Phantom Stranger Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Next week: Brothers Grim vs. Amo del Gato & Velocidad Young Blood vs. Low Lives for the Tag Titles Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Don Henderson for the Heritage Championship Joey Beauchamp vs. British Samurai for the ROF Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 [B]Brothers Grim[/B] vs. Amo del Gato & Velocidad [B]Young Blood [/B]vs. Low Lives for the Tag Titles [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Don Henderson for the Heritage Championship [B]Joey Beauchamp [/B]vs. British Samurai for the ROF Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Tuesday Week 2 September The Paddington Club 284 in attendance A southern attendance record for this show. Let's hope the results deserve that... Our dark bout this week; the Gauges take on Amo del Gato and Velocidad. It was about as good as the young luchadors were capable of, led by the Gauges, and not a bad little match at all – and Amo del Gato seemed to be learning as he worked. I guess that's the compensation for feeling the pain of the Proton Lock applied. RATING: D [B]Young Blood vs. Low Lives for the Tag Titles[/B] A match that looked in the early going likely to run to the time limit... and then Critico appeared atop the ramp and Bandito got jumpy, distracted, and ultimately, a second too late to save Jonni from the pin that followed the Flash and Flare. Davis and Gino scrape another defence in near record time. RATING: C [B] Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Don Henderson for the Heritage Championship[/B] Don appears to have morphed into his new goldhunter role perfectly. He doesn't care where or how he wins gold, he just wants to hold it. A fantastic fight here that just kept on going, both men totally focused, and which ended with Brandon stoically enduring the Scottish Deathlock until the timer elapsed. RATING: C [B]Joey Beauchamp vs. British Samurai for the ROF Championship[/B] Holy crap. Thirty one minutes and fifty one seconds to decide, this took. One fall. One freakin' fall. No let up. No limits. No give. No exhaustion. Thirty one minutes and fifty one seconds. In which Sammy took the time to show off new, snappier dropkicks and top rope work. This was the definition of intensity. It was hard fought all the way; no let up, barely anything that looked like a rest hold rather than a legitimate submission, virtually no pauses for breath. Joey's win came from a Breeze Block, but it wasn't the first. It wasn't even the fifth. Sammy wouldn't die and nor would Joey. Both men looked unstoppable here, and the result was excellent. RATING: C+ We've had better cards, but seldom so consistent. A complaint was made that Brandon outstayed his welcome, which strikes me as pretty ludicrous; still, there you go. Evidently we have yet to make people buy him as a competitor who can hang with Don to the time limit. What this tells me is that we've sold Don as a fantastic competitor, which can only be good. OVERALL: C Congratulations due this week to NYCW, who, aided in part by Ota's main event feud and Brandon and Steve in their midcard, have made it to the point where they're respected as major players in their region. As a direct result, they've put out feelers to Black Eagle, cementing the CZCW/ROF/NYCW talent triangle further. Bad news follows on the heels of this, however; Davis Wayne Newton has declined to re-sign with us. He's now working for CGC and CZCW, and WLW certainly had feelers out for him earlier. Shame, but what can you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Next up: Low Lives vs. Brothers Grim Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Billy Robinson for the Heritage Championship Young Blood vs. Death from Above for the tag titles Toby Juan Kenobi vs. Fumihiro Ota Joey Beauchamp vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 [B]Low Lives [/B]vs. Brothers Grim [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Billy Robinson for the Heritage Championship [B]Young Blood[/B] vs. Death from Above for the tag titles [B]Toby Juan Kenobi [/B]vs. Fumihiro Ota [B]Joey Beauchamp[/B] vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Tuesday Week 3 September Norman Blue Athletic Centre 300 in attendance The dark match this week was to select new number one contenders to the tag titles – and the Low Lives went up against the Brothers Grim. Wasn't bad at all; eventually, however, the experience of the Low Lives won out; Jonni and Bandito hit a stereo superkick they're calling the Mexican Standoff and Bandito covered for the pin. RATING: C- [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Billy Robinson for the Heritage Championship[/B] Another bout where there really wasn't enough selling, but I felt that didn't actually stop this being a pretty good title match. And at the same time, Billy did teach Brandon a lot, going after that arm – this is likely to be the story for a lot of Brandon's matches, but to be fair he's never quite let himself stop showing that arm damage. So it could do pretty well for us for a while. Eventually the backdrop driver carried the day. RATING: C- [B]Young Blood vs. Death from Above for the tag titles[/B] The Gino and Davis onslaught continues, and a tag team made up of people I like ends up being a job squad. Man, this roster is loaded. Less so soon, I suppose. Not a bad match; as ever, Davis really stood out, which right now is painful. Gino got the pinfall, though, on Velocidad. RATING: C- [B]Toby Juan Kenobi vs. Fumihiro Ota[/B] Another pretty good match here, I felt. Toby and Ota don't have great chemistry together. Their styles don't line up perfectly. And they still go out there and put together a pretty solid match. Toby's winning ways continue; let's hope that this keeps being a good path to have him on. RATING: C [B]Joey Beauchamp vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship[/B] Nothing fancy here. Just the last twenty six minutes of the show and a championship match. AND OH MY GOD. The last time we made the atmosphere this electric for a match it was Merle and Don midway through their series. This was fantastic, particularly with a sellout crowd. Petey spent four minutes rolling out puro slams he'd clearly learned from Brandon, then hit the X Factor and finished it with the Future Shock – and Joey kicked out. Eventually Joey retained with a flying Breeze Block from the top turnbuckle, but not before both men went through hell. RATING: B Yes. I need more shows like this. This was fantastic. OVERALL: C+ ...And, thank God, I managed to resign Davis before WLW came back in to negotiate. What a relief. Davis also tasted tag gold in another promotion this week, claiming the CGC belts with Elmo Benson. For whatever reason, they're going by the moniker Team Rex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Next: Arthur T. Turtle vs. Byron vs. Sergei Kalashnov Young Blood vs. Low Lives for the Tag Titles Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Don Henderson for the Heritage Championship Joey Beauchamp vs. Toby Juan Kenobi for the ROF Championship in a ladder match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 [B]Arthur T. Turtle [/B]vs. Byron vs. Sergei Kalashnov [B]Young Blood [/B]vs. Low Lives for the Tag Titles [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Don Henderson for the Heritage Championship [B]Joey Beauchamp[/B] vs. Toby Juan Kenobi for the ROF Championship in a ladder match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Tuesday Week 4 September The Paddington Club 261 in attendance Arthur T. Turtle, Byron, and Sergei Kalashnov all decorated the dark period this show, in no small part because they all really need to be used more often. It was... a bad match, frankly. Byron and Arthur are both a little stroppy, and to be honest I don't expect Arthur to re-sign. On the other hand, for whatever reason he hasn't been a great deal for me, so I don't mind too much. Byron and Sergei I have higher hopes for, but Byron is more over than Sergei and I see him as having less upside, so with an Eastern Block to pin Byron Sergei begins to redress the situation. RATING: D- [B] Young Blood vs. Low Lives for the Tag Titles[/B] I really, really didn't expect this match to be as good as it was, especially with the restless crowd we had going into it. Some nice back-and-forth tag action, and El Critico's appearance on the ramp this week didn't faze El Bandito, who very deliberately led Jonni in getting the Mexican Standoff on Davis and covering for the pin – and just like that, we have new tag champions. RATING: C [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Don Henderson for the Heritage Championship[/B] Don's obsessive quest to hold gold, any gold, continues this week with a spectacular showing against Brandon. He spurned the conventional wisdom – take out Brandon's arm – and went straight for his legs, systematically destroying the champion's ability to stand. 'After all,' as Steve put it on commentary, 'you take out one arm, you take out the inverted piledriver. You take out his legs, you take out everything.' Nonetheless, Don just couldn't put Brandon away before the timekeeper told us it was too late. RATING: C [B]Joey Beauchamp vs. Toby Juan Kenobi for the ROF Championship in a ladder match[/B] A ladder match; about as far from Joey's last couple of endurance-related defences as you can get, which is deliberate. A Ring of Fire champion has to be able to cope with anything. Petey should produce well in a ladder challenge with the current champ, too, assuming he gets a title shot before Joey loses the belt to someone else. We've become accustomed to stunning spots in ladder matches here in Ring of Fire, and this was no exception; Joey hit the Breeze Block from the top turnbuckle, not into the climbing Toby, but into the ladder itself, sending it – and Toby – tumbling over the top rope. Toby came back by dropping Joey with a Kenobi Kutter over the flat ladder before setting it up again and going for the climb, and Joey had to pull him off by one leg before claiming the prize himself. RATING: C+ Another really consistent, quality show; another good round of reviews. Ring of Fire is on the ascendant, ladies and gentlemen. OVERALL: C+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Beginning October: Steve Flash vs. Jed High Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Sergei Kalashnov for the Heritage Championship Young Blood vs. Fumihiro Ota & El Hombre Biblico Low Lives vs. The Shooters vs. Brothers Grim vs. El Critico & Seiji Jimbo for the tag titles in an elimination match Joey Beauchamp vs. Toby Juan Kenobi vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel Fromage Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Steve Flash vs. [B]Jed High[/B] [I]I'd imagine Flash isn't as over as Jed.[/I] [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Sergei Kalashnov for the Heritage Championship [I]Bulldozer to retain, as I imagine Don will be the one to take the title, unless you want to keep him frustrated. Kalashnov would probably be a good champ.[/I] [B]Young Blood [/B]vs. Fumihiro Ota & El Hombre Biblico [I]I'll go with Young Blood as the safe team. No idea who Biblico is, unless he's a generated Mexican.[/I] [B]Low Lives[/B] vs. The Shooters vs. Brothers Grim vs. El Critico & Seiji Jimbo for the tag titles in an elimination match [I]Too early for them to lose the belts.[/I] [B]Joey Beauchamp [/B]vs. Toby Juan Kenobi vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship [I]Beauchamp is building up a very tidy title reign.[/I] You've been building up a good head of steam on the shows lately. Very good work. I like Beauchamp as champ. Good that you got DWN signed again. You've certainly got a talented roster built up. One suggestion I'd have for the diary is to make the match result a bit clearer - sometimes I read through the write-up and still am figuring out who actually won, if anyone. Not sure how you'd do it, but especially for title change matches a bit more clarity would be useful. I think I'm just impressed that two of us are managing to keep ROF diaries going this long! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 [QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;313762] [B]Young Blood [/B]vs. Fumihiro Ota & El Hombre Biblico [I]I'll go with Young Blood as the safe team. No idea who Biblico is, unless he's a generated Mexican.[/I] [B]Joey Beauchamp [/B]vs. Toby Juan Kenobi vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship [I]Beauchamp is building up a very tidy title reign.[/I] You've been building up a good head of steam on the shows lately. Very good work. I like Beauchamp as champ. Good that you got DWN signed again. You've certainly got a talented roster built up. One suggestion I'd have for the diary is to make the match result a bit clearer - sometimes I read through the write-up and still am figuring out who actually won, if anyone. Not sure how you'd do it, but especially for title change matches a bit more clarity would be useful. I think I'm just impressed that two of us are managing to keep ROF diaries going this long! :)[/QUOTE] Biblico's actually a Brit with a lucha/crassness gimmick (a la Rod 'The God' Todd, back before his revamp) I put in as part of UKW's initial (small) core of workers. He's probably the least useful of the created roster; two years in, nearly, and his highest stat's a C+, with most of them around the D-E mark. (That said, none of them are brilliant. Jack Ketch, of the execution-based stable Death Row, is doing well but that appears to be mostly destiny factor.) For some reason Ota formed a team with him in UKW early and he was someone I could bring in on talent exchange; I was pondering adding him to the roster. And yeah, Beauchamp's been a phenomenon, and at the ratings he pulls he deserves to have this kind of reign at the top. I don't know why - statwise he's not necessarily that far beyond some of the others - but the game seems to like him the way it doesn't like Turtle. Still, here's to many more years each for the Ring, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Tuesday Week 1 October Norman Blue Athletic Centre 300 in attendance Busy, busy, busy show this week, and expensive, but a start to a month with a bang. In the dark I put Steve Flash against Jed High. It was OK and only OK, but Jed needs the time against veterans and I was happy to give it to him. The pair of them battled a full fifteen minutes, halted by the time limit. RATING: D+ [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Sergei Kalashnov for the Heritage Championship[/B] Hey, not bad – and Sergei knows how to run chain sequences, which Brandon needs some help with, so this fulfilled two purposes. Sergei went after Brandon's arm, but even though he's had an extra week without people concentrating on it to recover, Brandon both went to finish the Fresh Prince of Belarus early and opted to use the simpler Backdrop Driver – no doubt wanting to protect the arm further. Fortunately for him, Sergei didn't see it coming and dropped like a stone. RATING: C- [B] Young Blood vs. Fumihiro Ota & El Hombre Biblico[/B] El Hombre, on exchange from UKW, is Ota's tag partner there; former champions versus former champions was the story for this match, and it wasn't bad; Davis, his star on the ascendant, gets the better of the visitor with the Flash and Flare and the pin at 7:45. Mostly this was a test to see whether he was worth bringing in. I'm honestly not sure. RATING: C- [B]Low Lives vs. The Shooters vs. Brothers Grim vs. El Critico & Seiji Jimbo for the tag titles in an elimination match[/B] A real showcase match for the tag division, here, with a continuation of Critico and Bandito's differences burned in – and as Steve remarked, Critico must really be mad at Bandito if he's willing to team with Seiji even in the short term. He went straight for Bandito, too, as the bell rang, and the pair forgot all about their surroundings as Don Henderson and Billy systematically destroyed the Brothers Grim with quick tags and lethal holds, culminating in a new doubleteam assault, a kneedrop onto a figure-four leglock they're calling the We Have to Amputate – at which point Greg tapped fast. Don went straight for Critico's exposed back, dropping him and settling into the Scottish Deathlock, while Billy – and Jonni – both kept El Bandito back from tearing Don off Critico to settle the score, and eventually Critico tapped. And then Bandito exploded; the bout quickly ended with all four men in the ring, with Low Lives' speed keeping them – just about – in th advantage before the Mexican Standoff ended things. RATING: C [B]Joey Beauchamp vs. Toby Juan Kenobi vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship[/B] Poor old Toby; it was the length of this match that ultimately ended up being his undoing, with both other men still firing on all cylinders as exhaustion caught up with him. Petey got the Future Shock, leading the entire crowd to anticipate a title switch before Joey staggered up from his prone position and Breeze Blocked Petey clear over the ropes before pinning Toby clean. Very, very nice main event bout. RATING: B- Doing well again; a steady rise in quality throughout the show, but even the dark match was fairly acceptable. Shows like this have made our reputation, and I think they'll continue to do so. OVERALL: C+ Sergei's given UCR their walking papers now. Not big enough for him. I really didn't mean to kill that promotion, I swear. It's just kind of happened. PGHW have made overtures to both Gauges, which has to be a plus, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 [QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;313762] One suggestion I'd have for the diary is to make the match result a bit clearer - sometimes I read through the write-up and still am figuring out who actually won, if anyone. Not sure how you'd do it, but especially for title change matches a bit more clarity would be useful. [/QUOTE] ...And I meant to comment on this... Yeah, sometimes, to be honest, the result of the match isn't that relevant in my head, as opposed to whatever else Terry's babbling about, and I phrase it badly. Occasionally in posting I've spotted that I failed to state a decision at all. I do need to work on that, but I will be working on it, rest assured... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel Fromage Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 [QUOTE=Phantom Stranger;313770]And yeah, Beauchamp's been a phenomenon, and at the ratings he pulls he deserves to have this kind of reign at the top. I don't know why - statwise he's not necessarily that far beyond some of the others - but the game seems to like him the way it doesn't like Turtle. Still, here's to many more years each for the Ring, eh?[/QUOTE] Yeah, looking forward to many more diary entries! I've encountered that weird stat thing myself. There are wrestlers on my roster who I can't for the life of me figure out why they get better results than others. In my game it's been K'Lee Hawkins, Leo Price and Keith Adams mainly who have struggled - although none are great workers, they should be able to put on better matches than they have done. At the moment results suggest Petey Barnes is putting on better matches than Adam Matravers. And although Petey is a really good worker, his stats aren't at the same level as Matravers, considering my ROF product. I know these little quandaries keeps the game interesting, but I wish I could at least figure out some of the reasoning why! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Next week: Fumihiro Ota vs. Bairei Yasujiro British Samurai vs. Byron The Shooters vs. Death from Above Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Hidekazu for the Heritage Championship Joey Beauchamp vs. Davis Wayne Newton for the ROF Championship in a two out of three falls match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 [QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;313775]Yeah, looking forward to many more diary entries! I've encountered that weird stat thing myself. There are wrestlers on my roster who I can't for the life of me figure out why they get better results than others. In my game it's been K'Lee Hawkins, Leo Price and Keith Adams mainly who have struggled - although none are great workers, they should be able to put on better matches than they have done. At the moment results suggest Petey Barnes is putting on better matches than Adam Matravers. And although Petey is a really good worker, his stats aren't at the same level as Matravers, considering my ROF product. I know these little quandaries keeps the game interesting, but I wish I could at least figure out some of the reasoning why![/QUOTE] Petey's doing that for me, too. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad of it (and from a 'fan' perspective, his rise over the past year and a half has been really fun to 'watch') but it's weird. Arthur and Byron are being... less than they should be. I live in hope that that'll turn around, as I like 'em both. I'm not sure yet but I think Toby may be being a better worker for me than his stats indicate, too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeker Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 [QUOTE=Phantom Stranger;313773]...And I meant to comment on this... Yeah, sometimes, to be honest, the result of the match isn't that relevant in my head, as opposed to whatever else Terry's babbling about, and I phrase it badly. Occasionally in posting I've spotted that I failed to state a decision at all. I do need to work on that, but I will be working on it, rest assured...[/QUOTE] The easiest way might just be to add another line at the end of each match with a... Beauchamp defeated blank n' blank and then give the match rating. Fun diary... great yet amazingly different that Marcel's RoF. Intriguing contrasts make both diaries benefit I think. *** Fumihiro Ota vs. [B]Bairei Yasujiro[/B] - due to Ota being with a rival promotion and the Yasujiro Suplex being seen as legitmately badass. [B]British Samurai[/B] vs. Byron - coz Samurai owns the place... and Byron's underperformed so far. The Shooters vs. [B]Death from Above[/B] - Because I used to play BattleTech and loved that dangerous move... although We Have to Amputate is a great tandem move. [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Hidekazu for the Heritage Championship - I just don't see Hidekazu as the guy to end BBS's run. Joey Beauchamp vs. Davis Wayne Newton for the ROF Championship in a two out of three falls match - Time Limit/Count Out/Non Finish to protect both guys since both men are performing so well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 [QUOTE=Beeker;313780]The easiest way might just be to add another line at the end of each match with a... Beauchamp defeated blank n' blank and then give the match rating. Fun diary... great yet amazingly different that Marcel's RoF. Intriguing contrasts make both diaries benefit I think.[/QUOTE] Oh, true. It's gonna be a question of remembering to do it, more than anything, but we'll see what we can do. (IE, yeah, hopefully.) Marcel's ROF is an inspiration, even as I've taken things in close to an opposite direction - half my original roster is gone for one reason or another, my game's lack of location restrictions means I've ended up with a very different grouping of up and comers - but it has to be said, part of that opposite direction is in response to Marcel's work - why retread what he's already done so well? I find myself rooting for him to do well in the US, though... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Tuesday Week 2 October The Paddington Club 262 in attendance No real chemistry in the dark this week; Fumihiro Ota and Bairei Yasujiro don't mesh too well but can still put together a pretty good match for all that. When this is my expected dark match fare, really, I'm spoiled. It went cheerfully along until Ota suddenly dropped the level-pegging demeanour and unleashed a Ninja Strike. [I]Fumihiro Ota defeated Bairei Yasujiro[/I] RATING: C- [B]British Samurai vs. Byron[/B] Byron should be better than he's been since coming to Ring of Fire. That said, he isn't, and ultimately I have to live with that. He'll fit in fine in the lower regions of the card, though, as little by little the rest of my boys overhaul him. And I might find something to get him rolling before that, anyway. For now he puts on reasonable matches and, while his win-loss record is steadily getting worse, he does have a role to play. Sammy and he put together an interesting contest, speed against experience – simplifying, but hey – which ended when Byron tried for a double axe handle and Sammy caught him, hooked the leg, and sank him with a fisherman's suplex. [I]British Samurai defeated Byron[/I] RATING: C- [B]The Shooters vs. Death from Above[/B] Looks like I might be glad of Byron's performance in the final analysis. Don and Billy needed a win, Velocidad and the Eagle need a little more technical know-how; this unfortunately rapidly became about those objectives rather than the match itself and I think the crowd felt that. Don let the younger men try their luck for a little under ten minutes before the Scottish Deathlock ended things. [I]The Shooters defeated Death from Above when Don Henderson forced Velocidad to tap out.[/I] RATING: D [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Hidekazu for the Heritage Championship[/B] And so we come back to these two, once again. There's a reason for that; as dependable no-notice midcard feuds go, these guys are one of the best on my roster. Hidekazu went for Brandon's arm again, predictably, but got a shock as Brandon began to execute counter-holds with some degree of skill, presumably born of long exposure to the issue. Hidekazu pressed the issue, though, and continued to do damage, but in the end Brandon was able to muster the Backdrop Driver and make his seventh defence a reality. [I]Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Hidekazu[/I] RATING: C [B]Joey Beauchamp vs. Davis Wayne Newton for the ROF Championship in a two out of three falls match[/B] Davis continues to show strong signs of being the future of a promotion – here if we can keep him, but I suspect elsewhere. While Joey arrogantly dominated the early going, Davis started to worry the champ when a Breeze Block turned, partway through the charge, into an STF – but Joey managed to make it to the ropes, picking himself up and then finding his shoulders to the mat as Davis got off the Newton's Cradle successfully and scored the first fall. The fans have been getting more and more behind Davis during his rise through the ranks and have generally shown him warmth even in previous attempts at the ROF Championship, and scoring a fall decisively like that really got the crowd behind him. Joey battled back, going for a Breeze Block only for Davis to vault over him and catch him with a roll up on the return, but the champ reversed the rollup and evened the score. Davis baited Joey into a Breeze Block attempt on the outside, sidestepped and sent the champ shoulder-first into the ring post, locking an armbar on afterward and dragging the champ back into the ring. He proceeded to work over the arm with authority and vigour, but eventually Joey managed to squeak a pinfall out of nowhere with the aid of a handful of tights, and barely retain. [I]Joey Beauchamp defeated Davis Wayne Newton by two pinfalls to one.[/I] RATING: B- Despite the weak central run, a pretty good showing all told. The fans ate it up, word of mouth was great, and internet downloads continue to rise. OVERALL: C+ 21CW have put their main belt on Ivan Ivanoff. I'm not convinced this is wise, but it's Jeff's company, right? And... yeah, sooner or later it was going to happen. After a month or so of main eventing for SOTPBW, Gino Montero rejected my offer to extend his contract not because there were better offers but because there would be. Ah, well – we'll miss you, Gino, I promise you that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Next week: Young Blood vs. Brothers Grim El Bandito vs. El Critico Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Don Henderson vs. Jed High vs. Johnny Highspot for the Heritage Championship Joey Beauchamp vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a Ladder Match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 [B]Young Blood [/B]vs. Brothers Grim [B]El Bandito[/B] vs. El Critico [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Don Henderson vs. Jed High vs. Johnny Highspot for the Heritage Championship [B]Joey Beauchamp[/B] vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a Ladder Match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Tuesday Week 4 October Norman Blue Athletic Centre 300 in attendance Young Blood battled in the dark for possibly the last time, taking on the Brothers Grim. And damn, was it good – good enough I should've had it on the main card. The results sheet calls it a double disqualification, but after all four men progressively lost it we saw two chair shots, one from either side, in a four-man standoff. There was only so much the ref could put up with. And a Ring of Fire crowd popped for chair shots! [I]Young Blood and the Brothers Grim drew by double disqualification[/I] RATING: C+ [B]El Bandito vs. El Critico[/B] Showing once again that this fight is far from over, Bandito and Critico returned to the ring and really set about their job. Both veterans gave it everything they had, using every legal and not outright illegal trick in every book they could get their hands on, but the time limit – and the fans – were the only winners here. Can they really be this evenly matched? [I]El Bandito drew with El Critico when the time limit elapsed[/I] RATING: C+ [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Don Henderson vs. Jed High vs. Johnny Highspot for the Heritage Championship[/B] Ever seen three men all try to assault the same arm simultaneously? Download the show and watch the moments just after the bell rang to start this match. From the off Bulldozer was faced with three men who've held gold in Ring of Fire before and who are more than happy to go all out to hold it again. Jed and Johnny flew about the ring flattening everything; Don slowed anything he could catch to a crawl and Brandon hurled everyone else around. It all hung out here for nearly ten minutes; then, to break up Don's Scottish Deathlock on Jed, Johnny went for the frog splash; Brandon caught him in midair and used his head in the Backdrop Driver to break the submission hold, swiftly pinning Johnny before Don recovered. [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Johnny Highspot, Jed High and Don Henderson when he pinned Johnny Highspot[/B] RATING: C [B]Joey Beauchamp vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a Ladder Match[/B] A stellar week to this point was only due to get better as these two got right down to it. It was, in its way, like watching a shorthand summary of a match; these two know each other – and ladder matches – well enough that both instinctively shied away from the traditional spots. You could almost see them think through a given tactic, realise the logical conclusion, and set out to try something else. In the end Petey, setting up for a Future Shock off the ladder, got countered and Joey threw him down with an inverted suplex before collecting the belt. [I]Joey Beauchamp defeated Petey Barnes by retrieving the belt[/I] RATING: B- That was, quite simply, the best show I've ever overseen. It's impossible not to view this as a major stride forward. OVERALL: B- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Next week: Seiji Jimbo vs. Hidekazu Low Lives vs. the Brothers Grim for the Tag Titles Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Jed High for the Heritage Championship Joey Beauchamp vs. Bairei Yasujiro for the ROF Championship in a 30 minute iron man match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris caulfield Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 [B]Seiji Jimbo [/B]vs. Hidekazu [B]Low Lives[/B] vs. the Brothers Grim for the Tag Titles [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Jed High for the Heritage Championship [B]Joey Beauchamp [/B]vs. Bairei Yasujiro for the ROF Championship in a 30 minute iron man match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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