The Stars of Tomorrow, Today! [RIPW, C'Verse 2020]

[Historian]

The Stars of Tomorrow, Today!

A Rhode Island Pro Wrestling Diary
by Historian

 

Jean ran his fingers through his graying hair that he still kept long despite his hairline being further up his head than he’d like to admit. His gray eyes watched as Roderick hit the ropes and came launching back towards Royal. Royal was laying horizontal on the mat in a drop-down position so Flack hopped over him and hit the ropes on the other side. Coming ricocheting back towards Royal, Royal’s shoulder greeted Flack. Flack took a big flat back bump.

 

“Stop,” Jean called out and both men stopped. Flack rolled onto his belly and took several deep breaths. Running the ropes was not easy. Especially not running them over and over again.

 

“We do somethin’ wrong?” Flack asked in his Bostonian accent. It was something he was working to correct during promos so that his microphone work wouldn’t be as alienating to people not from the North East.

 

“No,” Jean shook his head and motioned to the other two rookies on the RIPW roster, “You’re up.”

 

Zeke Cromstock grinned big. The six-foot-four inch, three hundred seventy-five pounder had an infectious smile and really had gotten himself over in the locker room with his positive attitude. Jean wished more people had the outlook that Big Zeke had. Zeke rolled underneath the bottom rope. With no fans in the building, he didn’t have to worry about being impressive when he entered, he just had to get in the ring. He was joined by the six-foot-ten-inch Terry Martyn. The two men started working through the same drill.

 

“Hey Jean, you got a second?”

 

Jean turned around. Both of his bosses were there. Jerry and Eric. Sons of the fallen titan. Jean scratched at his face, “Yeah. Of course.”

 

He stood up and motioned with his head for the two men to follow him through the building back to his office. His office wasn’t anything special. It was just a small room with a desk, computer, printer and physical books where he kept copies of the formats from every show with his notes on those shows. Jean sat in his chair and the two Eisens sat opposite him.

 

“This is a surprise,” Jean said slowly, on alert. With their dad gone, Jean wouldn’t be surprised if Jerry and Eric weren’t going to completely clean house to make everything theirs. Jean was not a soldier for either Jerry or Eric, but he also wasn’t loyal to their father. He was a man who had been hired to do a job and he had done the best he could to do the job successfully.

 

“Yeah, we thought we’d come down to talk to you in person,” Jerry said. Jerry was the more diplomatic brother.

 

“Alright,” Jean kept his face emotionless. He was an excellent poker player.

 

“We’re making some changes,” Jerry continued and Jean didn’t sell it, “but don’t worry. Not with you. We think you’re doing a great job. You’ve turned out some great wrestlers. You treat RIPW like pro wrestling graduate school and Eric and I really appreciate that.”

 

Eric nodded and smiled, “We do. You’re kicking ass down here, Jean. That’s why we got you this new building and that’s why starting the beginning of January, you’re getting TV.”

 

Jean held up a hand, “Wait. TV tv? Like, a weekly show?”

 

Eric and Jerry both nodded but Jerry spoke, “Yeah. We met with New Era TV. They want a wrestling program and we want the guys here to get more experience working for the camera. We need more guys to be TV ready and to have some name identity with our fanbase. The only way to accomplish that is for you to have TV. We figure you can tape two episodes at a time so you can do two hours every Wednesday. The show will air Saturday nights.”

 

Jean didn’t say anything. He needed a moment to process so Eric took over for Jerry, “We think this is a great opportunity for you and Wilson. You can really showcase your storytelling ability. Build to shows with one hour a week. It gives guys a chance to work on promos and hit their times for TV. All things that are going to be important going forward as we try to topple Packer.”

 

Eric spit on the floor when he said Packer. Jean didn’t appreciate that but Jean wasn’t a multimillionaire so he swallowed his pride and Eric continued, “We have to build for the future. I’ve got the book now and we’ve GOT to get younger. We can’t keep relying on an aging roster that everyone has seen do everything. We need to get younger stars and we can’t all compete over the same pool of independent workers. That won’t suffice. We have to get our guys here ready for TV. Ready for prime time as Dad would say and we think you’re the guy to get us there. We trust you Jean.”

 

“Well thank you,” Jean replied. He wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t moved. This was a business. He had a job so long as he was useful. So long as he did his job, he had a job. If he started failing, he was sure he would be replaced.

 

“Oh yeah,” Jerry said, “We’re going to be adding a women’s division in SWF. So we might send some women down your way. Don’t be surprised if and when that happens.”

 

“Thanks for the head’s up,” Jean didn’t know how to feel, but if they sent him women he would build the best women’s division he could, “Anything else?”

 

The two Eisens shook their head. Jerry stuck a hand, “Nope. Keep up the good work.”

 

Jean shook Jerry and then Eric’s hand. The Eisens left and Jean sighed. Television? Well, that was going to be more work.

[Historian]

 

RIPW Staff

 

CEO/Promoter and User Character: Mean Jean Cattley

 

Narrative Assistant Booker (Cannon Booker): Wilson Carlisle

 

 

RIPW Champions

RIPW Champion

Forrest Ratzloff, reign began at RIPW Clash of the Titans, Friday Week 2, October 2019

 

Previous Champions

None since Diary Started

 

RIPW Tag Team Champions

The Magic Boys (Newquay Brown and Kingsley Christopher), reign began at RIPW Ultimate Showdown, Friday Week 2, July 2019

 

Previous Champions

None since Diary Started

 

RIPW USA Champion

Bryan "Do It" Jewett (x2), reign began at RIPW SummerClash, Friday Week 2, August 2019

 

Previous Champions

None since Diary Started

 

RIPW March to Victory Winner

Forrest Ratzloff, won the annual tournament at RIPW March to Victory, Friday Week 2, March 2019

 

Previous Winners

None since Diary Started

 

 

 

[Historian]

 

Post Index

This post is to keep track of the posts in the diary. Major narrative posts will be linked here. As will the shows so that if you need to jump to a specific post, you can.

 

Narrative: The Stars of Tomorrow, Today (Opening Narrative)

Show: Northeast Wrestling, Episode #1

Show: Northeast Wrestling, Episode #2

Narrative: Post Show

[Historian]

Rules for the Diary/Diary Set Up

 

This is my first diary attempt since the boards changed over. I've been mulling this over for a while. I think that RIPW is a great breeding ground for stories to tell, specifically narrative stories about the running of a wrestling company. There are some rules that I am going to stick to while playing this game and the world is slightly different.

 

1. I cannot hire anyone. My roster is the roster I have and SWF can sign more guys for me, but I can't. The only exception will be if one of my nonwritten talent leave (specifically Wilson or Smooth C) who I am allowing myself to replace. (Hire local talent for enhancement matches doesn't count either. Gotta have jobbers since I have TV!)
2. I did pre-add the RIPW weekly TV show. It doesn't make sense to me that RIPW does one show a month, so we're doing weekly TV. I will be doing short posts for the TV, the big events will get more write-ups. I also did create the Professor Nero Arena, designed to be the headquarters for the company.
3. I have given TCW, SWF, and EILL small women's divisions. I didn't hire anyone for them, just made it part of their product to see them build women's divisions. It drives me crazy that just USPW and CWA have divisions and I want to see the NA women's wrestling have more movement.
4. I have several companies that I've manually set to debut in February of 2020. This won't affect me directly as I'm playing as RIPW, but it will create a more dynamic world and provide for; hopefully, a fuller world for narrative purposes.

Let's see how running a developmental company goes.

[falling_star]

Historian is back? Let me just hit that follow button up there...

[smw88]

Really like those belts, not sure I've seen them before. Just an FYI the formatting comes out hard to read on dark mode at least on my mobile, although I struggled through 🙂

[Historian]

23 minutes ago, smw88 said:

Really like those belts, not sure I've seen them before. Just an FYI the formatting comes out hard to read on dark mode at least on my mobile, although I struggled through 🙂

I appreciate the heads up. I use the light mode myself, so I'll do the next post using the dark mode to try and make sure it is a little more readable.

[AboardTheArk]

This looks really good, RIPW is one of the few companies I know nothing about. I read a bit of the America At War and No Ordinary Men diaries and so I think this has potential to be excellent.

[Historian]

 

RIPW Northeast Wrestling, Episode #1

Aired SATURDAY WEEK 1, JANUARY 2020

.01 Rating (1,928 viewers), 71 fans in attendance

 

• The first episode of RIPW's Northeast Wrestling Television Show started at the announce desk. Lead announcer Remmington Remus, joined by Smooth C and Curt Meritt, billboarded the show, running down all of the matches fans could look forward to see on this debut episode on New Era TV.  (38)
• The first official match pit Zap Powerson against Roderick Flack. The bigger Powerson controlled the match in what was essentially a squash match designed to showcase Powerson. Zap Powerson defeated Roderick Flack in 2:43 by pinfall with a Press Powerslam. (6)
• We went backstage where Forrest Ratzloff cut a high energy promo about his upcoming clash at Championship Battle with Warwick Good for the RIPW Championship. Ratzloff drove home that Warwick Good may be a bad, bad man but Forrest is The Specimen and is at the top of RIPW until he's ready to give his spot away.  (44)
• Our second match was a tag team match. It was a relatively simple affair with the Sunshine Connection taking on The Rhode Island Scholars. It wasn't anything fancy, just a simple TV match to make sure that Rocky, Drew, and Barron all had a chance to be on TV. The Sunshine Connection defeated The Rhode Island Scholars in 7:01 when Rocky Weatherfield pinned Curt Meritt with an Implant DDT. (17)
• We are back backstage where Willy LaRoux is standing in some sort of kitchen set. He's got a steaming pot in front of him and is stirring it slowly. In his heavy New Orleans drawl, LaRoux says that it's time for the USA Title to come to the cajun. He will smother Bryan like a good etouffee and win his first championship in RIPW. (38)
• Next up, Whole Lotta Marvin took on one-third of Southern Comfort, Hoss Handley. Marvin's had issues with Southern Comfort recently and has promised the cowboys won't keep him down. This was a good back-and-forth brawl with Marvin coming out on top. Whole Lotta Marvin defeated Hoss Handley in 6:51 by pinfall with a Running Powerslam. (21)
• After his win, Marvin hyped up that next week he's going to do the same thing to Samson Sharpe. (48)
• It was Deever's turn to hype up his on going feud with Hellion. He drove home the fact that the two of them have been tied together since they started in RIPW. Their names are tied to each other but it was time for Deever to run through the Hellspawn and take the next step in his career. (36)
• Our main event of the first show was an eight-man tag team match.  On one side was Forrest Ratzlof, Deever Arnold, and the All Night Party. On the other side was Warwick Good, Hellion, and The Magic Boys. This was a wild main event with all eight guys brawling all over the ring and the arena. Wilson Carslile had difficulty keeping control and in the end, Hellion got the win for his team by pinning Stevie Stanley. (30)

 

Overall

34

 

 

[Historian]

41 minutes ago, AboardTheArk said:

This looks really good, RIPW is one of the few companies I know nothing about. I read a bit of the America At War and No Ordinary Men diaries and so I think this has potential to be excellent.

 

I appreciate it. Hopefully I can recapture some magic.

[knkmaster69]

Very excited for this! Love the story of building the future, love the characters in RIPW, and can't wait for more! The new format is so much easier to read so I'm grateful you made the switch!

[Historian]

 

RIPW Northeast Wrestling, Episode #2

Aired SATURDAY WEEK 2, JANUARY 2020

.01 Rating (1,900 viewers), 71 fans in attendance

 

• The second episode of Northeast Wrestling starts with Son of Vengeance squashing Quentin Queen. It was short and Queen, it was just in for the night to do the job, got zero offense in as the big second generation wrestler got the opportunity to showcase his power spots and hit his trademark Skull Krusher -- a Iron Claw Slam.  Son of Vengeance defeated Quentin Queen in 2:05 by pinfall with a Skull Krusher.  (11)
• We go to a pretape with the former Junior Strongman, Zeke Cromstock going through a series of powerlifts. Big Z is a bear of a man and the pretape vignette was clearly just putting over how strong he really is. (31)
• We had the second match in Whole Lotta Marvin's quest to beat all three members of Southern Comfort. This was another brawl with lots of hard hitting offense from two young, big bruisers. Whole Lotta Marvin defeated Samson Sharpe in 7:52 by pinfall with a Running Powerslam.  (27)
• Marvin cut a post match promo hyping that he has beaten two out of three, and now it's time for the Hangman to meet his match. Whitman has bit off more than he can chew and Marvin is about to prove that! (62)
• Hellion is in a real spooky graveyard set up talking about how he is going to drag Deever Arnold straight to hell. (30)
• The Sunshine Connection had another chance to showcase their tag skills, this time against the brother duo of the Balls. This was a standard tag team match that got plenty of TV time. Rocky Weatherfield really was the start of the match. The Sunshine Connection defeated The Wrecking Balls in 10:26 when Rocky Weatherfield pinned Crusher Ball with an Implant DDT. (19)
• Warwick Good was backstage and hyped up his upcoming title match with Forrest. It was a pretty standard heel promo, but it was effective-ish. (28)
• A good six man tag between champions and challengers. The action was all over the place and really was designed to just get to the draw finish when all six men brawled around the ring and the two tags brawled to the back. Forrest Ratzloff and All Night Party drew with Warwick Good and The Magic Boys in 14:11 following a double count out. (25)
• We go off the air with Forrest and Warwick in a staredown, Forrest holding the RIPW belt high above his head. (45)

 

Overall

32

 

 

[Historian]

 

Post Show

A narrative that takes place after the first show taping

 

 

 

Mean Jean pulled the headset off and dropped it onto the table in front of him. It had been a long day. Too long of a day. Really, it had been a long couple of weeks. Ever since the Eisens dropped by to tell Jean that RIPW was getting TV, it had been a whirlwind of getting prepared. Cameras had been brought in – they were using four cameras for RIPW. Two handheld roam cameras and two fixed hardcams. One hard cam was set up on one side of the ring on a platform in the middle of the fans and the other was fixed to the announce desk. It was a relatively simple setup, but Jean still had to learn how to run it. There had been a lot of nights with very little sleep and a lot of test runs. 

 

He reached for the silver Monster Energy can – zero sugar of course – and took a swig. He closed his eyes and took several breaths. All in all, the taping had been successful. They had done two shows and Jean was confident that the two shows would be well received. He and Wilson had set up ways to push the feuds further and build to Championship Battle (that they had moved to Sunday to account for having TV on Saturday night). They’d have to work out making sure they could keep to their Friday schedules in the future by making the show that comes after it a package show. Or blowing off feuds there. Or.. There were a lot of ors. Jean would have to figure that out. This was all new to him.

 

How did you get yourself into this, Jean? He questioned himself. He was only forty-one years of age.  Only forty-one. He'd stopped wrestling six years ago when he was thirty-five. If you turned on SWF, USPW, or TCW television, how many of those guys were the same age as him? He knew SWF had nine guys on the roster his age or older that were still wrestling full time. USPW had twelve.  TCW had twelve. Over thirty guys wrestling full time in major companies that were the same age or older as him. Many of them were a lot more beat up than he was. They had taken bigger bumps or worked in more violent matches. That had never been Jean's style. He was a wrestler. A wrestler's wrestler who built his name for Rip Chord and then Sam Keith as reliable, dependable, solid.

 

Jean took another drink of the Monster as he thought about how many times he had been called solid. It was the kiss of death. Heads of talent relations and bookers who had all told him the same thing, You're a solid hand, but we don't see you as a star. Enforcer Roberts wasn't a star and look at the career he had?

 

Jean shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He was just tired. And bitter. He should have been in the ring with those guys. He still had miles in his tank. He could still go. He could break out the Mean Swing and really show these kids how to be solid. Wouldn't that be something? He thought to himself.

 

"How'd I do out there, boss?

 

Jean looked up from his table and at the two hundred eighty pounds Forrest Ratzloff. 

 

 

The big man from Georgia was covered in sweat. His thick, muscled chest was heaving with breath. He had worked twice tonight and cut a promo. He'd taken bumps and gotten his feud with Warwick Good over. Jean couldn't help but smile.

 

"You did good, kid."

 

Forrest nodded his head and set the RIPW Championship down on the table next to Jean, "Thanks. I felt like I did, but wanted to make sure. This is the first real time I've worked TV."

 

It was Jean's turn to nod. Forrest had gotten to RIPW almost a year after him. He was a big raw-boned, greenhorn then. Jean had worked a lot with Forrest to get him in a position where he could be a lead babyface and could be making the jump to the main roster. He had presence. He had that look. That it factor that you couldn't teach and Jean took a lot of pride in what he had helped make Forrest. Recently, Forrest had been working house show loops on the main roster. He knew Forrest was at the top of the shortlist for callups.

 

"Well, you did good. You hit all of your times. You worked the camera. I'm impressed."

 

Forrest was all smiles, "Thanks, Jean. I really appreciate it." Forrest was a good kid. Not the brightest bulb in the box, but he was professional. He clearly wanted to be on the main roster. He wanted to be a star, but he wasn't a dick about it. He just worked hard in the gym to keep his body right and he took coaching well. Jean wasn't looking forward to when he'd be losing him.

 

"You heard anything about when I might be finishing up?" Forrest asked.

 

"Not yet, kid," Jean had expected this question. Forrest asked it a lot. Actually, after every show. He wanted to know his timeline. Best Jean could give him right now was that he expected it to happen in the next eighteen months. Probably right after Deever and Hellion, who Jean assumed were the next two up.

 

"Okay," Forrest nodded and walked off. He didn't say anything, no goodbyes or anything. He just ambled off and left Jean alone again.

 

 

 

"That was a good show, Jean," Mean Jean's number two, Wilson Carlisle said as he finally came in through the curtain. He was the man in charge of the book -- at least on paper -- but really Jean did a lot of the booking himself. Wilson was the details man. He'd fill in the finer points from the over all sketch Jean wanted and the two made an excellent team. 

 

"Better than we could have hoped for," Jean admitted.

 

"You weren't happy?" Wilson asked.

 

"Could always be better."

 

"It was our first taping."

 

"So the next one should be better," Jean grumbled and Wilson rolled his eyes. He was used to Jean being crotchety. He was forty-one but acted like he had grown up wrestling Rip Chord in Texas on Friday nights.

 

"It will be," Wilson finally said and Jean sighed and stood up. He stretched and let the tight muscles in his back feel some relief.

 

"You want to get something to eat?" Wilson asked and Jean grumbled something about a yes.

 

"We can start planning what comes next," Wilson added.

 

"I already have an idea," Jean finally smiled.

[The Blonde Bomber]

I’m so amped for this from the inside and outside the ring stories you do them great. I’m definitely following this. 
 

“brother duo of the Balls.“ this got me cracking up 😂 

[Historian]

 

RIPW Championship Battle

Sunday Week 2, January 2020

Card for Predictions

 

Main Event

Singles Match

RIPW Championship

"The Bad Man" Warwick Good versus "The Specimen" Forrest Ratzloff (c)

 

Semi Final

Tag team Match

RIPW Tag Team Championship

All Night Party versus The Magic Boys (c)

 

Singles Match

RIPW USA Championship

"Wild" Willy LaRoux versus Bryan "Do It" Jewett (c)

 

Singles Match

Whole Lotta Marvin versus "Hangman" Hank Whitman

 

Tag Team Match

The Sunshine Connection versus Texan Justice

 

Singles Match

"The Rampage" Deever Arnold versus "American Hellspawn" Hellion

 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Zap Powerson & Zeke Cromstock versus The Wrecking Balls versus The Rhode Island Scholars

 

 

[smw88]

Main Event

Singles Match

RIPW Championship

"The Bad Man" Warwick Good versus "The Specimen" Forrest Ratzloff (c)

 

Semi Final

Tag team Match

RIPW Tag Team Championship

All Night Party versus The Magic Boys (c)

 

Singles Match

RIPW USA Championship

"Wild" Willy LaRoux versus Bryan "Do It" Jewett (c)

 

Singles Match

Whole Lotta Marvin versus "Hangman" Hank Whitman

 

Tag Team Match

The Sunshine Connection versus Texan Justice

 

Singles Match

"The Rampage" Deever Arnold versus "American Hellspawn" Hellion

 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Zap Powerson & Zeke Cromstock versus The Wrecking Balls versus The Rhode Island Scholars

[The Blonde Bomber]

Main Event

Singles Match

RIPW Championship

"The Bad Man" Warwick Good versus "The Specimen" Forrest Ratzloff (c)

 

Semi Final

Tag team Match

RIPW Tag Team Championship

All Night Party versus The Magic Boys (c)

 

Singles Match

RIPW USA Championship

"Wild" Willy LaRoux versus Bryan "Do It" Jewett (c)

 

Singles Match

Whole Lotta Marvin versus "Hangman" Hank Whitman

 

Tag Team Match

The Sunshine Connection versus Texan Justice

 

Singles Match

"The Rampage" Deever Arnold versus "American Hellspawn" Hellion

 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Zap Powerson & Zeke Cromstock versus The Wrecking Balls versus The Rhode Island Scholars

[falling_star]

RIPW Championship Battle

Sunday Week 2, January 2020

Card for Predictions

 

Main Event

Singles Match

RIPW Championship

"The Bad Man" Warwick Good versus "The Specimen" Forrest Ratzloff (c)

 

Semi Final

Tag team Match

RIPW Tag Team Championship

All Night Party versus The Magic Boys (c)

 

Singles Match

RIPW USA Championship

"Wild" Willy LaRoux versus Bryan "Do It" Jewett (c)

 

Singles Match

Whole Lotta Marvin versus "Hangman" Hank Whitman

 

Tag Team Match

The Sunshine Connection versus Texan Justice

 

Singles Match

"The Rampage" Deever Arnold versus "American Hellspawn" Hellion

 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Zap Powerson & Zeke Cromstock versus The Wrecking Balls versus The Rhode Island Scholars

[DinoKea]

Main Event

Singles Match

RIPW Championship

"The Specimen" Forrest Ratzloff (c) def. "The Bad Man" Warwick Good

 

Semi Main

Tag team Match

RIPW Tag Team Championship

The Magic Boys (c) def. All Night Party

 

Singles Match

RIPW USA Championship

"Wild" Willy LaRoux def. Bryan "Do It" Jewett (c)

 

Singles Match

Whole Lotta Marvin def. "Hangman" Hank Whitman

 

Tag Team Match

The Sunshine Connection def. Texan Justice

 

Singles Match

"American Hellspawn" Hellion def. "The Rampage" Deever Arnold

 

Opener

Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Zap Powerson & Zeke Cromstock def. The Wrecking Balls and The Rhode Island Scholars

[KyTeran]

Main Event

Singles Match

RIPW Championship

"The Bad Man" Warwick Good versus "The Specimen" Forrest Ratzloff (c)

 

Semi Final

Tag team Match

RIPW Tag Team Championship

All Night Party versus The Magic Boys (c)

 

Singles Match

RIPW USA Championship

"Wild" Willy LaRoux versus Bryan "Do It" Jewett (c)

 

Singles Match

Whole Lotta Marvin versus "Hangman" Hank Whitman

 

Tag Team Match

The Sunshine Connection versus Texan Justice

 

Singles Match

"The Rampage" Deever Arnold versus "American Hellspawn" Hellion

 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Zap Powerson & Zeke Cromstock versus The Wrecking Balls versus The Rhode Island Scholars

 

[Historian]

 

RIPW Championship Battle

Sunday Week 2, January 2020

159 People In Attendance

 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match

 

 

Zap Powerson & Zeke Cromstock versus The Wrecking Balls versus The Rhode Island Scholars

 

 

Championship Battle 2020 started with a lackluster triple threat tag team match. All six men are young workers and let’s be honest, RIPW is here to develop young wrestlers into passable television talents.  The babyface team got beat up by the two heel teams, but managed to eliminate both teams and score the victory, starting the show off on a positive note.

 

In a bout that didn't have much heat and embarrassing wrestling, Zap Powerson and Zeke Cromstock defeated The Wrecking Balls and The Rhode Island Scholars in 9:49; the order of elimination was The Rhode Island Scholars first, and then The Wrecking Balls.

14

 

 

 

The show goes to a video package hyping Deever Arnold and Hellion. We see them each winning the RIPW Championship -- Deever once and Hellion twice (including once over Deever). We see a lot of their interactions over their time in RIPW. The video package is very well done and is structured like this is an era-defining match. The era of Deever and Hellion feels like it's coming to an end with this package.

41

 

 

Singles Match

"The Rampage" Deever Arnold versus "American Hellspawn" Hellion

 

Two of RIPW's pillars locked horns in what was a big step up from the prior match. Deever is turning into a good all-around wrestler -- particularly as a brawler and risk-taker -- which is what he did against Hellion. He took risks. He jumped off the second rope for a lot of elbow strikes and forearms. Whatever he could to keep Hellion off balance. Hellion, to his credit, didn't take any full bumps. He dropped to a knee, but he worked as a big man. As a big monster. Hellion took over and everything he did was simple but impactful. He hit Deever with three Devvolution Bombs to score the victory.

 

In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Hellion defeated Deever Arnold in 8:47 by pinfall with a Devolution Bomb.

35

 

 

 

Hellion stands over Deever as Deever sells the damage from the match. Hellion snarls and looks like a monster standing over a broken victim. 41

 

 

Tag Team Match

The Sunshine Connection versus Texan Justice

 

We went into our second of three tag team matches -- this one between the babyface team of the Sunshine Connection and the heel cowboys that are the Texan Justice. This match showcased classic southern-style tag team wrestling. Texan Justice got heat on for the duration of the match (on Rocky specifically), with simple, but powerful offense. Rocky ducked a lariat attempt and made the tag to Drew who cleaned house until he went to tag back in Rocky and Texan Justice took back over. Samson hit Rocky with the big Full Nelson Bomb and scored the victory for his duo.

 

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Texan Justice defeated The Sunshine Connection in 8:57 when Samson Sharpe pinned Rocky Weatherfield with a Full Nelson Bomb.

23

 

 

Singles Match

Whole Lotta Marvin versus "Hangman" Hank Whitman

 

Big Marvin had his chance to take out the leader of Southern Comfort here -- and Marvin did control most of the match. His offense was slow and powerful and Marvin made sure to engage the crowd in between each moves. Hangman sold like crazy and tried to showcase his selling skills -- a reversal of the traditional match set up, but the size difference means that Marvin can't be doing a lot of selling. Marvin is a natural babyface and the crowd really seems to be taking to him. Samson and Hoss did come to the ring -- Hoss distracted Wilson while Samson rolled in and clocked Marvin with a horseshoe that let Whitman hit the swinging neckbreaker for the win. 

 

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Hank Whitman defeated Whole Lotta Marvin in 9:51 by pinfall with a Swinging Neckbreaker following interference from Samson Sharpe.

24

 

 

We get our second video package of the night, this one hyping the USA Title match between Willy LaRoux and Bryan Jewett. It was another solid package -- the SWF/RIPW crew knows how to put a package together.

39

 

 

 

Singles Match

RIPW USA Championship

"Wild" Willy LaRoux versus Bryan "Do It" Jewett (c)

 

The first of three title matches on the show, Willy LaRoux challenged Bryan Jewett. The crowd was into this match but it's still clear that both wrestlers are very green. There were a couple of times they missed some spots but they made up for it with charisma. In the end, Willy hit his Reverse DDT to get the win.

 

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, Willy LaRoux defeated Bryan Jewett in 11:21 by pinfall with a Reverse DDT. Willy LaRoux wins the RIPW USA title. 

24

 

 

 

Semi Final

Tag team Match

RIPW Tag Team Championship

All Night Party versus The Magic Boys (c)

 

Our second match continued the trend of decent crowd reactions but less than quality matches. Both of these teams are classic high spot tag teams that should do well in SWF when they're called up and have more seasoning, that's why they're here in RIPW. To get that seasoning. They went back and forth but also had some good traditional tag team action that culimnated with the All Night Party getting the win with their Crazy Driver combo move.

 

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but terrible wrestling, All Night Party defeated The Magic Boys in 11:32 when Stevie Stanley pinned Kingsley Christopher with a Crazy Driver. All Night Party win the RIPW Tag Team Championship titles.

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Warwick Good was backstage in a pretape promo hyping up his match with Forrest Ratzloff. Good is ready for the RIPW Title to come to the Badman from the Badlands.

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Forrest made a big entrance before his match. There were mirrors hanging up so that the Specimen could really show off his physique. The crowd was really behind the champion.

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Main Event

Singles Match

RIPW Championship

"The Bad Man" Warwick Good versus "The Specimen" Forrest Ratzloff (c)

 

The wrestling in this match was probably the second best of the night. Forrest has become a good babyface in the mold of big SWF babyfaces. He has a lot of similarities to Rocky Golden when Rocky started out early in his career. Good is a good heel too. He's got a good mean streak and he was able to stand toe to toe with Forrest and get some heat. Forrest ended up fighting back and locking in his Universe Backbreaker submission, that's not unlike Rocky Golden's Rack submission.

 

In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Forrest Ratzloff defeated Warwick Good in 18:30 by submission with an Universe Backbreaker. Forrest Ratzloff makes defence number two of the RIPW Championship title.

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Overall 

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[The Blonde Bomber]

The Texas Boys come away strong after tonight. I’m not surprised one bit with your love of cowboys. I am curious what will come next for them. Will WLM come after them for the horseshoe shot?

 

I wonder if forest using the “rack” will get a call from the Eisens. Gotta believe they don’t want anyone using their top guys finisher. 

[Historian]

On 10/19/2022 at 10:44 AM, The Blonde Bomber said:

The Texas Boys come away strong after tonight. I’m not surprised one bit with your love of cowboys. I am curious what will come next for them. Will WLM come after them for the horseshoe shot?

 

I wonder if forest using the “rack” will get a call from the Eisens. Gotta believe they don’t want anyone using their top guys finisher. 

 

I do love a good cowboy! And a posse of cowboys? C'mon now!  And it's a variation of the Rack!

[Historian]

Just an update that this project is still very much alive! It's just been a very busy time right now so I'm just behind schedule. We will be picking back up soon.