NYCW: Old School Revisited

[Dragonmack]

A funny thing happened on my road to wrestling stardom. For those who may not have heard of me , my name is David Mack. While I am not the hottest prospect ever to make my way from the indies to the big time, it is safe to say that I am a rising star with loads of potential. I probably could have gotten a spot with any of the major promotions in the US , but I didn't feel like being a curtain jerker in SWF or TCW at this point in my career and, while I could put on a good brawling or hardcore match, I was still young enough to want a long career , so DaVE's enviroment didn't appeal to me at this time. That left the smaller name promotions like CZCW, MAW, USPW and NYCW. I have always been an east coast boy at heart, so I wasnt really interested in going west, I wasn't likely to break the fossilized glass ceiling in USPW , and MAW already had several young stud talents, so I chose NYCW to start making my mark. It was during my meeting with The Stomper that my career took an unexpected twist. As I expected, he was eager to have me work for his promotion as his last young rising star, Joey Minnesota, had left for DaVE in 2006 , and he didn't really have anyone to fill his shoes. But the shocker was that he wanted more than just my talents in the ring. He wanted me to be the new head booker! Now, I had always considered taking a backstage role when my in ring career ended, and I had even help put together and book several indie shows, but this completely knocked me off my seat! Stomper said that he had heard about me helping to put indie shows together and he had been looking to make a change as his shows were starting to become stale and he had foolishly commited to several large contracts but the company hadn't been growing any recently. To top things off, Black Hat Bailey, who had been running the book the last year, was coming to the end of his contract and had indicated he wanted one last run in the big time before he ended his career, so he wouldn't be renewing his deal in NYCW. Stomper gave me the night to think about it, so I did what any 21 year old would do when faced with a life changing choice. I went to a bar and got drunk. As I slowly developed a good buzz, I thought about the opportunity I was being offered. A chance , not only to begin my path to a star wrestler, but also the opportunity to control that path. Along with that came the huge responsibility,not only for myself, but for the company and the other wrestlers trying to make their livelihood in this unforgiving business. It was a very daunting decision, but by the 5th shot of Jack Daniels, I had decided that , if I survived the hangover from the morning, I would take the job. Life only gives you a few opportunities to really make a mark and I was going to take this one.

[Dragonmack]

The next morning ( actually more like noon time since the morning was spent recovering from my "decision -making process" of the night before) I called Stomper and told him I accepted both the wrestling and booking jobs. He said that he was glad to hear it and told me to stop by his office later so we could go over the details of my new responsibilites. Later that afternoon, I met with Stomper in a dingy little office in lower Brooklyn, where he, some family members, and a couple of temps did all the dull business stuff of running a promotion. He handed me a list of his current roster , gave me some quick evaluations of their talents as well as their current contracts, and told me to take a couple of days to look it over and decide if there were any changes I wanted to make. He cautioned me to not get too wild as he would have some restrictions and we also had a show to do in less than 2 weeks. I could see that an overhaul would have to happen, but that it would be a long process and I would have to make small changes over time. The roster that NYCW had was as follows. Main Eventers: Grandmaster Phunk- current NYCW Empire Champion. Easily the biggest star NYCW had. Having transitioned from manager to wrestler and then becoming very popular, he was unlikely to want to stay in the small time when his contract came up for renewal. Luckily, Black Hat had signed him to a lengthy contract so , unless the really big boys came calling, he was going to be around for a long enough time to build around. Whistler- Fan favorite in the NYCW area. Has gotten a lot of popularity in the area and was looking at the opportunity to try to cash in on his fame before his ring skills faded entirely. His contract would run out before the end of the year and he would likely be gone too, so the best use would be for him to help elevate some other people before he left. Black Hat Bailey- the former head booker had used his time in NYCW to revitalize his career and was going to be gone in a couple of months. Upper card: American Machine- a throwback to the 80's muscle type who has gotten some rub as Whistler's tag team partner. May have some potential as a star in the company if he can improve his skills. Honest Frank- a veteran of the east coast wars that formed DaVE, but didn't catch on afterwards. Good promo skills but strictly an average brawler. Still, could be a useful roster guy while transitioning the talent. Rick Sanders- another long time veteran who just didn't have the "it " factor to elevate his career. Still , has decent skills and can be useful. Mid Card: Coyote Dynamite and Wiley Steinway- The tag team champions Wiley Coyote, not very good in the ring, but about the only really established tag team in NYCW at the moment, and having credibility with 4 championships, were useful to carry the straps till I could build up some or sign some viable competition. Masked Mauler- A cliched "masked villain" wrestler with just enough ability to be a credible jobber. Again someone useful while transitioning the roster but unlikely to ever be a real impact player. Land Mass- A huge lard ass of a guy whose only ability is enormous size and weight. Sadly , at 43 , is long past any hint of skill he may have once had and is unlikely to have a place in the future of NYCW. Steve Flash- The only guy on the roster truly blessed with real wrestling ability in the ring, he sadly lacks the charisma out of the ring to become the big star his in ring skills should have let him be. Over 40 , his time is running out and , with the biggest contract on the roster, may be too expensive to re-sign when it ends. But will be very useful in helping train some of the other guys on the roster. Lower card: Lee Wright- a grizzled veteran and tag team legend in Japan. Isn't well known in the US and is probably close to retirement. Helps keep order in the locker room and can still turn in a credible match so is useful for that reason alone. Sammy the Shark- one of the only really young guys on the roster. Seems to have some potential and is cheap enough to keep around for a while to see if he can realize any of it. New York Doll- the other young gun on the roster. the qualities of potential and cheapness will give him an opportunity to see if he can develop as he jobs for a living. Rodger Dodger - obviously a product of someones delusion or a real con artist. Has the undeniable "gift of gab" which he used to land a contract equal only to Steve Flash. If he had a 1/10th of Flash's in ring skills, I would consider him a valuable member of the roster, but the truth is he couldn't beat a paper bag in the ring , and at 34, doesn't have the luxury of time to improve. Also , has no name value so will be among the first changes to take place in NYCW. Non wrestling talent: Rock Downpour and Marv Earnest- Both announcers and both about equally skilled . Main difference at this point is cost, and at our size , we really only need one announcer, so the other one has to go. Heb Stateley - a veteran manager and color commentator. Is useful to help some wrestlers with promos and interviews as well as a good color commentator, but may be too expensive for our current size. WIll have to see if I can find someone of equal skill, but at a lower price tag. Fern Hathaway- a young good looking girl who is cheap eye candy for the audience. Only useful to stand around currently, but will see if she has the ability to grow into something more than a ring girl. Michael Bull- long time referee. Good enough at job and cheap enough to keep it.

[Dragonmack]

With less than 2 weeks till my first show, I started planning what changes I would make and what direction I wanted to take the company. This was completely different than putting together the indie shows I had done before. Then, it was all about making the most exciting match ups for that show. Now, I had to balance the wrestlers egos, the need to keep the fans interested and not become stale from running the same matches month after month. Looking over the talent and the contracts the biggest needs were some younger wrestlers and wrestlers with better in ring talent. To that end I sent out a few offers to some guys I had worked with in the indies that I knew could get it done in the ring. They weren't household names but Star power wasn't what I needed now, guys with actual talent was. I met up with Stomper at his office the next day and let him know some of my thoughts and ideas for our short term future. He gave the okay to the few guys I had already made an offer to, but as he had said before, he had a few restrictions of his own from now on. First, he knew we couldn't grow and not lose money at our current size, however , he was down to his last 100,000. So my first restrictions were that I couldn't make things worse. Which mean't no wholesale changes that would alienate our fanbase. I would have to at least keep us where we were at while slowly changing things. If we started losing our fanbase, he was going to have to pull the plug. Also, we needed to have at least 25k in the bank after the first year when he would evaluate my performance. If we fell below that before the year was up, then I was out of a job as a booker and a wrestler. Second , while drinking and wrestling are practically synonymous, I couldn't sign or re-sign anyone with a known heavy drinking background as Stomper didn't feel they were reliable enough to depend on, which is a serious need with hte small roster we have. Third, while we were a slower paced traditional product, he wanted wrestlers with greater athleticsm and stamina than our current crop of talent, so future signings would need to fit those criteria as he felt that would add some freshness to the product. I accepted his terms (like I had any real choice) and told him that I would be making some changes immediately. I was letting go Land Mass, Rodger Dodger, Rock Downpour and Herb Stately. To fill the roster I had signed Cal Sanders and Kashmir Singh, two young guys with great ring skills but lacking it factor. They could help improve the rest of the rosters ring abilities. I also signed former SCCW star Elijah Harris , who still had halfway decent ring skills and good mike skills to improve the mid card, and Bob Casey, a veteran jobber who could sell anyones offense.. And finally , I brought in Karen Killer, who could do color commentary and Brains McGhee , as a heel manager, thus getting two people to replace Herb Stately at half of what I was paying him alone. I also promoted Marv Earnest to Announcer to replace Downpour , as he was $300 a show cheaper. I sent out flyers for the first show Rush Hour which would feature Wiley Coyote defending the Tag Team titles, my debut against Black Hat Bailey, and the Main Event of Grandmaster Phunk facing Whistler for the Empire Championship. I also made the decision to do local DVD sales as opposed to internet broadcasts of our shows as , while getting people in Canada and Japan exposed to our product would help in the really long term, fans there weren't going to be buying tickets to our shows in Jersey now and filling seats was the current priority. ( Ok, enough backstory for now.. Next my first show as a wrestler and a booker. Like that isn't a disaster waiting to happen! ;) )

[Dragonmack]

[SIZE="5"][B]NYCW RUSH HOUR[/B][/SIZE] Live from the Weston Gymnasium in Jersey with a SOLD OUT att of 300. [B]PRE[/B][B] SHOW ,DVD EXTRAS[/B] [B][COLOR="Red"]Kashmir Singh[/COLOR][/B] defeated [COLOR="Blue"][B]Cal Sanders[/B][/COLOR] in 2:59 by pinfall. [B]D-[/B] A quick match to get these two introduced to the audience, with Singh getting average heat as an Old School heel and Sanders getting a good reaction as a Lumberjack. [B][COLOR="blue"]Marv Earnest[/COLOR][/B] and [B][COLOR="Red"]Karen Killer[/COLOR][/B] introduce the show and rundown the card for the night as [COLOR="Red"][B]Brains McGhee[/B][/COLOR] comes out and interrupts them to announce he is looking for a tag team to mold into champions and help him become the supreme power in the NYCW. [B]D-[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]Elijah Harris[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Bob Casey[/COLOR][/B] in 7:48 by pinfall with a [I]Soul Train[/I]. [B]E[/B] Another introductory match with Harris getting good pop with his fun babyface gimmick and Casey debuting a sleazy lounge lizard persona that got a bland crowd reaction. Not a classic matchup, but served its purpose. [B]MAIN SHOW[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]Wiley Coyote (Dynamite & Steinway)[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]The Hustlers (Sammy the Shark & New York Doll)[/COLOR][/B] in 7:42 when Coyote Dynamite defeated Sammy The Shark by pinfall with a [I]Spinebuster[/I]. Wiley Coyote make defence number 1 of their NYCW Tag Team titles. [B]E+[/B] Basically having the Doll replace Dodger in the tag team and giving them a street-wise con men gimmick while establishing the Champions with a relatively easy win. Actually a little better than expected with all the guys putting forth some extra effort. [B][COLOR="Blue"]Fern Hathaway[/COLOR][/B] does her eye candy bit as she interacts with the crowd and gives away some t-shirts. [B]D+[/B] I come out for my first promo in NYCW and introduce myself as someone like the audience, a life long fan who gets to live the dream of being a wrestler. Got a surprisingly good reaction, much better than I expected. [B]C+[/B] [B][COLOR="blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Black Hat Bailey[/COLOR][/B] in 12:40 by pinfall with a [I]Mack Attack.[/I] C- Bailey is a true professional and does the job for me after about 10 min of back and forth action with him playing the cheating villain and me doing the rally from behind bit. The finish comes when I land my Mack Attack finisher, a top rope bulldog that got some ahhs from a crowd used to seeing mostly punches and headlocks. [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler [/COLOR][/B]comes out for a promo with the American Flag and playing the patriotic bit for all its worth. The fans are loving it as he spouts the usual about defeating evil, upholding justice, and preserving American integrity. [B]C[/B] [B][COLOR="Red"]Phunk [/COLOR][/B]then comes out to a huge chorus of boos and catcalls , easily getting a better reaction than anyone else tonight. He gives a little speech about having the cars, the ho's , and the bling all because he is the Champion and that no one , especially some flag waving redneck, is going to take the gold from him. [B]B-[/B] [B][COLOR="red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR][/B] in 13:19 by pinfall. Grandmaster Phunk makes defence number 1 of his NYCW Empire title. [B]D+[/B] Phunk and Whistler turn in a serviceable Main Event that , while not worthy of topping a TCW or SWF card, is still very good for our size promotion as Whistler gives all he can give at this point of his career , but Phunk manages to get the victory with a pair of brass knuckles from the tights when the ref is distracted. Overall Show rating [B]D+[/B] My first show turned out a lot better than I expected. I was able to introduce new talent, sow some seeds of storylines, and establish the champions all in one night. Now the challenge would be to see if I could maintain the momentum next month at Rumble in the Bronx.

[Monkeypox]

Good to see you writing again...

[Dragonmack]

[I]Thanks for the welcome back Monkeypox. I can only hope to write half as good as you do.[/I] The next morning I gathered with the Stomper, Marv Earnest and Karen Killer in Stomper's office. I had asked all of them to give me input on booking ideas as well as their opinions of the show. Everyone seemed to agree it was a good beginning and should help generate a buzz that would eventually push us to greater popularity. We just had to maintain this momentum. Stomper brought things back to reality by pointing out that , despite the sellout, we still had lost about $2500 dollars. I told him not to worry as I would keep to the current format of shorter shows and try to rotate the talent to keep them happy. I still planned to use Phunk most shows as he was our biggest draw, and I would be on every show as well, barring injury , since I was getting paid every month regardless. I let the promotional staff know that the next card , Rumble in the Bronx, would feature [B]Steve Flash [/B]defending the Tri-State title against [B]Rick[/B] [B]Sanders[/B], I would take on [B]Honest Frank[/B], and [B]Phunk[/B] would put the Empire championship on the line against Whistler's protege [B]American Machine[/B].

[Dragonmack]

As I prepared for the February show, I started paying more attention to what was going on in the other North American promotions. Since I was responsible for a lot more than myself nowadays, I needed to keep up with any thing that could impact the promotion, and maybe keep an eye out for useful talent. Some of the big news in January was 2 new promotions opened up. CWWF, a Canadian women's wrestling company, and ELPF a small European federation. Nothing there that would really affect me. [B]Signings.[/B] CGC signed up Joey Poison, The Natural, Jacob Jett, and Jerry Martin. Looks like they are making a serious effort to compete with NOTPBW. CZCW added Mario Heroic. Should be a good fit for their style. NOTPBW took Sean Deeley and Whippy the Clown from CGC . Looks like they are cherry picking anyone not named DeColt from the CGC roster. RIPW gave Rodger Dodger a home. Good luck and good riddance. SWF took Darryl Devine and Jim Force from USPW. Looks like Eisen is still raiding everyone else's talent. TCW signed a returning Jack Griffith and American Elemental. Nice adds to a fairly stacked roster. They also signed Corporal Doom from USPW. [B]Random news[/B] NOTPBW had some backstage issues as Hotstuff Marie took some shots at Lee Rivera in an online interview. Never a good idea to get on a DeColt family member's bad side. [B]Title changes[/B] The Natural made an impressive debut in CGC winning a vacated CGC Canadian Championship John Maverick & Ryan Powell took the CGC tag titles from Lee Rivera and Shane Nelson. Wonder if the blowup with Hotstuff had anything to do with that... Steven Parker adds the Rip Chord Invitational to his championship resume USPW National title was a revolving door as Jim Force dropped it to Corporal Doom before leaving to SWF. Doom then dropped it a week later to Mick Muscles as he headed to TCW.

[Dragonmack]

[B][SIZE="5"]NYCW RUMBLE IN THE BRONX[/SIZE][/B] Live from the SOLD OUT Weston Gymnasium in Jersey Att:300 [B]PRE SHOW, DVD EXTRAS[/B] The [COLOR="Red"][B]Hustlers, Sammy the Shark & The New York Doll[/B][/COLOR] are shown working a shell game in the locker room when [COLOR="red"][B]Brains McGhee[/B][/COLOR] walks up to them. He says that they are the team he is looking for, and he will mold them from wanna be's into champions. [B]E+[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]Elijah Harris[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Lee Wright[/COLOR][/B] in 7:37 by pinfall with a [I]Soul Train[/I]. [B]D[/B] Two veterans putting on a solid match with Lee Wright helping to give Harris some momentum. Wrights Bad Ass persona really plays well to the crowd. Yet another eye candy piece as Fern parades around the arena to fire up the audience for the main show. [B]D+[/B] [B]MAIN SHOW[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]Steve Flash[/COLOR][/B] defeated [COLOR="Red"][B]Rick Sanders[/B][/COLOR] in 7:43 by pinfall with a [I]Flash Bang[/I]. Steve Flash makes defence number 1 of his NYCW Tri-State Regional title. C- Flash really does a great job of making Sanders look good while managing to defend the belt with Flash Bang DDT. The only thing these two really lack is the charisma to really connect with the fans. [COLOR="red"][B]Honest Frank[/B][/COLOR] does a promo where he tells everyone that a snot nosed punk like me got lucky last month, but that luck has run out. He will show everyone that I am a flash in the pan when he beats me tonight. He gets his share of boos and catcalls as he heads to the ring. [B]D+[/B] My promo is all about how excited I am to be here, how last month was a dream come true, and how I will continue my quest to become the best. As I thank the fans for all their support, I get a really strong positive response from the crowd. [B]B-[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Honest Frank[/COLOR][/B] in 12:36 by submission with a [I]Dragon Sleeper[/I]. [B]C-[/B] Frank goes all out and gets the early advantage. Still the standard face rallies for a win story, but Frank steps up his game a notch tonight and really sells my inverted sleeper submission finisher. So far, the veterans are very supportive of me as a wrestler. Of course they could just be afraid of losing their jobs now that I am booking. [COLOR="red"][B]Phunk [/B][/COLOR]comes out to huge heat for his match with [B][COLOR="Blue"]American Machine[/COLOR][/B]. He takes the mike and proceeds to tell the audience how he beat up [COLOR="blue"][B]Whistler[/B][/COLOR] last month, so now his 'little boy' Machine swore to get revenge. He promises to slap around Machine just like he slapped around his mentor and leave the same way he arrived, as Empire Champion. [B]B-[/B] [B][COLOR="Red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]American Machine[/COLOR][/B] in 17:40 by submission. Grandmaster Phunk makes defence number 2 of his NYCW Empire title. [B]C-[/B] Phunk does a good job of selling Machine's power moves early before he takes control of the match with a low blow at the halfway point. He then begins working over Machine's left leg in preparation for a figure four submission. Machine rallies a couple of times , but Phunk uses some veteran underhanded tactics to keep control and finally get the submission win. Machine really did a good job of showing why he can become a future star tonight as this was a breakout performance for him. Overall Show rating [B]C-[/B] Definitely better than I expected the show to turn out. Everyone was feeling the excitement of a new beginning for NYCW and they brought some extra energy to the matches tonight. It probably wouldn't always go this well, but for the moment I was really happy.

[Emark]

Nice rating on your second show out of the gate. I'll be adding this diary to my list of ones to read.

[Dragonmack]

[I]Wow. Two fans already. That practically doubles the fanbase of my first diary.[/I] :D I was pretty jubililant for the next morning's evaluation meeting. Even the news that we were down $3300 for the month couldn't dampen my enthusiasm from last night's show. I told myself that it might get worse before it got better, but everyone we used last night was likely to be here for quite a while so the expected departures of Bailey and Whistler in the near future didn't hold as much terror for me. Marv was grateful for the promotion to lead announcer and Rock Downpour had called me to say that CGC were interested in him , so he would probably have been leaving soon anyway. That made me feel a little better about having to let him go. Stomper wanted to know what my plans for the next show were going to be. Karen had come up with the name March into Manhatten for the event, which at least made it easy to remember when it was. After bouncing some ideas off of everyone, I decided to do a mini storyline of Bailey trying to get revenge on me and Whistler trying to do the same on Phunk. The promotional flyers advertised [B][COLOR="Blue"]American Machine[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Red"]The Masked Mauler[/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Red"]Black Hat Bailey[/COLOR][/B] and in the Main Event [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] in a grudge match for the NYCW Empire title.

[Dragonmack]

There were no contract or personnel issues to deal with this month so I concentrated on happenings around the North American Wrestling scene. If any really good angles or ideas showed up, I was not too proud to "borrow" them and incorporate them into my plans. Highlights for February were [B]News:[/B] MAW went for a local to a small promotion of the strength of a strong show following the Rip Chord Invitational. Larry Wood took over the CWWF. A huge mountain man with a genius IQ running a women's fed. Anything can happen in wrestling.. Seems Leo Davis will be running book for him. Razor Valentine took over the ELPF and some british wrestler I have never heard of , Jamie Anderson, is going to be their head booker. Well, that formula seems to be working for me so far. Shawn Gonzalez's brother Carlos and Larry Vessey's son Cameron were making their pro debuts. Neither fit in with my plans at the moment, but they would bear watching. DaVE got a new PPV deal with USA Free Choice. Something we could only dream about in the very distant future. Sports America dropped USPW's TV Show, and in a weird double twist, SWF debuted a new show on Canadian TV, while NOTPBW signed for a new show on GNN, an American TV station. Some japansese female wrestler Umeka Hotta failed a steroids test while one of the stripper/wrestlers from BSC, Nurse Darla Knight, has found religion. I guess praying comes natural for a girl who spends all her time in a kneeling position. [B]Signings[/B] CZCW added Curt O' Malley to do some road agent work. CWWF signed a whole roster. The biggest names were Joanne Rodriguez, Wanda Fish, Emma Bitch and Cherry Bomb. Looks like AAA north with a dash of NOTPBW women's division thrown in. DaVE signed Frankie Perez. That was a nice add. NOTPBW picked up Frankie Dee. Seems all those stars they signed last month need a jobber to go over. TCW added a new manager in Cat Jemson. Looks as if with Kurt Laramee gone, DaVE didn't really have anything for her. [B]Title Changes[/B] Emma Bitch became the first CWWF women's Global champ. Matt Sparrow took the CZCW Extreme title from Insane Machine The Natural took gold in his second federation by winning the NOTPBW Unlimted Action title from Harrison Hash. Actually a relatively quiet month as wrestling news goes.

[Dragonmack]

[SIZE="5"]NYCW MARCH INTO MANHATTEN[/SIZE] Live from the SOLD OUT Weston Gymnasium in Jersey Att:300 [B]PRE SHOW, DVD EXTRAS[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]Marv Earnest[/COLOR][/B] and [B][COLOR="Red"]Karen Killer[/COLOR][/B] announce to the audience the line up for tonight, highlighted by the twin grudge matches of [COLOR="blue"]David Mack[/COLOR]/[COLOR="red"]Black Hat [/COLOR]and [COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR]/[COLOR="red"]Phunk[/COLOR]. [B][COLOR="red"]Brains McGhee[/COLOR][/B] interrupts to say that he has found his team and that he will soon be ruling the NYCW. [B]E+[/B] Karen is starting to really become very comfortable in her on air persona. [COLOR="blue"][B]Wiley Coyote[/B][/COLOR] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Bob Casey[/COLOR][/B] and [COLOR="red"][B]Kashmir Singh[/B][/COLOR] in 7:51 when [COLOR="Blue"][B]Wiley Steinway[/B][/COLOR] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Kashmir Singh [/COLOR][/B]by pinfall with a [I]Steinway Highway[/I]. Wiley Coyote make defence number 2 of their NYCW Tag Team titles. [B]E+[/B] Again, just keeping the tag team champions strong as I don't really have the makings of a good tag team feud yet. Not something I'd want high on a card, but a serviceable match. [B][COLOR="Blue"]Fern Hathaway[/COLOR][/B] does her usual jazz up the crowd routine to get them warmed up for the main show [B]D+[/B] [B]MAIN SHOW[/B] [COLOR="blue"][B]American Machine[/B][/COLOR] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]The Masked Mauler[/COLOR][/B] in 7:37 by submission. [B]D-[/B] Not as good a performance as last month, but then Machine's quality of opponent wasn't as good either. Mauler cheats to get the early advantage but Machine uses his power moves to weaken Mauler's back then slaps on a Backbreaker finisher to get the submission victory. Machine had told me before the show that he had hopes of touring in Japan in the future and he was working on moves that would showcase well there. I give a promo about how I am dedicated to living the dream, that the fans are the ones that feed my competetive fires, and that I will prove my last win over Bailey was no fluke. [B]B-[/B] I had been a little worried that I was giving myself too much of a push, but the continued good pop I was getting from the fans seemed to justify the move. [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Black Hat Bailey[/COLOR][/B] in 12:52 by submission with a [I]Dragon Sleeper[/I]. [B]C-[/B] Yet another really professional performance from Bailey, who was leaving after this show. It was a symbolic passing of the torch as the former booker puts over the current booker. The match itself was a tried and true old school formula of the villian using every dirty trick to get an edge and try to pull out a win, holding the ropes, pulling the tights, even the proverbial foreign object. Then the face rallying back to get the victory, courtesy of my Dragon Sleeper hold. I was satisfied with the match and the crowd seemed to like it as well. [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR][/B] again goes with his tried and true patriotic promo, complete with flag waving. He adds in some lines about getting revenge, not only for himself, but for his protege American Machine, and that, after tonight, the fans will have a real American hero as Empire Champion. [B]C[/B] Whistler gets his usual good reaction. He is practically a cultural icon with the NYCW fans. [B][COLOR="Red"]Phunk[/COLOR][/B] , as always, gets the strongest crowd reaction. He holds up the title and sneers at the crowd as he tells everyone that pimps have 3 things no one should ever mess with. His Ho's, his money, and his bling! The last line is said while he waves the belt in the air. He goes on to say that Whistler should have learned his lessons from the first beating, but he will be glad to stomp the point across Whistler;s head again. He goes to the ring amid a loud chorus of boos. [B]B-[/B] Phunk shows why he is the biggest attraction we have. His promos show a polish that I am hoping to one have one day. [B][COLOR="red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR][/B] in 17:40 by pinfall. Grandmaster Phunk makes defence number 3 of his NYCW Empire title. [B]D+[/B] Good Main Event matchup very similiar to their last encounter. Whistler starts strong by no selling Phunk's offense and taking charge with some powerslams and clotheslines. Phunk eventually gets the upper hand with some old school cheating i.e. a thumb in the eye. He uses a ground attack strategy to nullify Whistler's power advantage. Whistler rallies a couple of times but Phunk always has a knee to the gut or a low blow to regain control. Whistler finally gets a second wind and starts to dominate the action but misses on a charge into the corner and Phunk gets the pinfall with a rollup and a handful of tights the ref doesn't see. Overall Show rating [B]D+[/B] Another solid show. Not as good as last month, but still a strong outing, and even with a falling economy, we were still selling out the Gym and indications were we might be able to move to a bigger venue before the year was out.

[Dragonmack]

Stomper reported the financials as the booking team gathered the next morning. We were holding steady at $2500-3000 range losses a show. Projected over the year that meant I should be well over the margin Stomper had set back in January for me. And , having already known of Black Hat's intended departure beforehand, I had already filled his roster spot in Jan. However, with Bailey gone, and Phunk/Whistler already run twice, we needed to come up with a new main storyline. Though outsiders may see it as the booker promoting himself over more veteran or deserving talent, the booking staff agreed that I had been established as a viable Main Event babyface, so we laid out a program between Phunk and me that should take us through the next few months. By now, I had seen the rest of the roster in action at least once, and I would try a few combinations to see if anything really clicked. And finally, we decided to continue the DVD extra and opening vignettes of the Hustlers tag team and Brains McGhee to try to get Sammy and Doll more comfortable and smoother on promos. Karen once again came up with a descriptive event name for April. NYCW Spring Showdown would be held in the Weston Gymnasium on the 2nd Sat of April and would feature [B][COLOR="Red"]Rick Sanders[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Blue"]Elijah Harris[/COLOR][/B] [B][COLOR="blue"]Steve Flash[/COLOR][/B] defending the Tri-State Championship vs [B][COLOR="red"]Honest Frank[/COLOR][/B] and in the Main Event, [B][COLOR="blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] for the Empire Championship

[Dragonmack]

My only contract issue for March was renewing the Masked Mauler. He wanted a bump to $750 a show from his previous $600. While never going to be a star, he was a reliable midcard jobber so I agreed ot extend him for 9 months. Checking out events in the rest of the North American area, here are the highlights from March. [B]News:[/B] Nero's RIPW was now classified as a small promotion, putting them on the same footing as MAW and us. Catherine Quine's sister Jaime enters wrestling along with a former standout college football player, Bulldozer Brandon Smith. He looks like an excellent prospect, but, as he favors japanese style wrestling, may not be a good fit for our product. Women's wrestling lost three veterans when Nikki Power, Junko Hayakawa, and Namiyo Mura all retired. AAA has some backstage heat as Vixxen mentioned having issues with Helen Bach during a radio interview With a new TV show, NOTPBW lets their old one end. and in what was no laughing matter, Whippy the Clown had an altercation with the Canadian Royal Mounties outside a bar after a show. No arrest was reported so it looks like it was a minor incident. [B]Signings and Leavings:[/B] RIPW wasted no time in expanding their talent by adding our own Brains McGhee and giving Ernie Turner a development deal that could see him eventually end up in the SWF MAW added to their non-wrestling talent by signing Shane Sneer and BSC's Sara Silver CZCW's Fox Mask and Insane Machine and CGC's Jacob Jett were all doing a Japanese tour. All three are exciting high fliers that should do well there. Machine won't be going back to CZCW as his contract has run out. USPW had a huge loss when Bruce the Giant left, oh, and they lost Cheetah boy too. Guess which one will hurt more. CGC lost one half of the Specialists tag team when Nate Johnson didn't renew his deal. Must be hoping for that NOTPBW call. [B]Title Changes:[/B] Plague and Fox Mask, calling themselves Terror Rising , defeat Air Force 1 (Snap Dragon & Flying Jimmy Foxx) for the CZCW Tag Team titles Travis Century captures the DaVE Brass Knuckles title in a 3 way dance with Jack Giedroyc and Dallas McWade at DaVE's March PPV Jeremy and Dan Stone Jr Capture their 3rd Ed Henson Memorial Tag Team Cup in NOTPBW Its a good month for the geriatric set in USPW as The Lords of War beat the Towers of Power for the Tag titles and Demon Anger captures the USPW World title from the soon to be departed Bruce the Giant.

[Dragonmack]

[SIZE="5"]NYCW SPRING SHOWDOWN[/SIZE] Live from the SOLD OUT Weston Gymnasium in Jersey Att:300 [B]PRE SHOW, DVD EXTRAS[/B] Marv and Karen open the show as usual , this time without interruption, and lay out tonight's card for the fans, highlighted by the [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] Main Event. [B]E+[/B] Karen is still getting better, but Marv isn't holding the audience as well as I hoped. I may have made the wrong choice there. Cameras show a meeting in the backstage area between [COLOR="red"][B]Brains McGhee[/B][/COLOR] and his new team [B][COLOR="red"]The Hustlers[/COLOR][/B]. Sammy and Doll are peddling some deeds to the Brooklyn Bridge while Brains marches back and forth spouting how he will make these two men feared and admired throughout the wrestling world, starting with NYCW. [B]E+[/B] The Hustlers are a long term project as it is unlikely they will get past opening acts for quite a while. Still, they are benefitting from the exposure, especially Sammy, who is showing some marked improvement in his skits. [B][COLOR="red"]Kashmir Singh[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]Cal Sanders[/COLOR][/B] in 3:04 by submission. [B]E+[/B] Somewhat disappointing outing as both are capable of better. Singh had a rare off night and this match killed some of the crowds energy heading into the main show. [B][COLOR="blue"]Fern Hathaway[/COLOR][/B] tries to regain some of the mood with her usual pre-show fan interaction routine. [B]D+[/B] [B]MAIN SHOW[/B] [B][COLOR="Red"]Rick Sanders[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]Elijah Harris[/COLOR][/B] in 7:52 by submission with a [I]Figure Four Leglock[/I]. [B]D-[/B] Decent outing between two veterans that lets Sanders regain some momentum. He is one of the better choices available for a feud with Flash for the Tri-State title. Sanders does a methodical working of the leg and knee to set up his figure four finisher, with occasional rallies by Harris to liven the match up. [B][COLOR="blue"]Steve Flash[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Honest Frank[/COLOR][/B] in 7:54 by pinfall with a [I]Flash Bang[/I]. Steve Flash makes defence number 2 of his NYCW Tri-State Regional title. D+ Flash once again does a great job in elevating an opponent as Frank shows he can provide a good match with help. Frank uses his size and brawling tactics to try to overwhelm Flash , but Steve reverses a suplex attempt into the Flash Bang DDT and gets the win. A video package plays highlight Phunk's and my own victories over the last 3 months. [B]C+[/B] I emerge and cut a promo about how excited I am for the opportunity, how wrestling for the Empire Championship is a dream come true, and how it is all due to the fan's support. [B]C+[/B] Still a good pop, but I think I needed to expand my promos to keep from sounding stale as the reaction wasn't quite as strong as previously. [B][COLOR="red"]Phunk[/COLOR][/B] comes down to ringside to his usual loud heat. He says that my victories over Frank and Bailey meant nothing as they weren't close to as good as the Grandmaster was. He goes on to say that he will dispose of me as easily as his last opponents and that lay a beating "Harlem Style" on this upstart rookie who dares to challenge him. [B]B-[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] in 17:47 by count out. [B]C-[/B] I was very happy with the match. I started it with some high energy offense, i.e clotheslines and slams and some 2nd rope moves, but eventually Phunk took control with some veteran techniques (cheating for the layman) and proceeded to maintain control for most of the match. I let Phunk have most of the offense with an occasional rally by me as we set up the match to be Phunk trying harder and harder to put me away and not quite being able to pin me for the 3 count. This led him to being more and more frustrated till it finally broke down to him throwing me out of the ring and both of us brawling around the outside of the ring. The ref was counting both of us out and I managed to sneak in under the 10 count to get the countout victory. While I didn't get the belt, I got a win over the champion so I start celebrating by climbing the ropes and waving to the fans in excitement over my big win. Phunk is angered over losing, even by countout, so he climbs in and attacks me during my celebrations. He proceeds to deliver a old school beating on me for a couple of minutes then stands over me holding the belt in my face and screaming that he is the champion and no young punk is gonna get the best of him. He walks out after a last kick to the ribs to a really loud chorus of boos and hisses. [B]C[/B] And thus we set the stage for the major storyline for the next few shows. Overall Show [B]C-[/B] We delivered another excellent show and I think that word was getting out that NYCW was stepping it up a notch in their events. I felt that we were really on the right track to getting NYCW out of the rut it had been mired in and finally moving on the road to bigger and better things for the promotion.

[Dragonmack]

Things were definitely looking up at the booking meeting the next day. Show reviews were all glowing, we had gotten a good start off to our big storyline of the year, and we had lost less than $1800 for the month. I let Marv know I had some concerns about the announcing as I had been getting some feedback that it had been lacking a little, especially in the main event matches. I told him that I still had faith in him and would give him some time to see if he could get it ironed out. Stomper and Karen said that we should hold off of a rematch between Phunk and me for a little while so we could build some anticipation for the rematch. It sounded good to me as we still had Whistler and American Machine to use as strong opponents, and I had some plans of my own in that regard. Those would have to wait a little while however. Karen, our resident event namer, came up with a catchy title for the May event, NYCW Fights on Broadway. The promotional flyers advertised [B][COLOR="Blue"]Wiley Coyote[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Red"]Bob Casey & Masked Mauler [/COLOR][/B]for the tag team titles [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Red"]Lee Wright[/COLOR][/B] and in the Main Event [B][COLOR="red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR][/B] in a last chance match for the Empire title. The gimmick being if Whistler didn't win, he would never get another shot at the title

[Dragonmack]

Yet another quiet month in contract negotiations as the only renewal coming up was Fern Hathaway. I still hadn't decided if she could do more than be eye candy, but she only wanted $100 a show, so she was cheap enough for me to take some time to find out if she could develop her skills to match her 'assets'. Major happenings in the wrestling world in April were [B]News:[/B] The biggest news was SWF being reclassified as a Cult promotion following a lackluster Runaway Train title reign and some weak TV shows mostly featuring Christian Faith or Eric Eisen main events. Remo and Rich Money were delivering the best quality matches but were still mired in the midcard. ELPF was growing rapidly and had become a small sized promotion along with one of the japanese Dojos Pro Wrestling Saisho. Sam Strong's daughter Alicia made her pro debut. She was instantly tabbed as the next coming in women's pro wrestling. In Mexico , another 2nd gen luchador arrived in Tigre Salvaje Jr and industry people say he has the looks and skills to do well. In CGC Jerry Martin made some comments that he and the ref Coach Norman were having some backstage issues. IN SWF Enforcer Roberts put over the good backstage friendship he has with Peter Michaels, SWF's lead announcer. [B]Signings and Leavings:[/B] CGC added Jack Giedroyc and Rodger Dodger to their roster. Giedroyc I can understand as he is a star in the making, but who the hell does Dodger have blackmail pictures of to keep getting these offers? The other half of the Specialists tag team, Bobby Thomas, followed his partner out the door. The Natural decides to try his title luck in the good old USA by signing a contract with CZCW Dallas McWade ended his ties with NOTPBW to concentrate on DaVE. I guess its better to be a small fish in a medium pond than a guppy in a great lake. SWF's collapse saw the exodus of Andre Jones, Akima Brave, both members of Death Row, Mikel Alonso, Duane Fry, Shane Stones, and the recently signed Jim "Buy my Merchandise" Force and the Blonde Bombshell. That was followed by SWF letting Enygma's contract expire. There were a couple of names there that I would be interested in signing if they were still available when Whistler left in a few months. TCW wasted no time in pouncing by picking up color commentator Duane Fry. USPW decided to fill the void left by Bruce the Giant in their main event picture by adding Puerto Rican Power to the roster. [B]Title Changes:[/B] Bad to the Bone (Vampella & Alison Capone) took the BSC Girl Power Tag Team titles from Hollywood Magic (Britney Hollywood & Sprite). The crowd was too busy yelling "take it off!" to notice. Travis Century continued his mini-revival in DaVE when he added the Tag Team titles to his Brass Knuckles belt by teaming up with Hell's Bouncer in the aptly named Murder Inc beating The New Jersey Devils (Alex Braun & Tank Bradley) in an average match on a Danger Zone episode. Calamari Kid upended Zimmy Bumfhole for his second run with the SWF Shooting Star title. Chance Fortune loses the TCW All Action title to Steve Gumble only to recapture it two weeks later. Rick Law gets the TCW International title for the 2nd time after beating Rocky Golden.

[Dragonmack]

[SIZE="5"]NYCW FIGHTS ON BROADWAY[/SIZE] Live from the SOLD OUT Weston Gymnasium in Jersey Att:300 [B]PRE SHOW, DVD EXTRAS[/B] Usual opening from Marv and Karen to let the fans know about tonight's event, however, they don't avoid interruption this week as [B][COLOR="Red"]Brains McGhee [/COLOR][/B]stomps out(all 4' of him) spouting off about how his team is finally ready to take the first step to his domination of NYCW and that step will be revealed later tonight. [B]E[/B] A subpar segment, not quite as good as it has been in the past. Karen Killer still shows improvement behind the camera every show. I think she will grow into a top flight color commentator or manager at this rate. [B][COLOR="red"]Honest Frank [/COLOR][/B]defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]Cal Sanders[/COLOR][/B] in 2:44 by pinfall. E+ Pretty much a squash match to keep Frank looking strong. Cal does a decent job given that he was basically doing nothing but selling, but it does show that Frank needs to be protected with the right opponent to step up his in ring game. [B][COLOR="blue"]American Machine[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="red"]Kashmir Singh[/COLOR][/B] in 2:50 by submission. D- Again, another squash to keep an upper carder looking strong. Singh has more to work with than Sanders did, so the results are a little better. [B]MAIN SHOW[/B] [B][COLOR="Red"]The Hustlers[/COLOR][/B] come out and reveal that the first step of Brains master plan is challenging the tag team champions [B][COLOR="Blue"]Wiley Coyote[/COLOR][/B]. They go on to say that at Gang Wars in July, they will make Wiley Coyote disappear just like Jimmy Hoffa. Then they go on to offer fans at ringside maps of Jimmy Hoffa's location. [B]E[/B] Pretty much went over as I expected. They will probably be an opening comedy act for a while, but Sammy still keeps standing out, so he may outgrow this bit sooner rather than later. [B][COLOR="blue"]Wiley Coyote [/COLOR][/B]defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Bob Casey[/COLOR][/B] and [COLOR="red"][B]The Masked Mauler[/B][/COLOR] in 7:34 when Wiley Steinway defeated Bob Casey by pinfall with a [I]Steinway Highway[/I]. Wiley Coyote make defence number 3 of their NYCW Tag Team titles. [B]E+[/B] Once again, keeping the Tag team champions strong, as I really don't have anyone else currently worth holding the belts. Basic back and forth brawling action with Steinway using a 2nd rope shoulderblock called the Steinway Highway for the win. [B][COLOR="Blue"]Fern Hathaway[/COLOR][/B] is shown freshening up backstage and [B][COLOR="red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] comes up and asks her if she has seen me. She cringes away and shakes her head no, Phunk tells her to tell me that he is looking for me and he is going to give me a lesson in "street etiquette". [B]C+[/B] Part of my attempts to see if Fern can develop her skills as well as keeping the storyline between me and Phunk going. I come out before my match and go into an "anytime, anywhere" speech about facing Phunk again. I let him know that I am not afraid of him and would welcome the opportunity to take the Empire title away from him. [B]B-[/B] A fresher promo along with the involvement with Phunk gets me back to receiving a greater response from the crowd than I did the previous month. [COLOR="blue"][B]David Mack[/B][/COLOR] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Lee Wright[/COLOR][/B] in 7:39 by pinfall with a [I]Mack Attack.[/I] [B]D+[/B] Mostly just giving me a decent opponent while giving Wright some work. Nothing special, just some back and forth action with some technical counters ending when I land my Mack Attack bulldog finisher. [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR][/B] comes out for the main event and lets everyone know that even though this is last chance at the title, it is the only one he will need. The crowd gives a decent cheer after he says that a real American instead of a ghetto pimp will be the Empire champion after tonight. [B]C[/B] If nothing else, Whistler is always good for a solid pop from a loyal crowd. [B][COLOR="Red"]Phunk[/COLOR][/B] appears next and says that he will beat Whistler down just like he does any of his ho's who hold out on him. He will finally be done with [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler [/COLOR][/B]after tonight and then can concentrate on real issues, like making money, dominating NYCW, and dealing with a certain young punk. [B]C+[/B] Still a good reaction from the crowd, but since this is the third time we have ran this in 5 months, the audience is showing a little burnout. [B][COLOR="Red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]Whistler[/COLOR][/B] in 12:51 by pinfall. Grandmaster Phunk makes defence number 4 of his NYCW Empire title. [B]D+[/B] A solid main event much like the other two times. Whistler showed a little more fire early as he went for several pin attempts. After that it was a back and forth brawl that finished with Whistler catching the ref when he clotheslines Phunk and then landing the three pont stance tackle, but not getting a pin as the ref is still too dazed to count. While Whistler tries to revive the ref, Phunk grabs the belt and clocks Whistler, he then throws the belt out of the ring, grabs the ref and covers Whistler for the pinfall. Overall Show [B]D+[/B] A solid overall show held up by a solid but not spectacular main event. Still, it set up or continued several storylines while giving good ring action so I was happy with it overall.

[Dragonmack]

From the financials the next morning, we had lost a little over $4k on the show, mostly due to using more of the roster than usual. We were still averaging about $3k a month so I was still ahead of the target, but I knew Stomper would like to see us at least breaking even by the end of the year. We were debating some fresh ideas for the main event as we had done Whistler vs Phunk to death and still wanted to postpone my next match with Phunk to build a little more heat. Karen and Stomper both suggested looking at some working agreements with some other promotions and maybe a talent trade or two to put some mystery in the card. Karen named our June event NYCW Brooklyn Brawl. The next day, I called around to the promotions that were in our area or close to us in size, and by the end of the week I had agreements in place with DaVE, USPW and MAW. All were amenable to talent trading someone in exchange for Whistler, so,after a little haggling, I had a reasonably well known opponent for Phunk for the next show. The promotional flyers advertised Steve Flash vs Sammy the Shark for the NYCW Tri-State title David Mack vs Rick Sanders and Grandmaster Phunk vs a mystery opponent for the NYCW Empire title.

[Dragonmack]

No contract issues this month, the only things of note for us was Cal Sanders adopting more of a Super Junior style in the ring, and my warning New York Doll when he showed up late for a show. May's wrestling points of interest in North America were [B]News:[/B] Kristen Pierce, sister to the famous "Jessie" Pierce-Gilmore manager of the Biggz Boys enters wrestling as a manager. Looks like she has some potential and I may look at employing her down the road. Davis Wayne Newton a young Canadian all rounder makes his professonal debut. He has star written all over him. I would probably sign him in a minute, but I think NOTPBW would snatch him quickly if he didn't just outgrow us in a few months. All was not well in RIPW as their announcer Rob Miskovsky blasted Aristocrat in a radio interview claiming he was nothing but a prima donna backstage. SWF's fall from grace continued as both America 1 and CBA dropped their TV shows, leaving SWF without TV coverage for the first time in recent memory. USPW rallied back from losing their show in February by getting a show on National Pride titled USPW Smash TV. NOTPBW continued their penetration of the American market by getting a second US TV show, this time on the POP Network. [B]Signings and Leavings:[/B] CZCW added a new high flyer in MAW's Mainstream Hernandez to make up for the Natural abandoning them after a month to a written deal with NOTPBW To fill the void of The Natural's leaving their roster, CGC quickly snap up the promising rookie Davis Wayne Newton. USPW continued the trend of large , powerful, no talent wrestlers by adding DaVE's Hells Bouncer to their roster. INSPIRE added a lot of american talent to their new tour in the form of Frankie Perez, Akima Brave, Snap Dragon and Cameron Vessey. WEXXV followed suit by signing Bulldozer Brandon Smith and Stevie Grayson for their next tour. Dark Angel ended his association with GCG to concentrate on NOTPBW. [B]Title Changes:[/B] John Maverick got his 3rd run with the CGC Canadian title when he won a tournament to fill the title vacated after the Natural left. Cherry Bomb took the CWWF Arena title from Katherine Goodlooks. Aristocrat & Atlas, known as the Backroom Boyz (probably not the 'best' tag team name ever.) beat the Heartbreakers (Raphael & Justin Sensitive) for the RIPW Tag Team titles. Elmo Benson ended Rich Money's 8 month reign with the North American title at the SWF PPV Master of Puppets ( I guess that is appropiate seeing as he is based on a muppet character.) Showing just how firmly his career ( and lips) are wedded to Sam Strong's ass, Peter Valentine captures the USPW World title from Demon Anger at USPW Declaration of Independence!

[Dragonmack]

[B][SIZE="5"]NYCW BROOKLYN BRAWL[/SIZE][/B] Live from the SOLD OUT Weston Gymnasium in Jersey Att:300 [B]PRE SHOW, DVD EXTRAS[/B] Once again [B][COLOR="Blue"]Marv Earnest[/COLOR][/B] and [B][COLOR="Red"]Karen Killer [/COLOR][/B]open the show, hyping the Main Event as Phunk faces a mystery opponent. They begin some speculation on who it might be when [B][COLOR="red"]Brains McGhee[/COLOR][/B] interrupts them yet again to gloat how he and his men will be the true power of NYCW. He states that [B][COLOR="red"]Sammy the Shark[/COLOR][/B] will become Tri-State champion tonight, and that [B][COLOR="red"]The Hustlers[/COLOR][/B] will take the Tag titles next month at Gang Wars. [B]E+[/B] This bit has become pretty standard so far. One thing for certain is that Karen Killer gets better and better every month in front of the camera. [B][COLOR="Blue"]Fern Hathaway [/COLOR][/B]comes out and presents the mystery opponent for tonight's Main Event. The curtains part and, to the audience's surprise, out comes DaVE's icon and the man who unified the titles of the East Coast Wars, [B][COLOR="blue"]Johnny Martin[/COLOR][/B]! [B]D-[/B] Having Fern introduce him was part of my plan to help her popularity and skills develop by getting some rub from Martin. [B][COLOR="blue"]Elijah Harris[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]The Masked Mauler[/COLOR][/B] in 7:45 by pinfall with a [I]Soul Train[/I]. [B]E+[/B] Fairly generic match. Both wrestlers needed some work and give a standard heel cheating, babyface rallying for the win with the running powerslam finisher Harris calls the Soul Train. Harris is starting to gain some popularity with the fans. [B]MAIN SHOW[/B] [B][COLOR="Blue"]Steve Flash[/COLOR][/B] defeated [COLOR="red"][B]Sammy The Shark[/B][/COLOR] in 7:51 by pinfall with a [I]Flash Bang[/I]. Steve Flash makes defence number 3 of his NYCW Tri-State Regional title. [B]D[/B] Flash does his usual excellent job of making his opponent look good before ending the match with the Flash Bang. Some ring time with someone like Flash can only benefit Sammy. I come out for a promo before my match. The promo consists of how [B][COLOR="Red"]Rick Sanders[/COLOR][/B] is a tough opponent, but how, with the support of the fans, I will overcome him and then soon I will get an opportunity at [COLOR="red"][B]Grandmaster Phunk[/B][/COLOR] again. [B]B-[/B] Again, a really good reaction as my gimmick of being a fan living the dream has gotten over with the crowd. [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack [/COLOR][/B]defeated [B][COLOR="Red"]Rick Sanders[/COLOR][/B] in 12:40 by pinfall with a [I]Mack Attack.[/I] [B]C-[/B] Good showing as Sanders holds up his end of the match well. The match plays out with me getting some early offense until Sanders gets the upper hand and starts working over my left knee for his figure four leglock. He finally locks it in and I sell it for a bit until I grab the ropes to break the hold. As he tries to get it on again, I reverse into an irish whip into the turnbuckle, and as he staggers back to the middle of the ring to recover, I land the Mack Attack bulldog to win. As I make my way to the back, [B][COLOR="Red"]Phunk[/COLOR][/B] suddenly emerges and attacks me. He rams me into the guardrail a couple of times and then slams me onto the concrete floor. He proceeds to put the boots to me a few times yelling "This is just a taste of what you will get next time!" before Stomper and the ref get him to back off. [B]C[/B] Keeping the heat between me and Phunk going. [B][COLOR="red"]Phunk[/COLOR][/B] heads to the ring, grabs a mike and proceeds to tell everyone that the beating they just witnesses is only a prelude to what will happen to [B][COLOR="Blue"]Johnny Martin.[/COLOR][/B] DaVE Icon or not, no one takes the bling of the Grandmaster and that the Pimp Daddy is a bigger star than any "extreme" second rate DaVE hack. [B]C+[/B] Another good promo, although it does seem that the crowd reaction isn't quite what it used to be. Probably more to do with both Phunk and the crowd reaching a comfort level than any loss of intensity by Phunk. [B][COLOR="Red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] defeated [B][COLOR="Blue"]Johnny Martin[/COLOR][/B] in 17:38 by submission. Grandmaster Phunk makes defence number 5 of his NYCW Empire title. [B]C-[/B] A good outing by both men. Nothing that really stood out, just two ring veterans with a good understanding of how to deliver a solid match. Both used a slower pacing to compensate for the extended match, with a lot of mat holds and brawling outside the ring. Good back and forth action that finally ends with both men landing a clothesline at the same time, and Phunk able to recover a little faster than Martin and get a Camel Clutch submission hold in the center of the ring, forcing Martin to tap. [B]Overall Show C-[/B] Martin held up his end of the main event well so i decided to negotiate a couple of more appearances to get a mini storyline to extend the story between me and Phunk.

[Irish Wolf]

This is a really good go at NYCW now I just want to see a champion versus champion match between Flash and Phunk (That sounds liek a tag team right there) and then a Main Event title run for Flash.

[Dragonmack]

[QUOTE=Apupunchau@optonline;249289]This is a really good go at NYCW now I just want to see a champion versus champion match between Flash and Phunk (That sounds liek a tag team right there) and then a Main Event title run for Flash.[/QUOTE] That would be a good plan, but I have discovered that in player games, it is impossible to re-sign Flash as Stomper won't allow you to pay what he is asking. And in this game, I have Phunk far longer than I have Flash on the initial contract. Flash still gets his long title run, just not with the Empire title.

[Dragonmack]

([I]An excerpt from the June 2007 issue of TEW Magazine.) [/I][B][SIZE="4"]Championship Spotlight - A more in depth look at an NYCW Champion.[/SIZE][/B] [B]Grandmaster Phunk[/B] has been the [B]NYCW Empire[/B] champion for 9 months at the time of this of this article, having beaten young superstar [B]Joey Minnesota[/B] in Oct 2006. Previously, he had a brief run as [B]NYCW Tri-State champion[/B]. Probably best known for his time in [B]SWF[/B], where as [I]Danny B Bling[/I], he was the top heel manager for a three year period as well as occasionally wrestling in tag matches or low card gimmick matches. But the real story was of a man who wanted more. He had money, he had fame, he was at the top of his game as a personality and wrestling manager with loads of charisma who could get instant heat for his clients and himself with any promo. But what he really wanted was respect for his ability in the ring. He wanted to become a main event level wrestler and he was willing to put in whatever work it took to get there. After finding out that [B]SWF[/B] wasn't going to give him the opportunity to pursue his dream, he came to the well known last refuge of those whose careers have faded or stalled and need a place to recover, [B]NYCW[/B]. Working hard in between shows with men like [B]Steve Flash[/B], [B]The Stomper[/B] and [B]Lee Wright,[/B] Phunk continued to polish his in ring abilty to match his ability outside the ring. While never going to be a [B]Dan Stone Jr[/B] or even a [B]Steve Flash[/B] as far as technical wrestling ability, he quickly absorbed the basic skills and psychology to more than hold his own as he blended his own style of brawling and hardcore wrestling with his great promo skills to rapidly become the top star in [B]NYCW[/B]. While [B]Phunk[/B] acknowledged he is still under contract to [B]NYCW[/B] for quite some time, having established himself as a serious wrestling star, he is planning towards the days when he can start making inroads back to the larger, more prestigious promotions and continue his dream of being a Main Event caliber wrestler there.

[Dragonmack]

Losses for the show were just over $2k, thus far we were down $16k in 6 months, but we had been consistently selling out the Weston Gymnasium, even with the economy and wrestling industry in a downward trend the entire year. The booking committee did a quick mid year review of our direction and we were pleased with things so far. Most of the roster was doing good, our main storyline was progressing nicely, we had set up some working agreements that we were already reaping the benefits of, and we were keeping losses to an acceptable level. The only real concerns were that there wasn't any other established tag teams to compete with Wiley Coyote for the title , and the bulk of our contracts were due for to expire in September, making that a pivotal month in deciding who to keep and who to consider replacing. Gang Wars was the next event and it was one of the signature shows of NYCW so I wanted something a little special for it. Stomper was all for a Martin-Phunk rematch and Marv suggested someone on the USPW roster that could be a good opponent for me. We had already set up the Hustlers to face Wiley Coyote so we laid out the show to feature [B][COLOR="Blue"]Wiley Coyote[/COLOR][/B] vs [B][COLOR="Red"]The Hustlers[/COLOR][/B] for the NYCW Tag Team titles [B][COLOR="Blue"]David Mack[/COLOR][/B] vs [COLOR="red"][B]Puerto Rican Power[/B][/COLOR] and in the Main Event , a rematch between [B][COLOR="blue"]Johnny Martin[/COLOR][/B] and [B][COLOR="Red"]Grandmaster Phunk[/COLOR][/B] for the Empire title. [I]OOC Note: for anyone wondering what my wrestling stats are, I just re-named the Jack Avatar character.[/I]