Tradition Dictates That You Be Welcomed... To The Coastal Zone

[Nightshadeex]

Didn't have enough people on the roster? I like the write-up style. I can see it taking awhile, but it was a good read.

[infinitywpi]

[QUOTE=Nightshadeex;530261]Didn't have enough people on the roster? I like the write-up style. I can see it taking awhile, but it was a good read.[/QUOTE] Bingo. And yeah... in the time it took to do a month with this style writeup, I could've easily done two the old way... but one of the reasons I did the old way is that I didn't have a feeling for everyone and everything. Now, I've got five years of stuff to draw from, and I know these guys better now, so... hey, why not?

[pepper2008]

Typical mistake when your company grows and the next show is just a few days away. Keep it up. Let the Jim Force vs. Akima Brave all across America Tour begins

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour April 2013, week 1, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Harrison "Panda Mask" Hash. You could say I've been around a lot. I was one of the guys who started the whole 'animal mask' trend... of course, the Panda isn't the most ferocious animal in the world. Just don't tell that to those idiots in China who jumped into the panda exhibit to hug them, and got bit so bad they went pale before the docs could get them in to an ambulance. So eventually, I ditched the panda and went under my real anme, and things got better for me for a while... and then, the bottom dropped out of the wrestling industry, and I found myself unemployed. Eventually, I got an offer from the Zone. I knew what it meant... I'd have to put that damn mask on again. After all, they had hired the guy I gave the gimmick to. But when you need a paycheck, sometimes you're willing to give up your dignity. Besides, I figured I was a veteran, I could teach the new guys some things. I should have taught the booker. He was so gug-ho about our being considered a cult promotion... I had told him, cancel Spring Break Bash. Or at least push it back a week. But no, he insisted on going forward... and suddenly, nobody was talking about us being a Cult-sized promotion. We used everyone on the roster for the show, and people thought we were a bit light in the roster. We've got a half-dozen offers out there... all it would have taken is to push the shwo back a week, get answers to some of those offers. But no, he said. The show must go on he said. Egomaniac. He's so caught up in 'tradition' he won't make changes, even when those changes are for the best. I'm told he's the one responsible for adding character and angles to the Zone... I find it hard to believe. Such a big change is so... unlike him. And now, here we are, back to everyone considering us a regional promotion. At least the booker has added some names to the roster, including the damndest thing I've ever seen... this teenaged Mexican girl who wears a purple mask. I know Lauren is supposed to be part of the 'Zone fabric'... in her case, representing women's wrestling mixed in with the puro, lucha, etc, etc, etc... but no other female has really had success here. I don't think she'll do well. There's also some goth kid, and these two guys who I'm told have done time in the Zone before, and some Brit with an attitude. ******** Roster Additions: Brimstone -- Jobber -- Most Zoners mix techincal and flying skills. This guy is a flashy flier with brawling skills and one heck of a talent for avoiding injury. He's an interesting choice for the company, and hopefully can avoid the trap most of the undercard falls into. Jackpot Jordan -- Lower Midcard -- Former Zoner and tag partner for Jared Johnson. He was given some time off after making obscenely high contract demands. Apparently, his new contract is much more sane. Mercutio Sleep -- Upper Midcard -- Another former Zoner. Not really a stand-out in any sense, he's only as good as the people he faces. Simon Ice -- Jobber -- Uses a mixture of American flying and Euro technical skills. Hopefully, will fit right in with Zone-style. Potentially a Remmy Skye in the making... for good and for bad. Velvert Suarez -- Midcarder -- Hot teenaged girl in spandex. She can fly, but not much else... hopefully, she'll be able to train herself to be able to actually wrestle here. ******** Now, where was I... oh, yeah. The show. I was expecting the booker to do one of his trademarked 'loaded shows' and leave us mere midcarders without a paycheck... again... but the man surprised me. I guess with the new guys coming in, he wanted to make them think they'd actually get used... and yet again, I disagree with that decision. We need his little top-loaded bullcrap to regain the respect we just lost. Well, he's the booker, I'm not. Maybe that'll change some day. I'm waiting for my match... I'm jerkin' the curtain tonight... and wathing Phoenix and Kingman in the ring. They do another Zzone tradition and claim their wins mean they should be the number one contender, and then decide to settle it with a match tonight. Simple, effective, and it does something that sets us apart from the rest... we don't need a comissioner, owner, president, whatever to make matches. It looks like the Zone runs itself. (D) And it's time for me and 'junior' to head out there. We've got a tag match (Team Panda... remind me again why I joined this company?) taking on the newly-reformed J4, as Jordan and Johnson are teaming again. We go out there, we work... not even ten minutes. We split the time between us, let J4 lead most of the match, and then I lock in the sleeper on the new guy, just like Peers told me to. I don't get the point of jobbing the returning guy on his first match, but it's a win for me, so... (E+) I head to the back and take a quick shower. Yeah, five minutes of work got me sweating. I'm getting old, wanna make somethin of it? As I'm stepping out of the shower, 'junior' comes in laughing... he tells me that so far, we've got Match of the Night. I remind him Fox Mask was supposed to follow us, and he laughs. Apparently that Brimstone kid that he was supposed to beat is so rusty he's terrible... (E). We poke our heads out of the locker room to watch them do a rare backstage segment as Kingman beats down Phoenix and slaps on a concrete-wall-assisted hold before leaving him in pain (D-), and then we debate what kind of impaact the main event is goingg to have if the show is sucking wind so far. There's this room backstage, we call it 'The Green Room', where Peers likes to set up a monitor with a CCTV feed to the ring so we can watch stuff without being obvious about it... he claims it's to boost morale, make us feel like we have a live TV feed even when we don't. We think he's full of it. We all gather there unless we're preparing for, or recovering from, a match. So we head back there and watch the next match, as Remus gets a DQ win over Sleep, who does the 'snap at not being able to win and go chair the other guy' ending (D-). So far, none of the new bunch are impressing me. Brimstone was nervous, Jackpot got saddled with a do-nothing partner, and now Sleep... the guy just really, really looked bad out there. The crowd is getting restless now, we can tell in the back. I almost feel sorry for the next three guys. It's a ladder match for Jonnie's Xtreme title, and it's got Jimmy Foxx and Masked Patriot in there. See, the theroy is that if Jonnie vs Foxx is good, adding someone else will make it better. It... doesn't work out that way. Patriot's a great kid and all, but somehow... this just doesn't happen, and Jonnie gets to keep his title at the expense of making Foxx look like a bigger dope than the last show, and Patriot looking like he's a chump who needs his partner to succeed (D). Yeah, I have issues with our booker, if you can't tell. Phoenix tries to salvage the show with a short promo against Kingman, and how even injured he's still a contender... (D-). It's not bad, but the crowd isn't into it. I don't blame them. Even the next match, one of the new 'Battle Of the Sexes' six-person tag matches, doesn't get them going, even with the girls team (Lauren, Brooke, and the new girl, Velvet... honestly, what kind of name is 'Velvet' for a wrestler?) beating the boys (Kirk, who deserves better; Simon, who doesn't; and Machine, who really shouldn't be there). Heck, they even let Velvet get the win... I don't get it. (D). And finally, the main event comes, and it's... a dissapointment. I can tell because ten minutes in, there's just a few of us lower-carders watching it in the Green. It's not a horrible match... but it could have been so much more, you know? In the end, the right man goes over (for a change) and I actually consider Phoenix vs Perez to be a great match to lok forward to, even if the contendership match fell flat (D+). All in all... the show was a total letdown (D). Everyone was depressed from our 'fall from grace' and nobody was willing to tell the booker what they thought. Well... maybe I will. On the next Coastal Zone: With the new people introduced, will Peers return to top-loading the shows? And will the Zone be able to regain the fleeting glory that was the whole basis for starting this new writing style?

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour April 2013, week 2, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Pee-Wee Germaine, Head (and only) Ref. Except for a short break in there, I've been the CZCW referee for as long as I an remember. I've reffed other places as well, but the Zone... the Zone puts a lot of trust in their ref. You don't just ref... sometimes, you act the authority figure, sometimes you're the ring anouncer, sometimes you have to play backstage peacemaker. It's different than working anywhere else, where they mainly want you to be there to not screw stuff up. Cliff, and Will after him, both put a lot of trust in me to direct trafic and even call changes on the fly if I need to. It's lead to some of the more mean-spirited kids deciding I'm a target... but, y'know, they don't last long around here. So, yeah, every night we have a show, I'm in there working longer than any of the wrestlers. I'm not just sitting at a table like Cliff and Emily... I've gotta move, gotta run, gotta pay attention. It's a demanding job. That's why I'm paid as much as the main event talent... I take a lot less bumps, but I work a hell of a lot more. It also means I get a long briefing with Peers every night before the show. I'm the only one he tells all his plans for the night to; it's kinda neat knowing that I'm the only one who knows what's going to happen for the rest of the night. Take tonight, for instance. William had asked a favor of me, and I was going to ref two matches before the start of the official show. It was fine with me... The first one, we were trying to do two things at once; Brimstone was rusty, and Whippy had been complaining about not having any wins lately. Two birds with one stone. Or match. Surprisingly, the two worked well together... I was in there with them, and where most people would think they were working off a good script, I could see them guiding each other... some good chemistry between those two (D). The second 'dark match' (Really, they're not being filmed for anything, why are they dark?) had Phoenix try to get a good match out of Jackpot Jordan, and fail (D-). Honestly, if Ultimate Flippin' Phoenix can't get a good match out of them, why are they here? I got to take a break for a bit as Jim Force came out and announced he was going to face Akima Brave again at Welcome to the Coastal Zone next month. And he needed to practice against someone trained in that style... so he called out Frankie Perez. Frankie said that the #1 Contender has already been chosen, and Jim says the Fooooooorce is not about titles, but about strength, and that he wants a non-title match, and Frankie's okay with that. These two manage to play off each other really well, and the whole segment really gets across the point of the Zone... learning different styles, not so much to use as just to know them (C-). Break time's over, and I've got a match to ref now. It's a tag title match, and I don't think anyone's expecting Remus and Patriot to drop the titles... especially not to Speedball and Sleep, who aren't exactly the most exciting singles competitors. But they manage to surprise me by working great as a team, and I can almost see them getting over together in time. But tonight is not the night for that, and the champs retain (D). I get another break as we become The Jim Force Show for a bit. I actually do something out of character for me and head to the back to use the restroom. The extra twenty minutes at the start of the night did a number on my bladder. I get back, and he's still talking, apparently having changed subjects from tonight's match to his match with Brave, and the crowd seems to be enjoying it (D+, D+). Jim is Jim, y'know? Love him or hate him, he gets a response, and he's been leaning more towards 'lovable loon' than 'hyper egomaniac' here. The next match... ug, the next match is one of those that I don't enjoy reffing, because I know it's turning bad, and it's staying bad, and oh my god I can't convince these people to make it any better. The theory behind the match is that Velvet Suarez has joined up with Team Mexico, and she and Capitao Brasil are teaming against Team America tonight. And it turns out... those two don't work well at all. They're... wow, they're off. They get the win, but it's an ugly one that they don't look like they deserve (E+). Team Mexico then challenges Remus and Patriot to a match, but someone backstage obviously got to the champs and told them to shrug off the challenge... that's for the best (D-). I bum a couple asperin off Cliff at the announce table after that last match while Lauren talks about wanting a shot at Kingman. That could be a fun little match (D+). We'll get a taste of it in the next tag match, as Lauren and Fox take on Kingman and Machine in a nice, long match. I like when the vets do these long matches... I can do half the match on autopilot becuase it takes twelve, fifteen minutes for them to do anything that requires a ref's involvement. After the last match, this one's a welcome change of pace, and we end with Kingman getting the pinfall on Fox Mask, and we finally have our first good match since Spring Break Bash (C-). Frankie's turn to talk for a bit, and I stick around to watch this one. It's his first big promo as champion. And Frankie knocks it out of the park... he talks up Force like very few people have been able to deliver promos in the Zone before. The kid learned a lot in Japan (C). And then to take it further, he talks up his match against Phoenix as a clash of styles, puro vs lucha, and gets the crowd pumped to see it (C). The main event between him and Force is... a hell of a letdown after that. I don't know why, I don't know how, but... after a great match and two great promos, the main event... well, I won't say it bombs, but it definately doesn't live up to expectations, and Frankie gets the pinfall after a rollup of all things (D). It's another huge letdown, and Cliff and I exchange glances as we thank people for coming... and they're not the happiest of people I've seen leave a show. It's not our best... hell, it's not even a good show for us (D). Cliff's about as happy with it as the rest of us, and that's... not good. On the next Coastal Zone: To escape the funk we're in, we head to the Mid-South. Will a change of scenery help us perform better, or will we prove we can suck no matter where we go?

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour April 2013, week 3, Sunday West Texas Colisseaum, Midsouth USA Lauren "The Lion" Easter. One thing I've learned in my years in the Coastal Zone is that there's a fairly common cycle here; things get bad, someone gets hired as a new main eventer to either pump up the main event staff or take over the championship for a while, and things get better... then things eventually get bad again, and the cycle repeats. This is the fastest 'eventually' I've seen since I've been here. I know I shouldn't be too worried... there's no way this is any kind of financial danger to us. But to have been so close, and now to have failed over and over to keep what we've been going after... it's demoralizing. I know some of the youngsters have stuck around simply because they hope they can say they work for a Cult promotion... well, they might be leaving if things don't get better quickly. This week, we're heading out to West Texas. Once upon a time, we worked here every week, trying to get our name out there to the fans. Now, we show up every couple months... I think it's so we don't undo all the hard work we did here. Still, it's a fun place to visit, and maybe a change of scenery will be good for the guys. Pity P-Dawg can't be here with us; the man's working for a Canadian fed tonight, but that's okay... He left the Zone before we ever did Texas, so they might not know him that well here. The vets and new guys run through a couple practice matched before the show. Whippy and Brimstone try to recapture the magic they had last week, but don't quite get there (D-). Then Kirk gets a pinfall over Simon Ice, and it sort of breaks my heart. Kirk used to be... he had 'it', y'know? I would've pegged him as a future long-term champion. But he started stalling, then falling, and now he can't seem to have a good match with anyone, even beating a jobber (D-). I've got some time before the six-man cluster I'm in, so I settle in to watch the show. It's a bit of a repeat of last week, this time with Jim Force thinking he needs to learn Japanese-style from someone who'll be facing Japanese-style in a couple weeks... Phoenix. Phoenix and I... he brings out the best in me in the ring, and I can't wait to see if he can work a miracle with Force later tonight (D). The first match is a nice, simple tag as my girls Brooke and Velvet take on Acid II and Apollo. Velvet's got a sleek moonsault, but the match... I dunno, the crowd wasn't into it (D-). Maybe they just don't know these four well enough... Apollo's another sad case. He's got a great look to him, a good style, but he can never seem to get momentum behind him. I know who to blame for that... But then, I shouldn't complain. I can only imagine how hard it must be to run this dog and pony show. Hard enough being part of it, right? Phoenix comes out to cut a promo about Force, about how the Zone welcomes all styles, but some less than others. That's certainly true... the fans lately have become more and more focused on the people they know, not caring about the ones they don't (D-). Case in point, our next match. Speedball is more of a SoCal guy than a West Texas guy, and when he's not wearing the mask, Harrison is more known in Canada. While it's a perfectly fine match, the crowd's just not there for it. I'm a bit surprised Harrison got the win though... Peers can't possibly be thinking of trying to push Team Panda (D-). Jim Force cmes out and goes off-script... I can tell because Pee-Wee keeps trying to give him the 'wrong guy' signal, bur Force talks up how he wants to beat Frankie Perez and take his title... either Jim is learning long-term booking plans before anyone else, or he's going into business for himself. Aw, who'm I kidding, it's Jim Force... he probably just got confused (D+). Sadly, the crowd likes that promo more than anything else so far tonight, including the next match, as Remus and Patriot defend their tag titles with a win over Team America (D-). Poor Eagle... so much potentnial in her, and somehow Foxx gets all the rub out of the team. The champs make an open challenge for Welcome to the Coastal Zone, and I wonder who Peers is going to have fill that slot. Unless he forms a new tag team at random, there's nobody who fits the bill (D). I'm out next, and I'm teaming with Fox Force Five. I lvoe these guys. Fox is so easy-going and Force is so intense, yet they work together great. I feel like the little sister to them sometimes. And we're working against some great talents, Barry, Insane Machine, and Speedball. Speedball's another in the list of "I can't believe they're still here," but he must enjoy the paycheck. The six of us put on a fun little back-and-forth... y'know, there used to be a time when the Zone almost never did six-man tags, now we do them amazingly often, and I like it... it gives us a chance to really cut loose and try nw things with new people. Or maybe I'm just enjoying the fact I get the pinfall over my 'big match' opponent Barry (C-). The, I brace myself for what comes after... Barry 'snaps' and hits me with a chair. Barry doesn't hold back just because I'm a girl, and the shot hurts like hell... or maybe that's the metal studs on the hairclip I'm wearing. He throws me in a rather painful STF for a few minute while I 'struggle' to get out. I've seen Barry make newbies scream in pain... if he wanted this to cripple me, he probably could do it (E+). As he walkss away, I slowly get to my feet and say "Trying to soften me up, Kingman? That worked really well against the last guy you tried it with, didn't it?" What can I say... I enjoy pointing out people's faults (D+). After our six-man, the main event is another in a string of letdowns... Phoenix is great in the ring, but even he can't do much with Jim Force... it's just not his style. Jim needs a brawler, and Phoenix... isn't. He gets the win, and it's... it's not a bad match. It's just nto what it could be, what it needs to be (D+). In the end, this little vacation I was hoping would renew our spirits just drags them down a bit more (D). We just can't seem to get into the spirit of things. Someone needs to light a fire under our asses, and fast, or we're going to stagnant. We can't afford to do that. On the next Coastal Zone: The last show before Welcome to the Coastal Zone. Can we put on a performance that shows we deserve to be thought of better, or will one bad apple turn into a locker room cancer?

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour April 2013, week 4, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Joseph "Panda Mask II" Jerome. I show up every night, even when I know I won't get used. Unlike a lot of the others here, nobody else is interested in paying me to wrestle. With how often I'm used, I'm lucky if I break even on travel costs. I know I'm not the most popular guy, but I signed with CZCW in the first place is... okace, money, but second is that I was told it was a place where skill was emphasized over name value. Yeah, right. But Peers pulled me aside before the show and asked me to try and get something out of Simon Ice. I'm like, yeah, whatever. I know I won't see work again for another month after this, so sure. Someone said maybe they'll be pushing Team Panda... and this is probably the only promotion in the world that a Team Panda could get over... but I doubt it. I can see the signs. Harrison's being set up for singles work. Me... I'm just a jobber. Hell, this'll be my first win in... ever. Ooops, did I give away the end of my match before I got to the show? Who freakin' cares? It's a dark match, it's not even official, it's me fighting another jobber trying to get his rust to go away. Taking this mask was the stupidest thing I've ever done. I gotta talk to Peers... See you later. Oh, you want to know what happened tonight? Fine, I'll tell you. I got pin some limey no-name calling himself Simon Ice in a match the crowd actually stood up and booed (F). For the first time in years, a Coastal Zone match got booed, and I was a part of it. Screw this. I'm going home. ************* William 'The Grand Avatar' Peers, Head Booker. That was a sight to see... do you know the last time I booked an F-level match? It's been... forever, if ever. Panda's taking it a bit hard. I don't blame him. I'll have to go talk to him after this is all done with. But in the meantime, you need a show recapped. We open the show, officially, with Jim Force pinning Mercutio Sleep, and Sleep finally starts performing on the level I know he can if he tries (D+). We follow that up with a backstage bit between Lauren and Barry, trash-talking each other (D). And then I have Velvet get a pinfall over Acid. Acid doesn't like that, and the crowd's not impressed either, honestly (E). I knew Velvet would need an investment to be useful, but it looks like it might be a huger investment than I thought. Phoenix hypes up his match for Wednesday (D), and then we have a little throw-away three-way tag title match, with Remus & Patriot defending agaisnt both Team America and J4, since I want to make sure people don't think either team is going to Welcome to the Coastal Zone (D-). Frankie hypes up the big show next week (C), and then we get into the meat of the show. We have Fox Mask and Insane Machine go nearly a half-hour, with Fox getting the win (D+), and then saying how his partner is busy on Wednesday... so maybe Machine would like to join him in a tag team title match. Machine accepts, but the crowd is... iffy on this one (E+). Finally, the main event is a classic 'combine two singles feuds' tag, as Phoenix and Lauren defeat Frankie and Barry and another near-half-hour match that we hoped would send the crowd home happy... but not as happy as we had hoped (C-). The show was better than the last few weeks (D+), but still nowhere near the level I wanted to be putting on. Losing Sparrow and Alexander hurt us badly, and even Frankie can't heal that hurt. We really only had one option here. We had to find a new main-event-level talent to come in once Akima's short-term contract was up... which would be Wednesday. the question is... who? On the next Coastal Zone: Welcome to the Coastal Zone 2013!

[FINisher]

Oh yeah forgot to mention: Liking the new style very much! First I was quite skeptical of the style but it actually is highly readable and clear. Altough I'm quite saddened by the fact that you dropped back to Regional and the lackluster shows recently. Can't wait for Coastal Zone 2013! Keep up the good work infinity, this is one _The_ diaries that I have been reading.

[infinitywpi]

Welcome To The Coastal Zone 2013! May 2013, week 1, Wednesday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA "Deadly" Dylan Sidle, Road Agent. The day began with some bad news... although, given how things have been going, 'sad' news would be more appropriate. There was this kid, worked for us back in 2008, Al Coleman, you remember him? Yeah, he got picked up for drugs. I know some of the kids will say 'just pot', but take it from me... that just leads to worse things. I watched a bunch of guys I used to work with start with the pot, then it just got worse from there. Al had been a fixture in the indy scene since he left us... hopefully this would't mess up his life any. At the least, it meant he wouldn't be returning to the Zone at any time... after all, Cliff has this way of occasionally going on an anti-drug rampage and cleaning the roster of anyone who isn't clean. But you're not here for that sort of news. You're here for the show, right? Well, I enjoy the big shows we do. We do eight of 'em a month. Year. I mean year. Or is it nine? I forget. Anyway, the big shows, I don't have to do as much as the smaller ones. The main matches, the guys... and gals... well, one gal... well, I guess it's politically correct to call 'em all "workers" now... whatever. The big matches, they work on them on their own. I just toss in a little input. Tonight? I work on two matches. Juuuuust two. The first two of the night. Those go down without a problem, I'm done for the day. We start with one of the 'unofficial' matches Billy seems so fond off lately... but then, the "Get people on the card Battle Royal" has become a CZCW Tradition. I've got my reservations about Ms. Suarez winning the fifteen-man, but Peers says so, so... we do. Not a bad little match, for something without any of the really big names and a lot of the smaller ones (D). The show itself starts with Jonnie in the ring, delivering a little promo about how he's upset he's left off the card. Out comes Mercutio Sleep (There's a kid even I can't help... he's got to find it inside himself first...) to say he's upset he doesn't have a title match yet, and we set up a title match to open the show (D-). Remember when matches didn't need to be set up five minutes before the show? You were waiting with baited breath for months for two men to meet up in the ring. But, I digress. Since the main event is a ladder match, the Xtreme Title match is just lucha libre rules, and I gotta give Sleep credit... he doesn't stink up the joint. But it's obvious Perez the Younger isn't cut out for carrying people... perhaps not the best man for a champion, but better than some of the others we've got available (D). Next up, the teams in the tag match delivver promos against each other. This is more my speed; nice, simple, old-school promos... even if the match was just made within the week (D-, D). The match itself.. hell, it's Remus & Patriot against Fox & Machine, you know it can't be a bad match. They throw in a little puro, just to tide people over until Akima Brave makes his last appearance here. One of the nice things about my position is that I know how all the matches end; it's also one of the things I don't like, since it takes all the fun out of the finishes. I count the three planned near falls, and one that wasn't planned, and then the ending where a Termination Kick drops Remus into position for a Foxhunter, and we've got new champions (C-). If the boss had taken the time to build that up, it could've easily main-evented a show. Backstage, Frankie and Phoenix talk about their mutual respect for each other, but how in the ring... respect doesn't matter, ability and drive does, and they'll both stop at nothing to win (or retain) the title (D+). that leads us up to one of our main events... remember when shows had one main event, and that's all they needed? Anyway, this is one of them newfangled man-vs-woman matches... tho I gotta admit, Ms. Easter is one of the few I can believe really does hold her own. It's a heck of a match by the standards of most promotions this size, and it beats the half-hour mark... again, I'm not sure I agree with the ending, as the son of Crippler Kingman deserves better than to lose to a girl, even Ms. Easter, but he does. Girl's got a beautiful suplex though (C). Jim Force comes out next, announcing that since his last match went everywhere tonight the Fooooorce will pretend to be contained by a steel cage (D). Out comes his opponent, Akima Brave, to deliver one heck of a promo... Some of them Japanese feds, they teach talkin' really well, and he says last month was a horrid month for him, because he should have won, not tied (C). The match itself is every bit as good as their last one, and Force looks good and strong through most of it, but Brave manages to get Jim tangled up and gets out the door for the win (C+). I hate seeing one of 'our' boys lose, but no way Exodus would let theirs go... and the match is great, just what we need lately. The traditional main event video package plays (D), and it's on the to the CZCW Championship ladder match. Frankie "P-Dawg" Perez vs Ultimate Phoenix. Phoenix is a good, old-school luchadore. He's been learning new tricks, but his body's giving out on him... he deserves one last title run before he goes, but I have no idea when he's planning on going. So Peers makes the right call on this one, letting Frankie retain after about twenty-five minutes... but despite our history of ladder matches, we manage to totally fail to live up to the wild cage match, because for some reason these two great talents just had no chemistry whatsoever (C-). All in all, it's a better show than we've been doing. Shame about the main event, but Jim Force, that insane bastard, manages to save the show (C-). The sad thing is, this is what our normal shows should be doing... the big ones should be much, much better. And now, we no longer have Akima brave to rely on. Unless Peers can work some amazing miracle, that is; the man signed a written deal with WLW. On the next Coastal Zone: Bad chemistry and an overshadowed main event are par for the course... we know we -can- do better, but -will- we?

[pepper2008]

C-, that should teach you not to place THE FORCE in the MAIN EVENT for nothing can beat THE FORCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Good event and great read, honestly any event with a Jim Force match being the show stealer is really screwy:eek: Jim Force vs. Akima Brave all across America Tour

[infinitywpi]

(I know I'm doing a lot of these in a short period off time, but I've got up through alf-July simmed, and I find I'm really enjoying them... but the downside is that instead of two-three posts to handle a full month, I have to do four-five much longer posts... and at one post per day, it feels sooooo sloooooow...) CZCW Coastal Tour May 2013, week 1, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Brian "Brimstone" Dakota. Uh... hi. My name's Brian Dakota. I go by Brimstone in the ring. I'm uh, kinda new here, so I'm not sure why they've got me doing one of these recaps. I get paid a hundred bucks to show up, bump for seven minutes, mount a small comeback, and then get pinned. I watch the others, sure, but... I mean, I don't talk to them. I don't know them. I don't fit in here. I'm sure they all expect me to vanish when it comes time to re-sign me. I might. I don't know. I don't feel like I fit in here, y'know? People here are kinda down in the dumps. I used to work in PSW, and some of the guys there would talk about the last days of DAVE before they imploded... and it seems awful close to how people feel here. The guys everyone looks up to are quiet and keep to themselves. The guys who don't wrestle aren't talking about business. The booker tries to act like everything's normal. Me? I just show up, lose, and grab my cash before watching the rest of the show. The show starts out how all my shows have started out. People are still filtering into the auditorium and I go out there with Velvet for a match. I try to work some lucha stuff into my act but I fail, utterly. But let me tell you this... Velvet can pin me anytime (E-). We head to the back, hit the showers (Seperate showers... get your mind out of the gutter), and then head back to watch the show. While we were out, we missed the announcement that tonight would be a special tournament, with Lauren facing Patriot and Force facing Remus, winners fight for the prize (D-, E+). But first, we get an Xtreme Title ladder match, and I'm a bit surprised that Jonnie drops his title... and drops it to Harrison Hash. Perhaps even more surprised that the match just... wasn't that good (D-). The rest of the show follows a pattern... we get a promo from Lauren (C-), a promo from Patriot (D), and then the match... a long one, ending with Lauren winning with her finishing suplex (D+). Then, promos from Jim Force (D+) and Rod Remus (E+), and then their match... not as long, not quite as good, and another surprise as Force taps out to the Remus Clutch (D). Lauren comes out and goes face to face with Remus, who begs off for a break before the final match. Lauren lets him have one, and spends the whole break badmouthing him (D-). The match they have, considering they've both had a match already, is pretty good; easily the match of the night. Once more, it's a submission finish, but it's Remus tapping this time as Lauren puts him in a Figure Four (C-). We then find out what the tournament was for: Lauren is the #1 Contender for Battle on the Beach (D). Lauren, panting, cuts a promo saying if she can get through tonight, she can get through Frankie (C-), and thanks the crowd for coming. All in all, it was a good show... hell, by PSW standards, a great show (D+). But it didn't really lift people out of their funks. As for me... hell, I'm happy to be here. I've got stuff to learn, I've got some money in my pocket... and I get to train with some really hot chicks. As long as they'll have me, I think I'll be sticking around. On the next Coastal Zone: We continue to sell out the Auditorium; Cliff may be happy with out finances, but can we find a way to grow without putting on good shows? Um... no. So we need a good show...

[FINisher]

Wow. How f*cked up is that, when Jim Force saves the event? And outwrestles Ultimate Phoenix and Frankie Perez? Darn that bad chemisty! After all the disappointments, a bad chem in ME of big event. Horrible. Keep up the good work infinity, we will get there! Don't give up! :)

[Condors]

I enjoy every update, kutgw!

[Nightshadeex]

I can't wait for the Jim Force post. I can't wait........

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour May 2013, week 2, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA "The Franchise" Brooke Tyler. It's been a hard week for me. Personally, there's a part of me that wants to ask Peers to let me take the night off. But... well, part of why it's a hard week is that my dad, Eric Tyler... well, he retired. I'm now the one representing the family name... and that's a lot of responsibility. Especially given that he was one of the faces of DAVE, and DAVE fans can be very... demanding. And I'm... hell, I'm still making a name for myself. And I... don't think I can do this tonight. So I talk to Peers, and he gives me the night off. I decide to sneak into the crowd and watch the show... watch and wonder if I made the right decision. The pre-show match tonight is Team America facing Acid II and Mercutio Sleep. Odd teaming, there, but even odder is that they get the win, despite being a terrible team (D-). I wonder what the booker is thinking... and then I wonder even more, as Island Boy Apollo comes out and starts badmouthing my dad. I'm being baited. I can tell. I get up to leave, but Apollo calls attention to me and calls me out. I glance at the curtain; Peers is watching, nodding at me and smiling. That son of a... I get in the ring and tell Apollo to shut his mouth, and he tells me to shut it for him. I just look at Pee-Wee and shrug (E+). Pee-Wee welcomes everyone to the show and calls for the bell... then whispers to me, "He knew you'd be come in. Trust me... all you wrestlers feel better after a match. And Apollo got volunteered for this, so don't be mad at him." We go through the match... I'm not sure how long, Pee-Wee just gives us the two-minute warning signal and we go into a series of rollup-reversals before I lock on the Brooke Breaker for the win. I know it wasn't a great match (E+)... I don't work well in street clothes... but Pee-Wee was right. I felt better afterwards. I guess I sweated it out, or something. I head to the back and yell at Peers a bit for setting me up like that. By the time I'm done, I notice Fox, Machine, Barry, and Whippy are in the ring and a main event has been made. The evidence for our booker being insane continues to mount (D-). I grumble and go watch the rest of the show... from the back, of course, since I'll be recognized in the crowd. The first match is for the Xtreme Contendership, and it's a four-way ladder match. Jonnie's there, and for some reason Apollo is doing his second match of the night. Kirk and Brasil finish off the quartet, and frankly, I've seen better matches from all of them. Capitao Brasil gets the win, but it doesn't feel like he earned it (D-). He then makes things worse by trying to cut a promo afterwards (E+). We show a short hype video for Lauren vs Frankie. Neither one's here tonight; Peers gave them the night off. The video is better than anything in the show so far (D+). The next match... well, it's back to not-so-good, as Jim Force pins Masked Patriot, and I think we got to see why they don't work together often (D-). The match after that is almost, but not quite, as bad... Phoenix defeats Rod Remus in a long match (D). We get a promo from the tag champs (D) and then the main event. It's... well, it's the match of the night, but that's not saying much. The champs retain after a Fox Hunter on Whippy, and that's about all there is to say (D+). The show as a whole was dissapointing (D)... I may be part of the reason for that... and quite honestly, I'm rethinking this whole wrestling thing. It's... it's a lot of pressure, that I can't live up to right now. I don't know if I'll ever be able to. I look around here... there's people who've been here for years... and haven't gotten better. Why do I think I'll be different? On the next Coastal Zone: Efforts to build up the midcard are failing. The line between the main eventers and the upper-midcarders is growing thicker. WLW is willing to trade for Akima Brave, but want $25,000 an appearance for him. What's a booker to do? With an ending you won't believe... unless, of course, you know the kind of luck we have.

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour May 2013, week 3, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Cliff Anderson, Owner. I've never had a booker last as long as this one. At one point, he did something that got me mad at him... I think it was hiring that accident-waiting-to-happen Kamikaze Vars. Ever since then, I... well, I don't think he's the best man for the job, but he's the man we have, and he's gotten us so close to what he said he could do... it's be cruel to get rid of him now. Unless he screws up again. And he keeps selling out shows, so... let me put it this way. I just told him that anyone he hires in the next two and a half years had to be naturally athletic... so I don't forsee him getting kicked out anytime soon. Unless he seriously suggests shelling out twenty-five grand for Akima Brave to come back. We don't even make that much in a single show. Moron. Tho I'd love to see what he could do with an unlimited budget. As long as it wasn't -my- unlimited budget. Tonight's show... I've got a good feeling about it, honestly. Peers has this thing where he doesn't tell me and Emma about the endings to the matches, but I can see where he's going from what he's given me. The first match is a ten-man mayhem match; some of these guys are criminally underused. Acid, Brooke, George Wolfe, Jackpot and Jared, Speedball... especially Speedball... Velvet, Brimstone is in there... Kirk, too. It comes down to Velvet, Speedball, Acid, and Jared, then Jared gets taken out... then Acid... and finally, Velvet gets the pinfall with that moonsault of hers. All in all, not a bad match (D)... especially when Dylan tells me that Peers didn't tell him who should win. Daryl is on the short list of people to take over the book if Peers leaves, for a reason. We open with a chance for me and Emma to be quiet. We let the talent speak during promos and whatnot, and this one consists of Mercutio Sleep recruiting Jim Force for a tag team match, trying to turn him agaisnt his friend and former partner, Fox Mask. The champs come out and accept the challenge, with Fox seeming reluctant (D). Then we go to the back, where Lauren and Barry cut a promo to hype the main event, where they'll face P-Dawg and Phoenix (D-). Our next match is a tag contendership match for Battle On The Beach; Team America defeats Remus & Patriot when Remus and Patriot over-argue and can't get on the same page. The match itself is horrible; Team America used to at least be able to put on a passable match. They can't anymore (E+). Afterwards, Remus and Patriot turn on each other, shouting until they decide to fight in a couple weeks (D). Backstage, Team America runs into the tag champs, and cheerfully tell them to make sure they retain tonight. They then flee when Machine begins making horror-movie-theme sounds (D). The tag title match is next; Mercutio's been taking longer to warm up than I recall him needing last time he was here, but he's warmed up, as the two teams put on a good match that gets my hopes up for the show, and retain after a Fox Hunter on Force (C-). Peers has to be building to something there. P-Dawg and Phoenix cut a promo on their opponents (D), and then Frankie goes off on Lauren (C-) before the main event. And it's one hell of a main event, the kinds that gets all our spirits lifted. Lauren and Barry pick up the win after over half an hour of slam-bang action, getting a submission out of Phoenix (C+). The main event doesn't save the show... but it's a much better show than we've been doing lately (C-). It looks like we've gotten to the point where we can put on two good matches, we just need to be able to have a decent show in front of them. I'm feeling optimistic about the future again... and when I tell Peers as much, he drops the bombshell. WLW is trying to get P-Dawg back. Possibly to a written contract. On the next Coastal Zone: It's like Deja Vu, all over again.

[FINisher]

[QUOTE]WLW is trying to get P-Dawg back. Possibly to a written contract. [/QUOTE] Oh noes. Wow. That's just, depressing. This diary sure has had it's ups and downs. Don't give up! :)

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour May 2013, week 4, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Frankie "P-Dawg" Perez. First off, before we get to the show, I want to address a few rumors. Yes, I'll be returning to WLW. No, it will not be to a written contract... but still, this week will be my last show with the Zone. I regret having to make this decision, but... WLW is the big time. The third biggest promotion on the planet. I love the Zone, but I can't work for a regional promotion and a global promotion at the same time. I know I'm letting a lot of people down. But this is the Coastal Zone... you'll recover. You always do. You may not grow how you want... but you'll always make money. You'll always be in business. That's the key. DAVE died. The East Coast Wars claimed... well, lots of companies. But the Zone? The Zone endures. No matter what, the Zone endures. If I wasn't one hundred percent sure of that, I wouldn't be going. I get to the show and I can feel the eyes on me... everyone in the locker room, watching me. I'd been here... what, two months? Three? And now I'm leaving again. Fox, Machine, even Phoenix wouldn't look me in the eye. Some of the younger kids... Apollo, Velvet, the new Acid... Jonnie... god, the look Jonnie gave me... the kids broke my heart. I had shown up to save them, and now I was abandoning them. I kept to myself that night until the show, and watched quietly from backstage unless I was supposed to be out there. The first match showcased one of our booker'ss faults; to generate some heat for next week, Harrison Hash defended his Xtreme Title agaisnt Brooke Tyler, winning by DQ when Capitao Brasil ran in and attacked him (D). Lauren went out next. She cut a blistering promo, talking about tradition and values and verbally tearing me a new one. She told everyone her contendership, and that she'd be damned if she let the CZCW Title leave the Zone. When she was done, I hated myelf more than I did before (C). I felt bad for Masked Patriot, having to follow that; his attempt to communicate his distrust of hiss tag partner didn't quite have the same... anything (D-). The next match of the night was a tag match; Remus and Acid against Patriot and Jonnie. I was proud of Jonnie; he held his own with those guys. Acid's protege is learning the ropes well, too. I'd be working with Acid in WLW... I'd have to give him a status report on how the kid was doing. It was a bit longer than the recent tag matches had been, with a Remus Clutch on Patriot geting the win (D+). I'll have to order the Battle on the Beach DVD, just to see those two go without partners. After the match, Remus delivers a promo that was just as effective as his opponent's (D-). Now for the first hard part of the night. With a live feed going, I go up to Lauren and try to 'educate' her on the finer points of being paid twenty times as much money. I summon up the slimeball feelings I have, and by the end of the promo, I want to puke. I hate feeling like a real-life heel (C-). I come out of the bathroom to hav emissed the first third of a really long match, and I'm told I didn't misss much. I don't get much, either. It's a six-man elimination match for the new contendership; Jim Force goes out first, then Phoenix, then Sleep, then Kingman... then Fox and Machine do rock-paper-scissors and Fox flips out of the ring, giving Machine the contendership. It was about as exciting as it sounds (D). Machine went on a rant about how if Lauren failed to win the title tonight, then he'd still face her at Battle On The Beach... only he'd face her with every weapon he could find (D). I come out to the ring, give my 'farewell promo' to the fans about how I'm taking the title with me... and if I lost, well, I'd just use a fraction o fmy new paycheck and buy a better version of it (D+). The match is, as I would expect from Lauren, intense. It helps that they made it a ladder match, and the girl and climb and fly with the best of them. It's not the best match I've had here... but it's a damn good one, and one I'm proud of going out on before losing my title (C+). It's a good show. Not a blow-away one, but that main event... well, when you go that long and that hard, you turn some heads. It's a good show (C-). The feeling I have afterwards... well, it's hard. I watch Lauren with the belt and think... this was home. This was the place I came from. And it's true what they say... you can't go home again. As we're packing up, some of the new kids... Velvet, Simon, some of the others... they come up to me, shake my hand, and say they understand my decision. That they'd probably do it too. They didn't grow up here, didn't learn the ropes here. I feel like a Judas to Cliff, to everyone. Jonnie doesn't say another word to me. Doesn't even call me before I fly back to Japan. On the next Coastal Zone: Battle on the Beach! Is Lauren a transitional champion like Fox Mask was? Can we replace Frankie? Or should we?

[JPVargas]

Long time lurker here... I must admit I love the new style of looking at the world through the eyes of a different talent. I also can't wait for the Jim Force write-up.

[infinitywpi]

[QUOTE=JPVargas;534438]I also can't wait for the Jim Force write-up.[/QUOTE] Force gets his at the end of July, I believe. Possibly August, I forget which. I've torn through a bunch of people, and I'm trying not to over-use anyone... If I have to double up on people, I want them to be staffers or champions. Gotta admit, I'm enjoying writing the new style much more than I thought I would. Much easier now that I can look back on five years of game-time and decide how the characters feel about what I put them through.

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Battle On The Beach June 2013, Week 1, Wednesday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Bobby Jones, Age 12. CZCW's Biggest Fan. Yeah, I tried convincing my dad to get tickets to Battle On The Beach this year... he was going to, until P-Dawg *spit* left. Luckily, I convinced an uncle who was in town visiting that it would be a fun family event to do. So I got to see the show, and I'm glad I did. It opened with Lauren and Machine backstage, talking about what the title means to them and how they'll both fight to keep it in the Zone (C-). Then we get a little 'bonus match', as Barry Kingman defeated Jim Force (C-). Barry's the son of The Crippler, y'know. There's lots of second-generation wrestlers who come through the Zone. Someday, there'll be third-generation wrestlers. And I plan to be working with them. My dad says when I turn 18, I can try to join the Zone. He thinks I'll lose interest by then. I'll show him. After that, it gets a bit boring as Capitao Brasil attacks Harrison Hash backstage. I on't really care -- Hash hasn't had a good match yet, and Brasil hasn't had one in, like, forever (E). The Tag Title match is good; Fox and Machine retain, and I can't believe I didn't notice until now that Machinee has two title matches tonight; man, is he gonna be tired (C-). Like, ten seconds after I realize that, he does a promo that says that exact thing, but how Lauren better not think this'll make things easier for her (D). The Xtreme Ladder match is next, and I still haven't seenn Harrison Hash have a good match; I don't see why he has the title (D). Lauren ha an interview about the main event (D+), and then the match I really wanted to see comes up. See, I like tag teams, and Remus & Patriot have been a team for a long time held the titles a lot of times... My friends and I argue about who would be better off without the other. I'm the only one who says they'd both be good alone. This matc hkinda proves it... it's not the best, but it's still good (D+). Then they do the video for the main event, like they always do (D). The main event... well, let's say, after seeing that, my dad told mee he was glad I talked my uncle into this. It was better than the P-Dawg match... and there wasn't even a ladder involved. It was one of the longer matches I've seen live, and it was AWESOME! Seriously. Buy the DVD when it comes out. It was that good. Oh, yeah, Lauren retained the title... but I wanna see a rematch (B-)! All in all, this was an awesome show, and I highly recommend it to anyone (C). I know you expect me to say that, since I am the Zone's biggest fan, but seriously, this was good. Get the DVD. You'll be glad you did. On the next Coastal Zone: Have we found a way out of the funk we've been in? Who will be joining the Zone? And will we manage to return to Cult status?

[FINisher]

Awesome! Nice idea to view the show from fans' point of view. I'm so glad of the show outcome and the important grades in the end.. ^^ And no, Bobby's not the biggest Zone fan, I am! And everyone else who read this diary!

[infinitywpi]

CZCW Coastal Tour June 2012, week 1, Sunday Grissom Auditorium, Southwest USA Chris "Insane Machine" Perkins. So, it's an interesting week. We're reeling from the twin bi-polar-inducements of Frankie leaving and the great show that was BotB 2013. It's a reminder that Lauren is as good a champion as anyone... if not better. The two of us immediately pitch a rematch to Peers, who decides to run with it. He also tells us to get ready for a couple new signings. Needless to say, the locker room is all abuzz over who's back there for the next show. Lauren and I sit and tak about our match in the Green Room as we check out the pre-show match; Acid gets a win over Kirk Jameson, but surprisingly, it's the best match either of them have had in... well, a hell of a long time. "If they can do that again," Lauren tells me, "They could easily be a pre-main event." (C-) The show officially opens with Barry Kingman in the ring, staking his claim to #1 Contendership. The newest member of the Zone cuts him off and says he'll have to fight for it. The sub-main tonight is Barry Kingman vs Teddy Powell, and we have to follow it. This'll be fun (D-). The opening match is nothing special; Mercutio Sleep pins Flying Jimmy Foxx in... I'd say eighteen minutes, could be wrong. Decent match, not quite good though (D+). Then it's my cue, and I head out there to rant about Lauren and challenge her to a rematch, a true heart-of-the-Zone match, a ladder match (D). Not my best work, but I've done worse. I head back, and out comes P-Dawg's little brother. Poor kid's been acting lost for a week now...and then they introduce his opponent, and it's the other new Zoner, Dragon Del Arco Iris, Jr. The new guy has something to prove... and it turns out, Jonnie does too, and the two kids proceed to tear the freakin' house down, leaunching every kind of arial attack they can think of on each other, fighting out into the crowd... Pee-Wee calls for the count-out, but I'm watching these two... and I'm thinking, I'm watching the future of the Zone in them. Five years from now, hell, two years from now, these two'l have one hell of a title feud if this match is any indication (C). Lauren comes out and cuts a promo on me, telling me she's won more ladder matches than I have. Possibly true. My time in Japan didn't include many ladder matches (C-). The sub-main... well, doesn't live up to that last match, but not much could. It's a solid match, nothing outstanding, but it's a long, solid match that shows how dependable Teddy is as he gets the win (D+). Teddy gets an introduction promo to the crowd, and then lets me and Lauren know that he'll be waiting at Surf Slam (D-). And finally, the main event. I think it was a bit much for us to think we could top out last match... and we don't... but we still put on a hell of a match, and half-hour ladder matches are nothing to sneeze at, y'know? Anyway, Lauren wins... I've got the tag title still, after all, even if I think it'd better off put on some of the kids... and the crowd, as expected, applauds (C+). We don't end there; Lauren calls out Teddy and, summoning the same inner anger she used against P-Dawg, tells him he's not allowed to come into our Zone and think he can take the title. She's going to show him exactly why, when she beats the crap out of him and sends him packing as Surf Slam (C). It's a great end to a good show (C). I'm always happy when I can help send the crowd home happy. Especially when the dirt sheets start calling us Cult-sized again. Now... if only our Booker can keep us from falling... again... On the next Cultal Zone: We've risen again. Now, can we avoid... y'know... falling again? Make your own BSC 'going down again' joke here, folks...

[FINisher]

Great, great show. I don't have an opinion for Teddy Powell, but Dragon Del Arco Iris Jr. is just one heck of a talent. Nice to see those good match grades!

[eayragt]

[QUOTE=infinitywpi;534897]Especially when the dirt sheets start calling us Cult-sized again. Now... if only our Booker can keep us from falling... again...[/QUOTE] Sure you can... can't you?