Two of a Kind - Royal Flush Wrestling (C-Verse)

[Herrbear]

Texas Hangman will face off against hometown hero Cassidy Blaine

John “Ace” Hart will go toe-to-toe with Kalder Tagg

Former champion Fro Sure will take on Wolfie Tagg

Allie Perks will fight Modesty Pardor

Chip Martin and Charlie Corner will take on the Franchise © for the RFW Tag Team Championship

Grace “Diamond” Kil © will defend the RFW Women’s Championship against Joy Rider

Papa Swoll © will take on Quentin Queen for the RFW Championship

[ThorJ]

Texas Hangman will face off against hometown hero Cassidy Blaine

John “Ace” Hart will go toe-to-toe with Kalder Tagg

Former champion Fro Sure will take on Wolfie Tagg

Allie Perks will fight Modesty Pardor

Chip Martin and Charlie Corner will take on the Franchise © for the RFW Tag Team Championship

Grace “Diamond” Kil © will defend the RFW Women’s Championship against Joy Rider

Papa Swoll © will take on Quentin Queen for the RFW Championship

 

Scap, this diary is fantastic. The story you have built outside of RFW is top notch. I've just started reading your MWA diary as well!

[Scapino1974]

Thank you so much! And I hope you enjoy the MWA diary!

[Scapino1974]

RFW All In

Thursday of Week 2, June 2022

Held at the Civic Center in Rochester, MN (Mid West Region)

Broadcast on WrestleWorld (22,631 viewers)

442 in attendance

 

Martin and Curt welcomed the audience to the show.

 

1) ALLIE PERKS vs. MODESTY PARDOR

 

We started things off right away with Allie Perks and Modesty Pardor in the ring. Martin hyped up this match as being between two young up-and-comers who could be serious contenders for the women’s championship…except that the women’s championship was still in the hands of Grace Kil.

 

“Except Grace is vulnerable right now,” Curt said. “She’s still shaky on her feet after that injury two months ago. If anyone has a chance to dethrone her, it’s now.”

 

Allie really impressed the audience with her intensity, getting Modesty trapped in the corner and hammering her with her trademark machine-gun punches. But then, as she tried to roll Modesty up into a pin, Modesty managed to keep rolling, then somehow got Allie into a Crossface, forcing her to tap out.

 

WINNER: Modesty Pardor in 14:42

RATING: 31

 

2) Texas Hangman came out to the ring looking particularly grim. He slid into the ring and got on the mic.

 

“Now I know you’re all waiting for my match against Cassidy Blaine—and we’re gonna get to it, never fear—but I want to take a few moments and address my former tag team partner, Wild Red Stallion.

 

“Stallion, I don’t know what your problem is. Look, I get it. You tried to set out on your own and you stumbled a bit. No shame in that, partner. None at all. We’ve all been there. The question is, what do you do to pick yourself up? And do you have the ability to accept help when it’s offered?

 

“I thought you did. I thought I had a better read on you. That’s why, even after you turned your back on me, I offered to try again as the Silver Bullet. And look at what happened: we became tag team champs. We were starting to make some serious progress on establishing ourselves as the team to beat.

 

“And then, out of nowhere, you turned your back on me again. Well, you know the old saying, Stallion: fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…you face the Hangman’s justice.”

 

RATING: 31

 

3) TEXAS HANGMAN vs. CASSIDY BLAINE

 

Cassidy seemed a bit wary as he made his way to the ring. Martin said that he should be. After all, Hangman looked ready to send a message to Wild Red Stallion in this match. And Hangman did, knocking Cassidy around the ring pretty thoroughly before he finally put Cassidy down with a Choke Slam.

 

“Do you think Stallion got the message?” Martin asked.

 

“He would if Hangman hadn’t chosen such a poor messenger,” Curt quipped. “It’d be one thing to use someone like, oh, Papa Swoll or Fro Sure as the messenger. But Cassidy Blaine? Impossible for us to know how much of that was Hangman venting and how much was Cassidy Blaine’s lack of in-ring experience.”

 

WINNER: Texas Hangman in 9:59

RATING: 38

 

4) Backstage, James Diaz strutted past the locker room, smirking at the people he passed. A lot of those people backed off, clearly worried about what James might do. But then he came face to face with me.

 

“Hart.” He tried to brush past me.

 

“Hold on a second, Diaz. We need to talk.”

 

“About what?”

 

“About the path of destruction you’re cutting through the RFW. First Original Sinner, and then last month, Dreadmask. Both of them are out for who knows how long. This needs to stop.”

 

“Oh, does it?”

 

“Yes! I don’t know what kind of pathological need you have for hurting people, but if you don’t put an end to it tonight, I will. That’s a promise.”

 

James smiled. “Too bad you already have a match tonight then, huh? Let’s just see what happens there and then, we’ll talk.”

 

RATING: 37

 

5) In another part of the backstage area, Sherry Smart was holding court in her little fortune tellers’ set. She rifled through a tarot card deck and started setting out cards in a seemingly significant pattern. As she did, she said that the stars had aligned and, with her mystical guidance, a new force to be reckoned with had emerged in the RFW. The camera pulled back to reveal Chip Martin and Charlie Corner flanking her while wearing matching outfits. She introduced them as “Party On!” and said that, with her giving them supernatural insight into their matches, they were guaranteed the gold. That was why they were in a match against the Franchise tonight! Charlie and Chip whooped it up and the three of them headed to ringside.

 

“Shouldn’t someone point out to Sherry that Chip and Charlie have been tagging together on-and-off for the past couple of months?” Martin said.

 

“I don’t think she’s all that interested in reality,” Curt said.

 

But their banter was interrupted as someone stepped into the booth and flipped over one last card, revealing Death. The only thing Curt and Martin could say about this person for sure was that it was a woman.

 

RATING: 33

 

6) PARTY ON! vs. THE FRANCHISE © for the RFW Tag Team Championship

 

In spite of Sherry’s bold prediction, Charlie Corner seemed a bit off tonight, but that turned out to be okay, since Jack Pryde was off as well. Chip and Charlie managed to rally toward the middle of the match and seemed poised to take the gold, but then Mark Latrell exploded out of their corner and cleaned house, finally taking down Charlie and getting him pinned. The fact that he used a handful of tights to keep Charlie down escaped the referee’s notice.

 

WINNERS: The Franchise in 9:34

RATING: 33

 

7) Sherry seemed disappointed at how the match turned out, but she started to give a pep talk to her team. But halfway into it, the crowd popped as someone stormed out of the backstage area…

 

 

“I think…I think that’s Sarah Taylor!” Martin said. “What is she doing here?”

 

Sarah didn’t seem interested in talking. Instead, she snared Sherry by the hair and dragged her into the ring. She rolled Sherry into it, climbed inside, and snapped at the ref to ring the bell and get an impromptu match started.

 

RATING: 52

 

8) SHERRY SMART vs. SARAH TAYLOR

 

Sarah was able to carry Sherry through a pretty decent match. At one point, Party On! seemed ready to rescue their friend, but Sarah had the ref order them away from ringside. That meant it was up to Sherry to survive the match on her own.

 

She had her work cut out for her. Sarah took control early on and punished her brutally. But then, about halfway through, it appeared as though Sherry had some sort of seizure. Her eyes rolled into the back of her skull and her whole body twitched. Sarah backed off until Sherry snapped out of it and, for a few moments, Sherry was untouchable. Sarah simply couldn’t catch her.

 

“It’s almost like Sherry is seeing Sarah’s offense before it happens,” Martin said.

 

Curt scoffed at the idea, but he seemed a bit disturbed by this.

 

Eventually, though, Sherry seemed to snap out of it and Sarah took control once again before putting Sherry down with a Newton’s Cradle.

 

WINNER: Sarah Taylor in 10:24

RATING: 40

 

9) JOHN “ACE” HART vs. KALDER TAGG

 

The crowd was still buzzing after Sarah’s impromptu match, so Kalder and I took advantage of it. Martin played up the fact that it looked like I was bound and determined to send a message to someone in the back. And, for the early part of the match, I was able to keep Kalder at bay.

 

But then, about halfway through, James Diaz rushed to ringside while Kalder distracted the ref. He grabbed me and pulled me down on the top rope, knocking me off balance and into Kalder. Kalder had my number after that, finally putting me down with a piledriver.

 

WINNER: Kalder Tagg in 9:42

RATING: 45

 

10) Fro Sure’s music hit and the crowd got on their feet and started dancing. Fro came out and did a few moves, but it was pretty obvious that his heart wasn’t into it. Eventually, he just stopped trying and went to the ring. As soon as he rolled inside, he waved for the music to stop.

 

“Look, everyone, I’m glad to see you too, but I gotta be honest, my heart just isn’t into it. Things just haven’t been the same for the past couple of weeks. So I’m here. I’m going to wrestle Benji or Wolfie or Rin Tin Tin or whoever it is they scheduled me for. But I gotta be honest…” He sighs. “We’ll see what happens.”

 

RATING: 36

 

11) FRO SURE vs. WOLFIE TAGG

 

In spite of what Fro said, he did seem to come to life a little when the bell rang. He definitely put up a fight with Wolfie. When Wolfie tried to trip him up and just pin him, Fro quickly kicked out.

 

But it was pretty obvious that Fro was distracted a bit off. His performance was surprisingly average and, the few times the crowd tried to get him into it and re-engage, he just sort of sighed and went through the motions.

 

As the match wore on, though, Fro started to show more and more signs of life. A little bit of the old Fro Sure emerged and he seemed to be toying with Wolfie a little. But then, much to everyone’s shock, Wolfie managed to duck an attempted Sure Thing and then knocked Fro down and actually managed to pin him!

 

WINNER: Wolfie Tagg in 15:27

RATING: 43

 

12) Grace stormed out to the ring. She looked furious. As soon as her entrance music ended, she lit into Curt.

 

“Don’t think I didn’t hear what you said earlier, Curt. You think I’m vulnerable? You think there’s blood in the water? Well, forget it. I’m still the champ and this title isn’t going anywhere!

 

“And I know, everyone thinks that I should be taking it easy. After all, I got hurt two months ago. But has that slowed me down? Not even a little! This Diamond doesn’t break. So Joy, why don’t you get out here and I’ll prove it.”

 

Joy’s entrance music started but, rather than come out with her usual pep and high energy personality, Joy looked somber. Even a bit worried. She got on the mic herself and said that she knew that Grace had been medically cleared to wrestle and she wasn’t questioning anyone’s medical opinion. But Joy pointed out that trauma like an injury can linger and maybe Grace should take the night off? She even offered to forfeit the match right there so Grace could still pick up the win.

 

Grace was enraged at the suggestion and demanded that Joy get in the ring right then!

 

RATING: 57

 

13) JOY RIDER vs. GRACE “DIAMOND” KIL © for the RFW Women’s Championship

 

Holy cow, what a match! Maybe one of the best we’ve had in a while. Grace seemed bound and determined to absolutely destroy Joy right from the get-go, while Joy tried to talk Grace down and get her to chill. When it became obvious that Grace wasn’t going to do that, Joy sighed and started fighting in earnest.

 

About halfway through the match, Grace stumbled and it looked like she may have twisted her knee again. The ref was there immediately, as was Joy, asking if she needed to stop the match. Joy practically pleaded with her to end the match, even offering at one point to help Grace out of the ring so she could be counted out and take the DQ.

 

Once again, that suggestion enraged Grace and she surged back into the ring. The match continued, growing more and more intense until Grace finally put Joy down with a Diamond’s Edge.

 

WINNER: Grace “Diamond” Kil in 19:38

RATING: 59

 

14) PAPA SWOLL © vs. QUENTIN QUEEN for the RFW Championship

 

Oof. This match was kind of a letdown, truth be told. I mean, Quentin and Swoll put on a pretty decent match, but it was pretty clear we peaked early. Martin and Curt tried to play up the fact that Quentin was the former champ, looking to reclaim his lost glory. And Swoll acted every inch the champ. But the crowd simply wasn’t as invested and therefore, the match didn’t quite work. Still entertaining, just not quite what we needed at this point.

 

In spite of Quentin’s offense, Swoll was able to keep him mostly at bay. Quentin tried to get Swoll in the Q-Ball a few times, and the last time, Swoll reversed it into a Pounce.

 

WINNER: Papa Swoll in 19:35

RATING: 29

 

***

 

In the aftermath, I welcomed Sarah Taylor to RFW. She was gracious and thanked me for the opportunity. I also hyped up Grace and Joy for their excellent work.

 

FINAL RATING: 39

 

 

From RFW.com...

 

Here are the results from tonight's All In:

 

Modesty Pardor defeated Allie Perks

Texas Hangman defeated Cassidy Blaine

The Franchise © defeated Party On! to retain the RFW Tag Team Championship

Sarah Taylor defeated Sherry Smart

Kalder Tagg defeated John "Ace" Hart

Wolfie Tagg defeated Fro Sure

Grace "Diamond" Kil © defeated Joy Rider to retain the RFW Women's Championship

Papa Swoll © defeated Quentin Queen to retain the RFW Championship

[Scapino1974]

Tuesday of Week 3, June 2022

 

“So, Mr. Hart, what is it going to be?”

 

I shifted in my chair, uncomfortable at the scrutiny. I sat across from Mel Thomas, one of the professors at RCTC. He had set up this appointment for me a few weeks back, but due to life and craziness, I had almost forgotten about it. Technically, classes had wrapped up for the year, but he really wanted to talk to me.

 

What about? My future, a lingering question that I knew I had to confront sooner or later. After all, I had been attending RCTC for two years now. Most of my classmates had either graduated with their AA or they were getting ready to transfer to a traditional school. So what was I going to do?

 

I still had no idea.

 

Thomas sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Look, Mr. Hart, I get it. You’re at a crossroads right now and you’re unsure of what your next step should be. That’s pretty normal. Now I took a peek at your transcript, and from what I saw, your grades are great. You’ve knocked out your generals. So the real question is: what do you want to do? Stick around here and get your associates or transfer to a four year college?”

 

I gritted my teeth and my palms started sweating. I should have spent more time focusing on this, but given everything that had happened in the last few months with Grace and RFW and Abigail and all that, well, it just didn’t seem all that much of a priority.

 

Until it was. Until now.

 

“Or, you know, you could take a year off,” Thomas said. “It’s not like your credits will evaporate or something. I can tell that this is a big deal. Why not sleep on it, so to speak, and see what shakes out?”

 

I let out a shaky breath. “I think that’s what I’ll do. Thanks, Professor.”

 

He held up his hands, as if surrendering. “I’m just doing what they ask me to. Good luck, Mr. Hart.”

 

We shook hands and I left the office, letting out a shaky breath. There would be paperwork, I was sure, and I’d have to sell the idea to Mom and Dad. Mom especially. But until I knew for sure what I was going to do…

 

My cell chirped at me and I glanced at the caller ID. Dustin Deuce? What did he want?

 

“Hey, Ace, glad I caught you,” Dustin said.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Look, I was hoping we could talk about my pay. The way things are going, I figure it’s time for RFW to start paying me what I’m worth. And hey, it’d be nice to be able to afford to take m’lady out to someplace nice once in a while.”

 

His what? “…okay.”

 

“Yeah, me and Sherry. I do enjoy the time we have together, and a little more money would make our time all the sweeter.”

 

Sherry Smart? Apparently I was running a dating service for young wrestlers. “So what are you asking for?”

 

“Oh, I was thinking sixty bucks a show would be good.”

 

My eyebrows climbed my forehead. Sixty? Given that we rarely used Dustin, that wasn’t too much of an ask, I suppose. But at the same time, I wasn’t really liking his tone. It was pretty clear he expected me to just roll over and pay it.

 

“Look, I’ll give you half that. Thirty bucks more a show.”

 

Silence, and then Dustin sputtered a few counters. But I didn’t budge. After about five minutes of whining, he sighed and took it, but I could tell he wasn’t happy about it. He quickly hung up after that.

 

I pocketed my phone and smirked. Maybe I should stick around and get my AA in business.

[Scapino1974]

QAW The Showdown

Friday of Week 3, June 2022

Held in Irvine Hall (Mid South Region)

 

Another QAW show, another pre-show match for me. Tag team (again), this time with Ruby Reece. We were going to face Modesty and Marie Punnen, a sort of RFW reunion.

 

And here’s the funny thing: I don’t know when it happened, but my attitude had shifted. Sure, I would have liked to be a little higher in the card. Like, out of the pre-show entirely. But it was almost as if Pam Rojo had knocked some sense into me a month earlier.

 

I kind of had my foot in both worlds in a way. At RFW, I was the champ, top dog, numero uno. At QAW, I wasn’t. Nowhere near it. So I got to see both perspectives. Back in Rochester, I had fans who would wait as long as they had to to get a picture or an autograph. Wherever we went with QAW, sure, I had a handful of requests, but nowhere near as many. These shows were an anchor for my ego.

 

And Lord knows I probably needed one.

 

Besides, the way I saw it, I had an important job. I could go out and half-ass the pre-show matches, just go through the motions since only a couple hundred or maybe a few thousand people might see it. Or I could do my best to rile up the crowd, get them stoked and hot for the “real show.” And that’s what we did. Ruby and I made it our goal to get the crowd so solidly behind us, so ramped up and crazy, that they’d have to wait for people to simmer down to actually start things. And I don’t know if we succeeded, exactly, but by the time we made it back to the locker room, my ears were ringing pretty badly.

 

But I wasn’t done yet. Ego in check. Team player. I did my best to psyche up everyone before they went out for their matches. An encouraging word. Some applause. Whatever I thought they needed. I’m not sure if everyone appreciated my efforts. But I think I caught a hint of a smile from Juana before she went out for the main event.

 

When the show was over, Farrah gathered the girls together and gave us a pep talk. Truth be told, Ace could probably learn a thing or two from her. The way she reeled us in and gave props to just about everyone…well, even though she didn’t mention me by name, I felt included and appreciated.

 

As the workers drifted away, Farrah said, “Hang on a sec, Kil.”

 

I froze and glanced at the others. Was it good or bad that she was singling me out after the post-show speech? From people’s expressions, it could be either.

 

She looked me over, as if evaluating me, then nodded. “I gotta say, I’ve appreciated the hard work you’ve put in lately. And I wanted to give you a head’s up: I’m intending on putting you in more shows starting next month.”

 

My heart stuttered. “Yeah?”

 

She nodded. “A lot of shows during the last two weeks of July. From what some of the girls have told me, your scheduling is a bit…complicated.”

 

I winced. That was one way of putting it. I had moved back home for the summer again, so this would mean I’d have to come up with some excuse to tell Mom and especially Dad about where I would be. Do-able, but still a challenge.

 

“You in?”

 

“I’m all in!”

 

Farrah quirked a brow at me. “Interesting choice of words. Will Hart cause you any grief?”

 

I shook my head. “He’s on board with me doing these shows. And he’s been careful about conflicting with QAW shows. We’ll be good.”

 

Farrah nodded. “Well, talk to Cherie before you leave. She’ll have the travel schedule for you. And Kil? Good work tonight.”

 

I practically floated out of the locker room. This felt like a major step for me. This meant I was going places.

 

But first, I had to go home and figure out how I was going to explain all of this to my folks…

[Scapino1974]

Sunday of Week 4, June 2022

 

I had been right. Dad totally got the idea of me taking some time off from school. And why wouldn’t he? He had never gone to college and, in his words, he turned out just fine. Mom, on the other hand, wasn’t as thrilled. She insisted that I had to find a job—a full time one!—and save my money. I wasn’t going to just sit around on the computer or play video games or just wrestle once a month.

 

So I wound up taking a job at a temp agency, going out on odd jobs. The first two weeks were…well, they were two weeks. Two weeks of acting as a receptionist, filing paperwork for an insurance company, and generally just being ordered from Point A to Point B. Pay was nothing exciting, but given that I was still living rent free with my parents, it was all profit that went straight into my savings.

 

Thankfully, that mirrored how RFW was doing. We had only made two hundred bucks and some change, but at least we were still in the black at the end of the month. We had just a little over $81,000 in our company savings, so that was good too.

 

All in all, life had stabilized for me. I had a job, I was meeting new people, and I was excited about some of the new possibilities for RFW. On the balance sheet of life, I was in the black too.

 

Except there was still red in that ledger. I didn’t make a nuisance of myself, but I kept trying. Reaching out. Sending the occasional text. Talking to Cassidy. But no matter what I tried, I hadn’t heard from Abigail. And I was starting to worry that I never would. And that void felt like it could consume me.

[Scapino1974]

From RFW.com...

 

What can you expect to see at this month’s All In?

 

• Party On! will face off against The Good Ol’ Boys
  
• Wild Red Stallion returns to the ring against Fro Sure
  
• Roger Monteiro will fight the Son of the Monster, James Diaz
  
• Selina Svelte has demanded a match against Sarah Taylor
  
• The Scofield Index will take on The Franchise © for the RFW Tag Team Championship
  
• Grace “Diamond” Kil © will defend the RFW Women’s Championship against Sabrina Wells
  
• Papa Swoll © will fight Dustin Deuce with the RFW Championship on the line
  

[Herrbear]

Party On! will face off against The Good Ol’ Boys

Wild Red Stallion returns to the ring against Fro Sure

Roger Monteiro will fight the Son of the Monster, James Diaz

Selina Svelte has demanded a match against Sarah Taylor

The Scofield Index will take on The Franchise © for the RFW Tag Team Championship

Grace “Diamond” Kil © will defend the RFW Women’s Championship against Sabrina Wells

Papa Swoll © will fight Dustin Deuce with the RFW Championship on the line

[Scapino1974]

RFW All In

Thursday of Week 2, July 2022

Held at the Civic Center in Rochester, MN (Mid West Region)

Broadcast on WrestleWorld (29,852 viewers)

460 in attendance

 

Curt and Martin welcomed the audience to the show.

 

“We should have an action packed night in store for us!” Martin said. “Have you seen the card? Papa Swoll defending his title against Dustin Deuce? Grace Kil taking on Sabrina Wells? This is going to be great!”

 

1) Speaking of Swoll, his entrance music hit and he came out to the ring. He was all smiles, exuding a calm that the crowd really got into. Martin commented that he and his tag partner, Fro Sure, were an interesting study in opposites: “Fro Sure is all high energy and dancing whereas Papa Swoll just let’s it be. You need that kind of balance in your life.”

 

“Except I’m not sure that there’s much balance between the Kings right now, especially since Papa is the champ and Fro is not,” Curt countered.

 

Whatever the case, Papa Swoll got into the ring and welcomed the crowd. He said hi to a few of our regular fans that he recognized, then made an announcement: “I know you all came here to see me defend my title in the main event. Well…that’s not gonna happen.”

 

The crowd was stunned. A few of them even booed. Swoll let them vent for a bit before he held up his hands.

 

“That doesn’t mean I won’t fight Dustin. I’m gonna do that. It’s just not gonna be the main event.

 

“See, my Gramma Swoll was a wise lady. And she used to say to me, ‘Papa, there ain’t no shame in admitting someone’s better’n you. Be humble, ’cuz that way, other people will see how great you are rather than having to shove it down their throats.’

 

“Now I am the RFW champ and I don’t intend to drop this title any time soon. But man, that Grace Kil is something else, isn’t she? Sometimes you just know that you’re in the presence of a legend, and I think that’s what we’ve got here in Rochester: a legend in the making. So tonight, I asked the powers that be to put her in the main event where she belongs. And—”

 

Swoll was interrupted by Dustin Deuce’s entrance music. The challenger came out to the ring entrance with a mic of his own.

 

“How dare you! How dare you rob me of my main event spot?” Dustin raged. “I have been criminally overlooked by these ‘powers that be’ and I finally managed to get a title shot and you take away the main event slot? How dare you!”

 

“Now hold up, Dustin,” Swoll said. “You still have your title shot. I’m still gonna fight you and, you never know, you might just win. Nobody is saying you don’t deserve that shot. But be humble, man. Chill it out. We’re still gonna have a match you can be proud of.”

 

Dustin sneered at him. “Oh, I’m gonna be proud all right. Proud to hold that title up over your broken body. Because I don’t think you know the pain you’ve unleashed into your life when the Deuce goes wild over you.”

 

Swoll stared at him and said, “Might wanna rethink that catchphrase, Dustin.”

 

RATING: 49

 

2) ALLIE PERKS vs. TALIA QUINZEL

 

Much to Martin and Curt’s surprise, Talia Quinzel came out to the ring. No crutches, no cast, she was clearly ready to fight. Martin said that he was just as surprised as anyone to see her but was excited to see a match that was apparently going to be against Allie Perks.

 

These two tore each other apart, hammering each other in the ring and out of it. The crowd really got into the intensity and egged them on. Neither one could put the other one down definitively and they eventually tumbled out of the ring and wound up brawling up the ring entrance ramp as Quincy Jargon counted to ten. The match ended in a draw as both competitors were counted out. Neither of them seemed all that happy about the result, but when Allie tried to shake Talia’s hand, Talia knocked it away and stormed out.

 

WINNER: No one (Draw) in 15:27

RATING: 43

 

3) PARTY ON! Vs. THE GOOD OL’ BOYS

 

An okay match. Charlie and Chip really hammed it up as two “rock gods” on their way out to the ring while Cockroach and Adrien looked really upset that they had to wrestle them. Adrien seemed particularly upset about fighting “them big city folk.”

 

Unfortunately, Charlie and Cockroach stumbled through the match and Adrien looked completely clueless as to what he was supposed to be doing. Eventually, Charlie put Cockroach down with the Corner Cutter and picked up the win.

 

WINNERS: Party On! In 9:42

RATING: 26

 

4) A backstage camera followed Party On! as they returned to the locker room. Charlie told Chip that he had mentally dedicated the win to Sherry after what happened to her last month.

 

As they walked, though, the camera caught sight of John “Ace” Hart talking quietly with Roger Monteiro. Both men looked pretty intense, but they finally shook on whatever they were talking about.

 

RATING: 27

 

5) FRO SURE vs. WILD RED STALLION

 

Once again, as Fro came out to the ring, he looked particularly subdued. It almost looked like he was sleepwalking down the entrance ramp. No dancing, no real joy. He sort of mechanically got into the ring and waited for Wild Red Stallion to come out.

 

When the bell rang, Fro sort of snapped out of it, but Martin said it was pretty obvious that something was off for Fro. “I’ve seen guys get that look before. Nothing good ever comes from it. Guy is heart-sick and it’s gonna mess him up if he’s not careful.”

 

Martin’s words proved prophetic. While Fro put up a fight and didn’t exactly make it easy for Stallion, it was pretty clear he was too distracted to be much of a threat. Stallion was eventually able to put him down with a Lakota Cutter, much to everyone’s shock. Stallion quickly made the pin and then got out of there, carrying on like he had won the title.

 

WINNER: Wild Red Stallion in 12:48

RATING: 48

 

6) THE SCOFIELD INDEX vs. THE FRANCHISE © for the RFW Tag Team Championship

 

This match took me by surprise, because out of the four guys in the match, Mark put on the best performance. Really. I have no words. He was clearly on fire as the match started and he really did a great job of selling Jerry and Pepper’s offense. It was an interesting match since both teams were willing to resort to underhanded tactics to gain the advantage. Jerry would switch places with Pepper when the ref wasn’t looking. Jack would charge in to break up pin attempts. The crowd was getting a bit riled up since no one seemed to want to win this match legitimately.

 

But then Mark speared Pepper almost out of his boots and then made the pin, but he had his feet on the ropes to add some leverage to keep Pepper down.

 

WINNERS: The Franchise in 10:22

RATING: 33

 

7) ROGER MONTEIRO vs. JAMES DIAZ

 

Once again, James Diaz strutted out to the ring, looking extremely confident. Even as Roger made his way down the ramp, James blew him off as a threat. He lounged in a corner and laughed at him as Roger entered the ring.

 

As the match started, James exploded out of his corner and ran Roger over. He then set the boots to Roger’s chest and Curt predicted that the match was going to be over before it really got started. Roger eventually recovered and started the match in earnest.

 

James was clearly in control of the match. While Roger got some offense in, James was able to counter it fairly easily and spent some time laughing and mocking Roger for his efforts.

 

Toward the end of the match, referee Quincy Jargon got hit accidentally by Roger and knocked out. The fight continued, but within a few seconds, I ran out of the ring with a steel chair. I slid under the rope and took a swing at James. But he saw me coming and ducked out of the way. I accidentally smashed Roger in the face, taking him down. I stared in shock, but then James drop-kicked the chair into my own face and knocked me over the top rope.

 

James quickly roused the ref and got Roger with the Asian Thumb Spike. Quincy groggily made the count.

 

WINNER: James Diaz in 14:01

RATING: 40

 

8) Papa Swoll was getting ready for his match when suddenly, a masked man attacked him from behind, smashing him into the lockers. The mystery man spent a few moments stomping and kicking Swoll before he fled.

 

 

“Who the hell was that?” Martin asked.

 

RATING: 24

 

9) Selina Svelte came out to the ring for her match, but she looked absolutely furious.

 

“So the powers that be decided that I should be the one to give Sarah Taylor her official welcome to the RFW. And boy, am I happy to do so.

 

“See, Sarah and I have history together. I’ve run into her at a bunch of different shows put on by different promotions. And she’s the same everywhere: she thinks she can buy her way to the top. Sarah’s a trust fund kid who doesn’t take any of this seriously. She’s all bling, no sting.

 

“Now Sarah usually throws a bunch of money at the owners of whatever promotion she’s at to get her some stroke. But I’m gonna make sure that doesn’t happen here. Her time at the RFW ends before it even begins.”

 

Unfamiliar entrance music started playing, a pretentious high society sort of music. Sarah Taylor strutted out to the ring entrance.

 

“Selina. So good to see you, love. But I have to disagree. Yes, I may have more money than most of the people here. And yes, I may use it strategically. But I’ve never used it to win a match. Not directly. And I’ll prove that right now.”

 

RATING: 51

 

10) SELINA SVELTE vs. SARAH TAYLOR

 

The crowd really got into this match. Selina somehow got cast as a hometown hero for the match, with a big segment of the crowd squarely behind her while a number of smarks got behind Sarah.

 

And the two of them really managed to capitalize on the heat. They played to the crowd and whipped them into a bigger and bigger frenzy, then fed off that energy to make things look more and more intense. By the time the match wound up, most of the fans were on their feet.

 

Selina tried to put Sarah down quickly but really struggled to do so. Martin commented that it seemed that Sarah had invested in some serious wrestling lessons. In the end, Sarah managed to put Selina down with a Newton’s Cradle.

 

WINNER: Sarah Taylor in 15:42

RATING: 50

 

11) Backstage, James Diaz appeared on camera and spent a few moments mocking me for botching that ambush.

 

“If you thought you were going to do a mercy killing today, Hart, well, just know that you failed. The Son of the Monster has been unleashed. And I’m not going anywhere until I burn the RFW to the ground!”

 

RATING: 24

 

12) PAPA SWOLL © vs. DUSTIN DEUCE for the RFW Championship

 

The crowd was pretty much on Swoll’s side from the start, especially since it looked like Swoll was nursing some injuries from the beating backstage. He kind of limped out to the ring and rolled his shoulders like he was trying to work out the kinks.

 

Dustin took advantage of the situation by lighting into Swoll the moment the bell rang. He knocked the champ around and tried to take him out quickly, but that didn’t prove to be an easy task. Swoll fought back and, even though Dustin managed to get him pinned twice, kicked out at two each time.

 

Try as he might, Dustin could not put Swoll down. On his third attempt to do so, Swoll managed to block him and hit a Pounce, seemingly out of nowhere, picking up the pin and the win.

 

WINNER: Papa Swoll in 15:04

RATING: 42

 

13) Grace came out to the ring with her title belt. She got on the mic.

 

“Selina seems all concerned about Sarah Taylor being here, but I don’t see why she’s so mystified about it. Isn’t it obvious? Sarah’s here because she wants the title. I’ve proven myself to be a force to be reckoned with. I’ve held this title for over a year now. If Sarah Taylor or Selina Svelte or anyone else wants to take a crack at it, they are welcome to do so.

 

“And that includes you, Sabrina Wells. We’re about to hit the ring together today and I know that you’ve wanted this title for a while. Well, let’s get it started and see what happens. May the best wrestler win.”

 

RATING: 37

 

14) GRACE “DIAMOND” KIL © vs. SABRINA WELLS for the RFW Women’s Championship

 

Once the match started, Grace and Sabrina went after each other pretty fiercely. It was clear that Sabrina had her eyes on the title and was going to do her best to capture it. But Grace obviously wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

 

But then, halfway through the match, Grace seemed to twist her knee wrong. She went down, yelling and clutching at her knee like it had been injured. Sabrina seemed horrified and moved in to try to help, but Grace pushed her away. The referee asked her if she wanted to stop the match, but Grace refused. Instead, she clambered up in a corner and kept fighting.

 

In spite of her “injury,” Grace kept fighting the whole time. Sabrina seemed taken aback by this and Martin wondered if she was pulling some of her punches. Curt said that was a stupid idea; obviously Grace wasn’t backing down so Sabrina shouldn’t either.

 

In the end, Grace managed to catch Sabrina in a Diamond’s Edge, picking up the win.

 

WINNER: Grace “Diamond” Kil in 18:56

RATING: 54

 

15) Grace looked to be in a little bit of pain as the ref handed her her title belt and raised her hand in victory.

 

But before Grace could get out of the ring, someone jumped the security railing and slid under the bottom rope…

 

 

“It’s Marie Punnen!” Martin shouted. “She’s back! What is she doing here?”

 

Marie made it pretty obvious what her intent was. She immediately kicked Grace in her injured knee. When Grace went down, Marie leapt on her and rained down punches. After a few moments, the locker room cleared out as other workers came out and pulled her off of Grace.

 

RATING: 32

 

***

 

Once the show was done, I gathered the wrestlers together. I made sure to highlight Selina and Sarah’s match. And I even threw a compliment Dustin’s way, hoping to smooth things over after I didn’t give him the raise he wanted.

 

Afterwards, Grace approached me. “So…hear anything from Abigail yet?”

 

I shook my head. Still nothing. I was tempted to drive over to Albert Lea and see if I could catch her at home, but I had no idea how her family might react to my presence. If she didn’t want to talk, well…I suppose that made sense.

 

“Hang in there, Ace,” Grace said. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll all work out.”

 

I chuckled mirthlessly. “Glad you think so. I’m not so sure. I’m pretty sure I blew it.”

 

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to.

 

After a few moments of silence, she cleared her throat. “So what did you think of Allie’s match?”

 

“Not too shabby,” I said.

 

“I agree. I think Allie could really be something special.”

 

“Duly noted.”

 

We chatted a little bit longer, then grace patted my on my arm. “Well, wish me luck. I’m hitting the road with QAW for the rest of the month. Four shows over two weeks. Gonna be interesting.”

 

“I’ll say.” I frowned. “What did you tell your folks?”

 

She smiled nervously. “I said that the U of M was doing a special summer session for one of my upcoming classes. I said I’d be staying with some friends up in the Cities for two weeks while I took the seminar.”

 

“And they bought that?”

 

She shrugged. “Seemed to. Dad’s kind of stressed right now because of stuff that’s happening at church, so he’s distracted. And Mom…well, she seemed understanding enough.”

 

Huh. “Well, good luck and keep me up to date one what you’re up to.”

 

“Will do, boss.”

 

I frowned. “Never call me that again.”

 

FINAL RATING: 51

 

From RFW.com...

 

We had an explosive night at All In! Here's what happened:

 

Talia Quinzel returned and fought to a draw with Allie Perks

Party On! defeated The Good Ol' Boys

Wild Red Stallion defeated Fro Sure

The Franchise © defeated The Scofield Index to retain the RFW Tag Team Championship

James Diaz defeated Roger Monteiro

Sarah Taylor defeated Selina Svelte

Papa Swoll © defeated Dustin Deuce to retain the RFW Championship

Grace "Diamond" Kil © defeated Sabrina Wells to retain the RFW Women's Championship

[Scapino1974]

Sunday of Week 4, July 2022

 

By the time we made it to Wichita, I was almost dead on my feet. A good kind of dead, if there is such a thing.

 

What an amazing time! Since I would be working so much during the last two weeks of July, I had decided that I wouldn’t try to go home in between shows. I mean, I could have, but then I would have been trying to explain where I was going every couple of days to Mom and Dad. Coming up with one big excuse rather than four smaller ones was a whole lot easier. Not as many lies to keep straight. So I had told them that I’d be in the Cities for a summer seminar. While I was on the road, I would crash on the couches of different QAW wrestlers and kind of see how they managed to balance their lives with their careers.

 

And it was a lot of fun! Starting in Fort Worth, Coco Malloy and I had a preshow tag match against Izzy Quick and Sonnaz Shah. We won, which was kind of nice. Then a week later, in Houston, Teresa Perez and I tore the house down for Crowning the Queen XIII. Near as I could tell, only one other match even came close to ours. Then two nights later, we were up in Aurora, Colorado, and I was once again in the preshow, this time tagging with Honey Badger against Kira Lee and Sabrina Wells. That was…interesting. Turns out Honey Badger is a lot nicer than she lets on.

 

But the last night on this mini-tour. Titan Clash #84. Mariana Torres and I actually went into a tag title match against Ava Anderson and Lily Snyder. Obviously we weren’t going to win the gold, but Jackson specifically told us to go all-out if we wanted. And Mariana and I wanted to. We blew the roof off the arena. As a matter of fact, TEW named me the MVP for the show.

 

By the time I made it back to the Airbnb that I was sharing with some of the other girls, I was flying so high, I didn’t ever want to come down. This is what I was put on this earth to do. This is what I wanted to do. I didn’t care how long it took, I was going to get to the point where I’d be able to wrestle full-time and focus only on that.

 

I went to sleep that night, knowing that I’d have to return to the “normal world” soon enough. Nothing good lasts forever, right? But this felt right. It felt good. And I wanted to hold on to that feeling as long as I could.

[Scapino1974]

Monday of Week 1, August 2022

 

I had stayed up the night before to watch Grace on QAW. She was amazing, no two ways about it. No wonder the TEW message boards were lighting up with chatter about her. I had been so excited for her that I didn’t really get to sleep until well into the night.

 

Maybe that was why I couldn’t make sense of the financial report. I had entered and reentered all of the data three times and I kept getting the same results. So I had to figure that I was doing everything right. I just couldn’t figure out how the hell we had made a little over a thousand dollars in profit. I mean, we were in the middle of upgrading our merchandise and we had spent $2,000 more on workers the past month. I sifted through the data, trying to see where the extra money had come from. $1,200 more in broadcast revenue, an extra two hundred bucks from ticket sales. Sponsorships were up by $1,100. It just didn’t make sense.

 

Not that I was complaining. I thought for sure, when we first signed with WrestleWorld, that we’d be bankrupt by now. Instead, we were chugging along with no problems.

 

I finally shut off the accounting program and stretched. So what to do with the rest of my day? The temp agency hadn’t had anything for me, so that meant my day was free. I supposed I could go to the movies. Maybe hit the gym? I hadn’t had the chance to do that for a while…

 

“John! Get down here!” Mom shouted up the stairs.

 

Or I could go see what had her so riled up. I trotted out of the room, down the stairs…

 

…only to find myself face-to-face with Mrs. Kil.

 

I stopped short. She looked like she had been crying. Mom had an arm around her shoulders, whispering something to her, but when I reached the bottom of the stairs, Mom gave me a look I couldn’t decipher. What was going on? Why was Mrs. Kil here?

 

“John, Mrs. Kil needs to talk to you about something,” Mom said quietly, motioning for all of us to go into the living room.

 

I followed, my body numb. Mrs. Kil settled into the couch and Mom jabbed a finger at a chair opposite her. I sank into it and braced myself. Had Grace gotten hurt again? Or had something happened to Reverend Kil?

 

“John, I know that my little girl has grown up a lot the last few years,” Mrs. Kil said. “And I know that she’s becoming a strong, independent woman. And I’m so proud of who she’s becoming.”

 

I started to say something, but she held up a hand, cutting me off.

 

“I need to get through this first. I’ve suspected that you two have been up to something for a while now. It seemed awfully convenient that she was always gone the same night every month, but the police never showed up and Thomas never seemed concerned. So I let it go.

 

“But then, a few months ago, Grace injured her knee and I started to suspect something was going on. Her explanation for what happened never made sense.

 

“And now, she’s gone for two weeks for a seminar with the U? I thought that sounded suspicious, but why would she lie to me?

 

“Except I wanted to send her a care package as a surprise, so I contacted the U to find out what her mailing address would be. And they had no idea what I was talking about.”

 

Ice sluiced through my veins as Mom fixed me with a pointed glare.

 

“I tried calling Mark, and he insisted that she was in the Twin Cities. So now I’m here, John. I only have one question for you: where is my daughter?”

[Scapino1974]

Monday of Week 1, August 2022

 

I stared at Mrs. Kil, my mouth suddenly dry. Her question about Grace seemed to hang in the air between us and I knew I had to answer. But what could I say? We had been lying to her and Reverend Kil for two and a half years? That her daughter was probably going to wind up being a legendary professional wrestler if given the chance? That we were building our own little financial empire here in Rochester? Would any of those answers actually give her any comfort? Would she believe any of it?

 

Worse, what would Grace think if I told her the truth? Was that even my place to do so? My parents had known for so long, I think I had unconsciously fooled myself into thinking that Grace’s did too, that they were fine with it, that everyone was happy with our business venture. But clearly, that wasn’t the case.

 

“When Hannah called me to ask if I knew what was going on, I told her to talk to you,” Mom said.

 

Oh, even better. I shifted in my seat, suddenly feeling the weight of this moment pressing me toward the floor. The unspoken threat was clear: if I didn’t come clean, Mom would. What choice did I have left?

 

I sighed. “Mrs. Kil…first of all, I want to assure you that Grace is fine. I’ve been texting her for the past two weeks and she is perfectly safe.”

 

“It’s not very reassuring that you feel you have to start out like that,” Mrs. Kil replied.

 

I winced. Good point. Maybe if I went at this from a slightly different angle… “You know how proud you were when Grace made the varsity wrestling team?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Well, we haven’t exactly…stopped…since we graduated.”

 

Mrs. Kil frowned. “I don’t understand. Grace isn’t on the U’s wrestling team. And I know for a fact that RCTC doesn’t have one.”

 

I sighed. Okay, subtle wasn’t working. Time to rip the Band-Aid off.

 

“Two and a half years ago, Grace and I pooled our money together and we…started a professional wrestling company. We’ve been putting on shows in the Civic Center. Grace is our women’s champion and…well, I wrestle too.” Still kind of stung to have to phrase it like that, but better to be honest.

 

Mrs. Kil blinked at me, and then she scowled. “This is ridiculous. If this was true, you would have started this company while you were both still in high school.”

 

I nodded. “We did.”

 

She stared at me, then looked to my mom, who nodded. She spluttered a little bit.

 

“You mean…my Grace…she’s a professional wrestler?”

 

“And a very good one at that,” I said.

 

“But if that’s true, if you’re both doing this, then why aren’t you gone? Where is she right now?”

 

I sighed. “Like I said, Grace is a great wrestler, Mrs. Kil. And so another company, Queens of American Wrestling, hired her as well. So she’s been traveling to their shows. She had a bunch of them in Texas, Colorado, and Kansas for the past two weeks.”

 

Mrs. Kil looked like she wilted, almost collapsing in on herself. She looked around the room, mouthing several words but not actually saying anything.

 

“Why…why wouldn’t she tell us about this?”

 

Oh, I got to explain this too? “Because we were afraid of how you would react. Reverend Kil specifically.”

 

That got her attention. Her gaze fixed on me. “Thomas? You think he would…”

 

Her voice trailed off and I could see her thinking about what I said. Her shoulder slumped and she sniffled. I had no idea what I was supposed to do next. Grace really should have been the one to tell her about this. Then again, we both probably should have been honest a while ago. Now this was an even bigger mess, because Mrs. Kil knew but Grace didn’t know that she knew.

 

This was going to give me a headache.

 

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Kil,” I said. “We never meant to hurt anyone, but we knew that you wouldn’t approve. And after my folks found out—”

 

Oh, that was the wrong thing to say. Mrs. Kil’s eyes widened and she whirled on my mom.

 

“You knew? And you didn’t say anything?”

 

Mom glared at me. “We did find out, but after Grace and John graduated from high school. We encouraged Grace to tell you, but we weren’t sure it was our place to do so.”

 

“You should have told us!” Mrs. Kil snapped. “Our daughter was risking her life—”

 

“She wasn’t risking her life!” I said.

 

“She got injured, didn’t she? And now she’s in…in Kansas? Lying to us about where she is, what she’s doing? This isn’t how we raised her! We raised her to be…to be respectful. A good girl. Not someone who curses and swears and drinks and…” She started sobbing.

 

“Mrs. Kil, Grace is the same girl she’s always been. She’s just found something that she really enjoys and she’s really good at. I’m sorry that we didn’t tell you. We should have right away. We can’t change that. But Grace hasn’t changed as much as you think.

 

“Look…we’re going to have another show in two weeks. Why don’t you come to the Civic Center and see for yourself what Grace has been doing? Meet the other wrestlers. Mom and Dad were just as worried about what we were up to, but once they saw how we were handling this, well…I think they’re okay with it.”

 

Mom’s jaw clenched and I realized I had just lied again. She obviously wasn’t, but she didn’t contradict me.

 

Mrs. Kil studied my face. “And what, I don’t tell Thomas about this? You want me to lie to my husband?”

 

“No,” I said. “But has he been worried about Grace at all?”

 

She huffed, but she said, “No. He’s not worried at all.”

 

“If he asks, tell him everything. But if you can wait two weeks and see what we’re doing, and if you don’t think this is working, I’ll go straight to your house and tell Reverend Kil myself.”

 

Mrs. Kil stared at me, as if trying to read the right answer from my expression. Then she sighed.

 

“I shouldn’t agree to this…but I can wait to tell Thomas for another two weeks. But if I am not satisfied with what I see—”

 

I nodded. “I completely understand.”

 

“But, I have to insist on one thing: you will not tell Grace that I know.”

 

I stared at her. “What?”

 

“You claim that she hasn’t changed. We shall see. But if she knows that I will be there, I do not believe she will be her genuine self. If you want to convince me, she can’t know about any of this. If you do not agree to this, I will tell Thomas the moment I get home.”

 

I exchanged a look with Mom. She clearly wasn’t happy about this either. But what could we do? It was either keep this secret for two weeks or have it all blow up right now. I finally nodded.

 

“Very well.” Mrs. Kil rose from her seat. “I appreciate your eventual honesty, John. We will see what happens in two weeks.”

 

“Until then.”

 

She left. And quite honestly, I had no idea if we had dodged a bullet or put ourselves in line for an even bigger failure.

[eayragt]

John has made some pretty bad decisions this diary, but not trying to call Grace at the beginning of this conversation is probably the worst one of the lot.

 

But that decision fits into John's character completely. Foolish but well meaning.

[Scapino1974]

From RFW.com...

 

Here is what’s coming up at the next RFW All In!

 

• Joy Rider & Sherry Smart will take on the Uprising!
  
• Jay Silver will face off against Cassidy Blaine
  
• Party On! will once again face The Good Ol’ Boys
  
• Mark Latrell will take on the Son of the Monster, James Diaz
  
• Allie Perks will fight newcomer Sarah Taylor
  
• Grace “Diamond” Kil © will defend her RFW Women’s Championship against Marie Punnen
  
• Papa Swoll © will take one Wild Red Stallion for the RFW Championship
  

 

Predictions, comments, whatever you have is good...

[John Lions]

Glad I started reading this today, as I couldn't stop reading once I started. I wasn't expecting to be so sucked in to what was going on outside of the wrestling shows.

 

I don't know if you ever read "Last Alliance of Wrestling" (it's on the EWB boards, very old EWR dynasty), but Grace's transition from announcing to in-ring reminded me of The Flying Armadillo/Frankie Arnaut from that one. It felt very organic and in hindsight her being the primary focus of RFW makes sense from the beginning.

 

When she took a swipe at Quentin Queen in her interview I was definitely anticipating some intergender action with her going for the main title, but I think with her working for QAW that it worked out better in the long run. Though I think we will see Ace vs Diamond at some point...

 

Joy Rider & Sherry Smart will take on the Uprising!

Don't see Uprising losing in their return match after the injury.

Jay Silver will face off against Cassidy Blaine

Jay Silver so far in his 2 and a half years has felt like he's done nothing but pick up some fluke wins over James Diaz. I'd love to see Cassidy mix it up a bit more like Mark has.

Party On! will once again face The Good Ol’ Boys

I feel like no way Party On! goes a resounding 2-0

Mark Latrell will take on the Son of the Monster, James Diaz

Roger wasn't able to make it happen, but who better to help you cheat Diaz out of a win than a notorious cheater? (hopefully only in kayfabe...

Allie Perks will fight newcomer Sarah Taylor

If I remember correctly, Sarah Taylor was Grace's first QAW match, so makes sense for them to be heading for a big time match.

Grace “Diamond” Kil © will defend her RFW Women’s Championship against Marie Punnen

I see no end in sight, but Sarah Taylor is a possibility?

Papa Swoll © will take one Wild Red Stallion for the RFW Championship

Am I crazy? I feel like Wild Red Stallion has been fed a ton of meaty stories to work with and he's been underwhelming in the ring every time. Swoll hasn't been lights out as champ but he's had a tough act to follow, both previous champion and his co-headliner outshining him. Stallion's chop has been the the discount One-Winged Angel from what I can tell, so who's to say he doesn't just hit it out of nowhere with a bunch of funk going on and falls upward again into another championship?

[Herrbear]

Joy Rider & Sherry Smart will take on the Uprising!

Jay Silver will face off against Cassidy Blaine

Party On! will once again face The Good Ol’ Boys

Mark Latrell will take on the Son of the Monster, James Diaz

Allie Perks will fight newcomer Sarah Taylor

Grace “Diamond” Kil © will defend her RFW Women’s Championship against Marie Punnen

Papa Swoll © will take one Wild Red Stallion for the RFW Championship

[Scapino1974]

QAW Titan Clash #85

Sunday of Week 1, August 2022

Held in Aurora, Colorado (Mid South Region)

 

So this was what it means to be part of a locker room.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved the atmosphere at RFW. John did a lot of hard work, making sure that we had good leaders in place. And yeah, in Rochester, it always feels like a family reunion. But when I’m at RFW, I’m one of the owners. I could always feel this distance between myself and the other workers. Like, yeah, they got in the ring with me, but I knew it wasn’t the same for me as it was for the rest of them. And yeah, I’d been working for QAW for a while, but just dropping in once a month to do a quick match wasn’t really enough.

 

But after traveling with the QAW workers in July, spending time with them on the road and crashing on a couch in an Airbnb with them? Something just clicked. When I arrived back in Aurora, everyone was a whole lot friendlier. Even Honey Badger seemed happy to see me.

 

And I was glad to see them. These were my girls. These were people who got me, who understood what I was all about. And sure, Jackson had stuck me in the pre-show again. Sabrina and I would take on Sonnaz and Alice Pellerton. We even won the case. That was nice, but I didn’t care. My life was on an upward trajectory and nothing was going to derail that.

 

Nothing.

[Blake Trask]

hahaha oh no

[Scapino1974]

RFW All In

Thursday of Week 2, August 2022

Held at the Civic Center in Rochester, MN (Mid West Region)

Broadcast on WrestleWorld (28,945 viewers)

498 in attendance

 

Martin and Curt welcomed the audience and the viewers to this month’s All In.

 

1) The show kicked off with Fro Sure in the ring. Once again, Fro wasn’t behaving in his usual happy-go-lucky way. Instead, he looked angry.

 

“So last month, my buddy, Papa Swoll, suggested that he shouldn’t be in the main event. He gave that spot to the ladies for their women’s championship match. And last month, Dustin Deuce objected to this move. At the time, I thought Dustin was overreacting…but not anymore. See, tonight, the powers that be decided to do it again. The RFW Championship will be defended in the second-to-last match, while the main event will be Grace Kil vs. Marie Punnen.”

 

The crowd roared at the idea, and Fro stood there, an angry expression on his face.

 

“I can see why you would think that. We all know that Grace and Marie have unfinished business apparently. But this just goes to show how much the RFW Championship has dropped in terms of prestige since Papa Swoll won it. I mean, when I was the champ, I always defended that title in the main event and I made it worth it. Right?”

 

The crowd agreed, many of them chanting Fro’s name.

 

“That’s right! And now, the best business decision the powers that be can make is to give the main event to someone else? That just doesn’t seem right. Nothing seems right, not since—”

 

Fro’s rant was cut off by Quentin Queen’s entrance music. He came out to the entrance with a mic of his own.

 

“Fro, shut up already. We get it. You miss holding the RFW Championship. Well, guess what, pal? I miss it too! Let’s not forget that before that was your title, it was mine. And I defended it in the main event as well. But you don’t hear me coming out here month after month, whining about how I lost the title.”

 

A few people in the audience laughed and Martin pointed out that yes, that’s pretty much what Quentin did for the first couple of months.

 

“Do us all a favor, Fro,” Quentin continued. “Shut up and get out of the ring. You’re just wasting our time.”

 

“Why don’t you come down here and make me?” Fro shot back.

 

Quentin stared at him, then spiked the mic and stormed down the ramp to the ring. The two of them collided in the center and referee Parker Terry raced out and called for the bell.

 

“I guess we have our opening match right now!” Martin shouted.

 

RATING: 47

 

2) FRO SURE vs. QUENTIN QUEEN

 

The crowd really got into this. Martin pointed out that this wasn’t so much a match as it was a barely restrained brawl. Quentin and Fro were obviously trying to vent their considerable frustration on each other and there were plenty of times when it looked like the ref had lost control of the match.

 

Both men got in an equal amount of offense and it looked like either one of them would be able to get a pin. Martin talked about how often these two had clashed in the past, which gave them a fair amount of familiarity with each other’s offense and defense. But in the end, Fro was able to block an attempted Q-Ball and put Quentin down with a Sure Thing.

 

WINNER: Fro Sure in 11:27

RATING: 51

 

3) Texas Hangman appeared on the big screen. He put Wild Red Stallion on notice: “I see you have a title shot tonight, Red. Good for you. That’s all I ever wanted for you was for you to get the chance to pursue your dreams. And the thanks I got? A knife to the back.

 

“So best watch your back, Red. Because justice is coming. And it ain’t gonna be pretty.”

 

RATING: 32

 

4) JAY SILVER vs. CASSIDY BLAINE

 

Martin tried to hype up this match as being between two up-and-coming talents in the RFW. He reminded the audience that Cassidy was something of a hometown hero and that Jay, while not really having any remarkable matches in the RFW yet, was a solid worker who had a bright future.

 

Curt vehemently disagreed. He likened Cassidy to that guy from your hometown who peaked in high school and got stuck mentally reliving his glory days. And he once again referred to Jay as a bargain-basement Jason Momoa look-alike.

 

Jay and Cassidy obviously had no idea that Curt spent most of the match running them down. They did a pretty good job of putting on a fairly standard match, one that ended with Jay picking up the win after an AG Driver.

 

WINNER: Jay Silver in 13:24

RATING: 33

 

5) PARTY ON! Vs. THE GOOD OL’ BOYS

 

“Apparently the powers that be didn’t think we suffered enough last month,” Curt said. “Why else would we get this rerun tonight?”

 

Martin tried to talk up the action, but Curt wasn’t having it. He spent most of the time ripping on both teams. And, I hate to say it, both teams deserved it. This was not a good match at all. Chip eventually put us all out of our misery by taking Cockroach down with a Super Kick.

 

WINNERS: Party On! In 9:32

RATING: 28

 

6) Even though the match was less than enjoyable, Party On! went backstage where they were met by Sherry Smart. Sherry, Chip, and Charlie celebrated their win, almost like they had won the titles (“Heaven help us all if they ever get close to gold,” Curt said).

 

At one point in their victory party, Sherry decided to drink a cup of tea and then read the leaves. She confidently predicted that Party On! would be tag champs by the end of the year. Charlie and Chip were ecstatic to hear this and started whooping it up again.

 

But then they heard someone laughing at them. They turned around and saw Jerry Pepper and Pepper Pelton standing in a nearby doorway. They mocked Charlie and Chip for ever believing anything that Sherry said to them. They even go so far as to say that any path to the titles would have to go through them first. Jerry then asked Sherry, “How do you see that turning out, sweetheart?”

 

Before Sherry could answer, Selina Svelte and Talia Quinzel barged in and got in Sherry’s face. “Let’s not forget that you have a match against us later, Sherry,” Selina said. “Go find a partner, and we’ll see how it all turns out, okay?”

 

RATING: 37

 

7) MARK LATRELL vs. JAMES DIAZ

 

Mark really tried to get the crowd on his side, strutting around and acting like he was the biggest thing in the world. Funny thing is, he actually pulled it off. Some of the crowd really got into it. They clapped him on the back and a few even asked for selfies, which he granted but usually making faces or acting like he was better than everyone.

 

I suppose it helped that his opponent didn’t act friendly at all. James marched out to the ring with an enigmatic smirk on his face.

 

The match itself was pretty good, which took me by surprise. Mark acted like a cocky jerk the entire time, not taking James seriously as a threat. James didn’t seem to mind at all, taking whatever Mark had to dish out and striking back withe equal ferocity. In spite of it all, Mark kept playing to the crowd until finally, James apparently had enough. He lashed out and took Mark down, finally getting him pinned with an Asian Thumb Spike.

 

WINNER: James Diaz in 12:12

RATING: 41

 

8) As soon as the match ended, three people jumped the security railing. It took Martin a second to identify them: “Original Sinner, Dreadnought, and Masked Mauler? Oh, I think James is in trouble now!”

 

Sure enough, the three newcomers slid into the ring and cornered James. James looked a little worried about this, holding up his hands as if in surrender. But then his smirk came back and he pointed to Mark. Sinner, Dreadnought, and Mauler turned and, instead of attacking James, set into Mark, beating him almost bloody. James sat in the corner and laughed the whole time until all three of them hit Mark with their finishers, then James, Dreadnought, Mauler, and Sinner strutted out of the ring together.

 

RATING: 18

 

9) JOY RIDER & SHERRY SMART vs. THE UPRISING

 

Sherry apparently recruited Joy Rider to tag with her. Their entrance turned into something of a party as Joy tried to psych up the crowd. Chip and Charlie came out with them and joined the party. By the time they made it to the ring, the crowd was hopping. Sherry didn’t seem all that thrilled, though. Martin wondered if she had a premonition about what was going to happen. Curt countered that you didn’t have to be a psychic to know that Talia and Selina were going to destroy Joy and Sherry.

 

And that’s pretty much what happened. Party On! tried to keep Sherry and Joy focused and cheered them on, but Selina and Talia were simply too much for them to handle. Selina and Talia knocked them around the ring, countered what little offense they were able to mount, and Talia finally put a stop to everything when she dropped Joy with a Rising Tide.

 

WINNERS: The Uprising in 9:35

RATING: 43

 

10) Sarah Taylor came out to the ring.

 

“Hello, all you beautiful people! I’m sorry that I didn’t get the chance to properly introduce myself. My name is Sarah Taylor, and I am so glad to be here with you.

 

“Now I know that Selina Svelte filled your head with all sorts of lies about me. Am I wealthy? Well, what is wealthy? My parents left me a nice trust fund so I’m not exactly hurting for money. But does that make me some wannabe? I think I proved my worth last month, yeah?

 

“Selina said that I’m all bling, no sting? Well, sweetie, you found out last month that this bling does sting. And I’m going to prove it to all of you. Starting right now.”

 

RATING: 51

 

11) ALLIE PERKS vs. SARAH TAYLOR

 

This proved to be a really good match. Allie had some supporters in the crowd who booed at Sarah. That seemed to rankle the newcomer a little. But a surprising number of fans were on Sarah’s side, leading Martin to wonder if Sarah had paid them off.

 

The only real flaw in the match came when Allie slipped up and almost injured Sarah. Sarah managed to avoid getting hurt for real, but it was pretty easy to see that she was rattled by it. She quickly brought the match to an end with a Newton’s Cradle.

 

WINNER: Sarah Taylor in 15:08

RATING: 40

 

12) As Martin and Curt chatted about what just happened, Jay Silver and Cassidy Blaine stormed out to the ringside. They got in Curt’s face, both of them clearly upset about what he had been saying about them in the match earlier that night. Curt blew them off and said that they had to grow thicker skins. “If you can’t handle the truth, maybe you should work on getting better.”

 

RATING: 39

 

13) PAPA SWOLL © vs. WILD RED STALLION for the RFW Championship

 

I’m glad we didn’t put this as the main event. I think Stallion wasn’t quite ready for a title match yet and it was pretty obvious. Swoll did his best to sell the fight, but it was pretty clear he was doing most of the work.

 

Toward the end of the match, Stallion started to build some momentum and it looked like he might actually pick up the win. But then Texas Hangman’s music started to play. Stallion freaked out, looking for his former partner. Hangman didn’t show, but that distraction was all it took for Swoll to recover and then put Stallion down with a Pounce.

 

WINNER: Papa Swoll in 15:55

RATING: 22

 

14) GRACE “DIAMOND” KIL vs. MARIE PUNNEN for the RFW Women’s Championship

 

This was a great match, a great way to end the night. Grace came out to the ring with fire in her eyes. Martin said that he would hate to be on the receiving end of Grace’s wrath, especially given what Marie did last month. Curt said that no one should count Marie out early.

 

This proved to be a major brawl. Marie was focused and intense, making it look like she was trying to turn this into an MMA fight. Grace was taken aback by the intensity at first, but within a few moments, she was going toe-to-toe with Marie.

 

Once again, Marie focused her attention on Grace’s formerly injured knee. This blunted Grace’s offense for a little while, allowing Marie to get two near-falls. But then Grace came surging back, tossing Marie around the ring and nearly hitting the Diamond’s Edge twice herself.

 

At the end of the match, it could have gone either way, but then, Grace hit a flurry of offense that nearly took Marie out of her boots. Grace started to set Marie up for a final Diamond’s Edge when someone vaulted the security rail and clambered up onto the top turnbuckle.

 

 

“I think…I think that’s Alice Pellerton!” Martin shouted. “What is she doing here?”

 

She answered the question quickly enough. Alice jumped off the top turnbuckle and drop-kicked Grace into the ropes. She ricocheted off, right into a sharp kick to the face from Marie. But referee Quincy Jargon called for the bell, disqualifying Marie.

 

WINNER: Grace “Diamond” Kil by DQ in 14:39

RATING: 51

 

***

 

In my speech afterwards, I thanked Alice and Sarah for their incredible work, and I told Allie she had to be more careful after what happened in her match with Sarah. Allie took it in stride.

 

Once we were done, I stepped up to Grace. She was joking with Sarah and some of the other workers from QAW. I tapped her on the shoulder and nodded for her to join me in a quieter corner.

 

“Hey, I’ve got someone who needs to talk to you,” I whispered.

 

“Oh yeah?” she asked. “Who’s that?”

 

I considered telling her, but I didn’t want to cause any sort of scene in the locker room. “Let’s go see her.”

 

FINAL RATING: 49

 

 

Quick Results:

 

From RFW.com...

 

Fro Sure defeated Quentin Queen

Jay Silver defeated Cassidy Blaine

Party On! defeated the Good Ol' Boys

James Diaz defeated Mark Latrell

The Uprising defeated Sherry Smart & Joy Rider

Sarah Taylor defeated Allie Perks

Papa Swoll © defeated Wild Red Stallion to retain the RFW Championship

Grace "Diamond" Kil © defeated Marie Punnen by DQ to retain the RFW Women's Championship

[Scapino1974]

Thursday of Week 2, August 2022

 

Grace stumbled to a halt when we stepped into the back office. Mrs. Kil sat in one of the chairs, clutching her purse on her lap like she expected someone was going to mug her.

 

“Wh-what is she doing here?” Grace whispered.

 

I stepped closer to Grace. “She had questions about your time with QAW. I…I couldn’t…I had to tell her.”

 

“Tell her what?” Grace whispered.

 

I sighed. “Everything.”

 

She stumbled back a step and then turned to her mom. “Mama? You saw? Everything?”

 

Mrs. Kil nodded.

 

“And…and John has told you about…this?”

 

She nodded again.

 

Grace and her mom stood in silence. I considered saying something, but I doubted I could help the situation any.

 

“Aren’t…aren’t you going to say anything?” Grace asked.

 

“What am I supposed to say?” Mrs. Kil whispered. “You and John… you started a professional wrestling company? You became a wrestler yourself? And not just here, but for another company? And you kept all of this to yourself. What else is there to say?”

 

Tears trickled down Grace’s cheeks. “Mama…I didn’t want to hide anything from you. I didn’t. But what would you have said if John and I came to you when we wanted to do this? Would you have supported me? Or would you have tried to stop me?”

 

“You were a child! Of course we would have tried to stop you. This…this isn’t what you were meant for!”

 

“I might have been a child legally, but look at what happened. We’ve built something amazing here, Mama. Slowly but surely, we’ve made a name for ourselves. People are starting to notice.

 

“And did you see me tonight, Mama? Did you see what I can do? I’m not trying to be immodest here, but I think I have a future as a wrestler. I can do this. I can make it this way.”

 

“But what about school? What about your plans?”

 

“I’m still going to college. I’ve been careful about my grades. And aside from my knee a few months ago, I’m being really careful. This is a good thing, Mama. It is.”

 

Mrs. Kil looked between Grace and me. Then she cleared her throat. “John, can you excuse us for a little while?”

 

I nodded and slipped out of the office, closing the door behind me.

 

***

 

About a half hour into the talk, Sarah Taylor found me. She wanted to talk to me about her pay, asking for a $120 raise per show. Granted, the timing sucked but I knew she’d be worth it, especially given what I had brewing. So I agreed and she quietly left.

 

An hour and a half after that, Grace finally emerged with her mom. They hugged, although it was an awkward embrace. Then Mrs. Kil gave me an unreadable look before heading to the exit.

 

I wanted to hug Grace as well, but she didn’t look ready for that. Instead, I prompted, “Well?”

 

She sighed heavily. “I wish you wouldn’t have ambushed me like that, Ace. I really do.”

 

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure what else to do.”

 

“I know.”

 

“So what’s going to happen? Are we…is this over?”

 

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Mom and I have a lot more to talk about. I don’t think she really gets how I feel, but she was at least willing to listen. And keep listening. So that’s a start.”

 

“And your dad?”

 

Another heavy sigh. “She says she won’t say anything for now. She knows that he won’t handle this well at all, but she also recognizes that I’m 21. I’m an adult. So she knows she can’t exactly stop me. Or us. So we’re going to figure out how to let Dad know when the time is right.”

 

Silence hung between us.

 

“Are we okay?” I asked.

 

Grace finally looked at me, her lips pressed together in a thin line. “We will be.”

[Scapino1974]

Sunday of Week 3, August 2022

 

Things I never thought I would do:

 

Actually tell my mom about RFW and my growing career as a professional wrestler. Never thought it would happen.

 

Right up there? Showing Mom how to download the WrestleWorld app for her phone and then subscribe to both RFW and QAW’s shows so she could see what I was up to without letting Dad know about it. That proved trickier, but we figured it out.

 

That was part of the bargain we struck: whenever I was in the ring, she had to know about it. And I had to text her the minute the match was over to let her know that I was okay. I think I may have freaked her out with the way I sold Marie’s offense at All In.

 

And you know, I was okay with this. I mean, kind of. I still wasn’t happy with Ace for spilling the beans the way he did. But Mom and I talked about why he did and…well, maybe he didn’t have much of a choice. And it felt good to have the secret out in the open. Part of the way out.

 

Okay, I still had no idea what I would tell Dad or when or how. But that would have to keep. And at least Mom was thinking about this as well.

 

Thankfully, the first two shows Mom got to watch from QAW actually had me in the actual show. At Capital Clash from Austin, Honey Badger and I got creamed by the San Diego Girls. I really enjoyed the match. Badger and I got to play nasty, which proved to be a lot of fun. Mom didn’t like it so much. I think she’d want me to stick to face if I could. But heel was kind of fun.

 

And then, a few days later, we went to Corpus Christi for Titan Clash. This time, I lost when Kira Lee and I went up against Skye Hermosa and Coco Malloy. Once again, I was the heel and, based on the texts from Mom afterwards, I think she liked the fact that we lost. I mean, she wasn’t happy that I was playing the heel, but hey, small steps.

 

And that’s what these would have to be. Mom and I were starting to figure out how to be honest with each other again. Or rather, I had to figure out how to be honest with her.

 

My dad has a saying: “The truth will out.” Well, the truth was almost out. And so far, so good. But I had a feeling if the rest emerged the wrong way, it would all come crashing down on us.

[Scapino1974]

Sunday of Week 4, August 2022

 

With the summer winding down, life started to get back to normal. Grace officially and truly moved back to the Twin Cities. This time, I was able to help her move her stuff into her apartment. Well, me and Mark did. I hate to admit it, but Mark was really growing on me. I never thought I’d say that, but there we were.

 

I hadn’t heard where Abigail wound up. According to my friends at RCTC, she hadn’t enrolled for a new semester there. I kept texting her occasionally, saying that I wanted to talk, that I was sorry, that I wanted to try again. But I never really heard anything from her. And Cassidy wouldn’t share any information with me either.

 

And RFW continued to remain in the black. In August, we made $1,102, bringing our warchest up to $83,130. And things were starting to gel. I had some fun plans in store for our audience. And now that Mrs. Kil was in our corner and running interference for us, I figured we would be good.

 

But I still couldn’t shake a gnawing feeling that I had missed something. That I had overlooked something important. All I could do was hope that it wouldn’t come back to bite me.

[Scapino1974]

From RFW.com…

 

Be sure to catch all the action on our next All In!

 

• Charlie Corner takes on Dustin Deuce
  
• Fro Sure will face the Son of the Monster, James Diaz
  
• Jay Silver fights Wild Red Stallion
  
• Sarah Taylor wrestles Joy Rider
  
• The Franchise © defends the RFW Tag Team Championship against Dreadmask
  
• Grace “Diamond” Kil © takes on Ruby Reece for the RFW Women’s Championship
  
• Papa Swoll © faces John “Ace” Hart for the RFW Championship
  

[John Lions]

Charlie Corner takes on Dustin Deuce

Fro Sure will face the Son of the Monster, James Diaz

Jay Silver fights Wild Red Stallion

Sarah Taylor wrestles Joy Rider

The Franchise © defends the RFW Tag Team Championship against Dreadmask

Grace “Diamond” Kil © takes on Ruby Reece for the RFW Women’s Championship

Papa Swoll © faces John “Ace” Hart for the RFW Championship