Cleveland Championship Wrestling-The Great Lakes Gamble (Cverse 2020)

[rnoble59]

CHANGES

 

I’ve never been much of a gambler. If anything, I’m an “over-planner.” I like to have everything in place before moving ahead on any project. I go through a lot of “what ifs” before moving forward with anything. I try to leave as little to chance as possible. Sure, there are going to be times when the unexpected happens, but there are no guarantees that any plan will work out perfectly.

 

To be honest, there have been some failures in my career. Nothing to ever really threaten my position within any company I’ve been with, but failures none-the-less. I have tried to do what I was taught at a young age when I failed: learn from the experience and move on. If you can’t learn from your failures and mistakes, you are bound to repeat them at some time in the future.

 

I have found that success affords many things in life, and if someone has a great deal of success, those things can be very comforting. A nice house, a nice car, eating at fine restaurants, travel; the list goes on. Something else I have found with success, and I believe others have found this out as well, is it can lead to a kind of complacency. Success affords you a certain level of comfort and if you are happy with that level, and don’t wish to improve upon it, you likely won’t. You keep the status quo.

 

I’m bored with the status quo. I want something more out of life now; I want a little more risk for my possible reward.

 

My notice hits the boss’s desk today and in two weeks, I’ll be cashing out my accrued vacation time, sub-letting my condo, packing up my car, and driving to Cleveland to live a childhood dream. I’m opening up my own wrestling promotion!

 

I’ve never been much of a gambler. That changes now!

 

BEGINNINGS

 

I planned the drive to Cleveland since I am still waiting on all the paperwork I submitted to be approved. The trip should take me about 4 days total, depending on the weather and me not getting lost somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It’s a thing I do; I’ve learned to deal with it. My hope is to avoid any major winter weather in the mountainous western states by avoiding them and keeping my route to the south.

 

It was smooth going through LA as I left early enough to avoid much of the morning traffic. Granted, not many people drove out of LA in the morning, but there were still the occasional hours-long tie ups. Traffic on Highway 40 was moving fast almost all the way through to Albuquerque. I made good time clocking the trip at just under 13 hours. Laying out on the soft bed in the motel felt great and I slept well.

 

During my quick breakfast the following morning, I looked over my appointment book for my first few days in Cleveland. I had lined up some people to talk to who could help me get things off the ground and was reviewing some of our recent emails. My most active communication had been with Nigel Harriet, aka “Honest” Frank. He was a retired veteran of the ring and had a knack for booking solid matches and working well with wrestlers. He’d been one of them and knew how to talk to them. I was almost certain I was going to offer him a contract, even though we had yet to meet in person. He just seemed like a guy who “gets it.”

 

I was in contact with 30-year veteran Nathan Coleman as well. While he was still wrestling, he knew he was ready for retirement soon. His main goals at the moment were to be a mentor to some of the younger guys and help to book shows. He was clear that he could no longer face the harsh day-to-day travel and other rigors of the road and I had assured him that he would be used sparingly in the ring, if at all. Either man would bring a veteran presence to the locker room and be a good sounding board for any ideas anyone came up with.

 

Soon I was back on the road and headed toward Tulsa. The weather had become cloudy as I headed north, but other than a few scattered rain showers, things were good. I managed to make it to Tulsa in about 9 hours and found another soft motel bed to climb into for the night.

 

I learned the next morning that a large cold front had moved into Missouri and was moving northeast toward the Great Lakes; my current travel path. With that I was on the road once again, rolling up Highway 44 toward St. Louis and Chicago, and eventually, Cleveland. Just before I reached St. Louis, the snow came. The freeway was a mess but luckily there were no major crashes to tie things up. Everyone played it smart and slowed down, which definitely wouldn’t have happened had it been LA.

 

I took an early exit and found a motel with a vacancy sign and managed to get a room. I looked out the window of the fourth story room and saw almost a solid white blanket of snow in the air. Frustrated, I pulled my laptop out of my bag and plugged it in. After hooking up to the motel’s Wi-Fi system, I sent emails to Frank and Nathan saying I was stuck in St. Louis and was unsure for how long. I ordered some delivery from the restaurant downstairs and settled in for at least the night.

 

(NOTE) This is a new company so there's not always a ton of stuff going on. Monthly shows and some background story is about it for now. I tend to write quickly once I know where I'm going with a story, so updates may be pretty fast-a couple a day-or daily at least. I hope a few of you are interested in following the story.

[rnoble59]

ST. LOUIS BLUES

 

As I ate dinner, my phone buzzed with a text message. It was Nigel. “You should watch USPW American Wrestling. Give me your thoughts on what’s happening there. It’ll give us each a chance to see how the other thinks.” I thought that was a good idea and replied that I would. He added that we could text during the show with thoughts and ideas. I was looking forward to this.

 

Watching the USPW show was great, but it was also very painful. I know that what I was trying to do would be nowhere near as polished and sharp as what USPW was doing. It probably wasn’t going to be as polished and sharp as and promotion in the States right now. Superstars like Rich Money, Nicky Champion, Steve Frehley, Tyson Baine; they were money in the bank. There’s no way that a new promotion just starting out could bring in that kind of talent. One of those guys is probably paid more per show than the CCW starting bank account will be.

 

I texted Nigel. “How do I compete with this?” I was pretty bummed out. His reply shocked me.

 

“You don’t,” he typed. I didn’t understand. I texted him back with a question mark. “You don’t compete with USPW, or SWF, or TCW. You don’t compete with the smaller companies. You don’t even compete with the indies. You are building your product from scratch. You have no competition at this time.”

 

“I still don’t quite understand,” I typed back. I had a slight idea, but was still not grasping his concept.

 

“You’re the 98-pound weakling on the sandy beach. Anybody can pick you up and toss you around like a ragdoll…if you get in their face. Don’t get in their face; just do your thing until the time comes when THEY are the 98-pound weakling. If you worry about competing with the big boys, you have already set yourself up to fail. You don’t have the strength yet.”

 

“I think I get it. Don’t worry about the rest of the players, just focus on what I can control.”

 

“Exactly!” he replied.

 

“Nigel, let me call you. Let’s talk contract,” I typed as I turned off the TV.

 

“Call me ‘Frank’,” he said.

 

CLEVELAND ROCKS

 

The storm dropped almost 2 feet of snow between St. Louis and Chicago. However, my stay at the motel was short as the crews around St. Louis and beyond were nothing short of awesome. They had the freeway open and moving by mid-afternoon the next day, the airport even earlier than that. I decided, however, to take a plane to Cleveland and make arrangement to come pick up my car in a few days.

 

The previous night I had come to a gentleman’s agreement with Frank, as he wanted me to call him, to work at a very reasonable $220 per show. This would include him acting as a road agent and also doing some mic work with me on various interviews and such. When we get to the point where we’re looking at broadcasting deals, we will reevaluate his role and salary. My first hiring for Cleveland Championship Wrestling was basically complete.

 

I made arrangements with the motel to store my car in their back lot for a week then went back to my room to pack. There were a few things I needed from the car, but I was traveling very light in the first place, so I was ready to call a cab to the airport within about 30 minutes. Having had to spend a night in St. Louis instead of Chicago didn’t really put me off schedule that much, but after last night’s discussion with Frank, I was excited to get to Cleveland and begin work. The 90-minute flight would be just the thing to get me there and into the thick of things.

 

Although there was a slight delay to takeoff, we were in the air and on our way to Cleveland only 30 minutes late. I pulled out my laptop once we were well on our way and began working out possible events. I wasn’t sure what we could manage on the shoestring budget I had to work with, but I wanted to at least have some ideas when we touched down.

 

I also reviewed some footage of possible wrestlers to hire. Frank and I had touched on it briefly last night, but we were both going to bring a list of possible workers when we met and compare notes. There were a handful of guys from the Great Lakes area I was interested in, especially Quentin Queen and Roger Monteiro. From what I had seen, both carried themselves well and had a good amount of skill in the ring. Plus, both were still under 30 and had a good chance at a long career ahead of themselves. I could see these two having a rivalry right from the start that could build them both up, but first things first: we had to hire workers.

 

I also had my eye on a couple of veterans in the area. Connor Threepwood and Josh Jacobs. Threepwood looked to be a solid worker with good technical skills; someone who I thought could be a great heel even though he wasn’t much of a talker. On the other hand, Jacobs was babyface to me all the way. He just had the look of someone who couldn’t act heelish if he tried. Jacobs also had above average skill in the ring and the few matches I had seen with him online showed that he could hold his own against most anyone.

 

Before I knew it, the pilot let us all know that the plane was on its final descent into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The flight crew help those who needed it prepare for landing as I tucked my laptop away into my briefcase and stored it all above my seat.

 

After I got into the terminal, I called Frank to let him know I’d landed. He said he was feeling a bit under the weather so asked if we could video conference for our meeting. “That’s fine,” I said. “I’m hoping we can put our first show together for the second Sunday this month. You should be feeling better by then?”

 

“Oh yeah, no problem. I may have to hit you up for a motel room though,” he chuckled.

 

“I’s sure I can swing that if it needs to happen.” We said goodbye and I went to get my suitcase and then stepped outside into the cold January afternoon. The snow had stopped but there was a strong wind blowing through the streets. I don’t know if it was the wind or the thought of the adventure I was about to embark on that was affecting me, but I felt more alive than I had in quite some time. I hailed a taxi and gave the driver the name of my hotel and we were off.

[Jaysin]

MY

!

[rnoble59]

HOME SWEET HOME

 

The video call with Frank went well. We hashed out the final details of his contract: $220 per show as a road agent, interviewer, and consultant. We also went over our lists of possible hirings. I had remained more focused on the Great Lakes and Mid-West areas and he knew a lot of people in the Mid-East, South East, and Tri-State areas.

 

He suggested Jez McArthur and Bret Graveson as possible referees to hire. He said that he and McArthur had known each other for years and was as solid as they come calling matches. Graveson was a little more experienced but a little less observant at times. He’d be good for matches that had to have a last-minute change to the booking with the ref missing something.

 

Our end list looked like this: Acid II (H), Clutch McKane (F), Connor Threepwood (H), Garry the Entertainer (F), Hammer Hadley (H), Jackpot Jones (H), Jake Idol (H), James Diaz (H), Josh Jacobs (F), Kid Fantastic (F), Kip Keenan (F), Masked Stranger (F), Mercutio Sleep (H), Mercy Michaels (H), Miller Fforde (F), Nate DeMarcus (F), Nathan Coleman (F), Nelson Callum (H), Ozzie Goldstein (H), Quentin Queen (H), Reilly Patton (F), Remmy Honeyman (F), Riley McManus (F), Roger Monteiro (F), The Architect (H), Tyron Gray (F), Xavier Reckless (H), Zippy Deverell (H). We also had our eyes on a few other guys for some growth in the future.

 

Yes, it was a rather big roster for such an insignificant promotion, but we felt it suited our desire to have some veteran workers to lead the way for the younger guys. There was a good mix of high-flyers, technical guys, and those who could brawl. And it allowed us enough workers to book my planned introduction to the promotion and the wrestlers: a 16-man elimination tournament for the Great Lakes Championship belt.

 

After Frank and I finished, I was on the phone to a local businessman who had an open space available that might make a decent place for a small training facility and possibly a place to hold our early shows. I made an appointment to see the property after lunch and noted the address on my phone. I had a cheap rental car to get me through until I was able to get back to St. Louis to pick mine up, but it didn’t have some of the amenities that my car had; GPS, satellite radio, heat.

 

I toured the building after lunch and made a video with my phone to show Frank. I liked the place a lot but I wanted a second opinion. It wasn’t too tough to get to, even for someone not familiar with the streets of Cleveland. It was on French Street near Fall Street in the Ox Bow Bend area. I liked the more industrial look of the area although I didn’t really know much about what the history of it was.

 

I emailed the video to Frank and waited to hear back from him as I contacted our potential wrestlers to gauge their interest in joining the company. Surprisingly, most everyone said that they were interested and were probably available, depending on when we were planning to hold our shows. Several of the guys worked for either Mid Atlantic Wrestling or Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling, so they were reasonably close to Cleveland. A few were from the southeastern areas and had a bit more traveling to do but thought that it wouldn’t be much of a problem. Then there were Clutch McKane and Reilly Patton, two younger guys from Ontario, Canada that I really liked. I mentioned to them that I had no trouble paying for their transportation but if they wanted to try to move closer in the future, I’d give them whatever help I could. I was still new to the area as well, so it was going to be a learning experience for all of us.

 

By the time Frank had called back about the possible venue, I had a dozen replies from our list asking for contracts to be mailed, or emailed. I was ecstatic, even more so when Frank agreed that the building I looked at would work nicely for us. There was room for a ring and some bleacher seating around it. A small locker room area could be made by putting up some kind of divider behind a couple of the seating areas. There were a couple of restroom areas, one actually had a couple of showers already installed, which worked well for how we looked at setting things up.

 

I began making arrangements to purchase the property in addition to sending out contracts to all who had asked for them. By the time I was finished with that, the remainder of our list of potentials had replied also asking for contracts to be sent so they could look them over. Things were shaping up nicely and it was only my second day in Cleveland!

 

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

 

By Saturday of the first week of January, all of the potential workers had returned their signed contracts. We now had a stable of 28 wrestlers, 2 referees, and Frank and myself booking shows. Nathan Coleman could also serve as a road agent. We also discovered that Masked Stranger and Xavier Reckless had done a small bit of booking as well. This gave us a deeper well of in-ring knowledge and booking experience to work with to make our shows more special.

 

The following Tuesday we managed to get everyone together at the CCW Gym, our new training and show venue, before our first scheduled show. As the men sat around the ring and talked amongst themselves, Frank and I entered the ring. The wrestlers’ attention turned to us. “Hello everyone,” said with a smile, “and welcome to Cleveland Championship Wrestling.” Some of the guys whooped and applauded. “By now, you all should know me. I’m R.A. Nelson, the owner of this promotion. Feel free to call me R.A. and I will call you by your first names as well.”

 

“Except for me,” Frank chimed in. “I’m Honest Frank and honestly, I’m happy to be here with CCW as we begin this journey.” Some of the men applauded. “Many of you know me, either from long forgotten videos of long forgotten matches or from my work as a road agent. R.A. and I have a lot of interesting ideas to use here, but I’ll let him explain the first major goal.” Frank climbed out of the ring and went to our small office area.

 

I took a deep breath. “We need to crown a champion: the CCW Great Lakes Championship to be precise.” Frank returned to the ring with something wrapped in a towel. He pulled the towel away and revealed the Great Lakes Championship belt. “This, my friends, is that title.” The men applauded. “The plan is a 16-man, single-elimination tournament for the championship. It will run over the next several shows and culminate in a champion being crowned during our April event, which will be called ‘Destiny’.” Frank handed the belt to me and he began to speak.

 

“The twist is this: the tournament will have no set outcomes in any of the matches. This is a ‘best man wins’ set up…no predetermined winners.” The men applauded and some yelled their approval. “We will use this tournament as a stepping stone to setting up further rivalries and also as an initial ranking of possible contenders to the belt.”

 

“We’d like to think,” I said, “that this will be a historic title for CCW. One of you will be written into our history as the inaugural CCW Great Lakes Champion. It’s up to you all to figure that out.” A bit more yelling and applause for this statement made me smile. I had goosebumps as well. I held up my hand to quite the men down. “Also, we have plenty of booking experience here to draw from. Nathan Coleman, Masked Stranger, Xavier Reckless; these men all have experience both in the ring and behind the scenes. Work with them on gimmicks, moves, storyline ideas, whatever. Frank and I will work with them on final approval for things, but all of you have some say into what happens here.” I truly felt that this was the best way to go. If the workers were having fun and given some say, their investment in their characters and the promotion would be higher. That in turn could lead to some great successes.

 

“We have the initial matchups for the first round of the tournament for you tonight,” Frank stated. “R.A. and I will be working out the details of the match focus with each pair of wrestlers, but you can work some things our as well. Get together with your opponent and talk about your strengths and weaknesses; your go-to moves and your possible finishers. Most of you are experienced enough to know how to work a crowd, and even though our crowds will be pretty small to start out, it’s your selling to them that will get them selling to their friends.”

 

I closed off the meeting with answering a few questions, mostly about when shows would be held and backstage things. Then Frank and I went around talking to the various wrestlers about possible gimmicks and their upcoming matches. At the end of the evening, we had managed to set up all of the opening round matches and were happy with where the wrestlers were at in their understanding of things. Our first show was less than a week away and I felt like we were ready.

 

(NOTE): CCW product is Classic Balanced. Match focus as Three Ring Circus and angle focus is Consistent. Uses Heel/Face divide, but it isn’t enforced. Spinal-impact and high-risk moves are allowed. Matches are not automatically called in-ring or scripted. Stables and managers are allowed.

 

Up next: the first show! CCW's Something to Prove.

[rnoble59]

CCW's SOMETHING TO PROVE

 

Pre-show jitters-I didn’t know if I would have them or not. But now my mouth seemed dry and my stomach was churning as I sat in the small office. The show was about 10 minutes from start and the doors to the gym had been open for about an hour. Fans paid their admission and wandered through the door, some in small groups, some singly, even a few families with children. I opened the office door and looked at the seating. We could hold about 250 and it looked like about a third of the seats were taken, maybe more, maybe less. I closed the door, took another drink of water, and waited. One of the small crew we had knocked on the door and said “It’s time.” I stood up, straightened my suit coat and tie, opened the door, and walked to the ring.

 

There was a lot of small talk going on as I climbed in the ring. One of the crew handed me a microphone and I began. “Welcome, everyone, to CLEVELAND CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING!" A decent amount of applause from the small crowd, although several of the younger ones were still talking or texting on their phone. “I’d like to welcome all of you to our very first show, ‘Something to Prove’.” More applause. “Tonight, we begin our journey together to crown the very first CCW Great Lakes Champion. This will be done by means of a tournament. You will see all of the first round matches tonight and then the tournament will continue until a champion is crowned at our ‘Destiny 2020’ show in April.”

 

Suddenly some old-time music began playing over the small PA system and the curtain to the dressing room area began moving. A man dressed as a magician came out and waved his hand at the startled crowd. Very few recognized the man but he smiled and waved as if he were a star. He stopped and patted a young boy on the head and then pulled a coin out from behind the boy’s ear. The child laughed and beamed with excitement as the magician gave the boy the coin. The magician entered the ring and pulled out a deck of cards. He fanned them out and then held them up to me. “Please, pick a card.” I did so. “Look at your card, show it to some of these fine people, remember your card.” I looked at the card, the ten of diamonds, then showed it to a few people in the front row along a couple of sides of the ring. “Put the card back,” he said as he held out the deck of cards.

 

He shuffled the cards several times. On the final shuffle, he acted as if he lost control and cards flew everywhere. Some had flown onto the floor of the gym so he climbed out of the ring and began picking them up. When he had all the cards again, he tapped on the top of the deck and pulled the card out. It was a king of spades. “This is your card,” he said matter-of-factly as he bowed. He turned to show the card to the audience, who began shaking their heads.

 

“No, that’s not my card,” I said.

 

He looked at me then looked at the audience as if he was stunned. Several of the people laughed at his expressions. He scratched his head in confusion. Then he smiled and looked to one of the younger people at ringside. “Would you do me a favor young lady and tap this deck of cards.” The girl, who looked to be about 8 years old, kind of shied away, but reached out and gently tapped the top card. Then the magician threw all the cards into the air and grabbed one as it fell. “This is your card! The 10 of diamonds!” he said as he held up the 10 of diamonds.

 

“Yes, that is my card,” I said, almost as amazed as the small crowd. The people applauded at the trick and then the man twisted his hand and the card disappeared.

 

He climbed back into the ring. My name is Garry and I plan on making my opponent disappear as fast as that ten of diamonds.” Some applause from the crowd.

 

“His opponent tonight, originally hailing from sunny California, Jake Idol!” Some of the crowd cheered and some booed as Idol was familiar to most from working with Mid Atlantic Wrestling. ANGLE RATING: 34

 

In a bout that had good wrestling but didn't have much heat, Jake Idol defeated Garry the Entertainer in 8:11 by pinfall with a Reality Check. RATING: 38

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Nelson Callum defeated Roger Monteiro in 10:48 by submission with a Honey Trap. RATING: 42

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Josh Jacobs defeated The Architect in 9:35 by pinfall with a Canadian Backdrop. RATING: 38

 

I climbed into the ring again and took the mic. “Enjoying yourselves so far?” I asked. A much larger reaction from the small crowd this time. The acoustics of the room made the group sound larger, but there were probably only about 65 or 70 people in the stands. I’d like to bring Jackpot Jordan to the ring now."

 

Jordan pushed the curtain aside and immediately began reacting to the jeers coming from the crowd. He was fairly well known through his work in MAW and was a well-known heel. He sauntered to the ring with an air of arrogance, not really caring about the crowd’s reaction.

 

“Jackpot,” I began.

 

“You may call me ‘Mr. Jordan’,” he said smugly. More boos.

 

“Mr. Jordan, how do you feel about your match tonight with Riley McManus?”

 

“Who?” he asked. “Riley McAnus?” Some of the crowd laughed but most offered another round of jeers and boos.

 

“Riley McManus, former MAW star and current NYCW star,” I corrected.

 

“’Former’ star, that’s the key word there, pal. He’s a has-been, a never-was. He should be honored to step into the ring with the likes of Jackpot Jordan…as you should be,” he smirked.

 

“You sound pretty cocky,” I said.

 

“Cocky, confident, whatever. I’m a star, he’s not, so let’s get this thing going! I’m tired of looking at your mug!” Jordan strutted around the ring as I introduced McManus to the crowd. ANGLE RATING: 29

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Riley McManus defeated Jackpot Jordan in 12:19 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. RATING: 32

 

In a bout that had great wrestling but didn't have much heat, Acid II defeated Kip Keenan in 10:34 by pinfall with an Acid Rain Bomb. RATING: 40

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Miller Fforde defeated Quentin Queen in 9:32 by pinfall with a Fforde Flip Face Crusher. RATING: 37

 

I stepped into the ring again, microphone in hand. The crowd seemed to be pretty active and excited about the matches so far. A couple of minor incidents with some electronics so far, but I don’t think it distracted from the matches that much. “Hey everybody, I’d like to thank you once again for coming to our first ever show here at Cleveland Championship Wrestling. I hope you are enjoying the show so far!” A lot more applause and cheers from the crowd. “We have one more match before our main event tonight which will feature veteran grapples Masked Stranger and Indiana-born Connor Threepwood.” Some boos came through at the mention of Threepwood who was well-known throughout the region. “First, let me introduce one of the participants in our next match, ‘Pretty Boy’ Ozzie Goldstein!”

 

Goldstein enters the room through the curtains to a smattering of applause and a few boos. Not very well know around the area, Goldstein walks with confidence and a certain amount of swagger to the ring. A few fans try to give him a high-five but he brushes off their attempts, increasing the number of boos from the crowd. He steps into the ring and looks at me. He holds out his hand as if to shake my hand but when I reach out my hand, he grabs the mic and begins speaking. “You’re not needed now; just stand over there and try to look smart,” he says to me with a scowl. I shrug my shoulders and take a few steps back to a corner of the ring. Boos are getting louder and louder. Goldstein looks around the room and shakes his head. “I didn’t realize the people of Cleveland were so disrespectful to their superiors.” The crowd really gets loud with yells and jeers toward the wrestler. He stands somewhat impatiently in the middle of the ring, his arms crossed, shaking his head. “Well, if you won’t shut up, I guess I’ll just have to earn your respect by beating the crap out of somebody. Send out my opponent, chump!” he yells as he tosses the mic toward me.

 

His opponent this evening, weighing in at 217 pounds, Remmy Honeyman!” I make the announcement and leave the ring as Honeyman enters the area through the curtain. ANGLE RATING: 35

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Remmy Honeyman defeated Ozzie Goldstein in 12:21 by pinfall with a Flying Legdrop. RATING: 40

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Conner Threepwood defeated Masked Stranger in 17:19 by submission with a Stretch Plum. RATING: 43

 

ATTENDANCE: 80

OVERALL RATING: 41

 

Frank and I got together after the show and discussed how things went. Other than a few small mishaps with lighting and sound, our first show turned out much better than expected. We had planned for 50-60 people but had a paid attendance of 80. We had invited a couple of local sports writers to the show so hopefully there will be a little buzz over the next few weeks about us. Looking ahead, we will run our 2nd show next month and move forward with the championship tournament plus debut a few more wrestlers who weren’t in the tournament this time around. Things look good early on for the CCW.

 

(NOTE): I will be adding in some match play-by-play in addition to angle and background as things progress.

[Herrbear]

Nice start.

[rnoble59]

Nice start.

 

I'm not complaining. Anything 40 or above right now makes me happy. I do have quite a few good psychology guys so it helps letting them call matches in the ring. Usually a little bump to the rating.

[rnoble59]

NEW KID IN TOWN

 

Masked Stranger came to my office a few days before the next show. “Hey, boss. The Kid has asked me about masking up…creating an alter ego for himself.”

 

“Interesting,” I replied. “What does he have in mind?”

 

“Well, long story short, his grandfather recently passed away and he was a big music fan. The Kid inherited all of his old ‘60’s, ‘70’s, and ‘80’s album collection. One that caught his eye was that Elton John album, ‘Captain Fantastic.’ He’s thinking about that.”

 

I thought for a few seconds. “Does he have a mask picked out, or a costume of some sort?” I asked.

 

He has a mask, something colorful,” Stranger replied. “He hasn’t been in front of our fans yet so he thought getting into something different might be fun. No change in style, just in his in-ring appearance.”

 

“I don’t have a problem with it if it’s what he wants. He needs to stick with it for a while though. We can’t be going back and forth on alters or gimmicks all the time.”

 

“Yeah, I’ve said that too.” Stranger turned to leave the office.

 

“Have him come see me when he has the mask and whatever else he wants to wear, Frank and I will have a look to see how it all works in the ring. Maybe we’ll have him do a few moves as well; see that the mask doesn’t affect his sight.”

 

“I’ll let him know. We’re going to be working on some stuff this afternoon.” Masked Stranger went back out into the gym and started working out with Xavier Reckless, Kid Fantastic’s upcoming opponent, in the ring. This was the kind of thing I liked to hear: workers coming up with new ideas to benefit themselves and CCW.

 

We saw what Kid’s new mask and wardrobe looked like later that afternoon. The mask was colorful but we didn’t think it would be distracting to the viewer. He had found some old magician’s cape at a thrift store and had hot glued some sequins and stuff along the edges. I figured we could afford to get the kid something a bit more custom made before the show on Sunday, and I told him that as he left the short ring workout. He seemed happy about it.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE

 

The pre-show jitters were a little less noticeable this time. My mouth still felt dry but my stomach wasn’t feeling like a storm at sea this evening. Frank and I sat in my office going over a few notes for tonight’s show. “I like The Kid’s new look. Good to see him taking a chance with something different, especially at his age,” Frank said.

 

“Yeah, I agree. I think it’s going to work out for him.” I chuckled. “Did you see his face when I gave him the new cape? I thought he was going to cry.”

Frank laughed. “He’s a good one. Love his attitude and his excitement,” Frank replied. “We do need to watch him trying to do too much in the ring though. He needs to learn a little patience and how to work the crowd a bit more.”

 

“Agreed,” I said. “I think he’s well ahead of most of our really young guys though.” The was a knock on the door that it was showtime, so we both stood and headed out to the ring.

 

Frank and I both stepped into the ring this week. He’s good with the mic and we need to get used to working together in front of the crowd. I spoke first. “Welcome everyone to Cleveland Championship Wrestling and our Valentine’s Day Massacre show. We hope you’re all doing well. Our card tonight will include all four second-round matches as we continue our championship tournament.”

 

Frank took the mic. “Plus, there are a few new faces to introduce you to as well. But not this guy, you already know him. Give it up for the High Roller himself, Mr. Jackpot Jordan!” Plenty of boos and thumbs down from the small crowd as Jordan comes through the curtain and walks to the ring.

 

He shakes hands with Frank and glares at me. The crowd boos, now getting the idea that Frank is possibly a heel. “Thank you, Frank, for that great intro.” He looks at me and shakes his head. “What is this doofus still doing here?” I move back into the corner of the ring and get comfortable as Jordan continues. “So, tonight I have to face another never-was in Tyrone Gray? What the hell are you doing to me? Why can’t you put me into a good match?”

 

“Maybe if you’d won last week you’d be in one,” I said. A lot of the crowd heard me even though I didn’t have a mic. I love the acoustics in this building! Jordan was infuriated and started to make a move toward where I was standing but Frank grabbed him and held him at bay. Jordan played up the anger very well as Frank tried to calm him.

 

“Why don’t you use all that energy for your opponent?” Frank said as he took the mic from Jordan. “Introducing Michigan’s own, Tyrone Gray!” Frank and I left the ring as Gray came through the curtain. Jordan still seemed to be seething. The crowd was eating this up. I needed to work more promos with Jackpot, that’s for sure. ANGLE RATING: 32

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Jackpot Jordan defeated Tyrone Gray in 11:11 by pinfall with a Cash In. RATING: 36

 

In a bout that had good wrestling but didn't have much heat, Captain Fantastic defeated Xavier Reckless in 10:55 by pinfall with a Fantasm. RATING: 37

 

In a decent match, Quentin Queen defeated Nathan Coleman in 12:25 by pinfall with a Q-Ball. RATING: 32

 

Nelson Callum comes through the curtain and stomps up to the ring. He grabs the mic and paces back-and-forth in the ring several times. He takes a deep breath and stops, almost ready to say something, then pulls the mic from his mouth and paces the ring a few more times. “Do you know who I am?” he shouts. The fans boo. “Let me clue you in. I’m a seven-time PSA champion Nelson Callum.” He moves the mic away as the fans boo and make jeering noises at him. “Why am I not in the main event? I’m a freakin’ champion!” He stops again, allowing the fans to boo more. “Riley McManus! You think you’re competition for me? You’re nothing. You call yourself a champion? You are no champion. You’re cannon fodder. And I’ll prove that tonight if you’re man enough to get into this ring with me.” More boos from the crowd. “And next week I demand to be in the main event!” With that he threw down the mic and stomped out of the ring and back through the curtain to the dressing room. ANGLE RATING: 39

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Jake Idol defeated Acid II in 12:49 by pinfall with a Reality Check. RATING: 41

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Nelson Callum defeated Riley McManus in 16:38 by submission with a Honey Trap. RATING: 48

 

I stepped into the ring for the final promo of the night. “Boy, that Jackpot Jordan is quite a guy, huh?” That got a bit of a laugh. “But I’m not here to talk about him. I’m here to tell you about our main event tonight. You saw one of the participants lay a beating on Garry the Entertainer last week. The other was in a technically-driven match with fellow veteran Masked Stranger. Tonight, you get Jake Idol,” I paused to allow for crowd reaction, which was mostly boos, “against Connor Threepwood!” Some boos but quite a few cheers as well. “Before that happens though, our third match in the tournament’s second round is coming up right now with Remmy Honeyman going up against Miller Fforde1” I left the ring as Honeyman came through the curtain with Fforde following within 30 seconds or so. ANGLE RATING: 40

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Remmy Honeyman defeated Miller Fforde in 12:01 by pinfall with a Flying Legdrop. RATING: 40

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Conner Threepwood defeated Josh Jacobs in 17:19 by submission with a Stretch Plum. RATING: 44

 

ATTENDANCE: 75

OVERALL RATING: 44

 

The attendance was down a bit over January’s show, but it looked like the matches and flow of the show was more consistent. Frank really helped the younger guys in understanding how to work within their skillset and with their opponents. The vets are trying to help out the younger guys as best they can too. I’ve seen a lot of the guys who are working for other promotions nearby driving up to use the gym and train in the ring between shows. That makes me happy. We’re trying to lay out matches well ahead of time so guys can work together.

 

Frank hit me with another name to check out as a potential wrestler: Prime Time Jack Pride, a 20-year-old kid working the Mid-West. I checked out some videos online and I have to say the kid looks amazing. He’s still a bit rough around the edges, but what 20-year-old isn’t? He’s already showing he can do good mic work on his promos and is charisma is off the charts. I’m going to try and find where he’s appearing next week and see if I can’t make it to see him live. I think it will be worth the trip.

[rnoble59]

HERE COMES THE SUN

 

As we went from February to March, the weather cleared up dramatically. Even some of the locals in the restaurants and stores I frequented talked about it being a bit warmer than normal. For a long time West Coast boy, this was indeed nice.

 

Frank and I were meeting to discuss a few things a few days before our next show. “I have some interesting news for us, financially,” I said. Frank perked up at that and looked at me inquisitively. “Even with the cost of buying the building and getting that all set up, we are at an overall profit for the past two months,” I said.

 

“How? I know we’re not shelling out a lot for the wrestlers and crew,” Frank asked.

 

“Sponsors,” I replied. The local business community has jumped onboard big time with what we’re trying to do.” I pulled out a spreadsheet I had made showing the sponsorship we had built since opening. “We’re pulling in around $6000 a month right now just from our sponsors. That covers all of our running costs and salaries.”

 

Frank looked over the spreadsheet and smiled. “So, you must be thinking about something to do with this extra cash?” he asked, looking back to me.

 

“First, I think everyone gets a little raise after next month, if things remain at near the same level.”

 

“I’m sure the guys will be happy with that,” Frank said.

 

“You’re not being left out, my man. Something extra for you as well.”

 

Frank smiled and held out his hand. I shook it and he said, “I appreciate that. I had a feeling that we were going to get along well. But what else is on your mind?”

 

“A couple of ideas have been simmering for the past week. First, we could probably afford to bring in a small-time local band for our shows. Open the doors maybe 30 minutes early and have the band playing for about an hour.” I pulled out another spreadsheet of local bar bands and their hiring costs.

 

Frank looked it over and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, nothing too expensive here. Plus, it might bring a few more people in through the doors. Even if they don’t stay for the show, it’s still money for CCW.”

 

“Agreed. Plus, using some of the sponsorship money for promotion we can use some of the local radio stations, blogs, podcasters, whatever, to promote the music and the wrestling.” I was pleased at the solid showing from many of the local merchants. “And the next idea,” I started.

 

Frank looked at me. “Yes?”

 

“What if we increased the timing on our shows? Maybe added another half an hour? Or even went up to 3 hours?”

 

“Hmmm.” Frank contemplated the idea. “Adding time to the shows will increase costs for sure, but it looks like with these numbers,” he points to the sponsorship info, “we should still be covered.” He looked at the piece of paper once again. “Yeas, I think it could work. We should have enough talent to make the shows longer, and we can add more spots for the guys to build up rivalries and other storylines.”

 

“Let’s see how this next show goes,” I suggested, “then we can look at what, if any, changes we would like to make.”

 

“Absolutely,” he said. I could tell by the little sparkle in his eyes that he was excited for the ideas.

 

“I think I’ll gather up all the guys after the next show and tell them about the raises. The rest we can work on over the next few weeks,” I said. “I have some other thoughts, but for now, let’s work out some of this.” Frank and I shook hands and he left the office. I could hear some of the guys using some of the equipment and working in the ring so I went out to watch. I couldn’t help but smile as I did so.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s HYSTERIA

 

I sat in my office pre-show. That seems to be the best way for me to focus on what I’m going to say and not get my thoughts and words all mucked up. We’re all pretty much winging it during the various promos. Enough of the guys are good with the mic and can think on their feet to make things really interesting. Many of our backstage meetings have talked about improvising dialogue, when to talk, when the let the crowd in; all of that. Most of the roster has a good understanding of all that and it helps make our interviews interesting.

 

The one thing I’ve been thinking about though are some more physical altercations. We can build some good storylines and heat with some beatdowns after matches, and even getting some short brawls going during interviews. I’m even thinking about the physical approach with times I am in the ring. I’m no wrestler; I’m not built for fighting, but I’ve been watching some of the guys training in the ring and have been thinking about small things I could do that require getting into some small physical altercation. The heat on Jackpot when he’s dealing with me is increasing so that might be a good place to start.

 

The knock on the door told me it was time to get things started for the show. I straightened out my tie and stepped just outside the office. We’re changing things up a bit this time, letting Frank open the show so he can gain a little heel heat.

 

Frank steps into the ring and motions toward the curtains. Ozzie Goldstein thrusts the curtains aside and walks purposefully toward the ring. The crowd raises some boos, but Goldstein ignores them. “Two weeks ago, at Something to Prove, I was screwed out of a win by Remmy Honeyman! You all saw it!” Goldstein raged. More boos come from the audience. “I’ve looked at the tapes! I’ve watched everything that happened! Honeyman cheated! I want Honeyman! I want him now!” He began pacing the ring, kicking the lower turnbuckles, hitting the ropes, basically throwing a small tantrum.

 

“Ozzie, Ozzie, just settle down,” Frank said in a calm voice. “I have a thought. If you can wait a bit, I will guarantee you a match with Honeyman.”

 

Goldstein looked at Frank and yelled, “When?”

 

“We’ve got to wait until this tournament is finished,” Frank stated. He held up his hand and looked to be thinking. “What about August?” he asked.

 

Goldstein was furious. He rushed up to Frank and grabbed him by the collar. “August? Are you frickin’ crazy? August?” He reached his fist back and looked ready to clock Frank in the face.

 

“In a cage,” Frank said with a smile. Goldstein relaxed a bit. “With a ladder,” Frank added with an even bigger smile. Goldstein then began to smile as well. He let go of Frank’s collar and stepped back. The crowd looked a bit confused. A ladder? And a cage?

 

“Yes, that will do just fine,” Goldstein said with a cruel looking smile. He left the ring to many boos from the crowd, a smile still on his face. ANGLE RATING: 32

 

In a bout that had decent wrestling but didn't have much heat, Garry the Entertainer defeated Zippy Deverell in 10:05 by pinfall with a Pants Pull Sunset Flip. RATING: 33

 

In a bout that had decent wrestling but non-existent crowd heat, James Diaz defeated Reilly Patton in 11:49 by pinfall with an Asian Thumb Spike. RATING: 27

 

Roger Monteiro walks calmly to the ring as I enter. He steps in to a smattering of applause and some cheers. “Friends,” I begin, let me introduce to you the American Eagle, Roger Monteiro!” More applause and a few more cheers. Monteiro is becoming well-liked among the fans. “Roger, tell all of us something that we may not know about you.”

 

He looked around to the fans and smiled. “Most all of you know already that I am of Native American ancestry,” he said quietly. “What you may not know is that my parents both died when I was very young. My grandfather, who was already in his late 60’s at the time, took me in. He raised me alone and tried to teach me the ways of our people and the ways of the world.” He paused briefly. “It was not always easy when I was young. There was a lot of prejudice where I grew up. There were many incidents when I was in school. My grandfather always told me that people will often act out against what they fear and don’t understand.”

 

“Your grandfather seems like a very wise man,” I said with a smile.

 

“He was,” Monteiro continued. “He died three years ago. I do this in remembrance of him, of my parents, of my people. I do this to fight back against the fear and misunderstanding. I do this that my people, and all people who are minorities, can rise above the hatred they see and endure.”

 

The curtain pulled back and a man walked through toward the ring. “Enough of this whiny-assed crap!” he yelled. “My name is No Mercy Michaels and I will show no mercy against you and your pathetic story!” I took the mic from Monteiro and rushed out of the ring as Michaels entered. A ref ran out to the ring and prepared the two men for their bout. ANGLE RATING: 33

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Roger Monteiro defeated No Mercy Michaels in 10:23 by pinfall with an Eagle Chop. RATING: 39

 

In a bout that had decent wrestling but little heat, Nate DeMarcus defeated Hammer Hadley in 12:36 by pinfall with a Snap Tackle. RATING: 31

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Ozzie Goldstein defeated Clutch McKane in 9:58 by pinfall with a Golden Shower. RATING: 39

 

As Goldstein went back to the locker room area, I stepped into the ring. “I’m having a good time tonight, how about all of you?” A great deal of the small assembly cheered and applauded. We had some good “wrestling” fans who were enjoying the higher quality matches plus we had enough that were enjoying the interviews and story building aspect to make me feel like we were doing something right. “Coming up are the final two matches before we crown a CCW Great Lakes Champion next month. Later on you’ll see Nelson Callum and Remmy Honeyman square off in their battle for the belt, but before that, we have another semi-final match. Let’s get that one going right now!” Most of the people cheered with excitement. "Please welcome the matinee idol himself, Hollywood. Jake. Idol!” The room filled with the sound of boos as Idol walked cockily toward the ring. He smiled and waved but the people were having none of it, that just made them booing louder. “And his opponent, hailing from Indiana, Conner Threeeeeepwooooood!” Most of the boos turned to cheers as Threepwood was somewhat popular despite being a heel. It could have been that there was just more dislike for Idol. ANGLE RATING: 30

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Conner Threepwood defeated Jake Idol in 17:49 by submission with a Stretch Plum. RATING: 44

 

I walked toward the ring from my office and a couple of the fans nearby offered high-fives to me. Nice! “What a match! But I think we’ve saved the best for last!” I exclaimed as I climbed into the ring. “Connor Threepwood is heading to the championship match next month at our Destiny 2020 show. But who’s going to join him in the ring?” I paused briefly. “Will it be Nelson Callum?” A multitude of boos and thumbs down from the crowd. Callum’s recent mic work and attitude had garnered a great deal of dislike from the fans here, which is exactly what we were going for. “Or will it be Remmy Honeyman?” Most of the boos turned to cheers. There were still fans of Callum, but the Honeyman fans definitely outnumbered them. “It’s time to set the final match for our championship tournament. The winner moves on…the loser watches from the sidelines!” I left the ring as Remmy Honeyman entered, drawing a rousing round of applause and cheers. Nelson Callum soon followed and the cheers turned immediately to jeers. ANGLE RATING: 31

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Remmy Honeyman defeated Nelson Callum in 18:23 by pinfall with a Flying Legdrop. RATING: 47

 

ATTENDANCE: 78

OVERALL RATING: 42

 

The ladder and cage idea caught some by surprise, but it’s something Frank and I had worked out a couple of weeks ago. We’ve designed a regular-looking cage that is totally enclosed, except for a small hatch in the center of the roof. The trick is to use the ladder to escape through the hatch and climb down to the arena floor. There’s no other way to win other than to escape. The referee will be at ringside to officiate whenever someone reaches the floor. It’s a bit more dangerous than either a regular cage or ladder match, so it should bump up the excitement level when used. As of this time, we’re not sure we can do it in this building; we may need to rent a larger space to hold these kinds of matches. We have until our August “Caged Heat” show to get all the details finalized though, so we’re confident it will all be worked out.

[rnoble59]

TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS

 

We decided to have a locker room meeting on the afternoon of the Destiny 2020 show. That way we were sure that everyone would be together to hear about the raises and some of the other plans we were working toward.

 

Frank and I stood in the center of the ring with the rest of the crew and wrestlers sitting around ringside. We’d brought in some pizza, sandwiches, and drinks for those who wanted anything. Some of the younger workers were especially happy with the pizza. I wasn’t complaining either. Some of these Cleveland pizzerias had exceptional food.

 

“We wanted to get everyone together today to share a bit of information,” I started. There were some looks of concern on a few faces. “Nothing to worry about; no one’s getting fired.” I smiled and laughed.

 

“Yet,” Frank added. That brought some chuckles and smiles to those who seemed worried. “We’ve been looking over things, or should I say, R.A. ahs been looking over things on the financial side and we’re happy to report that CCW is doing relatively well financially.”

 

“So much so, that we’re giving everyone a small raise,” I stated. Plenty of whoops and hollers of approval. “It’s not much, a little bit added to each show, but we think that it’s just the beginning.” I paused as some of the guys applauded and slapped each other on the backs. “There’s only so much Frank or I or the ring crew can do. It’s all of you who makes the shows. Your performances and skill in the ring, that’s what keeps the fans in their seats.” I applauded the guys sitting around the ring.

 

“A couple of things are happening beginning next month at the Mayhem show,” Frank began. “First, we are adding 30 minutes to the show time. That allows us more time to build the stories and to get more of you in the shows.”

 

I interrupted briefly. “In June we’re doing a full three hours for All Out War. If it works well, we might keep the show length at 3 hours going forward.”

 

Frank continued. “Also, we will be bringing in a local band as a sort of ‘warm up’ for the shows. They’ll probably play for 45 minutes to an hour. That will also begin at Mayhem. We’re hoping this will bring in a few more people,” he said. “After all, who doesn’t like music?” he smiled.

 

“No Mercy,” said Jackpot. The guys laughed.

 

“Hey, I like music,” No Mercy Michaels replied.

 

“Polka isn’t music, big boy,” added Josh Idol. We all laughed together. The locker room vibe was really light today, probably due to the food and drinks and of the small raises, but it was good to see everyone getting along and laughing a bit. This business was all too serious at times and being able to lighten things up was nice.

 

“We have some other ideas we’re brainstorming right now and we’ll keep you posted,” I said. “Anything that any of you want to bring up?” The guys looked around at each other but all seemed satisfied with the information they’d been given. “Alright. Let’s have a great show tonight. Best of luck to Nelson and Connor in the championship match. Give us one to remember, eh?” Both men nodded. I left the locker room area to prepare for the show while Frank stayed behind to work on match logistics with some of the guys.

 

(NOTE): Somehow I managed to accidentally delete this post earlier. FYI: don't post during a sinus headache-induced insomnia session.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s DESTINY 2020

 

Garry the Entertainer sat in the office with Frank and I before the show. “You sure this spot will work?” I asked Frank.

 

“Well, if it doesn’t, then we’ll have to come up with a whole new gimmick for Garry,” he replied. I looked at him and then at Garry.

 

“I can pull it off. I just need the right opponent,” Garry said assuredly.

 

I thought about the proposal for a minute or so. “You’re not thinking about it tonight, are you? Doesn’t seem like much time to plan and work with someone.”

 

“No. no, no, not tonight. We need to find the right opponent…the right time to run it,” Garry said. “Running it blind on someone isn’t going to make it believable…they won’t be able to sell it. Besides, I already have something for tonight.” He grinned. I was a bit worried what he had come up with for tonight. Garry was one of the few guys who had more flexibility with his gimmick work. As long as it wasn’t something really offensive, he pretty much had carte blanche to go with what he thought would work. The new idea though, needed some discussion.

 

“It seems a bit out there for me, but if you two think you can sell it to someone and the audience, go ahead and start setting it up,” I said. “If anyone can make this work, it’s you Garry,” I added confidently. Garry smiled, nodded his head, and left the office to prepare for his match.

 

“Is it going to work?” I asked Frank once The Entertainer had gone.

 

“Like you said, if anyone can sell it, it’s Garry.” He smiled and chuckled. “You have to admit, if it goes down right, it’s going to be funny as hell.”

 

I smiled. “Yeah, but only if we can get one of those other guys in the back to go along with it.” A knock on the door let us know that the time had come, so we exited the office and headed for the ring.

 

“Welcome everyone to Destiny 2020,” I said from the center of the ring. I saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. We had a small and enthusiastic set of regulars for the shows, which was good. “We’ve got a lot of good wrestling for you tonight, culminating in the crowning of the very first CCW Great Lakes Champion!”

 

“But before we get to that,” Frank started, “we have some interesting matches for you to enjoy. Later on you’ll see Nelson Callum going against Miller Fforde in what should be an excellent matchup.”

 

“We have a tag team match pitting Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol squaring off against Josh Jacobs and Kip Keenan. That should be a doozy!” I said excitedly.

 

“And of course, our main event,” Frank began, “for the CCW Great Lakes Championship, Connor Threepwood and Remmy Honey man will go at it in a two-out-of-three falls match.” Frank paused for the audience response. “First, let’s bring out one of the participants in our opening bout of the night. Please welcome Garry the Entertainer!” Some good pop from the small crowd, especially the younger kids. The little ones simply adored Garry and his antics.

 

Garry came through the curtains and the audience collectively gasped, then some laughter began to filter through. He was painted up in green, with ripped clothing, in a fake muscle suit of some kind. He stomped toward the ring as the people watched in amusement. Garry came up with some of the weirdest bits, but the crowd pretty much ate it up.

 

“So,” I started when Garry stepped into the ring, trying not to laugh, “your opponent tonight is Mercutio Sleep. What is your game plan against him?”

 

I offered the mic to Garry who grunted and yelled, “Garry smash!” The crowd laughed and applauded. I could see Frank was having a tough time keeping a straight face so I attempted to continue.

 

“Sleep has a good array of technical moves and holds; how do you combat those?” I asked. Even I was having a tough time keeping a straight face seeing Garry decked out in a green muscle suit.

 

Again, Garry replied “Garry smash!” The crowd let out more cheers at the response.

 

I took a deep breath and focused so I could get the final question out. It wasn’t going to be easy, so I turned my head and coughed a bit to clear my throat, trying to chase the laugh away. “Sleep is also very skilled in high-flying moves. How do you defend that kind of opponent?”

 

Garry stepped toward the mic and the crowd yelled “Garry smash!” but Garry held up his hand to quiet them. He cleared his throat and began speaking in an eloquent, well-educated British accent. “Perhaps I may use some counter holds or moves to limit his high-flying antics, vis-à-vis leg bars or other holds to weaken his base of attack. Also, it is theoretically possible to simply counter said opponent's moves by performing a more simple and direct attack mode.” He looked at me, cueing my final response and his.

 

“And what would that be?” I asked.

 

He looked around at the crowd and smiled. “Garry smash!” they all yelled, almost in unison. Frank and I left the ring as Mercutio Sleep was coming through the curtain. ANGLE RATING: 36

 

In a decent match, Garry the Entertainer defeated Mercutio Sleep in 11:37 by pinfall with a Pants Pull Sunset Flip. RATING: 32

 

In a bout that had decent wrestling but little heat, Hammer Hadley defeated Reilly Patton in 10:04 by submission with a Choke Sleeper. RATING: 30

 

Nelson Callum pushes through the curtain and storms to the ring, grabbing a microphone along the way. The crowd has already become very vocal at their dislike for Callum. “Once again, the best wrestler in the building isn’t in the main event!” he shouts. “When does this stop?” He paces the ring several times, allowing the fan noise to increase and then decrease a bit. “It’s Miller Fforde tonight, huh?” he questions. “Fine, throw all the cannon fodder you want at me; I’ll come through it all on top.” He stops again, allowing the fans to show their dislike. “When all is said and done, everyone in this building; the guys in the back, the bozo who runs the company, and all of you fans know, I am the main event!” he shouts as he drops the mic and stands ready for his opponent to enter the ring. ANGLE RATING: 47

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Nelson Callum defeated Miller Fforde in 17:16 by submission with a Honey Trap. RATING: 44

 

I enter the ring as Miller and Callum leave to the locker room. “Man, that was intense,” I said, “But what a match!” The crowd applauds with some cheers for a great match. “At this time, I would like to bring our one of our rising stars here in CCW, Quentin Queen!” Queen steps through the curtain and stops. A few seconds later, Ozzie Goldstein and Nelson Callum flank the young wrestler on either side, whispering into his ear, apparently giving hi advice or instruction. While Goldstein and Callum garner some jeers from the crowd, Queen does receive some applause as he walks to the ring.

 

“So, you’ve made a couple of friends?” I ask, nodding toward the curtain.

 

“Just some friendly advice from some intelligent people,” Queen smirked. “Things to say, things not to say, you know?”

 

“No, I’m not sure I do know,” I said, looking at Queen inquisitively.

 

“Oh, stuff like how I shouldn’t talk about how experienced my opponent is tonight or how well he has wrestled in the past,” Queen began. “I should talk more about how old and over-the-hill he is and how I’m going to make him tap out with my Q-Ball. Which, as you all know,” he said as he scanned the small crowd, “is going to happen.” Some boos began to rise again.

 

“You seem very sure of yourself. You do realize your opponent is the Masked Stranger, right?”

 

“The Masked Stranger?” Queens askes. “Oh my, how frightening,” he said sarcastically. “I’m just shaking in my boots…NOT! Bring him on, bring any of the guys back there on. I’m not backing down from anyone!” He raised his hands in victory as if he’d just won a championship.

 

“Quentin Queen, everybody! I thank you for your time,” I told him.

 

“The pleasure was all yours,” he said cockily as he walked away and back toward the curtain. Goldstein and Callum came out to meet him with smiles on their faces. They patted him on the back as the disappeared behind the curtain once again. ANGLE RATING: 37

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol defeated Josh Jacobs and Kip Keenan in 13:17 when Jake Idol pinned Kip Keenan with a Reality Check. RATING: 47

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Quentin Queen defeated Masked Stranger in 14:29 by pinfall with a Q-Ball. RATING: 40

 

I stepped back into the ring for the final promo of the night. “The time has come, my friends,” I said as the lights lowered slightly and a spotlight shined on me in the center of the ring. “It’s time to crown our first ever Cleveland Championship Wrestling Great Lakes Champion!” The small crowd cheered and applauded. The acoustics were awesome in here…it sounded like a few hundred people when it was just a fraction of that number. I paused for a moment to let the applause quiet down. “Let’s get this thing started, shall we? Coming to the ring now, a veteran of the Mid-Atlantic wrestling scene for the past decade, Remmy Honeyman!” Honeyman came through the curtain and the crowd broke out in loud cheers and applause. He had become a favorite amongst the fans over the past several months. “His opponent, from Indiana, the master of the Stretch Plum submission, Conner Threepwood!” I left the ring as the ref began going over the rules with the two wrestlers. We all expected a solid match with plenty of technical holds and moves. ANGLE RATING: 33

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and good heat, Conner Threepwood defeated Remmy Honeyman in 24:51 by two falls to one after winning the first, with the final fall happening by submission with a Stretch Plum. RATING: 49

 

ATTENDANCE: 79

OVERALL RATING: 46

[rnoble59]

JUST YOU AND ME

 

Frank and I were working through one of our weekly meetings via video conferencing. “Do you think it’s time we start working in more tag team matches?” I asked.

 

“I think that would work well now. We’ve established most all of the workers and begun to show some possible rivalries and alliances,” Frank stated. “It’s as good a time as any.”

 

“We do have Jackpot and Jake who have teamed in PSW. I think they’re the ‘go-to’ guys to build the division around,” I said. “I’m not sure where to go after that.”

 

“Nate & Tyrone have worked together in MAW as well. They're a strong team, but we have a lot of possible pairings,” Frank replied. “We might try Kip and Josh together. They are fairly similar in the ring and might match up well with Jackpot & Jake in a possible championship bout,” he said.

 

“I can see that working.” I thought for a moment. “Maybe The Kid and Masked Stranger. I think they would compliment each other in the ring style wise.”

 

“Yes," Frank said, “that would be a good pairing. I think we’d need another solid heel team to compete with Jackpot and Jake though,” he added. “Maybe Nelson and Ozzie?”

 

“Could they play off the other’s ego or would it end up being too much of a power trip and they implode?” I asked. “It would make for a great story, but it’s one we’ve seen before in the business.”

 

“True. What about Ozzie and Quentin? We’ve kind of already laid some groundwork for that during Destiny,” Frank suggested. “Nelson seems more like someone to push for the single’s title.”

 

I thought about it. I liked the idea. “Yes, younger wrestler in a mentored type relationship with a veteran who is becoming one of our major stars. That will push Quentin up the ladder as well,” I noted.

 

“Something that we looked at from the start with Quentin,” Frank added. “I know he’s one of the guys you felt strongly about pushing. I’m onboard with that one.”

 

“Alright. Why don’t you go ahead and start working with the guys on it and I’ll get to work trying to get that damned cage fabricated and a venue to put it in,” I offered.

 

“Sounds like a plan, boss. I’m sure some of the guys already have some ideas of who they’d like to team with,” Frank said. “We’ll figure out some good pairings.” We shut of our video feeds and I sat to think about it for a while. It was time for some tag team action although I wasn’t sure how many teams we could actually put together. Some of the younger guys were still a bit green in the ring. I decided to let Frank work on it and see where it goes. I have faith he’ll make some solid decisions.

 

Meanwhile, I decided to call the guy who had made our championship belt to get pricing on a pair of tag team belts. If we were going to do this, we needed to make it worthwhile. A tag championship is the only way to do that.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s MAYHEM

 

The band is set up and playing some blues music. A few of the crowd are dancing but most are just sitting around talking, listening to the music, and waiting for the matches to begin. I’m in the office wondering if having the live music is making a difference or not.

 

Frank popped his head in the door. “We need to change the opening bit. Queen has laryngitis and Mercutio isn’t comfortable trying to carry the interview.”

 

“That’s our only tag match tonight, right,” I asked. Frank nodded in the affirmative. “We’ve started with Garry a couple of times and need something different.” I thought about it for a minute.

 

“What about Jackpot and Jake?” Frank suggested. “Next to Nelson and Ozzie they are our best talkers. Plus, we’re carrying a little heat with Jackpot and you.”

 

“See if they’ll do it. They both have matches tonight. We can ask them something about how they approach singles matches versus tag matches or something. I’m sure Jackpot and I can get the crowd worked up.” I winked at Frank and he nodded and left to find the two wrestlers. I took a drink of water and then stepped out of the office to hear the final notes from the band. Many of the fans applauded but it was not a rousing appreciation of the music in any event. The band began putting their equipment away and their manager came over to me.

 

“We appreciate the gig, Mr. Nelson,” he said as he shook my hand.

 

“I’m not sure the fans got into it very much,” I offered. “Sorry about that.”

 

“Hey, it puts food on the table for the guys and myself. A couple of people have come over to the merch table and bought a few shirts and CD’s, so it’s all good.” He went back to the band and they soon had packed up all their equipment on their way.

 

“Merch table?” I thought to myself. The guys had just been selling personal items after the shows. If we set up a table and get someone to run it…the bell rang to draw the crowd’s attention and I began walking to the ring. Frank was already in the ring when I got there and he nodded, letting me know Jackpot and Jake were going to join us.

 

“Hello, folks,” I began, “and welcome to Cleveland Championship Wrestling’s Mayhem! I hope you enjoyed the music.” Some people applauded; others were dismissive. Maybe the music wasn’t a good idea?

 

“We’ve got a lot going on tonight, including Connor Threepwood making his first defense of the CCW Great Lakes Championship, but first we’d like to bring out a couple of guys you both know and love.”

 

Frank took the mic and stopped for a moment to let the crowd think about who might be coming to the ring. “You saw them team up last week in an excellent match, please welcome…” Frank paused, letting the fans think that Josh Jacob and Kip Keenan might be coming out, “Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol, the team known as Rich and Famous!”

 

The boos and jeers were loud and continuous as the two men pushed through the curtain and walked to the ring. They had smug looks on their faces, which only made the crowd yell louder at them. They stepped into the ring and waved to the crowd with big grins on their faces, which did nothing to quiet the noise. Each of them shook hands with Frank and then Jackpot looked my way.

 

“That’s right. Just sit in your little corner and keep your mouth shut,” he instructed. I just crossed my arms and stood my ground. Jackpot glared at me but began talking to Frank. “Thanks for having us out, Frank. It’s been a busy few weeks for Jake and I after our big win at Destiny.”

 

“Yeah,” Jake added, “we’ve been answering calls from Hollywood movie producers ever since asking us when we’re taking our show on the road.” The crowd booed and yelled. “We just keep telling them that they have to wait their turn.” Both men laughed.

 

Frank took control of the mic once again. “At Destiny you worked together, but tonight each of you are fighting in singles matches. How does your approach differ between the two?” Frank asked.

 

“I never think too much about it,” Idol replied. “I just go out and win; it’s what I do.”

 

“Can’t say that I disagree with my partner,” Jordan confirmed. “We just get into the ring, win our matches, make money, and then go home. Best job in the world, man!” He high-fived Idol and they both laughed.

 

“What about when you lose?” I asked. The crowd got a little silent because they know Jackpot and I were usually at odds.

 

Indeed, Jordan looked at me in anger. “What?” he yelled, “What the hell did you say?”

 

“I said,” stepped forward boldly, “what do you do when you lose?” Jordan looked hot now. He stepped up to face me down. We all could see Idol talking quietly to him, trying to get him to back down and just leave the ring. Jordan gave a signal that he was alright and nodded his head in agreement. He took a step away then turned quickly and threw a punch at me. I tried to get my hands up in time to stop it but he hit and I went down, writhing in pain. Then he and Idol left the ring, hands held high in victory as the crowd reigned down a flood of boos and jeers.

 

Frank bent over to me and to see if I was alright. He didn’t know Jackpot and I had planned this for our next encounter so I pulled my hands up to my face and winked at him to let him know I was okay. I played it up as best I could. Jordan had pulled the punch perfectly and I had only been tapped on the side of my head away from the audience. Frank helped me up and out of the ring and the matches began. ANGLE RATING: 38

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Nate DeMarcus and Tyrone Gray defeated Mercutio Sleep and Quentin Queen in 13:55 when Tyrone Gray pinned Quentin Queen with a Tumbleweed Splash. RATING: 41

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Riley McManus defeated No Mercy Michaels in 9:37 by pinfall with a Slingshot Suplex. RATING: 38

 

Riley McManus is being attacked by No Mercy Michaels when Roger Monteiro runs in to drive off Michaels and save McManus from a beatdown. ANGLE RATING: 20

 

I played up the attack by Jordan as I went to the ring for the next interview. The Architect was on his way out as I climbed the three steps into the ring. “Please welcome my guest at this time, The Architect,” I said loudly, then held my hand to the side of my head where the alleged injury was.

 

The Architect came to me and smiled. He took the mic from me and smiled. “Got your clock rung pretty good, eh boss man? Maybe that’ll teach you to shut your hole!” The crowd began yelling even louder. “Shut up!” The Architect yelled. “I’ve got stuff to say.” He waited almost a minute before the crowd quieted down enough for him to continue. “Unlike other people around this place, I know how to get things done without beating up somebody in a suit.” He looked at me and shook his head. “I’ll tell ya, boss man, I’ve seen you look a lot better, but if you don’t give me what I want, you’re gonna look a lot worse!” He got right into my face as he finished the sentence.

 

Then he stepped back and continued, a bit quieter. “I’ll give you due respect, boss; you’re still standing here after getting clocked by Jackpot Jordan, but if you don’t want another, from me, here’s the deal: I win tonight and I get the next shot at the belt at Revolution in July.”

 

I looked at him and acted like I was thinking about it. That was the que for him to get back in my face. He rushed in and yelled, “Or I could finish up what Jackpot started earlier!”

 

I pushed lightly on his chest and signaled for the mic. “Okay, you win tonight and you get the title show at Revolution,” I said gingerly. He nodded his head in approval and left the ring. I stood taller and stepped to the middle of the ring. “Hey, Architect!” I yelled just as he was opening the curtain to the locker room. “You lose and you don’t get another shot at the title for a year!” The crowd went nuts with cheers and applause. The architect glared at me and stepped angrily behind the curtain. ANGLE RATING: 33

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, The Architect defeated Miller Fforde in 11:41 by submission with a Blueprint after blatantly cheating. RATING: 42

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Kip Keenan defeated Jake Idol in 13:44 by pinfall with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex. RATING: 41

 

Jackpot Jordan comes out to the ring again and grabs a microphone. The boos have already begun. “Y’all miss me?” he asked sarcastically. The jeers and yells increase. “Josh Jacobs. Didn’t me and my partner dispose of you and your weak-ass partner Kip Keenan at the Destiny show? You must be a glutton for punishment, my man. Why would you want to face me again so soon? Have you been practicing? Did you eat all your vitamins and all the good proteins so now you feel strong like a big boy?” The crowd is as loud as ever. “Good luck with all that, slick. You’re no match for me, and we all know it!” Jordan tosses the mic down and awaits his opponent. ANGLE RATING: 42

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Josh Jacobs defeated Jackpot Jordan in 13:02 when Jackpot Jordan got disqualified after going into an attacking rage. RATING: 37

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Acid II defeated Captain Fantastic in 11:40 by pinfall with an Acid Rain Bomb. RATING: 44

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Conner Threepwood defeated Garry the Entertainer in 21:07 by two straight falls, with the final fall happening by submission with a Stretch Plum. Conner Threepwood makes defense number one of the CCW Great Lakes Championship title. RATING 40

 

Nelson Callum and Ozzie Goldstein come out from the locker room and proceed to the ring. One of the ring crew hands Goldstein the mic and they begin ranting about their match with Remmy Honeyman and Masked Stranger. “What does a person have to do to earn some respect around here,” Goldstein asks. “You’re looking at two of the biggest and best wrestlers in the world today, and we’re stuck in a match with a has-been and never-was.”

 

Callum takes the mic and continues. “You know, we should be on a much bigger stage than this. Cleveland? Really? You all should feel lucky just to be able to see the two of us in singles matches let alone as a tag team.” The crowd isn’t quieting down. “You all don’t deserve the two of us. Come on, Ozzie, let’s blow this popcorn stand.” He throws down the mic and the two begin leaving the ring. Suddenly, Remmy Honeyman and Masked Stranger come through the curtain with a referee in tow and rush to the ring. ANGLE RATING: 40

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Ozzie Goldstein and Nelson Callum defeated Masked Stranger and Remmy Honeyman in 17:08 when Ozzie Goldstein pinned Masked Stranger with a Golden Shower. RATING 51

 

ATTENDANCE: 79

OVERALL RATING: 44

 

Frank and I met to talk about the show after everyone had left the building. “The live band didn’t seem to make a difference, although the people who were there for the wrestling seemed to enjoy it,” I sighed.

 

“Ya know, we might not be quite big enough to draw in extra people with just a local band,” Frank added. “If it’s not doing what we expected, it’s not like we’re going to be any worse off without it.”

 

“Agreed. Let’s put it on the back burner for now. Maybe it’s something to consider for our FanFest show?”

 

“Maybe,” Frank said, “still a lot of time to work on it.” He paused. “What was that with Jackpot?” he asked, a smile on his face.

 

“Something I’ve been think about lately. I thought I’d try it just to see if it would catch fire with the fans,” I replied.

 

“It seemed to, but I wouldn’t do that stuff too often. Mistakes can be made. You think football is a game if inches, try wrestling,” Frank said. He was happy about the spot but concerned that I hadn’t had enough work with the nuances of taking stunt bumps.

 

“Yeah, it’s not an ongoing, every show thing. Here and there to get some heat on some guy, that’s it” I said. “I’ll let you know next time though; in case something does go wrong.” We said our goodbyes and left the building, another successful show under our belts.

[rnoble59]

BITCH BETTER HAVE MY MONEY

 

I opened the letter from ASCAP first. I didn’t know what ASCAP was, though it seemed like I should. As I read the letter, my eyes grew wide. “Fifteen thousand dollars!” I yelled. Thankfully, no one else was in the building. I slammed the letter down on my desk. I was in total shock. We had just been fined $15,000 by ASCAP for using unlicensed music. “Shit! It must have been the band,” I said to no one.

 

Another letter was from Broadcast Music Inc. I felt this was quickly going from bad to worse. I tore open the envelop and quickly darted my eyes through everything to find a dollar sign. I found it much too quickly. My head dropped. Another $10,000!

 

We had been doing everything so right and so well to this point. Now this. The company had the money, since we’d been doing pretty well with our sponsorships, but this was really going to put a crimp on some of our plans. I called Frank as he was scouting some young talent around New Jersey and New York.

 

“Twenty-five grand?” he asked when I told him of the fines. “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry. It’s something I overlooked and I feel terrible.”

 

“It’s not on you. This was my idea. I should have done a more research.” I felt badly but there wasn’t anything I could really do. “I know we just handed out some raises and hired a couple of young guys, and I’m not going to take any of that back, but we really have to watch things over the next couple of months to make sure we make a profit.”

 

“Agreed. If you feel you need to cut back my salary for a couple of months, go ahead. We can make it up later,” Frank said.

 

“I appreciate the offer, Frank, but we’re good. You’ve earned that raise; probably more deserving than a few of the guys in the locker room,” I said. “No, we’ll keep moving forward. It’s a big bump, but we’ll get over it. iF anything we can just keep the shows at 2 hours to save some money.” I felt a lot calmer about the whole affair after talking with Frank.

 

“Okay, I’ve got a couple of tryouts to get to,” Frank said. "If you need anything else, just call."

 

“Sounds good. Be safe, buddy. See you soon.” The local band thing was definitely off the schedule going forward.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s ALL OUT WAR

 

 

As I sat in the office, double checking our financials from the previous month, I was happy to see that we had made a profit. It wasn’t as much as some of the previous months, but with the raises for the guys and adding time to the shows, it all seemed to be in line. We could always reduce the time for the shows if we needed to add some cash to the coffers, but I felt we were doing alright for the time being. We just needed to bring more fans in.

 

Things were tough all over for the wrestling business, especially for the smaller companies. Economically, things were in a downtrend throughout most of the U.S. and watching wrestling just didn’t seem like a popular option for many people, at least around Cleveland. We were consistently bringing in around 80 fans a show, but PSW were consistently selling out their shows at 1000 people. They weren’t located that far away and were more well established, but that difference in fan attendance made me wonder if we didn’t need to change something about what we were doing. Maybe tonight would be different?

 

Frank was busy working backstage with the guys finalizing their spots and how the matches should go. This was going to be an interesting night for us. Several of the matches were tag team bouts but our main event was going to be a 4x4 match. I’ve seen many of them before and they can sometimes be a little too much for the fans to keep up with, but we’ve been working with the wrestlers and the rest of the staff on how to keep things moving forward without making the match into a free-for-all. I heard the bell ring to get the attention of the fans and wrestlers so I left the office and went to the ring to get tonight’s show started.

 

 

Frank left the locker room area about the same time as I left the office and we both entered the ring. “Welcome to All Out War. Tonight we’re less focused on the singles matches and will give you several tag-team matches,” I said.

 

“Plus,” Frank added, “our main event will feature and 8-man match with Acid II and CCW Champion Connor Threepwood joining forces with Rich & Famous to go against DeMarcus & Gray and the Can-Am Connection, Josh Jacobs and Kip Keenan!” The crowd applauded and yelled quite a bit. It sounded like they were looking forward to that match. “But before we get to any of the wrestling tonight, we’d like to bring out one of our newest young talents that we recently signed. Please give a warm Cleveland welcome to Prime Time Jack Pryde!” Frank held his hand toward the locker room and Pryde pushed through the curtain.

 

The young man walked to the ring with his head held high and a serious look on his face. Much of the crowd weren’t sure what to make of him. He had a certain air of arrogance as he walked past the applauding fans, a slight smirk on his face, his eyes hidden under a pair of dark sunglasses.

Pryde stepped into the ring and took a quick look around the crowd. He lowered his glasses a bit, looking down his nose at the people. He shook his head and moved his glasses back where they had been.

 

“Jack Pryde,” I began, “welcome to Cleveland.” The crowd applauded and yelled at the mention of their city but Pryde seemed unamused.

 

“What’s so special about Cleveland?” he yelled, “Besides the fact that Prime Time is here now?” the crowd began giving him the thumbs-down and booing. “I’ve been here before; wasn’t anything special then, isn’t anything special now!”

 

“What was it in your life that made you want to become a professional wrestler?” I asked.

 

He looked at me and gave an evil grin. “It started when I was in grade school when I beat up one of the older kids who tried to steal my lunch money.” He laughed. “After that, I just started beating up other kids for their lunch money. It was a pretty sweet racket,” he grinned.

 

“But you can’t just go around beating people up for no reason,” I said.

 

“Why the hell not?” he asked. “Especially when you’re around a bunch of pussies like they have here in Cleveland?” I pulled the mic away and started to say something else but the crowd’s yelling was too loud.

 

Frank took the mic. “Tonight will be your first time in front of the Cleveland fans. What should they expect from you?” he asked.

 

“Expect to see the best you’ve every seen. Tonight, Cleveland, it’s going to be Prime Time!” With that he held his arms up in a victory pose and then left the ring. Frank and I did the same as the first two competitors came to the ring. ANGLE RATING: 35

 

In a bout that had sub-par wrestling and non-existent crowd heat, Zippy Deverell defeated Jerry Pepper in 12:26 by pinfall with a Spinning Bulldog. RATING: 20

 

In a bout that had decent wrestling but didn't have much heat, Garry the Entertainer defeated Prime Time Jack Pryde in 10:02 by pinfall with a Pants Pull Sunset Flip. RATING: 30

 

Frank came to the ring for an interview. “What did you think of Prime Time?” he asked. The crowd booed though a few did applaud. “The kids got a future,” he said. Frank cleared his throat and continued. Please welcome to the ring, Hammer Hadley and James Diaz!”

 

The two young wrestlers come out to the ring, glaring at the crowd who are booing and giving them the thumbs-down. Several fans give them other hand gestures and Hadley threatens to backhand the fan, who steps back in fear.

 

“Welcome Hammer and James. You seem to have built up quite the following so far here in Cleveland,” Frank smiled.

 

“No accounting for some people’s lack of taste,” replied Hadley.

 

“Or lack of intelligence,” added Diaz.

 

“What can you tell me about your tag team opponents tonight, Riley McManus and Clutch McKane?” Frank questioned.

 

“They have similar names?” Hadley responded.

 

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Is it St. Patty’s Day or something? Diaz smirked. “Maybe we should change our names?”

 

“Eye,” Hadley said, trying to use an Irish accent. “I now be called Hammer McHadley,” he said sarcastically.

 

“And I be known as Jimmie McDiaz,” Diaz scoffed in his own faux-Irish accent. The two young men laughed at their small joke, but the crowd didn’t appreciate the humor at all. More boos and yells filled the room. “Let me tell ya, Frank; those two bozos don’t stand a chance against the power of Hammer Hadley and James Diaz. They’re going down one…two…three…right here in the middle of this ring.” RATING: 24

 

In a bout that had decent wrestling but didn't have much heat, Clutch McKane and Riley McManus defeated Hammer Hadley and James Diaz in 11:07 when Riley McManus pinned Hammer Hadley with a Slingshot Suplex. RATING: 31

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, The Architect defeated Masked Stranger in 20:23 by submission with a Blueprint. RATING: 45

 

Frank interviews The Machine, who talk about Coleman and Fforde. ANGLE RATING: 35

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Miller Fforde and Nathan Coleman defeated The Machine in 20:15 when Miller Fforde pinned Ozzie Goldstein with a Fforde Flip Face Crusher. ANGLE RATING: 37

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Captain Fantastic defeated Mercutio Sleep and Xavier Reckless in 13:17 when Captain Fantastic pinned Mercutio Sleep with a Fantasm. RATING: 42

 

I came out to the ring for my interview with. “So far, so good, eh?” I asked with a smile. The crowd applauded in agreement, though there were a few boos in the mix. Please welcome my guest at this time, Roger Monteiro.”

 

A good amount of applause filled the room as Monteiro walked to the ring, He held his arms out and high-fived fans on either side of the aisle as he walked past. He climbed in the ring and shook my hand, a smile on his face. “Roger, you seem to have a lot of fans here tonight,” I said.

 

“And I appreciate each and every one of them giving me support,” he said as he waved to the fans. They cheered and applauded even more.

 

“You’re teaming up with Remmy Honeyman tonight to go against No Mercy Michaels and Nelson Callum. What do you think of your opponents?” I asked.

 

“They’re both just bullies,” Monteiro replied. “I’ve seen their kind throughout my life. The only thing they understand is forcing themselves upon others to get what they want; they don’t work for anything, they just take.” The crowd booed and seemed to be in agreement with Monteiro’s assessment.

 

“You and No Mercy Michaels seem to be having some issues lately, as do Callum and Honeyman. How does that play in to this match?”

 

“There’s a lot of dislike from one side but the other side has a lot of hate. My people try not to hate, it is an ugly term and an ugly emotion. We don’t hate what we don’t understand’ we try to understand it so that we might continue to live on in harmony upon Mother Earth. My partner may not see things that way, and I know our opponents don’t see things that way, but sometimes to resolve our differences we must make a stand. Tonight, Remmy and I make our stand.” Monteiro raised his hand to the crowd and left the ring. ANGLE RATING: 30

 

As Monteiro walked back toward the locker room, Nelson Callum emerged from behind the curtain. They looked at each other as the passed, but nothing else happened. Callum entered the ring to a room full of boos and other jeers. “Ladies and gentlemen, Nelson…”

 

He ripped the mic from my hand. “They know who I am,” he yelled, “Now shut up and let me talk!” The crowd got louder, if that was even possible. “So, our little Native American boy doesn’t believe in hate, huh?” he asked rhetorically. “Well, after tonight, he’s going to because I believe he’s going to hate what Nelson and Michaels are going to do to him and that schmuck Honeyman!” He stalked back and forth in the ring, apparently seething in anger. “I’ll tell you what, chief, you go ahead and make your ‘stand’ tonight, or try to,” Callum continued, “because if you can actually stand after we’re finished with you, I’ll be surprised!” Callum tossed the mic at me and jumped out of the ring, power walking to the curtain while glaring at the booing fans. ANGLE RATING: 42

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Nelson Callum and No Mercy Michaels defeated Remmy Honeyman and Roger Monteiro in 22:01 when Nelson Callum submitted Roger Monteiro with a Honey Trap. RATING: 46

 

Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol walk nonchalantly to the ring and pic up a couple of mics. “Tell me, Jake, what is it we’re doing again tonight?” Jordan asked.

 

“We have a match of some kind. Let me think.” Idol pauses as the fans shout boos and other various unflattering comments. “Wait, we’re beating up DeMarcus and Gray and Joshie & Kippie.”

 

“Again?” Jordan asked. “Don’t those guys ever get tired of us whipping their asses?” Jordan asked with a grin.

 

“I guess not,” Idol replied. “But honestly, do we ever get tired of whipping their asses?”

 

“Nope!” both men said in unison. They laughed as they exited the ring and went back to the locker room area. The whole time the crowd was booing and yelling. ANGLE RATING: 40

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Acid II, Conner Threepwood and Rich and Famous defeated DeMarcus & Gray and Can-Am Connection in 23:32 when Conner Threepwood submitted Kip Keenan with a Stretch Plum. RATING: 44

 

ATTENDANCE: 79

OVERALL RATING: 43

 

“How do we build up some attendance?” I asked Frank as we each sat in the office with a beer after the show.

 

“It’s a tough time for the wrestling business,” he replied. “I don’t know that there’s any one thing we can do; it’s probably a list of things we could try, though nothing is guaranteed.”

 

“I was afraid you’d say something like that,” I responded. “Have you heard anything from some of the other small-time promotions? Are they trying anything new or different to bring fans in?”

 

“Not really. PSW seems to be doing alright for themselves. They have a strong following in the area.” He took a drink of his beer. “The other small ones, like us, are kind of in the same boat. The big boys swoop in and steal all the really good talent and leave everyone with slim pickings.”

 

“Do you think it’s our overall product that’s the problem? I mean, I think we can offer a variety of things during a show, but do the fans want something more specific?” I was really wondering if going to a more “hardcore” kind of style would help. I detested that idea since to me, that’s just barroom brawling and not wrestling, but we were, after all, a business and needed to make money in order to grow.

 

“No,” Frank began, “I don’t think the product is the problem. Nor do I think our presentation of the shows is the problem.” He paused for a few seconds. “I’ve seen this kind of thing before. It comes and goes. There are almost always peaks and valleys in business ventures, especially wrestling.” He paused to take another drink. “Think of it like this: if a restaurant chain has a sudden scandal, whatever that may be, it will likely affect a lot of the chain rather than just the restaurants in a certain area. Wrestling is like that; if a couple of promotions aren’t doing things right, it can affect the fans everywhere.”

 

“So, if the “Big 3” are becoming stale and boring or doing things that fans don’t like…” I commented.

 

“It trickles down, somewhat, to everyone else,” Frank stated. “Sometimes the smaller companies try too much and change things that don’t need to be changed. Then there are bigger problems,” Frank said as he finished his beer and looked at me. “My opinion is that we should look at bringing in the biggest name possible that we can afford. Shake things up for a bit. We don’t even have to keep him long-term; maybe just through the end of the year, but bring in somebody different.”

 

“Our roster seems pretty heel-oriented right now,” I added. “A top-notch face might do us good.”

 

“And remember, a top-notch face here doesn’t need to be a face anywhere else. Most guys like to reinvent themselves from time to time and experiment with new ideas. Getting someone who isn’t necessarily seen elsewhere as a face might play in to our plans well.”

 

I nodded in agreement and drank down the rest of my beer. “Let’s make a short list of possibilities and talk about it in a week or so,” I said excitedly. “I’d really like to get our attendance up about 100 by the end of the year.”

 

Frank stood and stretched his arms. “It’s been a long day. I’m heading home for a few days but I already have a couple of thoughts on who to talk to.” He walked to the door and turned. “Are you opposed to paying for travel costs?” he inquired.

 

“Right now, we need to do whatever we need to do,” I responded. He nodded and left. I walked around the building, shutting off lights, and making sure everyone was gone. I had some research to do, but not tonight. It could wait until tomorrow. I yawned deeply. Or the next day.

[rnoble59]

AS GOOD AS I ONCE WAS

 

Frank came into the office for our meeting and was surprised to see we had a guest. “Hey Ozzie, what’s up?”

 

Ozzie Goldstein smiled. “Hiya Frank. I had an idea I shared with the boss after I heard you were looking to maybe hire a bigger name. He asked me to come and share it with you…brainstorm it a bit.”

 

Frank sat down. “I’m intrigued,” he said. “Let’s hear it.” I sat behind my desk and waited. I’d heard the idea briefly, but wanted to hear how it was presented to Frank and myself in greater detail.

 

“So, the quick backstory is when I was just coming into the business, like most young kids then, I had a lot of time on my hands. I worked out in the gym and with other guys in the ring, but a large part of learning the business came from watching matches on TV and getting out to the occasional live show.”

 

“I hope you didn’t watch any of my matches,” Frank said. “Only thing I’d teach you how to do is get beat up and pinned.” We laughed.

 

“You weren’t that bad, Frank,” Ozzie smiled, “and I did see some of your matches, but one of the guys I really looked up to and tried to style some of my game around was one of the old DAVE superstars, Chris Caulfield. I know the whole premise in the company was wild, violent, hardcore style matches, but Caulfield always seemed to have a different vibe around him. He’d could throw down with anybody and just when you thought some big bruiser had him beat, he’d pull some move or trick out and turn the tide. As a young wrestler, not yet understanding the business, he was the ultimate wrestler for me.”

 

“I can’t argue with you,” Frank said.

 

“Me neither,” I added. “I’ve watched hours of his matches, both in DAVE and after he moved to USPW. He’s one of those rare guys at the time who could work about anything anywhere with anyone and come out a star.” Frank and Ozzie nodded their heads in agreement.

 

“So,” Ozzie smiled, “hire him. Give him a final run in Cleveland before he hangs up the boots for good.” I looked to Frank. He was thinking about the idea and a smile was slowly coming to his lips. “Here’s the kicker,” Ozzie continued, “pair him with Nathan as a tag team, give them the inaugural CCW Tag Team Championship and let them run with it for 6 months…9 months…a year…whatever. Just give them the tag belts and let them, and the fans, have some fun.”

 

“I’m on board,” I said. “You had me the first time you mentioned the idea of hiring Caulfield. Adding in a run as tag champs with Nathan is icing.”

 

“Plus, think of the benefits of having both Nathan and Chris in the locker room with the younger guys. Think of the knowledge between them and then them sharing that with your guys.” Ozzie seemed pretty excited about the idea. I think he was kind of “fan-boyish” over the thought of seeing one of his wrestling idols on a regular basis.

 

“Has anyone called Chris and talked to him yet?” Frank questioned. “Do we know if he’s even willing to do it? And how much is it going to cost?”

 

“Well, Frank,” I began, “that’s where you and your silver-tongue come into play. He’s still in your neck of the woods.”

 

“And you’re both DAVE alumni,” Ozzie added.

 

“Give him a call and see if he will meet up with us to talk,” I suggested. “Worst he’ll say is ‘no’.”

 

“Okay, will do. I’ll give him a call and get back to you then you can work out a meeting time and place where we can iron out all the details.”

 

“It’s a wrap,” I said, slapping the desk lightly in excitement. We all stood to leave the office and attend to other business when Ozzie spoke again.

 

“I’d like to ask one thing,” he said.

 

“What’s that?” I inquired.

 

“I’d like for Quentin and I to lose to them for the belts.” I looked to Frank and he looked to me.

 

“Will Quentin go for it?” I asked. “I don’t want him to feel a lot of pressure from us to do this.”

 

“Naw, the kid’ll be fine with it. Maybe we could meet for a rematch and win the title or something? I don’t know, whatever you decide is fine, I was just offering to take the loss in order to move the story.”

 

Frank patted Ozzie on the back and said, “I’ll back you on it. I have a little pull with the boss.” We all laughed as we exited the office. It was a good day in the CCW Gym.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s REVOLUTION 2020

 

Frank, Nathan, Chris, and myself sat in the office late in the afternoon before the show. We were going over last-minute details of Nathan’s match with Ozzie and how Chris will make his debut. I was somewhat in awe of the massive amount of wrestling experience that surrounded me. 90 years combined in the ring and backstage. Just listening to these guys talk and they way they held themselves impressed me. I agreed totally with Ozzie’s assessment when he brought the idea up of hiring Chris: the vast wealth of knowledge these men carried with them could only benefit our locker room.

 

“We’re all good with the spot after the match?" Frank asked. Both Chris and Nathan nodded their heads in agreement.

 

“Just so you know, I’m no spring chicken,” Chris said. “If you’re expecting me to run to the ring, it ain’t gonna happen. Not unless some aged bourbon is involved.” We all laughed.

 

“Milk the moment for all it’s worth,” I said. “I just want to see the faces in the audience when you come out from behind the curtain.”

 

“About that,” Nathan remarked, “what if we had Chris in disguise over here by the office, talking to you and Frank? No one would expect someone to be coming into the ring from here except one of you.”

 

“Still not running,” quipped Chris.

 

I looked to Frank. “It could work,” I said. “Maybe if he were wearing a hoodie then he could remove it when he got in the ring. That would probably work just as well.”

 

“Either way would be fine,” Frank chimed in. “Whatever you feel most comfortable with, Chris.”

 

Caulfield scratched his chin a bit as he thought. “I think coming from the office area would be good. It’s a bit more of a surprise for the fans. They expect people to be coming through the curtain, but not from the other side of the room.” He paused for a few seconds. “How far in are we doing the bit?” he asked.

 

“We can fit it in just about anywhere,” Frank said. “We haven’t finalized the match order yet.”

 

“I we do it early on we can get Ozzie and Quentin to make a challenge later on and we can come out to accept it,” Nathan suggested.

 

They all looked to me for final approval. “Hey, I’m the newbie in all of this. You guys just tell me what you’re going to do and where I need to be.” I was still in awe of this group of wrestling brains. They all laughed. Chris and Nathan went off to the ring to work out final details of the match with Ozzie and Quentin as Frank and I figured out the schedule for the show.

 

 

Frank was going to open the show this time with an interview of Ozzie Goldstein. Sure, we were giving Ozzie a little more time in front of the crowd, but we felt he deserved a little push after his recent suggestions. If they panned out, we’d be in much better shape going forward. Frank raised the mic to his mouth. “Welcome to the Revolution!” he exclaimed. “Please welcome to the ring, Ozzie Goldstein!”

 

Ozzie strutted to the ring in his usual demeanor. He played the arrogant “Pretty Boy Ozzie” to perfection. The crowd yelled and booed their disapproval of the man, but he paid little attention to that. He climbed into the ring and shook Frank’s hand. “Would you like to say anything about your upcoming match with Nathan Coleman?” Frank questioned.

 

Ozzie took the mic and looked around the room. The crowd was still making all kinds of noise, but Goldstein ignored it all. “Not much to say, Frank,” he began. “I don’t know what you guys are thinking putting me, one of the best young studs in your stable, against and old gelding like Coleman. He should be put out to pasture where he can’t hurt himself.” Goldstein laughed. “You might as well bring the ref out and raise my hand right now,” he remarked, giving the mic back to Frank. Goldstein held his hand high in the air as if already victorious in the match.

 

“I guess we should bring out your opponent and let you two settle this right now,” Frank said. “Coming to the ring, ‘The Pioneer,’ Nathan Coleman!” Coleman walked through the curtain to a rousing amount of applause and cheers. Goldstein watched him as he walked toward the ring, high-fiving some of the fans and shaking hands with one of the regulars at ringside. Frank exited the ring and came back to the office area where I was standing and talking to Chris. ANGLE RATING: 37

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Nathan Coleman defeated Ozzie Goldstein in 10:27 by pinfall with a Pioneer Twist. RATING: 36

 

After the match, Goldstein goes into a rage, pushing the ref out of the way and beating down Coleman. Quentin Queen pushes through the curtain and runs to the ring to join in. Coleman is on the mat taking quite a beating when Caulfield walks quickly toward the ring from the office area. Several fans see the man and point him out, but no one knows who it is in the hoodie. Caulfield climbs into the ring, removes the hoodie, and reveals his identity. He then begins brawling with Goldstein and Queen, quickly gaining the upper hand. He knocks Queen out of the ring with a clothesline and then looks toward Goldstein, who quickly drops to the mat and rolls out of the ring. Caulfield helps Coleman up from the mat and raises his hand in victory. The crowd loves it! ANGLE RATING: 34

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Acid II defeated Riley McManus in 12:50 by pinfall with an Acid Rain Bomb. RATING: 40

 

Jake Idol came to the ring with Jack Pryde, grabbed a microphone and said, “My regular partner will be busy tonight beating the crap out of Kip Keenan…again, so I thought I’d give one of the new kids a chance at greatness. Think you can handle the pressure, kid?” Idol holds the mic up to Pryde, who shows and evil grin.

 

“You know it, Jake Idol! I mean, look at who they have us matched up against’ Honeyman and Reilly Patton? My grandma could beat up those two losers.”

 

Idol moved the mic away. “I’ve seen his grandma,” he said, “the kid ain’t lyin’.”

 

Pryde began again, “Didn’t Honeyman used to be a wrestler or something?”

 

“I think so,” answered Idol.

 

“I don’t know what the hell he’s supposed to be now,” Pryde sneered. “And that punk Reilly Patton. They should deport his lame ass back to Canada just on general principles.” The crowd booed loud enough that Pryde had to stop for a few seconds. “Shut up!” he yelled, making the noise even louder.

 

Idol moved the mic away and spoke. “Don’t waste your time, kid. These fans aren’t worth it,” he stated. “Let’s go back and relax before our match.” The two men left the ring and returned to the locker room. ANGLE RATING: 37

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Nelson Callum defeated Captain Fantastic in 14:04 by submission with a Honey Trap. RATING: 50

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Kip Keenan defeated Jackpot Jordan in 17:11 by pinfall with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex. RATING: 41

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Jake Idol and Prime Time Jack Pryde defeated Remmy Honeyman and Reilly Patton in 11:37 when Prime Time Jack Pryde pinned Reilly Patton with a PrydeFall. RATING: 39

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Conner Threepwood defeated The Architect in 24:47 by two straight falls, with the final fall happening by submission with a Stretch Plum. Conner Threepwood makes defense number two of the CCW Great Lakes Championship title. RATING: 48

 

As Threepwood and The Architect make their way back to the locker room, Ozzie Goldstein and Quentin Queen come storming through the curtain and rush to the ring. The crowd booed as the walked, but neither man seemed to notice. “I need somebody in here that has some pull around this joint!” Goldstein yelled. I took the queue and walked to the ring. I faced up with Goldstein and Queen. “We need you to make a match with Caulfield and Coleman!” he demanded. “The sooner, the better!”

 

I looked at him and held my hand out for the mic. “I can do that,” I calmly stated, “but maybe we should ask the other two out here to work out the details?” With that, Caulfield and Coleman stepped through the curtain and walked to the ring. The boos turned to cheers as soon as the two men stepped through the curtain. They entered the ring, looking ready to do battle immediately. Coleman had his head wrapped in a bandage, apparently because of the beating he took earlier in the evening.

 

“What do you two think?” I asked, looking at Caulfield and Coleman. “Would you like a match with these two?”

 

Caulfield and Coleman whispered to one another and then Caulfield stepped forward. “Not only would we like a match, we’d like one next month at Caged Heat!” The crowd cheered and yelled so loudly that I had to wait almost a full minute before responding. During that time, Goldstein and Queen seemed a little distressed about the match stipulation.

 

“Done!” I exclaimed. “Goldstein and Queen versus Caulfield and Coleman at Caged Fury in a Ladder in a Cage Match!” Caulfield and Coleman stood tall in the center of the ring as the crowd cheered and applauded. The other two men slinked back into a corner in conversation. They nodded their heads in some sort of agreement and exited the ring. ANGLE RATING: 44

 

ATTENDANCE: 78

OVERALL RATING: 45

[rnoble59]

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">LOW BUDGET</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

As was my usual schedule around the first day of the month, I was going over the previous month’s financials.</p><p> </p><p>

As I had thought would be the case, Chris’s salary gave us a fairly big hit, but not enough that we lost money overall. We made just under $1500, which was only about $900 less than the month of June. Sponsorship money had dropped nearly $600 since earlier in the year, but this was something we were seeing all through the industry. Wrestling was going through one of those downtrends Frank had talked about a few months ago and there was nothing that we alone could do to change that.</p><p> </p><p>

I made a few phone calls to some of the sponsors who had been with us from the beginning and expressed concern over the down-trending wrestling business and how their sponsorship could be affected. They all assured me that they were going to continue to sponsor <strong>Cleveland Championship Wrestling</strong> for as long as they felt comfortable doing so. Most mentioned that the economy in the area was picking up and that in turn helped them to continue to sponsor our company. That made me feel a bit better about the situation.</p><p> </p><p>

Since opening the doors to <strong>CCW</strong>, I had become well-aquatinted with <em>PSW</em> owner Mitch Naess and <em>MAW</em> owner Sam Keith. In recent conversations with both men, they echoed the overall low trend that professional wrestling was experiencing currently. Naess had said that he had yet to see much affect on fan support but that it’s something that could happen if the down-trend continues for a significant amount of time. Keith felt the same way, but he added that both their companies were using WrestleWorld to broadcast their events to a larger audience. The income from those contracts kept them sound financially.</p><p> </p><p>

I called Frank, who was spending some time at home working on his wife’s “honey-do” list. “Hey Frank, I’ve been trying to figure out how to bring a little more money in during this wrestling business slump,” I said. “Are we anywhere close to being able to get involved with WrestleWorld?”</p><p> </p><p>

“Sadly, no,” he replied solemnly. “We don’t have enough popularity anywhere to have them even want to speak with us. There are other aspects too, like raising production values and broadcast quality, but there’s really no use in plugging money into those things if we’re not broadcasting.”</p><p> </p><p>

“Could we possibly offer more shows? Do you think that might help?” I asked, kind of thinking out loud.</p><p> </p><p>

“We could,” he replied, “but it’s just like adding more time to a current show: everything you do to take up more time adds to the production costs, even if we aren’t broadcasting. Staff, wrestlers, electricity, water, garbage; all of that adds on to the costs.”</p><p> </p><p>

“Okay, I hear ya,” I said. “I’m going to run some numbers and see if I can’t some up with a plan. My final option is to give guys time off or release them, and I really don’t want to do that, unless you think it might be necessary?”</p><p> </p><p>

“Are we staying in the black financially?” Frank questioned.</p><p> </p><p>

“Yes,” I answered. “Things are okay there.”</p><p> </p><p>

“Then it’s not a <em>need to do</em> thing to release anyone,” he stated. “These slumps can go on for a year or more, so you might have to address it in the future, but for now I’d just let it play out a bit longer and see where it goes.”</p><p> </p><p>

“Thanks, Frank. You’ve been a big help,” I said.</p><p> </p><p>

“Not a problem. That’s what I’m here for…unless you ask the wife. <em>She</em> might have a different idea,” he laughed. We said our goodbyes and went about our business, he cleaning out the rain gutters preparing for fall and winter and me running numbers on show costs.</p>

[rnoble59]

CCW’s CAGED HEAT

 

“What do you think about this place?” Frank asked as we watched the cage being set up at the Cleveland Coliseum.

 

“It’s huge,” I replied. “What’s this place hold at full capacity, twenty-five or thirty thousand?”

 

“Sounds about right,” Frank said as he looked around the building. “I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we’re here with CCW.”

 

“Not as long as we keep running this Caged Heat show,” I laughed. “This monstrosity definitely won’t fit in our little hole in the wall.”

 

We continued watching the final touches being put on the cage and then went to get ready for our busy night.

 

 

Frank and I entered the ring through the cage door. The whole thing was kind of chilling in a way. While Frank may have been inside a caged ring, I never had, and I felt a bit anxious about the whole ordeal. “Welcome to CCW’s Cage Heat!” I exclaimed. “Tonight we showcase this thing,” I said, giving a broad wave of my had toward the cage.

 

“This isn’t your regular caged battle,” Frank added. He pointed toward the ladder resting in one corner. “The only way someone wins is to either climb the cage or use the ladder to escape that hatch, way up there.” He pointed to the hatch in the ceiling of the cage. The crowd let out some “oooohs” as they looked at the ceiling of the 13-foot ring.

 

“Two of the first people who will be fighting in the cage tonight are going to join us now. Please welcome Masked Stranger and Captain Fantastic.” Stranger and Fantastic stepped out from behind our locker room curtain (some things just never change) and walked to the ring amidst a small but loud contingent of fans applauding and cheering.

 

“Tell us, Masked Stranger,” I began, “you’ve been in cage matches before. How does your strategy differ in this kind of match?”

 

“Well, R.A., ring ropes stretch when you hit them, a steel cage doesn’t. I try to keep my opponent near the center of the ring to avoid meeting up with that unforgiving cage.”

 

“As for you, Captain Fantastic, have you ever competed in a cage before?” Frank questioned. The crowd cheered and applauded. Fantastic was definitely growing to be one of the fan favorites.

 

“I’ve only seen matches like this, Frank,” the young wrestler replied. “It does limit a bit of my normal game though; one wrong move or a slip on the ropes can send you into the cage. I imagine it’s not too good a feeling.” He shrugged his shoulders and some of the people chuckled.

 

“Let’s get this show started, shall we?” I exclaimed. “Their opponents tonight, the team of Mercutio Sleep and ‘Prime Time’ Jack Pryde!” Frank and I crawled out through the cage door as Sleep and Pryde walked to the ring. ANGLE RATING: 33

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Captain Fantastic and Masked Stranger defeated Mercutio Sleep and Prime Time Jack Pryde in 11:57 when Captain Fantastic escaped the cage. RATING: 39

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Miller Fforde defeated Acid II in a Steel Cage match in 12:45 when Miller Fforde escaped the cage. RATING: 43

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Riley McManus defeated No Mercy Michaels in a Steel Cage match in 12:45 when Riley McManus escaped the cage. RATING: 37

 

Frank walked out to the ring from the locker room area with his interviewees right behind: Rich & Famous. Jeers and boos filled the air as Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol grinned and soaked in the noise. The two wrestlers looked around at and tested the cage a few times before joining Frank in the center of the ring. “Tonight the two of you will face DeMarcus & Gray in this very ring,” Frank stated. “What are your thoughts on the match?”

 

Idol took the mic first. “Well, I’ll tell ya, Frank, we’ve already faced DumbMarcus and Gay several times,” he smirked. “I don’t remember what happened.” He turned to Jackpot Jordan. “Do you remember what happened?” he asked.

 

“We beat ‘em,” Jordan said matter-of-factly.

 

“We beat ‘em,” Idol replied. “Nothing different tonight. We’ll beat ‘em.”

 

Jordan took the mic. “And we’ll continue to beat those two buffoons and anyone else you toss in our way. We’re the team to beat around here, and there’s nobody in this company that can do it!” Jordan and Idol held their hands up, eliciting even more boos and yells from the crowd, then they went back to the locker room. ANGLE RATING: 37

 

In a decent match, Roger Monteiro defeated Xavier Reckless in a Steel Cage match in 12:19 when Roger Monteiro escaped the cage. RATING: 34

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Rich & Famous defeated DeMarcus & Gray in 17:05 when Jake Idol escaped the cage. RATING: 44

 

As Jake waited at ringside for the referee to unlock the cage door and release his partner, I came out of the locker room with a couple of security guards. The crowd reacted with shocked gasps, although a few were applauding for no reason other than they knew who I was. I had them escort Idol to the locker room while I went to referee Bret Graveson and told him to give me the keys. He did so and then I began carefully climbing the cage. The crowd was unsure what was going on.

 

Inside the cage, Jackpot Jordan watched with interest for a few seconds, then realized he was alone in the ring with DeMarcus and Gray. He rushed up the ring ropes and tried to climb the cage himself. The two wrestlers in the ring with him stopped him by pulling him down to the mat.

 

I kept climbing as Jordan fought the other two wrestlers in the ring. By the time I had reached the top of the cage and began walking toward the escape hatch, Jordan had managed to floor both opponents and was placing the ladder so he could climb to the hatch. I pulled out a padlock and short length of chain and locked the hatch, smiling at the irate Jordan below.

 

As I climbed back down the side of the cage, DeMarcus and Gray had gained the upper hand on Jordan and were in the process of hitting him with everything they could, including, at one point, the ladder. Jordan fell to the middle of the ring as the other two wrestlers stood over him.

 

I reached the floor of the arena and then went to the cage door. I unlocked it and stepped inside. Jordan appeared to be out as he lay unmoving on the mat. I grabbed a mic as I entered the ring. I got down on the mat and looked at Jordan. He wasn’t knocked out, just playing. I got very close to his face and said, “Don’t screw with the boss.” Then DeMarcus, Gray, and I left the ring to an outpouring of cheers from the crowd. Soon after, Idol appeared from the locker room to help his partner out of the ring. ANGLE RATING: 33

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, The Architect defeated Josh Jacobs in a Steel Cage match in 16:45 when The Architect escaped the cage. RATING: 42

 

Total Domination come to the ring, get a microphone and rant about The Machine. Caulfield does most of the talking, while Coleman is made to look as intimidating as possible. ANGLE RATING: 45

 

In a superb match, Total Domination defeated The Machine in 12:57 when Chris Caulfield escaped the cage. RATING: 40

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Conner Threepwood defeated Kip Keenan in a Steel Cage match in 21:14 when Conner Threepwood escaped the cage. Conner Threepwood makes defense number three of the CCW Great Lakes Championship title. RATING: 51

 

Nelson "The Main Event" Callum comes out of the locker room area and marches to the ring. Boos and other various yells are heard throughout the building. With so few fans here, there are actually some echoes making the noise seem a bit odd. Callum grabs a microphone and climbs into the ring. “Remmy Honeyman!” he shouts, “tonight is the night! You and me! Right in the middle of this ring!” The crowd shows their dislike by yelling even louder.

 

Callum waits for a few seconds. “Honeyman, you screwed me out of my shot at the CCW Great Lakes Championship back in January. Everybody saw it! Now is you time to pay.” He waited as the crowd noise swelled up once again. “You learn tonight what it’s like having ‘The Main Event’ as an enemy. Get your chicken shi…Get your ass out here! NOW!” Callum tosses the mic out of the ring and awaits Honeyman’s entrance. ANGLE RATING: 52

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and good heat, Nelson "The Main Event" Callum defeated Remmy Honeyman in a Steel Cage match in 20:25 when Nelson "The Main Event" Callum escaped the cage. RATING: 52

ATTENDANCE: 72

OVERALL RATING: 48

 

 

After the fans had left and the wrestlers had cleaned up, we had them assemble around the ring for a brief meeting. Frank and I didn’t stand in the ring this time, we just stood in front of them on the floor, wanting to be more on their level. They were the stars after all, not Frank or myself.

 

“I can say with all honestly,” I began, “that this night is the proudest I have felt since beginning CCW.” Most of the guys applauded. “The show you all put on…I’m just totally blown away.” Again, applause from the wrestlers and crew. A few whooped in appreciation.

 

Frank held up a hand to quiet them down. “You all know I’ve been around forever,” he said, “and some of us even longer than that.” He looked to Chris and Nathan who laughed. “This is one of the best shows I have been a part of since my DAVE days. I applaud you all,” he said as he did indeed begin applauding.

 

“Jackpot,” I smiled, “I can’t see this as being the end of our heat, but if it is, you did help put a crowning touch on the whole thing. Thank you for being a great sport and an integral part of this team.” I nodded my head toward him and he waved his hand and grinned. “And Quentin, you too. You didn’t have to go along with the rivalry with Chris and Nathan, but you did. That was a huge part of tonight’s success.” I stopped and smiled. “Thank you!” I applauded both Jackpot and Quentin.

 

“And Kip; that new move? Just wild. I heard almost all of the fans talking about it as they left tonight,” added Frank.

 

The guys cheered a little and applauded. “I think the best matches of the evening were Nelson’s match with Remmy and Connor’s championship match with Kip. Both seemed to be fan favorites and I can’t lie; they were on the top of my list for the night as well. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.” The guys applauded more and shook hands and patted others on the back.

 

After the noise died down, Nelson asked, “Does this mean I get a title shot soon,” he grinned. Most of the guys laughed.

 

“Indeed it does, my friend, indeed it does,” I said with a smile. “Again, thank you to all of you for tonight. It’s a tough time right now in the wrestling business but you all showed these people tonight that what we are trying to do here. Now, go home and get some rest. You all deserve it.” With that, everyone packed up their bags and equipment and began leaving the building.

[rnoble59]

BABY WHAT A BIG SURPRISE

 

The financials were a bit low last month, although we still managed to bring in a positive cash flow. I was currently working on a marketing strategy but things were moving at a snail’s pace due to the lowered interest in smaller wrestling companies.

 

I had recently read that both TCW and SWF were looking to increase their rosters since they had been doing so well. “Must be nice,” I thought. I was just praying that neither company came trying to steal away any of our roster. We had just gotten most of the guys familiarized with the fans and setup well in their gimmicks and storylines. Of course, we had plans to toss a few new storylines into the mix at FanFest in a couple of weeks, but no one knew what I was planning.

 

Keeping a secret from Frank was tough, especially when I had asked him and the guys to let me know when they were planning something different. I was going to use “boss’s prerogative” for my little surprise and hope that no one would be too frustrated or put off by it. Besides, I felt this was the time to shake things up a bit and see if we couldn’t draw in a few more bodies to the shows.

 

FanFest was going to be a show built around fan interaction. Besides the fact that we would have some merchandise that was specific to the show, we had given the fans ballots over the past couple of months to vote for the matches they’d most like to see. While some might be repeats of more recent bouts, it’s all going to be about the fans for this one…and my surprise.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s FANFEST 2020

 

“The fans really came through on these ballots,” I said to Frank as we worked through the card the afternoon of the show.

 

“Yes, I can’t fault any of these suggestions,” he replied. “All of them should give us solid matches.”

 

“There’s one other thing I want to do tonight,” I said. Frank looked at me inquisitively. “The crowd is getting in for free.”

 

Frank’s eyes grew wide. “You sure that’s a good idea?” he questioned. “I know things are tough right now, but can you afford to let everyone in for free? Maybe just lower the ticket prices a bit instead.”

 

“No, we can afford it. Besides, if not for the fans, where would we be?” I smiled and looked at our worksheet for the night’s card. “I think we can repay their loyalty by giving them a freebee just this once.”

 

“If you think we can do it, then I’m fine with the idea,” he said, looking over some notes he had jotted down about the show. “We’re a bit short overall on time. Do you want to fill with something or just let it run a bit shorter than usual?” He flipped a couple of pages on his notepad and quickly jotted down something.

 

“I’ll figure something out,” I smiled, trying to conceal the fact that I did have something planned to cap off the show. “We’ll open the doors about an hour early and have some the guys around to sign autographs and such,” I noted, “I’m sure most will be amicable to that. We’ll make due with whoever is around.”

 

“Sounds good,” Frank said, closing his notepad. “I need to go to the printer and pick up the programs,” he said as he stood up. “I hope 100 is enough.”

 

“I hope it’s not,” I answered. He winked at me and left the office.

 

My phone buzzed with an alert of a text message. “I’m here, give me a time to be there.”

 

“8:45. Text me when you arrive and I’ll tell you where to meet me,” I typed.

 

“Will do,” the anonymous texter replied. “See you then.”

 

 

I entered the ring in front a larger crowd than normal. My guess was there were around 100 people in attendance, and that made me happy. “Today, it’s been all about you: the fans,” I started. “Earlier, many of you had the opportunity to meet some of our wrestlers, take pictures, get autographs, and just get to hang out with other CCW fans. I’ve had a great time meeting and talking to many of you, but now, it’s time to get things started with the show.”

 

The Architect pushed the curtain aside and walked toward the ring. Most of the fans booed as he strolled past them. He climbed into the ring and held out his hand for the mic. “I’ll be brief,” he began. The crowd booed but also applauded, irking Architect a bit. “Tonight I face some bozo by the name of Riley McMuffin, or something like that.” He looked toward me. “Honestly, where do you find these guys? And why on earth do I have to waste my time with them?" He paused, not really expecting an answer, which let the crowd begin their yelling once again.

 

“This guy doesn’t stand a chance in the ring against me. I am The Architect. Do you all know what architects do?” More boos and jeers from the crowd. “Not only do we build things, we also dismantle things…and that’s exactly what I will do to McManus tonight!” He handed the mic back to me and stormed out of the ring, stopping to yell at one overly loud fan near ringside. ANGLE RATING: 38

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Masked Stranger defeated Mercutio Sleep in 10:27 by submission with a Cobra Clutch. RATING: 36

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, The Architect defeated Riley McManus in 14:15 by submission with a Blueprint. RATING: 35

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Roger Monteiro defeated No Mercy Michaels in an I Quit match in 12:29 by submission. RATING: 30

 

Honest Frank interviews Generation Xtreme, who talk about DeMarcus & Gray. ANGLE RATING: 27

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, DeMarcus & Gray defeated Generation Xtreme in 11:57 when Nate DeMarcus pinned James Diaz with a Rocket Launcher. RATING: 34

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Captain Fantastic defeated Acid II, Garry the Entertainer and Xavier Reckless in 12:11 when Captain Fantastic pinned Xavier Reckless with a Fantasm. RATING: 39

 

Nelson "The Main Event" Callum walks to the ring with a smug look on his face. The fans yell and boo loudly but he ignores most of them, only stopping to admire a beautiful young lady in the crowd. He takes the mic and steps into the ring. “Miller Fforde,” he began, “for some unknown reason, these people think that you will be a fitting opponent for me tonight.”

 

He paces back-and-forth in the ring, oblivious to the boos coming from the larger than usual crowd. “There’s only one person back in the locker room who is worthy of meeting me in the ring, and that person just happens to have the CCW Great Lakes Championship around his waist.” More pacing and more yelling from the crowd. “But tonight, I’m stuck having to beat you, Miller Fforde. I warn you though,” he said with a sneer, “you’d best bring your ‘A’ game, because tonight, you’re facing ‘The Main Event!” He lays the mic down and waits for Fforde to come to the ring. ANGLE RATING: 53

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and good heat, Nelson "The Main Event" Callum defeated Miller Fforde in 12:54 by submission with a Honey Trap. RATING: 51

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Rich & Famous defeated Can-Am Connection in 21:12 by two straight falls, with the final fall happening when Jake Idol pinned Kip Keenan with The House Always Wins. RATING: 42

 

“Coming up next we have another tag team match as voted by you; the fans,” I stated as I stepped into the ring. “This one, however, will have a slight addition.” I paused briefly. “This will be a rematch from last month’s Caged Heat show with Total Domination, Chris Caulfield and Nathan Coleman…” Plenty of whoops and cheers from the crowd. “…going against The Machine, Ozzie Goldstein and Quentin Queen.” The boos began immediately as I said the team’s name. I looked to the curtain in front of the locker room. “Frank, if you will.”

 

Frank came through the curtain holding up our newly fashioned CCW Great Lakes Tag Team Championship belts. “This contest will be the best two-out-of-three falls for the tag team belts!” The crowd was cheering and yelling so loudly I decided to not even try to introduce the teams. Frank gave the belts to referee Bret Graveson and he and I went back to the locker room area together. ANGLE RATING: 35

 

In a superb match, Total Domination defeated The Machine in a Two Out Of Three Falls match in 21:14 by two straight falls, with the final fall happening when Chris Caulfield pinned Ozzie Goldstein with a Danger Drop. Total Domination win the CCW Great Lakes Tag Team Championship titles. RATING: 41

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and good heat, Conner Threepwood defeated Remmy Honeyman in 24:22 by two falls to one after losing the first, with the final fall happening by submission with a Stretch Plum. Conner Threepwood makes defense number four of the CCW Great Lakes Championship title. RATING: 50

 

As Threepwood left Honeyman laying in the center of the ring, Nelson Callum reappeared through the curtain. He and Threepwood exchanged threatening looks as Callum marched toward the ring.

 

Honeyman was just getting to his feet with the help of referee Jez McArthur when Callum attacked. A clothesline sent Honeyman back to the mat. McArthur attempted to pull Callum away but was pushed to the mat himself. Callum began kicking Honeyman in the gut and stomping on his back.

 

Suddenly, the office door flew open and a figure began walking quickly to the ring. Most of the fans recognized the man even though he was a bit further away than anyone coming out of the locker room. The screams and cheers seemed much louder than the 100 or so people who were making them. It was Frankie Perez, well-known throughout the country as mainly a “West Coast” wrestler. A chant of "Frankie! Frankie!" began and soon sounded louder than any noise we had heard before in this building.

 

Perez jumped into the ring and the look on Callum’s face was much like the look on many of the fan’s faces: one of total shock. Perez took the opportunity to grab Callum and give him a couple of forearm smashes that sent him into a corner. A few more well-placed punches had Callum reeling and as Perez brought him to the middle of the ring, apparently to hit his “Kill Switch” finisher. "Drop and roll out," Perez whispered in Callum's ear. Callum did just that as he dropped to the mat and rolled out of the ring. Perez helped Honeyman up and then raised both their arms in victory. The crowd cheered for several minutes before the two men made their way back to the locker room. ANGLE RATING: 35

 

ATTENDANCE: 103

OVERALL RATING: 46

 

As the floor crew helped everyone out of the building, the rest of the crew and staff were in the locker room area. There was quite a buzz of conversation about the appearance of Perez as I had managed to keep it a secret from everyone in the company.

 

“I know this was a big surprise for everyone,” I stated, “and I don’t often make a move like this without getting direct input from Frank, but I just felt that bringing in another quality guy would boost our fan base and create some new ideas for us to explore.”

 

Frank stood by me, still looking somewhat shocked. “I don’t know how you pulled it off,” he said. “I agree it brings another level to the creative side of things, and to the in-ring aspect. I’m excited to see where things go moving forward.”

 

I motioned to Perez to step forward with us. “Maybe you can explain a bit about why you came all the way out to Cleveland from California,” I said.

 

“Well,” Perez began, “I don’t think that anyone else knows that R.A. and I have met before; several times. A couple of media dinners for Los Angeles radio and television stations, a couple of promotional things for other wrestling promotions, and even an event similar to this in Southern California.” Perez paused. “R.A. is just like all those people out around the ring tonight. He’s a fan. Knowing that, and seeing what he has been trying to do here in Cleveland with all of you, I thought it was worth it to make the trip.”

 

As Frankie was speaking to the locker room full of wrestlers, Frank pulled me aside and quietly asked, “Can we afford this? I mean, he’s got to have a decent contract to be appearing here…plus the travel expenses. Can we afford it at this time?”

 

I looked at Frank. “Can we afford not to do it? We’re keeping our heads above water, but just barely. We’re going to lose a little money this month, which I expected, but the wrestling business has bottomed out. Smaller companies like us need to be getting as aggressive as possible to keep things moving.”

 

Frank thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “I see where you’re coming from and I do agree. I just think if you’re using me as a consultant along with everything else, we should talk things like this over a bit; get some pros and cons figured out so if things go sideways, we have ideas on what to do.”

 

“I totally agree,” I said. I put my hand on his shoulder and added, “I trust you and your opinions. This was just something that kind of sprung up in my head and I decided to go for it. Worse case scenario was that Frankie would be here as a ‘one night only’ star.”

 

A large swell of laughter came from the wrestlers so Frank and I went back to hang out with them. We must have talked for an hour before everyone started gathering their things and heading out for the night. I felt that FanFest 2020 was a success, even though we would lose money on the show. The fans were happy, the wrestlers were happy, Frank was happy, and so was I.

[rnoble59]

I WON’T BACK DOWN

 

Seeing that we could draw 100 fans to the FanFest show made me feel great. The downside of that was that I had to drop ticket prices significantly. The wrestling business in the United States was, for lack of a better term, in a serious recession. The overall economy was slumping as well and that created an almost “perfect storm” where wrestling was suffering.

 

I spent a great deal of time the first week of October reading online blogs and listening to various podcasts about the wrestling industry. It was apparent that others saw what was happening, and most of them agreed that it would eventually pass and things would begin returning to normal. Frank had said this to me before and I did agree with the sentiment, however, how long was it going to take? No one could answer that question with any certainty.

 

Several of the bloggers and podcasters offered ideas on steps companies could be taking to begin lifting the business back up, but those were focused mostly on the larger companies. The “Big Three” (USPS, SWF, and TCW) had the star power and financial stability to keep doing whatever they had been doing and see little to no effect to their standings. In fact, the three companies had actually made money over the past several months as the wrestling business overall saw a significant loss in popularity.

 

The smaller companies were beginning to struggle and we were no exception. CCW had made money overall since the earlier fines for not licensing our music use, but there were others around that weren’t doing so well. FCW was having trouble in Puerto Rico and even though RIPW was in the red, there was no reason to think that parent company SWF would let them go bankrupt. Nearer to Cleveland, MAW, NYCW, and PSW all appeared to be doing alright, but numbers were down across the board for live shows. They were keeping their heads above water mostly from broadcast revenues, something we didn't have.

 

Over the past month I had been running numbers on various ideas on how to build revenue. The new marketing and merchandise system was being put in place, but we couldn’t force too much money into that while trying to pay everyone and keep our shows running smoothly.

 

I had decided that beginning in January, we would try another show format in addition to our monthly "big" show. We’d probably have to manipulate our running time for everything, but I felt that running a couple more shows each month would bring in the profit we needed to move forward. I just wanted to talk to Frank and get his input before making a final decision, but that could wait until after our upcoming Hell Night show.

 

CCW had made it through a tough nine months and I wasn’t about to give up now.

[rnoble59]

CCW’s HELL NIGHT

 

Frank had called earlier and had to deal with a family emergency, which lead the booking for the night up to Nathan and myself, and possibly Chris. I had planned to give both men the night off (honestly, a financial move with regards to Chris) but if I needed to use them both, I would.

 

The thought of lowering ticket prices entered my mind and I thought seriously about it for some time. I understood that the economy was down a bit but I also understood how that affected everyone involved in CCW. I knew we could count on drawing about 70-75 people to a show with our current prices. That number could rise a bit by lowering admission prices, but we usually didn’t make up the difference with just concessions and merch. I needed to stand form on our ticket prices for now so that the company could continue to function properly.

 

We had worked out several solid matches for the evening and I was looking forward to seeing them myself. There was a knock on the door which startled me. It was far too early to get things started. Jackpot Jordan peeked in and said, “Got a minute?”

 

“Sure,” I said happily, “what’s on your mind?”

 

“Jake and I have been talking with Frankie a bit,” he stated. “We were thinking about trying a tag team match with Frankie and someone else, maybe Monteiro.”

 

I thought about it for a second. “I could see that being a great match,” I replied. I thought for a few seconds and then added, “What about someone a little more experienced than Roger? Maybe Remmy?”

 

Jordan smiled. “I like that,” he said. I think that Frankie and Remmy have actually been doing some work in the ring over the past couple of weeks.”

 

“You have my blessing if they want to do it. We have a couple of spots we could fit it into tonight if they’re willing,” I said. Jordan nodded and left the office.

 

He popped his head back in and added, “Thanks, boss,” then returned to the locker room. Nathan entered a few minutes later and told me that the match with Jackpot and Jake going against Frankie and Remmy was set just before the Callum/Kennan match. I thanked him and began looking at last month’s paperwork.

 

I was lost in thought, looking over the September financials, when the knock on the door to start the show did come. I left the office and headed to the ring. It looked like a normal-sized crowd. There were a lot of familiar faces but also a few I didn’t recognize. Maybe FanFest had achieved the goal of bringing in some new fans?

 

 

“Hello everyone. Welcome to CCW’s Hell Night!” The crowd cheered and applauded. “We’ve got what we think is a good show for you tonight, but first I’d like to invite one of the competitors in our first match, Garry the Entertainers!” Some old-time circus music began playing (royalty-free, thank you) and Garry stepped out from behind the locker room curtain. He smiled and juggled some tennis balls as he walked to the ring amid the cheers and applause of the crowd.

 

After stepping into the ring, Garry began a few tricks while juggling, until suddenly the curtain was thrown back and Ozzie Goldstein stepped out, purposefully walking toward the ring. Garry kept on juggling as Goldstein stepped into the ring and stood in front of Garry. Goldstein prompted me for the mic, which I handed him. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he screamed at Garry.

 

Garry just smiled and kept juggling. Frustrated, Goldstein tried to grab at the tennis balls as Garry kept juggling. The crowd began laughing as each time Goldstein attempted to grab a tennis ball, Garry would change his rhythm and Goldstein would pull his hand away empty.

 

This went on for a minute or so with Goldstein getting more and more angry as the bit progressed. Garry just kept on smiling and juggling, much to the delight of the crowd. When Goldstein finally did grab one of the tennis balls, he threw it into the crowd. “How do you like that, bozo?” he laughed, looking smugly at Garry.

 

Garry reached into his trunks and moved his hand around a bit, then pulled out another tennis ball and began juggling again. Goldstein tossed the mic to me and then punched Garry in the face. The ref ran to the ring and the match began. ANGLE RATING: 38

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Ozzie Goldstein defeated Garry the Entertainer in 10:23 by pinfall with a Golden Shower. RATING: 38

 

In a decent match, Nate DeMarcus defeated James Diaz in 12:59 by pinfall with a Snap Tackle. RATING: 35

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Masked Stranger defeated Captain Fantastic in 10:05 by submission with a Cobra Clutch. RATING: 42

 

Masked Stranger and Captain Fantastic shook hands and left the ring together as The Architect heads to the ring, shaking his head in disgust. He gets a mic and steps into the ring. “I’m glad that love fest is over,” he said disgustedly. “Nothing worse than a couple of goodie-two-shoes stinking up my ring.” He moved the mic away from his mouth to allow the crowd to elevate their level of jeers and shouts.

 

“I have to fight Miller Fforde tonight…again!” He lowered his head and sighed. “How many times do I have to face the low end of the roster before I get my title shot?” he yelled. “There’s no one in this building with more momentum than me. No one!” The crowd raised their voices once again. “Go ahead, boo,” he said. The crowd reacted with an even louder chorus of boos and jeers. “Soon I’ll be CCW Great Lakes Champion and there won’t be a damned thing any of you can do about it!” He raised his fists in victory and went back to the locker room, boos and yells coming from almost all of the fans. RATING: 37

 

In a decent match, Clutch McKane defeated Prime Time Jack Pryde in 11:46 by pinfall with a Pedal to The Metal. RATING: 24

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Miller Fforde defeated The Architect in 16:49 by pinfall with a Fforde Flip Face Crusher. RATING: 43

 

As I walk out to the ring once again, the crowd begins cheering and applauding. For a split second, I thought it was for me, but my interviewee, Frankie Perez, walked out from behind the curtain at the same time. We both climbed into the ring and I asked, “Frankie, you made a pretty big splash last month here in CCW. What plans do you have for your time here?” The fans cheered loudly as I held the mic in front of Perez, but no sooner had I done that the curtains moved again. The cheers turned to boos immediately as Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol sauntered toward the ring apparently whispering to each other and pointing to Perez.

 

“It looks like Rich and Famous have decided to join us,” I said in a disgusted tone. Jordan looked at me angrily as the two men walked up to the ring, but Perez moved in front of where I was standing to block any possible physical attacks. challenge Perez

 

Jordan held another mic and he smiled. “So, Frankie, we were never properly introduced. My nam,e is Jackpot Jordan” he smirked.

 

Idol took the mic and added, “And I’m Jake Idol. You may have heard of us before; we’re a pretty big deal around here.”

 

“Yeah, we are the team to beat if you want to make a name for yourself in Cleveland,” Jordan added. The two partners high-fived.

 

“That’s funny, I thought that Chris Caulfield and Nathan Coleman were tag champs,” Perez added with a smile. The crowd laughed and cheered. Jordan and Idol were furious and stepped toward Perez, who stood his ground with his fist held up.

 

Jordan smiled and laughed as he and Idol stepped back. “No, that may be the way they do things out on the West Coast,” he said. “Around here, we act like gentlemen.” The crowd booed and began a chant that would likely have been censored on live television.

 

Idol pulled Jordan back a bit and the two whispered amongst themselves for a few seconds. “My partner,” Jordan began, “has a great idea.”

 

Idol took the mic. “Since we’re very giving guys,” he said. The boos grew louder, “We’d like to give you an opportunity.” Idol paused for a moment. “We’d like to challenge you to a tag match tonight; that is, if you can find anyone brave enough to face Rich and Famous in the ring.”

 

The crowd began cheering at the thought of a match. Jordan continued taunting. “If anyone back in the locker room is brave enough, come out here and give ol’ Frankie boy here a partner.” The crowd continued cheering. “Otherwise,” Jordan added, “we’ll just beat the crap out of him ourselves.” He dropped the mic as he and Idol took a menacing step toward Perez.

 

Another voice came over the PA, though not many heard it. Then, it came again, “Hey! I’ll team up with Frankie Perez!” Rich and Famous looked around to see who was talking. The curtain moved and out stepped Remmy Honeyman, mic in hand. “I’ll team up with Frankie and we’ll beat the living hell out of you two jerks!” he said as he rushed to the ring.

 

Rich and Famous quickly bailed out of the ring as the crowd noise rose. Perez and Honeyman shook hands and waved to the crowd for a bit before exiting to the locker room. ANGLE RATING: 38

 

In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Xavier Reckless defeated Tyrone Gray in 12:01 by pinfall with a Slingshot DDT. RATING: 37

 

In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Acid II defeated Roger Monteiro in 13:23 by pinfall with an Acid Rain Bomb. RATING: 41

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Remmy Honeyman and Frankie Perez defeated Rich and Famous in 16:26 when Frankie Perez pinned Jake Idol with a Perfect Parity. RATING: 47

 

Some grand orchestral movement began playing and a deep voice came over the PA system, “It is now time for THE. MAIN. EVENT!” The crowd immediately began booing as Nelson "The Main Event" Callum walks to the ring, microphone in hand. He snubs his nose at several fans along the way, increasing the noise level of the fans.

 

“Once again the fans have come out to support me, Nelson Callum, in my quest for the CCW Great Lakes Championship belt.” The crowd’s loudness level rose once again. “The next opponent to join the ranks of the has-beens and never-weres I've defeated on my road to the title is Kip Keenan, some schmuck who says he’s from Las Vegas but is probably from some stink hole like Cleveland.” So much crowd noise that Callum can’t even speak for a full minute.

 

He smirked and grinned the whole time the audience was making all the noise. “Send this asshat out here now, it’s time for ‘The Main Event’ to get down to business.” Callum handed the mic to a crew member and awaited Keenan’s entrance. ANGLE RATING: 51

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and good heat, Nelson "The Main Event" Callum defeated Kip Keenan in 17:43 by submission with a Honey Trap. RATING: 49

 

In a bout that had superb wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Conner Threepwood defeated Quentin Queen in 21:48 by submission with a Stretch Plum. Conner Threepwood makes defense number five of the CCW Great Lakes Championship title. RATING: 50

 

ATTENDANCE: 77

OVERALL RATING: 48

 

The normal after-show routine was to either go over things in the office with Frank or to meet with the wrestlers and crew and talk. Without Frank being around, I felt it was a good time to spend some time alone in the office and contemplate what had happened over the past several months and try to make a plan for the rest of the year.

 

Our next two shows would be the Triple Threat show in November and Our Final Justice 2020 show to end the year. I felt that the November show was going to be a fun one for us to book and a fun one for the fans to watch. Three-man teams opened up a lot of storytelling opportunities.

 

For Final Justice, I thought it would be interesting to possibly have Threepwood drop the belt and then regain it at next year’s Destiny show. It might be too quick a turn around on that, and there were several of our stars who were deserving of a run as CCW Great Lakes Champion, so I wasn’t quite sure what we’d do with the title.

 

The end-of-year show would probably be a good time to introduce a couple of new storylines and do away with some that were weak or not moving along very well. If we’re going to try and have a couple of extra smaller shows each month, so additional storylines to work in those might be a good idea. I’m sure that Frank and I and the rest of the guys will come up with some fresh ideas in the next few weeks.