GCG- Bringing back the Glory

[1PWfan]

They always say that in wrestling it’s not who you are, but who you know. And I know Dick the Devastator, one of the great veterans of wrestling and a man whose biography (incidentally co-written with yours truly) was one of the best-selling books of 2006. Ain’t I lucky? The name’s Hugh Dansigny, and before you ask its pronounced Don-seen-yay (I’m from Quebec, unfortunately). I’ve been living in Japan for a couple of years now, covering the wrestling scene for the sports magazines, and in that kinda work you tend to make some useful connections, Dick being one of them. So, when he calls me round to the GCG offices for, and I quote, ‘the biggest news story this side of the INSPIRE rebellion’ I figured it was probably a good idea to get down there pretty quick. Of course, if I’d known then what I know now, and had been able to see what the result of that call would be…f*ck it, I’d still be here now. Job opportunities like this one ain’t exactly common, whatever strings might be attached. Confused? You should be. To paraphrase the late, great Margo Channing ‘Fasten Your Seatbelts, It’s Gonna be a Bumpy Ride!’ *** [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Okay, Dick, what’s this big story? ‘Cos if it’s about Henry Bennett, then I can’t print it: Satoru’s been on my ass about ‘gossip stories’”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]“Shut up and listen, kid. There isn’t a story”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“There’s no story? Then…”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]“And if I’d told you something else you wouldn’t be here, kid. I’ve known a lot of journo’s in my time, kid, and not one of them would get out of bed for less than the story of the year. Han wants a word”[/COLOR] I knew Hanshiro Furusawa, of course, how could I not? Guy’s just about the only major promoter in Japan that actually talks to the media (of course, the others don’t need too). Still, something deeply weird was going on, and I couldn’t help but be on edge when I went into his office for said ‘word’. [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Okay, what’s the big deal Han? You got Dick to call me over here for a ‘word’? Hell, if you wanted an interview or press release or whatever you can do it through the office, don’t go calling me at home”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Olive"]“I want you to become GCG’s new head booker”[/COLOR] I’m told I talk too much. This is just about the best way to shut me up. [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Okay, I must be losing my mind. I coulda sworn you asked me, a man whose only professional experience of the wrestling world is writing about it, to become your new head booker”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Olive"]“That is the case, yes”[/COLOR] Is it all Japanese people that have no sense of irony, or just this guy? [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“GCG have recently come into an…additional investment of funds. A donation, shall we say, from a long standing fan who wishes to remain anonymous. One condition of this donation was an overhaul of our booking strategy, in order to make best use of this investment.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“And I was the first guy you thought of?”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Olive"]“You’re an outsider, but you understand this company. We need someone like you, who can bring in new ideas but still respect the name of GCG. Believe me, I would not have asked if I did not truly believe you were the man best suited to restoring this company to the heights it used to achieve”[/COLOR] Sure, Han’s a lousy businessman, but he’s one hell of a flatterer. If I’d not been so puffed up from his silver-tongued spiel, maybe I’d have asked a few more questions about our anonymous benefactor. But hell, I’m only human: the guy was making out like I was a genius, and who could resist that? [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Okay dokey then, Han. I’m in.”[/COLOR]

[1PWfan]

My first day at the office started with one very major fact: our ‘additional investment’ was no less than 300,000 bucks. Nearly half again on what we already had. I was already suspicious, but hey, it was money we could use, so I decided to shut the h*ll up and deal with it later (first rule of Dansigny: that which benefits you is always your friend…even if it bites you in the ass down the line). With the extra money from our ‘anonymous investor’ we were looking in a pretty good position to turn things around. With talent like [B]Hiroyasu Gakusha[/B], [B]Pistol Pete Hall [/B]and [B]Toshiharu Hyobanshi[/B] at the top of the card, and underneath guys like [B]Jack Marlowe[/B], [B]Takayuki 2000[/B], [B]Stuart Ferdinand[/B] and [B]Shingen Miyazaki[/B], we were bound to put on some damn good shows. Plus, Han had actually managed to score a major coup and sing a working agreement with PGHW, protecting us from talent theft from that front, although BHOTWG could probably be counted on to steal at least some of our boys. Sure enough, by day two they’d put the moves in on Tak and [B]Samoan Machine[/B], one half of the leading contenders for the Tag titles. PGHW and INSPIRE had also made moves, but INSPIRE were too small to sign people exclusively, and our working agreement meant that we’d keep some our people around if they went to PGHW. There was also the usual crop of objectives from Han, to ensure that ‘I remained focussed on getting the most out of our new financial gain’ (geez, obsessive much?). Basically, I had three years to make sure we were bigger than we are now, and for a year I wasn’t allowed to sign anyone older than 42 or who used steroids. Nothing too strenuous, but not being able to sign the real veterans would probably bite after a while: we had a young roster, and the legendary Japanese thing about ‘young lions’ would probably make itself felt sooner or later. With January heralding the start of our Live After Death tour, I put out offers to a few out-of-towners to come in on the tour. [B]Merle O’Curle[/B] was a great Irish wrestler that was perfect for us, even if he had no name value in Japan at all. I basically told him that this tour was an audition for him: deliver, and we’d bring him across on a more permanent basis. [B]Harumi Okazawaya[/B] and [B]Hidekazu[/B] were Japanese boys with more than enough talent to round out our card. We didn’t really have the room to make them full-time talent, but they were likely to prove very useful for this tour at least, and would probably return down the line. I didn’t honestly expect to sign [B]Champagne Lover[/B]: the guy’s one hell of a worker, and the big boys would be insane to not try and get him, but what the hell, it was worth a shot, For the first night of the tour, I put together the following card: Hiroyasu Gakusha vs. Dark Angel [I]The GCG World Heavyweight Champ faces off against the British Veteran in his first title defence of the tour. Will he triumph, or will the Gaijin be taking the title back to NOTBPW?[/I] Pistol Pete Hall vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi [I]Two of GCG’s premier talents face off for the right to talent Gakusha next week. Will the veteran Cowboy take the win, or will Hyobanshi prove too much for the American?[/I] Takayuki 2000 vs. Jimmy Cox vs. Jack Marlowe [I]The GCG Openweight title will be on the line tonight as the young Takayuki 2000 faces off against not one, but two deadly workers in the form of the Wild Man Jack Marlowe and The Master of the Immortal Driver Jimmy Cox. Who will triumph?[/I] Coleman and Ferdinand vs. Samoan Destruction Inc. [I]Another battle of old vs. young blood, this time for the GCG World Tag Team Titles. Will the awesome power of the Samoans win through, or will it prove useless against the veteran wiles and technical ability of Coleman and Ferdinand?[/I] Shingen Miyazaki vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Yasuhide Tayama vs. Namboku Makuda [I]An exhibition match for some of GCG’s young talent. Which of these four will take the match tonight, and secure bragging rights as GCG’s most talented youngster?[/I] One advantage of having so many workers on written deals (Gakusha, Hall, Hyobanshi and Cox were all on writtens, plus lifers like Kazu Yoshizawa and Yoshi Maeda) was that we could run longer cards and not worry about the costs (h*ll, we’re paying them anyway, right?), hence tonight’s card. Plus, if we lost too much money I could always cut back on the multiple-man matches next week.

[Regis]

For the first night of the tour, I put together the following card: [B]Hiroyasu Gakusha[/B] vs. Dark Angel [I]Champion's advantage carries the day. No way in hell is the Gaijin taking the belt of belts away on the first day of the tour![/I] [B]Pistol Pete Hall[/B] vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi [I]Methinks that PPH is the better choice here - he's just plain better. Toshi has time to earn his spot once he's improved his skills some more. Plus, y'know, PPH is also just cool.[/I] [B]Takayuki 2000[/B] vs. Jimmy Cox vs. Jack Marlowe [I]Tough one - I wasn't sure if you'd want to drop the title quickly in case T2K jumps ship. However, he's not confirmed gone yet, and he's a damn good guy to work with for pretty much anyone on your roster.[/I] [B]Coleman and Ferdinand[/B] vs. Samoan Destruction Inc. [I]The chances of Samoan Machine staying are slim. While it's a gamble to keep the title on a man who may not stay, it's outright foolish to transfer the title to someone in the same position. Coleman and Ferdinand to retain.[/I] [B]Shingen Miyazaki[/B] vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Yasuhide Tayama vs. Namboku Makuda [I]Shingen Miyazaki for the win, because... well... he's just better than the others. It's as simple as that.[/I] GCG will rule!

[1PWfan]

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="6"]GCG Live After Death Tour[/SIZE][/FONT] Coming to you from the Ibaraki community hall to a crowd of 690 people. Nowhere near a sell-out but enough to be getting on with. [B][U]Pre-Show/DVD Extras[/U][/B] [B]Shingen Miyazaki vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Yasuhide Tayama vs. Namboku Makuda[/B] Wow. Just…wow. And also damn. This was…well, I think the word I’m looking for is AWESOME. Alright, so Yoshi had worked out one hell of a script for this one, but those guys got game. Everything worked here, and what’s more, there was improvement right across the board, whether it was Shingen unleashing a moonsault that that took everybody out, Makuda slapping on a fujiwara armbar that had Tayama screaming in pain (alright, it was worked, but it was still a good move) or Kuroki and Yasu beating the ever-loving sh*t out of each other. A truly fantastic match, so what’s the betting that something else up the card sucks? [B]Winner:[/B] Shingen Miyazaki [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B-[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [B]Coleman and Ferdinand vs. Samoan Destruction Inc.[/B] This was a good solid match, but after the dark match extravaganza it wasn’t terribly satisfying. The big problem was styles: Samoan Machine and Rhino Umaga are all out fighters, whilst Coleman and Ferdinand are a lot more tactical, and in Ferdinand’s case very technical. They told a good story, and like I said it was pretty good match, but it didn’t flow like it could have. Ferdinand got the win after an impressive fisherman’s Suplex on Samoan Machine (have you ever tried suplexing a big-ass Samoan? It ain’t easy, let me tell you). [B]Winners:[/B] Coleman and Ferdinand [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C[/I] [B]Takayuki 2000 vs. Jimmy Cox vs. Jack Marlowe[/B] One show in and I’m already producing classic matches. How the f*ck is that possible? Alright, so they had nearly half an hour to work in, and alright so they’re all pretty good, but how the hell was this so good? 28 minutes of the best wrestling you could imagine, good enough to headline cards for promotions way up the ladder from us, and we’re only half way through the card. I think it helps that we’ve got such a good announcing team: Dick and Han are great colour guys, and whilst I’m no Peter Michaels I’d like to think I’m up there. [B]Winner:[/B] Takayuki 2000 [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I] [B]Pistol Pete Hall vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi[/B] Pete? The Stones called: they want their juju back. Seriously, though, Dan who? This match was just so awesome it’s untrue. I’d told these guys to hold back a bit, so they didn’t burn the crowd out before the main event, but even so, damn, damn and en extra side-order of damn for the weekend, this was great. Naturally Pete took the win (he IS the veteran after all), damn near taking Tosh’s head off with that trademark Pistol Whip Lariat before scoring the pin. If I had to find a flaw with this match (and I honestly don’t want to), it would have to be the selling: both of these guys are used to being dominant, so they’re not particularly great at putting over the other guy’s offence [B]Winner:[/B] Pistol Pete Hall [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]A[/I] [B]Hiroyasu Gakusha vs. Dark Angel[/B] You know when I said we’d have to have a really crap match to balance out the dark match? This was that match. Alright, so it wasn’t that bad: There are a lot of companies our size that would kill for matches this good. But I’ve got to judge by what [B]we[/B] can do, and after two great matches this was decidedly average. A big part of that was chemistry: forget the same page, these guys were reading from two different books in two different languages (fair enough, I guess, after all one’s English and the other’s Japanese) and it really dragged down the match. That raises awkward questions over Angel’s future: he’s the only main event on a PPA deal, and why should I use him when I can save money by rotating the other three? [B]Winner:[/B] Hiroyasu Gakusha [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]B[/I], with a lot of excellent feedback. The best part? We’ve only just begun.

[Regis]

Woooooooo! 100%! Go me! Tag Team matches are hard to get good ratings out of, chemistry or no, but it seems to help if they get a long match to work with. Bear in mind that you've got four guys in the ring, and they all need time to show off. Giving them that extra five minutes can make all the difference.

[1PWfan]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]“What do you mean, ‘he wasn’t happy’?”[/COLOR] I’d got back into the office on Monday morning (Second rule of Dansigny: if you turn up on the weekends, you’ll never go home again), and Han had promptly greeted me with the news that whoever had put up the 300,000 bucks hadn’t liked the show. [COLOR="DarkOrange"]"Okay, two things. Firstly, does this guy even watch wrestling? I’ve been covering it for years, and I can tell you that that was one hell of a show, Okay, so Gakusha and Dark Angel let us down in the main event, but that undercard could blow the hell out of the SWF’s main event. Secondly, who cares what this guy thinks? Last time I checked, Han, you were in charge around here, not this guy, whoever the hell he is."[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]“Nevertheless, he was unhappy with the quality of show we presented on Friday. His feeling was that we were giving too many matches to Gaijin, and our focus should be on Japanese wrestlers. Please remember, Mr. Dansigny, we are dealing with a very important investor: his money could help save this company”[/COLOR] Man, whoever this guy, he had Han eating out of his hand. By this point, I was really suspicious: I’m not saying Hanshiro’s any more stubborn than most wrestling promoters, but it’s real out of character for him to get like this over a fan, even one who hands out money like Dharma Gregg hands out personal services. [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Han, is there something you want to tell me about this guy? Like, why the hell you’re all over his opinions like they actually matter?”[/COLOR] Ever seen a man looking guilty? Then you’ll know what Han looked like. [COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]“As I’ve said before, he is a long-term fan of the company who wishes to remain anonymous”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Dude, that’s f*ck-all by way of knowledge. Hell, he could be a politican, a banker or f*cking Tommy Cornell for all I know! Look, if we’re getting money from somewhere don’t I deserve to know at least a little about where it’s coming from? I’m running this show after all, and if this guy wants a word with me about the way I do things it’d be nice to meet him face to face and explain myself” [/COLOR]and then tell him to p*ss off, but I’m not telling Han that. [COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]“He’s not fond of meetings. So, what are your plans for this Friday?”[/COLOR] Okay, so Han was dodging the issue. Fair enough, I guess: we had work to do after all, and I could worry about the money later, if at all. I gave him a quick look at our card, which panned out something like this: Hiroyasu Gakusha vs. Pistol Pete Hall [I]After winning the qualifying match against Toshiharu Hyobanshi last week, Pistol Pete Hall faces off against Gakusha in a match for the title. Both have momentum coming into this bout, but which will walk away the victor: the veteran brawler, or the Puro Specialist?[/I] Toshiharu Hyobanshi vs. Jimmy Cox [I]After his loss last week, Toshiharu Hyobanshi faces off against Jimmy Cox, who is coming out of a loss to Takayuki 2000. Will Cox be able to move up the card by vanquishing Hyobanshi, or will Hyobanshi be able to return to winning ways?[/I] Takayuki 2000 vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Hidekazu vs. Shingen Miyazaki [I]After winning our dark match last week, Shingen has earned the right to challenge for the GCG Openweight title. Joining him in this match are Kiminobu Kuroki, who remains in line for a title shot despite his loss, and Hidekazu, who joins GCG for the duration of the Live after Death tour. Will Takayuki beat the odds and retain his belt, or will one of his three opponents walk away the champ?[/I] Jack Marlowe vs. Nathan Coleman [I]Marlow faces off against one half of the tag champions tonight, and victory here would assure him a title shot with his partner Julian Watson down the line. Will Marlow take the win, or will the crafty veteran Coleman beat him to the bell?[/I] Scheduled for the dark was O’Curle vs. Shotaro Ikina, one of our more worthless veterans.

[Regis]

[B]Hiroyasu Gakusha[/B] vs. Pistol Pete Hall [I]Having a Gaijin win the bout in view of the latest Word From Our Sponsors would be foolish - plus, it would be unwise to devalue Gakusha so soon into his championship reign.[/I] [B]Toshiharu Hyobanshi[/B] vs. Jimmy Cox [I]Toshi's not got the basics down so well, but once again, don't want to push the Gaijin too hard. He's skilled, he's over, he's in the Main Event scene, and a loss to him won't hurt Jimmy too badly.[/I] Takayuki 2000 vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Hidekazu vs. [B]Shingen Miyazaki[/B] [I]It's a tough one, this. On the one hand, I'm always inclined to see the Champion's advantage carry. On the other, the champ can't stay the champ forever, and Miyazaki can do well with it. I tip him for the win.[/I] [B]Jack Marlowe[/B] vs. Nathan Coleman [I]Dedicated Singles guy will beat dedicated Tag guy in a Singles match. If Marlowe got a partner to step into the ring with, Coleman would own him, but as it is Jack will carry the day.[/I] Scheduled for the dark was [B]O’Curle[/B] vs. Shotaro Ikina, one of our more worthless veterans. [I]Merle could teach Shotaro a thing or two. Let him take the win to build momentum.[/I]

[1PWfan]

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="6"]GCG Live After Death Tour[/SIZE][/FONT] Coming to you from the Toyama Hall to a crowd of 699 people. Roughly the same as last time, but I kinda preferred this crowd: no particular reason, it was just more my kinda scene, y’know? [B][U]Pre-Show/DVD Extras [/U][/B] [B]Merle O’Curle vs. Shotaro Ikina[/B] This match served a dual purpose: firstly, I wanted to de-push Ikina, as he’s nowhere near good enough to deserve his place on the card (midcarder? With that talent in this company, he’s an opener at best). Secondly, I wanted to test out how far I could go before the Young Lions rule kicked in, with Merle serving as my lion. And it seemed that I can keep my mega-push plans on the go here: there were no negative notes from Yoshi about Merle’s win, although I did make sure to get Ikina looking as dangerous as possible before Merle made him tap. What’s more, this was a pretty good match considering Merle’s lack of name value. [B]Winner:[/B] Merle O’Curle [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [B]Jack Marlowe vs. Nathan Coleman[/B] There are some days when I love this job, and days when my opening match could main event other cards are definitely among them. Jack and Nathan have good chemistry, and it showed through here. It helped that Nathan’s worked in DaVE as well: that hardcore milieu lends itself to the kind of rough-housing that’s Jack’s speciality, with the result that our opening match was one hell of a fun brawl, and a great way to kick things off. [B]Winner:[/B] Jack Marlowe [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I] [B]Takayuki 2000 vs. Hidekazu vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Shingen Miyazaki[/B] Another nice solid bout, and if it wasn’t on the same level as the opener that was more due to the youth of the competitors-with the possible exception of Hidekazu, none of these guys have really done enough to get their names as well known as Jack or Nathan. Tempting as it was to give Shingen the win here, he (unlike Tak) hasn’t walked away from a lucrative BHOTWG contract out of loyalty to us, so Tak got the win as a thankyou. [B]Winner:[/B] Takayuki 2000 [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C+[/I] [B]Jimmy Cox vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi[/B] This was a good match: Tosh has basically one play (beat the sh*t out of them), but he plays it well, so this match was a good solid one. Cox is getting very popular- there’s some people would say he deserves a main event spot- but I don’t want him there yet, at least until I know what to do with Dark Angel, so he took the fall in this one. [B]Winner:[/B] Toshiharu Hyobanshi [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I] [B]Pistol Pete Hall vs. Hiroyasu Gakusha[/B] There’s good news and bad news here. The good news is that this match was terrific, one of our best. The bad news is that I’ve found a downside to Pete: he’s awesome, but he can’t go long enough for even a medium-length GCG match (I’ve yet to pull out a long one, as we don’t have 40 minutes to spare on a show…yet). Still, it says something about how damn good these two are that they made this match work even when Pete was gone (Gakusha made his big comeback, so all Pete had to do was get beat up, which is a lot less energy consuming and allows you to lie down a lot more…useful when you’re 45). Gakusha gets the win here, because I say so. [B]Winner:[/B] Hiroyasu Gakusha [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]A[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I], another resounding success. Damn, but I’m good.

[1PWfan]

Just one small thing for all of you who've read this (and we appear to have been read: there's 126 views on it): feedback is good, even if it's of the 'this dynasty sucks like a Tully Arthurs/Dusty Bin match, please stop writing and DIE' kind. At the moment I'm not getting a lot of feedback, and whilst I can accept that this isn't exactly the world's best ever dynasty, I'd like to know what people think of it. Not wanting to appear whiny or pathetic or anything, but if nobody really cares about this I'd like to know why so I can sort it out (or just start over, although I've done that enough recently to want to avoid it).

[gbasalmon]

As you can tell by my avatar, I love me some GCG action. Just keep on going, I'm sure if you can establish yourself, the comments will come.

[Regis]

The T2K victory makes a hell of a lot more sense knowing about the BHOTWG contract; all told, a damn good show for GCG there. Nicely done, boss. :)

[1PWfan]

There’s an old saying in the wrestling journalism business: when the going gets less tough, the tough lock themselves in their office with a list of everyone who’s bought a ticket for all GCG’s tours for the last 5 years. Excessive, I know, but it served a dual purpose: firstly, it gave me a reason to avoid Han, who doubtless would be eager to communicate the latest whining from our mystery sponsors. Secondly, it got me one step closer to finding out who exactly had given us 300,000 bucks and now thought that gave him the right to tell me how to book my shows. Alright, so it was only two weeks in, but I was starting to get very curious indeed about who was putting up the money. Call it my journalistic nature, but I just can’t stand not knowing stuff, especially when people are deliberately keeping me in the dark. Besides, there was something suspicious about all this: like I’ve said before, Han’s not usually the kinda guy who gets so hung up on what fans think, even big ones like this guy reputedly was. Yet here he was damn-near telling me to do what this guy wanted, and not in the usual ‘book stuff our fans like so they keep watching’ way. And there’s not another company in the world that actually writes up a 300,000 buck payment in as ‘miscellaneous donations’ in their accounts (what? You honestly thought I’d forget to go straight to the accounts to check this guy out?) Of course, the wrestling world continued to move on regardless of what I was up to. BHOTWG continued on their quest to steal my talent (so far they’re 1 for 2, with Samoan Machine having gone and Tak having stayed) by moving in on Yasuhide Tayama, one of my young lions. So far I’d kinda ignored him: he was a definite project, and had the misfortune of being teamed up with Shotaro Ikina, who was marking time until I pink-slipped him. However, Yasu promptly grabbed my attention by turning down their contract offer: so he may have a long way to go, but how can you not love a guy who’ll refuse to go to the big leagues out of loyalty (or stupidity, but that’s even better)? Further morale boosts came in from a poll on TEW.com that named yours truly as modern wrestling’s greatest announcer. Alright, so it was basically wrong (good I may be, but Peter Michaels will always be better) but who am I to complain about being declared great? I also made the call to try and set up some working agreements with companies in the States, specifically TCW and USPW: USPW had some talent that I could bring over to job to Gakusha, and TCW…well, let’s just say that I was hoping that Liberty would one day abide in GCG. The card for the next leg of the Live after Death tour panned out, after a few mid-week alterations, like this: Hiroyasu Gakusha vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi [I]Gakusha faces Hyobanshi for the first time on the Live after Death tour this week. Will Hyobanshi’s all out power enable to succeed where other have failed, or will Gakusha remain unbeaten?[/I] Dark Angel vs. Jimmy Cox [I]Jimmy Cox, who has yet to win a match on the Live after Death tour, faces off against the British grappler Dark Angel. Will Cox be able to turn it around and claim his first victory, or will Dark Angel prove superior?[/I] Barry Griffin vs. Naonobu Murkami vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Harumi Okazawaya [I]Four GCG wrestlers compete for the chance to wrestle Takayuki 2000 next week for his openweight title. Each has something to bring to the table, whether it be the experience of Murkami, Kuroki’s youthful energy, Griffin’s technical skill or Okazawaya’s dreaded Hurricane Harumi. Which will win through to claim the title shot? [/I] Yasuhide Tayama vs. Merle O’Curle [I]Last week The Irish Stretching Machine defeated Shotaro Ikina in a pre-show special. This week his tag partner, The Young Lion Yasuhide Tayama, steps up to the plate to battle the Irishman. Who will prevail?[/I] Scheduled for the dark was Antonio Maxi Marquez vs. Eagle Kawasawa, a WLW-style wrestler than Han had evidently employed in one of his less impressive moments.

[Phantom Stranger]

Is it wrong to mark for Cox based purely on his bio?

[Regis]

The card for the next leg of the Live after Death tour panned out, after a few mid-week alterations, like this: [B]Hiroyasu Gakusha[/B] vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi [I]Toshi just ain't the sort of guy you can have scoring a win over your champ. He's good, but he's not got the fundamentals for anything greater - yet. Hopefully Hiro can teach him a thing or two.[/I] [B]Dark Angel[/B] vs. Jimmy Cox [I]Dark Angel is just flat-out better than Cox. Cox can work as a loveable loser for a while, and get Dark Angel some much-needed momentum back.[/I] Barry Griffin vs. Naonobu Murkami vs. [B]Kiminobu Kuroki[/B] vs. Harumi Okazawaya [I]This one is anyone's game, really. I'll say not Griffin - bit too, well, foreign. Naonobu might be a bit old. Super K, on the other hand, would probably work better with T2K, so we've got somewhere to go with him.[/I] [B]Yasuhide Tayama[/B] vs. Merle O’Curle [I]Yasuhide can take the win as a thankyou - Merle has to pay his dues after his dark victory. To job Yasuhide wouldn't send the right message. And Merle can still build popularity by pulling off a good loss. However, I make a secondary prediction of a draw to keep both men strong.[/I] Scheduled for the dark was [B]Antonio Maxi Marquez[/B] vs. Eagle Kawasawa, a WLW-style wrestler than Han had evidently employed in one of his less impressive moments. [I]Also known as Champagne Lover? The best all-rounder in the entire world? The most over man in Mexico not called El Patron? Oh, I think so![/I]

[1PWfan]

[SIZE="6"][FONT="Times New Roman"]GCG Live after Death Tour[/FONT][/SIZE] Coming to you from the Ibaraki Community hall, with a crowd of 759 people. A huge step up from last time we were here, and at least a couple of dozen ahead of what we were expecting. [B][U]Pre-Show/DVD Extras[/U][/B] [B]Antonio Maxi Marquez vs. Eagle Kawasawa[/B] Marquez (Champagne Lover’s Japanese ring name) is outrageously talented, and we’re lucky to have signed him for this tour (the big boys must’ve been napping when we made our move). Kawasawa, on the other hand, is just wrong for GCG: he’s a decent worker, and moved nearer where he should be for us in this match, but he looks and wrestles like someone from WLW, and might not be a player on the next tour depending on if I can get Merle over enough. Marquez took the win here, and whilst this match was decent I can’t describe it as anything more than that. [B]Winner:[/B] Antonio Maxi Marquez [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C+[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [B]Yasuhide Tayama vs. Merle O’Curle[/B] Had this taken place a couple of weeks ago O’Curle would have won this one easy. However, Tayama turned down BHOTWG to stay with us, so I figured I oughta give him the win here and hope Merle helped him improve. He didn’t, and whilst the match was good I’d have been better off switching this one with Marquez/Eagle. [B]Winner:[/B] Yasuhide Tayama [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C[/I] [B]Barry Griffin vs. Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Naonobu Murkami vs. Harumi Okazawaya[/B] This was a good match, nothing spectacular but still pretty damn good (for us: most companies would kill babies for matches this good). Griffin, who’s only in his early 30’s but looks much older, was the most improved here, picking up new tricks in everything but his flying (and we don’t do high flying anyway, so who cares?). Okazawaya, meanwhile, was an embarrassment: this was our shortest match length and he couldn’t even last that long. Kuroki got the win here, as he’s the most over and a big future prospect for us. [B]Winner:[/B] Kiminobu Kuroki [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B-[/I] [B]Jimmy Cox vs. Dark Angel[/B] I’d expected a pretty good match out of this, but certainly not the all out classic I actually got: Cox and Angel are not only pretty good, but also have the chemistry to go with it, turning this into our first match of the year candidate. Of course, Han struggled to keep up on colour (he’s not bad, but clearly not used to calling matches like this one), and neither of these guys are gonna win awards for their selling, but who gives a monkey’s? [B]Winner:[/B] Dark Angel [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]A*[/I] [B]Hiroyasu Gakusha vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi[/B] After the last match anything these guys did would be considered a letdown, but nevertheless they delivered a good main event that I for one was very pleased with. As with the last match the selling wasn’t that great, and Hyobanshi has yet to extend his repertoire outside of his basic brawling, but the match was still a good one. Gakusha took the win again: with my working relationship with USPW in place, I want to build him up for the end of tour supercard Parade of Champions (let’s just say I have big plans) [B]Winner:[/B] Hiroyasu Gakusha [I]Match Rating:[/I] [I]B+[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I], with the usual ecstatic feedback. If everything goes according to plan, by the end of the tour GCG will be back in the big time, baby.

[Regis]

An A* match and a 100% prediction rate! How could this get any better?

[1PWfan]

Believe me, it gets better. Though not for a little while: I went through a period where I was a little directionless, so the next couple of shows are ones I'm not entirely chuffed with, personally. *** I might have been cocooned in my office, but even I had heard all of the reports on GCG. The Live after Death tour had already attracted a great deal of coverage in the sports press, with the general consensus being that the first bunch of shows had been the best start we could hope for, and we were on the right track to get things back up to strength. One article said, and I quote, ‘After what seems like an eternity of nonsensical booking and irrational business decisions, under Hugh Dansigny GCG has finally settled down to do what it does best: putting on top-quality competitive wrestling in a legitimate sporting environment’. All good grist to the mill, and a useful way of making sure Han stayed off my case. Always necessary when you’re trying to find out stuff he doesn’t want you to know. My ‘investigation’ into the anonymous benefactor was ongoing, but I was using the time in between going through endless reams of ticket sales records to get a handle on our roster. The fact was, a lot of our guys were moving up the card: Jimmy’s MOTN last week had pushed him firmly into the main event, whilst Shotaro and Kawasawa were apparently also moving up there. Not that either of them would be moving anytime soon: they’re overness existed solely so they could job to the big future stars like O’Curle, Miyazaki, Griffin and Umaga. The week was generally quiet: PGHW and BHOTWG continued to be frustrated in their attempts to steal talent from the minor leagues (loyalty is so much fun sometimes), whilst Stuart Ferdinand put in a good solid match for INSPIRE (although I’d missed the fact he’d joined), beating Roko Sotomura in the third match. The card for the next leg of the tour was: Pistol Pete Hall vs. Jimmy Cox [I]After his impressive defeat against Dark Angel last week, Cox has been offered the opportunity to face off against fellow American Pistol Pete Hall. Will Cox cement his place at the top of the card, or will the wily veteran win out?[/I] Toshiharu Hyobanshi vs. Dark Angel [I]Hot off the heels of his superb victory over Jimmy Cox, the British grappler faces GCG’s resident wild man in Toshiharu Hyobanshi. Will Hyobanshi’s full-tilt physicality rule the day, or will he Descend Into Hell?[/I] Ikina and Tayama vs. Coleman and Ferdinand vs. Griffin and Bennett [I]Three of GCG’s tag teams face off against each other. Which will prevail?[/I] Merle O’Curle vs. Eagle Kawasawa vs. Shingen Miyazaki [I]Three of GCG’s young stars take to the stage to show which is supreme. All three have suffered defeat of late, but which will turn it around to take the win?[/I] For the dark I schedule Rhino Umaga vs. Naonobu Murkami

[Regis]

The card for the next leg of the tour was: Pistol Pete Hall vs. [B]Jimmy Cox[/B] [I]Okay, you can't drop Dark Angel out of the Main Event after he put on an A* effort. You want to keep miling that pairing. So Jimmy has to be kept strong. Couple this with the fact that Pete's gas tanks are prone to running low, and he can afford to take the loss.[/I] Toshiharu Hyobanshi vs. [B]Dark Angel[/B] [I]Toshi's fundamentals are weak, and Dark Angel just got you an A*. Need I say more?[/I] Ikina and Tayama vs. Coleman and Ferdinand vs. [B]Griffin and Bennett[/B] [I]Going to take a risk and say that the more experienced team pin the old men to build them up as strong contenders, maybe working a series against Coleman and Ferdinand later.[/I] [B]Merle O’Curle[/B] vs. Eagle Kawasawa vs. Shingen Miyazaki [I]I know you have big plans for Merle, and taking a loss last show was only a minor interruption.[/I] For the dark I schedule [B]Rhino Umaga[/B] vs. Naonobu Murkami [I]More Upside. Simple As.[/I]

[1PWfan]

[I]The next couple of shows will be going up in double quick time, to justify my (totally undeserved) nomination for diary of the month[/I] [FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="6"]GCG Live After Death Tour[/SIZE][/FONT] This week we branched out, and went to the Doshisha Athletic Centre in Kinki, our home area but not one we’re that popular in. Sure enough, we had our lowest audience turnout at 671, but I was willing to take that for the price of boosting our popularity that bit more. [B][U]Pre-Show/DVD Extras:[/U][/B] [B]Rhino Umaga vs. Naonobu Murkami[/B] I was worried that Umaga might count as a young lion, but the crowd didn’t seem to have any problem with him taking this win in another of my ‘far too excellent, will have a sucky match later’ dark matches. It helped that he was up against Murkami: Nao’s not going to be holding gold anytime soon, but he’s a good solid veteran that can pull a good match out of just about anyone. [B]Winner:[/B] Rhino Umaga [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B-[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [B]Shingen Miyazaki vs. Merle O’Curle vs. Eagle Kawasawa[/B] This match actually continued the dark match’s excellence: I don’t know if was one, two or all three of these guys, but this was good. Shingen was the MVP of the match, showing some marked improvement before making Eagle tap out in this match. Kawasawa wasn’t entirely pleased about having to lose, but he didn’t make as big a stink once I switched the winner from O’Curle to Shingen, and went out and gave a good solid performance. Not that that’ll save his job, mind you, but it was good to see all the same. [B]Winner:[/B] Shingen Miyazaki [I]Match Rating:[/I] B- [B]Griffin and Bennett vs. Coleman and Ferdinand vs. Ikina and Tayama[/B] I’d extended this match to 17 minutes to fill time, and that was a mistake: every single one of these guys was out of breath by the end, which really dragged the match down. Me, Han and Dick did our best from the desk to paper over the cracks, but the lack of stamina was frustrating here: how can I rely on any of these guys to carry the titles if they can’t’ go beyond a short match? Since this was non-title, I gave the win to Griffin and Bennett so they could build momentum, and Griffin was motivated enough by the win to sharpen up his skills. [B]Winners:[/B] Griffin and Bennett [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C[/I] [B]Toshiharu Hyobanshi vs. Dark Angel[/B] After the frustrating tag match, this was a reassuring example of how good our upper-card guys can be. Tosh finally showed some improvement, with Cliff bringing out some previously unseen technical work in him. Unfortunately, Han once again struggled to keep up on commentary, which dragged the match quality down. Still, a good solid match and pretty much what I wanted to see. [B]Winner:[/B] Toshiharu Hyobanshi [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I] [B]Pistol Pete Hall vs. Jimmy Cox[/B] Note to self: never extend a Pete Hall match beyond 15 minutes again. Without Gakusha’s skill to carry him through, this match went down the tubes in the last couple of minutes, as Pete ran out of gas. What’s worse, neither guy was selling much, which didn’t help a match already in need of a quality upgrade. As with my first ever show, the main event let down an otherwise pretty good card. [B]Winner:[/B] Jimmy Cox [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B-[/I] [B][U]Overall Rating:[/U][/B] [I]B-[/I], our worst of the tour. Still good enough to increase our popularity, though, so I guess I can’t complain.

[1PWfan]

February heralded some big problems for us: BHOTWG were preparing for their tour n March, and promptly made offers to Rhino and Nathan to join them. Maybe not the world’s biggest problem, but I didn’t like to think what might happen long term if we lost either of these guys: Rhino was a big prospect for us, and whilst Nathan was replaceable he was one half of our current tag champs, which would make the situation complicated if he walked. What’s more they full-out stole Julian Watson, although didn’t exactly say much for their quality control, as Julian was hardly the world’s greatest ever wrestler. On the other hand, the new month meant time to begin negotiations. I opened negotiation to renew our current show, Stars of the Golden Canvas, on All Japan TV, and also tried to open negotiations with Japanese Sports Vision 2 and 3 for a new show. I didn’t figure that JSV2 would go for us, but it was worth a short. There was also an interesting debut to the business in the form of Cameron Vessey, son of PGHW’s Larry Vessey. The kid was a definite young lion, but he had the skills and the potential to go a long way, and he had popularity that I could bleed off onto O’Curle or Umaga whilst he built up his experience. Over in the states, USPW suffered a blow when they lost their TV show. Not too much of a big deal, really, but it was a slow week all told, and that was pretty much the major news story. Our card for the next leg of the tour went as follows: Hiroyasu Gakusha vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi [I]Gakusha defends his title against the brawling king of GCG, Toshiharu Hyobanshi. Will Gakusha maintain his winning streak, or will Hyobanshi unseat the champion?[/I] Pistol Pete Hall vs. Dark Angel [I]It’s the Battle of the Gaijin as the American Pistol Pete Hall faces off against the British Dark Angel. Which will prevail?[/I] Jack Marlowe vs. Takayuki 2000 vs. Yasuhide Tayama vs. Kiminobu Kuroki [I]Four of GCG’s best face off for the Openweight title. Will Takayuki retain, or will he fail in the face of three of GCG’s finest fighters?[/I] Griffin and Bennett vs. Coleman and Ferdinand [I]After their win last week, Griffin and Bennett once again face the champs. Will they prove that their win was no fluke, or will they fall away in the face of veteran power?[/I] In the dark I scheduled Namboku Makuda vs. Merle O’Curle vs. Naonobu Murkami.

[1PWfan]

[SIZE="6"][FONT="Times New Roman"]GCG Live after Death Tour[/FONT][/SIZE] Back in the Toyama hall after last week’s show, with a crowd of 657 people, a downturn on the last time we were here. Probably more due to the advertised card than anything else, though. [B][U]Pre-Show/DVD Extras[/U][/B] [B]Merle O’Curle vs. Naonobu Murkami vs. Namboku Makuda[/B] And my continued effort to annoy half the roster by jobbing them out to Merle continues, as he takes the win in a pretty good match against our directionless veteran and one of our more major projects. There’s not really a whole lot to say about this one: it was good, watchable wrestling that the crowd forgot about almost instantly. [B]Winner:[/B] Merle O’Curle [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C+[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [B]Coleman and Ferdinand vs. Griffin and Bennett[/B] I should’ve switched this into the dark, as it wasn’t as good. Griffin and Bennett are solid workers, and have more experience as a team than anybody else in the division, but they aren’t at all spectacular, and neither are that well known. This was the worst match I’ve ever put on, and I’m willing to bet that Henry was the reason: he’s a good technical wrestler, but a hermit who’s spent his entire life at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro knows about his love of the bottle, and it was showing here more than a little. That’s more than a little frustrating, as Barry has definite potential and these guys would have made decent tag champions. I gave them the win here, to build up their momentum for a prospective title change (not that that will be happening now, but I didn’t know that going in). [B]Winners:[/B] Griffin and Bennett [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C-[/I] [B]Jack Marlowe vs. Takayuki 2000 vs. Yasuhide Tayama vs. Kiminobu Kuroki[/B] A good solid match to make up for the opening debacle, although both Kimi and Yasu were tiring by the 20th minute (I’d put this up to 22 minutes, to fill time). Nevertheless, this was a wild, fun brawl that saw both Yasu and Jack polish up their brawling before Tak took it home by slapping the Persian Deathlock on Kimi. [B]Winner:[/B] Takayuki 2000 [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B-[/I] [B]Pistol Pete Hall vs. Dark Angel[/B] A return to Pete’s match of the night standard here, as he and the Dark Angel put on a really solid match. Of course, there were selling issues (as there seem to be with all my main event at the moment), but it was still pretty good. This could have gone either way, but I gave Pete the win to get his momentum back up to scratch. I’m hoping to build up to a triple threat match at Parade of Champions, that is if my other plan doesn’t come together (and that’s very much reliant on Han getting more money out of our mystery sponsor). [B]Winner:[/B] Pistol Pete Hall [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]A[/I] [B]Hiroyasu Gakusha vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi[/B] I’m worried that our main events might be getting a bit stale: Gakusha and Pete are my MVP’s in this scene, but Hiro can’t wrestle Dark Angel due to bad chemistry, reducing me to only 3 other competitors he can face. Still, on the other side of things he can pull out great matches like this one, so ultimately what does it matter? This another solid match, with the guys basically re-running their match from a few weeks ago with a couple of added twists. Gakusha got the win: he’s the better wrestler, and there’s no reason for him to lose the title at this stage [B]Winner:[/B] Hiroyasu Gakusha [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]B+[/I], a return to form after last week’s rather poor show.

[Regis]

Aaw, man! Missed the predictions. Still, good on you for continuing on form, and I look forward to seeing how things continue!

[1PWfan]

After a decent show, my nerves were rapidly shredded by news of our television deals: Both Japanese Sports Vision channels had refused to negotiate with us, and All Japan TV wasn’t going to renew our contract as we ‘did not fit into the image of the channel’. This was not good: a TV show does a lot to boost the image of the promotion, and whilst Stars had done sweet F.A to boost our popularity, losing it would not go down well with Han. The only option I had was to fit tougher locks on my doors and get back on with my investigation, in the hope that he’d just give up trying to talk to me and go away. On a slightly better note, Cameron Vessey came on board, to serve as job fodder in my ongoing and desperate attempt to get Merle over (it was becoming increasingly clear that if I actually wanted to maintain any kind of parity in popularity levels for my talent I’d have to hit every single area in Japan, something that would probably put me back at the mercy of whoever bailed us out last time). I didn’t doubt that the minute Vessey jnr. actually became worth pushing I’d lose him to BHOTWG, but whilst he was here he could be reasonably useful. In related news from the wrestling world, WEXXV handed over their midcard king of death matches title to Hitoshi Morisue, whilst BHOTWG continued to be frustrated in their efforts to steal talent from everyone down their ladder from them. This time it was WLW who were targeted, as Burning Hammer went for The Incredibly Koyama, only to be thwarted by his loyalty. Speaking as the head booker of GCG, there’s nothing quite as much fun as watching BHOTWG getting snubbed in favour of the little leagues. For the next leg of the tour, I made the call to stage the show in Shikoku. This would probably be a disaster (the area had the lowest combined affluence and wrestling community in all of Japan), but I was taking a gamble on my match-ups, and if it failed at least here hardly anyone would see it. The card for the show was: Jimmy Cox vs. Dark Angel [I]After their potential match of the year candidate in Kanto, Jimmy Cox and the Dark Angel face off again tonight. Will Dark Angel once again repeat his good fortune, or will Cox get revenge? [/I] Hiroyasu Gakusha and Kiminobu Kuroki vs. Pistol Pete Hall and Toshiharu Hyobanshi [I]For the first time this tour the GCG world champion teams up with his regular tag partner Kuroki to face his two main challengers. Will Pete and Hyobanshi be able to out-fight their opponents, or will Gakusha and Kuroki’s superior experience as a team carry the day?[/I] Takayuki 2000 vs. Jack Marlowe [I]The GCG Openweight champion once again defends his title, this time against the wild gaijin Jack Marlowe. Tak has so far managed to retain his title despite overwhelming odds, but will he be able to retain the belt in one-on-one competition?[/I] Shingen Miyazaki vs. Barry Griffin vs. Eagle Kawasawa [I]Three of GCG’s best midcard wrestlers face off in this exhibition of skill. Kawasawa has yet to win a match on the Live After Death tour, but will tonight break his streak, or merely prolong his agony?[/I] For the dark I pencilled in Merle O’Curle vs. Cameron Vessey.

[Regis]

The card for the show was: [B]Jimmy Cox[/B] vs. Dark Angel [I]Jimmy Cox has the Immortal Driver, but Dark Angel has the better all-round skillset. I think he should pick up the win - unless you want to keep Cox competitive. Actually, based on that, scrap my first prediction. It's an experimental show, let's see how Cox handles a win.[/I] Hiroyasu Gakusha and Kiminobu Kuroki vs. [B]Pistol Pete Hall and Toshiharu Hyobanshi[/B] [I]Keep the contenders strong by giving them a win here. Kuroki can eat the pin, which keeps the champ strong, while giving his chasers a much-needed boost.[/I] [B]Takayuki 2000[/B] vs. Jack Marlowe [I]I know you love Jack, but T2K has showed loyalty to the company and deserves a strong run as champ to reward him. He can show his stuff, and Jack can school him a bit as he goes along.[/I] [B]Shingen Miyazaki[/B] vs. Barry Griffin vs. Eagle Kawasawa [I]You don't like Kawasawa, and Shingen has a great deal more up-side. Simple as that for a bout like this.[/I] For the dark I pencilled in [B]Merle O’Curle[/B] vs. Cameron Vessey. [I]Do I even need to explain this, based on what you've already said?[/I]

[1PWfan]

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="6"]GCG Live after Death Tour[/SIZE][/FONT] Coming to you from the Kochi Hall, the smallest venue we’ve ever run in. What’s worse, we didn’t even sell it out, with only 242 people in attendance. Still, all that means is that the increase in popularity for the show will be even bigger. [B][U]Pre-Show/DVD Extras[/U][/B] [B]Merle O’Curle vs. Cameron Vessey[/B] This match was up to Merle’s usual standards: not quite good enough to make it onto an ideal show, but excellent dark match fodder. Vessey was reasonably impressive on his debut: the kid’s definitely got talent, and he throws a good punch for a guy his age, but he’s too young for me to even contemplate giving him the victory here, so Merle schooled him in the art of technical wrestling before slapping on the Celtic Wreath for the win. [B]Winner:[/B] Merle O’Curle [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [B]Shingen Miyazaki vs. Barry Griffin vs. Eagle Kawasawa[/B] It’s becoming clear to me that Shingen is our undercard MVP: just about every match he’s in get the crowd going. What’s even better, he’s able to incorporate some aerial stuff into his game, which lessens Eagle’s stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb problems. I’d put Barry in this match hoping for some improvement, but whilst he was impressive he played strictly within his game, maybe putting him one-on-one with one of these guys will help. High spot of the match had to be Shingen plucking Eagle out of mid-air with a move that turned into the ankle lock for the win. [B]Winner:[/B] Shingen Miyazaki [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B-[/I] [B]Takayuki 2000 vs. Jack Marlowe[/B] Another good, solid match, and the longest on the card due to stamina concerns. There’s not much to say about these guys: both Takayuki and Jack are the definition of quiet, unassuming guys who go out and always put in 110%. As with Barry in the last match, both of these guys stuck strictly within their comfort zones, which meant lots of all out brawling from Jack and some nasty looking technical work from Tak (have you ever seen him apply that Persian Deathlock? I wince just to look at it). Tak got the win here, as I’m not huge on title switches unless they’re absolutely necessary. [B]Winner:[/B] Takayuki 2000 [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]B-[/I] [B]Gakusha and Kuroki vs. Toshiharu Hyobanshi and Pistol Pete Hall[/B] Both Pete and Kimi were tiring by the end of it, but part of the beauty of tag matches is that you can get away with that: just tag out and let the other guy take up the slack. This was an alright match that was lifted by a hot crowd after the last two matches, and Kimi and Hiro’s proficient tag work. The match told a fairly simple story, with Pete or Tosh dominating one-on-one, but Hiro and Kimi using cunning tag tricks to reassert control, although this was hobbled as usual by Tosh and Pete’s weak selling. I’m not quite sure how to deal with that yet, but fortunately I don’t have to. [B]Winners:[/B] Toshiharu Hyobanshi and Pistol Pete Hall [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]A[/I] [B]Jimmy Cox vs. Dark Angel[/B] I’d put these guys on last because I knew with their chemistry they’d deliver something special, and they delivered on all cylinders. Of course, there wasn’t enough selling, and of course Han let me down on colour, but who really cares when you’ve got a man reversing a moonsault into the Immortal Driver (a tombstone piledriver that just looks excellent), or a guy reversing snake eyes into a tornado DDT? Not me, that’s for sure. Jimmy got the win here, to even the score and give me another reason to put this match on. [B]Winner:[/B] Jimmy Cox [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]A*[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]A[/I], my best ever. Even better, it lifted our popularity in Shigoku from a D- straight up into a D, putting it as one of our hot territories.