Welcome. You Know The Drill.

[infinitywpi]

December 2013, week 1

We find a rookie we want to sign up. Felipe Caballero, a new rookie from Mexico, but not a luchadore.

 

Oh, and we made money last month. And here, we were worried... ACZW shows were only losing a grand a show, and we'd easily make that back on merchandise. We decide to sink some more cash into Onslaught, see how many people we could bring in...

 

It seemed official – Year In Review wouldn't be on PPV this year. But I had a plan for next year... ACZW was going to go on the road in 2014.

 

 

ACZW #46

We open with Acid defeating Mario Heroic in a great match; Prowler defeats Boriken in a poor one; Notorious defeat Brody and Blackfire in a horrible one; Primus defeats Demon Seed in an okay one; and finally Idol defends the ACZW title against Mitico in a cage – which turns out great, with Idol retaining.

 

(Show rating: C, 2,000 tickets)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #189

Hrm. Triangle Tournament time, I think. Which means, quickie-results style today!

 

Tourmament Semifinals:

Remmy Skye def. Donnie J, Giant Brody (Above-average)

Fox Mask def. Matt Sparrow, Jake Idol (Average)

Acid II def. Snap Dragon, James Prudence (Awesome!)

 

Non-Tournament Matches

Notorious def. Boriken & El Ladron (Poor)

Primus Allen def. Austin Smooth (Average)

Moose & Weasel def. P-n-P (Good)

Mitico & Heroic def. Demon & Panda (Good)

Prowler def. Fire Fly (Average)

Teddy Powell def. Felipe Cabellaro (Poor)

 

Tournament Final

Remmy Skye def. Fox Mask, Acid II (Good)

 

Main Event, CZCW Title

Insane Machine © def. Remmy Skye (Average)

 

(Show rating: C, 8,032 tickets sold.)

 

On the next Welcome: … not how we wanted our biggest show in history to go down. I really hope that last match wasn't that poor because of what I think happened...

[infinitywpi]

December 2013, week 2

Nope, Remmy's not hurt. I gotta remind myself to stop pushing my guys that hard... but, I did have a bit of a 'meeting' with Cliff the day after.

 

“Mark... good news. Record ticket sales. A few more shows like that, we'll be filthy rich. The bad news is, a few more shows like that, and we'll go from being that tiny promotion from the southwest to being that promotion nobody cares about anymore.”

 

“I know, I know. We all have off days... and a lot of us had off days last night.”

 

 

ACZW #47

Mario Heroic gets a surprise win over Snap Dragon in a decent match; Nelson Callum retains the Xtreme Title over Jonnie Perez in a great match; The Uneasy Alliance retain the Tag Titles over Los luchas (Mitico and Fire Fly) in an awesome matchup; and Jake Idol retains the ACZW Title over Jeremiah Moose (Average).

 

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

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #190

We open with Acid defeating Matt Sparrow in a good match. Prowler defeats Austin Smooth in an average match – and if these two can do average, then there's no excuse for people who can't. Speaking of which, Giant Brody squashes Tigre Savaje, and it's pretty poor.

 

For the first time ever, the Xtreme Title is defended in... a Scaffold match. Nelson Callum takes on Primus Allen, and it's a little above average... definitely not our type of match for the long run. A surprise awesome match as Moose & Weasel defeat Fire Fly & Dragon; then Remmy Skye defeats Teddy Powell in a match strangely just above average.

 

A triple-threat tag match sees Los Rudos (Demon Seed and Panda Mask) defeat Notorious and P-n-P in an above-average match; Boriken defeats Felipe in your Trash Off The Night – this one actually had the crowd booing.

 

For main events, The Uneasy Alliance takes on Los Luchas: Mitico and Heroic. Apparently, the underestimated the fact that Mitico was a former CZCW Champion, as Los Luchas get the win and become new champions in an awesome match. Then, in the final match, Insane Machine defends the CZCW Title against a man who somehow got a lot of momentum going in last week's Triangle Tournament: Me. We kick out a simply amazing match, possibly our best yet (Mine and Machine's, I mean; not the Zone's), and I'm not ready for anyone, even me, to take the title off of Machine yet.

 

(Show rating: B-, 6,428 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Ch-ch-ch-changes...

[infinitywpi]

December 2013, week 3

I talked things over with Cliff and Dylan, and we decided to make a few changes to how we laid out our matches. We decided that the action-packed Zone style could be toned down a little, mainstreamed a little, keep the frentic action, and yet make things a little more 'action movie'. Nothing like making a change like this two weeks before the end of the year...

 

(Completely out-of-character note: Holy freakin' hell. A gimmick change two weeks ago took Fox to a B+ momentum. Defeating him has given Insane Machine the Zone's first A momentum of the game!)

 

ACZW #48

We open with Snap Dragon defeating Matt Sparrow in a strangely average match; Tigre defeated Blackfire in a horrible match; Prowler defeated Brody in a poor match; Los Luchas defeat Los Rudos in an average match; and Idol passes on the ACZW Title to Acid in a cage match that is, amazingly, bad.

 

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

 

…. oh, I see. I had the Intensity and Danger sliders flip-flopped. My bad.

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #191

We open with myself and Donnie in what gets announced as a 'Special Contendership Match'. We do a good, long match ending with me winning, and the result is a great opener. We cool off with P-n-P getting a win over Brody and Felipe in a poor match. After that, Jake Idol tries to get his old Xtreme Title back, but Nelson's not having any of that and retains in a decent bout. Then, another special contendership match pits Remmy Skye against Matt Sparrow. These two go for the faster, somewhat more compressed Zone style of match. Remmy wins, but the resulting match is every bit as good as the opener.

 

Triple-threat tag action is next, Notorious vs Los Rudos (Demon and Panda) vs Moose & Weasel. Moose & Weasel win, and the match is... actually not bad. A third Special Contendership Match pits James Prudence against Snap Dragon; these two go long again, and Dragon gets the victory in a good, not great, match. Fire Fly gets an average win over Tigre, and then Primus Allen gets a decent win over Teddy Powell.

 

For main events, a rare ACZW defense pits Acid against Mario Heroic; it's a good match that sees the champ retain. Then, Insane Machine defends against former champ El Mitico... and I don't get it. Why can't these two have a great match??? This was decent, yes, but not Zone-main-event-level decent... Machien retains, and I'm glad this wasn't the kind of match he had when I needed to prove I picked the right guy for Champion.

 

(Show rating: C, 7,209 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Our last shows of the year. ACZW says farewell to the tri-state area. And what have me, Remmy, and Dragon become contenders to?

[infinitywpi]

... I finally make a patented Welcome to the Coastal Zone mistake, and no comments on it? Yeesh. I'm losing my touch.

 

-----------------

 

December 2013, week 4

It was a slow week; I was watching the roster, deciding that there would be some cuts for the new year. And, hopefully, some new additions.

 

ACZW #49

We open with Remmy defeating Mario Heroic in a good match; Austin Smooth defeating El Ladron in a match that got a “Train Some More” chant going; I defeated El Mitico in an above-average match; Panda Mask defeated Giant Brrody in a poor showing; Snap Dragon defeated Donnie J in an above-average match, and Acid retained the ACZW Title against Fire Fly in a good match.

 

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

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #192

We open with an ACZW Title match as Acid gives a title shot to... Panda Mask? And it's a really good match? Wow. Acid retains, but... wow. Boriken and Prowler defeat Notorious in a sub-par matchup, and then Donnie J defeats Giant Brody.

 

Jake Idol looks to rebuild momentum by taking on James Prudence, but James has nother ideas and gets the victory in a decent matchup. Teddy Powell looks to control Jonnie Perez, but the youngster gets the better of the veteran in another decent match. Then, the Xtreme Title is on the line in a cage as Nelson defends against Primus Allen again; Nelson wins yet again, and we're showing some consistency in the quality of our matches here.

 

Matt Sparrow is upset about this next match as he's jobbing to Fire Fly; but he's a professional, and the result is another good match that rivals the opener. After that, Paradigm defeats Demon Seed for a bit of a breather.

 

The Tag Titles are on the line as Los Luchas take on Moose & Weasel; it's a great match that showcases how far all four of them have come over the years, and ends with the champs retaining.

 

Finally, we debut a new match – the Coastal Zone 'Off The Grid' match, where there's a wire grid above the ring, with the title laying on it. To win, you have to find a way to get the title (over the side) before anyone else does. So hanging from the grid is possibly a good idea. It's Machine, myself, Remmy, and Dragon. With this much 'Original Zoner' talent, I'm hoping for a blow-away performance. While we don't quite reach blow-away, so we put on the match of the night and, if you ask me, a fairly awesome new match. In the end, the wily veteran Machine finds a way to retain his title by keeping us all away long enough to grab his belt.

 

(Show rating: B, 7,408 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Year In Review 2013!

[Hyde Hill]

Nah we are just used to it by now Infinitywpi and it is part of the charm. Congrats on the B show.

[Beeker]

On the infinity index of Coastal calamities, that barely rates.

Really we were all wondering why it took you so long to do a screw up.

 

Holding ACZW on the wrong coast is a very minor mishap for you.

[Hyde Hill]

I think he was referring to the intensity and danger flip flop not the wrong place one a while back.

[infinitywpi]

Welcome to CZCW Year In Review 2013!

 

First off, your annual awards:

Wrestler of the Year: Jeremy Stone (sixth win)

Youngster of the Year: KC Glenn

Veteran of the Year: Haruki Kudo (second win)

Female of the Year: Fuyuko Higa (fourth win)

Promotion of the Year: NOTBPW

Most Improved Promotion: Boo-effin-yah! CZCW, baby!

Match of the Year; Johnny Bloodstone def. Jeremy Stone, NOTBPW Ring Warriors

Card of the Year: NOTBPW Championship Wrestling (Second win)

 

Top 100 Analysis:Randy Bumfhole at 96; Owen Love at 95; Ultimate Phoenix at 82.

 

On a somber note, major injuries and whatnot: Ultimate Phoenix, herniated disk, out for a year as of March. Kozue Kawashima, likewise, only in April. Jack Bruce, likewise, only in June. El Hijo De Zonk, broken back, out at least a year as of July.

 

Major retirements: Peter Valentine, Pete the Hillbilly, Cherry Bomb, Whistler.

 

Promotion news: WLW fell to Cult, and worked their way back up to Regional. HIW reached Small; MHW reached Regional; we, of course, reached Cult.

 

Random stuff: Steel, a former bodybuilder, caught with steroids. No, really? This will be a huge blow to his emplo... erm... wow, he hasn't wrestled since August 2012. Even the indies don't want him.

 

Finances: While we didn't have our best month ever last month, we did make a good chunk of change. We broke three-quarters of a million in ticket sales

 

And now, your Zone Report Card.

 

From the jobber corps: Felipe, Bullet, Blackfire, and Ladron. They're all where they've been for a while.

 

Lowercard: Paradigm, Demon Seed, Barrera, Austin Smooth. Demon Seed has fallen in popularity this year, while Barrera and Austin have managed to each eke out a small fanbase. Of the two, I'm most hopeful for Austin.

 

Midcard: Weasel, Perez, Panda, Fire Fly, Tigre, Nelson, Mitico, Boriken. Not a whole lot of movement here, but oh, how the mighty Mitico has fallen. Of this group, I'd love to see Jonnie and Weasel kick it up a notch, and Mitico remind us why he's a former champ.

 

Uppercard; Dragon, Sparrow, Idol, Heroic, Moose, Acid. Amazing. Acid does more with his short push than Idol has with all his pushes put together. Heroic is slowly but surely working his way up the card, while Dragon and Sparrow seem to constantly flirt with the main event scene. What I find interesting here is Jeremiah Moose's presense. Between him and Weasel, I figured Weasel would be the bigger star – Moose continues to defy my expectations, but not by enough for me to give him a serious push... yet.

 

Main event: Machine, Powell, myself, Remmy, Donnie, Jimmy. No surprises here, really; Teddy tends to flirt with the edge here, sometimes he's an uppercarder, sometimes he isn't. He's the most likely to drop down, followed by... well, me.

 

We wish Giant Brody and Primus Allen the best in their future endeavors, and announce that The Midnight Prowler is available for anyone who wants to pay him way too much money -and- pay for his travel. This is, apparently, non-negotiable. Pity, I was going to push him...

 

Oh, and the rumors are true. Not one, not two, but three former Zoners have had offers made to them to come back. Okay, two former Zoners and one guy who we think would fit right in but will probably never accept.

 

And finally, for you stats freaks: Number of 2013 shows on our Top 10 list: Eight. Number of 2013 matches in our Top 10 list: Seven.

[funkyzafara]

Good to see some improvement, and if you won the "most improved promotion" then you must be improving xD

[eayragt]

... I finally make a patented Welcome to the Coastal Zone mistake, and no comments on it? Yeesh. I'm losing my touch.

 

Pfft... flip-flopping those settings is the kind of mistake I make. They're not quite as awe inspiring as the "I just put the title on who!?!" mistakes.

[infinitywpi]

January 2014, week 1

“Well, guys... I promised you, last year, that Year In Review 2013 would be on pay-per-view. I don't know if anyone noticed, but we didn't have any big, expensive cameras set up at all in the last month or so.”

 

“I saw them.”

 

“That was at USPW's show, Jimmy.”

 

“Oh... right.”

 

“Anyway... I tried. I tried my best. We didn't make it. So... I'm going to take some time off to recharge. In the meantime, you guys are going to be booked by committee. Remmy, Dragon, you'll represent the veterans. Mitico, Fire Fly, you represent the luchas. Prowler, Austin, you guys represent the new guys. Whoever holds the CZCW Title is on the committee, too. Take care... see you in a while.”

 

 

ACZW #50

So, uh... Austin Smooth here. The others decided to concentrate on Onslaught, and gave the first show of ACZW Southeast to me and Prowler to book. So, of course, we're going to try to come out of it looking good.

 

The opening match is Demon Seed defeating Tigre Savaje. We see this as a sort of 'asserting dominance' thing – He's supposed to lead Los Rudos, right? But he's the least popular of the group now. That needs to change. Then, I beat the crap out of Blackfire, and Prowler pins Paradigm -- those two work really well together. We give Notorious a win over El Ladron and Felipe, and give Weasel a win over Boriken. They tell me Boriken is big in Mexico. I don't see it, really. Finally, we have Acid defend the ACZW Title against Matt Sparrow. It's easily the match of the night... and we're not insane enough to pull a title change on our first show. All in all, I think it went down well... but it seems kinda strange. We had nineteen people involved in this show – 14 wrestlers, three announcers, a ref, a road agent... and about that many showed up.

 

(Show rating: C-, 20 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Acid II def. Matt Sparrow. Trash of the Night: Notorious def. Ladron/Felipe.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #193

This is Snap Dragon. This isn't the first time Fox has taken off and left me in charge... but this time, he left a bunch of others in charge with me. What, he doesn't trust me?

 

Anyway, we decided to do something new, with a hardcore match for the Xtreme Title. Nelson would defend against the man with the most hardcore knowledge, Matt Sparrow. Matt wasn't going to enjoy losing, but we explained why we put him in the match, and he seemed okay with it. After that, Demon Seed defeated Blackfire, and Teddy Powell defeated Jeremiah Moose, and then I put a rather emphatic period on the end of Jake Idol's push.

 

For the second half of the show, Notorious defeat Austin and Prowler – a reminder that booking isn't always about yourselves. We throw in a triple threat... because we've got three people we're not using... well, four, but Acid is ACZW Champ and should be kept to that show unless absolutely needed. Tigre, Boriken, and Weasel put on a pretty good show, ending with Weasel getting the win. Then, Fire Fly defeats Panda Mask, and P-n-P defeats Ladron and Felipe.

 

For main events, the Tag Titles are up over the ring for Los Luchas vs The Uneasy Alliance; the champs retain, and Donnie is fairly vocal later about having to job so much. Then, Machine defends against Remmy Skye; and I think both of them had a lot to prove, and this was easily the best match they've had since Machine got back to the Zone... hell, possibly their best match ever. Hell, maybe out best match ever as a company.

 

(Show rating: B, 6,653 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Machine vs Skye. Trash of the Night: Demon seed vs Blackfire.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: The inmates are running the asylum, so Cliff makes things a bit more diffcult.

[infinitywpi]

January 2014, week 2

Remmy Skye, filing the weekly meeting minutes. Just don't call me a secretary. First order of business: After the rest of the booking committee went over the tapes, they're willing to declare my match last week the Best Zone Match Ever, dethroning the amazing Mitico/Phoenix lucha ladder match from 2012. The fans have decided that last week was our best show ever, beating out even Onslaught #139, where that Mitico/Phoenix match took place. What can I say... I know I'm good. This is proof.

 

Second order of business: Cliff decided to show complete confidence in us by telling us that we can't let the Zone fall below Cult size for the next two years... and at the end of two years, he wanted to have over three million bucks in the bank. And we're at $1.2 million right now. So that means we're... like, halfway there.

 

Also, he wants to make sure we only hire safe wrestlers who know how to work a match – he says we're getting too spotty. Me? Spotty? As if.

 

So, like, this means that Cliff doesn't want us to extend Air Attack Weasel's contract. Well, not this, but I guess he's got a no-legal-issues clause now. I guess that's why Plague left? Bummer. Glad I've never been arrested.

 

Also-also, I guess Fox tried to hire Wolf Hawkins away from TCW, and Randy Bumfhole back from USPE. They both turned us down. Serious harshing us, man.

 

Also-also-also, this meant the offer Fox had sent to this Svensonn guy had to be cancelled – I guess he didn't have enough 'flow'. Hey... we should check to see who else might not get renewed... I think there's a report here somewhere... hrm. Just El Ladron. That's good. Well, bad for him. Good for the rest of the roster.

 

 

ACZW #51

Midnight Prowler reporting from the Rainbow Grill & Bar. Bar & Grill? Whatever. Austin and I had to book this week's show to prove we learned our lesson last week. We decided to go with longer matches, and left ourselves off it completely.

 

We started with an Xtreme Title First Blood match between Nelson and his tag partner, Teddy. Teddy didn't like losing, but, well... tough noogies. Los Rudos defeated Notorious, and nobody seemed to know who they were, or care. Los Luchas retained the tag titles over Moose & Weasel (since Weasel won't be staying, we may as well get some use out of jobbing him, right?), and then Acid lost the ACZW Title to Donnie, who had insisted on something to make people stop thinking of him as a loser. Plus, this means we can use Acid on the west coast again.

 

(Show rating: D+, 34 tickets sold.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #194

I am the Amazing Fire Fly. I was going to type this out in Spanish, but I find typing in English easier. Less 'non-standard characters' to type out. I'm also jerking the curtain tonight with Remmy. He seems a bit off, but we still put on a good match. He wins, of course, but I've decided I don't need to be popular as long as my coworkers know my skills, right? Then Austin Smooth gets a win over Tigre Savaje... Tigre has skills, they just don't show themselves north of the border that much. That, and his not-well-known opponent, results in a below-average match. Then comes two more members of the booking team, as Dragon and Prowler go at it; Dragon wins, of course, but Prowler seems distracted. Dragon is capable of so much more, but this is just average.

 

James Prudence gets a win over Jake Idol, and this one is somewhat above average. Then, Paradigm gets a victory over Boriken Love Machine – who's very used wrongly here. Mitico and I are hoping to change that, but it's baby steps. It's another decent match... followed by another decent match at Teddy Powell defeats Matt Sparrow. Los Rudos defeat Moose & Weasel, with Weasel playing the fall guy since he's going to be on his way out; it's just more averageness. Then, in a strangely good match, Nelson defends the Xtreme Title in a Coal Miner's Glove match... against Barrera. And yes, I said 'good'. Not 'good' good... but above-average good. I never thought I'd see that.

 

For main events, first up Acid defeats Mitico as try to keep his mush going... but the match isn't nearly as good as we'd hoped, just above average when we wanted at least 'good'. Then, Machine defends the CZCW Title against Mario Heroic – and we get an incredible match. Not as good as last week, but still... incredible. One of those matches where you regret being in the back – ringside would be so much better.

 

(Show rating: B-, 7,275 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: With still no sign of Fox, how long will the booking team manage to keep going? Or will rifts begin to form between those in power and those without?

[infinitywpi]

January 2014, week 3

“I want blood!”

“Look, Prowler... nobody here is saying what Donnie did was okay. It was juvenile, and he should know better. But we're not going to fire him over it.”

“Why not? What he did was dangerous! My leftovers were in there, dammit! If I hadn't noticed...”

“Okay, okay, settle down. We'll talk to him. If it happens again, we'll come down on him hard... but he's allowed a second chance.”

“... dammit, that's not enough.”

“Then settle it in the ring. ACZW title, tonight. You're jobbing... but feel free to stiff the jerk.”

 

 

ACZW #52

Yeah, I was ticked off. That was a brand new gym bag! But I'd get a chance to get in a few good shots in our match tonight. But first, the rest of the show. Boriken Love Machine defeated Panda Mask... I don't know why, but Mitico and Fire Fly insisted. The match was bad, but then, nobody knew them. Bullet got a win over Demon Seed, as part of a project to get him and Barrera at about the same level popularity-wise. Be a shame to break them up. Then, a quick tag title match as Mitico and Heroic defeat Tigre and El Ladron. Nothing's really connecting with the fans yet. Jonnie Perez defeats Blackfire... who is getting very bad heat in this part of the country. The crowd starts to wake up as we put Teddy Powell in there, with Team PSW defeating Moose & Weasel. Then, I get my reve... erm, title shot. That's right, Donnie J vs The Midnight Prowler, ACZW Title. And believe it or not... it's the match of the night. Because I'm more than willing to take a shot to the jaw if I can give Donnie a black eye.

 

Afterwards, he shakes my hand and apologizes. Something about being under pressure lately. I accept... for now.

 

(Show rating: D+, 22 tickets sold.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #195

We're still feeling out our way with this... me, I've done it before, the others... well, in some cases, they have good ideas. In others, I have to reign them in. Last time I booked, I could blame my failures on myself... now, I have other people blaming me for their failures. So I'm trying to take control a bit more than I'm comfortable with.

 

Like tonight's show. I did the opening and closing matches myself. The opener is a triple-ladder-threat for the Xtreme Title. Nelson, Boriken, and Fire Fly. Fire Fly and Mitico convinced me that Boriken deserves a push, so I decided to pull the trigger on it and give him the title. The match is quite good; if Boriken can perform at this level, I'll be happy with the choice. After that, Jonnie Perez defeats Barrera in a match that, even without chemistry, still manages to live up to our average expectations. Which is saying something. Austin Smooth volunteered to job to Jake Idol, so we went with it. The match... well, Barrera did better. We liked this next match from ACZW so much, we reran it, with Bullet defeating Demon Seed. It's... amazing how good a match these two can have.

 

I like to think of this next match as a tradition; Moose defeats Weasel. When your partner is leaving, you get the last win over him. And it's not that good a match, but then, we've run Weasel through the ringer the last month. Prowler asked for a win, so we gave him Panda Mask; he turned out a very good matchup, which was nice. Then, Acid turned out a quite boring match with Tigre... why did Fox push this kid? And Paradigm got a win over our enhancement, Felipe in a horible match.

 

The next-to-last of the two matches I put together is the tag title match; Los Luchas defending against Matt Parrow and Teddy Powell. The champs win under the 'actual team wins over thrown together team' clause. Teddy tried to invoke the 'thrown-together main eventers always win' clause, but I countered with 'champions keep their titles unless really needed', and he relented. We got a good match out of the two teams, but not too good – it wouldn't overshadow the main event. Which was Machine, me, Remmy, and Jimmy with the new 'Off The Grid' match Fox came up with last month; we churn out another great match. Not as good as the one Remmy has with him solo, but still... it was really good. Machine retained, but we as a group are arguing over how much longer he should hold the title. I mean, it's Machine... he can have good matches regardless of the title.

 

(Show rating: B-, 6,596 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: Austin and Prowler make another play to push themselves; can the vets and luchas keep the kids in line, or will they get just enough rope to hang themselves?

[funkyzafara]

Really love this way of writing that you're using now Not that your usual writing style isn't interesting, but sometimes a temporary change of style is good

 

Also, did he just take a **** in his gym bag?

[infinitywpi]

January 2014, week 4

Um... Austin Smooth here. And I have no idea what the hell just happened.

 

Scratch that. I know what happened. I know why it happened. I just don't know how it was allowed to happen.

 

It started with Prowler and me working out what we wanted to do for ACZW. I wanted to try and get some of the bigger names there, and he wanted to go with as cheap a show as possible. We decided to bring up our ideas to the rest of the booking team.

 

He decided to talk to some of them in private first. I saw him talking with Fire Fly and Mitico, like this was some sort of reality show... you know, the ones that died out a couple years ago? So, I went to go talk to Skye. And while I was talking to him, there was this loud crash from the hallway. We went out to see, and Prowler and Dragon were face to face, and the luchas were trying to keep them apart.

 

It turns out the phrases “You'll never amount to anything,” and “You don't deserve to be on the booking team of a backtard group” were used. After we got the two into seperate rooms, the rest of us had to decide what to do about it. It was obvious that Dragon was way out of line, but maybe Prowler egged him on a bit... but this wasn't just a fight between guys, it was a fight between bookers.

 

In the end, re decided to tell them both the same thing: Anything like this again, and they'd be off the team. I didn't like the idea of being the only rookie on the team, but it was better than having us fight all the time, right? Little did I know... it was going to cause Prowler to up and leave after the show.

 

We would also be losing Air Attack Weasel this week; and TCW made an offer to Jimmy P. The others on the team were pretty sure we weren't going to be able to beat it. For the first time in a long time, we were in danger of being under-staffed.

 

 

ACZW #53

We start off with me, as I lose to Acid. We don't do too bad, if I say so myself. Paradigm defeats Panda Mask, then Notorious get a win over Prowler and Ladron. Sparrow defeats Perez in a good match, and then Donnie defends the ACZW Title against Snap Dragon; Donnie retains, but this was one heck of a match.

 

(Show rating: C-, 27 tickets sold. Match of the Night: Donnie/Dragon. Trash of the Night: Paradigm/Panda.)

 

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #196

Snap Dragon reporting. In my defense of my actions earlier in the week: The kid was on the way out. We all knew it. Trying a power play before he left was just bull****. We also found a problem with tonight's show... we were thirteen minutes short. Normally, I'd've suggested throwing in Prowler vs Weasel in there, but, well... not an option right now. Some of us were going to be working longer than usual tonight.

 

We decide to open the show with The Uneasy Alliance vs Team PSW. We figure, if Jimmy goes to TCW, his last match will be with Donnie on ACZW, so this just felt right. Team PWS goes over, and the match is... not as good as we expected. Decent enough, I guess. Next, Panda Mask defeats Blackfire in a horrid eight minutes, and then Acid defeated Jeremiah Moose in a decent matchup. And then we go back down the yo-yo as Paradigm defeats Barrera... but it was still better than Panda/Blackfire.

 

Jonnie Perez defeats Bullet, and this manages to be okay; then, the Xtreme Title is defended, Boriken facing Fire Fly. This is the match of the night so far, with Boriken retaining. I swear, we give this guy a push, he'll perform for us like he does in Mexico. Jake Idol defeated Matt Sparrow in a so-so match, and then Austin Smooth defeated El Ladron in the worst match of the night.

 

For main events, first, the tag titles are defended Lucha-style, with Heroic and Mitico facing off against Demon Seed and Tigre Savaje; they try to go for a long match, but the crowd doesn't buy it; about halfway in, I actually hear an “End This Now” chant. That's not a good sign. We finish the night with a triple-threat match; me, Machine, and Remmy. We put on the best match we can... and I think, with a hotter crowd, this would have been something special. But I don't want to blame another match for my own performance. Machine retains, but I'm starting to think we need to decide who's going to replace him...

 

(Show rating: C+, 7,140 tickets sold. Match of the night: Machine/Dragon/Skye. Trash of the Night: Smooth/Ladron)

 

 

On the next Welcome: The booking team is down a member, the roster is down two, and a main eventer is most likely going to the major leagues. Welcome home...

[MaxxHexx]

The new writing style is hilarious. I love the character you are giving the guys.

[infinitywpi]

February 2014, week 1

“So... Prowler and Weasel are gone, Ladron won't be able to be resigned, and Jimmy looks like he's leaving.”

“Yeap.”

“Cliff refused to let any of the guys I was talking to come in, and wants us to make a million dollars a year... when it's taken us four years to make the first million.”

“Yeap.”

“The booking team started fighting amongst themselves, and the roster is so thin we have people working matches that're way too long for them.”

“Yeap.”

“... okay, right, I'm leaving for another month, call me when you get it straightened out.”

“Fox!”

“Kidding, kidding. Right... we need to send out some job offers... and make some money...”

 

 

ACZW #54

We hold this show in the Tri-State area; Cliff wants money, and last month wasn't the most stable financial-wise as we ate a lot of costs in the southeast. I figure, we balance two-and-two, and we should be able to make some money while still slowly growing.

 

The show opens with an Xtreme Title match, Boriken defending and retaining over Jonnie Perez in a decent show. Austin Smooth defeated Demon Seed as a thank-you for his work on the booking team... but the match wasn't a thank-you to me at all. Notorious defeats Blackfire and Felipe, and this is horrible... I've never seen two people work so badly as tag partners. We kick things up with Snap Dragon defeating Fire Fly in a good match, and then it's Donnie vs Jimmy, ACZW title, and... somehow, it's not that good. I... wow. I was expecting much better.

 

(Show rating: C-, 1,896 tickets sold)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #197

For a change, we start the show with a CZCW Title Match, as Machine faces Jake Idol. As expected, Jake doesn't seem to have learned much from his push and de-push, and this is simply a barely-above-average match. Next, we introduce one of our new signings in a tag team, as Los Rudos (Demon & Panda) face: The MexiCans. From Mexico, our (former?) jobber Felipe, and from Canada, our new signee, Philippe LaGrenier. The new team (which I had originally called 'The Two Phils', but changed) gets the win, and the match is... well, not the best, but I've got hopes for these two teaming together.

 

After that, we introduce a return to the Zone in a special, by request, submission match. Nelson Callum is doing the job here to our old friend Marc 'Speedball' Speed, and it's not bad given that Speedball hasn't built up any momentum yet. The Xtreme Title is next, Boriken defending against Austin Smooth; not the best match, but passable. Mostly. Then, the tag titles are fought over as Los Luchas take on Notorious. We get our third title retention tonight, but I think we've proven Los Luchas are the best team we have on tap; they can carry Notorious to a decent match.

 

Snap Dragon defeats Tigre Savaje, and it's nothing special; then Fire Fly gets a big win over Jeremiah Moose, and it's pretty good. And to cool off the crowd, P-n-P defeats Blackfire and El Ladron in the worst match of the night.

 

We announce the next two matches as contendership matches. First up, Matt Sparrow vs Teddy Powell... until I come out to make it a triple-threat match. I may not have much of an ego, but I'm not booking myself to lose my first match in a month, and the match is... not as good as I'd hoped, but good enough for me. Then, the true main event, Remmy Skye taking on Acid II. Sadly, this degenerated into a spotfest that wound up only being about average, with Acid getting the surprise win.

 

(Show rating: C-, 7,367 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: … maybe I should go back to letting a team book...

[infinitywpi]

February 2014, week 2

I tried to wrap my head around some basic math. We made seventy grand a week when we had ACZW in the Tri-State Area. We lost about that much when we had it in the southeast. So if we did two-and-two, we'd be breaking even... but it would take longer to get to the point where we weren't losing money...

 

… y'know, I think we'll do one-and-three. We can make enough money next year to recover form whatever we lose this year. Right?

 

Anyway, Boriken Love Machine's contract came up, and I was ready to re-sign our Xtreme Champion... until Cliff told me he didn't think the guy had a good enough grasp of putting a match together. I swear, the man is trying to sabotage me. I went back through the roster and looked for those who didn't really know psychology.

 

Well. **** me. We, uh... might be in for a lot of roster churn this year.

 

 

ACZW #55 (Southeast)

We go with a nice, simple show this week. Jeremiah Moose over Demon Seed (Bleh), Philippe LaGrenier over Paradigm (Meh), Nelson Callum over Bullet (Meh), Me over Teddy Powell (Meh), and finally a ACZW Title Match between Donnie and Speedball, with Donnie retaining (Damn good).

 

(Show rating: C, 20 tickets sold.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #198

Dear god in heaven, the roster is thin. So I decide to experiment a bit tonight... I'm throwing in some interview time to chew up some minutes. This is either going to bomb, or rocket. Either way, I need to make a few more job offers.

 

We open with Amazing Fire Fly challenging Boriken Love Machine to a title match; he says he may not deserve one, but he's willing to put his mask on the line. The interview... bombs. The match comes right after, and it's a good match, so that helps somewhat – and sure enough, Fire Fly takes the Xtreme Title for... I've lost count. It's a record, I'm pretty sure. Tigre Salvage defeats El Ladron in a horid match, followed by Remmy Skye defeating Matt Sparrow in a simply-average matchup. Then, for some reason, El Ladron and Mark Speed cut a promo on team PSW... god-dammit. El Mitico and Mario Heroic, I told them. Don't use the first two letters on the chart, use their whole names, I told them. Argh.

 

Panda Mask defeated Demon Seed in a pretty blah match, then we do a four-corners match between Dragon, Idol, Speedball, and Moose; Speedball gets the win, and the match is depressingly average. Then, a three-way tag match between Notorious, P-n-P, and The MexiCans. The Canadian Philip gets the pinfall for the win, and oddly enough it's better than anything but the opener so far. I come out to hype up the main event, and... well, the best interview doesn't count for much when the crowd hates them all.

 

Austin Smooth defeats Blackfire, then we get into the end of the show. Los Luchas defeat Team PSW to retain the Tag Team Titles in a decent match, and then the CZCW Title is on the line as Machine defends against me and Acid. We turn out an awesome match, hopefully enough to get the crowd to forget the rest of a forgettable night... and it isn't, really. Machine retains, and I find myself hoping he can keep going... because I'm going to need him.

 

(Show rating: C+, 6,752 tickets sold.

 

 

On the next Welcome: Okay, Cliff. How badly are you screwing me over on this 'Psychology' thing? And why didn't the booking team do anything about it?

[dPro]

Then, for some reason, El Ladron and Mark Speed cut a promo on team PSW... god-dammit. El Mitico and Mario Heroic, I told them. Don't use the first two letters on the chart, use their whole names, I told them. Argh.

 

Yay!

 

This diary is the awesomeness!

[Hyde Hill]

Yay!

 

This diary is the awesomeness!

 

Do this all the time but that is because I have both Luis Montero and Luis Montero Jr.

[infinitywpi]

February 2014, week 3

So, Cliff wants us to only hire or re-hire safe workers who know how to put a match together. Luckily, almost everyone on the roster was a safe worker already. We had two exceptions: El Ladron, and... Jonnie Perez. Dammit, Jonnie, I can't go to bat for you a second time... You've got five months to figure this out, and I have no idea how to convince you to get better.

 

The 'put a match together' bit was a bit more worrying. We're known as the 'Home of the Spotfest' for a reason, Cliffy. Who does this cut out? Seven people.

 

All in all... things look a bit grim. We're losing Boriken shortly. In under two months, we're losing Jake Idol. In under three, we're losing Austin Smooth and Bullet – and without Bullet, I don't have much reason to keep Barrera around. A month after that, Acid II is gone. Two more months, Jonnie Perez. Another month, Felipe. And a month after that, Tigre Salvaje, Blackfire and El Ladron.

 

This is going to wipe out most of our jobber corps, take out three of my pet projects in Jonnie, Acid, and Jake, break up three different tag teams...

 

My only hope was to find a way to teach these guys. I had three men I could rely on to try and train them... Machine, Dragon, and Callum. With Machine as champion, and -maybe- two of those names buyable as challengers... I had a choice. Keep Machine as champion... or use him as a trainer.

 

I hate the hard decisions. In this case, I'd deal with part of is by making a whole slew of job offers... and if someone wasn't worth jobbing out to those who'd be staying, I'd have to cut them immediately.

 

 

ACZW #56

Notorious jobs to Team PSW in a bad match; Speedball defeats Jonnie Perez in a not-so-bad match; Paradigm defeats Boriken in a bad match; Remmy defeats acid in a decent match; and Donnie retains the ACZW Title over Jake Idol in a okay match. In the southwest, this would've gotten us booed out of the building.

 

(Show rating: C-, 32 tickets sold.)

 

 

CZCW Onslaught #199

We've got some of the new guys to debut tonight – count them! We start with Snap Dragon vs Acid II, winner gets to join the main event. Dragon wins, and it's a decent match. We then introduce Bear Bekowski in a squash of Demon Seed, which is... not the best. Our next inroduction gets to defeat Jonnie Perez, and it's: Joey Poison, and this one's not bad.

 

Our third introduction in a row, Daryll Devine defeats Boriken Love Machine in a trash-of-the-night contender. We reward the crowd for sitting through all that with an Xtreme Title Match, Fire Fly retaining over Panda Mask in a decent match. Team PSW defeats the team of Jake Idol and Austin Smooth, and that's acceptable.

 

Marc Speed defeats Matt Sparrow, and... wow, that sucked. Canadian Phillip defeats Jeremiah Moose, and that's decent enough. Then our final introduction of the night as Tigre Savaje defeats Cheetah Boy in another bad match. That's four bad ones tonight...

 

We wind up the night with a Tag Title match as Los Luchas retain over Notorious in a decent enough match, and then the main event: Machine vs Skye vs Dragon for the CZCW Title. I make the hard choice and switch the title over to Remmy, and while it's the match of the night... it's on the low end of what we consider main-event-quality.

 

(Show rating: B-, 6,397 tickets sold.)

 

 

On the next Welcome: We've hired four people, and we've decided to cut three. Who leaves the Zone?

[eayragt]

On the next Welcome: We've hired four people, and we've decided to cut three. Who leaves the Zone?

 

Bullet, Barrera and Smooth (thanks for the booking!).

 

But Joey Poison and Darryl Devine are good signings (Cheetah Boy and Bear Bekowski... signings). Both solid workers who should fit right in CZCW. Normally I hate seeing people bring in Devine as one of the most over-hired men in the US, but here he fits right in.

[infinitywpi]

<p>February 2014, week 4</p><p>

I decided to keep the churn to just the lower end of the card for now; Blackfire, El Ladron, and Spanish Philip were let go. I'm hoping that, between Machine, Callum, and Dragon, I can get Jonnie, Jake, and Acid trained up enough for Cliff's approval. Hoping.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

ACZW #57</p><p>

We open with Snap dragon defeating Jonnie Perez, and it's okay; Darryl Devine defeats Austin Smooth in a poor match, no chemistry; Team PSW defeats Notorious in a sub-par match; Insane Machine defeats Acid in a good match; and Donnie retains the ACZW Title over Jake Idol in a very good match.</p><p> </p><p>

(Show rating: D+, 62 tickets sold.)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

CZCW Onslaught #200</p><p>

Wow, 200 shows already? We really should have considered doing something extra-special for this... ah, well. We'll give it our best.</p><p> </p><p>

Our first match is Insane Machine defeating Jake Idol; it's better than our average has been lately. We follow that with Bear Bekowski squashing Demon Seed, and that's not well received... but I see a lot of potential in Bear. Then again, I saw potential in Jebediah, Giant Brody and Primus Allen, too. </p><p> </p><p>

Amazing Fire Fly retains the Xtreme Title over Philippe LaGrenier, and it's another better-than-average bout. Joey Poison defeats Jeremiah Moose in one of those “Good match, but who's this guy and why's he beating the guy I know?” matches. And then I defeat Boriken Love Machine in... well, the trash of the night so far. Knew I should have kept working out on my vacation.</p><p> </p><p>

Speedball defeats Paradigm, and it's almost decent enough. Then, a four-way match between Sparrow, Smooth, Perez and Acid; Acid gets the win, and we get back into that 'better than average' area. Then, Notorious lose to Panda Mask and Cheetah Boy in a match that steals 'Trash of the Night' away from me.</p><p> </p><p>

TO finish off the show, we do a Tag title match that sees Heroic and Mitico lose to Team PSW (My thinking is, Team PSW will be good for training teams, and Heroic and Mitico can take Machine and Dragon's spots in the title chase while they train others); the match is really good, and gives me a good feeling for our main event: Remmy Skye vs Snap Dragon. Well... it's definitely a good match, but it's not the awesome match I was hoping for. Oh, well. Skye retains, and Dragon stakes a claim for another match after he's done training.</p><p> </p><p>

(Show rating: B-, 6,314 tickets sold.)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

On the next Welcome: Can we walk the fine line between 'building for the future' and 'building a bankroll'? Not with many months like that.</p>

[infinitywpi]

<p>March 2014, week 1</p><p>

The wrestling industry is rough almost all over. While Mexico is going strong, and Austrazealand is getting better, the rest of the world... well, it's bad. Europe, the UK, and Japan show signs of getting better. But in North America? It's almost as if the public is trying to forget professional wrestling even exists. </p><p> </p><p>

Sometimes, recovery is not enough; WLW has had to shrink after their most recent tour, and SOTBPW has taken several hits lately as well. </p><p> </p><p>

We were going into Jake's final month. If he hadn't learned enough by now to pass Cliff's criteria, odds were he wasn't going to. We'd keep trying to train him for two more weeks... but in the meantime? We got a replacement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

ACZW #58 (Tri-State)</p><p>

A rare six-match show; we start with Insane Machine defeating Bullet, and we'll call that 'Average' for this show. I can't bring myself to call a Machine match 'bad'. Snap Dragon defeats Austin Smooth in an above-average match; Acid defeats Nelson Callum in a great match; Bear Bekowski squashes Paradigm; Fire Fly retains the Xtreme Title over El Mitico in an awesome match; and finally, Donnie retains the ACZW Title over yours truly in what is, for the area, a blow-away awesome matchup.</p><p> </p><p>

(Show rating: B-, 1,968 tickets sold)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

CZCW Onslaught #201</p><p>

We've got another old friend coming back tonight, so let's make the night special. We open things off with Insane Machine defeating Jake Idol, and again, it's a better-than-average match. Bear squashes Boriken, and it's... slightly better than last week. Then, Team PSW retains the tag titles over Joey Poison and... Jake Idol? … I don't remember booking that, but okay. Decent enough match. Snap Dragon defeats Austin Smooth, and it's slightly below normal for us.</p><p> </p><p>

A triangle tag match sees Los Luchas (Mitico and Fire Fly) defeat P-n-P and Panda & Cheetah, and it's a good match. Any combination of the luchas seems to be able to carry any number of teams to a good match. Matt Sparrow defeats Philippe an in average matchup, Darryl Devine defeats Jeremiah Moose in a below-average match, Speedball defeats Acid in a decent match, and Los Rudos (Demon and Tigre) defeat Notorious in another below-average match.</p><p> </p><p>

Then, the final two. First, we do a Zone-style long match that goes back and forth, all over the place, until I finally lie down to a returning Masked Cougar... and it's good. Then, in the main event, Remmy Skye defends the CZCW Title against Mario Heroic; it's good, not great, on the 'meh' side for our main events.</p><p> </p><p>

(Show rating: B-, 7,238 tickets sold.)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

On the next Welcome: It's crunch time; can we pull off a great show, or does nobody care anymore?</p>

[Astil]

CoooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuGAR!

 

*ahem*

 

Good show.