Phantom Stranger Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 [QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;406090]You have Jeff Amazon on a developmental?! Are you seeing something I'm not there?!?![/QUOTE] CPW do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 ROF: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 1 January Middlesbrough Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 1.34 Awkward first match in the dark – Huntress Makiko locked up with Jaime Quine and got the narrow win, but again, there's just not a lot of traction to the womens' undercard yet. Huntress Makiko defeated Jaime Quine by pinfall RATING: C The next dark match was a bit better, however, seeing The Disrespected score a win over Dos Phoenix following a Kitoaji Lariat to Phoenix II. Nice enough stuff thus far; these four just need to be able to turn the heat up a little higher for the crowd to love them. The Disrespected defeated Dos Phoenix when Chojiro Kitoaji pinned Phoenix II RATING: C+ Ernest Youngman vs. JD Morgan vs. Ruud van Anger All we managed here was to maintain that quality, but with Ruud and Ernest works in progress and JD on his way out, that's to be expected. JD played the cagey veteran, avoiding Ruud's brawling offence, channeling it into Ernest, and at the opportune moment throwing the Dutchman out of the ring and slapping the Cross Atlantic Stretch onto Ernest for the tap-out. JD Morgan defeated Ernest Youngman and Ruud van Anger when he made Ernest Youngman submit RATING: C+ Don Henderson provided voiceover for a big highlights video next. He spoke about his tag team reigns... being the first ever Heritage Champion and uniting the belts... the USPW World Championship... and the honour that meant the most to him, winning the inaugural Commonwealth Cup. He reminded us that he'd done well in the challenge for the second Cup, too, and said that it almost seemed a shame that he'd be out of the tournament this month... except that it meant he'd get a chance to destroy UK Dragon with the Scottish Deathlock and finally, finally become Ring of Fire Champion. RATING: B Blood Raven vs. Capitao Brasil Jr vs. El Heroe Mexicano vs. El Leon vs. El Mitico Jr vs. Extraordinario Jr Another glorious quarter-hour luchapalooza match, once again seeing almost all of the competitors try new things and polish moves to a greater flare. To the biggest pop of the night thus far, El Leon steamrollered Blood Raven with the Split Second Justice and scored the pin. El Leon defeated Blood Raven, Capitao Brasil Jr, El Heroe Mexicano, El Mitico Jr and Extraordinario Jr when he pinned Blood Raven RATING: B- Davis Wayne Newton cut his own promo, promising that he'd add another trophy to a career already studded with them. For two years he'd been Wrestler of the Year. For two years the Commonwealth Cup had gone to another. This year... this year the Cup would stay with him. Along with that award. RATING: B- Nigel Svensson vs. Billy Robinson vs. Steve Flash for the ROF TV Championship New Year certainly seems to have given me a new zest to get more of our roster exposure. It doesn't hurt that so many of them draw the same paycheque however much they do. Another multi-man match perks the crowd up as these three draw them even deeper into the thrill of the event before the Flash Bang lays out Billy and Nigel's running knee drive bowls over Steve Flash. The TV Champion picks up the pinfall and a win against a legend. Nigel Svensson defeated Billy Robinson and Steve Flash when he pinned Steve Flash RATING: B Davis Wayne Newton vs. Don Henderson Well, the man gunning for the championship meets the man gunning for the Cup. The lockup is intense and the two men just go for it, playing fast and loose with each other, working it with everything they've got, popping the crowd to a ridiculous, resounding level. We knew this was going to be a humdinger of a main event and it is, ending sensationally as Don rolls through the Newton's Cradle and slaps on the Scottish Deathlock to force Davis to tap. Don Henderson defeated Davis Wayne Newton by submission RATING: A* And it looks like that's enough to really help us; the crowd went home happy. The Fighting Fit ratings are looking bad, but it turns out we have competition for our first half hour now, and that's futzing the average. Hopefully on renewal I'll be able to get an extra half hour and see where that leaves us. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 1 January Edgeware Road 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.62 Poor opening dark bout tonight made worse by Wanda being off her game. Still, she and Miss Information didn't stink up the joint too badly, and Wanda needed the win. Wanda Fish defeated Miss Information by pinfall RATING: C- In our second dark match, the Stunners defended their tag straps against Blood & Bling, with me hoping to get some last morsels of use out of Groucho before he leaves us shortly. Oddly, Optimus still called for Blood Raven to eat the pin, but the match itself was strong, a mark of our improving tag division. The Stunners defeated Blood & Bling when Bulldozer Brandon Smith pinned Blood Raven RATING: B- As the show kicked off, Art Reed got in my face, extensively, about the advertised main event tag tonight. I gave fairly well in turn, insisting that even though no one else in the match worked for UKW, he couldn't expect his contract with us to permit him just to wrestle UKW men. It went down... badly for Art, well for me; I'm still not that over, but if I'm to be useful interviewing folks in future, I need to get over. RATING: D Billy Robinson vs. British Samurai Fantastic stuff, with their chemistry really coming out in full flow to help Billy to one of his best ever matches. At the moment, Billy's someone else I have my eye on for that edge-of-the-main-event position; to help position him for that, accordingly, he manages to go the distance against Sammy, the time limit and an unwillingness on both parts to really sell being the only issues here. Billy Robinson drew with British Samurai when the time limit elapsed RATING: A East and West vs. Extraordinary Men vs. Dos Phoenix Good stuff again from the tag division, with the TV time going to the teams who'll be continuing. A good solid match saw real improvements from East and West as well as a flamboyant victory from Extraordinary Men when they got the Mexican Standoff on Phoenix III. I enjoyed this... Extraordinary Men defeated Dos Phoenix and East and West when Extraordinario Jr pinned Phoenix III RATING: B- More hype for the championship match at the PPV; Dragon did the voiceover this time, discussing what the title means to him and how deeply he is determined to keep it. RATING: B+ Nigel Svensson vs. Edward Cornell for the ROF TV Championship Nigel's timing is better than it was, I think. Another of our youngsters developing before our eyes, and he scores the win over Edward with another vicious running knee drive. This is going well; admittedly; Edward still needs work before pushing above this threshold, but I think if he's given the midcard belt he'll rapidly get too popular to hold it without getting good enough for the next level. To his credit, he didn't complain about taking the loss. Nigel Svensson defeated Edward Cornell by pinfall RATING: B- Buff Martinez vs. Matthew Gauge Another hard-fought battle, and – in a rarity for us – a second time-limit draw on the same night. Buff's getting better, too, and this was a joy to watch, stepping our game back up at exactly the right time. Buff Martinez drew with Matthew Gauge when the time limit elapsed RATING: A Buff and Matthew shake hands following the match to a medium pop. RATING: C+ Don Henderson & Art Reed vs. Davis Wayne Newton & UK Dragon Well, despite the fact Davis and Dragon don't function well as a team, this main event tag was glorious – easily the best tag match Ring of Fire has ever staged. Don and Dragon both did their best, but in the end it was Art having little enthusiasm for the match that tipped the scales and allowed Davis to score a pinfall out of nowhere. Davis Wayne Newton & UK Dragon defeated Don Henderson & Art Reed when Davis Wayne Newton pinned Art Reed RATING: A* Another damn good show, all told. I'd actually kinda hoped the main event tag would water things down; I do want Fighting Fit to be the primary show. Instead, we broke our prior ratings record wide open. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 ROF: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 2 January Middlesbrough Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 1.38 Well, our first dark match proves that Jonni Lowlife still can't call a bout. We put him up against KC Glenn with the younger man getting the win, but it was pretty damn weak. Of the original crew still on my books, I'd say Lowlife's the weakest. Nothing much I can do about that but keep on plugging at it, though, especially as he is still improving. KC Glenn defeated Jonni Lowlife by pinfall RATING: C- Our second dark match was much better, and got the crowd into the mood before we actually started the show. Nate Johnson locked up with Steve Flash and they put on something of a doozy before the Flash Bang ended things in the veteran's favour. Steve Flash defeated Nate Johnson by pinfall RATING: B- The show proper started out with footage 'shot earlier in the day' of Joey Beauchamp working against Wade Orson (borrowed from CPW for the purpose) and, basically, utterly utterly destroying him with move after move, Wade getting in no offence, while I interviewed Joey from ringside about his plans for the next few months, with the former champ giving optimistic answers while utterly – and casually – demolishing Wade. Which is fine, as when I bring Wade in properly, he won't be easily recognised. RATING: C+ Art Reed vs. El Mitico Jr To be truthful, I'd expected this to be better. Still, for the opening match of a show, it's OK. Art continues his crusade against our UKW contingent with ten minutes dedicated to overcoming El Mitico Jr and gets a worthwhile pop out of it, even if nothing great – everyone knew Mitico couldn't be the one to end Reed's streak. Art Reed defeated El Mitico Jr by pinfall RATING: C+ Daniel Black Francis vs. Edward Cornell A sure sign of how far both these men have come since they signed up, what with this being enjoyable despite neither man really being known for calling matches. We kept it just within Daniel's tolerance for exhaustion and gave Cornell the win with a floatover DDT from the top turnbuckle; pretty sweet. RATING: B- We then ran a lengthy segment cutting together Don's and Dragon's greatest hits as PPV hype. My God, the pop for a video... RATING: B+ Nigel Svensson vs. Extraordinario Jr for the ROF TV Championship Wow. It was less than ten minutes, but if anything this was even better than their first clash; Nigel's adding some lucha-influenced elements into his skillset and as a result both men's chemistry was enhanced. Nigel picked up the win with that hyper extension arm lock of his to the biggest pop/disappointment of the night thus far. Both these guys have fans. RATING: A* Buff Martinez vs. Matthew Gauge I'd debated exchanging this match with the TV bout in the order and decided at the last moment not to. In all honesty, I was wrong. This was good, all in all, but nowhere near what preceded it. Still, Buff needs irregular wins, and he got one here. Buff Martinez defeated Matthew Gauge RATING: B Joey Beauchamp vs. UK Dragon Fortunately, this match could stand up against Nigel/Extraordinario. Beautiful stuff that was actually marginally hindered when they left Danny and Matthew behind in a number of hold/counterhold sequences. It went nearly twenty minutes before a Dragon Drop out of nowhere scored the three count, though Joey popped up immediately afterward, looking irate, clearly down only barely long enough. UK Dragon defeated Joey Beauchamp RATING: A* And with that, the show was over, and what a show it was – I'm definitely looking forward to the development this will yield. I can't wait for Hunted's season to end – it's killing the first half-hour of our show, which is dragging our overall rating down significantly. I'd be looking at around 1.75 based off the second two half-hours... OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 2 January Edgeware Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.68 Very shoddy dark bout first with Huntress Makiko against Nadia Snow. Sadly, Nadia still needs a lot of work, but there's time. Makiko gets the win. Huntress Makiko defeated Nadia Snow by pinfall RATING: D+ Our second womens' match? Much better, as Wanda overcomes Jaime Quine smoothly. The crowd were actually psyched going into the show now... Wanda Fish defeated Jaime Quine by pinfall RATING: B- Dos Phoenix vs. Los Leyendas Unfortunately we appear to have lost that pep with this opening match. I guess Ultimate Phoenix still isn't fully recovered from injury yet, and as such the reception isn't great. But Los Leyendas start out well, both Leyendas men appearing to have learned something from their opponents and El Leon scoring a fall on Phoenix III with the Tooth and Claw. Weak, but we'll get there in time, I'm sure. Los Leyendas defeated Dos Phoenix when El Leon pinned Phoenix III RATING: C- Following that, Davis and I ran an interview where he promises he'll walk away with the Commonwealth Cup. Recent interview segments have definitely been helping my reaction, but I think this mostly needs attributing to Davis. RATING: B- Nigel Svensson vs. Black Eagle vs. Extraordinario Jr vs. SK Walker for the ROF TV Championship More good stuff here; Walker continues to improve and Nigel and Extraordinario single each other out for much of the battle. Eventually, infuriated at being ignored, Walker spins Extraordinario around and drops him with the Kessel Run, whereupon Eagle takes Walker out with an innovative New Jersey Turnpike seated senton variant, and Svensson levels Eagle with the running knee drive to pin him. Nigel Svensson defeated Black Eagle, Extraordinario Jr and SK Walker when he pinned Black Eagle RATING: B- Billy Robinson vs. Ernest Youngman ...Well. I didn't expect this to be as good as it was. Both these guys have evidently picked up a lot on the house show circuit, and given fifteen minutes this was streets ahead of their last clash. Billy gets the win, but Ernest looks better than he ever has before. Billy Robinson defeated Ernest Youngman by submission RATING: B+ Joss Thompson vs. Matthew Gauge Fantastic stuff. Helps that Joss is still improving with pretty much every match, but this was just a sensational twenty minutes during which neither man quite had the edge. For the last five minutes the crowd were consistently on their feet, however, and with good reason; this was fantastic. Joss Thompson drew with Matthew Gauge when the time limit elapsed. RATING: A* Another good solid hype video for Dragon and Don to continue our PPV build. After all, as yet we can't sell it on any other match. RATING: B Don Henderson vs. Hugh de Aske And a triumphant main event in which the challenger schools Hugh. It's a brilliant match, easily the equal of Joss and Matthew, and Don picks up the win – but it takes him thirty-two minutes, allowing the announce team to play up the question of whether he'll get so long against the main who beat Joey in just over twenty. Don Henderson defeated Hugh de Aske by submission RATING: A* Despite the worrisome tag match, a great show I'm more than happy with. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 It's time once again for the Commonwealth Cup. Let's break this down for predictions. For those of you who don't know the Cup is a sixteen-man elimination tourney held over three TV shows and a PPV. The extra half-hour on European Showcase meant we got a couple of non-dark extra matches on that show, but otherwise, it's straight Commonwealth Cup through Week 3 and Tuesday of Week 4. Prior winners of the Cup are Petey Barnes and Don Henderson; I believe this is actually the biggest regular tournament in Cornellverse diaries, but could be wrong. I'm gonna give you the initial sixteen-man lineup and the non-Cup matches. There are also two identities to guess; the new 'Seraphym' - not a returning Faust, but debuting their real identity on the PPV - and his opponent at the PPV. Good luck, anyone trying their prediction luck... Fighting Fit Week 3: The Stunners vs. East and West Daniel Black Francis vs. Seraphym Match A: JD Morgan vs. Steve Flash Match B: Art Reed vs. Joss Thompson Match C: British Samurai vs. Edward Cornell Match D: Davis Wayne Newton vs. Hugh de Aske European Showcase Week 3: The Disrespected vs. Extraordinary Men Kristabel Plum vs. Wanda Fish Black Eagle vs. Seraphym Nigel Svensson vs. Nate Johnson for the ROF TV Championship Match E: Billy Robinson vs. Dean Daniels Match F: Joey Beauchamp vs. Matthew Gauge Match G: Chojiro Kitoaji vs. SK Walker Match H: Buff Martinez vs. Mario Heroic Fighting Fit Week 4: Daniel Black Francis vs. El Mitico Jr KC Glenn vs. Loser H Quarter-Final 1: Winner A vs. Winner B Quarter-Final 2: Winner C vs. Winner D Quarter-Final 3: Winner E vs. Winner F Quarter-Final 4: Winner G vs. Winner H PPV: Cherry Bomb vs. Kristabel Plum Loser E vs. Ruud van Anger ??? vs. Seraphym Semi-Final Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 Semi-Final: Winner 3 vs. Winner 4 Final UK Dragon vs. Don Henderson for the ROF Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 ROF: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 3 January Hall Green Cricket Club 2000 in attendance RATING: 1.37 Lovely tag match opened the dark period, with the Stunners defending against East and West. Would've been longer and on the main card except for the Cup qualifier rounds. Still, I'll take this, especially as everyone is showing improvement. Eagle made the pin on Nichiren to retain. The Stunners defeated East and West by pinfall RATING: B- Daniel Black Francis vs. Seraphym The mask we used to trial Faust a couple of years ago is broken back out tonight for another signing I don't want to identify ahead of time. He'll make his official debut at the PPV. He loses here to Daniel, but in doing so helps Daniel to a very good match before tapping to the Rasta Lock. Daniel Black Francis defeated Seraphym by submission RATING: B- Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: JD Morgan vs. Steve Flash Good solid work keeps the crowd very happy despite Morgan running out of gas toward the end. The Flash Bang closes off the seventeenth minute with a win for Steve. Most enjoyable. Steve Flash defeated JD Morgan by pinfall RATING: B- Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: Art Reed vs. Joss Thompson Good solid work by both men. It's over nineteen minutes before the Dark Matter gives Art the deciding pinfall, but the crowd loved all nineteen. Art Reed defeated Joss Thompson by pinfall RATING: A Art and I then cut an interview where he promises to go all the way and use the champion's prerogative to ensure he'll be able to drive the UKW boys out of ROF. Much better received than our argument a couple weeks back. RATING: C+ Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: British Samurai vs. Edward Cornell Another good little contest here shows both men coming on strong, with Edward really tightening up his game in face of the veteran. And it's Edward, and the Rough Ride, that score the pinfall and advance. Edward Cornell defeated British Samurai RATING: B We re-ran the Don/Dragon hype video next to another strong reception. RATING: B+ Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: Davis Wayne Newton vs. Hugh de Aske Beautiful stuff as we expect from these two, and this again almost went the distance. For all the hype Davis received going into this, however, he takes the fall when the Skull and Crossbones puts him down. Hugh de Aske defeated Davis Wayne Newton by pinfall RATING: A* And there we go; a very, very sweet show that pepped the crowd more than a little, and probably did the same to our fanbase. And this Seraphym looks to be a success. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 3 January Middlesbrough Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.73 The opening dark tag here is another enjoyable contest, with The Disrespected triumphing narrowly over Extraordinary Men while both Disrespected show significant development. The Disrespected defeated Extraordinary Men when Chojiro Kitoaji pinned Extraordinario Jr RATING: B- This was followed by our best yet womens match (it WOULD be in the dark, wouldn't it?) in which Kristabel Plum narrowly retains her title against Wanda Fish. Great stuff. Kristabel Plum defeated Wanda Fish by pinfall RATING: B Black Eagle vs. Seraphym This contest, the first on TV, showed that Seraphym's good showing thus far likely isn't a fluke. It helped that the two really had the kind of chemistry that overcomes differing styles, though, and he seemed to help Eagle by the end of an armdrag exchange with his technical transitions. Good stuff, and Eagle deserved the win. Black Eagle defeated Seraphym by pinfall RATING: B- Nigel Svensson vs. Nate Johnson for the ROF TV Championship A good close-fought contest gets us back on track and pops the crowd nicely for Nigel's running knee as he retains again. Quietly happy with the TV title's record thus far, if I'm honest. Nigel Svensson defeated Nate Johnson by pinfall RATING: B- Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: Billy Robinson vs. Dean Daniels Dean's recently left CPW behind, and accordingly I have no good reason to push him for their sake. He's a worthy talent in his own right but here Billy continues his quiet run of success, forcing Dean to tap in a great bout. Billy Robinson defeated Dean Daniels by submission RATING: B+ Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: Joey Beauchamp vs. Matthew Gauge Good heavens, Billy and Dean outdid them! It was good enough stuff that I don't regret it, but it didn't light up the Hall. Joey scores the fall here to the satisfaction of many. Joey Beauchamp defeated Matthew Gauge by pinfall RATING: B Joey and I then walk through yet another interview where the interviewee pledges success in his Cup challenge. RATING: C Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: Chojiro Kitoaji vs. SK Walker These two also pick up the pace from Joey and Matthew. Not sure, accordingly, what happened, but you live with these things. Chojiro put together a hell of a fight, but the Kessel Run finished things in the end. SK Walker defeated Chojiro Kitoaji by pinfall RATING: B+ Commonwealth Cup Qualifier: Buff Martinez vs. Mario Heroic I knew this one would save the night, mind. Great stuff, and Buff looks like a star as he advances. Buff Martinez defeated Mario Heroic by pinfall RATING: A* We closed the show out with a hastily-edited-looking hype video for everyone remaining in the Cup. RATING: C Good enough for me to be happy with, definitely. I enjoyed tonight... OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 ROF: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 4 January Euston Road 10000 in attendance RATING: 1.36 HOLY LIVING CRAP. We sold out Euston Road. Bad chemistry dogged our opening dark bout, but Daniel Black Francis and El Mitico Jr still put on something... worthy of its dark time, if no better. DBF continues a recent run of accidental form, putting the luchador away. Daniel Black Francis defeated El Mitico Jr by pinfall RATING: C+ KC Glenn was up next, doing battle with Mario Heroic, and this match was that little bit better – perhaps not greatly so, but enough that the crowd were buoyed up going into the show proper. Mario regains momentum by scoring the fall over KC. Mario Heroic defeated KC Glenn by pinfall RATING: B- The show kicked off with a video package highlighting the Commonwealth Cup final eight. Pops at some points, disinterest at others. RATING: C Commonwealth Cup Quarter-Final: Art Reed vs. Steve Flash Bad chemistry here, sadly, but we played that off as Art not wanting to wrestle a non-UKW man. For a match with that chemistry problem they did OK, with Art scoring the fall to advance after seventeen minutes and change. Should've been better nonetheless. Art Reed defeated Steve Flash by pinfall RATING: C+ Commonwealth Cup Quarter-Final: Edward Cornell vs. Hugh de Aske Much, much better, and further proof that Edward and Hugh are developing. This match got the crowd jumping after our lacklustre start, and Hugh got a surprisingly big pop for the Cut-Throat Driver and subsequent three count. Hugh de Aske defeated Edward Cornell by pinfall RATING: B+ Commonwealth Cup Quarter-Final: Billy Robinson vs. Joey Beauchamp I'd like to take a moment to say that I'm really proud of Billy's form over the past seven or eight months, as he's come along significantly. We had two very distinct styles in play here, but the match was rollicking good fun and maintained the momentum of the prior bout all the way to the Breeze Block. There was only one problem; as he hit the Block, Joey stumbled. I didn't know it at the time – stuck behind my desk – but Joey had sprained his ankle here. Joey Beauchamp defeated Billy Robinson by pinfall RATIING: B+ Commonwealth Cup Quarter-Final: Buff Martinez vs. SK Walker Annnd we peak right on time. Buff and Walker put on an absolute humdinger of a match that blows away anything Walker's done prior to this. They kept fans guessing all the way to the time limit draw, and while neither of them go further in the Cup, both of them should rest assured that I'll remember these sterling performances. RATING: A* We closed the broadcast with a final video featuring Dragon and Don, incorporating the voiceovers both men had provided. A last-minute buyrate pop. RATING: B+ Damn fine work. Now to ensure it doesn't overshadow the PPV. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 ROF: Commonwealth Cup Tuesday Week 4 January Euston Road 10000 in attendance BUYRATE: 0.35 A non-title dark outing for the women's champ sees her overcome Cherry Bomb in... well, in a better match than I'd expected for the pair. We're seeing slow improvement... Kristabel Plum defeated Cherry Bomb by pinfall RATING: C+ Our second dark match had chemistry issues keeping it at the same level. I suspect sell-out nerves didn't help either. Dean Daniels schooled Ruud van Anger well, though, and Ruud showed improvement here before Dean got the win. Dean Daniels defeated Ruud van Anger by pinfall RATING: C+ Davis starts the PPV broadcast off in the ring, telling us he wants to address something. It's come to his attention that Ring of Fire has made a major acquisition; a man who started wrestling sixteen years ago, a man Davis wanted to be growing up. The man in honour of whom Davis won tag titles in three companies. And he wants to be the first to wrestle him here. Ladies and gentlemen, a man mistreated by Tommy Cornell's boys... THE HUMAN ARSENAL! RATING: B- Davis Wayne Newton vs. Human Arsenal And the man under the Seraphym mask makes his debut. Sadly, he's not that over in the UK, and I think that drags this down. We give them twenty minutes and Arsenal taps to the STF, providing as good a response as someone who last year won the TCW Total Jobber award can. It'll get better once we get him over. Davis Wayne Newton defeated Human Arsenal by submission RATING: B- Joey gets on the mic next and promises a win tonight – he'll be fresh where his opponent isn't. It doesn't get the pop I'd hoped for, and he winces a little as he does it. RATING: C Commonwealth Cup Semi-Final: Art Reed vs. Hugh de Aske Well... it was good enough, but not what I'd hoped for. (Story of the night; better or worse in all cases.) Art dominates from the word go, looking fired up, and fells Hugh with the Dark Matter twenty-five minutes in. Art Reed defeated Hugh de Aske by pinfall RATING: B Art then gets a breather as I interview him on his match against Joey and he promises a win. RATING: C Commonwealth Cup Final: Art Reed vs. Joey Beauchamp It was a pretty good final match in the end; just not quite up to the standard I'd hoped for on account of Joey's ankle giving him problems. Art's... well, he's good. His results haven't been great so far, but I think part of that's luck. Any road up, he overcomes the odds here and manages to land the Dark Matter for the third time tonight, scoring a pin twenty-seven minutes in – which I suspect was twenty minutes more than Joey wished. Art Reed defeated Joey Beauchamp by pinfall RATING: B+ UK Dragon vs. Don Henderson for the ROF Championship Well, they did well last time despite bad chemistry. This time, Don was off his game – I blame the sell-out nerves. And it was still phenomenal, with the back-and-forth being strong and regular, with each near-fall really tense for the crowd, as Don Henderson tries once again to recover the heights of two years ago. He fails only barely, the Dragon Drop getting the win here, but this was sublime and a good capper. UK Dragon defeated Don Henderson by pinfall RATING: A* A good solid show after all, then, and one I should be happy with. Arsenal begins a slow rise from opener, I suspect... And we get easily our biggest buyrate. Just got to let Joey rest now... OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 Two new companies just opened up in our rough area; British Professional Wrestling (not sure, but I suspect it'll be either Jeff Nova or Arson Wells behind it) and the European Wrestling Alliance, a bunch of indies banding together. I wish them luck... We may be oversaturating the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 4 January Hall Green Cricket Club 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.70 Dean and Ultimate Phoenix did dark duty tonight, with their lack of chemistry and the fact Phoenix is still recuperating causing it to be... below par. As always, though; it's the dark, so we'll cope. Dean picks up another well-deserved win. Dean Daniels defeated Ultimate Phoenix by pinfall RATING: C- El Mitico Jr and Ernest Youngman featured in the second dark bout. They still have chemistry issues, but that just makes me more interested in what results they can pull together, as a kind of 'weakest' indicator. Ernest scores a rare win, which was more or less decided at the last moment. Ernest Youngman defeated El Mitico Jr by pinfall RATING: C The Stunners vs. Dos Phoenix vs. East and West vs. Extraordinary Men for the ROF Tag Titles We ran this one to the time limit, and I think that bugged a bunch of the guys in it – their feeling being that Dos Phoenix shouldn't be afforded that kind of respect. That issue dragged things down a bit, but it was... still acceptable. And a lot of new tricks were unveiled by diverse talents. The Stunners drew with Dos Phoenix, East and West, and Extraordinary Men when the time limit elapsed RATING: C+ A hype video airs for Dragon's title defence against Art at School of Tradition. The build never stops, it just changes direction... RATING: B+ Nigel Svensson vs. Blood Raven vs. KC Glenn vs. Human Arsenal for the ROF TV Championship A second four corners bout, this one marking Blood Raven's start as a singles competitor following Groucho's departure. This one too doesn't really get out of first gear, and Nigel wins with a running knee drive to KC after seventeen minutes. Here's hoping we can get past this soon. Nigel Svensson defeated Blood Raven, KC Glenn, and Human Arsenal when he pinned KC Glenn RATING: C+ Don and Nadia are shown backstage, with Don going off on Joey, making light of his injury and promising that in his place, sprained ankle or not, he would have made Art Reed tap and picked up the Cup. RATING: B- Davis then steps into frame to tear a strip off Don, sticking up for Joey and asking the fans for sympathy following Joey's injury. Bafflingly, Don's actions got a bigger pop. RATING: C+ El Leon vs. Hugh de Aske A quickie bout here proves as good as I'd hoped it could be. Leon gets a lot of his stuff in and looks good before the Cut Throat Driver ends things satisfyingly. Hugh de Aske defeated El Leon by pinfall RATING: B+ British Samurai vs. Edward Cornell Unfortunately, this didn't keep the same level of excitement as the prior match, bringing us all down a little, though there were still sporadic pops – particularly when Sammy got the Fisherman Suplex to end it. British Samurai defeated Edward Cornell by pinfall RATING: B- Joss Thompson vs. Mario Heroic And as ever our final half-hour is wonderful, with both men showing new moves and a new smoothness in one area or another The Clean Cutter finishes, felling Mario by surprise when the top-rope variant was seen coming and blocked. Joss Thompson defeated Mario Heroic by pinfall RATING: A* Another solid show, and the complaints on Arsenal's overuse start to reduce. We'll get him over, mark my words... OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 Ring of Fire: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 1 February Middlesbrough Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 1.37 Another girls' dark match sees Wanda score a win over Raven Nightfall. Weak contest again, but, again, I expected that; it's a training thing, here, and also slowly establishing them with our hardcore ticket-and-merch-buying fanbase. Wanda Fish defeated Raven Nightfall by pinfall RATING: C- Our second dark match was markedly better; Extraordinary Men scored a win over The Dispossessed when Chojiro Kitoaji felt the Mexican Standoff. A good solid match that pepped the crowd up and saw both Dispossessed continue to improve. Extraordinary Men defeated The Dispossessed when Extraordinario Jr pinned Chojiro Kitoaji RATING: B- The Stunners vs. Los Leyendas for the ROF Tag Titles Unfortunately, the tag contest to open the show was poorer, in no small part because Los Leyendas are having to totally reestablish themselves when their fanbase knew them primarily iN Europe. But the work with the Stunners legitimises them even as they lose and gets them exposure, so it's worthwhile. Brandon pins Phoenix here. The Stunners defeated Los Leyendas when Bulldozer Brandon Smith pinned Ultimate Phoenix RATING: C+ We next aired a video hyping the Davis/Don/Joey triple-threat for School of Tradition. RATING: B- Nigel Svensson vs. Human Arsenal for the ROF TV Championship Nigel shows that he has great chemistry with another in this, a match that I think was limited only by our need to get Arsenal more exposure, to make him better known. At this point I think that's the only sane argument for the lacklustre pops in contests involving him. We'll soon get past that, though, methinks...The Hyper-Extension Armlock has him tapping after a quarter of an hour of solid technical wrestling. Arsenal's still losing – currently – but damn if he doesn't look happier here. Nigel Svensson defeated Humarn Arsenal by submission RATING: B- Backstage we saw Davis and Jaime hanging out and flirting. Only a small thing, but a little more exposure for Jaime... RATING: C+ Art Reed vs. Matthew Gauge More lovely stuff here. They only had about sixteen minutes bell to bell, and that's probably the limiter here, but Art picks up more momentum as Matthew prepares to lose his way through the next few appearances before he leaves us; I couldn't persuade him to take a pay-per-appearance contract. Art Reed defeated Matthew Gauge by pinfall RATING: B+ Joss Thompson vs. UK Dragon The final half-hour was given over entirely to our champion and his rival tonight. And... that was something worth doing. Dragon is a master of our craft and still at the height of his powers. Ultimately everyone knew that Joss would lose this one, but he did his best to turn that perception around, coming close on a number of occasions, but each time Dragon had an answer for the Clean Cutter, and eventually managed to land the Dragon Drop that had hitherto seen almost as many counters along the way. UK Dragon defeated Joss Thompson by pinfall RATING: A* Overall, a good show. Matthew's replacement is going to be tricky, though; going to have to do our best here. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 1 February Edgeware Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.73 A lively dark match sees SK Walker defeat Ernest Youngman, who's still learning fast. SK Walker defeated Ernest Youngman by pinfall RATING: B- Kristabel Plum continues crossing gloves with the less-well-known members of our womens division next in the dark, giving Miss Information another loss for her records. Wasn't too terrible, but wasn't at all good. Kristabel Plum defeated Miss Information by pinfall RATING: C- Daniel Black Francis vs. KC Glenn vs. Nate Johnson A highly enjoyable opener came next, seeing Johnson score yet another victory in a fairly impressive ROF career as he sneaks a pin on KC Glenn while Daniel was stunned following the Sunshine Band. Daniel appears to slowly be picking up the ROF way of working, and may develop into the useful member of the roster I initially hoped he'd be two years ago and change. Nate Johnson defeated Daniel Black Francis and KC Glenn when he pinned KC Glenn RATING: B- I ran an awful interview with Hugh, likely the first we've done which utterly, utterly backfired, about his upcoming match with Human Arsenal. It didn't help that it was a thinly veiled excuse for Hugh to make cannon jokes. RATING: E+ Hugh de Aske vs. Human Arsenal We continue to do battle against a crowd that don't yet care about Human Arsenal and thus are utterly, utterly lukewarm during his spots. Each arena warms to him a little by the end, though, rather like Ernest, and I think both men have the potential to break through sensationally when they find their feet. For now Hugh puts Arsenal away relatively smoothly, however. Hugh de Aske defeated Human Arsenal by pinfall RATING: B- Nigel Svensson vs. Capitao Brasil Jr vs. El Mitico Jr vs. Nichiren Amagawa for the ROF TV Championship What stuns me here is that Nichiren ate the pin. It was... weak by Nigel and Nichiren's standards but a step up for the others as part of the unofficial ROF Luchador Outreach Training Program. They're coming along – now he's on the house show circuit even Capitao is finally developing notably – but they're not there yet. Still, we try to keep them in peoples' minds. Nigel Svensson defeated Capitao Brasil Jr, El Mitico Jr and Nichiren Amagawa when he pinned Nichiren Amagawa RATING: C+ Edward Cornell vs. Joey Beauchamp Part of one of our other continuing training programs, this one for Edward. Joey and he put on their usual this-can't-be-allowed-to-main-event faceoffs before Joey scores the win eighteen minutes in. I have hopes for Edward, but he's only coming along thus far. Still, he has time. Joey Beauchamp defeated Edward Cornell RATING: B We ran a hype video for Don next, and, terrifyingly, this may be the biggest pop I've ever seen a video get in ROF. RATING: A Art Reed vs. Joss Thompson A piece of sheer excellence. Joss is pressuring his way into the Title Challenge Club through great performances, particularly as we're about to lose Matthew, and Art is his usual incredibly smooth self, popping crowds with a will now we have him over enough. As on Tuesday, Joss lost only because he had fewer counters prepared for his opponent's finisher, but he did manage to land the Clean Cutter, having learned from one of the counters Dragon used – only to see the stunned Art roll off the apron and drop from the ring. Dragging Art back got two and the battle continued, culminating in the Dark Matter, which at the moment is one of the strongest moves in ROF. Art Reed defeated Joss Thompson by pinfall RATING: A* Art takes a couple of minutes, following that, to celebrate with the fans. RATING: C+ Well, I thought it was as good as any we've done, but so much emphasis was placed on our lower-card men that the fans complained a little, dragging it down. Still thoroughly worth doing, though. OVERALL: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 21CW is dead, but its spirit lives on in BPW. With Warlord Agony providing road agent duty and Joey Poison holding the book, here's hoping that this time Jeff Nova can get it done. Across the channel comes news I'm less pleased with; EWA owner Gil Thomas has signed Eric Tyler to hold their book. While we're not officially at war, and while any such war would be a farce in any case with our current disparity, I'd hoped to be clear of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 ROF: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 2 February Hall Green Cricket Club 2000 in attendance RATING: 1.36 Pretty nice dark triple threat started things off tonight; Steve Flash continues to pass his wisdom down to the young'uns, getting a pinfall victory over Ernest Youngman while teaching him and a Remmy Honeyman who was acting far too disconcerted just being in the same ring as Flash to do well. Ultimately this was good stuff, though, for the experience level of two of these men. Steve Flash defeated Ernest Youngman and Remmy Honeyman when he pinned Ernest Youngman RATING: C+ Our second dark match saw Blood Raven get a step forward as, in singles competition, he landed the Raven Driver III to get one over on Dean Daniels and pick up a win. Nicer stuff still... Blood Raven defeated Dean Daniels by pinfall RATING: B- Kristabel Plum vs. Jaime Quine for the ROF Women's Championship Either of the dark matches should have been allowed this time on the show, sadly. Bad chemistry kept this weak, unfortunately, and Kristabel's defence didn't get much of a pop. Ah, well... Kristabel Plum defeated Jaime Quine by pinfall RATING: C We followed that up with a hype video for the School of Tradition triple-threat. RATING: B Human Arsenal vs. KC Glenn From the audience not really caring about Arsenal to not really caring about either of these guys. Not promising thus far, but the Ammo Dump gives Arsenal his first ROF win. The pop was OK; he's yet to win over sufficient fans, really. But he will. Human Arsenal defeated KC Glenn by pinfall RATING: C+ Edward Cornell vs. Joey Beauchamp Yes, again. No better than last time, but an improvement from earlier in the night and Joey scores another needed fall to prep for the PPV. Joey Beauchamp defeated Edward Cornell by pinfall RATING: B Joey then spent some time on the mic, talking himself up, but ran into the problem that the Cricket Club didn't like his promo time encroaching on their grappling. Work is needed to pull him back up, I think. RATING: D Billy Robinson vs. Don Henderson This Shooters reunion is, categorically, the best match Billy Robinson has ever worked. And in only a quarter of an hour, too! Both men went all out to make each other look great and the crowd was blown away, finally revitalised and woken up tonight, roaring support. Don scores the submission and looks great moving on. Don Henderson defeated Billy Robinson by submission RATING: A* Nigel Svensson vs. Extraordinario Jr for the ROF TV Title A main event outing for the title; it wasn't quite on a par with their last two singles meetings due to the ending but this was still great and the fans continued to pop well, perhaps a little exhausted by Billy and Don's work. A quarter of an hour in shenanigans ensued as Crusher von Steinberg and El Heroe Mexicano both appeared at ringside, eventually leading to an outside brawl that would see a double disqualification to end the show. But Nigel and Extraordinario continue to deliver. Nigel Svensson drew with Extraordinario Jr when both men were disqualified. RATING: A Despite the poor opening, a well-enough received show. I can be happy, though we need more. OVERALL: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 2 February Middlesbrough Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.70 Dos Phoenix lock up with Los Leyendas in the opening dark match. Still not great stuff here, but it's kind of getting there. We'll eventually have these four established with our core fanbase, at least. Phoenix III scores the win here, dropping El Leon and landing the high velocity legdrop for the pin. Dos Phoenix defeated Los Leyendas when Phoenix III pinned El Leon RATING: C Our second dark bout, a training match, forced me to drag the word '21CW' as a quality rating out again. JD Morgan tried to get something out of Capitao Brasil, but it just didn't work. He's shown recent improvement, but nonetheless at this rate he may not be long for ROF. Another potential debut star they always forget when they're calling me a starmaker for Davis, Seiji, Matthew and others... JD Morgan defeated Capitao Brasil Jr by submission. RATING: D+ Human Arsenal vs. SK Walker Further proof that Arsenal's getting over here, as he produces a bigger pop than previous. Walker pulled out the victory, obviously enough, but Arsenal's getting over just from his performances, just as I knew he would. Give me the year we have him and we may have him winning titles. SK Walker defeated Human Arsenal RATING: B The Stunners vs. East and West for the ROF Tag Titles A very, very good title defence here; it didn't get a proper ending as they went to the time limit, but the crowd continued to pop very, very solidly as it went on, and all four men showed still more development. Definitely very happy with this. The Stunners drew with East and West when the time limit elapsed RATING: B Nigel Svensson vs. Matthew Gauge for the ROF TV Title DUD. Dead on arrival. I decided to give Nigel a win over a main eventer while Matthew was on his way out, cementing his position and getting a little extra rub. Unfortunately a total lack of chemistry capped an astonishingly lacklustre performance and Nigel's win just didn't have the effect I wanted. Nigel Svensson defeated Matthew Gauge by pinfall RATING: C British Samurai vs. Davis Wayne Newton They'll never have the kind of chemistry you'd want them to. But they'll always have the ability to rise above that; while this wasn't their best ever match, they only had a quarter of an hour before the Newton's Cradle hit. Good stuff, all in all; with Double-P doing her bit too. I'm more than a little happy with this. Davis Wayne Newton defeated British Samurai by pinfall RATING: B+ Following the match Davis took the bout and talked himself up a little, getting a reasonable – but not brilliant – pop. RATING: B- Art Reed vs. Mario Heroic This was billed as a DaVE colleagues battle on our advertising all week, and I do feel they could have told us about the fact they just don't work together as well as you'd hope. Still, the challenger gets another pinfall heading into his PPV match, and it could have been far worse. Art Reed defeated Mario Heroic by pinfall RATING: B- We ran a quick hype video for Joss Thompson as he's had little exposure of late. RATING: B- Buff Martinez vs. UK Dragon These two... have great chemistry, which I'd managed to forget. Buff may have to get some more forward momentum soon, to take advantage of this while Dragon's still champ, especially as Danny and Matthew both got left behind. There were moments the crowd thought Buff might score a pinfall on the champion and cement a title claim. In a little under twenty-five minutes, this just went all the way to the top and did brilliantly. UK Dragon defeated Buff Martinez by pinfall RATING: A* Another pretty-solid show. Shame about the Matthew/Nigel match, that may have cost us some of our momentum. OVERALL: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 ROF: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 3 February Hall Green Cricket Club 2000 in attendance RATING: 1.33 I was pleasantly surprised by our first dark match. Daniel Black Francis wrung a halfway-decent performance out of Crusher von Steinberg. Good enough stuff, and some definite development from Crusher. Daniel Black Francis defeated Crusher von Steinberg by pinfall RATING: C+ Unfortunately, our second dark match saw the bottom drop out of our momentum. Ruud van Anger scored a 21CW kind of win over Jonni Lowlife. Ruud van Anger defeated Jonni Lowlife by pinfall RATING: D+ Nigel Svensson vs. Human Arsenal vs. Johnny Highspot vs. Mario Heroic for the ROF TV Championship Well... still not all I'd want, but better than last week. Some rare TV time for Highspot gives him a little showcase time while Nigel overcomes Mario with his lethal running knee drive. I think we can claw back from here, but I think Johnny and Jonni may finally be in the position of being phased out at their next contract renegotiation. Nigel Svensson defeated Human Arsenal, Johnny Highspot, and Mario Heroic when he pinned Mario Heroic RATING: C+ We followed that up with another School of Tradition hype video for Matthew Gauge's last ROF match – at least for now, against Hugh de Aske. RATING: C+ Chojiro Kitoaji vs. Hugh de Aske Good stuff all round here, really. Chojiro's still showing development in the ring, and Hugh and he put together a good match to finally yank us into gear. The Cut-Throat Driver finishes smoothly and the crowd pop cheerfully. Hugh de Aske defeated Chojiro Kitoaji by pinfall RATING: B+ That was followed up by another hype vid for Don. Beeg pop there. RATING: B+ Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Matthew Gauge Great for Brandon, average for Matthew. We give him one last win before next week and the PPV, with Brandon still getting some rub just through his performance. Matthew Gauge defeated Bulldozer Brandon Smith by submission RATING: B British Samurai vs. Edward Cornell Well, it's not great, but with twenty-five minutes it'll have to be good enough. Sammy scores the win neatly enough and the crowd deliver another solid pop. It's not been a standout show, but not too bad. British Samurai defeated Edward Cornell by pinfall RATING: B+ Like I said; no standout moments, but some good development and smooth progress. Here's hoping... OVERALL: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 3 February Middlesbrough Hall 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.67 Another nice-enough dark match for Arsenal and Keith Adams, designed to get both men over that little bit more. Lack of heat going in once again killed it, but Arsenal scores another pinfall and takes another step forward in the rankings. Human Arsenal defeated Keith Adams by pinfall RATING: C+ Our second dark bout pitted Extraordinary Men against a returning Riot Act, and while the Riot Act showed a little development it was El Heroe Mexicano who scored the pinfall. Good enough for the dark. Extraordinary Men defeated The Riot Act when El Heroe Mexicano pinned Jonni Lowlife RATING: C+ JD Morgan vs. Steve Flash A quickie opener to give the two veterans another chance to strut their stuff with what was a perfectly adequate bout. Steve scored the win again, but age is definitely starting to cause issues. Steve Flash defeated JD Morgan by pinfall RATING: B- Billy Robinson vs. Ernest Youngman More exposure for both men in what's becoming a reliable, worthwhile matchup which got the crowd roaring approval tonight. Billy caps off the quarter-hour with another solid submission victory. Billy Robinson defeated Ernest Youngman by pinfall RATING: B+ A video played next, with Art Reed discussing his campaign against the UKW workers so far, discussing Matthew leaving ROF, and introducing “an ally I'm bringing in” as Leo Price was added to their hype. They promised victory in tonight's main event tag. RATING: B- Nigel Svensson vs. Nate Johnson for the ROF TV Championship They only had ten minutes, so the result was only very sound, but this was a good bout I may have to revisit with more time once we begin to get the chance. Nigel retains smoothly with another running knee drive. Nigel Svensson defeated Nate Johnson by pinfall RATING: B- The Stunners vs. East and West for the ROF Tag Titles Well, Marc Speed wasn't firing on all cylinders, but this was still excellent. All four men are still showing improvement pretty much every time they get in the ring together, and the crowd popped for the finishing Superbomb Splash and Black Eagle pinning Nichiren. I can be very happy with this for some time yet. The Stunners defeated East and West when Black Eagle pinned Nichiren Amagawa RATING: B Davis Wayne Newton vs. Joss Thompson Chemistry issues strike again and are, again, risen above. Joss is definitely improving himself and, while Davis shows less signs of it, Davis was part of the best match ROF have ever put on, so I'm not worried about that. They took each other to the limit for twenty solid minutes here, and the crowd definitely seemed happy with that. Davis Wayne Newton drew with Joss Thompson when the time limit expired RATING: A We capitalised quickly with a hype video for Tuesday's triple threat. RATING: B- Art Reed and Leo Price vs. Buff Martinez & Edward Cornell Well... Leo was a bit tired by the end of this. I'll have to hope for an improvement in his cardio regime if we end up using him to main event. That was about the only criticism I have on this, though; it was good, crisp, well-put-together, there were no chemistry problems, and Art got the Dread Lock on Edward for a good pop at the end. Considering it had a debut within it, this match was good – debuts are always weak in Ring of Fire. Art Reed & Leo Price defeated Buff Martinez & Edward Cornell RATING: B+ Yeah, a pretty good show that should hopefully grant us some more traction. I'll admit I'd wanted a slightly better reaction to help grow our market pre-PPV. OVERALL: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 School of Tradition Prediction Key: TV: Dos Phoenix vs. Los Leyendas Dean Daniels vs. SK Walker Billy Robinson vs. British Samurai Nigel Svensson vs. Extraordinario Jr for the ROF TV Championship Edward Cornell vs. Leo Price School of Tradition El Mitico Jr vs. Ernest Youngman vs. Human Arsenal Buff Martinez vs. Joss Thompson Hugh de Aske vs. Matthew Gauge Davis Wayne Newton vs. Don Henderson vs. Joey Beauchamp UK Dragon vs. Art Reed for the ROF Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 ROF: Fighting Fit Tuesday Week 4 February Euston Road 8168 in attendance RATING: 1.40 We only ran one dark match before the show this week, as I wasn't sure how much talent I'd be using elsewhere. Dos Phoenix got another solid win over Los Leyendas, ending with Phoenix II's Northern Lights Suplex on Ultimate Phoenix. Some slow but sure development here. Dos Phoenix defeated Los Leyendas when Phoenix II pinned Ultimate Phoenix RATING: C+ Dean Daniels vs. SK Walker A lovely, lovely beginning contest, a quarter of an hour where these two did their level best to pop the crowd – and managed it on a number of occasions. In the end the Kessel Run won through and Walker scores another smooth win. SK Walker defeated Dean Daniels by pinfall RATING: B Don and I then cut an interview where he promised victory in tonight's triple threat match and a return to holding gold very soon. RATING: B+ Billy Robinson vs. British Samurai More great work here; not their best match, but a very good one with all three involved doing good work and getting the crowd buoyed up. Sammy scores the fall after a quarter of an hour and the crowd seem happy. British Samurai defeated Billy Robinson by pinfall RATING: B+ Nigel Svensson vs. Extraordinario Jr for the ROF TV Championship More excellent work from them both. With a little more time to play with this might have been another match of the year candidate, but it was still a great little contest that continued the build of anticipation running through the show, and Nigel retains the belt – this time, anyway. Nigel Svensson defeated Extraordinario Jr by pinfall RATING: A A music video for the champ aired next, touting the question of how long his streak could last. RATING: B+ Edward Cornell vs. Leo Price Unfortunately, partly due to Leo gassing out near the end, this ended up the weakest bout on TV of the night. Leo got the work done, but I still was not very happy about this at all. Still, he's new; perhaps he'll establish himself. Art had this trouble too... Leo Price defeated Edward Cornell by pinfall RATING: B- As the credits rolled, we informed the viewers at home that owing to network disputes this would be the last episode of Fighting Fit for at least three months. I'm sad to say I finally snapped and laid the blame entirely at our network's feet before promising that we'd continue UK broadcasts as weekly pay-per-views during that time, but I spent most of my speech apologising profusely to the fans, particularly the British fans who don't have European Showcase. Tragically that last bout stopped the show being what I wanted. We'll have to play around with this sort of thing soon, methinks... OVERALL: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 ROF: School of Tradition Tuesday Week 4 February Euston Road 8168 in attendance BUYRATE: 0.31 A nice enough little dark bout features three of our best rising talents; Human Arsenal, Ernest Youngman, and El Mitico Jr. It's Arsenal who scores the win, it's Mitico who falls to the Ammo Dump, it's not too bad a match. Human Arsenal defeated Ernest Youngman and El Mitico Jr when he pinned El Mitico Jr RATING: C+ The PPV itself kicks off with a hype video for Buff/Joss, focusing on their arguments before now. RATING: B- Buff Martinez vs. Joss Thompson Brilliant stuff. A fantastic first 25 minutes that should almost certainly, in hindsight, have been higher up the card. Waayy higher up the card. Still, it's great stuff, and the Clean Cutter carries it on Joss' fifth attempt. There are too many counters to that move that look good; everyone always wants to work a bunch of them in. Joss Thompson defeated Buff Martinez by pinfall RATING: A* Matthew Gauge gets mic time backstage before his match. He reflects on his career to date, his DaVE title win, his achievements here and in UKW, and his Young Wrestler of the Year award, along with his early days teaming with his brother. He thanks ROF for starting him out right and apologises that he'll have to lay Hugh de Aske out in his last match for us. But he's sure we'll understand. RATING: C- Hugh de Aske vs. Matthew Gauge Boy, did we just drop a gear. Still, this was probably the time to do it. They had twenty-five minutes, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you who won, right? Matthew does the job like the professional his dad raised him to be and Hugh looks stronger for having finally ended that on/off argument. Hugh de Aske defeated Matthew Gauge by pinfall and contract expiry RATING: B- The crowd's mood picks back up with the hype video for the triple-threat match. RATING: B Davis Wayne Newton vs. Don Henderson vs. Joey Beauchamp Well, this was good stuff. They had a hair over twenty minutes, which wasn't enough to make it a classic, but they did well with what they had and everyone looked like they had a chance to win before Joey broke up the Scottish Deathlock, DDT'd Don, and flattened Davis with the Breeze Block to score the win. Joey Beauchamp defeated Davis Wayne Newton and Don Henderson when he pinned Davis Wayne Newton RATING: A UK Dragon vs. Art Reed for the ROF Championship Inexplicably this is Dragon's weakest match of the year to date, and probably rotates Art out of title consideration for improvement. In just under half an hour they put in what was still a great match up to the standards of the bout before it, but which wasn't quite enough to satisfy the fans as much as the opener. The Dragon Drop seals the deal for Dragon to retain in the end. UK Dragon defeated Art Reed by pinfall RATING: A This was the kind of show I'd hoped to also get on TV directly beforehand. Sadly, you can't always get that, but this should still help us everywhere, though after last month the buyrate was more than a little disappointing. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 4 February Hall Green Cricket Club 2000 in attendance RATING: 2.87 Our first dark bout sees Black Eagle score a clean victory over Ernest Youngman. Another contest here that's pretty good for a dark match but not what I want to see on TV. Yet, anyway. Black Eagle defeated Ernest Youngman by pinfall RATING: C+ Nice little mixed tag to round out the dark period; Steve Flash & Cherry Bomb locked up with Blood Raven and Miss Information for what ended up a good bout and gave Steve another pinfall win. Steve Flash & Cherry Bomb defeated Blood Raven & Miss Information RATING: C+ Daniel Black Francis vs. Dean Daniels vs. El Leon vs. Human Arsenal Well, it wasn't brilliant, but part of that, I think, was that Daniel objected to taking the pin. Which is fair enough, but I've remarked before that he needs to be brought down in the card a little and this seemed a good exchange, with Human Arsenal dropping him with the Ammo Dump early to get the pinfall. Human Arsenal defeated Daniel Black Francis, Dean Daniels, and El Leon when he pinned Daniel Black Francis RATING: C+ Next aired a pre-taped interview with video clips from Don, discussing Art Reed and his addition of Leo Price to the anti-UKW team. Don laid down the law and told everyone he'd asked Leo Price to meet him in the ring tonight because, while he'd left, he at least still respected the UKW team. RATING: B Don Henderson vs. Leo Price This one's slated to run to the PPV, and as such we started it with a time limit draw. The realism of that was hurt a little as Leo gassed out just ahead of time and, really, Don should've been able to put him away; but the contest was still a pretty good one that I'm pretty satisfied with. Good stuff overall, though. Don Henderson drew with Leo Price when the time limit elapsed RATING: B+ Nigel Svensson vs. Nichiren Amagawa for the ROF TV Championship More good stuff here, perhaps lacking sufficient time to really pick up speed. In a little under fourteen minutes, Nigel got the upper hand and made Nichiren tap smoothly in what had been a lovely submission battle. Nigel Svensson defeated Nichiren Amagawa by submission RATING: B- We followed that up with a video hyping Joss Thompson RATING: B- Davis Wayne Newton vs. Edward Cornell You know, Edward's getting there. He still needs a lot of work before he's a legit ROF main eventer, but he's getting there. He's just having a lengthy period of repeated defeat before he gets there. Davis scored a smooth win at nineteen minutes in after some lovely back-and-forth, and the crowd popped it big. Davis Wayne Newton defeated Edward Cornell by pinfall RATING: B+ Buff Martinez vs. Joey Beauchamp Not... quite as good as I'd hoped for in a main event, due to their lack of chemistry, but it served its purpose – Buff's contract is up and he won't sign exclusive due to UKW so we're about to lose him. So Joey, as the current number one contender, gets the Breeze Block and the forward momentum with the consolation that at least the prior contest didn't break things up. Joey Beauchamp defeated Buff Martinez by pinfall RATING: B+ A... good enough show. But I do want better. Still, a clear record rating. OVERALL: B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 ROF: Wrestling Clinic Tuesday Week 1 March Bolton Rugby Fields (Northern UK) 8453 in attendance BUYRATE: 0.07 Well, the lack of UK TV certainly acted as incentive to pop attendance quite a lot, which we'd thankfully anticipated. Sodding Euro Cable Sports... Only a poor opening dark bout here, as Dean Daniels and Ruud van Anger remind me that they don't work well together, but Dean gets the pin on Ruud and gains some worthwhile momentum in so doing. No great complaints, as it seems Ruud's still learning. Dean Daniels defeated Ruud van Anger by pinfall RATING: C- Our second dark bout... deserved televising. The Disrespected tried their luck against East and West and put together a fantastic little outing, with both sides doing well and development shown by Keith and Marc... which, ironically, led to the finish as Keith managed to keep up with Marc on an exchange of holds, leading Marc to snap and flatten him with a big right hand before slapping the Cross Armbreaker on to force a tapout. East and West defeated The Disrespected when Marc Speed made Keith Adams tap out RATING: B Hugh de Aske vs. Mario Heroic Yeah, I should've exchanged this with the tag outing. Oh, good enough, no doubt, and Hugh needs to be kept strong while the main event pecking order shakes out and settles down, but this wasn't what I'd hoped it would be. Still, Hugh gets the pin again with a Skull and Cross Bones and the crowd don't seem too unhappy. Hugh de Aske defeated Mario Heroic by pinfall RATING: B- We next aired a hype video for Joey. It didn't go as well as I'd want. RATING: C+ Human Arsenal vs. Nigel Svensson The TV title wasn't on the line as we're not on TV here but they didn't let that stop them. Arsenal exploits his newfound UK reputation and steps his game up, aided by the natural chemistry he has with Nigel, and the pair of them blow the prior match out of the water in a quarter of an hour. The TV champ proves superiority with the Hyper Extension Armlock, but it came almost out of nowhere as Arsenal set up the Ammo Dump. Submission took a while, too, but Nigel had an answer for each counter Arsenal tried – counters I think Arsenal was calling, as I'd never seen Nigel try them before – and Arsenal had to tap only after looking strong. Nigel Svensson defeated Human Arsenal by submission RATING: A Backstage we saw Joss Thompson and Bulldozer Brandon Smith reviewing footage of the last Stunners outing as Thompson offered pointers to the younger American. We speculated on the microphone that Joss was following Davis' old example and trying to form an alliance or two. RATING: B Davis Wayne Newton vs. Leo Price Another solid match still hindered, despite not even lasting sixteen full minutes bell to bell, by Leo's cardio. He's occupying the position Don did years ago; I can only hope he'll one day make the stamina breakthrough Don did. At least this time Leo's exhaustion played into the finish, with Davis taking the opportunity and putting the Newton's Cradle to good use. Davis Wayne Newton defeated Leo Price by pinfall RATING: B+ Art Reed vs. British Samurai I expected this one to do a little better, but not now – not yet, at least. Maybe it's just the inconclusive ending, as Art does his best but can't force a win over Sammy before the time limit hits. Good enough for now, though. Art Reed drew with British Samurai when the time limit elapsed RATING: B Buff Martinez vs. UK Dragon Buff continues his tour of losses on the way out and puts on an absolutely stellar performance alongside my own little King Midas in Dragon, who really looks phenomenal here even as he makes Buff look good. They left Danny and Matthew behind once again; this was, honestly, sheer brilliance before the champion racked up another pinfall to his credit. UK Dragon defeated Buff Martinez by pinfall RATING: A* Damn fine show. Damn fine show. I wanted it to be, obviously; partly to spite our old network, partly to show how much we can do with another half-hour to work with. I'm just hoping we don't alienate too many fans with this format, particularly as the weekly approach makes for lower buyrates. OVERALL: B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Stranger Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 ROF: European Showcase Sunday Week 1 March Kent Racecourse 4540 in attendance RATING: 2.82 A real breakthrough here as even with TV expectations, we knew we'd have to hire the Racecourse. Our first dark match gives Johnny Highspot a rare win as he schools Remmy Honeyman, who's very slowly developing. The crowd was more into this than I expected, to be honest. Johnny Highspot defeated Remmy Honeyman by pinfall RATING: C+ The second dark match maintained that quality, at least, with The Disrespected getting another pinfall over Dos Phoenix. We are getting there, though, and this showed a lot of development as a result. The Disrespected defeated Dos Phoenix by pinfall RATING: C+ El Heroe Mexicano vs. El Mitico Jr Opening the TV show proper we manage only to maintain the same quality with this opening ten-minute contest, but the luchadores need a little more momentum. Heroe got the pin here with a flying headbutt after... well, not bad for their situation. El Heroe Mexicano defeated El Mitico Jr by pinfall RATING: C+ The Stunners vs. East and West vs. Los Leyendas for the ROF Tag Titles Much better stuff here, pepping the crowd up notably with everyone showing some more tricks in the ring without even needing much time to do so; the Stunners retained in a hair under twelve minutes, with Black Eagle pinning El Leon. Good work by the tag division and I'm happy with this. The Stunners defeated East and West and Los Leyendas when Black Eagle pinned El Leon RATING: B Following that, we ran a quick hype video for Don, who is definitely about as over a competitor as we have. RATING: B+ Don Henderson vs. Human Arsenal Beautiful. Simply beautiful. This was one of those 'what's the upper limit?' matches, with Arsenal given just under thirteen minutes before he was made to tap out, and the pair of them put together something so very impressive that the crowd went berserk. So very, very worthwhile. Don Henderson defeated Human Arsenal by submission RATING: A* Nigel Svensson vs. Extraordinario Jr for the ROF TV Championship Simply great stuff here, once again, capped off by Extraordinario regaining his title. Hard-fought stuff to give us a second incredible contest tonight – and yes, I'm stacking the card. I'm pissed off with Euro Cable, so everyone else gets to love our stuff. If anything, Extraordinario Jr is getting even better; stiffer punches like the first Extraordinario now. Extraordinario Jr defeated Nigel Svensson by pinfall RATING: A* A quickie hype video next showcased Don and Leo, and didn't go down as well as I'd hoped. RATING: C Davis Wayne Newton vs. UK Dragon Great stuff again. A third brilliant match on the card, and I think I stacked it a bit much – Don/Arsenal was expected to merely be very good. Davis and Dragon rolled to the time limit in a phenomenal contest. Davis Wayne Newton drew with UK Dragon when the time limit elapsed RATING: A* Buff Martinez vs. Mario Heroic An unusual main event here – the champ on the card but not in it, and the clear favourite lost. Mario, after months of chasing Buff, gets his win at last as Buff prepares to go over to UKW. Great stuff as always from them and, yes, it maintains the rate we'd had. I definitely overbalanced this card, and my only defence is I expected Don/Arsenal to be weaker and Nigel/Extraordinario to be a little weaker. Mario Heroic defeated Buff Martinez by pinfall RATING: A* ...Yeah, as cards go, this blew pretty much every other card this year out of the water. OVERALL: A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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