A Global Uprising? [Effganic]

jokerdesilva · January 17, 2021

INTERLUDE – The Roster So Far

I should have probably done this after Stampede, since that’s the actual “Halfway Point” of the year between where we started, but. I forgot, to be honest, so here we go, at the halfpoint of the year: the status of the roster so far, ranked by approximate status in the company.

MAIN EVENT

Poseidon – Our number one man, of course. The King of the Sea is not just the most popular man in GCW, he’s also one of the most popular wrestlers in America, sitting in just outside the top 10 at number 11 – which, when we’re the number 3 company, isn’t anything to sniff at. A dark and menacing presence, he’s been undefeated in GCW since Alexander Allred took over, a perfect 16-0. His power has only grown, thanks to him establishing the Riptide around him, and he is quite determined to keep his place at the top on a mountain of defeated bodies.

Accolades: 2-Time GCW Heavyweight Champion, and current champion. 2-Time GCW Tag Team Champion.

Jack Raiden – Kodiak Jack Raiden is the number one face in the company, a prominent presence and only 32 years of age, making him one of the most important centerpieces of the company so far. He’s spent the year so far battling off numerous opponents trying to keep him from his time in the sun, and the combination of treachery and the Riptide has seen the Heavyweight title elude him, currently out on a storyline broken ankle. A 6’5, 280lb monster, he has all the tools and it seems like his time in the top is only one powerbomb away.

Accolades: 1-Time GCW Heavyweight Champion, 1-Time GCW North American Champion

Dustin Robinson – He calls himself the standard-bearer of GCW, though at 45, it seems his time on the top is just about done. On screen he’s a stalwart, American hero, tough as boot-leather and willing to fight to his last breath, with a deadly slingshot suplex and perfect wrestling fundamentals that can see him grapple and brawl with ease. Backstage, he’s a bit of a sleazeball, who seems to have higher opinions of himself than are perhaps warranted. Still, he’s one of our top stars for a reason, and has been doing his best to form a loose alliance of heroes against the rising forces of the Riptide and Black Hat Rodeo, acting as an ally and mentor at times to Carver Wells, and Ryan Osburn.

Accolades: 2-Time GCW Heavyweight Champion

Wolf Koziol – Loud, fiery, and always looking for a fight, Wolf is a huge personality with heavy hands and energy for days. Wearing a studded leather jacket to the ring, he has the looks of a renegade biker eager for a scrap, and his hot temper has seem him dragged into lengthy battles with experts of mind-games like Poseidon and Antone Benner, the newly turned Night Stalker. It’s seen him left in something of chaos, having let Poseidon repeatedly slip through his fingers en route to the Kings ascendance to the top of GCW, but Wolf has remained in the fans hearts, even if he rarely sells, is a little sloppy, and a total scumbag behind the scenes. Still, at 37 he has mileage left in the tank and fans are always going to pop for his in-ring howls and lethal lariat, so on top he remains.

MJ Abruzzi – One of my finest signings, the Trenton, New Jersey native was once a stand-out upper midcarder in WWB who jumped ship to help solidify GCW. Calling himself the Godfather of Professional Wrestling, Abruzzi dresses in natty suits with $100 sunglasses, takes fancy cars to the arenas, and works on his own time and only for the biggest of prizes. He’s arrogant, ruthless, and utterly slimy, and wrestles with incredible technical acumen and devastating submissions, most lethal of all his Italian Deathlock leglock. Though his initial feud with Jack Raiden saw him lose a cage match to conclude it, he still went on a dominant 5-0 streak to start his tenure, and his momentum is running hot with a recent victory over Dustin Robinson. His eye is always on the prize, and there are rumors that Abruzzi is too smart to stay by his lonesome for long…

UPPER MIDCARD

Night Stalker – Once the face-painted Antone Benner, he’s undergone an increasingly dark transformation since I took over the company, taking hold of his natural reptilian motions and sinister charisma to form one of my fastest rising stars. Despite losing a dramatic hair vs hair match to Wolf Koziol, the Night Stalker has seen his stocks rise dramatically in the last eight months, turning into a premier in-ring talent with his brutal striking style and pairing wonderfully with Poseidon and the Riptide. His new masked form only seems to make him more dangerous and wicked, and it remains to be seen who else will suffer the sting of his Thrust Kick for the new tag team champion

Accolades: 1-Time North American Champion, 1-Time Tag Team Champion, current

Reijiro Kandori – It’s almost disappointing to see Reijiro so high on this list still, considering that he’s on his way out. The 49 year old veteran was a reliable mainstay in GCW, and the centerpiece of one of my first big storyline changes – and one that didn’t quite pay off, in the Sunset Army. While Reijiro has remained a fantastic performer, excellent on the mic despite being a Japanese native and a devastating technical wrestler, and he looks excellent surrounded by goons, the Sunset Army has never really caught on despite regular attention, and with Reijiro looking to hang up his wrestling boots soon, it’s a wonder how long they’ll stick around.

Marcus Kramer – Another one of my top veterans, the 48-year old Kramer is a brutal strong man, 6’3 and 278lbs of muscle and intensity. Like Kandori, he’s an excellent performer despite his age, still giving out wonderful matches on the regular, and while his career has a loudly ticking clock, he’s shown a strong resurgence since being paired with rising star Scorpio Nations. Working as a brutal hired gun enforcer type, he looks like a killer in the ring, and I’m hoping I can make use of his popularity for at least another few months to help get the young guy over, but he’s one that can always stay on a card.

Accolades: 3-Time Tag Team Champion, 2-Time North American Champion

Braden Voss – Another recent signing and big “get” from WWB, the Roadrunner is a slightly undersized but lightning quick and technically savvy wrestler at 5’9 and 214 lbs, fighting out of Topeka, Kansas. With his dyed shock of hair and devil may care style, he has a decent shot of charisma and was a solid upper midcarder in ASW, with an All-American and Tag Team championship reign to his name. He was launched a bit abruptly into the upper card here to, essentially, pad Poseidon’s numbers a bit and give the Riptide time to build, but he’s a damn good roleplayer and at only 33, has a bright enough future still that I can work with.

Adonis Lash – Frankly, shockingly high in popularity for his positioning in GCW, Lash is a veteran that I rather lost confidence in early on. Between being 48 years old, a bit injury prone, and grumbling a little over putting over younger talent, I put him on the backburner for a good chunk of the year. That doesn’t seem to have done him any harm, as he’s been a tag team mainstay in ASW, since he works for both companies. He’s a talented enough guy, with a sleazy lothario gimmick that feels like it’s getting a bit past its expiration date at his age, and a good technical wrestler, who probably has a lot more to offer my rising young guys, but we’ll have to see where he fits in an increasingly crowded heel card.

Dale Whitlock – Cowboy Dale Whitlock was an early heel top act, acting as the centerpiece of the Black Hat Rodeo, one of my more prominent stables, especially in the earlier part of the year. A hard-hitting brawler with tons of experience and natural menace, he was a perfect anchor for the group and a solid, long-term rival for Dustin Robinson. The winds have changed as of late, though, as he’s seen his heir apparent, Billy Ray Bragg, usurp the Black Hat Rodeo and oust him, leading to a face turn into a tough as nails good guy. Dale seems like he has a solid chunk left in the tank at 40, as while his psychology is a bit subpar, in there with the right worker he has a good amount to offer – even if it’s only going out on his back for the next few years more often than not.

Accolades: 1-Time GCW Heavyweight Champion

Billy Ray Bragg – Speaking of, another one of my shining achievements so far. While not quite as far along as the Night Stalker, the Sidewinder Billy Ray Bragg, only 28, has ascended from a solid midcarder into one of my top performers. A fantastic brawler and in-ring performer, he’s also rock solid on the mic, and is just a perfect all-rounder with no real weakspots, which means he can work with anyone and let them shine. In the ring, he’s brutal and hard hitting, not afraid to blast someone in the face with a wad of tobacco spit or bust them open with a belt shot or a set of spurs. He’s been the reigning North American Champion for about 165 days, now, and while Dale Whitlock nearly took it off him at the last show, it seems like the sky is still the limit for the new sheriff of the Black Hat Rodeo.

Accolades: 1-Time North American Champion, current

Carver Wells – In the inverse of Reijiro Kandori, perhaps, Carver Wells is one I’m a little disappointed to see so far down this list, considering not too long ago he was a challenger for Poseidon’s Heavyweight title. Perhaps it was to be expected. While an excellent technician, quick and agile and damn good in the ring, Carver has never caught fire as a character and lacks charisma on the mic. His natural presence makes him a top guy, coupled with his in-ring skills, and he’s certainly going to continue to have a place on the card and in the company, but it’s clear that he has some work to do before he sees the main event again. Luckily, he’s only 30, so that’s no too concerning, and having settled into a solid upper-card tag team with Ryan Osburn as the Mechanics, he has plenty of time to polish his skills.

Accolades: 1-Time North American Champion

Mean Machine – Streaking up after a rough start to the year, the Mean Machine, once the Violet Rooster and real name Philip Everson, was a fun character who lacked a place in GCW once I took over. His steaming mad character worked well with his bruising in-ring style and dominant size, and he has the charisma and chops to carry it, but at 38 it seemed for a minute like he’d fall by the wayside, a more game Adonis Lash willing to actually do the jobs. Luckily, he’s seen a corner turn in his career after a well of fan support, joining the Riptide and becoming tag team champions with the Night Stalker. The masked duo have put on impressive performances so far, and Mean Machine just seems to be getting better every time.

Accolades: 1-Time Tag Team Champion, current

MIDCARD

The Gwinn Brothers – An excellent unit that did just what they were supposed to. Darrell, 33, and Bill, 34, lack a bit of definition as characters, admittedly, but being both solid in-ring workers and an excellent tag team, they’ve anchored the face side that was struggling so badly when I took over, giving other teams time to get established, while putting on good but not great matches. Darrell in particular seems like a quality wrestler, and ASW thinks the same since he’s been All-American Champion for most of the year, and hopefully the two can progress beyond just being the hard-nosed hard-hitting brother brawlers that they’ve been so far into something a little more engaging. If nothing else, they will always have a place in the tag division, especially since my options are otherwise slim.

Accolades: 1-Time Tag Team Champions

Black Hat Rodeo – And directly opposite them, the remaining two members of the Rodeo – Dwayne Olivares and Jase Marshall. Marshall, 29, seems to be inching along as the slightly better of the two, with his natural menace, excellent in-ring consistency, and he’s younger besides. Olivares, meanwhile, is 31 and just a bit rougher around the edges, but he’s a similarly reliable and safe bruiser, and these two were absolute rocks for the start in my tag team division, handling whatever mis-matched duo or undercard nobodies I tossed their way with ease. While they’re never going to put on a barn-burner, I know just what I’m going to get when I throw these two hosses in the ring, and having a pair of 6’5/6 cowboys to brutalize any babyfaces I have in mind is a nice boon.

Accolades: 1-Time Tag Team Champions

Sebastien Durant – The Haitian Hammer, another success story, and one much needed on the babyface side of things. With excellent skills across the board, natural star quality, and great on the mic, he seems primed for excellence and when he’s only 22, I just hope I’m not rushing him. He’s shot up the rankings since winning the Prince of Wrestling tournament for the inaugural crown, and his performances really made the fans stand up and take notice of the 6’3 powerhouse. He’s another one that’s been reliable and solid, and it only seems a matter of time before I launch him into a bigger storyline – even if, honestly, I could probably cool him off for the rest of the year and just take him as a solid building block. No need to push him to run before he’s ready, after all, but he’s shown enough promise that I know I can count on him in the not-too-distant future.

Accolades: Prince of Wrestling Tournament Winner

Ryan Osburn – Further down than his current tag team partner, Ryan Osburn is one struggling from a lack of momentum, admittedly. I wasn’t very high on him to start the year, which is honestly pretty defensible if not too kind. At 37, he’s already about what he’s going to be development wise, and that is a safe, reliable, consistent in-ring mechanic with moderate charisma who is never going to blow anyone away. His technical wrestling makes him easy to put in the ring, and he’s good at shining up whoever I pair him with, which honestly made him a tempting option to use to put over young guys early on. Now, though, he’s impressed me enough with his performances that he’s getting a chance to shine as part of the Mechanics with Carver Wells, and if nothing else his slightly middling, boring persona should only help Carver look better in comparison – right?

Ashton Black – A wrestler I don’t admittedly have a lot of experience with. Ashton spent a lot of time on the shelf recently, the victim of a torn ACL that saw him lose almost a year of his career. He’d been a solid mid-to-upper-mid carder up until that point, and while time away has left him a bit forgotten, and jumped by a lot of wrestlers, he impressed pretty well out of the gate. A previous tag team partner of Poseidon’s, he’s a natural fit in the Riptide as the vicious and bloodthirsty jackal. From everything I’ve seen and heard, he’s an impactful striker with a slight Japanese flair to his in-ring work, which I pretty obviously appreciate, and buckets of charisma, so it just remains to be seen how much he’ll impress me as he works off the ring-rust.

Accolades: 2-Time Tag Team Champion, 1-Time North American Champion

Lily-Rose Criss – The inaugural GCW Women’s Champion. An incredibly charismatic woman fighting out of California, Lily-Rose’s combination of magazine cover good looks and a graceful, high-flying in ring style make her a true sight to see, and the fact that she’s solid on the mic and a safe, reliable hand made her the perfect selection as the first champ. She never truly dazzled, admittedly, and at 38 her best years are starting to be behind her, so her reign has come to an end and it’s hard to say if she’ll get a second one, but she was the perfect veteran to start guiding my budding division and to see what pieces I really had to work with.

Accolades: 1-Time and First GCW Women’s Champion

Josilyn Deville – And, of course, her opposite. A vicious, hard-hitting kickboxer with a lot of experience to go again an equally veteran babyface, Josilyn was the perfect initial opponent to streak through my babyfaces and put on decent matches with Lily-Rose for the title. Given her performances, it’s quite possible that she deserved the belt just a little bit more than Lily-Rose did, honestly, but at 36 she has a little more room for second-chances, so I’m not terribly worried. In general she’s just a solid all-arounder not unlike Billy Ray, and one I’m really hoping will push the women’s division to greater heights.

Scorpio Nations – While not as popular as some, Scorpio is perhaps my fastest rising talent in terms of pure in-ring skills. With an unreal blend of technical and striking ability, he looks magnificently polished for being only 24, already putting on matches of a par with Marcus Kramer in their tag team matches, and that’s not because Marcus is slowing down at all. While he’d already been part of a short-lived tag team title reign before I got here, ended prematurely due to Rick Crowell leaving the company, the once Salazar Nations has only improved more since taking on the Scorpio gimmick as a fast-talking, arrogant, thoroughly disrespectful upstart with his Scorpio Clutch being the perfect weapon for a sadistic little weasel. His brewing feud with Sebastien seems ready and poised to make two new stars, and I can’t wait to see where he is even a year from now.

Accolades: 1-Time Tag Team Champion

Madalene DeGeorge – High Class Madalene DeGeorge was one of the best signings I made when starting my women’s division, to be honest. A standout in her native Canada, Madalene brought buckets of charisma and confidence on the mic to the women’s division, becoming a clear stand out early on. A flashy and incredibly solid wrestler, she quickly earned herself the second ever GCW Women’s Championship reign by putting an end to Lily-Rose’s hot streak, and I’m curious to see how she does on top, and who she can help develop on the face side, since there’s almost no one better for them to learn from.

Boston Sills – Oh, Boston. Hired on with the Gwinn Brothers to refresh a flagging face side of the roster, I had solid plans for a 19-year veteran of the independent scene who could help develop my young guys – and he had to go have miserable chemistry with Scorpio out of the gate and kill my initial storyline plans. Oops. I suppose I soured on him when that happened, and haven’t really forced myself to find a place for him in the roster since then, which isn’t entirely fair. That being said, he has middling at best charisma, no star presence, and reliable but far from dazzling in-ring skills, so perhaps there’s a reason he’s a 19-year veteran of the independent scene. Considering he makes $500 a pop, I have to wonder how long Boston will stick around, but we’ll see if he can impress me in the coming months.

LOWER MIDCARD

Kurt Grey – While a reliable veteran, and he certainly helped Antone Benner explode into his new heel character, I can’t lie, the moment I took over I had Kurt Grey pegged as the lead babyface who was going to start putting over young heels, and I never looked back. A chain-smoker with miserable stamina, he can put on good matches, but not for long, and it makes it hard to want to put him in a more prominent position. Whether it was his jobbing, his physical condition, or just time that did it, he recently announced plans to retire, and should be hanging up his boots any day now. I can’t say I’m too upset about it, but here’s hoping he can do a few more jobs on the way out.

Tarzan Brownfield – “Tarzan” Max Brownfield is just the kind of babyface every roster needs. Slightly undersized at 5’9, flashy and technically savvy in the ring, capable of great matches and selling, and naturally charismatic. So far he’s been put in the position to do a lot of looking great in defeat, is what I almost always say about him, helping shine up the likes of Billy Ray Bragg, Scorpio Nations, and Trent Stevens to name a few, but a recent pairing with Sebastien Durant has seem his fortunes improve. He’s one I have earmarked for bigger things, and with some solid wins under his belt he’ll hopefully take off nicely.

Aaron Redcloud – Another reliable piece in an undercard – a hard hitting, badass Native American. Look, it’s the 80s, and you’ve got to have your Natives to go along with your Cowboys, right? Aaron plays the part well. Despite seeming to have naturally impressive skills and a unique star power, he hasn’t really seemed to do a lot of developing in the ring, plateauing in his matches since I took over. I’m hoping that things will improve, since he’s one I really wanted to see move up here soon, but he may be jumped by the others around him if he can’t turn a corner. Still, he’s 26, so he has plenty of time.

Lilyanna Derby – With her flashy moves and punk rock stylings, Lilyanna is another stand out in a largely green and underdeveloped women’s division. She’s quite possibly the best in-ring performer of the lot, which has unfortunately seen her do a lot of jobbing to support the upcoming heels set to challenge Lily-Rose. Now that Lily-Rose is sliding down and Madalene is on top, things seem wide open for the rock ‘n roller to ascend, and while she’s not the most charismatic, her striking looks, and good-looking strikes, will take her far.

The Dregs – One of my favorite “project” teams, the duo of Gabe Pilcher and Alonzo O’Toole have been buoyed by a mixture of steady improvement and incredible tag team chemistry in a division that is, frankly, largely devoid of it. They did fine in a test run against the Gwinns, and have been mostly racking up experience and wins in the pre-show to keep polishing their talents. Gabe in particular is one that my booking team has earmarked for success, and I’m hoping they can impress me properly here soon.

King Kong Grady – Like Gabriel, Grady is one who was earmarked for big things, and boy, I tried to push him like it. Paired with Garry Beltran, he saw months of domination in the undercard – and being a 6’9 monster of a man, it was easy to see why. The Man Mountains duo just never got off the blocks, though, stagnating and even regressing in the ring despite plenty of time and momentum. It’s only since breaking away from Beltran and turning heel as the brutal and relentless King Kong Grady that he seems to finally be picking up speed, and I’m hoping that it’ll take, because a true monster on the roster would be a very nice thing to have. He’s 27, so there’s still time to develop, but I have to be honest, the clock is ticking and if King Kong fizzles, he might be out the door.

Big Hank Banner – Honestly, putting him even this high up might be generous, if not for his relatives. Yes, Big Hank is the nephew of GCW owner Dean Dishman. A washed out practice-squad lineman who failed in his NFL dreams, he was convinced to try wrestling and has since turned into something of an arrogant headcase. Mr. Dishman has, luckily, not been too strict about me pushing him, since I think even he knows that Big Hank’s career is going nowhere fast, but I try to keep him in the mix, and he didn’t embarrass himself in a shot against Billy Ray, at least. Still, while he’s got solid fundamentals and good size at 6’6, he doesn’t really have much else to offer, being poor on the mic, with middling natural charisma, and not a stand out in any kind of wrestling. He can slug it out and do a mean running splash, but I just feel like I need more – and already being 34, he’s pretty much past the “development” stage of his career.

The Sunset Army – Reijiro Kandori’s disciples and soldiers, I had big plans for them when I took over. Unfortunately, things have never clicked. Like the Man Mountains, I’ve let the duo of Sanzo and Karasuma rack up wins in the tag division, and the also 6’9 monster Giant Kajitani crush people to a 10-0 win streak before he took a loss, but it never seemed to win them any popularity from the fans. Nor did they ever seem to improve much in the ring, to be honest. I added the charismatic and bruising powerhouse Umari to the group recently after their crushing loss to Jack Raiden, but it hasn’t helped much, and I’m wondering how much more time I can invest in them. Especially when Kajitani regularly puts up the worst match of the night.

Heavenly Bodies – Meanwhile, on the opposite end, we have a duo that’s starting to click nicely, even if they haven’t found much time on the main card yet. With the Riptide, Black Hat Rodeo, and Nations and Kramer, the heel tag team scene is a little crowded, but handsome and arrogant pairing of Jupiter and Saturn have shown some nice forward momentum, and the burly college athlete Jupiter in particular is showing some good in-ring chops. Saturn is still a little further behind, though he has a natural star quality that Jupiter lacks, so I’m hoping they can pick up the slack for one another and make a splash here soon.

The Danger Boys – With a little bit of the three above teams mixed together, and seasoned into a babyface pairing, you get the Danger Boys. Originally supposed to be the Danger Brothers, I launched them into a principle story – again, perhaps a bit too soon – with Raiden and the Sunset Army, but Danny Danger abruptly bailed on the company and has been toiling away in North Dakota’s AAW. Bret Danger, who I’d signed just to form this tag team, seemed like a man without a country, and as the weaker of the two wrestlers, was honestly on the chopping block a tad – until I started pairing him up with the smaller but technically proficient Auston Sandy. The two formed a solid duo, initially just as jobbers to the likes of the Dregs and Sunset Army, but they’ve showed quite a bit of improvement as of late, and being both 24, and solid, likeable kids with good charisma, it seems like I might have struck gold after all.

Tommy Carleton – Texas Tommy Carleton was a reliable job guy for most of my early tenure, who’s done enough to improve and show up in good performances, and has been a hardworking, no-nonsense professional, that it feels like time he gets rewarded. Though only 6’, he hits hard and fights like a bigger man, and has incredibly solid fundamentals besides. He’s not likely to set the world on fire, but he seems like a potential mid-card player, and I’ve already developed plans for where he goes next.

Jimmy G – Similar to Tommy Carleton, Jimmy G found himself putting a lot of guys over as I tried to develop my babyfaces, and it won him plenty of good will. He’s not quite the natural in-ring performer that Tommy is, but he’s a phenomenal athlete, his college days on the gridiron at Illinois State showing through, and he moves with explosive energy and can keep up well with others. Like Tommy, he’s not likely a star in the making, but a solid depth piece who has found himself in a decent pairing with Adonis Lash to leach off his popularity.

Trent Stevens – The last of my trio of “good workers but nowhere to put them yet” heels, who always seem to find themselves on the pre-show so far. That should change soon for Trent, I hope, he’s just been a bit overshadowed by Scorpio, Billy Ray, and recently King Kong Grady – for some reason. He’s better than Grady by far, a devilish striker who honed his skills in Japan and has brought an interesting style to bare. He throws an especially vicious knee, and I’m looking forward to putting him in the ring with some of my more talented workers to see what he can do – I just need the right opponent, I suppose.

Bertha Slay – While not the wrestler of the above women, Bertha has one thing going for, and that’s how much she stands out. A sizable and hard-hitting young woman, she’s a real backwoods brawler that fights differently from most of my women, who err on the side of smooth and technical or crisp kickboxer types. Bertha throws hands and throws them well, and it’s enough to keep her high in my books, at least enough to watch her development closely.

OPENERS

Adrianna Mitchell – One of my many green women, Adrianna has buckets of charisma and star power waiting to be tapped, but she needs to develop as a wrestler. Hopefully a loose pairing with Lilyanna Derby will do that soon.

Camille St. Croix – The French Lady, she’s like a young Madalene DeGeorge at only 22, though far from her in in-ring skills or polish. She’s only got two years in the business so far, though, so with her natural charm and solid fundamentals, I’m optimistic she can be spun into a fun midcard character if nothing else.

Garry Beltran – The other half of the failed Man Mountains. Standing at 6’8 and beastly, he seemed like a great future powerhouse, but he only looked a little better than Grady in the ring and with none of the charisma. He hasn’t been useful for much since the breakout, but at 26, there may be mileage for him yet. We’ll have to see.

The Hillbillies – Jim Bob Tiller and John Boy, a pair of Appalachian toughs who love to throw down. Or so they’d have you believe. Really a New Jersey native and a hoss from Virginia, they’re a pair of good brawlers and fun characters, with the distinction of being the Black Hat Rodeo’s first challengers when I took over, but they never really impressed in the ring and they feel a tad gimmicky. Hard to say if they have much of a future.

Rosemary Pfeiffer – A tough-looking woman with great attitude and style, she seemed natural to pair with Lilyanna as a punk rock duo, but they have no chemistry, so that died on the vine. She has charisma, at least, and a fantastic finishing move in a top-rope clothesline, she’s just rocky in the ring otherwise. It remains to be seen if she can pick it up.

Trinity Branch – Another green young woman who seems to have a lot to offer, but no fan investment. Just a natural, down-home girl with some charismatic flair.

Violet Bee – An early project and favorite of mine, if only because she has a mask, and a neat name. She hasn’t impressed much in the ring, but her fundamentals are killer and she has charisma for days, so I’m hoping with some fan response she can see something bigger in the near future. We’ll have to see.

ENHANCEMENT TALENT

Cash Firestone – Amazing name. Not bad in the ring. No stamina. He’s only 24, though, so here’s hoping this reckless daredevil can tone up and do more.

Danjou Nakasato – A Young Lion sent to us from HYPERION in Japan. At only 21, he’s super green, but he has all the charisma in the world and seems to have a bright future.

Edwin Riddle – Also just 21, a fundamentally sound and charismatic young Canadian with a nice splash of facepaint. He may turn into something with time.

Isaac Holman – Flashy, arrogant, and technically crisp, with good size at 6’4. He seems to have a higher ceiling than some of my newly hired job guys, and with some seasoning I’m very optimistic of his chances.

Keaton Whisenant – I need to rename him because I can’t get past it. Might be more damaged than some, but he has charisma and fundamentals, so maybe there’s something to work with here.

Kolton Tallman – A 6’5 beastly babyface with great intensity. Currently working in a pair with Zach Waldron. They’ve seen a little injury and some clunky performances, but big men get more rope in this industry, so they’ll stick around a bit.

Laurette Lorio – Only 26, she doesn’t really stand out anywhere, but she’s a nice body to have on the roster if nothing else.

Layton White – He refused to put over my Japanese giant and he’s been in the doghouse ever since. It’s annoying that he was probably right to argue about it. Still, he doesn’t offer much, but he’s good at jobbing.

Mo Ponder – I often forget he’s employed. Good basics, technically sound, tragically boring. A value-brand version of Ryan Osburn, basically.

Nehemiah – And here’s the value brand version of Marcus Kramer. Approximately the same size, bad ass demeanor, honestly pretty charismatic, but he’s just too good at losing, and when he’s already 33, it’s hard to argue giving him more of a push than some other guys.

Richard Auston – Similar to the above, but add “badly overweight” and “even more boring.”

Roger Cotton – A zippy little technician at only 22, who seems to play an interesting mix of the “technical savage” – wild to the point of deranged, but excellent at grappling. It’s a unique choice that I kind of like. Good job fodder, at least.

Sawyer Rodriguez – He’s given me one of the worst matches in this company, so. Job fodder it is.

Stu Lail – Another promising young powerhouse at 6’4, though very rocky in the ring. He’s got buckets of charisma, and at just shy of 300lbs, he’s an absolute force in the ring, so we’ll see where he goes.

Treves Demand – An odd name, but he’s 6’8 so I’ll let it slide. Currently working a powerhouse tag team with Stu to season up on the undercard. He has a similar intensity and is rock solid in the fundamentals.

Zach Waldron – The last of my rookies, and another big monster at 300lbs, pairing off nicely with Kolton Tallman. Like the rest, super intense, super energetic, but might be a little risky. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.

DinoKea · January 17, 2021

Two biggest things I've noticed here:

1) Lash and Hank are both surprisingly high up the card. Definitely didn't expect to see them so high up.

2) I always forget about Mo Ponder's hair and it catches me off guard every single team.

Also Disney finally been shown the door?

Zergon · January 17, 2021

I do love roster reviews as it´s always interesting to see what your thoughts are from everyone and were everyone stands.

Bit surprised on Kandori, Lash and Whitlock being above the likes of Bragg and Wells as I would have figured that would be other way around at this point. Nice to see veterans getting well earned respect though so not complaning at all.

On similar note, was bit surprised on Durant and Nations being as low as they were although I admit that when I look guys above them I can´t really disagree with you. Guess I didn´t remember how young they actually were with both of them being around since the diary started and having decent roles from the beginning.

Also nice to see how you rank the new young job guys (and women outside the top 5) as I haven´t really given much though to them so far and have just considered them as jobbers so good to see how they rank in your mind at the moment.

jokerdesilva · January 18, 2021

Honestly, yeah, a lot of the vets were a lot higher in raw popularity than I would have expected. Adonis Lash is still a pretty high up there name, as shown, and I probably should be using him more, but... eh. It's hard to get excited about an injury-prone guy on the cusp of 50, you know?

I say, as I use Marcus Kramer heavily.

And yes, Mo Ponder's hair is ridiculous, and to be entirely honest, that's part of the reason he never gets used. How am I supposed to take that seriously, really? Also his name is Mo Ponder, so there's that.

And yes, I forgot to mention it but Jacoby Disney is one of the first official cuts of the roster, since Danny Danger just walked out on me. What a milestone, right?

*****

June 4th, 1986

Connecticut, 796 in attendance

vs

Pre-Show – Sawyer Rodriguez vs Aaron Redcloud

After going through the roster in full, it feels like there’s some dead wood that needs to be trimmed out, and Sawyer is one on the block. He’s young enough that he might still be a worthy body, but we’ll see. Here, he did alright with Aaron, who still doesn’t seem to be increasing too much, but I’m considering putting him in at least a temporary storyline opportunity. We’ll see. He won by Overhead Slam in 7:02. (25)

vs

Pre-Show – Lail and Demand vs Beltran and Nehemiah

I kind of wanted to see if, A, Nehemiah might be worth investing in a little more since he really does do good work in the ring, and B, if there was something to use in Beltran. Maybe he just needed a new partner? No chemistry one way or the other here, but Beltran forgot to tuck his chin on a slam and got whiplash. Great. He pinned Lail with a faceplant in 7:13 to win. (19)

vs

Pre-Show – Suzanne Levee vs Lilyanna Derby

A debut for one of our new women. While the men’s side is probably a bit bloated, the female talent is thin on the ground a bit, so I hired a couple new women to freshen things up. Suzanne was one of them, a 26 year old with natural arrogant charisma that makes her immediately unlikeable. She was rough, but has great chemistry with Lilyanna, as they looked like they’d had this match a dozen times. Lilyanna killed her with a thrust kick in 8:07. (44)

vs

Pre-Show – Trent Stevens vs Kurt Grey

Just using Kurt on his way out, really. Trent is still excellent in the ring and I need to find a place for him – he’s too good to be stuck on the pre-show, but with the Riptide, Black Hat Rodeo, and Sunset Army all clogging up the heel side, it’s hard to see where he quite fits in. Anyway, he won here with the Running Knee in 6:01. (43)

We opened the show with the Danger Boys in the ring, Auston and Bret both ready to get down to action. Instead of a tag team to oppose them, though, they were met by King Kong Grady, who stomped out with Lester Haas at his side. Grady rolled into the ring and blasted them both with a running double-clothesline, taking them down. From there he started tossing them both around and stomping them to the mat before they could get their footing under them. Crushing them with body presses, tossing them into the corner, and dropping them both with stalling King Kong Suplexes, he left them laid out, just like he'd done in his backstage ambushes a few months back. (25)

vs

Heavenly Bodies vs Tropical Storm

A very good little match before four young guys, with Tarzan and Sebastien really starting to gel as a unit. Tarzan might be from Jacksonville, instead of the jungle, but he sells the wild man gimmick well and it bounces off of Durant's stoic intensity nicely. That had them balanced nicely against the arrogant heart-throbs, with Jupiter as the powerhouse who went toe-to-toe with our Prince of Wrestling, and Sebastien the more dynamic - if rough - young guy to battle with the high-flying Tarzan. In the end, though, the Tropical Twosome were on a different level, and Tarzan got the win off a missile dropkick in 10:12. (42)

We went backstage next to Wolf and Voss, side by side.

"Sunday was a rough night," Wolf started. "We both been done dirty. We both been given a raw deal. Abruzzi, I ain't gonna forget that you had to use your little friends and a set of brass knuckles to beat me. That win goes on your record, but you and I both know it's dirty, and it don't really count for much, and one day, one way or another, I'm gonna make that right. But that's gonna have to wait for another day." He clapped Voss on the shoulder. "Because I got a brother in arms here, a brother of the road, that needs a little bit of backup himself."

"Poseidon," Voss said, "I haven't forgotten about you. You're a big, mean, powerful son of a gun, and I knew that going into any fight with you would be a real war. Maybe I didn't quite know the truth, maybe I didn't know quite what I was up for, but I'm not gonna back down. I'm not the biggest dog in the fight, but there's a fight in me bigger than you've ever seen. And I'm not going to let some big, psycho bully like you try to run around here like you own the place. Not a chance."

"So Riptide, get ready," Wolf said. "I got unfinished business with all of you, too, and me and Voss, we're a wolf pack that's ready to go to war." (52)

vs

Abruzzi, Kramer and Nations vs Banner and the Hillbillies

A match that was never in doubt, of course. The newly forged little alliance came out as one, Abruzzi preening and peacocking down to the ring with Scorpio and Kramer flanking him. They looked like a decently well oiled machine in action, too, with Abruzzi mostly directing traffic and having Scorpio and Kramer handle the heavy-lifting, while coming in periodically to pick the bones. While Big Hank threw some big rights and lefts, and came close to crushing Scorpio into paste, it didn't pay off. Being double-teamed by the others left him in dire straights, and while he managed to tag out to John Boy, it wasn't long before he had to submit to the Scorpion Clutch at 7:59. (49)

After the match, Abruzzi went backstage with his new partners for an interview. Seeing as he'd done little action in the ring, he looked fresh as a daisy.

"Well, wasn't that a fine coming out party?" he asked, chuckling. "See, ever since Coming Storm, people have been asking me, what's the deal with you and Scorpio and Kramer. You got some kinda organization? Some kinda team? Well, I am happy to report that I do indeed have a team going. You see, to become the Godfather, you gotta have a keen eye for talent. You gotta know just who you can rely on, who can be part of the family. And in these two, I saw potential. I saw the past, and I saw the future."

"And brother, the future is now," Scorpio crowed. "Oh, everyone who crosses us is in a world of hurt, yeah, brother? We're gonna make them know who the real power is."

"Absolutely. See, I'm not a fool. I'm a man who knows he needs support, and backing, and allies to make myself as secure as possible. After all, what's a Godfather without some soldiers to rely on, and family to protect? So here we are. My new organization. My Syndicate. And the Syndicate is going to be running things from here on out. It's just a matter of time." (59)

We went backstage next to Dale Whitlock.

"I understand that it's gonna be hard for some of y'all to believe me, here. I ain't always been the best man. I let my pride, and my greed, get the better of me. The only thing that mattered was being the best, being the man on top, and I'd use any trick to get there. And recently, well, I learned what it's like to be on the other end of that line. I learned what it is to suffer at the hands of a Black Hat. And I didn't much appreciate it. Seeing Billy Ray lay boots to a good, admirable man in Dustin Robinson, feeling him spit in my face and kick me low, it shook me out of something. It made me want to be a better man. So I will be. I'm changing my tune, and changing my colors, and Billy Ray? You better be ready to go one-on-one with a White Hat." (45)

vs

Jimmy G vs Dale Whitlock

I'm not going to lie, after being a career villain, it was a little odd seeing Dale working as a face for a change. He's still a hard hitting bruiser regardless, but he looked more the cagey veteran against the athletic showboat in Jimmy G, having to bounce around a bit for his superior athleticism but using the keen mind that had served him for the 20 years of his career. He seemingly had to physically stop himself from going for eye rakes or chokes, shaking off his old bad habits, but it still did the job, and he won in 7:37 with his Hangman's Neckbreaker. (40)

As Dale was celebrating his first victory on the side of the angels, and basking in some rare adulation from the crowd besides, Texas Tommy Carleton ambushed him from behind. Dressed in matching trunks to go with the Black Hat Rodeo, he hammered Whitlock with a big lariat and stomped him down to the mat, while Billy Ray Bragg came out to just watch approvingly on the ramp. (39)

vs

Black Hat Rodeo and Bertha Slay vs Gwinn Brothers and Lily-Rose Criss

Bertha synced up nicely with the Black Hats, as a hard-hitting southern woman, and I wonder if things might not be better off with more women joining some of these stables to mix them in and out of storylines. She looked a little weak in the ring compared to the rest, but it was a good showing, as the Black Hats did their thing, bruising and battering the recent tag champs. Jase Marshall stunningly hit Lily-Rose with a Spinebuster, distracting Bill Gwinn enough to eat a Back Suplex from Olivares for the win at 15:28. (49)

In one of his dark lairs in the depths of the stadium, we went to Poseidon.

"Another day, another victory. I almost grow bored of this. Is there really no one out there who can challenge me? No one out there who can push the King of the Seas to the limit?" His face twitched a little, and he pushed hair back from his face. "No. You see, I've broken the bear, sent Jack Raiden back on the shelf where he belongs. I've conquered the best this company has to offer, I've vanquished the new hero, I've proven that I live inside of Wolf Koziol's head and can defeat him any time I'd like, and I wonder, is there anyone left? Anyone who can step up?"

He lifted the title in front of the camera.

"Or am I destined to rule and reign with my title forever? Because it feels like I am unstoppable." (68)

vs

Riptide vs Koziol and Voss

Well, in good news, Koziol and Voss didn’t have bad chemistry, which was a relief given where I plan to go with them as a duo. Night Stalker and Ashton Black are still good, though Stalker is clearly carrying the duo – but he’s one of the best wrestlers in the company, so that’s not hard. They both looked vicious and bloodthirsty, laying into the biker duo with vicious strikes and kicks, and it ended up being their undoing. As Voss and Wolf proved to be too resilient and too enduring, Ashton started to lose his cool. He ended up backing Voss into the corner and brutalizing him with kicks and eye rakes until the referee tried to call him off, and ended up being disqualified at 19:32, giving the win to our valiant heroes. (57)

Not a stand out show, but I have big plans for the coming shows and Independence in July, so here’s hoping I can deliver. For now, the top end talent seems to be doing well, the rise of the Syndicate is hugely promising, and Dale turning is at least an interesting wrinkle. We’ll see how things go. (55) We got a .33 rating and 253k viewers.

Next Week:

(P) Isaac Holman vs Kurt Grey

(P) Sunset Army (Umari and Kajitani) vs Tallman and Waldron

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Ethel Gillam

(P) King Kong Grady vs Richard Auston

Kandori and Stevens vs Nehemiah and Beltran

Tommy Carleton vs Big Hank Banner

St. Croix and Levee vs Mitchell and Derby

Lash and the Heavenly Bodies vs Sills, Durant and Brownfield

Night Stalker vs Braden Voss

Ashton Black vs Wolf Koziol

smw88 · January 18, 2021

(P) Isaac Holman vs Kurt Grey

(P) Sunset Army (Umari and Kajitani) vs Tallman and Waldron

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Ethel Gillam

(P) King Kong Grady vs Richard Auston

Kandori and Stevens vs Nehemiah and Beltran

Tommy Carleton vs Big Hank Banner

St. Croix and Levee vs Mitchell and Derby

Lash and the Heavenly Bodies vs Sills, Durant and Brownfield

Night Stalker vs Braden Voss

Ashton Black vs Wolf Koziol

DinoKea · January 18, 2021

Predictions:

Preshow: Isaac Holman def. Kurt Grey

I feel like with Kurt's retirement right around the corner, he's not likely to be getting any wins, just building up a last few talents.

Preshow: Sunset Army (Umari & Kajitani) def. Tallman & Waldron

Kajitani is terrible, but he's still above T&W on the card, plus Umari is eh.

Preshow: Ethel Gillam def. Kelly Speakman

With both debuting I just went for the one with a more interesting name.

Preshow: King Kong Grady def. Richard Auston

Auston has yet to make it off the preshow while KKG is spending his time destroying people on TV.

Nehemiah & Beltran def. Kandori & Stevens

Guessing you made the call for Nehemiah and Beltran to stay together for a while. With Kandori nearing retirement I feel like he's not likely to be winning here.

Texas Tommy def. Big Hank

It's a slight gamble considering what the two have being spending their time doing over the past few months, but with Texas Tommy joining the Black Hats, I guessing he gets a Big win.

Mitchell & Derby def. St. Croix & Levee

Nothing about St. Croix or Levee's history suggests they will win this match.

Sills, Durant & Brownfield def. Lash & the Heavenly Bodies

Aside from a brief stint taking Jimmy G under his wing, Lash really hasn't been doing much of anything and honestly I can't see that changing here.

Night Stalker def. Braden Voss

I know Voss is set to face Poseidon soon, but honestly I can't see him getting the win over Stalker here. Maybe by DQ could allow me to be wrong.

Wolf Koizol def. Ashton Black

Surprised the other match isn't the main event as I feel like it'd be the better match. Anyone Black's still clearing up for the ring it seems while Wolf is still one of your biggest names.

Zergon · January 18, 2021

(P) Isaac Holman vs Kurt Grey

I did hesitate quite a bit here but decided to go with Holman with you mentioning he´s one of the more promising new job guys.

(P) Sunset Army (Umari and Kajitani) vs Tallman and Waldron

Army continues it´s momentum gains.

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Ethel Gillam

Literal coin flip here as this is the first time I hear from either one.

(P) King Kong Grady vs Richard Auston

Actually though for a second that Auston was part of Danger Boys and commented about how Grady beat them both last week.... oops. Well, now that I know who Auston is, this is even more of a no brainer.

Kandori and Stevens vs Nehemiah and Beltran

Bigger names.

Tommy Carleton vs Big Hank Banner

Looks like Tommy got added to Black Hats in which case he might get enough of a push to go over Banner here.

St. Croix and Levee vs Mitchell and Derby

Thinging faces are doing slighly mroe at the moment even wooth St. Croix being part of the Synticate

Lash and the Heavenly Bodies vs Sills, Durant and Brownfield

Lash is higher than Sills so this is closer match than in last show but I assume that the outcome is still the same. As a side note, between jimmy G and Heavenly Bodies, there might be fun little faction that could be build around Lash. Then again, with Riptide, Black Hat Rodeo, Synticate and Sunset Army, you don´t exactly lack heel groups so maybe not the time for that.

Night Stalker vs Braden Voss

Ashton Black vs Wolf Koziol

Going to have the usual 1 -1 split with these.

KyTeran · January 18, 2021

(P) Isaac Holman vs Kurt Grey

(P) Sunset Army (Umari and Kajitani) vs Tallman and Waldron

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Ethel Gillam

(P) King Kong Grady vs Richard Auston

Kandori and Stevens vs Nehemiah and Beltran

Tommy Carleton vs Big Hank Banner

St. Croix and Levee vs Mitchell and Derby

Lash and the Heavenly Bodies vs Sills, Durant and Brownfield

Night Stalker vs Braden Voss

Ashton Black vs Wolf Koziol

jokerdesilva · January 19, 2021

So, about those two last matches being in the wrong order...

*****

June 11th, 1986

New Hampshire, 798 in attendance

vs

Pre-Show – Isaac Holman vs Kurt Grey

It was Kurt’s last night he’d be wrestling before retirement, so I decided to take a flyer on one of my young guys. Isaac has impressed me so far, and he did well enough here – not remarkable, but in there with a good worker, he did alright. Kurt wasn’t happy about jobbing to such a nobody but, well, he’s not going to be wrestling again, so I’m not too worried. Holman won with an Overhead Slam in 5:55. (27)

vs

Pre-Show – Sunset Army (Umari and Kajitani) vs Tallman and Waldron

It occurred to me that it’s always Sanzo and Karasuma getting the tag action, so why not these two? Well, this might be why. Nothing too impressive, and in there with two green guys in Waldron and Tallman, it was nothing to write home about. Just a plodding affair that ended with a Butterfly DDT in 5:32. (19)

vs

Pre-Show – Kelly Speakman vs Ethel Gilliam

Another two new women for the roster. Speakman is hard-nosed with a nasty attitude, and Gilliam is a decent journeyman who’s been around some of the American indies, with some alright seasoning and a naturally sunny demeanor. She got the win here with a Jumping Knee Drop in 8:09. (23)

vs

Pre-Show – King Kong Grady vs Richard Auston

Auston is another one I’m considering letting go, since he doesn’t really add anything special to the roster. At least with Nehemiah we have size and Ponder technical ability. Rich is just kind of there. He did the job nicely for King Kong, though, going up for the big stalling suplex at 6:17. (27)

vs

Kandori and Stevens vs Beltran and Nehemiah

Beltran and Nehemiah were good enough to get some main card air time – if only to lose. Since Stevens spent so much time in Japan, I’m wondering if pairing him with the dying Sunset Army might be good, since they’ll need someone quality in the ring with Kandori on the way out. He looked damn good here with the veteran, at least, and won with the Running Knee in 7:24. (45)

We went to the Gwinn Brothers next backstage for an interview.

"So, last week we had us a little dance with the Black Hat Rodeo," Darrell started off with. "And let me be clear, you're a tough, capable pair of fighters. I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody, not in the ring anyway, but I'm gonna say this and I'm gonna say it plainly. Olivares, Marshall, you two aren't men. No man would lay their hands on a woman half size like you did. No man, Jase Marshall, no real man standing at 6'6" would take a woman, even a talented, championship-caliber athlete like Lily-Rose Criss, and hit her with a Spinebuster."

"You're a couple of phonies," Bill cut in. "Just - just - the both you - it makes me sick. Sick!"

"That's right, BIll," Darrell said. "It makes me sick to think you'd treat someone with such disrespect. And that's why we're calling the both of you out. Someone needs to make you pay for that kind of horrible behavior."

"You're gonna pay, yeah, pay through the nose. The nose!"

"Lily-Rose can fight her own battles, that much is clear, but there's some things a man just can't abide. So just you wait, Olivares and Marshall. We're coming for more." (39)

vs

Tommy Carleton vs Big Hank Banner

Texas Tommy brought it to our resident big man, and once again Big Hank was outshined. This was a somewhat clumsy match, and Tommy isn’t a Billy Ray Bragg who’s good enough to cover the rough spots, but he definitely looked better than Big Hank did, I'll say that much. It doesn't help that Tommy wrestles like a badass hoss, but he's almost half a foot shorter than Big Hank so he couldn't quite bully him around like he normally would, having to take a few short-cuts as a more vicious, underhanded heel. Either way, we got to the right end point, and he got the win with a lariat in 5:43. (39)

Texas Tommy Carleton headed to the back, where he was joined by Billy Ray Bragg, who was carrying the North American Championship prominently on his shoulder.

"Allow me to formally introduce all a'y'all to the newest member of the Black Hat Rodeo, a hard-hitting son of a gun and a man who can certainly live up to the standards of the Black Hat Rodeo better than some I could name: 'Texas' Tommy Carleton. He's been proving himself as of late a changed man, a new man, one who has embraced the strength and the viciousness of his roughriding and bronco busting forefathers. He's proven himself just the kind of man we need in the Rodeo, and not one who is going to be soft. Who's going to lose his guts when it matters.

Not like you, Dale. Oh, once upon a time, you looked like a man I could look up to. Learn somethin' from. The kind of man who'd run roughshod over this company before, and was liable to do so again. That's why you brought the Black Hats together, wasn't it? To do what had to be done. You wanted to surround yourself with the toughest, the most vicious, the most dangerous sons of guns you could find, and you found me, a Sidewinder, and my brothers Dwayne and Jase, and you had us fight for you, and protect you, and keep you on top of the mountain, and what did you do? You dropped the ball. Time and again. You had your short at Dustin Robinson when he was champion, and you couldn't get it done. You're a one hit wonder, Dale, and me?" He slapped the championship. "I am the future, and I'm gonna show you why you were a fool to trust a Sidewinder. You think you can take this from me? A broken down old man whose shown he is soft in the belly? No, no, you ain't never gonna take this from me, Dale Whitlock. I will die before I let you beat me. You count on that."

He clapped Tommy on the shoulder.

"Because me, and Dwayne and Jase, and Texas Tommy here, we are the new Black Hat Rodeo, and we are stronger and more dangerous than ever. You just count on that, and see if maybe a cowardly White Hat like yourself can find any allies to fight us with. It's gonna be a real long fight four on one." (66)

vs

St. Croix and Levee vs Derby and Mitchell

Well, this could have gone better. Camille and Suzanne are both terribly green, with Suzanne in particular one of the weakest in-ring performers we have, and they had zero chemistry together. My women’s division seems riddled with that. On the plus side, team punk rock on the other side okay as usual, with Lilyanna carrying the load. She looked damn good, and after entirely too long of St. Croix and Levee working together with stilted, awkward double-team attempts, Lilyanna cut them off and got the win with a Thrust Kick to mercifully end it.(36)

We went backstage next to Madalene DeGeorge, who was preening with her newly-won GCW Women's Championship on hand.

"I do love it when things fall together as they should. I've been telling you all for weeks that I am the superior woman in GCW. That I am the one with the skill, and the beauty, and the class, and all the rest of you are playing for second place, and here I am to prove it." She ran her fingers over the belt. "Look at this beautiful piece of gold. The symbol of excellence in the world. The symbol of my personal excellence. I defeated Lily-Rose, I took this title, and I established myself the woman to beat. Not that any of you, of course, stand a chance. You're all a level far below me, and none of you can hope to defeat me. Anyone who wants to take a stab at it is going to realize exactly what High Class really means." (63)

vs

Lash and the Heavenly Bodies vs Sills and Tropical Storm

It’s a bit worrying that Sills was perhaps the second-worst performer in this contest, even behind Jupiter. He's supposed to be a 38-year-old veteran, a reliable midcarder, but he's never actually established himself with a really solid performance, and while I hate to write anyone off, I don't know how much longer I can justify his place around. Luckily, the rest did a solid job, with the Heavenly Bodies preening and showing off to obnoxious degrees, Jupiter especially delighting in bullying the smaller Tarzan. It didn't end up paying off, though, between Sebastien storming in like a house of fire and Boston, at least, hitting some solid kicks and dizzying Adonis Lash to knock him out of the ring. A Missile Dropkick from Tarzan to Jupiter later, and the end result was academic at 11:30. (43)

We went backstage next to a dark room. Poseidon wasn't in attendance that we could see, but Night Stalker and Ashton Black were ready for their interview.

"So, you skipped by by the skin of your teeth," Night Stalker opened. "How clever, how fun. But it can't last forever. Braden Voss. Wolf Koziol. We have our eyes set on you. We plan to put you both down. The Riptide isn't satisfied with half-assed victories, and we want to show you just how much stronger we are, and more dangerous. And to that end, our King, Poseidon, has made a fun little offer just to add you some extra spice tonight. Just to add some extra motivation."

"You see, we're three weeks away from Independence, and that's just too long to wait. Poseidon wants a fight. And we want a fight. And from how you both talk, you want a fight, too. So it sounds like we're all of a mind." Ashton Black flashed a savage grin at the camera. "So it's us against you. Whichever one of you win a match against us tonight, not that it's happening, will get a title match against Poseidon, King of the Seas, next week, here on Combat Television. And if you can't win, you'll never a Heavyweight Championship match again as long as the Riptide lives. How does that sound?"

"Because it sounds like a fun challenge to me," Night Stalker said, laughing high and sharp. "It sounds ever so much fun to know we can crush your dreams in a single match."

"And I want you, Wolf," Ashton said. "You can act like the proud hunter, the brave warrior, but I can see you for what you are. Just another dog, just another predator, like me. I can smell it on you. And I'm going to show you what a Jackal is capable of when its hunger is roused."

"Which leaves you to me, Braden Voss," Night Stalker said. "And that match is next. I hope you're ready." (68)

vs

Night Stalker vs Braden Voss

For the length of this battle, I was quite excited about where the future was going. Night Stalker is, consistently, one of the best workers in the entire company, and battled with a viciousness and bloodthirst that stood out to everyone, but Braden was far from a poor opponent. He zipped around, fighting on a more even-keel with the 6' Stalker than he had the towering Poseidon, and with Stalker's selling, his strikes seemed to have a great deal more impact. He ducked out of a few big kick attempts and kept the Night Stalker on his toes, though he also fell victim to an eye rake and a kick to the back of the head that nearly put him out. He returned the favor by managing to twist Night Stalker's mask, leaving him blinded and confused and vulnerable to the Flying Back Elbow for the win at 17:55. (58)

vs

Ashton Black vs Wolf Koziol

But then my good humor ended. I should have reversed the matches, honestly, as while Wolf is definitely the bigger star of the four, Night Stalker and Voss are better workers considerably, and Ashton Black is still shaking off his ring rust - and now that's going to be a little worse because he suffered a cracked tailbone when Wolf dumped him out of the ring partway through the match. It was a careless, sloppy move, and I was about tearing out my hair backstage watching it. Ashton carried on gamely, trying not to show it too much and playing the mean-spirited attack dog that punished Wolf with knees and chops, but he put him in a rather lengthy bulldog choke that slowed things down badly, mostly to recover from his hurts. In the end, after seeing to it that two members of the RIptide were now on the injured list, Wolf got the win on his big lariat at 15:09. (49)

With a reversed main event/semi main, this would have probably been a great show, but the subpar finish – thanks in part to Wolf’s sloppiness – and the rocky undercard dinged us. Still, we can promote a big title match coming up next week in the bridge between Coming Storm and Independence, so fingers crossed it goes off well – and Wolf doesn’t hurt Poseidon next. (51)

Next Week:

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Tempest Phenis

(P) Firestone and Rodriguez vs Nehemiah and Beltran

(P) Lail and Demand vs Mays and Graff

(P) Keaton Whisenant vs Aaron Redcloud

Sunset Army (Kandori and Umari) vs The Gwinn Brothers

Bertha Slay vs Lily-Rose Criss

Night Stalker vs Big Hank Banner

Black Hat Rodeo vs Whitlock and ???

??? vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championshi

Herrbear · January 19, 2021

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Tempest Phenis

(P) Firestone and Rodriguez vs Nehemiah and Beltran

(P) Lail and Demand vs Mays and Graff

(P) Keaton Whisenant vs Aaron Redcloud

Sunset Army (Kandori and Umari) vs The Gwinn Brothers

Bertha Slay vs Lily-Rose Criss

Night Stalker vs Big Hank Banner

Black Hat Rodeo vs Whitlock and ???

??? vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championshi

DinoKea · January 19, 2021

Ouch, Ashton did not last long without getting injured did he. I was a bit questioning of the order, but figured you had reasoning.

Predictions:

Preshow:Tempest Phenis def. Kelly Speakman

Since Speakman lost last time, I'm not really willing to pick her to win this time honestly.

Preshow: Nehemiah & Beltran def. Firestone & Rodriguez

These two are making a new face tag team to probably just help build your better heels, while the others are a pair of jobber, even if one has a great name.

Preshow: Lail & Demand def. Mays & Graff

Gambling here, but since Mays and Graff are both debuting on the preshow, I'm going Lail and Demand are possibly the bigger names here.

Preshow: Aaron Redcloud def. Keaton Whisenant

Keaton is not going anywhere, while Aaron definitely could be.

The Gwinn Brothers def. Sunset Army (Kandori & Umari)

Gwinn Bros are too high to lose to Umari and while Kandori is on their level, he's also retiring soon.

Lily-Rose Criss def, Bertha Slay

Slay is up there on your list, but I'm guessing this is build up for Criss challenging for the title again.

Night Stalker def. Big Hank Banner

Betting on this being Hank's all time best, although his one again Billy Ray could compete.

Black Hat Rodeo def. Whitlock & ???

Could probably go either way honestly, depending on who ??? is, but I just feel the Black Hats will get the win. Could be Robinson?

Poseidon def. ??? for the GCW Heavyweight Championshi

Whether it's Braden or Wolf, I can't see either of them taking the title at this current time. Plus while you've done TV change overs before, it seems unlikely for your biggest title.

KyTeran · January 19, 2021

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Tempest Phenis

(P) Firestone and Rodriguez vs Nehemiah and Beltran

(P) Lail and Demand vs Mays and Graff

(P) Keaton Whisenant vs Aaron Redcloud

Sunset Army (Kandori and Umari) vs The Gwinn Brothers

Bertha Slay vs Lily-Rose Criss

Night Stalker vs Big Hank Banner

Black Hat Rodeo vs Whitlock and ???

??? vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championshi

Zergon · January 19, 2021

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Tempest Phenis

Going with the unknown here

(P) Firestone and Rodriguez vs Nehemiah and Beltran

Thinking they are slighly bigger names here

(P) Lail and Demand vs Mays and Graff

Again, going with the unknown in the off chance that they are bigger name signings.

(P) Keaton Whisenant vs Aaron Redcloud

Neither haven´t done a whole lot but Aaron have at least got decent amound of wins while KEaton... well... he hasn´t

Sunset Army (Kandori and Umari) vs The Gwinn Brothers

Brothers might be better feud partners to Sunset Army than what Jack and Wolf were but looks like Gwinn´s have set their sight on another target so figuring this is here just to build them up.

Bertha Slay vs Lily-Rose Criss

Criss gets some momentum before the rematch.

Night Stalker vs Big Hank Banner

Not much question on this one.

Black Hat Rodeo vs Whitlock and ???

Thinking this is going to be the surprise partner helpts to get a win story.

??? vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championshi

Still thinking that Jack will be the next champ so Poseidon retains here.

smw88 · January 19, 2021

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Tempest Phenis

(P) Firestone and Rodriguez vs Nehemiah and Beltran

(P) Lail and Demand vs Mays and Graff

(P) Keaton Whisenant vs Aaron Redcloud

Sunset Army (Kandori and Umari) vs The Gwinn Brothers

Bertha Slay vs Lily-Rose Criss

Night Stalker vs Big Hank Banner

Black Hat Rodeo vs Whitlock and ???

??? vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championshi

jokerdesilva · January 22, 2021

June 18th, 1986

Boston, 797 in attendance

The news came in after Combat Television that Ashton did, in fact, have a cracked coccyx, which is far from ideal. It’s not technically going to stop him from working, he’s stated, but it is of course going to slow him down for the next month or so while he heals, so I’ve got to treat him with a light touch.

A few days later, Kurt officially announced his retirement from in-ring competition. He let me know that he’d be interested in working as a manager, or perhaps a color commentator. Garner Bautista did a fine job on TV, though he wasn’t blow away, so I’d consider adding Kurt to the table, and seeing if there was anyone to partner him with on screen.

vs

Pre-Show – Kelly Speakman vs Tempest Phenis

Tempest was another new signing, a pretty little thing out of Sacramento with plenty of charm and plenty of growing to do. She and Speakman didn’t especially impress here, but Tempest got the win with a martial arts kick in 7:40 for the win. (17)

vs

Pre-Show – Cash Firestone and Sawyer Rodriguez vs Beltran and Nehemiah

Well, first out the gate I noticed that Firestone and Rodriguez have excellent chemistry together. I have no idea how to package a bald bruiser from Oklahoma with a brash and arrogant Hispanic kid per se, but it might be something to work with. This was also a test run for Kurt Grey managing these two – both as a chemistry test, and to see how his managerial chops were. He did some good work at ringside, but didn’t dazzle me with the two giants. Beltran won off a Face-Plant in 8:11. (27)

vs

Pre-Show – Lail and Demand vs Mays and Graff

In a constant attempt to bolster the face side of the ring, I’d hired Alexander Mays and Nails Graff, two gentlemen from the local New England indie scene with some experience. While Mays was still pretty young, Graff actually had some name value, and the crowd popped for both of them here – and kept going when they delivered excellent work. Mays got the pin on a High Knee at 10:29. (39)

vs

Pre-Show – Keaton Whisenant vs Aaron Redcloud

A bit of a cool down after that last match, as two of our longer-tenured undercard guys duked it out. Both looked about as middling as ever, with Keaton less middling and more 'bad', and Redcloud won with an Overhead Slam at 6:41. (21)

vs

Sunset Army (Kandori and Umari) vs The Gwinn Brothers

Rather than seconding his soldiers in the Sunset Army, Kandori actually came out to wrestle this week alongside Umari, to "teach him more about the craft first hand," as McKean put it on commentary. It didn't end up paying off in the ring, though. Kandori spent most of the match on the ring apron shouting orders at Umari, while the Gwinn Brothers operated as a well-oiled machine. By the time Kandori tagged in things had gotten out of hand, and he ended up taking a Backbreaker from Bill Gwinn at 8:59. (45)

We went backstage next to where King Kong Grady was looming, Lester Haas standing in front of him with sunglasses on and a cigar chomped between his teeth.

"It's come to my attention that the so-called Danger Boys have been backstage whining about things. Complaining that my client, the monstrous King Kong Grady, interrupted their supposed match and left them busted. To which I ask, who gives a care? If you boys have a problem with it, well, you ain't looking so dangerous, are you? But that makes sense. The both of yous know you can't hang with my monster in the ring, that neither of you stand a chance against King Kong Grady. Hell, I don't think the two of you could take King Kong Grady on your lonesome, could you?"

With a savage grin, he took the cigar out of his mouth and jabbed it at the camera.

"So Danger Boys, here's a challenge for you. To show what true power and dominance can be, my client is prepared to face you both, two on one, at GCW Independence on the 6th. If you've both got the stones to step into the ring with a juggernaut like this, I'll enjoy watching the ring crew peel you both off the mat." (67)

vs

Bertha Slay vs Lily-Rose Criss

Following her beating at the hands of the Black Hat Rodeo, Lily-Rose had a mind for revenge. She was still sore from the ugly spinebuster she took two weeks ago, wincing as she climbed into the ring, and Bertha took quick advantage. She barreled in to attack the veteran with heavy shots, trying to pin her to the mat and punish her back with stomps and elbows, and cranking her into a nasty bow-and-arrow stretch. Lily-Rose managed to roll out of it, though, and despite the pain use her superior agility and savvy to outwrestle Bertha Slay, taking her down with the Crossbody at 9:25. (41)

Lily-Rose went to the back for an interview next, still holding her wrapped ribs.

"If I've done anything, it's prove that I am not easily intimidated. Bertha Slay thought she could intimidate me by teaming up with the Black Hat Rodeo, by letting one of them hit me with a Spinebuster. Well, Jase Marshall put me on the mat, and look at me now? I'm still standing. It will take a lot more than that to stop me, and even when I've been given a beating, I'm still more than enough woman to handle you, Bertha.

Which brings me to another woman in this company. Madalene DeGeorge. You won that title, I'll give you that, and you've proven that you're one of the best. No one can take that away from you. But what I can take away from you is that Championship. I'm coming back for what's mine, and you're going to have to kill me to stop me." (46)

vs

Night Stalker vs Big Hank Banner

The Night Stalker looked especially vicious and furious making his way to the ring after two sub-par weeks for him and the Riptide recently, but he still had the Tag Titles to show for it, so that was something. And he was more than happy to take out his frustrations on Big Hank. It made for a surprisingly good showing, mostly due to Night Stalker bumping around nicely for Big Hank's middling power offense, but also laying into him with vicious strikes and controlling the pace well. While Big Hank bullied him around at times with his sheer size, Night Stalker looked in good shape for most of the match, and ended it with a Thrust Kick to a kneeling Big Hank to get the win at 13:17. (51)

We went backstage next to Dale Whitlock, ready for an interview.

"Y'know, I bet you thought you were pretty clever, Billy Ray, challengin' me to an eight man tag. After all, I've made a lot of enemies as of late, I'm well aware of that. Ol' Cowboy Dale Whitlock, he's burnt a lot of bridges and hurt a lot of people, and once upon a time, I was proud of that fact. There's a lot of people that'd hold that against me, and be happy to see me twistin' in the wind, and I'm sure that there are, too.

But there are at least a couple men that were brave enough, and good-hearted enough, to give me a second chance. Allow me to introduce them to you."

Dustin Robinson, Carver Wells, and Ryan Osburn walked in to join Dale Whitlock.

"There have been times when me and Dale were enemies," Dustin said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Rivals. I've battled him fiercely in my time. But what I always knew was that Dale Whitlock was a man with a measure of respect. He wanted to be the best, he wanted to be the champion, and sometimes he took shortcuts to try to get there, but we've all had desperate moments. I knew that when the chips were down, he'd try to do the right thing, and looking at him now, he's at that point."

"And more than that, it's time for a change around here," Carver Wells added.

"Absolutely. The Black Hats, the Riptide, this new Syndicate, they've been running roughshod for some time," Dustin said. "And it's time for someone to stand up against them. Not just a lone warrior, not just a man on his own, but an alliance. And that's why I've brought to you this group. The Standard-Bearer. The White Hat. The Mechanics. And together, we're going to protect this company, and this sport, and the people that need it. Consider us the Old Guard."

"And the Old Guard is coming for you, Billy Ray," Dale Whitlock said. "How do you feel about that?" (44)

vs

Black Hat Rodeo vs Old Guard

A bit of a chaotic match, between introducing the Old Guard and throwing Texas Tommy in with the Black Hats properly for the first time. There were some rough spots, of course, especially when Tommy was in there as he's still pretty raw, but all in all the teams worked together nicely. Billy Ray was the expected standout, calling the shots and hurling abuse his old mentor's way, but ducking away every time he actually tagged into the ring. The rest of the Old Guard looked hesitant to tag Dale in at times, as well, especially Carver Wells, but it was the new White Hat who got the win when he pinned Tommy Carleton with a Hangman's Neckbreaker at 14:43. (49)

We went backstage to Poseidon, who was sitting with his belt draped across his lap.

"So, last week my disciples made a challenge. If Wolf or Braden could defeat them in singles action, either of those two men could win a title shot - and both of you did. And so we've been left to wonder, who will I actually face? Who will I choose to go against? But I've beaten Wolf time and again, and proven that I have your number. And Braden, you've fallen to me as well, my latest conquest. And as I've said, I have grown so bored as of late."

He showed a rare smile - a vicious slash across his face in the darkness.

"So I decided to make things interesting. Tonight, it will be the GCW Heavyweight Championship on the line, on Combat Television, for the first time in a very long time. And I am not content with that being the only first. Wolf. Braden. You will both face me tonight. A triangle match. I will face both of you, and you will both have a shot at me. And when I pin or submit one of you, I will go on the champion yet again, and have proven myself an unimpeachable warrior. A true champion. I hope you're both ready." (78)

vs

Braden Voss vs Wolf Koziol vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championship Match

The first ever three way match, and it went pretty well considering. Poseidon ruled the psychology, attempting to pit Braden and Wolf together who were both fired up looking to win the Heavyweight Championship off of him. He used that to his advantage, that and the fact that Wolf and Braden clearly weren't expecting anything like this, looking awkward and confused for part of the match. Neither really wanted to face the other, trying to keep focused on Poseidon, but he'd whip one into the other, or duck out of the way so that Wolf chopped Braden by mistake, slowly driving them more and more feverish. In the end, Poseidon proved himself the most cunning of the three men, managing to score a Face Crusher on Braden Voss after he’d accidentally Back Elbowed Wolf, and retaining the title at 21:05. (58)

This was supposed to feel like a somewhat big deal episode, with a Heavyweight title match on TV for a change, and I’d like to say we delivered. The eight man could have perhaps been better but Billy Ray’s star is rising, the Gwinn Brothers get better every week, and Night Stalker is bulletproof in the ring. I can’t really complain. (57)

Next Week:

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Trinity Branch

(P) Sunset Army vs Riddle and Cotton

(P) King Kong Grady vs Danjou Nakasato

(P) Isaac Holman vs Boston Sills

The Dregs vs Mays and Graff

Olivares and Slay vs Bill Gwinn and Criss

Black Hat Rodeo (Bragg and Marshall) vs Old Guard (Whitlock and Osburn)

The Syndicate (Kramer and Nations) vs Voss and Koziol

MJ Abruzzi vs Carver Wells

DinoKea · January 22, 2021

The Old Guard, interesting but sensible. Always feel like the lack of face stables is sometimes weird.

Prediction:

Preshow: Trinity Branch def. Kelly Speakman

Can you tell my expectations for Speakman really aren't high?

Preshow: Sunset Army def. Riddle & Cotton

Riddle and Cotton haven't really given a reason to get a win over the Sunset Army

Preshow: King Kong Grady def. Danjou Nakasato

Continuing to build up Grady

Preshow: Boston Sills def. Isaac Holman

Amazing the way a bit of bad chemistry can really kill your career.

Mays & Graff def. The Dregs

Wondering if these New England boys might be looking to challenge for the titles in a bit.

Olivares & Slay def. Bill Gwinn & Criss

Definitely a weird match, I think since faces got the wins last episode, heels get the win here.

Black Hat Rodeo def. Old Guard

Bigger names and future stars

Voss & Koizol def. The Syndicate

Could see this go either way, but I'm going to say since these two are lower on the card, Kramer gets pinned.

MJ Abruzzi def. Carver Wells

MJ is definitely the bigger name

KyTeran · January 22, 2021

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Trinity Branch

(P) Sunset Army vs Riddle and Cotton

(P) King Kong Grady vs Danjou Nakasato

(P) Isaac Holman vs Boston Sills

The Dregs vs Mays and Graff

Olivares and Slay vs Bill Gwinn and Criss

Black Hat Rodeo (Bragg and Marshall) vs Old Guard (Whitlock and Osburn)

The Syndicate (Kramer and Nations) vs Voss and Koziol

MJ Abruzzi vs Carver Wells

jokerdesilva · January 23, 2021

June 25th, 1986

Connecticut, 785 in attendance

Bad news hit shortly before Combat Television: SWC, a Canadian company, had offered Madalene DeGeorge a fat exclusive contract to come work for them, to the tune of $12,000 a month. Worse still, Mr. Dishman offered me a cap on how much I could offer her – no more than $10,000. I had to hope an extra two years on the contract and some small perks would be able to sway her back our way, because I wasn’t sure what would happen to our women’s division if we lost her.

Also annoyingly, Hugh Bailey announced that he’d be working a SWC show instead of ours on Combat TV, leaving me with one ref for the night: Rob Zilko. It looks like we might have a new enemy before us.

vs

Pre-Show – Kelly Speakman vs Trinity Branch

Well, not an ideal match, since Speakman and Branch have zero chemistry in the ring and looked clunky and awkward together. Speakman is still showing up as a decent, hard-nosed technical wrestler, though, and submitted Trinity with a Sleeper hold in 8:50. (18)

vs

Pre-Show – Sunset Army vs Cotton and Riddle

Decent little tag match to give the Sunset Army some more work in the ring. They looked about the same that they always looked, while Cotton and Riddle were a perfectly average tag team, no chemistry one way or another. Karasuma got the win with a Claw Hold in 10:03. (20)

vs

Pre-Show – King Kong Grady vs Danjou Nakasato

A good big man match for Grady, as Nakasato is a decent seller and undersized face. He sold one hell of a beating, and Lester was good as ever at ringside, ordering his monster around. Grady got the win with the King Kong Suplex at 6:43. (21)

vs

Pre-Show – Isaac Holman vs Boston Sills

The best match of the pre-show, of course, and Holman is still showing up as the best of my new crop. I might have to actually do something with him sooner or later. Then again, I have a bevvy of heels already, so some more seasoning wouldn’t go amiss. He’s not that good. Boston got the win with his Top Rope Elbow at 8:41. (31)

We opened up with an interview with Bret Danger and Auston Sandy, the Danger Boys.

"Suppose the first thing I oughta say is thank you, Grady," Bret started with. "Thank you for coming out an' telling us straight who it was that beat up me and my brother here in those little ambushes of yours. Frankly, I'm surprised a big ugly beast like you could ever sneak up on someone, but I've been wanting to know just who was responsible. Now I know."

"And now we know who to go after," Auston said. "You thought you could come in and just toss us around, because you're so big and strong? Well, it's not gonna be that easy."

"No sir." Bret shook his head. "And if you think we're gonna be afraid to face you, well, you forgot who you were dealing with. We're the Danger Boys. Danger's my name, and Danger is what we do."

"So if you wanna take on the both of us, consider yourself on." (36)

vs

The Dregs vs Mays and Graff

A main show appearance for my two new heavy hitters. The Dregs looked like a decent undercard tag team as usual, and the other two looked even better. The Dregs tried to use their standard underhanded tricks, eye rakes and double-teams and referee distractions a plenty in attendance, but they were dealing with two well-oiled machines and hard-hitting fighters. Mays in particular was electric, despite being the less well-known of the duo, and got the win with a double-knee strike in the corner at 9:16. (45)

vs

Olivares and Slay vs Bill Gwinn and Criss

Slay continues to gel nicely with the Black Hats, coming down with a similar brutish swagger to the 6'5 Olivares. Meanwhile, Bill Gwinn and Lily-Rose both looked eager to get in the ring and handle their business. Gwinn and Olivares started, with the All-American bruiser taking it to the larger cowboy immediately, pummeling him back into the corner. Bertha ignored a tag at first, seemingly not wanting to get on the receiving end of Lily-Rose's offense, but it couldn't last forever, and she ended up taking the fall to a Crossbody in 15:13 of a very solid match. (42)

We went backstage next to Sebastien Durant.

"You were, perhaps, the better man at Coming Storm, Scorpio. You and your partner. But you were also the more cunning man, the more vicious man, the more ruthless. And I know, as you know, that I can beat you, man to man. I have done it in the past, I did it to win the title of Prince of Wrestling, and I will do it again. I want another fight with you, and more than that, Tarzan and I want another fight with you. We are a Tropical Storm, ready to blow your little Syndicate away. So you tell me, Scorpio. Are you man enough to step into the ring with us once more, and prove what you can do? Prove you are the future that you claim to be? Because I would very much like to see it." (55)

vs

Black Hat Rodeo (Bragg and Marshall) vs Old Guard (Whitlock and Osburn)

Solid tag team match with Billy Ray acting as the stand out as usual. To be perhaps expected, he spent a lot of the match ducking Whitlock's attention, not wanting to go one-on-one with his former mentor, and instead preferring to shove around Osburn and out-muscle the veteran technician. Marshall was instead left to bully Whitlock with sheer size - which worked, to an extent, but Whitlock proved the cagier and more experienced fighter. Marshall slammed him to the mat with a nasty powerslam, causing Bragg to tag in to try and lay in with stomps and knees, but Whitlock fired up and battled out against him with rights and lefts, and nearly hit him with a spear tackle. Bragg tagged Marshall back in instead, who walked into a double-team from Whitlock and Osburn, and a Hangman's Neckbreaker that gave the Old Guard the win. (49)

We went backstage to Wolf Koziol, next, who was fired up for an interview.

"People like to keep telling me, they say Wolf, Wolf, ain't Poseidon got your number? Ain't Poseidon got one over on you? And you know what, there's a point to be made there. He does seem to keep coming out ahead, don't he? Whether it's through choking me out before a match, siccing his attack dog on me, throwing me into some kind of crazy three-way match - it doesn't really matter. He's used every trick in the book to beat me, but that's the thing, ain't it? Mr. King. You had to use those tricks. You had to outmaneuver me. You had to do everything you could to escape a Lariat, because you know it would have brought you down.

And last week, yeah, you walked out with the title - but you stole that title. From me, from Voss. You pit us against each other so you didn't have to do the dirty work, and hell, you waited until I got hit with somebody else's move. What kind of man does that? Nah, nah, I'm going to beat you. Sooner or later, I am going to beat you, Poseidon, and you are going to find out just what kind of man I really am. I want a match, one-on-one, to prove what I can do. And tonight, I'm going to show you just why I deserve it." (75)

vs

The Syndicate (Kramer and Nations) vs Wolf Koziol and Braden Voss

True to his words, Wolf looked especially fired up out of the gate here, as he and Braden continue to make for a solid tag team despite their strife last week. It turned into a damn good tag team match, with the heels looking not even remotely out of place. Scorpio was perhaps the best one in the ring and that’s delightful to see at this point. Unfortunately, that was partly due to selling for Wolf’s offense, as Scorpio, clearly with his mind somewhere else, spent a lot of time bumping around for the biker brawler. He couldn't lock in his Scorpion Clutch, instead ending up whipped over Wolf's shoulders, and eating a Lariat at 9:42 when he got to his feet. (54)

We went backstage to MJ Abruzzi, who was enjoying a neck massage.

"Well, well, look at how fiery our little Wolfpack is, huh? All fulla piss and vinegar. Ain't that special. Wolf, it seems to me you've forgotten something important in your little quest to purge yourself of your failure against our Poseidon. You see, I got a win over you. And I mean to assert that even more firmly. Raiden is outta the picture, I've beaten Dustin Robinson, and that makes you the guy around here, don't it? The big man on campus. And just who I wanna beat.

But you're looking to be busy, I get that, so it's about time the Godfather took aim at your buddy, Voss. I remember you, Braden. We've wrestled before, and it's time we got the band back together, you see? I need a dance partner. I need someone to show off my skills against. You're the guy. So dust off your boots and get ready to go, because I am gonna hurt you, badly, just like I'll hurt Wolf - and just like I plan to hurt Carver Wells tonight. Watch closely, bud, 'cuz this is gonna be you." (65)

vs

MJ Abruzzi vs Carver Wells

While Carver has regressed some since his losses to Poseidon, MJ looks as excellent as ever. I'm hoping the Old Guard as a whole can raise Carver's profile a little bit, but mostly, he's just in danger of being jumped by new talent around him. Regardless, this made for an excellent match between two young, dynamic performers who are damn good in the ring. They battled it out in a brutal technical exchange, whipping and flying around, with MJ systematically hammering Carver's legs to slow him down, bit by bit. Carver hit him back hard, nearly securing a Neckbreaker once or twice to really show MJ how close he was, but he couldn't get the job done, and the low kicks, ankle twists, knee bars, and all the rest started to take effect. In the end MJ got the win with his Italian Deathlock to force the submission at 22:08. (57)

Yet more proof of how much our midcard has built, as we seem to be consistently rolling hard there, matches rarely dropping below a certain level. The main event is still stagnating just a tad, but the more the undercard catches up, the better – right? (58)

Next Week:

(P) Dom Sarvela vs Mo Ponder

(P) Speakman and Slay vs Mitchell and Gillam

(P) Trent Stevens vs Roger Cotton

(P) Heavenly Bodies vs Hillbillies

Kramer and St. Croix vs Whitlock and Criss

Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) vs The Mechanics

Josilyn Darville vs Lilyanna Derby

MJ Abruzzi vs Sebastien Durant

Riptide vs Koziol, Voss, and Banner

DinoKea · January 23, 2021

Hopefully you manage to keep DeGeorge, it'd suck to lose her, particularly since she only just won the title.

Predictions:

Preshow: Dom Sarvela def. Mo Ponder

Mo's not really managed to move his way up the card, so I think new guy Dom gets the win.

Preshow: Speakman & Slay def. Mitchell & Gillam

I feel like Slay is the biggest name here.

Preshow: Trent Stevens def. Roger Cotton

Trent is definitely the biggest name

Preshow: Heavenly Bodies def. Hillbillies

Heavenly Bodies have received a few compliments while Hillbillies aren't really going anywhere.

Whitlock & Criss def. Kramer & St. Croix

Definitely the bigger names here

The Mechanics def. Black Hat Rodeo

I know it'd be a lot of losses for the Black Hats, but could help build up Mechanics for a title challenge in the future?

Lilyanna Derby def. Josilyn Darville

Derby is definitely the bigger name, plus need a good face challenger for DeGeorge.

MJ Abruzzi def. Sebastien Durant

Can't see Durant being at the level to beat MJ yet.

Riptide def. Koziol, Voss, and Banner

I can't see a team with the likes of Night Stalker and Poseidon ever losing to a team with Big Hank

KyTeran · January 23, 2021

(P) Dom Sarvela vs Mo Ponder

(P) Speakman and Slay vs Mitchell and Gillam

(P) Trent Stevens vs Roger Cotton

(P) Heavenly Bodies vs Hillbillies

Kramer and St. Croix vs Whitlock and Criss

Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) vs The Mechanics

Josilyn Darville vs Lilyanna Derby

MJ Abruzzi vs Sebastien Durant

Riptide vs Koziol, Voss, and Banner

Zergon · January 23, 2021

(P) Dom Sarvela vs Mo Ponder

Going to go with the new guy here

(P) Speakman and Slay vs Mitchell and Gillam

Thinking Slay is the 5th women right now behind the top four so picking her to win here.

(P) Trent Stevens vs Roger Cotton

Stevens continue to build momentum in the undercard

(P) Heavenly Bodies vs Hillbillies

Bodies are higher on the pecking order.

Kramer and St. Croix vs Whitlock and Criss

Good to see Whitlock and Robinson getting some spotlight again with part of Old Guard. I´d rate Whitlock and Kramer on about same level right now but Criss is above St. Croix by quite a margin so that´s the deciding factor here.

Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) vs The Mechanics

Thinging Rodeo is actually slighly outclassed against Old Guard as only Bragg feels like big enough name to go over anyone from Old Guard in singles match. That said I could see Oliveres and Marshall going over in tag matches and that´s the case here as they are still more seasoned tag team than Mechanics so thinking they pick the win in order to keep Rodeo look good.

Josilyn Darville vs Lilyanna Derby

Darville is higher on the pecking order in my books but Derby is close enough to get a win and with heel champ (assuming you manage to keep her), you are likely going to build Derby as the next challenger.

MJ Abruzzi vs Sebastien Durant

Durant is doing well but he ain´t big enough name yet to go over Abruzzi.

Riptide vs Koziol, Voss, and Banner

Not sure which three from Riptide are here but I assume Machine is still on shelf so thinking Poseidon is part of this which tilts the edge on Riptide´s favor. Also including Banner here makes me think he´s the one eating the pin.

jokerdesilva · January 24, 2021

July 2nd, 1986

Boston, 796 in attendance

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="hdqgeYG.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hdqgeYG.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="fZeFiXB.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/fZeFiXB.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Pre-Show – Dom Sarvela vs Mo Ponder

Dom Sarvela is a 6’10 juggernaut I hired pretty much for entirely that reason alone. A no-name, he didn’t exactly, uh, perform very well at all, but I’m really trying to find a proper giant to get behind. Maybe he can be the one? Not here, though. He still beat Mo Ponder with a Chokeslam in 5:31. (17)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="QvuaMwA.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/QvuaMwA.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="kpd6oRw.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/kpd6oRw.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="jzEmeMl.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/jzEmeMl.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="lCNUptz.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/lCNUptz.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Pre-Show – Speakman and Slay vs Mitchell and Gilliam

Now this I liked seeing better. Speakman is a solid young heel and Gilliam is impressing, while Slay is still just as good as she’s always been – which is to say, totally fine, but not amazing. Adrianna is the one largely disappointing me, but she hasn’t really been given much to sink her teeth into, so I suppose I can’t blame her. She got the win here with a Thrust Kick at 9:21. (28)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="sHSFEvG.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/sHSFEvG.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="kQgIUgS.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/kQgIUgS.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Pre-Show – Trent Stevens vs Roger Cotton

Just keeping Trent Stevens active while I wait for the right moment to use him. The Sunset Army is still an idea that’s percolating, but frankly, Kandori is going to spend most of his time laying down on the way out, so. Not sure that’s a wagon I want to hitch a promising star to. Maybe I have another idea brewing. Here, he won with the Running Knee at 5:53 in a damn good showing. (38)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="9bWYTHx.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/9bWYTHx.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="hhWDtYl.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hhWDtYl.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="iGqYCxh.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/iGqYCxh.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="052noat.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/052noat.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Pre-Show – Heavenly Bodies vs Hillbillies

Funny how both of these teams have been here forever and are putting on a match… worse than job guy Roger Cotton. Oops. Well, that’s not fair – the Heavenly Bodies look good, especially Jupiter. Saturn hit a High Knee for the win at 9:10. (33)

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We went backstage with Madalene DeGeorge, polishing her nails before her interview began.

"You know, I really don't know why I'm even wrestling at Independence. I've already proven that I'm the best, have I not? I've already shown off exactly how capable I am, and that I am far better than Lily-Rose - or anyone else in this company - could ever hope to be. I am the superior women's athlete. I am the very definition of High Class. And yet miss Lily-Rose, who's been deciding to scrap around with big burly men, thinks she can come against me? I don't think so."

She sighed, tossing her hair back with runway model perfection.

"But I'm not the one who gets to make those decisions, I suppose. The Championship Committee has made it clear that Lily-Rose is my opponent, and I am wrestling at Independence this Sunday, so there we are. So I'll just say this: Lily-Rose, I am better than you. Better in every way. And you are never, ever taking this belt off of me." (56)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="y9F4RTI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/y9F4RTI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="A4sP4BO.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/A4sP4BO.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="UlFY9aV.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/UlFY9aV.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="spCwuOE.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/spCwuOE.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Kramer and St. Croix vs Whitlock and Criss

Well, my idea had been to slot Camille St. Croix into a valet/stable role with the Syndicate, but she and Kramer had zero chemistry at all, so maybe not. I just feel like a smug, superior lady type would fit MJ’s crime boss gimmick. We’ll have to see. She still looked green, but in the ring with three seasoned veterans, hopefully she'll learn something after tonight. If nothing else, it played into things nicely with her being outwrestled by Lily-Rose pretty much from the get-go, while Kramer and Whitlock went at it like two big bulls hitting hard in the middle of the right, sheer power against relentless toughness. It was, then, unsurprisingly a Crossbody from Lily-Rose that got the win at 8:43. (42)

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A visibly annoyed Scorpio was backstage next for an interview, pacing back and forth in the ring.

"Blah, blah, blah. Y'know? That's all I hear from a guy like you, Sebastien. Blah, blah, blah. Oh, look at me, I'm the Haitian Hammer, I'm so big, I'm so tough, I won the Prince of Wrestling - forget it. That was months ago, kid, it's time to move on and stop resting on your laurels. What have you done lately, huh? Beat me? I don't think so. Nah, nah, brother, you couldn't beat me in that tag match. That's the number that really matters in the record books, you feel me? And yet you still wanna run your mouth, you still wanna act like the tough guy. Well, fine. You wanna talk so tough? I'll put you right back in your place, my man, I'll show you who the better man is around here, that can definitely be arranged. Tropic Storm against the Syndicate, you want round two? You got round two, just so I can finally put you in my rearview mirror and stop thing about your big baldheaded ass, you feel me?

So congrats, kids. You got your match. And better than that? You got a match tonight, too. Against the big cheese, the Godfather, my main man MJ, and he's gonna whip you six ways from Sunday. Hell, we'll see if you're in condition to fight me on Sunday. I'd like very much to see that." (53)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="IsrYUpm.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/IsrYUpm.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="dXz4ADg.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/dXz4ADg.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="ckPwwbs.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ckPwwbs.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="kzUgGEh.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/kzUgGEh.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) vs The Mechanics

Just some solid tag team wrestling. What more do you need than that? The Black Hats came in looking to bully around the smaller Mechanics, as they so often do, and it worked - at first. Carver and Ryan proved powerfully resilient, though, weathering the storm and slipping out of any big moves to stay on their feet. The Black Hats couldn't say the same, as Carver took them down with some snappy dropkicks and Osburn worked them over from underneath, especially taking out Marshall's tree trunk legs to lower to the Outlaw to the ground. He managed to lock on the Spinning Toe Hold, and got the submission win at 11:11. (43)

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We went backstage next to a surly Billy Ray Bragg, urgently working over a wad of chew in his lip as he stared into the barrel of the camera.

"So, Dale Whitlock wants to call himself a White Hat, now. Wants to pretend that he's turned the corner, so to speak, and become one of the angels. Well, allow me to tell you plain that I just don't give a damn about any of that. You've turned your back on the Black Hat Rodeo, Whitlock, that's all that matters. You lost your fire, you lost your killer instinct, and you've proven that you don't have what it takes to run with the young bulls. So it is my solemn duty, my obligation, as your... protege, of sorts, to put you in the ground where you belong.

You hear me, Whitlock? You're a broken down old cowboy. You don't have what it takes anymore. You don't have the fire. And I am going to put you out of your misery. So you just count on one thing. We are gonna fight again at Independence. But this time, the Sidewinder is ready for you, well and truly ready for that fight, and I can promise you that you will never, ever take this North American Championship outta my hands." (67)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="9BZcCjK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/9BZcCjK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="IPc6bJ3.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/IPc6bJ3.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Josilyn Darville vs Lilyanna Derby

Both women came out looking ready for a fight, Josilyn mean-mugging her way to the ring and Lilyanna as cold as ice, and they both delivered. It was a brutal affair, looking more like a proper kick-boxing fight than a wrestling match, and they laid in with heavy strikes that had the crowd gasping and groaning - especially coming from two women. Josilyn threw out flurry after flurry, choking Lilyanna from behind at one point through a four-count from the referee, but she couldn't kill the fire in the punk rocky dynamo, and Lilyanna took her down with a Thrust Kick at 14:13 to win probably our best women's match to date. (51)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="gFw14NW.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/gFw14NW.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="NxT7xcK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/NxT7xcK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

MJ Abruzzi vs Sebastien Durant

Well, this was a test run for Sebastien against some higher-caliber competition, and it was rather disappointing, since he and MJ clearly have no chemistry at all. They looked like they were on different pages for much of the match, not totally going up for the right moves, selling at the wrong time. It was still good, thankfully, because MJ is excellent and Sebastien is growing into a quality worker, but not the level I'd hoped for at all. Sebastien looked like the valiant, fiery babyface, of course, but MJ was a vicious killer in there, using his experience to stay on top - and a little interference from Scorpio, who jaw-jacked with his opponent, leaving him vulnerable to a running knee. MJ rolled him into the corner and hit a couple more brutal knees while he was seated, KOing the Haitian Hammer and getting the win at 17:48. (49)

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Poseidon was backstage in the dark, his title held prominently for the camera to see.

"Wolf. How many times do I have to teach you this lesson? How many times do I have to show you the established order of things? You just can't beat me. You can blame anything you like, you can accuse me of taking short cuts, of using underhanded maneuvers, of relying on outside assistance, and maybe you'd have a point, in some of that, but the real question is, then why haven't you stopped me? Because in the end, you're just not on my level. You're all fire and bravado, but you don't have what it takes to become a King. None of you do. You don't have the will, you don't have the ruthlessness, and you will never wrest this title from my hands.

And I am going to give you a taste, Wolf. I am going to show you why on Sunday, at Independence, you would be better off just... not showing up at all. Just forfeiting. Because I will give you once last chance to defeat me, but we both know how it's going to end. And tonight, I'm going to prove that to you. Tonight, me and the RIptide, we will see that you, and Voss, and whatever foolish partner you have will drown. Count on it." (78)

<div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="hVux6ns.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hVux6ns.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="ne7XagD.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ne7XagD.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="3cH8zQg.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/3cH8zQg.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> vs <img alt="cAnfqvK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/cAnfqvK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="klRBEZ8.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/klRBEZ8.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="4IdASUz.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/4IdASUz.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div>

Riptide vs Wolf, Voss, and Banner

The Riptide came to the ring together as one sinister unit, Night Stalker slithering into the ring and holding the rope apart for Poseidon, who made another rare appearance on TV to actually wrestle. Braden Voss was out next, then Wolf Koziol, who howled to the approval of the crowd, and brought out, yes, noneother than Big Hank Banner to be their third. Consider it another bone thrown to the boss's nephew. He'd be in there with five of our biggest stars, and several, at least, of our best workers, so how much damage could he do? He definitely looked out-classed, there's no denying that, but hopefully being in there with Poseidon and Night Stalker will teach him a thing or two, and Stalker and Ashton made him look like a killer with their selling, before Poseidon just obliterated him with a running body smash and several Face Crushers. He dragged the limp Banner over to the corner, though, telling Wolf to tag him in, white Wolf did - which was the cue for Ashton and Night Stalker to run in and hit him with a double thrust kick, knocking him dizzy. Poseidon bodyslammed him down, dropped a nasty elbow, and then rolled him to the corner, brushing his hands clean of the fight. Banner tagged back in, wanting revenge, but he walked into a Night Stalker Thrust Kick at 14:45 to take the fall. (55)

Putting Banner in the main event was undeniably a mistake, and dragged the show down a tad, coupled with Sebastien and MJ’s poor chemistry, but it certainly could have been a lot worse. As the home stretch for Independence, it did just fine. (55)

GCW Independence:

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Laurette Lorio

(P) Lail and Demand vs Graff and Mays

(P) Heavenly Bodies vs Tallman and Waldron

(P) Isaac Holman vs Aaron Redcloud

King Kong Grady vs The Danger Boys

Black Hat Rodeo vs The Gwinn Brothers

Lily-Rose Criss vs Madalene DeGeorge – GCW Women’s Championship Match

The Syndicate (Kramer and Nations) vs Durant and Brownfield

Dale Whitlock vs Billy Ray Bragg – GCW North American Championship Match

The Mechanics vs Riptide – GCW Tag Team Championship Match

MJ Abruzzi vs Braden Voss

Wolf Koziol vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championship Match

DinoKea · January 24, 2021

GCW Independence Predictions:

Preshow: Kelly Speakman def. Laurette Lorio

I think Speakman might be that next step up from Lorio

Preshow: Mays & Graff def. Lail & Demand

Almost called then Grays & Maff, whoops. Anyway, definitely higher on the pedestal.

Preshow: Heavenly Bodies def. Tallman & Waldron

Heavenly Bodies seem to be getting a few wins given to them.

Preshow: Aaron Redcloud def. Isaac Holman

Yeah, Aaron is currently higher on the ladder

King Kong Grady def. The Danger Boys

I feel like this is your way of building Grady up. Very rare to see the handicapped lose a handicap match

Black Hat Rodeo def. Gwinn Brothers

Black Hats have lost a fair bit, so I think this gets their win back.

Madalene DeGeorge def. Lily-Rose Criss - GCW Women's Championship

I can't see you having Madalene lose it back so quick

The Syndicate (Kramer & Nations) def. Tropical Storm

Could be wrong here honestly, but Kramer just seems that bit too far above Brownfield.

Billy Ray Bragg def. Dale Whitlock - GCW North American Championship

I can't really see a good reason for Dale to take this title, unless you have a heel your really want to move the title onto

The Mechanics def. Riptide - GCW Tag Team Championship

Taking a bit of a gamble, but with Mean Machine already out injured and Ashton Black also picking up an injury, Mechanics hold the title for a short reign.

MJ Abruzzi def. Braden Voss

I feel like Abruzzi is just that step higher.

Poseidon def. Wolf Koziol - GCW Heavyweight Championship

Still can't see Wolf taking this title

Zergon · January 24, 2021

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Laurette Lorio

Lorio was lowest of any women during the roster review so I´d assume she´s here to job for the new girl

(P) Lail and Demand vs Graff and Mays

Still getting used to see Graff and Mays (as was obvious by the fact that I had to double check who they were) but they certainly bigger names here.

(P) Heavenly Bodies vs Tallman and Waldron

Going with established team here.

(P) Isaac Holman vs Aaron Redcloud

Holman might be one of the more impressive new guys while Aaron perhaps haven´t developed as well as you hoped but all that said, Aaron is still the bigger name right now.

King Kong Grady vs The Danger Boys

Really hoping Danger Boys ain´t buried here just to push monster heel who ain´t really deliviring. I go with DQ win for them to keep Grady looking strong in "defeat"

Black Hat Rodeo vs The Gwinn Brothers

Thinking Rodeo needs the win more here.

Lily-Rose Criss vs Madalene DeGeorge – GCW Women’s Championship Match

Nope, Criss ain´t getting the belt back. Not yet anyway as she or Derby is probably going to be the next champ (or Darville if you manage to find a way to move the belt from heel to another heel). Don´t really see any other women besides those four to hold the Women´s belt without big build-up first.

The Syndicate (Kramer and Nations) vs Durant and Brownfield

Kramer and Nations won the last one so going the otehr way this time.

Dale Whitlock vs Billy Ray Bragg – GCW North American Championship Match

I could see Dale getting the belt here but since we have heel champ who´s likely to keep the belt for a while, Bragg can´t really move to hunt that belt yet so might as well have him carry this one. Unless, of course, you have some feud on mind with him that would put North American belt into backburner.... Eh, I go with Bragg here but I won´t be that surprised if I end up being wrong.

The Mechanics vs Riptide – GCW Tag Team Championship Match

Riptide keeps the belts for now although Mechanics would certainly be solid champions as well.

MJ Abruzzi vs Braden Voss

Thinkign Abruzzi is slighly higher on pecking order.

Wolf Koziol vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championship Match

Sorry Wolf, I still expect you to fall bit short here.

KyTeran · January 24, 2021

(P) Kelly Speakman vs Laurette Lorio

(P) Lail and Demand vs Graff and Mays

(P) Heavenly Bodies vs Tallman and Waldron

(P) Isaac Holman vs Aaron Redcloud

King Kong Grady vs The Danger Boys

Black Hat Rodeo vs The Gwinn Brothers

Lily-Rose Criss vs Madalene DeGeorge – GCW Women’s Championship Match

The Syndicate (Kramer and Nations) vs Durant and Brownfield

Dale Whitlock vs Billy Ray Bragg – GCW North American Championship Match

The Mechanics vs Riptide – GCW Tag Team Championship Match

MJ Abruzzi vs Braden Voss

Wolf Koziol vs Poseidon – GCW Heavyweight Championship Match

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