Ring of Fire: Fighting Every Step of the Way

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 3, September Norman Blue Athletic Centre 196 in attendance Clawing our way back up there in attendance, thankfully. We'll see how well we keep that, though; Tigre Salvaje Jr, a mere enhancement talent, shocked... well, practically no one, if I'm honest... when he hit the Salvaje Suplex on Stardust in the dark and got the three count. It wasn't a brilliant match, but you can imagine whose fault that was – and the goal here really is to ensure no one else is too happy to sign Phil any time soon. Sounds harsh, but I think it's fair considering how weak he is. I seriously will not inflict that on my worst enemy. RATING: D- [B]Hidekazu vs. Walter Morgan[/B] I wanted to show the world how British and Japanese technical wrestling stack up. Unfortunately, these two guys couldn't make the two styles mesh the way a number of the others on the roster can. So it wasn't all that; on the plus side I was able to thank Walter for his work, as the Wigan Wrench put Hidekazu away. RATING: D [B]Don Henderson vs. Merle O'Curle[/B] One of their weaker efforts, which is to say, still excellent. Tells me I need to go back to giving them more time even if Don can barely hack it, though. Don came so close to putting the bout away here before Merle hit a DDT out of nowhere to get the pin. RATING: C+ [B]UK Dragon vs. Petey Barnes in a 30 minute iron man match for the ROF Championship[/B] Yeah, I shoulda given the main spot to Merle and Don. Wasn't bad, though, by any stretch of the imagination; Petey hit the Future Shock at about eight minutes in and spent forever chasing the next fall to give himself a real advantage. Eventually a Future Shock got countered into a Dragon Drop and Dragon evened the score – and then Petey stepped up his game again, working harder and harder until he eventually snapped – and another Future Shock try left him straddling the ropes; Dragon bounced off the ropes further down and hit a beautiful enzuigiri and got the pin while Petey was still out of it. After that they put on a solid technical display until time ran out, but that third fall had really decided it and both men knew it. RATING: C So nowhere near as good as last time, and a lesson or two learned. It would be easy to blame this on Hidekazu and Walter not clicking, and that's not fair; they put on a good showing given that that was the case and you can't blame 'em for it. And we're still getting great writeups. I won't complain; I'll just try and do better. OVERALL: C- And here's glory for you; today was El Dia Nacionale De Lucha. Over at OLLIE El Critico shone in the main event, the best bout of the night, but unfortunately lost their highest title. I really wish he'd told me he'd got it at the time; I could have booked Merle, Dragon, and Critico in a triple-champion match. A great honour for him, though, and still a wonderful performance. Davis fell victim to Jim Force in a CGC midcard, but them's the breaks and I gather the kid loved grappling with a childhood idol, so that's fine. El Bandito was on the last but one match on MPWF's Dia Nacionale card, narrowly losing in, again, the best match of the night. We may have taken losses, but I think we can be proud of that showing.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: Absolutely Flawless vs. YNFT Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. El Bandito for the #1 Contendership Fumohiro Ota vs. UK Dragon for the ROF Championship Don Henderson vs. Merle O'Curle in a 30 minute Ultimate Submission match

[Marcel Fromage]

Absolutely Flawless vs. [B]YNFT[/B] [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith [/B]vs. El Bandito for the #1 Contendership Fumohiro Ota vs. [B]UK Dragon [/B]for the ROF Championship Don Henderson vs. [B]Merle O'Curle [/B]in a 30 minute Ultimate Submission match

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 4 September Norman Blue Athletic Centre 187 in attendance We kicked things off with a bye-bye gift for Absolutely Fabulous; they both gave Your New Favourite Team a tag title defence and did the job. Highspot's frog splash capped a match that was as good as we can apparently ask from the Martins. RATING: D- [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. El Bandito for the #1 Contendership[/B] Exposing Bandito to the English public and giving Bulldozer a solid defence at the same time, these two put on a fantastic bout considering how little they've encountered each other. It ended as one would expect, eight minutes in, with a Backdrop Driver, but only after I caught Brandon copying a couple of Bandito's sells. Should be good... RATING: C [B] Fumohiro Ota vs. UK Dragon for the ROF Championship[/B] Y'know, I'm beginning to think that Dragon just doesn't like there being other high fliers around. Niche protection, I suppose. Wasn't bad, though, just not as good as I'd hoped. The end came when a Ninja Strike was countered into a Dragon Drop for the pin. RATING: D+ [B]Don Henderson vs. Merle O'Curle in a 30 minute Ultimate Submission match[/B] Hoo, boy. Don knew he had to come out strong and he came out sublimely. They both picked up a fall each within the second ten minutes and spent the last ten battling for a decider. With half a minute on the clock the Scottish Deathlock, already cinched in, was countered into a Celtic Wreath and Don tapped with seconds to go. RATING: B- We ran a recap video of the first five bouts between Don and Merle, and I did my best to sell next week's decider on commentary. It didn't go so well – I guess they felt we shouldn't have known, but I wanted to build in advance. My bad. RATING: E+ Beautiful show. Absolutely beautiful, particularly as every belt received a defence. Selling Sammy on stories should be simpler post-Best of Seven; I was always going to concentrate on older-school storylines. Pregnancy, wives faking divorces, football players being called out... these things are not for us. OVERALL: C+ And... holy crap, we beat UKW again! I honestly can't believe this... Velocidad's getting offers from all over Mexico. Glad I resigned him; time to really push him before he next comes up. I want loyalty, dammit! Oh, and Martin Heath headlined an indy show the day after he left us. Got an E-. I still regret him not accepting negotiations. (OOC: I've just spent an instructive few minutes inspecting stat increases. Ye gods, some of these are phenomenal jumps.)

[Phantom Stranger]

Starting up October: El Bandito vs. Velocidad vs. Tigre Salvaje Jr Don Henderson vs. Merle O'Curle (Deciding bout in the best of seven series) Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Walter Morgan for the #1 Contendership UK Dragon vs. British Samurai for the ROF Championship

[chris caulfield]

El Bandito vs. [B]Velocidad[/B] vs. Tigre Salvaje Jr Don Henderson vs. [B]Merle O'Curle[/B] (Deciding bout in the best of seven series) [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. Walter Morgan for the #1 Contendership [B]UK Dragon [/B]vs. British Samurai for the ROF Championship

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 1 October Norman Blue Athletic Centre 179 in attendance Another lucha dance in the dark. I really must clear more room for them in the light; El Bandito, as the underdog, took the loss to Velocidad while teaching him and Tigre Salvaje Jr a thing or two. Nevertheless, Bandito shone even as he took the Velocidad Tornado. RATING: D- [B]Don Henderson vs. Merle O'Curle[/B] The final match, and it was excellent as always. I don't think any of the crowd expected our former champ – and current UKW champ – to lose the series as a whole, and the whole place exploded when the Scottish Deathlock carried the day. RATING: B- Merle raised Don's hand in salute after the bout. RATING: E [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Walter Morgan for the #1 Contendership[/B] Both these guys came off as unkillable, which was kind of a shame – it sapped a lot of the momentum. Nonetheless, when Walter was lifted for the inverted piledriver and came down with the Northern Crossface locked in, the crowd's mood picked up – and Walter walked away with the belt. RATING: D+ Merle came back out to ringside, carrying the UKW belt on his shoulder, and asked me for a shot at Dragon, champion against champion, to really give the fans what they wanted to see. I didn't even have to think about it; I told him it might not be Dragon but he had the winner of tonight's title bout next week. And then I remembered Ota's the UKW head booker; hope I haven't pissed him off... On the plus side, I do think Merle gets better at these moments every time he talks to me – like Sammy. Hopefully that's not just ego. RATING: E [B]UK Dragon vs. British Samurai for the ROF Championship[/B] Sammy always puts on a solid show with Dragon and I knew we'd need that. It wasn't perfect, and this is unlikely to be the glory show that last week was, but again, setup and pacing issues demanded that – I needed to fit the angles in around bouts to keep the punters in their chairs. And this was a good match; Sammy nearly had it won twice in the twenty-five minutes, but Dragon hooked the ropes to break the Secret Samurai Stretch and hit a shining wizard immediately for the win. RATING: C So no, not as good as last time and for the first time in a while we likely won't beat UKW. But still sound. OVERALL: C Well. We drew with UKW and beat everyone else. And 21CW fired their head booker! And... Tigre Salvaje Jr joins our list of luchadors now being welcomed by Mexican promotions. This... kind of plays into my plans. I think.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: Black Eagle vs. Tigre Salvaje Jr Bairei Yasujiro vs. Petey Barnes Walter Morgan vs. Davis Wayne Newton for the #1 Contendership UK Dragon vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match

[Marcel Fromage]

[B]Black Eagle [/B]vs. Tigre Salvaje Jr Bairei Yasujiro vs. [B]Petey Barnes[/B] [B]Walter Morgan [/B]vs. Davis Wayne Newton for the #1 Contendership [B]UK Dragon [/B]vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match Black Eagle because I prefer him...Barnes because he's more over...Morgan because he's just won it...Dragon because I'd think you would want the ROF champ to beat the rival company's champ.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 2 October Norman Blue Athletic Centre 213 in attendance Black Eagle and Tigre Salvaje Jr took each other on in the dark, their current customary roosting spot. I'm glad of it, too; turns out these two really mesh together. Wonderful chemistry. Still wasn't a perfect match, but they're both learning. The New Jersey Turnpike finished it. RATING: D- [B]Bairei Yasujiro vs. Petey Barnes[/B] Great chemistry continuing here, of course. Petey and Bairei put on a solid show culminating in Bairei trying for an inverted suplex and getting rolled up for his trouble. Could've been better, could've been worse. RATING: D+ [B]Walter Morgan vs. Davis Wayne Newton for the #1 Contendership[/B] DWN needs to get more exposure; it's that simple. And this was him showing why, along with Walter giving the young lad a lesson in putting matches together on the fly. Davis went for a flapjack-to-STF, which he'd won and gotten a great pop with before, but Walter rolled with the hold and came through with a Northern Crossface to get the win. RATING: C- [B] UK Dragon vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match[/B] Champion versus champion in a wonderful bout. I firmly believe this to be the two paramount title holders of the current UK scene, and they showed why with a vengeance. By seventeen minutes in both were getting desperate to score the first fall and Merle countered a huracanrana by simply pinning Dragon's shoulders to the mat to go one up. Dragon came back quickly with a top turnbuckle Dragon Drop, but Merle managed to get a foot on the ropes; it slowed him for the rest of the match, however, with Dragon able to avoid the Celtic Wreath as a result. Eventually Dragon had Merle set up for a German suplex and Merle deliberately kicked Humphrey Woolsey in the head while lifted, preventing himself from being pinned as the ref was down. A low blow slowed Dragon long enough to lock the Celtic Wreath in, with Humphrey reviving in time to ask for the submission. Merle found himself a two-company champion. RATING: B- Fantastic show to put on in front of our largest crowd yet. They went home roaringly happy. OVERALL: C+ We beat UKW. Again. I can't quite believe this.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: Velocidad vs. Gob Narfi YNFT vs. The Shooters for the ROF Tag Championship El Critico vs. Walter Morgan for the #1 Contendership Fumihiro Ota vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship By the end of November the RoF situation will have changed radically. Also, I will have stopped messing around and started running the big plotline. I will also be a sad panda. /teasers

[chris caulfield]

[B]Velocidad[/B] vs. Gob Narfi YNFT vs. [B]The Shooters[/B] for the ROF Tag Championship [B]El Critico[/B] vs. Walter Morgan for the #1 Contendership Fumihiro Ota vs. [B]Merle O'Curle [/B]for the ROF Championship

[Marcel Fromage]

[B]Velocidad[/B] vs. Gob Narfi YNFT vs. [B]The Shooters [/B]for the ROF Tag Championship El Critico vs. [B]Walter Morgan [/B]for the #1 Contendership Fumihiro Ota vs. [B]Merle O'Curle [/B]for the ROF Championship I'm going with my head on choices 1, 3 and 4. 2 is harder. You seem to like Highspot, whereas I'm more of a Henderson and Robinson fan. So I'm going with the heart and The Shooters, although YNFT have been the longer running team in my own dynasty.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 3 October Norman Blue Athletic Centre 216 in attendance Velocidad took Gob Narfi on in the dark, in no small part to give Narfi something to do. Donny... did his best, but the script didn't stand up to the performance and it turned into a spotfest. The crowd weren't happy, though at least the Velocidad Tornado got a decent pop. RATING: E [B]YNFT vs. The Shooters for the ROF Tag Championship[/B] A reasonable showing by ROF exclusive grapplers. Unfortunately it also points up why these four are still exclusive to us; while it was good, it wasn't all I could have hoped, despite the upside to all four men. Eventually Jonni's superkick on Billy set up Johnny Highspot for the frog splash and the champions were victorious. RATING: D+ [B]El Critico vs. Walter Morgan for the #1 Contendership[/B] A good match marred by weak chemistry between the two grapplers. It did its job, though, as Walter retained the championship with a Wigan Wrench. RATING: D [B]Fumihiro Ota vs. Merle O'Curle for the ROF Championship[/B] In stark contrast to the first match, these two are well represented by UK promotions. You could have and still might see this bout in UKW; it's one of the reasons I set out to do it first. It took just shy of twenty-seven minutes for a decision to be reached, but eventually the tiring Ota was unable to get clear of a Celtic Wreath in time. RATING: C+ Merle came over to the announce table by the end, and he and I ran an interview where he thanked the fans. “It took winning the UKW title to put me in the title picture here at the right time,” he said. “And I couldn't have made it into UKW without the support of the Ring of Fire fans. This promotion is a true showcase for wrestling ability.” RATING: E Our attendance record broken again, despite recent ticket price hikes, but it's not the best show we've had. I wish Don could break through into the main event scene; he deserves to be up there if only to support Merle. Still, that's a plan for another time. Frustratingly, Davis wasn't available today; he's been very good at helping us boost our support levels. OVERALL: C Drew with UKW, who ran our next week's main event (Merle vs. Petey) the night after we advertised it. I suppose that's fair payback.

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;303212] I'm going with my head on choices 1, 3 and 4. 2 is harder. You seem to like Highspot, whereas I'm more of a Henderson and Robinson fan. So I'm going with the heart and The Shooters, although YNFT have been the longer running team in my own dynasty.[/QUOTE] I'm getting very fond of Billy and Don, but Johnny fits the overall diary attitude better - and I'm not as keen on Billy and Don as a tag team. The problem I'm reaching is that almost everyone still on the payroll is someone I want to push higher.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: Eric Future vs. El Bandito El Critico vs. Davis Wayne Newton Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Hidekazu Merle O'Curle vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a 30 minute iron man match

[Marcel Fromage]

Eric Future vs. [B]El Bandito[/B] El Critico vs. [B]Davis Wayne Newton[/B] [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith [/B]vs. Hidekazu [B]Merle O'Curle [/B]vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a 30 minute iron man match

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 4 October Norman Blue Athletic Centre 229 in attendance Attendance just keeps going up, finances keep going down. I think I have a plan that'll keep November reasonably sane, though, as far as costs are concerned and maybe do me some good along the way. The dark match this week pitted Eric Future against El Bandito, and it was a pretty good match for that slot. A Time Slice won the day for Eric around the ten minute mark. RATING: D [B] El Critico vs. Davis Wayne Newton[/B] These two have come far since their respective signings, and I've got to say I'm glad. They put on a superb match here which ended with a Critical Mass to secure the pin. RATING: C [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Hidekazu[/B] And here we go again; a good solid match between two men we hired in. I think people expected this one to run to a time limit draw, particularly once we passed the thirteen minute mark, but by 13:25 the Backdrop Driver claimed another victim. RATING: C- [B] Merle O'Curle vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a 30 minute iron man match[/B] I need to talk to Donny about these iron man matches; we can get scores other than those you'd expect from a best of three falls bout. Still, it was good, very solid; Merle rolled through against Petey's victory roll and scored a pin out of it around the eleven minute mark; Petey went into a cagey, defensive mode while Merle tried for the Celtic Wreath, a scorpion deathlock, a sleeper hold, anything, and eventually converted a sleeper hold into a Future Shock to make it one all at twenty one minutes in. Merle grew cagey, then, and Petey came on stronger, capitalising on the fact the slower grappler was making himself even slower. He nearly got three off a missile dropkick, took Merle back down with a standing leg drop and went to the top rope, trying for some sort of corkscrew drop – which Merle converted into a backbreaker and slapped on the Celtic Wreath immediately. Petey hit the Future Shock and went for the pin, but there were only two seconds left on the clock so he couldn't equalise. A better bout than they put on for UKW. RATING: C+ I would probably have run an angle to kick off that big storyline here, but as I say – plans for November. Not a bad show at all, though. We're definitely getting there. OVERALL: C Huh; normally when we put on a show around that level the best we can hope for is to draw with UKW. This time we actually beat them. It's TV negotiation time, so I put feelers out. The two sports channels I approached don't feel I'm popular enough yet, and the digital channel consortium I approached felt our style's too 'fighting-oriented' to suit their needs. They want storylines. Dammit, Sammy...

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: Davis Wayne Newton vs. Velocidad Merle O'Curle vs. British Samurai in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship

[chris caulfield]

[B]Davis Wayne Newton [/B]vs. Velocidad [B]Merle O'Curle[/B] vs. British Samurai in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship

[Phantom Stranger]

riday Week 1 November Norman Blue Athletic Centre 222 in attendance So, those November plans; we've cut to a half hour a week plus dark and are halving the number of wrestlers we need to pay. I'm likely going to run like this for a month and see if, after sponsorship, this can turn a profit; regardless, I'll be back to the old format sooner rather than later. Our dark match this week featured Davis Wayne Newton against Velocidad, and both of them put on a superb battle. Eventually the Velocidad Tornado was caught out of the air and Davis locked in an STF to win the bout at 14:57 – a textbook time battle at the end that got the crowd rolling. RATING: D+ [B]Merle O'Curle vs. British Samurai in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship[/B] Lovely, this one. Sammy and Merle started out performing as respectful friends, testing the waters, handshakes, all the respect stuff – and then Sammy got the DDT around the eleven minute mark and scored a pinfall. Merle didn't like that and stepped up the pace phenomenally, incorporating a streak of brawling into the match that I'm guessing he's picked up over in UKW, not here, but Sammy weathered the storm and hooked up a fisherman's suplex. Merle twisted a shoulder off the mat, rolled round, and cinched in the Celtic Wreath to even the falls up. Sammy fought back with a vengeance and with little time left in the show almost got the Samurai Secret Stretch before eating a low blow and a scorpion deathlock for the eventual victory. I have GOT to get them to stop playing on that spot. RATING: C+ Well, that plan didn't work; the crowd weren't too happy about seeing so very little variety. Time to either tweak the plan or get back to the hour after a single very cheap show. Still and all, the crowd did like it; we got good writeups despite the criticism. We continue to develop a more supportive crowd. OVERALL: C- Thought about it a lot, and ultimately I'm figuring I may's well go back to the hour and fit everything in while giving time for people to learn. I generally only run three segments plus the dark anyway. Factor in one week's worth of sponsorship, though, and that show turned a profit.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: Black Eagle vs. Billy Robinson Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Jon Michael Sharp Bairei Yasujiro vs. Fumihiro Ota Petey Barnes vs. Rhys Vali Merle O'Curle vs. UK Dragon for the ROF Championship

[Marcel Fromage]

Black Eagle vs. [B]Billy Robinson[/B] [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith [/B]vs. Jon Michael Sharp Bairei Yasujiro vs. [B]Fumihiro Ota[/B] [B]Petey Barnes[/B] vs. Rhys Vali Merle O'Curle vs. [B]UK Dragon [/B]for the ROF Championship In terms of your finances...you're going to need to carefully balance the profit/loss situation with how many workers need to actually work. I'd probably suggest if money is tight that your roster is a little heavier than it needs to be at this stage, although I've always liked to keep a large roster myself. Financially speaking, you should get Samurai on every show, even if he's only schooling a couple of youngsters in a 3-way or 4-way in the dark. I'm guessing that your money situation has been aided by the fact that most of your luchadores are probably working for peanuts! :D The crowd comment from your half-hour show...they always want to see 3 matches at least. 2 won't do it for them. If you want to run half-hour shows, you could still have a dark match and 2 shows on the main card, but they'd obviously have to be shorter.

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;304095] In terms of your finances...you're going to need to carefully balance the profit/loss situation with how many workers need to actually work. I'd probably suggest if money is tight that your roster is a little heavier than it needs to be at this stage, although I've always liked to keep a large roster myself. Financially speaking, you should get Samurai on every show, even if he's only schooling a couple of youngsters in a 3-way or 4-way in the dark. I'm guessing that your money situation has been aided by the fact that most of your luchadores are probably working for peanuts! :D The crowd comment from your half-hour show...they always want to see 3 matches at least. 2 won't do it for them. If you want to run half-hour shows, you could still have a dark match and 2 shows on the main card, but they'd obviously have to be shorter.[/QUOTE] Oh, a dark match will count as one of the items, will it? Well, that's good... though at the stage I've reached (into December) a few things mean that still doesn't seem wise, but for other reasons. One of them is going to be seen just after this show. Brace yourself, Marcel, this may shock you.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 2 November Norman Blue Athletic Centre 206 in attendance Black Eagle took on Billy Robinson in the dark and was roundly defeated for his trouble, the Capital City Crucifix ending it. Once again, though, you could see them learning from each other in the ring. RATING: D- [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Jon Michael Sharp[/B] I didn't know how these two would work together, but figured it was worth finding out. Sharp is, for the while, a singles competitor now, after all. Bulldozer really stood out during the match, in particular landing the backdrop driver for the pin. RATING: D [B]Bairei Yasujiro vs. Fumihiro Ota[/B] Enh. These two just didn't work well together. Could have been worse, though; Yasujiro went down to Ota and his Ninja Strike and demonstrated further how dangerous we want Ota to look. RATING: D [B] Petey Barnes vs. Rhys Vali[/B] Job squad ho. You really don't need me to tell you how this went. Except that it got there really badly. Why am I still paying Vali? Oh, that's right; because this bout avoided Petey's November downside and Vali is cheap. Should've derailed Newton's push and used him. RATING: E+ [B]Merle O'Curle vs. UK Dragon for the ROF Championship[/B] That's my boys! Merle and the Dragon put on a superb title rematch which showcased a lot of puro-style brawling; again, I didn't know Merle had that good a store of punches. I approve. Along the way they also worked in the usual superb high flying and technical spots; the finish came when Dragon went for a springboard DDT and Merle caught him, shifted his weight, flipped him back into the air and powerbombed him before slapping on the Celtic Wreath. RATING: B- And as always Merle and the Dragon could be relied on to bring it back from the brink. Weaker than some, better than a lot. I can't complain. Next week we kick off the program that should've started when Merle battled Petey. OVERALL: C ...oh, great. Merle doesn't feel we're big enough for him, so I can't keep him signed. Right. Time for plan... are we on D?