[CVerse 2020] Championship Wrestling from Wigan: The Best of British Wrestling

[1PWfan]

The CWW-Cast

 

 

 

 

“Hello fans and welcome to another edition of the CWW-cast. I’m your host Justin Blackham, joined by broadcast partner, CWW Analyst Jackie Goldstein, as we look ahead to Championship Showdown II and Jackie, it’s going to be a great show, wouldn’t you agree?”

 

“Absolutely JB. As I’m sure all the CWW faithful are aware, at Championship Showdown every belt is on the line as the champions of CWW take on their top contenders as determined by our partners at FightAnalytics.com, using their patented Competitor-Adjusted Value over Average system. I won’t go into too much detail here, you can find out more on their website, but let’s just say that if you beat Curtis Jenkins it means a heck of a lot more than pinning an unproven rookie like Lynton Minehead.”

 

“Absolutely Jackie, it’s a great system and we’d once again like to thank FightAnalytics.com for all their support. Now, let’s get down to business and there’s only one place to start; our main event, Lenny Mochin versus Padraig O’Hearne for the CWW Championship.”

 

 

 

 

“An unusual match here in that it’s a direct rematch from their last bout at Head to Head, not something you often see in CWW. However, Padraig O’Hearne got a big win over top competition at Winter War last month which kept him at the top of the rankings- especially when you remember how close he came to victory last time these two met. But for one lucky rope break on a submission attempt and a slow follow-up on the Crowning Glory it’s likely that Padraig would be CWW Champion now.”

 

“The Crowning Glory, Padraig’s brainbuster, has one of the highest success rates in all of wrestling, almost nobody’s kicked out of that move.”

 

“Exactly, JB, the only thing that saved Lenny in that match was how long it took Padraig to initiate the pin. A few seconds earlier and things would likely have been very different.”

 

“That’s the million pound question Jackie, isn’t it? Will things go differently this time, can Padraig avoid the mistakes that cost him the win in their last match?”

 

“And what will Lenny do this time to make sure it’s a repeat result? We’re talking about the CWW Champion and reigning King of the North tournament champion, Mochin’s one of the best there is and his Eye of the Storm butterfly powerbomb is maybe the only move that can match up against the Crowning Glory. It’s going to be a heck of a match, JB, that’s for sure, and I for one can’t wait to see it.”

 

“And on that note let’s move onto our next feature bout, as former champs Sharp and Heath will take on the current CWW Tag Team Champions Grant Taypen and Leighton Buzzard.”

 

 

 

 

“This is a weird one for me, Jackie, I was at commentary for Sharp and Heath’s professional debut and here they are now, one of the top tag teams in all of British wrestling.”

 

“I’ve been watching these two teams since they arrived in CWW, JB, and trust me, this is going to be one of the hardest fought matches you’ll ever see. Sharp and Heath have the experience edge and the speed edge, but when you talk about impactful offence the edge has to go to Grant Taypen and Leighton Buzzard. This match will come down to whoever can assert stylistic dominance and control how the match is fought.”

 

“I’m assuming it’s not as simple as talking about high flying versus mat wrestling, given that Buzzard’s as comfortable in the air as either Sharp or Heath.”

 

“You’re quite correct JB, it’s easy to assume the champs will want to keep things on the ground and the challengers will want to stay airborne but it’s more about the speed of the match and the impact of the offence. Grant and Leighton prefer to stay one-on-one and really hammer away at their foes, grind them down with Taypen’s technical wrestling and Leighton’s high-impact offence off the top rope. JMS and Martin, it’s all about the rapid tag and chipping away at speed, moving the opponents around so quickly they can’t keep up and get beaten mentally. Whichever team can impose their style on the opposition, that’s the team that will win”

 

“Then I guess it’s time to turn to our final feature bout of the night for the Submission title, with champion Neil Warburton defending against rising star JK Lee.”

 

 

 

 

“This has the potential to be a mat-wrestling classic, the Submission title’s all about technical skill and that’s not something either of these two lacks. You’ve also got to bear in mind that the champ’s coming off an ankle sprain that kept him off Winter War- will that be a big difference maker or is Neil fit and ready to go?”

 

“You think he might not be?”

 

“Neil’s a fighter, a real warrior, and that can be a two-edged sword when it comes to these kinds of niggling injuries. On the one hand, Neil’s definitely tough enough to have made a full recovery but on the other…well, he wouldn’t be the first man to try and fight through the pain to come back earlier than he maybe should.”

 

“The other question, of course, is how much Lee can capitalise on the ankle. Let’s not forget, he prefers to finish his opponents off with the Crossface and builds his game plan around attacking the head and neck, not the leg.”

 

“That’s true, and if it was JK Lee’s ankle we were talking about I’d hand the match straight over to Neil Warburton and his Texas Deathlock. But Lee’s no fool, he’s more than capable of reading the situation, making the adjustments he needs to and targeting whatever body part he can to ensure that victory. I say it a lot on this show, but this one? It’s just too close to call, either man could win and either man deserves to win.”

 

“And on that note it’s time to draw tonight’s CWW-cast to a close. Fans, Championship Showdown II will be taking place at LeChuck’s Revenge on the last Friday of the month, and if you stick around for the end credits we’ll run the rest of the card down as well…”

 

***

 

Card for CWW Championship Showdown II

 

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

[GooverDan]

Card for CWW Championship Showdown II

 

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne (Maybe Padraig gets the upset win?)

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

[Regis]

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne

Lenny's a solid hand, though Padraig could easily do well too.

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

As an old-fashioned Ring Of Fire mark, I have a soft spot for Sharp & Heath.

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

CJ is flatly better.

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

JK's good, but he's not a great influence backstage.

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

Coin toss.

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

Why not?

[siah463]

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

 

Ward & Owenvs. Cross & Granger

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

[Herrbear]

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

[1PWfan]

CWW Championship Showdown II

Recorded as live at LeChuck’s Revenge

Friday, Week 4, January

Audience: 71

 

THE SHOW

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

We kicked things off with the triple threat; for some reason we have an odd number of wrestlers on the roster, so this match was the result. It was reasonable enough; nobody’s going to mistake Vernon for a wrestler with good fundamentals and Lynton’s so green he’s invisible in grass but they’re decent enough for their level. As for Peters, he’s unlikely to be a big star for us any time soon but I like what he does and he’s definitely got a good shot at a Submission title run in the next year or so if he continues to develop. That’s why I gave him the win here (well, that and the other two in no way deserve it), which he got via pinning Vernon with a Bridging Back Suplex.

Winner: Pinfall Peters Match Rating: 23

 

*

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

Okay, oof. This was a good match, definitely an improvement on the opener, but of the four men in the match only one was actually on his game. Fortunately, that was Gavin Owen who’s one of our best midcard workhorses so he was able to just about hold things together. To be fair to Glen Ward he’s probably the most talented guy in this match (even if he’s a shameless money-grubber) so it wasn’t like he did a bad job or anything; no, the real problem was the two guys across the other side of the ring. Jermaine Granger at least has charisma to make up for his shortcomings but Myles Cross doesn’t even have that and is also the only real problem character backstage (Glen and Vernon are problematic but aren’t really what you’d call bad people whereas Myles is genuinely unpleasant).It’s probably a good thing that I don’t see Cross and Granger getting many wins, therefore; they certainly didn’t here as Gavin forced Myles to submit to the Judo Arm Lock.

Winners: Ward & Owen Match Rating: 29

 

*

 

Neil Warburton vs. JK Lee

Chalk this up as a learning experience; I’d booked this one to serve as a technical showcase (our fans expect one every show) and it was the wrong time to put that kind of match out there. Next time I’ll move it to earlier on the show when our fans aren’t already fired up, but at least this wasn’t a crippling mistake or anything. In fact, it was our best match so far so whilst I may have lessons to learn about where to put our technical matches at least I can spot the right talent. Lee in particular did a great job here, he’s a sour-faced old crosspatch but by gad he can wrestle and that’s what we want, isn’t it? He’s definitely looking at a major push if I can find the right spot for him. As for Neil, he's not as far along in his development but still can develop in the right spot; I wouldn’t want to build the show around his match but here in the midcard he’s a good fit. He took the win here (if I’d known how good JK was going to be I might have gone the other way but I didn’t) via submission, trapping JK in the Texas Deathlock at a little over 15 minutes.

Winner: Neil Warburton Match Rating: 33

 

*

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

In addition to a technical masterclass our fans always want to see an absolute show-stealer on our cards, so I put the responsibility for that on our boss and my predecessor as booker. It…wasn’t a disaster but I’d still have to call this a disappointment, I’d hoped for something a lot stronger. The issue was ultimately that I’d overestimated what Jonni was capable of; he’s a solid worker but couldn’t handle going all out to steal the show and ran out of steam by the end of the match. Fortunately CJ carried the match to a strong showing, although his stamina might be a problem; our fans wanted a longer match than 15 minutes out of these two but I had to drop it to that length when it became clear in advance these two couldn’t go much longer. I’ll have to figure out where and how to book the show-stealer in the future, but at least this first sally was just disappointing rather than actually bad. Curtis took the win with his trademark Fisherman’s Suplex.

Winner: Curtis Jenkins Match Rating: 34

 

*

 

Sharp & Heath vs. Taypen & Buzzard

Holy smokes- I was hoping this would be good but I didn’t expect it to be this good. Admittedly I had to experienced and specialist teams, one of which also has excellent chemistry, going up against each other but even so, this was a very pleasant surprise. Martin was the stand-out of, well, the entire show so far really; the only guy who looked anywhere near as good as him was CJ and there was still an obvious gap in performance. As for the other three, JMS was really great, and the champs weren’t quite as good but still more than held their end up with good performances (and in fairness Leighton was off his best form so he’d probably be better on a good day). I had this go to a time-limit draw; I didn’t want to take the belts off Taypen & Buzzard straight out the gate but didn’t want to have Sharp & Heath lose so this seemed like a good compromise

Winners: None Match Rating: 42

 

*

 

Lenny Mochin vs. Padraig O’Hearne

I wasn’t sure if this one would be able to match the tag title match; turns out I shouldn’t have worried, it was even better. I’ll say this for Jonni, he may not be the best wrestler we’ve got but he knew how to pick our top stars, Lenny was great and I think was our number two performer of the night behind Marty. Plus, unlike Martin Lenny’s not part of a top tag team so he’s in the best spot for him, right at the top where he can carry our shows. As for Padraig, his talent and star quality meant he didn’t need a whole lot of carrying, he more than held his end up with a super performance of his own. Still, I wasn’t pulling a top title switch on our first show without a darn good reason so Lenny took the win, hitting the Eye of the Storm at 22:26 to get the pinfall and hold onto his title.

Winner: Lenny Mochin Match Rating: 45

 

 

Overall Rating: 43, a really good start to the year. I singled out JK, Martin and Lenny for praise after the show as three of our best performers.

[1PWfan]

Show's over and done with, let's take a look at the predictions.

 

Card for CWW Championship Showdown II

 

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne (Maybe Padraig gets the upset win?)

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

 

Two from 6 for GooverDan; I don't like doing title switches on the first show otherwise you'd probably have at least one extra point for the tag title match.

 

 

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne

Lenny's a solid hand, though Padraig could easily do well too.

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

As an old-fashioned Ring Of Fire mark, I have a soft spot for Sharp & Heath.

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

CJ is flatly better.

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

JK's good, but he's not a great influence backstage.

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

Coin toss.

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

Why not?

 

Four of Six for Regis- and for the record, Why not Lynton? 'Cos he kinda sucks.

 

 

CWW Championship: Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne (It’s reassuring to see new C-Verse BritWres content, as opposed to the well-trod ground of the US scene. I will admit that I am picking O’Hearne solely based on nostalgia for my SNP save on TEW 2016, in which he was one of my lead homegrown stars.)

 

CWW Tag Team Championship: Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath (Sharp & Heath are simply a better team. Please hire the Black Country Boys for your tag team division!)

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland (Leyland sticks out like a sore thumb in this company, as he’s the last remnant of the early-2000s British indy style. Meanwhile, CJ can’t lose too often, as he’s the heart of the company.)

 

CWW Submission Championship: Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee (Lee was a real disappointment for me, so I figure ‘The Grappler’ deserves the win more.)

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger (I enjoy the Ward/Owen team, as they’re two nasty judoka who can knock you down from any position. I believe the other team is pretty green as well.)

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead (I believe George is an ex-MMA guy, which is obviously respected in this company.)

 

Three from Six for James the Animator. Yeah, the Black Country Boys are absolutely on my shortlist but don't expect to see them for a few months; CWW don't have a ton of money or big profits to throw around. As for Vernon, MMA counts for something but not sucking counts for rather more.

 

 

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

 

Ward & Owenvs. Cross & Granger

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

 

Four from Six for Siah463, who I like to imagine is one of a long series of clones of the pop singer Sia. Joking aside, it's interesting how many people liked Vernon George to win early on; trust me on this, Vernon George is not very good, look at his fundamentals.

 

 

FOR THE CWW CHAMPIONSHIP

Lenny Mochin © vs. Padraig O’Hearne

 

FOR THE CWW TAG TEAM TITLES

Taypen & Buzzard © vs. Sharp & Heath

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Jonni Leyland

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. JK Lee

 

Ward & Owen vs. Cross & Granger

 

Pinfall Peters vs. Vernon George vs. Lynton Minehead

 

Four from Six for Herrbear, who was the only one to correctly guess the triple threat.

 

So, Regis, Siah463 and Herrbear win this month's predictions, and to fill out the personalities in CWW I'm bringing back fan questions from my previous dynasties; each of you may ask a question of any member of the CWW Roster, to be answered ahead of the next show going up.

 

Next post will be either tomorrow or Sunday, depending on schedules.

[1PWfan]

Sid Chaudhry had gotten used to attending work meetings in a variety of different settings. Even leaving aside his brief stint with Ring of Fire (where the few meetings he’d ever needed to attend had taken place in the oversize garage that housed the training centre), his days as a Hindi interpreter had taken him all over London and even, on one memorably dramatic occasion, to a windswept Portsmouth dockyard with the SAS lurking nearby.

 

Compared to that, fish and chips and a beer at Curtis Jenkins’ surprisingly spacious apartment in Wigan made for a nice change.

 

 

“Okay, so what’s the word on finances, how’d we do last month?”

 

 

“Well, fifteen hundred quid profit says we’re better off than we were at the start of year so that’s not a bad start, is it?”

 

 

“Certainly hard to argue with that. Bearing in mind, though, that gives us a bank balance of 11.5k so let’s not go buying Manchester Stadium or anything, right? Anyway, what’s the plan for February?”

 

 

“Well, I’m still sorting out the card for The Call to Arms but I’m thinking of maybe running the judo guys against Grant and Leighton for the tag titles, they haven’t matched up in a while, and putting Padraig and JK against Lenny and someone, set up a title match for one or both of them. It worked pretty well last time, after all, and JK’s definitely got championship pedigree.”

 

 

“Can’t deny that, even if he is a miserable little s*d. Okay, you just send the card over once you’ve got it sorted out, it worked out pretty well last time so I’m not going to back-seat booker you or anything. Any other plans?”

 

 

This was Sid’s biggest aim for tonight, if he could pull it off.

 

 

“I’d like to bring in an extra hand to wrestle. Right now we’ve got, what, seventeen workers on the roster? It doesn’t work, we’ll keep having to do triple threats or handicaps to use everyone and I don’t think that fits what we do so well. There’s a few good prospects out there, guys like Bryn Archer or Aurelian Bradley, who could really do well for us. We’ve got the money, we’ve got the space, so what do you say, can I bring a new guy in?”

 

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna put the kibosh for that for a month, okay?”

 

 

That…wasn’t really what Sid had been hoping for.

 

 

“You’re the boss, I suppose. Why wait, though? The same guys are going to be there next month, always assuming they don’t get picked up by 21CW between now and then.”

 

 

“Couple of reasons, really. Firstly, I’d like to add more to the war chest before we start to add to the payroll. Secondly, the National School of Wrestling has a new year of graduates coming in March and we both know how good they could be so let’s take a look at them, eh? Like you said, if it don’t work out there’ll still be the same options out there, or we could pick up anyone from up north who’s fed up with Mark Carnie’s b*ll*cks.”

 

 

That actually made sense, especially the last part- Sid had encountered a somewhat alarming number of out-of-touch muppets in his time but the rumours about Mark Carnie made the out-of-touch old racists in Whitehall look positively fluffy.

 

 

“Okay, fair enough. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to finish these chips before they get cold and this beer before it gets warm…”

 

***

 

Card for CWW The Call to Arms:

 

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

[Herrbear]

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

[Regis]

Predictions later, but question to Sharp & Heath: who are your dream opponents? Any time, any place, living or dead, reality no obstacle.

[Herrbear]

Padraig O’Hearne, what made you decide on wrestling for a career?

[Aura]

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne (I have to give it to the founder and the champ, especially this early in the save.)

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp (Martin's a real good worker, so I'll give it to him.)

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward (A bit of a toss-up, but I'll pick Grant.)

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard (CWW feels like the kind of company to do long, meaningful title reigns, so I'd say Neil's keeping the belt.)

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George (Cross & Granger aren't big-time, but they are an established team.)

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead (Lynton is way, way too green right now for me to see him going over Jonni.)

[1PWfan]

Sorry for the long delay (writer's block plus general life stuff has slowed down progress) but the next show will be going up tomorrow evening. In the meantime, here's the fan questions:

 

Firstly, from Regis:

Question to Sharp & Heath: Who are your dream opponents? Any time, any place, living or dead, reality no obstacle.

 

Jon Michael Sharp: There's two answers to this one. Firstly, the serious ones, which is...

 

Martin Heath: Bumfholes all the way. Randy and Zimmy Bumfhole, best tag team I've ever seen and I think we'd have a great match.

 

JMS: Yeah, thanks Marty. On a lighter note, I'd love to work with La Rebelion, Mecha Wolf 450 and Bestia 666. They've got a similar style to us and it's always fun to wrestle those kind of lucha-influenced guys.

 

Martin Heath: Them or The British Invasion, Doug Williams and Nick Aldis.

 

 

Secondly, this one from Herrbear

Padraig O’Hearne, what made you decide on wrestling for a career?

 

Padraig: Oh, that's an interesting one. You talk to the likes of JK or Lenny, they'll talk about the history of British catch wrestling or the legacy of Tommy Cornell, that tradition of technical excellence. But for me, it was actually an episode of 21CW Best of British Wrestling. I don't remember the exact date, just that Jonathan Faust was wrestling Adam Matravers in the main event and DJ Reason got attacked by Stevie Stoat to open the show, but it was just the first thing I'd seen where I thought 'I want to do that', you know? I'd always been sporty, Gaelic Football and Rugby and the like, but wrestling was the first thing I really wanted to do for a career, not just a bit of craic.

[Regis]

JMS: Yeah, thanks Marty. On a lighter note, I'd love to work with La Rebelion, Mecha Wolf 450 and Bestia 666. They've got a similar style to us and it's always fun to wrestle those kind of lucha-influenced guys.

 

Martin Heath: Them or The British Invasion, Doug Williams and Nick Aldis.

 

Ah yes, from the TEW games. I know of them.

[Regis]

Card for CWW The Call to Arms:

 

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne

The Champ and The Boss? Come on.

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

Talent will out.

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

Much though I love the Judoka, you don't just job out the champs.

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard

Neil can go for a good long while.

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

What's that I see? Is that a pair of JOBBERS?

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

JOBBER!

[Wrestling Machine]

Mochin & Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

 

CWW Submission Title: Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Buzzard

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

[1PWfan]

CWW The Call to Arms

Recorded as live at Sham 69

Friday, Week 3, February

Audience: 72

 

The Show

 

Glen Ward vs. Grant Taypen

Having learnt from last week I opened the show with our technical showpiece, and this time it worked even better. That’s really to be expected, though; these two are good solid hands who know what they’re doing, although I wouldn’t say either of them are likely to overtake Lee in the standings any time soon. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good midcard hands, but unless something changes I don’t see them as main event stars on the regular. Maybe for a one-off match or two, they could probably handle that, but for now they’re best used in this kind of slot, as key players in the midcard who occasionally step up against the right talent. Grant took the win here; sure, Glen’s probably better but Grant is a) a champion, b) one of the nicest guys in the company facing one of the worst, and c) needs a bit more momentum. Hence the win here, putting Glen away with Single-Arm DDT at 14:44.

Winner: Grant Taypen Match Rating: 36

 

*

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters and Vernon George

This was a comedown after the opener, though I always expected it to be for obvious reasons. Cross & Granger are both rookie hands who need a lot of work to develop, as is George, and whilst I love Peters he’s very much a work in progress without much name value. Honestly, I’d thought about putting Lynton in this match ahead of George as he’s worlds better but George has training camp for an MMA fight coming up in a couple of months so I figured building his name value up for that would hopefully bring some extra eyes our way. He could be worse, in fairness, as his actual workrate is decent, it’s just his fundamentals that suck like a dyson vacuum cleaner, and he was definitely better than Myles Cross tonight. I expect that will be refrain going forward, as Cross just doesn’t have anything positive that stands out about him and is probably close to holding his partner back; not that Granger’s all that good himself, in all honesty, but he seems to have more potential (and less of an attitude) than his partner so I figure he’ll eventually get more of a chance to show what he can do. For now, though, they’re very much enhancement guys and took the loss here, as Pinfall rolled Jermaine up with an Oklahoma Roll.

Winners: Pinfall Peters and Vernon George Match Rating: 23

 

*

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

This one was definitely an improvement over its predecessor, not by much admittedly but then this had the pressure of being our designated would-be show-stealer. I’m starting to get a bit of a handle on where Jonni fits; he’s less of a sub-main eventer and more of an upper midcard player, somebody who beats the rookies but shouldn’t be facing the top guys much at all and doesn’t win when he does. Given his experience and lethally good fundamentals that’s a good use for him as he’ll hopefully help them develop and give the likes of Vernon, Myles and Jermain a real masterclass. Lynton, meanwhile, is already a solid hand but still needs to build up plenty of experience, and in all honesty he probably wasn’t the best choice for going all out in a match like this. Still, Jonni carried the match, even having a rare off day, and took the win with a Low Down (rolling standing senton bomb) at 11:41.

Winner: Jonni Leyland Match Rating: 24

 

*

 

Neil Warburton vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard

After a couple of fairly lacklustre matches we got back on track with Neil’s title defence, which was as solid as I’m already coming to expect from him. It probably helped that there were no external obligations or weak competitors in this one as Gavin and Leighton are both solid competitors, but whatever the case it’s nice to see the show get back on track. Gav in particular stood out as performing exceptionally well here; I’m not sure which but I’m definitely considering a title run for him in the near future. As for the other two, Leighton was off his game but handed in a solid performance; sometimes with these tag specialists there’s a real drop off in singles competition but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Neil, meanwhile, I have less to say about- he’s good, always delivers as champion but doesn’t stand out in any way as ready to move on from the belt to bigger things. That’s largely why he retained here, locking Owen in the Texas Deathlock to chalk up another title defence.

Winner: Neil Warburton Match Rating: 36

 

*

 

Jon Michael Sharp vs. Martin Heath

It’s becoming clear that our top stars are definitely carrying the shows; we have a handful of decent midcarders and a lot of projects but it’s guys like JMS and Martin (not to mention Padraig and Lenny, who we’ll get to next) that are really making a difference in how our shows come off. It’s lucky that we’ve got such a talented top line, then; this was a great match and both guys came off looking great (thought apparently 18 minutes was a little too short for a big match, I’ll have to remember that). Martin in particular is just insanely good, if his team with JMS wasn’t so good he’d be our next CWW Champion, no two ways about it. As it is, though, I want to keep them in the tag division where they can work with the rookies. Oh, and as for partners facing off against one another I had JB and Jackie spin it on commentary as a competitive tune-up, both guys self-scouting via the route of competitive violence. Martin got the win here, putting JMS down with the Flying Fist Drop.

Winner: Martin Heath Match Rating: 43

 

*

 

Lee & O’Hearne vs. Lenny Mochin and Curtis Jenkins

I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to follow JMS/Marty with something better; turns out I underestimated these guys. Sure, no singular performance matched Martin’s but Lenny, CJ and Padraig all came close and JK wasn’t far behind so this was a great main event. I’ve got to say, I lucked out with CJ as my boss; not only did he not complain about being on the losing team he was the guy who tapped out to JK (who’s substantially less popular than he is) and never said a word; given how many egos you hear about in this biz that matters. As for the others, JK’s a legendary misery-guts but is insanely talented, and if the singles run doesn’t work out he and Padraig would make for very credible tag champions (I’m not planning on that any time soon but they’re top of the list as back-up plans if injuries screw things up). JK took the win here as part of my plan to build him up as a top guy, locking CJ in the crossface and getting the submission at just past the 22 minute mark.

Winners: Lee & O’Hearne Match Rating: 45

 

 

Overall Rating: 43, keeping step with last month. Plaudits go to CJ, JMS and Padraig as all three delivered and I want to spread the love a little bit.

[Wrestling Machine]

I think in the opener you wrote the wrong winner, Grant won? Right?

 

Like you said, big difference right now between top guys and midcarders, need some development

[1PWfan]

I think in the opener you wrote the wrong winner, Grant won? Right?

 

Like you said, big difference right now between top guys and midcarders, need some development

 

You're right, I don't know how I missed that. I'll edit it, thanks for spotting that one.

 

Next post will go up tomorrow some time, depending on life and how long it takes me to watch the Crockett Cup.

[1PWfan]

So, let's take a look at the predictions for the last show:

 

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne (I also did a Lee/O’Hearne tag team, with the goal to turn both men into main eventers. Hopefully it pans out better for you.)

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

 

4/6 for James the Animator, and Lee and O'Hearne's team is actually in the starting database so I'm really only leaning on what's there.

 

 

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

 

5/6 for Herrbear, who's thrown off only by the main event.

 

 

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne (I have to give it to the founder and the champ, especially this early in the save.)

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp (Martin's a real good worker, so I'll give it to him.)

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward (A bit of a toss-up, but I'll pick Grant.)

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard (CWW feels like the kind of company to do long, meaningful title reigns, so I'd say Neil's keeping the belt.)

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George (Cross & Granger aren't big-time, but they are an established team.)

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead (Lynton is way, way too green right now for me to see him going over Jonni.)

 

4/6 for Aura, who maybe thinks more of Cross and Granger than I do.

 

 

Card for CWW The Call to Arms:

 

Lenny Mochin & Curtis Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne

The Champ and The Boss? Come on.

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

Talent will out.

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

Much though I love the Judoka, you don't just job out the champs.

 

FOR THE CWW SUBMISSION TITLE

Neil Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Leighton Buzzard

Neil can go for a good long while.

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

What's that I see? Is that a pair of JOBBERS?

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

JOBBER!

 

3/6 for Regis, who may have spotted the wrong pair of JOBBERS.

 

 

Mochin & Jenkins vs. Lee & O’Hearne

 

Martin Heath vs. Jon Michael Sharp

 

Grant Taypen vs. Glen Ward

 

CWW Submission Title: Warburton © vs. Gavin Owen vs. Buzzard

 

Cross & Granger vs. Pinfall Peters & Vernon George

 

Jonni Leyland vs. Lynton Minehead

 

3/6 for Pluto, who also gets kudos for spotting a typo in the show.

 

 

So, Herrbear wins out and gets the right to ask a question of any member of the CWW roster. Next post will go up either tomorrow or Tuesday depending on how writing goes.

[1PWfan]

The CWW-Cast

 

 

“Hello fans and welcome to another edition to the CWW-cast. I’m your host Justin Blackham, joined as always by CWW analyst Jackie Goldstein, and it’s time to preview our second annual King of the North Tournament.”

 

“The King of the North Tournament is one of the centrepieces of the CWW Calendar. Fought between eight men, four established stars and four rising prospects, the King of the North Tournament weighs heavily in your CVOA ranking- thanks once again to the great minds at FightAnalytics.com for their support- and the winner of the tournament sets themselves up nicely for a shot at the CWW Championship. Indeed, let’s not forget that last year’s King of the North was Lenny Mochin and we all know where he is now.”

 

“In just a few minutes we’ll be looking at the field competitor by competitor, but before we get to the individual breakdowns let’s bring in CWW Senior Official Sid Chaudhry to break down the rules of the tournament. Mr. Chaudhry, welcome to the show.”

 

 

 

“It’s a pleasure to be on the show Justin.”

 

“Now, the rules of the King of the North Tournament are fairly simple, aren’t they?”

 

“I’d say so, but there are a few factors that CWW fans should bear in mind. The first round will feature four singles matches pitting an established star against a rising prospect, with each match having a time limit of 6 minutes and 30 seconds. In the event of a first round tie both competitors will be eliminated.”

 

“So there’s a real emphasis in that first round on getting a decisive win.”

 

“Absolutely, though standard CWW rules are enforced so disqualifications and stoppages are possible. Now, in the second round the time limit goes up to 10 minutes and 30 seconds and the rules surrounding a draw change somewhat. In the interests of fair competition, if any match finishes in a no-fault draw, that is to say a time-limit draw or double stoppage through injury or other factor, then both competitors proceed to the final which becomes a triple threat match. If the draw results from other factors, for example disqualification or count out, then a review will be held during the show and the competitor who is adjudged to be more at fault will be removed from the tournament.”

 

“It’s worth pointing out that that’s yet to happen in the tournament, folks, a lot of these rules are designed to answer problems that may never arise.”

 

“That’s what we’re hoping Jackie, we didn’t have to do this last time and I’m hoping that’ll be the case again this year. For the benefit of open procedure, the review panel will consist of both CWW officials, myself and Allen Round, head trainer at the Ring of Fire dojo British Samurai and a trained analytics expert from FightAnalytics.com who’ll provide the data analysis to help back up our decisions. And don’t worry, those decision will be announced during the show itself, we’re not in the business of springing surprises on the great fans of CWW.”

 

“All that takes us to the King of the North Tournament Final.”

 

“And this is where the rules get simple- two or three men, thirty minute time limit, first to pin or submit an opponent wins.”

 

“And on that note it’s time thankyou and goodbye to Mr. Chaudhry and take a look at this year’s field of competitors”

 

 

 

 

“First up is former CWW Champion Curtis Jenkins, making his tournament debut.”

 

“This time last year CJ was the CWW Champion and there’s no doubt that a win here will put him in a good position to try and reclaim the belt. The big question is, though, will CJ have his mind right? There’s no denying that his record since losing the belt has been hit-and-miss.”

 

“You think he’s lost focus recently?”

 

“I’m saying it’s a possibility. One thing’s for sure, though, you look past this man at your peril, he’s a top competitor and a serious possibility to win the tournament.”

 

 

 

“Our next competitor and the first of our rising prospects is JK Lee.”

 

“A fairly rapid rising star, if you will, as Lee already has a victory in tag competition over the CWW Champion this year, but this is the best chance Lee’s had yet to stake his claim as a major player. He’s got the talent, that’s for sure, but his tournament form isn’t great- last year he lost in the first round to Jon Michael Sharp. Now, he’s come on a lot since last year but there’s still that question mark over his performance. Can he improve on last year or is Lee just not a tournament competitor?”

 

 

 

“Our next star competitor is current CWW Tag Team Champion Leighton Buzzard, making his tournament debut.”

 

“Leighton had only just arrived in CWW when the first King of the North Tournament was held, so this is his first chance to make a run at the trophy. He’s got the ability, no two ways about that, so the question has to be will he be as successful in singles competition as he has been in the tag team division? He’s only had a handful of solo matches in CWW to this point, so it’s very much an open question.”

 

“What’s your prediction on that, then, Jackie?”

 

“Tournament competition is so very much it’s own beast JB, but I think Leighton’s got as good a chance as anybody else, providing of course the draw goes his way, and we’ll be finding that out at the end of the podcast tonight.”

 

 

 

“Next on our list of rising stars is CWW and MMA force Vernon George”

 

“Vernon’s one of the toughest blokes I’ve ever seen so for once I don’t think we can question his mental fortitude in handling the tournament layout. The question with Vernon is more in the ring; he doesn’t have much experience, and up against an established star that could cost him the victory.”

 

 

 

“Our next veteran competitor is Jonni Leyland.”

 

“A bit of a left-field pick as Leyland hasn’t had huge success in CWW thus far but Leyland’s a veteran with multiple title reigns in his past. Plus, he was last year’s losing finalist so he’ll definitely be keen to make it over that last hill.”

 

“The big question is, how?”

 

“That is an excellent point JB- the nature of a tournament is such that you can’t just repeat what worked last time and expect the same result. For example, neither of the men Jonni beat last time- Neil Warburton in the first round and JMS in the second- are competing in tournament action this year. The key for Leyland will be taking the right lessons from last year, the versatility and competitive edge, and responding to his new opponents as specifically as possible.”

 

 

 

“Our next competitor is another returning prospect, Pinfall Peters.”

 

“Peters will be hoping to better his performance from last year, when he went out in the first round to eventual champion Lenny Mochin. He’s certainly upped his game since then and goes into the tournament undefeated in 2020, but he’s a rising prospect for a reason. Against any of the top guys in the tournament he’s a definite underdog.”

 

 

 

“The last of our top names is Martin Heath, who’ll be hoping to better the record of his partner Jon Michael Sharp who competed last year.”

 

“Sharp went out in the second round, whereas Martin is the favourite in a lot of minds to win the whole tournament. He’s got the speed, he’s got the talent, does he have the stamina? That high-flying offence doesn’t always lend itself to tournament conditions”

 

“Heath’s no one-trick pony, mind”

 

“That’s true, the man’s a born flyer but he can certainly handle himself on the mat, and I’d expect to see him focus on that area early on, store up energy for the big matches down the line. Of course, that’s always assuming he doesn’t end up against a technical specialist like Peters or Lee, then he’s better off getting airborne as soon as possible.”

 

 

 

“Our final competitor of the evening, and a man making his CWW debut, is Pontypool’s own Bryn Archer.”

 

“Archer’s the first man to ever make his CWW debut in the King of the North tournament, and this rookie sensation will be looking to make a splash. He has the advantage of unfamiliarity, only Jonni Leyland’s ever shared a ring with him, but at the same time you have to wonder about debut nerves. Archer’s a rookie with real potential but he’s 19 years old and getting his first big break. Who knows how he’ll respond?”

 

“With that in mind, let’s head to the draw and look at how the King of the North card will pan out…”

 

***

 

Card for CWW King of the North 2020

 

THE KING OF THE NORTH TOURNAMENT- FIRST ROUND ACTION:

Curtis Jenkins vs. Vernon George

 

Jonni Leyland vs. JK Lee

 

Martin Heath vs. Bryn Archer

 

Leighton Buzzard vs. Pinfall Peters

 

THE KING OF THE NORTH SECOND ROUND ACTION:

Jenkins/George vs. Heath/Archer

 

Lee/Leyland vs. Buzzard/Peters

 

THE KING OF THE NORTH- THE FINAL:

TBD vs. TBD

 

CHAMPION VS. CHAMPION NON-TITLE SHOWCASE

Lenny Mochin vs. Neil Warburton

 

Lynton Minehead, Jermaine Granger and Myles Cross vs. Grant Taypen, Glen Ward and Gavin Owen

 

Padraig O’Hearne vs. Jon Michael Sharp

[Wrestling Machine]

CWW King of the North 2020

 

1st ROUND:

Curtis Jenkins vs. Vernon George

Jonni Leyland vs. JK Lee

Martin Heath vs. Bryn Archer

Leighton Buzzard vs. Pinfall Peters

 

2nd ROUND:

Jenkins/George vs. Heath/Archer

Lee/Leyland vs. Buzzard/Peters

 

KING OF THE NORTH WINNER:

Jenkins

 

OTHERS:

Lenny Mochin vs. Neil Warburton

Lynton Minehead, Jermaine Granger and Myles Cross vs. Grant Taypen, Glen Ward and Gavin Owen

Padraig O’Hearne vs. Jon Michael Sharp

[Herrbear]

Question for Grant Taypen

 

How did you get the nickname "Pig Boy"?

[Herrbear]

THE KING OF THE NORTH TOURNAMENT- FIRST ROUND ACTION:

 

Curtis Jenkins vs. Vernon George

Jonni Leyland vs. JK Lee

Martin Heath vs. Bryn Archer

Leighton Buzzard vs. Pinfall Peters

 

THE KING OF THE NORTH SECOND ROUND ACTION:

Jenkins/George vs. Heath/Archer

Lee/Leyland vs. Buzzard/Peters

 

THE KING OF THE NORTH- THE FINAL:

Peters vs. Bryn Archer

 

CHAMPION VS. CHAMPION NON-TITLE SHOWCASE

Lenny Mochin vs. Neil Warburton

 

Lynton Minehead, Jermaine Granger and Myles Cross vs. Grant Taypen, Glen Ward and Gavin Owen The Three G's

 

Padraig O’Hearne vs. Jon Michael Sharp

[Regis]

THE KING OF THE NORTH TOURNAMENT- FIRST ROUND ACTION:

Curtis Jenkins vs. Vernon George

Should be a good match, but CJ can put people over later on.

 

Jonni Leyland vs. JK Lee

Looks like he's on the rise, and good for him if he can make it work!

 

Martin Heath vs. Bryn Archer

God, why do you do this to me? I was thinking that Bryn would be a good choice for an upset win, but over Martin Heath? No, I can't make that work.

 

Leighton Buzzard vs. Pinfall Peters

I wouldn't be utterly shocked at an upset, but Peters isn't really on the same level.

 

THE KING OF THE NORTH SECOND ROUND ACTION:

Curtis Jenkins vs. Martin Heath

He's a rising star, and an old favourite of mine from back in the ROF days.

 

JK Lee vs. Leighton Buzzard

You're clearly quite high on JK, so let's give him a shot!

 

THE KING OF THE NORTH- THE FINAL:

Martin Heath vs. JK Lee

Okay, let's see if he can carry this all the way through...

 

CHAMPION VS. CHAMPION NON-TITLE SHOWCASE

Lenny Mochin vs. Neil Warburton

It will be close, but the main champ is the main champ.

 

Lynton Minehead, Jermaine Granger and Myles Cross vs. Grant Taypen, Glen Ward and Gavin Owen

Judo Chop!

 

Padraig O’Hearne vs. Jon Michael Sharp

A simple matter of quality.