Welcome. You Know The Drill.

[LucianCarter]

oops

[infinitywpi]

"By Gawd, anything can happen in the Coastal Zone!"

[infinitywpi]

October 2013, week 2 (part 2)

Sorry for the change in format last time around, but things changed partway through the week. After that last show, we have officially had to bring out the pocketbooks, as Cliff has decided to start a spending spree. A marketing campaign, a new ring, some new cameras for the DVDs... ones that're broadcast-capable if need be...

 

That's right, baby! After nearly four years of blood, sweat, and tears, we've officially grown to Cult status. Through careful planning, there's no need to enlarge the roster. Okay, I say 'careful planning', everyone else says 'overloading the roster when we were smaller'. I'm still trying to convince Cliff that we don't need to avoid the non-charismatic guys... I'd love to bring Nigel back in, for instance... but he won't budge.

 

I got to work talking to various networks about a pay-per-view deal. MySelect USA, North America Prime Select, America 1-Select... all turned us down. They weren't all our choices, but it was still a bit... discouraging.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #182

Okay, big show, as it's our 'coming out' party for being, well, bigger. We open with a rare ACZW Title defense between El Mitico and Tigre Savaje; regretably, this is just an average match... not a good way to start the night at all, even if Mitico wins. We follow it up with a triple-threat: Perez, Weasel, and Brody. It's a better match, ending with Perez getting the victory. We then drop down into sub-par as Plague defeats Brad Peverel, and you'd think I'd remember who does or doesn't have chemistry by this point...

 

Paradigm defeats Panda Mask in a short but good match, which is the best of the night so far. We drop back to 'average' as Sparrow defeats Primus, and then Jake Idol defeats Jeremiah Moose in an okay match.

 

This... is not turning out how I had hoped so far. For filler, The Midnight Prowler defeats Demon Seed in a sub-par match, and I can feel the crowd starting to turn on us. I hope our main events turn them back. First, an Xtreme Ladder match between Acid and Snap Dragon. Dragon knows when to job to the youngsters, and he does so in style here in a good, but not great, match. Then, the main event, a CZCW Tag Title Four-Way Ladder Match. The champs, Fire Fly and Heroic. Team PSW: Nelson Callum and Teddy Powell. The Uneasy Alliance, Donnie and Jimmy. And Zone Out, me and Remmy. We know the crowd isn't the best, but we all go out there and bust our rears. And we turn out an awesome match, even if the champs retain against all the higher-rated talent aligned against them.

 

(Show rating: B-, 4,664 tickets sold)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Saved by the bell... that was sheer luck. Will we manage to drive ourselves into the ground so quickly after rising up?

[Astil]

Congrats!

[Nightshadeex]

On the next Welcome: Saved by the bell... that was sheer luck. Will we manage to drive ourselves into the ground so quickly after rising up?

 

Probably.

[Hyde Hill]

Probably.

 

Congrats. And yeah if you stop doing at least one event a month in the tri state then yeah bye bye cult lolz.

 

PS handy way of gaining event prestige for when you do get ppv.

[eayragt]

Now taking bets on:

 

At Cult, breaking even / making money in a year: 7/1

At Cult, making cost cutting measures in a year: 7/2

In debt in a year: 3/1

Back down to Regional in a year: 3/2

 

Place your bets now.

 

And well done .

[Hyde Hill]

I would say making money as he should be up to a C+ In the south west by now and with a C+ home region with four shows there and the +4 price hike you should make it easily. Still this is infity we are talking about so you just never know lolz.

[Nightshadeex]

I would say making money as he should be up to a C+ In the south west by now and with a C+ home region with four shows there and the +4 price hike you should make it easily. Still this is infity we are talking about so you just never know lolz.

 

That only works in the US and probably Japan, and Mexico if your product is Lucha.

[Hyde Hill]

That only works in the US and probably Japan, and Mexico if your product is Lucha.

 

Nah with 4.5 k paying customers with the 4 price hike you can make 170k not including sponsorship money, even more if you do 5 shows. And that 170k is with tv. Events bring in more. So no problem as the price hike is around 150k for cult. Do not know about the other regions as you do need those numbers of attendance but South East UK, Central/Med Europe and East Aussie should do.

[infinitywpi]

October 2013, week 3

U-Select turned us down... eh. Still have more possibilities... plus, our re-sign-ee has gotten free of his old contract and you'd better believe he's going to be on the very next show....

 

 

ACZW #40

We open with the Jake Idol Push Tour, as he defeats... Panda Mask? Well, they can't all be impressive. Still, decent enough match. Paradigm defeats Boriken in another decent match, then Midnight Prowler defeats Austin Smooth in the “This sucks, let's go pee” match of the night. Los Luchas defend the Tag Titles against Moose & Weasel, retaining in a good match. And finally, El Mitico retains against Nelson Callum in... well, actually, this sucked given who was in it.

 

(Show rating: C-, 2,000 ticket sold.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #183

Okay, let's go for the blowaway show tonight. We open with a tag-title cage match between Los Luchas and the Birds of Prey; not only do we have new tag champs, but we -open- the show with an awesome match. I've got a good feeling about tonight. The follow-up is Prowler defeating Giant Brody... either I'm pushing Prowler, or burying Brody. Or both. In any case, even this manages to hit 'average'. Air Attack Weasel defeats Demon Seed in an above-average bout, and then Acid defends the Xtreme Title against Jeremiah Moose – and even this is main-event-quality. The champ retains, and has definitely come a long way.

 

Teddy Powell defeats Primus Allen in another average, cool-down-the-crowd match; Snap Dragon defeats Brad Peverell, and someone was sandbagging here – this is our trash of the night so far? Hell... Notorious vs Tigre and Panda (which is next) got a better response than this (Los Rudos won, BTW).

 

For main events, we start with a triple-threat ladder match for the #1 Contendership. First out: Me. Second out: Donnie. Third out...

 

…

 

Insane Machine.

 

We go a good twenty-something minutes before Machine wins, and... wow, this is a bit of a letdown. Only above-average? Wow. Something's wrong here... I need to talk to Machine after this. Maybe he's not feeling well this week... returning jitters?

 

Anyway, the final match is a CZCW Title match between Remmy and Jimmy; Remmy retains, but we end the show like we began: With an awesome match.

 

(Show rating: B-, 4,765 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Um... Machine? You okay, man?

[infinitywpi]

October 2013, week 4

“I'm sorry, Fox... It must have been jitters, or... I dunno. Christ, you know how long it's been since I've been in a ladder match? TCW never got me near one of them.”

“I know. Look, man... You've got a title shot. The new guys say I was giving it to you just based on friendship. I told them you'd earn it. You... just don't make a fool out of me, okay? The Coastal Vets can only carry this company another year or two. We need the new blood. And if they don't respect my decisions...”

“Yeah... yeah. Look, I swear I'll make Remmy look good out there. I can still job with the best of them.”

 

 

ACZW #41

We open with Snap Dragon defeating Donnie J in a great match; Plague defeats Air Attack Weasel in another great match; Jeremiah Moose gets a surprise win over Matt Sparrow in an average match (and you better believe that sets up tidal booking for the next show); Acid retains the Xtreme Title over Nelson Callum in another great match; and finally, the AZCW Title changes hands again as El Mitico drops it to Jake Idol for the culmination of his big push... and gives us an average match in the process.

 

(Show rating: C, 2,000 tickets sold)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #184

We open with an Xtreme Title match as Acid defends against Snap Dragon; Dragon does his usual great job and makes this a main-event-level match, with Acid retaining. Tigre Savaje defeats Boriken Love Machine in an average match, and then I defeat Brad Peveral in a long... average... match.

 

Mario Heroic and Nelson Callum put on a surprise great match, with Callum winning; these two can both be future superstars. Another great match comes from Teddy Powell defeating El Mitico. Then, for a bit of a breather, Fire Fly defeats Primus Allen in an average bit and then The Uneasy Alliance fail to carry Notorious to anything past a below-average match.

 

For main events: First off, a Tag Team Title cage match between The Birds of Prey and Moose & Weasel; both teams work hard on this so they don't get overshadowed by the undercard, and it's a great match with the champs retaining. And for the main event, Machine gets his title shot against Remmy, and these two go a good twenty-five minutes, with a total of five ladders coming into play during the match (four of which survive), and which ends with Remmy Skye taking one risk too many, dropping a leg onto Machine from the top of the ladder.. only for Machine to grab another ladder and block with it, buying enough time to grab the CZCW Title. The crowd agrees, it's awesome.

 

(Show rating: B, 5,000 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Machine justifies my faith. The youngsters are quieted. With two months left to meet my 'Year In Review will be on PPV' goal, will I make it... or be embarassed in front of the boys?

[infinitywpi]

November 2013, week 1

You know, everyone told me that Cliff was going to go overboard with spending when we grew. I mean, okay, maybe a year ago this would've shocked me. But when you've made over a hundred grand for three months running, losing sixty just... isn't as shocking as it should be. For the first time, we passed half a million in ticket sales last month; record sponsorship money, record merchandise sales... okay, sure, production and marketing are spending a lot, but still... this isn't nearly as bad as I'd been lead to believe. Heck, it's a piece of cake.

 

And Brad Peverell left this week. I'd forgotten to job him out on the way out; ah, well. I think we'd gotten all we could from him anyway.

 

 

ACZW #42

We start with Mario Heroic defeating Tigre Savaje in a Lucha Libre-style match; it's pretty good. Matt Sparrow defeats Barrera (average) and Plague defeats Bullet (Below-average), then decide to give Notorious a title shot anyway – which doesn't go well for Notorious (Above-average). Remmy Skye defeats Jonnie Perez in a decent match, and then Jake Idol defends the ACZW Title against Snap Dragon; Dragon is a great asset when it comes to elevating the kids, and he does so age here with a great match that lets the champ retain.

 

(Show rating: C+, 2,000 tickets sold.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #185

Tonight's theme: Tag Team Action!

 

We open with a Tag Team cage match as the Birds of Prey face Team PSW; at this point, the fans know Plague is on the way out, they just don't know how I'm going to take the titles off them. Team PSW would be as good a choice as any... but it's not to be, although the tension helps push this match into the 'awesome' levels. After that, Primus Allen defeating Boriken is a letdown, and the crowd lets them know it. Acid retains his Xtreme Title over Fire Fly in a match that's merely above-average, and then Jonnie Perez defeats Panda Mask in an average match.

 

Los Luchas (Mitico and Heroic) take on Moose & Weasel; both teams are doing their best out there, and we get a great match out of it until Moose gets the pinfall on Mitico. Midnight Prowler gets a surprise win over Tigre Savaje in an average match, and then Paradigm gets one over Demon Seed in an above-average bit before our Trash Of The Night, with Brody beating the crap out of Blackfire before the young man(?) gets in a rollup victory.

 

For main events, we have a high-powered tag match as The Uneasy Alliance faces Zone Out; after a great long match, Remmy and I pick up the victory. Then, Insane Machine defends the CZCW Title against Snap Dragon; I figure there's no way this could fail to be entertaining, and I'm right as these two deliver an awesome main event that sees Machine retain the title.

 

(Show rating: B, 4,374 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome:After the oldest Main Event in Zone history (Dragon is 37, Machine is 39), will we try to make things a bit... younger?

[Hyde Hill]

If you change the Tri State event to a monthly one you will probably be in profit plus it helps it get prestige for when you hit ppv.

[infinitywpi]

November 2013, week 2

It was time to renew Plague's contract. I was writing up an offer when Cliff dropped a copy of his rap sheet on the desk in front of me. I gave him my best puppy-dog-eye plead, and he said no. Dammit, we'd just gotten Machine back, and now Plague was going to have to have an exit booked for him...

 

 

ACZW #43

We start with Mario Heroic defeating Amazing Fire Fly in what turns out to be a simply awesome match. Prowler and El Ladron defeat Notorious in an above-average ma... wait, what? Cool. Primus Allen gets a win over Plague in a great match. Jake Idol retains the ACZW Title over Air Attack Weasel in another great match, and we cap things off with Dragon going over Powell in another awesome bout.

 

(Show rating: B-, 4,775... wait, what? …. why the hell did we have this at the Gorski? Well, that explains the Notorious match...)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #186

We open with Acid retaining the Xtreme Title over Mario Heroic in yet another great matchup; the kid's been doing too well for this simply to be a quality-of-opponent issue. Fire Fly defeats Ladron in an average matchup, then Remmy Skye defeats Teddy Powell in a good match and Primus Allen defeats Tigre Savaje in another average match.

 

Nelson Callum gets a big victory over Snap Dragon in a great match. El Mitico gets a victory over Jonnie Perez in an above-average bout, and Moose & Weasel get a tag win over Demon Seed and Panda Mask in a good match. Then, as a breather, Austin Smooth gets a win over Giant Brody. The match stinks, and Brody's aware he's just being used as a massive jobber now. He's got to be aware of it. He's not stupid. Is he?

 

For main events: Lower the cage, the Tag titles are on the line between the Birds of Prey and the Uneasy Alliance; it's a great match that ends with new champions, as we pull the trigger on the de-golding of Plague. Then, Machine defends the CZCW Title against yours truly. I've got a huge weight on my shoulders here, as I need to prove I can still hang with our 'big starts'... and damned if I don't pull it off, putting a match just as good as any Machine has had since he got here. I lose, of course... but damn, it looks good.

 

(Show rating: B-, 4,971 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Well, I'm finally convinced that bringing in Machine for a title run was the definate right move to make. But I'm afraid I won't be making pay-per-view this year...

[Weinberg]

I began reading five days ago. I am now at page 23 so I should catchup tonight or tomorrow.

 

Two quick comments:

 

1- You referred to Mario Heroic as a newcomer to the Zone about a year and a half ago (game time). I don't have the game open in front of me now but if I remember correctly, he is a former Costal Zone champion. I'm sure you were aware of this and just forgot... or maybe not... anyway, it's irrelevant now.

 

2- Where in this game is Tom Angelis? or whatever his name was. Star of your TEW 04 diary. Is he even in the database anymore?

 

Oh, and awesome diary, as always.

[infinitywpi]

1- You referred to Mario Heroic as a newcomer to the Zone about a year and a half ago (game time). I don't have the game open in front of me now but if I remember correctly, he is a former Costal Zone champion. I'm sure you were aware of this and just forgot... or maybe not... anyway, it's irrelevant now.

 

2- Where in this game is Tom Angelis? or whatever his name was. Star of your TEW 04 diary. Is he even in the database anymore?

 

1- No, that wass a completely different person using the ring name of Mario Heroic, not the performer currently calling himself Mario Heroic. I swear.

 

2- Um... Tom Angelis... gah, doesn't ring a bell.

[Beeker]

1- No, that wass a completely different person using the ring name of Mario Heroic, not the performer currently calling himself Mario Heroic. I swear.

 

2- Um... Tom Angelis... gah, doesn't ring a bell.

 

2 - He's thinking of St. Hubbard. The character you created back in 04 and was pretty much taught a technical masterclass on a nightly basis.

[infinitywpi]

Ah, yes. Vincent St. Hubbins was a randomly-created-at-the-start-of-the-month character and was never an official part of the database. He was a Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist.

 

Ah, memories... I kinda miss having randomly-generated workers show up on a regular basis. Having everyone pre-defined makes for a great world, but takes some of the fun unpredictability out of it.

[Nightshadeex]

I thought it was Victor St. Hubbins...

[infinitywpi]

Victor, Vincent, whatever... close enough. He's Canadian. We call him V, eh?

[Nightshadeex]

I miss Victor St. Hubbins, the good old days, eh?

 

And Tom Angelus = Tully Arthurs = Leper Messiah of FCW fame.

[Weinberg]

Cheering for Fox Mask is good also.

 

And Go Notorious! lol.

[infinitywpi]

November 2013, week 3

So, according to whoever makes these rankings, we're currently the 11th most important promotion in the world; the second-least important Cult promotion ahead of RAW. In Influence, tho, we're #9 and the highest-rated cult promotion there is. Who decides these things?

 

I sent out a few feelers about a possible television show, nationwide... no bites. Apparently, being big in two corners of the country isn't quite enough.

 

 

ACZW #44

We open with the Xtreme Title, as Acid takes on the suddenly rocket-momentum'ed Nelson Callum. We get a great match from these two, and perhaps susprisingly, we have an East-Coast Xtreme Title Change, as Nelson becomes the new Xtreme Champ. We follow that with a short, but blowaway, match that sees El Mitico lose to his comrade Mario Heroic. The crowd gets let down as Prowler and Austin defeat Notorious, and then perk up again as Remmy defeats Sparrow in... well, it's #3 on the list of best matches tonight. We wind things up with Jake Idol defending the ACZW Title against Plague; I bet you can figure out how that ends. It's tied with Remmy's match on the 'meh' scale, and the champ retains.

 

(Show rating: C, 2,000 tickets sold.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #187

We open with the Xtreme Title, as Nelson makes his first defense against former champ El Mitico; the resulting match is good, not great, but good enough for me to not consider Nelson a mistake. Moose & Weasel then drag Notorious to an average match, and Donnie J and Teddy Powell give us a long above-average matchup with Donnie winning. Next up, Plague's farewell match, and sure enough, I'm seeing him off. We put on a good show of it. He's not mad at me – he's mad at Cliff. But he's a professional, and goes out on his back after a great match.

 

After that, we relax a bit with Matt Sparrow defeating Boriken Love Machine in an average fight; then Los Luchas and Los Rudos fight it out again (Fire Fly, Heroic, Demon, and Panda). As usual, they have a great match that makes me really consider putting the tag titles on some combination of them again. After that, Primus gets a win over Brody, and Dragon defeats Prowler in a short match; both are average.

 

For main events, first up, a #1 Contenders match between Remmy and Acid; it's... well, just above average, all over the place, but still... Acid gets the win, and we'll see what Machine can do with him. Then, Machine defends the CZCW Title against Jonnie P, and it's another great matchup with the champ retaining.

 

(Show rating: B-, 5,000 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Insane Machine vs Acid II: Future classic, or train wreck in the making?

[infinitywpi]

<p>November 2013, week 4</p><p>

Part of me wondered, as I downed another plastic cup of beer, if we were going to have an image problem as we got bigger. I mean, at least every-other week someone brought in enough booze for a kegger after the show. And sure, some of us had a few before the show... but we all knew enough not to let it affect us in the ring. Well, most of us did. Those who got close had a veteran take them aside and hand them some coffee. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

ACZW #45</p><p>

We open with the Xtreme Title, in a first for us: A First Blood match. Nelson defends against Primus Allen, and it's... eh, acceptable. Mario Heroic defeats Giant Brody in a decent match, then Demon Seed and Austin Smooth have a poor showing that has Demon go over. I decide to give Plague one more going-away party, this time with Amazing Fire Fly defeating him; the match is awesome. And in the finale, Jake Idol defends the ACZW Title against Jeremiah Moose, and it's better than average... but outshown by the earlier match.</p><p> </p><p>

(Show rating: C, 2,000 tickets sold.)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

CZCW Onslaught #188</p><p>

The Xtreme Title match tonight is in a cage, and Nelson finds himself dfending against Air Attack Weasel. It's simply an above-average match, with Nelson winning; not a great start to the night. Notorious does a job (badly) to Primus and Brody; at this point, I think finding Brody a partner he works well with is the only thing that will get him resigned. Demon & Panda get a win over P-n-P in an okay match, and then things pick up a bit as Mario Heroic defeats Boriken Love Machine in our best match so far.</p><p> </p><p>

And, in a surprise 'great match', El Mitico decides to remind us why we made him champion with a great win over Teddy Powell. Tigre Savaje defeats El Ladron, but they simply couldn't follow a match that good. Snap Dragin defeats Fire Fly in another good match; Matt Sparrow defeats Jeremiah Moose in another good one; and then Midnight Prowler defeats Blackfire in your Trash of the Night.</p><p> </p><p>

For main events, the tag titles get the 'most expensive match' award as The Uneasy Alliance faces me and Remmy; we turn out an excellent match, with the champs retaining. Then it's Machine vs Acid for the CZCW Title; Acid has impressed us (I even got an email from the original Acid, thanking me for doing such a good job) but I don't think he's ready for a big title run yet... although after this match, I may just change my mind, as this was simply awesome.</p><p> </p><p>

(Show rating: B-, 5,000 tickets sold)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

On the next Welcome: Now, can we keep Acid relevant without a huge push? And how long will the oldest active member of the roster stay our champion?</p>