[Cverse '97] NYCW: Generation Old School

1PWfan · October 24, 2014

From the Pages of Total Extreme Wrestling Magazine: Buddy Rogers’ New York Minute

January ‘97

As anyone knows who’s been reading this column knows, NYCW have been looking to change their booking team for a while. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to any new readers, though; anyone who’s watched New York’s most recent shows can attest to just how stale they’ve become, with almost nothing going on outside of the main event World vs. Doom feud and a main event that’s so stagnant it’s starting to fossilise. Now, it would be unfair to lay all the blame at the door of NYCW’s current booker Corporal Doom- booking a small fed like New York is challenging enough to begin with, and the company’s attempts to stay out of the East Coast Wars have left it isolated rather than safely disengaged- but it’s equally hard to deny that Doom’s probably taken the company as far as he can, and a new hand might be needed if Stomper wants his company to survive into the new millennium.

Well, in an exclusive update I can reveal that Stomper has apparently taken the step of replacing Doom as NYCW’s head booker with veteran manager and current NYCW worker Tony Kowalski.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/TonyKowalski_zpsa2a6430f.jpg
Tony Kowalski

Kowalski, who’s probably best known either for his current run managing Morpheus or for the fact that his maternal grandfather is Gene Plumelli, apparently took at the start of the year, and is already making his presence felt with a number of changes to the roster; Oscar, ‘Everest’ Elmer Kelly and Edwin D. Bashford have all been let go, and there’s rumours of further dismissals coming as new talent arrives. There’s also a suggestion that Tony is looking to revamp the non-wrestling talent as well, with new referees and commentary teamsters coming in; again, anyone who’s heard Kenny O’Quinn’s attempts at commentary would have to assume that he’s the one being replaced, but there’s a chance that Tony may replace Marv Earnest as well.

Now, obviously as news of this has leaked out there’s been a lot of debate about how well Tony’s going to work out as NYCW’s booker, given that he’s not known to have any experience of that kind of role. My take on it is, and always has been- with NYCW that really doesn’t matter. Make no mistake about it, New York is and always will be The Stomper’s brainchild, and as long as he owns the company NYCW will continue to look basically the same. So yeah, maybe Tony Kowalski won’t be the best booker wrestling’s ever seen, but everything you seen onscreen will have gone through the Stomper first.

In next month’s column I’ll be bringing you an exclusive interview with Tony as we discuss his plans for NYCW and the fallout from his first show as booker, Rush Hour (due as always on the third Saturday of the month). ‘Til then, fans, stay safe and I’ll see you at Rush Hour.

Buddy Rogers

Coming up: A rundown of the NYCW Roster and the card for NYCW Rush Hour '97

1PWfan · October 24, 2014

NYCW- The Roster

Main Event

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/CorporalDoom_97_zps32b2b0f8.jpg

Corporal Doom (Current NYCW World Champion)

Alignment: Face

Age: 39 Billed From: Boston, Massachusetts

Entrance Music: Stars and Stripes Forever- John Philip Sousa

Finisher: Corporal Punishment (Tombstone Piledriver)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/RoccothePlumber_zpsdc2ea133.jpg

Rocco The Plumber

Alignment: Heel

Age: 50 Billed From: The Bronx, New York City

Entrance Music: Live with Me- The Rolling Stones

Finisher: Plunge the Depths (Rocco uses his sink-plunger to choke out the opposition)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/TheStomper_zpsee40fd11.jpg

The Stomper

Alignment: Face

Age: 47 Billed From: New York City

Entrance Music: New York, New York- Frank Sinatra

Finisher: Bronx Elbow Drop (Running Elbow Drop)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/SheikMustafa_zpsc2c5440c.jpg

Sheik Mustafa

Alignment: Heel

Age: 46 Billed From: Iraq

Entrance Music: Ardulfurataini Watan (The Iraqi National Anthem)

Finisher: Mustafa Victory (Running Elbow Smash)

Upper Midcard

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/LobsterWarrior_alt1_zps462550a2.jpg

Chris Storm

Alignment: Face

Age: 23 Billed From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Entrance Music: Blitzkrieg Bop- The Ramones

Finisher: C-Stunner (Stunner)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/ErnestMason_zps9f99b65a.jpg

Ernest Mason

Alignment: Face

Age: 48 Billed From: Buffalo, New York

Entrance Music: The Core- Eric Clapton

Finisher: Mace Shot (Fujiwara Armbar0

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/RodBeams_zps285e4ca7.jpg

Rod Beams

Alignment: Heel

Age: 49 Billed From: The Bronx, New York City

Entrance Music: Live with Me- The Rolling Stones

Finisher: Brick to the Head (Illicit Brick strike)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/TravisCentury_zpsabfac240.jpg

Travis Century

Alignment: Heel

Age: 33 Billed From: Harlan, Kentucky

Entrance Music: Can I Play with Madness- Iron Maiden

Finisher: Salvation (Crucifix Powerbomb)

Midcard

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/BarryKingman_zps8c3dc920.jpg

Barry Kingman (Current NYCW US Champion)

Alignment: Heel

Age: 22 Billed From: Sacramento, California

Entrance Music: Mama Kin- Aerosmith

Finisher: Black Out (Implant DDT), Kingman Krippler (Boston Crab)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/CoyoteDynamite_zps7761991d.jpg http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/WileySteinway_zpse74d5f93.jpg

Coyote Dynamite & Wiley Steinway- Wiley Coyote (Current NYCW Tag Team Champions)

Alignment: Face

Ages: 31 & 28 Billed From: El Paso Texas

Entrance Music: La Grange- ZZ Top

Finishers: Spinebuster (Coyote), Steinway Highway (Running Samoan Drop, Steinway), ACME Bomb (Aided Sit-Out Powerbomb, Double Team)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/RandallHopkirk_zps01a540e1.jpg

Randall Hopkirk

Alignment: Face

Age: 32 Billed From: New Orleans, Louisiana

Entrance Music: (We Are) The Road Crew- Motorhead

Finisher: Randallism (Full Nelson Slam)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/RichMoney_zpsd637ee09.jpg

Rich Money

Alignment: Heel

Age: 21 Billed From: Greenwich, Connecticut

Entrance Music: Money- Pink Floyd

Finisher: Dollars from Heaven (Frog Splash)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/TheMaskedMauler_zpse3854a82.jpg

The Masked Mauler

Alignment: Heel

Age: 24 Billed From: Parts Unknown

Entrance Music: Bad Moon Rising- Creedence Clearwater Revival

Finisher: Iron Claw

Lower Midcard

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/BryanHolmes_zps8966f893.jpg

Bryan Holmes

Alignment: Heel

Age: 25 Billed From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Entrance Music: Epic- Faith No More

Finishers: Cyclone Shock Kick (Pele Kick), Final Impact (Dragon Suplex)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/BigCatBrandon_alt1_zps6ba1b28d.jpg

James Brandon

Alignment: Heel

Age: 20 Billed From: Baltimore, Maryland

Entrance Music: Cowboys from Hell- Pantera

Finishers: Big Cat Pounce (Spear), Brandon Bomb Drop (Sit-Out Powerbomb)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/JungleJack_zps966b67da.jpg

Jungle Jack

Alignment: Face

Age: 21 Billed From: The Jungles of Borneo

Entrance Music: Welcome to the Jungle- Guns n’ Roses

Finisher: Jungle Jack-Jammer (Jackhammer)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/AmericanBuffalo_zpsc54ea0b7.jpg

Morpheus

Alignment: Heel

Age: 23 Billed From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Entrance Music: Enter Sandman- Metallica

Finisher: The Nightmare (Running Powerslam)

Openers

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/EddieChandler_alt1_zps727e8fed.jpg

Eddie Chandler

Alignment: Face

Age: 21 Billed From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Entrance Music: Limelight- Rush

Finisher: Fabulous Stretch (Cattle Mutilation Double Armbar)

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/HumanArsenal_zpsd2d5f31a.jpg

Human Arsenal

Alignment: Heel

Age: 21 Billed From: Carson City, Nevada

Entrance Music: Alive- Pearl Jam

Finisher: Ammo Dump (Fireman’s Carry dropped into a kick to the gut)

Non-Wrestlers

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/MarvinEarnest_alt3_zpsc5d7a533.jpg

Marv Earnest

Announcer

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/EmmaChase_alt1_zps79f4fc55.jpg

Emma Chase

Colour Commentator

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/BrutusMcBride_zps9e4aa7b4.jpg

Brutus McBride

Manager

Clients: Wiley Coyote

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/TonyKowalski_zpsa2a6430f.jpg

Tony Kowalski

Manager

Clients: Bryan Holmes, Barry Kingman

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/CripplerRayKingman_zpsb79def60.jpg http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/MitchHaggans_zps4fb8b871.jpg

Crippler Ray Kingman and Mitch Haggans

Road Agents

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/BabyJamie_zpsd3160617.jpg http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/RMStones_zpscc6d8c4b.jpg

Baby Jamie and R.M. Stones

Referee

****

Card for NYCW Rush Hour ‘97

FOR THE NYCW WORLD TITLE

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper & Ernest Mason vs. Travis Century & Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. The Working Men (Rocco The Plumber & Rod Beams)

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE

Jungle Jack vs. Barry Kingman ©

Randall Hopkirk & ??? vs. Rich Money & The Masked Mauler

Chris Storm vs. Human Arsenal

Eddie Chandler vs. Bryan Holmes

Uncrewed · October 24, 2014

FOR THE NYCW WORLD TITLE

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper & Ernest Mason vs. Travis Century & Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. The Working Men (Rocco The Plumber & Rod Beams)

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE

Jungle Jack vs. Barry Kingman ©

Randall Hopkirk & ??? vs. Rich Money & The Masked Mauler

Chris Storm vs. Human Arsenal

Eddie Chandler vs. Bryan Holmes

Tiberious · October 25, 2014

Nice to see another one of your diary's come up.

Card for NYCW Rush Hour ‘97

FOR THE NYCW WORLD TITLE

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa

No title change on the first show.

The Stomper & Ernest Mason vs. Travis Century & Morpheus

You do need new heels to challenge Doom, but I went with the heels mainly so I don't make the exact same pics as Unscrewed.

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. The Working Men (Rocco The Plumber & Rod Beams)

Even by NYCW standards The Working Men are old.

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE

Jungle Jack vs. Barry Kingman ©

No title changes so quickly.

Randall Hopkirk & ??? vs. Rich Money & The Masked Mauler

I'm a sucker for the mystery man rule.

Chris Storm vs. Human Arsenal

The combined age's of this match are dangerously low for NYCW standards.

Eddie Chandler vs. Bryan Holmes

Holmes could be a strong asset for you if he can manage to stand out as something other than midcard workrate guy.

Midnightnick · October 25, 2014

FOR THE NYCW WORLD TITLE

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper & Ernest Mason vs. Travis Century & Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. The Working Men (Rocco The Plumber & Rod Beams)

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE

Jungle Jack vs. Barry Kingman ©

Randall Hopkirk & ??? vs. Rich Money & The Masked Mauler

Chris Storm vs. Human Arsenal

Eddie Chandler vs. Bryan Holmes

Jaded · October 25, 2014

One of my favourite dynasty writers doing my favourite mod? Awesome!

FOR THE NYCW WORLD TITLE

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper & Ernest Mason vs. Travis Century & Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. The Working Men (Rocco The Plumber & Rod Beams)

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE

Jungle Jack vs. Barry Kingman ©

Randall Hopkirk & ??? vs. Rich Money & The Masked Mauler

Chris Storm vs. Human Arsenal

Eddie Chandler vs. Bryan Holmes

1PWfan · October 28, 2014

NYCW Rush Hour ‘97

Live to DVD from The Queen City Ballroom

Tuesday, Week 3, January

Audience: 853

The Show

Chris Storm vs. Human Arsenal

The first job any booker has is getting the hang of exactly what the roster’s capable of, so this one was basically a squash match to figure out where Storm and Arsenal stood. The answer looks to be ‘pretty high up’; this was a good match, given Arsenal’s lack of name value, and while neither man improved for these two that’s more of an optional extra than a vital step in their progress. Chris is easily our youngest top-line star, and whilst I’m not sure about whether he’ll make a viable replacement for the likes of Ernie Mason or Stomper he’s got the potential to develop that way. As for Arsenal, he’s a great talent with real potential but just doesn’t have the name value to move off the bottom of the card just yet. It’s largely because of that that he took the loss, going down to the C-Stunner at 6:29.

Winner: Chris Storm Match Rating: D

*

It’s promo time, as Stars and Stripes Forever announces the arrival of Corporal Doom, much to the delight of the crowd

“TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN-SHUN!”

The crowd come to attention (well, as much as they can when most of them are sitting down) in acknowledgement of Doom’s well-worn catchphrase

“It seems like these days everybody’s got me locked in their sights. Everywhere I turn, somebody’s gunning for me, and they’re gunning for this; the NYCW World Championship Title that I possess. I turn around one way, I got Travis Century going crazy and screaming in my ear about Salvation. I turn the other way, I got The American Nightmare Morpheus coming at me. I got The Stomper trying to get his hands on this belt anyway the rules allow, and to cap it all of I’ve got Sheik Mustafa on my six the whole time.

“Tonight, Mustafa, tonight you get the chance you’ve been screaming for ever since the last time I whupped you like the foreign dog you are. You’re tough, Mustafa, I won’t ever deny that, but you don’t have what I have. You don’t have the support of the great people of the United States of America and you don’t have the will of an American Man. You bring all the fury you got tonight, Mustafa, but you better be prepared for some Corporal Punishment! HOO-RAH!”

Doom’s promos always receive a warm reception and this one was much the same.

Rating: C

*

Bryan Holmes vs. Eddie Chandler

This was another squash match to show off some of our new stars, and given their lack of name value it went well. Mind you, it beats why nobody’s signed up Bryan Holmes before now; he’s one of the finest young technical wrestlers in the US, and should prove a good fit for us (unless he goes off to Japan, which is always a possibility). As for Eddie, he’s good but nothing massively special just yet- given time he’ll improve, and with a regular gig at CGC in Canada that shouldn’t be an issue. Until then, though, he’s our designated face jobber, and went down to Bryan Holmes tonight in 5:41 after Bryan got him off-guard with the Cyclone Shock Kick.

Winner: Bryan Holmes Match Rating: D

*

(We Are) The Road Crew announces Randall Hopkirk’s arrival to the ring for his match, but before he can even get in the ring The Vandal’s jumped by his opponents Rich Money and The Masked Mauler, who proceed to beat him down with a series of vicious chair shots before Rich goes up top for Dollars from Heaven. Before he can hit the move, though, Big Cat Brandon comes to the rescue, closely followed by Baby Jamie as the bell rings for the start of the match.

This segment was largely there to set up Brandon’s face turn and even the roster up- the turn went well, but using midcard guys meant that the crowd’s reaction was never going to be great.

Rating: E-

*

Randall Hopkirk & Big Cat Brandon vs. Rich Money & The Masked Mauler

If you wanted to sum up the problems with NYCW in a single match, this’d be a good place to start. We’ve got some good young talent- okay, Brandon’s greener than grass but he can brawl d@mn well, and Rich is something else- but above them there’s a whole raft of vaguely mediocre stars like Randall and Mauler. Now, to be absolutely fair Randall’s a great promo and will get more chances to showcase that, but I’m wondering what exactly Mauler brings to the ring other than a classic gimmick (and frankly, the Masked Mauler ain’t no Masked Patriot). What’s worse, not only was Mauler the weakest wrestler in this match he didn't even have the good grace to take the pinfall, instead letting Rich eat a Randallism at 9:48 whilst Mauler was held off by Brandon.

Winners: Randall Hopkirk & Big Cat Brandon Match Rating: D-

*

It’s promo time once again, and this time it’s my turn as I head out to hype up Barry Kingman’s match with Jungle Jack

“Are you kiddin’ me? Are you freakin’ kiddin me? You’re putting this man, Barry Kingman, the second-generation superstar, the finest young wrestler ever to sign up to the Kowalski Company, you’re puttin’ my client up against some Jungle-bunny savage like Jungle Jack? Jackie boy, you might be big, you might be strong, heck, you might even pass a smart in whatever god-forsaken part of the world you come from, but you ain’t Kowalski-approved, and you ain’t beatin’ my boy Barry K, you got that?”

I won’t claim to be the best talker in the business, but when it comes to New York I can get the job done.

Rating: D

*

Barry Kingman vs. Jungle Jack

Barry Kingman’s pretty much the exception to the rule that all our midcard guys are popular but mediocre; he can actually go pretty well, for all he’s nothing on his dad. He also benefits from having a manager; his biggest weakness compared to the Crippler is the lack of charisma, so having somebody around who can provide that is a big help, and I was on good form here. As for Jack, he’s not yet got much by way of name value (this was another short match), but he’s got all the talent we could want and is destined for bigger things. He got the win here, via DQ at 5:51- I pulled my favourite trick of hopping up onto the apron to distract the ref, only for Jack to come after me. Unfortunately for him, whilst I kept him distracted by begging off (something I do rather well), Barry was able to nail him in the back with a belt shot, although Baby Jamie saw him and called for the DQ. That left Jack with the win but not the belt, and he was left fuming as me and Barry high-tailed it for the hills.

Winner: Jungle Jack Match Rating: D

*

The Working Men vs. Wiley Coyote

Let me preface this by saying that I love The Working Men’s gimmicks; Rod and Rocco have been playing these characters for years and know every cheap trick and dirty move in the book to get heat. That being said, however, they’re the two worst wrestlers on the whole roster and in no way deserve their main event slots. Wiley Coyote, meanwhile, are very solid workers and Coyote in particular plays off Brutus McBride really well, but they don’t have the experience as a unit or the individual talent to carry a pair of creaking old relics like the working men to a workable match and it really showed tonight. This wasn’t at all acceptable for a title match and if this is honestly the best that our two established teams can do then I might just shut the division down altogether until we can find some workers worth the effort of hiring. In the end Wiley Steinway put me and the audience out of our misery at 14:39, pinning Rod Beams after the ACME Bomb whilst Brutus kept Rocco from interfering by punching him in the head.

Winners: Wiley Coyote Match Rating: D-

*

Once again it’s time for a promo, as Travis Century and Morpheus make their way to the ring ahead of their tag match

“They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but the path to paradise is open only to the sinner. To achieve true redemption you must first know true sin, and to ascend to glory you must descend to the depths of hell itself. In that depth is where I make my home, where I rule unchallenged as master of all true depravity. Tonight, Stomper, Ernest Mason, tonight I will reach out and drag you down into my kingdom. Now hell itself is open, and all my devils are here”

Morpheus chooses to express himself simply by roaring at the camera, which works pretty well.

Rating: D+

*

The Stomper & Ernest Mason vs. Travis Century & Morpheus

This was a little disappointing for a match featuring three of our top stars, but given that their combined age was nearly 130 I can accept that I was maybe a little ambitious in my expectations. It’s true that Mason and Stomper are both more-than-decent workers, but Ernest can’t walk without a stick away from the ring and Stomper’s always been a little one-dimensional. On the other side of the ring, Travis can brawl but doesn’t have the stamina to cope with a long match, and whilst Morpheus has it in him to be a huge star for us in the future he’s still on his way up and also has stamina issues. That led to the match running out of steam long before the end as the heels ran out of gas and left it up to the faces’ more slow-paced style (not what you’d want for the big finish). Eventually the heels were able to get enough breath back to score the victory at 14:24, with Travis taking the fall over Ernest Mason with the Salvation.

Winners: Travis Century & Morpheus Match Rating: D

*

Corporal Doom vs. Sheik Mustafa

With the rest of the show coming in at kind of a mediocre level, we needed the main event to deliver; fortunately that was never really in doubt, and these two were able to end the show on a definite high note. It’s very clear to me that Doom is our ace in the hole; at 39 he’s not all that old, and he’s got the right combination of physical prowess and workrate to cover a multitude of sins in his opponent. Mustafa’s actually pretty much the same- he’s that bit older, but his fundamentals are sound, his body’s still holding up, and he’s still good enough technically to hold his end up. That’s what we based this around; Doom’s bigger but Mustafa’s craftier and spent most of the match trying to get the Corporal down to the mat where his power edge would be nullified. In the end, though, Doom was able to take the win, reversing Mustafa’s attempt at a bearhug into the Corporal Punishment at 15:45 to secure the pin and retain his world title.

Winner: Corporal Doom Match Rating: C-

Overall Rating: C-, which is pretty good given how the midcard foundered. Clearly the main event counted for more than I figured on.

1PWfan · October 30, 2014

First show in the books, let's look at the predictions.

Uncrewed: 6/7

Tiberious4: 7/7

Midnightnick: 5/7

Jaded: 7/7

So Jaded and Tiberious win out, and as a reward you can ask any question you like of NYCW head booker and manager Tony Kowalski, to be featured in my next dynasty entry.

Tiberious · November 1, 2014

To Manager Tony Kawalski: We all know what a great job you've done as Barry Kingman's manager, but if you had to pick what other wrestler on the NYCW roster could most benefit from your managerial services?

1PWfan · November 5, 2014

From the Pages of Pro Wrestling Hits: Buddy Rogers’ New York Minute

February ‘97

As promised in last month’s column, in this issue we’re featuring my exclusive interview with new NYCW head booker Tony Kowalski. This took place in pretty much the immediate aftermath of Rush Hour, so discussion of more recent happenings in NYCW is limited at best.

*****************************************************

Buddy: First thing’s first, thankyou for agreeing to be interviewed.

Tony: No problem man, always happy to speak to the press.

Buddy: I guess the best place to start would be you debut; what got you into wrestling? I mean, everybody knows about your family ties, but how do you go from being ‘Gene Plumelli’s Grandson’ to ‘Tony Kowalski, manager’?

Tony: It really came about after I graduated from college- I’d got a teaching degree from Fairfield and working as a French teacher in Connecticut and hating every minute of it. So I started working indy shows on the weekend, used the Plumelli name to get my foot in the door and started handling promos for whoever needed them.

Buddy: It’s interesting that you used your family history to get started in the business- for the most part that link isn't something you’ve emphasised.

Tony: As time’s gone on I've moved away from the Plumelli name, yeah, but at the start it was a useful way of getting a reaction from the crowd- I worked a lot of show in what used to be the old CWB territory and whatever I did the name guaranteed a reaction. Either I was a good guy living up to the family name, or I was a bad guy bringing shame to the same deal. It was only when I started to branch out, work shows in Hawaii and the Lakes, that I started to go my given name, and by that time I'd left teaching so I didn't have to worry about what parents would think or whatever.

Buddy: Jumping ahead a bit, what brought you to NYCW? You started there, what, two, three years ago now?

Tony: Just about, yeah. I’d been working for about four or five years by then, and I was starting to get a bit of a name for myself, y’know, ‘good prospect, good talker’, that sort of thing. Anyways, New York needed a new manager for whatever reason- I think Phil Vibert was supposed to be leaving or something, I'm not quite sure- and Stomper decided to bring me in for a tryout.

Buddy: I remember that match- you managed a team called The Rookie Lightnings in a squash against The Perfect Storm.

Tony: Yeah- Robin Banks and Joe Jacobson, they were on a tryout too. It was a simple deal, really, I went out and cut a promo and then they wrestled a quick six-minute match to show what they could do. Banks, he was definitely the better of the two, he got signed up, but Joe was still pretty green and went back into training.

Buddy: Robin Banks is of course now known as Rich Money, but what happened to Jacobson?

Tony: I don't really know. I think he works for DaVE and NEW- Supreme’s feeder league- but I only met him for the first time that night and we didn't really stay in touch. He was okay, a decent enough brawler, but he never really had the fundamentals down. Rich, though, even as a rookie you could tell he knew what he was about- that’s why we didn't stay together, he clearly didn't need a manager.

Buddy: Instead you wound up managing the likes of Barry Kingman as part of the Kowalski Company of heels.

Tony: It’s funny, these days a lot of fans think ‘oh, the Kowalski Company! That’s a thing, like the Sneer Corporation or the All-Star Team’ but I've only used the name for a couple of years, since I arrived in New York. I was managing bunch of different guys- Lionheart Lawson, Chester Stein, The Black Serpent Cult and of course Barry- and we needed a name for the group. I think it was Chester that came up with it, actually.

Buddy: Who’s been your favourite guy to manage?

Tony: Quite genuinely it has to be Barry Kingman. Every other guy I've managed, I've had to adjust my style- do more to cover their weaknesses, or tone things down a bit to give them room. With Barry we can just go out and be ourselves and it works- it’s not so much about the chemistry, it’s just that we're a natural fit in terms of manager and worker.

Buddy: Moving onto more recent events, you've just taken over as NYCW's head booker. How’s that been for you?

Tony: I'll say this; you cannot, cannot understand how tough this job is ‘til you've done it. Okay, so Doom’s run before me wasn't perfect, but when you consider the situation New York’s in, trapped right in the middle of the East Coast Wars and trying not to get dragged in, it becomes a lot easier to understand where he was coming from.

Buddy: How did you come to get the job?

Tony: You'd have to talk to Stomper about that. I never asked why he chose me, I just accepted the offer.

Buddy: You've already mentioned how tough the job can be, but what would you say is the biggest challenge you've faced so far?

Tony: The age of the roster, no doubt about it. We've got some real talent here at both ends of the scale, but the likes of Ernest Mason and Sheik Mustafa, they're not going to be around much longer, and then you've got The Working Men- great team, they can play to their characters like nobody else, but they're both of them maybe a few months away from retirement at best. Then you look at the other end of the scale, you've got a lot of projects like Brandon, Rich, Morpheus, guys who are going to be huge stars but need a lot of work before they get there. What we don't have a lot of are guys who are ready for a big run at the top right now- Chris Storm is there, and Bryan Holmes has what it takes provided he can get over, but other than that we're short on the big names.

Buddy: Flipping that round, what’s the biggest positive?

Tony: Corporal Doom- he's one of the best wrestlers we've got, he can talk, plus he’s got at least another decade in him- he’s our top star and totally deserves to be. Plus, to be fair, we've got good people in the other key positions; Barry’s a solid United States Champion and Wiley Coyote look very promising as tag champions provided we can find them some more competition.

Buddy: One last question before we turn over the write-ins; what are your plans for NYCW going forward?

Tony: Survive- it sounds negative, but with the East Coast Wars going on you can't make any detailed plan as you simply don't know what’s going to happen next. I’d like to be able to expand certain areas of the roster, create some more tag teams but I can't guarantee who we'll have six months from now so it could be quite difficult.

Buddy: It's at this point that I like to round things off with a question from one of our fans, and this one comes from Theodore J. Pumpernickel, a.k.a. Tiberious4: We all know what a great job you've done as Barry Kingman's manager, but if you had to pick what other wrestler on the NYCW roster could most benefit from your managerial services?

Tony: Ooh, good question. Now, I'm going to leave Bryan Holmes out of this- I'm already managing him- and say Ernest Mason. He's currently working face so we can't link up, but he's a guy I think I could do really good things with.

***

Card for NYCW Big Apple Breakdown:

FOR THE NYCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Corporal Doom © vs. Travis Century

Chris Storm vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper vs. Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP

Ernest Mason vs. Barry Kingman ©

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. Bryan Holmes & Rich Money

Heavy Metal Mayhem (Randall Hopkirk & James Brandon) vs. The Working Men

Jungle Jack vs. Human Arsenal

SPECIAL LIVE BONUS MATCH

Eddie Chandler vs. The Masked Mauler

Jaded, if you put a question in with your predictions I'll answer it before the next show

Uncrewed · November 6, 2014

FOR THE NYCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Corporal Doom © vs. Travis Century

Chris Storm vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper vs. Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP

Ernest Mason vs. Barry Kingman ©

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. Bryan Holmes & Rich Money

Heavy Metal Mayhem (Randall Hopkirk & James Brandon) vs. The Working Men

Jungle Jack vs. Human Arsenal

SPECIAL LIVE BONUS MATCH

Eddie Chandler vs. The Masked Mauler

Midnightnick · November 6, 2014

FOR THE NYCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Corporal Doom © vs. Travis Century

Chris Storm vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper vs. Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP

Ernest Mason vs. Barry Kingman ©

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. Bryan Holmes & Rich Money

Heavy Metal Mayhem (Randall Hopkirk & James Brandon) vs. The Working Men

Jungle Jack vs. Human Arsenal

SPECIAL LIVE BONUS MATCH

Eddie Chandler vs. The Masked Mauler

Tiberious · November 6, 2014

FOR THE NYCW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Corporal Doom © vs. Travis Century

Chris Storm vs. Sheik Mustafa

The Stomper vs. Morpheus

FOR THE NYCW UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP

Ernest Mason vs. Barry Kingman ©

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote © vs. Bryan Holmes & Rich Money

Heavy Metal Mayhem (Randall Hopkirk & James Brandon) vs. The Working Men

Jungle Jack vs. Human Arsenal

SPECIAL LIVE BONUS MATCH

Eddie Chandler vs. The Masked Mauler

1PWfan · November 8, 2014

the next show will be going up either tomorrow or monday, so there's still time for more predictions if anyone wants to.

1PWfan · November 18, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW Big Apple Breakdown

Live to DVD from The Queen City Ballroom

Tuesday, Week 3, February

Audience: 941</div>

Live Bonus Match

Eddie Chandler vs. The Masked Mauler

This sucked, but then I always knew it would. Mauler’s really pretty bad, for all he’s apparently one of our next big things, and whilst he did show technical improvement he just doesn’t have the workrate to really deliver anything above mediocrity. Eddie, meanwhile, is a better worker in almost every respect but has very little name value, and in NYCW you really need both to cover for a worker with Mauler’s lack of talent. On the plus side, Eddie looked really motivated, and Mauler was so far off his game that maybe we can repeat this one in a couple of months and see some improvement. As it was, though, Mauler got the win (he is senior, after all), putting Eddie down at 5:43 with the Iron Claw.

Winner: The Masked Mauler Match Rating: E+

The Show

Jungle Jack vs. Human Arsenal

This wasn’t a great match, but then both of these guys are still works in progress. Okay, so they’re a level or two up from Mauler and the like, but Arsenal’s virtually unheard of on this coast and Jack still needs some seasoning. Mind you, they’ve both got plenty of star quality, and Arsenal in particular is another next big thing, provided we use him properly. I’m also learning to appreciate how good our road agents are; everybody knows Ray Kingman’s something special, but Mitch Haggans brings a lot more to the table than just being Brutus McBride’s buddy and helped elevate this match a bit. Jack took the win here in 5:47, putting Arsenal away with the Jungle Jack-Jammer.

Winner: Jungle Jack Match Rating: D-

*

Corporal Doom makes his way down to the ring, on promo duty ahead of the main event later tonight.

“TEEEEEEEEEEEEN-SHUN!”

As usual the audience responds warmly, some of the guys in the back row even standing to attention.

“Tonight my target’s one of the craziest hostiles I've ever encountered in the ring, Travis Century. Honestly, the last time somebody as crazy as Travis went into battle it was the mad Mahdi of Egypt, and he wound up killing General Gordon of the Ever-Victorious Army. Now, if there’s one thing I'm not it’s ever victorious, but I can guarantee you one thing, Travis: you want a war, you've got a war. I’m not in the habit of laying down arms, and I’m not in the habit of backing down from a battle with anybody, crazy or not. You bring your best tonight, Travis, and let’s see if you've got what it takes to beat an American Man! Hoo-Rah!”

Doom’s a bit of a history buff, hence the General Gordon reference, but whilst I'm fairly certain most of our audience didn't get the reference they still enjoyed the general tone.

Rating: C+

*

The Working Men vs. Heavy Metal Mayhem

Given how bad everyone in this match is, this was actually a pretty acceptable match. Hopkirk wasn't putting out his full effort, but the other three gave as much as they were capable of, and if Brandon’s offence lacked flow and Rod and Rocco staggered around like a pair of old men, well, them’s the breaks. On the plus side, there was lots of charisma on show tonight, and Brandon made up for having nothing like the appeal of the other three with plenty of star quality and more intensity than everyone else in the match put together. He also showed some improvement in his fundamentals, which is definitely welcome as that’s his weakest area by some way, before going down to Rod’s trademark Brick to the Face whilst Rocco kept Jamie distracted by going after Randall with his plunger.

Winners: The Working Men Match Rating: D-

*

It’s hype time once again, as I'm out on promo duty for Barry’s match.

“Are you freakin’ kidding me? Ernest Mason? Now don’t get me wrong, Mace, you've been a legend in this business for years, right back to the days of Championship Wrestling from Boston, but come on man, that was twenty years ago! You've had your time, you've had your chance, now you gotta walk away from the spotlight and let somebody else have their time. Somebody like my boy Barry K, the second-generation superstar, the United States Champion. Face it Mace, you’re the past…Barry’s the future and the present too.”

This got the usual solid reaction I always get on promo duty- very valuable, given how the card’s gone so far.

Rating: D

*

Ernest Mason vs. Barry Kingman

This match continued tonight somewhat sub-par undercard, but was more or less understandable; Mason simply isn't capable of keeping up anymore physically, and that was always going to hit this match hard. He’s also on his way out- this is his last match for us as his contract’s come up and he wants to see if HGC or Supreme are interested (they won’t be). That created some problems for us here; I wanted him to put Barry Kingman over like he should've done, but Mason wasn't happy and complained a lot before the show. Fair play to him, Mitch didn't see any signs of Mace stiffing it or deliberately delivering a sub-par performance, but I can't imagine Mace felt encouraged to do his best work tonight. He did the job, though, tapping out to the Kingman Krippler at 10:16 after I distracted him long enough for Barry to drop him with a low blow.

Winner: Barry Kingman Match Rating: D-

*

After the bell’s rung Barry refuses to release the hold, instead cranking it on all the more. Eventually he does release the hold after Stones threatens to reverse the decision, but no sooner has Ernest got back to his feet than Barry kicks him in the gut and lines him up for the Black-Out. Fortunately for The Mace it’s at that point that ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ announces the arrival of Jungle Jack, sending Barry and me fleeing for the hills.

This was a setup for taking Jack and Barry into a feud programme, so I wasn't too fussed about the quality of the reaction.

Rating: E-

*

Wiley Coyote vs. Bryan Holmes & Rich Money

This was the first match of the night to really deliver up to par, which let’s face it was probably always going to happen given the quality here. You’ve got two talented heels vs. two decent faces in an experienced unit with a talented manager, and given that it’s also brawlers vs. technicians we were able to string a proper narrative together for just about the first time this evening. Money and Holmes tried to isolate Coyote and Wiley from one another, take them to the mat and try and work them over technically, whilst the champs responded with their trademark physicality and brawling, not to mention some skilful tag team work and double-team offence. That eventually counted for more, as they were drop Rich with a Steinway Highway before dropping Bryan Holmes with the ACME Bomb at 14:39, whilst Brutus kept me from interfering on Bryan’s behalf with a trademark punch to the head.

Winners: Wiley Coyote Match Rating: D

*

There’s another promo due, as Travis Century heads out on hype duty for the main event

“The greatest sin is the sin of pride, and tonight Corporal Doom, you will see what bitter fruits your pride will bear as I crack your soul apart and expose the folly of your hubris. Tonight, Doom, I will break not only your spirit but your body as well, for the greatest sins deserve the greatest flagellation, and the greater the punishment the greater the rewards in the afterlife. Embrace Salvation, Corporal Doom, even as it burns your world to ashes”

Travis’ skills are more in terms of delivery and character than raw charisma, but he’s so good at that side of things that you rarely notice the difference.

Rating: D+

*

Morpheus vs. The Stomper

This was a hugely disappointing match; Morpheus is one of hottest prospects and we’ve got few veterans better than Stomper but they just couldn’t make it work tonight. Admittedly age probably played a part in this; Stomper’s not the oldest worker we’ve got but he’s fading fast, and Morpheus is pretty young and still learning how to round out his moveset from just punch-kick-bodyslam-Nightmare. Stamina also played an issue; as with big men the world over Morpheus runs out of gas far too quickly, and whilst Stomper’s got enough in the tank his age and decline makes it difficult for him to take over when Morpheus peters out. Stomper took the win here though- Morpheus needs to go back into the midcard for a bit- dodging a misjudged corner avalanche before tripping the American Nightmare up and going for the Bronx Elbow Drop at 9:55.

Winner: The Stomper Match Rating: E+

*

There’s time for one last promo tonight, as Sheik Mustafa has a mic ahead of his match with Chris Storm

“Sheik Mustafa, Number One! Iraq, Number One! America, PAH! Chris Storm, PAH!”

This is roughly the four hundred and eighty-seventh time Mustafa’s cut that promo and it always gets the same reaction (partially due to his sheer bulk, partially due to the fact that fans just love booing it).

Rating: C

*

Sheik Mustafa vs. Chris Storm

This was a little disappointing, but Storm’s psychology and Mustafa’s physical decline meant that I was probably being optimistic in expecting more from this one. Storm’s immensely talented but a long way from calling his own matches, and that’s pretty much vital for a main-event star in New York, given the physical decline of some of our guys. Mustafa’s a good case in point- he’s nowhere near as bad as some we’ve got but there’s no doubt he’s not the force he used to be and we need a number two babyface who can counteract his decline. Without the psychology Storm can’t quite manage that, so whilst this wasn’t a terrible match it still wasn’t what I’d look for in a semi-main event featuring two of our top stars. Sheik Mustafa took the win here; he may be aging but he’s still one of our top stars and I’m reluctant to de-push him until some alternatives present themselves. He put Chris away at 14:35 with the Camel Clutch.

Winner: Sheik Mustafa Match Rating: D

*

Corporal Doom vs. Travis Century

Once again Doom came along at the end of a slightly disappointing show and saved the day, although to be fair Travis was right there with him. This was actually a pleasant surprise (the first I’ve had); Doom’s pretty much our ace in the hole, but I’d figured Travis’ stamina issues and lack of technical offence would drag this one down a bit. As it turns out, brawler vs. brawler is a brilliant story to tell with these two, and whilst Travis was virtually starved of oxygen by the end of the match he had the psychology and physical capacity to match up to Doom pretty well. Of course, Doom could probably get a decent match out of a brush with half the bits missing, but it’s still nice to know that some of our people can fully match up to him without worrying about if their arthritis is going to start giving them gip the whole time. Being that he’s our top star by some headway Doom got the win here, putting Travis away with the Corporal Punishment at 14:27.

Winner: Corporal Doom Match Rating: C

Overall Rating: C-, continuing our trend of mediocre undercards being saved by the main event.

1PWfan · November 23, 2014

Now, ordinarily I'd take a look at predictions at this point, but I'm going to mix it up a bit and say that all three of Tiberious4, Midnightnick and Uncrewed can post fan questions this week, which will probably go up ahead of the next show. As for the next update, it'll go up tomorrow or tuesday (so I'd expect it Wednesday, knowing how I work).

Regis · November 23, 2014

Good show, looking forward to seeing more.

1PWfan · November 24, 2014

From the Pages of Pro Wrestling Hits: Buddy Rogers’ New York Minute

March 1997:

Just a quick entry this month, in order to publicise the following press release sent out by Tony Kowalski. As a quick note prior to the announcement, it’s worth pointing out that the deals Tony mentions are already bearing fruit, with Jimmy Cox rumoured to be joining NYCW and more replacements apparently on the way.

****

From the Desk of Tony Kowalski

“For some time now New York City Wrestling has been involved in a series of non-aggression pacts with our nearest competitors (DaVE, PPPW, RPW and XFW) in order to avoid being drawn into the inter-company rival known as The East Coast Wars. Up until now, those deals have worked out pretty well in our favour, protecting NYCW from losing talent to larger companies and keeping the company from getting dragged into a war we neither started nor had any interest in getting involved with. But every such deal has a limited shelf-life, and part of running a company like NYCW is knowing when a deal has come to the end of its life.

“That’s why, effective from the start of March this year, NYCW is bringing to an end its non-aggression pacts with DaVE and the XFW. Now, to be clear this does not mean we are entering into any kind of working relationship with these companies; it’s not that we’ve become friends all of a sudden, we can just all go to the same bars without having to glare at one another. The simple truth is that these two companies are only competition in a broadly geographical sense; chances are the fans you see at a DaVE show or an XFW show are guys in their 20s and 30s, whereas at a New York show you’re more likely to see their dads or granddads, not to mentioning the younger kids who’ve come to see their first independent wrestling show. With that in mind preventing each other from sharing talent is not only perverse, it’s actively dangerous.

“At this time we are however maintaining our non-aggression pacts with Philly Power Pro Wrestling and Rapid Pro Wrestling, two of our other neighbouring wrestling promotions. There’s a multitude of reasons for this, most of which I can’t go into right now, but it’s important to recognise that breaking a pact requires the active consent of both parties involved and it’s pretty clear to me that both PPPW and RPW are very happy with our relationship at this time and wouldn’t take it well if we tried to modify it.”

***

Card for NYCW March into Manhattan

STARMAGEDDON: THE BRAWL TO END IT ALL

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa vs. Travis Century vs. Morpheus vs. The Stomper vs. Rod Beams vs. Rocco the Plumber vs. Eddie Chandler vs. James Brandon vs. Randall Hopkirk

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote vs. Rich Money & Human Arsenal

Jungle Jack and Jimmy Cox vs. Barry Kingman & Bryan Holmes

Chris Storm vs. Joel Kovach

The Masked Mauler vs. Archangel

Corki · December 1, 2014

STARMAGEDDON: THE BRAWL TO END IT ALL

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa vs. Travis Century vs. Morpheus vs. The Stomper vs. Rod Beams vs. Rocco the Plumber vs. Eddie Chandler vs. James Brandon vs. Randall Hopkirk

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote vs. Rich Money & Human Arsenal

Jungle Jack and Jimmy Cox vs. Barry Kingman & Bryan Holmes

Chris Storm vs. Joel Kovach

The Masked Mauler vs. Archangel

Midnightnick · December 3, 2014

STARMAGEDDON: THE BRAWL TO END IT ALL

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa vs. Travis Century vs. Morpheus vs. The Stomper vs. Rod Beams vs. Rocco the Plumber vs. Eddie Chandler vs. James Brandon vs. Randall Hopkirk

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote vs. Rich Money & Human Arsenal

Jungle Jack and Jimmy Cox vs. Barry Kingman & Bryan Holmes

Chris Storm vs. Joel Kovach

The Masked Mauler vs. Archangel

Uncrewed · December 4, 2014

STARMAGEDDON: THE BRAWL TO END IT ALL

Corporal Doom © vs. Sheik Mustafa vs. Travis Century vs. Morpheus vs. The Stomper vs. Rod Beams vs. Rocco the Plumber vs. Eddie Chandler vs. James Brandon vs. Randall Hopkirk

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Wiley Coyote vs. Rich Money & Human Arsenal

Jungle Jack and Jimmy Cox vs. Barry Kingman & Bryan Holmes

Chris Storm vs. Joel Kovach

The Masked Mauler vs. Archangel

1PWfan · December 10, 2014

NYCW March into Manhattan

Live to DVD from The Ministry

Tuesday, Week 3, March

Audience: 1,000 (SOLD OUT!)

The Show

The Masked Mauler vs. Archangel

With more worker becoming available Mauler’s definitely on the bubble; unless he shows rapid and consistent improvement in both stamina and brawling he’s not good enough to keep around, and he lacks the presence backstage to make him useful in other respects. That’s certainly not true for Archangel; he’s definitely a work-in-progress (his psychology in particular is weak) but he’s a solid young prospect and is also the nicest guy in the known universe, which pretty much justifies his presence in and of itself. Down the line we’ll put him into a key position, but for now I want to give Mauler some time to see if he works out so he took the win over Archangel at 5:53 with the Iron Claw.

Winner: The Masked Mauler Match Rating: E+

*

It’s promo time, as Corporal Doom comes down to the ring

“For a while now I’ve been talking about how many people are after this title, and after me. Well tonight, tonight I really am taking on the world, because tonight I’m out there in the Starmageddon Battle Royal with 9 other men, and it doesn’t take a master tactician to figure out what they’ll be focussing on. So I figured, now’s a good time to send a message out to all those other 9 wrestlers I’ll be seeing later on.

“Some of you I respect, some of you I don’t. But all of you have one thing in common- you will not take this title from me. You will not beat me in Starmageddon tonight, and you will not stop me from taking on the world, and winning. Hoo-Rah!”

There’s a reason Doom cuts a promo every single show- the crowd love him.

Rating: C

*

Chris Storm vs. Joel Kovach

Like Archangel Kovach is a refugee from Awesome Max Wrestling down south, and is such a perfect fit for us that I snapped him up the second he was available. He’s someone I’ve got big plans for- he’s part of the Kowalski Company and will likely pick up some big wins in the near future- so we put him against Chris Storm to see how he can cope against a top face. The results were extremely encouraging; this was Chris’ best match, and hopefully a run of matches like this will help him improve into a viable replacement for Doom if we ever lose the big man. As for Kovach, he’s pretty much the complete package, with charisma and star quality to complement his phenomenal ability. Ultimately, though, we’ve got a lot more strong heels than faces so Chris took the win here, putting Joel on the mat with the C-Stunner at 9:51.

Winner: Chris Storm Match Rating: D+

*

It’s time for my regular promo slot, as I’m out on hype duty for Kingman and Holmes’ match

“Are you freakin’ kidding me? Now that ingrate Savage Jungle Joe or whatever’s gone out and found himself a buddy to take on my boys Bryan Holmes and Barry K? Jimmy Cox, the whole world knows how dangerous that Immortal Driver is, but my boys, they’re better than you could ever hope to be. Sure, you’ve put down some of the biggest and baddest men in the business with that move, sure it’s won you match after match, but to win with it you gots to hit it, and you really think we can’t stop that? You really think you and the big savage in your corner have a chance tonight? Well I’m sorry, but you are both of you sadly mistaken. Tonight is our night, tonight belongs to the Kowalski Company”

For whatever reason this didn’t go over as well as I usually do. Not sure why, but maybe the fans thought the whole savage thing was a little cliché.

Rating: D-

*

Jungle Jack and Jimmy Cox vs. Barry Kingman & Bryan Holmes

We got Jack and Barry’s feud properly rolling tonight with this match, which delivered more or less up to par- Jimmy and Jack have terrible chemistry as partners, but these four have enough talent to make up for it individually (chances are that one or other of them will wind up in Japan- my money’s on Bryan, he’s already touring out there pretty regularly). Jimmy in particular’s one of those guys I’ve wanted to bring in to NYCW since I took over- he’s really the reason I broke our pact with XFW- and his Immortal Driver is virtually a gimmick in and of itself; Marv and Emma spent the whole match putting it over and Barry and Bryan freaked whenever it looked like Jimmy might be close to applying it. In the end the good guys took this one, in exactly the way you’d expect; at 9:36 Jimmy was able to catch Holmes with the Immortal Driver, and that was all she wrote (as Marv pointed out ‘even Barry and Tony know there’s no coming back once the Driver connects!’)

Winner: Jimmy Cox & Jungle Jack Match Rating: D

*

Now it’s time for our third regular promo guy to make his presence felt, as Travis Century heads down to the ring, mic in hand.

“If the road to hell is paved with good intentions then the path to paradise is built upon the broken backs of the sinner! And tonight my brethren, tonight Travis Century will ascend to glory, will ascend to the NYCW World Title, upon the broken backs and mangled remains of 9 souls in torment, nine souls crying out for Salvation! Corproal Doom, rejoice, for your end is nigh, and with the help of Salvation, with the help of Travis Century, you will pass into the long night, you will be released from earthly torment by my own hand! So sayeth The Preacher!”

Travis has started to show a bit more charisma, and that resulted in his promos being dialled way up in intensity.

Rating: D+

*

Wiley Coyote vs. Rich Money & Human Arsenal

This was a solid match, but ultimately nothing hugely special. Wiley Coyote are definitely our best tag team, but given the other options that’s not hugely surprising; the working men are so far past their prime you can’t see it with a telescope, and Randall and Brandon are still finding their way as a unit. Arsenal or Money will likely form part of a new heel unit, but it’s a matter of finding them the right partners; they don’t really fit with each other gimmick-wise, and don’t have the chemistry to make that unimportant. They’re both great individual talents, though, and Rich in particular could be a big deal for us down the line; he’s started working for Supreme’s feeder league NEW, and whilst I don’t like him being on the Eisens’ radar it’s hard to deny that the extra work is doing him some good. Ultimately, though, you can’t give the tag titles to a makeshift unit, so Wiley Coyote took the win at 14:35 with the ACME Bomb.

Winners: Wiley Coyote Match Rating: D

*

Starmageddon

The Starmageddon battle royal is something of a trademark of ours- it’s basically a four-way gauntlet match, with eliminations occurring via pinfall, submission or DQ. With Doom vs. The World needing to be wrapped up to free up some of our top guys for other feuds it seemed like the best way to go to settle the issue, as well as giving guys like Morpheus and Brandon the best possible chance to improve.

We started with Doom, Randall, Chandler and Rocco in the ring, and whilst the three faces showed respect for each other in the early stages Rocco was definitely not into that, cheating whenever he could and making repeated use of the sink plunger to claim the advantage. Eventually Chandler was the first elimination at the hands of Rocco the Plumber, with Doom hitting a Corporal Punishment on the Canadian only for Rocco to steal the pin. That brought out Morpheus, who eliminated both Rocco and Randall inside of five minutes before going to work on Doom, trying to eliminate him and clear the way for his own run at the NYCW World Title. Fortunately for Doom reinforcements arrived in the form of James Brandon and (somewhat less fortunately for Doom) Rod Beams, who both focussed on the biggest threat in the American Nightmare. Of course, that didn’t work entirely in their favour- Beams went down after about eight minutes to The Nightmare, and Brandon was quickly taken out by Beams’ replacement The Stomper after the big man mistimed a Big Cat Pounce on Doom and collided with the turnbuckle. That brought out the penultimate competitor Sheik Mustafa, and by now Doom was in there with three men who were all dedicated to claiming his title. However, Stomper was smart enough to realise he’d need the Corporal’s help to take on Morpheus and Mustafa, and for a while it was almost like a tornado tag match as the faces teamed up to take on the heels. Eventually Morpheus went down to a colossal effort from all three men (‘cos Mustafa is totally the sort to turn on a supposed ally), eating a double clothesline from Doom and Stomper before Mustafa put him away with Mustafa Victory. That brought out Travis Century, leaving us with the final four: Travis Century, Sheik Mustafa, The Stomper and Corporal Doom, who’d been in there since the start.

By this point we were rounding the 25 minute mark, so Doom was even more of a target than usual; not only was he world champion, he’d also been in there considerably longer than anyone else and was showing it. That led to all three men initially ganging up on him, but that didn’t last long as Stomper rolled up Mustafa to score a shock elimination, only for Travis to catch him off-guard with a thunderous knee lift to the gut and Salvation, leaving the The Preacher one-on-one with his rival. Of course, that meant it was time for Doom to stage his big comeback, and the crowd were delighted to see Doom assert his size and power advantage. Eventually he took the win at 30:30, nailing Travis with the Corporal Punishment.

Winner: Corporal Doom Match Rating: D+

*

We close the show out tonight with Doom alone in the ring celebrating, as Marv and Emma put over his achievement in beating out 9 other men. As Marv puts it, ‘tonight Corporal Doom took on the world, and walked away still the champion!”

Rating: C

Overall Rating: D+, down a little on our usual ratings but still ahead of the game and basically what I expected. With a battle royal show like this you never get the best ratings.

Regis · December 11, 2014

And now, we must ask the question: if Doom has beaten everyone, who's next?

1PWfan · December 16, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW- The Roster

Latest Additions</div>

Lower Midcard

<a href="http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Looneyboyo/media/NYCW%2097/JimmyCox_zps75abf2f8.jpg.html" rel="external nofollow">http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/JimmyCox_zps75abf2f8.jpg</a>

Jimmy Cox

Alignment: Face

Age: 24 Billed From: Manhattan

Entrance Music: Another One Bites the Dust- Queen

Finisher: Immortal Driver (Cradle Piledriver)

<a href="http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Looneyboyo/media/NYCW%2097/JoelKovach_zpsc09ab758.jpg.html" rel="external nofollow">http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/JoelKovach_zpsc09ab758.jpg</a>

Joel Kovach

Alignment: Heel

Age: 27 Billed From: Atlantic City, New Jersey

Entrance Music: Money for Nothing- Dire Straits

Finishers: Kovach Krippler (Reverse Boston Crab), Old School Drop (Pumphandle Drop)

Enhancement Talent

<a href="http://s56.photobucket.com/user/Looneyboyo/media/NYCW%2097/Archangel_zps1e1a524c.jpg.html" rel="external nofollow">http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/Looneyboyo/NYCW%2097/Archangel_zps1e1a524c.jpg</a>

Archangel

Alignment: Babyface

Age: 23 Billed From: Long Island, New York

Entrance Music: To Hell with the Devil- Stryper

Finishers: Fall from Grace (Chokeslam), Wing Clip (Combination Chickenwing/Shoulder Claw)

****

Card for NYCW Lullaby of Broadway

EXHIBITION MATCH- CHAMPION VS. CHAMPION

Corporal Doom vs. Barry Kingman

NUMBER ONE CONTENDER’S MATCH

Chris Storm vs. Travis Century vs. The Stomper vs. Sheik Mustafa

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Heavy Metal Mayhem vs. Joel Kovach & Bryan Holmes

Eddie Chandler & Jimmy Cox vs. The Working Men

Jungle Jack vs. Human Arsenal

Archangel vs. Morpheus

Midnightnick · December 16, 2014

EXHIBITION MATCH- CHAMPION VS. CHAMPION

Corporal Doom vs. Barry Kingman

NUMBER ONE CONTENDER’S MATCH

Chris Storm vs. Travis Century vs. The Stomper vs. Sheik Mustafa

FOR THE NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES

Heavy Metal Mayhem vs. Joel Kovach & Bryan Holmes

Eddie Chandler & Jimmy Cox vs. The Working Men

Jungle Jack vs. Human Arsenal

Archangel vs. Morpheus

Sign In

[Cverse '97] NYCW: Generation Old School

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Archived