Welcome to New York... Again

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we run Blaze vs. Henry just for the lolz…

The next big show should by rights be Gang Wars, which is always a disappointment. But we had a plan. A great big, gorgeous plan. All we needed was time, and patience, which probably meant it was about to go horribly wrong.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 28: Henry vs Blaze VI

Thursday, Week 1, April, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated Elemental IV and Perren Cloutier in 7:36 when The Architect defeated Elemental IV by submission with a Blueprint. (D-)

Clean win in the opening match for the tag champs. Elemental and Cloutier continue to underwhelm. Especially disappointing for Perren as he’s been sidelined from the Flash/Liotta feud for the time being.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Garry Walker defeated James Diaz and Rust Dillon in 8:17 when Garry Walker defeated James Diaz by pinfall with a Rolling Cradle. (D-)

That’s what you get for being a nuisance Diaz. Don’t forget it! Garry gets a little win to remind the crowd who he is and what he’s capable of. I really hate that stupid monkey though.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Hugh de Aske and William Jetterson defeated Legacy in 7:41 when Hugh de Aske defeated Robin DaLay by pinfall with a Cut-Throat Driver. (D)

Despite having no positive chemistry, I like these two as a team for now. Legacy don’t have any direction, so they can swallow a loss or ten while I build up my midcard.

SINGLES MATCH: The Hangman defeated Brutus Milano in 5:35 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (E+)

Suck it Milano!

SINGLES MATCH: The Mythical One defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 13:06 by pinfall after using a foreign object. (C-)

Decent little match between these two. Apparently Aldous wasn’t happy about losing, but a quick knuckle-crack from the Mythical One caused him to change his mind. I like Aldous, even I look tough standing next to him.

SINGLES MATCH: David Stone defeated Nigel Svensson in 6:23 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D-)

Annoyingly these two don’t click, which is a shame for Svensson, because I was finally going to give him an extended feud to establish himself. Still, never mind. Stone remains undefeated and looks great in the process.

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Ring Generals defeated Doctor O'Haire and Scorpius in 8:09 when Marv Statler defeated Scorpius by pinfall with a Wheelbarrow Bomb. (D-)

Dean Waldorf suffered something called a retrousse nose in this match. Dammit Scorpius, this is why I don’t trust you against our more valuable performers.

ANGLE: Ralph Liotta cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Steve Flash. Apparently for too long New York has been bored to tears by the ironically-named Flash. But it’s time for a changing of the guard, lead by the true Flash, Ralph Liotta. ©

Hah, wonderful promo. hE really does have a legendary gimmick.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Ralph Liotta © in 12:48 by disqualification. (D)

And of course the match sucked. Months of build-up and the effective rubber match ends with a lame DQ, no title change and mild apathy from the crowd. I asked Flash what was going on and he reminded me he’s around fifteen years past his prime. Fair enough. Just keep training the youngsters my man.

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

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Bradley Blaze in 28:26 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (B+)

And that, is one of the best matches in our history. Right there. On a mid-level show. Henry isn’t above a bit of cheating it seems, but these two are just gold whenever they step in the ring. It’s a real shame Blaze has never beaten him though.

OVERALL: B-

Seriously Blaze and Henry have fought six times in our companies history with results always being Henry winning and grades as follows: C, C+, B-, C+, B and now B+. Is there a better duo to steal the show than these two?

Backstage James Diaz pulled another tasteless rib so I fired him. He doesn’t have the talent for that behaviour. Enjoy rotting at the independent shows. His behaviour improved but he developed a simmering tension with me. Even worse, Steve Flash was unhappy with me. He’d cool down.

The Mythical One and Marv Statler are now friends, while Brutus wowed everyone (except me) with ‘hilarious’ road stories. What a nob.

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

Thursday, Week 2, May, 2019

The Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 824</div>

ANGLE: The Architect says Austin Smooth is out of action right now, but he’s got a suitable replacement. (D+)

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Ring Generals drew with Ralph Liotta and The Architect in 7:51 following a double disqualification. (D)

Disappointing match, but these shows are barebones and basically Smooth is a midcarder, so we can leave him off to save some dollars. Cheap and effective.

SINGLES MATCH: The Mythical One defeated William Jetterson in 7:53 by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (D+)

Solid midcard match as The Mythical One gains some much-needed momentum.

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar drew with David Stone in 7:50 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. (D-)

Hugely disappointing match, but then we remember we’re in New England, where nobody knows anyone we’ve got. Stone remains undefeated.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Bradley Blaze in 10:14 when Bradley Blaze was disqualified when Ralph Liotta ran in and attacked Steve Flash. (D+)

That’s more like it. Blaze really is our Swiss Army Knife. Need a feud boosted, bring in Blaze. Need a main event hole plugged, call Bradley.

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

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Hugh de Aske in 25:04 by pinfall after using a foreign object. (B)

Way to go Dread Pirate. You’ve been disappointing, but given the opportunity and you delivered, and likely saved your job in the process. Nice one.

ANGLE: While Ross Henry is celebrating in the ring, an image of a heart beating appears on the screen by the entrance. The image of the heart, breaks and a single word appears tattoed on the image… “Soon.” (B-)

INTRIGUE!?!

OVERALL: B-

Larry it seemed had signed a non-Aggression with 4C, which was odd because we already shared the only talent of theirs I wanted (Hugh de Aske), but fair play. I’m sure Larry knew what he was doing.

Ted Ross was brought before wrestlers court for being unclean, and improved his behaviour. He’s our colour commentator for those who’ve forgotten. Like I did. Despite the fact I’ve been sat next to him for over a year.

Let’s do a third show for fun.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to Boston 4: Rough Seas Ahead

Thursday, Week 3, May, 2019

The Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 802</div>

10-MAN BATTLE ROYAL: David Stone won a battle royal in 10:03. The other members of the 'final four' were Brutus Milano, Elemental IV and Bret Heartbreak, with Brutus Milano being the final elimination. Bret Heartbreak got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D-)

All hail David Stone. A God among men. Bret Heartbreak is looking pretty good too.

NYCW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated The Ring Generals in 10:10 when The Architect defeated Dean Waldorf by submission with a Blueprint after blatantly cheating. (D+)

A great match between our strongest teams. The Marvelous Ones have been a revelation since winning the titles, while The Ring Generals have a new lease on life following me letting them go. That’s right, I’m taking all the credit here.

ANGLE: Garry Walker is in the ring with a microphone. He claims that he is so good that he cannot be defeated by anyone, and so he is making an open challenge for any wrestler on the roster to face him in a singles match. He doesn’t need a monkey anymore, because he’s got Old Glory, the star-spangled banner, the red, white and blue. He waves the American flag to cheers from the audience. (D+)

That’s right, a good old-fashioned patriot gimmick. Let’s see if we can get him over the top. Initial reaction was, pretty good actually.

SINGLES MATCH: Garry Walker defeated William Jetterson in 9:54 by pinfall with a Patriotic Pants Pull Sunset Flip. (D)

Eurgh, not a good match. I really was expecting something a little better here. I honestly don’t understand our guys sometimes. On paper this match should be better.

NYCW TRI-STATE TITLE MATCH: The Hangman defeated Ralph Liotta © in 9:59 by count out. (D-)

Tough match to call, but giving the win to Hangman, but keeping the title on Liotta is the right shout in my eyes. I wanted to see if they had big vs. little chemistry. They do not.

ANGLE: Ralph Liotta is in the ring and The Hangman attacks. The assault is quick and brutal, and leaves Liotta completely destroyed. (D+)

That’s right, it’s important for the obnoxious heel to get his ass handed to him. Crowd ate this up.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Steve Flash and The Mythical One defeated Bradley Blaze and Aldous Blackfriar in 13:30 when Bradley Blaze was disqualified while fighting The Mythical One. During the match we also had Ralph Liotta run in and attack Flash. (D+)

Despite being stretchered out, a still-dizzy Liotta still managed to interfere and immediately get his cheap heat back. I would say though, this is a slightly disappointing match considering those involved. The Mythical One continues to climb the card however.

ANGLE: The match is over and Steve Flash is staggering around the ring. Ralph Liotta looks angry, and jumps him from behind, beating him down. (E+)

That segment was death. Noted. Their feud isn’t hot enough to be pulling this stuff in New England just yet.

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

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Hugh de Aske in 27:48 by count out. During the match we also had Bradley Blaze run in and attack Henry. (C+)

Great outing for De Aske again and we continue the simmering feud between Blaze and Henry. It shouldn’t matter shortly as we had someone new coming in who’d take his place. Speaking of which…

ANGLE: The beating and broken heart image appears again, only this time the words read… next week… (B)

OVERALL: C+

Great show right there. Afterwards, Ross Henry approaches us and asks for a pay rise from £2,800 to $3,250. We happily sign off on that. He’s our figurehead and a legend in NYCW and frankly, we’d pay twice that to keep him.

After that meeting Larry comes to my office. He tells me “Get your coat kid, we’ve gotta see a Muvva about a Motormouth.”

Next time on Welcome to New York… California-bound…

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Los Angeles, California…

The metal shack, affectionately known as The Warehouse, alternatively Simmons Centre in Los Angeles, California was hot. It was one of those classic blue sky days in the State of eternal sunshine. Beads of sweat trickled down my back as I sat in the small office with a busted air con unit hanging limply from the window.

Larry was controlling the meeting, which was with two ‘charming’ gentlemen called Hustle Muvva and MC Motormouth.

“Now listen here playa,” said Muvva. “I ain’t built this promotion from nothing to the level it’s at just to have some white boy from the East Coast swing in and buy me out. I know what it’s worth.”

He rubbed the diamond-studded brass kunckles on his right hand. It looked impressive; like the sort of high-value item owned by a rapper, only anyone with a keen eye from jewels could tell they weren’t diamonds. Everything about Hustle Muvva screamed ‘look at me I’m rich and powerful.’ Everything except the truth.

“I thought it was Brother Grimm who built this promotion,” said Larry. “Where is the big man anyway?”

“I’m the big man!” shouted Muvva.

That, was a lie. This two were the lieutenants for the real power in this place. Rapper-turned promoter Brother Grimm. Even I’d heard of him before, everyone in the States had. He’d revolutionised Gangsta Rap, made a fortune and ploughed it all into wrestling. GSW had broken away from Invincible Pro Wrestling after Grimm fell out with management and decided to make it his mission to destroy the competition.

He failed. The problem with running an extreme hardcore promotion was, as it’s always been, money. You can’t make money through sponsorship and without that life blood income, you’re screwed. It didn’t help the company was based in California, arguably the most vibrant wrestling scene outside of the Tri-State area. CZCW, IPW, AAA and QAW all had shows running in and around the area. Not to mention SOTBPW threatening to move North from Mexico.

Grimm So-Cal Wrestling was doomed before it ran it’s first show. Don’t get me wrong, the talent which had walked through the doors was impressive to say the least. Fro Sure started here, The Wrath of God had been their champion and they currently had workers by the name of Frantic Ali, BB Colossus and Boneyard. They were raw, but they had talent.

After Francis Peppercorn, private detective, had passed the dossier on GSW to me, he’d done the same to Larry, who’d immediately made some calls and setup a meeting. A meeting with Brother Grimm. What he’d got was these two clowns, and his patience, like mine, was wearing thin.

“With all due respect Mr. Muvva…” said Larry.

“Screw y’all respeck! Y’know how you git respeck in this business…”

“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT LECTURING ME ABOUT THIS BUSINESS!” Larry yelled. “I was running towns in the business when you were still on you mother’s teet. I’m also, y’now, an actual wrestler. So if you think you can intimidate me, I’ll happily throw done. Right now! Is that what you want?”

Hustle Muvva stared, open-mouthed at the old man, who was now on his feet, his massive frame taut and bulging. It was easy to forget just how intimidating Larry could be.

“I think if w’all just calm down, we can definitely come to some agreement,” said the, as yet silent, MC Mottormouth. “Grimm is happy for us to negotiate on his behalf.”

“Sorry let’s negotiate,” said Larry in a much calmer tone.

Next time on Welcome to New York… Welcome to California…

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Welcome to California… Where expansion is just part of the day-to-day…

When all was said and done, we got GSW, a few top stars and their title belts for the Princely sum of $48,987, which seemed to me to be a bargain. Say what you will about Larry, but he’s a keen businessman.

It was his idea to buy GSW, but it was my idea to run shows in California. It seemed that the process which was working beautifully in NYC and Boston could easily translate to the West Coast and give us a brand new revenue stream. The only problem was the Confederation of the Territories. It was written into the founding that no promotion could run shows in a fellow members area. The problem with California, remained as always, the eternal indy, CZCW.

So we found a work around. On the border to California and Mexico was a tiny little bar. Bar Juarez was, for all intents and purposes, in California. It just technically was in Mexico. 99% of the patrons were Californians looking for a good time South of the border.

And we planned to give them just that.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to California 1: South of the Border

Thursday, Week 4, May, 2019

Bar Juarez, Northern Mexico, Mexico

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

GSW TAG TEAM TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: State Of Destruction (Boneyard and BB Colossus) © defeated Legacy and Elemental IV and Scorpius in 7:37; the order of elimination was Elemental IV and Scorpius first, and then Legacy. (E)

We begin the night with one of our new teams, defending their titles. They looked really good out there, but sadly the anonymity of their opponents meant the match sucked.

SINGLES MATCH: Garry Walker defeated Nigel Svensson in 6:02 by pinfall with a Rolling Cradle. (E+)

Giving the good people of Cali and Mexico a taste of what we had to offer. And what we had was a patriot against a Swede.

SINGLES MATCH: Hugh de Aske defeated Perren Cloutier in 5:34 by pinfall with a Cut-Throat Driver. (E)

Oh God, I’d forgotten what it was like to have such poor matches on a card. The young, drunk crowd just mercilessly boo’d this one.

NYCW TAG TEAM TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated The Ring Generals and Doctor O'Haire and Rust Dillon in 7:52; the order of elimination was The Ring Generals first, and then Doctor O'Haire and Rust Dillon. (D-)

Through sheer force of talent, these six got the crowd interested and excited.

SINGLES MATCH: David Stone defeated Brutus Milano in 5:49 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (E)

Even in Mexico, Brutus is a joke. The crowd recognised David as ‘the wrestler’ of the two, but we’re as far away from his popularity base as it’s possible to be.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Brendan Idol and The Mythical One drew with Ralph Liotta and William Jetterson in 10:12 following a double disqualification. (D+)

Introducing a new member of the roster, the West Coast Title holder Brendon Idol. He seems fine, if a little green for mine (and Larry’s) tastes. Best match of the night so far though.

SINGLES MATCH: The Hangman defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 7:34 by count out. (D-)

Hugely disappointing match between two of our top stars. Turns out the crowd just DO NOT CARE about the story’s we’ve been building to.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Bradley Blaze in 10:12 by count out. During the match we also had Ralph Liotta run in and attack Flash. (D-)

Again, trying to run an actual story here was a mistake and Flash’s decline continues unabated.

ANGLE: Some strange music hits and banners with broken hearts unfurl around the bar. Out walks, Casey Valentine. Even in this tiny venue, he’s a name and the crowd went absolutely mad for his appearance. He has a mic, “Hey there lovers, Casey is in the house, and I’m here for one thing; Ross Henry. So suit up, cos I’m coming for your title babeeee!” (C+)

SINGLES MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated Donnie J in 12:58 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (D+)

Great match as we happily sacrifice one of CZCW’s legends to get our new guy more over than he already is.

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

In a bar like this, the elaborate part of the entrance was drunk guys holding sparklers.

NYCW EMPIRE & GSW AMERICAN TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Frantic Ali © in 27:51 when Frantic Ali was disqualified when Bradley Blaze ran in and attacked Ross Henry. (D-)

Ross Henry’s worst match to date. Not because it wasn’t good, but because he’s completely unknown this far South. His gimmick only really works in front of big crowds and with loads of pyro.

OVERALL: D

Well that was a colossal waste of time and money. But it wouldn’t stop us, the wheels were already in motion.

It seems that the legendary Jack Bruce had chosen to retire due to his broken neck, which was a massive shame. Donnie J and Doctor O’Haire had major morale issues, which we didn’t really care about.

As the month ended we finished 1st in Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, New England, Tri State and the South West, and made a loss of $86,450. We immediately released Donnie J to reign-in future costs. But really, we couldn’t see how we could make this a viable business plan when we couldn’t run in California itself.

As Larry and I sat in the backstage area of the McGaw Arena, we were stumped. We’d shelled out for a company and had no way of utilising it beyond the story-telling aspect. As Larry looked into his Scotch, a small smile crept over his face.

“Well kid, there’s only one thing left to do,” he said.

“What’s that boss?”

“Get me Flash.”

Next time on Welcome to New York… Welcome to New York 29: The Night the Line was Crossed…

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Brooklyn, New York… The night of Welcome to New York 29…

The backstage area of the McGaw arena was frantic. Wrestlers were charging around, making sure everything was ready. Larry and I hadn’t told anyone outside of Ross Henry and Steve Flash, what was happening. But there was a tangible sense of excitement. It took a lot to get this bunch of cynical performers to really care about wrestling. They’d already seen too much. But tonight was different.

Tonight was destiny. And everybody wanted to be on absolute top-form. This was going to be one of those events that people talked about for years to come. Good or bad, tonight was all about making a statement. Of writing our names into wrestling history.

Larry was locked away with Steve Flash in my office, but the show had been booked and I was taking it in. I was going to remember tonight for a number of reasons, but looking back on things it was the small things which really stuck in my mind.

David Stone and The Mythical One playing a game of chess backstage. Two of the new generation of superstars. They could’ve been weighed down with legacy and expectation of their family names, but instead they were relaxed and calm. Laughing about a mistake David had just made.

The Cali contingent in the corner, talking among themselves, still getting used to working the NYCW way. Despite their size and attitudes, they looked sheepish. They’d never seen a wrestling show this charged before, even when they were putting their bodies on the line for a hack rapper-turned hack promoter.

Aldous Blackfriar had his headphones in, listening to heavy metal music at full blast. Bradley Blaze and Ross Henry were talking about their shared love of football and life in Texas and Colorado. And like a group of lost boys were Scorpius, Liotta, Cloutier and Elemental IV. Flash’s boys. All trained by the mainstay of NYCW. They knew, more than anyone, that something was up. Flash hadn’t given them his usual pre-show tips on selling, psychology and playing a babyface.

We had plenty of action to offer the rabid fans of Brooklyn tonight, but it was the main event where everything would go down. A big tag team affair pitting the Empire champion Ross Henry and the COTT Heavyweight Champion Steve Flash against the part-time partners ‘The Prince of Darkness’ Aldous Blackfriar and the ‘Cowboy’ Bradley Blaze. I was happy for Blaze. He deserved to be part of this. He worked tirelessly on his craft and had been such an important part of our show for so long.

The stagehands called for the opening match, the lights went down and Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones played over the PA system. David Stone shook hands with The Mythical One and walked out to a rapturous reception.

Nine others followed him out for a battle royal to kick off the show. Robin DaLay looked good, eliminating more than anyone else, but it was Stone who got the win. A solid start to proceedings.

Next up Brendon Idol put his GSW West Coast title on the line against ‘Cobra’ William Jetterson. The two young guys performed admirably and you could feel the temperature and the noise levels rise. Then it was Liotta taking on Walker in a great little match. Both of these guys have bright futures and they wanted their legacies written here tonight. A wild three-way tag team match between State of Destruction, The Ring Generals and The Marvelous Ones tore the roof off the building. Not an inch was asked for, or given. Frantic Ali got to face the Phenom of NYCW, The Hangman to help cool the crowd, but it didn’t work and the noise grew louder still. Casey Valentine got to introduce himself properly to New York and the response was insane. He beat The Mythical One and The Dread Pirate in easy fashion and announced himself the number one contender to Henry’s title.

It was the perfect precursor to what was to come. First out were Aldous Blackfriar (to The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson) and Bradley Blaze (to Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi). Then out went Ross Henry (to the Theme for Monday Night Football). Finally, it was Flash’s turn. As the theme to Flash Gordon blared away, he came out of Larry’s office. The COTT World Heavyweight Title over his shoulder.

All of a sudden he looked every bit as old as he actually was.

“You ready for this?” I asked.

I asked him that before every one of his matches and he always replied the same, ‘Always.’

But not this time. He just nodded, looked at his title and walked out to his adoring fans.

The match itself was fine. Not amazing or anything, just fine. It didn’t need to be anything more. The ending, as planned came as Ross Henry started firing away on the heels and just as he was about to hit the Earthquake Powerslam, Flash entered the ring and seconds later Henry was unconscious on the mat. A Flash Bang out of nowhere had levelled the champ.

The audience went silent.

Perfect.

Bradley Blaze, as shocked as anyone, scooped up Henry, hit a Six Shooter Slam and covered the champion, his eyes on Flash the whole time. Like he couldn’t believe his luck. Three seconds late and the match was over. Blaze and Blackfriar celebrated and left the ring so only Flash and Henry remained. Slowly Henry got to his feet and started questioning what had happened? He was angry, and irate and ready to fight. Another Flash Bang put an end to that. The crowd were still quiet.

Flash beat down the champion mercilessly and eventually stretchers were called out and Henry was carried away. Steve Flash stood alone in the ring, the COTT World Heavyweight Title. The crowd had realised what was happening and were now booing their former hero. The man who represented everything NYCW stood for had just destroyed the champion. He then picked up a microphone.

Now Steve Flash has never been a talker. He’s always let his actions do the talking, but tonight we trusted him to deliver the most important promo in company history:

“I have seen a lot of change in my life. I’ve seen this business morph and adapt and evolve. And the whole while, I have remained the same. I have stood for what is right and good about this business. I’ve always laced up my boots, gone out and given my everything, every night. In front of dozens of people, hundreds of people and thousands of people. I’ve been involved in wars, I’ve seen the big boys sweep in and steal away the best talent, myself included and the likes of TCW, USPW and SWF have remained in the drivers seat. While independents scratch out a living, under-paying performers and generally trying to stay afloat. Some do, some don’t. But to me, wrestling has always been about history. World Championships are aren’t, and defended and fought for by the best this industry has ever seen. Rip Chord, Sam Keith, Liberty, Ricky Dale Johnson and Sam Strong to name a few. These are wrestling’s past. The forebearers to the new generation, Ernest Youngman, Logan Wolfsbaine, Jay Chord, Cameron Vessey and our very own Ross Henry, these are the future of this business.

This title, the Confederation of the Territories World Title is the most prestigious title I’ve ever held. It represents wrestling’s past AND wrestling’s future. All the names I’ve mentioned are worthy of holding a title like this. And they can all… KISS… MY… ASS!”

Steve threw the title the mat and spat on it.

“NYCW was built on a foundation of respect and honour, in an industry without any. It was stood the test of time by offering what wrestling always has been and what it should be. But it’s time to step out from the shadows. It’s time to stop cowing to the old generation, stop breeding the new generation for the likes of Allen Packer or Richard Eisen to steal away and claim credit. I hope they die, I really do.”

“I don’t want this title, I don’t need this title and we don’t need the COTT. From this day forward, NYCW will stand alone, and I, Steve Flash will stand as the beacon of light in a dying world. Ross Henry can kiss my ass, Larry Vessey can kiss my ass and you people, who claim to want the best, but then boo honest expression, can kiss my ass too!”

The fans were pelting the ring with rubbish as Steve kicked the title to the floor and walked out to a chorus of boos.

Larry had stood with me while the promo was going on and he gently punched me on the arm with the look of a kid in a sweet shop. Slightly scared, but mainly excited.

“Well, we’ve done it. You ready for this kid?”

“Guess I’ve have to be,” I replied.

Next time on Welcome to New York… War on all fronts and Steve Flash’s prophecy comes true…

Hashasheen · June 5, 2018

Cool. This was gonna happen sooner or later, obviously. Are you gonna rebrand the company? There's a logo set done for a previous TEW based on NYCW logos called Empire World Wrestling that could be suitable.

TCP1 · June 5, 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>Cool. This was gonna happen sooner or later, obviously. Are you gonna rebrand the company? There's a logo set done for a previous TEW based on NYCW logos called Empire World Wrestling that could be suitable.</div></blockquote> Not rebranding just yet. I'll save that for Cult level. I don't suppose you have a link for it do you? Also looking for awesome logos for the events I run too if you have any ideas?

Hashasheen · June 5, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="TCP1" data-cite="TCP1" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45361" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Not rebranding just yet. I'll save that for Cult level. I don't suppose you have a link for it do you? Also looking for awesome logos for the events I run too if you have any ideas?</div></blockquote> The Empire World Wrestling logo and banner can be found <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=774016&postcount=798" rel="external nofollow">here</a>. Southside hitman produced a cool logo, banner and events for NYCW that I use currently in my NYCW touring games, that you can find <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=539159" rel="external nofollow">here</a>. Brat99 did some good logos way back as well, that you can find <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=532439" rel="external nofollow">here</a>. Gracker has more NYCW events that he produced right <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527009" rel="external nofollow">here</a>. Two events designed <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=522918" rel="external nofollow">here </a>with RayW.

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Welcome to New York… Change is coming, and it seems not a moment too soon…

So we resigned from COTT and predictably MAW, CZCW, OLLIE, FCW, IPW, PSW, QAW, AAA, L-Ring and CWWF all now had hostile relationships towards us. We didn’t care. It was time to shake off the shackles of that wretched organisation and ride the wave of momentum to the next step.

For almost a week, it was all the wrestling websites were talking about. ‘Steve Flash vs. the World,’ ‘NYCW on the Rise,’ ‘What Flash’s Promo Means for Wrestling.’ Everybody had a hot take, ever one had an opinion. And at the heart of it, was us. NYCW, the little indy who dared to dream of a better future.

For the first time in company history we had two shows booked in for June. The traditional Gang Wars in New York AND The Battle for the West Coast where we intended to go after CZCW directly, unify all the titles and take our first steps out of the shadow of the COTT.

Let’s get to it.

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW Gang Wars

Sunday, Week 2, June, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

GANG WARS MATCH: David Stone and Legacy defeated Nigel Svensson, Scorpius and Brutus Milano in 7:38 when David Stone defeated Brutus Milano by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D)

We start the new era with Brutus crying and tapping to an actual superstar. Stone’s success continues.

GANG WARS MATCH: The Brotherhood (Ralph Liotta, Austin Smooth and The Architect) defeated Perren Cloutier, Elemental IV and Garry Walker in 12:01 when Ralph Liotta defeated Perren Cloutier by pinfall with a Super Kick. (D)

With Flash now a heel, the Brotherhood (as they’re now known) need something new to do. So they finish off a couple of Flash’s students for fun and continue to make a name for themselves.

GANG WARS MATCH: The Cali Connection (Frantic Ali and State Of Destruction) defeated Doctor O'Haire, William Jetterson and Brendan Idol in 9:57 when Frantic Ali defeated Doctor O'Haire by pinfall with a Death Valley Driver. (D-)

I wanted to give most of the Cali crew a solid win in New York to make them seem like players on our stage. Mission accomplished.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: The Mythical One defeated Mobstar and Hugh de Aske in 12:04 when The Mythical One defeated Hugh de Aske by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (D+)

We signed Mobster in our deal with GSW. He doesn’t look all that much, but his ego is pretty huge. Plus he can clearly deliver a bit in the ring.

GANG WARS MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar, Bradley Blaze and Casey Valentine defeated The Hangman and The Ring Generals in 24:43 when Casey Valentine defeated Marv Statler by pinfall with a Deep Impact. ©

More heel wins to build-up challengers for Henry. The method of keeping most of the upper card heel to challenge our figurehead really was working beautifully.

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

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Ross Henry © in 28:22 by count out after The Brotherhood (Liotta, Smooth and Architect) attacked the champion outside the ring and beat him there until the ref counted him out.. ©

And a top heel is born. It’s rare for Henry to lose by any means, so this is huge for Flash.

ANGLE: Steve Flash, Austin Smooth, Ralph Liotta and The Architect continue to attack and beat Henry down into the mat. (D+)

The full stop on the heel turn.

OVERALL: C

A solid show, considering Gang Wars is always a disappointment. Bret Heartbreak requested a pay rise, which we happily gave him. Frantic Ali, BB Collosus and Boneyard all developed selfish behaviour backstage, which was annoying. I fined all of them and got a simmering tension note in return. Well that’s not how to make friends and influence people in this day and age. Silly boys. I have no time for that. In the buildup to our next show on the West Coast, I discovered Brutus Milano and David Stone had become friends. Turns out making someone tap out breeds friendship.

Now let’s unify some titles.

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW The Battle for the West Coast

Sunday, Week 4, June, 2019

The Snake Pit, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 521</div>

UNIFICATION TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated State Of Destruction © and The Ring Generals in 12:43; the order of elimination was The Ring Generals first, and then State Of Destruction. The Marvelous Ones unify the GSW and NYCW Tag Team titles into the NYCW World Tag Team Titles. (D)

Disappointing match, but that’ll be because most of our guys are not over in California. They would be, in time. But for now, we’d accept a lower rating for a chance to compete in the busy South West region.

UNIFICATION TRI-STATE AND WEST COAST TITLE MATCH: Ralph Liotta © defeated Brendan Idol © in 10:22 by pinfall with a Flash of Brilliance Super Kick. Ralph Liotta unifies the GSW West Coast and NYCW Tri-State Regional titles into the NYCW United States Title. (D-)

Another disappointing match, but I’m glad Liotta got to be the one to unify the titles. I’ll always have a soft spot for him and he’s getting better in the ring. So for those keeping track, The Brotherhood have all the titles except the NYCW Empire Title.

SINGLES MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated California Love Machine in 12:45 by pinfall with a Deep Impact. ©

Newcomer California Love Machine puts on a great show with our new top heel, but comes up short. It’s a Hell of a start though.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Ross Henry. Flash maybe making the headlines, but he’s the one who’ll be taking all the titles. (B-)

Oooo, he’s golden on the mic. Great stuff.

SINGLES MATCH: The Hangman defeated Mobstar in 6:25 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D)

Clean win to get Hangman over in a new region. Mobster isn’t overly impressive, but he does have that delicious name recognition I need to branch out into a new area.

SINGLES MATCH: David Stone defeated Hugh de Aske in 9:31 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (E+)

Hugely disappointing match between two of our better in-ring performers. Stone continues his streak, but really I was expecting way more.

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated T-Bone Bright in 9:31 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch after blatantly cheating. (C-)

Another newcomer from the GSW trade and he delivers too. Aldous is a great mainstay heel towards the top of the card, which keeps him his job despite his appalling attitude.

ANGLE: Aldous Blackfriar cuts a backstage promo saying Valentine better wait his turn, because he’s the next in line for a shot at the winner of tonight’s Unification match. ©

TRIPLE THREAT NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Bradley Blaze and The Mythical One in 13:21 when Steve Flash defeated The Mythical One by pinfall with a Flash Bang. (D+)

Flash gets another win to further establish himself as a contending top heel. Blaze and Mythical can afford to lose here, because they’ve got the talent to get back in the picture quickly.

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

UNIFICATION EMPIRE AND AMERICAN TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Frantic Ali © in 28:21 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. Ross Henry unifies the GSW American and NYCW Empire titles into the NYCW Empire World Title. (B)

Great match, and clean win for Henry against the soon-to-be-departing Ali.

OVERALL: B-

And that’s how you do that. Compete with us at your peril CZCW.

Immediately after the show we released Frantic Ali, Brendon Idol, Boneyard and BB Colossus. Three for being locker room cancers and one for being terrible. Since our departure from COTT, MAW have spun into a financial crisis.

After the show Liotta asked for a payrise, which I happily gave. Bradley Blaze and Rust Dillon became friends, Donnie J founded Northern Wrestling Alliance in Manitoba (a women’s promotion). We finished 1st in all battles and made $32,088 profit.

Reverie announced plans to expand into Australia and New Zealand, which would only make USPW stronger and then I received word that Larry had signed a PPA contract with them. That felt like something to be worried about. But for now, it didn’t matter as we were riding high, everyone was talking about us, and about Flash.

And then…

A bigger news story happens. One with far-reaching impact on the industry as a whole…

Richard Eisen died peacefully in his sleep.

Next time on Welcome to New York… The funeral of the century…

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where one man’s death, is another man’s coronation…

The wrestling world was abuzz with the news of Richard Eisen’s passing. The man who single-handedly changed the wrestling industry forever was gone, and his son, the little-liked Eric Eisen had immediately seized power. He’d been through the independents like wildfire and signed around a dozen workers to written contracts.

But would you believe, for once, we avoided losing anyone. We’re not sure how that had happened, but we thanked the Dark Gods (through Aldous) for their generosity. This really intensified the national battle between SWF, TCW and USPW. But they were all being blown out of the water by SOTBPW and their endless string of five star matches thanks to Champagne Lover, El Fuerza and friends.

None of that was our concern though, we weren’t ready for that level yet and were still working on keeping ourselves intact in the face of rapid and aggressive expansion. Our plan for now was to run Welcome to Boston and California shows every month and subsidise the costs by running Welcome to New York and Old School Wrestling.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 30: Henry vs. Valentine

Thursday, Week 1, July, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

10-MAN BATTLE ROYAL: The Hangman won a battle royal in 10:03. The other members of the 'final four' were Bret Heartbreak, Robin DaLay and Nigel Svensson, with Bret Heartbreak being the final elimination. Nigel Svensson got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D)

A nice win for our Phenom who has precious little to do after the rise of The Brotherhood and our need to keep his ridiculous unpinned streak going. He could probably have lost here, but it’s nice to keep his momentum high too.

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The Marvelous Ones © defeated The Ring Generals in 9:58 when Austin Smooth defeated Dean Waldorf by submission with a Smooth Hold after blatantly cheating. (D+)

Great tag action right there as The Marvelous Ones are really staking a claim as the ‘best team’ in NYCW history after their performances. It’s only the old Grand Slam team of Flash and Bulldozer who consistently put on better matches.

SINGLES MATCH: The Mythical One defeated Mobstar in 9:48 by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (C-)

Yup, we don’t really like Mobster, but he’s over and can be carried by a better performer. Like The Mythical One.

TAG TEAM MATCH: David Stone and Garry Walker defeated Hugh de Aske and William Jetterson in 9:55 when David Stone defeated Hugh de Aske by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D)

Can anyone stop the Rookie Sensation? Probably a written contract by NOTBPW. But they were still happy to share him, so we’d use him as best we could. Slightly disappointing match actually.

NYCW US TITLE MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated T-Bone Bright in 9:44 by pinfall after using a foreign object. (D+)

These two have great chemistry, which is awesome news. Now if only I could remember to actually have them face each other a few times. Good win for the new US champion.

ANGLE: Bradley Blaze cuts a promo saying he’s looking for a seventh epic with Ross Henry. Whenever the champ is ready, he’ll be waiting. Because they might not be friends, but gosh darnit if he doesn’t respect the heck out of the champ. (C-)

Just seems like common sense to keep their all-time feud brewing. Who knows when the next challenger is going to pass out through drugs on the night of a big show. Not that we’re bitter or anything.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Bradley Blaze in 13:16 by pinfall with a Flash Bang after Ralph Liotta interfered. (D+)

Is it just me that finds it weird to have Liotta and Flash on the same page. Actually a disappointing match as Flash’s age is really starting to catchup with him. Poor Bradley loses again.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Ross Henry. Tonight, New York will be heartbroken by St Valentine himself. (B-)

Yeah alright, Valentine is a pretty cool dude.

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated California Love Machine in 13:22 by pinfall with a Batwing. (C-)

Another great chemistry note. It’s been such an up-and-down ride as booker of this promotion, that whenever I get a note like this, I always expect an immediate punch in the nose to even the karma. Still, when it’s good, you have to ride it out. Because it will be bad again soon.

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

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated Ross Henry © in 27:46 by count out. (B)

Great match. Plus a win for the newcomer and an instant, top-level feud is properly ignited. It’s because of performers like these guys that our momentum is currently through the roof (A).

ANGLE: Ross Henry is being attacked by Valentine and Blackfriar in the ring. Seeing the assault, Bradley Blaze comes running in and fights them both off, saving Henry from a serious beating. (C+)

And we pull the trigger on the Blaze face turn. He’s floundering as a heel and with Flash now a heel, we need a number two face to feed to the top heel challengers.

OVERALL: B-

Another great show in a seemingly never-ending series of them. Brutus Milano and Elemental IV are unhappy with their lack of success. Don’t blame me pals, make yourselves too good to not push and I’ll do the rest.

We offered new contracts to Robin DaLay and Garry Walker. While Scorpius became popular for drawing cartoons of people backstage.

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

Thursday, Week 2, July, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

SINGLES MATCH: California Love Machine defeated Mobstar in 7:57 by count out. (D)

Had to give one of the new guys a win. So I picked Love Machine. Match was meh at best.

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated T-Bone Bright in 12:59 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch after blatantly cheating. (D+)

Much better stuff from the New Cali Crew. Sure Bright lost, but the match was good and I’m more likely to remember good matches as opposed to win/loss records.

SINGLES MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated The Mythical One in 13:22 by disqualification. (B-)

Booyah. Nothing like a none-main event to deliver a rating that high. It seems that when you book two great workers against each other, the results are usually good.

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

EIGHT MAN TAG MATCH: Ross Henry, Bradley Blaze and The Ring Generals drew with The Brotherhood (Steve Flash, Ralph Liotta, Austin Smooth and The Architect) in 26:34 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. ©

And the main event actually under delivers following the previous singles match. Still the story progresses nicely and we’ve made a bucket of cash here, so that’s all well and good.

OVERALL: C

Next time on Welcome to New York… Henry vs. Valentine II…

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we love Cali as much as we love Boston…

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to Boston 5: Henry vs. Valentine II

Thursday, Week 3, July, 2019

The Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 888</div>

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated Legacy and Nigel Svensson and Rust Dillon in 8:26; the order of elimination was Nigel Svensson and Rust Dillon first, and then Legacy. (D-)

Just a little match to keep the champs strong and to continue to build their names in New England.

SINGLES MATCH: The Hangman defeated Brutus Milano in 6:23 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D-)

How’s your booking now chump?

TAG TEAM MATCH: Azteca Now defeated Scorpius and Doctor O'Haire in 8:19 when Elemental IV defeated Scorpius by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (D-)

Elemental IV we respect a bit more, so made sense to give a win to him and The Mythical One at the expense of the job squad.

NYCW US TITLE MATCH: Garry Walker defeated Ralph Liotta © in 13:22 by disqualification. (D-)

It’s time to start building Walker up and seeing if we can’t just give him the push he’s probably deserved for about a year now. Liotta can afford a cheap loss like this

SINGLES MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated Perren Cloutier in 5:52 by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch. (D)

Cloutier is another guy with some talent, but no discernible gimmick beyond being a protégé of Steve Flash. One day he’d get a chance to shine. But not right now.

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Ring Generals defeated Mobstar and William Jetterson in 7:34 when Dean Waldorf defeated William Jetterson by pinfall with a Wheelbarrow Bomb. (D)

Mobster is like the second coming of Masked Stranger. Just constantly jobbing him out to build up wrestlers I actually want to see succeed.

ANGLE: The Brotherhood (Steve Flash, Ralph Liotta, Austin Smooth and The Architect) cut a promo in the ring. Tonight they’re going to help Flash win the Number One contenders match so that they’ve all got all the gold. Because with the gold, comes the power. (D)

Poor segment right there. No more promos involving Flash. He nailed one, in his career, no point trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice.

SINGLES MATCH: David Stone defeated Hugh de Aske in 10:25 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D-)

Another somewhat disappointing match, especially as these two represent two of our top five ring generals. The Stone push continues unabated though. He’s gone from fresh-faced rookie to our second best overall wrestler in the matter of months.

FATAL FOURWAY MATCH: California Love Machine defeated Bradley Blaze, Steve Flash and T-Bone Bright in 25:27 when California Love Machine defeated Bradley Blaze by pinfall with a LAX Departure. (D+)

It’s an upset win and a decent little match to boot. California Love Machine gets to main event for a while, if we remember. There’s every chance I’ll forget and book Blaze vs. Henry again. It’s just too tempting not to.

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

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated Ross Henry © in 27:51 by count out. (B-)

Another decent match between these two, although not as good at their first. Valentine remains the only man to have fought Henry multiple times and never having lost. No title change for him though.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is handed his title and Casey Valentine attacks, beating Henry down into the mat. (B)

That is good, old-fashioned, heel tactics. Reminiscent of ‘Downtown’ Lenny Brown, who made his living off beating down wrestlers who beat him in the ring.

OVERALL: C+

Brutus Milano pulled me aside to complain about his booking, while Rust Dillon joined him. I offered to pay for a holiday for Dillon, more to irritate Milano than anything.

Speaking of ‘Downtown’ Lenny Brown, he got the official call-up to SWF roster proper as I struggle to care even one little bit. Svensson was popular before our California show, after he setup a pancake station for the boys.

Lemon and sugar for me my boy.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to California 2: Straight Outta Compton Street Fight

Thursday, Week 4, July, 2019

The Snake Pit, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 521</div>

STREET FIGHT NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated Perren Cloutier and Rust Dillon, Nigel Svensson and Scorpius and Legacy in 9:54; the order of elimination was Legacy first, then Nigel Svensson and Scorpius, and finally Perren Cloutier and Rust Dillon. (D-)

You will learn their names. You will boo the Brotherhood. California, pay attention to what I’m offering.

NYCW US TITLE MATCH: Ralph Liotta © defeated The Hangman in 6:24 by count out. (D)

Decent little match here as these two continue their streak of fighting but neither man pinning the other.

HARDCORE GANG WARS MATCH: Brutus Milano, Doctor O'Haire and Elemental IV defeated Mobstar and The Ring Generals in 8:24 when Brutus Milano defeated Dean Waldorf by submission with an Italian Backbreaker after blatantly cheating. (D-)

There you go, you whinging fake Italian. You got a win, in a street fight no less, so you seem tough. Like you’re an actual man. I feel sick with my own booking sometimes.

SINGLES MATCH: David Stone defeated William Jetterson in 9:39 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D)

He’s making a name for himself. Slowly but surely, the California contingent are learning, like we do, to love David Stone.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated T-Bone Bright in 9:46 by pinfall with a Flash Bang. (D+)

Good match here as Flash makes short work of California’s own son.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Ross Henry. This time, he’ll win AND get the title once and for all. (B-)

SINGLES MATCH: Hugh de Aske defeated The Mythical One in 9:47 by pinfall with a handful of tights. (D)

The Dread Pirate was a sinking ship. Mythical can afford a loss to keep this middling midcarder relevant.

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

GANG WARS MATCH: California Love Machine, Garry Walker and Ross Henry defeated Aldous Blackfriar, Casey Valentine and Bradley Blaze in 28:04 when Garry Walker defeated Bradley Blaze by pinfall with a handful of tights. (C+)

So no actual title match for Love Machine. Instead he teams with the champ in a winning effort. Poor Bradley Blaze is co-opted into a team with two men he dislikes (cos he’s a good guy now y’see), and they just leave him alone in the ring to be beaten.

OVERALL: C

Over in MAW, Cheetah Boy and Syd Collier won The Sam Keith Classic IX Tag Team Tournament. We finished 1st in all battles and somehow managed to make a profit. A $8,560 profit, but still a profit.

Next time on Welcome to New York… The final two shows before we build towards The King of New York AND The King of California tournaments…

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where over-extended only counts with workers, not our bank balance…

The days of us losing money were way behind us now. Even when buying out companies and the like. It felt good, and it was nice to be able to look forward instead of having to constantly check our bank balance.

He had two more shows until the qualifiers for the dual-King events in September.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 31: The Brotherhood Stumbles

Thursday, Week 1, August, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TRIPLE THREAT TAG TEAM MATCH: Doctor O'Haire and Brutus Milano defeated Legacy and Perren Cloutier and Nigel Svensson in 7:47; the order of elimination was Perren Cloutier and Nigel Svensson first, and then Legacy. (E+)

God help us, it was a sustained Brutus Milano push. What were we thinking? Was the world coming to an end? Were dogs and cats living in harmony? Would it ever end?

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Elemental IV defeated Scorpius and William Jetterson in 4:42 when Elemental IV defeated Scorpius by pinfall with an Inferno Splash. (D-)

The young masked superstar needed a win, this proved a good opportunity to give him one. Scorpius remains death and Jetterson has zero direction, despite having the highest-rated gimmick in the company.

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The Marvelous Ones © defeated The Ring Generals in 10:06 when Austin Smooth defeated Marv Statler by submission with a Smooth Hold after blatantly cheating. (D+)

Another good match between these two teams as they both rise up the card in tandem. Eventually I’d have to consider splitting The Marvelous Ones, but we were way off of that for now. While they continued to single-handedly save the division, they’d remain champs.

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: David Stone defeated Ralph Liotta © and Rust Dillon in 10:16 when David Stone defeated Rust Dillon by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. David Stone wins the NYCW United States title. (D+)

That’s right folks, it was time to add Stone to the lineage of our great company. Liotta didn’t need the title to be a mainstay anymore, thanks to the Brotherhood, and we wanted the best matches possible for the US Title. That means Stone. Dillon acts as the go-between to keep Liotta strong however.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Garry Walker and The Hangman defeated Hugh de Aske and Mobstar in 7:43 when Garry Walker defeated Hugh de Aske by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (D-)

It’s a weird mix ‘n’ match tag team affair, with Mobster losing. Yup, must be the NYCW midcard. Match was not good though.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated T-Bone Bright in 10:27 by pinfall with a Flash Bang after Ralph Liotta interfered. (D+)

Liotta immediately gets his heat back and helps his mentor and stablemate get a much-needed win. Flash has all the momentum, but is death on the mic. So we’ll keep him in the ring and let Liotta do the talking as and when he needs to.

ANGLE: Bradley Blaze cuts a promo saying he’s still waiting for his next match against Ross Henry. But for now he’ll deal with the Mexican jumping bean. (C-)

He’s pretty good on the mic is old Bradley. He’s also now playing something of a tweener. An antihero how can literally be dropped into any feud on any side.

SINGLES MATCH: The Mythical One defeated Bradley Blaze in 13:19 by count out. ©

Good match as expected and despite Blaze losing, he wasn’t pinned.

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

TAG TEAM MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar and Casey Valentine defeated California Love Machine and Ross Henry in 27:55 when Casey Valentine defeated California Love Machine by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (B-)

Good main event which builds more momentum for the challenger. Ross Henry no longer has the best momentum in the company. But as champion and figurehead, he really doesn’t need it, does he?

OVERALL: C+

Around the world Chris ‘Lobster Warrior’ Morisette retires. It’s a shame we can’t hire old guys, because he has loads of talent and we could totally have used him against Henry. What could’ve been.

Onto the last show before the qualifiers.

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

Thursday, Week 2, August, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Ring Generals defeated Mobstar and T-Bone Bright in 10:23 when Dean Waldorf defeated T-Bone Bright by pinfall with a handful of tights. (D-)

Building up the challengers again and sacrificing the Cali Crew to do so. I don’t really see a bright future for any of the GSW boys going forward. They’re just not settling and are constantly unhappy with my booking.

SINGLES MATCH: Garry Walker defeated The Architect in 8:26 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (D)

An actual loss for one of The Brotherhood. Garry’s push continues. Sure it’s a little under the radar, but he’s there and he’s winning.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar drew with Steve Flash and California Love Machine in 10:00 when the referee was forced to rule a no contest when all hell broke loose. (D+)

Another decent match involving the increasingly crippled-looking Steve Flash. Everyone seemed unhappy losing to him, so I compromised and they all draw. When a worker enters time decline, the results are not slow. It’s like he woke up one day and sucked.

SINGLES MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated The Mythical One in 12:48 by count out. (B-)

We’re so roster rich that our secondary main event delivers main event results. Fantastic stuff from both these guys.

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

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Bradley Blaze in 27:47 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (B)

It’s the Seventh matchup between these two and the best of the bunch. Seriously, sometimes when you need a main event to over-deliver, plonk these two together and reap the benefits.

OVERALL: B

Now that’s a show! Referee Michael Bull’s contract was expiring so we signed him up for 10 more years.

Next time on Welcome to New York… King of NYC and Cali Qualifiers…

TCP1 · June 5, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we double-down on eight-man tournaments for a shot at the champ…

That’s right, for the first time ever, The King of New York qualifiers will take place in New England (don’t question the logic please). AND as a bonus, we now will be running a separate King of California tournament.

We almost have a roster big enough, so we’ll supplement some of the qualifiers with local talent and then down the line the two winners will face off for a shot at whoever is Empire World Champion at Showdown in the City IV.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to Boston 6: Qualifying Carnage

Thursday, Week 3, August, 2019

The Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 822</div>

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: Garry Walker defeated Brutus Milano in 8:08 by pinfall with a Pants Pull Sunset Flip. (D-)

And the push is over. Poor Brutus, he has once made it to the final eight of this tournament and that was years ago.

EIGHT MAN TAG MATCH: Austin Smooth, Hugh de Aske, Mobstar and Scorpius drew with Bret Heartbreak, Elemental IV, T-Bone Bright and The Hangman in 7:37 following a double disqualification. (D-)

Hey look, it’s a ‘get them a pay day’ match. And it sucked, as they almost always do.

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated Rust Dillon in 8:29 by pinfall with a Flash of Brilliance Super Kick. (E+)

You can’t have a King of New York tournament without Liotta at least making the quarter finals. Rust does the clean job as we build-up Liotta’s finisher as a killer.

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: David Stone defeated Doctor O'Haire in 10:18 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D)

US champion and God among men David Stone progresses to the Final Eight, to further establish his legacy in a short space of time. As one of only two undefeated men in the tournament, it should be interesting to see how far he’ll go.

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: William Jetterson defeated Perren Cloutier in 7:48 by submission with a Viper Vice. (D-)

Is this an upset? Probably not, but Jetterson has been treading water since he lost the (then) Tri-State Regional Title. It’ll be nice to have him on the main show.

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: Dean Waldorf defeated Nigel Svensson in 8:02 by pinfall with a Waldorf Salad Toss. (D)

Another clean win, and this time from a tag team specialist. Dean is probably the weaker of the Ring Generals, but he can put on a show when required.

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: Marv Statler defeated The Architect in 8:05 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (D)

And the other half of the team progresses too. Could we be looking at a tag team explosion in the finals of the King of New York? Probably not, but they can dream.

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Robin DaLay in 13:19 by pinfall with a Flash Bang. (D)

Flash books his place and his shot at completing the Full Grand Slam by defeating a second generation superstar. Match was disappointing, but in a tournament it’s the result which matters.

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

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE FATAL FOURWAY MATCH: Ross Henry defeated Bradley Blaze, California Love Machine and Aldous Blackfriar in 12:49 when Ross Henry defeated Bradley Blaze by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (B-)

Poor Bradley Blaze. He really is Henry’s personal job man. There were two others who could easily have eaten the loss there, but Bradley is a man and takes his beatings like one too.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo saying he’s going to break the hearts of millions across the globe by winning the King of New York, battering whoever wins the King of California and then defeating Ross Henry once and for all for the Empire World Title. (B)

KONY QUALIFIER MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated The Mythical One in 28:13 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (C+)

Actually a disappointment considering their previous matches. And poor Mythical doesn’t make it to the final eight, despite being way better than a lot of people who did. There’s no justice in this world.

OVERALL: C+

And that, ladies and gentlemen marks our 100th show as head booker of NYCW. It’s been a long and tumultuous road with plenty of ups and downs, but it really feels like we’re cruising towards incredible success.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to California 3: Cali Qualifiers

Thursday, Week 4, August, 2019

The Snake Pit, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 521</div>

TEN MAN TAG TEAM MATCH: Brutus Milano, Casey Valentine, Elemental IV, Rust Dillon and David Stone defeated Austin Smooth, Robin DaLay, Marv Statler, Steve Flash and William Jetterson in 9:53 when Elemental IV defeated Bret Heartbreak by pinfall with an Inferno Splash. (D)

Get em on the card match, with a real mishmash of performers on each side. The up-and-comers (and Brutus) get the duke to establish them as people who don’t always lose. David Stone stood out, unsurprisingly.

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: Hugh de Aske defeated Bret Heartbreak in 7:51 by pinfall with a Cut-Throat Driver. (D-)

The Dread Pirate moves on in something of an upset. They’re both great workers and in hinsight should both be in the last eight.

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: The Hangman defeated The Masked Man in 7:56 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D-)

Local jobber alert. Breaking news = Jobber sucked. No job for him. Hangman could well be a favourite for the tournament, being that he hasn’t been pinned. Ever.

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: Mobstar defeated California Super Destroyer in 7:35 by pinfall with a Flattener DDT. (D)

BREAKING NEWS II: Mobster wins a match. I repeat, Mobster wins a match. This is not a drill. Took him over seven minutes to beat a guy who looks like my retired uncle though. Hardly impressive.

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: T-Bone Bright defeated Igor Rakonic in 7:53 by pinfall with a Powerslam. (D+)

Hell of a match here, as the young jobber actually looked like he could wrestle. I’d truly consider giving him a contract, had he not immediately upset the entire locker room with his behaviour and tried to attack me before the show. Silly boy. The Cali Crew are representing in this tournament though. It’s almost like the results are pre-determined.

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: California Love Machine defeated Scorpius in 6:24 by pinfall with a LAX Departure. (D)

Speaking of which. Love Machine actually got a watchable match out of Scorpius, the man left behind by the ascendant Ralph Liotta. Good for him.

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar defeated Elemental IV in 8:19 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (D+)

Good match as Elemental begins to repay our faith in keeping him around. Aldous moves on though, because he is clearly the star here.

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: The Mythical One defeated Austin Smooth in 12:55 by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (D+)

The Mythical One performed so well in the King of New York qualifier, that we decided to give him another shot. He did not disappoint and moves on to the final eight in style.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo saying he’s going to break the hearts of women everywhere when he wins it all. (B)

KOCALI QUALIFYING MATCH: Bradley Blaze defeated The Texas Redneck in 12:57 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. (D)

Blaze gets a workable match out of a guy I saw walking down the street, who looked like a wrestler. I love California. Beautiful people everywhere.

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

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE: Ross Henry defeated Ralph Liotta in 27:49 by disqualification after Steve Flash ran in and attack Henry. (B-)

Henry still can’t pin Liotta. No matter how hard he tries, the slippery youngster is always one step ahead. I wonder if I’d ever pay off that mini-angle? Probably not, but I’m not jobbing Liotta out to Henry now. It forms his only link to the Empire World Title, without the need to actually give it to him.

OVERALL: C+

Those were two bang-up shows of top quality and we now had the tournament shows set. We ended the month, as always, 1st in all battles and made a healthy $9,588 profit. Over in TCW Ernest Youngman only went and won the TCW World Heavyweight Title from Ricky Dale Johnson, in an all-time classic. We always knew he had potential.

While the trials and tribulations of PSW didn’t concern us much these days, we did note that former, multi-time champion Grandmaster Phunk had walked out over missing payments. Oh dear, oh dear. Turns out Mitch Naess should’ve kept us on his side methinks.

Anyway, here was the cards for The King of New York and The King of California shows.

The King of New York:

KONY Quarter: William Jetterson vs. David Stone

KONY Quarter: Steve Flash vs. Dean Waldorf

KONY Quarter: Ralph Liotta vs. Marv Statler

KONY Quarter: Casey Valentine vs. Garry Walker

Tag Match: Legacy vs. T-Bone & Elemental

Triple Threat Match: Mythical vs. Mobster vs. California Love Machine

Empire Triple Threat: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze vs. Ross Henry ©

The King of California:

KOCALI Quarter: Mobster vs. The Hangman

KOCALI Quarter: Hugh de Aske vs. The Mythical One

KOCALI Quarter: California Love Machine vs. T-Bone Bright

KOCALI Quarter: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze

Tag Title Match: Walker & Dillon vs. The Marvelous Ones

Gang Wars: Stone & The Ring Generals vs. Valentine, Flash and Liotta

Empire Title Match: Winner of KONY Triple Threat Title Match vs. A New Wrestler, whose never even been mentioned in this diary before (five points if you can get both wrestlers in this correct and predict the result)

I’ll total up combined scores for this one, so good luck with that.

Also, if anyone would like to nominate me for Diary of the Month, that’d be cool. I’d nominate myself, but that feels classless. 

<a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541393" rel="external nofollow">http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541393</a>

Next time on Welcome to New York… Two Kings are crowned…

Theheel · June 5, 2018

The King of New York:

KONY Quarter: William Jetterson vs. David Stone

KONY Quarter: Ralph Liotta vs. Marv Statler

KONY Quarter: Steve Flash vs. Dean Waldorf

KONY Quarter: Casey Valentine vs. Garry Walker

Tag Match: Legacy vs. T-Bone & Elemental

Triple Threat Match: Mythical vs. Mobster vs. California Love Machine

Empire Triple Threat: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze vs. Ross Henry ©

The King of California:

KOCALI Quarter: California Love Machine vs. T-Bone Bright

KOCALI Quarter: Mobster vs. The Hangman

KOCALI Quarter: Hugh de Aske vs. The Mythical One

KOCALI Quarter: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze

Tag Title Match: Walker & Dillon vs. The Marvelous Ones

Gang Wars: Stone & The Ring Generals vs. Valentine, Flash and Liotta

Empire Title Match: Winner of KONY Triple Threat Title Match vs. A New Wrestler, whose never even been mentioned in this diary before (five points if you can get both wrestlers in this correct and predict the result) Ross Henry wins vs Remmy Skye. Don’t remember Skye ever being in NYCW so let’s give him a try

BigJay2003 · June 5, 2018

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="TCP1" data-cite="TCP1" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45361" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Over in TCW Ernest Youngman only went and won the TCW World Heavyweight Title from Ricky Dale Johnson, in an all-time classic. We always knew he had potential.</div></blockquote> First, loving this diary. Second, any chance you can give us a rundown on the careers of some of the other big names that have left like Wolfsbaine, Brown, or Scythe? The King of New York: KONY Quarter: William Jetterson vs. David Stone KONY Quarter: Steve Flash vs. Dean Waldorf KONY Quarter: Ralph Liotta vs. Marv Statler KONY Quarter: Casey Valentine vs. Garry Walker Tag Match: Legacy vs. T-Bone & Elemental Triple Threat Match: Mythical vs. Mobster vs. California Love Machine Empire Triple Threat: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze vs. Ross Henry © The King of California: KOCALI Quarter: Mobster vs. The Hangman KOCALI Quarter: Hugh de Aske vs. The Mythical One KOCALI Quarter: California Love Machine vs. T-Bone Bright KOCALI Quarter: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze Tag Title Match: Walker & Dillon vs. The Marvelous Ones Gang Wars: Stone & The Ring Generals vs. Valentine, Flash and Liotta Empire Title Match: Winner of KONY Triple Threat Title Match vs. A New Wrestler, whose never even been mentioned in this diary before (five points if you can get both wrestlers in this correct and predict the result)

John Lions · June 6, 2018

The King of New York:

KONY Quarter: William Jetterson vs. David Stone

KONY Quarter: Steve Flash vs. Dean Waldorf

KONY Quarter: Ralph Liotta vs. Marv Statler

KONY Quarter: Casey Valentine vs. Garry Walker

Tag Match: Legacy vs. T-Bone & Elemental

Triple Threat Match: Mythical vs. Mobster vs. California Love Machine

Empire Triple Threat: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze vs. Ross Henry ©

The King of California:

KOCALI Quarter: Mobster vs. The Hangman

KOCALI Quarter: Hugh de Aske vs. The Mythical One

KOCALI Quarter: California Love Machine vs. T-Bone Bright

KOCALI Quarter: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze

Tag Title Match: Walker & Dillon vs. The Marvelous Ones

Gang Wars: Stone & The Ring Generals vs. Valentine, Flash and Liotta

Empire Title Match: Winner of KONY Triple Threat Title Match vs. A New Wrestler, whose never even been mentioned in this diary before (five points if you can get both wrestlers in this correct and predict the result) Ross Henry vs Julius Moor

Curtman · June 6, 2018

The King of New York:

KONY Quarter: William Jetterson vs. David Stone

KONY Quarter: Steve Flash vs. Dean Waldorf

KONY Quarter: Ralph Liotta vs. Marv Statler

KONY Quarter: Casey Valentine vs. Garry Walker

Tag Match: Legacy vs. T-Bone & Elemental

Triple Threat Match: Mythical vs. Mobster vs. California Love Machine

Empire Triple Threat: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze vs. Ross Henry ©

The King of California:

KOCALI Quarter: Mobster vs. The Hangman

KOCALI Quarter: Hugh de Aske vs. The Mythical One

KOCALI Quarter: California Love Machine vs. T-Bone Bright

KOCALI Quarter: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze

Tag Title Match: Walker & Dillon vs. The Marvelous Ones

Gang Wars: Stone & The Ring Generals vs. Valentine, Flash and Liotta

Empire Title Match: Winner of KONY Triple Threat Title Match vs. A New Wrestler, whose never even been mentioned in this diary before (five points if you can get both wrestlers in this correct and predict the result)

Henry and Mainstream Hernandez

MisterRomanini · June 6, 2018

The King of New York:

KONY Quarter: William Jetterson vs. David Stone

KONY Quarter: Steve Flash vs. Dean Waldorf

KONY Quarter: Ralph Liotta vs. Marv Statler

KONY Quarter: Casey Valentine vs. Garry Walker

Tag Match: Legacy vs. T-Bone & Elemental

Triple Threat Match: Mythical vs. Mobster vs. California Love Machine

Empire Triple Threat: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze vs. Ross Henry ©

The King of California:

KOCALI Quarter: Mobster vs. The Hangman

KOCALI Quarter: Hugh de Aske vs. The Mythical One

KOCALI Quarter: California Love Machine vs. T-Bone Bright

KOCALI Quarter: Aldous Blackfriar vs. Bradley Blaze

Tag Title Match: Walker & Dillon vs. The Marvelous Ones

Gang Wars: Stone & The Ring Generals vs. Valentine, Flash and Liotta

Empire Title Match: Winner of KONY Triple Threat Title Match vs. A New Wrestler, whose never even been mentioned in this diary before (five points if you can get both wrestlers in this correct and predict the result) Bradley Blaze vs. Tom Gilmore

Seeing NYCW grow from a traditional New York promotion to a cult-following super indie is pretty satisfying. Can't wait to see what the future holds to this fed.

TCP1 · June 6, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where it’s time for The King of <INSERT CITY HERE>…

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW The King of New York

Thursday, Week 2, September, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TEN MAN BATTLE ROYAL: The event kicked off with a massive ten-man battle royal. It was standard NYCW fare, with the ring full of wrestlers, who were eliminated one after the other. The final four standing were Scorpius, The Architect, Hugh de Aske and the ‘Phenom’ The Hangman. Scorpius and Architect paired off and tumbled out together, leaving The Hangman to choke slam The Dread Pirate and toss him out for the win. Is there someone more dominant in NYCW history than ‘The Taker of Souls’ The Hangman? We don’t think so.

The Hangman won a battle royal in 10:22. The other members of the 'final four' were Hugh de Aske, Scorpius and The Architect, with Hugh de Aske being the final elimination. The Architect got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D)

KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: The tournament final eight kicked off in style as William Jetterson along with ‘Sir Hiss’ the Cobra took on the Rookie Sensation David Stone. Filled with decent catch-as-catch-can wrestling and slick reversals, the match was short, but fast-paced. David Stone never looked to be in much trouble though and locked in the Stone Ankle Stretch for the tap-out win and to advance to the semi finals.

David Stone defeated William Jetterson in 5:50 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D)

Stone will eventually have a match worthy of his name, I’m sure. But it definitely wasn’t going to be Jetterson who stopped the streak.

KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: In the wild card encounter of the final eight, former NYCW US Champion ‘Flash’ Ralph Liotta was taken to the limit by one half of The Ring Generals, Marv Statler. Liotta maintained a dominant, aggressive style for once, but his penchant for flashy moves cost him as he tried to cross body the tag specialist out of the ring, only to miss and clatter into the announce table. Marv was smart enough to wait in the ring as referee Michael Bull counted to 10 and awarded the victory to Statler. Liotta’s reaction after the match was that of a petulant child who’d been denied sweets by a parent.

Marv Statler defeated Ralph Liotta in 6:09 by count out. (D)

That’s right! An upset win as Statler advances at the expense of one of the hottest performers in the company. Anything can happen in NYCW.

KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: The other half of The Ring Generals faced Liotta’s mentor in Steve Flash. This was more of a brutal, hard-hitting affair, with neither man giving an inch to their opponent. Just as it looked like Waldorf had the advantage, Ralph Liotta slipped into the ring behind the referee’s back and delivered a Flash of Brilliance Super Kick and placed his mentor on top for the pin and win.

Steve Flash defeated Dean Waldorf in 5:56 by pinfall with a Flash Bang after Ralph Liotta interfered. (C-)

Steve Flash suffered an injury in this and is now affected by chronic lower back pain, which is not only unfortunate for the rest of the event, but is the most ‘old man’ ailment we could imagine. Nothing like commitment to character there Steve.

KONY QUARTER FINAL MATCH: In arguably the most anticipated matchup in the final eight, the ‘Heartbreaker’ Casey Valentine took on perennial under-achiever and toy monkey enthusiast Garry Walker. Entertaining and interesting, it was slower paced than previous matches, but ended without an upset this time. A Deep Impact around the eight minute mark was enough to give the win to Casey and send Garry (and his monkey) to the back.

Casey Valentine defeated Garry Walker in 7:51 by pinfall with a Deep Impact. (C+)

Woah! Great match right there as Garry Walker continues to show flashes of incredible talent when pitted against the right opponent. That’s seriously impressive and could well mean a sustained push going forward.

TAG TEAM MATCH: T-Bone Bright and Elemental IV defeated Legacy in 6:01 when Elemental IV defeated Bret Heartbreak by pinfall with a handful of tights. (D-)

Simply a filler tag team match to give a couple of struggling guys a win on the big stage. Elemental IV continues to develop beautifully. He’s almost ready to given the ball to see what his limit is.

KONY SEMI FINAL MATCH: Continuing the theme of great matches, Casey Valentine and Marv Statler put on a wrestling clinic in their semi-final encounter. The action was back-and-forth, but there was a sense of inevitability as Casey Valentine had an answer for everything Statler had to offer. It only took the blink of an eye for the man who’d bested Ross Henry twice already to hit a Deep Impact for the win.

Casey Valentine defeated Marv Statler in 7:54 by pinfall with a Deep Impact. ©

I always knew Statler was the talent of the team, and against a top-flight opponent he delivers. Another great match and frankly, anyone who thought Valentine wouldn’t be in the main event hasn’t been paying attention.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: The Mythical One defeated California Love Machine and Mobstar in 7:51 when The Mythical One defeated Mobstar by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (C-)

Another filler match, although a good one. Plus it’s nice to see The Mythical One getting the win. I’m not sure for a man of his talents that a simple Northern Lights Suplex is a particularly impressive finisher though.

KONY SEMI FINAL MATCH: The Past met the Present as Steve Flash took on David Stone in the other semi final matchup. Despite their obvious talents, the bout itself was awkward, with Flash struggling to move thanks to a back injury suffered earlier in the night. David Stone, talented, but inexperienced, struggled to make up for his flailing opponent and as soon as the match had started, it was over. Stone locked in the Ankle Stretch and Flash, screaming in pain, had no choice but to tap.

David Stone defeated Steve Flash in 5:34 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch after blatantly cheating. (D-)

These two absolutely don’t click and made the match suck. Still, that’s got to be considered a pretty big upset win hasn’t it? Rookie goes all the way to the finals? But can he deliver in his biggest career match to date?

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: In the penultimate match of the night, Former NFL Star and NYCW Legend Ross Henry put his title on the line against two of his most persistent opponents, ‘The Dark Prince’ Aldous Blackfriar and ‘Cowboy’ Bradley Blaze. Like old friends, these three slotted into a greatest hits of their previous encounters, with turns and counter-turns from the various competitors. While Bradley Blaze came the closest to unseating the champion, it was when he fell from the ring after attacking Aldous that Henry was able to roll up the Dark Prince and grab a handful of tights for the cheap win.

Ross Henry defeated Aldous Blackfriar and Bradley Blaze in 27:38 when Ross Henry defeated Aldous Blackfriar by pinfall with a handful of tights. (B-)

Great match right there from three of our most consistent performers at the top of the card. Poor Bradley always gets so close to winning the title, but we never quite pull the trigger on him. One day Bradley… maybe.

ANGLE: After the match Ross Henry is celebrating only for Casey Valentine to run in and start attacking him. Seeing an opportunity, Aldous Blackfriar joins in. Bradley Blaze watches from ringside, apparently genuinely unsure what to do. The crowd began to cheer for him and chant his name and finally he runs in and chases off the attackers to the delight of the crowd. The place goes ballistic as Blaze gets Henry to his feet and the two men celebrate. Blaze shakes Henry’s hand in a show of respect, and then hits a Six Shooter Slam to leave the champion down again and walks out. (C+)

Bradley is now officially the ultimate tweener. He’s very much on the face side, but his long-running feud with Henry means he can’t be a smiling babyface good guy.

KING OF NEW YORK FINAL MATCH: With the entrances out the way, this match had the ‘Big Fight’ appeal, with the fans of New York going berserk with duelling chants. Considering Valentine is new to company and Stone is new to the business (or as new as a third generation star can be), they settled into a great encounter without missing a step. Stone was rugged and powerful, Valentine was flashy and over-the-top. Each complimented the others style nicely and provided a great matchup for the fans of New York City. After almost half an hour, Stone has Valentine tied up in the Stone Ankle Lock and the crowd are yelling for him to tap out. But he reaches the ropes. Stone tries to drag Valentine back into the middle of the ring, but is caught with a flash rollup pin, which sends Valentine

Casey Valentine defeated David Stone in 28:30 by pinfall with a rollup. Casey Valentine wins the NYCW King of New York title. ©

Actually a touch disappointing considering their obvious talents. But it was the right result. Now we need a King of California and have the final showdown.

OVERALL: B-

Brilliant show as we continue to ride the best wave of momentum we’ve had in years. Onto the West Coast.

<div style="text-align:center;">NYCW The King of California

Thursday, Week 4, August, 2019

The Snake Pit, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 712</div>

KOCALI QUARTER FINAL MATCH: While familiar to the local fans, NYCW faithful are still getting used to California Love Machine and T-Bone Bright. They kicked off the big show with a serviceable, if underwhelming opener. A decent power vs. speed match which ended with T-Bone hitting a powerslam (of all things) for the win and to advance.

T-Bone Bright defeated California Love Machine in 8:18 by pinfall with a Powerslam. (D)

I am not impressed with either of these guys.

KOCALI QUARTER FINAL MATCH: In a surprise highlight of the night, the eternal loser Mobster took on the unpinned Hangman in a brutal and hard-hitting affair. Just as the Hangman began to run through his Five Moves of Doom, Mobster clobbered him with a chair while the referee had been knocked down. He brutalised the big man with the chair, but with no ref couldn’t get the pin. So he rolled the ‘Phenom’ out of the ring and woke the referee, who counted to ten and ruled Mobster the winner.

Mobstar defeated The Hangman in 5:58 by count out. (D+)

How’s that for an upset. Mobster has done nothing of note, but still gets to the semi finals over an established NYCW legend.

KOCALI QUARTER FINAL MATCH: In another great match The Mythical One and ‘The Dread Pirate’ had a fast-paced exhibition of high-flying moves, which wowed the Cali crowd. Hugh de Aske continued to try to use a variety of underhanded tactics to get the upper hand, so was surprised when Mythical did the same for the win.

The Mythical One defeated Hugh de Aske in 8:25 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (D+)

This show is going great guns considering our general lack of popularity on the West Coast.

KOCALI QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Following on from the end of last week’s King of New York title match, ‘Cowboy’ Bradley Blaze and his sometimes partner Aldous Blackfriar beat the holy hell out of one another. With neither man budging an inch, it was on Blaze to rollup his opponent and with help from the ropes kept the Dark Prince down for the three count.

Bradley Blaze defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 9:44 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (C-)

I’m not sure these two have ever fought before. The results were pretty good. Could there be an extended feud in this?

ANGLE: The Marvelous Ones cut a promo hyping their upcoming match with Garry and Dillon. Apparently they’re happy to pin both guys, at the same time, and their monkey. The two then obnoxiously laugh. (D)

Eurgh, despite their talents, these two are not nearly over enough in New England to be doing promo work.

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated Garry Walker and Rust Dillon in 7:44 when Austin Smooth defeated Rust Dillon by submission with a Smooth Hold after blatantly cheating. (D-)

Hmmm, not the best match either, but should at least cool the super-hot crowd we’ve got going. So at least they serve a purpose.

KOCALI SEMI FINAL MATCH: T-Bone Bright, one of the GSW Originals faced the ‘Cowboy’ Bradley Blaze in the semi-finals. These two men delivered a very physical performance, and by the end they were tearing chunks out of each other to the delight of the crowd. Referee Michael Bull didn’t want to DQ either man, so made it a street fight and Blaze immediately capitalised by hitting Bright with a ‘Stop’ sign and pinning him to move into the finals.

Bradley Blaze defeated T-Bone Bright in 7:58 by pinfall after using a foreign object. (D+)

Solid match right there as Blaze continues to be awesome and Bright has enough talent to warrant a closer, more medium-term look.

KOCALI SEMI FINAL MATCH: On the other side of the brackets was a styles clash between the high-flying Mythical One and the down and dirty brawler Mobster. The match was way shorter than expected as Mobster looked exhausted. With half his normal power, the brawler attempted a top rope power bomb only to have it reversed into a hurracanrana and, cheekily, with his feet on the ropes, The Mythical One got the win.

The Mythical One defeated Mobstar in 5:44 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (C-)

Good match as Mythical One proves he can get C-range matches with almost anyone. Mobster looked pretty good in defeat too. Good for him.

GANG WARS MATCH: Casey Valentine, Steve Flash and Ralph Liotta defeated David Stone and The Ring Generals in 13:02 when Ralph Liotta defeated Dean Waldorf by pinfall by using underhanded tactics. (C-)

These guys deserved to be on the card and it’s always good to have the heels go over, especially when the main event is Face vs. Face. Speaking of which…

ANGLE: Ross Henry makes an elaborate entrance and awaits his opponent. (A)

ANGLE: The lights go out and ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’ by Scorpions plays. The screen reads ‘The Natural Storm’ and out walks, Eddie Howard. (B+)

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE MATCH: One half of the legendary Natural Storm tag team has joined NYCW and the crowd seem delighted. As a sign of respect the two men shake hands and then immediately start beating on each other. Just by looking at him, you can tell Howard is a big league player, but Henry is no slouch in that department either. Halfway through the match Casey Valentine comes out to join on commentary, running down both men and seeming pretty irritated that Howard has come to NYCW. As Howard tumbles out of the ring, he falls into Valentine who immediately attacks. Referee Michael Bull counts out the challenger as the two men brawl outside the ring.

Ross Henry defeated Eddie Howard in 28:19 when Eddie Howard was counted out fighting Casey Valentine at ringside. (C+)

Welcome to New York… Eddie Howard. Great first match for him too as he immediately inserts himself into the main event picture.

ANGLE: Bradley Blaze cuts a promo saying once he’s proved once and for all that Texas is better than Mexico, he’s going to destroy Casey Valentine and then beat Henry. It’s his destiny. (D+)

KING OF CALIFORNIA FINAL MATCH: With a chance for a place in the main event at Empire City Showdown, Bradley Blaze and The Mythical One took each other to the limit. The match itself was a little underwhelming considering both men’s talents, but it did the job. The Mythical One came within a whisker of winning a couple of times, but in the end the Cowboy was just too much for his opponent and a Dallas Drop later and Blaze had his hands on a title, unbelievably for the first time in his NYCW career.

Bradley Blaze defeated The Mythical One in 12:38 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. Bradley Blaze wins the NYCW King Of California title. (C-)

So we’ve got Valentine vs. Blaze for the chance to face the Empire World Champion at Empire City Showdown. I love our roster.

OVERALL: C+

Following the success of the two King shows, we won all four regional battles and made $6,743 profit to boot.

Elsewhere Jack Bruce was rightfully inducted into the Hall of Immortals, and our very own Ralph Liotta married his long-term girlfriend. Over in Japan BHOTWG and WLW had rising bad blood with the two, normally respectful owners arguing with each other in public.

Proving just how far we’ve come as a promotion in a short space of time, our closest rivals PSW were disbanded overnight. SWF and the ruthless Eric Eisen bought them out, fired everyone and kept their titles as spoils of war. SWF were clearly no longer messing about as they prepared to really take the fight to USPW. At least Packer would hopefully be too focused on them to come bothering us. Part of me felt sad that I hadn’t even noticed PSW slowly dissolving into the ether, but then again I had my own problems to deal with.

Speaking of which…

One of our main eventers wanted a private meeting. Having been in the business long enough, I immediately had a bad feeling about it.

Next time on Welcome to New York… Our constant changing of people’s disposition cause us booking problems and the main event scene hots up…

Results:

John Lions – 11/19

Theheel – 9/19

BigJay2003 – 8/19

Curtman – 8/19

MisterRomanini – 5/19

TCP1 · June 6, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where our four main event players can’t keep their hands off one another…

Our momentum was at A and our prestige had climbed to C+, which made us one of the hottest promotions in the world.

With that in mind, we asked Francis Peppercorn, Private Detective, to have a look at some of our departed stars to see what they’re up to now:

Roger Cage

Former NYCW Empire Champion and NYCW Tag Team Champion.

The man who was our top title-holder when we started and immediately signed for USPW has seen mixed success. Predominantly a midcard guy, he’s had an almost equal wins and losses in his USPW career. He’s had a couple of shots at titles, but as yet has not won a thing. Peppercorn thinks he’s being wasted considering he’s now a top 250 performer in the world.

‘Bulldozer’ Brandon Smith

Former NYCW Empire Champion, NYCW Tri-State Regional Champion and NYCW Tag Team Champion

The big, burly brawler from Minnesota immediately donned a mask as ‘American Patriot’ in TCW and formed a successful team with called The Survivors (with Marvel Malloy). He has been predominantly a tag team performer and had held the TCW World Tag Team Titles once. Other than that, he appears to be being used a guy to put over other talent. Francis thinks he’s a solid B+ player for TCW and made the right move joining them.

‘Glorious’ Jay Chord

Former NYCW Empire Champion

The man who dethroned Bulldozer has seen his fortunes explode in USPW. While he hasn’t won any major titles yet, he also hasn’t been pinned in a year. The man who is a master of backstage politics is clearly weaving his magic with the booking team in the largest promotion in the world. Francis thinks its only a matter of time before he gets to the very top as his long-running feuds with Benny Benson, Des David and Danny Rushmore have been top drawer. He definitely made the right move.

‘The Second City Saint’ Ernest Youngman

Former NYCW King of New York, NYCW Tri-State Regional Champion

Arguably my favourite worker to date, ‘The Second City Saint’ Ernest Youngman signed with TCW before he could fulfil his destiny and claim the NYCW Empire Title in the biggest show of the year. Opting instead to sign for TCW. The beginnings of his career were a mixed bag, mainly being kept to opening matches and hardly setting the world on fire. He formed a tag team called Team Maestro with Rudy Valesquez) and started a winning streak. He then continued the streak in singles action feuding with former NYCWer Joffy Laine, then Chance Fortune and finally Ricky Dale Johnson. The last of whom he defeated to finally claim the TCW World Heavyweight Title. There is no question that he made absolutely the right move.

‘The Mighty… INVADER’ Logan Wolfsbaine

Former NYCW Tri-State Regional Champion

A criminally under-titled performer and an equal favourite with Ernest Youngman, Logan Wolfsbaine signed with SWF and has had middling success. Mainly used as a lower midcarder to put over other talent, he had a brief moment of glory with Molokai Milk when they won the SWF World Tag Team Titles, but lost them after only five defences and lost to ‘Downtown’ Lenny Brown and Riley McManus. He’s been losing ever since. Extended feuds with Sammy Smoak and Valiant haven’t helped his cause and he remains in midcard purgatory. Francis is unsure whether he made the right move, because we didn’t exactly lavish him titles and glory either, and at least he’s earning good money.

Having read those reports has made me nostalgic for those guys. One day I’d get them back. If it killed me, I would have Ernest Youngman vs. Ross Henry for the Empire Title.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 32: Blaze vs. Valentine

Thursday, Week 1, October, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE FOURWAY MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated Legacy, Nigel Svensson and Scorpius and Perren Cloutier and Elemental IV in 9:55; the order of elimination was Nigel Svensson and Scorpius first, then Perren Cloutier and Elemental IV, and finally Legacy. (D)

Back to the classic opening match melee, with the champs surging in momentum.

SINGLES MATCH: Rust Dillon defeated Doctor O'Haire in 5:29 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (D-)

I wanted to give the Larry Wood-esque Dillon a win, and the Doc happily (not really happily) obliged.

SINGLES MATCH: The Hangman drew with Garry Walker in 5:46 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. (D)

I kept Hangman dominant, but didn’t want to suffocate the momentum and popularity of Garry Walker. I still hear that he’s a big star in the making, I just needed to, y’know, make him.

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: David Stone © defeated The Mythical One and Ralph Liotta in 12:56 when David Stone defeated Ralph Liotta by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (C-)

Great match between three of our best, young stars. Sure Liotta lost, but I think it’s good for the crowd to actually have him lose clean every once in a while. If anyone can get their heat back quickly, it’s Liotta.

SINGLES MATCH: Mobstar defeated T-Bone Bright in 5:54 by disqualification. (D-)

Mobster builds on his King of California performance with an underwhelming match against a fellow Californian. I really have no idea what to do with either of these guys.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Hugh de Aske and William Jetterson defeated The Ring Generals in 8:30 when Dean Waldorf was disqualified while fighting Hugh de Aske. (D)

Again, The Ring Generals present me with a problem of a somewhat legendary team, but one who rarely have great matches. Plus they’re still expensive. Marv is the stand-out, but I just don’t know where to fit him in the singles division.

SINGLES MATCH: Eddie Howard defeated Brutus Milano in 7:45 by pinfall with a Crash And Burn. (C-)

Hahahahaha, I will never grow bored of trolling Brutus Milano. “New to NYCW? Let’s have you comprehensively beat Brutus.”

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated California Love Machine in 13:25 by pinfall after interference from Ralph Liotta. (D)

Y’see what I mean about Liotta. What an absolute a-hole. We loved him.

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

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 22:20 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (B)

Holy Hell what a match. Aldous is almost at the point where he could conceivably win the Empire Title. It’s not going to happen, but it’s a testament to his talents that he’s there. Henry remains the absolute man of NYCW.

NUMBER 1 CONTENDERS MATCH: Casey Valentine drew with Bradley Blaze in 26:05 when both men were disqualified when fighting with Ross Henry who was on commentary. (C+)

Good match between the two contenders and one which leaves the main event up in the air. The Empire Title storyline remains super-hot and everyone is reaping the benefits.

OVERALL: B-

Good show to kick-off the official Road to the Showdown part of the year. Feuds are bubbling away and we are knocking it out of the park on a weekly basis.

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

Thursday, Week 2, October, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Ring Generals drew with Garry Walker and T-Bone Bright in 8:26 following a double disqualification. (D)

Struggling to justify anyone losing at the moment, which is causing me a booking headache. I think my problem is, I just like some guys more than others and have them win all the time. It’s become a little too formulaic. I’d have to try and address that, because at the end of the day, controversy creates cash.

TAG TEAM MATCH: California Love Machine and Eddie Howard defeated Mobstar and The Architect in 10:04 when Eddie Howard defeated Mobstar by pinfall with a Crash And Burn. (C-)

Austin Smooth skips the show this week, so Architect finds a new partner and immediately regrets his choice. Good win for the face guys though.

NYCW UNITED STATE TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: David Stone © defeated The Mythical One and Steve Flash in 27:43 when David Stone defeated Steve Flash by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (C-)

Subbing out Liotta for another member of The Brotherhood doesn’t dampen the match. Although Flash is really struggling with his mounting injuries and fatigue. David Stone and Mythical can easily carry him to goodness though and he gives them the rub simply by being in there competing with them.

ANGLE: Ross Henry and Bradley Blaze make an elaborate entrance. (A*)

TAG TEAM MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar and Casey Valentine drew with Bradley Blaze and Ross Henry in 27:44 following a double count out. (C+)

This is how you build intrigue towards a main event. Have all the contenders in a match. Have them let it all hang out and watch as the glory happens. I couldn’t trust these four more with our entire company.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine, Aldous Blackfriar, Bradley Blaze and Ross Henry are in the ring and are squaring off, unhappy about the match. The argument soon turns physical, for a wild brawl, with the chaos spilling out all around ringside. Eventually a number of officials and other wrestlers have to hit the ring and pull them apart before they kill each other. (B+)

Hah, the crowd absolutely lapped that up.

OVERALL: C+

Halfway through the month, we noticed CWWF were in terrible financial trouble. Larry sent us a memo asking if we wanted to setup a women’s division, or wanted any of the titles. I said no thanks, but we went ahead and bought them out and disbanded them. Y’see, we’re ruthless too. In the least impactful way possible. The boost in popularity in Canada wasn’t really worth it either.

But could we start running a Welcome to Canada show?

Next time on Welcome to New York… We leave Canada alone and focus our attentions on New England and California…

TCP1 · June 6, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we’re in full-on build to Showdown mode…

Slow news month, which was something of a blessing after the madness of the last few months. On to New England.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to Boston 7: Flash for the Gold

Thursday, Week 3, October, 2019

The Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 1,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TEN MAN BATTLE ROYAL: The Hangman won a battle royal in 10:12. The other members of the 'final four' were Perren Cloutier, Robin DaLay and Nigel Svensson, with Perren Cloutier being the final elimination. Robin DaLay got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D-)

Yup, we’re back to our classic battle royal opening and we’re back The Hangman getting a dominant win. He’s a tough character to use at the moment, because we don’t want him to get pinned, but he’s a face and putting him against someone like Henry books us into an impossible corner.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Hugh de Aske and William Jetterson defeated Garry Walker and T-Bone Bright in 10:20 when William Jetterson defeated Garry Walker by submission with a Viper Vice. (D)

The weirdo tag team get a win over the hot streak faces. Again, this is a case of ‘I have nothing specific for them to do’ type thing. Thank God my main event story makes sense, because the rest of my booking is all over the shop.

GANG WARS MATCH: Eddie Howard and The Ring Generals defeated The Brotherhood (Ralph Liotta, Austin Smooth and The Architect) in 21:52 when The Architect was disqualified while fighting Eddie Howard. (C-)

A good win for the higher-up-the-card team, but it was cheap so as not to bury the younger and probably longer-term prospects.

ANGLE: David Stone cuts a backstage promo talking about tradition and respect and legacy. (D)

Not a good segment from the youngster as we finally discover an area where he’s not God.

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: David Stone © defeated The Mythical One and Mobstar in 13:05 when David Stone defeated Mobstar by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D+)

Well Mobster, I’m not convinced you’re long for NYCW seeing as you couldn’t be carried to a better match by two of our best. I mean, even Flash, with his dodgy back, knees and nose did better.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Ross Henry. He refuses to even acknowledge Blaze as a factor. (B)

Hah! Love this guy. His singular focus on the title is amazing.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar and Casey Valentine defeated California Love Machine and Bradley Blaze in 13:29 when Casey Valentine defeated Bradley Blaze by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch. (C+)

Oooo, Blackfriar won’t be happy that Casey stole his finisher there. But the crowd loved it. And so did he. What a revelation Valentine has been since his arrival. I bet looking back to his debut in that crappy bar in Mexico people would never have imagined he’d be stealing almost every show he’s in.

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

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Steve Flash in 28:14 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (B-)

What a great match. Ross Henry is the man as he carries a completely broken down Flash to his best match of the year. He even cheated to win in order to protect Flash a bit in defeat. Heroism, thy name is Henry.

OVERALL: B-

Thankfully no big news other than every one of our main eventers complaining about being tired and injured, but we don’t care about that. We stick em on the Amtrack and send them to the West Coast.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to California 4: Halloween Havoc

Thursday, Week 4, October, 2019

The Snake Pit, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 724</div>

TEN MAN BATTLE ROYAL: Rust Dillon won a battle royal in 10:25. The other members of the 'final four' were Nigel Svensson, The Hangman and Elemental IV, with Nigel Svensson being the final elimination. The Hangman got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D-)

Ooo, SWERVE! Rust Dillon managed to get Hangman out on his way to a massive win. Maybe the biggest of his career so far. There’s definitely talent there, but like so many (Garry Walker, William Jetterson, Nigel Svensson, the Ring Generals) I’m struggling to find a story for him.

SINGLES MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated Dean Waldorf in 10:20 by pinfall with a Flash of Brilliance Super Kick. (D)

A rare clean victory in the midcard to make sure Liotta is always in the mix for something. Waldorf can afford the loss.

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: T-Bone Bright and Garry Walker defeated The Marvelous Ones © in 10:14 when Austin Smooth was counted out while fighting T-Bone Bright. (D+)

The challengers win, the champions retain. It’s the perfect solution to keeping everyone strong until someone grabs that brass ring.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: California Love Machine defeated Marv Statler and Mobstar in 10:26 when California Love Machine defeated Marv Statler by pinfall with a LAX Departure. (C-)

A good match considering the competitors involved. I’ve decided to give The Ring Generals some singles action to see if one jumps out and makes a name for themselves.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Ross Henry. Again, he ignores Blaze, just making reference to some ‘hick cowboy’ in passing. (B-)

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: David Stone © defeated William Jetterson in 9:56 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D+)

Taking a step away from triple threat matches to get a solid singles win. Despite his lack of popularity in California, Stone is starting to gain a following. His extraordinary ring work helps.

ANGLE: Ross Henry cuts a promo saying he’s happy to face any and all comers at Empire City Showdown. (B)

SINGLES MATCH: The Mythical One defeated Hugh de Aske in 9:57 by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (C-)

Clean win for a man whose been on a losing streak for a while now. Dread Pirate continues to flounder.

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

GANG WARS MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar, Casey Valentine and Steve Flash drew with Ross Henry, Eddie Howard and Bradley Blaze in 27:35 following a double disqualification. (B-)

Keep everyone in the main event strong and in the mix. Simple and effective story-telling. Shame I can’t translate that down the card. For now I’d blame the fact that our guys could be stolen at any moment, so it’s difficult to long-term plan anything beyond the next few shows. Ernest Youngman taught us that.

OVERALL: C+

The month drew to a close, we came 1st in the only two regional battles left (New England and South West) and made a loss of $35,894, which can be explained by the purchase of CWWF. So that’s fine. We’re pretty rich for an indy anyway.

Next time on Welcome to New York… One month until the Showdown and we need to find an out-and-out number 1 contender. Would it be Valentine or Blaze…

TCP1 · June 6, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where we settle on a main event for Empire City Showdown…

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to New York 33: The King of the USA

Thursday, Week 1, November, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Perren Cloutier in 10:17 by pinfall with a Flash Bang. (E-)

Yeesh! Flash can’t even get a good match out of one of his top proteges. The future is bleak for the legend.

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: David Stone © defeated Scorpius in 10:20 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D)

Whereas David Stone can get a passable match out of another of Flash’s boys. He might be the first one ever.

BATTLE RROYAL MATCH FOR US TITLE SHOT: The Mythical One won a battle royal in 40:12. The other members of the 'final four' were The Hangman, The Architect and Brutus Milano, with The Hangman being the final elimination. The Hangman got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D)

Hangman just misses out and we setup an epic encounter between two of our best at Empire City Showdown. Now to give them as much momentum as we can.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Bradley Blaze. Once he’s declared King of the World (it’s only America Casey) he’s getting that Empire title. (B)

KING OF THE US TITLE MATCH: Casey Valentine drew with Bradley Blaze in 28:28 by double disqualification. (C+)

Another great match between two top stars. And again, no discernible winner. And here comes Ross Henry to settle things.

ANGLE: Ross Henry is out to applaud both men for their amazing performances, but because there is no obvious winner and because he’s a fighting champ, he’ll face them both at Empire City Showdown in a TRIPLE THREAT MATCH. (A)

The crowd liked that one for sure.

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Aldous Blackfriar and Eddie Howard in 27:57 when Ross Henry defeated Aldous Blackfriar by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam following interference from Bradley Blaze and Casey Valentine. (B)

Fantastic match and one which establishes our main event credentials. The two Kings didn’t want anyone stopping either coronation, so they actually helped their long-time foe.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine and Ross Henry and Bradley Blaze engage in a wild brawl, with the chaos spilling out all around ringside. Eventually every wrestler from the back hit the ring and pull them apart before they kill each other. (B-)

OVERALL: B-

So the main event was set, as was the US Title Match. And both were absolute doozys. I was feeling ultra-confident heading into Empire City Showdown, and providing nobody got poached, we’d be in great shape.

Steve Flash, unable to actually perform properly, continues to dish out psychology tips to his many and varied protégés backstage before the next show. You’ve got to love that man.

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

Thursday, Week 2, November, 2019

McGaw Arena, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

TAG TEAM MATCH: Casey Valentine and Aldous Blackfriar defeated California Love Machine and Marv Statler in 12:48 when Aldous Blackfriar defeated California Love Machine by submission with a Gloomweaver Clutch. ©

Simple match to give wins to two top stars. Aldous really needed a match for the big show though. The original plan was to face Blaze, but we decided the Cowboy deserved a main event after all his hard work this year.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Ross Henry and Bradley Blaze. (B)

SINGLES MATCH: The Mythical One defeated The Architect in 12:49 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage. (C-)

Screw the tag team titles, it’s time to build for the US Title Match. Architect is turning into a fine performer by the way. I’m glad he’s on our roster. Hate his name though.

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: David Stone © defeated Mobstar in 9:33 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D)

Mobster was furious with the finish. Which is weird, because he obviously sucks. His morale issues were now affecting the whole locker room.

TAG TEAM MATCH: Eddie Howard and Bradley Blaze drew with Steve Flash and Ralph Liotta in 13:17 following a double disqualification. ©

Common sense said to give the win to Blaze and Howard here, but I was thinking Flash vs. Howard is a good semi-main event for the big show, so wanted to keep him strong. Liotta doesn’t have a match yet, but I like to see him in the mix.

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

NYCW EMPIRE TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated T-Bone Bright in 27:42 by pinfall with an Earthquake Powerslam. (C+)

Simple, clean win for the champ.

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

Flash attacks? But why? Curious booking decision.

OVERALL: C+

Two shows left before Empire City Showdown and plenty of work to be done.

Next time on Welcome to New York… The last two shows and news of another big promotion falling…

TCP1 · June 6, 2018

Welcome to New York… Where, like vultures, we pick away at the corpses of other promotions for top talent…

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to Boston 8: The Birth of the All Stars

Thursday, Week 3, November, 2019

The Skid Row Club, Boston, New England

Attendance: 1,000 (SOLD OUT!)</div>

FIFTEEN MAN BATTLE ROYAL: The Hangman won a battle royal in 11:52. The other members of the 'final four' were Garry Walker, Robin DaLay and William Jetterson, with Garry Walker being the final elimination. The Hangman got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D)

Hangman is back to his winning ways and every bit as directionless as before. Was I wasting his talents?

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM MATCH: The Marvelous Ones © defeated T-Bone Bright and California Love Machine in 9:48 when The Architect defeated T-Bone Bright by submission with a Blueprint after blatantly cheating. (D+)

The tag champs are back, and they’re back to winning. Without a feasible other option these young duo really are the best we have.

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: David Stone © defeated Hugh de Aske in 13:26 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch after blatantly cheating. (D)

The Dread Pirate didn’t want to lose clean, so we had the babyface cheat for the victory. It didn’t really fit the character, but we’d like to keep our backstage area as free from trouble as possible.

SINGLES MATCH: Ralph Liotta defeated Dean Waldorf in 7:35 by pinfall after using a foreign object. (D-)

Surprisingly poor match considering the two involved, but Liotta, with no actual story continues to win.

SINGLES MATCH: The Mythical One defeated Marv Statler in 10:06 by pinfall with a Northern Lights Suplex. (D+)

Great little match to build-up the challenger to the US title. We liked Marv Statler, but his association with Waldorf was holding him back.

SINGLES MATCH: Steve Flash defeated Bradley Blaze in 25:32 by count out. (D+)

Blaze did his best to carry Flash and the results were fine, if unspectacular.

ANGLE: Henry and Howard make an elaborate entrance. Together, they are The All Stars. (A)

TAG TEAM MATCH: Aldous Blackfriar and Casey Valentine drew with Eddie Howard and Ross Henry in 27:45 when the referee lost control and stopped the match. (C+)

Good match and positive chemistry between Henry and Howard, who frankly would be an unstoppably dominant tag team if we actually pulled the trigger on them. Looking back I should’ve swapped Blaze and Blackfriar for the last two matches. But what can I say? I’m not perfect.

OVERALL: C

Slightly disappointing card overall, but it grew our popularity, so we won’t complain. There was one show left to finalise the card for Empire City Showdown IV, so let’s get to it.

<div style="text-align:center;">Welcome to California 5: The Final Stop

Thursday, Week 4, November, 2019

The Snake Pit, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 751</div>

FIFTEEN MAN BATTLE ROYAL: Hugh de Aske won a battle royal in 12:20. The other members of the 'final four' were Brutus Milano, Ralph Liotta and Dean Waldorf, with Brutus Milano being the final elimination. Brutus Milano got the most eliminations over the course of the match. (D-)

Brutus was surprisingly strong in this one, but The Dread Pirate had complained before the show about his lack of momentum (almost as bad as Scorpius), so we gave him a little win to tide him over.

NYCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: T-Bone Bright and California Love Machine defeated The Marvelous Ones © in 12:37 when The Architect was counted out while fighting T-Bone Bright. (D)

Another loss for the champs, but they were dominant throughout and it gave a little juice to the Cali boys, whose time with the company may be coming to an end. Especially if reports of a major player collapsing were true.

SINGLES MATCH: The Hangman defeated Marv Statler in 7:42 by pinfall with a Choke Slam. (D)

Clean as a whistle for Hangman, but Statler underperformed, which for someone who is paid what he’s paid, is a travesty.

NYCW UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: David Stone © defeated Mobstar in 9:51 by submission with a Stone Ankle Stretch. (D+)

Good match and clean win for the champion. Had Mobster just saved his job?

ANGLE: David Stone grabs a microphone and tells the crowd he’s as old school as it comes, but he wants to break trends too (confusing promo here David). So his match against The Mythical One at Empire City Showdown will be NYCW’s first ever… LADDER MATCH! (D)

Yeah, no more mic time for a while. Still, what a match!

SINGLES MATCH: Bradley Blaze drew with Steve Flash in 9:45 following a double count out. ©

I refuse to job out Steve Flash for no adequately explored reason.

SINGLES MATCH: Eddie Howard defeated William Jetterson in 12:34 by pinfall with a Crash And Burn. ©

Great match as Jetterson continues to bring it against top opponents, while struggling with anyone else.

ANGLE: Casey Valentine cuts a promo hyping up his upcoming match with Ross Henry and Bradley Blaze. (B-)

SINGLES MATCH: Casey Valentine defeated The Mythical One in 13:06 when The Mythical One was disqualified when Ross Henry ran in and attacked Casey Valentine. (B-)

Fantastic match, which kept Mythical strong, but also gave Casey a much-needed, high-profile win.

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

NYCW EMPIRE WORLD TITLE MATCH: Ross Henry © defeated Aldous Blackfriar in 27:32 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage. (B)

Another fantastic match between these two as I regret not squeezing Aldous into the main event. He really should be there, but them’s the breaks. If you’re an asshole backstage, I will hold it against you.

OVERALL: B

And that, is one of our best events ever. Our momentum officially reached A* and that show was better than most of the offerings for the big boys that week. We ended 1st in the two battles and made a loss of $2,478.

21CW and WLW were both apparently in a world of trouble, with attendances dropping and them losing money. But they weren’t as bad as PGHW, who closed their doors for good. Releasing a huge amount of talent onto the market.

Larry opened his chequebook and I chose to sign Chojiro Kitoaji (renamed Kitao) and Eien Miyamoto (renamed Miyamoto). They’d be a new tag team to build up. Both were exceptional in-ring talents, but could well lack the star power to really succeed. Especially with my spotty and forgetful booking style. We’d have to pair them with an English-speaking manager who… oh my. Well he will do very nicely.

Who needs money anyway?

Over in TCW, Kip Keenan won the TCW International Title, which was nice. While RIPW and 4C agreed in principle to a talent share agreement. Not sure how that works considering RIPW have developmental contracts, but whatever keeps them happy I guess.

It was finally time for our most anticipated event, perhaps of all time and the card was set.

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

TCP1 · June 6, 2018

New York City…

Larry’s new office in Upstate New York, was far too fancy for a man whose shoes had holes in them. I wasn’t entirely sure how he could afford it. My accountants showed us he barely took a salary, and I knew he’d invested all his money into the company.

“Nice office,” I said.

“Don’t suck up to me kid,” he grumbled.

Same old Larry.

“Listen I’ve got someone I want you to meet. He’s young, but he’s hungry and I’d like you to give him a shot.”

“Look Larry if this is Brutus again…”

“It’s not him, and I’m telling you you’re missing a trick not pushing that kid, he looks like a star.”

“He doesn’t wrestle like a star though…”

“SHUT UP! Follow me.”

We took the elevator down to the basement. Unlike the rest of the building, this place was dingy and stank of sweat. Far more in keeping with the Larry I knew. There was a ring with a tatty old banner which read had the GSW logo plastered all over it.

“Nice ring,” I said. “The office block manager know you’ve got this down here.”

“I paid for the building, I’ll do what I want with it.”

“You rent the whole building!?”

“I don’t rent anything,” he snapped.

In the middle of the old ring was a man. Tall, muscular and lean. He was shadow-wrestling and I had to say he looked good. He looked better than good, he looked like he was having a five star classic with thin air.

Seeing us arrive, he smiled, slipped out of the ring and walked over to shake my hand. His grip was like a vice and I couldn’t help but wince.

“Sorry about that booker man,” he said. “I forget sometimes.”

“Forget what?” I replied, but the young lad just smiled.

“I’d like you to meet the newest addition to the NYCW roster, he’ll do whatever you tell him, but I’d like you to know, I personally vouch for him.”

“Thanks uncle,” said the kid. “Just give me a shot sir, I’ll do whatever you need. I promise I won’t let you down.”

“Uncle?” I said.

“Yeah, this is my brother Bryan’s kid, Chuck Vessey.”

“He as good as Cameron?” I said and regretted it immediately.

“We don’t talk about HIM,” said Larry. Their relationship had soured when Cameron went North to find his fortune alone. “His name alone should get a reaction, but he’s talented too. Reminds me of a young me.”

“How modest.”

“You don’t get anywhere in this business being modest kid. Remember that!”

Normally Larry left me alone to book, so the fact he’d personally introduced me to Chuck meant he wanted what he was politely asking for. Now wasn’t the time to get into another argument with the boss.

“Yeah, I can definitely use him,” I said.

“Good,” said Larry.

“I won’t let you down,” smiled Chuck.

Was this a good idea?

I didn’t have time to worry about that. It was a few days until the big show and the card was finally set:

NYCW Empire City Showdown IV

Eddie Howard vs. Aldous Blackfriar

Steve Flash vs. Garry Walker

The Hangman vs. Mobster

Ralph Liotta vs. California Love Machine

T-Bone Bright vs. William Jetterson

The Orient Express (Miyamoto and Kitao) vs. Legacy

Also, a reminder that nominations for Diary of the Month are still open. #HintHint

<a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541393" rel="external nofollow">http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541393</a>

Next time on Welcome to New York… NYCW Empire City Showdown IV…

BigJay2003 · June 6, 2018

NYCW Empire City Showdown IV

I won't lie...part of me thinks you might put the strap on Valentine, but Henry being the new figurehead shouldn't lose this soon after that honor.

Could be a damn barn burner of a match...

Thanks for coming back, Generals. Let's flip a coin to see who eats the pin.

Eddie Howard vs. Aldous Blackfriar

Build Blackfriar back up to challenge Henry next.

Steve Flash vs. Garry Walker

I remember when he was going to move down the card and put guys like Garry over...

The Hangman vs. Mobster

#FireMobster

Ralph Liotta vs. California Love Machine

I'm a CLM fan, but he doesn't fit the roster right now or the vibe.

T-Bone Bright vs. William Jetterson

Throw a bone (pun intended) to the Cali crew.

The Orient Express (Miyamoto and Kitao) vs. Legacy

Get them burning to help get the tag division (which has lost some focus recently) back on track.

<wink>

Theheel · June 6, 2018

NYCW Empire City Showdown IV

Henry has been so dominate for so long I feel like it is time for a change.

And in a triple threat match it is a good way to have him lose the title while not taking the direct loss. I look for the new Champ, Casey Valentine to once and for all dispatch Henry, at least for awhile.

Stone has actually disappointed me in at least the grades I see although maybe it is just that he is so young and not completely over yet. I think we are going to see the Mythical One get a change with the lower belt and see if Stone can move up into the main event.

Based on your comments if we had a title switch here I would be SHOCKED!

Eddie Howard vs. Aldous Blackfriar

Blackfriar is steedy and Howard is fresh and new. With my guess above about a heel champion, I look for Howard to be one of the fodder pretenders to the crown, or at least given a shot at it to see how he does.

Steve Flash vs. Garry Walker

Feels like a backstage role or manager role is coming up for Steve as his body at what 54 (or soon to be) breaks down. Could this be the momentum to see if Walker has anything more than midlevel gatekeeper?

The Hangman vs. Mobster

Time for the Hangman to put up and move up. Yeah he looks great and all but hasn't been able to advance up the ladder as quickly as I originally thought he would. The bad ass Mobster is a step, but will it be in the right direction?

Ralph Liotta vs. California Love Machine

Love Machine is no Art Barr that is for sure. I don't think the people in New York get him, but then I am not sure the people on the West Coast got him either.

T-Bone Bright vs. William Jetterson

It feels like T-Bone has found a little place for himself here. Jetterson has fallen down the ladder a bit.

The Orient Express (Miyamoto and Kitao) vs. Legacy

I like the Legacy, but this feels like the new kids on the block got the right start to their career here. Will be curious who, you have decided will be the manager and mouthpiece for these guys.

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