DIW 2024: Waging War Weekly

[Tiberious]

Great show! Wrecker and Rob Edwards vs the Benchmark sounds like a match that could main event one of your big shows, and it says a lot about how good they are as inidividuals (okay, mostly Edwards) that I could buy them winning the tag team titles even though they've yet to actually team together.

Desert Trios has an interesting taste in DIW talent with their signings, though I suppose of the entire DIW roster Kobra Khan is certainly the guy who looks the most like a luchador. Speaking of said masked man the stipulation with him never getting to challenge the pros again if he loses certainly adds some extra drama to his title match. With the buildup of Sean Quartermaine and Dexter Mattell calling him a choker you'd think this could be a huge upset in the making, but at the same time Kobra Khan as DIW Champion seems like a bit of a stretch. I suppose I could see Kobra as a transitional champion to give a big feel good moment, but I dunno if you'd want to cool off Dexter before he's gotten his big match with Seth Wish.

Dexter's stipulation for Kobra might end up coming back to bite him since not being able to get a title shot against any of the pros would give Kobra a big incentive to interefere in their matches to get the titles off of them. I suppose he could also go the reverse Midnight Rider result and take off his mask and wrestle under a new name since Kobra Khan is banned fromt title shots but <Insert New Name> isn't.

With the talk about not wanting to give big pay raises to everyone CEW makes offers to I can't help but think the deal with Wrestleworld might have a bit of a double edged sword to it since your wrestlers are going to be gaining nationwide popularity which will make them want to get paid better, rival offer or not. Not to mention having popularity across the country will make them more tempting for the bigger companies to begin with. I suppose it's a necessary evil if DIW has ambitions of one day being a big player, and with a warchest in the millions thanks to the whims of a dead millionaire your at least in better shape to survive those growing pains than most small companies.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Tiberious

[HiPlus]

Rob Edwards finding his first ally as Milton gets drawn away dealing with the Ares group and focused on Hall now.  Can definitely see a refresh as a new team challenge The Pros. 

 

Dexter Mattell should have a comfortable win against Kobra and he could join up with Rob Edwards group now when he comes up unlucky against Mattell. Although I agree entirely with Mattell and that stupid tongue poking needs to go, so maybe Mattell can show him exactly why he is a Pro as Kobra will come up short in an actual big match like he has done so often lately. 

 

I really enjoyed the Main Event mixing Death Cult with The Pros and Rob Edwards who is the biggest threat to The Pros long term. Smart move bringing in some AE talent to build up guys and while Edwards is the biggest name, I am surprised they weren't used to build up someone else on the roster, as I figured Rob Edwards was over the most. I always love when two story lines end up colliding briefly. Just always feels nice when paths cross. 

Rigsby chants, love to see it. 

Crazy that a new promotion is opening so quickly after one folds and such a dramatic and as an Australian I am really surprised Alice Springs a town with 30k people gets a promotion lol, but hey love to see it and Craig Stuart is a great guy so I wish them the best. I popped for Adrian McGhee. 

[John Lions]

Big fan of the Wrecker and Rob Edwards pairing, it makes sense and putting Wrecker side by side the most dominant wrestler in DIW history and your best wrestler by a country mile as an equal will help him a lot. Also, when Rob Edwards inevitably turns on him like he has every other ally he's had in DIW, it'll be a fun feud for sure.

[619]

I love the comments @Tiberious @HiPlus @John Lions. I really enjoyed the Kobra Khan and Edwards/Wrecker thoughts and theories. I agree that Edwards/Wrecker v The Benchmark could main event: the biggest risk of bringing Edwards and The Benchmark together for the first time is that they could overshadow the DIW Title picture, but I guess that's a good problem to have.

Between you, you've hit on most of SQ's latest talking points in a better way 😅 However, he does have some Dexter Mattell gossip to add to the conversation. I also figured I'd share the Desert Trios profile, which shares HiPlus' scepticism over how shrewd an idea it is (11th in the world is because only Oceania is loaded, so that's 11 out of 11):

Part 61: Mattell the manipulator

To The Extreme episode 21 was pretty eventful. Massacre started to take shape with a Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall cage match confirmed, Rob Edwards and Wrecker seemingly emerging as The Benchmark’s next challengers and pressure on Con McReady to pick a side as Seth Wish prepared to challenge DIW Champion Dexter Mattell.

However, it was Mattell’s other interaction with Kobra Khan which intrigued me most, as he’d been allowed to absolutely savage the character and record of a fan favourite to set up a DIW Title match between them.

In my experience, an angle like this had to be paid off with a Kobra Khan title win, as Mattell retaining would reinforce every criticism he’d made of him, and all my knocks on commentary that he always lost when it mattered. That Kobra Can’t insult would stick.

Still, I just couldn’t see Lori pulling the trigger so close to Massacre, having never previously delivered a title change on To The Extreme. There were certainly ways to do it, like making Wish and Mattell’s scheduled Massacre match a triple threat, or sidelining Wish for longer to run a Kobra-Mattell rematch. I wasn’t sure Lori saw Kobra as DIW Champion material though, or had built him enough for such a win, unlike for instance Mattell who beat multiple former DIW Champions ahead of his coronation.

So I was concerned that she’d booked Kobra Khan into a corner where he’d have to lose another big match and the right to challenge a Pro for a title again. Thankfully, I only had around an hour to wait to find out as I’m typing this up between mouthfuls of the sandwich I was shovelling down before we taped the next episode.

It was while I was speed-eating that I overheard another concerning Mattell conversation, this time with Rick Horn. He started it by congratulating Farm Tough on the match he’d just had with Con McReady, but he followed up by warning Horn not to expect any more main event opportunities any time soon now Edwards was forcing his way back into The Pros’ business, as he didn’t like sharing the spotlight.

The remark was followed by a chuckle, but the intent to turn other wrestlers against Edwards was clear to me, and it seemed fairly strategic too. He was dripping this poison in the ears of quiet undercard blokes, taking advantage of the fact that they were more likely to be swayed by the DIW Champion paying them attention, and less likely to publicise that Mattell was badmouthing Edwards.

I doubt Lori was aware that her DIW Champion appeared to be getting a bit drunk on the power and threatening to live his gimmick, as I’d only overheard his conversations with Pat Rigsby and Horn by chance, and hadn’t heard anything malicious enough to feel obligated to stooge it off. Mattell also had a good shield in the fact that he was dating Lori’s best friend Tatum Richards.

Or had Lori noticed a change in his attitude and decided to hit the big green Kobra Khan button in response?

Edited September 28, 2023 by 619

[HiPlus]

I love everything about the Desert Trio bio and now hope they become the most successful wrestling company in Australia, slightly ahead of DIW.

 

God Dexter turning the backstage area against Edwards is such a nice little foil that could end in so many directions.

[619]

Part 62: To The Extreme #22

Hendrix Hughes v Carl Paris
Someone still finding their feet as a singles competitor taking on a rookie was never going to be a match-of-the-year candidate, but the fact this was slightly more entertaining than Milton Hittlespitz’s opener against Tank on the previous episode felt like a promising marker of Hughes’ progress. It took him eight minutes to finish Paris off with his Fireman’s Carry Bulldog.

Hendrix Hughes addressed the crowd after the match, saying it felt good to take down another opponent with the Triple H: the Hendrix Hughes’ Hotdog. This rebrand finally addressed two DIW roster members having bulldog-based finishers, creating more distinction between them. But Hughes was still waiting for Con McReady to answer his challenge, and he knew the crowd were still waiting to put their ciggies in the air for a new Australian Champion. McReady stepped out on the entrance and distractedly said that if Hughes wanted an Australian Title match at Massacre, he could have one, but right now he had more urgent things to deal with, a reference to the conflict between his tag partner Seth Wish and the rest of his Pros stablemates.

Vaughan v D.O.A.
I guess I should’ve seen it coming given Lori had told me she initially planned to give Mr. Blitz a pinfall victory over Vaughan to set up a tag match between him and D.O.A. and The Barracudas, but it was still pretty surreal to see D.O.A. covering a five-time DIW Champion for a three count. There was admittedly some chaos leading up to that moment: Vaughan appeared set to choke out D.O.A. to avenge D.O.A. doing the same to him in the recent five-on-five against The Pros, only for the debuting Italian Stallion, Lorenzo Oliverio, to crack him in the skull with some brass knuckles. D.O.A. just about dragged Vaughan up for the Dark Deed, before bumping fists with his apparent new tag partner.

Milton Hittlespitz was briefly interviewed by Markus Rush on Ares Death Cult’s announcement that his Massacre match with Bryant Hall would be inside a steel cage. Crazy Blue said he picked this fight, so if Hall wanted it to take part in a cage, he wasn’t afraid, pointing out that it might even work out better for him that Ares Death Cult would be locked out.

After wrapping up the interview, Markus Rush pointed out Wrecker in the background preparing to enter for his match. While the camera was on him, Rob Edwards approached. He could be heard thanking Wrecker for having his back, and wanting to return the favour in case The Benchmark tried to ambush him.

Wrecker v Cueball
Much like last week’s main event, Rob Edwards’ presence at ringside added extra intrigue to proceedings, but he didn’t interfere for the simple reason that Wrecker didn’t need help to beat Cueball. He hit the light-heavyweight with his Bulldozer Elbow to win in just over four minutes.

The Benchmark stepped onto the entranceway after the match, laughing off the idea of Rob Edwards and Wrecker being able to coexist. They’d allow this freak show to take place at Massacre, even though Edwards and Wrecker hadn’t earned a shot, but it was the only chance they were getting. If they couldn’t measure up to The Benchmark, that it was for them as a team.

Pat Rigsby wasn’t happy with what he’d heard moments earlier, making a nuisance of himself in front of the commentary desk again. He said the last two times Rob Edwards had been in tag matches, him and his partner had ended the night fighting, and yet he was getting a Tag Title match with a brand new partner at Massacre. Kobra Khan was getting a DIW Title shot tonight just because he asked. And yet Rigsby was trying to raise a family and he couldn’t get so much as a pre-show match. The Comedian relented, saying he’d sort out a match for Rigsby at Massacre with the newest signing he’d made if it shut him up, telling him to get out of his face before he changed his mind. Rigsby celebrated the announcement with a gratuitous baby-rocking motion.

DIW Title: Kobra Khan v Dexter Mattell (c)
It might yet prove the case that the trouble he was starting to cause in the locker room meant he wasn’t worthy of the effort, but Lori seemed to have finally figured out how to get the best out of Mattell in a DIW ring, as this was the best To The Extreme main event yet. I adopted the Kobra Can’t insult Mattell had used last week when the champion was on top and looked very silly during Kobra’s comeback, with over two minutes of uninterrupted offence leading up to a Small Package Driver that scored a 2.9 count. That brought out Rusty Mills, but Kobra took him out with a Suicide Dive. Mattell DDT-ed him off the middle rope on his return to the ring, but the masked man kicked out. A Hurricanrana grounded the champion and Kobra gestured for the Ripcord Knee, which he ended up hitting on Donovan Boon as he tried to intervene. Mattell smacked Kobra in the back of the head with the DIW Title and locked in the STF. He tried to get free without success, finally conceding defeat by tapping out.

Not content with the victory or the stipulation that Kobra Khan would never get another title shot against a Pro, Dexter Mattell took things even further by removing the mask of the loser, whose face was still obscured by virtue of him being out of it face-down on the mat. The DIW Champion teased lifting him for the big reveal when he was charged into by Seth Wish. He had fingers on both hands taped together, a legacy of Mattell’s vicious attack a fortnight earlier, so he laid into him with everything else he could think of: forearm strikes, knees, kicks, with The Benchmark’s attempts to protect their stablemate thwarted by the reappearance of Rob Edwards and Wrecker. The crowd were on their feet and The Comedian said Mattell was getting what he had coming to him, but I tried to calm the euphoria by claiming Wish had no chance of covering the champion for a three count without the full use of his hands.

[AboardTheArk]

Oliveiro! Now that's a good get, and two years in might be one of the highest charisma guys DIW has had. 

 

Seth Wish might actually be getting that belt... and you did whatever you possibly could to not bury Kobra Khan in defeat.

[HiPlus]

Lorenzo fucking Oliverio. Push the Italian stallion to the moon!  I love him in the default CVerse so excited to see his stats and what accomplishments he has had coming in so far. 

 

Slowly the build to another group to rival The Pros is happening excitedly.

[619]

@HiPlus My favourite thing about Dexter Mattell turning the undercard one-by-one against Rob Edwards is that the game is gaslighting Lori by still listing him as an "extremely positive influence", despite being pretty much the only person creating any trouble right now, and doing so at the expense of DIW's greatest asset.

@AboardTheArk You were right to highlight Lorenzo Oliverio's charisma: he's 72 for that and 67 for microphone so, as he's our least known roster member in NSW, I'll probably need to tap into that to help establish him. He was a short-notice hire when Mr. Blitz left as I prioritised finding someone who might fit what I had planned for him, so this is an added bonus.

In terms of what Oliverio's been up to in this mod and save compared to the default database @HiPlus, he was with Shocking Hardcore Action from late 2017 to late 2022, winning their midcard Hardcore Title twice, but has worked a pretty limited indy schedule since then.

Part 63: Damaged digits

Seth Wish’s return two weeks on from the vicious assault on his hands at the hands of Dexter Mattell, Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills had been well executed. Finding a way to get the better of the DIW Champion despite his injuries made him look tough, and Rob Edwards and Wrecker negating The Benchmark sold the idea that The Pros’ numerical advantage was under threat with Wish out and Con McReady’s loyalties unclear.

However, I wondered if Lori might live to regret the finger-breaking angle. It had been effective in showing a more violent edge to The Pros, clarifying that there was no going back for Wish and making him suffer to win back the crowd similar to Edwards at the start of the year.

So what was the problem? Wish wasn’t fully established yet as DIW Title material so, if fans were already sceptical of his chances, what hope would they deem him to have without full use of his hands, assuming Lori stayed true to medical timelines and didn’t have his injuries heal before Massacre? Was the deck too stacked for him to be seen as standing a chance, and would this affect attendance and viewership given his status as an unproven main-event draw?

Just as I was concerned that the Wish-Pros separation had been rushed, leaving weeks of tension-teasing television on the table, I had similar concerns about the Edwards and Wrecker pairing. They hadn’t even started as a team and they’d already agreed to a stipulation that if they didn’t dethrone The Benchmark at the first attempt, that was it for them as a duo.

I saw the logic in the stipulation, given bringing down The Pros was their sole motivation for uniting. Still, it felt like there was a story to be told of them learning to trust each other and adjusting to one another in and out of the ring before the big blow-off match, rather than it all coming together in the final few hours before Massacre.

There was going to be a chance to see them team up before the title match at least, because the main event announced for To The Extreme episode 23 saw Edwards, Wrecker and Hendrix Hughes facing Boon, Mills and McReady. The focus was likely to be on whether the Australian Champion coexisted with the Tag Team Champions after their brutality towards his best friend Wish.

Another new team debut promised for the show was D.O.A. and Lorenzo Oliverio, apparently billed as The Street Stallions, taking on Carl Paris and Demarcus Lee, who I still disliked having to call Brains and Brawn.

It was also revealed that The Comedian had granted Seth Wish talking time at the top of the hour to address the Massacre main event. This was a novelty as The Comedian rarely liked talk-heavy show openings and I’m not sure Wish had ever done a solo in-ring promo before.

Edited October 1, 2023 by 619

[619]

Part 64: To The Extreme #23

Seth Wish started the show by saying it had been a crazy few weeks huh. He said last year was the first time in his life he’d felt fully in control. He realised he wanted more than just being seen as a lovable underdog, so he called up Con McReady, grabbed a cane, swung his way into a big match with Milton Hittlespitz and started being taken seriously. Dexter Mattell had taken that control from him. He started fighting Mattell’s battles without any thanks and losing everything that not just he but The Wild Things had built for themselves. So, just like last year, he swung his cane and regained control. Things hadn’t worked out as he expected: firstly, Mattell stopped him swinging that cane by breaking three of his fingers, but it wasn’t all bad. He had a DIW Title match that he hadn’t seen coming. And not just any DIW Title match. DIW headed to Canberra every July, so Massacre was his chance to return home as DIW Champion. He knew not everyone believed in him yet, and that was okay. His family and friends believed in him, especially McReady, but he hadn’t given everyone else enough reason to…yet. He was going to fix that next week though by challenging a former DIW Champion and beating them, hands or no hands. Wish said that losing to Chopper Rourke last month was the wake-up call he needed, but now he wanted to put that record straight, and prove that he belonged in the ring with DIW Champions.

Brains and Brawn (Carl Paris and Demarcus Lee) v The Street Stallions (D.O.A. and Lorenzo Oliverio)
I tried to put over The Street Stallions’ name on commentary, explaining that Oliverio is known as The Italian Stallion, while their street smarts were beyond the rest of the DIW locker room. I’d seen Oliverio once before in SHA, where he was playing a cowardly heel, but he was treated as a more serious threat here, admittedly against lower-card opponents, drawing heat with his hot-headedness instead, something I’d heard wasn’t exclusive to the ring. This was a showcase for the new team and they achieved victory when Oliverio hit Lee with a Back Stabber.

A hype video was shown for Hack The Hunter, with camera angles and graphics emphasising his 6ft 7in, 360lb frame. He said he had been drawn to DIW by the fact it’s a place of opportunity: somewhere where even the two smallest blokes on the roster can main event a major show. But he knew DIW fans liked their big heavyweights too and he was ready to give them something meaty to feast on at Massacre. When the camera cut back to us on commentary, The Comedian said he hoped Pat Rigsby would be happy with the opponent he’d found for him.

Markus Rush introduced footage he’d been sent by Ares Death Cult. Lori was hyping Bryant Hall up for his cage match with Milton Hittlespitz at Massacre. She spoke about how Ares Death Cult had never lost inside a cage. Her own experience of single-handedly beating a much larger opponent in one, Momoe Hamuera, gave her a unique insight into Hittlespitz’s strategy, so she would break down the tape to ensure no surprise loss for The Final Boss. Reminding everyone of Lori’s cage win was easy heat, but the tone felt too light-hearted for the brooding Ares Death Cult. Incidentally, I’m fairly sure this was the first reference to Lori beating Hamuera since the match last December, so I guess she was confident the disgust that result generated had passed.

Markus Rush was pacing as the Ares Death Cult segment ended, alerting his cameraman of raised voices he could hear nearby. Con McReady was asking The Benchmark where the hell Dexter Mattell was and what the deal was with this six-man match tonight against Rob Edwards, Wrecker and Hendrix Hughes. Rusty Mills said Mattell was taking care of essential Pros business, but the match was the DIW Champion’s idea to remind anyone who dared to doubt them how dominant they were. McReady asked why they thought he wanted to team with them after what they did to Seth Wish, who would be in his corner tonight if he was teaming up with any other two blokes on the roster. Mills started to reason that surely he’d like to put Hughes in his place after giving him an Australian Title shot so easily. That seemed to antagonise McReady more, but Donovan Boon silenced his fellow Pros, having noticed the camera around the corner.

Rick Horn v John Temperance
We were finally back at ringside after the longest break from in-ring action I could remember since working for DIW. The Comedian filled in the gap that this match was happening because Horn took his opportunity as an outsider to earn his spot in DIW, and he wanted to extend that chance to someone else. I guess he either wasn’t trusted enough on the microphone yet or Lori didn’t think she could fit in another promo. Temperance was a young brawler who had been with Athletic Empire before their demise, albeit almost exclusively on the pre-show. He put on a decent performance and a crimson mask in this weapon-heavy match, but it was Horn celebrating his first win in a while with the John Deere Destroyer.

Markus Rush had caught Hendrix Hughes and Wrecker in conversation. Hughes was saying he only liked teaming with Seb Shaw and Wrecker, the third Badass MFer, so he didn’t know how he kept winding up in these multi-man situations. At this point, he noticed the camera and Rush started to back off, but Hughes told him to come over as he never said anything to anyone that he wasn’t willing to say to the world. Hughes asked Wrecker if he really thought they could trust Rob Edwards. Wrecker said he wasn’t sure about trusting the man, but the one thing he did trust was that he wanted to punish The Pros as much as they did, and that was enough for him.

The Pros made their way out for the main event, with Con McReady entering separately to The Benchmark. Before their opponents arrived, The Comedian received word that Markus Rush had found someone else to speak to. I quipped that he should be being paid more than the main eventers for the shift he was putting in on this show. It was Milton Hittlespitz, who said he’d heard what Ares Death Cult said earlier and he still wasn’t scared. The only truth Lori spoke was that he was going to be caged at Massacre, so for that reason he was going to make sure he was uncaged next week, challenging any member of Ares Death Cult to a fight all over DIW House.

Hendrix Hughes, Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Pros (Con McReady, Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills)
The pre-match hype was about whether either team could coexist, and the reality was that almost everyone fought for themselves, and at a pace and ferocity that not many others on the roster could match. The finish saw The Pros’ fractures seemingly take a physical form as Boon and Mills allowed themselves to be dragged into brawling up the entranceway and into the crowd respectively by Edwards and Wrecker, leaving a visibly frustrated McReady alone with Hughes. The Australian Champion brought his cane to the battle but got caught when he swung it and dropped by the Triple H (the Hendrix Hughes Hotdog). The show ended with a fairly clean pinfall for the challenger over the champion, which I noted in shock was the first time The Pros had ever lost a multi-man match. Unbiased announcer The Comedian impartially declared that with a bit of luck all of those clowns would be pinned for their titles at Massacre.

[619]

Part 65: Content cramming

Firstly, a quick summary of To The Extreme episode 23. The most important parts hit: Seth Wish delivered the best promo I’d seen from him right when he needed to, the main event was a rare opportunity to put six of DIW’s brightest talents in the ring at the same time and they didn’t disappoint, and the fragility of various alliances was laid bare.

However, it was very chaotic: lots of different interviews, videos and overheard conversations, a sense of Lori trying to cram as much story as possible into a limited space to get everything she needed in place for Massacre.

Perhaps that frenetic energy suited DIW and their core fanbase and provided the tight hour of action that WrestleWorld Australia subscribers were looking for on a Wednesday night (14,971 made this the show’s highest viewership yet). It was an adjustment for me and I thought I’d seen pretty much everything in my 31+ years in the business.

The go-home show was even stranger but, as always with the taped episodes, I’ll watch it back on WrestleWorld Australia before breaking it down. Maybe it will make more sense on playback.

I can let you know the card though. As revealed on the previous episode, Seth Wish had asked for a rematch with Chopper Rourke and Milton Hittlespitz had challenged an Ares Death Cult member to fight around the building, with Psych Ward stepping up. Meanwhile, Rob Edwards and Wrecker were debuting as a team against Saracens two days before their all-or-nothing Tag Title match with The Benchmark, as you do.

The Massacre line-up was pretty much set too: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell for the DIW Title, Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark for the Tag Titles, Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady for the Australian Title, Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall in a cage and Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby. Expect a singles or tag match involving The Barracudas and The Street Stallions to be added too.

Just to overload this update as much as Lori had congested that To The Extreme episode, I’ll end on some non-DIW news. My former two-time APW Commonwealth Champion Maurice Jackson had joined CEW following the fall of Athletic Empire, a deal which I believe made him only the third wrestler to work for each of what until recently was Aussie wrestling’s big three of RAW, AE and CEW. Turner Crash and Kerry Wayne had completed the same hat-trick in the last year.

Well, perhaps it was DIW-related news if you regard it as vindication of my theory that AE’s demise enhancing the free agent pool would temporarily distract CEW from raiding The Comedian’s crew.

[619]

Part 66: To The Extreme #24

The episode started with Markus Rush, who reported that DIW Champion Dexter Mattell was in DIW House but there was no sign of The Benchmark or Con McReady, with doubts as to where loyalties laid before Mattell faced ex-Pro Seth Wish at Massacre. Rush’s phone rang at this point and he was going to ignore it until noticing it was a video call from McReady. The Australian Champion said he was at a family function but there shouldn’t be any doubts over his loyalty. It was with Wish and in truth it always was, but any remaining doubts were answered last week when he was politicked into a stupid match and left alone by Mattell and The Benchmark. Wish wouldn’t have done that, and he’d be in his corner in two days when he became DIW Champion.

Rob Edwards and Wrecker v Saracens (Cueball and Tank)
The opener of the Havoc go-home show saw Saracens face Dexter Mattell and Seth Wish – look how that team are doing now – and here they were providing a test for another unproven duo. Edwards and Wrecker didn’t display much teamwork – no double-team moves, no obvious coordinated strategy – but there was no friction either as they took turns to showcase their solo offence, with Wrecker landing the decisive blow with a Bulldozer Elbow to Tank.

Markus Rush was with The Barracudas and, though Chopper Rourke in theory was a more interesting subject ahead of his main event with Seth Wish, Rush knew from experience he’d get more out of Vaughan, so directed his questions at the biggest Barracuda. Vaughan said it was a bit of a taboo as everyone seemed to like Switchblade, but D.O.A. had always been a gronk who was well overdue a choking, and he would finally get it when The Barracudas took on The Street Stallions at Massacre. I guess this was just a way to confirm that match, nothing spectacular, which I was kind of relieved about as I wasn’t sure where the Switchblade mention was going.

I introduced an interview I’d conducted earlier in the day with Pat Rigsby, ahead of his Massacre match with newcomer Hack The Hunter. Rigsby said when he first heard he’d be in the ring with a hack at Massacre, he figured it was a sit-down with Markus Rush, whereas he preferred talking to a man of distinction like Sean Quartermainne. Before I could thank him, he publicised that I was married, so I got where he was coming from. I asked about his ring rust after two months without a match, or preparing for a larger opponent, but he found a way to switch every subject back to his successful personal life. Did I know he was one of only three married DIW wrestlers? He wanted to be an inspiration to the incels in the crowd and the locker room, to show them it was possible to wrestle in a regressive place like DIW but still have fulfilling social and family lives. He pressed me on whether I found it crazy that The Comedian didn’t see value in someone like him as a role model to all the reprobates in DIW House, but by this point The Comedian said enough with this crap, cutting the footage on the basis that it was time for the next match.

Falls Count Anywhere: Milton Hittlespitz v Psych Ward
Technically, every DIW bout besides Hittlespitz’s cage match against Bryant Hall at Massacre was falls count anywhere. However, I guess the idea on putting emphasis on this being a fight around the building was to strike a contrast between the two environments, and perhaps also to test the performance of the inexpensive-looking screen above the entranceway in DIW House. The fans didn’t turn on the action, so I guess they had a decent enough view of a brawl that started in the entranceway, very briefly entered the crowd, but mostly took part in the corridors in the back. There was even a brief shot of Classy Paul Massey talking to fellow New Zealander John Temperance, who fought in the previous episode, in the background that probably wasn’t meant to make air, and marked the road agent’s first on-screen appearance. The finish saw them scale some lockers, with Hittlespitz managing to push his larger opponent off and through a nearby table, following up with a Flying Knee Drop off the lockers for the three count.

Before Tatum Richards had a chance to raise Milton Hittlespitz’s hand, he was jumped by another member of Ares Death Cult, Lloyd Banks, who proceeded to piledrive Crazy Blue onto the hard floor of the corridor, before helping Psych Ward up and out of the building.

Seemingly whenever Milton Hittlespitz was suffering, Dexter Mattell wasn’t far away, and sure enough he was also in the back for an interview with Markus Rush, who asked the DIW Champion for his thoughts on facing Seth Wish in two days at Massacre. He said his thoughts were that maybe he should apologise to The Comedian for giving him an impossible main event to promote. He made Wish relevant as a favour to Con McReady and he handed him this match that DIW would never have given Wish on merit to punish his disloyalty. At least amateurs like Rob Edwards and Hittlespitz were multi-time DIW Champions, so idiots would buy tickets thinking there was a chance they might beat Mattell. But just like Kobra Khan a few weeks ago, nobody gave Wish a hope at Massacre, so it was just going to be an embarrassing spectacle for DIW. Rush pointed out that Wish had managed to get the better of Mattell two weeks ago, a comment the champion didn’t appreciate, claiming even a blind man could take someone down if the other person didn’t know they were there. Rush asked if he would be watching Wish’s match with Chopper Rourke, to which Raw Sex responded that Wish’s matches were hard enough to watch when he was able to throw punches, so he dreaded to think how grotesque a spectacle seeing him fight with no hands would be. I’m not sure that closing line was the best way to sell a main event and major show: effectively saying come here and watch the freakshow.

Seth Wish v Chopper Rourke
Wish had three weapons to counteract Rourke’s size and health advantage: superior speed, stamina and a willingness to throw himself off the ropes and turnbuckle to get more momentum behind his attacks, effectively using his body as a weapon. Still, this match was much more about his heart than his moveset, with Rourke in control for two-thirds of the contest, but Wish continuing to get his shoulders off the mat. The ending saw Wish evade Rourke’s attempt to charge at him, sending him crashing into the turnbuckle. Rourke avoided the rough landing Seb Shaw suffered in that same corner at this exact moment four months ago, but he did walk straight into Dust In The Wind when he got himself off the mat. Wish sold that having to wrap his arms around Rourke’s large frame to execute the move had affected his damaged fingers, but fought through to hit another Dust In The Wind and score what would’ve been an upset pinfall, were it not so obvious that the point of the match was to put Wish over a former DIW Champion.

Seth Wish was still on his knees recovering from the beating he’d taken in victory when Dexter Mattell appeared by the entrance. The DIW Champion started moving towards the ring but Chopper Rourke, making his exit, stood between Mattell and his Massacre challenger, causing Raw Sex to rethink his plans. The Comedian pointed out how timid the champ was without any Pros to back him up, while I excused his retreat by saying he had simply given Wish a chance of making it to Massacre, but he had no chance of pulling off two miracle wins in three days there.

[John Lions]

Love what you are doing with Pat Rigsby. Hack The Hunter is a guy in my mind I always pictured rocketing up the card in APW, but I can see him tweaking his character from family friendly to vicious manhunter and getting over in DIW as well. I'm hoping that Wish walks away with the DIW title especially given the backstage condition, but part of me is worried a swerve is coming and McReady isn't as loyal to the Wild Things as he is letting on.

[AboardTheArk]

These DIW To The Extreme shows really just breeze by and are so easy to picture. Not much else to say really. As the company has gotten hotter in-game, you haven't had a real drop in booking, just seamlessly trucked on through poachings and injuries.

[619]

@John Lions Thanks as always. Hack's going to start out fairly laid back to play off his natural personality and strike a contrast with our other heavyweights, but you're right that he has the size and attributes for a vicious manhunter role if the right circumstances arise.

@AboardTheArk That's really kind of you to say. SQ's about to channel my concerns with that episode, but I'm pleased if it still felt some coherent despite its shortcomings. Really grateful for your support since the very start.

Part 67: Getting lost while going home

Rewatching To The Extreme episode 24, which was apparently Lori’s 50th show as booker, on WrestleWorld Australia reinforced my belief it was the strangest go-home show I’d ever seen.

The Australian Title holder and challenger weren’t there besides a Con McReady video call cameo at the start, and Tag Team Champions The Benchmark were also absent. Indeed, no Massacre opponents got into any physicality with one another during the episode and Seth Wish and Dexter Mattell were the only combination who were even both on the show.

I got the key reason for the approach Lori had taken – that withholding McReady, Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills in particular created as much ambiguity as possible about the state of The Pros heading into their title defences, but it was still a pretty out-there choice.

The closing moments before Havoc 2024 were a five-on-five brawl between The Pros and their opponents, ten of DIW’s main men. Here, there was no big fight to end the show, and instead the rather random situation of Chopper Rourke’s presence putting Mattell off confronting Wish.

You had the Tag Title challengers making their debut as a duo two days before taking on The Benchmark, Milton Hittlespitz being taken out by Lloyd Banks, who wasn’t even on the Massacre card, and then a second go-home main event flop of the year. At least Mattell and Seb Shaw had the excuse of a concussion when their Hardcore Heatwave 2024 lead-in bombed.
    
Wish and Rourke were set up to fail really. They’d already shown last month that they lacked chemistry as opponents, and the match was far too long for Rourke’s current physical condition. But Lori had clearly decided that Wish needed to get that win back and be seen slaying a former DIW Champion before Massacre, so she pressed ahead despite the flaws.

In her defence, the finishing sequence was effective in getting Wish over and the crowd reaction suggested she succeeded in her apparent mission to establish him as a major star before his DIW Title challenge. She may therefore feel that what came before was justified, if that was the main objective of the episode and the image she wanted everyone to see at its conclusion.

Oh, I almost missed out the weirdest part, as it wasn’t on the WrestleWorld Australia broadcast. Former two-time DIW Champion and current Canadian Charisma Championship Combat owner East Side Assassin, also known as Sayeed Ali, made an unannounced live appearance after the main event, giving an endorsement to Wish, who he’d worked with in both companies.

From what I pieced together talking to The Comedian and Lori, the boss arranged to meet Ali while he was visiting Sydney. Lori suggested sorting transport to bring him to a show, a luxury The Comedian rarely stretched to, and apparently she was even going to try talking him into putting Wish over at the taping if Rourke had resisted. It was lucky for her that he hadn’t, as I’m not sure Ali would’ve agreed to such a job with no build, however much he rated Wish.

Anyway, in summary, if To The Extreme episode 24’s purpose was to provide a route home, DIW made it pretty easy to get lost on that journey. However, there was a decent card at the end of it all, which I’ll break down in a summary on the morning of the show, just in case anything was added at the last minute.

[HiPlus]

So we will see predictions for the big show!? I will hold my comments until then but very keen to see  Wish and Mattell face off. As I think Mattell has to win it, but it would be a pleasant surprise if the result went the other way

[619]

Thanks @HiPlus. This is the Massacre 2024 card, though I'm afraid I haven't really got any prizes or anything to offer as I'm a bit further down the road already, so totally understand if that puts people off sharing their thoughts:

MASSACRE 2024
DIW Title: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell (c)
Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (c)
Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)
Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall
The Barracudas v The Street Stallions
Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby

Part 68: The morning of Massacre

Unlike the early days when it was more of a necessity, I hadn’t noticed The Comedian do any media since I’d joined DIW. However, he had an interview in the Maitland Mercury on the morning of Massacre with the headline “We’ll keep running weekly shows until they take us off air”.

That soundbite came from a question about DIW’s dealings with WrestleWorld Australia. He confirmed that he was still signing agreements for a few months at a time, but he didn’t like getting cheap pops by grabbing a microphone at every major show and announcing another eight episodes, so he wanted fans to know the plan was to keep running weekly shows until they got taken off air.

I suspect the phrasing was deliberate, so that if the time came when DIW could no longer run weekly programming, they could brand it as being too extreme for the format, rather than it being a matter of show quality, production values or running out of money. He was telling his fans what they wanted to hear.

In the interview, he attributed DIW’s recent growth, getting a streaming deal and seeing attendance and viewership steadily rise, to an increasing number of Aussie wrestling fans crying out for an alternative to the crap RAW served them up, and DIW being the only company they could trust to give it to them.

He used the demise of Athletic Empire as proof that everyone had a price for selling out to RAW except him. He claimed CEW would do the same thing AE did, whereas people knew he’d rather burn his own company to the ground than allow it to prop that soap opera up.

Turning to Massacre, he stuck to kayfabe in saying he wasn’t too fond of his company’s current champions, but proper homegrown stars were stepping up to challenge them. Seth Wish was receiving his first ever DIW Title shot after doing something all DIW fans related to in fighting back instead of being held back.

The Comedian identified Tag Title contenders Rob Edwards and Wrecker and Australian Title challenger Hendrix Hughes as also possessing the attitude, fearlessness and quality typical of his company. He added that people tuned into DIW to see hungry young stars, not actors who failed their RAW auditions.

A Massacre poster was to the left of this article, leading on Wish v Dexter Mattell for the DIW Title, followed by Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark for the Tag Titles, Hughes v Con McReady for the Australian Title, Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall in a cage match, The Barracudas v The Street Stallions and newcomer Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby.

I think it was a comparable card to Havoc in April: the Havoc build was probably a bit cleaner and more complete, whereas the Massacre results were perhaps a little more uncertain because of the dysfunction surrounding The Pros.

Wish v Mattell appeared likely to main event as it had been billed as such on To The Extreme as well as on the poster, but I was most intrigued by where the Tag Title match would be placed. Any bout featuring Edwards, Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills was likely to be match of the night, so it would be a tough task for whoever had to follow it.

[Tiberious]

MASSACRE 2024
DIW Title: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell (c)

My pro wrestling brain is telling me Con McReady saying he is on Seth's side on screen, while coincidently never being there to help him when it counts, means he's going to betray him for sure, but then there's a part of me that thinks it could be a sort of double swerve where he'll pretend to be betraying Seth Wish only to actually turn against Mattell. My brain is telling me that Seth Wish losing here and feuding with McReady is the simpler and more logical outcome, but I do think Seth Wish winning the DIW title, and doing it by outsmarting Dex and using his own scheming against him would be a fantastic moment so I'll go with my heart.

Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (c)

I could see this going either way, but the Benchmark are just so damn good as a team that I have a hard time betting against them.

Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)

Tough call here, but I think McReady is going to be embroiled with Seth Wish one way or another in the weeks going forward and doesn't really need this championship while winning the belt would mean a lot for Hughes.

Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall

This one is really tough because Milton could use a big win, while at the same time Bryant Hall's whole final boss persona means he really can't afford to lose too often either. I'll go Hall here since he seems primed to challenge for the DIW title in the near future.

The Barracudas v The Street Stallions

I like the Street Stallions as a pairing, but you yourself mentioned that Lorenzo Olivier is one of the least known guys in New South Wales on your roster and I don't think the Barracudas are quite ready to be put out to pasture yet.

Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby

I enjoy Pat Rigsby, but I think him being an obnoxious hateable troll who loses pretty much all his matches is honestly the best use for him. Hack the Hunter is a guy with the tools to be a big player, and I'm interested to see how he fairs in DIW. 

[KyTeran]

MASSACRE 2024
DIW Title: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell (c)
Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (c)
Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)
Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall
The Barracudas v The Street Stallions
Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby

[DinoKea]

MASSACRE PREDICTIONS 2024

DIW Title: Seth Wish def. Dexter Mattell (c)

Tag Titles: The Benchmark (c) def. Rob Edwards and Wrecker

Australian Title: Con McReady (c) def. Hendrix Hughes

Cage Match: Bryant Hall def. Milton Hittlespitz

The Barracudas def. The Street Stallions

Hack The Hunter def. Pat Rigsby

[AboardTheArk]

MASSACRE 2024
DIW Title: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell (c)

It's time. There's going to be some shenanigans.

Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (c)

The Benchmark probably should retain but I just see The Pros changing a lot after this show.

Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)

Hendrix gets great grades and Con is getting screwed by The Pros.

Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall

Seth Wish needs a heel challenger. 

The Barracudas v The Street Stallions

At this point the Barracudas are probably in decline. 

Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby

I mean...

[HiPlus]

DIW Title: Seth Wish v (c) vs Dexter Mattell

 

It is crazy to think that Seth Wish has a legitimate chance to walk out of Massacre with the DIW Title, but I would surely pop for it and it would be great vindication for the guy. Still I think Dexter ends up winning after some Con McReady shenanigans where he betrays Wish. There is too much sense for those guys to feud with one another and Wish could be a legitimate Australian Champion. Meanwhile Dexter has done so well his title reign ending on Seth Wish would take some of the shine off what has been an excellent title run. He still has a few big names that he could face off against and eventually lose to. 

Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (c)

Hand to see the Benchmark lose this match. If Edwards and Wrecker intend to be a long term team. They can stumble at their first hurdle, which is a good excuse considering their debut they acted more like singles competitors. If they were to win it would make an interesting feud with The Benchmark, but other than the Benchmark I wouldn't be able to see another team upset them. Still a big call for Lori to have Edwards her best talent lose the match here, even if they arent set as a unit. 

Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)

For me personally Hendrix Hughes hasn't done enough. I know he has debuted a new finisher and has had a recent hot streak, I don't think Con has had that big of a title run. He has played second fiddle to the rest of the Pros for the most part. Needs a bit more legitimacy around it. While I could also see reasons for moving the title off of him, because he hasn't had that impactful of a role, even being outshone by his former/current tag-team partner. He also doesn't need the title if he ends up feuding with Wish until the next event. He also could end up feuding with Dexter if he sides with Wish. Screw it Hughes wins.

Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall

Bryant hasn't done enough to be a legitimate threat. This is a big win that helps solidify himself at the higher end of the card and will show how deadly Ares Death Cult really are. Especially while The Barbarians aren't booked tonight yet. 

The Barracudas v The Street Stallions

The fact D.O.A was able to choke out Vaughan, and that Rourke was struggling to go the distance despite being given the Main Event. It's sadly time for The Barracudas and this can either extend the feud or lead to their split. Barracudas winning doesn't do much for either team and sort of kills any feud flat. That and Lorenzo is the man.

Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby

Look Hack is great, I mean he is huge. I love the fact he is a genuinely good guy it seems. A nice parallel to the rest of DIW and is essentially everything Rigsby is trying to potray. At the same time Rigsby is Rigsby. What sort of man would I be if I didn't back the family man, the married man. In fact I hope he brings and shows off his wife, I bet she even distracts the idiot Hunter and shows what a Hack he is.

[John Lions]

DIW Title: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell (c)
I know how I run my backstage, and as much as I love Dex, creating rifts around the DIW MVP for the last 5 years is wild. I think because we don't see things from Lori's perspective this match is a bit harder to call. I think with the build up with Kobra Khan this is the perfect opportunity to give Seth the win. Him and Kobra Khan have been associated for so long, and while Kobra Khan constantly comes up short in his big matches, how is he going to take Seth Wish winning the title right after he failed? I think the Pros were solid but it's time for a transition from them as the main focus of DIW.
Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (c)
I think Edwards and Wrecker winning is the most interesting scenario here - you take a tag team of two singles guys and immediately make them a respectable tag team.
Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)
A chance for Hughes to show what he has in a big singles match, but I think Con has this locked up and The Wild Things end the night holding both singles titles.
Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall
Milton has felt very much like the bridesmaid in a lot of his recent programs. I could see him "winning" but visibly coming out of the match as the loser, but I think Hall slots right into your main event after his introduction arc and beating a former DIW champ in a cage is a great way to do it.
The Barracudas v The Street Stallions
Lorenzo's one of my sleeper favorites, but I think The Barracudas need to stay strong with how few active tag teams you have kicking around. They'll make the Stallions look like a threat, though.
Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby
Poor Pat is about to get squashed by Hack.

[Satyr24]

DIW Title: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell (c)
McReady is helping Dexter win here but Dexter will need to lose and shown the door soon.

Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (c)
Rob and Wrecker are single workers they shouldn't be winning tag titles

Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)
McReady loses here and blames Seth for it

Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall
Too early for Bryant first lose

The Barracudas v The Street Stallions
Lorenzo isn't beating The Barracudas with low popularity unless you're getting rid of both very soon but your tag team division still needs them

Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby                                                                                                                                                        First match first win

Edited October 6, 2023 by Satyr24

[619]

Wow, thanks everyone for getting involved. I hope the show's half as good as your predictions and feedback:

Part 69: Massacre 2024

Massacre started with Rob Edwards making his entrance and an immediate answer to the question of who would follow his and Wrecker’s match with The Benchmark: everyone. It was opening the show.

Tag Titles: Rob Edwards and Wrecker v The Benchmark (Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills) (c)
The challengers worked more as a team than in their two recent To The Extreme appearances on the same side, looking particularly more formidable in the first half of the contest. However, Edwards walked into a trap set by the champions. During a period of prolonged offence on Wrecker, the former Australian Champion finally worked an opening to tag out, only for The Human Weapon to be goaded off the apron by Rusty Mills, who was ready for Edwards and sent him into the steps outside. Mills then rolled inside to help Boon hit the Double Down on Wrecker who, having used his last burst of energy to try to tag out, was unable to get his shoulders off the mat. This match hit heights the rest of the card would struggle to reach, but it perhaps didn’t achieve its full potential as Edwards had the first off-day I’d ever witnessed, though this arguably suited the story in showing he was outside his comfort zone. Oh, and just to put an off-form Edwards into context, he still outperformed everyone on the roster except his opponents.

Markus Rush and his cameraman caught Seth Wish arriving at DIW House and being greeted by Con McReady, who told him it was time to make sure they both went to Canberra next month as champions.

The Barracudas (Chopper Rourke and Vaughan) v The Street Stallions (D.O.A. and Lorenzo Oliverio)
D.O.A. had been in conflict with The Barracudas since the start of the year, though their feud had stopped hastily when Switchblade passed away to allow him a babyface cameo, a break to grieve his friend and a flirtation with a singles run before now partnering Oliverio. D.O.A. got the better of the initial rivalry and the renewal, choking out Vaughan in the five-on-five against The Pros then beating him one-on-one with Oliverio’s assistance, so this was payback time. Vaughan fulfilled his promise to choke out D.O.A., delivering victory with his Choke Sleeper. The booking felt a bit backwards: if I was in charge, I’d probably have chosen the five-time DIW Champion to win the one-on-one then lose the tag match to shenanigans to help establish the new team.

It was time for another quick trip to the back before the next match. Markus Rush hoped to catch Milton Hittlespitz before he stepped inside the cage, but he was in conversation with Rick Horn. Crazy Blue had a basket of weapons he was bringing in with him and, in addition to wishing him good luck, Horn handed him a fork he apparently used on his farm to put in there.

Cage Match: Milton Hittlespitz v Bryant Hall
The most violent match of the night saw both men use their surroundings as a weapon in different ways. Hall saw it as a tool to punctuate the pain he was inflicting on Hittlespitz, throwing him into the cage and beating him against it, while Crazy Blue used it to evade The Final Boss and springboard back onto him at various points. Hittlespitz’s basket of weapons featured prominently, some in his favour like the fork he jabbed into Hall’s thigh to try to ground him and others against like the light tube that was cracked over his head. The finish saw Crazy Blue take his larger opponent off his feet with his trusty chair and then drape him across the table he had folded at the bottom of his basket. He climbed to the top of the cage and took off with a Flying Knee Drop, but Hall slid off just in time to avoid the contact, the energy taken to get Hall on the table and ascend the cage clearly costing him. The Final Boss dragged Hittlespitz off the broken table and hit an S.T.O. onto the basket of weapons, still strewn with debris, to put him down for the three count.

At the halfway point in the show, we cut to some exclusive footage of two-time DIW Champion East Side Assassin (Sayeed Ali)’s unannounced appearance at the last To The Extreme taping. He raised Seth Wish’s forearm after his hard-fought victory over Chopper Rourke, telling him he knew he was destined for the top ever since watching him work on his first visit to DIW in 2020. That was why he’d brought him to Canadian Charisma Championship Combat in the past to give his hardcore division some Aussie attitude. When he heard Wish was receiving his first ever DIW Title match, he had to swing by and wish him good luck, demanding that he left it all in the ring like he always did. East Side Assassin was one gifted off-the-cuff speaker, but I maintain that none of this made much sense to me. Why do such a high-profile endorsement in such an unpublicised way, and get a great talker and character with DIW history in for an appearance without giving him something meatier and more exciting to do?

Australian Title: Hendrix Hughes v Con McReady (c)
No Hughes promo before the match felt like a missed opportunity, with the focus instead on the fact that Seth Wish, around half an hour before the biggest match of his career, was in McReady’s corner, with no sign of Dexter Mattell or The Benchmark, proof it seemed that the Australian Champion had picked his side. The action was solid but unspectacular. Wish’s presence and The Pros’ drama elevated it beyond what it likely would’ve been in isolation, with that inevitably feeding into the finish too. Hughes had McReady down and signalled for the Triple H (Hendrix Hughes Hotdog). Wish slid into the ring almost apologetically, not particularly keen to screw Hughes over but wanting to have his friend’s back, being hit with the Triple H for his troubles. It gave McReady the opening he needed to catch Hughes with his Iron Fist and retain.

Death Ref had collared Markus Rush to witness Ares Death Cult congratulating Bryant Hall on his win. He looked every bit The Final Boss as he soaked in his stablemates’ acclaim. Death Ref also drew attention to there having been two tag matches earlier in the night and the need for The Barbarians to fight on DIW’s next major card. This felt a bit out of place, but Lloyd Banks had been very unfortunate not to feature on a big show yet this year given his contribution in 2023, so at least it looked like this was being addressed.

Hack The Hunter v Pat Rigsby
The big question after months out of action and promoting himself as such a well-adjusted member of society and example to others was whether Rigsby had outgrown the need to troll his opponents, and the answer was no. The second the bell rang, he asked Hack what the weather was like up there, calling him a big freak. When Hack feigned to punch him in response, Rigsby got such a fright that he ran out of the ring, disgusting The Comedian who said this bloke had begged him for a match for weeks and that was how he chose to start it. This set the tone for a short match in which Rigsby continued to try to evade the new arrival, with some success initially, before eventually getting caught and hit with a flurry of crowd-pleasing power moves, culminating in an Epic Side Suplex for the win. The crowd weren’t into Rigsby, who appeared to attract more of a following online than in DIW House, but they were buzzing come the finish.

From the big heavyweight addition to the roster, it was time for a main event between DIW’s two smallest wrestlers. We called on Markus Rush for a glimpse of them preparing to enter and saw The Benchmark approach Dexter Mattell, signalling they would accompany him to ringside. Australian Champion Con McReady was with Seth Wish as his music hit, meaning every original member of The Pros would be involved.

DIW Title: Seth Wish v Dexter Mattell (c)
The Comedian combatted my dismissal of Wish’s chances of beating Mattell with broken fingers on each hand by referencing his recent victory over Chopper Rourke, so I revelled in pointing out that he wouldn’t enjoy the speed and stamina advantage he had over Rourke against Mattell. All he had was heart and that wouldn’t be enough to dethrone the DIW Champion. My prediction looked more like a spoiler for an opening five minutes that were more like a squash match, with the champion using his technical prowess to ground and wear down his challenger. However, Wish fought his way into the battle through a combination of gutsiness, disregard for his own body and resourcefulness, using his forearms, elbows, feet, knees and even his head a few times where his hands failed him. One particularly hot run ended in him hitting Dust In The Wind on Mattell, only for Rusty Mills to pull Tatum Richards out of the ring, with The Benchmark both heading in there to put boots into Wish. Con McReady appeared to hesitate before grabbing his cane and heading inside, swinging and taking down both Mills and Donovan Boon. With Mattell still recovering, The Wild Things and The Benchmark got into a mini-match of their own. As this was going on, Mattell crawled outside for his DIW Title. As he returned to the ring and geared up to use it, a masked man entered from the crowd. It was Kobra Khan, but wearing a different mask to the one Mattell ripped off him recently: less playful, adorned with small spikes and a fiercer shadow around the eyes and mouth. He ripped the DIW Title out of Mattell’s hands, only to charge at Wish and strike him between the eyes. Before McReady could react, he ate a Double Down from The Benchmark. Mattell didn’t skip a beat, hitting Wish with his own Dust In The Wind, dropping his face onto the DIW Title, and covering him for the three count.

Con McReady recovered to see Kobra Khan celebrating with Dexter Mattell, Donovan Boon and Rusty Mills, but they cut the festivities short to round on him. First, The Benchmark landed another Double Down, then Mattell locked in the STF. Seth Wish was back up and tried to save his partner, only to be caught by Kobra Khan’s Ripcord Knee and a Double Down. Mattell and The Benchmark then dragged McReady up to give Kobra Khan the glory of hitting a Ripcord Knee on the man he was seemingly replacing in The Pros. With the quartet standing tall and Wish and McReady thoroughly beaten, I declared that The Pros had cut the dead weight and unveiled their most dominant line-up yet.

----------

It seems it wasn't quite as predictable as Havoc at least, though I realise that can also be a sign of erratic booking 😅 I think @DinoKea and @Satyr24 scored 5, @John Lions and @Tiberious got 4, @HiPlus had 3 and @AboardTheArk and @KyTeran were on 2. Apologies again for the lack of prizes, but I promise I factor all comments and feedbacks into plans wherever possible.

I liked how @Tiberious and @John Lions pieced together the main event finish between you, with @Tiberious correctly identifying that Con McReady's suspicious behaviour was intended as a ruse, and @John Lions suspecting that Kobra Khan might have a problem with Seth Wish becoming champion.

Everyone's analysis of the booking was so on point though, from feeling like Bryant Hall needed another big win to establish himself to fearing Lorenzo Oliverio isn't popular enough yet to put over The Barracudas, so a huge thanks for everyone's input.

Edited October 6, 2023 by 619