Purple Cowboy Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 TCW JANUARY 2010 PRELUDE I’ve taken over as Head Booker of TCW with Charles Avatar and plan to “cover” them as if writing a wrestling newsletter with a special emphasis on the workers’ popularity and momentum shifts. Charles Avatar is called “Charles Alexander” at the start of this dynasty. It'll be more like you're on the newsletter's VIP RSS feed than "published" newsletters. There will be a few writer characters - one TCW-specific expert Brint Williams who comments most often, one overall editor of the newsletter Frank Jackson who will touch on TCW from time-to-time and/or sit in on roundtables or high-profile interviews, and one senior columnist Fred Jones who has seen everything and is very skeptical of anything TCW-related. Maybe one “humor” columnist as well based on Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances, we’ll see how it all pans out. Tommy Cornell has given the following owner goals to new Head Booker Charles Alexander: Wolf Hawkins must be kept above 71 momentum for the next 22 months! The finances must improve to at least $2,000,000 in the next 2+ years. TCW cannot fall into debt at any point during the next 2 years. Cannot hire anybody who already works for a promotion of Cult size or above for at least the next 2 years. Cannot hire or extend the contract of any wrestler who has less than 53 in Basics (18 months) AND Safety (28 months). Cannot hire or extend the contract of ANYBODY who has less than 53 Industry Reputation for the next 22 months. TCW Product: Tradition Updated Location: South West (USA) Size: National 90% Match Ratio (Events & TV) Face\Heel Divide: Strong Women’s Wrestling: None T&A Levels: None Expected Match Lengths (Events & TV) Minor: 8 minutes Medium: 16 minutes Main: 35 minutes Key Feature: Traditional Heavy: Mainstream Medium: Modern Medium: Realism Low: Hardcore Low: Pure Low: Daredevil Very Low: Cult …will mean wrestlers are rated more on performance than popularity. …will mean that fans will expect all wrestlers to be packaged with a proper gimmick. …will attract fans who won’t be keen on gimmicks. …will attract fans who will not like highly risky gimmicks. …will attract fans who like their gimmicks to be simple. …will attract fans who will not “get” subtle gimmicks. …will attract fans who won’t be keen on high risk matches. …will attract fans who will be put off by highly risky angles. …is quite favorable towards getting sponsorship. …will allow TCW to not be rocked by wrestling industry changes. …will mean that the “young lion” system will not be taken into account at any time. 82 TCW World Heavyweight Champion: Rocky Golden (August 2009, 0 defenses) 62 TCW World Tag Team Champions: The New Wave (August 2009, 1 defense) 52 TCW International Champion: Joshua Taylor (July 2009, 0 defenses) 40 TCW All Action Champion: Edd Stone (December 2009, 0 defenses) Current Storylines (date started): 83 Benson vs. Tornado (December 2009) 89 Eradicating The Syndicate - RDJ & Joey Minnesota vs. Cornell & Hawkins (November 2009) 85 Golden vs. Keith (September 2009) 80 Ino vs. Law (August 2009) 78 Peak vs. Vessey (October 2009) BACK ISSUES Frank Jackson PW Candle Founder & Editor-in-Chief http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/african_american3_med.jpg Candlelight Chat w/ Joel Bryant Part 1 of 2 Candlelight Chat w/ Joel Bryant Part 2 of 2 Week 4 January - Rocky Golden Candelight Chat Announcement/Bryan Vessey Steroid Rumors January Post-PPV Roundtable Malice in Wonderland Fred Jones PW Candle Senior Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/Fred.jpg New Year, Same Story for TCW TCW Roster 2010 Part 1 Aaron Andrews, American Buffalo, Benny Benson, Brent Hill, Bryan Vessey TCW Roster 2010 Part 2 Chance Fortune, Charles Alexander, Charlie Thatcher, Clark Alexander, Danny Fonzarelli TCW Roster 2010 Part 3 Eddie Peak, Edd Stone, Flying Jimmy Foxx, Freddy Huggins, Genghis Rahn TCW Roster 2010 Part 4 Giant Tana, Guide, Harry Allen, Joel Bryant, Joey Minnesota TCW Roster 2010 Part 5 John Anderson, Joshua Taylor, Koshiro Ino, Rick Law, Ricky Dale Johnson TCW Roster 2010 Part 6 Robert Oxford, Rocky Golden, Sam Keith, Sammy Bach, Scout TCW Roster 2010 Part 7 Texas Pete, Tommy Cornell, Troy Tornado, Wolf Hawkins Brint Williams PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg TCW Report Week 1 January 2010 TCW Update Week 1 January 2010 Live Coverage Recap of TCW Presents Total Wrestling Week 1 January 2010 TCW Report Week 2 January 2010 TCW Update Week 2 January 2010 Live Coverage Recap of TCW Presents Total Wrestling Week 2 January 2010 TCW Report Week 3 January 2010 TCW Update Week 3 January 2010 Live Coverage Recap TCW Presents Total Wrestling Week 3 January 2010 TCW Report Week 4 January 2010 TCW Update Week 4 January 2010 Live Coverage Recap TCW Presents Total Wrestling Week 4 January 2010 TCW Update Pre-Malice in Wonderland Live Coverage Recap MALICE IN WONDERLAND Week 4 January 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eidenhoek Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Hyacinth Bucket *hrk* Urge to kill...rising... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waghlon Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Hyacinth Bucket Subscribed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 WEEK 1 January 2010 TCW Report by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg QUICK HITS:Joel Bryant has officially been replaced as Head Booker of TCW by unknown 21-year old Charles Alexander. A number of TCW stars have contracts set to expire over the next few months including Ricky Dale Johnson, Guide, and Aaron Andrews. New Head Booker Charles Alexander will also have to deal with the contracts of Sammy Bach, Edd Stone, Laura Huggins, Chance Fortune, and Floyd Goldworthy in the coming months. All reports indicate that the main announce team of Jason Azaria and Kyle Rhodes will remain together for now. SWF are already in the news with rumors that they are going to bring in new faces to “fill some gaps.” There are confirmed rumors that SWF has made a contract offer to a yet unidentified worker. TCW will have to react to this quickly or risk losing a lot of promising young talent to SWF. In a related note, Charles Alexander has made an early outreach to Sam Keith asking him to help recruit his sons to TCW. Alexander also apparently made an outreach to Richard Eisen to end the war between SWF & TCW but his call was not taken. There are no plans for TCW to acquire a child promotion or developmental federation at this time. There are rumors of a brand new TCW “concept show” that will be pitched to networks next month. COMMENTARY: This was supposed to be the 2009 TCW year-in-review column, but so much has happened in the last couple of days that I felt compelled to scrap all that in favor of writing about the recent developments that shake TCW to the very core. What can you say about a fed that wants us to take them seriously when they surprisingly change their Head Booker without even a whisper of it getting out to insiders or the public before hand? And on top of that, a switch to a complete unknown! Panic move? Confused leadership? Legal troubles? Meddling by the TV network? Masterstroke? All of the above? None of the above? Some of the above? TCW seemed to be on solid ground heading into their 15th year as a company and to pull a change like replacing their Head Booker seems pretty out of character when one considers their recent history of stability. The timing seems off if the company thinks they are going to focus on marketing 2010 as an anniversary year celebration as they were hinting at last month. But then again many viewed the appointment of Joel Bryant as Head Booker in 2006 as a big surprise as well, and Bryant not only went on to help keep the company afloat during difficult economic times he actually helped grow the company financially and solidify its place as the #2 promotion in the world. A dubious distinction for some, to be sure; if you ask PW Candle Senior Columnist Fred Jones he will tell you up and down that being #2 for 15 years means that you’ve been #2 for 15 years. And there’s no guarantee that GNN Total Sports is going to want to continue to carry TCW Presents Total Wrestling beyond the 5 months that remain on their TV contract. U-Demand currently carries all TCW PPV events and new man Charles Alexander is supposedly looking into expanding both TV and PPV coverage. The sudden rumors of a brand new TCW concept show seem to me to be their creative team floating the idea out there for what will be a vehicle to steal away some younger viewers from the Supreme Wrestling Federation and develop their own young talent at the same time. We’ll see if there are anything to these rumors and/or if this was something that played a critical role in Charles Alexander coming to TCW in the first place. Certainly doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Alexander’s arrival and rumors of a brand new concept show seemed to slip out to the public on consecutive days after not hearing a word about either before hand. And on a side note, for everyone that is as curious as I am we have on pretty good authority that Alexander is going to appear, and wrestle, at Total Wrestling this coming Tuesday so strap in for that one. So what next? Malice in Wonderland is at the end of the month so Alexander will have a month to start to put his stamp on the fed. But, I imagine that he is going to stick with the existing 700 storylines and try to somehow keep everyone away from each other until Malice and start to change things up after that. If he is going for a “concept show” he certainly has to bring some fresh talent in. But if you’re getting an offer from SWF (the #1 promotion in the world) or TCW (the company that just switched up to a completely unknown 21-year old booker) where do you think you’d sign? Add to that the thought that you have no idea how long Tommy Cornell is going to stay committed to Alexander if this transition gets off to a rocky start. Maybe the owner pulls the plug quickly and we all get back to not worrying about TCW being anything other than the #2 promotion in the world. Even if all goes well for Alexander, he still has to deal with some interesting restrictions on whom he can and cannot hire and also a lot of existing contracts coming up for expiry soon. Alexander as yet hasn’t announced any matches for this coming Tuesday's episode of Total Wrestling. Coming this weekend in PW Candle will be PW Candle Editor Frank Jackson with Part 1 of his exclusive two-part Candlelight Chat with former TCW Head Booker Joel Bryant, what Bryant thinks of being demoted, what he thinks of his time as Head Booker and what some of his predictions are, and/or what plans might be scrapped now that he’s no longer helping to run the show. And on Tuesday of course I’ll be following Total Wrestling live as it happens with my show commentary on the first show of the Cornell/Alexander partnership. Stay tuned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 WEEK 1 January 2010 Candlelight Chat w/ Joel Bryant http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/ttl/JoelBryant.jpg Part 1 of 2 by Frank Jackson - PW Candle Founder & Editor-in-Chief Editor’s Note: I had a chance to sit down with former TCW Head Booker Joel Bryant just hours after news hit that he had been replaced by a completely unknown 21-year old called Charles Alexander. This is the first part of that interview, we should have the transcript of Part 2 available just after this week’s Total Wrestling. Many thanks to Joel Bryant and TCW for making this possible. Frank Jackson: Joel Bryant, thanks for taking time to be here with all of the PW Candle readers today on what must be a pretty significant day in your life. Joel Bryant: Thanks. Frank Jackson: Joel, let’s get right into it. You’ve just been replaced as Head Booker of TCW by a complete unknown. This news is still fresh so I know you’ll probably want to chose your words carefully but what’s going through your head right now? Joel Bryant: Well, it certainly wasn’t the best way to start my 2010, that’s for sure. But I have no regrets about what I’ve done here over the last four years and Tommy (Cornell) has been quite complimentary in public and I think the fact that I’m still with TCW is a validation of that sentiment. Frank Jackson: But what about the idea that you’ve been replaced by a complete unknown? Joel Bryant: The big difference between me and Charles Alexander when I took over the book is that I was already a veteran of the business. I had a good idea of what worked and what didn’t work in-ring and on TV from personal experience. Now, in some ways, that experience can itself become a limiting factor in your thinking and vision because you sometimes believe what worked once will work over and over again. I’ve heard this from a number of veterans including Tommy himself. At the same time you can get caught in that line of thinking where if something out of the ordinary that you tried didn’t work once then it could never possibly work. But in reality, maybe it was just that one instance, or that one venue with that particular crowd, or that one little flub. I always thought we shouldn’t completely run away from a failure because I think that’s what I did early on and obviously it didn’t work out too well. Frank Jackson: Well you’re not being very kind to yourself, in my opinion. Not only are you responsible for The Syndicate storyline in recent years but in 2006 you almost immediately brought in future stars like Rocky Golden who is the current TCW World Heavyweight Champion, and Aaron Andrews who has held the All Action title on two occasions. You also helped secure the signing of Sam Keith after he was the scapegoat of SWF’s election storyline in 2007 and he quickly became TCW International Champion. You were integral in bringing Benny Benson over from SWF last year and bringing Bryan Vessey back from Japan. There’s been a lot of good going on in terms of establishing a strong foundation for the future of TCW so the timing of this change seems quite strange, don’t you think? Joel Bryant: Well, if you’re asking if I was taken aback by the timing of the announcement the answer is obviously yes. I thought things had been going fine and there were absolutely no indications that my position was ‘under threat,’ so to speak. I mean it, zero indication. But when you think about it is it really such odd timing for this announcement? This is probably meant to divert all buzz from SWF’s When Hell Freezes Over next week and instead fans and people in the industry will be talking about the TCW Head Booker change. Maybe TCW gets some extra viewers that we might not have normally had for the next two weeks and SWF has a poor build for their PPV. There are a multitude of ways to interpret the timing of what seems like an out-of-the-ordinary announcement. Do I wish they held off for an extra week? Sure. But I suppose that would have just been postponing the inevitable. Frank Jackson: Joel, your recent signature storyline, and at the same time THE one issue that you’ve taken an incredible amount of heat about from PW Candle readers and writers for that matter, has been your idea not to hold title matches. Do you think this ultimately led to your undoing as Head Booker? Joel Bryant: The whole idea, which by the way was endorsed by TCW senior management at the time, originated around widespread criticism that the modern pro wrestling game hotshots titles too often. So, we decided to not have a single title defense for the entire fall, aside from throwing people a bone with the All Action title win in December for Edd Stone. The theory was to build the prestige of the titles back up to a crazy level by never having them defended. So eventually when we did decide to put them on the line, like perhaps at Malice in Wonderland, it would have been a huge event for the company. Do I think this might have led to my being replaced? I really have no clue. If so it would seem I’m a victim of a work because I thought everyone else was on board. Frank Jackson: You seem to be taking this all very well for someone who is going to have to compete, perhaps even in the same ring, with your replacement Charles Alexander. Do you have plans beyond TCW at this time or thoughts about that comment? Joel Bryant: (Laughs) No, no. Listen, I’ve been in this business for quite a while. Things change. Do I regret not putting a title on myself for the 4 years I had the Head Book? Well... now I guess so! But I’m still here, and I love Total Championship Wrestling. I’m still one of the few workers Chuck and Tommy have that can do a 30+ minute match that they might need. In my very limited communication with Alexander he’s been quite nice to me thus far to be fair. But it’s all been superficial stuff, we haven’t gone out drinking or anything like that. I don’t feel strange staying with TCW even though I’m not Head Booker. I never really had much time for politics when I was booking matches so almost the entire backroom has plenty of time for me because I treated them with the sort of respect that I think I deserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 WEEK 1 January 2010 New Year, Same Story for TCWby Fred Jones - PW Candle Senior Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/Fred.jpg You can't help but laugh sometimes. It seems like a ritual now at the beginning of each year. Every time the calendar strikes January 1 we discuss that TCW looks set up for a big breakthrough and will again make a direct challenge at SWF, and then TCW goes and does something that shoots themselves in the foot. Or major injuries sideline big storylines. Or something crazy that could only happen once per decade happens to TCW each year. To parse words from Part 1 of Frank Jackson's interview with Joel Bryant, it seems some of this might be intentional. TCW upper management will do whatever it takes right now to be the anti-SWF, even if that ends up alienating some portion of the fans in the short run (or long-term). Bryant is saying all of the right things right now. He’s still cashing a TCW paycheck and pretty much has to. But you know he can’t be happy about being replaced by a 21-year old unknown as the Head Booker. And I don’t buy for a second that this announcement was meant to disrupt the build to SWF’s When Hell Freezes Over, I think Bryant was reaching and being political and saying what he thinks Tommy Cornell wants to hear. He was clearly blindsided by the announcement and is now shut out of the creative team completely. Anyone would be upset with that sort arrangement happening behind one’s back, especially if, as he claims (and I believe him) that he had no inclination that this decision was coming. To be honest, though, I thought Frank Jackson wasn’t giving us the full picture of Bryant’s tenure in TCW. Jackson almost made it sound like Bryant's run was a road littered with one success after another. But for every Sam Keith capture there’s something to balance it out – like the fact that we’ve had to sit through two horrendous years of “The Dancing Fool” Flying Jimmy Foxx, who at 29 years old is still probably the least popular wrestler on the entire roster. This great gimmick was supposed to play into the hype behind the hit TV show America Can’t Dance (which is of course a rip-off of the British show No One Can Dance), but by all accounts it has failed miserably and Foxx is little more than a punchline to jokes these days. There are plenty of questions I hope Frank Jackson gets to in Part 2 of his interview. Like, why wasn’t Bryant able to “manufacture” big stars, or grow the popularity of many of his workers? By comparison, Jessie, the manager of the Biggz Boyz in SWF, is more popular than almost everyone in TCW except for Cornell, RDJ, Rocky Golden and Troy Tornado. Now, Jessie is also married to Angry Gilmore which certainly hasn’t hurt her standing, but you see that TCW has a long way to go to create stars when a manager in another company is more over than 95% of your wrestlers. Personally, I’d like to see what Joel Bryant has to say about all this once he’s no longer with TCW. And don’t email me with questions or start rumors - I have no information that Bryant is leaving Total Championship Wrestling, I’d just appreciate some real honesty and not the canned answers we seem to be getting from Bryant. So what do I think about all of this? I think it’s dumb. If you’re going to change your Head Booker, pick someone who has paid some dues. Or, if they haven’t paid their dues, at least make sure they have some kind of intimate knowledge of the wrestling business. Charles Alexander seems to have no resume. Seriously, none. He’s 21 and hasn’t even wrestled a professional match yet. Yet he takes over the #2 company in the world. Stay tuned good people, this should be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHK1978 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Great job as always Purple Cowboy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsplex Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I've just read through the Candlelight Chat w/ Joel Bryant and I must say, it's a really strong piece of writing. I especially loved how you explained the no-recorded title defenses statiscal quirk as a legitimate booking strategy that actually ties in to the type of promotion that TCW is. Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Great job as always Purple Cowboy! I've just read through the Candlelight Chat w/ Joel Bryant and I must say, it's a really strong piece of writing. I especially loved how you explained the no-recorded title defenses statiscal quirk as a legitimate booking strategy that actually ties in to the type of promotion that TCW is. Nice work. Thank you both for the kind words, they are much appreciated. Still trying to work out a few things with how I want to do this diary but I have high hopes. I do intend to report on the shows as if they were "live" happenings, such as just posting the opening match first, waiting a few minutes, updating the post with the second match, etc.. I'll try to give a bit of a heads up before the shows are happening though. I think the next post will be the first show but since I'm on the road right now for work it may be a day or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 WEEK 1 January 2010 TCW Update by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg BREAKING NEWS!: Rumors of four matches for TCW Presents Total Wrestling have been filtering through the Twitterverse today. Apparently ex-Head Booker Joel Bryant will have his hands full with Joey Minnesota in what might be a message type of match from the new management. Tommy Cornell will take on Benny Benson in the Main Event, Ricky Dale Johnson will be in action, and, burying the lead as always, the TCW World Tag Team Championship will be on the line for the first time in 4 and a half months as The New Wave will being going up against yet unnamed opponents! Complete coverage of the event live as it happens right here at PW Candle. Compete against me in my TCW prediction pool this year and win signed photos of your favorite PW Candle writers! BRINT’S PICKS TCW Presents Total Wrestling (faces listed first) Joey Minnesota vs. Joel Bryant -I don’t know what Joel Bryant has done behind the scenes, but this is not going to be pretty unless Cornell and/or Hawkins somehow get involved. TCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Wave © vs. TBA -I think the new Head Booker is crazy enough to hotshot these belts that haven’t been defended since the New Wave won them in August. It has to be the Machines if they do go that route. Ricky Dale Johnson vs. TBA -I think they're going to give away a big match here on free TV. It’s going to be Wolf Hawkins and Hawkins is going to beat RDJ. MAIN EVENT! Benny Benson vs. Tommy Cornell -Cornell has to win this. Could be an interesting night for re-establishing The Syndicate. TCW Presents Total Wrestling (faces listed first) - Evanovich Riverside, Tri State, USA Joey Minnesota vs. Joel Bryant TCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Wave © vs. TBA Ricky Dale Johnson vs. TBA MAIN EVENT! Benny Benson vs. Tommy Cornell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHK1978 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Joey Minnesota vs. Joel Bryant TCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Wave © vs. TBA I would never go against the champions on the first show. Ricky Dale Johnson vs. TBA I will give the nod to TBA here though. I do think it has to be someone that is very over in order to beat RDJ. MAIN EVENT! Benny Benson vs. Tommy Cornell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 I've made a couple of format changes to update the previous posts. Getting toward where I want this to look, at least. The first "live" show coverage will be tomorrow night EST during the Oscars! <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 WEEK 1 January 2010 LIVE COVERAGE! of TCW Presents Total Wrestling by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg Venue: Evanovich Riverside (Tri State) Attendance: 10,000 - SELL OUT! Before the show went live there were two dark matches: D1 – “The Dancing Fool” Flying Jimmy Foxx vs. Wolf Hawkins Hawkins was all business from the very beginning, no pandering to the crowd at all. Utter domination for Hawkins and he came out of it looking really good, pinning Foxx in 7:46 after a Full Moon Rising. My rating: 63: a solid C, did exactly what you expected and nothing more D2 – The L.A. Connection vs. The Machines Some good action in this one, and seeing Wolf Hawkins and The Machines in dark matches got fans murmuring about what was possibly to come during the main show. John Anderson got the victory for The Machines in 7:36 after he Ammo Dumped Aaron Andrews. It was a nice, solid tag match with good performances all-around. After the match Anderson said he had an Ammo Dump ready for The New Wave which brought some boos from the crowd. My rating: 66: C+, Might have been wasted as a dark match if TCW is going to focus on their tag division. We’ll see. - Show begins with a short video package hyping 2010 as TCW's 15th anniversary year. 1 – Charles Alexander vs. Sammy Bach (with Karen Killer) This match featured great action but Alexander and Bach did not seem to click out there and it made for an awkward bout overall. In what must be viewed as a shock, Bach wins in 8:09 by submission with a Bach on Your Back after Karen Killer jumped up onto the ring apron and distracted Charles Alexander. During the match there is a lot of commentary from Kyle Rhodes about Alexander getting what he deserves in his TCW debut. Azaria agrees but also tries to paint the bigger picture by pointing out Bach “needed” Karen Killer to assist him in order to get the victory. My rating: 66: C+, not a bad debut for Alexander considering Karen Killer’s distraction, and Bach gets a shock win which might help position him in the International title scene. Alexander looked completely shocked after the match, and the TCW crowd wasn’t kind to him. 2 – TCW World Tag Team Championship The New Wave © vs. The Canadian Animals (with Laura Huggins) The introductions were accompanied by great cheers from the crowd that the World Tag Team titles are on the line in an official defense for the first time in over four months. The match had some good action but the crowd didn’t entirely get involved in the moment, and Scout seemed a little off during the match as well. As the contest went on we all caught the feeling that we knew the eventual outcome, and that feeling was confirmed when Guide defeated Edd Stone by pinfall in 8:19 with a Wave of Mutilation. New Wave, though, does make successful defense #1 of the TCW World Tag Team titles and there were a couple of funny signs in the crowd alluding to the “historic” moment. Laura Huggins did some good work at ringside for the challengers. My rating: 70: C+, this was a high C+ for a match with no build, even though the straps went on the line for the first time in months. Interesting to me that the title match came right after Alexander’s debut, maybe they should have reversed it and had the title match up front to brand the “new era.” Another random match up next. 3 – Bryan Vessey & Koshiro Ino vs. Texas Buffalo (with Floyd Goldworthy) Again we saw some glimpses of good action and average heat from the crowd, but again we saw a match just a little bit better than the one before it. Ino ended up getting the victory by pinfall on Texas Pete at 15:42 after his feared Kobra’s Bite finisher. American Buffalo looked like he was clearly tired by the end of the match but Floyd Goldworthy did enough good work at ringside that you pretty much forgot about it. Azaria says that Vessey and Ino should become a regular tag team. My rating: 72: B-, it was cool to see Ino, it was a step up from everything we’ve seen thus far, and probably gets a B- just because Vessey is involved. - The camera follows Vessey returning to the back. He pauses when he passes an open door and overhears a meeting between Tommy Cornell, Wolf Hawkins, and Troy Tornado. Cornell and Hawkins propose an alliance to Tornado and ask him to help them out tonight. Azaria and Rhodes point out that Tornado was never involved in The Syndicate and now that they have been destroyed they are pandering to Tornado. Tornado doesn’t think about it for long, though. He shakes hands with both Cornell and Hawkins without saying a word. Vessey walks away and runs into RDJ and Joey Minnesota preparing for their matches later on and the camera follows Vessey pulling the Freedom Fighters close to him to explain what he overheard. 4 – Ricky Dale Johnson vs. Eddie Peak In the early going whenever RDJ would get an advantage over Peak he would look worriedly toward the rampway and give away his advantage. The openness of the bout and the great action brought some good heat from the crowd and RDJ got the win at 15:53 by pinfall with a quick rollup after Bryan Vessey ran down to the ring and attacked Peak from the ring apron. My rating: 72: B-, I don’t know where the ref was on this one. But the decent crowd reaction meant it didn’t really matter in the end. - Laura Huggins is seen chatting closely with Charles Alexander. Alexander keeps nodding in agreement. 5 – Joey Minnesota vs. Joel Bryant Joey Minnesota destroyed Bryant and humiliated him for the final 10 minutes of the match, winning by pinfall with an Empire Spiral at 16:02. The match lifted the crowd who loved seeing the former Head Booker take a long beating. Minnesota also paused a few times during his match like RDJ did to look towards the backstage but there was no attack coming his way. Bryant’s tag partner Robert Oxford wasn’t seen or heard from at all during this match. My rating: 78: B, Minnesota was on top of his game and Bryant did his best under difficult circumstances. Considering the recent backstage moves this could be seen as a spiteful move by the new Head Booker but you got a pretty professional response from the old Head Booker. 6 – MAIN EVENT! Benny Benson vs. Tommy Cornell This one turned out to be one of the most unpredictable and decent Main Events in recent TCW history. There was great action from both Cornell and Benson, and of course the Cornell crowd will say Cornell brought this performance out of Benson, but it was a good match because of the shocking length nonetheless. Cornell ended up winning by submission at 37:21 after a Guilt Trip after interference by Troy Tornado! After the match Cornell, Tornado, and Wolf Hawkins celebrated the victory. My rating: 85: B+, The Tri-State crowd was pretty much blown away with the Main Event which definitely superseded anything else on the show in terms of in-ring action and also pulled a few storylines together all at once. Is this a new Syndicate? Thanks all for following. I'll be back soon with further analysis of the show and other industry reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 WEEK 2 January 2010 TCW Report by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg QUICK HITS:TCW Presents Total Wrestling did a 5.22 on GNN Total Sports last Tuesday. SWF Supreme TV did a 7.66 on the same night on C.A.N.N.. There are rumors that a third member may be added to the announce team of Jason Azaria and Kyle Rhodes. SWF signed a PPV deal with United Kingdom Choice. TCW was rumored to be in negotiations with Roger Cage, but Cage decided to sign with the Supreme Wrestling Federation instead. TCW are also competing with SWF for the signature of Steven Parker. TCW are close to signing both Matthew Keith and Greg Gauge. No new details have been released on the new TCW “concept show” that will be pitched to networks next month. COMMENTARY: Not a bad first show to open the Charles Alexander era in Total Championship Wrestling. This is not to say that TCW hit a home run. There were some obvious points we should get out of the way right up front, the biggest being the total exclusion of TCW World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Golden. Is that a smart thing to do with the guy that is presumably the face of your organization right now? Does Alexander think Golden is a worthy champion and/or does the new Head Booker look at Rocky as a Joel Bryant success story and therefore wants to downplay the champ’s role? Fair questions to be asked and hopefully we’ll find out the answers in the coming weeks. Personally I think Alexander might want his own World Champion, but does he even know the roster well enough at this point in time to make that sort of decision? TCW took another knock for the little amount of fanfare given for the first defense of the TCW World Tag Team titles in over four months. You’d think TCW would have been promoting the heck out of this one as a symbol of the new leadership in the fed, but without that sort of backing it just seemed like it was tacked on to the card as something of an afterthought. Something Fred Jones would call “typical TCW.” Laura Huggins was seen speaking with Charles Alexander last week after The Canadian Animals were unsuccessful in their challenge against The New Wave in that title match, and the rumor is that she asked for a rematch for her brother’s team and that Alexander agreed to it for this week. After the show Alexander said that he liked something he saw in The Canadian Animals. Troy Tornado played an important role on the card but we didn’t see him in a match. Wolf Hawkins had a squash dark match even though he was also involved with the new alliance, and no Rick Law or Sam Keith sightings. Some fans were disappointed. Other fans took to the internet after the show and said they had heard that Keith was backstage, and had organized a video game tournament. How fans would know this, I’m not sure. Maybe they spoke to an employee of the venue, or another worker. Anyway, we received conflicting reports over whether or not Keith’s two sons were in the house as well. What we did get on Total Wrestling was well done. Everything built fairly logically on what came before and that led to a hot crowd for the Main Event. Tornado running in and blasting Benny Benson as he did pretty much solidified in all of our minds that, yes, this new alliance between Cornell, Hawkins, and Tornado is for real and they’ve already got designs on being the top dogs in TCW. They’re not going to sit around in the backstage area planning what to do. They’re going to write their own history with their actions. Maybe to counter this, we also saw hints of a possible future alliance between Bryan Vessey and RDJ & Joey Minnesota which I expect we’ll learn more about this week. That actually has me interested. You kind of expect Benson to take that third spot with RDJ & Minnesota since Troy Tornado is on the “other side” there and Tornado and Benson haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye lately, but then again I wouldn’t be shocked to see both Vessey and Benson join RDJ & Minnesota. A few different ways they can go there which again, has me intrigued. One of the more surprising moments from last week’s show was Charles Alexander losing his TCW debut to “The Elation Sensation” Sammy Bach, via submission no less. We had all heard that Alexander was going to be teaming in a new regular gig with Clark Alexander as The Alexanders, but there wasn’t even a hint at that during the live show. Alexander (Charles) may also be in his second singles match of his career this week. Meanwhile Bach, who had been one of the coldest wrestlers on the roster coming into the new year, got a nice win which might signal the start of a small program for him. With another victory or two he could easily be set up for Joshua Taylor as a legitimate challenger for the TCW International title. I think that Alexander’s willingness to do a job on his debut probably went a long way toward raising the atmosphere in the backroom. Other changes instituted by Alexander, such as no drinking backstage and all workers staying until the end of the show, seem to have engendered some immediate thanks from certain workers tired with unprofessional behavior. In terms of going head-to-head with SWF, I think TCW has struck first in 2010 with a slightly better overall show in Week 1. SWF gave away Christian Faith vs. Remo, which was a much better match than anything on Total Wrestling. But, Faith vs. Remo wasn’t the Main Event. The crowd was burnt out by the time Vengeance & Marat Khoklov staggered their way through Jack Bruce & Rich Money and that contest really brought down the mood of everyone inside the Mayor Street Arena and watching at home. They had been upstaged. TCW’s selection of the Evanovich Riverside last week, basically in SWF’s backyard on the very same night SWF was running an event up Route 95 in New England, came as somewhat of a surprise and at the same time gained some traction with their fans as a pretty gutsy thing to do. To their credit TCW fans sold out the Riverside so great job TCW fans. Part 2 of Frank Jackson’s Candlelight Chat with Joel Bryant is to come this week, along with a fresh overview of the TCW roster in 2010 by Fred Jones in his famous “short” style, and my TCW Update. Thanks for following. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 WEEK 2 January 2010 Candlelight Chat w/ Joel Bryant http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/ttl/JoelBryant.jpg Part 2 of 2 by Frank Jackson - PW Candle Founder & Editor-in-Chief Editor’s Note: Just as a reminder to all of our readers this chat with former TCW Head Booker Joel Bryant occurred prior to the live broadcast of TCW Presents Total Wrestling last Tuesday. I didn’t have knowledge of any confirmed bookings for the show at the time of the interview, so apologies if a question or two seem out-of-date. Frank Jackson: Joel, following up on that, even though you think you’ve been fair to your workers during your run as Head Booker, do you think that perhaps some hungry young wrestler will want to take a strip out of you so to speak in order to impress the new boss? What do you think about speculation that has been brewing online in just these last few hours that your very presence on the card will be a distraction to everybody there? Joel Bryant: (Laughs again) Listen, if TCW gets a few more viewers because some people out there think they’ve got ‘real’ heat with me, then let them watch. But at the same time I wasn’t born yesterday, I know how this business works. It wouldn’t have mattered to certain folks backstage if I had baked them cupcakes for their birthday, they were always going to be looking for an opening - looking out for #1 - which is themselves. That is a sad by-product of what certain people think of as ‘taking the initiative,’ not only in this business but in business in general. I call it something else you can’t publish in your newsletter. Also, I don’t see how I could be viewed as a distraction when none of this was my doing. I certainly didn’t march in there to Tommy and demand to be fired so people could point fingers at me and not speak to me in the locker room. Frank Jackson: So you do anticipate some degree of weirdness in the locker room, then? Joel Bryant: I basically just answered that, Frank, and said ‘no.’ Frank Jackson: You say you weren’t born yesterday and that there will be people possibly looking to make a name for themselves at your expense, but then in the next breath you say that you don’t anticipate any backstage weirdness. Which is it? Joel Bryant: (becoming defensive) Don’t play games with me, Frank. We’ve known each other for a long time and I’d like to keep things civil when I walk out of here today. Frank Jackson: I’m just asking what I think is a fair question. I’m not attempting to bait you into anything you don’t want to say and if you feel uncomfortable we can change the line of questioning. Joel Bryant: (sighs) Let me just say, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to attack me or whatever it is to make a name for themselves. That’s the way the business works. Do I EXPECT that to happen? No. Frank Jackson: Fair enough. Let’s switch gears a little bit now anyway, Joel. You were obviously a member of the creative team that helped set a number of the current TCW storylines into motion. Is there one in particular that you’re most upset about not being able to see through to the end? And could you clue us in a little bit as to your thought process and what your plans might have been? Joel Bryant: I would have liked to see the Koshiro Ino vs. Rick Law feud all the way through because the design was to really build both guys and see if they could propel themselves through to the Main Event scene on the strength of their own performances against each other. Since the end of The Syndicate as a proper stable you have Rick Law there pretty much on his own and with Ino you’ve got another talented heavyweight who has yet to break all the way through. There’s no question in my mind that both of these guys have the talent to do so and so that’s why I would have liked to see them through. In terms of specific plans for the storyline, we don’t really get to that level until closer to a particular show unless we’ve got just one really special idea that we feel the need to plan around. I don’t think we ever had that one big idea in mind here, unless we thought for a second about Law flipping back to face. In terms of overall arc, they would have battled at Malice in Wonderland and depending on the storyline heat either Law would have won with a tainted win to extend the feud to The War to Settle the Score, or Ino would have won clean to end things and begin new directions for the workers. Frank Jackson: Really? That’s interesting that you would just end a storyline quickly based on the storyline heat from just a couple of weeks. Is that a large enough sample size? Don’t some storylines need constant air-time or publicity to build some momentum? Joel Bryant: How long have you been publishing this newsletter?! Frank Jackson: I’m being serious. Joel Bryant: Um, if the crowd doesn’t want to see it, why force-feed it to them? It comes across lousy on TV especially when the crowd has been taken out of it. That’s just my philosophy. Frank Jackson: So are you saying that new Head Booker Charles Alexander is going to force-feed us feuds that we don’t want to see? Joel Bryant: (laughs) Sure, there’ll probably be plenty of that. But to go back to your earlier question, Rocky Golden is another guy that I wish I was still in a position to support. I thought this was going to be a monumental reign for him, and he’s already gone almost half a year without even putting the belt on the line yet. But now anything can happen and I don’t have a good feeling anymore for a long Rocky Golden reign. Frank Jackson: Is there anything in particular that makes you say that or is this just a gut feeling? Joel Bryant: When I first took over the book in 2006, one of the first things I wanted to get involved with was the booking of the epic RDJ vs. Tommy Cornell bouts for the TCW World Heavyweight title. I wanted my own champion and my own championship feud. It’s only natural, I think. Rocky was one of the guys I brought in and had a good long-term plan for. Chuck might want his own guy. I’m not sure if the new guy has even met anyone on the roster yet, let alone have any solid plans for Rocky Golden or anyone else. Frank Jackson: Have you met or spoken with Charles Alexander yet? Joel Bryant: No. Frank Jackson: … Joel Bryant: Tommy called me and gave me the news, and now I report on Tuesday to the Evanovich Riverside like I’m told. Frank Jackson: What do you think about criticism that the loose backstage atmosphere in TCW is one of the major reasons you were replaced as Head Booker? Joel Bryant: The “loose backstage atmosphere?” Oh man. (starts looking around) I don’t know what to say about that. We’re grown men we don’t need to be treated like children. Frank Jackson: But there were reports of Texas Pete vomiting on fans recently after a match, Edd Stone having various women backstage in… Joel Bryant: Okay, I know where this is going now. Does it make me a bad Head Booker because I didn’t yell at Pete and tell him to quit drinking? What if I did tell him that and he still didn’t quit? Am I supposed to be his dad and monitor him throughout the day and make sure Pete is there on time? Think about the effect that sort of treatment would be perceived as by the rest of the roster. And, don’t you think the owner should take some responsibility and fire the guy? As far as Edd Stone, these are the first I’ve heard of anything like that but no, there are no rules about that right now. Frank Jackson: Are you’re saying you want Texas Pete fired? And, that during your tenure as Head Booker, you didn’t have the authority to fire people? Joel Bryant: (clearly annoyed) I came here as a favor. I see that was a mistake. Frank Jackson: Those are two bombshell statements you can’t expect me to let them slide! Joel Bryant: Yes, I could have fired people. But in Pete’s case, while we all know that vomiting on the fans is poor form, there’s technically no rule against it and no charges were pressed by the fans so I didn’t have grounds to fire him. His contract doesn’t contain a morals clause. And no, I would not like to see him fired. He’s a good guy despite the bad press he sometimes gets. Frank Jackson: Interesting. Well, one last question, any predictions about who is TCW World Heavyweight Champion at the end of the month? Joel Bryant: I really have no idea. I’d certainly leave it on Rocky and let him build himself up with some big PPV title defense wins and then maybe have a Rick Law or Wolf Hawkins or Troy Tornado ready to be there in the summer to take the belt. Quite frankly, I’d leave all of the titles on the current champs for the next few months, but that’s just me. Thanks for ending this now while we're still on speaking terms! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 WEEK 2 January 2010 TCW Update by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg BREAKING NEWS! Once again we’ve only been given advance notice of four matches for this week’s Total Wrestling. Our dedicated reader BHK1978 actually beat me in my picks last week, he went 3/4 on the announced matches while I only went 2/4. I thought for sure the TCW World Tag Team titles were going to change hands last week but obviously that didn’t happen. We do get a rematch though this week and maybe Huggins & Stone take advantage of the situation this time. And we both didn’t see RDJ’s opponent being Eddie Peak and that match ending up in a pretty standard win for Johnson. I thought RDJ did a good job during that match of conveying that he was at least worried about the potential new alliance between Tommy Cornell, Wolf Hawkins, and Troy Tornado but you never got the feeling that Peak was in line for the upset. A few guys we didn’t see last week will be in action this week, including Rocky Golden, Rick Law, and Giant Tana. No word yet as to whether the Golden match will be for the TCW World Heavyweight title. So we’re not exactly sure at this time if Golden will be in the Main Event or if we’ll see Cornell there for the second week in a row. Compete against me in my TCW prediction pool this year and win signed photos of your favorite PW Candle writers! BRINT’S PICKS TCW Presents Total Wrestling (faces listed first) live from The V. Thompson Arena (South West) TCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Wave © vs. The Canadian Animals -I thought if the Canadian Animals were going to win it out of nowhere it would have happened last week. Joey Minnesota vs. TBA -I think he gets a tin can here after his win over Joel Bryant last week. There may be plans to somehow shift the belt from Golden to Minnesota. Rocky Golden vs. Rick Law -This might be a DQ loss for Law if the title is on the line. If this is a non-title bout then I don't think you lose much by having Law win on TV. Golden could get that momentum back fairly quickly you'd expect and Law could get a nice boost. That said, still going with Golden. Giant Tana vs. Tommy Cornell - Like Tana has any chance... _____ Prediction Key: TCW Presents Total Wrestling (faces listed first) live from The V. Thompson Arena (South West) TCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Wave © vs. The Canadian Animals Joey Minnesota vs. TBA Rocky Golden vs. Rick Law Giant Tana vs. Tommy Cornell OOC: Trying to see if I can get into the regular routine of having the shows go up each Sunday evening, EST. That’s the rough plan, anyway. Then it gives me the week to post the analysis, fallout, etc.. I'll try to have the selections up on Fridays. Also, big thank you to everyone reading, and to the folks in the mod forum especially ReapeR and Kamchatka whose belts and logos I shall be incorporating into this dynasty as we roll on. And to everyone that has contributed alt renders, take requests, and otherwise help make this a great online community - much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHK1978 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 TCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Wave © vs. The L.A. Connection Joey Minnesota vs. TBA Rocky Golden vs. Rick Law Giant Tana vs. Tommy Cornell Like Tana has any chance... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsmeister Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 The New Wave © vs. The L.A. Connection Joey Minnesota vs. TBA Rocky Golden vs. Rick Law Giant Tana vs. Tommy Cornell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Slight error there... The Canadian Animals rather than the L.A. Connection in the tag match. Don't know what I was thinking (probably not thinking). Apologies for the typo. Leading into the show tomorrow night I'll have Fred Jones posting his thoughts on the roster, about 5-6 workers at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 WEEK 2 January 2010 TCW Roster 2010 Part 1by Fred Jones - PW Candle Senior Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/Fred.jpg So here we are with my quick take on the state of the TCW roster as we head into this glorious anniversary year of 2010, written in my famous “short style.” For new readers of the Candle, I am famous for over-writing and this famous “short style” thing is a tongue-in-cheek joke that has gone on entirely too long in my opinion. That’s why they leak these out only a few at a time, they’re back there editing away at the rest. For example, the last piece I wrote, New Year, Same Story for TCW, was actually a manuscript-length 50,000 words but the editors chopped it down to just a few sentences. Is it elder abuse? I have my suspicions. Can they afford to publish a 250-page newsletter? Maybe not. I go roughly in alphabetical order by first name because I'm old school and I have my ways. If I mix up the order then you know that the editor isn't doing their job. I don't often like to type with my glasses on, either, if that makes any difference to anyone. Aaron “Ace” Andrews - He's a 23-year old legitimate blue chipper who does not have very much momentum at the moment. His tag team with Chance Fortune called The L.A. Connection just lost in a dark match to The Machines last week. Seemed to me as if Joel Bryant never knew what to do with him. Maybe with the change in Head Booker we’ll see a more sustained push for Andrews to showcase what he can do. American Buffalo - Time is running out on 36-year old American Buffalo. His man beast character has been aided in recent times by the good work of manager Floyd Goldworthy and he's got decent popularity and TCW crowds can get behind him fairly easily. But he's been underused because of his noticeable lack of stamina and the big question is will he remain mired in his Texas Buffalo tag team at the expense of doing anything worthwhile as a singles performer? Benny Benson - At age 29 Benson could just be hitting his peak. He's involved in a feud with Troy Tornado and Tornado interfered in Benson's Main Event contest last week against Tommy Cornell, costing Benson the match. There have been rumors tailing Benson for a while that he, as an ex-SWFer, still needs to job to established TCW stars for a while longer before he starts going over top TCW talent. I think if Benson is getting over using a fun babyface gimmick in TCW, why the heck don't you push the guy? And while he doesn’t have an amazing in-ring arsenal he is fairly versatile and pretty consistent. Brent Hill - One half of the legendary Machines tag team with John Anderson, veteran Brent Hill is one of the oldest wrestlers on the roster at 39 and may be the best overall performer as well. He can tell a great in-ring story and sells well, can brawl or mat wrestle, has seemingly recovered fully from his bad injury, what else can you say? At his age and with his declining power, we may get to see one more title reign for The Machines before Brent decides to call it quits. I don’t think he has any designs at this point in his career to go singles and will probably step away or perhaps dissolve the team within the next year so that Anderson can go his own way with no hard feelings. Bryan Vessey - Rumors of steroid use have followed Vessey back from Japan and while no official allegations have been made it has made people look twice at Vessey's strong performances at the advancing age of 38. The fact that he's working a clean cut gimmick too seems to me that a new feud with straight edge Tommy Cornell would be a perfect next step if they want to exploit this situation. Vessey has to deal with Eddie Peak first, and doesn't seem like he's in danger of losing that feud. He may also be joining up with RDJ & Joey Minnesota as a resistance group against Cornell, Hawkins, and Tornado. And of course, please feel free to send any questions about specific workers directly to my attention and I'll try to address it in a future column. Part 2 of this series out tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 WEEK 2 January 2010 TCW Roster 2010 Part 2by Fred Jones - PW Candle Senior Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/Fred.jpg So here’s the next batch of five. I’m told by the tyrannical editors of the PW Candle that they plan for this whole project to be finished by the end of the month. I pointed out to them that I had everything already written but, as usual, it is taking them a long time to edit it. I say just put everything in and let the reader decide what to read or not. As a professional journalist at some point you have to stand up and say “this just isn’t right.” Then you get some crazy guy talking about establishing a quasi-fascist society where only the fascists will be persecuted. You see what I’m saying? It doesn’t make any sense. I go roughly in alphabetical order by first name. You can check out my profiles of Aaron Andrews, American Buffalo, Benny Benson, Brent Hill, and Bryan Vessey HERE. “Lucky” Chance Fortune – When you think of a 30-year old teen idol, you might think of ZEN: Art of Wrestling or Revolution Australian Wrestling, not Total Championship Wrestling. Just about the only thing he’s been lucky about thus far in his TCW career has been his L.A. Connection tag team with Aaron Andrews, and he’s still had to deal with most of the praise going Andrews’ way. I hear he has a finisher called the Stroke of Luck which is a pump kick, but I’ve never seen it performed. Charles Alexander – The ultimate wildcard. Who didn’t think 21-year old lightweight Alexander was going over ice cold Sammy Bach last week? Only the delusional. But Karen Killer proved an efficient distraction and Bach somehow stole the victory over his new boss. As the Head Booker, and presumably the new General Manager of Total Wrestling, Alexander can pretty much do as he pleases. We still haven’t seen a hint of a rumored “The Alexanders” tag team with Clark Alexander though and it remains to be seen if he has any major plans for himself as an in-ring player in TCW’s future. Charlie Thatcher – He’s a big guy. There’s not much more to it than that. The 34-year old runs interference for Edd Stone and helps make up an informal four person group with Stone, Freddy & Laura Huggins. Established workers don’t like being in the ring with him because of his poor safety record. He does have great size and good menace but it seems like his time with TCW may be nearing an end. If I was running the company, Thatcher would have been out the door years ago. Clark Alexander – A consistent worker with OK athleticism, Alexander has slipped from the midcard in recent years after a decent run with his Ice Man C.A. gimmick. Trying to be a proud warrior in line with his Hawaiian heritage, he hasn’t really caught on with the TCW crowd and has been jobbing to top heel stars for as long as I can remember. Once again he’s supposed to be part of this mythic “The Alexanders” tag team, but nothing has come of the rumors. It would only benefit Clark if it does happen because at 34 years old he needs the in-ring action right now. Danny Fonzarelli – I am in the very vocal minority of fans who keep pushing for a Jay Darkness TCW return. I mean, Danny Fonzarelli using the Fade to Black? Come on! Now that he’s gained some legitimacy using the fun babyface gimmick, pull the string and reintroduce him as a Main Event level Jay Darkness! Wishful thinking, I’m sure. But this 34-year old seems ready to take advantage of any opportunity in front of him so maybe if some buzz gets behind the movement we can make it happen! He still needs to work on improving his selling and psychology in my opinion, but he’s good on camera and a decent performer and could be a valuable gateway roster member. And of course, please feel free to send any questions about specific workers directly to my attention and I'll try to address it in a future column. Part 3 of this series out soon! Stay tuned tonight for LIVE COVERAGE! of TCW Presents Total Wrestling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 WEEK 2 January 2010 LIVE COVERAGE! of TCW Presents Total Wrestling by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg Venue: The V. Thompson Arena (South West) Attendance: 10,000 - SELL OUT! Live! on GNN Total Sports http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/TCW1.jpg Before the show went live there were two dark matches: D1 – The L.A. Connection vs. The Tag Team Specialists In a live-action training match, Joel Bryant got the win for The Tag Team Specialists after hitting his One Shot Drop (overhead flip slam) on Chance Fortune at 8:27. My rating: 59: Just crush Chance Fortune a little more why don’t you? D2 – Flying Jimmy Foxx & Harry Allen vs. Eddie Peak & Sammy Bach (w/ Karen Killer) There was some good action in this match, but not much of a response from the sell-out crowd chomping at the bit for the main show to begin. Eddie Peak needed a win after his loss to RDJ last week and got the pin on Harry Allen at 7:42 after a Peak of Perfection (crucifix powerbomb). Bach literally gets to tag along to scoop up some bonus momentum. My rating: 64: There certainly have been some tag matches along with the new Head Booker. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon how you look on it) it might not be the worst thing in the world right now that most of them have been dark matches. - Show begins with another short video package hyping 2010 as TCW's 15th anniversary year. 1 – Bryan Vessey vs. Charlie Thatcher Thatcher looked gassed by the time Bryan Vessey wrapped this one up at the 8:08 mark. It was pretty impressive to see Vessey end the match with a Vessey Plex (spinning explosion suplex) on the much bigger Thatcher. A good opening bout but in addition to looking tired, Thatcher was knocked a bit for not selling well during his awkward comeback spots. After regrouping inside the ring after the loss, Thatcher stayed at ringside for the announcement of The Canadian Animals so he could keep an eye over Edd Stone. My rating: 73, Better than the opening match that we saw last week. Vessey came across well. If I were Edd Stone I’d want a new bodyguard. 2 - TCW World Tag Team Championship The New Wave © vs. The Canadian Animals (with Laura Huggins & Charlie Thatcher) Again we were treated to intermittent intervals of good action, followed by lulls with no heat. It led for a downer from the match before. Scout got the win this time by submission with a Special Force (mutilation armbar) on Edd Stone at 7:32. The New Wave make their second successful TCW World Tag Team title defense. My rating: 69, More good work from Laura Huggins at ringside just as we saw last week, but this match was, perhaps surprisingly, a step down from the opener. 3- TCW World Heavyweight Championship Rocky Golden © vs. Rick Law The appearance of this match where it came on the card left many in the audience confused. Here was the first title defense of Rocky Golden and it hadn’t really been hyped at all. Plus, Rocky Golden didn’t win clean. He won after 16:28 largely uninspired minutes after Sam Keith ran to the ring and accidentally hit Rick Law. The fans didn’t like the length, or the outcome. My rating: 68, The action was great and the crowd was good, it was just a badly booked match. This has to be a message to Golden that his very first title defense comes as the #3 match on a TV show. At least he got the victory. -RDJ is found backstage bloody and unconscious. Paramedics come rushing in as the camera returns back to the announce table. There is some brief speculation from Kyle Rhodes that perhaps Eddie Peak was behind it. But Jason Azaria posited the theory that it was probably Tommy Cornell, Wolf Hawkins, or Troy Tornado. Segment sends a nice jolt of energy into the crowd. 4- Charles Alexander vs. Wolf Hawkins Great action right from the start of this one and it lasted throughout as Hawkins got to show us the Full Moon Rising (running enzuigiri kick) on TV for the first time in 2010. The match clocked in at 16:36 and clearly some fans didn’t want to see Alexander out there for that long. But that’s what they got. A solid win for Hawkins but he almost had to beat Alexander after Alexander’s loss to Sammy Bach last week. My rating: 82, clean win for Hawkins, but a respectable showing by Alexander. He hasn’t been on the winning side of things yet in TCW but he is at least showing that he’s no pushover. 5- Joey Minnesota vs. Sam Keith After all of these years I still love a good Empire Spiral (back suplex whipped around into a spike slam), and we got one at the 35:35 point of the match that was clearly the feature bout of the night. Wolf Hawkins ran in and attacked Minnesota during the match but it didn’t matter, Minnesota was able to outlast the attack by resting on the outside, and then catching a tiring Keith in the ring with an all-out, last-gasp offensive. A surprised Keith looked disappointed at first, but then smirked after the loss and said “just you wait” over and over again. My rating: 82, certainly a big win for Joey Minnesota. There’s a lot of building to do now in a short window with Keith if he’s supposed to be the challenger for Rocky Golden at Malice in Wonderland. 6- Giant Tana vs. Tommy Cornell Tana was completely exhausted by the end of this one, but it was still a great match with a crowd that hung in there. Not much doubt though about the final outcome even through the story told in-ring, and Cornell treated the crowd to the Guilt Trip (Judo choke sleeper) for the second week in a row. My rating: 82, after that long Minnesota – Keith match this was a more than respectable follow-up. Nothing shocking by any means, solid enough that it wasn’t completely lost after that 30+ minute contest. For the second week in a row the show closes on Tommy Cornell. I wonder if Minnesota – Cornell is going to be the headliner for Malice in Wonderland. Thanks all for following. I'll be back soon with further analysis of the show and other industry reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 WEEK 2 January 2010 TCW Roster 2010 Part 3by Fred Jones - PW Candle Senior Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/Fred.jpg Here’s the next batch of five. Remember I wrote these prior to the Week 2 Total Wrestling so apologies if anything seems out-of-place. Brint Williams will have the Week 3 TCW Report up later today, Frank Jackson will be announcing the big news of the guest for his next Candlelight Chat in the next day or so, and more of my roster overview for 2010 in the coming days. I go roughly in alphabetical order by first name. You can check out Part 1 of my profiles of Aaron Andrews, American Buffalo, Benny Benson, Brent Hill, and Bryan Vessey HERE. And Part 2 which includes the profiles of Chance Fortune, Charles Alexander, Charlie Thatcher, Clark Alexander, and Danny Fonzarelli are HERE. “The Hardcore Assassin” Eddie Peak – Eddie Peak is one of the toughest brawlers going today. There are rumors that he is working hard behind-the-scenes to bring his brother Doug to TCW ever since he learned about the Head Booker change from Joel Bryant to Charles Alexander. He’s supposedly involved in a feud with Bryan Vessey but there hasn’t been much build on TV for the last couple of weeks. Neither has there been any action from “The Hellfire Club,” the loose association of Peak, American Buffalo, and Genghis Rahn. Despite that, the 33-year old is the consummate “psycho heel” and seems to be positioned for a nice run with TCW in 2010. “The 24 Hour Party Animal” Edd Stone – At the tender age of 23, Edd Stone has been #winning his entire life. He’s still more famous for being the guy fired by his own dad from North of the Border Pro Wrestling in Canada than being the reigning TCW All Action Champion or a major draw in the States, but if sources are correct then Stone may soon fine himself in a high-profile feud with fellow lightweight and new TCW Head Booker Charles Alexander. Stone’s tag team The Canadian Animals with Freddy Huggins has been another bright spot in Stone’s blossoming TCW career. But his association with bodyguard Charlie Thatcher has thus far proven ineffective with the audience, with long-time TCW fans wondering exactly why Stone needs a bodyguard in the first place. “The Dancing Fool” Flying Jimmy Foxx – The 29-year old Foxx is right on the cusp of either being considered an “ex-phenom,” a serviceable worker, or a complete flop, no one can really tell which one it is just yet though. He’s not breaking through to anywhere with his current dancing gimmick, that’s for certain, and has been a punching bag for any opponent that gets into the ring with him. Still, there are signs that Foxx could be a really fine in-ring performer for TCW if he’d just put in a little more effort during training and moved away from the dancing routine. “Teen Idol” Freddy Huggins – Freddy is a 4-time TCW All Action Champion with a tangible sense of destiny that bigger achievements lay ahead. TCW fans certainly don’t mind seeing Laura Huggins at ringside during his matches which is another plus in Freddy’s favor. Laura is Freddy’s sister and is getting over well as the “executive assistant”/manager. She can prove an effective distraction and has been noted lately for her improving work at ringside. Freddy will likely be moving up to the TCW International title scene in the near future, while his Canadian Animals tag team with Edd Stone could make a serious push for the tag straps later in the year. I think both 25-year old Huggins and 23-year old Stone are still just a touch too green to expect really huge things from either in 2010. “The Arizona Assassin” Genghis Rahn – 39-year old Rahn has been loyal to TCW since joining in 1998 and is one of those cornerstone guys that despite his fading skills almost has to stay with the company so there’s a living link to the past. Plus, there’s presumably still more to come from The Hellfire Club (members mentioned above) and there might be a feud in the works with Danny Fonzarelli. Rahn is one of the first names that come to mind in all of professional wrestling when one mentions “wild brawlers.” And wouldn’t it be simply amazing if Fonzarelli feuds for a bit with Rahn and then comes back as Jay Darkness and takes over The Hellfire Club? I’d be hooked! But, I don't think we'll be seeing anything like that in the near future. Just wishful thinking. Of course, please feel free to send any questions about specific workers, wrestlers you’d like to see in the Candlelight Chat, or questions about the business in general to any of the PW Candle writers and we’ll try to address it in a future column. Part 4 of this series out soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 WEEK 3 January 2010 TCW Report by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg QUICK HITS:For the second week in a row TCW Presents Total Wrestling did a 5.22 on GNN Total Sports. SWF Supreme TV did a 7.63 on the same night on C.A.N.N., down ever-so-slightly from last week’s 7.66. TCW has secured brand new PPV deals with Premier Pay CAN-TV and Seleccion Mexico. The hot rumor regarding the announce team of Jason Azaria and Kyle Rhodes these days is that they shall be joined on the next episode of Total Wrestling by an unknown Australian colour-commentator named Swoop McCarthy in the role of “heel” announcer. TCW has announced the signing of a number of young wrestlers, including Sam Keith’s sons Matt and Greg Keith, and independent names James Prudence, and Steven Parker. This has only furthered speculation about the new TCW concept show that is expected to be pitched to networks next month. SWF’s When Hell Freezes over at the Mississippi Bowl in the South East didn’t sell out. They had just over 46,000 in attendance. The week after TCW sold out the 10,000-seat Evanovich Riverside in the Tri State area, SWF couldn’t sell out 15,000-seat Plum Park for Supreme TV (drawing 13,580). Ring of Fire laid off five wrestlers this week, including Gob Narfi, Rhys Vali, and Nigel Svensson. COMMENTARY: Another solid episode of Total Wrestling this week up against another flat episode of SWF's Supreme TV. SWF once again upstaged their own TV Main Event with the match before it as fans were let down with Jack Bruce beating Marat Khoklov after an epic Rich Money victory over Remo and Gregory Black in a Three-Way Match. These were two pretty big matches to give away on TV just two days before their first PPV of the year, When Hell Freezes Over. And for some, it showed. A Rich Money vs. Remo rematch (with Money winning again) at the PPV didn't go over well, although the Main Event of Eric Eisen retaining the SWF title over Christian Faith was actually the best match on a decent overall PPV. Some shaky stuff, especially when you figure in the attendance numbers, from Universe Supreme. TCW hasn't exactly given us many surprises in the first two weeks of the Charles Alexander era, although the spot last week with Ricky Dale Johnson being discovered backstage by staff members has been a major talking point this week. Even though the rating for Total Wrestling stayed exactly the same as last week, there was certainly a sense of energy in the V. Thompson Arena that has been lacking in recent months. It remains to be seen if this has anything to do with the change in TCW's Head Booker, and if it does, if any of this momentum can be carried over into something more sustainable than just a couple of nice weeks for the company. TCW also made a major splash this week by bringing in four promising new wrestlers and the speculation is that Sam Keith's sons Matt & Greg Keith, along with new arrivals Steven Parker and James Prudence, will be taking part in TCW's new "concept show" that we keep hearing murmurs about. Alexander also secured brand new one-year PPV deals in Canada and Mexico in what seem like no-lose propositions and will expose the promotion to more potential customers. As for the show itself, a few talking points. The first was the appearance of Rocky Golden's first TCW World Heavyweight title defense as the third match on the card. Two immediate reactions sprang to mind: why third on the card, and why no pre-match hype for the title defense? It turned out to be a pretty good match with Rick Law, but people in the audience were just confused. And if you tuned in at the top of the show you would have had no idea that the World Championship would be on the line later in the night. They've basically had the belts off-air for months at a time and then they're simply rolling them back into the rotation without even a mention? This is a serious problem in planning. I think TCW could have done so much more here with the situation and they seem to be squandering an excellent opportunity. PW Candle Senior Columnist Fred Jones joked with me that maybe people need to be re-introduced to the concept of title matches so they aren't caught off guard when they see them at Malice in Wonderland at the end of the month. But knowing TCW's recent history, they'll probably have the title matches all through January on TV and then leave them off the PPV. Also, what do we make of Rocky Golden right now? Can he do a 30+ minute Main Event? Does Alexander have any faith in him? Was this booking, combined with being left off the show completely a week ago, a clear signal that Golden isn't going to get the sort of push he had been receiving in recent months? All valid questions raised by Golden's first appearance of 2010. Next talking point, I was a little disappointed with the TCW World Tag Team championship rematch this week between The New Wave and The Canadian Animals. Instead of bringing the level up a bit from their match a week ago, I thought it was nearly identical and so was a let-down. Also, this seemed to be a match that featured more of Scout and when that has happened recently Guide sometimes comes across poorly. With The Machines getting a dark match win over The L.A. Connection it looks like we’re probably headed for a New Wave vs. The Machines clash at Malice. Will be interesting to see how they get to there in the next two weeks. Also in the next two weeks, there are a couple of storylines that need help and/or clarification. We didn’t see any more of Bryan Vessey joining up with RDJ and Joey Minnesota this week, but now with the RDJ beatdown and possible injury maybe they were planning to hold off on that until this coming week where now Minnesota is in a position where he “needs” Vessey’s help more than ever. There are a couple of different directions TCW can go with the attack, the obvious one is the new group of Tommy Cornell, Wolf Hawkins, and Troy Tornado, who, I believe, are a yet unnamed group and are classifying themselves solely as a "loose alliance." Another interesting theory is that Eddie Peak is bringing his brother Doug to TCW and that having the Hellfire Club behind it all is the perfect way to introduce Doug and breathe some life into that stable at the same time. Sam Keith is now coming off a loss after losing to Minnesota even though he was aided by Wolf Hawkins attacking Minnesota during the match, so obviously needs to get stronger if he’s going to end his feud with Rocky Golden for the title at Malice. And there’s been virtually no mention of Koshiro Ino vs. Rick Law, almost as if that feud has been completely forgotten. Maybe there’s more to come, but with only two weeks to go until TCW’s first PPV of the year it’s going to be a tight squeeze. And you don’t really expect anything except squash matches on TV from here on in I would guess. Lastly, I've had no confirmation on the new colour commentator situation. More on that as we learn anything new. And... more of Fred Jones’ roster overview tomorrow, my TCW Update on Friday, and, of course, live coverage of Total Wrestling on Sunday night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Cowboy Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 WEEK 3 January 2010 TCW Update by Brint Williams - PW Candle TCW Columnist http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r203/gratefulcowboy/pw%20candle/2009-04-07-businessman.jpg BREAKING NEWS! We have six matches announced in advance of this week’s Total Wrestling, a slight uptick from the four we've seen for the last couple of weeks. New prognosticator Woodsmeister matched my amazing skills by going 4/4 on the announced matches last week, while dedicated reader BHK1978 went 3/4 to bring his season total to a respectable 6/8. Of course my 6/8 looks just a touch better, but we'll see how things shake out as this keeps up. No champions at all in the announced matches which is kind of odd, I thought for sure we'd see an International or at the very least an All Action defense this week. This of course means another possible non-booking for Rocky Golden. Speculation mounts as to what the heck is going on with the TCW World Heavyweight champ. The opening two matches to this card look pretty straightforward, but from there it gets a little tricky. And TCW looks like they are going to start to capitalize on some recent buzz with the announced Main Event. Looks like a good one, will be interested to see how it finishes. Compete against me in my TCW prediction pool this year and win signed photos of your favorite PW Candle writers! BRINT’S PICKS TCW Presents Total Wrestling (faces listed first) live from The V. Thompson Arena (South West) Harry Allen vs. Sam Keith Koshiro Ino vs. Charlie Thatcher Aaron Andrews vs. Rick Law Giant Tana vs. Eddie Peak Danny Fonzarelli vs. Troy Tornado Bryan Vessey & Joey Minnesota vs. Tommy Cornell & Wolf Hawkins Prediction Key: TCW Presents Total Wrestling (faces listed first) live from The V. Thompson Arena (South West) Harry Allen vs. Sam Keith Koshiro Ino vs. Charlie Thatcher Aaron Andrews vs. Rick Law Giant Tana vs. Eddie Peak Danny Fonzarelli vs. Troy Tornado Bryan Vessey & Joey Minnesota vs. Tommy Cornell & Wolf Hawkins OOC: If anyone has any suggestions for the Candlelight Chats, please let me know. Doesn't necessarily have to be someone from TCW. Or, when I do announce an upcoming chat, please feel free to submit questions. The writers take requests! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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