The Tale of Two Wolves... Minnesota Pro Wrestling (Cverse)

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Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Where two tribes go to war…

 

MPW Tribal Warfare 2021

Sunday Week 4, March, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 175

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Tennessee William, Charlie Corner & Danny Cassidy vs. Bradley Blaze, Masked Stranger & The Masked Mauler

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Tennessee William, Danny Cassidy and Charlie Corner defeated Bradley Blaze, Masked Stranger and The Masked Mauler in 22:30 when Tennessee William pinned Masked Stranger by using underhanded tactics.

Rating: 45

From two-time champion, to opening match on one of our big events. How far has Tennessee fallen? Still his mini-feud with Masked Stranger gave us an opportunity to push more workers. Notably Charlie Corner and Danny Cassidy.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: The Lakota Warriors vs. Deverell, Jetterson & Dreadnought

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell, William Jetterson and Dreadnought defeated The Lakota Warriors (Roger Monteiro, Billy Chase and Ace Youngblood) in 24:13 when Dreadnought pinned Ace Youngblood with a Dread Bomb.

Rating: 41

The Dreadnought mini-push begins in earnest. I still need to get him away from Jetterson sharpish though. I feel like he doesn’t need to be a bodyguard. Although he may need a manager.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: James Diaz & The LA Stars vs. Logan Diaz & Cross River Connection

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Logan Diaz and Cross River Connection defeated James Diaz and The LA Stars in 24:29 when Logan Diaz submitted LA Star #2 with a Boston Crab after blatantly cheating.

Rating: 44

Team Diaz vs. Team Diaz ends with some underhanded tactics. These six mean are the beating heart of Minnesota Pro Wrestling and it’s nice to see them all leaving it all hanging out. Match perhaps could’ve been better. But we’d take it, because this show, more than any other, lives and dies on the main event.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Nelson Callum vs. Ernest Youngman ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum drew with Ernest Youngman in 30:16 when the referee lost control and stopped the match.

Rating: 68

Second best match in our history right there. Callum and Youngman bring to MPW what they’ve brought to PSW for years. High-intensity, hard-hitting matches of the best quality. We loved Tennessee, but we didn’t miss him in the main event.

 

OVERALL RATING: 65

 

After the show, we sat down with the boys to watch a feed of Honest Frank’s new promotion; Pro Wrestling Max High Stakes. It was really good. High production values, decent audiences and fantastic matches. In the main event Cali Slick beat Aldous blackfriar and won the main title in a better match than we’d ever put on. Flicking through the books we lost a healthy $15,736 (because of running three shows).

 

Other than the Diaz Cousins agreeing to put their feuding behind them to try it as a tag team one more time, there really was nothing else worth noting. Nope, no big stories whatsoever. So on with the next show.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, April, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 175

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Deverell & Lakota Braves vs. Blaze, Stranger & Mauler

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Bradley Blaze, Masked Stranger and The Masked Mauler defeated Zippy Deverell and Lakota Braves in 20:54 when Bradley Blaze pinned Billy Chase after using a foreign object.

Rating: 43

I really had to give the Braves a win soon as they were our current whipping boys. But this really was a battle of workers who’d been losing recently. Speaking of which…

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William & Charlie Corner vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Tennessee William and Charlie Corner in 20:57 when Pepper Pelton pinned Charlie Corner while using the ropes for leverage. Cross River Connection make defence number six of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 46

I’m so out of tag team that I’ve had to throw one together. Good match considering and at least Corner is getting some screen time.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Roger Monteiro ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Roger Monteiro defeated William Jetterson in 21:29 by pinfall with a handful of tights. Roger Monteiro makes defence number seven of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 52

A great match between the current champion and the former. Like, way better than it had any right to be. Monteiro was growing on me as the champion too. Hopefully his winning ways would translate into more success and higher quality as the weeks went by.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Monsters of Mayehm vs. The LA Stars

In an exceptional match, The LA Stars defeated Monsters of Mayhem in 21:04 when LA Star #2 pinned James Diaz, illegally using the ropes for leverage.

Rating: 52

The cousins, following their attempted reconciliation in online segments, fight in tag team competition and immediately fall apart due to their own in-fighting. This story has plenty more twists and turns ahead, but this was a good match.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Nelson Callum vs. Ernest Youngman ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Ernest Youngman in 24:32 by submission with a Honey Trap. Nelson Callum wins the MPW Championship.

Rating: 69

And just like that, Nelson Callum ascends to the top. Clean as a whistle against our perennial main event star. What a match.

 

OVERALL RATING: 67

 

So when I said earlier that there wasn’t much going on, that wasn’t necessarily true.

 

ONE WEEK EARLIER

As I sat alone in my office working on plans for new tag teams and what to run as a main event if we were lucky enough to get a slot at the Basilica Block Party again when there was a knock at the door. Upon responding, our MPW Champion Ernest Youngman entered. I asked him how things were and without any pre-amble he told me that TCW had been in contact and they wanted him signed. He’d accepted and would be leaving in a month. Despite his normally ultra-confident persona, he looked a little sheepish. Aware that this was part of the way wrestling worked, I’d been expecting it for six months. It’s part of the reason I had kept people like Callum, Tennessee, Blaze and Stranger heated and ready to go. I didn’t want any title changes to feel desperate. This allowed me to wish Ernest all the best with TCW and to not forget about this little place when he was a massive star. It felt good to be kind and I was happy that I’d taken the news so well.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling.. ****, what the **** do I do, I just want him to stay…

[Herrbear]

Tough loss with Youngman, but you kinda expected that to happen.

 

Love the diary.

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Tough loss with Youngman, but you kinda expected that to happen.

 

Love the diary.

 

That I did. If anything I expected him to be stolen way before this time, so I'm happy to have had more time. Glad you're enjoying it. It's comfortably the most fun I've had with a diary in ages.

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Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Where we say goodbye to a legend, and hello to something new…

 

After a week of weeping into my coffee at the loss of Ernest, I decided to cheer myself up by tearing up all our future plans, which revolved around him and start again from scratch. We had the 2nd City Saint for one more match, and for that we’d stick him in the main event for the title. He deserved nothing less. I spied Chief Two Eagles training his protégés outside in the dusty ring setup we had. One day we’d invest in proper production values. Not any day soon, but it was a good long-term goal. Curt’s Pack had news of Grandmaster Phunk winning the King of New York trophy; nice to see a former Empire champion back to where he started. I thought about an older Ernest returning to us, and felt sad again. As the guys filtered in, I noticed Tennessee was in fine form, telling stories of his time teaming with Animal Harker as the Southern Stars and what a waste of talent it was that Animal was now retired. My notepad was covered in scribbles and arrows linking one phrase or worker to another. At the very top I doodled a basic wrestlers mask and summoned two of our young trainee workers to the office.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event: Ernest Youngman Farewell Show

Friday Week 4, April, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 174

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger is out and with a microphone. He understands now that you cannot succeed around here without a team. A group backing you up. Some brotherhood supporting you. Therefore he’s offering an opportunity to The LA Stars. His brothers under the hood to join him and help him in his match against Tennessee William later. And The Mauler too, his long term adversary. Together they could be unstoppable. The LA Stars come out and they aren’t down with that. They’re already a team and they’ve got no interest in being lackeys for some has-been from New York. Masked Stranger says “So be it.” With that hidden instruction, two men in matching masks launch a vicious beatdown on the former champs.

Rating: 47

That’s right people, when in doubt, through more masked men at the audience. I’ve done a complete 180-degree turn on the use of masks, and providing they’re not luchador style they work.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Masked Assassins

In a decent match, Masked Assassins defeated The LA Stars in 9:31 when Masked Assassin #1 pinned LA Star #1 with a Big Swing Neckbreaker after Masked Stranger interfered.

Rating: 43

Even better, the masked men are name Masked Assassin #1 and Masked Assassin #2. At this rate, in three years’ time we won’t have any named wrestlers, just a series descriptions of their masks and a hash-tagged number. Massive win for the newcomers (youngsters), which immediately establish them as a threat in the tag team division. The LA Stars were happy to make them look great too, because they’re awesome.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Bradley Blaze

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Danny Cassidy defeated Bradley Blaze in 9:55 by pinfall after using Blaze’s own cowbell.

Rating: 37

It’s a new low for Blaze, whose really struggled to establish himself as a singles performer following the split of the Triple Aces. This loss to the young and hungry Cassidy shows exactly the problem he has; it’s entirely believable that the kid could beat him and that may not even be seen as an upset. I’d have to work hard to rebuild his momentum. This was the bottom, I’d look to make sure he didn’t slip further down.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Logan Diaz

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Logan Diaz defeated Charlie Corner in 21:23 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex.

Rating: 51

Sometimes your burgeoning star needs a clean win, and that’s where Cali Cool comes in. The youngster is actually more than talented enough to be receiving a push himself, but you can’t make all of your workers stars. Or maybe you can, but I struggled with it.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Minnesota Awesome in 10:13 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Perry Longstaff after using a foreign object. Cross River Connection make defence number seven of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 50

Speaking of the ultimate comfort team; Minnesota Not-So-Awesome provide that role, almost exclusively for the Connection. Whenever sings get tough for the champs, I can roll in Awesome and remind everyone that the champs have the titles for a reason.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: James Diaz vs. Roger Monteiro ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Roger Monteiro defeated James Diaz in 21:25 by pinfall with an Eagle Chop following interference from Logan Diaz. Roger Monteiro makes defence number eight of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 51

Neither Diaz is willing to give the other a chance at gold without the other. It’s actually a very familial response to their feud. James has at least reached out to his cousin in vignettes, but Logan is a man possessed; destroying anyone or everyone in his way.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, Tennessee William drew with Masked Stranger in 21:45 when the referee lost control and stopped the match following interference from the Masked Assassins.

Rating: 60

Masked Stranger holds his own against former champion Tennessee and actually, from a story point of view, comes out on top because it isn’t him getting beaten silly by the new enforcers of MPW.

 

ANGLE: Ernest Youngman is out with a microphone. He’s not going to treat the fans as idiots, he’s already made all the money he could by doing that. All he’s going to say is, this will be his last ever match in MPW. He’s going to win the title, take it to TCW and dump it in a trash can on live TV. Thanks for nothing… go to Hell!

Rating: 68

Just establishing his heel credentials one last time. Bless him.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Ernest Youngman vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Ernest Youngman in 23:06 by submission with a Honey Trap. Nelson Callum makes defence number one of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 63

A nice ending to a fantastic MPW career.

 

OVERALL RATING: 61

 

We bid farewell to Ernest with a typically good match in the main event. His overall talent and ability to draw would be missed for a while yet, but at least we’d got the title off him in plenty of time and had a series of new challengers for Callum who we could use in the short term. To add extra spice to Youngman’s departure; Billy Chase announced to the press that he’d accepted an offer for an MMA fight in Vegas. In eight weeks’ time he’d enter training camp and would be unavailable for several months. Normally things like that would be frustrating, and for Ace Youngblood it probably would be. But we were excited for the young star and would be watching his fight with interest. It was certainly a good time for Native American performers as Nicky Champion beat Rich Money for his 7th USPW World Title Reign. MPW itself lost $8,056 for the month, but as our popularity rose and with someone like Youngman off the books that number should decrease in the months ahead. What we really needed was some of that sweet, sweet WrestleWorld money. But we weren’t there yet. We released a series of vignettes online starring Masked Stranger and his assassins. They’re going by the name Brotherhood of the Hood (merchandise is available!?!) and they’re coming for all the gold.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, May, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 181

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Masked Assassins

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated Minnesota Awesome in 10:22 when Masked Assassin #2 pinned Clark Smallbone with a Big Swing Neckbreaker.

Rating: 32

When a new team arrives, the Awesome lay down the law… or just lay down. Solid little opener from our new team who have little in the way of popularity. But my word they’ve got some in-ring talent. But who are these masked assassins? I’ll never tell, but they’ve got some amazing chemistry.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: The Masked Mauler vs. Roger Monteiro ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Roger Monteiro defeated The Masked Mauler in 21:46 by pinfall with an Eagle Chop. Roger Monteiro makes defence number nine of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 45

Monteiro’s reign is turning into quite something. He’s bringing stability and, slowly, prestige to the secondary title. Not that his predecessors didn’t, but still. Mauler meanwhile has completely stalled. I did consider adding him to the Brotherhood, but he’s way too wild and unique to do so. Maybe down the line though.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Lakota Braves vs. The LA Stars vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Lakota Braves and The LA Stars in 21:02; the order of elimination was Lakota Braves first, and then The LA Stars. Cross River Connection make defence number eight of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 55

Pow! Absolutely amazing match which gave our champs another victory and get their main competitors the Stars a bit of protection as they eliminated the Braves. Eventually we’d have a showdown between the two stalwarts of the tag division. But not yet. Their last matches were still too fresh in the memory of the fans.

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger and the Assassins launch a vicious attack on The LA Stars. The tag champs; the Cross River Connection watch on in some interest. With the crowd urging them on to help the Stars, the Connection think about it and then leave.

Rating: 46

Classic heel-ish antics from the champs right there, although they did consider it, which is a change from a year ago.

 

SINGLES MATCH: James Diaz vs. Logan Diaz

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz defeated James Diaz in 22:25 by submission with a Boston Crab.

Rating: 56

When in doubt have Logan and James batter each other for the joy of the audience. And nobody does a battering like these two. A typically great match of course and a clean victory for Logan in their long-running series of matches.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Nelson Callum & Tennessee William vs. Bradley Blaze & William Jetterson

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum and Tennessee William defeated Bradley Blaze and William Jetterson in 22:29 when Tennessee William pinned William Jetterson with a Devil's Crossroad following interference from Dreadnought.

Rating: 57

A great main event, where Jetterson proves he can hang with the others comfortably. Although the interference from Dreadnought did not look like a case of mistaken identity…

 

ANGLE: William Jetterson is upset with Dreadnought and questioning what’s made him do this, but the Man Monster isn’t listening. Masked Stranger appears and orders Dreadnought to attack again, which he does leaving Jetterson a mess on the floor

Rating: 49

THAT’S RIGHT BABY! Dreadnought turns even more heel than he already was. Dangerous times for the rest of the roster.

 

OVERALL RATING: 55

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… industry-changing news, and tiny news which affects us way more…

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Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling…

 

In the weeks between shows, the feedback to the Brotherhood of the Hood, notably through merchandise sales, was very strong indeed. The losses taken on by Ernest’s departure were almost entirely covered. Curt’s Pack was particularly full too with news that Ekuma had won the SWF World Title for the first time, defeating Remo. In the main event of the annual Welcome to the Coastal Zone – American Flash had defeated Al Coleman to retain their title. Clark Alexander had retired due to age, Animal Harker had retired due to injury, NYCW Rock ‘n’ Rumble debuted on WrestleWorld and finally, and most importantly: SWF launched the SWF Network. Such a huge investment of money and time into a project of this size would result in big gains, or complete collapse. In a time like this however, the future was in streaming and he who controls the stream, controls the world. Strangely, despite these earth-shattering changes to the industry, it was NYCW’s new show which affected us the most as we were suddenly missing: Tennessee William, The New York Doll & Masked Stranger from our next show. Damn it. Oh well, cheap show alert.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 4, May, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 190

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Masked Assassins

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated The LA Stars in 20:59 when Masked Assassin #1 pinned LA Star #2 after using a foreign object.

Rating: 52

Another win for the newcomers against an established team. Without the titles, the LA Stars don’t need to win every match and are talented enough to deliver even if their momentum is cooled. The Assassins continue to impress despite their relative anonymity.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. The Masked Mauler

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Danny Cassidy defeated The Masked Mauler in 20:56 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics.

Rating: 40

Seeing as Mauler has zero to do for the foreseeable, a tainted win for Cassidy would help us raise his profile nicely. We’d eventually need to give Cassidy a proper storyline to run with, but for now the odd appearance with some decent little wins would help.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Lakota Braves vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Lakota Braves defeated Cross River Connection in 20:51 when Pepper Pelton was disqualified while fighting Ace Youngblood.

Rating: 44

The old foes match off again. Normally at this stage I had planned to get the Braves properly involved in the title hunt, but with Chase soon to leave it left us with no clear route to make that happen. But I also didn’t want them buried by constant losses, so a DQ win for them reminded the crowd that they were still worthwhile being invested in. Then we’d try to build to the heroic return for Billy after his MMA fight.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Dreadnought vs. Roger Monteiro ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Roger Monteiro defeated Dreadnought in 21:49 by count out. Roger Monteiro makes defence number ten of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 47

Wasn’t quite ready to switch the title off Monteiro yet, but certainly wasn’t going to waste Dreadnought’s un-pinned streak at this early stage. Therefore a DQ win for the champ as he now becomes the most winningest Midwest champion in our short history.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Callum & James Diaz vs. Blaze & Logan Diaz

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Nelson Callum and James Diaz drew with Bradley Blaze and Logan Diaz in 23:25 following a double count out.

Rating: 60

A great match, made only slightly frustrating by the face that Blaze and Diaz didn’t click as partners. Just imagine how good a match they could’ve put on without that fact of chemistry nature.

 

OVERALL RATING: 58

 

During the Chief’s post-event speech, he demanded that the roster had a moment’s silence for the legendary El Patron, who sadly passed away earlier in the day. He mentioned the number of times he performed in Mexico under a mask as El Gringo and how Patron was the most revered and respected wrestler he’d ever met. We did as instructed and I wondered how we’d all be remembered when the time came.

 

***

 

May ended and with it our smallest loss to date; $5,943. Perhaps we had too many workers and were spending too much. But you know what? We’re family now, and (Dom Terreto enters) there’s nothing more important than family…

 

Chief managed to get us a slot at Basilica Block Party again this year, so we started to build towards a memorable show. Although the lack of big show between this and the King of the Midwest show in October was a problem, but likely one we’d solve once we were properly up and running on WrestleWorld. For now; we push on.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, June, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 193

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. The LA Stars vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Minnesota Awesome and The LA Stars in 21:06; the order of elimination was Minnesota Awesome first, and then The LA Stars. Cross River Connection make defence number ten of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 45

Another triple threat (something you usually liked to avoid), but when you don’t have a coherent challenger for the titles, these things happen. Ten defences for the Cross River Connection had them as firmly the best team in the division and had been for some time. Part of me wanted to run with a Prime Time singles push, but I couldn’t while he was holding up an entire division. Plus I didn’t have a specific story which made sense in the scheme of how we were working. So the run goes on.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. The Masked Mauler

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Danny Cassidy defeated The Masked Mauler in 21:15 by pinfall with a Southern Justice.

Rating: 35

Neat homage to his estranged father that he’s named his finisher lariat after his dad’s nickname. Might as well burn through this mini-feud to maximise the benefits for the kid. I had a feeling it would help us in the long run.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Corner and the Braves vs. Brotherhood of the Hood

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Brotherhood of the Hood (Masked Stranger, Masked Assassin #1 and Masked Assassin #2) defeated Charlie Corner and Lakota Braves in 21:14 when Masked Stranger submitted Billy Chase with a Cobra Clutch.

Rating: 43

How do you like that MMA finish? Hah! That’s right, the legitimate MMA fighter gets submitted by a masked man called Stranger. That is as petty a moment as I would allow myself, but my word it was petty. In reality we needed more momentum for our new stable and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Dreadnought vs. Roger Monteiro ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Roger Monteiro in 21:59 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought wins the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 40

After multiple defences it was time to pull the trigger. Dreadnought wasn’t going to lose twice on the spin (DQ or not) and we needed to get a belt on the new stable. This was the obvious solution. Now the question is; how long would he hold it, and who would be the man to finally defeat him for it?

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Bradley Blaze in 21:39 by submission with a Honey Trap after blatantly cheating. Nelson Callum makes defence number two of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 59

Solid main event as we needed to remind everyone that Blaze was a main eventer. Plus we wanted to see what impact a cooled momentum had on a match. The truth is, with their chemistry and popularity I was expecting far more than we got here. I really did need to push ahead with the Bradley Blaze reclamation project.

 

OVERALL RATING: 57

 

With every set for the Block Party, we bid farewell to Billy and insisted he keep us up to date on his progress and when we could all get together to watch the match. Curt had a slim pack too, which only had the news that Julian Maverick was out for a year with a torn rotator cuff. Ouch.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Basilica Block Party 2021…

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Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Let’s P…A…R…T…Y!...

 

MPW Basilica Block Party 2021

Friday Week 2, June, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 189

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Masked Assassins

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated Minnesota Awesome in 10:05 when Masked Assassin #2 pinned Clark Smallbone with a Big Swing Neckbreaker.

Rating: 32

Good old Minnesota Awesome. They show up, to their home town, in front of a lively crowd of people in their exact demographic and we feed them straight to our new masked tag team. Like professionals, they took the L, the paycheque and smiled throughout.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: James Diaz vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated James Diaz in 21:10 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number one of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 43

Big win for our big new champion right here. James was absolutely on fire and this was a great power exhibition from two of our best. The crowd lapped it up, despite it’s slightly slower pace. Wonderful from both men.

 

ANGLE: James Diaz is in the ring, recovering from his loss. Dreadnought returns to the ring and attacks. The assault is quick and brutal, and leaves James Diaz completely destroyed.

Rating: 56

Well if he’s going to lose clean, you better believe we’re going to finish the job and make Dreadnought go from monster to stone cold killer. James could easily bounce back from this. Plus the live crowd lapped this up. Any new fans introduced to the product at this show would see Dreadnought as the absolute star of the promotion at this stage.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Bradley Blaze

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bradley Blaze defeated Roger Monteiro in 21:01 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop.

Rating: 50

The reclamation project begins in earnest with a clean win over the former Midwest Champion. Roger had little to do without the title and with Billy AWOL, so we’d happily use him to pump up our main event scene.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. The Masked Mauler

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Danny Cassidy defeated The Masked Mauler in 21:16 by pinfall with a Southern Justice.

Rating: 42

Danny finishes the job nice and clean. The ladies in the audience were clearly a fan of his rough and ready manliness. Oh to be young again, and good looking, and talented.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, Masked Stranger defeated Tennessee William in 21:01 by submission with a Cobra Clutch after interference from Dreadnought.

Rating: 55

Dreadnought reappears again to a genuine screams from some of the audience to help the leader of the Brotherhood beat a former two-time MPW Champion. Massive win for Stranger here, tainted or not.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, The LA Stars defeated Cross River Connection in 22:09 when LA Star #1 pinned Pepper Pelton with a Star Destroyer. The LA Stars win the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 51

This is the surprise of the show as The LA Stars have been troubled by the Masked Assassins for so long that they never looked likely to unseat the champs. But when push comes to shove, we needed our tag champions to be faces against the onslaught of villainous teams we had brewing. Therefore Cross River Connection bow out to let the Stars run with the titles for now.

 

ANGLE: Ahead of the main event, Logan Diaz appears dressed in an ornate robe, studded with hundreds of diamonds. He gives a classic heel-ish interview more in line with his Glorious One gimmick in PSW than the monster he’s been with us. The crowd ate it up, booing him while he sneered back and proclaimed himself the uncrowned King of MPW.

Rating: 64

Dynamite promo from one of our many underutilised speakers.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Logan Diaz vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Logan Diaz in 26:16 by rollup after interference from the Masked Assassins. Nelson Callum makes defence number three of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 60

Great match and we’ve elevated the Brotherhood into the main event scene too. Quite how Logan will take their interference is unclear, but…

 

ANGLE: Callum and Logan Diaz are in the ring. Out of nowhere, Dreadnought hits the ring and attacks. The assault is quick and brutal, and leaves both team mates completely destroyed.

Rating: 57

Game on.

 

OVERALL RATING: 59

 

The extra costs of moving a show to a live venue like the Block Party meant we lost $6,416 that month. But the joy of the memories we had from the event would last a life time. Turns out, once you get a few drinks into Logan when he’s in his ‘Glorious One’ persona and he’s quite a lot of fun. I will never forget the image of him crowd-surfing, wearing his robe and drinking a mojito out of a coconut. The show was great fun all around, but on the coach back Ace was checking his phone and mentioned that USPW had signed Sammy Bach. Was there no one off limits to the juggernaut? We entered the long stretch before the King of the Midwest with a number of bubbling storylines, which should, if timed right, all culminate at Twin City Showdown II in six month’s time. We’d see how many changed by the event itself.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, July, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 193

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Prime Time Jack Pryde

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Danny Cassidy drew with Prime Time Jack Pryde in 21:29 following a double disqualification.

Rating: 38

Hugely disappointing match between two of our young starlets. This was not the inspiring start to the Cross River Connection’s singles push I’d imagined, and I say this knowing that these two have amazing chemistry when facing one another. One day, this would main event one of our big shows (perhaps the biggest), for now it wasn’t really good enough to open a throwaway show.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Ace Youngblood vs. Pepper Pelton

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Ace Youngblood defeated Pepper Pelton in 21:51 by pinfall while using the ropes for leverage.

Rating: 41

This was slightly better, but still not great. I guess being a tag team specialist was different to being a singles star and it would probably take some time to switch from one to the other.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Mauler & Deverell vs. The LA Stars ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, The LA Stars defeated The Masked Mauler and Zippy Deverell in 20:47 when LA Star #1 pinned Zippy Deverell with a Star Destroyer. The LA Stars make defence number one of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 49

The tag champs kick off their latest reign with a simple victory over two of our struggling lower-card workers. It’s odd to me that both Mauler and Deverell, who I really did have high hopes for, haven’t been able to establish themselves in any meaningful way. Deverell is actually a momentum-generating machine as his online interview segments (called Deverell’s Pit) have been hugely popular., but here he was losing that momentum to help push others forward. I guess when the opportunity arises he’ll take it, or he won’t.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Bradley Blaze

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bradley Blaze defeated Roger Monteiro in 20:42 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop.

Rating: 50

And a simple, by-the-numbers win for Blaze. Would we really use up all of Monteiro’s momentum to feed the Blaze Reclamation Project? You’re damn right we would.

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger, Masked Assassin #1, Masked Assassin #2 and Dreadnought cut a backstage promo.

Rating: 33

Oof. Ok so some of these guys struggle without a script, which causes problems to those who don’t need it. In future we’ll stick to video interviews online and leave them to destroy people in the ring to get over.

 

EIGHT-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH: Callum, Tennessee & Monsters of Mayhem vs. Brotherhood of the Hood

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Nelson Callum, Logan Diaz, James Diaz and Tennessee William drew with Brotherhood of the Hood (Masked Stranger, Dreadnought, Masked Assassin #1 and Masked Assassin #2) in 24:47 when the referee lost control and stopped the match.

Rating: 50

Got to love a big schmozz ending to a multi-man tag team match. The Brotherhood have officially arrived as they couldn’t be bested by four of our tippy top workers.

 

OVERALL RATING: 48

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… We push to Make Blaze Great Again, and Logan has another go for the title…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Where we Make Blaze Great Again…

 

That’s right. Like all wrestling promoters before us, we were about to delve into the murky world of politics where we’d hope the response would be something like “Keep politics out of wrestling” followed by a slew of online orders for our new hat and tee combo. Bradley Blaze, the somewhat forgotten man of MPW was about to get a push. The aim was to ride a wave of political cross-over in the most unnecessary, over-the-top, pro-wrestling way. Therefore the Texas native would don a red baseball cap and t-shirt which read ‘Make Blaze Great Again.’ He would then give a series of ‘presidential’ addresses online and at the shows to highlight why you should vote for him as the face of Minnesota Pro Wrestling.

 

What could go wrong?

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 4, July, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 193

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Dreadnought defeated William Jetterson in 19:10 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number two of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 48

The former champ is the latest in the line of mid-to-top level stars getting their asses handed to them by the ‘Man Monster’ Dreadnought. The fact that these two have their own unique history just adds kerosene to the fire.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Lakota Warriors & Corner vs. Cross River Connection & Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Roger Monteiro, Ace Youngblood and Charlie Corner defeated Zippy Deverell and Cross River Connection in 17:41 when Ace Youngblood pinned Zippy Deverell with a Flying Tomahawk Chop after a bad miscommunication between Zippy Deverell and Pepper Pelton.

Rating: 43

When it rains it pours. We wanted to hint at a possible face turn for Pepper to allow us to use the Cross River Connection in singles without reverting back to their tag team specialist ways. But we’d turned quite a few people recently, so were worried about tanking their still almost untouchable momentum. Decent win for a team of people who’ve lost more than they’ve won recently.

 

SINGLES MATCH: James Diaz vs. Bradley Blaze

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Bradley Blaze defeated James Diaz in 22:07 by pinfall while holding the ropes having thrown powder in James’ eyes.

Rating: 49

Outside of the feud with Logan, we’re stuck on what to do with James for now. He’s too over to be fed to low-level workers, but not quite ready for the main event. For now we’d use him to keep the President of Texas on his march to the House. The Road House. ROADHOUSE!

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Masked Assassins vs. The LA Stars ©

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, The LA Stars defeated Masked Assassins in 19:45 when LA Star #1 pinned Masked Assassin #2 while using the ropes for leverage. The LA Stars make defence number two of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 38

Terrible match mainly because Masked Assassin #2 botched a simple up-and-under throw and caused LA Star #1 a whiplash neck strain. Fortunately the tag champs wrestled through the misstep and there were no hard feelings after the match either. That, it professionalism.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Masked Stranger

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Tennessee William drew with Masked Stranger in 19:46 following a double count out.

Rating: 58

Another solid match between two stars whose feud threatens to dominate all of MPW. Amazing really that we’ve managed to keep Tennessee so important to our core stories without the need to have him chasing or owning the MPW Title. Legend.

 

ANGLE: Logan Diaz is too Glorious to worry about a bunch of masked idiots running around. All he can do is continue to show the world the Glorious Way to Victory and know that success is just around the corner.

Rating: 55

He’s weird, but good. What a hero.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Logan Diaz vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Logan Diaz in 20:12 by submission with a Honey Trap after the Brotherhood attacked Logan outside the ring. Nelson Callum makes defence number four of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 61

Unusual that the Brotherhood left Nelson alone this time and focused on Logan. But Nelson isn’t the kind of guy to miss an opportunity to win, whatever the cost. That’s what makes him such a battling champion. The feud continues…

 

OVERALL RATING: 59

 

Over in MAW, Cheetah Boy & Architect won the Sam Keith Classic and we lost $5,583, but had an idea. This year, with the Chief’s blessing, we would expand the King of the Midwest tournament. We’d go to 32 instead of 16 and we’d invite all the top stars from the other promotions in the COTT. It was time to mend fences with the organisation in hopes to gain access to their pot of combined money and potentially step up to the size big enough to get a deal with WrestleWorld.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, August, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 193

 

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Pepper Pelton vs. Roger Monteiro

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Danny Cassidy drew with Pepper Pelton and Roger Monteiro in 12:00 when the referee was forced to rule a no contest when all hell broke loose.

Rating: 44

Continuing the singles attempt of the Connection, but in a situation where I wasn’t ready to put Pepper over his opponents, or have him lose. The result, a lovely draw. Good match though as Roger raised his opponents game no end.

 

SINGLES MATCH: James Diaz vs. Prime Time Jack Pryde

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Prime Time Jack Pryde defeated James Diaz in 22:01 by pinfall with a PrydeFall following interference from Logan Diaz.

Rating: 47

Logan, obviously unhappy about constant interference in his matches, takes it out on his cousin, despite the fact James has been putting out heartfelt message of reconciliation. At this point James has become something of a martyr from classical literature. Funny how stories progress in their own way. Massive win for Prime Time and great match too. This is the key to getting him over as a singles worker.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Logan Diaz & Rafe Sashay vs. The LA Stars ©

In a superb match, The LA Stars defeated Logan Diaz and Rafe Sashay in 21:04 when LA Star #1 pinned Logan Diaz with a Star Destroyer following interference from the Masked Assassins. The LA Stars make defence number three of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 53

Rafe Sashay, one of our young pre-event workers gets his first shot at the big time in a losing effort with Logan for the tag titles. Logan is a fan of Sashay, although I’m mildly concerned about pushing him yet because he arrived with a reputation as a trouble-maker. Notice it was the Masked Assassins and not James Diaz who cost Logan the match.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Charlie Corner in 20:38 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number three of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 41

The Streak is alive and well. Charlie is still being all Charlie about his role. I sort of want him to grab the brass ring a bit, but he’s just so nice and professional.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Tennessee & Jetterson vs. Blaze & Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Bradley Blaze and Zippy Deverell defeated Tennessee William and William Jetterson in 20:39 when Bradley Blaze pinned Tennessee William by using underhanded tactics.

Rating: 38

A lot to unpack in this one. Firstly, considering the talent, the match sucked. Secondly Tennessee and Jetterson simply don’t click as a team. Thirdly, Deverell gets a win. Perhaps an extended run with him helping Blaze is a good shout? Finally, Blaze hit Jetterson so hard at one point he broke his jaw. Jetterson didn’t seem to mind, so neither did we. If anything it just makes him looks more bad ass.

 

ANGLE: Nelson Callum has an interview in which he taunts Masked Stranger and the whole Brotherhood. But if they want to target him, they better make sure they hit.

Rating: 71

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Masked Stranger vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Masked Stranger in 22:15 by submission with a Honey Trap after blatantly cheating. Nelson Callum makes defence number five of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 56

Nelson is a notorious cheat, despite being the hero of MPW. Here he showed why. A tough opponent on a hot streak, so he would happily use a bat to cripple Stranger’s knee, then duck interference from the Assassins. Lock in the Honey Trap submission, win and escape with the belt. He’s a pro.

 

OVERALL RATING: 55

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… We build towards the expanded King of the Midwest tournament and contact the COTT to make amends…

[eayragt]

Sorry, but I'm sure you made a mistake. You said SWF launched a network and crownedEkuma as their World champion to lead them in this new era. Considering he's about #13 on my list of possible SWF World Champions, surely you meant someone else ?

 

You're really not going to let us know who the Assassins are, are you?

[TCP1]

Sorry, but I'm sure you made a mistake. You said SWF launched a network and crownedEkuma as their World champion to lead them in this new era. Considering he's about #13 on my list of possible SWF World Champions, surely you meant someone else ?

 

You're really not going to let us know who the Assassins are, are you?

 

The Ekuma news combined with the launch of the Network suggests that SWF are drunk behind the wheel for sure. Genuinely surprising.

 

As for the Assassins, I'll say this;

Neither has been a star for MPW before.

Both are young (between 21 and 24).

One is white American, the other Hispanic-American.

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Where the search begins for the best talent in the COTT…

 

First things first, USPW signed Edward Cornell to join his brother in history’s most stacked roster. At this point Jay Chord doesn’t even sniff the main event. Jay Chord, who might be the best all-round worker in the world. Madness. Next I took a road trip with Chief, all the way to MAW headquarters. Where, in the presence of a wrestling great, The Chief decided not to apologise for agreeing to push PJ Strong, but instead decided to criticise Keith’s running of the COTT. So bold was the line taken by the Chief that even Sam Keith, who never looked flustered, literally sat in silence, mouth agog.

 

“And another thing, if you look at the talent we’re training and fostering in Bemidji of all places, with limited funds, no production values and a lack of distribution and we’re still outperforming your corporate-backed, over-valued ‘stars’ on a weekly basis. So I have a proposition for you. I think it’s time to see how the best you and the rest of the COTT can offer match up against our boys. What do you say?”

 

Keith stammered for a second, which was enough time for Chief to continue.

 

“Great stuff. I’ll contact the others to tell them that you approve of a series of loan deals. This year we’ll stick to just the champions, no need for the deadwood just yet. And I’ll speak to Miller Fforde, who I believe is your current champion? He in the training centre downstairs?”

 

Keith nodded, his face still the picture of someone who had stood in the way of a jet engine blast.

 

“Good. Thanks for your time Samuel. Good luck with everything, we’ll be in touch.”

 

And with that we vanished into the bowels of the high-tech performance centre of MAW. Down there, the Chief made a b-line for a skinny young kid and moments later Miller Fforde had agreed (with Keith’s blessing) to appear in the MPW King of the North tournament. and then, like a shadow, we were gone.

 

Even at his advanced age, Chief could still surprise you. He told me he already had the numbers for the stars from elsewhere and I was to book them in first round matches against our own talent. He then winked. It was the wink of a man who had a plan. A plan so obvious that we knew I’d get it without him having to say a thing.

 

I had absolutely no idea what the plan was.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 4, August, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 195

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Logan Diaz

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Logan Diaz defeated Danny Cassidy in 21:02 by submission with a Boston Crab. During the match we also had Zippy Deverell run in and attack Cassidy.

Rating: 45

My word, what’s this? A potential story for Danny to sink his teeth into and a way to get Deverell more involved, or just a misspelt ending to the match passed onto the workers? Who knows, and I’ll never tell. Good opener though as the rule of putting our young stars in the ring with our top workers continues to pay dividends.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: New York Doll & Sashay vs. The LA Stars ©

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, The LA Stars defeated Rafe Sashay and The New York Doll in 9:59 when LA Star #1 pinned Rafe Sashay with a Star Destroyer. The LA Stars make defence number four of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 46

Sashay gets another shot at the gold as we try and find him a partner, with whom he has chemistry. It wasn’t the forgotten man of MPW The New York Doll however. Another good match though. Were we finally stepping up the company’s momentum heading into the biggest period of the year? I certainly hoped so.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Dreadnought defeated William Jetterson in 10:18 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number four of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 44

And the beatings keep coming as Jetterson refuses to lay down for Dreadnought. Other than last week… and again this week. But he’s not happy about it! Well, he’s ok with it actually.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Tennessee, James Diaz & Monteiro vs. Brotherhood of the Hood

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Tennessee William, James Diaz and Roger Monteiro defeated Brotherhood of the Hood (Masked Stranger, Masked Assassin #1 and Masked Assassin #2) in 21:56 when Tennessee William pinned Masked Assassin #2, illegally using the ropes for leverage.

Rating: 45

That’s right Brotherhood! You don’t get your own way all of the time. It was time to start peppering in losses for the new stable. They’d been dominant for a few months and now the fightback was on, lead by some of the best workers in our company. Lovely stuff.

 

ANGLE: Bradley Blaze is out with his red baseball cap and matching tee. “I’m here to make Blaze Great Again. I think you know I’ve been doing some marvellous work. Tremendous. In fact, some people are saying I’m the greatest wrestler they’ve ever seen. I'm not saying that; that’s what others are saying. They’re also saying ‘Hey Bradley Blaze, why are you so handsome and talented’ to which I saw, I don’t know. When I was a kid the doctor’s looked at me and said I had one of the best physiques they’d ever seen. Probably the best. Just really manly. So that’s why, I want to see you support the MBGA cause. Because there’s nothing they would hate more than seeing all you beautiful people wearing your caps and t-shirts and supporting me. And, once I’m champion, and I will be champion, I’m going to throw the biggest party the world has ever seen. You just wait, tremendous.”

Rating: 57

I don’t know what’s better about this; Blaze is taking to the bumbling, gibberish promos with such ease, or that fans have started to wear the merchandise of the most obvious heel this company has ever seen. But as the man himself says, tremendous.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Bradley Blaze drew with Nelson Callum in 22:52 following a double count out.

Rating: 67

Well that is one Hell of a match. We definitely were not ready to have Callum stop the MBGA Movement, but Blaze wasn’t ready for the big win either. In fact his entire gimmick works best as someone chasing the power he claims to already have.

 

OVERALL RATING: 65

 

We made a $5,465 loss in August, which wasn’t great, but also wasn’t the end of the World. Chief’s conversation with Keith had obviously worked as we had a number of contracts written up and printed out by Curt and sent the relevant champions. As such when we arrived at the show, I found myself with a familiar locker room, but with the additions:

 

Riley McManus – NYCW

Silver Tiger – OLLIE

Miller Fforde – MAW

American Flash – CZCW

Frantic Ali – IPW

 

Then, in a change from tradition, we decided to completely randomise the draw. I wanted to test my metal as a booker by having to come up with stories which fit a recreation of an actual sporting event. The results were… problematic. But that’s part of the fun.

 

The newcomers were not great at mixing, which seemed an odd thing considering they must travel the US and perform for different promotions all the time. Did they just show up, talk to no one, perform and leave? Didn’t seem like much of a life. I stepped into the middle of them and introduced myself. Fforde was the first to respond and you could immediately tell he was from MAW. He had the polished media training which phased into his day-to-speech. He was pleasant and you just could not imagine him saying anything negative about anyone. Frantic Ali had none of polish, but twice the presence. He grinned when he shook my hand, and then mocked my accent asking what it was like growing up Australia. I told him I was British and he replied “British, what’s that? Is it like Chinese or something weird.” I’ll be honest, I liked him a lot. Bags of charisma and a solid look.

 

Before I could properly meet the others, the Chief called me into a meeting. We wanted to make sure that I knew what he wanted. I lied and said of course I did. Then I showed him my plans and he rolled his eyes and took out a red marker.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, September, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 197

 

ANGLE: Chief Two Eagles is out with the trophy.

“My fellow Minnesotans, it is my great honour and privilege to stand before once again as MPW offers you the best entertainment this side of the LaCroix. I’m pleased to welcome some new talent to the promotion this month as the best from a number of COTT territories join us for the second annual King of the Midwest tournament. You’ve likely seen these guys on WrestleWorld (big cheer) and they’re hopeful as are the stars of MPW to put on a great show of manliness, fighting prowess and toughness. Once again the winner of the tournament will be crowned at the annual King of the North event at the end of October and will earn themselves a shot at the MPW Championship Title holder, whomever that me be (Callum chant). But that’s enough talking from me, let’s get this tournament started.”

Rating: 54

Rare though it is, it’s always nice to have the Chief himself out in front of a live crowd.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Alistair Shufflebottom vs. Masked Assassin #1

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Masked Assassin #1 defeated Alistair Shufflebottom in 9:59 by pinfall with a Belly To Back Suplex.

Rating: 27

Not the stellar start to the tournament some might expect, but it always felt good giving Shufflebottom a match of note. Masked Assassin #1 is a master of suplexes and small-joint manipulation. And this is a solid win for the burgeoning star.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: LA Star #2 vs. The New York Doll

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, LA Star #2 defeated The New York Doll in 9:53 by pinfall with a Flying Flip Neckbreaker.

Rating: 45

Doll is an experienced hand and LA Star #2 is an exciting worker so it’s no surprise these two put on a good match out of the blue. Obviously we’re going to have one half of the multiple-time tag team champs progress and one day I looked forward to running a tournament without the need of enhancement talents. But for now, everyone gets a pay day.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: LA Star #1 vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, LA Star #1 defeated Zippy Deverell in 10:03 by pinfall with a Flying Double Stomp.

Rating: 44

Zippy’s profile had been growing a bit in recent weeks, but a bad draw saw him against one of our top stars. I was happy with the fast-progressing Deverell vs. Cassidy story, but neither man was an LA Star #1, who had quietly become one of the most exciting workers on our entire roster.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Riley McManus vs. Pepper Pelton

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Pepper Pelton defeated Riley McManus in 9:51 by pinfall with a Fisherman's Suplex.

Rating: 37

NYCW represent. ‘The Georgia Bulldog’ Riley McManus was a good all-rounder, if a little lacking in the pizazz department. In an alternative world, the Empire Champion would’ve bested one half of our former tag team champions. But this wasn’t that world. Good win for Pepper.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Silver Tiger vs. Masked Stranger

In a decent match, Masked Stranger defeated Silver Tiger in 9:36 by submission with a Cobra Clutch.

Rating: 44

Masked Mania spreads through MPW as the Mexican hero Silver Tiger meets his match against the ascendant Masked Stranger. I wondered if the crowd, or the COTT realised what we ere pulling yet? I expected a phone call sooner rather than later.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Miller Fforde vs. Dreadnought

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Miller Fforde in 10:26 by pinfall with a Dread Splash.

Rating: 41

No one stops Dreadnought and I bet Miller couldn’t believe his severe lack of luck in meeting the Man Monster in the first round. The match itself was decent little affair, which Dreadnought dominated.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: American Flash vs. Bradley Blaze

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Bradley Blaze defeated American Flash in 10:07 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop.

Rating: 55

Bradley Blaze had some pre-match comments for the Fake Patriot. He pointed out that if Flash really was a patriot, he should lay down for the future champion. Flash was having none of it. So Bradley did it the old fashioned way, clean as a whistle in the middle of the ring.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Frantic Ali

In a good match, Tennessee William defeated Frantic Ali in 22:24 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad.

Rating: 52

Frantic Ali backs up his look and natural charisma in the ring too. This was a nice little surprise of a match. Obviously the MPW Original gets the nod, because we’re not having some outsider come in and beat our guys, not after the PJ Strong thing, but Frantic Ali at least, made an impression.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: James Diaz, Danny Cassidy & Nelson Callum vs. Logan Diaz, Prime Time Jack Pryde & The Masked Mauler

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Logan Diaz, Prime Time Jack Pryde and The Masked Mauler defeated Nelson Callum, James Diaz and Danny Cassidy in 20:54 when Logan Diaz pinned James Diaz with a handful of tights.

Rating: 58

In the main event we chuck in a massive multi-man tribal warfare match. And it’s good too. Mauler and Cassidy get a chance at the top billing and don’t disappoint, while Logan continues to wage war against his cousin, who is still pleading with him to stop for the sake of the family.

 

OVERALL RATING: 57

 

The first half of the first round was in the books and we’d comfortably jobbed out every outside performer in the space of one evening. Now our audience knew that when they watched WrestleWorld that no matter how impressive they looked, they had nothing on MPW.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… The King of the Midwest tournament continues, a new company appears and an MMA fight we have a vested interest in, happens…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling…

 

As we geared up for our next batch of tournament matches, I received a call from Billy Chase. His training was going great and the match had been confirmed. He was in the opening match at XCC Global Fight Night against none other than Alejandro Laguera. This was a big deal and as promised, I’d get all the boys together, have some beers and watch one our own pummel another human being into unconsciousness.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 4, September, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 202

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Perry Longstaff

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, William Jetterson defeated Perry Longstaff in 10:02 by submission with a Viper Vice.

Rating: 41

One half of the eternal jobbers the Minnesota Awesome did not stand a chance against William Jetterson whose promotion to midcard stalwart is now complete. He’s interchangeable in a variety of matches and absolutely deserves to progress.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Curt Meritt

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Curt Meritt defeated Roger Monteiro in 10:03 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics.

Rating: 37

Speaking of jobbers, my main man Curt gets his shot in the tournament and is immediately steps up to the plate. Roger Monteiro, whose momentum seems entirely unaffected by his losses, happily makes Curt look great and we give him a little bit of thanks for all his hard work.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Rafe Sashay

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Danny Cassidy defeated Rafe Sashay in 10:02 by pinfall with a Southern Justice.

Rating: 31

Rafe Sashay, the Man, the Myth, the Legend is appearing more and more on our shows, but Cassidy is the man everyone backstage thinks is a star in the making (except Logan) so obviously the rookie sensation progresses in a slightly underwhelming match. Sashay at least made a good account of himself.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Masked Assassin #2

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Charlie Corner defeated Masked Assassin #2 in 10:20 by pinfall with a Corner Cutter.

Rating: 35

Underwhelming match to be honest, but Corner was someone I always had an eye on. I just needed the right story, or gimmick or something to light the blue touch paper and get a rocket in him. He struck me as someone who could lead a merry band of young, wide-eyed rookies. I mean he looked like a rock star already. My thought required.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Ace Youngblood vs. Ben Williams

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Ace Youngblood defeated Ben Williams in 10:28 by pinfall with a Flying Tomahawk Chop.

Rating: 39

Simple victory for Ace Youngblood, with help from his still incredibly over new move. Ben Williams has, to date, I think, lost every single match he’s taken part in. That is quite incredible work from the bump machine. He really does love a payday.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Clark Smallbone vs. Prime Time Jack Pryde

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Prime Time Jack Pryde defeated Clark Smallbone in 9:45 by pinfall with a PrydeFall.

Rating: 49

And the other half of Minnesota Awesome falls to the other half of the Cross River Connection. Prime Time made it all the way to the semi-finals last year and with more experience fancied his chances at making the final this time. Being on the easier side of the draw, that was entirely possible.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: James Diaz vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, James Diaz defeated Zippy Deverell in 10:30 by pinfall with an Asian Thumb Spike.

Rating: 49

Danny Cassidy’s most troublesome problem didn’t stand a chance against James Diaz. The big, bruising brawler toyed with the much smaller opponent and finished with the deadly Asian Spike. The way the brackets were setup, there was a chance he could face his cousin in the finals. But there was a long way to go yet.

 

KING OF MIDWEST MATCH: Nelson Callum vs. Logan Diaz

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz defeated Nelson Callum in 22:16 by disqualification.

Rating: 67

Nelson entered himself into the tournament as the title-holding representative for Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling. The fact that PSW weren’t part of the COTT, and he wasn’t their title holder didn’t seem to matter. Unfortunately for the cheeky scamp, he found himself against a raging, unstoppable bull in Logan Diaz. The former Monster of Mayhem gave every ounce of his blood, sweat and tears, but in the end an interfering Masked Stranger got Callum DQ’d and advanced Logan to the next round.

 

OVERALL RATING: 65

 

Round one complete. Most of our top stars still in the thing and the round of 16 beckoning. Things were looking good.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Fight Night…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling where we take a week off work to watch one of our boys… work…

 

I flicked through Curt’s Pack on the night of Billy’s fight as the boys filed into the main arena of the Paul Bunyan Hall. We’d setup a big screen and lined up the chairs so we could watch it together. I read of a new promotion in Mexico, founded by Strongman called Fantastic Entertainment Wrestling. It was family friendly lucha libre, which felt like an absolute money spinner. We could’ve done with some of that as our loaning of new talent meant we’d lost $7,143 for the month.

 

With a beer in one hand and a bucket of popcorn in the other, I put the pack away to watch the fight. The production values were absolutely astounded and got me thinking how much more impressive our boys would look with proper music, gear, lights and stages setup. Sometimes it was depressing to watch what you couldn’t have. Billy looked in incredible shape as he came out, with his traditional Native American headdress. His opponent was experienced, but with a middling record, which in my naïve mind meant he was vulnerable. The first round was very much about feeling out the opposition. A few strikes, guards and attempted throws went nowhere. The crowd, obviously unaware of Billy Chase, didn’t react all that much to the fight until the midway through the second round. With Alejandro Laguera building momentum, he kept shooting for a take down, where the inexperienced Chase would struggle. His third consecutive attempt though lead to a clean right-hook from the Lakotan Warrior. With Laguera staggered, Billy went in for the kill, reigning down punches as his opponent crumpled to the floor. Seconds later and the referee had pulled him away and raised his hand. Billy had won, he’d actually won. I felt a new sense of pride at first and then that switched into opportunity. Or did it? Could Billy make it in singles competition? Perhaps a slight gimmick reimagining was the answer. I’d have to figure it out.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, October, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 209

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: LA Star #2 vs. Masked Assassin #1

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, LA Star #2 defeated Masked Assassin #1 in 9:44 by pinfall after using a foreign object.

Rating: 41

That’s right Assassins. You don’t just always get your own way. The LA Stars are still one of the best teams around and if you think you’re just going to dominate them indefinitely, then you haven’t been paying attention. Ahem. Sorry about, got a bit carried away. Good match.

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. James Diaz

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, James Diaz defeated Danny Cassidy in 10:19 by pinfall with an Asian Thumb Spike.

Rating: 33

Disappointing performance by Danny here, proving once again that we can’t rush his rise up the card. He’s still young and with plenty of promise, but overexposure will kill him stone dead in the eyes of the audience, so we have to carefully manage his matches. James did his best here, but the result was underwhelming. Right man won at least.

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Pepper Pelton

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bradley Blaze defeated Pepper Pelton in 10:23 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop.

Rating: 48

These two have great chemistry, which lifted the match despite the fact we had a heel vs. heel encounter. Pepper, with Prime Time now accompanying him outside the ring did everything he could. But you can’t stop the MBGA Movement with doing everything you can. Blaze reclamation full steam ahead.

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Ace Youngblood

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Ace Youngblood defeated Charlie Corner in 9:47 by pinfall with a Flying Tomahawk Chop.

Rating: 41

And we are starting to run into disposition problems. First Heel vs. Heel, now Face vs. Face. Solid match between two of our underused stars, with a result that might be a bit of an upset. Always the case when tag team wrestlers beat singles stars.

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: Logan Diaz vs. Curt Meritt

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Logan Diaz defeated Curt Meritt in 10:14 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex.

Rating: 45

An easy round really for Logan as he faces the lowest-profile worker still in. Curt does his absolute best (aided by Logan), but is just completely outmatched.

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Prime Time Jack Pryde

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Prime Time Jack Pryde defeated William Jetterson in 21:12 by pinfall with a PrydeFall.

Rating: 55

Clean win and great match as Prime Time continues to be an enigma. He’s great in tag team matches, but is good roughly half the time in singles. If you could just get that up to ¾ of the time I’d push him. But I’d happily keep giving him a shot because he’s talented, young and from Minnesota.

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: Masked Stranger vs. LA Star #1

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Masked Stranger defeated LA Star #1 in 21:06 by disqualification.

Rating: 54

LA Star is the better in-ring talent, but Masked Stranger is the better singles star. Therefore, we fudge the decision and give it to Stranger after interference from those pesky Assassins. Good match though.

 

ANGLE: Bradley Blaze is out in cap and tee. He’s here to tell everyone that because of the corrupt directors of MPW, he’ll be forced to face the winner of the main event tonight. He knows, that you know, that they don’t want him to be champion. It’s disgusting. There’s no wrestler in history whose been so poorly treated as him.

Rating: 59

Seriously love the guy.

 

KING OF MIDWEST 16-MATCH: Dreadnought vs. Tennessee William

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Dreadnought drew with Tennessee William in 22:06 when the referee lost control and stopped the match after Bradley Blaze interfered.

Rating: 56

And in the biggest round 16 match-up, two of the favourites are eliminated by someone not even in the match. Apparently part of making Blaze Great Again is to make his run to the semi-finals a breeze. To be honest, you can’t fault the logic.

 

OVERALL RATING: 55

 

Based on the randomness of the draw, we had to get really creative with our booking. Some would argue that we’re being too on the nose, but I know writers you use subtext and those people are cowards. Before the go home show, we hear news that Crippler Ray Kingman has passed away (RIP) and Tennessee William won the Empire title. Funny how there’s rarely overlap with champions across all the COTT promotions. Probably don’t want a repeat of the PJ Strong debacle.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, October, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 201

 

KING OF MIDWEST QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Ace Youngblood vs. James Diaz

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, James Diaz defeated Ace Youngblood in 10:04 by pinfall with an Asian Thumb Spike.

Rating: 43

If there was ever any doubt, James Diaz extinguished it in short order. Ace did well to make it this far, but we wasn’t about to upset a Diaz to get to the semis, he’s not God.

 

KING OF MIDWEST QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Masked Stranger vs. LA Star #2

In an exceptional match, Masked Stranger defeated LA Star #2 in 20:53 by submission with a Cobra Clutch.

Rating: 45

Sad to see the other LA Mask go out the tournament, but once again the ride Stranger is on at the moment it made nothing but sense to have him reach for the semi finals for the second straight year. Could Prime Time upset the odds and do the same?

 

KING OF MIDWEST QUARTER FINAL MATCH: Logan Diaz vs. Prime Time Jack Pryde

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz defeated Prime Time Jack Pryde in 22:05 by submission with a Boston Crab after blatantly cheating.

Rating: 53

No, he couldn’t. Great match and the best outcome for Prime Time here was Logan having to cheat to beat him.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: LA Star #1 vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated LA Star #1 in 21:23 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number seven of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 40

Sadly in his first title shot in singles competition, LA Star #1 finds someone on the roster whom he doesn’t click with. Seven defences for Dreadnought already and he’s not even close to losing the title.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Bradley Blaze

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bradley Blaze defeated Roger Monteiro in 21:10 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop.

Rating: 50

The MBGA Movement is picking up all kinds of steam now. Fans are waiting for his appearance to put on his caps and I am genuinely shocked with its popularity considering his obviously heelish ways. THE question is, how far are we willing to go with this gimmick? How far is too far?

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Tennessee William in 22:03 by submission with a Honey Trap after blatantly cheating. Nelson Callum makes defence number nine of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 58

I literally had nothing for Tennessee to do, so I gave him a title shot. I was looking forward to the time when we ran a TV show and could get away with Charlie Corner vs. The Masked Mauler as the main event.

 

OVERALL RATING: 57

 

So here we were, at the end of the road for the quarter-finals of the King of the Midwest 2021. The stage was set with Diaz vs. Diaz on one side and MBGA Movement vs. Masked Stranger on the other. A weird semi-final match-up, but really the only logical choice at this stage. The question was, which way would we go?

 

MPW King of the Midwest 2021

MPW Championship: Tennessee William vs. Nelson Callum ©

King of Midwest Semi: James Diaz vs. Logan Diaz

King of Midwest Semi: Masked Stranger vs. Bradley Blaze

King of Midwest Final: 1 vs. 2

MPW Midwest Title: Ace Youngblood vs. Dreadnought ©

MPW Tag Team Titles: Cross River Connection vs. The LA Stars ©

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… The Man Who Would Be King…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… All Hail the King…

 

MPW King of the Midwest 2021

Sunday Week 4, October, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 214

 

KING OF MIDWEST SEMI-FINAL MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, two of the hottest acts in MPW go toe-to-toe. Masked Stranger is backup up by his Brotherhood of the Hood, while Blaze is in the middle of his Make Blaze Great Again campaign. The action is fast-paced from the off, with neither man backing down in slug-fests and tests of strength. While the Masked Assassins dwell at ringside, Blaze uses a series of fake-outs to avoid an attack before hitting a Dallas Drop for the 1-2-3 and a spot in the finals.

Bradley Blaze defeated Masked Stranger in 20:36 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop.

Rating: 53

Was literally 50-50 on who to go with until the show kicked off, but really had to go with Blaze. He’s was the proven commodity in the main event and Masked Stranger had plenty of opportunity in the months ahead.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Ace Youngblood vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Ace Youngblood in 20:47 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb following interference from Masked Stranger. Dreadnought makes defence number eight of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 48

Absolutely furious with his defeat and elimintation, Masked Stranger decides he wants to destroy something beautiful. In this case; Youngblood’s face.

 

ANGLE: Ace Youngblood is in the ring on his knees. Masked Stranger and Dreadnought are taking it in turns to batter the Lakota Brave over and over again to the shock of the crowd. Dreadnought picks up Youngblood to deliver a Dread Bomb on a steel chair, when through the crowd charges Billy Chase wearing his professional MMA gear. He takes out Dreadnought’s knee first, grabs the chair and starts swinging at everyone in sight. Forcing the Brotherhood of the Hood out of the ring. The Masked Assassins run in for back up and Billy invites them into the ring. The Brotherhood think better of it and retreat to the back.

Rating: 48

Fantastic fire shown by Billy and the crowd responded to his return nicely too. It was very reminiscent of Callum’s return and we all know how that ended.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Cross River Connection vs. The LA Stars ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated The LA Stars in 20:59 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned LA Star #1 while using the ropes for leverage. Cross River Connection win the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 52

Why, you might ask, did this change happen? It’s a good question. Simply put, the Connection, while impressive in singles are not stars yet. So we’d move them back into the tag division as we had plenty of face teams for them to fight against.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Tennessee William in 20:54 by submission with a Honey Trap. Nelson Callum makes defence number ten of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 58

That, right there, is a match-up of the quality of our biggest show of the year. The fact it’s buried in the middle of the card tells everyone that Tennessee as a title contender is cooled for the time being. He could always get back there, but for now his focus was on the Brotherhood.

 

KING OF MIDWEST SEMI-FINAL MATCH: James Diaz vs. Logan Diaz

Once again the Diaz cousins, the former unstoppable tag team of MPW are face to face. Logan is furious, James is understanding. They are similar and yet antithetical of one another. James offers a handshake to start, Logan responds with a fast. And thus the tone is set. Both men hammer one another relentlessly. Sweat pouring as move and counter-move are exchanged in a dizzying match of brutal elegance. And then they come. The Brotherhood of the Hood. They circle the ring like vultures, looking to prey on one or both men. James is wary, but Logan seizes the opportunity and with a devastating belly-to-belly suplex he gets the well earned victory.

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz defeated James Diaz in 21:24 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex.

Rating: 57

 

ANGLE: With Logan stood on the ropes celebrating, the Brotherhood of the Hood slide into the ring and begin a four-on-one beatdown of James Diaz. Logan turns around at the yells from the crowd and sees his cousin being man-handled. A ripple of positive noise eminates from the the crowd. They want him to help and have done for months now. Logan, still standing on the middle rope watches for a beat longer and then jumps down, planting his feet in the mat and smashes his fists against his chest. He’s beckoning the whole Brotherhood on. They stop attacking James for a moment, look at one another and charge. Logan meets them in the middle with an almighty spear to Stranger. He’s up quickly to throw the Assassins over the top rope before squaring off against Dreadnought. Neither man flinches as the start unloading. And for the first time ever, Dreadnought is rocked. He staggers back to the ropes and Logan bounces off the other side, builds up momentum and clotheslines him over the rope to the outside to the delight of the crowd. Logan then picks James to his feet and raises his arm.

Rating: 52

You just love to see it.

 

KING OF MIDWEST FINAL MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Logan Diaz

Blaze’s generic cowboy music hits and he charges to the ring, past the retreating Brotherhood and is in the ring while both Diaz are still there. He clobbers James out of the way and starts attacking an obviously exhausted Logan.

In an exceptional match, Bradley Blaze defeated Logan Diaz in 23:36 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. Bradley Blaze wins the MPW King of the Midwest.

Rating: 47

Actually a little disappointing and I have no idea why. Still, the right man won. And now the MBGA Movement is going to the Twin City Showdown.

 

OVERALL RATING: 48

 

How can a show be, at the same time disappointing, and good? I don’t know, but that’s where we are with this one. I loved the stories, but was less keen on the rating. In further disappointing news, we made a $14,160 loss. Oddly in the COTT, they stripped Hijo Del Mephisto of the COTT World Title without telling us. Presumably he’s signed with someone else. I guess our treatment of everyone else’s champions had not gone down well. Still we had other things on our mind, notably our biggest show of the year and only one match sorted. Two shows to fill out a card. Easy.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, November, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 205

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: The Lakota Warriors vs. Deverell, Doll & Meritt

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, The Lakota Warriors (Roger Monteiro, Billy Chase and Ace Youngblood) defeated Zippy Deverell, The New York Doll and Curt Meritt in 10:11 when Billy Chase pinned Curt Meritt with a Lakota Cutter.

Rating: 42

Sometimes you just want your heroes to win. This was that match. Billy Chase Bad Ass Fighter gimmick change was paying off and we were heating the Lakota Warriors back up.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated The LA Stars in 22:25 when Pepper Pelton pinned LA Star #2 with a Prime Time Perfection. Cross River Connection make defence number one of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 59

What a fantastic match between these two. I wonder at this point how many times they’d faced each other and what the overall win record was. I felt like Connection had the edge, but it may have been recency bias. Ever way, this was a big win for the Connection and as is traditional, they’d give the Stars one more shot at the Gold at the biggest event of the year. For the second year in a row. If they fought again this time next year, I would probably deserve to be fired.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Monsters of Mayhem vs. Masked Assassins

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Monsters of Mayhem defeated Masked Assassins in 20:40 when Logan Diaz submitted Masked Assassin #1 with a Boston Crab.

Rating: 50

THEY’RE BAAAAAACK! The Monsters of Mayhem ride again. They’ve decided that enough is enough and they’re going to join Tennessee in his battle against the Brotherhood. The masked men were in trouble now.

 

ANGLE: Nelson Callum has an interview in which he taunts Bradley Blaze. The Make Blaze Great Again Movement was a garbage movement designed to part honest, hard-working Americans from their money through merchandise. But it’s fine. Blaze has choked before and he’ll choke again. Because despite all his ‘tremendous’ and ‘amazing’ work, when it comes to fighting, he’s just a fake cowboy with a faulty lasso.

Rating: 65

Callum bringing the fire before the main event. I mean he’s told no lies, but still.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Tennessee, Callum & Jetterson vs. Masked Stranger, Bradley Blaze & Dreadnought

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum, Tennessee William and William Jetterson drew with Bradley Blaze, Masked Stranger and Dreadnought in 22:08 following a double count out.

Rating: 61

That is a a great schmozz match to end the show. Just keep everyone ticking over for the upcoming big show. Nice performance by Jetterson in there, who is obviously still upset with Dreadnought.

 

OVERALL RATING: 60

 

Slow news week, onwards…

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 4, November, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 216

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Masked Assassins

In a decent match, Masked Assassins defeated Minnesota Awesome in 9:50 when Masked Assassin #1 pinned Clark Smallbone with a Big Swing Neckbreaker.

Rating: 32

Got to build up the momentum for the new tag team. Enter the Awesome. One day boys, one day you’d achieve something out here in Minnesota. Your hometown. Was I the bad guy in the life of Minnesota Awesome?

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Charlie Corner in 21:20 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number nine of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 39

Sometimes you just have to have a monster squash a guy. Corner was that guy. Dreadnought was that monster.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Masked Stranger vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Masked Stranger in 21:53 by submission with a Honey Trap after blatantly cheating. Nelson Callum makes defence number eleven of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 61

The champ does not bow to anyone. It might seem odd to have one of our hottest acts lose to the champion on the eve of the big show, but sometimes I need to test two workers to see where they’re at. These two are fine, but really this match should’ve been better. Still, important lesson for Masked Stranger. I AM WATCHING YOUR MAIN EVENT PERFORMANCES.

 

10-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH: Tennessee, The LA Stars & Monsters of Mayhem vs. Blaze, Cross River Connection, Masked Mauler and Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Tennessee William, Monsters of Mayhem and The LA Stars drew with Bradley Blaze, Prime Time Jack Pryde, Pepper Pelton, The Masked Mauler and Zippy Deverell in 22:07 following a double disqualification.

Rating: 58

Did someone say big brawl to end the show, juice the fans, sell more tickets and finish the build to the big show? Oh why yes, I did. LOVE IT!

 

OVERALL RATING: 59

 

We ended the month with an acceptable $4,599 loss and were now set. The whole roster were working their backsides off and we’d reached the level of popularity where young workers were writing to us and asking for try-outs. So we’d start the next show throwing in everyone who didn’t have a match and a group of new workers the chance to impress. And with that, the card was set:

 

MPW Twin City Showdown II

MPW Championship: Bradley Blaze vs. Nelson Callum ©

Tribal Warfare Match: Tennessee & Monsters of Mayhem vs. Brotherhood of the Hood (Stranger & The Assassin)

MPW Tag Team Titles: The LA Stars vs. Cross River Connection ©

MPW Midwest Title: William Jetterson vs. Dreadnought ©

Singles: Charlie Corner vs. Danny Cassidy

Singles: Roger Monteiro vs. Zippy Deverell

Tag Team: Lakota Braves vs. Meritt & Mauler

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Ending the year with a BANG…

[DinoKea]

MPW Championship: Bradley Blaze def. Nelson Callum ©

Tribal Warfare Match: Tennessee & Monsters of Mayhem def. Brotherhood of the Hood (Stranger & The Assassin)

MPW Tag Team Titles: Cross River Connection © def. The LA Stars

MPW Midwest Title: Dreadnought © def. William Jetterson

Singles: Danny Cassidy def. Charlie Corner

Singles: Roger Monteiro def. Zippy Deverell

Tag Team: Lakota Braves def. Meritt & Maule

[Herrbear]

MPW Championship: Bradley Blaze vs. Nelson Callum ©

Tribal Warfare Match: Tennessee & Monsters of Mayhem vs. Brotherhood of the Hood (Stranger & The Assassin)

MPW Tag Team Titles: The LA Stars vs. Cross River Connection ©

MPW Midwest Title: William Jetterson vs. Dreadnought ©

Singles: Charlie Corner vs. Danny Cassidy

Singles: Roger Monteiro vs. Zippy Deverell

Tag Team: Lakota Braves vs. Meritt & Mauler

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… with the Super Bowl of Wrestling…

 

MPW Twin City Showdown II

Wednesday Week 4, December, 2021

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 220

 

THE BIG SHOT 15-MAN BATTLE ROYAL: In a terrible match, Rafe Sashay won a battle royal in 9:47. The other members of the 'final four' were The New York Doll, Alistair Shufflebottom and Perry Longstaff, with The New York Doll being the final elimination. Alistair Shufflebottom got the most eliminations over the course of the match.

Rating: 28

That’s right, in a battle royal packed with new names, stars, rookies and tryouts, our final four are all people who’ve made the main show before. Still, this was a huge win for Sashay, who I had some hopes for, if only he could keep a good head on his shoulders.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Lakota Braves vs. Mauler & Meritt

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Lakota Braves defeated Curt Meritt and The Masked Mauler in 10:19 when Billy Chase pinned Curt Meritt with a selection of Ground and Pound Punches.

Rating: 44

Billy is absolutely throwing himself into his new gimmick. I know the Braves probably deserved a more important match, but you know what, at least they’re on the show and got a win. Better things were ahead for them for sure.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Charlie Corner

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Danny Cassidy defeated Charlie Corner in 21:41 by pinfall with a Southern Justice.

Rating: 38

Big win on the big stage for young Cassidy. More than anything though, I felt sorry for Corner. He was so talented and so hard-working and I still hadn’t found anything for Cali Cool to do. I really would have to change that in the year ahead. In fact I’d spend the first few months specifically finding him a story. He’s more than earnt it.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Tennessee & Monsters of Mayhem vs. Brotherhood of the Hood

A feud building over the course of months and months, incorporating multiple workers, other stories and everything in between and at last the team of Tennessee and the newly reformed Monsters of Mayhem had a shot at the Brotherhood.

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Tennessee William and Monsters of Mayhem defeated Brotherhood of the Hood (Masked Stranger, Masked Assassin #1 and Masked Assassin #2) in 10:01 when Logan Diaz submitted Masked Assassin #1 with a Boston Crab.

Rating: 57

Have that Brotherhood. No one bests these three stars on the biggest stage. Great match as months of build finally paid off for us and our crowd. They were red-hot and Logan himself looked like a superstar surrounded by stars. The image of him leaning back and nearly breaking Masked Assassin #2 in half is one which will be added to highlight reels for a while.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Roger Monteiro in 10:22 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics.

Rating: 45

After the last match, we needed to calm the crowd slightly and an upset victory for Zip the Lip was the perfect antidote. A solid, if not spectacular match-up sees Deverell get a big win for himself on the big show. If we ever got a TV show, I had no doubt his natural charisma and ability on the microphone would allow him to take the next step. So the key was to heat him up before that time.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Dreadnought ©

It felt an age ago that Jetterson interfered and unleashed Dreadnought on an unsuspecting MPW. The two dominated for months, with the Snake King ordering the Man Monster around like a drunk monarch with all the power. That changed when Dreadnought joined his fellow masked brothers and having claimed Jetterson’s old title, here we are.

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Dreadnought defeated William Jetterson in 9:51 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number ten of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 51

Let’s not kid ourselves here. Dreadnought is a wrestler whose whole mystique, his whole gimmick is based around winning and being dominant. There was no way we were having Jetterson beat him at the Showdown.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLES: The LA Stars vs. Cross River Connection ©

From the very first match in our company’s history, to a tag title showdown a year ago, to here. In many ways the story of MPW can’t be told without specific reference to The LA Stars and the Cross River Connection. And here they were again, despite all their ups and downs, squaring off for the gold one more time.

In an exceptional match, Cross River Connection defeated The LA Stars in 22:30 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned LA Star #2 with a Prime Time Perfection. Cross River Connection make defence number two of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 59

What a fantastic match, which would no doubt increase the prestige of our tag titles in and of itself. Prime Time always brings the goods at the big shows, and this is no different. As we barrelled into 2022, the Cross River Connection would be champions and we vowed to elevate both teams by this time next year too.

 

ANGLE: Video package to highlight the Make Blaze Great Again Movement. How he turned his stuttering career around to rise through the ranks once again to this moment. He won the King of the Midwest tournament, Has the crowd sort of cheering for him despite his relentless heel-ish behaviour and now, he’s at the doorstep of claiming the title. The only thing standing in his way; the most dominant MPW champion in history.

Rating: 64

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Nelson Callum ©

This was a match earmarked from back in June. The two have chemistry and we knew if we could successfully get Blaze back into the main event we could have an incredible main event. And here we are. It seems mad to think a year ago these two fought each other in this very show and a year later they’re doing it again, but for the title. The action is back and forth, with the majority of the offense channeling through Blaze, who seems to have at least 50% of the crowd behind him. Callum has developed into a bonafide main event star though and doesn’t give an inch to his long-time rival.

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Bradley Blaze in 26:55 by submission with a Honey Trap. Nelson Callum makes defence number twelve of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 68

And there it is. We held off from pulling the trigger on Blaze, mainly because we like to send the crowd home happy, but partly because it didn’t feel quite right. Callum had performed at such a high level for such a long time, we felt he deserved a thank you win on the biggest stage. Most importantly, it was a great match.

 

OVERALL RATING: 65

 

Write-In Competition Results:

Herrbear - 5/7

DinoKea - 5/7

 

Curt got in the beers after the show, and we celebrated. Together. It had been a year of ups and downs, mainly ups to be honest. But we’d excelled against even our own lofty ambitions. Storylines, reinventions and last-minute changes of plans were to be expected in wrestling, even more so in a tiny company like ours. But for our core members, things were riding high. We’d found a way to manage everyone’s expectations and delivered a produce to our audience that they’d learned to love. With the party raging, I sneaked to the roof of the building. Late a night, in the middle of winter, there was a view of Bemidji which I loved. The glint of Christmas lights on the streets below danced in my line of sight. We’d survived another year. The heavy metal door to the roof creaked open and the Chief and Curt Meritt joined me.

“We noticed you’d snuck away,” Curt said handed me a fresh beer. Wisps of steam shot out of their mouths as they spoke.

“I can see why you like it up here Little Wolf. The view is beautiful,” the Chief said and they sat either side of me.

“Any luck negotiating with WrestleWorld?” I asked.

“Nope,” said Curt. “We’re still too small. But we’ll get there.”

“It is written in the stars,” said Chief in his deep, somber, Native American accent. After a few seconds we all laughed.

“That was terrible,” Curt said.

“Do people fall for that mystic stuff?” I asked.

“You’d be amazed,” laughed the Chief. “I once convinced Crippler Ray Kingman to give me ride home or my ancestors might curse his children. My home was five hundred miles away. But he did it.”

“To Crippler,” Curt cheersed, and we joined in.

“Do you think Ernest is happy?” I asked.

“Ernest is never happy,” said Curt. “It’s the only thing that makes him happy, his unhappiness.”

We laughed again. They were the sort of laughs you could only share with people who’ve worked closely with for years. The kind which burst from the heart and slowly die down to nothing but a comfortable silence.

I raised my bottle of beer and declared, “A good year.”

Their beers chinked mine.

“Here’s to an even better one,” added the Chief.

And we sat there, the three of us, together. Enjoying the view, in silence. Three friends with a world of possibilities ahead of them.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Year End, New Year…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… How are we doing?...

 

End of Year Round-up

Minnesota Pro Wrestling

41% prestige (+5%)

51% momentum (+19%)

 

MPW Championship – 45 prestige (+7)

MPW Midwest Heavyweight – 40 Prestige (+5)

MPW Tag Team – 43 Prestige (+6)

 

Best Show Ever: Friday Night’s Main Event (April – Nelson Callum defeats Ernest Youngman to win the MPW Championship Title) (67)

Best Match Ever: Tennessee William defeated Ernest Youngman © at MPW Twin City Showdown I (2020) (69)

 

Backstage Information:

LA Star #1 strong friendship LA Star #2

Prime Time Jack Pryde Strong Friendship with Charlie Corner

Prime Time Jack Pryde Strong Friendship with Curt Meritt

Prime Time Jack Pryde Strong Friendship with Danny Cassidy

Prime Time Jack Pryde Best Friends with Pepper Pelton

The Diaz cousins are related

Loyal to me:

Bradley Blaze, Charlie Corner, Chief Two Eagles, Curt Meritt, Danny Cassidy, LA Star #1, Nelson Callum, Pepper Pelton, Prime Time Jack Pryde, Roger Monteiro and Tennessee William

 

Chief Two Eagles Proteges:

Dreadnought, Danny Cassidy & Billy Chase

 

Elsewhere in the Wrestling World:

Wrestler of the Year: Atom Smasher

Company of the Year: TCW

 

Power 500 (MPW Alumni)

PJ Strong – 174 (New)

Ernest Youngman – 340 (Up from 401)

Logan Diaz – 397 (Up from 497)

Nelson Callum – 408 (Up from 443)

Dean Waldorf – 417 (Down from 302)

Marv Statler – 418 (Down from 303)

Tennessee William – N/A (Down from 458)

 

***

 

The first week of January and I entered the slightly dusty Paul Bunyan Hall backstage area. On my desk was a neatly bound folder with Curt’s scrawled hand-writing ‘first pack of 2022.’ That boy was a legend of administration and work. Alongside it was a series of t-shirt designs for new merchandise, mainly focused around MBGA Movement and the Brotherhood of the Hood. In the pack was news of Freddy Huggins’ win of the TCW World Title, USPW signing Monty Trescarde and FREEDOM Caribbbean Wrestling having finally shut down due to bankruptcy. That was a reminder to check the books. I noticed another large investment amount from the Chief, but truth was we still had enough funds to last the year ahead comfortably. I sighed. One day we’d actually make the man some money.

 

Curt had run some attendance numbers for us and by his calculations we’d have the opportunity to sell out the Paul Bunyan Hall for the first time around the end of February, so we decided to add a special show at that time called Winter’s End, which was in-keeping with our slightly frosty overall promotional feel. MPW – The warm mug of violent cocoa on a snowy winter’s day. With all our new, young talent having failed to produce a special moment on Twin City Showdown, we’d look to slowly introduce them into the main shows and then create a small vignette package of who they are and what they bring to the table. And who knows, maybe even find the next superstar among them. We also opted to increase our production values so that when it came time to negotiate, WrestleWorld didn’t have any reason to say no. We avoided music for the time being; our boys would look good, but I’d be damned if they sounded good too. Not on my watch. We’d save that for the negotiation period… if it ever came.

 

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, January, 2022

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 235

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Lakota Braves vs. Masked Assassins

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Lakota Braves defeated Masked Assassins in 9:43 when Billy Chase pinned Masked Assassin #2 with a handful of tights.

Rating: 43

We kick off the new year, with the Lakota Braves getting a solid win against our rising heel team. I always liked to have the good guys prevail at the end and beginning of a year to be honest. Anything else felt too depressing.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Danny Cassidy in 10:20 by pinfall with a handful of tights.

Rating: 41

Sometimes you need the cocky upstart to upset the honest-to-God hero by nefarious tactics. This also signalled that we were running with Cassidy vs. Deverell going forward too. I had a feeling it made eventually help steer them both up the card.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Minnesota Awesome in 9:53 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Perry Longstaff with a Prime Time Perfection. Cross River Connection make defence number three of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 51

Other than The LA Stars, the team who have faced the Connection the most have to be Minnesota Awesome. They’re our plug-and-play team for when we need a heel team to start gaining momentum. It’s a job they’re good at. Perry Longstaff does appear to have had his confidence obliterated by this approach however. I must remember to send him some chocolates to cheer him up.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Charlie Corner in 20:52 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number eleven of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 47

As Minnesota Awesome are to the tag ranks, Charlie Corner is to the Midwest Title scene. He’s more than talented enough to actually win the title, although there is a dreadnought-shaped body in the way of that. Interestingly Charlie had a new, more toned look, which pushed the ‘Cali Rock Star Surfing God’ look into the stratosphere. It was definitely time to find something for him to actually do.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Monsters of Mayhem vs. The LA Stars

In an exceptional match, Monsters of Mayhem drew with The LA Stars in 22:10 following a double count out.

Rating: 67

Holy moley! That is one Hell of a match between two of our most decorated tag teams. My word that could main event a show. In fact it should main event a show. I didn’t particularly want either team to get an advantage over the other, especially as both would be competing for the titles against the Connection very soon.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, Masked Stranger defeated Tennessee William in 21:26 by submission with a Cobra Clutch after interference from Dreadnought.

Rating: 59

Poor Tennessee is really struggling in singles competition against the vicious Masked Stranger. The constant attack by masked men was proving difficult for the former champ to deal with. But we had a plan.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Bradley Blaze drew with Nelson Callum in 22:28 following a double count out after a debuting Kip Keenan attacked both Callum and the referee.

Rating: 63

Another draw, but a slightly underwhelming result to be honest. There’s a chance that we have missed the boat with the MBGA Movement. I’m starting to worry that the tiem to pull the trigger was at Twin City Showdown. It’s a situation we’d have to watch and under no circumstances move the title if the momentum had cooled. That would be stupid. I had to remember that. HAD TO!

 

OVERALL RATING: 62

 

Well, we should’ve had the tag team match in the main event slot. But we continue to grow and with Curt’s Pack empty in the week in-between, we rolled straight into the next show. Plus, everyone hates January. Best just get through it as quickly as you can. That’s my old Ma used to say.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 4, January, 2022

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 262

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Jetterson & Corner vs. Masked Assassins

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated William Jetterson and Charlie Corner in 10:03 when Masked Assassin #1 pinned Charlie Corner with a Big Swing Neckbreaker.

Rating: 37

Yeah ok, we’d work on Corner’s new thing next time. For now we needed the Assassins to get back to winning. The festive period hasn’t been a happy one for them and we were in danger of killing one of our hottest new acts.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Lakota Braves vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Lakota Braves in 21:18 when Billy Chase was disqualified while fighting Prime Time Jack Pryde. Cross River Connection make defence number four of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 52

This is what I like to call the perfect result. Connection get a title defense under their belts, while the Lakota Braves (noticeably Billy Chase) look like absolutely killers. Billy’s MMA experience had made him a tougher, more well-rounded character.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Roger Monteiro in 9:33 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number twelve of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 46

Twelve! Twelve defences and showing no signs of slowing down. We were in new territory with Dreadnought now. He was so dominant, so unstoppable that to have him lose was now a massive deal. If we continued it could become the biggest win of the entire promotion. Then it would become a question of who? Because whoever did beat him would be an instant main event level superstar.

 

ANGLE: Nelson Callum has a sitdown interview in which he taunts Kip Keenan. Kip has come over from a dead promotion. The ultimate big fish in tiny pond. Now he’s just another guppy floating around in a sea of dangerous sharks. And in the sea of sharks, Callum is Jaws. Or the fisherman. Or whatever. Basically he’s going to destroy Keenan for fun. And to show his dominance he’s going to pick a kid off the street to be his tag team partner tonight.

Rating: 66

He’s so good on the microphone and a top-notch face of the company for us. He’s so good I wondered why it took me so long to put the title on him. Then I thought of Ernest Youngman and I felt sad again.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Nelson Callum & Danny Cassidy vs. Bradley Blaze & Kip Keenan

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bradley Blaze and Kip Keenan defeated Nelson Callum and Danny Cassidy in 10:08 when Kip Keenan pinned Danny Cassidy with a Belly To Belly Suplex after interference from Zippy Deverell.

Rating: 48

The kid off the street turns out to be Danny Cassidy, which is somehow insulting and brilliant description from Callum. As it happens, his choice of partner cost him in the end as Zip the Lip got involved in the match and cost the champion the win. Solid outing from both Blaze and Keenan to boot.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, Masked Stranger defeated Tennessee William in 21:53 by submission with a Cobra Clutch after interference from Dreadnought.

Rating: 66

Another week, another win for the Masked Stranger. His dominance against Tennessee is becoming a key part of our early year plans. Tennessee, no matter how hard he tries, cannot be the leader of the Brotherhood. But where will this lead us?

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Monsters of Mayhem

In an exceptional match, The LA Stars drew with Monsters of Mayhem in 21:56 following a double count out.

Rating: 67

I made the mistake once, not again. Another superb match from these two and this time we stuck it in it’s rightful place. Same applies as last month though. Neither team needs the win, but both need to avoid the loss.

 

OVERALL RATING: 65

 

A good start to the year. But still no WrestleWorld contract.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Cornell Rising, Reverie in competition…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Snow, snow everywhere, but I’ve got a job to do regardless…

 

The big news in the wrestling world was The Architect winning the Rip Chord Invitational this year. Elsewhere some guy called Tommy Cornell beat Nicky Champion for the USPW World Title. Feels like this Cornell kid might have a bright future. We made a $26,890 loss as the gravity of the production increases hit us like a frozen mallet in the unmentionables. With that level of loss we’d be in trouble financially before year end for sure. Then, in staggeringly important news, which was actually big enough to be on the six o’clock news itself; CommPlanet, a massive content streaming service had launched. It would serve as the prime rival to Reverie and could, quite possibly create a second titanic company to match USPW. It felt custom-made for TCW, and would allow them to step into the streaming wars properly against USPW and SWF. The knock-on affect was, there was about to be a LOT of wrestlers about to make a LOT of money. As for us, we braced for a lot of our roster to be snapped away. So really, no different than normal.

 

MPW Friday Night’s Main Event

Friday Week 2, February, 2022

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 284

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Lakota Braves vs. Masked Assassins

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated Lakota Braves in 9:51 when Masked Assassin #2 pinned Ace Youngblood with a Big Swing Neckbreaker.

Rating: 36

Big win for the Assassins here, but one which the Braves could swallow. Our Native American tribe had been on a roll, so this allowed us to pass some of that onto our second-top heel tag team.

 

SINGLES MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated William Jetterson in 10:16 by pinfall with a Spinning Bulldog.

Rating: 43

The Deverell push continues. I would never say this out loud, but I was doing this to create a legitimate foil for Danny Cassidy. Because what is a hero with no villain to battle against? No kind!

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Monsters of Mayhem vs. Cross River Connection ©

In an exceptional match, The LA Stars drew with Monsters of Mayhem and Cross River Connection in 21:31; after all teams fell outside and brawled into the crowd.

Rating: 62

We introduced the Connection into our running tag team mega-feud and while the quality dipped a bit, it wasn’t so much to make us reconsider it. A draw was the obvious result, because a win for the Connection would effectively bury their two main competitors. And seeing as they’ve already beaten their third and fourth competitors recently. Were we wasting Logan at this point? Almost certainly.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Roger Monteiro in 9:34 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number thirteen of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 46

Dreadnought continues to beat the best of our midcard to assert his dominance. He would eventually have to move onto bigger stars and with each one there’d be a decision to make about who, if anyone could beat him. But for now he was churning out solid matches with solid workers and hopefully developing his skillset ready for his inevitable rise.

 

ANGLE: Kip Keenan has an interview in which he taunts Nelson Callum.

Rating: 38

Disappointing performance by Kip. It was so by-the-numbers that I didn’t really remember anything from the whole segment. I was starting to wonder if he wasn’t the superstar I’d thought he was, and that Callum had actually hit the nail on the head with his last interview. Was Keenan overrated because of his success in a tiny company?

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger is happy to face Tennessee William one last time at Winter’s End. But because he’s proven himself so many times already, he wants something from Fat Elvis. He wants his career. They’ll fight one more time, but if Stranger wins, Tennessee cannot compete in MPW again. Tennessee comes out with Cheryl the Guitar and says he accepts.

Rating: 58

Gulp!

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Callum, Tennessee & Cassidy vs. Blaze, Keenan & Stranger

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Bradley Blaze, Kip Keenan and Masked Stranger defeated Nelson Callum, Danny Cassidy and Tennessee William in 21:55 when Kip Keenan pinned Danny Cassidy with a Belly To Belly Suplex following interference from Zippy Deverell.

Rating: 55

They never learn. Deverell will not allow Cassidy to have any success until he shares in it. The faces could take the loss on the chin as I tried to build up Blaze and Keenan. Stranger was already white hot, so this just maintained his levels of popularity. Overall though, a disappointing match by our own standards.

 

OVERALL RATING: 53

 

As the World titles continue to turn, we heard that Joey Morgan had won the SWF World Title. We increased Logan’s pay from $160 to $400, because he was worth it and we were haemorrhaging money anyway. A little note in Curt’s Pack made me smile; Jackpot Jordan had cheated on Venus Angeletti with Kammy Ling and it was causing a huge problem for them all. I’d like to think that somewhere Ernest Youngman was laughing. In MAW Bradley Blaze, riding the wave of MBGA momentum had claimed the MAW Championship.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Spring is coming, but not before Winter’s End…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Where we end Winter with the momentum of a rocket ship…

 

MPW Winter’s End 2022

Friday Week 4, February, 2022

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!?!)

 

SINGLES MATCH: Ace Youngblood vs. William Jetterson

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Ace Youngblood defeated William Jetterson in 10:07 by pinfall with a handful of tights.

Rating: 46

The sold out crowd loved this opener, with two faces battling it out. Ace’s fancy new move no longer popped the crowd like it used to, but it didn’t stop that member of the Lakota Warriors getting a pop for winning. Jetterson continues to slot in wherever I need him as an unsung midcard stalwart.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Danny Cassidy in 9:58 by pinfall, illegally using the ropes for leverage.

Rating: 32

A perfect second match with these two, with Danny being dominant and playing by the book and Zip the Lip looking in danger, but stealing a win. The story goes on and hopefully as the crowd get more into it, the reactions will get stronger.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. Kip Keenan

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Kip Keenan defeated Roger Monteiro in 9:51 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex.

Rating: 39

I did not like the fact that Kip used the same finisher as Logan. But if he’s going to be a main event player, we needed to have him win some matches against established stars. With Billy facing Dreadnought later, Roger did what Roger does best. Made someone else look like a star.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Billy Chase vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Billy Chase in 10:24 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number fourteen of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 46

This was a hard-hitting wild brawl between two of our toughest fighters. I sensed a mini-feud would be in order, but if someone was going to beat Dreadnought, I could think of worse options than Billy Chase. But not yet. The crowd have now started chanting the number of title defences Dreadnought has at the end of each of his wins. And I am here for it.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE SCRAMBLE: The LA Stars vs. Monsters of Mayhem vs. Masked Assassins vs. Cross River Connection ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated The LA Stars, Monsters of Mayhem and Cross River Connection in 21:39; the order of elimination was Cross River Connection first, then The LA Stars, and finally Monsters of Mayhem. Masked Assassins win the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 59

Well, well, well. We add the Masked Assassins to the mix and look what happens. Absolutely huge victory for them as they topple the Cross River Connection. I had to make sure the other teams looked like stars in the process so that I could squeeze the juice out of extended stories for them all. But for now, the Masked Assassins gratefully accept the rocket I’ve stuck up them over the last year.

 

LOSER LEAVES TOWN MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Masked Stranger

This is the co-main event. Tennessee William, the two time Champion wants to end Masked Stranger once and for all. And he wants to do it tonight. Stranger is down to the ring with Dreadnought, but in an odd moment of respect for his opponent, he sends the Man Monster to the back. The sold out crowd, the first in MPW history are red hot for this showdown. Tennessee hasn’t been able to beat his old foe for months and now has had to put his career on the line. He controls the match from the opening bell, fighting with a fire and passion which is sometimes missing from his matches. But Stranger has his number every step of the way. Then, just as it looks like Tennessee has his opponent on the ropes, Dreadnought reappears.

In an exceptional match, Masked Stranger defeated Tennessee William in 20:43 by submission with a Cobra Clutch after interference from Dreadnought.

Rating: 60

Double Gulp.

 

ANGLE: The Brotherhood of the Hood retreat back, their job done. Tennessee William stays sat in the ring as the crowd chant ‘PLEASE DON’T GO!’ Tennessee picks up Cheryl and waves to the MPW faithful before leaving the ring.

Rating: 73

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Bradley Blaze vs. Nelson Callum ©

In an exceptional match, Bradley Blaze defeated Nelson Callum in 21:43 by pinfall with a Dallas Drop. Bradley Blaze wins the MPW Championship.

Rating: 64

We did it. We pulled the trigger. MAW had taught us that it might not be too late. Blaze’s momentum may have slacked off a bit this year, but if we were going to run with him as champion, now was the time. We felt we owed him the chance to be the top guy. And we prayed he was more of a Youngman, than he was a Strong.

 

OVERALL RATING: 62

 

Next time on Minnesota Wrestling… WrestleWorld…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Things are changing…

 

February 2022 would go down in history for MPW. Sure we lost $15,193 for the month and we’d potentially changed our top Championship two months too late. But, we finally, after years of chasing the dream, got ourselves a TV show on the streaming service WrestleWorld. They’d also agreed to show all our events and the Chief had secured a contract which guaranteed us 55% of all revenue. As such I called an emergency meeting with Chief, Curt and Whistler. It was time to do what we do best; plan. First things first, with our hour TV slot on the service provider we decided the best name for it would be MPW Power Hour. It fit our branding wonderfully. We’d run four consecutive shows on the first Wednesday of the month and then show them weekly on a Friday night. This would allow us to use all of our roster on one night, but then spread it out over four individual shows. Next we rearranged our events to fit a more standardised mold. They would all now take place on the last Saturday of the Month as follows:

 

Friday Night Main Event (February, April, August)

Tribal Warfare (June)

King of the Midwest (October)

Twin City Showdown (December)

 

With that sorted, Chief had a point to make out our responsibility as a promotion to improve lives of everyone in wrestling. As such, no one with less than 45 reputation would be hired and we didn’t want to go the way of the Japanese with impactful workers because of the damage it does to their heads. And obviously on top of this; MPW Must have grown in popularity in the next year. That I could almost guarantee. Next Curt suggested we get the boys in ahead of our first batch of tapings to talk about their entrance music and their video promos. When I enquired what he meant by video promos, he explained that WrestleWorld had insisted on running short, 30-second video pieces on our top stars. Explaining who they were and giving fans who didn’t know us a reason to watch. But in Curt’s mind, it was worth writing, filming and producing vignettes for all of our workers, because you never know what might happen in the future (he pointed at the picture of Ernest I had pinned to the wall next to my desk). I told him he made a good point, so we called them in. This, was going to be fun.

 

***

 

I, of course, had absolutely no knowledge of video production beyond the basic ‘this looks better than that.’ But Curt, ever the jack-of-all-trades had a basic enough grasp for what we wanted to achieve. The idea being that we were a through-back wrestling product and therefore should run mid-80s themed vignettes. The boys were absolutely thrilled at the prospect of dressing up and getting in front of the camera. Based on our experience of Ernest and PJ (and for the sake of inclusion), we’d make sure that everyone got a video. This created other issues for the newer workers who were still honing their characters and trying desperately to get in front of the camera. It did give us a chance of a soft reboot though. While the stories we’d been running would continue as they were, we were about to introduce thousands of new eyes to our product and the new audience would not know that Charlie Corner hadn’t always been the character we were about to present (that’s right, Charlie is finally getting involved in the action).

 

By the time we were finished I was delighted with the finished show reel. We had a special screening at Paul Bunyan Hall after post production with all the boys there, on full outfits. If anyone had walked in, it would have been quite the bizarre sight. Each video had throwback graphics of with black and white, slow motion to still frames of each worker performing their finisher, while the heavily distorted voice of Whistler gave the explanatory voice over detailing who the worker was and what they were all about. And it was all set to each workers new entrance theme music, which for the first time ever was famous actual songs, not just weird synthesiser covers of sort-of-famous songs.

 

The lights dimmed and the show reel started:

 

Bradley Blaze

Music:

by James Sanderson

Do you remember a time when kids weren’t obsessed with mobile phones? Where they’d play outside, scuff their knees and only come home when the sun went down? A time where every American had a job to be proud of and every Americans wife knew how to make a daiquiri and make dinner? Bradley Blaze remembers. He vows to bring us back to those halcyon days, one Dallas Drop at the time. So vote for the America of old, and together we’ll Make Blaze Great Again. (“My name is Bradley Blaze, and I approve this message).”

 

Nelson Callum

Music:

by Bruce Springsteen

When the men and women of Pittsburgh were called to create the steel to power the machines, to fight against evil in Europe, they stepped up. It is from the fires of those factories, on the banks of the three rivers that a man was born. A man of grit and steel. Some call him a rule-forsaker, a heart-breaker a limb-stretching troublemaker. We just call him Nelson Callum; the uncrowned king of Minnesota Pro Wrestling.

 

Logan Diaz

Music:

by CFOs

Glorious! The perfect encapsulation of God’s perfect physique. Logan Diaz is simply; The Glorious One. Pro wrestling blood runs through his veins; and with it an expectation… No, an absolute truth that he is the best wrestler in the world today. It doesn’t matter whether you’re friend, or foe, or even family. Nothing will top The Glorious One from climbing to the very top of the mountain.

 

The LA Stars

Music:

by Blink 182

Action-packed. Death-defying. Mysterious. The LA Stars have travelled a lot, but wherever they go excitement follows. No one can match their speed, their grace, their will for adventure. The LA Stars, the tag team, of tomorrow.

 

Cross River Connection

Music:

by Jimi Hendrix

Born either side of the La Croix river, which separates Minnesota from Wisconsin come the Cross River Connection. Brothers from other mothers, who will do whatever it takes to win. Prime Time Jack Pryde… Perfect Pepper Pelton… a mark of success in Minnesota Pro Wrestling.

 

The Brotherhood of the Hood

Music:

by Acid

No-one knows where they came from. Nobody knows where they’re going. But no one can deny what they want. They want power, and domination. A stranger, two assassins and a Man Monster. The Brotherhood of the Hood… destruction incarnate.

 

The Lakota Warriors

Music:

by Blackfoot

History… Tradition… Honour… These are ways of the Lakota Native Americans from Minnesota. These are the ways of the Eagle, the Stallion and the hawk… these are the ways of Ace Youngblood, Billy Chase and Roger Monteiro… The Lakota Warriors…

 

James Diaz

Music:

by Babymetal

Born in the West, raised in the Far East… The son of the monster has arrived and Minnesota Pro Wrestling will never be the same again… James Diaz’ ascension has begun.

 

The Masked Mauler

Music: None

LEGACY!?! THE IRON CLAW!?! THE BIG SWING!?! THE BEARHUG!?! THE DESTROYER!?! THE MASKED MAULER!?! RARGH!?!

 

William Jetterson

Music:

by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Raised down in the Bayou, I learnt from when I was very young that if you’re not thinking on your feet, y’all gonna lose them to a critter. Always strike first, ain’t that right Sir Hiss? Fill em up wit ya venom and make damn sure they can’t strike back. This is the way of the Cobra and this is my way…

 

Danny Cassidy

Music:

by Travis Tritt

Growing up, I never really knew my father. He was an idea rather than a person. But when the time came to follow his path, I couldn’t say no. It’s in my blood. And you can’t deny blood. But I am not my father. I’m gonna do things right. I’m gonna fulfil his potential. I’m gonna bring Southern Justice to the North.

 

Zippy Deverell

Music:

by Blackberry Smoke

Corbin, Kentucky is different to most of America. It’s a mom and pop place. Small stores, booze in jars, rifles in trunks. We don’t much care for the Government in Corbin, but he only thing we hate more than the Government, is Texans. Damn cowboys pretending to be tough, wearing their stupid hats. If I see a cowboy hat, I can’t help but take a swing. It’s just how I was raised. I’m Zippy, and I’m Kentucky Proud.

 

Charlie Corner

Music:

by Tupac Shakur

California Cool Charlie Corner. Everything is in his name. He doesn’t stress about the little things. Or the big things. As long as your chill brah, you’re cool with him. Wrestling is art, and he’s one of the best painters around. But wrestling can be lonely without a crew. But one day he’s going to find one and everything will be sweet.

 

Spike (The New York Doll)

Music:

by Dead Boys

Punk is a way of life. Living on the mean streets of NYC, you learn that you’ve got to day whatever it takes to survive. Being a punk means you’re not popular. But that’s ok, popularity doesn’t feed you when you’re hungry. Beating people pays the bills. And I’ve got a lot of bills. I’m Spike, the New York Doll and I am punk.

 

***

 

Well, what could we say? Some were better than others, but each told a simple story and in many ways highlighted some of the problems we had with some of our workers and their motivations. The important thing was that the boys were happy with them. Plenty of ribbing, especially at the expense of people like Jetterson and The Masked Mauler. Tennessee especially was laughing loudly at the complete embarrassment of some entries. But with everything set, we sent the files to WrestleWorld and prepared for our first block of recordings for the MPW Power Hour. This was going to be exciting. We even planned to rebrand the logo to highlight our increase in popularity.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Can you feel the POWER…

 

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Hey aren’t we those guys off TV? You’re damn straight we are…

 

The previously sold out Paul Bunyan Hall was quiet. Too quiet. By my estimations it was about a third full. This was not the overwhelming success I’d hoped for. We moved the crowd to the hard camera side to give the impression of it being full and ran through the schedule.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #1

Friday, Week 1, March, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, March, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 109

 

ANGLE: Cross River Connection cut a promo in the ring about losing the tag titles. They don’t understand how it happened to a couple of masked losers. All they know is, it’s definitely not their fault. Still now they’re stuck without titles to defend, so they’re going to give anyone backstage with the stones to face them a shot. Some generic wailing guitar music rips through the arena… and out walk two new faces. Two, gorgeous young faces.

Rating: 67

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: The Satin Knights (Drake Constantine & Corey St.Hubbins) vs. Cross River Connection

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, The Satin Kinghts defeated Cross River Connection in 10:28 when Drake Constantine pinned Pepper Pelton, illegally using the ropes for leverage.

Rating: 39

That is how you introduce a new team to the company. Both Drake Constantine and Corey St.Hubbins were rookies fresh out of training, but both had raw charisma, a great look and plenty of upside. Plus both were from the Midwest. Home grown talent.

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger leads Dreadnought to the ring with a chain around his neck. He explains that this is the Man Monster of the Brotherhood of the Hood. The unstoppable juggernaut of MPW. The undefeated and undefeatable, Dreadnought. It’s fresh meat time.

Rating: 47

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Billy Chase vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Billy Chase drew with Dreadnought in 7:45 when the referee lost control of the two fighting each other into the crowd and stopped the match.

Rating: 47

What is this? Billy Chase, certified bad ass and part-time MMA fighter actually got a draw out of Dreadnought. Although it wasn’t the first win, it was enough to get the crowd juiced. A rematch was definitely on the cards.

 

ANGLE: Nelson Callum is at the MPW Sound Stage. A small audience is in attendance, watching him being interviewed by Whistler. Stood behind the podium, he has some thoughts about Blaze. The Cowboy is dumb. How dumb is he? He thought drinking bleach was good for a sore throat. Now sure, Blaze had successfully made himself great again. But the beauty of that level of stupidity is; eventually you get found out. And he’ll be there to watch his collapse. But first, he’s got an issue with Masked Stranger. Nobody sends Tennessee packing but him.

Rating: 84

Holy cow! Nelson Callum, under proper lighting, with no script to follow is an absolute world class talent on the microphone. The speed, the humour, the intensity. He’s a star, and I’m already regretting taking the title off of him.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Nelson Callum vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Masked Stranger in 20:34 by submission with a Honey Trap after interference from a masked man.

Rating: 62

Intrigue.

 

ANGLE: The masked attacker has an almost identical mask to Stranger. He’s a little chubbier though. Also he’s carrying a guitar with the words ‘Not Cheryl’ scrawled on it. He grabs a microphone and in a thick Tennessee accent says “I am the Memphis Rider, and y’all are about to learn how we do justice in Memphis.”

Rating: 70

I wonder who it could be…

 

OVERALL RATING: 66

 

A great start to our new TV show. Oddly the COTT informed us via update that CZCW and WrestleWorld had just parted ways. That did not seem like a smart move, but the Coastal Zone was a top 10 company globally and we… well we weren’t even top 25. So maybe we shouldn’t comment. WrestleWorld told us after the show aired that we’d got a respectable 24.648 viewers. To someone used to seeing under 300 fans at shows, this seemed to me to be a massive number. Especially as those thousands were spread across the whole of the US. The attendance was a problem though, perhaps inviting fans to watch four consecutive hours of wrestling at the size we were, wasn’t a good idea.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #2

Friday, Week 2, March, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, March, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 109

 

SINGLES MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Kilikikopa Nani

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Charlie Corner defeated Kilikikopa Nani in 8:08 by pinfall with a Corner Cutter.

Rating: 31

The benefits of a TV show like is, apart from the story-developing angles, was that we could give actual exposure to our young stars who were normally relegated to the pre-show battle royal. In this case, the next in a long line of bad ass Polynesian wrestlers, the awesomely named Kilikikopa. Obviously we were building up Corner with his quest to find friends, but a clean win was good for the soul. Kili gave a great account for himself.

 

ANGLE: Zippy Deverell is out with a microphone. There’s nothing he hates more than Texan, good old boys with a silver spoon and an entitled attitude. Danny Cassidy, of Jack Griffith Jr, to give him his proper name was given everything as a kid. Yet he’s out here pretending to be a poor Texan native. Zip reckons Danny hasn’t known a day of hardship in his entire life. Try growing up Corbin, Kentucky and then let him know what hard times are really like.

Rating: 64

Woah! So it turns out giving Zip the microphone and no script and the results are absolute gold. This was one of the rare times in this job, where I just sat and listened to him. And the truth was, I could’ve listened to him all night. Danny Cassidy is definitely the golden child of MPW, but Zippy might just use the chip on his shoulder to get ahead of him. Wonderful.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Alistair Shufflebottom vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Alistair Shufflebottom in 5:45 by pinfall with a Spinning Bulldog.

Rating: 41

Might need to work on Zip’s finisher though. It’s a little bit… lame. Still a comfortable, short squash win for him. I love that he’s waited for TV to absolutely grab the brass ring.

 

ANGLE: The Brotherhood of the Hood are in the interview centre (we’d need a name for this place – the Ice Box? The Power Zone? The Chat Station?). Stranger is doing all the talking. Dreadnought and the Assassins are just stood there, looking terrifying.

“I’m not at all impressed with Tennessee William’s behaviour,” Stranger begins.

“Tennessee?” questions Whistler. “But he left weeks ago. You mean Memphis Rider.”

“THEY’RE THE SAME PERSON!” Stranger yells in frustration.

“I don’t think so,” Whistler replied. “I know William well. I spoke to him yesterday, he’s at home.”

“HE’S NOT AT HOME. HE’S HERE! HE’S WEARING AN OLD MASK OF MINE! AND HE’S CARRYING THAT GUITAR WITH HIM!”

“Again, I don’t want any trouble. But Tennessee William’s guitar is called Cheryl. The Memphis Rider’s guitar is not called Cheryl. It says so right on the front.”

Stranger stares at Whistler and responding to the non-verbal command, Dreadnought grabs the veteran by the collar.

“Now listen here,” Whistler says panicked. “I’m a journalist, I’m just doing my job. There’s no need for violence.”

With Whistler detained, Stranger grabs his microphone and stares down the camera.

“Tennessee, I know it’s you and I’m going to send you packing. For good!”

Rating: 51

 

ANGLE: Following the Brotherhood leaving, Logan Diaz walks onto the stage and past the Brotherhood, not flinching in their obvious attempts to intimidate him. Stranger calls them to follow him, but Dreadnought stays, squaring up face-to-face with the Glorious One. Stranger has to physically drag the Man Monster away, with Logan verbally running him down as he leaves. Once they’ve left, Logan checks on Whistler and then starts the interview. He’s been around these parts of a while, Gloriously beating anyone and everyone in his path. But now it’s time to set his sights a little higher. Obviously the Brotherhood are a problem, but a bigger problem is the idiot with the MPW Championship Title. He’s a disgrace and needs to be taken down a peg or three. Plus, you shouldn’t be as good looking as Logan is, without some gold around the waste.

Rating: 67

Logan is quite the talented talker. A lot is his gimmick and look, but he is definitely above average in the charisma stakes too. This segment ties together a number of story threads and starts a new one too. Blaze it would seem, is a marked man.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Masked Assassins ©

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated Minnesota Awesome in 9:47 when Masked Assassin #1 pinned Perry Longstaff with a Big Swing Neckbreaker. Masked Assassins make defence number one of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 41

The champs are off and running. Minnesota Awesome, already irritated at their lack of momentum were also annoyed to have been left out of the vignette adverts too. Truth is, what could I say? They’re from Minnesota and they never win?

 

ANGLE: At a Presidential podium somewhere new, Bradley Blaze is wearing a new, red cowboy hat with Keep Blaze Great emblazoned on it. It seems that having finally won his election to the Championship, the people of MPW need to donate to his re-election campaign. He has a number of new merchandise offers to be worn with pride.

Rating: 72

It’s a great skit from someone who is living a unique moment in time with this gimmick. But, through no fault of his own, we may have missed the peak with the title change. Already the crowd have started to move on to new things and Blaze’s merchandise is on the downward trend. Still, he was champ for now, so we’d try and run with it.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Logan Diaz vs. The Masked Mauler

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz defeated The Masked Mauler in 10:07 by submission with a Boston Crab.

Rating: 60

Solid main event, with Logan doing what Logan does. Winning. Mauler gets his first taste of TV and does exactly the job we need him to do.

 

OVERALL RATING: 62

 

Annoyingly there is a slight dip in the viewers for episode 2 of Power Hour. Only 24,023 this time. It’s possible that there’s burn out already? But the money coming in was still decent and eventually we’d train the audience in the new way. On the plus side, the use of segments, interviews, promos and events was going to help us flesh out the characters we had, and in the long run that was going to be awesome. We just had to survive long enough to get there.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Power Hour 3 & 4 and a further fall in ratings…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Where the power is in the hour…

 

The vignettes were working magnificently for our stars. Kip had been working for MAW when we filmed them, so his was a series of highlights and his name. He was not happy about it, but you couldn’t deny that his name was becoming more and more popular. He was undoubtedly talented, but was struggling to separate himself from the pack a bit around here.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #3

Friday, Week 3, March, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, March, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 109

 

SINGLES MATCH: Cameron Copeland vs. Rafe Sashay

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Rafe Sashay defeated Cameron Copeland in 6:20 by pinfall with a Forward Russian Legsweep.

Rating: 22

The Living Legend gets a win and starts to properly establish himself as a positive member of the roster. He was also making friends backstage with the likes of DJ Dunne. I would consider teaming them, although knowing their personalities, it could lead to trouble. For now, Sashay had the charisma needed to make it and we’d get behind him to see how far he could go.

 

ANGLE: Zippy Deverell is in the MPW Power Zone ™ with Whistler. He’s carrying a jar of clear liquid and a old wooden fishing rod.

“Zippy Deverell, welcome to the Power Zone.”

“Whistles ya little critta, it’s a pleasure to be here. You fancy some of my old ma’s shine?”

Zip waves the jar under Whistler’s nose and the veteran recoils from its smell.

“Iss punchy,” Zip adds with a smile. “But lemme take over for a bit. Yous gonna ask me about Danny ‘Disco Cowboy’ Cassidy right? Wrong! You don’t be asking me questions about dat man. I brought me little fishing stick and the shine to show you what living in da South is really bout. You think Danny Boy has ever lived like this?”

“I should imagine anyone has ever lived like that,” Whistler says.

“I do.”

“Of course,” Whistler says. “Well we’re about to see Danny Cassidy take on the latest product from the MPW rookie training camp, a young guy by the name of Pablo Vicente.”

“Pabloo Vichenti?” Zip asks. “What is he, Spanish or Chinese or something?”

“He’s of Hispanic origin, but lives now in North Dakota.”

“North Dakota? Never heard of it.”

“Ok then,” Whistler says. “Let’s go back to ringside.”

Rating: 63

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Pablo Vicente

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Danny Cassidy defeated Pablo Vicente in 5:44 by pinfall with a Southern Justice.

Rating: 35

Danny Cassidy looked strong here against another of our young stars. Pablo kept up in the ring, but couldn’t match Danny’s intensity and eventually fell to the Southern Justice Lariat. One of our best-looking finishers.

 

ANGLE: In an Elvis Museum somewhere, Memphis Rider is admiring memorabilia of the King. He addresses Masked Stranger. He’s not heard of this Tennessee William character (he sounds handsome though), but he’s sure they’d get along. Anyone who wants to beat the Masked Stranger is fine by him. He’d even go as far to say that he’d like to unmask him too. Show the world what’s under the hood. He’s pretty sure it’s not a pretty sight.

Rating: 77

This Memphis Rider kid has got skills.

 

ANGLE: The Lakota Warriors (Roger Monteiro, Billy Chase and Ace Youngblood) are in the ring in full Native American garb. Roger speaks on behalf of the group. They know MPW better than most and have been here since the start, which is why when they see a group like the Brotherhood of the Hood acting without honour, it makes them mad. And when their mad, they don’t just stay mad, they make their madness someone elses problem. A Man Monster is all well and good, but he’s no match for a Bad Ass Lakota-Sioux warrior on the warpath. Billy Chase steps forward and beats his chest.

Rating: 43

 

SINGLES MATCH: Ace Youngblood vs. DJ Dunne

In a decent match, Ace Youngblood defeated DJ Dunne in 6:21 by pinfall with a Flying Tomahawk Chop.

Rating: 43

DJ Dunne is a close friend of Rafe Sashay backstage, but has also been causing some waves by obviously playing politics. It’s not a good luck for a young kid with no actual power or clout. We send him a message through a burial at the hands of Ace.

 

ANGLE: Kip Keenan has an interview in which he taunts James Diaz.

Rating: 50

Once again Kip talks, but says little. His Old School Heel gimmick is not working and it’s sucking the life out of the crowd and me backstage. We’d need to address it.

 

SINGLES MATCH: James Diaz vs. Kip Keenan

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Kip Keenan defeated James Diaz in 20:42 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex.

Rating: 55

In our desperation to make Kip Keenan a thing, we sacrificed James, even having him beaten by his cousin’s finisher. The crowd enjoyed the match, but I don’t think it was necessarily because of Keenan.

 

OVERALL RATING: 58

 

Viewership was down to 19,415, which wasn’t ideal. But we put it down to Kip Keenan and moved on. Backstage, as Chief was giving his speech before the next taping hour, I noticed DJ Dunne and Rafe Sashay ignoring him and laughing together. I didn’t know what they were laughing about, but I did not like the disrespect being shown to our owner, founder and main man. Billy Chase, Dreadnought and Danny Cassidy had noticed too and they didn’t look to happy either.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #4

Friday, Week 4, March, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, March, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 109

 

SINGLES MATCH: William Jetterson vs. Ben Williams

In a decent match, William Jetterson defeated Ben Williams in 9:42 by pinfall with a Solid Snake Stunner.

Rating: 41

Jetterson, fresh of his tweaked gimmick as man of the Bayou gets a win over our Jobber-in-Chief. Potentially time to heat the Snake King up again, ready for a young star to beat him. It was a system, and a system which worked.

 

ANGLE: Nelson Callum is in the Power Zone with Whistler. He’s wearing jeans and a flannel shirt over a white vest. He’s there to talk about Bradley Blaze, the Idiot in Chief. Growing up in Pittsburgh, he knows a thing or two about corrupt bosses. Working in a steel plant, the bosses always tried to get one over on the working man. Just like Blaze is now. When he gets his chance, and he will get his chance, he’s going to sock him in the mouth and shut him up for good.

Rating: 84

What a segment. This is the sort of promo which gets added to a ‘best of’ retrospective at the end of someone’s career. The common man fighting against oppression from the corrupt boss. Story-telling 101.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Memphis Rider vs. Curt Meritt

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Memphis Rider defeated Curt Meritt in 11:38 by pinfall with a Devil's Crossroad.

Rating: 67

Where did that come from? Tenne… sorry Memphis Rider made Meritt look like a star in under 12 minutes. And did so by winning at the end. This is basically the template for the perfect squash match. I’d have to remember to pat Curt on the back afterwards too. He did his job magnificently as he always did.

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger is in the Power Zone. He’s fuming. That darned Memphis Rider is making a mockery of his ascent to the title. It’s typical of Tennessee William to hog the limelight all the time. Playing the buffoon and getting laughs. This is a serious business, with serious competitors fighting for glory. He’s going to make the twerp pay. He might even unleash the Man Monster to finish whatever is left.

Rating: 57

Better from Stranger as he is dining out on the extended feud with the Memphis Rider.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: The LA Stars vs. New York Doll & Samson Gillis

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, The LA Stars defeated Samson Gillis and The New York Doll in 10:25 when LA Star #1 pinned Samson Gillis with a Star Destroyer.

Rating: 40

Well, this was a turn-up for the books. The match itself was a little downbeat, but New York Doll and newcomer Samson Gillis have very obvious and excellent chemistry. The fact that one was a New York Punk and the other was a New York grafter, sort of made them a match made in… not heaven… But you get the idea.

 

OVERALL RATING: 51

 

For the second consecutive week our viewership declined to 18,362 and for the month of March we made a loss of $13,794, which was better than we’d expected with all the added outgoings like running a TV show. With the boys training in the Paul Bunyan Hall, I noticed a very heated discussion between Kip Keenan and the Chief. When I walked over, Chief told me to handle talent requests and stormed off. It seems that Keenan wanted a pay-rise from the $60 he was earning to $620. That would’ve made him the highest paid worker on the roster. Before I could process the request properly, I blurted out a firm ‘no.’ For a moment I thought he was going to hit me. Instead he grumbled, kicked a nearby chair over and stormed off. Curt, who had been watching came over.

“Pay-rise right?”

“Yeah,” I responded.

“I don’t necessarily blame him, he’s working a lot of shows for a lot of companies now and he’s never been so popular.”

“$620 per show?” I asked.

“He might be worth it,” Curt responded. “Anyway, it’s done now, so lets see what happens. By the way, no need for a pack today, I’ll just tell you that Valiant has signed with USPW.”

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… April shows lead to the new and improved Sunday Night’s Main Event…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… It’s time for a taping block…

 

This time around I would document all the shows on the day they were filmed as we head towards our next big event Sunday Night’s Main Event.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #5

Friday, Week 1, April, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 105

 

SINGLES MATCH: Alistair Shufflebottom vs. Kilikikopa Nani

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Kilikikopa Nani defeated Alistair Shufflebottom in 6:02 by submission with a Crossface.

Rating: 25

The young Polynesian superstar gets a solid win to improve his stock. Having a muscular guy like him applying a Crossface as a finisher created a solid visual finish.

 

ANGLE: “Yo! I’m a living Legend!” blares out over the speakers and the cocksure Rafe Sashay struts to the ring. Tonight he’s facing someone called Cali Cool, Charlie Corner. Aside from his joke of a name, The man, the Myth, the Legend does not feel its worth his time to beat up some surf bum on television. He should really be in the main event fighting for the gold. But he supposes he’ll give the Corner kid a chance.

Rating: 34

A solid promo, which only bombed slightly because the audience didn’t really know who Sashay was. And those that did, didn’t care. But a journey begins with a single step.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Rafe Sashay

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Rafe Sashay defeated Charlie Corner in 10:26 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics.

Rating: 35

And the journey continues with a win over an established star. Charlie seems upset at first at the loss, but shrugs his shoulders. Clearly he still needs some buddies of his very own to have his back. Rafe is obviously not the right guy.

 

ANGLE: New York Doll and Samson Gillis have a video package. They’re the Main Street Hustlers and tonight, they’re bringing some New York toughness to MPW.

Rating: 33

Hey, why not aye?

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Main Street Hustlers

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Main Street Hustlers defeated Minnesota Awesome in 10:05 when Samson Gillis pinned Perry Longstaff with a Roll of the Dice.

Rating: 31

Spike had been with us since the start and had never really got a chance at success. His chemistry with Gillis gave us the opportunity to sell the story of the veteran-rookie tag team.

 

ANGLE: On a bridge over a river is the Memphis Rider. He grew up in Memphis and that’s where his heart is. But his heart is also telling him that Masked Stranger must be stopped and his hood lifted. Bullies always backdown when you stand up to them.

Rating: 70

Memphis is just a natural on the microphone. He dips between comedy and pathos like the best of them and his game elevates all around him. The Rider vs. Brotherhood might be my favourite story we have at the moment.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Ace Youngblood vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Ace Youngblood in 12:24 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number sixteen of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 42

Dreadnought sprained his ankle, which made it slightly awkward, but he’s such a monster that he barely registered it. Ace, to his credit, bumped higher and harder to compensate.

 

ANGLE: After the match, an angry Dreadnought destroys Ace and then signals for Billy Chase to face him like a man.

Rating: 44

 

OVERALL RATING: 47

 

MPW POWER HOUR #6

Friday, Week 2, April, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 105

 

SINGLES MATCH: Billy Chase vs. Ben Williams

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Billy Chase defeated Ben Williams in 1:51 by pinfall with a Lakota Cutter.

Rating: 31

Wrestling is funny sometimes, when great chemistry strikes and there is almost no way of capitalising on it. Billy destroys Bump Machine and that’s sort of the whole story.

 

ANGLE: The LA Stars are in the Power Zone. They consider themselves professionals. They love a good fight, and they love a fair fight. Sometimes they’ll win, sometimes not, but what they hate. Like, really hate, is cheaters. The Brotherhood are cheaters. They’ve stolen their place on the roster, not through hard work, but through interfering, sowing hate and division and doing anything for the upper hand. So the Stars are going to fight them. They’re going to fight them fair and they’re going to prove that good guys don’t finish last.

Rating: 54

A bit of a milquetoast promo, but it did the job. It also setup the Stars as the defacto top babyface team in the company, which they are.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: The LA Stars vs. DJ Dunne & Pablo Vicente

In a decent match, The LA Stars defeated DJ Dunne and Pablo Vicente in 7:42 when LA Star #2 pinned DJ Dunne with a Star Destroyer.

Rating: 45

Good showing for Vicente and Dunne and hopefully being the one to take the fall will whip Dunne into shape backstage.

 

ANGLE: We cut live to the Presidential pedestal, where Bradley Blaze has the MPW Championship on display. “My fellow Americans, we are living in uncertain times. People like Logan Diaz, the former Monster of Mayhem is running around making accusations about myself and this office. This is fake news. He has the power, because that’s what you wanted. The people voted for me and now I’m doing all the things you want me to do. And I know that you want me to kick Logan’s ass. It’ll be the best ass-kicking in history. Tremendous really. They’ll say I’m the toughest competitor in all of wrestling. Not me, I don’t say that. But that’s what they’ll say. God bless me and God bless my America.”

Rating: 63

Blaze getting stuck into the character, but considering his promos aren’t a patch on Callum, Memphis Rider or Logan, it’s not a great sign for the character.

 

ANGLE: Logan Diaz is in the Power Zone and he’s dressed in his ring gear. Whistler asks him about his upcoming title shot. It’s not his first shot, but he’ll make it the last he ever needs. Someone needs to take out the trash at the top of MPW and the Glorious One will prove, once again, that cream always rises to the top.

Rating: 72

Great promo.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Logan Diaz vs. Bradley Blaze ©

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz drew with Bradley Blaze in 20:24 following a double count out after interference from Nelson Callum.

Rating: 69

What a match, simply one of our best ever as the momentum of these two collides in a firecracker of a match.

 

ANGLE: The match is over and Bradley Blaze is celebrating retaining his title. Nelson Callum looks angry, and jumps him from behind, beating him down.

Rating: 64

Simple post-match attack. Although that match with Logan has opened my eyes.

 

OVERALL RATING: 65

 

Great hour of television right there.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #7

Friday, Week 3, April, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 105

 

SINGLES MATCH: Cameron Copeland vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell defeated Cameron Copeland in 8:15 by pinfall with a Spinning Bulldog.

Rating: 38

Zip continues to beat a bunch of no-names to heighten his profile. Cameron Copeland has got some talents though. This was a surprisingly good match.

 

ANGLE: Zippy Deverell grabs a microphone. He’s proving his worth every time he steps in the ring. So why is Danny dodging him? What’s he scared of? So he’s throwing it out there. He wants a one-on-one match with Cassidy at Sunday Night’s Main Event. And he’ll knock that stupid cowboy hat off his stupid head.

Rating: 55

Zip continues to be dynamite in the ring and on the mic. He getting very close to overshadowing Cassidy. We had a decision to make at Main Event for sure.

 

ANGLE: Cross River Connection are in the Power Zone, dressed up in expensive suits and sunglasses.

“Cross River Connection, the former champions,” Whistler starts. “You’ve struggled recently due to a new team on the scene, The Satin Knights. What are your thoughts?”

“Firstly old man,” starts Prime Time. “We prefer to be known as the Uncrowned Tag Champions of MPW. Secondly, we’re a couple of honest guys…”

“You’re well known for your cheating though.”

“Don’t interrupt me again! As I was saying, we’re honest guys and frankly we were appalled by the level of cheating that these so-called Satin Knights involved themselves in. Real teams find a way to win without resorting to bullying and cheating. And what kind of name is Satin Knights anyway?”

“Title of their sex tape?” Pepper responds.

“Gotta have had sex to make a sex tape,” says Prime Time.

“Gentlemen please,” Whistler adds. “Have some decorum.”

“Shut up! We’ve got a message for the Knights. You got lucky, you’re cheats and it ain’t happening again. You’ve made an enemy of the wrong team.”

Rating: 38

Pepper dragged the segment down, missing his cues and timing, which is a shame, because the content was good.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Satin Knights vs. Masked Assassins ©

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated Satin Knights in 9:31 when Masked Assassin #2 pinned Corey St.Hubbins with a Big Swing Neckbreaker following interference from Prime Time Jack Pryde. Masked Assassins make defence number two of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 41

Great match from a team with limited experience. Prime Time makes sure their mini-feud continues, but I’ve got to say I’m really impressed with St.Hubbins & Constantine. Absolutely stars of the future.

 

ANGLE: Memphis Rider is out with a microphone. He’s on the hunt for some Strange-r and it’s brought him here. So would the real Masked Stranger, please stand up. Kip Keenan’s music hits intead.

Rating: 73

 

SINGLES MATCH: Memphis Rider vs. Kip Keenan

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Kip Keenan defeated Memphis Rider in 21:08 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex following interference from Masked Stranger.

Rating: 53

Our desperation to get Keenan over, and keep him from becoming even more furious leads us to jobbing out Memphis clean. Was it a smart move? Possibly not, but we had to get something to work.

 

OVERALL RATING: 56

 

And now to the final taping.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #8

Friday, Week 4, April, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 105

 

SINGLES MATCH: Roger Monteiro vs. The Masked Mauler

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, The Masked Mauler defeated Roger Monteiro in 5:31 by pinfall by using underhanded tactics.

Rating: 46

This is definitely an upset, but Mauler needs some juice as he’s been stuck in second gear for an age now. He really peaked in our first show and has been in decline ever since.

 

SINGLES MATCH: James Diaz vs. Curt Meritt

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, James Diaz defeated Curt Meritt in 6:11 by pinfall with a Thunderous Powerbomb.

Rating: 38

Alas, Curt’s wonder match does not translate in every situation. James is another one whose struggled to string together form, so a nice dominant showing was called for to remind people what he’s really all about.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Danny Cassidy & William Jetterson vs. Cross River Connection

In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Danny Cassidy and William Jetterson in 8:14 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Danny Cassidy with a Prime Time Perfection following interference from Zippy Deverell.

Rating: 43

Weaving together multiple stories is always fun, in this case; Connection get a needed win, Danny gets a loss due to Deverell. It all plays into both stories. Match was so-so, but it’s not the end of the world. Prime Time’s performances were so much better than Pepper’s now it was starting to be really noticeable. Was that a problem? Possibly.

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger is in the Power Zone with Whistler. But before he can asked a question, he learns over the podium and declares that at Main Event he’s decided to unleash Dreadnought on Memphis Rider. No more messing about, it’s time to prove to the world that it’s Tennessee William under that cheap hood.

Rating: 53

That’s right. It’s time for Dreadnought to test his metal in a big match against a big star.

 

ANGLE: Nelson Callum struts past Masked Stranger for his interview. The two have a staredown and Callum challenges Stranger to a match, once he’s given his interview. Once Stranger leaves Whistler once again has the microphone ripped from his hands. Callum is on the warpath. He’s angrier than he’s ever been. Only this time it’s not about Blaze, he knows Logan has the shot at the title. So he’ll switch his attention to Kip Keenan. The man who feels he’s entitled to being the biggest star of the show, earning the most money (SHOOT). But what’s he done? What has he achieved outside of a tiny island in the sea? Nothing. You don’t get given respect, you earn it. And at Main Event, Callum is going to make Keenan earn everything.

Rating: 80

Callum spitting absolute FIRE!

 

SINGLES MATCH: Nelson Callum vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Masked Stranger in 17:37 by submission with a Honey Trap.

Clean win

Rating: 57

Clean win for Callum and a reminder that Stranger isn’t quite there as a main event talent. Perhaps with more story, momentum and popularity he could be. But for now, he wasn’t.

 

OVERALL RATING: 61

 

As the shows were shown throughout the month, we got the figures through:

21,227 viewers

19,567 viewers

18,657 viewers

19,566 viewers

It was still taking some getting used to how and why the numbers were what they were. But these were up from last month. But we had an event to run and the card had taken shape and we were ready.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… The first Sunday Night’s Main Event…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Change is afoot…

 

The locker room was quieter than normal. Prime Time was keeping people distracted with cartoons he’d drawn. While Chief appeared to have added Cameron Copeland to his list of protégés. Obviously I knew why Kip was keeping himself to himself, but even stalwarts like Memphis Rider were quiet. And there, in the corner, was DJ Dunne. Like the happiest man I’d seen in weeks. The wrestling world was cruel sometimes, but we already knew that. I looked at the photo of Ernest Youngman and sighed. On with the show.

 

MPW Sunday Night’s Main Event

Sunday, Week 4, April, 2022

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 300 (SOLD OUT!?!)

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: The Lakota Warriors vs. Meritt & the Main Street Hustlers

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Curt Meritt and Main Street Hustlers defeated The Lakota Warriors (Roger Monteiro, Billy Chase and Ace Youngblood) in 9:55 when Spike pinned Ace Youngblood with a Punk-N-Nasty.

Rating: 40

With the exception of Billy, the Lakota Warriors had entered one of their dormant phases. As such, it made perfect sense to give the win to the newly formed tag team and our all-round hero, Curt. I gave some brief thought to asking Curt to switch to a manager role for them. That could work?

 

SINGLES MATCH: Danny Cassidy vs. Zippy Deverell

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Danny Cassidy drew with Zippy Deverell in 9:54 following a double count out.

Rating: 43

Zippy gets his hands on Danny and the two have a wild brawl which spills outside and sees them both counted out. Good performance from both and I take heart in the fact that our future main eventers were coming along nicely.

 

TRIBAL WARFARE MATCH: Corner & the Satin Knights vs. Sashay & Cross River Connection

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Corner & the Satin Knights defeated Rafe Sashay and Cross River Connection in 9:32 when Drake Constantine pinned Prime Time Jack Pryde with a Super Kick.

Rating: 41

Another big win for the newcomers against the old guard. Without the tag titles a consideration, we had the flexibility to give them a loss. The fact that miscommunication between Pepper and Prime Time was involved in the finish protected our former champs slightly. And it would seem that Cali Cool had himself some friends.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Nelson Callum vs. Kip Keenan

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum defeated Kip Keenan in 9:59 by submission with a Honey Trap.

Rating: 55

A clean loss, in under 10 minutes for someone who had been beating the best MPW had to offer could only mean one thing. Kip Keenan had signed for TCW. I had hoped he’d have cheered up, but alas, not. Nelson gets to send the man packing though, which felt apt.

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Memphis Rider vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Memphis Rider in 9:43 by pinfall with a Dread Bomb. Dreadnought makes defence number seventeen of the MPW Midwest Heavyweight.

Rating: 63

Clean as a whistle by Dreadnought and a dominant showing to boot. He is absolutely unstoppable. This might be his best match too, which bodes well.

 

ANGLE: Memphis Rider is in the ring on his knees. He looks around for a moment and waves to the crowd. Dreadnought attacks and pulls off his mask, revealing none-other than Tennessee William. William fights the Man Monster off this time, hitting him with Cheryl. Along again, Tennessee looks to the crowd, tears in his eyes and mouths ‘I love you all,’ blows them a kiss and takes his leave.

Rating: 65

A sad day for MPW.

 

SINGLES MATCH: James Diaz vs. Masked Stranger

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Masked Stranger defeated James Diaz in 9:52 by submission with a Cobra Clutch after interference from Dreadnought.

Rating: 53

Dreadnought it everywhere tonight. Taking out the trash and keeping his leader on an impossible streak of victories. Actually a disappointing match all tings considered, although we’d hardly heated up James beforehand.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Masked Assassins ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated The LA Stars in 20:51 when Masked Assassin #2 pinned LA Star #1 with a Big Swing Neckbreaker after Masked Stranger interfered. Masked Assassins make defence number three of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 54

The LA Stars, defenders of honesty and integrity in MPW lost to yet another interference finish. Despite their loss at Twin City Showdown, the Brotherhood of the Hood are racking up win after win. Can anyone actually stop them for good?

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Logan Diaz vs. Bradley Blaze ©

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz defeated Bradley Blaze in 22:21 by submission with a Boston Crab. Logan Diaz wins the MPW Championship.

Rating: 65

It’s the shock of the night I think. As we switch the title off a slightly floundering Bradley Blaze and onto the best in-ring worker we had. Logan has been flirting with superstardom since his face turn at King of the Midwest and now was the right time to let him run with it. The Blaze reclamation project ends with him being carted out of the arena on a stretcher for good measure. I think it’s time to retire the character for now.

 

OVERALL RATING: 63

 

We got a very healthy 28,892 viewers for the show. But it didn’t matter, we were losing Tennessee to SWF. I hid my disappointment of course, but he was our second ever Champion. History was moving on without us again. But I hid my feelings, and joined the others in the locker room.

 

Next time on Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Running a one-hour, weekly TV show might not have actually been a good idea…

[TCP1]

Welcome to Minnesota Pro Wrestling… Where trouble is brewing…

 

I arrived early at the Hall ahead of the next batch of tapings. Leafing through Curt’s Pack I saw that Marvin Earnest had left MAW, although quite what he planned to do now wasn’t stated. The Masked Mauler (older version) had just opened up a new Japanese-inspired, hard-hitting company called Lethal Ring in Hawaii. I would’ve thought that the failure of FCW in Puerto Rico, would’ve told other investors not to pick small markets. But good luck to them regardless. Chief had slipped in a note saying that Dreadnought had requested a payrise from $30 to $90, which made sense, so I signed that off too. I also noticed we’d lost $18,714 in April, which was par for the course these days. The locker room remained moody. Unsure what was wrong, I called a meeting for all the boys and asked what was going on. It was Prime Time who stood to answer. Apparently they were angry that I’d left them off various hours of the taping cycle. I corrected him and said I made sure that everyone got a match or interview over the course of the four tapings. It turned out that they wanted to be on every show in some way. All of them. I asked the rest of the locker if they agreed with Prime Time and they all nodded. All of them were irritated or even angry about the situation. With time running out, and the crowd gathering. I told them if they just did this batch as we had before, I’d look into finding a solution which kept them happy and didn’t completely financially cripple us.

 

There was obviously no real solution, but I just needed time.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #9

Friday, Week 1, May, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 107

 

SINGLES MATCH: Alistair Shufflebottom vs. Kilikikopa Nani

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Kilikikopa Nani defeated Alistair Shufflebottom in 5:11 by Tongan Nerve Pinch.

Rating: 10

First the meeting, now this. Somehow these two stunk up the joint as badly as I’d seen anyone do it. Ever. The match was so bad that it actually made them both less popular. Jesus, that was bad.

 

ANGLE: “I’m a living legend!” blares out and here’s Rafe Sashay. He cannot believe he teamed with those losers the Cross River Connection and they cost him a win. He’s not sure how they got where they are, but he supposes that even blind squirrels sometimes find nuts. Worse than his partners was Cali Cool, Charlie Corner. A man relying on the hard work of others for his success. The Man, The Myth, The Legend Rafe Sahay knows these idiot Minnesotans love him, but he’s going to have to step on him to get ahead.

Rating: 47

The kid’s got talent for sure, I just really need him to keep his head on straight. And I really need to get him away from DJ Dunne too.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Cameron Copeland vs. Rafe Sashay

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Rafe Sashay defeated Cameron Copeland in 5:15 by pinfall after using a foreign object.

Rating: 9

Wow! Just when I thought we’d stunk the joint out enough, these two go out there and literally are so bad they bring crowd down who already had no heat. What is going on? Are the guys really so upset with the TV schedule? My God, I really did need to find a solution.

 

ANGLE: The Satin Knights are relaxing in the sun, by a pool in the back garden of a big expensive house. They’re having a beer and relaxing and they feel like things are going fantastically. They’re lucky, and they know it. They were fortunate enough to grow up in Minneapolis and St Paul. They had a great childhood and went to good schools and were offered lots of scholarships and professional sports contracts (“I even got offered a spot on the Minnesota Raiders ice hockey team” adds Corey), but all we’ve really wanted to do was wrestle. And here we are, finding success straight away. We shouldn’t be surprised; we back ourselves over anyone. But it’s still nice. We’re also looking forward to giving the Connection another match. Iron sharpens iron after all.

Rating: 46

These two are incredibly gifted on the mic, with loads of charisma and can GO in the ring too. They might be the best young workers to come through MPW; ever. They were so good, I was worried I’d somehow mess it up. I had to stay focused.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Satin Knights vs. Cross River Connection

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Cross River Connection defeated Satin Knights in 8:26 when Pepper Pelton pinned Drake Constantine with a handful of tights.

Rating: 43

Decent match and the Connection get a win back, although they’re still 2-1 down in the series. Even in defeat the Knights are hard-working and high-quality competitors. They were so good in fact, I decided to get Curt to run them a vignette for WrestleWorld at the end of the taping 1.

 

ANGLE: Dreadnought is in the ring. Masked Stanger grabs a microphone and demands that the MMA nobody Billy Chase comes out to face the Man Monster. He’s already destroyed all of his other buddies, and he doesn’t like that he hasn’t beaten Billy.

Rating: 66

 

MPW MIDWEST TITLE MATCH: Billy Chase vs. Dreadnought ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Dreadnought defeated Billy Chase in 21:36 by pinfall by DQ after Masked Stranger attacked Billy.

Rating: 38

What a crushingly disappointing match. Probably down to me forgetting to tell them to take it slow and they went all-out and were exhausted minutes in. Damn. In the end I even called for the ending to change, because I felt so bad for Billy and opted for the DQ finish to give them another shot at the Hoss Fight we all wanted.

 

OVERALL RATING: 42

This was the worst we’d provided in years. Maybe ever?

 

MPW POWER HOUR #10

Friday, Week 2, May, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 107

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Minnesota Awesome vs. Main Street Hustlers

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Main Street Hustlers defeated Minnesota Awesome in 7:52 when Spike pinned Perry Longstaff with a Roll of the Dice.

Rating: 29

When in doubt, have Minnesota Awesome come out and lay down for your new team. It’s no longer the Cross River Connection, it’s now the turn of the Main Street Hustlers, who are continuing their heating up process. I liked them, they worked well together, I felt I owed Spike a shot at being successful and their gimmicks were perfectly aligned.

 

ANGLE: After the match, the Main Street Hustlers and their new manager Curt Meritt visit the Power Zone for an interview with Whistler. They’re hustlers it seems and they love to gamble. They’ll gamble on anything in fact. They try to encourage Whistler to join them in a game of dice. Whistler obviously wants to join, but doesn’t.

Rating: 22

They’re a new team, so the low quality is to be expected, but we’d stick with them for the time being to see if we had something good here. If worst comes to worst, they can be the heel version of Minnesota Awesome.

 

ANGLE: Charlie Corner is in the ring and he has a mic. He’s just so happy brahs and brah-ess’. He’s got himself some bros to spend time with. Unlike his opponent Kip Keenan, who no-one likes. So he dedicates their match, to bros.

Rating: 67

Charlie can talk. Who knew? And we prep the audience to sing the Goodbye Song at the most unpopular man in MPW history.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Charlie Corner vs. Kip Keenan

In a bout that had fantastic heat and decent wrestling, Charlie Corner defeated Kip Keenan in 11:40 by pinfall with a Corner Cutter.

Rating: 42

Was Charlie dominant? Yes.

Was Kip buried? Also yes.

Did we care? No!

 

ANGLE: The LA Stars are in the Power Zone to reiterate that they are the Guardians of MPW and at the moment there’s a sickness in the tag division. The Assassins are that sickness, and the Stars are the cure.

Rating: 48

LA Star #1 is so obviously the better of the two, but really the gimmick only works with them as a team for now. So our most beloved team remains involved to elevate the whole division. In many ways, they’re a younger version of The Ring Generals.

 

MPW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The LA Stars vs. Masked Assassins ©

In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Masked Assassins defeated The LA Stars in 12:18 when Masked Assassin #2 pinned LA Star #1 by using underhanded tactics. Masked Assassins make defence number four of the MPW Tag Team.

Rating: 59

Nothing stops the Assassins. The LA Stars can afford to lose, because of their incredible title history. The Assassins continue their dominance as tag champs, even if they rarely win clean.

 

OVERALL RATING: 58

 

Better than last time. Plus Kip is officially gone now.

 

MPW POWER HOUR #11

Friday, Week 3, May, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 107

 

SINGLES MATCH: Curt Meritt vs. The Masked Mauler

In an extremely short match, Curt Meritt defeated The Masked Mauler in 4:30 by pinfall with a DDT.

Rating: 26

I have to stop starting the show with these sub-par match-ups. I wanted to get Curt on the card to make sure his momentum wasn’t Ice Cold as his new run as manager was due to start. But our dispositions were uneven now, hence heel vs. heel.

 

ANGLE: Cross River Connection are in the Power Zone with Whistler again and it’s your standard taunting segment against the Satin Knights. They hope that the kids enjoyed their fifteen minutes of fame. But it’s over now and the big boys are back.

Rating: 37

Pepper’s inability to deliver a line was a problem.

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Lakota Warriors (Ace & Monteiro) vs. DJ Dunne & Pablo Vicente

In a decent match, Ace Youngblood and Roger Monteiro defeated DJ Dunne and Pablo Vicente in 10:11 when Roger Monteiro pinned DJ Dunne with a handful of tights.

Rating: 39

Was this a burial of DJ Dunne? You’re damn right it was. He was too outspoken, too aggressive and far too into his politics. I had to do something, and this was step one.

 

ANGLE: Logan Diaz and he’s heard the rumours and he knows Tennessee is leaving for the clown show SWF (big boos from the crowd). But he’s a fighter and he’s always respected Tennessee, so tonight, in the Memphis natives final match, he’s going to give him one last shot at the gold.

Rating: 75

Logan is getting better and better.

 

MPW CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE MATCH: Tennessee William vs. Logan Diaz ©

In an exceptional match, Logan Diaz defeated Tennessee William in 21:44 by pinfall with a Belly To Belly Suplex. Logan Diaz makes defence number one of the MPW Championship.

Rating: 61

 

ANGLE: Tennessee says goodbye to the crowd.

Rating: 75

Shut up! You’re crying.

 

OVERALL RATING: 62

 

MPW POWER HOUR #12

Friday, Week 4, May, 2022 (Taped: Wednesday Week 1, April, 2022)

Live from The Paul Bunyan Hall [bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota]

Attendance: 107

 

TAG TEAM MATCH: Danny Cassidy & William Jetterson vs. Zippy Deverell & Ben Williams

In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Zippy Deverell and Ben Williams defeated Danny Cassidy and William Jetterson in 8:03 when Ben Williams submitted Danny Cassidy.

Rating: 42

Zip gets the over on Danny for the week and we squeeze William into a decent match and a hot feud.

 

ANGLE: Bradley Blaze is in the Power Zone with Whistler. Gone are his red cap and t-shirts, back is the leather duster and cowboy hat.

“Bradley Blaze, former MPW Champion and the man responsible for the Make Blaze Great Again Movement,” says Whistler. “I notice you don’t have your normal outfit on. Has something changed?”

“You’re darn-tooting is has Whistler. I think, I may have got a little carried away there for a tick. Y’see, the powers that be here in MPW have been trying to keep me down for years. And they tricked me they did; they tricked me into pretending to be something I’m not. I’m a cowboy y’see. A proper cowboy, Texan through-and-through. But I’m also a hero. One who overcame the threats of those powers that be, and have finally rediscovered myself. It’s a happy day.”

“It sounds to me like you’re trying not to take any responsibility for your actions?” Whistler says seriously.

“That’s fake news… I’m sorry, I mean you’ve got me all wrong. You’ll see tonight. You’re going to see the real Bradley Blaze.”

Rating: 59

Time to undo any of the damage we may have done with Blaze’s character after his failed title run. A few months outside of the main event would do him good.

 

SINGLES MATCH: James Diaz vs. Bradley Blaze

In an exceptional match, James Diaz drew with Bradley Blaze in 9:56 following a double count out.

Rating: 55

A good old-fashioned brawl with no winner helps both men I think. I’m not going to not use Blaze, but without a clear plan for James, I didn’t want to just have him get the biggest singles win of his career for no reason.

 

ANGLE: Masked Stranger has an interview in which he taunts Nelson Callum. He’s sent Tennessee William packing and now he’s going to go after the next obstacle in his path. Callum might think of himself as the Uncrowned champion of MPW, but let’s be serious. The Brtoherhood have all the gold except the title which is incorrectly hanging around Logan’s waste. And if he has to beat Callum to get to it, he will.

Rating: 67

Decent promo as Stranger gets more comfortable on the mic and the crowd respond more to his incredible run of success.

 

ANGLE: Nelson Callum interrupts the interview and gets in Stranger’s face, although the masked man is playing it cool and pretending that Callum is being too aggressive. Then from behind, Dreadnought strikes and batters Callum into oblivion. Before dragging him out of the Power Zone and to the ring.

Rating: 87

Oof! Great segment.

 

SINGLES MATCH: Nelson Callum vs. Masked Stranger

In an exceptional match, Nelson Callum drew with Masked Stranger in 20:05 following a double DQ following interference from the Brotherhood of the Hood and The LA Stars.

Rating: 63

Good match as we seamlessly replace Tennessee in the feud with Callum, who is free following the departure of Kip Keenan.

 

OVERALL RATING: 66

 

When the long taping cycle was over, and as tradition dictates; Curt pulled the metal trash can into the centre of the room, and lit a small fire. Tennessee unwrapped the tape from around his wrists and threw it into the flames. Unlike Ernest who had done it by accident, Tennessee made a show of it. And then, to our surprise, he took the remains of Cheryl and threw it into the fire too. A symbolic destruction of that which we can’t have again. It was beautiful in its own way. Kip Keenan unwrapped his tape and threw it on top on his way out the door too. His departure made me feel better. Tennessee was telling everyone how SWF had asked him to switch to a Comedy Wrestler and he’d said yes. While others were talking about Frantic Ali finally winning the COTT World Title, or Primus Allen signing with USPW. Even Roger was explaining to anyone who’d listen that we was going to tone down the high-flying and stick to a more standard wrestling approach now.

 

With the beers flowing, I called DJ Dunne into my office.

 

“You’re fired!” I said.

“What?”

“You’re fired. Pack your bags, you’re not welcome around here.”

“Firing me for what? Just because I don’t suck up to you or the old man? This is bulsh*t.”

DJ got to his feet and started to move around my desk. Just then, Dreadnought entered the room (to thank me for the payrise) and before I knew what was happening, the Man Monster had Dunne around the throat and was dragging him from my office. The rest of the locker watched it happening and most cheered, although I noticed Rafe look on in horror. And thus we had made our first ever release. It was a testament to the locker room we’d built. Like a real brotherhood of people doing the best they can with what they’ve got. I vowed to sort the TV schedule problem immediately as a show of support for the support the boys had given me.

 

***

 

Hours later, when the party was back in full flow and Dunne’s clothes and possessions had been ceremonially burnt, Whistler approached the flaming trash can. Slowly he lowered his flag pole into the bin. The room fell silent.

 

“I’m getting too old for this. I should’ve retired two years ago, but what can I say, you boys gave me a new lease on life. But now is the time. I’m going to go back to Mary and live on my ranch, with my grandkids. But I’ll be watching, keep up the good work y’all.”

 

He shook hands with everyone in turn before finally getting to me. He smiled, a single tear in the corner of his eye. He handed me a folded note.

 

“Read it later; enjoy the rest of the night first.”

 

Next time on Welcome to Minnesota Wrestling... I had to solve this TV problem, and fast...