Ring of Fire: Fighting Every Step of the Way

[Phantom Stranger]

Next up: El Bandito vs. Velocidad Arthur T. Turtle vs. Petey Barnes Walter Morgan vs. Don Henderson for the #1 Contendership Merle O'Curle vs. Johnny Highspot vs. K'Lee Hawkins

[Marcel Fromage]

El Bandito vs. [B]Velocidad[/B] Arthur T. Turtle vs. [B]Petey Barnes[/B] [B]Walter Morgan [/B]vs. Don Henderson for the #1 Contendership [B]Merle O'Curle [/B]vs. Johnny Highspot vs. K'Lee Hawkins Bad news about Merle. I'll go with him in the final match simply because I can't see the title on either of the other 2. Presumably you'll get the belt off him on the following show. I have a feeling I'm about to run into similar problems in my own diary with one or two of my top guys shortly. Unless I reach cult first. But then I've not got enough money to last 5 minutes at cult. Just when you're enjoying the game, it always has to do something that really sucks, doesn't it?

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;304109] I have a feeling I'm about to run into similar problems in my own diary with one or two of my top guys shortly. Unless I reach cult first. But then I've not got enough money to last 5 minutes at cult. Just when you're enjoying the game, it always has to do something that really sucks, doesn't it?[/QUOTE] All I'll say here is that as of where I am currently Merle isn't the only one who's done this. And a couple others are leaving because they didn't feel happy with the way I booked them, which in both cases is actually fair enough; I did treat 'em badly. I'm at 42% in the Midlands and around 17% elsewhere in the UK, so I won't hit Cult for some time. When I do, if UKW haven't done the sane thing and locked him into a written contract, I'll approach Merle again - but this won't be for, oh gosh, ages. Thank goodness Davis, Velocidad and a few others are so cheap, eh? --- As you'll start to see next week, the plot I've been threatening to run for some time revolves around what's actually happening here. It's a shame, but what can you do, eh?

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 3 November Norman Blue Athletic Centre 232 in attendance In the dark El Bandito took on Velocidad in an excellent match that showcased both men. Rumours of Merle's upcoming exit from the promotion seemed to be the only thing keeping our record attendance down. The pair rolled to a time limit draw in a noble bid to show roster depth. RATING: D- Merle came down to open the show, both belts over his shoulders, and started to chat to me in an impromptu interview. Somewhere along the way he started smirking, and I asked him why – and he grinned. “Because you fell for it, Terry,” he said. “You believed I cared about this useless place. When I won this belt the second time I told the fans that this promotion is a showcase – and it is. And that's all it is. It's the showcase that I needed after 21CW decided they didn't want me. It's the showcase that's taken me to the top of UKW. Just like El Critico used the place to reach the top at Ollie, like UK Dragon's killing time here as he climbs WLW's greasy pole, like Amo del Gato and Tigre Salvaje Jr ran back to Mexico the second you gave them the coverage they needed. “You run a nothing promotion, Terry, and the only reason I wanted this belt is so that I could be the only man to hold UKW and ROF gold at the same time – because this company won't last long enough to produce another!” I got angry, at that, and I wasn't the only one. Highspot and Hawkins came out to challenge Merle, and he laughed and accepted, saying that they didn't deserve the belt so it wasn't on the line – but still, it was time they found out why they still only worked for one company. So much time, in fact, that he'd teach them both at once... RATING: E+ [B]Arthur T. Turtle vs. Petey Barnes[/B] And on to the show proper, as two of the young talents I still currently have time to work with put on a reasonable show. Petey got the win at just before the ten minute mark with a super Future Shock. RATING: D- [B] Walter Morgan vs. Don Henderson for the #1 Contendership[/B] At some point I'll remember that these two don't mesh. They still put on the match of the night thus far, with the Wigan Wrench putting Don away. RATING: D+ [B] Merle O'Curle vs. Johnny Highspot vs. K'Lee Hawkins[/B] Half an hour is a little long for Johnny, but he and K'Lee did their job. Real life friendship shone through in their actions, hitting every power/speed double team in the book and overwhelming Merle who was, essentially, wrestling a handicap match. And my God, K'Lee's been teaching Johnny how to throw one hell of a punch. Merle actually lost when Johnny's frog splash followed seconds after K'Lee hotshotted Merle and followed up with a slingshot suplex. RATING: C I should've cancelled the advertised champ vs. champ main event when I realised I needed to change my tack with Merle. And they weren't too keen on El Bandito running for a full fifteen minutes. Still, it pretty much worked and I'm not too sorry, even if it's the first show I've run that didn't boost our popularity. Twenty-one more days to get the belt off Merle. OVERALL: D+

[Phantom Stranger]

Next up: Don Henderson vs. Hidekazu Davis Wayne Newton vs. Velocidad Walter Morgan vs. Billy Robinson for the #1 Contendership Bairei Yasujiro vs. Merle O'Curle in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 4 November Norman Blue Athletic Centre 218 in attendance A surprisingly good match in the dark this week, as Don Henderson descended into the dark to wrestle Hidekazu, turning in an excellent performance in which both men looked like stars. The match passed the fourteen minute mark and the only man to have convincingly defeated Merle O'Curle over the long haul looked like he was going to be unable to defeat Hidekazu in time, but with half a minute left the Scottish Deathlock claimed another victim. RATING: C- The show proper opened with Bairei Yasujiro coming down to ringside to talk to me. He doesn't speak English particularly well, but his point was made clearly enough; he'd been unemployed despite a remarkable career when I called (which was true) and he respected Ring of Fire for giving him the chance to lock up again. He didn't look at Ring of Fire as a stepping stone; it might get him recognised by other companies, but Ring of Fire was a place where professional wrestlers came to measure their skills. Just as the audience were beginning to wonder if he'd reach a point, he came to it; he wanted a match against Merle O'Curle, tonight, for the title and the honour of representing us. I agreed. RATING: E- [B]Davis Wayne Newton vs. Velocidad[/B] These two can be depended upon to turn in a good match whenever they face each other, and after last week's show I wanted to make sure we did well where we could – especially as Dragon's still feeling drained following his latest tour. Davis in particular shone through the ten minutes of their bout, eventually winning with an old-school British series of moves and counters into a pinning combination I dubbed the Newton's Cradle. RATING: C- [B]Walter Morgan vs. Billy Robinson for the #1 Contendership[/B] Huh. Is it really only Don and Merle that the crowd like to see work in the old style? I hope not – this wasn't all it should have been, though it worked well enough. Eventually the Wigan Wrench awarded Walter another successful defence. RATING: D+ [B]Bairei Yasujiro vs. Merle O'Curle in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship[/B] Yasujiro came out like a champion, despite not necessarily being someone you'd expect to win a title match. Locked into the Celtic Wreath at seventeen minutes in, he forced himself down and over, pressing Merle's shoulders to the mat, and the champion didn't release the hold in time to kick out, leaving Yasujiro up one. Nine minutes later he converted a superplex into a small package before either man hit the mat and won the match decisively. The crowd seemed stunned, but ate it up. RATING: C+ Samurai hit the ring immediately afterward. “I was gonna challenge you for the title, Merle,” he said. “But that doesn't seem like it's going to happen now. Instead I'm going to offer you something else. You and me. Contract versus contract. You claim you don't need this showcase anymore? Let's see how well you do without us, Merle, because it's going to happen!” Merle looked anxious for a second, licking his lips, then laughed. “It's never easy giving up a second income, Sammy,” he returned. “But this wouldn't be your second income. And Ring of Fire will need a new owner this time next week – maybe Jeff Nova'll be generous. I know we don't need you in UKW – you're on!” RATING: E Much better than last week. The match between Yasujiro and O'Curle seems to have gone down well with people who expected me to leave the belt on Merle until his last night. OVERALL: C K'Lee and Jon Michael Sharp won't negotiate with me. A bunch of the others coming up for renewal will, thankfully. And now I'm reminded why I just used to use people at random, to keep them active. And... UK Dragon won't re-sign either. Too small for him. Dammit.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: The Force vs. The Shooters Arthur T. Turtle vs. Johnny Highspot Bairei Yasujiro vs. Fumihiro Ota in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship British Samurai vs. Merle O'Curle in a Contract Match – 30 Minute Ultimate Submission stipulation

[Marcel Fromage]

[QUOTE=Phantom Stranger;306048][B]Walter Morgan vs. Billy Robinson for the #1 Contendership[/B] Huh. Is it really only Don and Merle that the crowd like to see work in the old style? I hope not – this wasn't all it should have been, though it worked well enough. [/QUOTE] I think the reason these 2 aren't producing like O'Curle/Henderson is the lack of psychology. Although Walter generally has good performance skills, his psychology and selling (I think) let him down a little. And Robinson doesn't have the psychology either at this point. Either of them against either Henderson or O'Curle are fine, but against each other it's not so great. [QUOTE] K'Lee and Jon Michael Sharp won't negotiate with me. A bunch of the others coming up for renewal will, thankfully. And now I'm reminded why I just used to use people at random, to keep them active. And... UK Dragon won't re-sign either. Too small for him. Dammit.[/QUOTE] You're having it tough losing both Dragon and O'Curle. Only now, 3 years in to my game, am I having negotiation problems with my major workers. As for the others not re-signing...I usually check the 'Talk to Worker' every couple of shows. Any of them that are more than just unhappy, I put in a bout on the next show. Most of them only need to work every few shows. At least having the workers active in all areas should help you through without O'Curle and Dragon. It would have been a disaster on mine!! :D

[Marcel Fromage]

The Force vs. [B]The Shooters[/B] [B]Arthur T. Turtle [/B]vs. Johnny Highspot [B]Bairei Yasujiro [/B]vs. Fumihiro Ota in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship [B]British Samurai [/B]vs. Merle O'Curle in a Contract Match – 30 Minute Ultimate Submission stipulation I'd imagine Samurai has to win the contract match and Yasujiro should retain the title in the first defence. I'll go with Turtle over Highspot simply because I'm fast beginning to think Highspot pulls ratings down in my own diary! And I'm interested to see how The Force fare in your ROF. I keep considering bringing them in to my tag division but always decide against for some reason.

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;306122] At least having the workers active in all areas should help you through without O'Curle and Dragon. It would have been a disaster on mine!! :D[/QUOTE] Tell me about it. The only real problem I have with a lot of this is getting the foreign new guys over enough o justify a solid push for them without just jobbing out the currently active folks.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 1 December Norman Blue Athletic Centre 213 in attendance Two new signings made their first appearances for ROF in the dark; Jed High and Toby Juan Kenobi took on the Shooters in a solid match that ended when the impressive and improving Don Henderson got Toby in the Scottish Deathlock for a 14:11 tap out. Toby in particular seems to have taken the lessons dealt by the two veterans to heart. RATING: D We ran a video recap of last week's main event to try and build both Merle's battle against Sammy and Bairei's rep as a champion. It wasn't received brilliantly – I suspect that those fans actually in attendance these days are here week to week, and know the score. Still, I keep trying... RATING: E [B]Arthur T. Turtle vs. Johnny Highspot[/B] Arthur's been complaining about not getting to wrestle of late, and compared to the other main eventers I have been neglecting him. I guess I've just been so busy with the Merle situation. His return to the ring wasn't brilliant, but that wasn't his fault; Johnny just wasn't at his best tonight. Arthur eventually rolled through a cross body attempt and pinned Johnny with something I'm far too tempted to call the Turtle Package. RATING: D [B]Bairei Yasujiro vs. Fumihiro Ota in a two out of three falls match for the ROF Championship[/B] Gah. They don't work together as well as I'd hoped; they just don't fit together. Did mostly work, though; Ota's Ninja Strike left him vulnerable to a backslide for the first fall out of nowhere, and to bolster the champ's rep he put it beyond doubt against a strong opponent with a springboard clothesline and a quick cover. RATING: D+ [B] British Samurai vs. Merle O'Curle in a Contract Match – 30 Minute Ultimate Submission stipulation[/B] Well, this lifted things a bit after a fairly lacklustre show, but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. My dream of this promotion's future posts Sammy as a stalwart midcarder veteran. In order to do that I need a main event strong enough that Sammy shouldn't be part of it. That could take some time, but while Sammy's a great talent he's not a showman enough I'm comfortable building around him. This was a solid match, though, and Merle's performance made it more so; by the end, the crowd were booing even beloved O'Curle and roared with approval when the timer ran out leaving Sammy up by two falls to one. RATING: C Not as good as we're capable of. Maybe once Merle and Dragon are gone I'll have to get used to this, though. OVERALL: C- We re-signed Donny as road agent and Jonni Lowlife kept his job. Gob Narfi was asking for far too much; he's gone in a short while. I may feel generous enough to job him out.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next week: Narfi vs. Velocidad vs. Toby Juan Kenobi El Bandito vs. Davis Wayne Newton Walter Morgan vs. Hidekazu vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. El Critico for the #1 Contendership Petey Barnes & British Samurai vs. UK Dragon and Bairei Yasujiro

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 2 December Norman Blue Athletic Centre 214 in attendance My biggest problem as a booker is my tendency to relieve disappointments with a spending spree. Tonight is the biggest demonstration of that yet, but it'll hopefully prove worthwhile. In the dark, we had a three man elimination bout; Gob Narfi, Velocidad, and Toby Juan Kenobi came together. Narfi went first to a Velocidad Tornado, early on, before Kenobi got the better of the luchador with a sit-out bulldog. RATING: E+ [B]El Bandito vs. Davis Wayne Newton[/B] Cheapest match on the card; eight minutes of technical work interspersed with high flying sequences set up to tell a story. Bandito led Davis through the plotting of the bout and really helped the youngster get his head round that important art; eventually, though, the Newton's Cradle claimed a second victim from two attempts. Hell of a match; the faster I can get these two over and main eventing, the better. RATING: C+ [B]Walter Morgan vs. Hidekazu vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. El Critico for the #1 Contendership[/B] Three of these four men come cheap, and I figured they could all learn from each other; Morgan is a technical masterclass, Hidekazu and Critico can go airborne well, and the Bulldozer, quite apart from his puroresu qualifications, is one hell of a powerhouse. It went twelve minutes; in the end the Critical Mass caught an unsuspecting Morgan while Hidekazu and the Bulldozer duelled over who would tigerbomb the other from the top turnbuckle. (The Dozer won, if you're interested.) Critico picks up his first ROF title. I realised that I'd never changed a title in a multi-man match, and that that probably needed changing if I was going to get things back to unpredictability. RATING: C- [B]Petey Barnes & British Samurai vs. UK Dragon and Bairei Yasujiro[/B] I figured that putting the champ on the same team as the man about to leave was the best way to leave smarks unsure what result we'd put together. These four put on an excellent match, with the awkward chemistry Petey has with the Dragon was neatly sidestepped; he mostly battled the champ, with whom he meshes phenomenally well, but in the end – thirty-two minutes in and change, if you please – Dragon tagged in blind while Petey was in the ring, caught a drop toe-hold, kicked out of a fast cradle and sprang up into a Future Shock to give Petey the win at 32:40. RATING: C+ So that was a much, much better show than last week – and with the amount I threw at it, it should be. We continue to make strides in popularity; I continue to wish we were putting this on TV; our stars probably continue to gain in popularity faster than we can handle. OVERALL: C

[Phantom Stranger]

Up next: Black Eagle vs. El Bandito YNFT vs. The Force for the Tag Titles El Critico vs. Jon Michael Sharp for the #1 Contendership Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. K'Lee Hawkins Hidekazu vs. Don Henderson Velocidad vs. Petey Barnes

[Marcel Fromage]

[QUOTE=Phantom Stranger;307398]So that was a much, much better show than last week – and with the amount I threw at it, it should be. We continue to make strides in popularity; I continue to wish we were putting this on TV; our stars probably continue to gain in popularity faster than we can handle. OVERALL: C[/QUOTE] Ah, but can you afford to run tv? It's nice in theory, but in practice you only get half the gate receipts. I'm very nearly at cult and still can't get a tv deal! [QUOTE=Phantom Stranger;307399]Up next: Black Eagle vs. [B]El Bandito[/B] [B]YNFT[/B] vs. The Force for the Tag Titles [B]El Critico [/B]vs. Jon Michael Sharp for the #1 Contendership [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] vs. K'Lee Hawkins Hidekazu vs. [B]Don Henderson[/B] Velocidad vs. [B]Petey Barnes[/B][/QUOTE] I think the most interesting difference with your ROF to my ROF is how I carried on pushing original workers, and you've brought in a lot of new talent to push. It's made 2 versions of the same promotion completely different! I'd still go with Henderson and Barnes to keep the old flag flying here, but I see Bulldozer and Bandito as 2 you're building strongly. I think it's too early for the Force to take the tag titles, but I'm pretty sure that they're a better team than YNFT. Critico ain't losing his newly won title to someone like JM Sharp.

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 3 December Norman Blue Athletic Centre 202 in attendance Both enhancement talents of the present started off the show with a rather solid dark match. Black Eagle hit the New Jersey Turnpike on El Bandito to finish it at 12:49 RATING: D+ [B]YNFT vs. The Force for the ROF Tag Titles[/B] Sometimes it seems like Highspot's been off his game since he lost the #1 Contendership to the Bulldozer. On the other hand, this was Lowlife's show, as YNFT came through with a third successful tag defence (now that I actually have a few teams I'm willing to use...). The Low Down took Jed High out in the end, after a solid and evenly matched bout. RATING: D [B]El Critico vs. Jon Michael Sharp for the #1 Contendership[/B] This was... better than the tag match, but marginally. The Critical Mass was the match winner here. RATING: D+ [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. K'Lee Hawkins[/B] We built this match backward from the end; the two powerhouses brawled and battled every way they could until eventually K'Lee's crossface chickenwing was converted into an inverted piledriver, giving Brandon a win. Too much of my current booking is predictable to folks who follow the dirt sheets, but I'm still hoping to talk Sammy into advertising Ring of Fire based on the name value of our workers some day, and that does mean I want to bleed as much overness off those who leave as possible. (Merle, by the way, is building his back up with UKW. Hopefully I'll be able to rehire him someday, though.) RATING: D+ A young woman made her way to the ring, smirking. “Hi,” she told the fans. “My name's Nadia Snow, and I'm here because some times a man needs to move heaven and earth to get noticed – but a woman always can. “You all know Don Henderson. This is a man who beat Merle O'Curle in a full series; this is a man who can go on to greatness. If Roberts can be bothered to give him the opportunity, rather than leaving it to people who work for other companies and run home to them when we get too tough. “Right now I just want anyone willing to fight to come out here and find out how dangerous he can be. Terry, we'll be calling for a title shot soon enough, don't you fret?” RATING: E- Could've done better. Will once we can get the idea that this happens into the fans' heads. [B]Hidekazu vs. Don Henderson[/B] The results of the challenge; Don took on Hidekazu and this pair can go, man, this pair can go. The mood picked right up, but the highland warrior stepped up the pace a few minutes in, showing he'd been toying with Hidekazu, and it wasn't long after that that the Scottish Deathlock finished things. RATING: C- [B] Velocidad vs. Petey Barnes[/B] And this was not all it should've been. Needless to say it was the Future Shock that won the day over the Velocidad Tornado, but these two just didn't perform on the level they should've. RATING: D- Ugh. No wonder attendance is back down; I paced this badly and the main event was a downer. Still, working on Don's push will hopefully provide dividends in 2008... OVERALL: D

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;307403] I think the most interesting difference with your ROF to my ROF is how I carried on pushing original workers, and you've brought in a lot of new talent to push. It's made 2 versions of the same promotion completely different! I'd still go with Henderson and Barnes to keep the old flag flying here, but I see Bulldozer and Bandito as 2 you're building strongly. I think it's too early for the Force to take the tag titles, but I'm pretty sure that they're a better team than YNFT. Critico ain't losing his newly won title to someone like JM Sharp.[/QUOTE] More or less all correct logic there. I do like a lot of the guys I've brought in, but that happened basically because I looked at the original talent list and there were a lot of good wrestlers (and/or folks I liked) and some folks I felt needed replacing. Then one thing led to another. Ring of Fire is the kind of promotion that, in real life, is going to have the status that Merle accuses it of having in his final month with the company. I've been wanting to do something with that for a while, truth be told, but the way the product's structured leaves me more or less running it in the background. But it's an obvious tension to play with in a fed like Ring of Fire, especially as - at the same time - I suspect a Ring of Fire title run would carry notable backstage kudos in other feds. Oh, and yes - some of the stuff I'm doing with managers, women on the roster, etc, is going to fail with ROF's product. Terry doesn't know that, though, and feels it should be tried.

[Phantom Stranger]

Next up: Jed High vs. Eric Future Hidekazu vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith Davis Wayne Newton vs. Black Eagle Bairei Yasujiro vs. Petey Barnes in a 30 Minute Iron Man Match for the ROF Championship

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 4 December Norman Blue Athletic Centre 221 It's been a good year, much as I rant occasionally. We're still gaining on 21CW if not UKW. And the Norman Blue has definitely been good to us; this time we repaid it and the 221 in attendance with a dark match between Eric Future and Jed High to begin, a bout ending in thirty-five seconds when Jed's Sky High sealed the deal. This didn't greatly impress the crowd but it amused the hell out of the locker room and was a quiet Christmas present to Sammy, who's been getting more and more pissed off with Eric. RATING: E [B]Hidekazu vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] More beautiful puro style action. These two really do work well together; this one ended with another inverted piledriver giving Brandon the victory at 11:53, but they got the fans right back into the swing of things. I expect the internet cast to do well, too. RATING: C- [B] Davis Wayne Newton vs. Black Eagle[/B] Both these two deserve to be higher up the card. This was a great bout; the finish came when, with Davis flat on the mat, the Eagle ascended the turnbuckles – and Davis scrambled to his feet and up there after him! Ever seen an STF applied while two men are still falling from the turnbuckle? It's quite a sight... RATING: C- [B]Bairei Yasujiro vs. Petey Barnes in a 30 Minute Iron Man Match for the ROF Championship[/B] Wonderful. These two, as ever, look perfect taking each other on, and that great chemistry made things all the better as British high flying met Japanese super junior style at its peak. The Future Shock put Petey up at the ten minute mark, and fifteen minutes in Petey landed another. It was two falls to none and halfway through and the crowd smelled a new champion in the air; the reaction that got was incredible. When Petey went for a third with only six minutes remaining, however, Yasujiro converted it into a release German suplex that smashed Petey into the turnbuckle and a schoolboy took advantage. Two-one and six minutes on the clock; the Japanese warrior took the reins at that point, though it took until the final seconds when a hip toss was converted into a backbreaker for Bairei to get a second fall and even the score with only five seconds to go! A hell of a draw, and an excellent final bout of the year. RATING: C+ OK, so Jed/Eric deserved more time. Beyond that this was great; we're getting good reviews again. I just hope we can even things out soon. RATING: C

[Phantom Stranger]

Champagne popped in the back room of the Norman Blue, which had become the promotion's unofficial hangout centre, and the guys whooped it up. Sammy in particular had a smile plastered broadly across his face. “First of all,” he said, “a Happy New Year to all of you. Even those of you who're leaving us tomorrow – good luck, God bless, and God willing when the time is right we'll see you again.” Cheers mixed with cries of “We love you!” and other such drunken encouragements. I couldn't help but smile. “Second of all,” he says, “the time will be right again. Ring of Fire is on the rise, gentlemen – and ladies – and we all know it. We've all seen it. This time last year Norman Blue saw almost as many wrestlers as audience members, and now... our record is two hundred and thirty-two. We weren't far below that Friday. That's due to all of you, too – and all the guys who're at their own promotion's big event tonight.” A grin. “We won't hold it against 'em outside of the show. “Now... let the party begin!” I found myself a quiet spot out of the way and sat down. PWH had its awards out, and while I expected to see absolutely nothing to do with us, I wanted to see what was going on. One of our former workers – as of just now – was in the top 100; [B]UK Dragon[/B] had made it to number 89. I was hoping that our work had been part of what had put him there. [B]Yoshimi Musashibo[/B] collared Wrestler of the Year. I'm hoping that that will get people more interested in the Japanese talent we have on display. [B]Sensational Dragon[/B], as Young Wrestler of the Year, may also help. [B]Pistol Pete Hall[/B] got the Veteran award. This doesn't help us, but I'm glad for him. Kudos, as ever, to [B]Sensational Ogiwara[/B]. She might have had competition for the first time this year, but no one hired Alicia Strong until we went looking. Naturally this meant we couldn't get her. [B]TCW[/B] forced their way back onto the international scene this morning; no wonder they grabbed Promotion of the Year. [B]NOTBPW[/B] stole Most Improved Promotion, ensuring we wouldn't get anything. Truly bizarrely, however, another article showed up; I was under discussion. Rumours of a return to the ring are flying once again, and there's speculation that I'll have changed style, easing off on my technical roots and instead working on playing the crowd. Where the hell do people get this stuff from?

[Phantom Stranger]

Next up: El Bandito vs. Velocidad Davis Wayne Newton vs. Don Henderson YNFT vs. The Force British Samurai vs. Bairei Yasujiro vs. Walter Morgan in an elimination match for the ROF Championship

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 1 January Norman Blue Athletic Centre 211 in attendance We kicked things off with Velocidad and El Bandito in a dark match. Bandito shone, looking really good, which made the Velocidad Tornado out of nowhere that settled the match look all the greater. RATING: D+ [B]Davis Wayne Newton vs. Don Henderson[/B] Davis has been making great strides, and the roster's much thinner now than it was a month ago. As such it seemed like a smart plan to look at how he can go against some of the bigger names. These two gave us twelve jaw-dropping minutes of tense technical action which, unfortunately for Davis, culminated in the Scottish Deathlock. RATING: C+ [B]YNFT vs. The Force[/B] A rematch – a rare thing in ROF, and given how poorly the crowd reacted this time around, possibly unwise of me. In the end, though, Toby got the victory over Jonni Lowlife in revenge, executing a lovely Kenobi Kutter for the three-count – half a second before Highspot's frog splash wiped both legal men out. The Force were to lament the fact this wasn't for the belts... RATING: D [B]British Samurai vs. Bairei Yasujiro vs. Walter Morgan in an elimination match for the ROF Championship[/B] Sammy was accompanied to the ring by Miss Information, his protege... ...with whom he has absolutely no chemistry once you go kayfabe. This is ridiculous; those two had a party dynamic that made New Year's Eve leap, but get them into character and it dies. Have to find something else to do with her. With the recent losses, Walter's been cemented as a main eventer – he actually currently rates higher than Bairei – and I'm working on helping him settle into that role because, God help me, I may need him to. I'm pleased to say that the Wigan-style mat technician shocked everyone during this bout when, around the fifteen minute mark, he went on a dropkick spree, among other things sending Sammy out of the ring onto Miss I. Extra flex is always going to be useful, and an understanding of aerial moves is pretty much essential anywhere in Ring of Fire now. This chain got derailed, sadly, when Yasujiro sidestepped and turned one into a backbreaker as Walter came down – and a few moments later a superkick eliminated his first challenger. Back in the ring, Sammy and Bairei put on an exhibition for nearly another quarter of an hour before Sammy got hoisted up for a stall suplex which Yasujiro abruptly converted into a spike DDT. RATING: C Not so bad, all things considered. I'll take shows like this... so long as they're still enough to punch our attendance up. OVERALL: C

[Phantom Stranger]

Friday Week 2 January Norman Blue Athletic Centre 223 in attendance For the hell of it I put Nadia Snow against Miss Information in a short dark match – mostly to test the waters. Women wrestling didn't go down well, and I'm not sure I even want to try broaching adding it to our advertising with Sammy. Considering they weren't happy about seeing either of them in the ring, though, this match went OK – I'd have called it a bad match if they didn't have the crowd against them. RATING: E+ A second dark match; Toby Juan Kenobi against Velocidad. This one was no better, chiefly because they don't click at all. The crowd crapped all over everything except the Kenobi Kutter finishing the match. RATING: E+ [B]El Critico vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith for the #1 Contendershi[/B]p Coming out of the dark we heavily upped our game. Critico and Brandon gave it everything they'd got as the Mexican veteran taught Brandon a lot; both men battled from pillar to post giving it everything they'd got, and with seconds to go Brandon turned a Critical Mass into a Backdrop Driver – but the bell rang before he could make the cover. Time limit work, this, and I'm glad it was. RATING: C- [B] Sergei Kalashnov vs. Don Henderson[/B] Not that tempting four of UCR's talent on to my show – which runs simultaneously with the taping of UCR's product – is damaging the competition or anything. The Force haven't been spectacular yet, though they're doing reasonably well, and hopefully I'll make Miss Information click for me soon. To my surprise – I'd intended this as a tune-up match for Don while giving Sergei a chance to show us what he could do – these two mesh pretty well; and as we've seen, chemistry can count for a lot in Ring of Fire. Nadia continues to do good work at ringside getting the crowd into the bout, though here we don't see managers interfere. Don eventually picked up the pace and hit the Scottish Deathlock for the win. RATING: C- [B]Fumihiro Ota vs. British Samurai[/B] And in the 'you have a downside I'd rather not have to pay' match we pitted owner against rival booker. Not bad, this one; Mitch and I had a whale of a time on commentary playing up the ninja versus samurai aspect, when eventually Ota hit the Ninja Strike from behind and got the pin – at which point commentary dissolved into laughter for about ten seconds. RATING: C- [B]Bairei Yasujiro vs. Davis Wayne Newton for the ROF Championship in a two out of three falls match[/B] Davis really isn't in logical contention for the title, but that doesn't matter so much; I felt this would be a good match and give Bairei an extra defence, and I was right. Best match of the night, in fact. Yasujiro won in two falls, using a Sadaharu Jimbo-style enzuigiri to get both. Davis played up his frustration at falling for the same thing twice wonderfully as the champ collected his belt. RATING: C+ Mmm. It's good to be booking better shows again. This should do pretty well for us despite the poor dark work. OVERALL: C Bairei has gotten an offer from WLW, who seem to be celebrating their new cult status. This could get awkward...

[Phantom Stranger]

Next up: Arthur T. Turtle vs. Black Eagle Jed High vs. Bulldozer Brandon Smith Hidekazu vs. El Critico for the #1 Contendership Bairei Yasujiro vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a ladder match

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Arthur T. Turtle vs. [B]Black Eagle[/B] We love the Eagle. Jed High vs. [B]Bulldozer Brandon Smith[/B] Hidekazu vs. [B]El Critico[/B] for the #1 Contendership [B]Bairei Yasujiro[/B] vs. Petey Barnes for the ROF Championship in a ladder match