CZCW: The Champagne Revolution

[batsnumbereleven]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="44467" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="A66uD1I.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/A66uD1I.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> <strong>CZCW Tonight!</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Saturday 6th June 2016</strong></p><p> </p><p> Preview</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> With Surf Slam in the books, and the Coastal Zone Championship retained, Fox Mask will be looking back to his other main interest of late: tutoring youngster Bullseye. These two will team up to take on the newly-arrived Gallaher Brothers tonight. Fox Mask's next title challenger is going to be Harry Allen, after his win in the four-way on Monday, and Allen will be taking on a rather worn-looking Al Coleman. Coleman's Surf Slam was rather less fruitful, getting an utter beating from one half of the Coastal Zone tag champions, Jimmy Marvel, so we'll have to see exactly how fit Coleman really is tonight.</p><p> </p><p> We're expecting to hear from Bart Biggins tonight as well, following his début at Surf Slam, to find out exactly why he attacked Lance Trueman after the four-way. Biggins has a distinct tag pedigree from his days in SWF, but has so far failed to turn that success into singles stardom, so perhaps this is why he's here in CZCW.</p><p> </p><p> Trueman's regular tag partner Fernandes Franklin will be in singles action, taking on Matt Sparrow, fresh from Flash Sparrow's decimation of Notorious in their tables match, whilst the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship will also be on the line tonight, with youngster Simon Waves stepping up to challenge Tigre.</p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Card for predictions:</p><p> </p><p> Fox Mask & Bullseye vs. The Gallaher Brothers</p><p> </p><p> Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship:</p><p> Tigre (c ) vs. Simon Waves</p><p> </p><p> Fernandes Franklin vs. Matt Sparrow</p><p> </p><p> Harry Allen vs. Al Coleman</p>

[CobheadJake]

<p>Fox Mask & Bullseye vs. <strong>The Gallaher Brothers</strong></p><p>

I always want to choose tag teams with established names over ones without a name, even when I'm not actually sure they'll win.</p><p> </p><p>

Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship:</p><p>

<strong>Tigre (c )</strong> vs. Simon Waves</p><p> </p><p>

Fernandes Franklin vs. <strong>Matt Sparrow</strong></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Harry Allen</strong> vs. Al Coleman</p>

[BHK1978]

<p><strong>Fox Mask & Bullseye</strong> vs. The Gallaher Brothers</p><p> </p><p>

Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship:</p><p>

<strong>Tigre (c )</strong> vs. Simon Waves</p><p> </p><p>

Fernandes Franklin vs. <strong>Matt Sparrow</strong></p><p> </p><p>

Harry Allen vs. <strong>Al Coleman</strong></p>

[merrykieran2]

<p><strong>Fox Mask & Bullseye </strong>vs. The Gallaher Brothers</p><p> </p><p>

Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship:</p><p>

<strong>Tigre (c )</strong> vs. Simon Waves</p><p> </p><p>

Fernandes Franklin vs. <strong>Matt Sparrow</strong></p><p> </p><p>

Harry Allen vs. <strong>Al Coleman</strong></p>

[Theheel]

<p>Card for predictions:</p><p> </p><p>

Fox Mask & Bullseye vs. <strong>The Gallaher Brothers</strong></p><p><strong>

</strong></p><p>

Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship:</p><p>

<strong>Tigre</strong> (c ) vs. Simon Waves</p><p> </p><p>

Fernandes Franklin vs. <strong>Matt Sparrow</strong></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Harry Allen</strong> vs. Al Coleman</p>

[batsnumbereleven]

 

CZCW Tonight!

 

Saturday 6th June 2016

 

San Diego, California

 

Attendance: 3900

 

 

Fox Mask and Bullseye v. The Gallaher Brothers (Leigh Benson/Ricky Hedges)

 

As has often been the case when Fox Mask pairs up with his protégé, this is almost two matches in one. The battle between Bullseye and whichever of Benson or Hedges is in the ring at any time is a very close affair with the technical expertise and mutual understanding between the Gallaher Brothers being cancelled out by the power and ferocity of Bullseye. Yet whenever Fox Mask is in the ring it is almost a showcase for the Coastal Zone Champion, hitting his slickest high flying moves with relative ease, and it requires the frequent intervention of Electric from ringside – grabbing an ankle to prevent Fox Mask hitting a big finisher or providing a distraction that allows a tag to be made – to keep her boys in the match.

 

Eventually the newer pairing fail to capitalise on Electric's involvement and miss a chance to make a quick tag, which allows Ricky Hedges to get isolated in the opposition corner and he is the one that falls prey to the Fox Hunter.

 

Winners: Fox Mask and Bullseye (D+)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're backstage, and the camera has caught up with Bart Biggins, who made his mark on début at Surf Slam with a beat-down of Going Coastal's Lance Trueman. He doesn't appear to be a happy chappy, and the fans don't appear to be particularly pleased to be hearing from him given their reaction to his appearance on screen.

 

“Yeah, that's what I've been hearing all week, isn't it? You folks think you know what's going on and that I'm automatically the one who's in the wrong here. Well it just shows you know nuthin'.

 

“You wanna know why I'm here? Why I decided to jump on that idiot Trueman?

 

“Yeah, I bet you do.

 

“I've been all over the world with SWF and TCW. I've seen all kinds of people and places, all types of wrestling and all sort of different promotions. I ain't gonna say I'm too big for Coastal Zone like that asshat Harry Allen seems to think. Or that I'm here to use CZCW as a stepping stone to dominating American wrestling like Champagne Lover claims.

 

“I know I'm here because I never made it as a star in my own right. That when I dropped my idiot brother for the sack of **** he was that had been draggin' me down all those years that I couldn't make it as a singles wrestler.

 

“And you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that – at least I tried, unlike Brett, who's still sat on the SWF undercard getting his ass beaten every night. At least I made the effort to break away from mediocrity and into stardom and to make it on my own.

 

“But in all that time, I've never seen an organisation as clueless as Coastal Zone about my worth. SWF kept me in a tag team with Brett for years, we won titles and made our names. TCW made me their International Champion and gave me match ups against the likes of Troy Tornado. But CZCW sat me on the shelf for a month, didn't even give me a match on CZCW Tonight! Or at CZCW Surf Slam!

 

“How exactly is that supposed to be in anyone's best interests?

 

“Remmy Skye came straight in and got a shot at competing for the Coastal Zone Championship on his début night. Harry Allen has been given match after match whilst I've been sat waiting.

 

“And then to take the biscuit, that waste of space Lance Trueman gets given a shot when I'm sat in the back with no match – and exactly what has he done to deserve it?

 

“All I ask for is to be taken seriously – to be given the time and matches that I deserve, not shuffled off into the locker room as an afterthought and left off the biggest Events of the year. If I don't get the respect I'm due, you'll soon find out that I'm perfectly capable of beating out of you all one at a time.

 

“So, here's the question: where's my title shot?” (C-)

 

 

 

 

Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship

 

 

Tigre © v. Simon Waves

 

Two youngsters here with talent and a fair array of moves between them as well, and this makes for a very fast-paced match, but unfortunately these two really don't seem to be on the same page at any point in time, so although it's fast-paced, it's also extremely disjointed and really suffers as a consequence. The key difference between the two men is that Tigre has had many more opportunities to prove himself, and has largely taken advantage of those opportunities, whilst Waves has been left with the odd jobs and making up the numbers in tag matches.

 

And when it comes down to it, the Wild Cat has had chance to develop his moves into a much slicker package than Waves, and it shows in the transitions between moves, and in particular a flurry that leads to the Wild Cat Pounce that gets the three count for Tigre to retain again.

Winner: Tigre (D-)

 

 

 

 

 

Frankie Perez makes his way down to the ring in his street clothes and with a microphone to a decent pop despite his defeat to Champagne Lover at Surf Slam.

 

“Well, Lover boy, if your intentions were to make everyone think you were past me and had bigger things to move on to, then you had a pretty poor way of going about it on Monday,” Perez begins.

 

“I mean, I can see that you wanted to get the win, sure, but you hardly covered yourself in glory, did you? Let's just see how that played out, shall we?”

 

Perez indicates the big screen over the entranceway, and we see a replay of the last thirty seconds or so of the match between the two at Surf Slam – notably, the end comes with an eye gouge from Champagne Lover, and then after hitting the Lover Stunner he makes gratuitous use of the ropes for leverage to ensure that Perez stays down long enough for the three count.

 

“Not exactly what I'd call a fair way to end things. Not exactly what I'd call a convincing victory.”

 

The fans here in San Diego apparently agree with Frankie.

 

“And it was looking so good, as well. I thought we were well matched, put on a great show for the fans, and that whomever won would rightly be able to say they were the better man... on the night, at least... but I guess I was wrong. I guess you don't really think this is over either, and Coastal Zone Management have agreed too, when I petitioned for you to have another match with me, so we'll be doing this one more time, at least, at CZCW Battle on the Beach.” ©

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fernandes Franklin v. Matt Sparrow

 

Franklin comes out of the gate quickly here, as though having something to prove having been left off the main card at Surf Slam, and Sparrow is still a little slowed by the efforts that he put in on Monday night against Notorious, so it makes for hard work for the older man.

 

Franklin's also got one of the flashiest move-sets among the tag ranks, which makes the contrast with the more stolid Sparrow even more obvious. Three times Franklin comes close to getting Sparrow’s shoulders down for the full count, and the veteran starts getting more and more frustrated that he is on the losing end of things, so when he finally managed to gain a little bit of control and is able to hit the Sparrow Droppings, he takes advantage of the proximity to the ropes and grabs a big handful in order to keep Franklin down long enough for Matthew White to count the full three, much to the surprise of the younger man, who was expecting to be able to kick out.

 

Winner: Matt Sparrow (C-)

 

 

 

 

 

And we go backstage again, this time to an area that Cliff Anderson has set up as his office. Also there are Rich and Famous, and we're apparently joining the conversation between the parties part way through.

 

“...don't care how much money you might feel you can throw around, either to me or to CZCW Management more generally, it still isn't going to get you another shot at the Coastal Zone Tag Championships.” Anderson glowers at Idol and Jordan, as though this is a conversation they have had regularly of late.

 

“Surely we deserve another shot, as recent champions,” Idol proffers. “After all, there's been all sorts of involvement from that idiot Perez when we've tried.”

 

“Do you think I'm blind?” Anderson asks, rhetorically. “It's hardly been just Perez that's been getting involved in championship matches of late – I seem to recall that to win the titles you got involved yourself!”

 

Idol shrugs. “I don't recall being part of the team that won those titles, according to you, at least, since you wouldn't let me be the one who defended them.”

 

“I don't care. You've had plenty of opportunities and you don't deserve another right now. Go away and win some matches – fairly – and you might get considered in future. I'm setting up a different match to determine the next contenders.”

 

“You're gonna regret this,” Jordan chips in. “You won't be seeing any more brown envelopes if you're gonna be like this.”

 

“Out!” Anderson orders, furiously, and Rich and Famous beat a retreat knowing that they aren't going to win this particular argument... for now... (D+)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry Allen v. Al Coleman

 

Coleman comes in looking like he wants to avoid a fight completely, which is understandable given the battering he got from Jimmy Marvel on Monday, and Allen is actually willing to take it fairly slowly for some reason – at least to start with. If nothing else, it gives him some freedom to showboat a bit. But he isn't prepared to let it go on too long, because he comes to the conclusion that he's actually going to win fairly easily if he puts his mind to it.

 

And it's no surprise that this is exactly what happens. Allen ups his game a gear or two – he lands a Savate kick that sends Coleman flying out of the ring between the ropes, and follows it up with a flying crossbody – and even though he gets regular reminders from Pee-wee Germaine to keep things in the ring, he adds a couple of extra boots just for good measure, despite the please of Britney Hollywood for him to back off.

 

Eventually it gets close to Germaine counting them out, especially since Coleman has little interest in assisting Allen in beating the ten-count, but Allen forces him back under the ropes and leg-drops him to add emphasis, before setting him up for a Gunslinger's revenge that makes the three a formality.

 

Winner: Harry Allen (C-)

 

 

Overall Show Grade: C-

 

 

 

Author's Notes

 

Some set up, some character progression, some self-justification, some manoeuvring, and a disappointing Xtreme Championship match...

 

All four sets of predictions came out with a score of 3/4 (two different ways) with everyone correctly predicting wins for Tigre and Matt Sparrow.

[batsnumbereleven]

 

CZCW Tonight!

 

Saturday 13th June 2016

 

Preview

 

 

Two pieces of news coming out of the last week that affect things going forward as we head towards Battle on the Beach.

 

Firstly, following Frankie Perez's statement last week that he had the approval of CZCW Management for another match with Champagne Lover, it has been revealed that this will in fact be a two out of three falls match at Battle on the Beach, with an extended time limit of up to 45 minutes if required. Tonight, though, the two will face off in tag action, with Simon Waves partnering Perez and Chet Chavez teaming up with Champagne Lover.

 

Secondly, Cliff Anderson has announced that this week's main event will be an eliminator to determine the next challengers for the Coastal Zone Tag Championships. In this match, Wild Cats will take on Flash Sparrow, and the winners will face The American Cobras for the titles. No doubt this will infuriate Rich and Famous, who were putting their case to Anderson last week, only to be rebuffed.

 

Elsewhere on tonight's show, we'll see Fernandes Franklin looking to recover from last week's defeat to Matt Sparrow in a bout with Waylon Walls, and Super Ninja will take on Jimmy Marvel.

 

Card for Predictions:

 

Fernandes Franklin vs. Waylon Walls

 

Frankie Perez and Simon Waves vs. Champagne Lover and Chet Chavez

 

Super Ninja vs. Jimmy Marvel

 

Wild Cats vs. Flash Sparrow

[CobheadJake]

Fernandes Franklin vs. Waylon Walls

 

Frankie Perez and Simon Waves vs. Champagne Lover and Chet Chavez

 

Super Ninja vs. Jimmy Marvel

 

Wild Cats vs. Flash Sparrow

[merrykieran2]

Fernandes Franklin vs. Waylon Walls

 

Frankie Perez and Simon Waves vs. Champagne Lover and Chet Chavez

 

Super Ninja vs. Jimmy Marvel

 

Wild Cats vs. Flash Sparrow

[Theheel]

Fernandes Franklin vs. Waylon Walls

 

Frankie Perez and Simon Waves vs. Champagne Lover and Chet Chavez

 

Super Ninja vs. Jimmy Marvel

 

Wild Cats vs. Flash Sparrow

[batsnumbereleven]

 

CZCW Tonight!

 

Saturday 13th June 2016

 

Carson City, Nevada

 

Attendance: 3900

 

 

 

Fernandes Franklin v. Waylon Walls

 

Franklin has progressed quickly since the start of the year, whilst Walls hasn't, but the main reason for that is that Franklin has had more frequent exposure, primarily as part of Going Coastal alongside Lance Trueman, who is here at ringside but doesn't get involved in the match beyond cheering his partner on.

 

Here, he showcases a number of his newer moves, including a fireman's carry power slam that looks particularly impressive against his bigger opponent, and a nasty jawbreaker that puts Walls down for a long two after he had tried to lock in a sleeper hold.

 

Walls has his moments, but they are mostly of the punchy-kicky variety and his follow-ups once he has Franklin on the ground are rather less slick than his opponent. Franklin eventually puts Walls away when he hits a perfect missile drop-kick and then follows up with a standing 450 press for the pin.

Winner: Fernandes Franklin (D+)

 

***

 

 

 

Post-match, as soon as Walls has cleared out and he has congratulated Franklin, Lance Trueman comes into the ring with a microphone.

 

“So Bart Biggins, you think you're some kinda star who's been overlooked, huh? Ya wanna come in and be the top dog from day one?

 

“Well I'm damned if I'm gonna let that be at my expense, and since you've picked me out as someone supposedly unworthy of a spot, I'm damn-well gonna prove to you that I'm worth it and that you're barking up the wrong tree, buster.

 

“You sure picked the wrong guy to make a point against. So we can do this one-on-one, or you can find yourself a tag partner and Fernandes and me'll have no qualms in taking you both on. Let me know, sunshine, right? ©

 

***

 

 

Frankie Perez and Simon Waves v. Champagne Lover and Chet Chavez

 

A skilled veteran and an enthusiastic youngster on each team makes for an interesting dynamic here, as you get three different types of match, all in the one. When Perez or Lover is in with the opposing youngster it all looks very one sided, and there are moments when both teams look like they have things won, but a P-Clutch by Perez on Chavez is broken up by Lover, and a Lover Stunner on Waves only gets a two before Perez comes flying off the top rope to break the count.

 

When the two youngsters are in together it is fast and furious. Both of them make mistakes that the other tries to capitalise on, but never a mistake bad enough to allow anything worse than a tag and double team for a few moments, or a two-count from Matthew White.

 

When the veterans are in it is slick, but very cagey. Lover clearly doesn't want to get locked up with Perez for very long, and works hard to ensure he keeps his distance from Perez's best grapples and submission transitions, whilst Perez tries to work the percentages and corner Lover with his stiff kicks in a way that will back Lover up and leave him within reach of some old school grappling.

 

Lover and Chavez appear to work quite nicely as a team, and their communication is much better than their opponent, which is what brings about the result. In the end it is Waves that makes the error, misunderstanding his partner's signal and tagging himself in at a bad moment – Lover sends Perez flying over the top rope and meets the incoming Waves with a Champagne Sunrise, and White has reached the three count before Perez can scrape himself off the ringside matting to dive back in and break up the fall.

 

Winners: Champagne Lover and Chet Chavez ©

 

 

***

 

 

 

Backstage, and we see Remmy Skye come out of his dressing room and walking down the corridor towards the catering area. Suddenly Dave Wallace jumps out at him from behind a conveniently parked crate, and starting smashing him with forearms and fists, driving him back along the corridor.

 

Soon, Skye is able to turn the tables though, and a drop toe-hold as Wallace charges at him again sees Wallace face plant into the concrete floor, and Skye is immediately on his back, driving his knee into Wallace's spine.

 

We catch a few words that Skye growls at Wallace as he wrenches Wallace's arm high up behind his back and makes him squeal with pain, but before the situation can deteriorate any further, there are a bunch of referees and road agents there, and Skye releases his hold, backs off and continues on his way to get something to eat.

 

Wallace is caught by the microphone swearing revenge on Skye, but his target is well gone by this time. (D)

 

 

***

 

 

 

Super Ninja v. Jimmy Marvel

 

This could have been something of a one-sided affair just a few months ago, but Ninja hasn't really shown the signs that he can replicate now what he was once capable of, and Marvel has come to be one of the most respected of the younger wrestlers on the roster.

 

And that is largely how it plays out: Ninja makes some attempts to keep up, but he has definitely lost a significant step since his TCW days, and even compared to when he first joined Coastal Zone his speed and agility has dropped off a level. He does his best to try and compensate by using all the experience he has gained over the years, and this does bring him back more on a level playing field with his younger, fitter opponent, but even that nous isn't enough to dominate an opponent of Marvel's calibre.

 

For his part, Marvel shows off some of his agility with a neat flying cross-body and a plancha that soars beautifully, but is able to mix that in with the strikes and ground wrestling that he has picked up of late to mesh nicely, but there is something about him today that suggests he's not quite on his best form. Ninja manages to score with a Ninja Strike somewhat out of nowhere, but his cover is too close to the ropes and Marvel is able to escape, and that is his best opportunity to end things – Marvel quickly spins Ninja into a Marvel Breaker, and then borrows his fellow Cobra's Kneeling Boston Crab to apply the pressure to the body part he'd just weakened, and Ninja is forced to tap.

 

Winner: Jimmy Marvel (C-)

 

***

 

 

 

Backstage and we're with Harry Allen and a microphone.

 

“I'm staring to think that the management around here are simply stacking the deck so that I don't win things – I mean, really, I haver to win a four-way match in order to get a title shot? We didn't have any of that crap back in TCW and there was a good reason for it: once you stood out as the best person to be challenging for a title you had earned the shot, you didn't have to jump through extra hoops like you seem to have to here.

 

“In any case, I've done my part, and now I get my shot at Battle on the Beach. The shot to show that there really isn't anyone here that can match up to my skills, as I take Fox Mask down and make him an eight time championship loser.

 

“Seriously? You actually get to have eight shots at a title in this place? What sort of show is it?

 

“It just goes to show how the system is biased against me – on my talent alone I should have had eight title shots by now.

 

“But back to this title shot – everyone knows that when it comes down to being one-on-one, like it will at Battle on the Beach, that Fox Mask isn't even in the same league as Harry Allen, and there's no way that he can beat me, one-on-one. So you might as well save yourself a beating and hand the title over now, since it really is that inevitable.” ©

 

 

***

 

 

Wild Cats (El Jaguar/Tigre) v. Flash Sparrow (American Flash/Matt Sparrow)

 

Apparently this match isn't only about who will be the next contenders for the Coastal Zone Tag Championships, it's also to settle a score between El Jaguar and Matt Sparrow over payment for the rental car that they hired last week – Peter Michaels tells us all that he had to intervene backstage after a big argument between the two about who owed what, and told them they had to settle their differences here, with the loser paying the bill.

 

And apparently that's enough to get both teams pretty fired up, as this one starts off at a rocketing pace, with both teams flying all over the place. A huge flying elbow from Sparrow barely misses Jaguar when he matrixes himself out of the way. A huracanrana off the top rope from American Flash on Tigre gets a long two count in the early going. Fists are flying and bodies too, as the two teams try and make their mark.

 

The disappointing thing is that, despite the pace and the intensity from both teams, it's just not up to the same level as the earlier matches, and both teams are responsible for that. There's a relative lack of psychology and one fast move follows another without there really being much in the way of flow to the match. When Matt Sparrow manages to pin El Jaguar after a Sparrow Hawk as Flash keeps Tigre from intervening it's of little surprise, and it's been a decent match, but the crowd are starting to get a little antsy that it's taken a good sixteen minutes to get to this point.

 

Winners: Flash Sparrow (D+)

 

 

Overall Show Grade: C-

 

 

 

Author's Notes

 

Minor problem with the image I was using to separate segments - I'll try it again later.

 

Just three sets of predictions for this show, and Theheel came out on top with a perfect 4/4 score. Cobhead Jake scored 3/4, missing out on Jimmy Marvel's win over Super Ninja, and merrykieran2 scored 2/4 after picking Wild Cats to prevail over Flash Sparrow.