Welcome to New York... Again

Theheel · May 21, 2018

That sucks about Youngman. Why is it always right before the big shows that these things happen? At least it was before you put the belt on him.

Theheel · May 22, 2018

Fourway Tag Team Match: New Southern Stars vs. The Brothers of Annihilation vs. The Heartbreak Express vs. The Prophecy

The Brothers are pretty new here, the Stars have been around a bit and you’ve been hinting at a singles run, and The Prophecy well they have been up and down so I’m Going with Ricky and Robert here....err the Heartbreak Xpress

Brutus Milano vs. The Masked Mauler

The Mauler gets points for being a solid backstage presence but Brutus has the occasional push. Tough call but I’ll go with Brutus

Garry Walker and Animal Harker vs. Legacy

Legacy has been a bit cold put Harker hasn’t done much and Garry might need another name change

Fro Sure vs. Scythe

Will the 3rd time be the charm? Nope

Quentin Parent vs. Bradley Blaze

Blaze might be rocketing up the card quickly

No. 1 Contenders Match: Bulldozer Brandon Smith vs. Steve Flash

Will the tag team explode?

NYCW Empire & COTT World & NYCW Tri-State Title Match: Logan Wolfsbaine vs. Ross Henry I definitely think you were going to have Youngman go over and win. So the question is are you just going to plug Wolfsbaine in that slot? Or milk this matchup for at least one more to see where it goes. There could be another reason as I am not sure of the contract status of Henry and could he be next out the door? I think Henry who has been doing the Ric Flair thing on winning with rope leverage, trunks or any means necessary pulls out another cheap win

Next time on Welcome to New York… Empire City Showdown II…

TCP1 · May 22, 2018

Welcome to New York… It’s the second granddaddy of them all…

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW Empire City Showdown II

Sunday, Week 2, December, 2017

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

FOURWAY UNIFIED TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation defeated New Southern Stars ©, The Heartbreak Express © and The Prophecy in 12:10; the order of elimination was The Heartbreak Express first, then The Prophecy, and finally New Southern Stars. The Brothers of Annihilation win the COTT World Tag Team titles and the NYCW Tag Team titles. (D)

With all the gold on the line, our monster tag team destroy the competition and win everything, thus establishing themselves as the premier tag team on the independent scene. We had a plan for them going forward, but it would take some time to establish it.

SINGLES MATCH: The Masked Mauler defeated Brutus Milano in 6:30 by pinfall with… A BIG SWING!?! (E)

That’s right, we’re giving the old boy a win on the big show and starting his new gimmick of only using old school wrestling moves as a finisher.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Legacy defeated Garry Walker and Animal Harker in 7:59 when Bret Heartbreak defeated Garry Walker by pinfall with a Heart Attack. (D)

Not entirely sure why we’re building up another heel tag team considering a heel team won all the gold. But what can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for the next generation.

SINGLES MATCH: Scythe defeated Fro Sure in 13:24 by pinfall with an Underworld Spike. (D+)

Fro Sure hasn’t won in ages from memory, whereas Scythe is becoming something of an unstoppable force. His move-set is becoming more and more vicious too, which is awesome.

ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine cuts a backstage promo saying he’s ready to do what no one has ever done and defeat Ross Henry and claim the gold and his place at the top of the mountain. (B-)

Ernest who?

SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated Quentin Parent in 5:39 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. (D-)

Solid win for Bradley, who could well see his stock rise in the coming weeks following all the departures.

ANGLE: Bulldozer Brandon Smith cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Steve Flash. They’ve been tag team partners, they’re the only Grand Slam winners in NYCW history and tonight, they’re going one on one for a shot at the Empire Title. May the best man win. ©

SINGLES MATCH: Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Steve Flash in 21:54 by pinfall with a Tombstone Piledriver. (D+)

Solid, if unspectacular match between these two here, which is a disappointment. But Bulldozer is the younger of the vets and he’s the one going on to face the winner of the main event at some point.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE & COTT WORLD TITLE & TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: In a classic half an hour matchup Ross Henry and Logan Wolfsbaine battle it out in front of a raucous New York crowd. With Henry locked into the Boston Crab, it looks like it’s over before he makes the ropes for the break. Logan sets his opponent up for the belly-to-belly suplex only to be caught by the Earthquake Powerslam for the 1… 2… 3. Ross Henry defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 28:12 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. ©

Good main event, but when we think what it could’ve been with Ernest in that spot, it really does make the heart bleed a little.

ANGLE: The match is over and Ross Henry is celebrating. Logan Wolfsbaine walks over and offers his hand as a sign of respect, and the two competitors shake hands. (B-)

OVERALL: D

And with that the year draws to a close with a profit of $7,957 and 2nd place in all regional battles. In the end, we were destroyed by things out of our control, which is a shame, but there we go. Starring down the barrel of 2018, NYCW appears to be in the best shape of its life. There’s very little we can do now but look at the year-end awards:

Wrestler of the Year – Axxis Jr

Company of the Year – SOTBPW

Team of the Year – Xtinction & El Aborotador

Match of the Year – Rocky Golden vs. Money Gilmore (USPW Stars, Stripes and Slams!

Show of the Year – NOTBPW Big City Brawl

Young Wrestler of the Year – Snow Storm

Veteran of Year – Steve DeColt

Female of the Year – Brooke Tyler

Most Improved Promotion of the Year – ZEN

Independent Wrestler of the Year – Phoenix III

Next time on Welcome to New York… We kick off the New Year with a bang and Tennessee William gets his shot…

TCP1 · May 22, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we’re running multiple shows and a title gets vacated…

So despite Ross Henry scooping all the singles prizes on offer at Empire City Showdown, the commissioner (off screen) Larry Vessey has accepted the relinquishing of the NYCW Tri-State Regional Title and has announced an 8-man tournament for the gold starting on the show after next.

Before the first show of the year, Animal Harker pulled a rib on the entire locker room, which had them in stitches.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 17: Shake, Rattle and Roll

Saturday, Week 2, January, 2018

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Heartbreak Express defeated Legacy in 7:50 when Ralph Liotta defeated Bret Heartbreak by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (D-)

A chance to kick off the new year in style, our young team battle their old foes and get the win. Simples.

SINGLES MATCH: The Masked Mauler defeated Brutus Milano in 6:12 by submission with a… BEAR HUG!?!? (E-)

Poor old Brutus, you may be Larry’s boy, but I will job you out to the Mauler. And with a bear hug no less. Beautiful.

SINGLES MATCH: Garry Walker defeated Quentin Parent in 6:18 by pinfall with a Rolling Cradle. (D-)

Time to start elevating some new stars and Garry has all the tools necessary. He just needs a good gimmick. More work required.

ANGLE: Hellion says that he and The Hangman are the most dominant force in all of New York history. Nothing and no one can stop them. Hangman then runs his thumb across his throat. ©

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated The Grand Slam in 10:08 when The Hangman defeated Steve Flash by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D+)

Big win for our new monster team. Good way to completely establish them as a dominant force in the tag team division. Plus the vets can swallow the loss for the good of the company. Decent match too.

SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze drew with Fro Sure in 7:55 following a double count out. (E+)

Hold the phone! Fro Sure didn’t lose! I mean, he didn’t win either, but good for him.

SINGLES MATCH: Animal Harker defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 7:35 by disqualification. (D)

I think I’m right in saying that this could be classed as a disappointment considering those involved.

SINGLES MATCH: Scythe defeated Joffy Pinkerton in 8:04 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D+)

The dominant march of Scythe continues unabated. The combination of his look, size and legendary gimmick are making him the fastest-rising star of the promotion. It won’t be long before he ascends towards the main event I shouldn’t think.

ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine cuts a promo saying despite the disappointment of losing his title, he’ll battle the other seven and prove to them that he’s worthy once again for such a prestigious title. (C+)

SINGLES MATCH: Logan Wolfsbaine defeated William Jetterson in 11:57 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex. ©

For two youngsters who started together years ago, they still have the goods in the ring. Perhaps I should focus on a Jetterson push to get him in the singles mix.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Tennessee William in 13:29 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. ©

Tennessee brings the goods in the main event, proving to me once again that he’s ready for an extended singles push.

OVERALL: D+

Great show to kick off the year and probably enough to give us first place with two more shows to hammer the point home. So let’s get to the next one.

<div style="text-align:center;">Old School Wrestling

Monday, Week 3, January, 2018

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TRI-STATE TITLE TOURNAMENT 1st ROUND: Scythe defeated Bradley Blaze in 7:49 by pinfall with an Underworld Spike. (D+)

Good start for Scythe, our man under the mask. The Monster of Men. Bradley Blaze was serviceable, but he’s not ready to take down Scythe.

TRI-STATE TITLE TOURNAMENT 1st ROUND: Fro Sure defeated Animal Harker in 7:36 by pinfall with a Sure Thing. (D)

That’s right people. Fro Sure, finally, finally gets a win! Could this be the turning point in his NYCW career. After years without a title, maybe now it’s finally time.

TRI-STATE TITLE TOURNAMENT 1st ROUND: Tennessee William defeated Steve Flash in 7:40 by pinfall with a handful of tights. (C-)

Big win for the man of the moment. Tennessee takes a step forward at the expense of a Grand Slam winner. Great match too. He really has made huge leaps and bounds in his singles performances and he’s fast becoming a top guy.

ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Aldous Blackfriar. (C+)

TRI-STATE TITLE TOURNAMENT 1st ROUND: Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 13:17 by submission with a Boston Crab after blatantly cheating. ©

Logan isn’t above dishing out the same treatment he receives with Aldous and the two have a good match. Logan, the former champion advances to the next round.

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated The Heartbreak Express in 6:02 when Hellion defeated Johnny Needham by pinfall with a Devolution Bomb. (E+)

Poor match here in a classic big vs. little performance. Still another win for the big guys.

ANGLE: Bulldozer Brandon Smith cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Joffy Pinkerton. (C+)

SINGLES MATCH: Bulldozer Brandon Smith defeated Joffy Pinkerton in 9:39 by pinfall with a Tombstone Piledriver. (C-)

Clean victory for the man gearing up to challenge for the Empire Title. Joffy can, frankly, suck it at this stage.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry defeated William Jetterson in 12:46 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (C-)

Good match as Ross Henry continues to beat all competition at all times. He might be the most dominant champion in NYCW history. Simply untouchable.

OVERALL: D+

Another good show for us there as we’re building some nice momentum, and I’m sat here waiting for the next round of bad news. Then we receive word, terrible word which would change the wrestling landscape.

This couldn’t possibly end well.

Next time on Welcome to New York… A meeting with RDJ…

TCP1 · May 22, 2018

In a car with Larry…

We were on a road trip, Larry and I. Cruising out of the city and across the country. It was days of truck stops, diners and small towns boasting the world’s largest ball of yarn and the like. Larry was quite quiet, we occasionally spoke about the business and how our plans were taking longer than expected. Whenever the subject of PSW came up, Larry would get angry, so I tried not to bring it up that much.

Travelling West, we cruised into the great state of Texas, the Lone Star State. I’d never been before and the vast plains and dusty bowls of the state were everything you’d imagine them to be. It seemed Dallas was our destination, which meant only one thing.

TCW Headquarters.

Unlike Reverie, TCW Headquarters was situated in an old building in downtown Dallas. Like a long-forgotten bastion of old school Texas pride. It sat completely at odds with the style of their shows, which were top-quality wrestling and hard-hitting, modern-themed wrestling.

The receptionist took us up to the meeting room on the third floor and we walked in to find a huge man with a cowboy hat, long moustache and sideburns. It was the man who retired the legendary Rip Chord, the multi-time TCW champion and figurehead of the company. Ricky Dale Johnson.

“Gentlemen,” RDJ said in a rumbling Southern drawl. “Welcome to TCW, I think we need to talk.”

“Hello Ricky,” said Larry. “Congratulations on your purchase of TCW. Exciting times ahead for the company I’m sure.”

Something in Larry’s tone told me he was nervous, and when he was nervous he got defensive.

“Y’all drove all the way here to congratulate me in person? Class move,” he said. “But I wonder if maybe, just maybe, you’re a little worried about what my plans are?”

“Nothing wrong with trying to stay ahead of the game,” said Larry. “When you’re an independent the more you know, the better chance you’ve got of actually surviving.”

“Seems to me you’ve been doing more than just surviving out there in the big city,” said RDJ. “I gotta say, I’m impressed. That Ernest Youngman fella is a Hell of a performer. When I saw what he could do, I took a closer look at the company which gave him his best run. And d’you know what I found.”

“A loyal roster of workers doing the best they can?” said Larry.

“Talent. I found talent. Untapped, well-trained, nicely booked talent,” he said and looked at me. “You the booker?”

“Yes sir,” I said.

“Sir? I ain’t no sir,” he laughed. “But I appreciate that. And I appreciate someone with a decent mind for the business. Sorry for screwing your big main event. Timing’s a bitch.”

“We did ok,” I replied.

“Yes you did,” he said and stroked his moustache. “You wanna come work for me? I’ve got a team of writers beneath me, could easily open a slot for someone like you.”

“He’s happy where he is,” snapped Larry.

It was nice to see the old man valued me. He’d never say it, but clearly he felt it. I gave him a nod of encouragement that I wasn’t about to up and leave him. A flash of a grin crossed his face.

“Shame, I could really use you,” said RDJ. “So you’re worried I’m going to come calling and take your best and brightest then.”

“Just be straight with us,” said Larry. “Life isn’t easy at our size. Tell us straight, man-to-man.”

“Well, truth is, we are expanding,” said RDJ. “And cos of that, I am looking for fresh talent to bring in. And I do have my eye on some of your guys.”

“Which guys?” said Larry.

“You really wanna know?”

“Tell me Ricky, don’t play games.”

RDJ laughed.

Next time on Welcome to New York… TCW come calling and our roster gets gutted…

TCP1 · May 22, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we run a tournament while our talent runs out of town…

Straight on with the show.

<div style="text-align:center;">Stomping in the City

Friday, Week 4, January, 2018

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE SEMI-FINAL: Tennessee William defeated Scythe in 8:21 by count out. (D+)

That’s right people, Scythe has finally met his match. Tennessee, master of cheating tied the behemoth’s leg to the ring post and waited for the ref to count him out. It’s not pretty, but it is effective.

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Masked Mauler and Masked Stranger defeated The Prophecy in 8:01 when Masked Mauler defeated William Jetterson by submission with a… COBRA CLUTCH!?! (D)

Welcome to the company

ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Tennessee William. (B)

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE SEMI-FINAL: Logan Wolfsbaine defeated Fro Sure in 24:18 by submission with a Boston Crab. (C-)

And back to the losing ways for Fro Sure. Just when you thought he was building all the right momentum. Sad times. So the finals are Logan Wolfsbaine vs. Tennessee William. Should be a good one.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Joffy Pinkerton in 9:39 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. ©

Good match from Joffy there, but he still lost, because I don’t like him.

ANGLE: Bulldozer Brandon Smith cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Steve Flash. Apparently these old dogs are going at one more time. (B-)

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Bulldozer Brandon Smith in 23:33 by pinfall with a Flash Bang. (C-)

OVERALL: D

The results above actually signal the signings of a number of our talent to TCW. RDJ is apparently very keen on the talent we’ve been fostering and is planning to run an invasion angle on TCW. Can’t say I blame him, but I will, because it ruins a number of plans.

Elsewhere Roderick Remus won the Rip Chord Invitational Tourney XIII. We finished 1st across all battles and we turned a $7,965 profit. Let’s move into February and see the fallout to the signings TCW made.

<div style="text-align:center;">City Beats

Wednesday, Week 1, February, 2018

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Prophecy defeated The Grand Slam in 10:24 when Aldous Blackfriar defeated Bulldozer Brandon Smith by pinfall with a Batwing. (C-)

Great opener right here. Poor Bulldozer loses one last time. He will be missed.

SINGLES MATCH: Masked Patriot defeated Fro Sure in 7:34 by pinfall with a Patriot Slam. (D)

Fro Sure never quite achieved the success he thought he would and our newest signing gets a much-needed boost from the victory here.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Joffy Pinkerton in 13:01 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. ©

Another title match, another loss as I finally say goodbye to the former tag team champion and the man who made my life a little awkward. See ya Joffy.

SINGLES MATCH: Scythe defeated Bradley Blaze in 7:35 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D+)

Scythe continues to become a stalwart of our cards and with the soon-to-be-departed, he will be pushed even harder in the coming weeks.

SINGLES MATCH: Masked Stranger defeated Robin DaLay in 6:30 by submission with a Cobra Clutch. (D-)

One of our new masked heroes gets a simple win over our jobber-to-the-stars. Actually a decent little match considering.

ANGLE: Logan Wolfsbaine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Tennessee William. He’s going to get his title back. Nothing more to say. (B-)

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 24:34 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad. Tennessee William wins the NYCW Tri-State Regional title. ©

And finally, finally Tennessee gets some singles love. He’s deserved it for longer than most AND with our leavers creating a hole big enough to drive a bus through, we reward the loyalty of the man.

OVERALL: D+

After the show Logan asks for a pay-rise to $850, which we give without question. Bulldozer Brandon Smith, Joffy Laine (Pinkerton) and Fro Sure all officially sign with TCW. Talk about gutting my upper midcard. What I’m left with is people with limited direction and almost nothing in the way of storylines. With Rush Hour fast approaching, we needed to rejig the roster, find some new talent and desperately, desperately try to keep our momentum going. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Next time on Welcome to New York… A new challenger emerges and Ross Henry’s title might be in proper danger for the first time since Ernest Youngman’s departure…

TCP1 · May 22, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where if you’re an old school masked wrestler, you’ll get pushed…

Let’s get on with the show and debut the new generation of New York alumni.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 18: New Blood

Saturday, Week 2, February, 2018

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE FOURWAY: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Legacy, The Heartbreak Express and The Prophecy in 9:53; the order of elimination was Legacy first, then The Heartbreak Express, and finally The Prophecy. (D)

I’m not sure that destroying the entire division to keep our monster team dominant is the best use of talent, but really we only have one face team anyway. So we’ll save tag teams for the openers.

SINGLES MATCH: Animal Harker defeated Brutus Milano in 8:05 by pinfall with a Stump Piledriver. (D-)

Brutus El Jobber. That’ll teach Larry for making me keep the gorgeous, useless lug.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Garry Walker and The Masked Mauler defeated Doctor O'Haire and Quentin Parent in 7:41 when The Masked Mauler defeated Doctor O'Haire by submission with an… IRON CLAW!?! (E+)

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Masked Stranger in 12:34 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad. (D)

Not a strong start to his title reign, but the Masked Stranger is a newcomer and just finding his feet. What I find so disappointing is the lack of chemistry notes I seem to get, even for the constant rotating cadre of performers.

ANGLE: Tennessee William cuts a promo to sing a song about how terrible Logan Wolfsbaine was as champion. ©

SINGLES MATCH: Masked Patriot defeated Bradley Blaze in 7:41 by pinfall with a Patriot Slam. (E+)

Disappointing match from another new character. The sheer number of masked wrestlers we have now is ridiculous by the way.

SINGLES MATCH: Scythe defeated Steve Flash in 13:15 by pinfall with an Underworld Spike. (D+)

Speaking of which, our resident Monster of Men defeats Grand Slam winner Steve Flash and further moves up the card. Can anyone stop this man’s streak of destruction (other than Tennessee of course).

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE: Ross Henry © defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 26:21 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. ©

We wanted a sure-fire, good quality main event and that’s exactly what we got. At this point Logan doesn’t need the wins, so putting him in here is a good stop gap, until…

ANGLE: Ross Henry is in the ring. Out of nowhere, Scythe hits the ring and attacks. The assault is quick and brutal, and leaves Henry completely destroyed. (B-)

HELLLOOOOO new challenger! That’s right, it’s time to pull the trigger on a Scythe main event run. He’s reliable, he’s undefeated and it’s the closest we’ve got to an untested main event match.

OVERALL: D

A slightly disappointing show, but at least we have some direction moving forward now. I like the idea of Scythe up there challenging Ross Henry. Thus far he’s just faced top-quality, in-ring workers, not necessarily top-quality characters. Let’s see how he does against Scythe.

Next time on Welcome to New York… A visit to the Confederation of the Territories…

TCP1 · May 22, 2018

COTT Headquarters…

The gathered representatives of the COTT sat around the table and for the first time in years, everyone seemed reasonably calm. Even Mitch Naess and Larry were playing nice. With TCW’s re-emergence and the Reverie-lead USPW still dominant, everyone had agreed to reduce their production costs to stop putting others out of the running.

The reasonably new Lethal Ring promotion had joined and despite being based in Hawaii had built a large following already. Fortunately they weren’t anywhere close to the others, so much like FCW were just dealing with their own region.

“Well gentlemen,” said Sam Keith. “I have to say I’m impressed, this might be the first time since we started that we’re all on the same page. The only chance we’ve got in this marketplace with RDJ and TCW, and Allen Packer and USPW is to stick together. I’m feeling hopeful.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Mitch Naess in a much calmer, almost distracted tone.

“Good luck for the next few months, let’s reconvene in say September?”

The room murmured in agreement and everyone shuffled to leave the room.

As we left, Mitch Naess came up to us in the hallway.

“Hey Vessey, we need to chat.”

“I’m not looking for an argument today Naess…” Larry replied.

“No argument,” he said. “Not this time. Look, this isn’t easy for me to say, but… you’re killing us.”

“What’s that?”

“Your shows are killing us. We’re losing momentum, gates are down. We can’t compete.”

Larry laughed, “Are you asking for mercy?”

“No,” said Naess instinctively. He then shifted uncomfortably.

“Spit it out,” Larry said, sensing the obvious weakness.

“I just thought that maybe we could come to an agreement,” he said. “Maybe stop the hostilities a bit, not go out of our way to screw each other over. Just for a bit.”

“So you do want mercy,” chuckled Larry.

“Just think about it ok? It benefits us both to keep running, dontcha think?” he said. “No point ruining each other’s livelihoods is there. I know we don’t always get on, but I’ve got a family. Seriously, just think about it.”

“Ok, I’ll think about it.”

Naess left with his head down. Once he’d left the building, Larry excitedly turned to me.

“They’re screwed,” he said with a grin. “We’ve got em on the ropes. Time to finish the job.”

“Boss?” I said.

“I want them run out of business, for good. Let’s end this now and as soon as they’re financially finished, we’ll swoop in and pick the meat from the bones.”

“Larry, we haven’t exactly got the capital for some sort of buy-out you know. We’re only just turning a small profit.”

“Well, that’s simple. Keep making more money. Figure out a way to do that, and we’re off. Got it?”

I sighed.

“Whatever you say boss.”

Next time on Welcome to New York… After a break, the assault on PSW continues…

Hashasheen · May 22, 2018

Seriously though, how's their finances looking?

TCP1 · May 22, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hashasheen" data-cite="Hashasheen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45361" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Seriously though, how's their finances looking?</div></blockquote> I'll do a deep dive into the other US independent companies and their general states of being in the next post.

TCP1 · May 23, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where cultists threaten the fabric of society…

After our meeting with Mitch Naess, I sent our private detective Francis Peppercorn to investigate the nearest competition and see how they were currently holding up:

Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling

Current bank balance: $24,047 (this was pretty grim reading and it makes sense why Naess looked so worried)

Current Prestige: D-

Current Momentum: D

PSW Championship: Grandmaster Phunk

PSW National: Roderick Remus

PSW Tag Team: Vacant (following the departure of Fro Sure)

So things were not looking at all rosey for our main competition. Even if they went pop, there was no way we could afford to buy them out at this stage, not without an escalation of our own money-making ways. Although our latest information told us that we could run a show in the much larger McGaw Arena in Queens and pack it to around the tune of 3,500 people.

Being suckers for old school ideas and history, we decided to test the profitability of doing that at Rush Hour in March.

Peppercorn also gave us some information about MAW:

Mid Atlantic Wrestling

Current bank balance: $53,391

Current Prestige: D-

Current Momentum: F+

Mid Atlantic Championship: Roderick Remus

Mid Atlantic American: Copperhead

Mid Atlantic Tag Team: Hal Havard & Jonah Pilgrim

In slightly better financial shape than PSW, but their momentum belied their big problem, nobody was taking them seriously as anything than a feeder territory for the big boys. Technically we were all suffering from that, but MAW weren’t creating stars at the same rate that the rest of us were. It was a shame because I, like a lot of wrestling fans have always had a soft spot for MAW and Sam Keith always seemed a stand-up character.

Regardless we now had a plan for the next few months and fingers crossed for the rest of the year, obviously dependent on whether or not we lost any of our top talent.

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW Old School Wrestling

Monday, Week 3, February, 2018

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

SINGLES MATCH: Scythe defeated Masked Patriot in 8:02 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D+)

Scythe’s momentum is through the roof at this stage and while his gimmick keeps him as something of a tweener, he’s displaying a more ruthless side to his character as the weeks go by.

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated The Mighty INVADERS in 7:56 when Hellion defeated Logan Wolfsbaine by pinfall with a Devolution Bomb. (D+)

Clean win against one of our best stars. Logan has had a great run of success in the two years he’s been with us, so he can afford to lose here.

ANGLE: After the match is over, Aldous Blackfriar stands at the top of the ramp and applauds The Brothers of Annihilation. (D+)

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Masked Stranger defeated William Jetterson and The Masked Mauler in 7:51 when Masked Stranger defeated The Masked Mauler by submission with a Cobra Clutch. (D-)

Poor Masked Mauler, just as he starts to build momentum, he gets shot down. Disappointing match considering two-thirds of the talent on display.

ANGLE: Tennessee William cuts a singing promo hyping up his upcoming match with Steve Flash. He’s got his guitar ‘Cheryl’ and he’s ready to teach the bastion of the old school about not running around the pool. It doesn’t make much sense, but the crowd boo him regardless. ©

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE: Tennessee William © defeated Steve Flash in 7:51 by pinfall with a handful of tights. (D+)

Tennessee is fast becoming one of my favourite workers on our roster. He’s entertaining, solid in the ring and has a Great gimmick. Shame our main event is so clogged with behemoth megastars otherwise I’d be pushing him up there double-quick-time.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

Blimey!

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE: Ross Henry © defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 13:04 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage after botched interference from Scythe. (C+)

Good match right there. Aldous continues to make a nuisance of himself and Henry continues his incredible streak as champion. It’s almost impossible to imagine how anyone can stop him at this stage and he is officially the longest-reigning Empire Champion of all time.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is in the ring. Out of nowhere, Scythe hits the ring and attacks. The assault is quick and brutal, and leaves Henry completely destroyed. Aldous Blackfriar looks on amused. (B+)

OVERALL: C-

Great show all-in-all with a killer main event which has huge implications for the future of NYCW, which will become apparent in the next few shows.

As we book the show to close out the month, Quentin Parent brings a crate of free drinks to cheer up the locker room and Brutus Milano is summoned before the wrestler’s court for leaving a mess and he took his punishment with good grace. I still can’t stand the guy though.

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW Stomping in the City

Monday, Week 4, February, 2018

Pennsylvania Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Brothers of Annihilation © drew with The Mighty INVADERS in 9:31 following a double count out. (C-)

Didn’t want to job out the Mighty… INVADERS again, so this seemed like a nice secondary match to build up to the rubber match.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Masked Patriot in 9:42 by pinfall after using a foreign object. (D+)

And finally we have two workers with pretty good chemistry. Which gave me a great idea for a long-running feud between the two. Alternatively, I might just burn through the matches at high speed for a quick-fix. Who knows, depends if I remember the chemistry or not.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar is in the ring and out comes Scythe. Blackfriar says he’s recruited the Brothers of Annihilation to his new group, The Apocalypse. But he wants the biggest name in New York, Scythe, to join them too. Aldous is about to show their strength, by defeating Steve Flash. Scythe stares Aldous down and leaves without saying a word. (C-)

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash drew with Aldous Blackfriar in 13:13 when the referee lost control and stopped the match after interference from the Brothers of Annihilation. (D)

Steve Flash dominated proceedings, which lead to the interference. Slightly disappointing match, but then Steve Flash is in his 50s, so I don’t know what I really expected to be honest. Might to time to properly move him down the card now and help put over the up-and-comers.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © drew with Scythe in 28:13 when the referee lost control and stopped the match after Aldous Blackfriar and the Brothers of Annihilation run in and attack Henry. (D+)

Slightly disappointing match, but best for storyline purposes.

ANGLE: After the match, with The Apocalypse having run for the hills, Scythe looks at Ross Henry and then delivers multiple choke slams to his fallen opponent. Then out of nowhere comes… a masked man. He fights Scythe away and helps Henry to his feet, brushes down the Empire champion and then… BAM! He delivers a colossal clothesline to level the champ. He removes his mask to reveal… The Wrath of God. (B)

That’s right, we’ve signed Jack Giedroyc AKA The Wrath of God.

OVERALL: D

We finished 1st in the Great Lakes and Mid Atlantic regions and 2nd in the New England and Tri-State regions. We made a tidy profit of $12,515 and have decided that starting at Rush Hour we’re going to try the McGaw Arena to see how much we can make.

In global news, Aichi has gone live in Japan, which has forced Reverie to step up its planned expansion into the Orient. Its fun getting this global updates from time to time, especially as we’re playing small arenas in a singular area in the US. Nothing like this stuff to make us feel really small.

After that massive debut, the main event of Rush Hour is signed: Wrath of God vs. Ross Henry for the Empire Title.

And you will not believe what we’ve got planned.

Next time on Welcome to New York… Rush Hour 2018…

TCP1 · May 23, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where Gods play with men…

Let’s do this.

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW Rush Hour 2018

Thursday, Week 2, March, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,315</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE FOURWAY: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Legacy, The Heartbreak Express and The Masked Mauler and Animal Harker in 10:14; the order of elimination was The Heartbreak Express first, then Legacy, and finally The Masked Mauler and Animal Harker. (D-)

Poor Animal Harker sprung from his epic tag team feud to jobbing in the opener with a broken-down has-been. Still Aldous accompanied the Brothers to the ring and did some good work. The Apocalypse are a strong unit already as our cards start to get some story focus.

SINGLES MATCH: Garry Walker defeated Doctor O'Haire in 6:27 by pinfall with a Pants Pull Sunset Flip. (D-)

Still trying to figure out how best to use Garry. He’s got so much potential, but without a decent gimmick the best he can hope for is low card filler matches like this.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Masked Stranger defeated Brutus Milano and Quentin Parent in 8:20 when Masked Stranger defeated Quentin Parent by submission with a Cobra Clutch. (E+)

Speaking of low card filler matches. Masked Stranger gets the win in a match of what could generously be described as ‘under-utilised’ workers.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Masked Patriot defeated Tennessee William © in 12:52 by disqualification. (C-)

Another good match from these chemistry-rich performers. Tennessee can afford the loss, especially as he’s kept his title in the process. A rubber match will occur at some point. If I’m smart I can milk this feud for a while. Hands up who thinks I’m smart enough to do it.

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated Steve Flash in 12:46 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch after blatantly cheating. (D+)

Better match as we begin to transition Flash down the card and he passes the torch to Aldous on his way up.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar is in the ring celebrating and he grabs the microphone and calls out Scythe. Blackfriar gives him the chance to join The Apocalypse. We cannot fulfil his destiny alone, no matter how powerful he is. It’s time. Scythe looks at him and leaves without a word. (D+)

INTRIGUE!?!

SINGLES MATCH: William Jetterson defeated Bradley Blaze in 10:04 by submission with a Viper Vice after blatantly cheating. (D-)

Aldous’ former tag team partner is now going it alone and he’s begun with, what is frankly, a bad match. I still have faith in him and am hopeful of a better showing in the coming months. At the end of the day, he’s good and he’s cheap, which works for me at the moment.

SINGLES MATCH: Scythe defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 22:24 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (C-)

The thinking here is; We love Logan, but he is currently directionless. His popularity has also exploded so to avoid him drawing too much attention from the likes of TCW it’s time to cool him off until we can find a big story for him to perform in. Plus Scythe gets the rub and rockets closer to mega stardom.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: In the main event of one of our BIG FOUR events of the year, the unstoppable Rookie Phenom Ross Henry defends his title against the legendary British performer currently known as The Wrath Of God. For 25:18 the two go back and forth and the crowd keep their eyes peeled to the entrance for what is almost certain interference. Wrath of God, reverses the Earthquake Powerslam into a God’s Fury finisher and covers. 1… 2… then the lights go out. When they come back on, Scythe is in the ring. Ross Henry is covering Wrath of God. Referee Michael Bull reluctantly counts the 1… 2… 3.

Your winner and STILL NYCW Empire Champion, Ross Henry.

©

ANGLE: Scythe, having done his damage, rolls Henry off of Wrath of God and kicks the fallen challenger out of the ring and looks to the entrance. Aldous and the Brothers of Annihilation come out to join him in the ring. Using their size to intimidate Michael Bull, the referee rings the bell for an impromptu match. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Scythe picks up Ross Henry and delivers three choke slams. He crosses Henry’s arms and pins him as Michael Bull counts the 3. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the match, and NEW NYCW Empire champion, Scythe. (C-)

ANGLE: Having booted Henry out of the ring, Aldous and the Brothers stand opposite Scythe. Aldous offers his hand, and Scythe pauses… and shakes it. The Apocalypse stand tall in the ring, together. The lights go out again and when they come on, all four men have disappeared. ©

OVERALL: D+

That’s right folks, a massive show delivered and a central storyline which we can actually run with. Henry was furious about losing the title to Scythe, but needs must and he’d run his course at the top. It was time to freshen up the main event, especially with no top-level heels for him to face.

Aldous has become a key member of the roster and he have a big group who can get involved in most storylines and finally give us the focus we need. Wrath of God was a two-shot deal, so he and his big salary is gone having served his purpose.

We end the month having come 1st in the Great Lakes and Mid Atlantic and 2nd in New England and Tri-State. Seriously RIPW were killing us with their ridiculous production costs. In truly spectacular news we made a whopping $20,584 profit having run the bigger venue. So if we extrapolated that into four shows in that arena, with limited workers in three of them, we should be able to make a tonne of cash.

Following the departure of Ernest Youngman, I finally felt like we were ready to push our product.

Next time on Welcome to New York… What could possibly go wrong…

Pteroid · May 23, 2018

If I may make a suggestion, I assume Garry Walker is Garry the Entertainer so why not pair him and Harker together as an oddball face tag team with Harker going into rages that can only be calmed by Garry’s weird Monkey Puppet

moafnsteel · May 24, 2018

I truly am loving this diary. I can't wait to see where you go with this!

TCP1 · May 24, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we have direction and purpose, so as history has taught us, everything is going to fall apart…

Our popularity in New England has increased enough for us to push for further expansion. It seems that to reach Cult level we need D+ popularity in two regions. We’re at D- in the Tri-State and F+ in New England. This wasn’t going to be quick, but a lot can change over the years, so let’s see what we can do with a reduced roster working in New England.

We were also popular enough to upgrade from the Biker Park to a charming little place called The Skid Row Club. New England is a strange place.

<div style="text-align:center;">Traditional Tour

Friday, Week 1, April, 2018

Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 518</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Logan Wolfsbaine and Masked Stranger in 10:20 when Hellion defeated Logan Wolfsbaine by pinfall with a Devolution Bomb. (D+)

Poor, poor Logan. He went from main eventing our biggest show of the year to taking the pin in the opening match. We had a big plan for him though. We wanted to create an ultimate underdog-like story for him.

SINGLES MATCH: Animal Harker defeated William Jetterson in 7:29 by pinfall with a Stump Piledriver. (D-)

Solid victory for Animal in a disappointing match. Once again we’re struggling to find something for Jetterson to do. But hey, if we lost anymore talent he’d have to get a rocket up the backside. For now he was fine where is.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Steve Flash in 13:30 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (D+)

Another big win for Tennessee, although I was expecting better quality from the match itself. Eventually we’d consider moving him up to the main event properly.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar is out with the rest of the apocalypse. Apparently today Henry and the Masked Idiot are going to learn a lesson in PAIN. (B-)

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A)

TAG TEAM MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar and Scythe drew with Ross Henry and Masked Patriot in 28:30 when the referee lost control and stopped the match following interference from the Brothers of Annihilation. ©

Good match as Aldous makes himself comfortable as a bonafide main event talent. He’s young too, and quite cheap. There is definitely something missing from his game though and I’m reluctant to fully pull the trigger on a monster push.

OVERALL: D+

Great show for New England and cheap too. So we were hurtling towards are mid-level show of the month and The Apocalypse were running roughshod over the entire promotion holding all but one title.

Then we discovered that RIPW had grown in size, which was probably the single worst piece of news we could’ve received.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 19: Rise of Apocalypse

Friday, Week 2, April, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,426</div>

FOURWAY TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Legacy, The Heartbreak Express and Quentin Parent and Doctor O'Haire in 9:48; the order of elimination was Quentin Parent and Doctor O'Haire first, then Legacy, and finally The Heartbreak Express. The Brothers of Annihilation make defence number 8 of their NYCW Tag Team titles. (D-)

Another multi-team opener as I test combinations of struggling lower midcarders looking for a team which sticks. The Heartbreak Express are a necessity at the moment, but Johnny Needham is not holding up his end of the bargain. But without another proper face team, they have to stay. For now.

SINGLES MATCH: Animal Harker defeated Brutus Milano in 6:19 by pinfall with a Stump Piledriver. (E+)

Suck it Brutus. Another clean win for Animal.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Garry Walker in 12:43 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad. (D)

Speaking of clean wins, Tennessee didn’t need it, but sometimes it’s nice just to remind people that he doesn’t need to cheat to win. Match was meh considering my expectations.

SINGLES MATCH: William Jetterson defeated The Masked Mauler in 6:17 by submission with a Viper Vice. (E+)

Speaking of clean wins and losses, poor old Masked Mauler. Part of me actually wishes he’d retire and I’d happily move him into a road agent role and let him continue to train Hangman and Logan.

SINGLES MATCH: Masked Patriot defeated Masked Stranger in 9:36 by pinfall with a Patriot Slam. (D-)

In a battle of the masked midcarders with no direction, the Patriot beats the stranger. Not a lot to say here, I’m not overly enamoured with either guy to be honest, but needs must.

SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated Logan Wolfsbaine in 12:35 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (C-)

Huge win for Blaze here. There was something about his ability which I really liked, and wanting to keep the big boys away from Logan; he eats another pin.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar is out with Scythe. They’re taking on Henry and whichever nobody he’s partnering with this week, difference this time is, The Apocalypse will win. He then checks a little notepad… “Oh it’s Steve Flash, the only remaining ‘Grand Slam’ winner in NYCW history… that’s strange though, because I don’t see his name on the King of New York Title… not much of a Grand Slam if you ask me.” (C+)

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

TAG TEAM MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar and Scythe drew with Ross Henry and Steve Flash in 27:37 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. (C+)

Great match as finish the show with a BANG!

ANGLE: Ross Henry is in the ring and Scythe attacks. The assault is quick and brutal, and leaves Henry completely destroyed. (B-)

OVERALL: D+

Good show again as we’re starting to really find our groove. You’ll not that Aldous has also rewritten history and effectively stripped both Steve Flash (and Bulldozer Brandon Smith) of their Grand Slam titles by virtue of never having won the King of New York Tournament. What can we say? If you cross us, we’ll make you pay. I do feel a bit bad for Flash though. If only there was some way to remedy that.

Next time on Welcome to New York… RIPW become a BIG problem…

TCP1 · May 24, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we’ll build you up to stardom and watch you walk away without so much as a goodbye…

Yup, as expected RIPW’s growth was going to cost us. And cost us dearly. Let’s see out April though.

<div style="text-align:center;">Old School Wrestling

Monday, Week 3, April, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,426</div>

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Steve Flash in 13:19 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad. (D+)

In the rematch Tennessee doesn’t need to cheat to beat the former Grand Slam winner. Decent opener really.

SINGLES MATCH: Ross Henry defeated Masked Stranger in 9:52 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. ©

Clean as whistle victory for the former Empire Champion where. Time to build his momentum back up to unbelievable levels.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Logan Wolfsbaine, saying he’s going to sacrifice the INVADER to the dark Gods in exchange for increased power for The Apocalypse. ©

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar drew with Logan Wolfsbaine in 12:41 following a double count out after the rest of the Apocalypse hit the ring. (C-)

Good match as Logan still brings the goods, even when he’s on something of a losing streak. Aldous continues to improve too.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar is back on his feet and he instructs Scythe to destroy the bastion of America in the name of the Apocalypse. (B-)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Scythe © defeated Masked Patriot in 28:16 by pinfall with an Underworld Spike. (C-)

ANGLE: Masked Patriot is destroyed by Scythe after the match. (B-)

OVERALL: D

And unsurprisingly Masked Patriot has signed for RIPW. It’s not the end of the world, he wasn’t really a big part of the roster, more a fill-in member. He leaves with no titles and barely a good match to his name. Good riddance frankly.

Sadly RIPW weren’t finished as the most catastrophic raid since the loss of Ernest, Bulldozer, For Sure and Joffy occurred. And there was nothing we could do to stop it.

<div style="text-align:center;">Stomping in the City

Friday, Week 4, April, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,257</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLES: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Masked Stranger and Ralph Liotta in 9:36 when Hellion defeated Ralph Liotta by pinfall with a Devolution Bomb. (D)

Testing out new partners for Ralph Liotta. But alas, no chemistry. It’s going to take some sort of insanely awesome team to topple the Brothers at this point. I’ve sort of booked myself into a corner with them as they’re basically completely unstoppable.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

SINGLES MATCH: Ross Henry defeated Steve Flash in 13:15 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. ©

Ross Henry is amazing. Flash can still go. Good match.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar is out with Scythe. There are no worthy challengers for Scythe’s Empire Title. So the two of them are going to spill each other’s blood for the dark gods amusement. May the most worthy man win. (C-)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated Scythe © in 12:51 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch following interference from The Brothers of Annihilation. Aldous Blackfriar wins the NYCW Empire title. (C-)

That’s right, Scythe, the monster of men has been toppled at last. And by his own ally. Never trust a follower of the dark gods. They’re not to be trusted.

ANGLE: Following the match The Hangman stalks Scythe in the ring and then delivers four Choke Slams to his former stablemate. The attack is brutal. (C+)

ANGLE: Tennesse William is out with ‘Cheryl’ the guitar. He’s taken on many opponents and bested them all with his incredible skill, and timing and rhythm. Tonight though, he fancies a real challenge. He wants to silence the doubters by taking on the man who made his name with the Tri-State Title. Logan Wolfsbaine should come out to the ring now for a showdown to determine the greatest Tri-State Champion of all time. (C-)

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: The fans in attendance have the internet, they’ve always been quite smarky. So they know the score. They’re watching history in the making. Chants of ‘Please don’t go.’ Ring through the arena. Meanwhile in the ring, Tennessee William and Logan Wolfsbaine leave it all hanging out in one of the better matches in the company’s history. There is drama, near-falls and classic old school wrestling. In 28:09 following a Devil's Crossroad, Tennessee wins clean. He doesn’t celebrate though. Instead he grabs his title and Cheryl the guitar and walks backstage without another word. (C+)

ANGLE: Logan is left, sat down in the ring alone. The chants of ‘Please don’t go’ continue to ring out as the rest of the roster make their way to the stage. There is a standing ovation for the man who for years has delivered on every promise and done whatever was asked of him at any time. Animal Harker walks into the ring, and in a rare show of emotion, he hands Logan his spikey shoulder pad. Logan accepts it, waves to the crowd and then bows out. (B-)

OVERALL: D+

It doesn’t ever matter how hard we build storylines, the big boys will always, always destroy them in seconds. Having lost Masked Patriot, he also bid a fond farewell to Scythe and Logan Wolfsbaine, who both signed developmental deals with RIPW. It seems unlikely we’ll ever see them again in a NYCW ring, barring a collapse of SWF. The backstage mood is sombre and I have to tear up months of planned booking in the face of such a catastrophe.

Where on Earth do I go from here?

Next time on Welcome to New York… Seriously, where do I go from here???

TCP1 · May 24, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where like flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods, they kill us for their sport…

The wrestling world has a very unique way of destroying your confidence and beating you to your knees if you let it. In the last year we have lost some of our finest and most respectable workers to bigger promotions. Sure we’d picked up others from elsewhere, but the reality was, life was a grind. An unpredictable grind, but a grind nonetheless.

Still we still had goals and aspirations and the loss of our favourite workers wasn’t going to stop us. Only bankruptcy would do that and considering we made a healthy $29,018 in April, things were on the up. We finished 1st in Great Lakes and Mid Atlantic, but second in New England and Tri-State. With RIPW having just taken some of our finest in-ring performers, it seemed unlikely we’d ever beat them again, so we’d have to accept defeat across the board for at least the next year or so (barring a miracle card, or an increase in our production costs).

Elsewhere Bryan Vessey entered semi-retirement. We looked into signing him which would have simultaneously broken one of Larry’s rules about older workers AND would’ve pleased him because it’s his brother. He opted to go for a youth injection in hopes of finding the next big thing. We’d debut them all at Welcome to New York 20: New Blood.

But for now, it was back to New England.

<div style="text-align:center;">Traditional Tour

Friday, Week 1, May, 2018

Biker’s Paradise, Boston, New England

Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Garry Walker and Animal Harker in 10:29 when The Hangman defeated Garry Walker by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D+)

That is one Hell of an opener right there. It would seem that Animal and Garry might just have some juice as a tag team.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Ralph Liotta in 10:10 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (D)

Testing Liotta as a singles performer and he did ok. Not amazing, but ok. He also showed something more of a killer instinct than he did as a tag team performer. Interesting.

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar © defeated Steve Flash in 24:47 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch. (D)

You know when you make a panicked decision and immediately regret it? That. When we hot-shotted the Empire Title to Aldous we thought it made sense from a storyline point of view, with The Apocalypse rising and Henry as the chasing challenger. But the fact is, he’s not ready for the spot. It was necessity which forced the change and now he was there, he couldn’t even get a good match with Steve Flash. Flash has good matches with almost everyone.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A)

No. 1 CONTENDERS MATCH: Ross Henry defeated Bradley Blaze in 12:32 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (C+)

Holy Hell! These two have great chemistry. It’s like they were long-time rivals battling it out, even though this is their first matchup. Henry jumps straight into a title match again, but my oh my, this could be great news going forward.

OVERALL: D+

It’s funny isn’t it? How one piece of good news can turn your whole day around. Heading towards the debuts of a number of workers, I received word that the gigantic rookie Ryan Vedder had managed to irritate the entire locker room on day one. He was too selfish, so I fined him. He got irritated, his behaviour got worse and I overheard someone say he had simmering tension with me.

This kid is going to go far in this industry behaving like that. Silly boy.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 20: New Blood

Friday, Week 2, May, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,487</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Ryan Vedder and Rust Dillon in 4:34 when The Hangman defeated Ryan Vedder by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (E+)

Eat the pin chump! And kiss your untrained, arrogant behind goodbye. Idiot! Rust Dillon (a giant dressed like a farmer) did ok. Plus he was cheaper than some of our stage hands. He stays.

ANGLE: Smoth by Santana plays over the speakers and out comes Austin Smooth. “That’s right folks, I’ve been gone a few years, but… I’m baaaaaack!” (D)

FIVEWAY MATCH: Austin Smooth defeated Garry Walker, Quentin Parent, Doctor O'Haire and William Jetterson in 7:51 when Austin Smooth defeated Garry Walker by submission with a Smooth Hold. (D-)

When times are tough, you have to go with what you know. Smooth lasted with us for a few months last time, I suspect he’ll last longer this time. He did well too. Solid re-debut.

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Heartbreak Express defeated Legacy in 12:26 when Ralph Liotta defeated Bret Heartbreak by pinfall with a Swinging Neckbreaker. (D-)

A standardly entertaining match from these four, in what has to be the longest running non-feud in company history. Once again though Johnny Needham was the weak link and this time Ralph didn’t look impressed and actually ended up winning the match by himself. Drama!

SINGLES MATCH: The Architect defeated The Masked Mauler in 8:08 by submission with a Blueprint after blatantly cheating. (E)

Eurgh, we signed Architect from MAW to see if Sam Keith knew how to train people. His performance was fine, but the crowd were silent throughout. Still, he’s worth a little more investment to see if we can build him into something.

SINGLES MATCH: Masked Stranger defeated Brutus Milano in 8:05 by submission with a Cobra Clutch. (E+)

We still hate Brutus, and we don’t care how many people we lose, he’ll remain jobber to the ‘not quite stars’ for as long as I have control of the book.

ANGLE: Tennessee William has a mini concert to sing about sending Logan Wolfsbaine packing from New York. He’s confident he’s defeated every challenger there is to defeat in his time with the company. So if there’s someone new who’d like a shot, he’s game. Some strange Aztec-like music begins to play. ©

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE: Tennessee William © defeated The Mythical One in 13:28 by pinfall after smashing Cheryl over the masked man’s head. (D+)

Great first match for the man more commonly known as El Mitico Jr. We’ve toned down the lucha elements of his character to make him more appealing to our audience. So he’s now just more of a mysterious man in a mask than a luchador with years of Mexican heritage. He’s good though. Very good in fact. Time to start the great rebuilding of our midcard and he’s just earnt himself a major spot.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated Animal Harker and Steve Flash in 9:31 when Bradley Blaze defeated Animal Harker by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. (D)

Speaking of pushes. A clean win here for the man who has excellent chemistry with the top star of the company. If we are to stand any chance of beating RIPW in the monthly battles, we need two over stars with chemistry to deliver in our main events. Thus, time for a Blaze streak.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry defeated Aldous Blackfriar © in 28:29 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. Ross Henry wins the NYCW Empire title. (C+)

And in the other half of the equation, we need to get the title off of Aldous, abort the long-term plans for The Apocalypse and get Ross into the best shape to deliver the best match possible. This means him testing his skills against everyone on the roster to see if there’s anyone better positioned than Blaze going forward too. As for Aldous, he had his moment of glory, it was a flop and now, without Scythe around, he can stick to the midcard with the Brothers of Annihilation. It’s a good spot for a B+ player like him.

ANGLE: Having picked up the victory, Ross Henry celebrates in the ring. (B+)

OVERALL: D+

Good show from us there as we look ahead to the upcoming Gang Wars. Because it’s predominantly 3 vs. 3 matches, the quality of the show is usually poorer than normal, but if we end it with a big time main event, we might just be able to pull off a miracle.

Oh and we released Ryan Vedder. Because, seriously, what an idiot.

Next time on Welcome to New York… We build towards Gang Wars in hopes of spring boarding off into the most important part of the year for us…

Theheel · May 24, 2018

Really enjoying this story it’s a great read. You have adapted well to the constant raids of the bigger companies. I wonder why they haven’t come calling on your big star Ross Henry yet?

SilentDeath · May 24, 2018

Surprisingly, they don't really tend to go after him all that often and he's a helluva talent to have for small to cult level companies.

TCP1 · May 29, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where sacrifices to the Dark Gods do not improve your mood…

Not a lot going on in the world, so on with the show.

<div style="text-align:center;">Old School Wrestling

Monday, Week 3, May, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,442</div>

TRIPLE THREAT TAG TEAM MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated The Heartbreak Express and The Mythical One and Garry Walker in 9:45; the order of elimination was The Mythical One and Garry Walker first, and then Ralph Liotta and Johnny Needham. (D)

The momentum of the Brothers is best in the company, which makes sense seeing as neither man has been pinned yet. It does pose a problem with the titles though, because there is literally no talent who can best the duo. At some point we’d have to start building up one of the teams to make a competitive feud.

ANGLE: Ralph Liotta cuts promo in the ring. He’s getting a bit sick and tired of having to carry his partner Johnny to defeat after defeat. If Johnny doesn’t start pulling his weight, there’s going to be trouble. (D-)

Middling promo for Liotta there.

SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated Animal Harker in 9:46 by pinfall with a handful of tights. (D-)

Disappointing match considering both men are considered top 500 workers in the world. Could it be that Blaze isn’t over enough in the Tri-State area?

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Masked Stranger in 10:11 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (D)

Classic Tennessee, always cheating to win. Another disappointing match though. It seems that our crowd have been trained for top-quality wrestling and anything which falls short is boo’d. I’m not at all convinced by the Masked Stranger.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated The Masked Mauler in 12:51 by pinfall with a Flash Bang. (E+)

Botth have momentum in the toilet, but Flash can still bring the goods in the ring, so he gets the duke.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 27:53 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (B-)

Hello, impromptu best match ever. It seems Aldous can really go in the ring and brings out the best in Henry to boot. With that in mind, I’d keep him in the main event in the short term to help give us the best chance of competing.

OVERALL: C-

A good show, which should set us up for an at least 2nd place finish in the regional battles. Elsewhere in the world, Luis Montero passed away. Another legend taken too soon. But let’s round out May and deliver the final build for Gang Wars.

<div style="text-align:center;">Stomping in the City

Friday, Week 4, May, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,577</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © drew with The Masked Mauler and Masked Stranger in 9:42 following a double count out. (E+)

Eurgh, ugly match. And to think I didn’t want to job out the masked men. I won’t bother worrying about that in future.

ANGLE: Blackfriar and Henry come out and tell each other its ‘Pick Your Poison’ tag team action in the main event. Aldous has just the man to help him. The New York crowd may not know him yet, but they’d come to know him. Henry trusts in the history of the promotion to help him out. ©

SINGLES MATCH: Animal Harker defeated Bradley Blaze in 10:28 by disqualification. (D-)

The second match in the series doesn’t really deliver any better. It’s not even that they have screwy chemistry, something just isn’t clicking.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated Johnny Needham in 6:20 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad following botched interference by Ralph Liotta. (D)

Oh dear oh dear. The poor Heartbreak Express, they just can’t get on the same page. Actually a slightly better match than I was expecting, but Needham is still very much the weak link in this team.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance with Steve Flash in a matching, sequined robe. (A*)

TAG TEAM MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar and ‘Downtown’ Lenny Brown defeated Ross Henry and Steve Flash in 27:45 when Lenny Brown defeated Steve Flash by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (B-)

Boom! Welcome to NYCW Lenny Brown. He’s still a little green, but he’s got the star presence and talent to hang in the main event, and look a massive win over two of the most decorated performers in our history.

OVERALL: C-

As May drew to a close we finished 2nd in all battles, but made a healthy $30,694 profit, which was awesome.

We discovered that Robin DaLay of Legacy and Garry (no longer the entertainer) are now friends, which just adds more to our already spectacularly positive backstage atmosphere (93%). Then to counter that, both Steve Flash and The Masked Mauler pulled me aside to say they are unhappy with their constant losing. I can understand from Flash’s POV, but Mauler, I mean seriously. It’s a good thing he’s still teaching The Hangman, otherwise he’d be gone. Then Aldous decided to irritate everyone and their mothers by walking up to Quentin Parent and telling him he sucked at wrestling. Bold move as it goes. I gave him a slap on the wrist, which he ignored. Parent didn’t though and thought I was ‘soft’ and now gives me the evil eye whenever I walk past.

Brilliant.

I signed some new workers who I liked the look of, including some new rookies and prepared for Gang Wars.

Gang Wars Card:

Gang Wars Match: Flash, Mauler and Walker vs. Milano, O'Haire and Parent

Gang Wars Match: 'Scorpius' Jay Hume and Legacy vs. Masked Stranger and Azteca Now (Elemental IV and The Mythical One)

Gang Wars Match: Harker and the Heartbreak Express vs. Tennessee, Blaze and Jetterson

NYCW Tag Team Titles: The Marvellous Ones (Austin Smooth and The Architect) vs. THe Brothers of Annihilation ©

Next time on Welcome to New York… Gang Wars 2018…

TCP1 · May 30, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we settle our scores with our fists, in a squared ring… in teams of three…

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW GANG WARS

Sunday, Week 2, June, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,876</div>

GANG WARS MATCH: Steve Flash, The Masked Mauler and Garry Walker defeated Brutus Milano, Doctor O'Haire and Quentin Parent in 7:53 when The Masked Mauler defeated Doctor O'Haire by submission with a… FIGURE FOUR LEGLOCK!?! (D-)

Needed to give Mauler and Flash some love, so this seemed like an obvious way to do it. This is made all the sweeter by Mauler consistently giving selling and psychology tips to The Hangman for months. He really is a bit of an unsung hero.

GANG WARS MATCH: Azteca Now (The Mythical One and Elemental IV) and Masked Stranger defeated Jay Hume and Legacy in 8:15 when The Mythical One defeated Jay Hume by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (E+)

The rookie monster gets pinned straight off the bat. Again, I wanted the former El Mitico to get a win as his skills seem really impressive. I’m told Elemental IV is a phenom waiting to happen. But judging by the fact he was the weak link, I’m not convinced. Poor Legacy, will I ever give them some actual love? Or am I still bitter about the departures of Chord and Gauge?

GANG WARS MATCH: Tennessee William, Bradley Blaze and William Jetterson defeated Animal Harker, Johnny Needham and Ralph Liotta in 12:57 when Tennessee William defeated Johnny Needham by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad following Ralph Liotta super-kicking his own partner in an angry outburst. (D)

That’s right folks, it’s a good old-fashioned egotistical youngster turns on his best friend storyline. Gotta love it. It’s time for Ralph to properly branch out on his own and see what he can do in singles competition. Plus a good win for the bad guys. But then…

ANGLE: Johnny Needham is being relentlessly attacked by an irate Ralph Liotta. Seeing the assault, Tennessee William comes running in and after a moments though, clobbers Liotta with Cheryl the guitar to rapturous apathy. (E+)

It’s a DOUBLE-TURN! Swerve’s are cool. Tennessee has been getting better and better reactions in previous months, and with a derth of quality heel opponents, it was time to switch him to the light side. While both turns worked very well, the quality of this segment tells me something… I don’t know what that something is, but it’s definitely something.

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © drew with The Marvellous Ones (Austin Smooth and The Architect) in 10:19 following a double disqualification. (D)

Turns out Smooth and Architect have great chemistry. Glad I didn’t job them out then to be honest. The champs once again stutter in a title defense, could their reign finally be slowing down?

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Aldous Blackfriar and Lenny Brown in 27:54 when Ross Henry defeated Aldous Blackfriar by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. ©

Solid, if unspectacular match to cap off the show. Aldous eats the pin to keep Lenny a bit strong, but he may not be known enough to be a contender yet. We’d keep him pushed and see what happens.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is celebrating his victory in the ring. Lenny Brown runs in and attacks, beating Henry down into the mat. (B)

Speaking of which.

OVERALL: D+

A disappointing card overall as always with Gang Wars, but with plenty of story packed in, we were happy enough. We finished 2nd in all battles and made a $27,797 profit.

Elsewhere Johnny Martin and The Darkness Warrior retired. And with some money in the bank and our momentum up to C, we decided to dust off the Traditional Tour and make our way back to New England.

Before the show, locker room legend Bradley Blaze lifted everyone’s spirits with road stories, while colour commentator Ted Ross drew some cartoons. Way to go boys.

<div style="text-align:center;">Traditional Tour

Friday, Week 1, July, 2018

The Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 577</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Masked Stranger and Animal Harker in 10:20 when The Hangman defeated Masked Stranger by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (D)

Another thrown together tag team and another good chemistry note. Lovely stuff. I would call them The Lone Gunman, because it sounded pretty cool. Nice to see Hellion and The Hangman back to winning ways too.

ANGLE: Tennessee William cuts a promo saying he’s seen the light. He’s heard what people say, but he’s no hero. He’s just a man doing what he can. He hated seeing a punk turn on his best friend like that, and he should know, he’s been there himself. But as for tonight, he was going to give Bradley Blaze a lesson in musical ass-whooping. (C-)

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © drew with Bradley Blaze in 12:36 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. (D)

Really disappointing match all in all. I really did expect them to step up here. The result is the right one as we have an eye on Blaze for an extended feud with Ross Henry at some point, but Tennessee needed to keep the title.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

GANG WARS MATCH: Ross Henry, Steve Flash and The Masked Mauler defeated Lenny Brown, Aldous Blackfriar and William Jetterson in 27:56 when The Masked Mauler defeated William Jetterson by submission with an Iron Claw!?! ©

How do you like that win Mr. Mauler sir. Main event and a submission victory. That should cheer him up. Also The Mauler’s best match to date I believe. God bless Ross Henry.

OVERALL: D+

I hope New England enjoyed that show. It certainly boosted our popularity, so that’s nice. But once again I find myself with disparate storylines and a overall lack of focus. But hey, we were making money, we were growing and Ross Henry had our title up to a B+ prestige, so we couldn’t complain too much.

Next time on Welcome to New York… More turns to even up the roster and another win for the Mauler…

TCP1 · May 30, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we throw whatever we can at the wall, hoping something sticks…

It was time to run through some new options and see if we could find something to spark the next step in our evolution.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 21: Ross Henry vs. the World

Monday, Week 2, July, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,577</div>

FOURWAY TAG TEAM MATCH: The Marvelous Ones defeated Legacy, Azteca Now and Rust Dillon and Garry Walker in 10:27; the order of elimination was Azteca Now first, then Rust Dillon and Garry Walker, and finally Legacy. (D-)

Let’s give Smooth and Architect some love shall we. We’re pretty sure we’ve got some supremely talented workers in our opener and enhancement talent categories, but without a clear idea of how to use them, they’ll just provide filler and get experience for the time being. And of course to mark their victory, Austin Smooth dislocated his ankle.

SINGLES MATCH: The Masked Mauler defeated Jay Hume in 3:50 by pinfall with a… BIG SWING!?! (E-)

Oh Jay Hume, you really do suck. Mauler isn’t much better, but at least he looks like a pro wrestler, instead of an overgrown bouncer. Match was one of our worst ever and the crowd did not like it at all.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Doctor O'Haire in 5:50 by pinfall with a Flash Bang. (D-)

Better match as we give more delicious wins to our old guard in hopes to keep them happy. Doctor O’Haire is an odd one. He’s talented, but his name/gimmick and age are all standing in the way of a sustained push.

NYCW TAG TEAM MATCH: The Lone Gunmen defeated The Brothers of Annihilation © in 9:47 when The Hangman was disqualified while fighting Animal Harker. (D)

Oooo, an actual loss for the Brothers here. Animal Harker is apparently a really talented worker, but I’ve yet to see a standout performance to convince me. Perhaps I wasn’t playing to his strengths? Just a small amount of research would tell me what they were. But I couldn’t be bothered with that.

ANGLE: Animal Harker is marching around the ring biting covers in celebration when The Brothers of Annihilation come back in and attack laying Harker out. Then, out of the back come Bret Heartbreak and Robin DaLay. Legacy hit the ring, and clean house, saving Harker. (D-)

It’s another turn people. Legacy are a greatly under-utilised team. It was time to change that. With the Brothers unlikely to lose titles anytime soon, we needed a new face team to properly push. And I know I’ve already got that with the Lone Gunman, but Masked Stranger grinds my gears and I don’t actually want him to succeed.

SINGLES MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated Johnny Needham in 10:02 by pinfall with a handful of tights. (E+)

Oh Johnny Needham. You really are sucking the life out of this feud for me. Classic Liotta cheating victory plays perfectly into his new Egomaniac character.

ANGLE: Tennessee William is so happy to be back in NYC. He’s going to treat the fans to a classic, three-part musical number and defeat some of the lesser names in a wonderful exhibition. (C+)

He’s getting better people.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated William Jetterson and Brutus Milano in 10:10 when Tennessee William defeated Brutus Milano by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (D)

Suck on that Milano, you colossal waste of space and money. Feel a bit sorry for Jetterson, whose ‘carrying a live snake to the ring’ gimmick is truly legendary and I’m just leaving him to rot in the lower midcard.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE FATAL FOURWAY MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Bradley Blaze, Lenny Brown and Aldous Blackfriar in 27:45 when Ross Henry defeated Bradley Blaze by pinfall with a handful of tights. (C+)

Good match and Ross Henry continues to prove how unstoppable he is by defeating a number of his opponents in one go. I mean he had to cheat to do it and he still hasn’t actually pinned ‘Downtown’ Lenny Brown. But all in good time.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is celebrating his victory in the ring. Lenny Brown runs in and attacks, beating Henry down into the mat. (B-)

Is it wrong to just keep leeching heat off our most over worker to boost up a newcomer? Would the fans get sick of it? Did I care?

OVERALL: D+

Slow news week, so onto Old School Wrestling…

<div style="text-align:center;">Old School Wrestling

Monday, Week 3, July, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,659</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated The Lone Gunmen in 13:10 when The Hangman defeated Animal Harker by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D)

And we blow off the rubber match straight away, because secretly we only care about a handful of performers on our roster. Just kidding, it’s really only Ross Henry.

SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated The Masked Mauler in 5:46 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. (D-)

And the streak dies immediately. Bradley Blaze needed a clean win, Mauler had built up some momentum, so we crushed it immediately.

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated Steve Flash in 12:29 by pinfall with a Batwing. (D+)

Speaking of crushing momentum. We keep expecting Flash to run out of gas, but he keeps performing well. You’d think we’d notice that and re-push him, but Aldous needed some juice having been crushed relentlessly in the main event though. That’s the price you pay for being the number two face on the roster I guess.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated Tennessee William © in 12:38 by disqualification. (D)

Decent win for Liotta, poor match though. Was Tennessee struggling with the pressure of being champ? Perhaps, but it doesn’t mean we plan to stop.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Lenny Brown in 28:09 by disqualification. (C+)

And low and behold these two have great chemistry. That’s two main event heels with chemistry against our face champion. But who to select for the big run at the title later in the year?

ANGLE: Ross Henry is celebrating his victory in the ring. Lenny Brown attacks, beating Henry down into the mat. (B)

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.

OVERALL: D+

We decided to release Quentin Parent. It wasn’t that he didn’t have potential of course, but his annoyance with us despite never having really achieved anything was irritating. I don’t have time for that sort of behaviour sadly.

Next time on Welcome to New York… We look to strike out against our competitors to fast-track our growth and see what the limit actual is for us…

TCP1 · May 30, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where if you’ve got no momentum and a poor gimmick, we’ll stick you in the main event…

<div style="text-align:center;">Stomping in the City

Friday, Week 4, July, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,911</div>

TAG TEAM MATCH: Bradley Blaze and Lenny Brown defeated The Lone Gunmen in 12:44 when Lenny Brown defeated Animal Harker by pinfall with The Star Treatment. (D+)

And just like that, Masked Stranger suffers some rather nasty knee ligament damage. It didn’t really matter too much as they aren’t going anywhere immediately. Good momentum win for our two best challengers.

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated The Masked Mauler in 8:03 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch. (D-)

Ugly match and another nail in the coffin of the Mauler, whose contract was up for renewal. It really was decision time with him as his only benefit was now helping out The Hangman, and even those lessons had slowed down.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © defeated William Jetterson in 12:38 by pinfall with a handful of tights. (D+)

Hey these two have pretty good chemistry. That is very good to know. Decent little match to boot.

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Legacy in 7:35 when Hellion defeated Robin DaLay by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (D)

The Brothers have to cheat to beat a very strong looking Legacy. And thus the seeds are sown for a bigger showdown down the line. Poor match sadly.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Steve Flash in 27:49 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. During the match we also had Lenny Brown run in and attack Henry. ©

Steve Flash gets a shot at gold. Does ok. Loses. We needed a makeshift main event and this delivered just fine.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is celebrating his victory in the ring. Lenny Brown runs in and attacks, beating Henry down into the mat. (B)

Won’t the madness ever stop?

OVERALL: D+

We finished a combination of 2nd and 3rd in the regional battles, which was our worst performance in months. We did however make $34,532. We started crunching numbers and came up with a plan. Time to ditch Traditional Tour again briefly to try and make this work.

Around the world Buddy Garner, Bryan Vessey and Joe Sexy all entered retirement.

So with our medium-sized monthly show just around the corner, it was time to start running the qualifiers for the King of New York tournament. This year there’s only be 16 competitors (to save money), all in-house and we’d get them all done in one show.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 22: Doctor in the House

Monday, Week 2, August, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,610</div>

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated Animal Harker in 10:04 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch. (D)

Solid opener as one of our top heels progresses at the expense of poor Animal.

FOURWAY MATCH: Rust Dillon defeated Jay Hume, Johnny Needham and Elemental IV in 4:37 when Rust Dillon defeated Elemental IV by pinfall with a Tempest Blast. (E)

It’s the battle of the new jobbers and the Larry Wood look-a-like Rust Dillon takes the victory. Jay Hume looked awful, but what can we say? We liked the big lug.

NYCW TAG TEAM MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © defeated Perren Cloutier and Thomas Barnett in 5:38 when Hellion defeated Perren Cloutier by pinfall with a Short Arm Lariat. (D-)

Speaking of jobbers. These guys didn’t even have time to suck the life out of the crowd after the Brothers dominated them horribly.

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: Garry Walker defeated Brutus Milano in 7:57 by pinfall with a Pants Pull Sunset Flip. (E+)

Garry gets a win. Garry gets a win!!!! Suck on that Brutus.

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: The Mythical One defeated William Jetterson in 7:46 by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (D)

Actually something of an upset as the masked lucha star nails the more experienced NYCW roster vet. He wasn’t even scared when Cynthia the Snake made an appearance.

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: Steve Flash defeated The Architect in 13:07 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (D)

Even Legends have to cheat sometimes. But we liked Flash and had decided to give him one final year-long run towards the top. He’d earnt that and still wasn’t hugely happy with us.

ANGLE: Ralph Liotta cuts a backstage promo. He’s sick of being overlooked and now he was out on his own, as the Flashiest performer in NYCW history, he was about to make a name for himself. First he’d beat the Mauler and then go all the way to Empire City Showdown and beat that fraud Ross Henry. (D+)

He’s getting better on the mic and his gimmick is rocking the place.

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated The Masked Mauler in 5:02 by pinfall with a Swinging Neckbreaker. (E+)

Hah, of course these two have great chemistry. Still couldn’t get a good match out of the Mauler though. Still, he got the win, which is what really matters.

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated Bret Heartbreak in 7:35 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. (D)

Quite simply Blaze is on too much of a tear to have him lose to the newly-turned Heartbreak. Slightly disappointing match truth be told.

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: Lenny Brown defeated Robin DaLay in 7:33 by pinfall with The Star Treatment. (D)

Speaking of disappointing, these two let me down a bit here. Still another solid win for our ascendant star. He certainly looks the part at least.

ANGLE: Tennessee William is out with Cheryl to say that while he respects what William Jetterson put him through last week, this week is all about destiny. He’s going to win the King of New York Tournament, then win the Empire Title and take his place as the only true Grand Slam Winner. ©

KONY QUALIFYING MATCH: Tennessee William defeated Austin Smooth in 13:07 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad. (D+)

Clean as a whistle from our number 3 face. Good match too as Austin Smooth continues to be impressive.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Doctor O'Haire in 9:34 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (C+)

Woah! Is there anything Henry can’t do? A C+ match out of the job-tastic Doctor O’Haire. Had I perhaps overlooked the rookie’s talents? This doesn’t feel like the end of this mini-feud.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is celebrating his victory in the ring. Blaze and Brown run in and attack, beating Henry down into the mat. (C+)

The crowd groaned as the ending remain unchanged. They’d learn to love it eventually.

OVERALL: C-

Decent show right there and then we received word that Brutus Milano was unhappy with how he’s been booked. Good. Hopefully he’ll walk out of his own choice and I’ll be shot of the useless idiot.

We did decide to actually release Johnny Needham as his usefulness had run out and he lacked the talent to make it at the next level. We also avoided offering Masked Mauler a new contract, so he’s gone too. I felt a bit bad about that, but his contract was so high for someone who was a glorified trainer.

We used some of the freed-up money to give a pay rise to William Jetterson and then we went about putting our plan into action.

We upped all of our production costs so that everything was at least as high as any one of our competitors. It’d cost us dearly, but we hoped with a stream-lined roster and the growing attendances that we’d still make a profit, while sucking the popularity away from all other regional promotions.

It was time to go for the jugular.

Next time on Welcome to New York… The build for the King of New York continues, a big tag match main events our next show and Doctor O’Haire gets a rematch…

TCP1 · May 30, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we aim to go for our biggest run of top-level shows ever and we do so on the back of Mr. Henry…

<div style="text-align:center;">Old School Wrestling

Monday, Week 3, August, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,878</div>

GANG WARS MATCH: Brutus Milano and The Brothers of Annihilation defeated Steve Flash and Legacy in 10:07 when Brutus Milano defeated Bret Heartbreak by submission with an Italian Backbreaker. (D)

Yes alright, so I caved to pressure from Larry. So sue me. He got the win over our burgeoning new face team.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © drew with Aldous Blackfriar in 12:41 following a double count out. (D+)

Decent match, if a little underwhelming. I ideally need to build up both these guys going forward, so a draw works out best for now.

SINGLES MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated Animal Harker in 7:50 by pinfall with a Swinging Neckbreaker. (D-)

These two have pretty good chemistry, which makes the result even more dumb-founding. Like seriously, where is the ‘amazing’ Animal Harker who is apparently brilliant. Surely Liotta isn’t so bad? Still a clean win sets him up nicely going forward. I might need to have him feud with an out-and-out ring general to make him look like a million bucks.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

TAG TEAM MATCH: Bradley Blaze and Lenny Brown drew with Ross Henry and Steve Flash in 28:09 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. (B-)

Great match from four of our top workers right here. Nobody really needed the boost from winning. And yes, Steve Flash pulled double-duty. Did we mean for that to happen? No we did not, but he’s a legend. He can hack it.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is celebrating his victory in the ring. Blaze and Brown run in and attack, beating Henry down into the mat. (B)

Ooo, mixing it up a bit. Now Blaze is getting the popularity buzz from the post-match shenanigans. There is an argument to be made for having a worker lose every match, but immediately getting his heat back with a beatdown afterwards.

OVERALL: C

Best show ever. That’s what production improvements mean apparently. Nice. Steve Flash needs time to heal after gruelling schedule of two matches in one night. Jesus Steve, stop being so old. He immediately makes up for it by taking Perren Cloutier under his wing as a protégé AND having his contract up for renewal, which we totally missed, but luckily Larry had his eye on the ball and re-signed him without telling us.

Oh and apparently Tyson Baine has retired. Time to close out August.

<div style="text-align:center;">Stomping in the City

Friday, Week 4, August, 2018

McGaw Arena, Queens, New York City, New York,

Attendance: 3,911</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Brothers of Annihilation © drew with Legacy in 7:49 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. (D)

In their second match (in truth probably about the 100th all told), the Brothers fail to beat the young upstarts. Match was not great though. Have I potentially overhyped Legacy?

SINGLES MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated Masked Stranger in 8:26 by pinfall with a Swinging Neckbreaker. (D)

How is a Swinging Neckbreaker a suitable finisher for Flashy Ralph Liotta. I’m going to change that to a superkick entitled The Flash of Brilliance. Masked Stranger continues to be pointless beyond losing.

SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated Animal Harker in 8:02 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. (D+)

Finally a good match for Animal. And all it took was being in the ring with a general like Blaze. Another loss for the multi-time tag champion though.

ANGLE: Tennessee William cuts promo saying Aldous caught him asleep at the wheel, but tonight he’s going to stake a claim for NYCW performer of the year… and not just for the music. ©

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William © drew with Aldous Blackfriar in 8:04 following a double count out. (C-)

Good match as both men continue to build themselves a nice position in the upper midcard. It still boggles my mind that I put the Empire title on Blackfriar. No wonder his attitude has gone downhill. He thinks he’s better than he is. Luckily for him, he is actually better than most.

SINGLES MATCH: Lenny Brown drew with Steve Flash in 11:50 following a double count out. ©

Another good match as Steve Flash draws with our number one heel. It’ll also help Downtown gain further credibility, y’know, beyond constantly beating the champion into the mat.

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance. (A*)

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Doctor O'Haire in 28:02 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (C+)

And the second matchup in the mini-feud delivers too. Nice.

OVERALL: C

Great show and heading into The King of New York we came 1st in all battles and made still managed to make $50,042 profit despite running multiple shows with top notch production. That’s how we roll.

NYCW The King of New York card:

10-man Battle Royal: Brutus Milano, Rust Dillon, Thomas Barnett, Bret Heartbreak, Robin DaLay, William Jetterson, Austin Smooth, The Architect, Jay Hume, Perren Cloutier, Elemental IV

KONY Quarters: Garry Walker vs. ‘Downtown’ Lenny Brown

KONY Quarters: Steve Flash vs. Ralph Liotta

KONY Quarters: Tennessee William vs. Aldous Blackfriar

KONY Quarters: The Mythical One vs. Bradley Blaze

NYCW Tag Team Titles: Brothers of Annihilation vs. The Lone Gunman

NYCW Empire Title: Ross Henry vs. Doctor O’Haire

Next time on Welcome to New York… It’s the coronation as we finally have to pick a contender for the big prize on the big stage…

Hashasheen · May 30, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45361" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Ooo, mixing it up a bit. Now Blaze is getting the popularity buzz from the post-match shenanigans. There is an argument to be made for having a worker lose every match, but immediately getting his heat back with a beatdown afterwards.</div></blockquote> Oh hey, Vince McMahon. Didn't see you there.

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