Ring of Fire: Fighting Every Step of the Way

[Phantom Stranger]

[I]OOC Note: I have incredibly little TEW experience, and I figured if I just went about merrily doing things wrong, you guys should at least get a laugh out of it, right? UKW is a promotion I created and put in the setting, along with some new wrestlers and an owner. I'm just not playing as UKW; I'm using it as an excuse for kickstarting ROF.[/I] --- Ah, Ring of Fire... It was Britain's smallest promotion, these days. British Samurai's baby, the last bastion of old-school technical wrestling above all. And then Jeff Nova bought 21st Century, and redefined their mission statement, somewhat successfully. And then this new place started, backed by a TV mogul. The United Kingdom of Wrestling debuted to a media blitz across British commercial television, given a show immediately. The big boss even struck a deal with Branson, getting them Pay-Per-View slots. They were going to be tough to beat. And Ring of Fire was suddenly another peg down on the totem pole. I guess that was what made it interesting when the Samurai reached out to me. A challenge. A challenge, if I was honest, I probably wasn't up to; but, hey, while I can get at a paycheque, I may as well fake it, right? Terry Roberts' philosophy of life, ladies and gentlemen; don't take it to heart, I'm booking Ring of Fire. I put feelers out for new workers immediately; if we were going to concentrate on grappling, we needed to amp the quality of the grappling on display. Then Sammy (as he insists I can't call him) grabbed me for a meeting. “Priorities, kid,” he smiled briefly. “Every business needs 'em. Want to know yours?” I just went with it. “Sure, hit me.” “First off, I want us better known,” he says. “The Midlands are our main stomping grounds; let's stomp louder. Get the word out, right?” “Right,” I nodded. Seemed sensible. “We've got a rep,” Sammy continued. I nodded, and opened my mouth – I wanted to change our reputation pretty fast – but he rolled on over me. “Ring of Fire may not be the most prestigious place to the smarks, but a lot of wrestlers are proud of having worked here. I want that to stay the case.” He meant something different to me when he said 'rep', but that was fair enough. Another good point, really. “Sure,” I said. “What else?” “Touches on the same thing,” Sammy said. “We want to look like amateur wrestling. We don't want to look like amateurs. Make sure anyone you bring in knows the fundamentals.” I reviewed my potential hire list in my head. “Doable.” “And no drinkers,” Sammy laid down the final part of his law. “Too many issues.” “OK,” I said. “Look, boss, I think we're gonna need to tweak some stuff before we really get rolling on the Best of British tour-” “What'd you have in mind?” “We're gonna need a wider product base,” I said, biting the bullet. 'Rep' be damned. “We've got some flyers on the payroll, we need to let 'em fly higher. We can make something of that; it'll make good TV, we can stick videos on YouTube, do the whole viral marketing-” “No.” I sighed. What could I do? “OK,” I said. “At least let me let people talk. Characters sell. I'm not talking cartoon spoofs here, I just think we'll get people over if we let them open their mouths.” “I don't want to see too much of it,” Sammy said. “But OK.” “Thanks, boss,” I nodded. “I... may come back to this sometime.” “The answer's not likely to change,” he said, shrugging it off. “Don't want to piss the fans off.” Somehow, I choked back 'All, what, hundred and fifty of 'em?' before I said it. “OK, boss,” I nodded.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday, Week 1 January Best of British Tour Norman Blue Athletic Centre, Midlands UK 36 in attendance Thirty-six people. This could get... interesting. [B] The Tribe vs. Sharp & Heath[/B] Two teams of up-and-comers; I gave 'em ten minutes to see what would happen. Rhys Vali flattened Jon Sharp for the three-count after a reasonable enough battle for their novice ways. Need to make sure Donny scripts the whole thing for 'em next time, though; they didn't really know what they were doing in the middle. Justin, Peaches and I covered for it as best we could. RATING: E I got up to talk up the main event; Sammy was taking on K'Lee Hawkins in a two-out-of-three-falls match. I wasn't thinking and called him Sammy; I don't think, stepping backstage, that he was happy. But on the plus side, the fans got a laugh out of it. RATING: D+ The champ came out to a lukewarm reception... [B]UK Dragon vs. Merle O'Curle[/B] These guys went all the way through their fifteen-minute time limit. The last three minutes were a whirl of near-falls and broken submission holds; the crowd were eating out of their hands. RATING: C And it was time for the main event... [B]British Samurai vs. K'Lee Hawkins[/B] K'Lee took the first fall with a beautiful leg-lock around the fifteen minute mark. Seven and a half minutes later he charged Sammy; Sammy went for a backdrop but K'Lee held on and rolled through into a pinning position, hooking the tights to secure the three-count. It was... OK. Could've been better. RATING: D K'Lee grabbed the mic and finished the show out by challenging Dragon to a match for the title. He... needs work. RATING: D It depresses me that this put us in a better position than we started with, popularity-wise. OVERALL: D

[Phantom Stranger]

On the plus side, that was Friday night. Saturday morning El Critico got back to me and signed on the line. He should be a solid opening act, and I'm hoping his performances will soften Sammy up a little on the high-flying front. We're not using our talent to the extent we could. ...Speaking of which, three emails down from Critico's response Dragon got in touch with me. Apparently he's feeling a little sore – nothing in particular – and wants to be booked a light workload a while while he recovers. So much for an immediate showdown with K'Lee. Still, gives me time to build. By Thursday El Critico was becoming an IWC darling. I ran across three columns tipping him for the top. I'm still not sure this weekly hour-long tour plan will work, but I figure it's worth a try until I figure out what I'm doing, right?

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 2 January Best of British Tour Paddington Club, South UK 31 in attendance [B]Stardust Phil Cox vs. El Critico vs. Petey Barnes[/B] Actually a pretty solid match. Critico seems to be rubbing off on Petey; I'm sure I saw him expand his repertoire. And to cap it off he made Critico tap to an armbar at 7:49 in. RATING: D In accordance with his request, Dragon got to relax a bit. He came out and accepted K'Lee's challenge... for next week. RATING: E+ [B]Absolutely Flawless vs. Your New Favourite Team[/B] YNFT are Johnny Highspot and Jonni Lowlife, if you were wondering. I know I was first time I looked at the roster. I... don't know what went wrong here; all four of these guys are reasonably solid workers, I gave 'em a full quarter hour to tell a story, and they were definitely settling into a rhythm by the end, when Johnny sank Kelly with a frog splash for the three count at 14:38. But it wasn't all it should've been. RATING: E- [B] 4-Man Elimination: Billy Robinson vs. British Samurai vs. K'Lee Hawkins vs. Don Henderson[/B] I figured this'd give the Paddington Club a sight of the best we had to offer. I should probably have used Merle and persuaded Dragon to join in anyroad; it was solid, but not brilliant. Don made Billy tap early on, despite their team background; Sammy then steamrollered Don, but didn't get the pin. Don lasted another ten minutes before K'Lee suplexed Sammy onto him and got the pin on Don before locking in a leg lock on Sammy for the win at 25:31. RATING: D Not as good a show as last time, but again, we came away from the venue with a better buzz than we went in with. OVERALL: D-

[Marcel Fromage]

Good to see another ROF diary - I can compare notes now! Few things I would suggest from my own ROF 'experience'... 1) Focus on one area. I focused on the South because I didn't have the 'build our home area goal' to deal with. South is more affluent, so you get more fans there despite the lower popularity. You'll notice that from your first show - only 5 less fans in the South despite being far less popular there. 2) You need to get steady crowds around the 500 mark to break even on your events. So you need to build that pop as fast as possible, whilst trying not to lose money too fast. To me, using UK Dragon on a show at his fee without him wrestling is going to see you lose money very quickly. And I certainly found that 4-ways and tag matches were a luxury I couldn't afford in the early days. 3) Use Merle O'Curle. Every show. He's the best wrestler for ratings and doesn't come too expensively at first. Nor will his price go up dramatically because you'll only be raising his popularity in one area. Also use British Samurai every show - he costs you the same each month no matter how much you use him. 4) You'll struggle to get the product settings changed unless you go into the editor. I knocked realism down one notch and got modern up to medium and a bit of traditional in there, but wasn't allowed any further changes. 5) Match ratings are all down to wrestler skill - notably technical ability. Your poorer workers aren't going to get decent ratings. Rather than run an hour event, you'd be better served running a half hour event to include 2 main matches, and shove a 3rd match in the dark (like your Flawless vs YNFT match). Angles too will not score well with the overness of your workers. My suggestion would be an 8-10 minute match and a promo on the pre-show, and then 2 slightly longer matches on the main show. I changed product to 90% matches, but in nearly 2 and a half game years I think I've only ever had 2 angles on my shows! They just don't get the crowd going. Also, the ROF product depends on good matches, not overness. You don't really want wrestlers getting majorly over, because they'll just ask for more money!! 6) Don't worry if wrestlers complain about feeling a knock. Unless they are feeling fatigued on their physical screen, just keep using them. A slightly tired UK Dragon will get a better rating than a fully fit anyone-else-on-the-roster-except-O'Curle. 8) Finally, match ratings will surprise you. What I always find tough with ROF is that the top end wrestlers will get decent ratings, but the slightly lower you go, the ratings will dramatically drop. If you can get K'Lee Hawkins to have decent matches, hats off to you. Despite his high performance stats, I always found him disappointing. He could have a fair match with a good wrestler, but couldn't carry any of your lower end to save his life. Sorry if any of that sounds obvious. But ROF can be tough to get up and running. Finances are tight and wrestlers are pretty poor. I'm guessing by signing El Critico that you've got wrestlers available everywhere, which should help you to bring in good workers at low prices initially. But good luck with this - I'll be reading.

[Phantom Stranger]

Useful tips. I'm a couple weeks ahead in the game itself, and had just decided to focus more on the Midlands and let the 'Net do its best with everywhere else. And, naturally enough, I'd found the same thing with the product. If I get up a couple of sizes I may go to the editor as an attempt to sim better stroke against 'Sammy', but for now, we'll go as we go. Ideally I want to slowly draft across to the Remianen settings...

[Phantom Stranger]

Critico approached me after the match; he felt lonely backstage. I probably need to look to Mexico again and find some folks he can actually talk to. Oh, and Don wants a bit of a break; Sammy's elbow went where it shouldn't during K'Lee's suplex. I put some more feelers out; by Wednesday I'd signed Velocidad, Amo del Gato, and Vincente Romero. Wasn't the only Brit looking to Mexico, either; 21st hired Oceano. Be interesting to see how these guys fit in. Hopefully Sammy'll get the hint if the lads stay airborne enough.

[Phantom Stranger]

....and Vincente Romero works elsewhere at least some Fridays. Great. At least he gets no downside off me. We'll see how his schedule works out. Friday, January Week 3 Phoenix Nights, North UK 22 in attendance Ran Velocidad against Stardust in a dark ladder match. That pairing needs work before I'm willing to strut their stuff online. Promise, though. RATING: E [B]Future X vs. YNFT[/B] Better. Not great, but better. Eric seemed more interested in trying new stuff than actually performing, but luckily we can sell that kind of thing as good on commentary. Johnny Highspot put him away with a frog splash at 13:38. RATING: D [B]Walter Morgan vs. Billy Robinson for the ROF #1 Contendership[/B] These guys ran up against our non-main-event fifteen minute time limit, but they had a very solid performance along the way. Both of 'em need to learn to sell better, though. Too much 'shooter tough guy' attitude for my tastes. RATING: D+ Billy Robinson retains the #1 Contendership [B]Sharp & Heath vs. The Tribe[/B] I dunno, we've got a pretty broad tag team division for a company with two singles titles and no tag straps. I'm trying to give the new guys as much of a workout as I can with it. That may not have been a brilliant decision here, but in 5:47 Jon Michael Sharp ran Gob Narfl over with a flying cross body and got the win. There's potential. RATING: E+ [B]K'Lee Hawkins vs. UK Dragon for the ROF Championship in a two out of three falls match[/B] ...Gah. Both of these guys are capable of better. Just... not with each other. Nothing in the ring. Dragon took K'Lee down in the first fall with a sunset flip around the fifteen minute mark and just two minutes later rolled a crucifix cradle through and hooked the tights to cinch the second fall. Need to talk to Donny about the dodgy falls we're getting in our main events; I don't think they suit us great at the moment, though this one worked as a mirror to K'Lee's match with Sammy. OVERALL: D- Yet again, we walked away from the Phoenix Nights with a better rep. Maybe it's just me but I don't think we deserved it. Though that's hardly the only situation; I stepped backstage to find Jonni Lowlife and Phil Cox squaring off. They claimed it was friendly sparring, but if you believe that, I want to sell you the London Bridge.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 4 January Norman Blue Athletic Centre, Midlands 32 in attendance Critico took on Amo del Gato and Velocidad in a three-way dance during our dark time. After seven minutes he put Gato away with a Critical Mass. Not a bad match for these guys' level on the card. Which is good, considering I'm still aiming to bump them up a few notches as I go. RATING: D- [B]Your New Favourite Team vs. The Shooters[/B] A really solid match here. Highspot came through with the frog splash again, pinning Billy Robinson at 9:41. RATING: D+ Johnny promptly challenged Robinson to a match for his title. It wasn't brilliant, but... RATING: E- [B]Stardust Phil Cox vs. Petey Barnes[/B] Strangely, the amount of flying our cards are starting to contain doesn't seem to be bugging the fans. Have to talk to Sammy again in a while. Petey got the pinfall off a snap suplex at 11:54. RATING: D- [B]Merle O'Curle vs. British Samurai in a 30-minute Iron Man match[/B] Oh, yeah. Best match yet. Sammy DDT'd Merle and finally got the pin around the twentieth minute. Merle made him tap to a figure-four with five minutes left on the clock and then they stepped up the pace. The crowd were going mental, insofar as 32 people can go mental, but Sammy's armbar didn't persuade Merle to tap in time. RATING: B- Really solid performance this time. I managed to forget the match I'd promised K'Lee and Walter, but the crowd still loved our best show to date. OVERALL: C-

[Phantom Stranger]

Stardust is asking for an easier schedule now. Don, fortunately, has stopped. Critico, on the other hand, has started shifting more toward a traditional wrestling style – weird, but I can live with it. The networks are headhunting. We're not ready for that yet, though. ...And I think there's something in the water; three new promotions opened Saturday. Two of 'em European. No new competition yet, ultimately.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 1 February Norman Blue Athletic Centre 26 in attendance Well, I guess it's time to get used to Norman Blue. For a while, anyway. Critico rolled through Velocidad, Phil Cox, and the Gato in a four-way dark dance, winning with the Critical Mass to Velocidad. They're getting there. RATING: D- Johnny Highspot vs. Billy Robinson for the #1 Contendership in a two out of three falls match. Solid, though not brilliant. On the other hand, I really hadn't expected Billy to bust out a 'rana, but he did to secure the first fall, three minutes in. We sold it as Johnny's surprise keeping him down as much as anything else. Johnny came back with a frog splash at the eight minute mark to even the score and things got serious. With the fifteen minute time limit in sight, Johnny hit a tornado DDT out of the corner and hooked the ropes for the leverage to keep Billy down and win the title. RATING: D Absolutely Flawless vs. Future X Again, I believe in our tag division. Eric Future redeemed himself after losing his last outing; Lance ate a Future Shock and took the pin. RATING: D- Merle O'Curle vs. Don Henderson in an Ultimate Submission bout Thirty minutes of technical wizkiddery. I'm not about to punch high flying all the way to the top, not just yet. And damn, these two work well together; that kind of chemistry is worth keeping in mind. Merle worked on Don's lower back all match, winning the first fall with an elevated Boston crab, but Don came back with a front facelock takedown and evened the score eighteen minutes in before Merle surprised us all, busting out a high knee to the back and locking in a camel clutch almost as he landed. Don gave up, and with six minutes on the clock came on with a vengeance With a minute to go he hooked in a dragon sleeper and Peaches and I started selling his shot at evening the score, but in the last thirty seconds Merle worked a leg back and tripped him, twisting it into the scorpion deathlock and going three falls to one just before the bell rang. Things I learned this match: Justin Blackham needs coaching on submission hold announcing. It just sounded awkward. RATING: C+ Our best show yet, then. This should get more tickets sold, with any luck at all... 26 fans seems bad until you realise 21CW hosted their big monthly supercard tonight, too. OVERALL: C

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday, Week 2 February Norman Blue Athletic Centre 28 in attendance ...bloody typical. Dragon can't make it and I made the mistake of hyping a match he'd be in on our YouTube channel. Can't be helped, I guess, just need to remember not to do that again. In the dark, Petey went over Critico in just under ten minutes. Good solid opening work. RATING: D+ [B]British Samurai vs. Merle O'Curle[/B] A casualty of the fifteen minute time limit. When the bell rang, Merle had Sammy in a figure-four and Sammy had Merle in a front sleeper. Where they got that from I have no idea. Good match, though. RATING: C+ [B]Don Henderson vs. Johnny Highspot for the #1 Contendership[/B] And I think the fans expected this one to go the distance, too, but around the twelve minute mark Johnny drilled Don into the mat with a lovely brainbuster and followed it up with a frog splash to get the win in 12:33. Don damn near got the win on several occasions, though. RATING: D [B]Walter Morgan vs. Billy Robinson[/B] ...Gaaaah. These two are better than this! Badly put together and it ran too long for Walter to keep up with. At 25:53 the Capital City Crucifix made him tap. Horrible main event. Killed our momentum dead. Petey and Critico did better, for God's sake! RATING: E+ And yet... judging by the fans' reactions as they filed out (which didn't take long to judge, granted) and by the comments on our forum off the 'Net feed, this was better than they expected. Word of mouth is positive. Dammit, Sammy, you should've started trying to turn this around a long time ago; this should NOT be enough to make us look better. OVERALL: D-

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 3 February Norman Blue Athletic Centre 29 in attendance Once again the flyers danced in the dark. Critico pinned Velocidad with a Critical Mass despite Stardust's best efforts. Not sure who the weak link is. RATING: D- [B]Johnny Highspot vs. Eric Future for the #1 Contendership[/B] Leave it to me to find the awkward chemistry and book them a time limit draw. It could've been a lot worse, but this match was not all it should be. RATING: D- [B]Billy Robinson vs. K'Lee Hawkins[/B] Yeah, I don't really know what to do with Billy yet, but I enjoy him strutting his stuff. K'Lee went over with his crossface chickenwing at 13:44. Robinson seems to be showing the Geordie how to slug it out, though – which I didn't expect. By the end of it K'Lee was using Robinson-style knee strikes. RATING: D+ [B]Merle O'Curle vs UK Dragon for the ROF Championship in a two out of three falls match[/B] Yeah, that's the stuff. Both of these guys looked indestructible – if anything, a little too indestructible, but them's the breaks. Dragon hit an enzuigiri to score the pin after twelve minutes and Merle responded by destroying his leg, forcing him to tap at the twenty-two minute mark with his figure-four. Three minutes later, Dragon caught him with a surprise small package and hooked the ropes to secure the pin and retain the belt. RATING: B- A sloppy show, in a lot of ways, but the main event made up for it all. RATING: C And the following night I found out we actually got a better reaction than UKW. Should put a smile on Sammy's face.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next show's card: El Critico vs. Stardust Phil Cox Merle O'Curle vs. Don Henderson Johnny Highspot vs. Velocidad for the ROF #1 Contendership UK Dragon vs. Billy Robinson in a 30 minute iron man match for the ROF Championship

[Marcel Fromage]

[B]El Critico [/B]vs. Stardust Phil Cox [B]Merle O'Curle [/B]vs. Don Henderson [B]Johnny Highspot [/B]vs. Velocidad for the ROF #1 Contendership [B]UK Dragon [/B]vs. Billy Robinson in a 30 minute iron man match for the ROF Championship Hmm, all down the left. But I think Stardust is probably the weak link you were talking about. He just has no technical skills, and even the flyers need a modicum of technique in ROF. O'Curle is better than Henderson, although I do like Don. I used to tag them together in 2005 games as Gaelic Cross! I don't see Velocidad winning the belt so early into Highspot's reign. And Robinson isn't on Dragon's level. Robinson is a good wrestler, but he can't sell and has poor psychology. This means he'll put on good matches with good workers, but can't carry a match and this is also why his match with Morgan a couple of weeks back wasn't so great.

[Phantom Stranger]

In a lot of ways, this is the advantage of being a month or so ahead - I can look at what's happened and see whether your logic follows mine. That said, I looked at this card after I made the decision to make this the first one where I'd offer a chance to predict, and I realised it's probably the easiest set of predictions I've got. Ah, well... --- Friday Week 4 February Norman Blue Athletic Centre (53 predicted) 59 in attendance Dark match time for Critico and Stardust, once again. Time limit draw to see how they'd hang. And... not great. These two don't mesh well at all, though I guess that could just've been that Phil was off his game tonight. Glad I kept this dark. RATING: D- [B]Merle O'Curle vs. Don Henderson[/B] You can't lock in a time limit for your entire undercard and run regular not-quite-in-time finishes without actually playing with it. Merle's Celtic Wreath made Don tap... at 14:59. Perfect timing by the guys in the ring, helped by their chemistry together. Justin, on the other hand, does not have perfect timing when it comes to these guys and submissions. I may have to see what can be changed about that. Fans got into it, though. RATING: C+ [B]Johnny Highspot vs. Velocidad for the #1 Contendership[/B] I've been battling Johnny against the midcard to keep them active and pump up the Contendership belt. It was time to tweak that and give him an easier victory, to help pump Johnny up. He put Velocidad away with a frog splash at 9:35. So-so match. RATING: D [B]UK Dragon vs. Billy Robinson in a 30 minute iron man match for the ROF Championship[/B] A reward to Billy for sterling service to date; a main event title shot. This... should have been better. Dragon scored two early pinfalls off his enzuigiri and a spear from the top rope; when he went for a tornado DDT Billy adjusted during the spin and reversed it into a double underhook bomb and pulled a point back. The final ten minutes were dominated by Billy pulling out every pinning combination in the book and not quite getting three, before one of them was countered into a northern lights suplex. That got three and Dragon won out three-one. RATING: D+ We had double our last crowd and change. I figure I'm doing something right. Thank God for Merle and Don; this was another very solid show, overall. OVERALL: C-

[Marcel Fromage]

[QUOTE=Phantom Stranger;298076]In a lot of ways, this is the advantage of being a month or so ahead - I can look at what's happened and see whether your logic follows mine. That said, I looked at this card after I made the decision to make this the first one where I'd offer a chance to predict, and I realised it's probably the easiest set of predictions I've got. Ah, well... [/QUOTE] I always stay a few months ahead in my diary, mainly because I can't post the shows as quickly as I play them in the format I use. But it is interesting finding out what others think of the wrestlers and where they're headed. But being quite a bit ahead, it never really influences my decisions. Predictions-wise, I've always found ROF difficult. Because of the product, I tend to have the better wrestlers win. Once people figure out who those better wrestlers are, it tends to be quite easy to predict it. But you've already thrown in a couple of surprises (to me) in the previous shows. Keep it up.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next show: Velocidad vs. Jonni Lowlife British Samurai vs. K'Lee Hawkins Johnny Highspot vs. Stardust Phil Cox for the #1 Contendership UK Dragon vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;298084] Predictions-wise, I've always found ROF difficult. Because of the product, I tend to have the better wrestlers win. Once people figure out who those better wrestlers are, it tends to be quite easy to predict it. But you've already thrown in a couple of surprises (to me) in the previous shows. Keep it up.[/QUOTE] I'm much the same, but I also have soft spots for certain wrestlers (much as I do in real life) and am likely to give them the nod when it's questionable. Plus there's the destiny factor... And... Well, I know I'll never give anyone as well-executed a version of the Goldberg push as Scapino did Tim Westybrook in his old SWF dynasty, so I do tend to punctuate winning streaks with losses. (Or draws, given I'm running the time limit gimmick).

[A_Wrestling_GOD]

i have always had a place in me heart for ROF, which has been made bigger by Marcel Fromage's Diary i'd like to see what you going to do here and i look forward to what is on it's way

[chris caulfield]

Velocidad vs. [B]Jonni Lowlife[/B] [B]British Samurai [/B]vs. K'Lee Hawkins [B]Johnny Highspot [/B]vs. Stardust Phil Cox for the #1 Contendership [B]UK Dragon[/B] vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship

[Marcel Fromage]

Velocidad vs. [B]Jonni Lowlife[/B] [B]British Samurai [/B]vs. K'Lee Hawkins [B]Johnny Highspot [/B]vs. Stardust Phil Cox for the #1 Contendership [B]UK Dragon [/B]vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship I'll agree with Chris there. O'Curle could take the main title if your shows conflict with Dragon's international commitments. But I'll stick with Dragon for now. I think O'Curle will get it off him at some point though.

[theunholyicon]

[B]Velocidad[/B] vs. Jonni Lowlife British Samurai vs. [B]K'Lee Hawkins[/B] Johnny Highspot vs. [B]Stardust Phil Cox[/B] for the #1 Contendership [B]UK Dragon[/B] vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 1 March Norman Blue Athletic Centre 58 in attendance It's good to have these audience figures after the last little while. Velocidad went back into the dark and met up with Jonni Lowlife. Jonni got the win in 7:50 after hitting a Low Down. Strange... Donny scripted 'em carefully but it still didn't flow. RATING: D- [B]British Samurai vs. K'Lee Hawkins[/B] Eh. Not bad, not great. It'll do. Around the 11:56 mark K'Lee's crossface chickenwing forced Sammy to tap. RATING: D [B] Johnny Highspot vs. Stardust Phil Cox for the #1 Contendership[/B] Wow. Remember I wondered a while back who my weak link is in the dark matches? Even handing Phil a title shot won't make him step up his game. No more candy for him. Johnny went over with a frog splash at 14:35. RATING: D- [B]Merle O'Curle vs. UK Dragon for the ROF Championship[/B] Merle deserved this. Once again we see a total lack of willingness to sell, but it was still a very solid match that ended with Dragon tapping to the Celtic Wreath at 26:35. We have a new champion. RATING: C+ And so here we go again, still bettering the company's rep at every step. I'm... more than mildly surprised. RATING: C- Turned in a better show than UCR again. Which is ridiculous; they have a potentially awesome roster. Did better than 21CW, too. And MOSC. So it's just UKW putting out better shows, and yet we're bottom of the pack.

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;298150] I'll agree with Chris there. O'Curle could take the main title if your shows conflict with Dragon's international commitments. But I'll stick with Dragon for now. I think O'Curle will get it off him at some point though.[/QUOTE] On this note... the plot is set to thicken on this. For the moment, though, it's not Dragon's commitments but the fact that at this point he was registering high fatigue, and throttling back his appearances here was all I could do.