Ring of Fire: Walkin' The Line...

[1PWfan]

The name’s Saxon, Norman Saxon. Unless you followed the English wrestling scene pretty closely you won’t have heard of me, but you might have heard of my granddad, ‘The Killer’ Ron Saxon. No? Well you should have, he’s the guy that invented British-style wrestling as we know it. Never got into the Hall of Immortals (that hall-of-fame thing they run on TEW.com), but that’s just a matter of paperwork, really: you ask any wrestling fan in England who Ron Saxon is, they’ll know alright. Alright, I guess you might have heard of my dad, Chris Saxon of Saxon Stairlifts (yes, the same family is iconic in both wrestling and stairlifts: this crazy world we live in, huh?). He made a fair wad of cash, but it’s not like I see most of it. Y’see, dad has a bit of a thing about the wrestling business (probably some whiny ‘daddy never tucked me in at night’ b*llocks), and when I told him I was planning to follow granddad into the business he pretty much cut me off without a penny to my name. Fortunately Granddad had left me most of his cash and his house, so just moved down south to train. Which is where, after a few years, I met Robert Brown, otherwise known as British Samurai. Y’see, as well as running Ring of Fire, British Samurai also runs the Turnbuckle Wrestling Dojo, the only decent training facility in England for wrestlers, so when it opened in 2004 I headed up to its base in Coventry to sharpen up my skills working in some proper facilities, as opposed to some guy’s shed. Wound up scoring a job there after a few months, helping Samurai in the ring and stretching out a few of the arsier students. Nice work if you can get it, and pays better than wrestling. More regularly, anyway, and when you’ve got bills to pay that can mean a lot. *** It would’ve been just after Christmas that Samurai came down to the dojo. Nothing unusual, except that in theory Samurai was taking a break to spend some time with his sister’s family. He pulled me out of my session with some of the younger guys, says he needs to have a word with me in his office. And no sooner have we got in there than he’s got me sat down in front of his desk and looks like I’ve just been arrested (not that that’s exactly unusual with him: that whole po-faced serious thing he does? That’s not a character). [COLOR="Blue"]“Heard you got an offer from 21CW”[/COLOR] It was true, sorta. I’d got a call from The Steam Roller, who does work for 21CW, but I hung up before he finished making his pitch: 21CW’s fine for hacks like Nightmare or Price, but I’m not sharing a locker-room with Brown. There’s history there, bad history. [COLOR="Sienna"]“Yeah”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“You leaving?”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]“No”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“Why not?”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]“I like it here.”[/COLOR] And if you were wondering, yes we really do talk like that. [COLOR="Blue"]“Fair enough. Want a job at Ring of Fire?”[/COLOR] Now that was a surprise. Samurai’s always been reluctant to hire me for the promotion, I think because he likes having someone in the Dojo who doesn’t pull double duty. [COLOR="Sienna"]“No problem.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“I want you to book too”[/COLOR] And the hits just keep on coming, huh?” [COLOR="Sienna"]“Why?”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“You turned Nova down. Means you’re not gonna be leaving”[/COLOR] That’s true enough, I guess. I suppose I could go work for UEW in Europe, but Samurai and Bloxsome have a deal going covering each other’s asses from the competition. [COLOR="Sienna"]“’Kay. I can see that”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“So, you in?”[/COLOR] What else could I say? [COLOR="Sienna"]“I’m in”[/COLOR]

[1PWfan]

My first day in charge of Ring of Fire reminded me of working in the dojo, and not just because some of the old pupils were working there. Most of the roster were under 30, and the key word when describing them was ‘potential’-most of them weren’t much to shout about, but given some experience they looked very promising. [B]Billy Robinson[/B] was one of the few who already seemed halfway there. A competent technical worker with a little brawling skill, he was already an established worker thanks to his tag team with Don Henderson. His only really noticeable weakness was selling, but I figured a few rounds with me and Sammy should knock that into him. [B]British Samurai[/B] might have been my boss, and a good friend, but that didn’t make him perfect: outside of technical wrestling, he was very weak. However he was certainly good on the mat, and had some of the sharpest fundamentals I’d ever seen. He’d probably spend most of his time fighting everyone on the roster to teach them their way around the ring, but in this company that was urgently required. [B]Don Henderson[/B] was the other half of our top tag team with Billy, and was in terms of pure wrestling skills definitely weaker. However he was one of our best ring generals, which made him useful in training up a few of the younger guys in the fundamentals. Of course, the fact that most of them were high flyers meant major stylistic clashes were in store, but at least we could try. [B]Donny Damage[/B], our road agent, seemed a touch surplus to requirements. With Samurai and Merle O’Curle on hand to help the younger guys put the matches together he wasn’t really needed on that front, and he lacked the respect to pull weight in the locker room. Still, there was no specific reason to fire him, so I’d keep him at least until his contract came up. [B]Eric Future[/B] was one of our hottest prospects, but probably the most at risk: he was frustratingly inconsistent and as a pure high flyer stood out a bit from the other members of the roster. Definitely a guy on the bubble, though rapid improvement would probably save him [B]Gob Narfi[/B] was one guy I knew I’d have problems with in the ring. He was a decent high flyer, but weak in every other area and was truly dreadful at stringing a match together. The only upside to him was his youth: at twenty, he had time to improve, and I was willing to keep him for a few years yet. [B]Humphrey Woolsey[/B] was our head referee, and a perfect fit for the company with his take-no-sh*t persona and utter straight-lacedness. Keeping him around lent us a legitimate air, and it didn’t hurt that our fans (all 60 of them) loved him for some reason. Seriously, his momentum was through the roof. [B]Johnny Highspot[/B] was a former 21CW worker from back in the Tyler Baker days. A competent high flier, his real skill was selling a beating. In most other ways though he was decidedly average, and had Future’s issues with consistency to boot. [B]Jon Michael Sharp[/B] was definitely one for the future: He was possibly our hottest prospect, but he needed a lot of seasoning before he got there. Still, his prospective talent and extreme youthfulness made him useful, and he was good enough at selling that he could job out to guys like Merle and The Dragon whilst sharpening up his craft. [B]Jonni Lowlife[/B] was another of our hotter prospects, but unlike most of them could actually wrestle more than one style, combining a reasonable aerial style with some decent if less-than-spectacular mat work. He was also extremely consistent, making him useful in balancing out his partner Highspot, although his psychology was poor. He was our current #1 Contender (a stupid name for a title, by the way, and one I promptly changed), and wasn’t so bad that he’d be losing it soon. [B]Justin Blackham[/B] was the voice of ROF, but wasn’t actually that good. He’s a walking encyclopaedia, but a very dull one, and can’t keep up with the really intense action. There are better announcers available, but I’m willing to keep him on the off-chance that him and Peaches really click. [B]Kelly Martin[/B] is utterly unremarkable. Good, but not great. Solid, but in need of improvement. Young, but not that young. I’d keep him for now, but his contract was up soon and he’d need to impress me to keep his job. [B]K’Lee Hawkins[/B], dumb name aside, was…alright. He had his upside, and I could see why his Crossface Chickenwing was so feared, but he’d got further than he should have on his talent. He also had a very robust sense of humour that tended to cause arguments backstage. I’d put him in the ring with Samurai and hope that that’d knock his rough edges off. [B]Lance Martin[/B] was basically the same as his brother, but had the advantage of a longer contract. [B]Martin Heath[/B] was, like his partner Sharp, one for the distant future. A decent high flier with alright fundamentals, he needed a lot of experience but at 19 had the time to gain it. Probably one of Dragon’s projects, as he needed the experience in high flying. [B]Menace[/B] looked badass, and had potential, but needed seasoning, and couldn’t do much outside of brawl. I’d probably have to work with him, as the only one of the teachers who could mesh with his style, but I could deal with that. What was more problematic was the fact that he was very openly gay: I couldn’t give a toss, to be honest, but K’Lee was bound to make a really stupid joke sooner or later, and then all hell would break loose. [B]Merle O’Curle[/B] was the one member of the roster we couldn’t afford to lose, and not just because he was the current ROF Champion. His skills were superb, and his fundamentals really solid. The only reason he wouldn’t be doing much teaching is that I’d need him in the main event to carry the show. [B]Norman Saxon[/B]: Well, I don’t like to brag, but I’m one of the few in this company that can brawl and work the mat whilst carrying a match. I slotted into the main event, but I wouldn’t be working there that often: like Samurai, I’d be teaching the young guys how to work. [B]Peaches McCream[/B] was our colour commentator, and an expert on Joshi wrestling. Unfortunately she’s a mouthy piece, and could cause a lot of arguments backstage. Still, she’s at least charismatic, and has the air of legitimacy that’s very important in ROF. [B]Petey Barnes[/B] was…interesting. He was solid enough, and to be frank I couldn’t see why 21CW hadn’t gone for him as well as Matravers, but at the same time he stood out in ROF rather, and not just because of that daft hair colour. I’d keep an eye on him, but he looked to me to be a rock-solid midcarder. [B]Rhys Vali[/B] was the absolute mirror-image of his partner Narfi. Solid high flying, poor fundamentals and especially poor psychology. It was also clear that he was a little insecure of his place on the roster: he made a lot of noise, and that caused problems every once in a while. Still, I might as well give him a shot-if nothing else, there were so few Welsh wrestlers out there that he had novelty value. [B]UK Dragon[/B] was, like all the main event, a real saving grace of the company, with an all-round game that stood out in ROF. He’d be joining Samurai and me in the teaching department for the very simple reason that he spent a lot of time with WLW in Japan and couldn’t be counted on a lot to be available every week. The upside of that was that his work in Japan gave him a lot of respect in the locker room, and he could be relied upon to keep most of the guys in line. [B]Walter Morgan[/B] was probably our best technical worker apart from O’Curle or me. If he could polish up his psychology and selling he’d be in line for a major push, but as it was he’d have to be content for a pillar-of-the-midcard role. Looking at the roster, it was clear that a lot of the roster needed experience fast, and we needed to gain popularity quickly as well if we were to survive. The only solution for that that I could see was to institute a weekly show, ROF Wrestling Clinic (catchy name that is also truthful), and raise ticket prices a couple of quid in the vain hope that that would offset the losses. And if it didn’t…well, granddad wouldn’t want his money to go to waste, and the house was in prime real-estate country… *** Day two started with Samurai calling me into the office for yet more taciturn banter. [COLOR="Blue"]“Heard about the show plans”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]“That Okay? We’re gonna lose money for a while no matter what”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“That woulda’ happened anyway”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]“Fair enough. Anything else?”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“Yeah, got a few objectives for you”[/COLOR] Ah, the objectives, otherwise known as ‘The Booker’s Women’-you can’t live with them, you can’t live without them. [COLOR="Sienna"] “Fire away”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“Way I see it, we’re trying to stay open. Best way to do that is stay up in the world rankings. In two years time, I want us at least #25”[/COLOR] Not too much of a problem, given that there was where we were. [COLOR="Blue"]“And we’re a legitimate wrestling company, so nobody that can’t take a beating or make it look good”[/COLOR] [COLOR="sienna"] “No problem. Anything else?”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“Not right now. Back to work”[/COLOR] *** The next day brought in bad news, in the form of 21CW making moves on UK Dragon. They couldn’t sign him to written, and I doubt he’d skip out on Japan to work for them, but it would put us further down the chain. To balance this out as best I could, I put in an offer to Keith Adams: he wasn’t a high flier, but he had the solid fundamentals to work with our undercard guys. Sure enough he came on board, although for around 800 a show (500 PPA plus travel expenses) he wouldn’t be seeing much action. Meanwhile, our allies at UEW suffered a blow when Ali Bloxsome got himself injured. It wasn’t enough to put him out of action, but it created trouble for me when Samurai added another goal to my list: no talent that couldn’t take a knock or two. That left Jon and Future on the death list, and whilst I was willing to go into bat for them pissing off Samurai twice wouldn’t be fun, that guy can really work the silent treatment. 21CW held two shows this week, their TV show and a supercard. And they were both very average, providing a neat morale boost heading into Wrestling Clinic on Friday. Highlights of both shows included Jonathan Faust beating out Matravers to retain the world title on TV whilst Thompon saved the undercard with a tag match against the Elimination Agents, whilst at the big show the only real standouts were The Takeover going down to Matravers and that d*ck Pit Bull whilst Faust beat the stuffing out of DJ Reason. For Wrestling Clinic I put out the following card: Merle O’Curle vs. K’Lee Hawkins [I]The Celtic Crippler makes his first defence of the year, against K’Lee Hawkins. Which of these submission specialists will claim the victory?[/I] British Samurai vs. Walter Morgan [I]The Honourable Owner of ROF faces off against Walter ‘PPK’ Morgan in a display of technical excellence. [/I] Norman Saxon vs. Menace [I]The Monster’s Loose, and first in his path is ‘Storming’ Norman Saxon, ROF’s newest wrestler. Which of these two powerhouses takes the win?[/I] For the dark I scheduled Petey Barnes vs. Martin Heath, as with Dragon out to save on funds Barnes was the next best high-flier I could find.

[Marcel Fromage]

[B]Merle O’Curle [/B]vs. K’Lee Hawkins [B]British Samurai [/B]vs. Walter Morgan [B]Norman Saxon [/B]vs. Menace Excellent - ROF diary! Nice roster run down too. Going all down the left because, although Samurai and Saxon might be schooling, I can't see them losing too often either. Morgan needs to gain some performance skills before he overtakes Samurai in the card. Oh, and Barnes to win the dark match. Best of luck with this - I'll be reading.

[1PWfan]

[B][CENTER][SIZE="6"]ROF Wrestling Clinic[/SIZE] [SIZE="5"]Live from the Paddington Club Audience: 42[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B] [B][U]Pre-Show/DVD Extras[/U][/B] [B]Petey Barnes vs. Martin Heath[/B] Well, there’s good and bad new here. The good news is that JB and Peaches are a great team on the mic, and their chemistry is just obvious. The bad news is that Petey and Martin couldn’t be any more awkward together if they were 16 year-olds on a first date: everything was off, and they didn’t have the talent to compensate, making this a very disappointing match that dragged down the miniscule crowds’ energy. Petey did improve his performance skills a bit, but he’d have to shot up to Samurai levels to make this match not disappointing. He got the win with a spectacularly awkward sunset flip on Heath. [B]Winner:[/B] Petey Barnes [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]E[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Hello, Wrestling fans, and welcome to Ring of Fire’s First Wrestling Clinic of 2009. I’m Justin Blackham, and with me as always is my broadcast partner and colour analyst Peaches McCream”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“It’s a pleasure to be here Justin.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Tonight we’ve got three great matches for you, starting with a battle between the giant Menace and ‘Storming’ Norman Saxon”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“This should be an interesting match Justin. Menace is a master of using his size to his advantage, but Saxon’s big enough to counteract that. And of course you can’t overlook Saxon’s technical skills”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Of course, Norman’s the grandson of British legend ‘The Killer’ Ron Saxon”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“I don’t know that that’ll be a factor here. Of course Norman’s got the background, but it’s quite probable that Menace is even more motivated: a win over a man with Saxon’s pedigree would really turn heads”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Well, let’s take it down to the ring, where Humphrey Woolsey is checking both men for illegal objects. And there’s the bell…” [/COLOR] [B]Norman Saxon vs. Menace[/B] Well, this was much better than the dark match, but not where I wanted it to be. I taught Menace everything I could in the time available, and he did show a lot of improvement, but this was still not enough to lift the crowd out of its rut. Hopefully Samurai and Merle can strut their stuff later on to get things going. Still, Menace’s improvement makes this match worthwhile. I took the win here, taking him out with The Norman Conquest, a DDT that Menace sold pretty well for a guy his size [B]Winner:[/B] Norman Saxon [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]D-[/I] [COLOR="darkorange"]“Well Norman takes the win there in a very successful debut”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“Don’t dismiss Menace too soon, though-he really took Norman to the limit there. I for one wouldn’t bet against Menace taking the win in a rematch”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Onto the next match, as British Samurai takes on a master of Wigan-Style wrestling, Walter ‘PPK’ Morgan”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“Whatever the result here, it’s safe to say that we’re guaranteed a masterclass in technical wrestling-both these guys are masters of their craft”[/COLOR] [B]British Samurai vs. Walter Morgan[/B] This was another disappointing match-nothing went wrong, these guys just couldn’t get the crowd going. I think part of the problem is the lack of audience-with the economy going down the p*sser people just aren’t going to the shows, and a mostly-empty venue has a way of swallowing up the heat from a match. Plus, Walter didn’t show the hoped-for improvement, rendering the exercise at least partially pointless. Samurai took the win here with a Fisherman Suplex [B]Winner:[/B] British Samurai [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]D-[/I] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Well, folks, it’s time for our main event, as Merle O’Curle faces off against K’Lee Hawkins”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“For my money you’ve got to go with Merle O’Curle for the win here-Hawkins is good, but O’Curle is a master of technical wrestling.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“You can’t dismiss Hawkins out of hand though”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“That’s very true-there’s a reason that the Chickenwing Crossface is so feared after all. What it comes down to here is whether or not Hawkins can exploit that move-if he locks O’Curle onto it he’s got a very good chance of winning. But you can bet O’Curle will have done his homework-we’re promised a very solid match here”[/COLOR] [B]Merle O’Curle vs. K’Lee Hawkins[/B] First piece of good news of the tonight, as Merle and Hawkins work really well together, and combined with JB and Peaches’ chemistry that really helped lift things tonight. These two put on a very strong match here, only slightly let down by Hawkins’ willingness to coast by, not really picking up on any of the stuff O’Curle was doing. Still, as a main event this was certainly solid, and better than anything 21CW managed this week. O’Curle got the win here, forcing K’Lee into the Celtic Wreath. [B]Winner:[/B] Merle O’Curle [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C-[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]D+[/I], equalling both of 21CW’s cards this week, and more than enough to boost our popularity

[Rathen4]

Balls, just missed predictions. You were there at the start of mine and I just missed the start of yours :( Oh well! Excellent show, well done! Now keep it up, and don't go bankrupt :D

[Phantom Stranger]

You might get K'Lee to work where I didn't, then... six years on, the man with chemistry against O'Curle in my own game is a bigger name worldwide than Merle. Good luck with this, and careful with Dragon while WLW's in tour. He will get run down,m guaranteed.

[Regis]

Nice one. But be careful running weeklies - you will bleed cash, and unless you can turn a profit quickly, it's probably better to go back to running longer monthly events to avoid burning the crowd out on your matches too quickly slow down the cash decline.

[1PWfan]

Thanks for all the feedback thus far, it's really nice to see such a response so quickly. As for the shows and going bankrupt, frankly I see that happening very quickly as the economy and business are in freefall at the moment, but part of the reason I mentioned Norman's comparative wealth at the start is to give myself a reason to edit in more cash if it gets desperate-if t's a chouice between being poor and working for MOSC or 21CW, Norman will be poor. As for K'Lee, he's one of a bunch of guys I'm determined to do something with. Sharp and eath are two others-they didn't get much love in 2k7, so I'm keeping them until they're definitely not worth it.

[1PWfan]

A post-show analysis revealed a couple of very heartening facts. Firstly, that JB’s announcing skills had already improved noticeably, rising from a D to a D+ (still not that good, but any improvement was welcome), and that Menace’s safety had improved. This was perhaps less useful, but improvement is improvement, however you pitch it. Samurai came through with yet another goal. Apparently he’s got bigger plans for me than I have: he wants my momentum to have reached B grade in 18 months. Apparently he sees me as a potential big player in the main event scene, presumably for the same reasons he hired me (I ain’t going anyplace), and wants me to standby champ if Dragon or Merle skip town. I can see that, but I rather put it on someone who wasn’t calling the shots backstage. I tackled two of our big issues this week: distribution and that bloody stupid #1 Contenders’ title. I switched our distribution to Internet based rather than DVD, as the extra popularity that would get us could prove useful. The #1 Contender’s title, meanwhile, I renamed the Rising Star Trophy, to reflect its actual purpose. In news from the wrestling world, the SWF started making inroads into the UK: they’ve already got Supreme TV broadcast on UK Broadcasting Secondary, but they added a PPV deal with United Kingdom Choice on Saturday. I hardly thought it was necessary, but to be on the safe side I signed off on a Non-Aggression Pact with them. They’d just signed Chris Caulfield and James Prudence in the States, and I would hate to lose anyone to them, unlikely as that was. Throughout the week they continued their signing spree, bringing in Steven Parker and Darryl Devine. Man, I’d hate to be in the States right now: with the SWF on the rise things are not looking good for the independent scene over there. At least in the UK 21CW are basically useless. 21CW, meanwhile, signed up Kevin Jones from MOSC, and they damn near stole Dragon from us-oh, it was only a PPA deal, but it did mean that he was now making our competition his top priority, damn him. I was only thankful that Merle was a dedicated technical wrestler, and therefore didn’t appeal to Nova’ circus freakshow antics. Both 21CW and MOSC ran shows this week, and neither beat us quality wise, MOSC managing a healthy D- whilst 21CW only managed a D, neither of them as good as we managed. With MOSC running monthly and 21CW already having shot their bolt with the big event last week, things were looking up for us in the regional battles. For the next Wrestling Clinic, I put together the following card: Keith Adams vs. Jon Michael Sharp [I]The debuting ‘Rock Solid’ Keith Adams faces young high flyer Jon Michael Sharp in this bonus match. Can Adams, who is anything but a high flyer, take the win, or will JMS claim victory?[/I] Don Henderson vs. Jonni Lowlife [I]The newly re-named rising star trophy is on the line tonight, as champion Jonni Lowlife defends against The Terror of the Highlands Don Henderson. Both men have strong records in tag competition, but which will win through in this one-on-one struggle?[/I] Norman Saxon vs. Billy Robinson [I]‘Storming’ Norman won through last week against the monstrous Menace, but will he claim victory against the much more technical ‘So Solid’ Billy Robinson, in this technical masterclass?[/I] British Samurai vs. UK Dragon [I]Two of Ring of Fire’s biggest names face off tonight, as the masked Super Junior UK Dragon faces off against the deadly British Samurai for the right to face Merle O’Curle next week. Who will carry the day?[/I]

[Marcel Fromage]

[B]Keith Adams [/B]vs. Jon Michael Sharp [I]I like Keith so I'm going with him. He can help school some guys like Sharp.[/I] [B]Don Henderson [/B]vs. Jonni Lowlife [I]Unlike what you said before, I don't think Lowlife is ready for any kind of singles recognition right now. So I'm going with the ultra-reliable Don to win this.[/I] [B]Norman Saxon [/B]vs. Billy Robinson [I]Robinson is a really useful guy on the roster, but still has some creases that need ironing out in his performance stats before he can carry others. With your (somewhat nightmare) momentum goal from Samurai, I'll go with you to win it.[/I] British Samurai vs. [B]UK Dragon[/B] [I]As Phantom said, Dragon will be off on travels and knackered soon enough. But I expect him to go over here and face off against O'Curle before he hits the road on tour with WLW again.[/I]

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;476227][B]Keith Adams [/B]vs. Jon Michael Sharp [I]I like Keith so I'm going with him. He can help school some guys like Sharp.[/I] [B]Don Henderson [/B]vs. Jonni Lowlife [I]Unlike what you said before, I don't think Lowlife is ready for any kind of singles recognition right now. So I'm going with the ultra-reliable Don to win this.[/I] [B]Norman Saxon [/B]vs. Billy Robinson [I]Robinson is a really useful guy on the roster, but still has some creases that need ironing out in his performance stats before he can carry others. With your (somewhat nightmare) momentum goal from Samurai, I'll go with you to win it.[/I] British Samurai vs. [B]UK Dragon[/B] [I]As Phantom said, Dragon will be off on travels and knackered soon enough. But I expect him to go over here and face off against O'Curle before he hits the road on tour with WLW again.[/I][/QUOTE] ...Yeah, I'm gonna have to back Marcel all the way down the line here, for pretty much the same reasons. There's a lot of mileage in Johnny and in Jonni, but they're works in progress. Not to say Don isn't - but he's closer to being the finished product.

[Regis]

For the next Wrestling Clinic, I put together the following card: [B]Keith Adams[/B] vs. Jon Michael Sharp [I]JMS is a jobber, and needs a lot of work before he can beat someone like Keith.[/I] Don Henderson vs. [B]Jonni Lowlife[/B] [I]Don is good, but... well... I don't know, I always bet on the champ to start with.[/I] Norman Saxon vs. [B]Billy Robinson[/B] [I]One last chance to put a guy over before your mega-push starts.[/I] British Samurai vs. [B]UK Dragon[/B] [I]Sammy's a humble guy - he doesn't need a big win here, while UK Dragon could easily grow to become the biggest name in UK wrestling if he's lucky.[/I] And yes, I'm deliberately choosing the outside chances.

[1PWfan]

[LEFT][SIZE="6"]ROF Wrestling Clinic[/SIZE] [SIZE="5"]Live to the Internet from the The Paddington Club Audience: 42[/SIZE][/LEFT] [B][U]Pre-Show/Internet Extras:[/U][/B] [B]Keith Adams vs. Jon Michael Sharp[/B] Well, JMS emulated his tag partner by coming down with bad chemistry, and added to this was off his game tonight, apparently down to nerves (he’s usually been stuck in tag matches where there’s less pressure), dragging this match down to a rather shoddy level. Still, Keith earned his rather exorbitant fee tonight, tutoring JMS in both technical work and fundamental skills, making this match worth it even if it did bring the crowd down somewhat. And as usual, JB and Peaches weighed in with their usual high quality announcing work. Adams got the win: JMS can afford to lose for a while yet [B]Winner:[/B] Keith Adams [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]E+[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Well, fans, welcome to another exciting edition of Wrestling Clinic, and we’re going straight into our opening match as ‘Storming’ Norman Saxon faces off against ‘So Solid’ Billy Robinson”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“This should be a good match-both guys have an all-round game that should make things difficult for their opponents. Plus, Robinson is riding a big wave of momentum after his time-limit draw against Merle O’Curle last year”[/COLOR] [B]Billy Robinson vs. Norman Saxon[/B] Well, that went well. I’d made the call to have us go all out in the opener, to get some momentum going for the show, and it worked here as we both turned in a really good match that was yards ahead of last week’s undercard. Plus, I haven’t had as receptive a pupil as Billy in quite a while-he was picking up on everything I was showing him, and more besides. I took the win here- I’d have been happy to lose to him, but with Samurai making that demand about my momentum I took the call to go over here, and promised Billy a rematch down the line when he would go over. And I have to say, he took it like a professional-Billy’s got a good future in this company. [B]Winner:[/B] Norman Saxon [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]D+[/I] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Saxon takes the win there, maintaining his strong record thus far in Ring of Fire”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“Don’t dismiss Robinson out of hand, though-you can really tell he was giving it his all there, and whilst he may have lost he didn’t give Saxon an easy time. I think it’s safe to say that Robinson will be climbing the card very shortly if his performance tonight was anything to go by”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Onto our next match, as Jonni Lowlife defends his title against Robinson’s tag partner Don Henderson”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“Henderson’s big advantage is strategy-he can’t always keep up with Lowlife’s speed, but he can make his work count in a way that I’m not sure Lowlife can. Either way, this should be an interesting match”[/COLOR] [B]Don Henderson vs. Jonni Lowlife[/B] I don’t normally like switching titles around so quickly, but Henderson made a fuss about having to lose the match, arguing that fans hadn’t bought into Lowlife as a better wrestler than him, and it would damage the credibility of the company if he was to lose the match. He was sorta right, Lowlife isn’t really on his level, but the way to get him there is to have him go over guys like Henderson. Still, I wasn’t in the mood for a fight, and Lowlife was okay with losing, so I had Henderson go over. And whilst this match wasn’t as good as it should have been (I’ll admit that it was my fault, I’d told the guys to hold back a touch to avoid burning out the crowd before the main event), both guys went out and learned something from the match. Lowlife sharpened up his fundamentals and technical work, whilst Henderson learnt a good lesson in straight-forward brawling. [B]Winner:[/B] Don Henderson [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]D-[/I] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Well, we have a new Rising Star champion in Don Henderson”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“As I said before, it came down to strategy-Lowlife matched him blow-for-blow, but Henderson made sure his offence counted for more in the long run. Of course, a tactic like that doesn’t always carry the day twice-Lowlife learnt a lot about Henderson’s style from that match, and with some homework on his part I could see Lowlife winning the belt back next time he’s in that ring”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“It’s time for our main event now, as British Samurai faces off against UK Dragon for the right to face Merle O’Curle next week”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“This is a real battle of opposites-Dragon’s more of a high flier, whilst Samurai is a master of technical wrestling. And whilst Dragon is probably the better all-round wrestler, he works a very packed schedule, whilst Samurai has had the time to prepare for this match a lot more”[/COLOR] [B]British Samurai vs. UK Dragon[/B] Okay, what the hell happened there? This match was a disaster from beginning to end. Dragon’s schedule with WLW is ludicrously busy, which tired him out for this match, whilst Samurai was way off-form tonight (don’t ask me why, I don’t know and he wouldn’t tell me). This dragged the match down a lot, to the point where it was only marginally better than the previous match. Samurai got the win there, taking him through to face Merle next week, hopefully in a better match than this colossal c*ck-up. [B]Winner:[/B] British Samurai [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]D[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]D[/I], good enough to keep us ahead of the game popularity-wise, and matching 21CW’s effort of the week, but I was hoping for better.

[1PWfan]

After the problems on the show, we were braced the following day by some good news, as we’d apparently risen in the world rankings from 25th to 23rd. Great news, and with that rise we were in a strong continuing position for the Regional battle at the end of the month. Apparently UK Dragon needs a break as he’s been working to hard, thanks to WLW’s schedule of three shows a week plus monthly supercard. We could rest him a lot (not that he’d get much rest from the other companies), but we still needed a high flier to teach the younger guys, and our roster was too full as it was. I seriously considered letting him go, but I held off, figuring we could always wait until he went off tour and then work him into floor then. Besides, the only replacement was Joey Beauchamp, and he didn’t have Dragon’s positive presence in the locker room. Apparently Eric Future is tipped to become a mega-star in the next five years. Only if he bucks up his mat wrestling fast, says I. In news from the wrestling world, USPW are apparently hunting for new talent, presumably to replace the guys that were lost when SWF made their signing spree, and GCG were also hunting for new talent. That was potentially an issue: if they made moves on the Dragon we’d lose him, and I’d have to find someone new to train up the flyers. Over in CGC in Canada, both Alex and Jack DeColt turned heel, apparently to balance out the roster. Who came up with that idea, a retarded computer programme? 21CW’s poor form continued, with their TV show scraping a D grade thanks to the tireless work of Joss Thompson. What I wouldn’t give to steal him from them and finally bury Nova’s company six feet under. For the next Wrestling Clinic, I put together the following card: British Samurai vs. Merle O’Curle [I]Two of ROF’s finest technical wrestlers compete in this match for the ROF Championship. Who will take the prize?[/I] Don Henderson vs. Johnny Highspot [I]It’s a battle between tag specialists this week, as Don Henderson defends his Rising Star Trophy against Johnny Highspot, one half of Your New Favourite Team. Henderson Highspot’s partner for the title last week, but will he be able to claim the victory here?[/I] Norman Saxon vs. Eric Future [I]‘Storming’ Norman is once again in action tonight, as he faces Eric Future. Future has already been tipped as the future of the company, but will he be able to overcome such a dominating figure as Saxon?[/I] Keith Adams vs. Menace [I]In this bonus internet match, Menace faces a tough challenge in ‘Rock Solid’ Keith Adams. Will the monster claim the win, or will he be unable to overcome The Law?[/I]

[Phantom Stranger]

British Samurai vs. [B]Merle O’Curle[/B] [B]Don Henderson[/B] vs. Johnny Highspot [B]Norman Saxon[/B] vs. Eric Future [B] Keith Adams[/B] vs. Menace Eric's potential is, as yet, unrealised, so Saxon goes over for more momentum. Adams gets past Menace to establish him as he's got the more appropriate style. I favour Don over Johnny just marginally and Don's only just got the gold, so he retains. And much as I love Sammy, Merle is the man to keep in your main event right now.

[Marcel Fromage]

British Samurai vs. [B]Merle O’Curle[/B] [B]Don Henderson [/B]vs. Johnny Highspot [B]Norman Saxon[/B] vs. Eric Future [B]Keith Adams [/B]vs. Menace This time Phantom got in predictions first - and this time I'm with him 100% on this show for pretty much the exact samer reasons!

[Regis]

For the next Wrestling Clinic, I put together the following card: British Samurai vs. [B]Merle O’Curle[/B] [I]Good though Sammy is, Merle has more raw talent... plus, it's kind of against the rules for the owner to keep beating people.[/I] [B]Don Henderson[/B] vs. Johnny Highspot [I]Nobody wants the Highland Hitman to lose on his first defence.[/I] [B]Norman Saxon[/B] vs. Eric Future [I]You may lose at some point, but not to Eric Future.[/I] Keith Adams vs. [B]Menace[/B] [I]Menace is the closest thing you can really get to a monster heel in ROF, which means he needs wins. He can take them while being tutored.[/I]

[1PWfan]

[CENTER][B][FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="6"]ROF Wrestling Clinic[/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Live from the Paddington Club Audience: 49[/SIZE][/FONT][/B][/CENTER] [B][U]Pre-Show/Internet Extras[/U][/B] [B]Menace vs. Keith Adams[/B] This match continued our trend of weaker matches in the dark, and it’s clear that our boys really benefit from being able to go all out. This was an at-best competent brawl, with Menace failing to improve enough to really be noticeable. Keith got the win here, as he needs to gain momentum if he’s going to play a major role in the company [B]Winner:[/B] Keith Adams [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]E+[/I] [B][U]The Show[/U][/B] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Hello wrestling fans, and welcome to Wrestling Clinic with me, Justin Blackham, and my broadcast partner Peaches McCream, and we’re kicking off tonight’s event with a title match, as Don Henderson defends his Rising Star Trophy against Johnny Highspot”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“This is a real clash of styles, JB. Don’s a technician, whereas Highspot is very much a cruiserweight with a background in high-flying.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Henderson’s got to have the advantage here-he can go straight into his offence, whilst Highspot needs to gain distance to go to the top rope”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“Possibly, but don’t forget that Highspot’s a fast mover, if he can get ahead of Henderson at the start, then he could dominate this match.”[/COLOR] [B]Don Henderson vs. Johnny Highspot[/B] I put these guys on first so they could go all out and hopefully overcome the clash in styles, but unfortunately they just couldn’t and we ended up with a match that was total buzzkill and should have gone on second. The problem wasn’t talent or consistency, both guys were on form and actually showed some improvement, it was simply that they weren’t on the same page move-wise, and combining Henderson’s slow, grounded technical style with Highspot’s high-speed aerial assault was just slightly beyond them. Still, better that I figure these things out now rather than have to deal with them down the line when it really matters. [B]Winner:[/B] Don Henderson [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]D-[/I] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Well, Henderson makes his first title defence of 2008, with both members of Your New Favourite Team now having lost to him.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“Henderson’s certainly made an impact, but it’ll be interesting to see how his reign evolves over time. Will he be able to keep up his momentum against such a variety of styles?”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Moving on now, we have ‘Storming’ Norman Saxon facing off against a man many have tipped to be a major player in Ring of Fire’s future, Eric Future”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“I don’t fancy Future’s chances here-he’s the future, but Saxon’s the present, and I doubt he’s willing to step aside for anybody”[/COLOR] [B]Norman Saxon vs. Eric Future[/B] This was another disappointment-I’d overextended the match, and Eric couldn’t keep up, which hampered his ability to pick up the stuff I was trying to teach him. I doubt that putting the match on before the main event and holding back a touch was a good idea either- I’ve already noticed that a lot of our guys need to go all out to get the crowd going. And to be honest, Eric might be a hot prospect, but I can’t help but notice that whilst JMS and Menace have both shown improvement Eric didn’t. I had this go to a time limit draw to build Eric up, but unfortunately it achieved the reverse thanks to his bloody awful stamina [B]Winner:[/B] Norman Saxon [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]D-[/I] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“It’s time for our main event now, as Merle O’Curle defends his title against British Samurai”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“However you look at it, this is going to be a great match-both Samurai and O’Curle are masters of technical wrestling.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Samurai, of course, has never held the ROF championship, which might be a motivating factor for him tonight”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]“True, but this is O’Curle’s first run with a major title, so he’ll doubtless want to do everything possible to keep hold of it.”[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"]“So, it’s all on the line as Humphrey Woolsey calls for the bell to ring…”[/COLOR] [B]British Samurai vs. Merle O’Curle[/B] There’s good news and bad news about this match. The bad news is that Merle and Samurai don’t work well together in the ring: sure, they’re both technical workers, but for some reason their chemistry just isn’t very good. The good news, however, is that even without that they handed in a great match, as good as Merle managed against K’Lee with good chemistry. A lot of that had to do with momentum, as both of these guys are red hot right now, but they’re both more than good enough to put in a good match regardless of chemistry. As with the last match this went to a draw, but unlike the last match this went over pretty well-the difference here being that people bought into the idea that these two were equally matched. [B]Winner:[/B] None [B]Match Rating:[/B] [I]C-[/I] [B]Overall Rating:[/B] [I]D+[/I], back up to week one’s standard.

[Regis]

Nice one. Sammy can be relied upon in the Main Event, and Merle is always good. Remember, however, never to tell your guys to hold back. They're not that good to start with, and they need all the help they can get!