Inspire(d)

[Carlzilla]

My name is Trevor Schultz. I was born in San Fransisco in 1972 to two first generation German immigrants. I was a bully growing up, I didn't have problems at home, or self esteem issues, or trouble with my studies at school, I just loved to fight. My parents where constantly having to pick me up from school because I got sent home for fighting. I finally grew out of my bully phase when I hit middle school, it's not that I didn't love to fight, I still did, I just wasn't as big physically as some of the other kids, so it was sort of humbling. I was about 11 years old at this point, I decided that since I couldn't fight in school, I should bug my parents about taking a "karate" class. What we found in our price range was a Jiu Jitsu class, and it was not what I was expecting. There was very little punching and kicking, but the first time I locked someone in a choke during class I was sold, it was much more satisfying then punching them in the head. I've been a Jiu Jitsu student ever since, I mean I don't think there are very many people who can teach me anything totally new, but you are always learning and adapting, so in that way I'll always be a student of the art. I'm almost 35 years old now, so it's been 24 years since I started. I also wrestled very successfully in highschool, and have taken about 12 years of Muay Thai. I'd say I'm pretty well rounded in a fight. When I was about 19, I decided to try my hand in some new combat sport called the Gruesome Fighting Championships, it was a one night tournament with fighters from all schools of martial arts coming from all over the western US. I placed 2nd, and relied almost entirely on my Jiu Jitsu skills, as I was still totally unskilled at striking and even though I had been in my fair share of fights, it was nothing like this, these people where trained to knock you out. Luckily for me, I was trained to take them to the ground and break their limbs or choke them out...they where totally unprepaired for this type of offense, except for the other finalist, who I still think landed a lucky shot...oh well, water under the bridge now. I was invited back to the second GFC tournament, which I won with a total combined match time of 5 minutes. I was 20 years old and billed as an unconquerable fighting machine, I loved it. This type of fighting was on the rise in Japan, and after my GFC win, I was contacted by a small organization based in Tokyo, BladeFC. This organization would eventually turn into one of the biggest MMA leagues in the world, and I was to be one of their main attractions. After a year or two over there, and some pretty high profile fights, I decided that I really liked the atmosphere and people here in Japan, so I bought a house, which I still live in to this day. I was 22 years old at that point and I was on top of the world. I was the undefeated BladeFC Champion, I was recognized everywhere I went, this came crashing down shortly after my 23rd birthday. I lost my first fight since I was 19, not only did I loose, but I was destroyed. A new breed of fighter was coming up, I was no longer the only guy with a stellar ground game, and on top of that, these new kids...they could throw blows with the best of them. I decided that in order to keep myself competitive that I had to learn to strike, and quick. I eventually found my form again, but I went through a rough period of a few years until I really got my striking upto par, and it was long enough to allow some guys to pass me popularity wise. I was no longer the biggest name in BladeFC. I worked hard to gain back what I had lost, and eventually reached the top of the card again, but there I was sharing it the other big names, it wasn't like before, where I was the king of the mountain. I was about 28 years old by the time I left Blade, I had spent 8 years there and it was time for me to seek greener pastures. I joined an upstart group called Mission. Mission wasn't strictly shoot fighting, but a combination of wrestling a shoot fighting. I came in with a bad attitude about the idea, I felt I was above the pre-determined outcomes, and scripted spots, but they paid my bills and put me at the top of the card, which is what I wanted, so I stuck with it. I eventually came to respect and eventually love the style. It was exciting, because the matches where scripted and played to the fans, it was much more fun to watch than the style of a pure MMA match. Plus because wrestling was still bigger than MMA in Japan at that point, it allowed me to show my stuff to a different audience than BladeFC did. I spent the rest of my career in Mission, unfortunately my career was cut short by a really bad knee injury. It was just days before my 32nd birthday, I was in the ring with Shinya Takahiro, he took me down and locked in a kneebar and something went wrong. I pulled just about everything you could pull in your knee, ligiments, tendons, muscles...if it could get messed up, it got messed up. The doctors told me I would never be able to practice MMA again, to which I just said we'll see. I was unable to really practice for about 2 years...but then I felt good enough to hit the gym and give it a go. I've been practicing ever since, I'm still hoping to make a return. Through out my 12 years in Japan, I've met a lot of popular wrestlers and MMA stars. I didn't really think too much about it. I'd been friends with Tadiyuki Kikkawa for about 7 years, pretty much since I started out in Mission. I'd been to almost every Inspire show since the inception of the company, and he was always interested in knowing what I thought about the shows. Shortly after the last show of 2006, he let me in on some inside information, apparently the current head booker, Tasuku Iesada, did not enjoy the job at all, and wanted to focus on being an in ring fighter and not have to worry about behind the scenes stuff so much. He the asked me to join Inspire as the head booker of the company. I wasn't really sure how to respond, I'm not really a match maker, I'd never done it before...and didn't even have a hand in how Mission was run, which he was surprised to learn, as apparently a lot of people thought that since I spent so much time there and had been one of the original fighters that I had been asked to work behind the scenes as well. He said that even though I didn't have the experience with it, that he still wanted to me come aboard and give it my best shot, and since I kind of missed the business, I'd have hated myself if I said no, so here I am, writting to all the english speaking fans of Inspire..I'm not even sure how many of you exist.

[Carlzilla]

[B][U][SIZE="6"]Janurary - Week 1, 2007[/SIZE][/U][/B] [LIST][*][B][U]Monday[/U][/B] - Today I started work at Inspire, I showed up and the first thing Mr. Kikkawa said to me was, Trevor, you're handling the annoucing/color commentary duties when we are on tour. Looks like I've managed to score myself some extra work. I also put in some job offers to Shingen Miyazaki and Eisaku Hoshino. Finally, I talked to PPV carrier J-Remote 1 to get us some TV exposure, even if it is PPV. [*][B][U]Tuesday[/U][/B] - Mr. Kikkawa told me his expectations today, and they seem pretty fair and doable. He wants to make sure the company has a good reserve of cash in the bank and said he would terminate me if I caused us to drop below 1.25 million in the bank. He also wants fans to know that Inspire is here to stay, so he would hate to see the company drop in size as it would send the wrong message to the fans. Finally he let me know that I should stay away from wrestlers who are past their prime, or who have no grasp on the basics, that they wouldn't fit in to the style we are using and I was not to hire them under any circumstances. [*][B][U]Wednesday[/U][/B] - I made a job offer to SUKI, he's been making waves on the independent circuit and I figured I'd bring him in for a tour and see if he fit in with our style. I've also been looking at Hidekazu, formerly of BHOTWG fame, I'm thinking about bringing him in for a few dates on our feburary tour as well. I've heard he's changed his style after suffering an injury, and would fit nicely into our roster. [*][B][U]Thursday[/U][/B] - I just got off the phone with Sadaharu Jimbo, owner of Pride Glory Honor Wrestling, concerning a possible working agreement. Things seemed to be going well, but he told me he would need to kick it around for a bit and that he would get back to me soon. I've also given Bali So'oialo a call about renewing his contract here in Inspire after hearing that BHOTWG and PGHW both sent him job offers. [*][B][U]Friday[/U][/B] - Sadaharu Jimbo has given me a call today, he's decided that it would be in both companies best interest to work together. He said he would be interested in trading out some talent over the course of the next PGHW tour, but I would have to work the specifics out with their head booker, Nobuatsu Tatsuko. He also suggested that both he and Mr. Kikkawa hold a press conference together to announce the partnership to the press, and asked if I would run that idea by him. J-Remote 1 also got back to me today, with good news even, they offered us a 6 month PPV deal. I immediately set up our first PPV to run the last Sunday in Feburary, calling it Destined To Fight, Inspired To Win. Everyone around here seemed to love the name. [*][B][U]Saturday[/U][/B] - Today was pretty slow, I was expecting my first day off, but of course not! I got an e-mail from Mr. Kikkawa asking me to contact BHOTWG, and try to set things right with them on his behalf. I had my doubts about how well that would go, but I guess I have no choice but to try. I gave Kaneie Komine a call, he laughed me right off the phone. I guess he's not ready to drop the grudge against us just yet. [*][B][U]Sunday[/U][/B] - Finally, a day off! I spent today doing cardio at the gym. [/LIST]

[Carlzilla]

[B][U][SIZE="6"]Janurary - Week 2, 2007[/SIZE][/U][/B] [LIST][*][B][U]Monday[/U][/B] - Eisaku Hoshino got back to me today, unfortunatly he thinks we are too small for him to consider working for. Mr. Kikkawa was pretty offended by that, and said I was not to contact him about working in Inspire again. Apparently he's kind of hot headed sometimes...I hope he doesn't find this journal! SUKI on the other hand, was glad to get an offer, he'll be joining us on our next tour. [*][B][U]Tuesday[/U][/B] - Today was a pretty slow day, I talked with the booking team and SUKI, and decided that he should be working opening fights for now. I'm hoping he impresses, as I pushed pretty hard to get the kid a job here. [*][B][U]Wednesday[/U][/B] - Made a few phone calls today after watching some ROF and CZCW DVDs, Merle O'Curle and Frankie Perez where contacted about coming on tour with us. I also decided to get a hold of Hidekazu and give him a shot on our upcoming tour as well. [*][B][U]Thursday[/U][/B] - I was worried about the fact that Bali So'oialo wasn't returning my calls, and today my fears where confirmed, he signed with BHOTWG. Hopefully, he'll be back, but I'm not holding my breath. I also talked to Mr. Kikkawa about our DVD and merchandise, specifically how it doesn't really stand out. I got him to agree to up the standards on our DVDs and merchandise for 2 months just to see if the products sold any better. [*][B][U]Friday[/U][/B] - I heard back from the other guy I was pushing to bring in heavily, Shingen Miyazaki. We worked out a P.P.A. deal for 9 months. After talking to him and my booking team we decided the best plan of action would be to stick him in midcard fights for now, but I'm going to try to move him up the card quickly, as I really think he's got the potential to be a big star for us. [*][B][U]Saturday[/U][/B] - I had the day off today, I spent it at the gym, just because I'm no longer competing doesn't mean I have to let myself go. [*][B][U]Sunday[/U][/B] - Both Merle O'Curle and Hidekazu got back to me today. I had no problem inking a deal with O'Curle, but Hidekazu is looking for a lot more money that I was expecting. Mr. Kikkawa is not too thrilled at the idea of paying him what he's asking for, but says that if I feel he's worth it then to go ahead and bring him in. I'm a little nervous that I'll put up the money and Hidekazu won't work out. [/LIST]

[Carlzilla]

[B][U][SIZE="6"]Janurary - Week 3[/SIZE][/U][/B] [LIST] [*][B][U]Monday[/U][/B] - I met with Hidekazu again today, I managed to work out a deal that was only slightly higher than what we wanted to pay. Mr. Kikkawa suggested that we just put him on less shows to make up for the higher salary. We decided to stick O'Curle in warm up and opening matches, and Hidekazu would sit somewhere in the middle of the card. [*][B][U]Tuesday[/U][/B] - I finally heard back from Frankie Perez today, we managed to work out a nice deal with him, and will be featuring his fights as card openers. With less than two weeks until we start our first tour of the year, things are getting very hectic around here. I've been asked to assemble the booking team and put together a list of the fights on our first card, as well as at least two high profile matches for Destined to Fight, Inspired to Win. Mr. Kikkawa is meeting with Saduharu Jimbo on Friday for a joint press conference to announce the working agreement. He's told me he would like to have those matches to announce as well. [*][B][U]Wednesday[/U][/B] - Last night there was a big joint independent show featuring independent wrestlers from all over Japan, I had sent a few members of our booking team, namely Hito Ichihara and Tasuku Iesada, there to check out the action. They said for the most part the wrestlers wouldn't fit our style, but said I should keep an eye on Spyder Yakuta and Masutaro Kataoka. Today, was also Bali So'oialo's last day with us and the locker room threw quite a party for him. I didn't get too much work done on the cards today, as the party was really distracting. Tomorrow I have no choice but to work on them until they are finished, as Mr. Kikkawa need thems by Friday. [*][B][U]Thursday[/U][/B] - I worked out the cards today, luckily there was nothing to distract me, Mr. Kikkawa seemed to like what I came up with, at least on paper. [CENTER][B][U]Inspired Combat[/U][/B] Tsurayuki Kamachi vs. Merle O'Curle Oda Yakuta vs. Frankie Perez SUKI vs. Kalu Owusu Shingen Miyazaki vs. Roku Sotomura Hidekazu vs. Mohamed El Yaaggoudi Li Bingci vs. Arjen Van Den Leyne Tasuku Iesada vs. Tadiyuki Kikkawa (Round 1 of #1 contenders tournament) Raul Hughes vs. Mike Watson (Round 1 of #1 contenders tournament) [/CENTER] depending on time constraints some of those may be featured as dark matches, but since this is a non televised event it doesn't really matter in the long run. [CENTER][B][U]Destined to Fight, Inspired to Win[/U][/B] (winner of #1 contenders tounament) vs. Marat Kholov(c) (King Of Fighters Title) Morimasa Kato vs. Masaaki Okazaki. [/CENTER] Tomorrow is the big press conference, Mr. Kikkawa asked me to come along, as even though I'm a pretty well known figured in Japan thanks to my days in MMA, he'd like to introduce me as being incharge of match making for Inspire. [*][B][U]Friday[/U][/B] - The press conference went great, and I think the press are expecting to see some PGHW wrestlers on our PPV. However, Mr. Jimbo has made it pretty clear that he's not interested in talent trading until after their tour starts, which is a few days after our PPV. We'll see if I can talk them into lending us some talent a little early. [*][B][U]Saturday[/U][/B] - I was asked to flesh out the rest of the Destined to Fight, Inspired to Win card over the weekend. We've got to have at least 8 fights announced, and we have a 2 hour slot on PPV. I've got to then present the card to Mr. Kikkawa on Monday. [*][B][U]Sunday[/U][/B] - I spent part of the day at the gym, doing some cardio and some sparring, I'm still planning on an MMA comeback someday, I may be getting up there in age, and my injury has certainly set me back, but I feel I'm still a competitor. I was brainstorming the card while at the gym, I think this should be a great event, unless some unforseen disaster happens. [CENTER][B][U]Destined to Fight, Inspired to Win[/U][/B] (winner of #1 contenders tounament) vs. Marat Kholov(c) (King Of Fighters Title) Morimasa Kato vs. Masaaki Okazaki Arjen Van Den Leyne vs. Shingen Miyazaki Li Bingci vs. Billy Russell Claudio Burdisso vs. Hidekazu SUKI vs. Willie York Hitomaro Suzuki vs. Roku Sotomura Frankie Perez vs. Wael Hossam[/CENTER] Mr. Kikkawa will hopefully like the match-ups so that we can go ahead and give them to the public to generate initial interest in the event. [/LIST]

[Carlzilla]

[B][U][SIZE="6"]Janurary - Week 4[/SIZE][/U][/B] [LIST][*][B][U]Monday[/U][/B] - The card was given the green light by Mr. Kikkawa. I sent the matches out to the press and we have gotten decent coverage. We've already sold an ok amount of tickets for the ringside area. [*][B][U]Tuesday[/U][/B] - Today was a slow day, I browsed news sites again today, but even that couldn't keep the hours from dragging on. [*][B][U]Wednesday[/U][/B] - Masutaro Kataoka, one of the guys that was impressive at the big independent show last week, has signed a written deal with PGHW. Our working agreement means that I may still be able to bring him in in the future though, so it's really no skin off of our back. [*][B][U]Thursday[/U][/B] - SAISHO have made an offer to Hitomaro Suzuki. I'm hoping they don't snipe him away from us, as he's definitely part of the future of this company. I'm sure we'll still be his top priority if he does sign with them. [*][B][U]Friday[/U][/B] - I went down to the Inspire dojo today to train with some of our fighters. I was definitely impressed with most of them, and am thinking about maybe making my eventual comeback on a future Inspire show, I should talk to Mr. Kikkawa and see what he thinks about that idea. [*][B][U]Saturday[/U][/B] - Spent more time training with the guys at the Inspire dojo. Mr. Kikkawa seemed to go for the idea of me making an eventual comback at an Inspire event. I just need to keep rehabing my knee...I don't want rush things and end up on injured for years again. I mean this was supposed to be career ending, but I feel great. I should probably see what my doctor says about the whole idea before I get too excited about it. [*][B][U]Sunday[/U][/B] - Tomorrow night is our first show, the mood is pretty calm around here surprisingly. I got some news about a new shoot-style promotion opening in europe, European League of Professional Fighters. I'll keep my eye on them, maybe if they start to do well we can work out some sort of talent exchange program. [/LIST]

[joose2001]

Even tho I know hardly nothing about the Japan wrestling scene, I do find this quite interesting and even think your backstory was pretty original and well thought out. Like the style of your diary, with each week as one entry and a fair amount been written for each day. Keep up the good work, and good luck with the first show, it'll be interesting to see how you write the matches up

[Carlzilla]

Thanks for the kind words. Glad to know that I have a reader. Apparently Inspire has 1 english speaking fan. :)

[Bye1918]

This is a C-Verse diary by the way, so this isn't real... Just in case...

[Carlzilla]

First show should be up soon!

[Carlzilla]

[QUOTE=Bye1918;232922]This is a C-Verse diary by the way, so this isn't real... Just in case...[/QUOTE] Guess I should've noted that in the title :P It just didn't occur to me, despite seeing it all over the boards, to say that this was a c-verse diary.

[Bye1918]

It's alright, I didn't know if [I]he[/I] knew. But I love the C-Verse!

[Carlzilla]

[B][U][SIZE="6"]Feburary - Week 1[/SIZE][/U][/B] [LIST] [*][B][U]Monday[/U][/B] - Tonight is our first show with me as the match maker, I'm a little nervous now, I want the card to go over well with the fans and feature exciting fights. PGHW also offered Roku Sotomura a job, hopefully he'll just stick with us. [*][B][U]Tuesday[/U][/B] - Our first show was seen as very good overall, with some internet news sites saying "It seems they really struck gold with this show". I don't really agree, I think the show could have been much better, especially the undercard. I've gotten a few phonecalls from former co-workers in Mission and BladeFC saying they attended the show and thought it was good. I'm thinking about maybe bringing some of them in for some high profile fights in the future. Business wise, I contacted Japanese Sports Vision III to get ourselves some sort of TV slot, hopefully I'll hear back from them soon. [*][B][U]Wednesday[/U][/B] - I ran into longtime friend Larry Vessey today at the gym, he mentioned that his son, Cameron, was interested in getting involved in wrestling. He mentioned that so far he's been having trouble getting his foot in the door, and that PGHW wasn't interested in bringing him aboard, even in their development league, SAISHO. I told him that we had 1 spot left on the roster, and that I could probably bring him aboard at least short term if he could pay for his own travel to Japan, and if the short term worked out might even be able to offer him a permanent spot on the roster. Larry said he'd give him my contact information and tell him to get in touch. [*][B][U]Thursday[/U][/B] - It appears ELPF is going to try to raid our talent, as they made offers to Mohamed El Yaaggoudi, Wael Hossam, and Kalu Owusu. They're small enough that I'm not really worried about any of them choosing them over us. BHOTWG also tried to snipe some talent today as they made an offer to Claudio Burdisso. I wouldn't be totally hurt of Claudio went to work for BHOTWG, but I'd have to find someone to replace him on the roster. [*][B][U]Friday[/U][/B] - Roko Sotomura had some news for me today, he's apparently agreed to tour with PGHW as well as us, and to top that off, he's told me that they are his priority. I'm not really happy about this decision, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it right now. I'm going to try calling Saduharu Jimbo to ask him to lay off our workers, but I'm not so sure how much of a difference it will make. [*][B][U]Saturday[/U][/B] - Man, two bad days in a row. I heard back from Japanese Sports Vision III, and they told me they aren't interested in adding any new wrestling programming to their current line-up. At least Cameron Vessey finally called me and we worked out a deal that will see him join us for the next few months. I called Larry to give him the good news, he seemed really happy that I was giving Cameron this chance, and that his son was going to be a lot closer since they where both working in Japan now. Helping them out like that really made the TV negotiations falling through seem insignifigant. [*][B][U]Sunday[/U][/B] - I took the day to head to the gym, where I worked more on my cardio and ground game. My knee started playing up for the first time in months today, which kind of made me feel unsure of my future for the first time in a while. I'm hoping it was just a freak thing, and that it'll be fine tomorrow. Tomorrow is our second Inspired Combat show, we didn't bother to announce any matches, just that Marat Kholov was going to be there. It seemed to be enough, we sold a pretty solid amount of advance tickets. [/LIST] [B][U][SIZE="6"]Inspired Combat (Show 1)[/SIZE][/U][/B] [B][I]Show Info:[/I][/B] Date: Monday, 1st week of Feburary, 2007. Location: Kanagawa Sports Field in Kanto prefacture. Attendence: 4,786 (super no vacancy). [B][I]Dark Matches:[/I][/B] [B]Tsurayuki Kamachi defeated Merle O'Curle in 7:18 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]Kamachi and O'Curle put on a decent opening fight, with showcased a lot of ground work. [*]Both guys looked able to put the other away at various points in the fight, so the fans felt this was a pretty good match-up skill wise. [*][B]D+[/B] [/LIST] [B]Wael Hossam defeated Hitomaro Suzuki in 8:40 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]Wael Hossam was the clear cut winner in this match. Suzuki just couldn't get the upperhand offensively. [*]Suzuki did showcase some excellent defense, as it took Hossam almost 9 minutes to put him away. [*]Both of these guys should definitely be featured in main show bouts next time around. [*][B]C-[/B] [/LIST] [B][I]Main Show:[/I][/B] [B]Oda Yakuta defeated Frankie Perez in 4:12 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]Not such a hot way to open a card, although Perez did what he could to save the fight by trying to bring the fans into it. [*]Frankie Perez put on a valiant effort in his debut, but couldn't get the job done, as Oda Yakuta submitted him with an armbar. [*]The fans where behind Frankie Perez and didn't want to see Yakuta win. [*]Perez thanked the fans in broken Japanese after the fight, he seems really excited to be here. [*][B]D- [/B] [/LIST] [B]Kalu Owusu defeated SUKI in 3:50 when SUKI was knocked out.[/B] [LIST] [*]SUKI was expected to win, but just couldn't overcome the powerful Kalu Owusu. [*]Owusu is noted as being a tough guy to have a striking exchange with, and SUKI for some reason decided to give it a shot. [*]SUKI did nail some quick combos, but just couldn't really rock his larger opponent. Owusu hit a nasty right hook and just kept raining the blows down until SUKI wasn't able to defend himself. [*]Surprisingly enough, SUKI still left to a decent ovation. [*][B]D+ [/B] [/LIST] [B]Roku Sotomura defeated Shingen Miyazaki in 9:36 when Shingen Miyazaki was knocked out.[/B] [LIST] [*]Shingen Miyazaki seemed off tonight, I know he can do much better than this. Even with him at less than 100%, this was still the match of the night so far. [*]I think the reason Miyazaki lost is because Sotomura was able to keep the fight on the ground, and use his slightly superior technical skills to keep Miyazaki in check. [*]Miyazaki without question won the few striking exchanges in this fight. [*]I'm definitely disappointed that Miyazaki lost, but I think he'll bounce back. [*][B]C-[/B] [/LIST] [B]Mohamed El Yaaggoudi defeated Hidekazu in 4:47 when Hidekazu was knocked out.[/B] [LIST] [*]Mohamed El Yaaggoudi is a dangerous kicker, and Hidekazu found that out after he was finished with a big right high kick. [*]Hidekazu couldn't get El Yaaggoudi to the ground, which surely spelled his doom. I think the outcome would have been different if it had gone to the ground. [*]Overall the match wasn't too spectacular, I was expecting a much better fight from these two. [*][B]D+[/B] [/LIST] [B]Li Bingci defeated Arjen Van Den Leyne in 5:42 when Arjen Van Den Leyne could not beat a ten count.[/B] [LIST] [*]This was a totally unexpected way for this fight to end. Not an upset really, but no one expected Li Bingci to out strike Arjen Van Den Leyne. [*]A whole lot of knock outs tonight, this was was a little less dramatic than the other 3 as Arjen Van Den Leyne was hit with a big overhand hook, and was counted down trying to make his way to his feet. [*]Li Bingci and Van Den Leyne don't seem to put on a good fight, I probably should avoid matching them up again. [*][B]C-[/B] [/LIST] [B]Tadiyuki Kikkawa defeated Tasuku Iesada in 7:48 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]Kikkawa came out to a thunderous ovation. He's definitely our biggest name. [*]These two put on a great fight and the fans loved every second of it. [*]Kikkawa was able to devastate Iesada with a Kikkawa Lariat, taking his opponent to the ground and allowing him to lock in his new Kikkawa Kneebar for a submission victory. [*]Kikkawa goes on to face either Raul Hughes or Mike Watson in two weeks. [*][B]B[/B] [/LIST] [B]Raul Hughes defeated Mike Watson in 9:08 when Mike Watson could not beat a ten count.[/B] [LIST] [*]These two put on an excellent fight, they will definitely get a re-match down the road. [*]The fans loved this fight, but it was not without it's problems, as some people feel these guys had trouble getting the fight to flow in a sensible way, I can't really say I agree with them, but to each their own. [*]Hughes hit Watson with a barrage of punches, which ended with his signature "Demolition" left hook, sending Watson to the ground unable to answer the 10 count. [*]This was a great way to end the card, as it was the match of the night, just as a main event should be. [*]Kikkawa vs. Raul Hughes in two weeks. [*][B]B+[/B] [/LIST] [B]OVERALL: B[/B] [LIST] [*]I didn't expect to get such a high overall satisfaction rating from our fans, as I felt this card could have been a lot better. [*]Mr. Kikkawa was very happy with the overall card and took me and some of the other guys out for sushi and drinks after the event. [/LIST]

[joose2001]

And no, I didnt! I do use the Cornellverse, but usually switch Japan off, so sorry bout that

[Carlzilla]

[B][U][SIZE="6"]Feburary Week 2, 2007[/SIZE][/U][/B] [LIST][*][B][U]Monday[/U][/B] - Kalu Owusu signed with ELPF, unlike Roku Sotomura, he's assured me that we are his top priority. We've got our Inspired Combat show tonight, so far we've got 6 matches lined up for the main show, and 2 more as dark matches. [CENTER][B][U]Inspired Combat[/U][/B] Merle O'Curle vs. Tsurayuki Kamachi (dark match) Kalu Owusu vs. Torando Nagai (dark match) Hitomaro Suzuki vs. Frankie Perez Cameron Vessey vs. Oda Yakuta SUKI vs. Wael Hossam Willie York vs. Hidekazu Morimasa Kato vs. Tasuku Iesada Marat Khoklov(c) vs. Roku Sotomura (King Of Fighters Title Match)[/CENTER] I think this should be a great card. I'm especially looking forward to finally seeing Cameron in the ring, and I think the Morimasa Kato / Tasuku Iesada fight will be the show stealer. [*][B][U]Tuesday[/U][/B] - Well Claudio Burdisso signed a written deal with BHOTWG, which means I've got another open spot on the roster. I'll have to keep an eye out to see who's worth bringing in. I may contact Spyder Yakuta as he did impress at the independent show last month. Wael Hossam also signed a deal with ELPF, but like Kalu Owusu, assured me that we are his top priority. I talked to Mr. Kikkawa today, and he asked me to include some more pre and post match interviews on our shows, nothing major, just to let the fans get to know the fighters a little better. Also, after surfing some news sites, I learned that it's popular opinion that the Marat Khoklov / Roku Sotomura fight was seen as punishment for Sotomura signing with PGHW. I just want to strike that dead before it spreads, Mr. Kikkawa promised that Marat would have a fight on the show, I didn't have an opponent in mind, so we stuck Roku in the fight. [*][B][U]Wednesday[/U][/B] - Mohamed El Yaaggoudi signed a PPA deal with ELPF, just like the others, we are his main priority. Maybe I'll see who's on their roster that isn't already fighting for us and I'll sign them to fill Claudio's spot, just kidding, I've already talked to William Hayes about fighting a few dates with us to make up for the loss of Claudio Burdisso. He's a super talented mat wrestler who can also stike. I'm still waiting to hear back from him. [*][B][U]Thursday[/U][/B] - Not a whole lot going on today. I finally got a chance to speak with the doctor about my knee acting up last week, he said it looked fine and was probably something that I'm just going to have to live with sometimes. He didn't seem so optimistic about me getting back into the ring, although he did change his opinion from "it's not possible" to "it's very risky", so I'm going to take that as a good thing. [*][B][U]Friday[/U][/B] - I put in another bid for a TV spot, this time on All Japan TV. I'm not too optimistic about getting anything worked out as they already run one wrestling program, but I figured it can't hurt to try. Mr. Kikkawa has been talking about changing from a touring schedule to accomidate the TV deal if we get it. [*][B][U]Saturday[/U][/B] - We announced 2 big fights for the next Inspired Combat show today, Tadiyuki Kikkawa vs. Raul Hughes and Mike Watson vs. Morimasa Kato. I think that Kikkawa vs. Hughes could be a fight of the year contender barring a freak occurance. [*][B][U]Sunday[/U][/B] - I finally got a call back from William Hayes, I offered him a fair amount of money per fight, and he said he'd have to think it over. I'm sure I'll hear back from him tomorrow. I'd like to get him signed up so I can debut him at Inspired Combat tomorrow night. I hit the gym today for the first time this week. I didnt' have any problem with my knee, but the thought of it getting tweaked again was definitely weighing on me and messing up my training. I'm sure it's something I can overcome with a few more problem free workouts. [/LIST] [B][U][SIZE="6"]Inspired Combat (Show 2)[/SIZE][/U][/B] [B][I]Show Info:[/I][/B] Date: Monday, 2nd week of Feburary, 2007. Location: Kanagawa Sports Field in Kanto prefacture. Attendence: 4023 (super no vacancy). [B][I]Dark Matches:[/I][/B] [B]Tsurayuki Kamachi defeated Merle O'Curle in 8:01 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]O'Curle and Kamachi got a rematch while people where finding their seats, and it was not quite as good as their last fight, but still not terrible for them. [*]O'Curle is great on the ground, but he has a real hard time getting people into his fights, he may be doomed to pre-show fights for his entire stay in Inspire. [*]Kamachi now has 2 straight victories over Merle O'Curle. [*][B]D[/B] [/LIST] [B]Kalu Owusu defeated Tornado Nagai in 4:32 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]A lot of the fans who showed up early where into Kalu Owusu after his win over indy sensation SUKI last week, and he followed it up with a solid but not spectacular win over Tornado Nagai. [*]Nagai made a lot of mistakes, and it lead to Owusu choking him out shortly before the 5min. mark. [*][B]D[/B] [/LIST] [B][I]Main Show:[/I][/B] [B]Frankie Perez defeated Hitomaro Suzuki in 7:54 when Hitomaro Suzuki was knocked out.[/B] [LIST] [*]Frankie Perez came in to a decent ovation, he's definitely got the crowd on his side in a short period of time. [*]Suzuki and Perez traded even on a lot of strikes to start the fight, but when it went to the ground Suzuki had the clear advantage [*]Suzuki dominated the ground game for a while, but Perez eventually worked his way into a better position and dropped some heavy forearms across Suzuki's jaw knocking him out. [*][B]D-[/B] [/LIST] [B]Cameron Vessey defeated Oda Yakuta in 6:49 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]Cameron Vessey made a sucessful debut tonight, the fight was terrible, but he'll improve I'm sure. He's got loads of potential [*]Vessey caught Yakuta in an tight armbar, leaving Yakuta with no choice but to tap out. [*]Oda Yakuta took the loss like a pro, and raised Vessey's hand hoping to get the crowd on his side, he wasn't very successful however. [*]Cameron may have some dark matches in his future, at least until he gets used to the style. [*][B]E+[/B] [/LIST] [B]SUKI defeated Wael Hossam in 7:37 by submission with a SUKI Special III.[/B] [LIST] [*]SUKI who seems to be eternally loved by the fans, managed to bounce back from his loss to Kalu Owusu tonight. [*]SUKI was looking very good in this match, and locked in the SUKI Special III for the win. [*]Wael Hossam definitely put up a great fight as well, and the fans seemed to appreciate his effort. [*][B]C-[/B] [/LIST] [B]Willie York defeated Hidekazu in 5:41 when Hidekazu could not beat a ten count.[/B] [LIST] [*]Willie York beats Hidekazu, marking the second straight loss for the former BHOTWG star. [*]Hidekazu is definitely not performing upto the level that I had expected from him, hopefully he's just having an off couple of nights. [*]York wins with some solid knees to the head, after wich Hidekazu couldn't answer the 10 count. [*][B]D[/B] [/LIST] [B]Morimasa Kato defeated Tasuku Iesada in 15:49 when Tasuku Iesada was knocked out.[/B] [LIST] [*]Both fighters looked good out there until the end of the fight, which saw Kato running out of energy. [*]Kato still managed to summon one last burst and nailed a heavy uppercut knocking Iesada out cold. [*]I definitely wanted more out of this fight, maybe during a rematch. [*][B]C-[/B] [/LIST] [B]Marat Khoklov defeated Roku Sotomura in 3:28 when Roku Sotomura was knocked out. Marat Khoklov makes defence number 1 of his King Of Fighters title.[/B] [LIST] [*]Khoklov was dominant out there, he laid into Sotomura and just never stopped or slowed down. [*]It was very apparent that Sotomura was not able to hurt the giant with his stikes, and it seemed very unlikely that he was going to be able to take him down. [*]Khoklov just took Sotomura down with a big double leg takedown, and just blasted him with blow after blow until the ref. stopped the fight. [*][B]C[/B] [/LIST] [B]OVERALL: C-[/B] [LIST] [*]This was definitely not a great show, but I'm going to blame it on me still getting a feel for the job. [*]I was surprised that the main event went over as well as it did, I mean it was pretty much all Khoklov with no chance of Sotomura winning. [*]To my relief Mr. Kikkawa wasn't upset with the show at all, he said he had some ideas he'd like to talk to me about over the next week, and that I should see him bright and early tomorrow morning. [/LIST]

[Carlzilla]

[SIZE="6"][B][U]Feburary Week 3, 2007[/U][/B][/SIZE] [LIST] [*][B][U]Monday[/U][/B] - Worked out a deal with William Hayes, hopefully he'll be worth the money we're spending on him. Tonight will be our first night trying out the post fight interviews. We'll see how they go. Here's the rundown for tonights show. [CENTER][B][U]Inspired Combat[/U][/B] Cameron Vessey vs. Tsurayuki Kamachi (dark match) Oda Yakuta vs. Merle O'Curle (dark match) Frankie Perez vs. Wael Hossam Hitomaro Suzuki vs. SUKI Claudio Burdisso vs. William Hayes Morimasa Kato vs. Mike Watson Tadiyuki Kikkawa vs. Raul Hughes[/CENTER] I'm really hoping that Hayes puts up a decent fight against Burdisso. I'm also looking forward to watching the Kato/Watson fight, as Kato was fairly impressive with his win over Iesada last week. [*][B][U]Tuesday[/U][/B] - We told the press that Raul Hughes had travel issues, which we confirmed to be true. We've rescheduled the fight to next week, and I'm sure it'll be an excellent fight. Unfortunatly I think some damage was already done, as we had a full house expecting to see the Hughes/Kikkawa fight. Also, All Japan TV got back to me today, they turned us down for a TV spot. [*][B][U]Wednesday[/U][/B] - We're still getting some angry phone calls about the Kikkawa/Hughes fight, I'm not really sure how to deal with them, I just try to be as polite as possible. I went to the gym after work today, and again no flair up of the knee injury, I'm starting to feel more confident about a comeback again. I spent the rest of the night on the phone with some friends from back in the states, they are trying to tell me that Jim Force, yes that Jim Force, the face painted maniac who wants you to "FEEEELLL THE FOOOOORCE!!!!" would make a perfect addition to the Inspire roster. I'm half tempted to bring him in for a fight, it would be hillarious if nothing else. Maybe I should get on the phone with USPW about this... [*][B][U]Thursday[/U][/B] - I spent all day on the phone with two newish TV stations, J-Edge TV, a kind of edgy TV station that is gaining popularity with the youth in Japan, and Samurai's Choice, a fighting sports specific network that just popped up due to the popularity of fighting sports in Japan. Hopefully one of them will give us a shot. [*][B][U]Friday[/U][/B] - Mr. Kikkawa appeared on some strange game show, and made some comments about how BHOTWG where going down the drain. How exactly does he expect me to fix that rift if he keeps doing things like that? Oh well, I did call up Sam Strong over at USPW, he seemed interested in working with us, I have no idea why I did it, maybe the "Force" compelled me. [*][B][U]Saturday[/U][/B] - Sam Strong got back to me, we hammered out a deal, unfortunatly their roster is so lacking in talent, I don't even know who would be worth bringing over. Speaking of getting back to me, Kaneie Komine got back to me about Kikkawa's comments. The things he relayed to me where not the kind of thing that I'm going to bother writting down, but you can bet he was not happy. [*][B][U]Sunday[/U][/B] - Spent most of the day making sure Raul Hughes had his travel stuff sorted out. He does, we're good to go for tomorrow night. Spent the rest of my day working out, I think by the end of the summer I should be able to get back in the ring, barring some horrible accident or something. [/LIST] [B][U][SIZE="6"]Inspired Combat (Show 3)[/SIZE][/U][/B] [B][I]Show Info:[/I][/B] Date: Monday, 3rd week of Feburary, 2007. Location: Kanagawa Sports Field in Kanto prefacture. Attendence: 5000 (super no vacany FULL HOUSE) [B][I]Dark Matches:[/I][/B] [B]Cameron Vessey defeated Tsurayuki Kamachi in 6:38 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]Vessey was able to put on a better performance than last week, but not by much. He did look much better this week than last, so hopefully he'll keep improving at a decent rate. [*]Vessey took the match with a mounted armbar. [*][B]D-[/B] [/LIST] [B]Merle O'Curle defeated Oda Yakuta in 8:42 when Oda Yakuta could not beat a ten count.[/B] [LIST] [*]I will never pit these two against each other again, they just can't seem to get a read on one another to have a good fight. [*]Most of this fight was trying to jockey for position, thankfully this was on the pre-show and we didn't kill too many fans. [*]O'Curle won with a soccer kick to a downed Yakuta, who couldn't beat the refs 10 count. [*][B]E+ [/B] [/LIST] [B][I]Main Show:[/I][/B] [B]Frankie Perez defeated Wael Hossam in 8:38 when Wael Hossam could not beat a ten count.[/B] [LIST] [*]A decent show opener, actually I'd say this is the best opening fight we've had since I took over. [*]Perez was looking good, a big running elbow strike took Hossam down and out for the 10 count. [*]Perez again thanked the crowd in broken Japanese, showing that he is trying hard to impress them. [*][B]D+[/B] [/LIST] [B]SUKI defeated Hitomaro Suzuki in 12:55 by submission with a SUKI Special III.[/B][LIST] [*]SUKI and Suzuki put on another decent fight. [*]I wish either of these guys would step it up a bit, they are both big names in our future, but it would be nice to see one of them break out. [*]SUKI slapped on his SUKI Special III to force Suzuki to tap. [*][B]D+ [/B] [/LIST] [B]William Hayes defeated Claudio Burdisso in 5:54 by submission.[/B] [LIST] [*]Nothing really spectacular here, it doesn't matter because this is Claudio's last night with us. [*]Hayes got the win with a choke sleeper. [*][B]D+[/B] [/LIST] [B]Claudio Burdisso gives his thanks to the fans of Inspire and says he hopes to come back sometime soon.[/B] [LIST] [*]Again, the fans hate these interview segments. [*]Claudio is better on the mic than SUKI, but that isn't saying too much. [*][B]E[/B] [/LIST] [B]Morimasa Kato defeated Mike Watson in 12:12 when Mike Watson could not beat a ten count.[/B] [LIST] [*]This was definitely a great fight, and it should solidify Kato as a serious contender to Khoklov's title. [*]These two just worked together, it was pretty impressive all the way through. [*]Kato knocked Watson out with a front headlock takedown (which in this case was pretty much a DDT). [*]The fans really loved this fight. [*][B]B- [/B] [/LIST] [B]Mike Watson says he wants a rematch.[/B] [LIST] [*]Watson was not happy with the outcome and demanded a rematch at Destined to Fight, Inspired to Win. [*]Kato already has a match scheduled, but I'm going to push to have it changed to the rematch instead. [*]Watson gave a great interview. [*][B]B- [/B] [/LIST] [B]OVERALL: D[/B] [LIST] [*]Fans were really unhappy that Tadiyuki Kikkawa vs. Raul Hughes didn't happen, we'll have an official explaination tomorrow, and you can be assured that the fight will happen next week. [*]This show definitely hurt us, but not through any fault of mine. Raul Hughes had travel issues, which we are checking into. [*]Mr. Kikkawa was understandably annoyed, but he assured me he's satisfied with my overall performance and says that the Kato/Watson fight made for an excellent main event. [/LIST]