RazorsEdge Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 ZEN: Art Of Wrestling "New Zealand's first professional wrestling promotion, ZEN: Art Of Wrestling mixes the cutting edge athletic and technical aspects of lucha libre with a healthy dose of off-the-wall humour and zany characters. The emphasis is on producing fun shows that the whole family can enjoy, and they do it well, but the quality of wrestling they produce should not be overlooked either. Although ZEN have gained a large cult following over the years they have constantly had to battle to make enough money to stay afloat; they have come close to bankruptcy on several occasions, and were mere hours away from closing in 2014 before an online Kickstarter campaign started by their fans saved them." Well, hell. What saved us was the wrestling, the show, the laughs, the cheers, the cries, the highs and the lows. It didn't save us forever - let me be clear - we did die... eventually. But we sure as hell didn't go out with a whimper - we didn't know how to. It seems like so long ago that we shut up shop. Sometimes I still walk past the Reliquary of Scale and swear I can still hear the chants and boos of the 1,000 fans that it could hold. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter about it. I don't miss it. Well, I do. But being a freelancer has benefits as well. I've been able to jump across to Australia and wrestle for both RAW and APW. I've been able to fulfil my dreams and wrestle in Mexico and Japan. I even made the odd appearance in North America, not that many would remember me. But once - a long time ago - I was a big friggin' deal. I did many things in my time with ZEN but the thing I did best was play the heel. Sure we had other guys that were great at heeling it up and did a fantastic job but, and I say this without meaning to sound egotistical, let's put it in video game terms - I was the end boss. Many a babyface fought me, many lost and lost and lost, but then they won. And when the crowd cheered for that babyface kid that I helped train even as they pelted me with trash as I made my retreat from the ring, I was happy. Hell, you could say... I was ZEN. Nah, that's corny, even for us. I was the bad guy. I haunted your dreams. I defeated your idols with my smarts and heel chicanery like no other in these parts. Sometimes I won fair. Sometimes I used a chair - or two. I was the Godfather of Ghouls. I was Halloween Knight And this is not just my story - it is the story of my promotion. So buckle up kiddos and get ready for one helluva ride because this is... ZEN: Art Of Wrestling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorsEdge Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 Alright - let's reset. Let's go back to January 2016, when we'd just been saved by Kickstarter. Lemme run down the roster for you. ROSTER:- Halloween Knight The Godfather of Ghouls Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Evil-Doer Age: 31 Years Pro: 9 Accomplishments: 4x ZEN Master Championships Finisher: Pumpkin Patch So let's start with me since I'm telling the story, I may as well position myself on top of the list, but don't worry - I'll try to stay as objective as I possibly can. At this stage of my career I was heavily cemented, as I so eloquently said before, as the "end boss" of ZEN. To be the guy on top you had to beat me. And that usually meant losing to me a lot first. I modelled my wrestling style on a sort of hybrid Japanese junior/Mexican luchadore style. I cheated a lot, of course, and always had another trick up my sleeve when needed. At this time in ZEN my tag partner, Necromancer, had left and taken up a deal with WLW in Japan - who could blame him. So I was floating on my own as the big bad but I often had hired goons to do my dirty work and occasionally teamed up with another big bad against the good guys. Cyanide The Merciless Mat Masochist Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Evil-Doer Age: 30 Years Pro: 9 Accomplishments: 1x ZEN Master Championship, 2x ZEN Conceptual Championships, 1x ZEN Harmony Championship (w/Massacre) Finisher: Skull Splitter Speaking of - here's Cyanide. He's the other big bad in ZEN and arguably for a while was a bigger deal than me when he had his four man stable F.E.A.R. with Massacre, Eraser and Jester - who have all since left the company leaving Cyanide by his lonesome. Well he's not entirely alone. This was when the idea of the two big bad guys teaming up - loosely - was floated and we ran with it. He and I tagged as "The Unholy Union". Cyanide is probably not the guy you would think of when you hear "lucha libre action!" He's primarily a mat-based technician who picks his opponents apart slowly and methodically. Currently he is locked in an intense rivalry with Devilfish, whom he blames for the exodus of his F.E.A.R stablemates. He is also officially the company head booker - although we share the duties. Devilfish The Multi-Coloured Master Of Mischief Alignment: Face Gimmick: Bubbly Babyface Age: 25 Years Pro: 7 Accomplishments: 2x ZEN Master Championships Finisher: Deep Sea Whip-Wreck Devilfish is small. But somehow he still manages to hang with the bigger guys and the crowd absolutely love him. It doesn't hurt that he has some awesome moves in his arsenal like his finisher the Deep Sea Whip-Wreck. In essence, he starts off with his opponent in a dragon sleeper position and then flips over them into a stunner. It's actually one of his more reserved moves but it has proven successful in getting him two reigns with the ZEN Master title. Like me, he lost his partner Lone Shark to another company and is making it on his own in the crazy ZEN world. He was integral with taking down Cyanide's F.E.A.R. stable and and is currently locked horns in battle with him. Pumpkin Jack The Tricky Treat Alignment: Face Gimmick: Mysterious Age: 27 Years Pro: 8 Accomplishments: 1x ZEN Master Championship (Current), 1x ZEN Conceptual Championship Finisher: Orange Bowl, PumpkinHandle Suplex Pumpkin Jack. My nemesis at this time. He won his first ZEN Master Championship by defeating me in August 2015. He's a good cruiserweight style worker and is probably one of the better rounded workers on our roster. He's a bit bigger than Devilshark which also makes him a go-to-guy for the main event. My problem with Jack is simple - Halloween is mine, guy. My finisher is called the Pumpkin Patch for crying out loud! In reality I didn't really mind - we've had a lot of similar gimmicks over the years and I give the kid credit he took my gimmick and tweaked it into a face gimmick really successfully. Super Zero The Expressionless Wonder Alignment: Face Gimmick: Mysterious Age: 26 Years Pro: 7 Accomplishments: 1x ZEN Master Championship, 1x ZEN Conceptual Championship, 1x ZEN Harmony Championship (w/Vertigo) Finisher: Holding Out For a Zero So this guy is interesting. He became our first triple crown champion when he defeated Necromancer for the ZEN Master title back in 2013 but there's a huge problem. Super Zero has absolutely no charisma. He can't talk, he can't act, he can sell okay - but that's about it. Other than that he's one of our better workers. He's actually married to Molly Cuddle, who manages his tag team partner, Vertigo. We want to put Molly with Zero to give him some spark but he's been reluctant and wants to keep his personal life and professional life separate. We'll see. Damian Dastardly The Diabolic and Dastardly Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Cocky Youth Age: 23 Years Pro: 3 Accomplishments: 2x ZEN Conceptual Championship (Current), 2012 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Dastardly Cunning Okay, Damian is great. He is your classic heel entertainer. He gets the crowd eating out the palm of his hand. He's in his second reign as ZEN Conceptual Champion and if he keeps it up he's going straight to the top - even if it means he has to grab a handful of tights every now and then. Man O' War The Avenger From The Ocean Alignment: Face Gimmick: Comic Book Hero Age: 31 Years Pro: 9 Accomplishments: 2x ZEN Conceptual Championships, 3x ZEN Harmony Championships (w/X-Calibre) Finisher: Neptune's Trident Yet another guy who has lost his tag partner to an overseas promotion. Man O' War is great. His gimmick is stupid and he knows it - he's modelled after a jellyfish for crying out loud - but the guy has taken it, ran with it and done really well. The crowd love him. He's currently inserted himself into the ZEN Conceptual Championship race again but he's not far off the main event. Shaolin The Funky Warrior Monk Alignment: Face Gimmick: Ninja Age: 27 Years Pro: 8 Accomplishments: 1x ZEN Conceptual Champion Finisher: Death Touch Another guy in a similar position to Man O' War. He's got all he right stuff. He can do comedy or straight up action. Not afraid to throw a smoke bomb or two to throw off his opponent, Shaolin plays his gimmick perfectly - he even went and studied in Japan to get his movements down right. He's currently stalled in a gatekeeper role so something has to happen for him soon... SubUrban Legend The Funkin' Flyboy Alignment: Face Gimmick: Rapper Age: 23 Years Pro: 4 Accomplishments: 3x ZEN Harmony Champion (w/Killer B), 2011 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Legend Killer One half of The Knights Temple alongside Killer B - I'm still not sure whether they chose that name as a dig at me or as an homage - SubUrban Legend is most often seen in the tag team division. He's probably got more upside than his partner, Killer B, but he raps in his spare time and insists that his mixtapes are "fire" when in fact they just need to be set on fire. Vertigo The Artist Of The Airways Alignment: Face Gimmick: Show Stealer Age: 29 Years Pro: 8 Accomplishments: 2x ZEN Conceptual Championships, 1x ZEN Harmony Championship (w/Super Zero) Finisher: Radar Legdrop Vertigo is a high flying show stealer who has some real legitimate talent in the ring. He is managed by his tag partner Super Zero's wife, Molly Cuddle, and is currently locked in a feud with C-W-A. Vertigo just lacks the natural charisma to take that next step to the main event but with Molly at his side, maybe he could? C-W-A The Reaper With The Shiny Red Nose Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Clown Age: 33 Years Pro: 10 Accomplishments: 3x ZEN Harmony Championships (w/ Mirror Universe John Gordon Finisher: Clown Killer, Clown Killer Deluxe C-W-A (Clown With Attitude) is yet another one of our guys left stranded without a tag partner after Mirror Universe John Gordon went back to his own realm. Primarily a brawler, C-W-A is currently locked in a feud with Vertigo - all because Vertigo accidentally burst C-W-A's balloon elephant. He used to be a nice guy. I swear. HalloWarped The Futuristic Phenom Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Mysterious Age: 25 Years Pro: 4 Accomplishments: 2x ZEN Harmony Championships (w/Toady) (Current), 2011 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Warp Speed I'll try to remain impartial. HalloWarped was my protege. He tags with Toady as Warp-Jump and they are the current ZEN Harmony Champions, led by Guru Vishni. As much as I love the kid he still needs work if he's going to take over from me. Killer B The Yellow And Black Attack Alignment: Face Gimmick: Underdog Age: 23 Years Pro: 4 Accomplishments: 3x ZEN Harmony Championships (w/SubUrban Legend), 2011 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: B-Sting Killer B is the second half of The Knights Temple. He's probably the weaker part of the team but that's mainly due to SubUrban Legend just having that "it factor". He's a decent all around worker and plays to his gimmick well. Pink Spider The Aggravating Arachnid Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Fabulous Heel Age: 26 Years Pro: 5 Accomplishments: 1x ZEN Conceptual Champion Finisher: The Tangled Web Talk about taking a gimmick and turning it into your own. We gave this kid the gimmick when he first rocked up looking for work and he took it and ran with it. He now teams with Trevor Feather as Pinkie And The Vane, and are often a highlight of the show as they try and out-flamboyant the other. Currently Pink Spider and Trevor and feuding with Kalliope Woodchuck... for reasons that I don't particularly remember. Toady The Prince Of The Pond Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Troublemaker Age: 23 Years Pro: 5 Accomplishments: 2x ZEN Harmony Championship (w/HalloWarped) (Current), 2010 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Toad Splash Toady teams with HalloWarped to form Warp-Jump under the guidance of Guru Vishni. He's not quite what you would call a spot monkey but he isn't fair off. He has an insane leaping ability which leads to a lot of high risk moves in his matches. Trevor "The Peacock" Feather The Flamboyant Fiend Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Fabulous Heel Age: 22 Years Pro: 2 Accomplishments: 2013 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Feather Ruffler The other half of Pinkie And The Vane. Like Pink Spider he's a great flamboyant heel. He definitely has an upside as with only 2 years in the business he's a solid midcard act. Azazel The Splitzoid Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Split Personality Age: 24 Years Pro: 3 Accomplishments: 2012 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Double Knee Press I feel like there's more to Azazel but at this stage of his career he is just so bland that he's just kind of there because he's one of our own. Bruce Strange The Supernatural Hunter Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Supernatural Hunter Age: 24 Years Pro: 1 Accomplishments: 2014 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Strange Triangle Not much to say about Bruce. His gimmick is that he hunts down the supernatural and ZEN has plenty of that but he just hasn't caught on yet. He's a solid hand - a technician who teams with Mister Hyde to form The Ghost Hunters. Kalliope Woodchuck The Bubblegum Superstar Alignment: Face Gimmick: Bubbly Babyface Age: 20 Years Pro: Rookie Accomplishments: 2015 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Wood Chipper, La Magistral Cradle Kalliope is our only female wrestler. She's a rookie at this stage and is raw in a lot of aspects but she connects with the young females in our audience. She's currently feuding with Pink Spider and Trevor Feather. Mister Hyde The Intelligent Monster Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Monster Age: 22 Years Pro: 1 Accomplishments: 2014 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Fire Flame Bomb Mister Hyde rounds out The Ghost Hunters tag team with Bruce Strange. He's a big guy - 280lbs. If he grows as a worker his size alone could cement him as a top heel. Reed Buckfield The Rocket Alignment: Face Gimmick: Bubbly Babyface Age: 28 Years Pro: 9 Accomplishments: - Finisher: Super Senton We brought Reed in back in 2014 as the HaemoGoblin for Halloween but never used him again - I have no idea why. He's a solid enough hand to fill out the lower midcard for us so we brought him back into the fold under his real name. Blue Flea The Unsquashable Rookie Sensation Alignment: Face Gimmick: Underdog Age: 25 Years Pro: 3 Accomplishments: 2013 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Flea For Your Lives Blue Flea is a super small guy who bounces around somewhat like a small insect and has blue hair. Can you see where the name came from? I don't know why we were still calling him "The Unsquashable Rookie Sensation" because none of that was true. He had been squashed plenty of times, was not a rookie, and was far from a sensation. His career had stalled at this point. Booster Boy -hisnameisstupidsohedoesn'tgetanickname Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Cocky Youth Age: 19 Years Pro: 1 Accomplishments: 2014 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Moon Landing I put some time into training this kid and he actually isn't horrible in the ring and he repays me by calling himself Booster Boy? His mind must've been up with the moon. He's only just establishing himself in ZEN at this stage. Buckminster Snark The Archduke Of The Long White Cloud Alignment: Heel Gimmick: Rich Snob Age: 21 Years Pro: Rookie Accomplishments: 2015 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Finisher: Snark Bite Buckminster Snark was the last ever graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo. At this stage in his career that's basically all he has to go on but I liked that he went down a different route with his gimmick with something grounded in the real world. Ferdy "460" Lloyd The Rotating Wonder Alignment: Face Gimmick: Fan Favourite Age: 19 Years Pro: Rookie Accomplishments: - Finisher: 460 Degree Splash Ferdy had literally just joined the roster at this point. He trained at the Dojo but didn't finish in time so Cyanide took him under his wing and finished his training privately. At this point there's no way to tell what will happen with him. Guru Vishni The High Priest Of Enlightenment, Tranquility, And Low Blows Alignment: Heel Gimmick: The Brain Age: 39 Years Pro: 8 Guru Vishni is a devilish manager in the guise of a tranquil guru. He previously managed The Horror Show, then Mirror Universe John Gordon, but since they've all left the company he's managed Warp-Jump - the team of Toady and HalloWarped. Molly Cuddle Alignment: Face Gimmick: Girl-Next-Door Age: 25 Years Pro: 6 Molly is actually Super Zero's wife but he refuses to let her manage him because it would detract from his mysterious character so she manages his tag partner Vertigo instead. Sparky Sparks Alignment: Face Gimmick: None Age: 35 Years Pro: 7 Sparky Sparks is our play-by-play man - he's been with us since our 3rd show. I don't know what else to say about Sparky except that the man can cook one helluva cake. Dustin Thane Alignment: Heel Gimmick: None Age: 24 Years Pro: 2 Accomplisments: 2014 Graduate of the ZEN Temple Dojo Dustin is our colour commentator. He originally trained at the Dojo as a wrestler but was... terrible. But he could talk better than some of the others so he wound up in the commentary booth after Alex Arturro left. Steven Yale Alignment: Face Gimmick: None Age: 28 Years Pro: 9 Steven is our "blind" referee. He takes control of a lot of the comedy matches as he can bumble his way around and he gets the crowd involved by asking them for help when he isn't sure what's going on - such as count outs etc. Glen Lee Alignment: Face Gimmick: None Age: 39 Years Pro: 15 We eventually realised we couldn't get away with a blind ref for every match so we brought in Glen Lee to officiate bigger matches. There were other referees just as skilled as Glen out there and some even more talented but he had a killer porno moustache that really sold us. "Classy" Paul Massey Alignment: Heel Gimmick: None Age: 51 Years Pro: 30 Paul was the first guy I brought in to help run the company as a road agent. Mainly because he was the first guy I could find willing to do the job. He's stuck by us through the good times and the bad and helped workers good and bad to better themselves and that's all we could ask for. "The O Man" Owen Oldacre Alignment: Face Gimmick: None Age: 46 Years Pro: 27 Owen was brought in recently to help with Paul's workload. He's a vet and can put together matches fairly well. CHAMPIONS:- 14th ZEN Master Champion: Pumpkin Jack Previous Champions: 1. Halloween Knight 2. Lone Shark 3. Necromancer 4. Devilfish 5. Halloween Knight [2] 6. Lone Shark [2] 7. Halloween Knight [3] 8. Devilfish [2] 9. Necromancer [2] 10. Super Zero 11. Cyanide 12. X-Calibre 13. Halloween Knight [4] 16th ZEN Conceptual Champion: Damian Dastardly [2] Previous Champions: 1. X-Calibre 2. Cyanide 3. Vertigo 4. Jester 5. Shaolin 6. Super Zero 7. Cyanide [2] 8. X-Calibre [2] 9. Pumpkin Jack 10. Pink Spider 11. Man O' War 12. Massacre 13. Vertigo [2] 14. Damian Dastardly 15. Man O' War [2] 15th ZEN Harmony Champions: Warp-Jump (HalloWarped & Toady) [2] Previous Champions: 1. The Horror Show (Nightmare Slasher & Nightmare Stalker) 2. X-War (X-Calibre & Man O' War) 3. The Sky Kings (Vertigo & Super Zero) 4. The Mercs (Jester & Eraser) 5. X-War (X-Calibre & Man O' War) [2] 6. Goatee With Attitude (C-W-A & Mirror Universe John Gordon) 7. The Enemy (Cyanide & Massacre) 8. X-War (X-Calibre & Man O' War) [3] 9. Goatee With Attitude (C-W-A & Mirror Universe John Gordon) [2] 10. The Knights Temple (Killer B & SubUrban Legend) 11. Goatee With Attitude (C-W-A & Mirror Universe John Gordon) [3] 12. The Knights Temple (Killer B & SubUrban Legend) [2] 13. Warp-Jump (HalloWarped & Toady) 14. The Knights Temple (Killer B & SubUrban Legend) [3] Well, there you have it. That was us back in 2016. Now to dig out those old dirt sheets and find those show reviews... Oh shoot! You probably wanna know the card in advance right? ZEN: WAY OF THE DREAMER Saturday, Week 2, January 2016 @ The Reliquary Of Scale 1. Pink Spider vs. Shaolin 2. The Sky Kings vs. The Ghost Hunters 3. [Non-Title Match] Damian Dastardly vs. Reed Buckfield 4. Kalliope Woodchuck vs. Trevor Feather 5. [ZEN Harmony Championship Match/Lucha Libre Rules] Warp-Jump © vs. The Knights Temple 6. Devilfish vs. Cyanide Main Event. [ZEN Master Championship Match] Pumpkin Jack © vs. Halloween Knight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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