Welcome. You Know The Drill.

[infinitywpi]

May 2012, week 3

 

What I said earlier about not trying to make lightning strike twice? Screw it. Fire Fly, Svenson, you're in the main event tonight. Be ready.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #115

 

We do a pre-show ten-man battle royal, telling the 'early crowd' that the winner faces Fire Fly. Naturally, Nigel wins, and it's not bad for a battle royal.

 

The actual opening match pits Moose & Weasel against P-n-P for the Tag Titles; P-n-P surprise me by turning out a pretty good match, despite losing. The kids are definitely learning. We follow it up with the first in our night's theme of “Main eventers vs other people”, as Jake Idol takes on Marc Speed. Idol gets the win, but the surprising thing is how... poor this match is. Luckily, Antonio is here to prevent anyone else form having the worst match of the night, as he gets squashed by Giant Brody again... and this time, the match sucks.

 

Donnie J faces Jackpot Jordan and gets a convincing victory, although Jordan mainly seems motivated by the need to put on a better match than his tag partner does. El Mitico is the opponent for James Prudence; together, the two put on the match of the night so far, and once again I ponder why Mitico isn't popular enough to rise above the midcard. This may be one of those cases where the fans are wrong. After that, I take on Air Attack Weasel; it's a bit off a cheat, as I know we have great matches together, and we do so again – match of the night so far.

 

For a bit of a cool-down, Snap Dragon defeats California Love Machine in a fairly average thing, then kick into our main events. First off, Fire Fly vs Svenson, which is a huge letdown from last week's – we don't know what the heck happened, but while the two still have a decent match, it's nowhere near the blow-away of last week. Finally, Randy Bumfhole makes his first title defense against Ultimate Phoenix; Randy retains – no way I'm taking the most well-known name on the roster and using him as a traditional champion – but this one gets the fans talking. As I secretly hoped, it's one hell of a match and gives us our second match-of-the-year candidate that doesn't involve me.

 

Hey, it's not egotistical if it's true, people.

 

(Show rating: C+, 3,237 tickets. Match of the Night: Bumfhole/Pheonix. Trash of the Night: Brody/Antonio.)

[infinitywpi]

May 2012, week 4

 

RIPW wanted California Love Machine. Unluckily for them, we'd already started to renegotiate with him, and he decided to stay with us. So they made a play for Jake Idol. Again. We seriously needed to decide if we were going to push the boy or not... and with the people in our main event right now, and Snap Dragon deserving to get in, we didn't know if we'd have room for him. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #116

 

We open the show with Lucha Xtreme Action as Amazing Fire Fly defends against Demon Seed; Seed has about as much chance of stealing the show as he does of winning this match. Neither happens, but it's a decent matchup. We follow it with Kashmir Singh defeating Marc Speed... and that's about average. We were expecting something better from these two. And then, things get a bit worse as El Mitico defeats Antonio in a “I'm moving up the ladder... or is Antonio moving down?” match.

 

Things pick up a bit... okay, a whole lot... as Moose & Weasel defend their tag titles against California Love Machine and Brendan Idol. The champs retain, but yikes... this is far better than I was expecting from these guys. The midcard is really coming into it's own. It's followed by another surprise: Jake Idol defeats Nigel Svenson, and the match is far, far worse than we expected. It's a match we'd've expected from them two years ago. Things get better as Giant Brody squashes Panda Mask – and when a 'giant monster squash match' is one of the better matches of a Zone show, something's wrong.

 

But, the main events are here. First, a tag match between myself and Phoenix and Donnie and James. It's a long match that's basicly there to remind the crowd that we're all potential contenders, and ends with Donnie getting a pinfall on Phoenix to set himself up as the next contender. It's a great match, and we can only hope it gets the crowd ready for the final match of the night, Randy Bumfhole defending the Zone Title against Snap Dragon. The faith I put in these two to follow that tag match is fairly strong... and well-placed, as they turn out another possible match-of-the-year candidate. Bumfhole retains, but Dragon proves one again he deserves Speedball's spot in the main event.

 

(Show rating: C+, 3,071 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Bumfhole/Dragon. Trash of the Night: Idol/Svenson.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Hrm. Running out of things to talk about.

[LucianCarter]

It's time to give up on Jake Idol. If Jeremiah Moose can get a better match than him he has no place in the upper reaches of the roster.

[infinitywpi]

June 2012, week 1

 

With RIPW successfully fended off in their attempt to steal Jake Idol away, we were able to be somewhat secure in our roster.

 

Brody and Panda have become friends. Well, how about that. I guess squash matches can be good for morale...

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #117

 

Your match-to-watch-while-sitting-down tonight is a five-man between Ant-Man, Brendan Idol, Happy Elwood, Paradigm, and Kashmir Singh. Guess who wins.

 

Our opening match is the Xtreme Title match, and once more it could steal the show. Fire Fly defends against both Mitico and Weasel, and we get a fast-paced, high-flying match that sees Fire Fly manage to retain. After that, anything would be a letdown; luckily, we scheduled a four-team tag match. Yes, Notorious is involved. Also, Los Rudos, Rich & Famous, and We Make You Tap. Rich & Famous win, despite their recent troubles, and Notorious causes this to be a merely average match. After that, Jonnie Perez gets a victory over California Love Machine, and Jonnie has come a long way; this could have main evented back when I first got the book.

 

After that, in a surprising match, Antonio loses in under six minutes to a surprise rollup from... A-Game? It's offical, Antonio isn't getting resigned... oh, and the match? Sucked. We kick things up a notch with James Prudence defeating Jeremiah Moose in a good bout, and then... it's official, folks. I can work miracles. I spend fifteen minutes in the ring, before eating a pinfall, to... Giant Brody. And except for the opener, it's the match of the night so far.

 

Sadly, that was supposed to let people chill out before the main events. I had Snap Dragon and Ultimate Phoenix up next; and those two hallowed names of Zone greatness manage to put on a slightly-worse match than Giant Brody did. Finally, in the main event, Randy Bumfhole defends against Donnie J. The two put on what's become our standard for main events, a simply amazing match that, again, is going on our match-of-the-year contenders list... and we're not even halfway through the year. Randy retains, but the Zone is showing we have what it takes to challenge him.

 

(Show rating: C+, 3,064 tickets sold. Match of the night: Bumfhole/Donnie. Trash of the Night: Antonio/A-Game.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Time to take out some trash...

[James Casey]

Randy is working minor miracles, isn't he? That's five C+ shows in a row.

 

Are you noticing any penalties from running weekly shows? I'm presuming you're not moving outside the South West to run them?

[infinitywpi]

Randy is working minor miracles, isn't he? That's five C+ shows in a row.

 

Are you noticing any penalties from running weekly shows? I'm presuming you're not moving outside the South West to run them?

 

Since moving to the Gorski, the attendance fluctuations have been noticable, but minor. I think I'm managing to keep my popularity growing fast enough to mostly offset any weekly penalties.

 

And Randy has been a big help... I'm in late October now, and... well, you ain't seen nothing yet. You'll also never believe who's worked into the main event, and who dropped out...

[eayragt]

You'll also never believe who's worked into the main event,

 

Is it Antonio?

[mad5226]

Poor Antonio =(

[infinitywpi]

June 2012, week 2

 

CZCW has released Antonio Del Veccio and Happy Elwood. We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours.

 

In exchange, we offered a contract to a recently-released superstar that we felt would be a strange, if not perfect, fit for the Zone. Unfortunately, Christian Faith felt we weren't big enough for him to consider.

 

Hey, we had to try. It worked for us in previous ga... erm, in the past...

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #118

 

No pre-show tonight; we've managed to get everyone onto the show. Well, except some jobbers. Our opening match gets the crowd warmed up as P-n-P defeats Ant-Man and Brendan Idol. Nothing offensive about that. Up next, Moose & Weasel defend the Tag Titles against Snap Dragon and A-Game... and lose? Yes, I did that. I was expecting it to be a bit better match, tho. California Love Machine defeats Frankie-Boy Fernandez, and we're scoring straight Ds so far.

 

We kick things into high gear as I team up with Kashmir Singh to face Donnie and Jimmy – and it's a great match. Donnie gets the pinfall on me to end it, but this is the one that's setting the bar for the night. We drop back down to 'totally average wrestling' as We Make you Tap defeats Los Rudos. Ultimate Phoenix then fights hard and loses to the dominating Giant Brody in another good match – Brody is finally making use of those rarely-seen high-flying skills. Jackpot Jordan drags El Mitico down to an average match, even though Mitico wins. And we move into our main events.

 

First, the Xtreme Title match as Amazing Fire Fly defends against Air Attack Weasel; another good match from these two with Fire Fly retaining. Then, Randy Bumfhole defends the Xtreme Title against Jake Idol... and we have yet another Match-of-the-year candidate! Again, Randy retains, but Idol looks good... hey, we've got chemistry here. Cool.

 

(Show rating: C+, 3,397 tickets. Match of the night: Main event. Trash of the Night: None.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Okay, okay, we can now pretty much pull off that B- main event in our sleep now. Can we pull off a pair of them in a row? … probably not.

[infinitywpi]

June 2012, week 3

 

Some bad news; James Prudence and Rita Charles had broken up. For the first time in quite a while, we didn't have a perfectly in-synch backstage. Still, we weren't doing too bad... we hoped. And FCW wanted James to go work for them – if his breakup caused him to leave us, then we'd be very, very upset.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #119

 

We open with El Mitico defeating Brendan Idol pretty handily in what we now refer to as the 'new average'. Afterwards, Amazing Fire Fly defends the Xtreme Title against Panda Mask in an above-average match... which si actually below-average for Fire Fly... but, whatever. We burn up some time with a three-team match between mashed-up teams: Singh and CLM, Speed and Ant-Man, and Jake Idol and Jonnie Perez. Idol and Perez get the victory, and it's nice and average.

 

We drop our quality a bit as Demon Seed defeats Paradigm, and then raise it some as Donnie J defeats Jackpot Jordan. Our next match, we were considering putting as one of our main events, given how well Brody has been performing lately; we didn't, and that's a good thing as Nigel Svensonn gets fed to the monster and can't make it look believeable.

 

The Tag Titles change hands once again, back to Moose & Weasel as A-Game proves to be his team's weak link; why yes, snap Dragon did have a title run in his contract, why do you ask? I spend a good twenty-five minutes in the ring with Ultimate Phoenix, and he gets the win in an attempt to rebuild some momentum; it's the best match of the night so far, but we've still got the Zone Title match to go, with Randy Bumfhole defending against James Prudence. We're trying something different; instead of a long, slow-build match, we're making this short, sweet, and action-packed; the crowd doesn't respond the way we'd hoped, and what we get is simply above-average, with Randy retaining.

 

(Show rating: C-, 3,103 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Fox/Phoenix. Trash of the Night: Demon seed/Paradigm.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Well, that taught me a lesson. Long and slow is the way to go in the Zone these days. I wonder... how far can I push my guys to the limit before they start to break?

[mad5226]

What is it you have Rita doing?

[infinitywpi]

What is it you have Rita doing?

 

The answer to this question shall be revealed... next show.

 

June 2012, week 4

 

Slow week. Jimmy didn't go to FCW. He did, however, get roaring drunk with CLM over the weekend. I guess that's part of why he stayed.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #120

 

Yet another Xtreme Title opener, another above-average match for Fir Fly. A bit more impressive this time, as his opponent is A-Game. That's some good carrying. The tag titles are next, as Moose & Weasel retain when We Make You Tap melts down, Speedball turning on Nigel. Singh defeats Demon Seed in some average filler.

 

Jake Idol and CLM defeat the 'New' Rich and Famous, Jackpot Jordan and Brendan Idol, in a decent match, followed by A slow, 20-minute Giant Brody match... where Snap Dragon is able to defeat him, and the crowd eats it up. Hrm. Then more average filler as Jonnie Perez defeats Panda Mask.

 

The Uneasy Alliance face myself and Phoenix, and we steal the show so far; Phoenix gets the pinfall to set him up for another title shot. Finally, Randy defends the Zone Title against the unlikely challenger of El Mitico, who grabs his spotlight and shines... almost, but not quite, scoring the upset. Hell of a match tho.

 

(Show rating: C+, 3,303 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Main event. No trash this week.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Wow. Mitico delivered more than I expected... heck, most everyone did. Time for some roster changes? I think so.

[infinitywpi]

July 2012, week 1

 

Huh. 21CW closed. And they were putting on B- shows? Must be tough overseas...

 

We did a bit more roster trimming. We've decided we're at the point where Rita and the Bombshell aren't needed anymore as managers. It would also save us almost two grand a show, but that wasn't our primary reason for doing it.

 

So, we're halfway through the year. Let's take a look at the roster and see how things are going.

 

Our main eventers are: Donnie, James, Randy, Phoenix, Dragon, and me. The names you'd expect to see there, really. Of those six, we expect Randy and James to be the most open to signing elsewhere, so we've got to keep an eye on two of the uppercarders to move up when the time comes.

 

The uppercarders: Idol & Jordan, Singh, Speedball, and somehow Giant Brody and Jeremiah Moose have worked their way up there. Jake Idol is easily our 'chosen one' to move up, and Singh has the experience of being in the big leagues, but Brody has been surprisingly good working with out big names; he may work well as a main eventer.

 

The midcard: California Love Machine, Nigel Svenson, Jonnie Perez, El Mitico Jr, Amazing Fire Fly, Brendan Idol, Demon Seed, and Air Attack Weasel. We've got an interesting mix here; the lucha influence is ovbious, but we've also got Euro techni-brawling and Zone-style flying. I can't pick any name in particular as the most likely to jump up to the next tier; I've obviously got hopes for Fire Fly, but it's not working out as fast as I hoped. Mitico and Svenson stand out in my mind as the two most likely to move up, but Weasel has the tag titles and CLM has some big-league experience, wo either of them could make a play for a boost.

 

The lowercard: Paradigm, Ant-Man, A-Game, Panda Mask. I doubt Ant-Man is going to get his contract renewed. Panda Mask and Paradigm both have their fates tied to their tag-team partners right now; which gives Panda a bit of an edge, but he doesn't seem to be able to do anything with it. A-Game has made some big gains lately due to some high-profile wins, but he's still seen as the jobber who got lucky; he'll either need a sustained push or be stuck where he is.

 

The jobber corps: Bullet & Barrera, Frankie-Boy, Elliot Thomas. I need to work these guys more... they all have potential. Bullet and Barrera probably the least of all, depending on how quickly they pick up flying or mat wrestling... they're more likely to get some experience under their belts and flee elsewhere, maybe to NYCW or USPW.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #121

 

We're going to do something we haven't done for a while... it's Triangle Tournament Night!

 

We start with a pre-show match, a rare non-ladder Xtreme Title bout as Amazing Fire Fly defends against Brendan Idol, Ant-Man, A-Game, and Demon Seed. Fire Fly retains, and the match is better than expected... better than average, at least.

 

And so, given that it's a tournament, we'll change up our format for this...

 

Qualifying Bracket #1:

Air Attack Weasel, Kashmir Singh, Paradigm. Winner: Kashmir Singh (Average)

California Love Machine, Giant Brody, Jackpot Jordan. Winner: Giant Brody. (Below-average)

Marc Speed, Nigel Svenson, Panda Mask. Winner: Marc Speed (Average)

 

Qualifying Bracket #2

Fox Mask, Jeremiah Moose, Snap Dragon. Winner: Fox Mask (Above-average)

Donnie J, Jake Idol, Jonnie Perez. Winner: Donnie J (Good)

El Mitio, James Prudence, Ultimate Phoenix. Winner: ultimate Phoenix (Show-Stealer)

 

Semi-Finals

Giant Brody, Kashmir Singh, Marc Speed. Winner: Giant Brody (Above-average)

Donnie J, Fox Mask, Ultimate Phoenix. Winner: Ultimate Phoenix (Show-stealer)

 

CZCW Title Match

Giant Brody, Randy Bumfhole, Ultimate Phoenix. Winner, and still champion, Randy Bumfhole (Show-Stealer)

 

Show rating: B-, Best. Show. Ever. 3,323 tickets sold. Match of the Night: … photo-finish, we'll figure it out tomorrow. Trash of the Night: Brody/CLM/Jordan

 

 

On the next Welcome: Okay, that worked out far better than I could have hoped. Now, place your bets: Which of those three matches was the best? And is it a New Best Match Ever?

[Marcel Fromage]

Really enjoy reading this and sorry that I'm now 'competing' on CZCW territory. I think our styles are different enough though!

 

As for which match really stole the show? I reckon it was Mitico, Prudence and Phoenix. The latter 2 are reliable for ratings and Mitico has been turning it on lately.

[Big Roguey]

Can I bet $100 on the Giant Brody main event for Match of the Year?

[borman_48]

I'd say the semi-final with Donnie, Fox, and Phoenix was the Match of the night. Every match Phoenix was in was a show-stealer, and I'm thinking the other 2 would put on the best match though.

[eayragt]

El Mitio, James Prudence, Ultimate Phoenix.

 

But I am impressed with Giant Brody looking like he can add a bit more variation to the Main Event scene.

[infinitywpi]

July 2012, week 2

 

We're going to have to go to the 'tale of the tape' to figure out which of those matches was the best. The winner is: The main event. And it landed solid at #6 for our all-time best matches; the other two didn't place. Which goes to say something for how solid our best-of list is. 2012 is, officially, the best year we've ever had. Quality-wise, financial, growth-wise... I'm impressing the hell out of myself this year.

 

And now that I've said that, this show will bomb. It's the Zone way.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #122

 

Our opening match sees Jake Idol defeat Marc Speed in a surprisingly good match. I feel bad for the guys who follow that; CLM and A-Game facing Nigel and Ant-Man. I'm a bit surprised when the two teams still manage to put on an average match despite the crowd's let-down-ed-ness, even tho Ant-Man eats a CLM pin. Giant Brody squashes Kashmir Singh (who, by the way, RIPW is trying to get; we've decided not to fight for him, so we'll see if this convinces him to leave or not) in a decent bout.

 

Another surprisingly-good match sees Moose & Weasel retain the Tag Team Titles over Los Rudos. Then, the match that I was doubtful about putting here instead of the main event, a four-way Ladder contendership match. Me, Donnie, Jimmy, and Dragon go at it for nearly twenty minutes before Dragon gets the win, and we probably just stole the show. The new Rich & Famous get a win over P-n-P (Trivia note: Neither team is the first team to use that name in the Zone, and both feature one of the original members) and don't suck at it, and then... it's main-events time.

 

First up, the Xtreme Title returns as Amazing Fire Fly defends against El Mitico; these two seem to have clashed multiple times over the title despite being partners, and once again it changes hands here as a sign of confidence in El Mitico; while a great match, it doesn't live up to the four-way earlier in the show. And in the CZCW Title match, Randy Bumfhole defends against Ultimate Phoenix one-on-one; they know they have a lot to live up, but honestly... I'm staring slack-jawed with the rest of the crowd at the match these two put on. Randy retains... but I just got knocked off my perch as holder of the Best. Match. Ever. Title.

 

Show rating: B-, 3,507 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Main Event (B!!!!).

 

 

On the next Welcome: Well. That's... going to be hard to live up to. Hey, Dragon... good luck.

[mad5226]

Wow a B.... congrats man here's hoping u can repeat it

[Marcel Fromage]

Great stuff! A 'B' rated match looks a mighty long way off in my diary!

 

You've really hit your stride lately, Infinity. I can't even remember the last time you put somebody in the wrong segment or had the match order wrong! Randy and Phoenix are doing a great job in the main event.

[infinitywpi]

July 2012, week 3

 

Seriously, a B match? That's something I didn't think I'd see until year-end, at least.

 

Singh joined RIPW; but on a PPA deal, not written. I'm somewhat surprised at that, but what the heck; he was useful, even if I didn't intend to push him.

 

I suggest to Cliff that starting a war with PSW would get us some good press, and also force some of our guys to stop working for them; saving their stamina for us. Cliff didn't want to; he didn't want to be seen as a bad guy. I wasn't able to change his mind... ah, well. Not really one of my best ideas...

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #123

 

In your pre-show matches, Fire Fly and CLM fight to a double-count-out, which the crowd doesn't like, and then A-Game defeats Brendan Idol in an equally-bad match.

 

The crowd wakes up for our opening match as Jake Idol defeats Marc Speed. Yes, it's a repeat of last week. Not quite as good, but still good. If we ran this match again, it's a sure sign we're out of idea for both of them. The Tag Titles are on the line as Moose & Weasel face Giant Brody and Kashmir Singh; the champs retain, but it's another above-average match. The Xtreme Title, as usual, kicks things up a notch as Mitico makes his first successful defense over Jonnie Perez, and it's a good match all around.

 

The quality stays as The Uneasy Alliance defeats Los Rudos, and then takes a nosedive as Nigel defeats Jackpot Jordan. For our main events, I face off with Ultimate Phoenix and get the victory, since we're running out of people for Randy to beat. Then, Randy vs Dragon goes again, with Randy retaining again, and once again, it's a great match.

 

Show rating: C+, 3,528 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Main event. Trash of the Night: Nigel/Jordan.

 

 

On the next Welcome: How do I get people to buy into my getting another title shot? And will we come up with something for Idol and Speedball?

[infinitywpi]

July 2012, week 4

 

… Masked Cougar joined ACPW? But they're... tiny!

 

And once more, Cliff rears his ugly head (I mean that in the nicest way, Boss!). His new rule requiring charismatic workers is causing him to tell me not to renegotiate with Nigel. Nigel, who at one point I considered a shoe-in for the uppercard. Well... that bites.

 

Screw both of 'em.

 

And now, Speedball's starting fights backstage, with Snap Dragon. Hrm... Speedball -is- one of our most expensive workers, and he's not as good as he used to be, so... what to do, what to do...

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #124

 

Your pre-show match sees A-Game and Ant-Man defeat Notorious; the match sucks, but it gives them all some practice.

 

We open with Jake Idol defeating FireFly; a match we couldn't've done with Fire Fly as Xtreme Champ, 'cause we didn't want Idol to hold the title. The match is definitely above-average; we throw in a ladder, maybe a title, we could probably have it main-event. Maybe. Up next, Mitico shows us how it's done as he defeats Nigel Svenson to retain the Xtreme Title. Then, in a possible show-stealing match, Donnie J goes the distance with Ultimate Phoenix for a hard-fought victory.

 

Moose & Weasel continue their tag title reign, defeating the new Rich & Famous again in a good match. Then, Giant Brody gets a big upset over James Prudence, and it's still above average. As a breather, we get a six-man tag as P-n-P and Kashmire Singh defeat Los Rudos and California Love Machine. It's only average, and it's the worst we've done so far.

 

For our main events, Snap Dragon defeats Marc Speed in a 'loser leaves Zone' match... which is okay, but we were slightly hoping for more. Then, Randy and I tussle yet again, and this time I come away with the title. Why? Well... I was running out of people for Randy to fight, and didn't want to try signing someone. It's our usual awesome match, and I catch some of the guys looking at me out of the corner of their eyes... another title reign for myself?

 

(Show rating: C+, 3,818 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: What's this, my ninth title run? Who the heck gives themselves a title that many times?

[mad5226]

You're like the Ric Flair of the C-Verse =)

[LucianCarter]

Flair didn't put the title on himself.

 

He's more like the HHH

[Nightshadeex]

Jerry Lawler.

 

I hope you keep Nigel around and stick it to Cliff. I like Nigel a lot.