's OLLIE now or OLLIE later!" P1: "One hell of an upside. Surely there's a downside..." P3: "Just a small one. In order for this show to gain traction, people have to care enough to watch it. Not much of a problem for OLLIE diehards in the Centro region, but the American and especially the Puerto Rican markets might not see the massive popularity gain I hoped to achieve..." P1: "Luckily the American and Puerto Rican markets aren't my top priority. Well, Tres, looks like this leap of faith might just keep us afloat after all. OH, before I forget! We still need that name..." P3: "Well, creative has come to a unanimous decision on what to send to your marketing. We're thinking... 'Relámpago'." P1: "'Relámpago'...I think I like it. I'll send that out right away." December 2019 – Week 4 – Thursday One week before OLLIE Relámpago P3: "...and for the final three matches of the year: Mystery Pink beats Elsa Calvo to become #1 Contender, only for Celeste Moon to attack Pink after the match and break her arm. Hijo Del Mephisto beats Marcos Flores after Phobia interferes and officially joins the Council of Decay. Finally, Nicolas Lopez beats Cosmic Rider and Extranjero Loco in a Three-Way match to retain the Universal Championship, sending the casual fans home happy. But just before the entrances for the main event..." P1: "That's when you announce the pilot episode for Relámpago?" P3: "That's when YOU announce the pilot for Relámpago. You're the company's owner, and OLLIE's grand return to weekly television warrants an appearance from the big man himself." P1: "O-Oh. I'm flattered, but...OLLIE really isn't a show where the corporate heads are the main characters." P3: "Nonsense, it's just one announcement! Nothing wrong with a guest appearance for a major announcement like this. Besides, you were the best of the Trío Phoenix on the mic!" P1: "This was all your idea. At the very least, we do it together. Tortega and Ruiz can handle commentary just fine for one segment." P3: "If that's what it takes, then that's what we'll do, boss." P1: "Now what's this I hear about wanting to change up the OLLIE product? Classic Lucha Libre has been the core of this company for years!" P3: "Well, the times are changing pretty quickly. Fewer and fewer technical wrestlers are willing to work for us and our move to holding a weekly TV show means we can't open every show with your son chain wrestling with one of three rudos with strong technical prowess without it getting stale. The Pink and Moon rivalry is a temporary solution to the problem, but we can't carry this story much further past Lucha Libre Battle before moving on to the feud that'll take us into LuchaSlam. So, I propose we lean into the fact that OLLIE can be binge-watched online by focusing on the high flying action and in-ring storytelling. It'll be even more attractive to sponsors than what we have now, and it's not so different from what we have that it'll stint any popularity growth. We won't be able to push comedy acts past the midcard anymore, but there's not any on our roster right now anyways. Another change with no downsides that'll actually effect us." P1: "Sounds like you've taken everything about this master plan into consideration. Very well, we can get started on this shift first thing after Venganza. I didn't want any pure comedy workers here anyways. Comedy gimmicks on talented workers are fine, but OLLIE still has some dignity!" P3: "So if El Hijo Del Zonk gets cut, we're not scooping him up. Understood. Anyone else to steer clear of?" P1: "Yes, actually. There's been a surge of MMA fighters crossing over into wrestling over in Japan and America. Don't follow suit, I just can't see those realistic takedowns and stiff strikes meshing well with Lucha Libre. Especially not the version you plan on moving us towards." P3: "Scouting team didn't find anyone like that even worth considering, but if someone comes up in the next couple of years, I'll turn them down like you asked." P1: "Excellent." P3: "Anything else, boss?" P1: "When you fax the agents the match card, keep the segment for our special announcement vague; I want to surprise all of the boys. And start setting up another match card for the Thursday Night Relámpago pilot as soon as we're done with Venganza. I need to make sure we kick this thing off right. That's all for today." P3: "I'll get the Relámpago card on your desk as soon as I can. Thanks for this opportunity." December 2019 – Week 4 – Saturday OLLIE Venganza, Five days before the OLLIE Relámpago pilot episode Rafael Ruiz - Humberto Tortega - Phoenix III HT: "And that handshake makes it official: Phobia has joined the Council of Decay! A shocking turn of events for sure!" RR: "I always said the sky's the limit for this kid! Aligning himself with the Council of Decay is the smartest move Phobia could've done, there's so much this young star in the making can learn from a top talent like Hijo Del Mephisto!" P3: "Like how to be a meat-shield so your 'master' can avoid the consequences of his actions? Or that you should only hit someone when their back's turned?" RR: "Mock the Council at your peril, Phoenix. But when Phobia's holding championship gold high above his head, I guarantee you won't be laughing then!" HT: "Gentlemen, please! The surprises have been plentiful this evening and there's still one match remaining. But first, a special announcement regarding the state of OLLIE Lucha Libre!" RR: "Unless it's 'Phoenix III is retiring from commentary' I don't think I wanna hear it. ...Whoa, wait a minute, Phoenix is actually leaving! Haha, this is the greatest day of my lif-" P3: "Don't get your hopes up, Ruiz. I'll be back in time for the main event." As the newly-expanded Council of Decay finishes their celebration at the fans' expense and Marcos Flores heads to the back selling the effects of the attack, Phoenix III grabs a microphone and enters the ring. P3: "Ladies and gentlemen, we've had an action-packed event for you tonight! But the festivities aren't over yet, we've still got our main event, where reigning champion Nicolas Lopez takes on the Space Invaders in a Three-Way Elimination match!" A brief pause for the crowd's cheering. "But before that match gets underway, we have a very special announcement to make for you this evening!" The old Trío Phoenix music plays from the speakers as the original Phoenix I makes his way to the ring in three-piece suit and mask. He still manages to get a good pop, it wasn't too long ago that the Trío Phoenix dominated the Tríos division even in the twilight of their careers. HT: "Don't try to clean your DVDs or refresh the OLLIE.com webpage, coming down to the ring is Hall Of Famer and current owner of the company, Phoenix I!" RR: "Part of me wishes he'd stay in that office of his, a lot of my worst in-ring memories start with me staring across the ring at that mask in particular. But the rest of me knows that if the ORIGINAL Phoenix is making his way to the ring, this is gonna be worth our time after all!" Once in the ring, the two Hall Of Fame tríos partners shake hands before one of the stagehands offers P1 a microphone. P1: "I suppose there's no point in pretending that OLLIE is still the top promotion in Lucha Libre. For years now, there hasn't been any OLLIE television show, or sold out arenas filled with a hundred thousand fans. When you ask a man on the street what the greatest Lucha Libre promotion in the world is, there's little chance they say OLLIE. In fact, things have gotten so bad that 18 months ago I had to buy the promotion from its longtime owner just to keep it alive for a little bit longer." P3: "Some of you may be asking yourselves: 'Is this the end of the oldest lucha libre promotion? Are we attending their final show?'" P1: "That's why I'm here this evening. If either of those questions are on your mind, and no doubt they've crossed your mind, I've come here to say that the answer...is a hard and resounding 'NO'!" With expectations thoroughly subverted, the crowd begins to cheer, dying down only when a microphone is brought back to P1's mouth. P1: "Many of our wonderful fans have claimed that OLLIE stands for 'Original Lucha Libre Is Eternal'. The true meaning of our acronym might be lost to time, but I can assure you that we ARE the Original Lucha Libre promotion. And we ARE Eternal! And we are going to fight for this promotion so dear to our hearts until they stop beating!" P3: "The mask of the Phoenix means that even at our lowest, we will fight back with everything we can muster, and rise from the ashes shining brighter than ever! OLLIE is at its lowest. There's no doubt in anyone's mind about that. But even though we don't compete in the ring anymore, we still wear the mask of the Phoenix. And in our new lives out of the ring we will continue to fight back against the toughest of odds, and bring OLLIE out of the ashes shining brighter than it ever has before!" By this point, the fans are truly riled up. These are the men and women who still haven't given up on the promotion no matter how many of their favorite stars move on to brighter spotlights and larger crowds. The words their old heroes are preaching are the words the fans have been thinking for years. The 600-strong crowd chant a passionate "OLLIE! OLLIE!" for a few seconds before the promo continues. P1: "And the first step towards our path to redemption begins now. Since our special on Día de los Muertos, we've been working hard and striking several deals with broadcasters, camera crews, musical artists and even new talent you've never seen in an OLLIE ring. All culminating to today, where we're proud to finally announce that we'll be hosting a new weekly episodic show on the La Red De La Lucha streaming service. You heard me correctly: OLLIE is back on TV!" At this point, the crowd has erupted into cheers. Their prayers have been answered, OLLIE is back. It might not be a full return to the glory days, but it's a sign of life that the company desperately needed. Even the commentary team couldn't keep quiet, as professional play-by-play man Humberto Tortega and even rudo color commentator Rafael Ruiz couldn't help but blurt out excited, out-of-character "Is he serious?!" and "Oh my God, no way...!" at the news. And honestly, who could blame them? But with one last match left on the card, the promo couldn't afford to be postponed forever. The two lucha libre legends motioned for the crowd to quiet down, and P3 picked the announcement back up. P3: "La Red De La Lucha, as many of you may already know, is an internet-based channel best known for covering all the latest in Lucha Libre news and happenings. They've hosted many popular phone-in shows and podcasts hosted by the biggest names both on screen and behind the scenes, but never before have they been able to host full matches on their channel, and they could only talk about events after they happen without showing more than a few seconds of footage. Until today, that is!" P1: "Starting Thursday at 1:30 PM Central Time, you'll all be able to watch the first episode of OLLIE Relámpago streaming live on www.LaRedDeLaLucha.com.mx, across all of Mexico and Spanish-speaking areas of the United States! And if you can't make it to the live event, don't worry; after the show concludes, you'll be able to watch the show in its entirety on the same website so you can catch up on everything you missed or rewatch your favorite moments from the action!" P3: "And to help promote this momentous occasion, OLLIE and La Red De La Lucha are proud to announce that the main event of OLLIE Venganza will be available to watch on La Red De La Lucha after the show concludes, absolutely free of charge! The last OLLIE match of the 2019 calendar year will now be the first match of any promotion to ever be fully uploaded to La Red De La Lucha in its entirety!" P1: "So enjoy tonight's main event of Cosmic Rider vs. Extranjero Loco vs. Nicolas Lopez for the Campeonato de Universal OLLIE! And after the final whistle, enjoy the main event again, only on La Red De La Lucha!" Following the promo, the two shook hands one more time before Phoenix I made his way up the entrance ramp and Phoenix III made his way back to the commentary desk. Knowing that their promotion was making a comeback, the crowd was fired up. HT: "This might be the most historic day in OLLIE's recent history, and almost certainly the most shocking! The People's Promotion is coming back to weekly television!" RR: "And tonight's main event is gonna be broadcast on demand on La Red De La Lucha! I can't believe this is happening, this actually IS the greatest day of my life!" P3: "I've been helping set the whole thing up for months and even I can't believe it's actually happening!" RR: "The only way this day could get any better is if I got to call this match without you two bozos, but this is still an amazing day as it is!" P3: "Hahaha, I'll never get through to you, will I?" RR: "Aw, sure you can! Just stop being a dweeb and getting all upset when someone bends the rules, and you and I'd be GREAT friends!" The match proceeded pretty much as expected: Lopez started strong but unable to keep up against both The Space Invaders in the ring and Extraordinario Jr interfering at ringside. However, when it seemed like the tecnico champion was completely overwhelmed, the two tag partners began to bicker about which one of them gets the glory of pinning the champion. Naturally to just enough dissention to allow Lopez to come back against the odds, pinning Extranjero first and then Rider, making his third successful defense of the Universal title. However, the small yet white-hot crowd, still ecstatic to hear that OLLIE is back on TV, elevated the match significantly and made the ordeal feel like its own special occasion separate from the prior announcement. Final Result: Nicolas Lopez def. Cosmic Rider and Extranjero Loco to retain the Campeonato de Universal OLLIE title. Nicolas Lopez Rating: N/A Cosmic Rider Rating: N/A Extranjero Loco Rating: N/A Overall Match Rating: N/A Additional Notes: Match occurred prior to start date, therefore not actually simulated The lone match did respectable numbers on La Red De La Lucha, but the web traffic that the free match generated was nothing compared to the news stories centered around one topic: "OLLIE to Return to Weekly Televised Events". —————————— This dynasty was made using the default Cornellverse with alternate graphics but an otherwise unaltered database, with all user characters removed from the game world at the start. Default Cornellverse created by Adam Ryland Worker GIFS ripped by FINisher OLLIE Upgraded Logo created by Kamchatka, matching banner and Relámpago TV Logo created by me using Kamchatka's logo OLLIE Event Logos and EILL Logo + Event Logos created by Croquemitaine Information on Cornellverse finishers pulled from Wrestling Spirit 3 This is my very first dynasty, so I hope it's up to standard. Any and all advice is appreciated!

Been playing a bit of OLLIE and I couldn't help but notice the Council of Decay's zombie-themed stable logo clashes harshly with the quasi-satanic theme of the actual stable members. Is anyone able to design a logo for them that better suits their aesthetic?

I'm trying to book the classic "these two rivals can't even get along as tag partners" match, with the finish being the heel deliberately betraying their partner. (Think Tyson Kidd betraying David Hart Smith on the 15 November 2010 episode of RAW) Partner Miscommunication isn't what I'm looking for since the game goes out of its way to emphasize that it's an accident, and Outside Interference can't be booked if the interfering wrestler is also a competitor (I tried). It's not a draw or a countout/DQ... Can I pull this off? And if so, how? Edit: Figured it out. It wasn't the Outside Interference Finish note that caused it to be an error, it was another note where the partners would distract one-another.

Sure, I like chances at free stuff. 5. Edge 4. RVD 3. Kane 2. Daniel Bryan 1. The Undertaker